Food waste anger: encouraging students to consume their leftovers at home

Purpose Young adults are significant contributors to food waste, a phenomenon that poses major environmental and societal challenges. This study aims to understand how to encourage them to consume their leftovers at home to reduce the amount of food wasted. Based on the Theory of Interpersonal Behavior, an explanatory model of leftover consumption is proposed. Alongside the traditional role of attitude toward the behavior, it particularly emphasizes the role of the emotion of anger felt in response to others’ food waste. Design/methodology/approach An online survey of 226 students was used to test five hypotheses using a structural equation model. Findings The anger felt in response to others’ food waste does significantly strengthen the intention to consume their leftovers, alongside the classic effect of attitude toward this behavior. This anger is partially determined by the consumer’s green identity. Originality/value This work underlines the role of anger felt in response to others’ food waste. Societal implications are outlined to inform the design of social marketing campaigns aimed at encouraging students to consume leftovers.