Like throwing a piece of me away: How online and in-store grocery purchase channels affect consumers’ food waste

Consumer food waste is a significant and growing concern. As such, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have devoted increasing attention to identifying the driving factors of this consequential consumer behavior. The present research contributes to this body of knowledge by uniquely showing how grocery purchase channels (i.e., online vs. in-store) may differentially affect food waste likelihood. Indeed, online grocery shopping is projected to rise considerably in the near future and warrants attention as a catalyst to both (normatively) positive and negative downstream outcomes. Using an experimental approach, the current research proposes and demonstrates that waste likelihood is higher (vs. lower) when consumers purchase food items online (vs. in-store), and further explores the psychological mechanism underlying this effect. Three studies collectively provide evidence that online channels systematically yield lower perceptions of purchase effort, thereby reducing experiences of psychological ownership and, in turn, increasing consumers’ intentions of discarding (vs. consuming) purchased food items. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.