Deconstructing Perceived Risk to Predict Suboptimal Food Purchase: A Strategy for Mitigating Food Waste

Food waste poses a serious threat to global food sustainability, and consumer rejection of suboptimal food due to perceived risks is a significant factor exacerbating this issue—a phenomenon particularly pronounced in the Chinese context. Using survey data from 1022 Chinese consumers, this study investigates how multidimensional perceived risk and demographic characteristics jointly influence purchase intention toward suboptimal food. The results indicate that perceived quality risk, perceived health risk, and perceived social risk exert significant negative effects on purchase intention, whereas perceived psychological risk shows no significant effect. Moreover, the effect of perceived risk varies significantly across key demographic dimensions. Perceived health risk mediates the relationship between perceived quality risk and purchase intention. A significant interaction also emerges between perceived quality risk and perceived social risk: under conditions of high perceived social risk, high perceived quality risk substantially reduces purchase intention; under low perceived social risk, this negative effect persists but is attenuated. By delineating the differential effects and underlying mechanisms through which distinct risk dimensions shape purchase intention, this study not only advances the theoretical understanding of the interplay between multiple risk perceptions in consumer decision-making but also provides empirical evidence for reducing food waste from the consumption side, offering important implications for promoting sustainable consumption practices.