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Environmental social marketing and consumer food waste reduction: a stimulus–organism–response perspective
(1) Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Negeri Semarang Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Kota Semarang, 50229, Indonesia
(2) Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Negeri Semarang Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Kota Semarang, 50229, Indonesia
(3) Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Negeri Semarang Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Kota Semarang, 50229, Indonesia
(4) Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Negeri Semarang Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Kota Semarang, 50229, Indonesia
(5) Department of Management, Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
(*) Corresponding Author
Abstract
Social marketing has increasingly intersected with consumer behavior, particularly in addressing food waste, which remains a critical environmental issue due to overconsumption. This study examines the effects of environmental knowledge and environmental concern on food waste reduction behaviors, represented by recycling, reducing, and reusing, through the mediating role of environmental attitude. The Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework is used to explain cognitive and concern-based factors shape behavioral responses through internal psychological mechanisms. A quantitative approach with a causal research design was employed. Using purposive sampling, data were collected from 379 respondents and analyzed through structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that environmental knowledge and environmental concern do not directly influence recycling, reducing, and reusing behaviors. However, both significantly affect environmental attitude, which positively influences all dimensions of food waste reduction. Mediation analysis confirms that environmental attitude fully mediates the relationship between environmental knowledge, environmental concern, and food waste reduction behavior. These results highlight the importance of internal psychological processes in shaping sustainable consumer behavior. Therefore, social marketing strategies should emphasize attitude-based interventions, such as emotional appeals and nudging, as knowledge and concern alone are insufficient to encourage behavioral change.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24123/mabis.v25i3.1172
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