LAUSR

Since food waste can be viewed as an ethical issue, consumers may face an ethical dilemma when they decide to waste food. This study explores consumer views on wasting food using ethical decision-making model in a Chinese society, such as Taiwan. The findings of this study indicate that moral philosophy principles are significant predictors of ethical judgments about food waste, which in turn influence behavioral intentions. The impact power of deontological philosophy is stronger than that of teleological philosophy. Additionally, consumers with a high level of vertical individualism tend to view food waste as not violating their moral principles using deontological evaluation. The higher the horizontal individualism or the lower the values of materialism, the stronger the beliefs that food waste violates moral norms and imposes negative consequences on society and the environment. Finally, theoretical and practical contributions are offered as a basis for future studies.