Unleashing the potential of social media celebrities to promote food waste reduction in educational institutions: developing an extended model based on the value-belief-norm theory

PurposeThis study aims to provide insights into the drivers of student engagement in food waste reduction strategies in educational institutions. The proposed research model integrates social media celebrities' attractiveness, expertise and trustworthiness with the value belief norm (VBN) theor...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British food journal (1966) 2024-06, Vol.126 (7), p.2787-2808
Main Authors: Ajina, Ahmad S., Ali, Saqib, Zamil, Ahmad M.A., Khalid, Nadeem, Bait Ali Sulaiman, Mohammed Ali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altruism
Attraction
Celebrities
Climate change
Colleges & universities
Digital media
Education
Emissions
Food
Food service
Food waste
Greenhouse gases
Higher education
Institutions
Literature reviews
Social networks
Society
Students
Trustworthiness
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:PurposeThis study aims to provide insights into the drivers of student engagement in food waste reduction strategies in educational institutions. The proposed research model integrates social media celebrities' attractiveness, expertise and trustworthiness with the value belief norm (VBN) theory to explore their influence on students' behaviour towards food waste reduction.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from 417 students enrolled in public and private universities in the Riyadh and Macca regions of Saudi Arabia to evaluate the proposed model. The partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyse the responses.FindingsThe results showed that VBN theory's components, such as values (biospheric, altruistic and egoistic), beliefs (new ecological paradigm, awareness of consequences and aspirations of responsibility) and norms significantly and positively influence food waste reduction behavioural intentions. It was also discovered from the results that social media celebrities' attractiveness, expertise and trustworthiness influence food waste reduction behavioural intentions.Originality/valueThis study contributes significantly to the literature by identifying factors influencing student engagement in food waste reduction strategies in educational institutions where limited research exists. It fills this research gap by developing a novel theoretical framework integrating social media celebrities' attributes with the VBN theory to explain these factors.
ISSN:0007-070X
1758-4108
DOI:10.1108/BFJ-04-2023-0279