Despite growing pro-environmental awareness globally, there is a persistent gap between consumers’ sustainable intentions and their actual buying behaviors. This is particularly evident in the case of surplus food, perfectly edible and safe products that risk being discarded in retail or hospitality sectors simply because they were not sold on time.
Explaining Consumer Acceptance of Surplus Food: A Cross-Cultural and Mixed-Method Investigation
Doctoral Thesis
13 July 2026
Researcher Muni Ni-Ying has defended her doctoral dissertation, proposing an innovative cultural-cognitive to understand why consumers purchase, or reject, edible food products at risk of waste, offering actionable strategies to accelerate global progress toward United Nations SDG 12.3 on food waste reduction
To understand this phenomenon, researcher Muni Ni-Ying developed her doctoral thesis under an integrated approach that unifies motivational, affective, and cultural perspectives. Her research demonstrates that the decision to purchase surplus food is not a purely rational, linear choice, but a dynamic meaning-making process influenced by implicit emotions, perceived barriers, and deeply grounded cultural norms.
Under the title Explaining Consumer Acceptance of Surplus Food: A Cross-Cultural and Mixed-Method Investigation, the doctoral dissertation was co-directed by Dr. Belén Derqui and Dr. Jorge Matute, both members of the CONHATIVE research group, within the CETIS Doctoral Program.
A Multi-Method Approach to Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior
The work was structured across three empirical studies comparing two highly distinct cultural contexts: China and Spain. To achieve a profound understanding, the researcher combined traditional quantitative surveys with advanced mixed-method comparative analyses and cutting-edge experimental methods, such as monitoring real-time brain responses using electroencephalograms (EEG).
The Weight of Risk and Retail Environments in China
The first study of the dissertation revealed that positive attitudes and personal norms act as key drivers for purchase intentions in China. However, an important nuance emerged: the consumer’s perceived behavioral control strongly influences retail choices, but it has no significant impact within hospitality settings.
Furthermore, the research challenges existing Western-centric literature by demonstrating that in China only physical and performance risks (the fear that the product is unsafe or won’t perform well) reduce positive attitudes towards surplus food. Interestingly, psychological, social, and financial risks showed no meaningful impact.
Key Intentional Divergences between Spain and China
The second block of the research analyzed cross-cultural differences regarding which factors are strictly necessary for a consumer to form a purchase intention. The results showed a clear cultural divide:
- In China: Positive attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control are all mandatory, necessary conditions that must coexist to drive strong purchase intentions.
- In Spain: No single factor is strictly indispensable on its own, but the critical management of risk factors proves to be the ultimate turning point for a successful sale.
Neuroscience Reveals Opposing Responses to Expiration Cues
The most striking finding came from the third study, which evaluated real-time cognitive and emotional responses to near-expiration cues using neurophysiological measures. The data proved that the exact same stimulus triggers completely opposite brain mechanisms depending on the country:
- In Spain: Near-expiration labels reduce cognitive effort. Spanish consumers activate trust heuristics, increasing their purchase intentions in a more intuitive and fluid manner.
- In China: The exact same cue triggers heightened vigilance and defensive avoidance, causing consumers to look away or reject the product out of caution.
Tailored Strategies to Accelerate Global Progress
The main theoretical contribution of this dissertation is the reconceptualization of sustainable consumption, moving beyond traditional models of rational deliberation. By combining the theory of planned behavior, attitude behavior context theory, elaborate likelihood model, cognitive appraisal theory to incorporate traditional survey and neurophysiological data, it connects behavioral, affective, and cultural mechanisms.
Practically, Muni Ni-Ying’s work provides a valuable roadmap for designing culturally adaptive public policies, market strategies, and communication interventions tailored to local contexts. While the strategy in China should leverage collectivistic norms and digital platforms, marketing in Spain must focus on reinforcing trust and clear, transparent labeling. Ultimately, these insights offer actionable strategies to accelerate global progress toward United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 on food waste reduction.
Part of this thesis was carried in collaboration with Dr. Yaxiong Li from International Business School Suzhou Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Related papers
Muni Ni-Ying et al, Advancing Sustainable Consumption in the Green Skincare Sector: Examining Celebrity Endorsements Through the Theory of Planned Behavior and Source Credibility Theory, 2025, Sustainable Development, 34, Issue 2, 1936-1951
Muni Ni-Ying, Jorge Matute, & Belén Derqui, Surplus food commercialization in China: an attitude-behaviour-context based strategy for food waste reduction in the retail and hospitality sectors, 2025, British Food Journal, 127 (13), 580-605
Muni Ni-Ying, Belén Derqui, & Jorge Matute, From risk to action: how perceived risks and cultural dynamics drive surplus food purchases in China and Spain, 2025, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 223,108533.
This doctoral dissertation was completed thanks to a pre-doctoral grant from IQS, which enabled researcher Ni Ying to carry out this research
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