Abstract
Upcycled food presents transformative potential for addressing food waste within the agri-food system, yet consumer acceptance of this novel sustainable food is often hindered by perceptions of the associated risks. To better understand the formation of consumer attitudes, this study aims to how perceived risk influence attitudes toward upcycled food and examines whether cognitive processing variables from the Heuristic‑Systematic Model moderate these relationships. Data were collected via an online survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,261 U.S. consumers. Results show that perceived risk exerts a significant negative impact on attitudes, while perceived benefits have a positive effect. Importantly, two heuristic factors (i.e., social consumption motivation and trust in food producers) and two systematic factors (i.e., subjective knowledge of upcycled food and subjective knowledge of food waste) significantly weakened the negative effect of risk on attitudes. These findings clarify the cognitive mechanisms driving the influence of risk perception on consumer acceptance of upcycled food and offer practical insights for developing effective communication strategies to foster positive attitudes toward upcycled foods.
Recommended Citation
Mao, Lulu; Lu, Peng; Waldeck, Jennifer; Weber, Keith; and Zhou, Hualu (2025) "The Effect of Perceived Risk on Consumer Attitudes Toward Upcycled Food: The Moderating Roles of Heuristic and Systematic Processing Factors," Journal of Applied Communications: Vol. 109: Iss. 4.
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