Consumers’ Quality Perception of Food Shape Abnormality: Effects on Customer Perceived Value and Consumer Behavior: An Abstract

The issue of food waste has received increasing public and research attention in recent years. Food waste refers to food items ready for human consumption but not consumed. In contrast to food loss, which occurs in early parts of the supply chain, food waste occurs at the end of the food chain and generally relates to retailers’ and consumers’ behavior. Between 30% and 50% of the world’s annual food production never reaches consumers. Thereby, fresh food is often excluded by retailers, as it does not conform a particular aesthetic standard (e.g., shape, color, or size) that is believed to be demanded by consumers. In particular, it is believed that consumers associate food abnormalities with lower product quality and thus avoid purchasing such products. For these reasons, the present study aims to understand consumers’ perceptions and intentions toward food shape abnormality. By gaining a deeper understanding of product-related quality characteristics of abnormally shaped food (e.g., taste, visual appearance, or convenience), insights will be generated on which attributes drive customer-perceived value and purchase intention of abnormally shaped vegetables. Our results show that the dimensions of customer perceived value are mainly driven by the quality characteristics health benefits, environmental friendliness, visual appearance, and taste. Furthermore, the individual value has been identified as the most important customer-perceived value dimension regarding the influence on purchase intention. These findings provide valuable insights for organizations and companies, by identifying dimensions that can help to reduce consumers’ avoidance toward abnormally shaped vegetables.