Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/316395 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Agricultural and Food Economics [ISSN:] 2193-7532 [Volume:] 13 [Article No.:] 14 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin [u.a.] [Year:] 2025
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin [u.a.]
Abstract: 
Since various food date labeling (FDL) systems exist worldwide, consumers’ confusion and misunderstanding of FDL are unavoidable, which may result in a large amount of food waste at the consumer stage. To what extent consumers’ FDL cognition affects their food waste behaviors and intentions has yet been well documented. Using the online survey data ( N  = 7830, two-period panel) from China, we examine the relationship between FDL cognition and food waste behaviors, quantify the resulting food waste amount, and use difference-in-differences models to evaluate the net effect of the information intervention. The results show that only 6.46% of urban consumers in China have correct FDL cognition, and this cognition has a significant relationship with their food waste behaviors. The FDL information intervention significantly improves consumers’ FDL cognition and corrects their food waste intention, and the quality guaranteed date label has the most significant potential for reducing food waste, which is the most widely used FDL type in China currently. Based on the findings, strengthening the localized and targeted FDL popularization is a practical and promising way to reduce food waste, especially the most potential label type.
Subjects: 
SDG12.3
sustainable consumption behavior
food date labeling (FDL)
consumer cognition
experimental economics
difference-in-differences (DID)
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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