Context- and culture-dependent behaviors for the greater good: a comparative analysis of plate waste generation

Abstract

In the home context, behaviors that serve the greater good are more often observed among people from collectivist cultures than those from individualist cultures. This tendency is assumed to translate to the vacation context, with people from all collectivist cultures believed to display homogeneous behavior. This study challenges both notions and investigates, for the first time, both the context- and culture-dependence of one specific environmentally significant behavior: plate waste generation. Informed by goal framing and cultural dimensions theories, this qualitative study with samples from a masculine collectivist culture (China) and a feminine collectivist culture (Slovenia) reveals that the level of pro-environmental behavior declines on vacation. Sampling new food and letting oneself go – the shared drivers of plate waste across both cultures – point to the highly hedonic motivation associated with food consumption during vacations. Reported reasons for plate waste generation differ across cultures. Slovene tourists report transferring their habits from home, suggesting that household social norms remain active. Chinese tourists abandon their normative habits, prioritizing hedonic and gain motives instead when on vacation. The specific drivers of environmentally significant behavior we identified can guide the development of culture-specific interventions to reduce the plate waste generated in tourism and hospitality.

Keywords:

• Culture
• collectivism
• goal framing
• plate waste
• sustainability

Acknowledgement

We thank the Australian Research Council for project funding under the Discovery Grant Scheme (DP180101855), Slovenia Research Agency for BASIC RESEARCH PROJECT GRANT ARRS (J5-1783), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, NKU (63202075).