Exploring the Role of Traditional Chopstick Culture and Interpersonal Communication in Health Campaign-Targeted Behavior

ABSTRACT

Traditional chopstick culture is widely recognized as a vital factor associated with health behavior. After the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, the Gongkuai campaign aims to change long-held traditions of communal eating habits. Little is known about the effect of individuals’ perception of traditional chopstick culture and other factors on Gongkuai campaign-targeted goal. This study investigates how social-environmental and cognitive factors motivate individuals to use serving chopsticks (the Chinese Gongkuai campaign-targeted goal) and how such effects are moderated by traditional chopstick culture. Data was collected using a nationwide online survey and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings revealed that campaign-generated interpersonal communication positively affects individual cognitive factors. Furthermore, cognitive factors promote behavioral intentions to use serving chopsticks. While traditional chopstick culture does not directly influence an intention to use serving chopsticks, it plays a different role in the relationships between three cognitive factors and serving chopsticks use intention. Based on the results, policy implications about how to motivate individuals to use serving chopsticks are discussed.

Acknowledgements

We thank the editor, Meghan Bridgid Moran, and the anonymous reviewers for their extremely helpful developmental feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360537760_The_dining_table_revolution_in_China_the_question_read_through_the_lens_of_newspapers.

Additional information

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge funding by the Anhui Provincial Social Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [2022AH020049], the Natural Science Foundation of Universities of Anhui Province [2022AH050733] and the Anhui Provincial Scientific Research Projects for Higher Education [2023AH010036], which made this study possible.