Harnessing the power of awe: Reducing plate waste in restaurants for sustainable dining

Harnessing the power of awe: Reducing plate waste in restaurants for sustainable dining | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Harnessing the power of awe: Reducing plate waste in restaurants for sustainable dining Xin Xue, Chao Zhang, Yaoqi Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6389328/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Plate waste constitutes a pressing challenge to sustainable hospitality. Recent studies suggest that emotion-based interventions are effective in encouraging food conservation among customers. Combining randomized field experiment and scenarioexperiments, this research demonstrates that the emotion of awe can reduce customers’ platewaste behaviors and intentions in restaurants. The findings show that evoking awe significantly reduced the actual plate waste of buffet guests. The effect of awe on reducingplate waste intentions operates through the serial mediators of small self and connectednesstonature. Moreover, causal-chain evidence reveals that connectedness to nature plays anessential role in this effect. When awe is evoked by man-made wonders, where connectednessto nature is minimal, the awe effect on reducing plate waste intentions disappears. Thesefindings advance the literature on sustainable hospitality management by demonstratinghowawe can effectively guide restaurant guests toward more sustainable dining practices as anemotion-based intervention. Hospitality and Tourism Awe Plate waste intervention Small self Connectedness to nature Sustainable dining Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Statement on Participant Consent: This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee from Beijing International Studies University. All participants were informed about the purpose, procedures, potential risks, and benefits of the study and provided their voluntary informed consent. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6389328","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":439200223,"identity":"782b5bd4-e93f-45c1-bbf7-c7e5528455b6","order_by":0,"name":"Xin Xue","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0939-1357","institution":"Beijing International Studies University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xin","middleName":"","lastName":"Xue","suffix":""},{"id":439200224,"identity":"de67a2e0-1358-4cce-ac5f-aa4f6e79a6fe","order_by":1,"name":"Chao Zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA60lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCTB5gIGBvQdEQthEauE5Q7IWiRyoCCEt8rObnz38UnNHnl/y7cGDP9sY5PhuJDB+LsCjhXHOMXNjmWPPDGfOzks4zNvGYCx5I4FZegYeLcwSCWbSkg2HGTfczjE4zNjGkLjhRgIbMw8eLWwS6d9AWuw33DxjAHJYPUEtPBI5ZpIfGw4DDecxOAB0WIIBIS0SEjll0gzHDifP7AH6heechOHMMw+bpfFpkZ+Rvk3yR81h2372s4c//iizkec7nnzwMz4tIIDsDFA0MTYQ0ABU8oOgklEwCkbBKBjRAAAsWFBrX/lP4wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing International Studies University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chao","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":439200225,"identity":"e862fa14-d2a9-4580-9e6a-2eaa7517c51d","order_by":2,"name":"Yaoqi Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Sun Yat-Sen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yaoqi","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-07 02:21:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":true,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6389328/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6389328/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":80525119,"identity":"a3f0938f-7260-4c91-9d0d-0dec74093b1b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-14 09:44:33","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":742421,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"IJHM2025XinXueawetoreduceplatewasteAcceptedmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6389328/v1_covered_6f352558-38dc-411e-807a-9d5651966a65.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStatement on Participant Consent: This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee from Beijing International Studies University. 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