Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, Social Media Usage and Food Waste Intention: The Role of Excessive Buying Behavior and Religiosity

Despite being a religious country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) ranks among world’s worst food wasters. Social media usage (SMU) and changes in customers’ behavior, such as excessive buying, are some main influences waste. This paper examined impact SMU on waste intention (FWI) with mediating role religiosity buying behavior amid coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 1250 restaurant customers KSA. The study results employing structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrated significant negative customer religion Nevertheless, fosters which return high FWI. also that behaviors partially mediate influence findings have numerous implications for policymakers, academics, professionals.