Click, eat, dispose: revealing moral disengagement and plastic use dilemma in Gen-Z, Y’s online food orders

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the issue of plastic usage among Generation Z and Y (Gen-ZnY) consumers who order food online, despite their increased awareness of the environmental impact. Specifically, it examines how factors such as lack of green information, environmental apathy, scepticism and myopia influence moral disengagement. In addition, the study investigates the mediating role of moral disengagement and the moderating effects of social influence and consumer guilt on the link between moral disengagement and plastic usage intention.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was used, which yielded 345 usable responses. Using SmartPLS 4.0 software, the partial least squares structural equation modelling method was applied to test the hypotheses.

Findings

This study reveals that lack of green information, environmental apathy, scepticism and myopia all significantly correlate with moral disengagement. In addition, moral disengagement significantly affects plastic usage intention. Moreover, the mediating role of moral disengagement in the relationship between lack of green information, environmental apathy, scepticism, myopia and consumers’ intention to use plastic products was supported. Lastly, the moderating role of consumer guilt in relation to the intention to use plastic was significant. However, the role of social influence as a moderator in relation to the intention to use plastic was non-significant.

Practical implications

The findings offer valuable insights for practitioners, who can promote sustainable behaviour by ensuring transparent information and using educational efforts to evoke constructive guilt and highlight long-term environmental impacts.

Originality/value

This is a novel study that investigates the negative factors leading to Gen-ZnY’s moral disengagement regarding plastic usage. Furthermore, it is a pioneering investigation that establishes new connections, such as the mediating role of moral disengagement and the moderating effects of social influence and consumer guilt in relation to plastic usage intention. Moreover, this is a pioneering study that attempts to model Gen-ZnY’s intention to use plastic while ordering food online using attribution theory.