Stimulating Behavior Change to Reduce Consumer Food Waste in Catering and Hospitality: A Systematic Review of Behavioral Domains and Intervention Functions

Abstract

Consumer food waste (FW) represents a substantial component of waste in catering and hospitality settings, while existing interventions have not been systematically differentiated according to their behavioral targets and intervention functions. This systematic review followed PRISMA 2020 and searched Scopus and Web of Science for peer-reviewed articles published through 30 June 2026. Forty-seven articles contributed 56 intervention conditions, which were classified using an integrated Motivation–Opportunity–Ability (MOA) and Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) framework to distinguish the behavioral conditions targeted from the intervention functions employed. Opportunity was the most frequently targeted MOA domain, primarily through environmental restructuring and modifications to service conditions, whereas Ability-based interventions were comparatively uncommon. Interventions using similar delivery formats could correspond to different theory-informed behavioral pathways depending on their content and intended function. Reported outcome directions varied across intervention configurations, service settings, measurement approaches, and evaluation designs and were therefore interpreted as descriptive patterns across the evidence base. Consistent with the descriptive and mechanism-oriented scope of this review, no formal risk-of-bias appraisal was conducted. The integrated MOA–BCW framework provides a structured basis for linking behavioral diagnosis to intervention design and identifies priorities for future research, particularly the direct assessment of behavioral mediators, intervention mechanisms and the persistence of outcomes across service contexts.