Publication Type

PhD Dissertation

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

4-2026

Abstract

Food waste overuses natural resources and is responsible for a considerable share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Coupled with the growing global food insecurity, food wastage appears even more irresponsible and showcases the inefficiencies of the current food system. These escalating global environmental concerns and strained planetary resources have necessitated sustainable food innovation (James & Sheena, 2025; Upadhyay, 2025), particularly the production of upcycled food (UF), a novel food product category transformed from production byproducts such as Okara, barley grain, and beer spent grain (Zhang et al., 2023). This upcycling process supports waste reduction, achieves a circular bioeconomy (Ribeiro et al., 2022) and aligns with consumer demand for sustainability (Arancon et al., 2013; Sganzerla et al., 2021; Sileoni et al., 2022). Prior research has predominantly focused on consumption concerns, environmental motivations, psychological barriers and food labeling (Muller & Peres, 2019; Ngyuyen & Truong, 2021; Cook et al., 2023; Laureati et al., 2024). However, studies on how cognitive mechanisms and mental imagery are associated with consumer acceptance of UF in SG (as an Asian context) are limited. This study addresses this gap by developing and empirically testing how mental imagery (MI) and perceived quality (PQ) relate to consumer acceptance (CAC) and consumer attitude (CAT) towards UF. The author draws upon the S-O-R model as the overarching framework and Affective Heuristic to understand how affective associations correlate with MI to parallel consumers’ evaluations. Using a cross-country design between Singapore (SG) and the United States (US) to benchmark findings and assess generalizability across contexts, this research hypothesized a positive relationship between vivid MI and higher PQ, suggesting they are associated with higher levels of CAT and CAC towards UF. Methodologically, two baseline studies (N=600, 300 each from US and SG) established the general consumer acceptance, attitude and behavior towards UF. Utilizing a dual-coder approach involving both AI artificial intelligence (AI) and a human coder, an inductive thematic analysis was performed. The analysis yielded 12 dominant code groups and 7 latent themes for the US market, and 10 code groups and 8 latent themes for the SG market. A Correlation study (N=400, 200 each from US and SG) provided evidence consistent with the mediating effect of PQ between MI, CAT, and CAC. Leveraging the insights from the SG-US comparison, this research aims to provide a pioneering consumer behavior model with implications for SG and similar Asian contexts, thereby offering actionable insights for food innovators, marketers, and policymakers to overcome UF acceptance barriers.

Keywords

Consumer Psychology, Marketing, Circular Economy, Artificial Intelligence, Affective Heuristics, Upcycled Food, Sustainability, Innovation, thematic research

Degree Awarded

Business Administration

Discipline

Marketing

Supervisor(s)

CHANG, Han-Wen Hannah

First Page

1

Last Page

184

Publisher

Singapore Management University

City or Country

Singapore

Copyright Owner and License

Author

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