Managers? perspectives on restaurant food waste separation intention: The roles of institutional pressures and internal forces

The hospitality industry, particularly restaurants, generates a large amount of food waste daily. This study draws upon institutional theory using the lens of isomorphic pressures and two internal factors, corporate social re-sponsibility (CSR) and restaurant size, to investigate what drives food waste separation intention in the restaurant sector of a developing economy. Data collected from 395 restaurant managers show that normative, coercive, and mimetic pressures positively impact intention; isomorphic pressures are mediated by CSR to achieve higher intention; and the crucial interaction between restaurant size and CSR significantly strengthens food waste separation intention. The study contributes to institutional theory by offering a novel integrated model to explain the respective mediating and moderating roles that CSR and restaurant size play between institutional pressures and behavioral intention in food waste management.