Beyond the Attitude–Behaviour Gap: Systemic Alignment and the Structural Reproduction of Bread Waste

This extended abstract reconceptualises bread waste in Germany as a cross-level coordination problem at the retail–consumer interface rather than a deficit of any single actor, and develops a Systemic Alignment Framework integrating an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour for consumers, Institutional Theory for retailers and Information Processing Theory for manufacturers. It proposes an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design combining a representative consumer survey with semi-structured interviews with retailers and manufacturers, followed by an integrative phase. The study argues that durable waste reduction requires behavioural, strategic and communicative alignment across consumers, retail practices and production systems.