Purpose This study investigates the determinants of university students' perceived value of canteen services in Emilia-Romagna, a highly dense university area located in Northern Italy, to explore how this is shaped by individual and contextual factors. Design/methodology/approach A PLS-SEM is estimated on a convenience sample of 610 university students enrolled at the Universities of Bologna and Parma. The model combines behavioural dimensions drawn from the MOA framework with the Eating-related Eco-concern questionnaire and the Sustainable Healthy Diet Index to account for relevant psychological and nutritional aspects affecting students' perceived value. Findings Results indicate that contextual opportunities – such as accessibility and socialization – are the primary drivers of students' perceived values of university canteens, while individual pro-environmental motivation and dietary orientation play a limited role, suggesting a potential gap between pro-environmental intentions and actual perception of the institutional food environment. Research limitations/implications The findings offer practical implications for institutional stakeholders and food service providers, highlighting the importance of matching communication and individual behaviour-oriented interventions with structural and contextual ones, to improve students' satisfaction and engagement with university canteens and to foster healthier and more sustainable eating practices among young adults. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited literature on university canteens as institutional food environments, particularly in the Italian context, where evidence on students' actual usage patterns remains scarce.
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Musso et al. (2026) studied this question.
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