JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, VOL.

5(1), 2022, FOM, MMCD 124

https://doi.org/10.3126/jom.v5i1.47766
Determinant Factors Influencing Organic Food Purchase Intention
Udgam Mishra
Lecturer
Faculty of Management
Mahendra Morang A. Multiple Campus, Biratnagar, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Email: [email protected]
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0671-0700

Abstract
Consumers have become highly concerned about their enduring health and moulding
behaviour towards health benefits purchases. With regard to this, the paper aims to
examine the determining factors that influence the purchase intention of organic food in
Biratnagar. Among different exploratory factors, this paper aims to study the impact of
trust, health consciousness and knowledge on the purchase intention of organic food. A
self-administered questionnaire was sent on a random basis and 170 responses were
recorded. To investigate the correlation among the variables Pearson Correlation was used
and Multiple regression to find the impact of different factors on the purchase intention of
organic food. The research findings reported that knowledge was the key determinant
factor and showed a positive significant impact on purchase intention. Trust and health
consciousness didn’t significantly impact organic food purchases. The article recommends
that government and policymakers give immense attention towards organic farming and
provide necessary awareness to encourage the purchase of organic food.
Keywords. organic food, trust, health consciousness, knowledge, purchase
intention

Introduction

Background of the Study

In the count of orthodox environmental reputation, consumers do buy organic
foods for health, taste and social factors (Dimitri, C., Lohr L. 2007), and the demand for
organic food is gradually mounting in both domestic and global markets. Globally organic
consumption is common because of various health issues and the use of different health
hazards fertilizers and pesticides. Companies to attract health and environment-conscious
customer around the globe are considering manufacturing organic products which
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untimely gives the companies a competitive advantage (Dudar, V. 2019). Intaking the
beneficial features of organic food, organizations have initiated a proactive marketing
strategy to expand their market. The retail outlet of organic foods is limited though of its
increasing demand in Kathmandu (Aryal, P. K., Chaudhary, P., Pandit, S., & Sharma, G.
2009).
Consumers have been much concerned about the negative effect of food products
produced by intensive farming techniques which have led to a greater interest in organic
products (Popa, M., Mitelut, A., Popa, E., Stan, A., & Popa, V. 2018). Consumers demand
food products that are fertilizer and pesticides free and have no harm to the health. The
increment in awareness of organic food benefits has tempted mold towards purchase
behavior of organic products. The advancement of technology and availability of
information in a fraction of seconds have led to a definite lifestyle of consuming organic
production leading to massive demand at the global level. The attention toward organic
farming in developing countries is trending because of its dependance in natural and
human resource availability.
There is a growing trend among urban customers to consume organic food from
the area where they get assurance about the quality (Bhatta, D. G., Doppler, W., & KC, K.
2009). Organic farming in western countries like US, Japan, Canada, European Union has
extensive awareness and production whereas in developing countries is gaining popularity
although a small industry regardless of their stage of development (Rehber, E., & Turhan,,
S. 2002). Companies have executed numerous strategies to acknowledge the public about
the use of organic raw materials in production. Even promotion of the products is more
concentrated towards gaining a green image and has been successful in corners of the
world. The increased demand for organic products has immensely attracted the attention of
academicians and scholars. Previous literature has extended many exploratory factors that
effects the purchase intention of organic food, but that might not be similar in a developing
economy like Nepal. Amongst all the identified predictors, this study tries to understand
the purchase intention of organic products by undertaking trust, health consciousness and
knowledge as predictors. The study uses different variables namely trust, health
consciousness and knowledge, variables that haven’t been investigated in the global
picture and promisingly no any research taking these variables have been studied in Nepal.
Research Problems
In the era of easy and prompt exchange of information, customers have become conscious
about the purchases they make. Customers don’t want to consume foods that are harmful
to household long-term health. With the increment in the demand of the organic product,
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there arises the need to study the determining variables. Following are the research
problem for the study:
a. What are the factors that determine the purchase intention of organic food in
Biratnagar?
b. What factor has the defining role in determining the purchase intention of organic
food in Biratnagar?
Research Objectives
The main objective of this study is to identify the purchase intention of organic food.
Following are the objective of the study:
a. To examine the factors that determine the purchase intention of organic food in
Biratnagar.
b. To explore the factors that have a defining role in determining the purchase
intention of organic food in Biratnagar.
Hypothesis
Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between trust and purchase
intention.
Hypothesis 2: There is no significant relationship between health consciousness and
purchase intention.
Hypothesis 3: There is no significant relationship between knowledge and purchase
intention.
Research Significance
The study will have the following significance in the future:
i. The research aims to provide insight about the factors that are responsible for the
purchase intention of organic food.
ii. The research aims to provide future prospect for small scaled entrepreneurs.
iii. The research provides the foundation for other research regarding organic food
purchase intention in Nepal.
Literature Review
Trust
The psychological state of embracing the intention to accept vulnerability based
on positive expectations of the behavior of others is trust (Rousseau, M. T., Stikin, S. B.,
Burt, S. B., & Camerer, C. 1998). Trust plays an essential role in examining the actual
behavior of the customers (Akroush, M. N., & Al-Debei, M. M. 2015). It is very difficult
to administer the trust in organic food. In the case of local production, health content and
organic products, it was revealed that trust has a significant impact on practical buying
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attitudes and buying behavior (Lee, T.H., Fu, C. J., & Chen, Y.Y. 2019). A consumer can’t
rely on organic foods considering the label and product certification. Fernqvist, F., &
Ekelund, L. (2014) reveals that trust plays an important factor in influencing the purchase
behavior of organic food. Mistrust and authenticity in food sold as organic have a
significantly negative impact on buying behavior (Nuttavuthisit, K., Thøgersen, J. 2017).
Health Consciousness
Customers intend to buy organic and environmentally friendly foods who
prioritize safe food and are more concerned about health (Alphonce, R., Alfnes, F. 2012).
According to Lairon, D. (2011) organic agriculture has a huge potential to produce quality
products with improvements in terms of contents of antioxidant phytomicronutrients,
nitrate accumulation in vegetables and toxic phytochemical residue levels. Customers have
witnessed and realized the importance of organic foods and often refer consumption of
organic products as investment to health. Buyers have been devoting time and energy in
maintaining health, so they look forward to buy food products that have zero harm to the
health, society and ultimately to the environment. A number of studies have revealed that
consumption of organic food has become a part of human lifestyle, shifting the intention
of consumer from traditional consumption habits to healthy eating habits (Denver, S., &
Christensen, T. 2015).
Knowledge About Organic Food
Product knowledge is the awareness and accumulated information of consumers
regarding precise product at a particular situation (Brucks, M. 1985) and product
knowledge positions one of the most important predictors of consumer buying behavior
(Burton, S., Howlett, E., & Tangari, A. 2009). Organic food knowledge plays a significant
role in consumer’s organic food demand and raising awareness, information and
promotion should be undertaken by food manufacturer/ seller to induce their intention
towards organic food (Demirtas, B. 2019). Knowledge of organic food plays a vibrant part
in the purchase behavior of consumer as an uninformed consumer about the health and
environmental benefits of organic food consumption won’t intend to purchase as it
requires time and energy cost. The unavailability of organic food at different centres or
locations of the market hinders the acknowledgement of various underlying features of
organic food.

Methods and Materials

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A self-administered questionnaire was developed to measure four variables
namely trust, health consciousness, knowledge and purchase intention for organic foods. A
total of 15 Likert scaling questions were developed and 6questionsn related to
demographic characteristics. Data were collected through an online survey and the
researcher used random sampling for selection of sample size. A total of 250 survey forms
were send on random basic and 170 responses were recorded. The population for this
study is the customers who consume organic food in Biratnagar. A quantitative research
design was used and the entire study is based on primary data. This study uses both
Descriptive and Inferential statistical tools to obtain the results.

Results and Discussion

Analyzed data collected from questionnaire has been interpreted and presented in
this chapter. The analysis has been framed in single sections that deals with demographic
features of the respondent's, interpretation of descriptive analysis using Statistical package
for social science (SPSS), correlation of dependent and independent variables, impact of
different factors using multiple regression and finally the discussion of the results obtained
through the analysis. The outcomes derived from the analysis of the data are expected to
address the objective of this research study.
Demographic Analysis
This section includes the demographic characteristics of the respondents, its analysis and
interpretation of the data collected through questionnaires. The demographic characteristic
under this study comprises gender, age, marital status, education status, occupation and
income level.
Table 1
Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
Demography Characteristics Frequency Percent
Age 15-25 years 48 28.2
26-35 years 97 57.1
35 and above 25 14.7

Gender Male 130 76.5

Female 40 23.5

Marital Status Married 76 44.7

Unmarried 94 55.3
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Education Status Upto Intermediate 6 3.5

Bachelors 63 37.1
Masters and above 101 59.4

Occupation Employed 93 54.7

Unemployed 9 5.3
Self-employed 36 21.2
Student 32 18.8

Income Less than 15,000 35 20.6

15,001 to 30,000 26 15.3
30,001 to 45,000 34 20.0
45,001 to 60,000 32 18.8
60,001 and above 43 25.3
Total 170 100.0
Note. Survey Questionnaire.
Out of total 170 respondents 76.5 % were male and remaining 23.5% were female.
The highest percentage of age group was 26-35 years with 57.1%, 28.2% represented by
15-25 years with 28.2% and 14.7% were represented by 35 years and above group. 44.7%
of the sample were married respondent and remaining 55.3% were unmarried. The highest
education obtained category was masters and above with 59.4% followed by bachelors
with 37.1% and upto intermediate with 3.5%. The highest income category was Rs. 60,001
with 25.3% and above and were employed with 54.7%. The Cronbach Alpha values
reported were 0.872, 0.743, 0.871 and 0.808 for trust, health consciousness, knowledge
and purchase intention respectively which are above the accepted value of 0.70. The Mean
of purchase intention was 2.6549 of knowledge, 3.1338 of health consciousness and
3.0794 of trust construct on five-point Likert scale.
Pearson Correlation results of the Variables
Table 2 shows the correlation between three factors i.e. trust, health consciousness
and knowledge with intention to purchase organic food. All factors have a positive and
significant relationship with purchase intention. However, the degree of correlation among
the factors, the highest correlation value is knowledge (.545) followed by health
consciousness (.366). In contrary, the least correlated factor is trust (.355).
Table 2
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Pearson Correlation Results of Variables
Variables Purchase Intention
Trust Pearson Correlation .355**
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000
N 170
Health consciousness Pearson Correlation .366**
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000
N 170
Knowledge Pearson Correlation .545**
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000
N 170
Purchase Intention Pearson Correlation 1
Sig. (2-tailed)
N 170
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Note. Survey Questionnaire.
Multiple Regression Analysis
Table 3 represents the Coefficient of Multiple Linear Regression. The table shows
the degree of impact of trust, health consciousness and knowledge on purchase intention of
organic food. Knowledge was reported the highest value of 0.514 which was significant at
99% level of confidence and provided the evidence that increase in one unit of knowledge
leads to increase in 51.4% of purchase intention. Trust was reported as 0.0817 and health
consciousness was reported as 0.041. Trust and health consciousness were not significant
at 99% level of confidence revealing one unit increase in trust and health consciousness
lead to increase in 8.7% and 4.71% respectively of purchase intention. The value of R
square reported as 0.313 which predicts 31.3% of the dependent variable through
independent variable and there exists no case of multicollinearity as every construct has
VIF below 5.

Table 3
Coefficient of Multiple Linear Regression of Variables
Unstandardized Standardized
Model T Sig. VIF
Coefficients Coefficients
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B Std. Error Beta
1.057 0.217 4.88 0.00
(Constant)
1 0
0.087 0.071 0.112 1.22 0.22 2.04
Trust
0 4 2
Health 0.041 0.093 0.042 0.43 0.66 2.22
Consciousness 8 2 4
0.514 0.083 0.473 6.23 0.00 1.39
Knowledge
0 0 2
Dependent Variable: Purchase Intention

R Square: 0.313

Adjusted R Square: 0.301

Note. Survey Questionnaire.

Therefore, based on above result, the following regression equation can be
formulated:
Y = b0 + b1X1 + b2X2 + ……. + bnXn
PI = 1.057 + 0.087T + 0.041HC + 0.514K
Where PI= Purchase intention, T= Trust, HC= Health Consciousness and K= Knowledge
Summary of Hypothesis
p-
Hypothesis Remarks
value

H1: There is no significant relationship between trust and Fail to

0.224
purchase intention. Rejected

H2: There is no significant relationship between health Fail to

0.662
consciousness and purchase intention. Rejected

H3: There is no significant relationship between knowledge and

0.000 Rejected
purchase intention.

Findings
The study findings reveal the determinants of organic purchase intention of
Biratnagar customers and it was found that knowledge was the key determining
exploratory factor of organic food purchase intention. The study reports that one unit
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increase in knowledge lead to increase in 51.4% purchase intention. Health consciousness
and trust were not found to be significant in determining factor affecting the purchase
intention of organic food. With increasing level of knowledge, customers tend to have
increased intention to buy organic food. Finding of knowledge were consistent with the
findings of Wang, X., Pacho, F., Liu, J., & Kajungiro, R. (2019), Van Loo, E., My, N.,
Pieniak, Z., & Verbeke, W. (2013), Kashif, U., Hong, C., Naseem, S., Khan, W. A, &
Akram, M. W. (2020) and same was proved in Biratnagar. The study shows that the
purchase intention of Biratnagar hasn’t been significantly impacted by trust and health
consciousness whereas Carfora, V., Cavallo, C., Caso, D., Del, G. T., Devitiis, B.,
Viscecchia, R., Nardone, G., & Cicia, G. (2019) depicted trust and Pham, T., Nguyen, N.,
Phan, H., & Nguyen, N. (2018) depicted health consciousness have significant impact on
purchase intention of organic food.
Conclusion
Consumers have become very sensible regarding purchase and most notably when
it comes to the individual and long-term household health. The high-speed bandwidth
connection has turned consumers more selective and precise. The result obtained from the
study revealed that knowledge regarding organic food is the crucial element that influence
the purchase intention of organic food in Biratnagar. Other exploratory factor Trust and
Health consciousness have no significant impact on purchase intention of organic food on
consumers of Biratnagar. According to the study, retailers should initiate awareness
campaign to inform the healthy benefits of organic food consumption and why it is
important to health. Accordingly, to gain the trust of the customers different marketing
activities should be executed evidencing the standard of the food products. Retailers can
evident the customers with quality check certification.
Implications
This study has wide number of implications for marketers, policymaker and
different community-based enterprises in designing and developing aimed at promoting
organic foods. It will be a foundation to promote through various medias on sustainable
food consumption customs and different issues related to food scandals. Awareness
campaigns and education events should be executed as they effectively influence
consumers basically youths’ attitude towards organic food consumption and purchase,
hence promoting simultaneously the best and basic organic farming techniques, nutrition
realities and environmental advantages. Local sustainability groups can arrange and
discussion regarding organic food benefits can be facilitated. Lastly, but most importantly,
government should reinforce laws and policies relating to certification and logos to reduce
consumer misunderstanding about organic food labels.
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The study has certain limitations and suggests meaningful direction for future
research. The study undertook Biratnagar as sampling frame. Future studies can take
sample frame from different popular urban cities of Nepal where organic food
consumption is popular which will provide a different result adding more to literature of
organic food context. New findings can be derived investing different locations with
different tastes and preferences. Therefore, the comparative study between two or more
popular cities in Nepal might be an interesting research agenda. Furthermore, various
predicting variables like culture, price, and lifestyle can be investigated for further
research. Future research can use new statistical software like SPSS, AMOS, and SmartPls
for general understanding.

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