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Consumer Intentions for Organic Foods

This study investigates the factors influencing young Asian consumers' purchase intentions for organic foods using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Key findings indicate that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and health concerns positively affect purchase intentions, with subjective norms also influencing attitudes. The research highlights the growing demand for organic foods in Asia and the need for further studies in this area.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
40 views20 pages

Consumer Intentions for Organic Foods

This study investigates the factors influencing young Asian consumers' purchase intentions for organic foods using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Key findings indicate that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and health concerns positively affect purchase intentions, with subjective norms also influencing attitudes. The research highlights the growing demand for organic foods in Asia and the need for further studies in this area.

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yrkprasad
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Factors influencing consumers' purchase intention on organic foods via a


theory of planned behaviour approach

Article in JOURNAL OF TOURISM CULINARY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (JTCE) · April 2023


DOI: 10.37715/jtce.v3i1.3681

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Vol. 3, No. 1, April 2023, 98-116

Factors influencing consumers’ purchase intention on organic


foods via a Theory of Planned Behaviour approach

Su-Juan Cheng 1, Hao-Xiang Jia 2, Philip Pong Weng Wong 3, Lei Wang 4*
1,2,4
Xuzhou University of Technology, China
3
Sunway University, Malaysia

*Corresponding author’s email: drleiwang@foxmail.com

ABSTRACT

Journal of Tourism, Even though Asian countries are expected to become a


Culinary, and dominant market for organic foods in the coming years, there
Entrepreneurship are few studies which focused on young Asian consumers’
organic food purchase behaviour. This study aims to
e-ISSN: investigate how attitude, subjective norm, perceived
2776-0928 behavioural control, and health concerns influence consumers’
intention to purchase and consume organic foods. A purposive
Publisher: sampling method was adopted for this study and a total of 289
School of Tourism, usable questionnaires were collected for empirical testing of
Universitas Ciputra Surabaya, the postulated hypotheses using SPSS and structural equation
Indonesia modelling (SEM). The results showed that attitude, subjective
norm, perceived behavioural control and health concern
positively influenced intention. In addition, subjective norm
Keywords: positively influenced attitude while attitude played a partial
Organic Food mediation effect on the relationship between subjective norm
Young Generation and intention. Lastly, the theoretical and practical implications
Health Concern as well as the limitations of the study are discussed.
Theory of Planned Behaviour

1. INTRODUCTION

With a rapidly developing economy, consumers’ requirements the of the food they

consume have been transforming from fresh to safe, which then translated into being pollution-

free and green. Due to consumers’ realization of the importance of consuming safe and

beneficial food (Smith & Paladino, 2010) the concept of natural, pollution-free, and healthy

food consumption has become a fashionable trend, which means that the demand for green

organic food is rapidly rising (Nagappan & Getinet, 2015, Willer et al., 2021). Thus, consumers

are more willing to choose safer, healthier and greener options in their food selection, leading

to an increase in the market value of such foods (Jitrawang & Krairit, 2019). Sometimes, the
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prices of green and organic food are two to three times, or even seven to eight times higher

than non-organic options, but it is still favoured by more and more consumers (Gabriel et al.,

2021). Today, the organic food market is considered a growing and sustainable market

(Agence, 2016), as the consumption of organic food is expanding in both developed and

developing countries (Hengboriboon et al., 2022).

According to Saleki and Seydsaleki (2012), organic food is defined as safe to use, high

quality and nutritious, produced using methods that care for animal welfare and the

environment, while abiding by sustainable development principles. Organic food reduces the

impact of the food supply on the environment as it contains few harmful chemicals and no

genetically modified ingredients (Lockie et al., 2002), while at the same time, do not pose any

health threats to the consumer or lead to unnecessary wastage of resources (Adrian, 1995).

Hence, organic foods are equivalent to green, healthy, ecological and environmentally friendly

products in marketing (Mohamad et al., 2014).

Findings from previous studies’ have shown that human health, food safety, attitudes,

awareness and willingness to pay a price premium are factors that influence one’s willingness

to purchase organic foods (Gabriel et al., 2021). Consumers’ sustainability orientation,

scepticism and environmentally conscious purchasing behaviour also play a part in influencing

consumers’ organic food purchasing behaviour (Siriattakul et al., 2019). However, the

understanding of consumers’ organic food purchasing behaviour is still in its preliminary stage

(Wibowo et al., 2022) as most of the previous studies have not focused on a selective market

(Suki, 2013). Indeed, there have been a dearth of studies on organic products purchasing

behavior in Asian countries among young consumers (Suki, 2013), although Asian countries

are expected to be the fastest growing market for organic foods in the coming years when

compared with North American and European countries (Wibowo et al., 2022). Therefore,

scientific information on rational factors that influence young consumers’ intention to purchase

organic food in developing countries is sorely needed, particularly in China, the biggest

consumer market in the world.

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The theory of planned behaviour has been widely used in green marketing (Wang, 2022)

as it considers a wider range of influencing factors (i.e., behavioural belief, normative belief,

and control belief) (Wang et al., 2022d). More importantly, it allows researchers to incorporate

additional constructs to explain a notable portion of the intention variance (Wang et al., 2021).

Organic food consumption represents a healthy lifestyle practiced by a select group of

environmentally conscious group of consumers who believe in the higher quality of organic

foods when compared to regular foods (Wibowo et al., 2022). According to Bhutto et al. (2022),

organic food consumption is considered as an investment in personal safety and health and

hence, more research is needed to assess the effects of consumers’ health concerns on their

purchase intention towards organic foods. Therefore, an extension of the theory of planned

behaviour model will be applied in this study due to the model’s high predictive power for

intention which has been demonstrated in various research contexts (Wang et al., 2022b).

This study attempts to contribute to the research literature by examining: 1) the

influence of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and health concern on

intention to purchase organic foods; and 2) the influence of subjective norm on attitude in the

Chinese market context. This paper is structured as follows: section 2 provides the literature

background for establishing the hypotheses; section 3 provides details of methodology;

section 4 presents the findings of study; and lastly, section 5 concludes the discussion and

implications of the study.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Attitude Towards Intention

Ajzen (1991) believes that attitude is the organization of an individual’s motivational,

emotional and perceptual processes towards certain phenomena in the world in which he/she

lives. Attitude is the psychological emotion and positive/negative evaluation generated by

individuals when they engage in certain behaviours (Chen & Tung, 2014). Accordingly, attitude

encompasses the individual’s self-judgment about whether the given behaviour under

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consideration is good or bad and whether he/she wants to perform the given behaviour (Wang

et al., 2022d). Ajzen and Fishbein (1977) indicated that attitude is one of many factors that

determine behaviour, and when social individuals have a more positive attitude towards a

given subject, a more positive intention to consume/use will result. Consumers’ attitudes lead

to a propensity to learn, react to or act in unison with an object in a way that is either favourable

or unfavourable and are influenced by an individual’s values and beliefs (Anilkumar & Jelsey,

2015). In the same vein, the consumer market for organic food is mainly influenced by the

consumers’ attitudes which directly affect their purchase intention and behaviour (Saiful & Iffat,

2013). Certain studies have shown that consumers’ attitudes positively influenced their

organic food purchase intention, for example, Wibowo et al. (2022) indicated that consumers’

attitudes positively influenced their organic coffee purchase intention in Indonesia whereas

Sarabia-Andreu and Sarabia-Sánchez (2018) demonstrated that attitude positively influenced

one’s organic wine purchase intention. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1: Attitude positively influences intention.

Subjective Norm towards Intention

Social pressure represented by subjective norm in the theory of planned behaviour may

affect the intention of behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). In previous studies, Schultz (2001) defined

norms as the beliefs/norms of how social individuals act in a specific social or natural

environment, and could also be defined as a series of rules that define behaviours. An

individual’s subjective norm refers to the social pressure perceived by an individual when

deciding on whether or not to implement a certain behaviour (Botetzagias et al., 2015;

Indrianto et al., 2022), which reflects the influence of important others or groups on an

individual’s behavioural decision-making processes (Wang & Wong, 2021). Subjective norm

can be a powerful motivator for consumers to purchase green products, for example, when

Chu (2018) reported that subjective norm positively influenced Chinese consumers’ intention

to purchase organic foods and Varshneya et al. (2017) reported similar results in India.

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Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H2: Subjective norm positively influences intention.

Subjective Norm towards Attitude

Several researchers have criticised the causalities of attitude, subjective norm, and

intention under the theory of planned behaviour model (Sussman & Gifford, 2018; Wang et al.,

2019). Some studies demonstrated the existence of a positive relationship between subjective

norm and attitude (Wang et al., 2023; Wang & Wong, 2021), antithetical to studies reliant on

theory of planned behaviour derived model. Liska (1984) indicated that beliefs might directly

influence one’s behaviour without being mediated by attitude. Therefore, the sequence

causalities in theory of planned behaviour may not be correct (Wibowo et al., 2022),

specifically, the mediating role of the theory of planned behaviour model’s principle

independent constructs has been overlooked (Wang et al., 2022c). Wang et al. (2022b)

demonstrated that the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese populations are highly collectivistic,

(Wang et al., 2020a) and their significant others’ views on novel products’ performance can

influence one’s attitude (Wang et al., 2019). Furthermore, their good or bad experience with

such issues leads to increased or decreased intention (Wang et al., 2022b). Wang et al. (2019)

reported that attitude mediated the relationship between subjective norm and intention toward

green hotel selection while Wang et al. (2023) found similar results. Therefore, the following

hypotheses are proposed for testing:

H3: Subjective norm positively influences attitude.


H4: Attitude mediates the relationship between subjective norm and intention.

Perceived Behavioural Control towards Intention

Perceived behavioural control refers to an individual’s perception of how easy or difficult

it is to perform a particular behaviour (Wang et al., 2021). It reflects an individual’s perception

of the factors that promote or hinder the performance of the given behaviour (Ajzen, 1991).

An individual’s perception of the difficulty of performing a certain behaviour is also related to

an individual’s perceived ability to perform that (Wang et al., 2022c). Thus, the more control a
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person has over the obstacles, the more engaged he/she will be in the behaviour (Botetzagias

et al., 2015). The concept of perceived behavioural control can be understood as the personal

belief that they have complete control to perform or carry out certain behaviours they want to

do (Viceroy, 2021). Hence, the concept of perceived behavioural control is important in

determining or ensuring that a particular behaviour can actually be performed (Herouxet et al.,

2020). Lin et al. (2021) reported that perceived behavioural control positively influenced

consumers’ intention toward responsible environmental behaviour and Kumar (2021) found

similar results in India. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H5: Perceived behavioral control positively influences intention.

Health Concern towards Intention

Health concern is related to a balanced lifestyle in which one makes wise choices that

focus primarily on nutrition, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption (Suki, 2013).

Consumers who are concerned about their health will make food choices that are healthy or

would rather skip an opportunity to eat (Suki, 2013) than indulge in unhealthy meals. For

instance, health-concerned consumers choose small packages to limit their food consumption

(Scott et al., 2008), take dietary and supplementary foods and nutrients, and are concerned

with the impacts of changes in weight and health (Cawley, 2004). Thus, a high level of

environmental concern is expected from such consumers due to their beliefs on health issues,

product safety, and product friendliness to the environment (Ahmad, 2010). Organic food is

often marketed as a healthy and environmentally friendly product which plays an important

role in reducing the health risk of consumers (Lakkana et al., 2022). Some studies have

confirmed that health concerns significantly influenced consumers’ intention to purchase

organic products; for example, Suki (2013) found that healthy food and a healthy way of life

positively influenced one’s ecological behaviour. Therefore, the following hypothesis is

proposed:

H6: Health concern positively influences intention.

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Health concern

H6

Subjective norm H2
H3
Attitude Intention
H1
H4
Perceived
behavioural H5
control

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

3. METHODOLOGY

Data Collection

A purposive sampling technique was adopted for this study and the target samples were

the Chinese younger generations who tend to possess strong purchasing power (Wang et al.,

2022b) and are more concerned with environmental issues and, hence, can provide more

meaningful insights into green purchasing behavior studies (Wang et al., 2022d). Data were

collected from four universities in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, from 1st October to

15th October 2022. Jiangsu Province was chosen as it had more than 1.1 million

undergraduate students, the third-largest number of university students in China, with nearly

one-fifth of the students dwelling in Xuzhou City (Wang et al., 2022b). An online survey in the

Chinese language was posted on the largest free online platform (www.wenjuan.com) which

is widely known among individuals, businesses, and organisations in China for gathering

primary data. The sample size was set at 400 and a gift was given to the respondents for

completing the questionnaire so as to improve the response rate. After eliminating invalid

returned questionnaires (i.e., respondents reported that they did not purchase or consume

organic foods before), a total sample of 289 respondents participated in the survey resulting

in an overall response rate of 72.3%.

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Measures

To assure the translation quality of the questionnaire, the back translation method was

used in this study. A close-ended questionnaire with validated measurement scales (See

Appendix: Questionnaire items) was utilised in the current study. The first section focused on

the exogenous variables: attitude, SN, PBC and health concern, where four items related to

attitude were adapted from Chen and Tung (2014); three items related to subjective norm

were adapted from Wang et al. (2023); three items related to perceived behavioural control

were modified from Wang and Wong (2021); and four items related to health concern were

adapted from Suki (2013). The second section focused on the endogenous variable (i.e.,

intention) in which four items related to intention were adapted from Wang et al. (2022b). The

last section focused on demographic characteristics. The questionnaire items utilised a five-

point Likert scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”.

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Descriptive Analysis

A total of 289 usable questionnaires were obtained for analysis. Table 1 provides details

of the demographic make-up information. Normal distribution of data is observed when

skewness ranges from -2 to +2 and kurtosis ranges from -7 to +7 (Byrne, 2016). Results

showed that normality was present as skewness was between -1.493 and -0.59, and kurtosis

was between -0.717 and 3.16. In addition, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s test of sphericity

displayed sampling adequacy with 0.934 and p < 0.001 values. Furthermore, to demonstrate

internal reliability, Cronbach’s Alpha value should be more than 0.7, and the test results

showed that internal reliability was achieved (See Table 2).

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Table 1. Respondents’ Characteristics (N = 289)


Items Characteristics Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender Male 152 52.6
Female 137 47.4
Educational level Fresh 7 2.4
Sophomore 44 15.2
Junior 117 40.5
Senior 88 30.4
Other (master and 33 11.4
above)
Monthly expenditure Below 1700 38 13.1
(Chinese yuan) 1701-2000 71 24.6
2001-2500 92 31.8
2501-3000 43 14.9
Above 3001 45 15.6
Age Below 18 0 0
19 4 1.4
20 39 13.5
21 131 45.3
22 95 32.9
Above 22 20 6.9

Measurement Model

To test the convergent reliability of the measurement model, the composite reliability

(CR) and the average variance extracted (AVE) value should be high than 0.7 and 0.5

respectively (Hair et al., 2010). The discriminate validity was assessed by ensuring both the

maximum shared squared variance (MSV) and the average shared square variance (ASV)

should be less than the AVE. Also, the correlation between constructs should be less than 0.9

(Meyers et al., 2006). Thus, the convergent validity and discriminate validity were established

based on results from Table 2 and Table 3. Moreover, the model fit indices generated for the

measurement model are as follows: CMIN = 517.472, DF = 125, P < 0.001, CMIN/DF = 4.14,

CFI = 0.927, PGFI = 0.607, PNFI = 0.741, PCFI = 0.758, NFI = 0.907, IFI = 0.928, TLI = 0.911,

SRMR = 0.4. Hence, the results show a good measurement model fit.

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Table 2. Construct Validity of the Measurement Model

Construct Item Item loading CR AVE Std. Deviation


(Cronbach’s Alpha)
Attitude Att1 0.870 0.936 0.784 0.815
Att2. 0.870 0.795
Att3. 0.895 0.898
Att4. 0.906 0.846
SN SN1. 0.947 0.959 0.886 1.285
SN2. 0.958 1.257
SN3. 0.919 1.156
PBC PBC1. 0.664 0.810 0.590 1.026
PBC2. 0.841 1.002
PBC3. 0.788 1.257
Health concern HC1. 0.889 0.913 0.724 0.906
HC2. 0.881 0.859
HC3. 0.853 0.978
HC4. 0.775 1.108
Intention Inten1. 0.902 0.942 0.803 0.898
Inten2. 0.900 1.004
Inten3. 0.883 0.942
Inten4. 0.900 1.003

Table 3. Discriminate Validity of the Measurement Model

Construct AVE MSV ASV 1 2 3 4 5


1. Attitude 0.784 0.627 0.378 0.885
2. PBC 0.590 0.501 0.341 0.551 0.768
3. SN 0.886 0.501 0.355 0.543 0.708 0.941
4. Health concern 0.724 0.324 0.246 0.536 0.421 0.442 0.851
5. Intention 0.803 0.627 0.441 0.792 0.619 0.655 0.569 0.896

Structural Model Test

Next, structural equation modelling was performed for the hypotheses testing. The

results of the SEM showed that CMIN = 697.478, DF = 128, P < 0.001, CMIN/DF = 5.449, CFI

= 0.904, PGFI = 0.601, PNFI = 0.731, PCFI = 0.748, IFI = 0.905, TLI = 0.904, indicating a

good model fit for the structural model. Accordingly, the results of the study are tabulated in

Table 4.

Table 4. Hypotheses Testing Results

Hypothesis Parameter Estimate p-value C.R. Decision


H1 Attitude -----------> Intention 0.747 *** 14.381 Supported
H2 SN -----------------> Intention 0.162 *** 4.982 Supported
H3 SN -----------------> Attitude 0.503 *** 12.292 Supported
H4 SN --> Attitude --> Intention 0.003a Supported
0.001b
H5 PBC ---------------> Intention 0.070 0.020 2.321 Supported
H6 Health concern ---> Intention 0.133 *** 4.416 Supported
Note: a denotes direct effect from SN to intention. b denotes indirect effect from SN to intention via attitude.

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5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The results show that consumers’ attitude positively influenced their intention to

purchase organic food since β = 0.747, p < 0.001. This means that Chinese consumers

perceive that purchasing organic foods is a desirable, pleasant, wise, and positive purchase

decision. This result is consistent with those reported in previous studies that consumers’

attitude is an important variable that influenced their pro-social and environmental behaviour

(Wang et al., 2020b; Wibowo et al., 2022). Thus, H1 is supported. Findings from this study

showed that consumers’ subjective norm positively influenced their intention (β = 0.162, p <

0.001). This indicates that Chinese potential consumers’ close-friends, colleagues, friends or

relatives think that purchasing organic foods is the right decision and they will encourage them

to continue purchasing them. This corresponds with past studies that showed subjective norm

positively influenced consumers’ intention to adopt organic products (Chu, 2018; Wibowo et

al., 2022). Thus, H2 is supported. This study’s results also show that consumers’ subjective

norm positively influenced their attitude to purchase and consume organic food (β = 0.503, p

< 0.001). This means that Chinese consumers perceived social pressure from their significant

others significantly influence their positive perception towards purchasing organic foods. This

is consistent with previous studies which showed that an individual’s subjective norm plays an

important role in determining his/her attitude toward a particular behaviour (Wang & Wong,

2021; Wang et al., 2019). Thus, H3 is supported.

Findings from this study showed that perceived behavioural control is an important

predictor of intention (β = 0.07, p < 0.05). Chinese consumers generally have a higher level of

confidence to overcome the obstacles (e.g., time and financial constraints, opportunities,

locations) to purchase organic foods. This is consistent with many previous studies which

showed that perceived behavioural control is an important antecedent of one’s intention (Paul

et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2022a). Thus, H5 is supported. Our results also showed that health

concern positively influenced intention to purchase or consume organic food (β = 0.133, p <

0.001). This demonstrates that Chinese consumers perceived organic foods as safe and

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healthy, thus resulting in their higher intention to purchase. This is consistent with past studies

that showed that individuals who are concerned about their health conditions are more likely

to purchase organic food (Suki, 2013). Thus, H6 is supported. In addition, the mediation effect

of attitude was determined based on the direct and indirect effects of the two-tailed

significance test using bootstrapping at 0.05 level. The results show that the direct relationship

between subjective norm and intention was statistically significant (p = 0.003) whereas the

indirect relationship between subjective norm and intention via attitude was also statistically

significant (p = 0.001). This means that consumers’ positive attitude towards purchasing

organic foods is significantly influenced by their peers’ opinion, which subsequently influenced

their intention to purchase organic foods. Thus, the attitude was found to exhibit partial

mediation on the relationship between subjective norm and intention, and H4 is supported.

Theoretical Contributions

Few studies have investigated the factors influencing consumers’ intention to purchase

and consume organic food in developing Asian countries, in particular among the younger

generations (Suki, 2013), although the Asian region is ranked third in the growing global

market for organic foods (Bhutto et al., 2022). Previous studies in the limited literature explain

consumers consumption patterns of organic foods focused mainly on consumers in developed

countries (Bhutto et al., 2022). The current study showed that positive attitude and subjective

norm as well as high level of perceived behavioural control can positively influence intention.

Thus, this study’s findings provide a better understanding of the influence of attitude,

subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control on young consumers’ intention to

purchase and consume organic food in developing countries in Asia (i.e., China).

Wibowo et al. (2022) demonstrated that the sequence causalities in theory of planned

behaviour may not be correct, and the mediating role of the theory of planned behaviour

model’s principle independent constructs has been overlooked (Wang et al., 2022a). Hence,

the results of this study showed that subjective norm significantly influenced one’s attitude,

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while attitude plays a partial mediating role between subjective norm and intention. The study

outcomes offer an alternative perspective on the relationship between attitude, subjective

norm and intention under the theory of planned behaviour model for explaining consumers’

eco-friendly purchasing behaviour.

Moreover, the theory of planned behaviour model provides a flexible platform for

researchers to incorporate new variables into the model to improve its predictive power in

marketing research (Wang et al., 2022c). This study incorporates health concern into the

theory of planned behaviour model to predict consumers’ intention to purchase and consume

organic food. The results show that health concern can significantly influence one’s intention

to adopt organic food. Therefore, the results of this study can provide the basis for future

research in replicating the study in other geographic regions and markets.

Practical Implications

A better understanding of the different aspects of organic food consumption can benefit

organic food producers in developing effective marketing strategies for their products since

the results of this study affirmed a significant relationship between health concern and

intention. By highlighting the health benefits of organic foods in their promotional messages

for their products, such as not using harmful chemicals and additives in their production

process, organic food producers can enhance the confidence of consumers in their products.

As consumers’ attitude positively influences their intention to purchase organic food, the

consumers’ understanding on how organic foods can contribute to environmental protection

is a very important part in their purchasing decision-making process. If consumers hold

positive perspectives about organic food, they will have a higher level of evaluative attributes

about organic food which will then lead to a higher purchase intention. Therefore, organic food

companies should adopt and highlight their pro-environmental business practices as part of

their marketing communications strategy. For instance, organic food products can display their

pro-environment and pro-social certifications on their product labels.

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Finally, subjective norm is an important predictor of attitude and intention toward organic

food purchase intention. Potential organic food consumers are sensitive to their significant

others’ (e.g., close-friends, relatives, and co-workers’) opinions. Organic food companies need

to create a positive image for their products by distinguishing organic food from traditional food

through their advertising and promotional messages. In addition, perceived behavioural

control can significantly influence consumers’ intention to purchase and consume organic food

in this study. Therefore, organic food companies should emphasize in their promotional

messages that organic food can provide better value than traditional products. They also need

to increase the distribution channels for their organic food to potential consumers, thus making

it easier for potential consumers to access such products. Also, the pricing strategy may need

to be revised as a part of a promotional campaign to create a higher level of perceived

behavioral control among its potential customers.

Limitations

This study was limited to one geographical region, focusing on Xuzhou City in Jiangsu

Province, China. Hence, the results cannot be representative of the general population in other

geographic areas. Furthermore, although intention is a robust predictor of an individual’s

behavior, an individual’s actual purchasing behaviour does not always match with his/her

intention. Future studies should therefore investigate consumers’ actual organic food

purchases and consumption behavior patterns. Another limitation of the study is that the

sample respondents are limited to university students, again making the results

ungeneralizable to the target population. Therefore, future studies should consider looking into

the organic food purchasing behavior and intention of respondents in different demographic

segments.

Conclusion

Increasing consumers favourable intention to purchase and consume organic foods is


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crucial for the success of organic food producers in the organic food industry. The current

study successfully investigated the influence of attitude, subjective norm, perceived

behavioural control on Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase and consume organic foods.

The results showed that all proposed antecedents have a significant influence on consumers’

purchase intention towards organic foods; specifically, consumers’ attitudes have a dominate

role in the organic food purchasing decision-making processes. In addition, this study is one

of the few studies that examined the influence of health concern on consumers purchase

intention towards organic food. Consumers’ concern about their health condition and organic

foods’ safety plays an important role in influencing the purchase decision of organic foods.

Hence, this study contributes to a better understanding of a consumer’s organic food

purchasing decision making process.

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Appendix: Questionnaire items

Attitude items: Chen and Tung


1. For me, consuming organic food is Extremely undesirable (1)/Extremely (2014).
desirable.
2. For me, consuming organic food is Extremely unpleasant (1)/Extremely
pleasant.
3. For me, consuming organic food is Extremely foolish (1)/Extremely wise.
4. For me, consuming organic food is Extremely negative (1)/Extremely
positive.
Subjective norm items: Wang et al.
1. Most people who are important to me think I should consume organic food. (2023).
2. Most people who are important to me would want me to consume organic
food.
3. People whose opinion I value would prefer me to consume organic food.
Perceived behavioural control items: Wang and
1. I am confident that if I want, I can consume organic food. Wong (2021).
2. Whether or not I consume organic food is entirely up to me.
3. I have resources, time and opportunities to consume organic food.

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Health concern items: Suki (2013).


1. I control the salt ingestion.
2. I try not to eat precooked food.
3. I try to eat food without additives.
4. I check my health voluntarily.
Intention items: Wang et al.
1. I am willing to consumer organic food. (2022b).
2. I plan to consume organic food.
3. I plan to recommend organic food to others.
4. I will make an effort to consume organic food.

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