Determinant factors influencing organic food purchase intention and the moderating role of awareness: A comparative analysis

Artificial Intelligence-Driven Recommendations and Functional Food Purchases: Understanding Consumer Decision-Making

Amid rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), personalized recommendation systems have become a key factor shaping consumer decision-making in functional food purchases. However, the influence of AI recommendation characteristics on purchase intention, particularly the underlying mediating mechanisms, remains underexplored. This study aims to investigate how AI recommendation features (personalization and transparency), along with functional food attributes (perceived health benefits and perceived naturalness), influence purchase intention through the mediating roles of perceived packaging and perceived value. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, data were collected via a structured questionnaire survey, and structural equation modeling was employed for hypothesis testing and model validation. The results indicate that AI recommendation personalization significantly enhances purchase intention both directly and indirectly, while transparency influences purchase intention only through perceived value, emphasizing its role in fostering trust rather than directly driving purchasing behavior. Additionally, perceived health benefits positively influence purchase intention both directly and through mediation, whereas perceived naturalness affects purchase intention only indirectly via perceived value. These findings contribute to consumer behavior research by elucidating psychological mechanisms underlying AI-driven purchase decisions while also providing insights for functional food marketers on how to effectively integrate AI recommendation systems to enhance consumer engagement.

Communication Intervention to Improve Young Adults' Food Safety Practices: The Benefits of Using Congruent Framing

Background/Objectives: Improving food safety practices among young adults is critical to public health, but effective communication strategies are under-researched. This study investigated the effectiveness of a 12-day message-based intervention to promote safe food handling practices using a randomised controlled trial. Methods: A total of 588 participants (aged 18 to 35 years) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions or to a control group. Participants in the intervention groups received daily messages via a mobile app, while the control group received no messages. The intervention combined belief-based content to raise awareness with skill-based content to teach practical food handling, framed by either positive or negative emotional appeals. The experimental conditions differed in message congruence, with belief-based and skill-based content framed either consistently (both positive or both negative) or inconsistently (one positive, one negative). To assess the impact of the intervention, self-reported adherence to food safety practices, food safety awareness, and self-efficacy were measured at baseline and post-intervention. Results: The results showed that the intervention significantly improved food safety practices, especially when the messages were congruent in valence. Pre-intervention self-efficacy moderated the effects, with higher self-efficacy increasing receptivity to certain messages, while lower self-efficacy benefited from a different framing. Self-efficacy, but not awareness, mediated behaviour change, highlighting its key role in the success of the intervention. Conclusions: These results emphasise the importance of message valence congruence and individual self-efficacy levels in designing effective food safety interventions. Future research should investigate long-term intervention effects, adaptive mHealth strategies, and tailored communication approaches to maximise engagement and sustained behaviour change.

Mediating Roles of Perceived Quality and Perceived Behaviour Control in Shaping Chinese Consumer's Purchase Intention for Domestic Infant Milk Formula (IMF)

The 2008 melamine crisis led to widespread consumer distrust of Chinese domestic infant milk formula (IMF), which was substituted through a surge of imported products. Recent studies, however, suggest a revival in consumer confidence in Chinese domestic products and regulatory supervision. This coincides with a rise in consumer ethnocentrism and increased concern about foreign IMF, which arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate the multifaceted factors that influence consumers' intention to purchase domestic IMF, using a structural equation model based on a survey of 563 online consumers. Our findings challenge conventional thinking that food safety governance, consumer ethnocentrism, and COVID-19 have no significant direct impact on IMF purchase decisions. Instead, consumer purchase intentions are driven more indirectly by mediating factors of perceived product quality and perceived behavioural control. The findings have significant implications for Chinese policymakers and industry stakeholders seeking to rebuild trust and strengthen the market position of domestic IMF in the post-melamine and post-pandemic era. By understanding the nuanced dynamics and consumer preferences in this market, international stakeholders can also develop more effective strategies to navigate and compete in the ever-evolving landscape of the Chinese IMF industry.

Do Consumers Value Agri-Food Industries' Environmental Commitment? The Case of the Table Olive Industry

An increasing number of food companies are voluntarily adopting environmental policies and sustainability initiatives to tackle climate change. The aims of this study were to analyse the presence of environmental labels on table olive products, to explore consumer perceptions of these companies' environmental commitment and initiatives, and to evaluate the influence of these messages on purchasing decisions. For this purpose, a market study was conducted in different hypermarkets and supermarkets in Spain, and an online survey was submitted to consumers (n = 227). The results show that environmental claims and/or certifications related to sustainability do not appear on table olive products, despite most of the companies that produce and/or market table olives having adopted environmental and sustainability policies and commitments (34.3% have their environmental policy published on their website). More than 85% of consumers positively value these companies' sustainability commitments and consider environmental initiatives to be very important. As a sector of consumers pays close attention to environmental commitments, it would be interesting for table olive companies to identify their sustainability policies on their products' labelling to, thus, facilitate pro-environmental consumer purchase choices. These results could help the food industry develop the best strategies to publicise their social and environmental policies and commitments.

Factors affecting purchase intention of organic food products: Evidence from a developing nation context

The organic food industry has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. The industry is relatively new to developing countries compared to developed countries. Since Iran has the potential to produce organic products, it is essential to study factors that influence consumers' intention to buy them. The present study was designed and implemented for this purpose. In this cross-sectional study, 520 adults were selected using multistage sampling. Path analysis was employed to test a hypothesized model of predictors of consumer purchase intention for organic food. Attitude, environmental concern, and sensory characteristics directly impacted the intention to purchase organic food (p < .01). Knowledge, perceived price, and household size indirectly affected purchase intention through attitude (p < .01). Age indirectly affected purchase intention through health consciousness, environmental concern, perceived price, and sensory characteristics (p < .01). Subjective norms, health consciousness, and the perceived convenience of purchase had a positive and significant effect on purchase intention, directly and indirectly, through the mediating influence of attitude (p = .000). The educational level also affects purchase intention directly and indirectly through knowledge, health consciousness, environmental concern, and subjective norm (p = .000). The most potent total effects belonged to health consciousness, subjective norms, and education, respectively. Overall, the model could explain 47% of the intention variance and 45% of the variance in attitude. Various factors influence Iranian consumers' decision to buy organic food. This information can help professionals make well-informed decisions in policymaking, production, marketing, tourism, and retailing.

Are organics more nutritious than conventional foods? A comprehensive systematic review

The growing consumer interest fueled by the belief in the superiority of organic foods raises questions about their actual nutritional superiority over conventional ones. This assumption remains a controversial issue. The present study addresses scientific evidence to clarify this controversy and provide relevant insights for informed decision-making regarding dietary choices. We collected 147 scientific articles containing 656 comparative analyses based on 1779 samples of 68 vegetable, fruit, and other (cereals, pulses, etc.) foods, 22 nutritional properties, and nine residues. Results show that in 191 (29.1%) comparisons, there were significant differences between organic and conventional foods. In a similar quantity of cases (190; 29.0%), there were divergences in the results since some studies reported significant differences while others did not. Finally, most of the comparative analyses (275; 41.9%) showed no significant difference between organic and conventional foods. Therefore, the results herein show no generalizable superiority of organic over conventional foods. Claims for nutritious advantages would eventually be applied to specific comparisons, depending on the food type and nutritional parameter.

Organic Vegetable Chips: Exploring Romanian Consumers' Preferences in Relation to Socio-Demographic Factors

In recent years, people have become increasingly interested in adopting a healthy diet, which also extends to healthy snacks, such as chips. Understanding the interplay of factors that influence the preference decisions concerning food products is very helpful in market segmentation for identifying specific groups of consumers with similar needs. This study aims to obtain a better understanding of Romanian consumers' preference for organic vegetable chips vs. classic potato chips. The research involved a transversal, cross-sectional, descriptive, exploratory, and correlational design. Data were collected based on a questionnaire (1060 participants) and processed with the SPSS 22 program, using the Pearson chi-square test and binary logistic regression as statistical procedures. Significant differences were found regarding the distribution of the respondents who prefer organic vegetable chips vs. classic potato chips based on socio-demographic characteristics. The results of the binary logistic regression analysis (χ2 = 102,906, df = 22, N = 909, p < 0.001) indicate that education level and frequency of consumption have a statistically significant impact on the preference for organic vegetable chips. The obtained results can contribute to a better understanding of Romanian consumers' preferences, acting as a knowledge stage in the adoption of a healthy eating style.

Modelling the mass consumption potential of organic food: Evidence from an emerging economy

The deterioration of the environment, shortage of resources, and frequent occurrence of food safety issues have made people increasingly concerned about themselves while maintaining their health and protecting the environment through food. Organic food, as a healthy and eco-friendly option, is gradually gaining attention. Based on the value-belief-norm theory, this study explores why individuals consume organic food and the range of factors that lead to this consumer behavior. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from conveniently selected 300 youth participants in Bangladesh using an online survey. The findings revealed that health values and motivation have a significant positive effect on healthy eating beliefs, which, together with the awareness of the consequences, affect personal norms toward organic food consumption. Personal norms also have a significant positive effect on organic food consumption behavior among Bangladeshi youth. Finally, trust on organic food positively moderates the effect of personal norms on organic food consumption. The findings of this study are expected to foster the development of a comprehensive framework to promote programs and policies focused on organic and healthy food consumption culture among youth in developing nations.

Research on the influence of transaction costs and social capital on the circulation channels of ecological products in rocky desertification areas

Circulation has always been an important research topic in ecological agriculture. The connotation of production and marketing is not only the economic connection, but also the social interaction. Starting from the perspective of transaction costs and social capital, this study attempts to take the Karst rocky desertification management areas as the study area, and by way of the field interviews and literature methods, and through sorting, induction, conceptual cross-comparison, and repeated inferences, to summarize the circumstances and contexts of the five distribution channels of ecological products in the study areas, with the aim of discussing the correlation between transaction costs, social capital, and the market distribution models of ecological products. It is discovered that (1) the intervention of non-economic factors, which play an important role and function in economic activities and can effectively reduce transaction costs and promote the circulation of social capital, forming a closer cooperation relationship, is the key to the production and marketing of ecological products. (2) It innovatively proposes the bonding, bridging, and linking social capital types to explain the social relationship between the parties under the distribution channel of ecological products, which are divided into, based on the closeness from low to high, the bonding, linking, and bridging types. (3) In product distribution, the higher the social capital circulation is, the more transparent the information exchange of market distribution channels would be, and the lower the transaction costs for both parties would become. The study attempts to provide theoretical support for the construction of the full industrial chain of ecological products for Karst rocky desertification management in Southern China.

Green consumers' behavioral intention and loyalty to use mobile organic food delivery applications: the role of social supports, sustainability perceptions, and religious consciousness

Consumer behavior in the food industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, largely driven by growing consumer awareness of environmental, technological, religious, and social concerns. As a result, organic food has emerged as a popular alternative to conventionally produced food. Many emerging nations, including Bangladesh, promote its consumption due to its perceived health and safety benefits. Despite this growing trend, there remains a need for more understanding of consumer behavior, particularly concerning their motivations for continuous purchases toward mobile organic food delivery applications. In order to fill this knowledge gap, this study looks at how six indirect predictors (emotional support, informational support, environmental consciousness, religious consciousness, trust, and technological consciousness) affect customer loyalty through the intention to use organic food. This study employed a purposive sampling technique (i.e., judgmental sampling) and collected data from 386 respondents across three cities in Bangladesh. Data analysis was conducted using SmartPLS 3 software. The study found that all predictors, except for technological consciousness, significantly influenced behavioral intention, which, in turn, significantly influenced loyalty. Additionally, the study revealed that the five predictors, excluding technological consciousness, indirectly influenced loyalty through behavioral intention. The results of this study add to the existing literature on organic food by extending social support theory to include consumers' primary motivations, such as environmental, religious, technological, and social consciousness, as predictors of loyalty to use mobile organic food delivery applications. The study highlights the importance of sustainable food consumption in promoting environmental protection, ensuring social justice, creating economic success, and providing valuable insights for implementers looking to expand the organic food market.

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Other-regarding preferences in pro-environmental behaviours: Empirical analysis and policy implications of organic and local food products purchasing in Italy

This paper investigates the link between organic and local food products purchasing as pro-environmental behaviours, and "other-regarding preferences", such as altruism, intrinsic motivation and self-image, which is measured through individuals' environmental concerns, volunteering, participation in ecological associations and pro-social behaviours. Using the Italian data from the Multipurpose survey on households "Aspects of daily life" conducted in 2019, and bivariate probit models, this paper shows that environmental egoistic and altruistic concerns, volunteering in formal organizations and participation in ecological associations are positively correlated with the purchase of more organic and local food products. Higher pro-social behaviours correlate positively with the purchase of more local products and negatively with the purchase of more organic products. Furthermore, higher education and better household economic conditions are strongly correlated with the purchase of more organic products, while participation in cultural activities is positively associated with the purchase of more organic and local food products.

Factors Influencing Consumers' Organic Food Continuous Purchase Intentions during the Post-Pandemic Era: An Empirical Investigation in China

During the evolutionary phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers' eating habits and spending behaviours have progressively shifted to the pursuit of the safer and healthier food products, such as organic food. Therefore, this study investigated the factors affecting Chinese buyers' organic food continuous purchase intentions (CPI) during the post-pandemic era. To better adapt to the current consumption context in China, this study proposed a modified TPB framework (M-TPB), by replacing subjective norms with Chinese cultural variables, such as face consciousness and group conformity, and adding constructs of perceived value of organic food (PVOF), health consciousness, and the impact of COVID-19 (IOC). Convincingly, experimental results from a structural equation model analysis of 460 usable responses indicate that M-TPB has superior explanatory power (R² = 65%) compared with the TPB model (R² = 40%) for explaining organic food CPI during the post-pandemic period. The path analysis demonstrated that perceived behavioural control, attitude, face consciousness, group conformity, health consciousness, IOC, and PVOF had substantial positive effects on CPI, while subjective norms were not significantly related. Moreover, IOC exhibited a positive and significant relationship with health consciousness and PVOF. These findings can be useful for stakeholders in the Chinese organic food industry to generate timely promoting strategies during the post-pandemic period.

Consumers' values, attitudes and behaviours towards consuming seaweed food products: The effects of perceived naturalness, uniqueness, and behavioural control

Seaweed has great potential as a natural, healthy, and sustainable food. Seaweed as food is novel in Western countries; thus, few studies have focused on the factors influencing consumers' behavioural tendencies towards seaweed food products. This study aimed to fill the gap by investigating the antecedents for consumers' attitudes towards as well as their consumption of seaweed food products in a representative sample of Norwegian consumers (N = 426). An extended version of the value-attitude-behaviour (VAB) theory was employed as a conceptual framework to study seaweed consumption, assessing hedonistic values and perceived uniqueness versus biospheric values and perceived naturalness. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesis. Our results showed that attitude significantly affected the consumption of seaweed food products and that perceived behavioural control positively moderated the attitude-consumption relationship. Perceived naturalness and uniqueness were associated with attitudes towards seaweed. Biospheric values directly influenced attitude, while perceived uniqueness positively moderated the hedonistic values-attitude relationship. In conclusion, this study indicates that Norwegian consumers form their positive attitudes towards seaweed food products based biospheric values and their beliefs that these products are healthy and natural.

Determinants of the willingness to buy products certified by omics technology: differences between regular and occasional consumers of organic food

Consumers' demand for organic food has increased in the last years, together with a growing request for food authentication and safety. Omics technologies represent a viable analytical strategy to respond to such needs, strengthen food safety information transmission between consumers and industry, and differentiate between organic and conventional products. However, little is known about consumers' perception of such a novel certification approach. The present research ought to provide insights into the perspectives of consumers, exploring the antecedents of their intention to purchase organic vegetables certified through omics technologies and differentiating between regular and occasional consumers of organic foods. Data were collected from a representative sample of 807 Italian respondents who completed a self-report questionnaire, and Structural Equation Modeling was performed to analyze the data. Results show that several factors influence consumers' approach to omics technology, among which trust in actors in the food industry, attitudes towards the technology and environmental food concerns. In addition, the study drew attention to the differential path impacting consumers with distinct eating habits. Indeed, the degree of importance attributed to food in one's life and the interest towards innovative food are significant predictors of the intention to adopt omics technology only for people consuming organic products with higher frequency. Also, trust in industry actors follows a different path for regular and occasional organic food consumers. The present study sheds light on consumers' perspective on omics technologies, a relatively unexplored topic. Moreover, it allowed to differentiate consumers based on their organic consumption habits, which has been rarely done in previous research. The evidence collected suggests the need for tailored communication programs to stimulate the adoption of omics technologies and foster consumers' confidence in novel food technologies.

Assessing the role of organic food supply chain traceability on food safety and consumer wellbeing: A mediated-moderation investigation

Introduction/Purpose

Drawing on dynamic capabilities theory, this study offers a comprehensive framework for examining the relationships between organic food supply chain traceability, consumer wellbeing, and food safety trust based in organic food sector. The study also explores how consumer awareness of organic food influences the relationship between consumer wellbeing and food safety. We also look at a mediated moderation mechanism in the relationships stated earlier.

Methods

Using a survey as the primary data collecting method, a total of 221 usable responses were collected. To test the hypothesized relationships between all variables, SPSS PROCESS Macro 3.3 is utilized.

Results

The findings show that the organic food traceability OFSC affect food safety trust and food safety and consumer wellbeing are positively associated, while consumer awareness of organic food acts as a moderator on the relationship between food safety trust and consumer wellbeing. Also consumer awareness conditionally influences the strength of the indirect relationship between OFST and consumer wellbeing via food safety, thereby indicates a mediated moderation mechanism among the study variables.

Discussion/Implications

This study clarifies how consumer food safety trust and organic food traceability can enhance their wellbeing. It contributes to the theory of dynamic capabilities as well as organic traceable product marketing strategies.

Antecedents and consequences of healthiness in café service: Moderating effect of health concern

This study aims to examine the antecedents of consequences of healthiness in the café business context. Additionally, this study attests to the moderating effect of one's concern for health (health concern) between healthiness and attitude. To attain a more vivid response, this research selected Starbucks coffeehouse as a case study. Hygiene, healthiness, and nutritional disclosure are the determinants of healthiness in the café business area. The consequences of healthiness are attitude and purchase intention for café products. Health concern is the moderating variable between healthiness and attitude in the context of café businesses. In order to test the association between attributes, a survey was used. Amazon Mechanical Turk was chosen to recruit survey participants. The valid observation for data analysis was 455 participants. For hypothesis testing, a structural equation model was implemented. Regarding the results, health concern is positively influenced by hygiene and organicness, but healthiness is negatively affected by nutritional disclosure. Moreover, it was found that health concern significantly moderates the relationship between healthiness and attitude, and attitude exerts a positive effect on purchase intention.

Promotion strategies for environmentally friendly packaging: a stochastic differential game perspective

With the evolution of the e-commerce and express delivery industry, the consumption of packaging materials is increasing rapidly. Many members of society encourage using environmentally friendly packaging. However, due to the attitude-behavior gap, i.e., expressing concerns about environmental issues does not necessarily lead to green consumption, promoting the use of green packaging remains a challenge. This paper considers a stochastic differential game between green packaging manufacturers and e-commerce platforms. The optimal promotion strategies are derived for scenarios involving cooperation as well as non-cooperation. In addition, a welfare allocation mechanism for attaining stable cooperation is also discussed under the bargaining model. Numerical simulations and a sensitivity analysis were conducted to demonstrate the results. This paper finds that the cooperation between manufacturers and platforms can expand the actual market demand and promote the consumption of green packaging. The proposed model provides an effective tool for manufacturers and platforms to devise optimal strategies for promoting the use of green packaging.

Does gender moderate the purchase intention of organic foods? Theory of reasoned action

Purpose

Methodology

Findings

Originality

Consumer intention towards the phosphate-reduced processed meat products using the extended theory of planned behaviour

Phosphates are essential for maintaining various quality attributes of processed meat products such as water-binding properties, texture and sensory properties and their removal would drastically change the products' technical and sensory qualities. Currently, meat industries are faced with the challenge of removing phosphates to address the consumers' demand to remove the negatively perceived synthetic additives from processed meat products. This study measured these consumers' purchase intention of phosphate-reduced processed meat products with different quality, using the extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB). An online survey was conducted among the consumers (n = 548) of the Republic of Ireland (ROI) to predict their knowledge and attitude towards phosphate additives. Analysis of the survey responses showed that about two-third of the participants consumed processed meat products 5-6 times per week. The results of multiple linear regression showed that the theory constructs attitude, subjective norms, perceived health risks significantly (P < 0.05) influenced the consumer behavioural intention whereas the perceived behavioural control (PBC) produced insignificant impacts. The results also revealed that the extended TPB model predicted the consumers' intention with better explanatory power (adjusted R² = 0.46) than the original TPB model. In conclusion, various recommendations and implications were developed based on the results to improve the consumers' purchase intention of these products.

How Collectivism Affects Organic Food Purchase Intention and Behavior: A Study with Norwegian and Portuguese Young Consumers

Organic food purchase behavior is attracting increasing attention from researchers and managers. However, there is a need to further explore differences among groups of consumers, namely with regards to cultural dimensions. To help fill this gap, this article aims to examine the impact of collectivism on the determinants of organic food purchase intention and behavior. Building on the theory of planned behavior, this article suggests its extension by considering an additional set of explanatory variables that are shown to be relevant to explain consumer behavior. It includes a quantitative study conducted with young consumers from two European countries, Norway (n = 468) and Portugal (n = 448). Structural equation modelling allowed to conclude that collectivism positively impacts attitude, subjective norm, perceived price, and environmental concern towards organic food. The expected positive impacts of collectivism on product availability and health concerns were not supported by the study. Furthermore, the positive impact of attitude, subjective norm, perceived price, health consciousness, and environmental concerns on intention to purchase organic food were also confirmed, even though availability had an insignificant impact on intentions. Finally, and aligned with extant literature, this study also found a positive impact of intention to purchase behavior on organic food. Interestingly, the positive relationship between Collectivism and Availability, and between Availability and Purchase Intention, was only significant for Portugal. The study confirms the relevance of considering cultural dimensions, particularly collectivism/individualism, to further understand consumer behaviors toward organic food. Based on the findings, implications for both managers and researchers are highlighted.

Examining the Factors That Affect Consumers’ Purchase Intention of Organic Food Products in a Developing Country

The purpose of this article is to investigate the factors that influence consumers’ intention to purchase organic food in Egypt. Given the novelty of organic food marketing in developing countries, much of the factors that influence its consumption are still inadequately explored in the marketing literature. A conceptual model of the factors that impact the consumption of organic food was developed based on the theory of planned behaviour and previous literature in the area of food consumption. To test the conceptual model and to validate the research hypotheses, an online questionnaire was adopted to collect data from 363 consumers in Egypt. The partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that purchase intention of organic food is influenced by consumers’ attitudes and environmental concern. However, e-WOM, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and health consciousness did not influence consumers’ purchase intention. Conversely, the results showed that e-WOM had a significant influence on consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, health consciousness and environmental concern. This article contributes by presenting the factors that affect organic food purchase intention in Egypt, and it provides some recommendations for marketing organic food in developing countries.

Analysis of Chinese consumers' willingness and behavioral change to purchase Green agri-food product online

Internet coupled with agricultural development in full swing, green agri-food product e-commerce has become a hot topic in the development of e-commerce. However, due to the seasonality, territoriality, weak quality, difference, and dispersion of agri-food products, e-commerce of green agri-food products are facing difficulties. Based on the gap between consumers’ willingness and behavior to buy green agri-food products online, this paper quantitatively studied the factors that affect consumers’ behavior deviation to buy green agri-food products online. The method of constructing the binary Logistic regression model was adopted, and analysis tools such as SPSS and Excel were used for analysis, to study the influence of various factors on consumers’ purchase willingness and behavior. The research conclusion shows that: consumers’ gender, age, understanding of online agri-food products, and monthly disposable income have a positive impact on the consistency of consumers’ behavior and willingness, while the price of green agri-food products and online purchasing frequency have a negative impact on consumers’ willingness and behavior of online purchasing. The results are discussed in the context of existing studies. Suggestions and research prospects are presented at the end of the article.

Presumption of Green Electronic Appliances Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Personal Moral Norms

This study focused on social and cognitive psychological factors that drive personal norms and consequent buying intentions towards green electric appliances. The study differentiates itself from other similar studies by examining the mediating role of consumer personal moral norms from the developing nation perspective. Following a cross-sectional study design, data were collected from 360 consumers in shopping malls using the purposive sampling technique and analyzed through partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis. It was found that personal moral norms are a significant positive predictor of consumer buying intentions. Moreover, injunctive norms, consideration of future consequences, and self-efficacy influenced directly and predicted personal consumer norms. We identified that these factors triggered the moral sentiments and individuals. Furthermore, these results support the mediating role of personal moral norms between injunctive social norms, consideration of future consequences, self-efficacy, and buying intentions, validating the concept that instigation of moral feeling among consumers supports the actualization of intentions to buy green electric products. This study’s results offer insights for green electric appliance researchers, marketers, and policymakers. Marketers can guide effective marketing strategies by focusing on moral, social, future consequences-oriented, and self-efficacy-related marketing communications.

Comparison of the Purchasing Behaviour of Polish and United Kingdom Consumers in the Organic Food Market during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The main objective of the study was to compare young consumer purchasing behaviour towards organic food in Poland (PL) and the United Kingdom (UK), countries with different levels of organic market maturity. The study was conducted by means of an online survey questionnaire during the COVID-19 pandemic between December 2020 and February 2021. The sample consisted of 862 PL and 161 UK consumers. 31% of PL respondents and 58.4% of UK respondents indicated they purchase organic products. Descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney U test and the two proportion Z test were used for statistical analyses. The results indicate that young consumers pay particular attention to the freshness and quality of consumed products. Concern for their own health and that of their loved ones, as well as the desire to eat better-quality products were the main motivations for the respondents to purchase organic products. Organic vegetables and fruits, eggs, dairy products, and meat and meat products, were among the most frequently purchased products in the studied cohorts. Experts (e.g., a dietitian, physician) were declared to be the first source of information concerning food products for young consumers. Next, family members were indicated. Social media content (PL respondents) and information from websites managed by institutions (UK respondents) were mentioned as the third source. UK consumers preferred short supply chains. The present study can be used by government bodies and companies to select the most effective communication channels for education and advertising and to develop effective commercial strategies aimed at young consumers.

Integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Norm Activation Model to Investigate Organic Food Purchase Intention: Evidence from Vietnam

Ample research has been conducted in the organic food market and researchers have investigated factors affecting the purchase behavior of consumers in many countries. However, the studies on organic food that integrate the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Norm Activation Model (NAM) in a transition country like Vietnam are limited. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate factors affecting the organic food purchase intention in the Vietnamese context. We combined the TPB and the NAM to propose an integrated research framework with attitude and personal norms as two mediators. Through a self-administered questionnaire survey, we collected 611 valid responses from the three biggest cities in Vietnam. Data were put into SPSS 22.0 and SmartPLS 3.0 for analysis. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed to test both direct and indirect relationships among factors of TPB and NAM in the research model. Our findings indicated that attitude plays the most critical role in explaining the organic food purchase intention of Vietnamese consumers, followed by social norms and personal norms. Notably, attitude also remarkably mediated the impact of environmental awareness and knowledge of organic food on purchase intention. Meanwhile, personal norms played the mediating role in the NAM that intervene the connection between social norms and purchase intention. Based on our analysis, we suggested policymakers, manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of organic food change their actions for the growth of the organic food market in Vietnam.

Intake of Animal-Based Foods and Consumer Behaviour towards Organic Food: The Case of Nepal

This study aims to segment Nepalese consumers based on the frequency of animal-based food intake and thereby the determinants of organic food purchasing behaviour to suggest possible marketing strategies for organic food suppliers. A face-to-face survey was conducted among Nepalese consumers (n = 527), underpinned by the theoretical framework, ‘theory of planned behaviour (TPB)’, and extended to include: knowledge, environmental concerns, health-consciousness, and background factors (socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics). Three segments of consumer types were identified by employing k-means segmentation: All Low (n = 113), High Dairy (n = 246), and High Dairy and Meat (n = 168). A covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) analysis indicated that perceived behavioural control (β = 0.438, p < 0.001) was the main predictor of organic food purchasing intention, followed by attitude (β = 0.302, p < 0.001), subjective norms (β = 0.300, p < 0.001), knowledge (β = 0.211, p < 0.001), and environmental concerns (β = 0.208, p < 0.001). Health-consciousness (β = −0.034, p = 0.374) showed no significant impact on organic food purchasing intention. Organic food purchasing intention had a strong positive impact on organic food purchasing behaviour. Socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics were found to impact behavioural intention indirectly by their effects on attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, knowledge, and environmental concern. Income also had a direct impact on organic food purchasing behaviour. Further, consumers with a low intake of animal-based foods held positive attitudes towards organic food and had higher environmental concerns. The findings can be used to inform organic food producers and targeted marketing campaigns towards promoting organic food purchasing behaviour in Nepal and similar countries.

Organic Foods Purchase Behavior among Generation Y of Bangladesh: The Moderation Effect of Trust and Price Consciousness

This study aims to identify the factors influencing the purchase behavior of organic foods among young generation customers in Bangladesh. The study adopted the theory of planned behavior as a base and developed 11 hypotheses based on the extant empirical literature. Adopting the purposive sampling method, the primary data were obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 464 young Bangladeshi consumers using a survey method. In order to identify the key relationship among the study variables, the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed using AMOS software, version 25. The study employed a purposive sampling method to pick young respondents through online media. The study revealed that health consciousness, environmental consciousness, food safety consciousness, price consciousness, novelty consciousness, and trust are factors that significantly affect purchase intention and subsequently, the actual purchase of organic foods. The novelty consciousness factor got the highest predicting power, followed by food safety concerns among Generation Y. The research also found that trust and price consciousness exhibit positive and negative moderating effects, respectively, on the relationship between purchase intention and actual purchase. However, the study did not find any moderating role of price consciousness on the association between environmental consciousness and purchase intention. As policy recommendations, informing and educating young consumers about organic products, their novelty, and other benefits of consuming is critical for fostering their purchase.

Packaged Foods Labeled as Organic Have a More Healthful Profile Than Their Conventional Counterparts, According to Analysis of Products Sold in the U.S. in 2019-2020

The organic food market's recent rapid global growth reflects the public's interest in buying certified organic foods, including packaged products. Our analysis shows that packaged foods containing fewer ingredients associated with negative public health outcomes are more likely to be labeled organic. Previous studies comparing organic and conventional foods focused primarily on nutrient composition. We expanded this research by additionally examining ingredient characteristics, including processing and functional use. Our dataset included nutrition and ingredient data for 8240 organic and 72,205 conventional food products sold in the U.S. from 2019 to 2020. Compared to conventional foods, organic foods in this dataset had lower total sugar, added sugar, saturated fat and sodium content. Using a mixed effects logistic regression, we found that likelihood of classification as organic increased as sodium content, added sugar content and the number of ultra-processed ingredients and cosmetic additives on the product label decreased. Products containing no trans-fat ingredients were more likely to be labeled organic. A product was more likely to be classified "organic" the more potassium it contained. These features of organic foods sold in the U.S. are significant because lower dietary ingestion of ultra-processed foods, added sugar, sodium and trans-fats is associated with improved public health outcomes.

Customers’ perceptions of FinTech adaptability in the Islamic banking sector: comparative study on Malaysia and Saudi Arabia

Purpose

This paper aims to compare perceptions of Islamic bank customers concerning FinTech services in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. It also investigates the level to which customers are willing to adapt FinTech services.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data was collected from May to September 2019 using a questionnaire to survey 102 Islamic bank customers in Malaysia and 147 in Saudi Arabia. The data are analyzed based on Structural Equation Modelling using the partial least squares approach.

Findings

The findings show that knowledge, attitude and subjective norms are the highly significant determining factors that influence customers’ opinions on adapting to new technology, but awareness demonstrates only a moderately positive effect. Moreover, the impact of these factors on the intention to adopt FinTech services significantly differs between Malaysian and Saudi Arabian customers.

Originality/value

This is an original study based on primary data on customers of Islamic banking in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. It provides some novel insights into how the banking industry can boost customers’ confidence and enhance their patronage by adopting FinTech in their business operation model. These findings should be of value to senior management, policymakers and regulators in the banking industry in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Purchasing Behavior of Organic Food among Chinese University Students

The consumption of organically produced food is gaining ground around the world due to growing consumers’ concerns for personal health. Nevertheless, researchersaddressed the intention-behavior gap pertaining to buying organic food and called for more studies on consumers’ actual purchasing behavior. In order to understand this disparity, the current study examined the relationship among health consciousness, pricing policy, consumer trust, personal attitude, and purchasing behavior of organic food among university students. In addition, this research examined the moderating impact of word of mouth (WOM). This research adopted a quantitative method and employed convenience sampling to administer survey questionnaires to buyers of organic food in five Chinese universities between November 2020 and February 2021. A total of 335 questionnaires were collected and used for data analysis. Structural equation modeling results revealed that purchasing behavior is positively related to health consciousness and negatively influenced by pricing policy, while personal attitude and consumer trust had an insignificant association with students’ buying behavior of organic food. Further, WOM had a positive moderating impact on the relationship between health consciousness and purchasing behavior; and was found to strengthen the negative relationship between pricing policy and organic food purchasing behavior. This study presents some critical implications for researchers and organic food retailers and marketers.

Purchasing Eco-Sustainable Products: Interrelationship between Environmental Knowledge, Environmental Concern, Green Attitude, and Perceived Behavior

Due to eco-sustainable marketing practices, customer consciousness has increased the use of eco-sustainable goods in India. This provides new opportunities for businesses and researchers in terms of eco-sustainable behavior; however, the market analysis in India is weak. This study examines the factors that trigger consumers to purchase eco-sustainable products and the interrelationship between environmental knowledge (EK), environmental concern (EC), green attitude (GA), and perceived behavior control (PB) among Indian consumers. The data were collected from 514 respondents, using purposive and snowball sampling. Using IBM SPSS 23.0 software, we employed exploratory factor analysis, a homogeneity test, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple regression for a multicollinearity test for data analysis. The results revealed that EK, EC, and GA are positively related and strongly influence eco-friendly purchasing behavior. Moreover, EK and EC are the strongest determinants of PB for eco-friendly products. This research will help green marketers to develop new green strategies to increase sales volumes and build relationships with target green customers.

Hopes and reality: consumers’ purchase intention towards whitening cream

In contemporary Bangladeshi society, popularity, marriage, and status are weighed on a scale where the vital criterion is a fair complexion. Women are encouraged to use whitening cream in its colour-conscious culture. The present study identifies the factors that influence consumers’ purchase intention towards whitening cream. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit feedback from 275 female respondents using the convenience sampling method. Structural equation modelling and hypotheses tests were conducted to validate the model after verifying the scale items’ reliability and validity. The findings revealed that attitude, involvement, and descriptive norms were significant factors, and injunctive norms, perceived quality, and price fairness were inessential factors in explaining Bangladeshi female consumers’ purchase intention. The framework used in the study can assist in product design. The study makes an important contribution to the literature by explaining why female consumers equate whiteness with beauty. Marketers should not use deceptive advertisements to influence them falsely; they should fulfil their expectations without causing harm or inciting racism.

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown in a developing country: narratives of self-employed women in Ndola, Zambia

Women are normally self-employed in businesses involving buying and selling of goods. Such businesses were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down. The researchers explored the impact the of COVID-19 lockdown on self-employed women. The researchers used a qualitative approach. Interviews were used to collect data. Forty participants took part in the study. The data was thematically analyzed. The researchers found that participants were affected by Inadequate food supplies, Hopelessness to revive business, Poor access to health services, Psychological trauma, Defaulting medications, and Challenges of keeping children indoors. There is need to provide social and economic support to self-employed women.

Social Feedback Loop in the Organic Food Purchase Decision-Making Process

To ensure the food industry continues to grow, it is vital to properly understand the factors that impact the purchasing of organic food. Research offers ambiguous findings about what drives consumers to decide to purchase food labeled as organic. This study advances the current theories on organic food-purchasing behavior, which overlook the importance of the two-way interaction of social norms and individual behavior, suggesting that the role of social norms may have been simplified. We suggest the causal processes associated with organic food decision-making involve the social feedback loop, a powerful force that takes the current state into the phase of transition. Positive feedback is key to maintaining and developing the sustainable behavior of the society, where an initial change in consumer behavior to purchase organic food is magnified when that change resounds through social norms. This is especially pronounced in Norway and Slovenia, where marketers can make more cost- and time-efficient use of persuasive messages and requests. In addition, we provide a comprehensive delineation of organic food purchase decision-making of close to 14,000 individuals from 15 countries that includes key psychosocial antecedents, along with Schwartz’s values, attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions. Using a mixed-methods approach (i.e., statistical matching, spatial econometrics, structural equation modeling), the present paper thus intends to add to the understanding of environmentally friendly purchase behavior beyond unidirectional and single-theory relationships.

Application of artificial neural network and multiple linear regression in modeling nutrient recovery in vermicompost under different conditions

Vermicomposting is one of the best technologies for nutrient recovery from solid waste. This study aims to assess the efficiency of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models in predicting nutrient recovery from solid waste under different vermicompost treatments. Seven chemical and biological indices were studied as input variables to predict total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) recovery. The developed ANN and MLR models were compared by statistical analysis including R-squared (R²), Adjusted-R², Root Mean Square Error and Absolute Average Deviation. The results showed that vermicomposting increased TN and TP proportions in final products by 1.5 and 16 times. The ANN models provided better prediction for TN and TP with R² of 0.9983 and 0.9991 respectively, compared with MLR models with R² of 0.834 and 0.729. TN and C/N ratio were key factors for TP and TN prediction by ANN with percentages of 17.76 and 18.33.

Values and Planned Behaviour of the Romanian Organic Food Consumer

Romanian consumers have started to buy and consume more organic products. Their decision-making process is influenced by multiple variables. The theory of planned behaviour is widely accepted and used to predict behaviours in certain contexts, including the buying of organic food products. Other researchers have identified values that the consumer of organic products hold and that influence their buying behaviour. This study analyses the factors that have an impact on buying intention and behaviour of Romanian organic products from these two perspectives. A proposed model was designed by combining the two frameworks. It was evaluated by using structural equation modelling with the SmartPLS 3 software package (v. 3.2.7, SmartPLS GmbH, Bönningstedt, Germany, 2017). Results confirm the model proposed in the theory of planned behaviour while integrating the relationships of consumer values. Health consciousness was found to have a significant effect both on buying intention as well as on personal attitude. Food safety has a significant effect on buying intention regardless of personal attitude. Environmental concerns, social consciousness, perception of quality and lifestyle although important in personal attitude, do not affect buying intention directly.

The roles of pollution concerns and environmental knowledge in making green food choices: Evidence from Chinese consumers

In the face of growing environmental concerns among Chinese consumers over food contamination, this study investigates the determinants of Chinese consumers' purchase intentions and willingness to pay for rice with environmental attributes (green rice). The analysis focused especially on latent consumer traits of environmental pollution concerns and subjective environmental knowledge. The data was collected through survey questionnaires administered in three Chinese cities: Guangzhou, Wuhan and Lanzhou (n = 622). A structural equation model was estimated to generate direct and indirect effect estimates of latent and observables factors that determine consumer purchase intentions and willingness to pay for green rice. This study finds significant effects of subjective environmental knowledge on purchase intentions as well as pollution concerns on willingness to pay for green rice. While food quality concerns mediate purchase intentions and willingness to pay; individuals' socio-demographic characteristics including age, education, health status and income influence consumer choice for green rice. A relevant policy finding is that respondents who regard the government as the main agent in protecting the environment were less likely to choose green rice. Overall, the results suggest that strengthening environmental education and targeted market segmentation are necessary conditions for successfully establishing food products with labelled environmental credentials in the Chinese market.