Paper Title
Factors Influencing Consumer’s Purchase Intention Of Sustainability Labeled Food Products
Abstract
Sustainable products are those products that are expected to reduce the environmental impacts and consider social and economic benefits meanwhile protecting public health and environment over the whole product life cycle, from the acquisition of raw materials to the final disposal of the product. Food processing companies play a decisive role in the entire food chain “from farm to fork” and have responsibility for sustainable development because their food processing and practical operations influence upstream and downstream activities. There are a variety of sustainability certifications and claims for food products that enable consumers to take environmental and ethical considerations into account and make informed purchasing decisions. This empirical study aims to explore what factors influence consumer’s purchase intention of sustainability labeled food products in Taiwan. The focus of this study is on exploring the influences of environmental value, perceived consumer effectiveness, and consumer’s attitude towards sustainability labeled food products on purchase intention of such food products. In addition, many consumers do not have confidence in their capabilities to purchase sustainable foods. Therefore, consumer’s confidence about the true sustainable character of sustainability labeled food products is considered as a moderator in this study. Data were collected by a survey in Taiwan. Moderated regression analysis indicated that environmental value and perceived consumer effectiveness have positive influences on consumer’s attitude towards sustainability labeled food products and purchase intention. Consumer’s attitude towards sustainability labeled food products has a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, the positive relationship between consumer’s attitude towards sustainability labeled food products and intention to purchase such food products was moderated by consumer’s confidence in sustainability labeled food products. The empirical results imply that if consumers have more confidence in sustainability labeled food products, then their purchase intention towards such food products may be increased.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C. (MOST 105-2410-H-036-003-MY3).
Keywords: Sustainability Labeled Food Products, Environmental Value, Perceived Consumer Effectiveness, Consumer’s Confidence