Antecedents of Consumers’ Purchase Intention towards Organic Food: Integration of Theory of Planned Behavior and Protection Motivation Theory

TLDR

Climate change drives a need for pro‑environmental actions, such as buying organic food, yet few studies combine the Theory of Planned Behavior and Protection Motivation Theory to explain consumers’ purchase intentions. The study seeks to identify factors influencing Malaysian consumers’ intention to purchase organic food using TPB and PMT. The authors surveyed 300 respondents and applied PLS‑SEM to test the structural relationships among the TPB and PMT constructs. Results indicate that perceived vulnerability, response efficacy, self‑efficacy, subjective norm, and attitude drive purchase intention, while climate‑change and health concerns are not primary motivators for Malaysian consumers.

Abstract

Before consequences of climate change continue to intensify and increasingly affect the entire planet, immediate action must be taken. For instance, adopt the pro-environmental behaviors such as purchase of organic food to minimize the harmful human-caused impacts to the environment. This paper aims to determine the factors that influence the purchase intention of organic food in Malaysia by applying the theory of planned behavior and the protection motivation theory. A total of 300 questionnaires were collected and PLS-SEM was employed to test the structural relationships. Consequences of climate change and health threats were not the primary concerns among Malaysians when deciding whether to purchase organic food. Results show that perceived vulnerability, response efficacy, self-efficacy, subjective norm, and attitude affect purchase intention towards organic food. Consumers were more likely to have positive attitude towards organic food when they have adequate information on vulnerability of a threat and its consequences. The findings provide insights on the antecedents and outcomes of purchase intention towards organic food particularly in Malaysia. Although predictive power of perceived factors such as perceived rewards and perceived efficacy have been extensively researched in the past, there are limited studies that integrate both theories that simultaneously investigate antecedents of consumers’ purchase intention towards organic food.