Why Do Consumers Intend to Purchase Natural Food? Integrating Theory of Planned Behavior, Value-Belief-Norm Theory, and Trust

TLDR

Natural food labels are increasingly common and valued by consumers, yet formal regulation remains absent. The study aims to identify psychosocial factors that predict consumers’ intention to purchase natural food. Using an online survey of 1,018 Italian participants, the authors tested an integrated TPB–VBN–trust model of natural food purchase intention. The integrated model proved predictive, with attitude and perceived behavioral control as the strongest antecedents, followed by trust and personal norm, and intentions also linked to evaluations of consequences, possibilities, and moral pro‑environmental judgments.

Abstract

Natural labels are increasingly present in the market and appreciated by consumers, despite formal regulation still missing. Knowing the psychosocial factors that may predict natural food choice may be useful to understand what drives consumers to choose this category of food. We analyzed the antecedents of consumers’ intention to purchase natural food, testing a theoretical model that integrates the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory, and consumers’ trust in natural food. A sample of Italian participants (N = 1018) filled an online questionnaire assessing intention to buy natural food, TPB and VBN variables, and trust in the natural food supply chain. The model applied yielded results which confirmed the predictiveness of the tested integrated model. Attitude and perceived behavioral control were the strongest antecedents of intention, followed by trust and personal norm. Consumers’ intention to buy natural food was also associated with their evaluation of the consequences and possibilities related to the purchase behavior, as well as with their moral evaluation attributable to pro-environmental determinants.