Purchase intention of organic foods from the perspective of consumers

Abstract

PurposeThe present research had the objectives of proposing, testing and validating a theoretical model that includes ecological awareness, healthy consumption, consumer attitude and price awareness as determinants of the purchase intention of organic foods and analyzing the moderating effect of gender, educational level and income of families in the relationship between price awareness and purchase intention.Design/methodology/approachA survey research was implemented with 382 Brazilians who consume organic foods from a non-probabilistic sample for convenience. For data analysis, structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed theoretical model and its respective relationships.FindingsThe results showed that ecological awareness, healthy consumption, consumer attitude and price awareness are determinants of the purchase intention of organic foods 79.1% of the variance of purchase intention of organic foods could be explained by such determinants. Another relevant result is that gender and family income has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between price awareness and the intention to purchase organic food.Originality/valueEnvironmental problems and their adverse impacts on humans have become an important issue to be analyzed by academics (researchers), governments and organizations, and their managers, especially when organic foods are considered.