What motivates consumers to purchase organic food in an emerging market? An empirical study from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of perceived values (hedonic and utilitarian), trust and subjective norms on consumers' purchasing intentions of organic food in Saudi Arabia; it also explores the moderating influence of availability on the relationship between the intentions of consumers and their actual purchasing behaviour.Design/methodology/approachA survey with 236 consumers of organic food in Saudi Arabia was carried out. The convergent and discriminant validity of latent variables was confirmed. The relationships among them were tested using Partial Least Square Modelling (PLS).FindingsThe results indicate that utilitarian and hedonic values, trust and subjective norms positively affect consumer purchase intention. They also reveal the moderating effect of availability on the relationship between consumers' purchasing intention and their actual behaviour in the Saudi Arabian context.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to knowledge about the relationships among perceived values, trust, subjective norms, availability and consumer purchasing intentions of organic food, and their actual behaviour in an emerging market. The results enlarge the understanding of consumers' purchasing behaviour in the Saudi Arabian organic food market and point out some opportunities for future research.Originality/valueThe study is original in investigating the factors that influence customers' intention and their actual purchasing behaviour toward organic food in Saudi Arabia. It is a first attempt to test the moderating influence of availability on the relationship between purchase intention and actual purchasing behaviour toward organic food products in an emerging market.