What matters to promote consumers’ intention to patronize sustainable business-and-industry (B&I) food services?

Abstract

Purpose To gain strategic insights for promoting sustainable food services, especially in a business and industry (B&I) setting, the purpose of this paper is to investigate decisional factors affecting consumers’ patronage intention based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) including two additional constructs of perceived quality and personal moral norm. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was employed. Out of 978 responses, 548 (70 percent) responses which reported to have visited B&I food services more than five times a month on an average were analyzed by using structural equation modeling. Findings The study results revealed that consumers’ patronage intention toward sustainable B&I food services was well explained by the alternative extended TPB adding a new path from subjective norm to perceived behavioral control. The impact of personal moral norm on consumers’ patronage intention was the highest followed by subjective norm, attitude, and perceived behavioral control. Originality/value This study is one of the few attempts to clarify the underlying motives for patronizing sustainable food services. The study results may give insights into the mechanisms of consumers’ patronage intention formation toward sustainable B&I food services and provide useful implications for strategic measures to promote sustainable B&I food services in Korea as well as other countries sharing similar concerns and interests.