Determinants of Consumer Purchase Intentions of Organically Produced Food: The Role of Environmental Concerns, Health, Trust and Accessibility

Abstract

This research forms part of a wider study which investigates a series of key determinants which were identified from extant research, and considers their impact on consumer purchase intentions towards organically produced foods in the Indian cities of Chennai and Bengaluru. This paper focuses on the collective testing of four of these key determinants, which is unique from any previous studies, in terms of understanding their relational significance on buyer behaviour from these cities. Five research objectives were generated, and these were subsequently addressed by five hypotheses. Random sampling of 1300 supermarket shoppers was conducted using primarily a quantitative questionnaire, with qualitative data being gathered on the reasoning behind respondents’ purchasing intentions. Multiple regression analysis was adopted for the four key determinants of: environmental concerns, health and life style, safety and trust, and subjective norms – and results indicated that each had a significant influence on consumer purchase intentions. Results for health and lifestyle factors showed a negative significance towards organic food purchase intentions, suggesting that Indian consumers were suspicious towards claimed health benefits of organic foods. Consequently, this finding shows little influence on organic food purchases, which contradicts the findings of previous studies. Notably, safety and trust failed to provide any significant level of association with purchase intentions of consumers, and this may be due to a lack of consumer confidence towards Indian government policies on organic food production, hence, further research is required to explore this particular determinant. Furthermore, content analysis of the qualitative data alluded to the lack of consumer accessibility to organically produced products – and this was seen as a major problem for industry development for the Indian government, manufacturers and strategists.