Explaining consumers’ willingness to pay for local and organic food using extended theory of planned behavior model
Date
2012
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Organic food has witnessed rapid growth for more than two decades, while local food has gained popularity in recent years. This thesis was dedicated to investigate the motivations behind the intention and purchasing behavior of organic and local foods consumers employing an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model. Additionally, a Food Fashion Involvement (FFI) scale was developed to assist in explaining intention and WTP for trendy food. Eleven experimental sessions were conducted in Newark, Delaware using a sample of 128 subjects recruited from the surrounding region. Each session included several rounds of experimental auctions and questionnaires. Sweet corn and strawberry jams were chosen as experimental products respectively representing fresh and processed categories. Generally, participants exhibited the highest WTP for organic, followed by local food. For the analysis, two methods were adapted, factor analysis and tobit regression. Factor analysis was conducted on outcome beliefs and evaluation items. Latent factors were identified for consumers’ perception of organic and local. Tobit regression models were constructed using intention and WTP as the dependent variables and social demographics, the FFI scale and the TPB items as independent variables. Results of the tobit regression suggested FFI scale to be a constructive predictor of intention and WTP, especially for fresh produce. Variables of the TPB demonstrated different significance across eight models, and General Attitude and Perceived Availability were found to have the most explanation power. In order to add more dimension to the study, models were compared from three angles, including intention versus WTP, organic versus local and fresh versus processed. Results implied that a high intention did not necessarily lead to a high WTP, vice versa. Additionally, the TPB model could predict organic purchasing intentions better than the local version. Models for fresh products also demonstrated more significance than the processed ones.