From Purchase Intention to Buying Behaviour: A Moderation Mediation Model of Factors Influencing Consumers Purchase of Organic Packaged Food Products

Abstract

In the last ten years, the global organic food market has grown substantially. This growth is primarily attributed to the growing consciousness of buyers regarding “health, environmental sustainability, food safety, and ethical consumption”. Even though many consumers are “inclined to purchase organic packaged food items” there is still a huge difference between the intentions of consumers concerning the acquisition of organic food and their real-world behaviour. This is called the intention-behaviour gap. The topic is interesting for many researchers, marketers, and policymakers as well. The research aims to create and test an empirical model of moderated mediation to find out what factors affect the decisions of customers who purchase organic packaged goods. The offered model includes health consciousness, environmental concern, perceived quality of organic products, perceived price, and subjective norms and advertisement as independent variables. Purchase intention is the mediating variable, while consumer trust in organic labels and brands is a moderating variable that influences the link between the willingness to purchase and real purchase behaviour. The study adopts the theoretical perspectives of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Stimulus–Organism–Response Theory, Norm Activation Theory, and Expectancy Value Theory to explain consumer decision-making processes. A quantitative research design is proposed using a structured questionnaire administered to consumers who regularly purchase packaged food products. Data are analysed through Structural Equation Modelling using SmartPLS to evaluate both direct and indirect relationships among variables. Reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, mediation analysis, moderation analysis, and hypothesis testing are performed to validate the proposed model.