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INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
With increasing consumers' awareness about the environment, natural pathology, and the green world, eco-friendly products are becoming popular among consumers as they are more health-conscious and the environment protection Organic food businesses must segment the market scientifically to maximize market share People who believe in health benefits, care about protecting the environment, and want to improve their lifestyle can be potential consumers of organic food products Moreover, consumers are willing to pay for green food consumption (Bradford, 1995)
Coddington (1993) also mentions a change in consumers' opinions Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact on their health and safety Their anxiety forces enterprises to incorporate environmental issues in their decision-making (Coddington, 1993) Moreover, food quality and health consciousness are the main attractions of consumers towards organic food Besides, consumers are also aware that organic food is healthier, tastier, has no harmful effects, and has better quality than inorganic food (Dipeolu,
2009) Consumers buy organic food mainly for health benefits (Shepherd, 2005) Effective business campaigns play a prominent role in creating awareness in the minds of consumers, and they are willing to spend more money on green products (Gacia - Yi, 2015)
According to Wier & Calverley (2002), consumer interest in organic food products has increased significantly in many countries Organic food products are also one of the fastest- growing food market sectors in Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan (Harper, 2002) Today, the consumption of organic products is closely associated with health concerns and social, economic, and ecological sustainability Experts in the food industry say that the organic food product trend has not peaked, and there is still a lot of growth potential (Ebrahimi, 2007)
Various factors have contributed to the growing popularity of organic food products Possible causes are: (1) organic food products taste better than conventionally produced foods; (2) consumer's concern about health, nutrition, or environment; (3) consumer concerns about the use of chemicals and pesticides in conventional farming (Squires, Juric and Cornwell, 2001)
Purchase intention is the first step in developing demand for organic food products The consumer goes through all the stages when considering buying a product in the buying decision process In the second stage (information-seeking phase of decision-making), their information-seeking is tied to perception because presenting the information to the customer creates awareness so that customers are aware of paying attention to what is available, where to buy and why (Armstrong and Kotler, 2010) How they trust information about the product will affect them in the later stages, i.e., evaluation of alternatives and purchase intention
Many studies on the factors affecting the intention and behavior of consuming organic food products have formed worldwide According to Schlegelmilch et al., (1996), demographics is the most widely used variable to measure consumer behavior And Bagozzi et al (1998) also agreed that demographic variables such as age, gender, household income, and family size are commonly used by traders to segment markets Furthermore, they are standard and readily available, and they trust that consumer behaviors are highly related to these variables (Greenwell, Fink and Pastone, 2002)
Like the general trend in many parts of the world, organic food is gradually gaining popularity in Vietnam In recent years, the food market in Vietnam has encountered many alarming problems More and more experts are giving warnings about "dirty food" in Vietnam in the mass media According to experts, the issue of fake and unsafe food is increasing and causing many direct consequences to people's health In such a situation, consumers must protect themselves by finding safe foods for themselves and their families Terms such as safe food and organic food are gradually becoming popular These products are increasingly attracting the attention of Vietnamese consumers, especially urban consumers, of which consumers in Thai Nguyen City
In addition, modern life with increasing income makes consumers pay more attention to their health Therefore, using foods of purely natural origin is gradually gaining popularity, and the organic food market has also become vibrant
A recent Nielsen research report showed that, so far, health and work have become to be the top concerns of Vietnamese consumers, in which 44% of people surveyed said that health is the most concern
Besides, as a developing country with a large population and standard of living, organic food consumption is more likely to develop in Vietnam The more people fear
"dirty food," the more conscious they are of using clean food Especially in the current context, when the world faces the Covid-19 epidemic, consumers pay more attention to their health The Covid-19 outbreak has left many changes in consumers' habits and behaviors and created new trends, from proactively purchasing safe and healthy products to stocking up on essential food at home
Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, the demand for organic food is higher than in the past It is due to: (i) a more increased need for health protection Today, consumers have begun to pay more attention to food choices to improve their resistance In addition, because many localities must implement social distancing according to the government's directive, large wholesale and small markets must close for sale Only essential food stores and supermarkets are allowed to open; (ii) People also limit going out Thus, people will tend to hoard clean food and buy many utensils in one purchase
However, consumers' knowledge about organic food products and buying behavior is still not much In addition, the research on organic food in Asia is quite limited (Sobhanifard et al., 2018), especially in the context of emerging markets (Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai et al.,
2018) including Vietnam Besides, in the context of being an emerging market, with a transforming economy, Vietnamese consumers' purchasing behavior in general and organic food purchase behavior, in particular, may be influenced by many factors such as health, environment, product quality, self-perception, etc (Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai et al., 2018) Currently, organic food products in Vietnam still have a high selling price (Giang,
2018), so it can be considered a high-class product (Nielsen, 2016) and suitable for consumers' shopping in urban Vietnam, including Thai Nguyen city Besides, while consumers in urban Vietnam in general and Thai Nguyen city, in particular, face the problem of "dirty" food, consumers in rural areas can be self-sufficient in food products to ensure food safety and hygiene for their needs Therefore, it can say that consumers in urban areas pay more attention to foods in general and organic food products in particular, thus selecting research subjects living in Thai Nguyen city to ensure the urgency of the research
Objectives of the Study
The study's general objective is to determine the factors affecting purchase intentions for organic food products among consumers in Thai Nguyen City: basis for a marketing plan Specifically, the research aimed to:
1 identify the study respondents' profile in terms of sex, age, household income, and education level
2 determine the factors concerning consumers’ attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, health concerns, environment concerns, trust, and price
3 determine the purchase intentions for organic food products among consumers
4 determine differences in factors such as attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, health concerns, environment concerns, trust, and price according to consumers’ profiles
5 determine whether factors such as attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, health concerns, environment concerns, trust, and price are related to purchase intention
6 determine differences in purchase intention when consumers are grouped according to their profile
7 prepare a markering plan for enterprises that sell organic food products.
Hypotheses
H1 There are no significant differences in factors such as attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, health concerns, environment concerns, trust, and price according to consumers’ profiles,
H2 There is no significant relationship between factors such as attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, health concerns, environment concerns, trust, price, and purchase intention
H3 There are no significant differences in purchase intention when consumers are grouped according to their profile.
Theoretical Framework
In 1991, after applying the theory of rational behavior (TRA) developed by Fishbein and Ajzen in 1975, to study human behavior in general and consumer behavior Fishbein and Ajzen have received much feedback from researchers about the weak point of the model, that is, people's perception of difficulties and obstacles in performing the behavior (Ajzen I , The Theory of Planned Behavior, 1991) On that basis, Ajzen proposed the Theory of Planned Behaviors with the vital addition of the Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) variable to the TRA model
According to Fishbein and Ajzen, before performing a behavior, people (including consumers) will intend to perform that behavior first, thus different from other theories of human behavior Accordingly, Ajzen's theory of planned behavior and, before that, Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of rational behavior consider and place the intention variable at the center of the model (Ajzen, 1991; 2012) Next, in turn, people's intention to perform a behavior is affected by attitude towards behavior, subjective norm (Ajzen, 2012; Ajzen and Fishbein,
2005) While attitude towards a behavior is a set of beliefs or comes from a person's assumptions about that behavior, the subjective norm is a collection or derived from common normative and normative beliefs Fishbein and Ajzen define attitudes toward a behavior as
"the degree to which an individual approves or disapproves of the behavior," which is different from more general attitudes such as attitudes toward an object or event; this is the attitude towards the behavior (Aijen, 1991) In organic food research, the attitudinal variable is understood as the attitude towards purchasing organic food However, some studies also mentioned attitudes to organic foods, the environment, attitudes to health, etc Still, this attitude does not coincide with the attitudes mentioned in the model of Fishbein and Ajzen (Aijen, 1991) Subjective norm is understood as "people's perception of social pressure to perform or not to perform a behavior." When people perform a specific behavior, they will perceive that they are judged by society, relatives, and people around them for achieving that behavior These pressures will act to prevent them from doing so Consumers will feel when they consume or do not consume organic products in purchasing organic food products They all receive the judgment of those who, according to them, is essential to them These judgments, if they feel criticized, disparaged, will tend to reduce their intention to buy organic food On the contrary, if they feel supported and praised, consumers will increase their purchase intention of organic food products
As mentioned above, after Fishbein and Ajzen proposed the theory of rational behavior (TRA), many researchers have said the factors that hinder or control human behavior On that basis, in 1991, Ajzen conducted a review and supplemented the perceived behavioral control variable into the TRA model and gave this model a new name, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) According to Ajzen, this is an integral part of the theory of planned behavior and is the one that distinguishes it from TRA Perceived behavioral control is defined as “A person's perception of the ease or difficulty of doing a behavior” This factor affects the intention to perform the behavior and people's behavior In the study of organic food, the cognitive factors that control behavior are mentioned by researchers through many factors: price, availability, etc The theory of planned behavior is shown in Figure 1, as below:
Figure 1.1 Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)
TPB assumes three conceptually independent determinants of intention Firstly, the attitude towards the behavior and the degree of favorable or unfavorable evaluation of a person towards the behavior The second is a social factor called subjective norm; it refers to the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior The third is perceived behavioral control It refers to the ease or difficulty of performing the behavior
Thus, the Theory of Planned Behavior is not only one of the theoretical frameworks widely applied to mere buying behaviors, but also widely used in explaining the consumption behavior of organic products of studies in many different countries (Arvola, 2008), including countries with developing and transition economies like that of Vietnam
According to Schwartz's values theory, value factors are also in the group of elements widely used in research on organic food products These factors have a strong connection with the theory of planned behavior of Ajzen (1991) in the study of food consumption behavior, including organic food According to Schwartz, there are 11 types of values that can motivate and influence a person's intentions and behavior, including:
Self-direction is independence in thought and action to choose, create, and discover
Self-direction is defined as stemming from the human need for control and mastery and the need to interact autonomously and independently Values that fall into this category include creativity, freedom, choosing your own goals, curiosity, independence, and self-respect (Schwartz, 1992)
Stimulation stems from the assumption that humans require variety and inspiration to maintain optimal functioning The motivating goals of these values are excitement, novelty, and life challenges (including a colorful life, an exciting life, a life of adventure) (Schwartz, 1992)
Hedonism: This type of value is derived from the human need for pleasure combined with satisfaction The motivational goals of these values are pleasure or sensuous gratification of an individual, such as satisfaction and enjoyment of life (Schwartz, 1992)
Power: it is a single fundamental value rather than simply a common demand, and it is a universal element in all cultures The central motivational goals of power values are attaining social status and prestige, control and domination of others and resources, precisely: authority, wealth, social power, preserving my public image, and social recognition (Schwartz, 1992)
Achievement: the defined goal of these values is personal success through demonstrating one's abilities according to social standards, including ambition, success, capability, influential (Schwartz, 1992)
Security: the motivational goals of this value are safety, harmony, social stability, relationships, and self
Restrictive compliance: the goals of this value are restraint of action, inclinations, the urge to overthrow or harm someone in violation of what is expected or accepted by society
Tradition: the motivational goals of this value are respect, commitment, accepting that someone's cultural or religious customs and ideas influence their actions
And other values like Spirituality, Benevolence, Universalism
The Values Theory is shown in Figure 2, as below:
Many studies on organic food products have mentioned factors closely related to Schwartz's value theory, such as Safety or Health factors (Schifferstein and Ophuist, 1998; Chen, 2009; Sobhanifard, 2018); Hedonism with factors such as taste, etc (Magnusson et al., 2001; Stobbelaar et al., 2007); Charity, Benevolence with factors such as environmental friendliness; Power with factors such as wealth represented by price, etc (Thứgersen, 2003; Krystallis, 2008)
1.4.3 General Theory of Marketing Ethics
In 1986, Hunt and Vitell published "A General Theory of Marketing Ethics," revised and supplemented in 2006 This theory is quite like the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen
(1991) when it argues that behavior begins with intention According to the authors, people's ethical behavior is influenced by their moral judgment, which will affect the intention to perform the ethical behavior The last result is to serve the act People's ethical judgments depend on how they judge behavior or purpose In other words, whether they are "Deontology or Teleology." If according to "Deontology," they will appreciate the correctness of behavior; to them, ethical behavior is a behavior that conforms to social norms, regardless of the result of that behavior For them, "a lie is always a lie."
In contrast, teleologists will place a high value on the consequences of the behavior rather than on the behavior itself According to them, a behavior is acceptable when its results are suitable for everyone Even though the behavior to produce that outcome may not conform to the social standard, they espouse "a lie for the good thing" (Hunt and Vitell, 1986; Hunt and Vitell, 2006) The General Theory of Marketing Ethics is shown in Figure 1.3, as follow:
Figure 1.3 General Theory of Marketing Ethics
Conceptual Framework
The author in turn studies and uses some popular models including the TPB model of Ajzen (1991), Values Theory of Schwartz (1992), and General Theory of Marketing Ethics off Hunt and Vitell (1986, 2006) combined with the 4Ps Marketing of Philip Kotler (2015)
At each step of the developing demand for organic food products, consumer’ purchase intention is influenced by different factors
From the above original theories, the study has drawn some relationships between the factors as follows: (i) According to TPB theory, the attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control have relationship with consumption intetion; (ii) According to the Values Theory model, factors such as health concern, price and trust affect the purchase intention of consumers; (iii) According to General Theory of Marketing Ethics, factor of enviroment conern affects consumer's purchase intention; (iv) By understanding consumer intention, marketing researchers could develop more effective strategies from new products and services to improving performance of existing products and services Therefore, based on Philip Kotler's 4P model and the impact of factors, the author proposes a marketing plan for supermarkets and organic food businesses
Empirical researches has indicated that intention to purchase organic food products is influenced by attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, health concern, environment concern, price, and trust For example, Vassallo et al (2015) also has confirmed that the attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control towards buying organic food products is the most substantial factor affecting their purchase intention It is bigger than the affecting of past buying behavior (Vassallo et al., 2015)
Doorn (2015) and Magnusson (2001) confirmed that the high price prevents consumers from buying organic food products Although they have a good attitude towards it and consider buying it as good for health or as wise, they are not willing to buy it
Nuttavuthisit and Thứgersen (2017) reported that consumers purchase organic food products because they are healthier and more environmentally friendly than normally alternative products Health concern and environment concern appears the most essential reason for buying organic food products (Nuttavuthisit and Thứgersen, 2017; Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai et al., 2018; Seyfang, 2011; Cho and Krasser, 2011; Hsu et al., 2016; Khurshid et al., 2018)
Sobhanifard (2018) indicated that the trust is one of the strongest and positive factors affecting the consumption behavior of organic food products (Sobhanifard, 2018) It can be said that consumer confidence is a prerequisite for building a market for products, especially organic food products (Nuttavuthisit and Thөgersen, 2017) Consumers often have expectations about the results of organic food product consumption through their level of Trust, thereby influencing their Attitude towards buying behavior (Nuttavuthisit and Thөgersen 2017)
In most studies on consumer behavior, researchers believe that demographic is always an important factor affecting their behavior, including buying organic food Demographic factors that are often mentioned in behavioral studies are gender, education, age, and income
Magnusson et al (2001), Doorn and Verhoef (2015) suggested that women have a higher intention to buy organic food products than men
As an eco-friendly product, the organic food product is often expected from consumers knowledgeable about the product It usually requires customers to have a certain level of education (Ngobo, 2011) People with higher education levels will buy more organic food products (Doorn and Verhoef, 2015; Dimitri and Dettmann, 2012)
Young consumers (18-25) often have a more positive attitude towards organic food products (Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, 2018), and they are more likely to buy organic food products as an alternative to conventional food in the future (Magnusson et al., 2001)
Household income is considered the most influential factor in buying behavior of organic food due to the high price of this product Therefore, many researchers have included the household income factor in their research These studies have recorded statistically significant results between buying organic food products and household income (Dimitri and Dettmann, 2012; Garcia-Yi, 2015; Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, 2018)
From the above relationships, the dissertation proposes the conceptual framework, which is shown in Figure 1.5
Figure 1.4 Factors affecting purchase intentions of consumers
Definition of Terms
The following key terms are defined conceptually and operationally
Purchase Intention of organic food products
Age refers to a long time in terms of years the respondent has lived from date of birth up to last birthday (General Statistics Office of Viet Nam, 2021) In this study, the age of consumers is from 18 to 65 years old The age group has been categorised into 4 as below:
Sex refers to the physical differences between people who are male or female A person typically has their sex assigned at birth based on physiological characteristics, including their genitalia and chromosome composition (Emelia Arquilla, 2021) This assigned sex is called a person’s “natal sex.” In this study, sex refers to male and female
Education level According to the International Standard Classification of Education
(ISCED), "levels of education are an ordered set of categories, intended to group educational programs concerning gradations of learning experiences and the knowledge, skills, and competencies which each program is designed to impart" (OECD, 2017)
In this study, the respondents' levels of education include not yet graduated from high school, graduated from high school, graduated from college/university, postgraduate education
Household Income "Household income is the sum of household final consumption expenditure and savings (minus the change in net equity of households in pension funds) It also corresponds to the sum of wages and salaries, mixed-income, net property income, net current transfers, and social benefits other than social transfers in kind, fewer taxes on income and wealth, and social security contributions paid by employees, the self-employed, and the unemployed" (OECD, 2017)
This study referred to the actual amount of household income earned by the respondent per month The household income level has been categorised into 5 as below:
Househole Income (million VND/month) Interpretation
From 20 or more Very High
Attitude Attitude towards purchasing behavior is defined as an individual's positive or negative feelings about performing a particular behavior, attitude towards behavior as measured by the degree to which an individual evaluates, identifies When deciding whether to approve or disapprove of that behavior, the attitude is the result of the attitudes toward customer evaluations (Mai, 2016)
In this study, attitude was measure by a 6-item questionnaire which was answered by a
5 – point Likert scale (1 - Strongly disagree”, “2 - Disagree”, “3 - Neutral”; “4 - Agree” and
“5 - Strongly agree) The mean value of the responses to the 6 items indicated the respondents’ attitude to organic food products The higher mean, the more positive the consumer’s attitude towards organic food products And the interpretation of the items according to the mean are the following:
Subjective norm A personal perception that the behavior should or should not perform
It is affected by the awareness of significant others (e.g., parents, spouse, friends, teachers) (Mai, 2018; Hung 2019)
In this study, subjective norm was measure by a 5-item questionnaire which was answered by a 5 – point Likert scale (1 - Strongly disagree”, “2 - Disagree”, “3 - Neutral”; “4
- Agree” and “5 - Strongly agree) The mean value of the responses to the 5 items indicated the respondents’ subjective norm towards organic food products The higher mean, the higher the consumer’s subjective norm towards organic food products And the interpretation of the items according to the mean are the following:
Perceived Behavioral Control A personal perception of the ease or difficulty of performing a particular behavior It depends on the availability of resources and opportunities to serve the behavior Ajzen suggested that the perceived behavioral control directly affects the propensity to perform the behavior If the individual correctly perceives their degree of control, behavioral control also predicts the behavior Perceived behavioral control is conceptually related to self-efficacy (Mai, 2018; Hung 2019)
In this study, Perceived Behavioral Control was measure by a 5-item questionnaire which was answered by a 5 – point Likert scale (1 - Strongly disagree”, “2 - Disagree”, “3 - Neutral”; “4 - Agree” and “5 - Strongly agree) The mean value of the responses to the 5 items indicated the respondents’ Perceived Behavioral Control to organic food products The higher mean, the higher consumer’s Perceived Behavioral Control towards organic food products And the interpretation of the items according to the mean are the following:
Health concern “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” Health can be concerned by encouraging healthful activities, such as regular physical exercise and adequate sleep, and eat green or organic food products (Hung, 2019)
In this study, health concern was measure by a 6-item questionnaire which was answered by a 5 – point Likert scale (1 - Strongly disagree”, “2 - Disagree”, “3 - Neutral”; “4
- Agree” and “5 - Strongly agree) The mean value of the responses to the 6 items indicated the respondents’ health concern towards organic food products The higher mean, the more positive consumer’s health concern towards organic food products And the interpretation of the items according to the mean are the following:
Environment concern is "perceiving environmental problems as serious, supporting efforts by the government to protect environmental quality" and as "engaging in behaviors aimed at improving environmental quality" (Hung, 2019)
In this study, environment concern was measure by a 5-item questionnaire which was answered by a 5 – point Likert scale (1 - Strongly disagree”, “2 - Disagree”, “3 - Neutral”; “4
- Agree” and “5 - Strongly agree) The mean value of the responses to the 5 items indicated the respondents’ environment concern towards organic food products The higher mean, the more positive consumer’s environment concern towards organic food products And the interpretation of the items according to the mean are the following:
Price According to Kotler and Armstrong (2009, p 263), the price is "the amount of money charged for a product or service, or the sum of all the values that customers give up gaining the benefit of having or using a product or service" (Philip Kotler, 2009)
In this study, price was measure by a 5-item questionnaire which was answered by a 5 – point Likert scale (1 - Strongly disagree”, “2 - Disagree”, “3 - Neutral”; “4 - Agree” and “5 - Strongly agree) The mean value of the responses to the 5 items indicated the price towards organic food products The higher mean, the more consumers care about the price of organic food products And the interpretation of the items according to the mean are the following:
Trust is a “psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectations of the intentions or behavior of another under conditions of risk and interdependence” (Hung, 2019)
In this study, the trust was measure by a 5-item questionnaire which was answered by a
5 – point Likert scale (1 - Strongly disagree”, “2 - Disagree”, “3 - Neutral”; “4 - Agree” and
“5 - Strongly agree) The mean value of the responses to the 5 items indicated the respondents’ trust towards organic food products The higher mean, the more positive consumer’s trust towards organic food products And the interpretation of the items according to the mean are the following:
Significance of the study
The results of this research would provide significant benefits to the following individuals or groups of individuals:
Science: The study has found a suitable model for the research on purchase intention of organic food products among consumers in Thai Nguyen city The study also built a new scale for the health concern factor, and determined the influence of each factor on consumers' intention to buy organic food products in Thai Nguyen city This research will pave the way to do more scientific/agricultural researches to come up with an organic plan to gain traction in the market
Management boards The management of the supermarket which sells organic food products would benefit from this study because it provides empirical evidence to them that could be used as their basis to ensure a better understanding of the influence of factors on purchase intentions on organic food products They may also collect user information It will help the enterprises of organic food products in coming out with a better marketing plan
Consumers The consumers who live in Thai Nguyen City would gain significant benefits from this study because whatever reforms the management would implement based on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations in this study would redound to their benefits as ultimate beneficiaries
Consumers from other places outside Thai Nguyen city The consumers will learn a lot from this study on organic food products Hence, they should be patronizing organic products in their locality
Staff Supermarket employees will benefit significantly from this research as it provides objective evidence of various feedback mechanisms about consumer behavior It also helps them better understand customers' intention to consume organic food, thereby further improving the quality of service they provide to customers
Producers: Understanding the factors affecting the purchase intention for organic food products will help producers have the right production orientation and in accordance with the actual needs of consumers At the same time, it helps manufacturers to switch from conventional food production to organic food more quickly and efficiently
Government Agencies/Agriculture sector Government Agencies like Agriculture sector will learn how consumer view organic products They can come up with programs in their towns/cities to develop organic food production
Future Researchers Other researchers would greatly benefit from this study because the findings, conclusions, and recommendations in this study could be used as their basis for conducting similar future studies.
Scope and Limitations of the Study
This study aims to determine the factors affecting purchase intention on organic food products of consumers in Thai Nguyen city for period 2021 - 2022, utilized the descriptive - correlational research design Thirty-seven (37) items of seven dimensions were constructed to measure the factors affecting consumer’s purchase intention, eight (8) items were used to measure their purchase intention Data was collected in 5 supermarkets in Thai Nguyen City, including Minh Cau supermarket; GO supermarket, Winmart; Lan Chi supermarket; Thanh Do Supermarket The respondents in the study are comsumers who have shopped in 5 supermarkets in Thai Nguyen city, and whose age ranges from 18 to 65 years old
The data of the study includes secondary and primary data The research's secondary data is collected through relevant journal articles, books, and other publications And the primary data of the research was collected within one month, from February to March 2022 Data analysis time was from April to May 2022 Writing final dissertation time was from May to June 2022 Survey was conducted with consummers in 5 supermarkets in Thai Nguyen city Convenient sampling was worked The statistical tools were t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearsons’ and multiple regression, all set at 0.05 level of significane.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
Related Literature
2.1.1 Definition of Organic Food Products
In the world, there are many standards for organic food such as USDA (USA), Japan, TCVN 11041 (Vietnam), etc Each country's standard regulates the production process of organic products differently, but they all have content related to regulations on land, water, fertilizer management, pollution control, etc Standards for organic food production include:
Crop Standards This standard stipulates: (i) Soil is free of banned substances for at least 3 years before harvesting; (ii) Soil fertility and plant nutrients will be managed through tillage and farming practices, crop rotation and cover, the addition of waste and licensed synthetic materials; (iii) Plant pests, weeds and diseases will be controlled mainly through management measures including physical, mechanical and biological control; (iv) Organic seeds must be used; (v) Prohibit the use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation
Livestock and Poultry Standards This standard requires: (i) Dairy animals and animals for slaughter must be raised organically from the last 1/3 of gestation; (ii) Producers must feed their livestock with 100% organic food; (iii) All organic livestock and poultry are required year-round outdoor access
Handling Standards This standard specifies: (i) All non-agricultural ingredients must be permitted under the National List of Permitted and Prohibited Substances; (ii) In a multi- ingredient product labeled as “organic”, all agricultural ingredients must be produced organically, unless the ingredients are not commercially available in organic form
Based on the standards of organic food production, many studies on an organic food product do not have a high consensus on its definition Organic food is often defined by signs and biological characteristics such as naturally produced, green, environmentally friendly, sustainable, and limited artificial chemicals (Schiefferstein, 1998) Other studies define organic food as food grown without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, and growth hormones (Sobhanifard, 2018) Organic food is natural product without artificial chemicals such as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, and genetically modified organisms Besides, it is not irradiated (Marwa and Scott, 2013) Therefore, organic food products are considered safe and healthy because they do not use synthetic chemicals in production process (Suprapto and Wijaya, 2012) Literature review showed many terms concerning the organic food product, such as "natural," "local," "fresh," and "pure" (Chan, 2001) Similarly, in Viet Nam, Mai et al (2018) also indicated that organic food is produced by methods that do not use harmful pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and chemicals (Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai., 2018)
Synthesized from previous studies, it can be generalized that organic food product is produced without synthetic chemicals such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers, aromatics, preservatives, genetically modified ingredients, without drugs to avoid diseases, etc In addition, when defining organic food, some researchers added attention to animal welfare and the environment (Schiefferstein, 1998; Stobbelaar, 2007)
Based on previous studies, it can be defined: “Organic food products are environmentally friendly foods, produced with non-GMO ingredients, without using toxic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, growth promoters, chemical fertilizers, and antibiotics”
2.1.2 Purchase Intention of Organic Food Products
According to Fishbein and Ajzen, behavioral intention is the best predictor of human behavior (Aijen,1991) Many studies also agree with this statement, especially studies on the purchase intention of green food products (Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, 2016) Some studies also show a high level of behavioral predictability of behavioral intention by implicitly treating intention and behavior as the same things (Hung, 2016)
Intention to perform a behavior is considered as a set of motivational factors affecting the behavior The intention is an effort of an individual to plan to serve the behavior (Aijen,
1991) Thus, the intention to buy organic food products is a set of factors that motivate consumers to buy them And it represents the efforts of individuals in buying organic food products
Attitude is the most important predective factor of intention to purchase organic food products The relationship between attitude and purchase intention is believed to be positive and meaningful (Kozup et al., 2003) Besides attitude, subjective norm also influences the consumption of organic food products (Aertsens et al., 2009a, 2009b)
The attendence of packaged food labels carrying nutritional and health information strongly influences attitude and purchase intentions Consumers have better attitude towards products with detailed nutritional information on the label (Kozup et al., 2003) Such efforts make consumers more interested in their health They want to occupy in healthy behaviors and eat nutritious foods (Gould, 1988; Baker et al., 2004)
Ethical issues constitute another significant factor because people believed that their behavior are guided based on environmental concerns The higher the probability of consuming healthy food products when the concern is greater (Honkanen et al., 2006) And people feel that organic food are ethical products (Crane, 2001) Alwitt and Pitts (1996) showed that many buyers not only believe in fair trade practices but also want to purchase products that the manufacturer has made ethically (Moore, 2004)
Auger et al (2003) focus on ethical consumerism They imply the importance of social components of a firm's products Consumers are only interested in consuming products that are safe for society Doran (2009) emphasizes that knowledge of fair trade, objective trade information, and overall interest influence purchasing behavior The essential factors of ethical consumption depend on social standing, the fair trade, the environmentaly concern, and the religious engagement (Doran and Natale, 2011) Due to the above factors, consumers’ interest in healthy food has increased markedly And there are differences in the importance of incentives and barriers related to consumer’s behavior on organic food products (Padel and Foster, 2005)
By understanding consumer intention and behavior, marketing researchers could develop more effective strategies from new products and services to improving performance of existing products and services (Peter & Olson, 2010) Marketing strategies should be developed, implemented, and changed based on consumer research and analysis Clearly, marketing strategy should be designed not only to influence consumers but also to be influenced by them (Peter & Olson, 2010) To accurately predict consumer behavior, marketers should measure factors influencing consumers’ intentions as well as barriers that can weaken the relationship between the behavioral intentions and the actual behaviors of consumers
According to the TPB model, marketers could gain an insight into attitudes and purchase intentions and barriers that consumer have for organic food It is critical for marketers to understand what type of product knowledge and beliefs consumers have and what is different from their own expectations of the knowledge and beliefs of consumers For instance, do consumers see organic food as healthy, safe, and environmental? How do consumers look at the benefits and risks of organic food consumption by considering the positive and negative consequences? Based on the research and analysis of consumers, the time-honored marketing strategy involving the 4Ps of marketing (product, promotion, price, and place) would ultimately influence consumer behavior
Empirical Related Studies
The study of Musdiana Mohamad Salleh et al., (2010) probides to gather knowledge about consumers’ attitudes towards organic food products It collected a sample size of 136 lecturers from Teknologi MARA University (North) Data were analyzed using reliability tests, correlation analysis, and regression analysis Research results indicated that academicians are aware of what is happening with their surroundings regarding environmental issues or ecological concerns Health consciousness has more impact on customers' intention to buy organic food products than environmental concerns Environment concerns are thought to be less impactful because academicians find that their knowledge of environmental and ecological factors can contribute to ecological sustainability Their current consumption will not change their perception of organic food products, no matter how they are good Thus, this study will explain the reasons for purchases and help marketers establish an appropriate communication message to different buyers The sample was limited to a single geographical area in Malaysia Future research should extend to all states in Malaysia and investigate how consumers perceive organic food products to build sustainable consumption patterns
The research model indicating the relationship between psychographic variables and purchase intention of organic food products is presented in Figure 2.1
Figure 2.1: Factors affecting purchase intention on organic food products by Musdiana
(Source: Musdiana Mohamad Salleh et al., 2010)
The concept of organic food products is still in the infant stage in Malaysia Thus, it is necessary to gain knowledge about the consumer’s behavior towards organic food products The study of Mohd Shoki Bin Md Ariff* et al (2014) examines the perception, purchase intention, and actual purchasing behavior of consumers and their interrelationships in the context of organic food products This study is based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (1991) and previous studies on organic food products 18 items of 4 dimensions were developed to measure consumers’ perception of organic food, six items were used to measure their purchase intention, and six items were consulted to determine consumers’ actual buying behavior The data of this study were collected in supermarkets and surrounding areas in Kluang District, Johor, Malaysia The study used a convenient sampling method with a sample size of 288 consumers Research results showed that consumers’ perceptions of the product’s safety, health, environment friendly significantly influenced the purchase intention on organic food products The quality of organic food products has no significant impact on their purchase intention The actual purchase behavior is crucially influenced by the purchase intention There are significant differences in the purchase intention on organic food products by gender, age, income level, education level, and respondents' area of residence Theoretically, this study supports the view that consumers' perception of organic food products will influence purchase intentions and actual product purchase The findings of this study suggested helpful information for enterprises to develop effective marketing strategies in Malaysia The research model is presented in Figure 2.2 as below
Figure 2.2: Research model of Consumers Perception, Purchase Intention, and Actual
Purchase Behavior of Organic Food Products
(Source: Mohd Shoki Bin Md Ariff et al., 2014)
The study of Rambalak Yadav and Govind Swaroop Pathak (2016) used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) of Ajzen (1991) to investigate consumer purchasing intentions towards organic food products in the context of a developing country such as India The study has inherited and developed factors such as moral attitude, health consciousness, and the Environment concern to TPB and measured its relevance in the model With a sample size of 220 young consumers and a convenient sampling method The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to evaluate the strength of the relationships between the structures The findings reported that TPB partially supported the intention to buy organic food products Among the complementary constructs incorporated, ethical attitudes and health consciousness positively influenced consumers' intention to purchase organic food products The study supported the inclusion of new constructs in TPB because it improved the predictive power of the proposed framework in determining consumers' purchase intention on organic food products The research model is presented in Figure 2.3 as follows
Figure 2.3: Research model of Rambalak Yadav and Govind Swaroop Pathak (2016)
(Source: Rambalak Yadav and Govind Swaroop Pathak 2016)
The study of Justin Paul and Jyoti Rana (2012) focuses on factors affecting consumers' purchase intention on organic food products These factors create environmental awareness and develop consumers’ ecological preferences that influence purchase intention It becomes easier for eco-conscious consumers to include organic food products in their regular purchases and satisfy them Consumers buy organic food if the overall satisfaction is more than from the inorganic food, but their satisfaction levels are different for different attributes The research model is as shown in Figure 2.4 below:
Figure 2.4 Consumer behavior and purchase intention for organic food by Justin Paul & Joyti Rana, 2012
Organic food products are more nutritious, healthier, and more nature-friendly than conventional foods Therefore, consumers are switching to organic food products and are willing to pay a high price The study of Anupam Singh & Priyanka Verma (2017) aims to examine the factors that influence the purchase intention of organic food products For this purpose, the data was collected from 611 Indian consumers by a structured questionnaire Data were analyzed using different techniques such as factor analysis, t-test, ANOVA analysis, and regression analysis Research results have shown that four factors (health consciousness, knowledge, subjective norm, and price) affect consumers' purchase intention on organic food products However, the intention to buy organic food products is influenced by these four factors along with an additional factor (i.e., availability)
Furthermore, this study found that demographic factors (age, education, and income) impact consumers' purchase intention This study provides a better understanding of consumers' attitudes, purchase intentions, and actual purchasing behavior towards organic food products The findings have implications for companies in the organic food industry, retailers, and market regulators The study also provides guidelines and suggestions for retailers and marketers dealing in organic food products and aims to expand the organic food product market
The paper of Nor Asiah Omar et al (2016) investigates the effect of demographic factors on purchase intention of the organic food product The authors collected a sample size of 150 respondents via convenience sampling in a shopping mall in Malaysia's Klang Valley This research used five demographic variables, including gender, age, income, education
Quality, Taste, etc level, and children's attendance in the household The research results revealed that gender, age, and education level did significantly impact consumer intention to purchase organic food products These results will attract those interested in consumer behavior regarding organic food consumption and the development of Malaysia's organic food industry
The research of Arpita Khare (2018) examined the moderating role of demographics on attitude towards organic food purchase behavior and collected data in six cities in India The research results showed that consumers' attitude towards organic food purchase was influenced by income, gender, and age Environmental attitude and demographic factors like income, age, and gender can be used to profile consumers
The study of Isabelle Cristina Galindo Curvelo et al (2019) aims to analyze the influence of attributes, consumer trust and perceived value on purchase intention of organic food Descriptive quantitative research was conducted through a survey of 247 valid cases of organic food consumers For the purposes of analysis, exploratory factorial and linear regression analyzes were chosen Exploratory factor analysis showed that all tested constructs were valid for the Brazilian context Linear regression analyses showed that emotional value, consumer trust and the attribute “sensory appeal” affect the purchase intention of organic food Emotional value had a stronger relationship and sensory appeal showed a negative relationship with purchase intention Research results can help managers increase the likelihood of buying organic foods through strategic marketing management focused on emotional value and sensory appeal factors
These days, consumers are more inclined towards a healthy lifestyle They understand the quality of food intake directly affects their health Consuming organic food is a good option available to them India being a big producer of organic food has started showing interest towards consumption of organic food Understanding of consumer is very important for marketers for the holistic growth of organic food market The study of Deepak Pandey et al (2019) aims is to comprehend the key factors affecting purchase intention of the Indian organic customers This study has used a semi-structured questionnaire on 200 organic customers and proposed a research model The data analysis has used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and identified that all the indicating variables have reflected their underlying constructs After undergoing CFA, it is also established that the acceptable fit to the data has been reflected by the measurement model Moreover, path analysis was used to check the predicted causal relationship among the latent constructs (structural model) Contribution to the sustainable environment is the target of mature organizations The proposed relationship model for purchase intention may help organization dealing in an organic food market
The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a great impact and change on people’s lives It has also caused people to pay attention to food health As a new industry in the era of environmental protection, organic food has gained the favor of consumers The study of Haichuan Ding et al (2021) investigated the factors that influence consumers’ intention to purchase organic food, such as safety, food value, reviews and positive emotions, and the relationship between them The data were collected by a survey of 77 consumers Structure Equation modeling was used to analyze the data and test the hypothesized relationship This paper aimed to find what factors affect consumers’ purchasing behavior and how they do that
It was concluded that food value, safety, comment, and positive emotions have different degrees of influence on consumers’ purchase intention, and this conclusion has macroscopic implications that can be widely applied to other aspects
The present paper of Anchal Arora et al (2022) ranks the factors and sub-criteria which are taken into consideration while making organic purchase decisions resulting in understanding the behaviour of consumers The present paper considered a sample of 550 respondents in Punjab Fuzzy AHP technique was applied to understand the key factors and sub-criteria which play a major role in organic food purchase decisions The paper is empirical and descriptive in nature The factors considered for the study include price, consumer knowledge, trust, attitude, behavioural intentions, subjective norms, perceived personal relevance and perceived consumer effectiveness The three major influential factors include price, trust and attitude ranked in the same order of preference which majorly affects the purchase decisions and talking about sub-criteria the three major criteria to purchase organic food include: “Price plays a significant role in purchase decisions (P2)”, “Organic food keeps me fit and healthy (A1)” and “Organic food intake makes me feel energetic (A2)” The findings of this paper will surely help the marketers to understand the behavioural intentions and preferences of the customers Accordingly, they will strategize the policies to convert organic food market into a niche market with a high growth rate
The study of Mai et al (2016) examines the model of the impact of several factors on the green consumption intention of young consumers in Hanoi City The author used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze The research results showed that individuality and the collective positively correlate to the attitude of green consumption through the intermediate variable The research results also indicated that the adventurous and self-made styles positively impact the intention to consume green products In contrast, the fashion style and electrical engineering do not affect the intention to buy these products This research discusses research results, and suggestions are made for young consumers, business administrators, and policymakers The research model is shown in Figure 2.5
Figure 2.5: Research model of Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai et al., 2016
(Source: Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai et al., 2016) (Nor Asiah Omar, 2016)
Research Model Of The Study
In this study, the researcher employed the TBP model of Ajzen (1991), Values Theory of Schwartz (1992), and General Theory of Marketing Ethics off Hunt and Vitell (1986, 2006) to determine the factors affecting to purchase intention of organic food products of consumers in Thai Nguyen city
The independent variables in this study include eight variables: Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, trust, price, environment concerns, health concerns The dependent variable is the consumer's purchase intention of organic food products Figure 2.9 below clearly shows the hypothetical relationships between these research variables
Figure 2.9 Factors affecting purchase itentions of consumers
The research model used in this study, shown in Figure 2, is inherited and developed from the theory of planned behavior (TPB) of Ajzen (1991), Values Theory of Schwartz
(1992), and General Theory of Marketing Ethics of Hunt and Vitell (1986; 2006) The
Purchase Intention of organic food products
- Promotion intention to purchase organic food precedes the actual purchase Intention reflects future behavior Eleven hypotheses are proposed and developed to examine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables (purchasing intention on organic food products) The orientation outlined in each hypothesis is drawn from previous studies conducted based on TPB of Ajzen (1991), Values Theory of Schwartz (1992), and General Theory of Marketing Ethics of Hunt and Vitell (1986; 2006) Therefore, this study must determine whether there is a direct positive relationship between independent variables and purchasing intentions of organic food products
In chapter 2, the author has outlined the regulations on organic food production, concepts related to organic food, intention of organic food consumption, and the relationship between organic foods and the marketing mix strategy
The author also conducted a review of national and international researches related to intention to buy organic food Most of the research is based on theories such as Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen (1991), Values Theory of Schwartz (1992), General Theory of Marketing Ethics of Hunt and Vitell (1986; 2006)
Reseachers such as Rambalak & Govind Swaroop (2016), Crostina (2019), Anchal Arora et al (2022), Thoa (2019) applied three factors of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control in the TPB model Howerver, Some studies such as Mai et al (2016), Chung (2018), Arpita (2018), only analyzed consumers' attitudes towards the purchase intention of organic food products
International researchers such as Musdiana Mohamad et al (2010), Mohd Shoki Bin et al (2014), Rambalak Yadav (2016) both suggest that health concerns and environmental concerns have an influence on consumers' intention to buy organic food However, some domestic researchers such as Thoa (2019) or Huong (2014) only commented on the degree of influence of environmental factor on the purchase intention of this product Or Tien et al
(2020), Anupam Singh & Priyanka (2017) only deternmine the influence of health factor
Hai (2013), Mohd Shoki Bin et al (2014), Anupam singh & Priyanka Verma (2017), Chung (2018), and Tien (2020) found that price has a negative effect on consumers' intention to purchase organic food product However, a few studies such as Mohd Shoki Bin et al
(2014), Tien et al (2020) also suggested that product safety and quality positively affect consumers' intention to buy organic food
Confidence/Trust of consumer in organic food also increases the intention to buy this product This is shown in the studies of Chung (2018), Thoa (2019), Crostina (2019), Ancha Arora (2022) In addition, international and domestic researchers have shown the differences between the purchase intention organic food among different demographic groups (Arpita Khare, 2018), Hai & Hoa, 2018), Mai et al.,2018; Thoa, 2019, Crostina, 2019)
From the synthesis of previous studies, the author has identified a research gap and found a research model appropriate to the research context From this model, the author can propose hypotheses and scales for my research
The study identified the factors affecting the intention to purchase organic food product such as attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, health concern, environment concern, price, and trust At the same time, the study confirmed their influence as typical factors of consumers in Thai Nguyen city The study has put several scales on the safety characteristics of organic food products into the health concern factor and confirmed the reliability of these scales.
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
According to Yin, (2017), the research design is the series of logic that connect empirical data from the original research questions to the study's conclusions Doordan (1998) argues that research design consists of a plan to answer research questions or test hypotheses along with how to measure or operate concepts of interest, determining who has participated and how they are selected, what data collection process is used, and how the data is analyzed Fetterman (2020), observed that research design is an idealized pathway that helps researchers visualize the steps to building knowledge and understanding in advance
Quantitative method was used as the main analysis methods of this study This method was applied based on the primary data collected from a survey with consumers in five supermarkets in Thai Nguyen city In-depth interviews were used to develop and confirm the scale used in quantitative research methods
The author used descriptive correlational research design Descriptive research the researcher is solely interested in describing the situation or case under research study It is a theory-based design method created by gathering, analyzing, and presenting collected data This allows a researcher to provide insights into the why and how of research Descriptive design helps others better understand the need for the research Correlational research It helps researcher establish a relationship between two closely connected variables
In addition, to choose a suitable variable and a good scale for the model to measure the influence of factors on intention to purchase organic food products, after reviewing the literature by the desk research method, the author carried out a qualitative study that used in- depth interviews with consumer and experts to adjust variables Questionnaires were prepared and tested in a pilot survey to check which scales and questions are valid
Then the author conducted a formal survey Data collected by the convenient method was used for multivariate regression analysis to find out the factors affecting the purchase intention of organic food product among consumers in Thai Nguyen city and to test the differences between demographic groups on purchase intention From there, conclusions and recommendations were made for businesses
The author intends to divide the research process into three steps as follows:
Respondents Of The Study
Respondents included consumers between the ages of 18 and 65 and have bought at 5 supermarkets in Thai Nguyen city, including Minh Cau, Thanh Do, Lan chi, Vincome and GO supermarket Therefore, the respondents were those who already know about organic food products in these supermarkets
The survey did not include consumers who are not in Thai Nguyen city or consumers who are not between the ages of 18 and 65, or who did not purchase at the five supermarkets above These respondents were excluded because they may receive biased reviews and perceptions about organic food products
Remove variables that have low correlation (