A Study on College Students’ Attitudes and Purchase Intent toward Insect Foods: A Sustainable Perspective

This study was to identify the organic causal relationship between sustainable eating behavior and attitudes and purchase intent toward food made from insects focusing on college students. For the study, college students attending a university located in the Seoul area were selected, and a total of 257 samples were used in the final analysis. SPSS and AMOS statistical programs were used for analysis. Demographic characteristics, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and correlation analysis were conducted. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to verify the validity of the measurement items, and analysis was performed using structural equation modeling to verify the hypothesis. The results showed that sustainable eating behavior had a positive effect on attitudes toward insect foods and purchase intent of such foods. This study is expected to be valuable as an initial study showing that sustainable eating behavior has a positive influence on edible insect foods. Finally, this study verified that positive attitudes and purchase intent toward insect foods increase as a result of sustainable eating behavior that considers nature and the environment.