Intentions to purchase food through the internet: developing and testing a model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the factors affecting intentions to purchase food through the internet. Based on the available literature – more specifically, on Ajzen’s (1985) theory of planned behaviour and Grunert and Ramus’ model (2004) – this study proposes and tests a model of planned food purchases via the internet. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative study was conducted among 403 respondents. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Findings – The main results demonstrated that attitude and perceived difficulty are the antecedents of purchase intentions. Perceived risk had a negative relationship with attitude. With respect to lifestyle, novelty was positively related to attitude, and freshness was negatively related. In addition, novelty had only an indirect effect on intention, which was mediated by attitude. A wired lifestyle had a positive relationship with attitude, and a negative relationship with perceived difficulty. Originality/value – This study operationalizes and improves Grunert and Ramus’ (2004) model of intention to buy food over the internet, by developing, testing and presenting a more comprehensive model.