Factors promoting Vietnamese consumers’ purchase intention for organic food: the organic food-specific theory of planned behavior variables

The present study aims to investigate the factors that determine Vietnamese consumers’ intention to purchase organic food. An extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model with the proposal of three organic food-specific TPB factors was developed as a conceptual framework for this study. The dataset was garnered from 437 Vietnamese respondents and analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The results provide support for the roles of health consciousness (attitude), normative food safety concern (subjective norm), and organic food familiarity (perceived behavioral control) in predicting consumer purchase intention for organic food. Furthermore, consumer self-identity was found to enhance the association of the three TPB constructs and consumer purchase intention, whereas consumer price perception failed to exert a significant influence on these relationships. The result of the study advances the stream of organic food purchase behavior research by adding health consciousness, food safety concern, and organic food familiarity as three organic food-specific TPB antecedents of organic food purchase intention as well as self-identity as a boundary condition behind such effects. Several important areas for further research have been identified to address limitations inherent in the research.