Korean Consumers’ Motivations and Perceived Risks Toward the Purchase of Organic Cotton Apparel

The purpose of this research is to gain insight into collectivist consumers' perception of purchasing organic cotton apparel. An extended TRA model was employed to identify major factors that influence consumers' purchase decisions. Data were collected through a Web-based survey of 200 female South Korean residents older than 18 years of age. The results of SEM showed that perceived benefits, importance of individual expression through dressing well, performance risk, financial risk and subjective norm significantly influenced attitude toward purchasing organic cotton apparel products. In addition, financial risk, attitude, and subjective norm had significant effects on consumers' purchase intention. It was revealed that subjective norm played a critical role in the purchase process: subjective norm was one of the strongest antecedents of attitude among the six variables under examination and exerted a similar influence on purchase intention as attitude. Based on the findings, practical implications for organic cotton marketers and suggestions for future research are proposed.