Factors affecting Vietnamese farmers' intention toward organic agricultural production

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting Vietnamese farmer's intention toward organic agricultural production based on research model integrating theories: theory of planned behavior (TPB) and norm activation model (NAM). Design/methodology/approach After in-depth interviews with 5 agricultural researchers and 5 farmers, the authors determined the official research model and built a complete survey. Data were collected from 318 farmers in the Hanoi, Vietnam by directly survey. Statistical methods, such as Cronbach's alpha analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM), were used to analyze the data. Findings This paper shows that attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and personal norm were significantly related to intention of the farmers; awareness of consequences was positively related to ascription of responsibility, personal norm, attitude and subjective norms; ascription of responsibility has a positive relationship with personal norm. The TPB-NAM integration model is proven to be superior to the original TPB model when studying factors affecting Vietnamese farmer's intention toward organic agricultural production. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this paper is that the sampling method is not representative for the whole country and just stops at researching the intentions of farmers without understanding the practices of organic agricultural production. Practical implications The findings indicate that state management agencies in Vietnam need to pay attention to raise awareness among farmers about the role of organic farming, communicate to farmers through different channels about the benefits of organic farming compared to conventional agriculture and form information spillover groups between farmers who have produced organic agriculture and have not yet produced organic agriculture. Originality/value This paper contributes to the existing literature by focusing on integrating TPB and NAM when understanding farmers' intention toward organic agricultural production in Vietnam. This integrated model has proven the suitability of combining two approaches, a rational approach and an ethical approach, when studying farmer intentions.