Development, validity, and reliability of a questionnaire on psychological factors of organic food consumption among Malaysian adults

Abstract

People believe organic food is safer and healthier since it limits the use of synthetic chemicals as agricultural inputs, which has increased global demand for it. However, it has been reported that Malaysians' actual consumption of organic food is low, despite their great intention to do so. Much previous research has proposed trust in organic food labeling and certification as a potential cause of the intention-behavior gap. However, empirical data to support this view is still lacking. This study aims to develop and validate a questionnaire to assess Malaysians' intention and actual consumption of organic food, along with its factors, using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with trust as an additional construct. Before the study, the questionnaire was pre-tested for face validity by five expert panels. This cross-sectional study gathered 119 usable self-administered questionnaires completed by Malaysian adults aged 18 to 64. The construct validity was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with principal component analysis (PCA), and varimax rotation. There was a three-factor solution for the attitude construct namely health, food safety, and environmental concern, while only one-factor solution for subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, trust, intention, and actual consumption of organic food. Each construct had a minimum Cronbach's alpha of .70. The questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in larger study settings to further understand the psychological factors of organic food consumption among Malaysian adults to promote more sustainable food consumption in this nation.