What Motivates Consumers to Purchase Organic Food in Malaysia?

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the consumer motivational factors that influence their attitude to purchase of organic food in Malaysia. Consumer motivational factors involved past experience, health consciousness and personal values were examined in this study. Data from 421 organic food consumers were obtained through a survey conducted in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya or better known as Klang Valley, Malaysia. The structural equation modelling was used for data analysis and four hypotheses were tested. The findings showed that all four hypotheses were accepted. Health consciousness had the greatest positive influence on consumer attitude of organic food, followed by past experience and personal values. Purchase of organic food products was significantly affected by consumer attitude of the products. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First and from a theoretical perspective, it offers both development and validation of Theory of Planned Behaviour and Hierarchy of Effect model. Second and from a pragmatic perspective, the findings proposed useful information to organic food providers in developing and implementation of effective strategies to enhance consumption of organic food.