Understanding how to increase hydroponic attractiveness: Economic and ecological benefit

Abstract

As one of the sustainable food, hydroponic vegetables begin to attract consumer attention. Previous studies focus on how to increase the willingness to pay (WTP). The cost of growing hydroponic might cause it as higher than traditional (soil agriculture) that drives higher prices. Instead of only focus on WTP, attitude and purchase intention are two constructs that important to estimate actual purchase behavior. However, a study about the antecedents of hydroponic vegetable' purchase intention is still limited. This study aims to identify factors that can enhance purchase intention, group respondents based on those factors, and profile each respondent's group. By online survey, 981 respondents were collected, and multiple regressions and cluster analysis analyzed further data. The result shows eight factors that could drive purchase intention (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, perceived quality, price, availability, health consciousness, and knowledge), while environmental concern was not significant. Cluster analysis generates 3 clusters of respondents that have different profiles based on all factors and demographics variables. This study contributes to portraying respondents' responses toward hydroponics that could deliver implications for entrepreneurs or marketers to attract target consumers based on all factors and develop a strategy based on their profiles.