Factors Influencing the Intention to Purchase Organic Food (Case Study: Mashhad City)

Sustainable production of organic food requires the attention to the demand side and the driving factors behind the intention to purchase organic food. Therefore, the present study attempts to evaluate the most important driving factors of intention to purchase organic food using the theory of planned behavior and structural equation modeling. The data for this study were obtained by collecting 160 questionnaires from consumers in Mashhad using convenience sampling method in 2019. The results revealed that the behavioral attitudes, perceived behavioral control, environmental concern and health consciousness have a positive and significant effect (0.26, 0.19, 0.22, and 0.18, respectively) on intention to purchase organic food. Also, the environmental concern and health consciousness indirectly influence the intention to purchase organic food by affecting the behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and perceived quality of the product. According to the results, it is suggested that information be provided on issues related to personal health and food safety, as well as the consequences of environmental degradation to consumers.