Factors affecting consumer purchases of natural foods : prioritizing health consciousness and environmental sustainability

Abstract

To date, there are still limited studies that have devoted their attention to the customers’ demand for natural food products. Notwithstanding, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no articles that integrate the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV) with the Stimuli-Organism-Behavior-Consequence (S-O-B-C) framework, to explore the intricate connections between consumption values, purchase intentions, and actual buying behaviors of natural food products. Primary data were gathered from seven hundred ninety-three (793) survey respondents and a covariance-based structural equations modelling (CB-SEM) approach was used to evaluate the robustness of the proposed model. The findings indicate that the various benefits of natural food products have a significant impact on how consumers perceive and approach these products. The results also suggest that consumer behaviors of natural foods are greatly influenced by their environmental concerns and health considerations. Furthermore, they underline the significance of the consumers’ incomes and education levels on the causal paths between attitudes, intentions to purchase and actual purchase behaviors, This contribution advances a novel theoretical model that is empirically tested, as well as reasonable implications for industry practitioners.