Psychological consumer behavior and sustainable green food purchase

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to examine the role of consumer psychological attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control and pro-environmental self-identity on green food purchase intention. Also, it examines the effect of ecological conscious consumers' behavior (ECCB) on green intention and behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

The study has focused on the upper-middle-class segment of Karachi. The authors have used area sampling for collecting the data. Six recruited enumerators distributed 450 questionnaires in five areas of Karachi and received 423 filled-in questionnaires. The study has used the Smart PLS version for data analysis.

Findings

The study found that biospheric egoistic and hedonic values affect attitudes toward green products, and altruistic values have no effect on attitude. Also, the authors did not find any association between attitude and green purchase intention, but found that attitude stimulates ECCB. Subjective norms and perceived behavior control strongly affect green purchase intention and ECCB. The results also suggest that pro-environment self-identity and ECCB are significant predictors of green purchase intention. The authors also found that green purchase intention stimulates green food behavior.

Originality/value

The authors have taken a holistic approach by investigating 13relationships. The authors also examined the association between hedonic values and green purchase intentions, which in the past studies have contradictory results.

Citation

Mazhar, W., Jalees, T., Asim, M., Alam, S.H. and Zaman, S.I. (2022), "Psychological consumer behavior and sustainable green food purchase", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 34 No. 10, pp. 2350-2369. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-05-2021-0317