Do psychological factors affect green food and beverage behaviour? An application of the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to first integrate incorporated commitment, self-identity, and moral responsibility with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict the green food and beverage (GFB) behaviours in protecting food environment. Moreover, this study also identified the key influential factors of green behaviours and analysed the mediation effects of commitment in this extended TPB model.

Design/methodology/approach

The structural equation modelling based on 793 college students was used to verified the goodness-of-fit and direct effects of the extended TPB model of GFBs, and bootstrap method was also used to examine the indirect effects.

Findings

The results of this study revealed commitment, perceived behavioural control (PBC), and perceived knowledge of GFBs were the most influential factors of GFBs. Furthermore, this study also verify that PBC influences civic behaviour pertaining to GFBs, and commitment mediated the effects of subjective social norms between PBC and GFBs.

Originality/value

This study provided value for GFBs that prompting people to exhibit civic behaviour pertaining and commitment to GFBs as well as ensuring environmentally sustainable development of GFBs.

Citation

Wang, Y.-F. and Wang, C.-J. (2016), "Do psychological factors affect green food and beverage behaviour? An application of the theory of planned behaviour", British Food Journal, Vol. 118 No. 9, pp. 2171-2199. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-12-2015-0469