Cognition, Value Perception and Purchase Intention of Organic Food—Evidence from China’s Organic Milk Market

Xiaohui Yuan,Yacheng Xiao

doi:10.3390/su13020910

Abstract

Organic agriculture is of great significance to human health and the ecosystem, and the consumption of organic food is considered a kind of pro-environment behavior of urban residents. Taking value perception, food safety awareness and environmental awareness as mediating variables, an analytical framework of the influence of “organic” cognition on purchase intention was constructed in this paper, and the empirical test was implemented by the Ologit model based on the micro-survey of organic milk purchase intention of 1113 urban consumers in China. The results show that cognitive level positively affects residents’ value perception and purchase intention of organic food, and value perception plays an intermediary role in the influence of cognition on purchase intention; meanwhile, consumers’ food safety awareness and environmental awareness play a moderating role between cognition and value perception, thus the mediating effect of value perception on the relationship between cognition and purchase intention is also regulated. Therefore, using diversified ways to publicize organic food knowledge is of positive significance to enhance consumers’ “organic” cognitive level and enhance their purchase intention in practice. Providing differentiated products and services, strengthening consumers’ benign social interaction and meeting their diversified value pursuit is crucial for suppliers. Meanwhile, the government and enterprises need to strengthen the popularization and dissemination of environmental protection and food safety knowledge to enhance consumers’ environmental and food safety awareness, improving the social environment of the cultivation of the organic food market.

Highlights

With the prominence of environmental and food safety problems, the practice of organic agriculture and organic food have aroused great interest in the past decades [1].The consumption of organic food is regarded as a kind of pro-environmental behavior because of its benefits to environmental protection, public health and the interests of future generations [2,3], and has gradually become a new fashion trend [4]
The main purpose of the research is how to promote the potential motivation of organic food consumption, while the research on the obstacles of organic food consumption is relatively few
This paper focuses on the intensity of the purchase intention: a small number of samples with no purchase intention were excluded in the empirical study, and 1113 samples were used in the regression analysis

Summary

Introduction

With the prominence of environmental and food safety problems, the practice of organic agriculture and organic food have aroused great interest in the past decades [1].The consumption of organic food is regarded as a kind of pro-environmental behavior because of its benefits to environmental protection, public health and the interests of future generations [2,3], and has gradually become a new fashion trend [4]. In China, numerous food safety incidents have raised questions about agricultural products that use a lot of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and growth regulators. While consumers pay more and more attention to a healthy diet, economic development and the rising income level of residents have relaxed the budget constraints for consumers to buy organic food. The willingness to consume organic food in Chinese consumers, as well as the development power of the organic consumption market in China, is insufficient. The market share and consumer expenditure share of organic food stay relatively low [6,7], which means the organic agriculture industry has remained at a low level of development for a long time in China.

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Results

Conclusion