How Collectivism Affects Organic Food Purchase Intention and Behavior: A Study with Norwegian and Portuguese Young Consumers

Abstract

Organic food purchase behavior is attracting increasing attention from researchers and managers. However, there is a need to further explore differences among groups of consumers, namely with regards to cultural dimensions. To help fill this gap, this article aims to examine the impact of collectivism on the determinants of organic food purchase intention and behavior. Building on the theory of planned behavior, this article suggests its extension by considering an additional set of explanatory variables that are shown to be relevant to explain consumer behavior. It includes a quantitative study conducted with young consumers from two European countries, Norway (n = 468) and Portugal (n = 448). Structural equation modelling allowed to conclude that collectivism positively impacts attitude, subjective norm, perceived price, and environmental concern towards organic food. The expected positive impacts of collectivism on product availability and health concerns were not supported by the study. Furthermore, the positive impact of attitude, subjective norm, perceived price, health consciousness, and environmental concerns on intention to purchase organic food were also confirmed, even though availability had an insignificant impact on intentions. Finally, and aligned with extant literature, this study also found a positive impact of intention to purchase behavior on organic food. Interestingly, the positive relationship between Collectivism and Availability, and between Availability and Purchase Intention, was only significant for Portugal. The study confirms the relevance of considering cultural dimensions, particularly collectivism/individualism, to further understand consumer behaviors toward organic food. Based on the findings, implications for both managers and researchers are highlighted.