Measuring the Moderating Effect of Gender on Organic Food Purchase Intentions in China based on Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

The study is to identify the factors influencing Chinese consumers' intentions to purchase organic food based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model. This research concentrates on the moderating effect of gender during the process. An offline investigation was used for the research purpose. Data for the study was gathered from February to March 2018. The total of 260 valid responses was used for this analysis. An online questionnaire was distributed through Email to Chinese consumers living in major cities of China and abroad to collect the data. Multi group analysis and model comparison were conducted to examine the moderating effect of gender. Our results support previous researches suggesting that gender moderates the relationship between attitude and behavioral intention. However, surprisingly, no significant moderating effect of gender on the relationship between subjective norms and behavioral intention was found. This paper revisited TPB antecedents and the moderating effect of gender focusing on Chinese organic food markets. The findings provide essential managerial implications to the marketers in this industry. Further research could examine whether TPB model can be applied to other potential purchasing groups.