Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) approach: reading intention of food label composition

Abstract

Food product labels have a crucial role as they provide the main source of information about the products. The purpose of this study is to analyze the difference and the influence of knowledge, perception, attitude, subjective norms, and behavioral control toward the intention of reading the composition labels using the Theory of Planned Behavior. This study used a survey method with a total of 400 respondents selected using multistage random sampling. The statistical analyses used were independent t-test and logistic regression. The findings showed that most respondents did not have the intention to read the composition labels. Knowledge, perception, and the subjective norms of the female respondents regarding the composition labels were better than that of the male respondents and were statistically different at p<0.05. However, attitudes toward behavior, behavioral control, and intention in reading the composition label tended to be similar for both genders. Intention was influenced by perception (p<0.05), behavioral control (p<0.01) and subjective norms (p<0.01). The better the perception, behavioral control, and subjective norms, the greater the intention of reading the composition label. The results revealed that the three components could be used to predict a person’s intention toward an object and also composition labels reading behavior.