Purchase intentions of organic apples and pizza.

Including affective and moral norms into the Theory of Planned Behaviour.

A. Arvola (1)*, M. Vassallo (2), M. Dean (3),  A. Saba (2), L. Lähteenmäk (1) and R. Shepherd (3)

(1) VTT Biotechnology, Finland;

(2) INRAN, Italy;

(3) University of Surrey, UK

 anne.arvolavtt.fi

One of the most popular and viable approaches developed to model consumer decision-making is the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). However, it has been criticised for the assumption of cognitive bases of attitudes, which leads to insufficient consideration of affective, emotional and moral influences of behaviour.

Several studies have been able to improve predictive ability of the TPB model by including a measure of moral obligation. Many of these studies focussed on strongly moral behaviour (e.g. stealing). Measure of perceived moral obligation reflects avoidance of negative emotions, such as guilt. Moral influences on behaviour may, however, also be based on expectations of positive emotions arising from feeling of doing something morally respectful. Especially in the case of organic food purchases this might be expected.

The aim of this study was to test integration of measures of affective attitudes and measures of positive and negative moral attitudes into the TPB model concerning intentions to buy organic food (TPB) with structural equation modelling. The measures of moral attitudes were developed in the context of this study.

Questionnaire data were gathered in three countries: Italy (N=202), Finland (N=270) and UK (N=200) in March 2004. The questionnaire was based on the TPB model and focussed on intentions to purchase a) organic apples, b) organic ready-to-cook pizza instead of their conventional alternatives.

The results lend support for the usefulness of incorporating affective and moral measures into the framework of TPB and into understanding organic food purchase decisions. The amended model fitted well the data from each country and food. Attitudes, especially the affective component of it, and subjective norms were the most important predictors of purchase intentions, as usual in studies applying TPB. However, the measure of positive moral attitudes was able to increase the predictive ability of the model in UK and Italian data.

Key words: Theory of planned behaviour, organic food, consumer attitudes, moral norms, affective attitudes

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This study was carried out with financial support from the Commission of the European Communities, specific RTD programme “Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources”, QLK1-2002-02446, “Consumer Decision Making on Organic Products” (CONDOR). It does not necessarily reflect its views and in no way anticipates the Commission’s future policy in this area.