The Relationship between Environmental Protection Motivation and Ugly Produce Buying Intentions: Applying Constraint-Negotiation Theory

This study focuses on the increasingly serious environmental issues and aims to explore the relationship between ‘environmental protection motivation’ and ‘ugly produce buying intentions’ among Korean consumers. Specifically, the study analyzes how individual ‘environmental protection motivation’ influences ‘negotiations,’ ‘constraints,’ and ‘ugly produce buying intentions’ sequentially. Additionally, the study conducts a multi-group analysis based on age. Data were collected through an online survey, and the results were derived using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and multi-group analysis with the AMOS program. The findings indicate that ‘environmental protection motivation’ positively affects ‘negotiations,’ which in turn positively influences ‘ugly produce buying intentions.’ However, ‘negotiations’ negatively impact ‘constraints,’ and ‘constraints’ have an insignificant effect on ‘ugly produce buying intentions.’ Moreover, a moderating effect based on age was confirmed only in the relationship between ‘constraints’ and ‘ugly produce buying intentions.’ Based on these findings, the study offers new and significant implications for academia and the foodservice industry.