The Effect of Health Consciousness, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioural Control on Sourdough Bread Consumption: The Mediating Role of Attitude

This study aims to measure the complex relationships among health consciousness, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control in shaping consumers' intention to purchase sourdough bread. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), a structural equation model (SEM) was developed and tested using the data collected from 399 consumers residing in Antalya, Turkey. The findings indicate that health consciousness has a direct and significant impact on both attitudes and intention to purchase of sourdough bread. Furthermore, attitude was found to mediate the relationship between health consciousness and intention to purchase. However, subjective norm did not exhibit a significant effect on intention to purchase, suggesting that consumers’ decisions to buy sourdough bread are shaped independently of their social environment. In addition, perceived behavioral control was found to have a low level significant effect on the purchase intention of sourdough bread. In conclusion, this study reveals that health consciousness, attitudes and perceived behavioral control are determinants of sourdough bread consumption and contributes to the literature on understanding consumer behavior.