Exploring consumer intentions to purchase organic food with the health belief model and theory of planned behavior

Food consumption depletes natural resources, pollutes ecosystems, and generates waste, significantly impacting sustainability and the environment. Traditional agriculture, reliant on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and excessive water use, contaminates water sources, harms biodiversity, depletes soil health, and emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Shifting towards organic food consumption can play a key role in fostering sustainability by reducing chemical inputs, improving soil health, and conserving water resources. Therefore, the current study aims to identify the key factors influencing organic consumption and applies the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explore how customers' purchase intentions affect their actual purchasing behavior. It also examines the moderating role of Food Neophilia and Food Neophobia between buying intentions and actual behavior relationship. A theoretical framework was proposed to explain and empirically verify the impact of consumers' purchase intention on buying behaviour. The proposed model was tested and validated using Partial Least Square-Path Modelling (PLS-PM) with 550 respondent’s data. The findings imply that while food Neophilia promotes the purchasing of organic food, food Neophobia acts as a deterrent. The study's findings offer marketers useful information for successfully interacting with consumers who are health-aware and environmentally sensitive. Marketers can match their messaging with customer preferences by highlighting the advantages for health and the environment in their advertising campaigns. Additionally, since sustainability and health concerns are becoming more and more important in consumer decisions, emphasizing the nutritional and environmental benefits of organic products might increase their attractiveness.