Determinants of Consumer Participation in a Carbon Neutrality Point System for the Agri-Food Sector in Chungnam Province, South Korea

Background and objective: Achieving carbon neutrality increasingly requires policy instruments that influence everyday consumption behavior. While the Carbon Neutrality Point System (CPS) has primarily focused on reducing household energy use in South Korea, its potential extension to the agri-food sector remains underexplored. This study aims to examine consumer acceptance of extending the CPS to low-carbon agricultural products and to identify the behavioral and policy-related determinants of both purchase intention and CPS participation intention.Methods: An online survey was conducted with 300 consumers in Chungnam Province, South Korea. Respondents were presented with a hypothetical CPS scenario in which purchases of certified low-carbon agricultural products generated financial rewards. This study uses a multi-stage analytical framework to examine consumer acceptance of extending the CPS to low-carbon agri-food products. Descriptive statistics were conducted to summarize respondent characteristics and examine associations between purchase and participation intentions. Exploratory factor analysis identified latent attitudinal dimensions and the resulting factor scores were incorporated into a bivariate probit model to jointly estimate the two correlated binary outcomes. Finally, K-means cluster analysis was performed to identify consumer segments and one-way ANOVA tested differences in responsiveness across segments.Results: Exploratory factor analysis identified three dimensions: behavioral–normative environmental attitudes ENV_ATT1, value–cognitive environmental attitudes ENV_ATT2, and perceived CPS convenience CPS_CONV. Bivariate probit results indicate that ENV_ATT1 increases both purchase and participation probabilities by 11.7 percentage points. ENV_ATT2 increases purchase intention but reduces CPS participation. CPS convenience shows the strongest positive effect on participation. Cluster analysis identifies three statistically distinct consumer segments (p < .001), with incentive attitudes exhibiting the greatest between group differences, confirming substantial heterogeneity in motivational profiles.Conclusion: Behavioral–normative environmental attitudes enhance both low-carbon food purchase and CPS participation, whereas value–cognitive attitudes increase purchase intention but do not necessarily translate into program engagement. Perceived convenience emerges as the strongest driver of participation. These findings suggest that extending the CPS to low-carbon food consumption requires simplifying enrollment procedures, reducing transaction costs, increasing reward visibility and flexibility, and strengthening certification transparency. Moreover, differentiated policy approaches aligned with distinct motivational profiles are essential to improve participation effectiveness and support broader climate-oriented consumption transitions. These findings highlight the need for differentiated policy approaches to support the effective implementation of the CPS in the agri-food sector.