How Trust Converts Intention into Organic Food Purchase: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior Study of Chinese Office Workers

A persistent obstacle to sustainable food consumption is that people intend to buy responsibly more often than they actually do. This study builds on a theory of planned behavior (TPB) model extended in two directions. It traces attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control back to organic food attributes and health consciousness, and it carries intention through to purchasing behavior while testing whether trust moderates that final step. We fitted it to survey responses from 516 Chinese office workers using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Intrinsic attributes, extrinsic attributes, and health consciousness were positively associated with attitude and perceived behavioral control, but none was significantly associated with subjective norm. Together, the three cognitions accounted for 43.1% of the variance in purchase intention. Both purchase intention and perceived behavioral control significantly predicted purchasing behavior. Trust had a positive direct association with purchasing behavior and positively moderated its relationship with purchase intention. The simple slope at high trust was about 2.43 times the slope at low trust. Credible certification, transparent supply chains, and visible organic food consumption may support purchasing.