The impact of health consciousness on the purchase intention of organic food

: the moderating effect of perceived store image

Abstract

Consumers’ interest for organic products is increasing every day and several industries have been witnessing a growing demand for this type of products. Continente being the most prominent chain of hypermarkets in Portugal, is creating value by acquiring a chain of organic food specialized stores, Go Natural. The focus of this study is to better understand how an individual’s degree of health consciousness affects the purchase intention of organic food and how this relationship is mediated by the attitudes one holds towards organic food. Moreover, it intends to determine if perceived store image acts as a moderator both of the direct and indirect effect. Ultimately, it aims to understand if, depending on the store – Continente or Go Natural - there would be a difference in the consumers’ purchase intention. A self-administered online questionnaire was used to obtain the data. The main conclusions taken from the statistical analysis are that the degree of health consciousness has a direct impact on the purchase intention of organic food. However, this relationship is not moderated by perceived store image. Also, the degree of health consciousness has an indirect impact on the purchase intention through the attitudes towards organic food. The relationship between attitudes and the purchase intention is moderated by perceived store image. Lastly, the intention to buy organic food was found to be higher in Go Natural.

Date of Award	22 May 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Paulo Romeiro (Supervisor)