Drivers of young adults' organic food purchase intentions

Objectives The main objectives of this study were to identify the drivers of organic food purchase intentions among young adults and to understand whether the theory of planned behavior is suitable in predicting organic food purchase intentions. Furthermore, the objectives included understanding whether young adults are willing to pay a potential price premium for organic food. Summary Organic food consumption has increased significantly in recent years. In order to understand why the consumption has increased, the drivers of organic food purchase intentions must be identified, as purchase intentions have said to be the best predictor of behavior. Theory of planned behavior was chosen as the theoretical framework and based on previous literature, three additional predictors were included to the model. An online questionnaire was conducted and the effects of the predictors of organic food purchase intentions were measured. The results were found to be significant. Conclusions This study found that all six predictors; attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, health consciousness, environmental concern, and price premium, influence the purchase intentions of organic food. Positive attitude towards organic food and health consciousness were found to be the most significant drivers of organic food purchase intentions. Furthermore, purchase intentions were found to predict purchase behavior of organic food