The Role of Ethics and Product Personality in the Intention to Purchase Organic Food Products: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

The aim of the present study is to examine the role of ethical dimensions and product personality in the purchasing intention of organic food products. The Prospect method (Caprara, Barbaranelli and Guido 2000), which integrates the Five factors model of personality (FFM, cf. Digman 1990) and the Theory of planned behavior (TPB, Ajzen 1991) extended to an ethical dimension, was employed, by using a Structural Equation Modeling approach. Results showed that moral norms – i.e., personal beliefs regarding what is right or wrong (Parker, Manstead and Stradling 1995) – can be considered the main motivator of purchasing intention, and they are, in turn, affected by subjective norms and product personality traits of Naturalness and Authenticity. Marketing implications for firms operating in the organic food industry are discussed, in their intent to shift from a “niche” market to a broader diffusion of these products