THE PREDICTORS OF SUBOPTIMAL FOOD PURCHASE INTENTION: A DEVELOPING COUNTRY CONTEXT

It is essential to prevent food waste by successfully promoting the consumption of suboptimal food. Therefore, the undertaking research examines the impact of environmental concern, quality inferior, and individuals’ attitude on their suboptimal food purchase intention in Pakistan. The study uses the “Theory of planned behavior (TPB)” as underpinning foundations to find the consumers’ attitudes towards suboptimal food purchase intention. Additionally, individuals’ attitude, which is the dimension of TPB has a mediating role among the environmental concern, quality inferior, and purchase intention. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey (paper-based and online) from grocery consumers. In total, 450 respondents were from metropolitan cities in Pakistan.  Data analysis was done through SPSS 22, and the “Barron and Kenny test” was used for the mediation analysis. The result revealed that environmental concern (EC) has a positive impact on attitude (ATT) and purchase intention (PI). Consistently, quality inferior (QI) negatively influenced attitude (ATT) and purchase intention (PI). The finding of this study also revealed that attitude (ATT) mediates the relationship among environmental concern, quality inferior, and purchase intention (PI).  The findings add to the rising literature on suboptimal food purchase intention, particularly in developing countries such as Pakistan. The findings also have both theoretical and practical implications for marketers. Keywords: Suboptimal Food; Attitude; Purchase Intention; Theory of Planned Behavior; Environmental Concern; Inferior Qualit