An analysis of purchase intentions toward organic food on health consciousness and food safety with/under structural equation modeling

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influences of natural content, food safety concern, health consciousness, and subjective knowledge on attitudes towards organic food and purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach - Samples are collected in Taiwan from April to May 2014 with a total of 252 returned effective questionnaires. The data are analyzed by structural equation modeling. Findings - The results show that food safety concern and subjective knowledge have a significantly positive impact on attitudes towards organic food and purchase intentions, and natural content has a significantly positive effect on attitudes towards organic food. Moreover, it also shows that health consciousness and attitudes towards organic food have a significantly positive effect on purchase intentions. This study has found that subjective knowledge of organic food, health consciousness, and food safety concern are important factors impacting organic food purchase intentions. Practical implications - This study provides organic industry to understand the consumer's demand from the consumers' perspective and as a basis for the future development of organic food. Originality/value - The study results will provide a reference for the agricultural department of the government and the organic food promotion and education of organic food producers.