Green chicken purchase behavior: the moderating role of price transparency

Purpose - Developing green consumption, organic and green meat and poultry consumption have been increased recently. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of food's sensory characteristics (e.g. organic food beliefs) and non-food factors (e.g. price transparency) on consumers' green purchase behavior. So, according to the moderating role of price transparency, affecting factors on green chicken purchase intention and behavior are examined. Design/methodology/approach - Evaluating the model, the authors used measures from previous research. The authors distributed questionnaire in four chain stores in four different geographical regions in Tehran. The structural model and relations were examined by using Smart PLS 2.0 software to simultaneously estimate the measurement and structural models. Findings - Structural equation analysis revealed that level of trust, consumer's organic food beliefs and perceived environmental responsibility have positive impact on green purchase intention. Also price transparency moderator role confirmed that moderators can affect consumers' actual behavior. Research limitations/implications - As our sample was just from Tehran, the research results may lack generalizability to all people in Iran. Therefore, future researchers are encouraged to retest the proposed model in other cities and also in other countries with different level of economic development. Practical implications - This paper includes suggestions for managers and producers to develop green food products consumption especially green chicken. Also it has implications for spreading out green consumption among people with high environmental involvement. Originality/value - Despite conducted research, the moderating role of price transparency has been used only rarely to investigate consumers' green purchase behavior.