Millennial Consumers' Intention to Purchase Organic Food: Do Environmental Concerns Matter?

Abstract

While the organic food market continues to grow globally, millennials' purchase intentions for organic products often lag behind their expressed interest in sustainability. This study investigates the factors influencing millennials' purchase intentions and examines the moderating role of environmental concerns in the organic food context, addressing business strategy gaps in leveraging environmental concerns for increased organic food consumption. Using a unified framework based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), data were collected from 499 millennial consumers through structured online surveys. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to validate the proposed direct and moderating hypotheses. The results reveal that attitude, perceived behavioural control and trust in organic food are significant predictors of purchase intention. Moreover, environmental concerns moderate the relationship between subjective norms and purchase intention, suggesting that societal expectations combined with ecological awareness drive millennials toward sustainable consumption. This study offers a new lens to understand sustainable consumption patterns among younger generations globally and provides actionable insights for business managers to align sustainability strategies with evolving consumer preferences, particularly those of millennials. The findings highlight the importance of emphasising the environmental benefits of organic food, improving product accessibility and strengthening community engagement programs to drive sustainability, promote market growth promote market growth and reinforce trust in the organic food sector.