Chinese Consumers’ Purchase Intention for Organic Meat: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Abstract

There are various factors, such as the use of growth hormones, chemical additives in animal feed, animal welfare, health issues, and environmental concerns, which have led to a steady increase in global consumption of organic meat. The literature on organic consumer behaviour recently focuses on emerging Asian markets, especially China’s most populous markets. This study aims to investigate the factors that affect Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase organic meat. Survey questionnaire method has been employed to collect the required data. The data were collected from 305 consumers from three different organic stores in Wuhan, China. The partial least structural equation modelling (PLS- SEM) has been employed to analyse the data. The findings revealed that the consumers’ attitude, health consciousness, food safety concern, and green self-identity are key factors in developing Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase organic meat. The findings further revealed that subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, meat characteristics, and organic knowledge about organic meat have a non-significant relationship in developing the consumers’ intention to purchase organic meat. It has been observed that the concept of organic meat has been less studied and less investigated. This study’s findings could help farm owners, market managers, advertising managers, food control authority officials, and all those related to meat business, in planning and executing future strategies to attract the maximum number of organic meat consumers in China.