Egoistic and Altruistic Motives on the Purchasing Behavioral Model of Organic Food in the Indonesian market

Organic food has positive benefits both for environmental balance and for increasing the competitiveness of local farmers. As a country with the second largest population among developing countries, this research can represent the picture of the organic food market in those developing countries. This study has two main objectives, (1) identifying determinants and barriers to organic food consumption and (2) developing organic food consumer models based on the theory of Planned Behavior. This research was conducted in Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, and Bali using 550 respondents. SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) analysis is used to measure the Theory of Planned Behavior model which is developed by adding altruistic and egoistic constructs. The health aspect is the strongest reason for consumers to buy organic food. However, the premium price of organic food is still a barrier for consumers. This has an impact on the low monthly expenditure of organic food (less than IDR 500 000 per month). Both altruistic and egoistic motives have a significant influence on consumer attitudes towards the intention to consume organic food. However, altruistic considerations such as the desire to improve the environment, help local farmers and animal welfare, have a greater effect (β = 0.466) than the egoistic aspect (β = 0.225). Keywords—altruistic, egoistic, organic food, consumer behavior, Structural Equation Modeling.