Is It All about the Price? An Analysis of the Purchase Intention for Organic Food in a Discount Setting by Means of Structural Equation Modeling

Abstract

In recent years, discount grocery retailers have expanded their global reach and added to their traditional no-frills offerings to also cater to hedonic consumer needs. In addition to a larger product assortment and a more pleasant shopping experience, they now sell organic food, which commands a price premium compared to non-organic alternatives. To understand organic food in a discount setting, this study sets out to examine the factors that influence discount grocery shoppers' purchase intention for organic food. To study this relationship, this paper tests several factors in a structural equation model, finding a positive relationship between hedonic shopping values, environmental concern, as well as health consciousness and the purchase intention for organic food. In our model, based on a US consumer survey (n = 394), price consciousness exhibited a direct and negative relationship with the purchase intention for organic food. Furthermore, this study found that that the impact of environmental concern, health consciousness, and hedonic shopping value is greater on the purchase intention of organic food than that of price consciousness, even in this discount setting. This study concludes by discussing these results and attempting to outline potential areas for future research, as well as managerial implications.

Keywords: discount supermarket; grocery retailing; organic food; purchase intention; structural equation model (SEM).

Figure 1

Conceptual framework. Note: H₁ to H₆ denote the stated hypotheses.

Figure 2

Overview of responses (n = 394). Notes: y-axis: number of responses; x-axis: 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat disagree, 4 = neither agree nor disagree, 5 = somewhat agree, 6 = agree, 7 = strongly agree); * reverse-coded items.

Figure 3

Results for structural model. Notes: β = standardized regression coefficient; R² = coefficient of determination; *** p < 0.01; ** p < 0.05; n.s. = not significant.