Factors influencing purchase intention for organic rice in Thailand | |
| Author | Pacharee Jitrawang |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.SM-20-02 |
| Subject(s) | Rice -- Thailand Rice -- Purchasing |
| Note | A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management, School of Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The emerging organic sector of the food industry has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention. However, most studies have investigated organic consumers in Europe and other Western countries, and little research has been conducted on perceptions of organic food in Asia. Therefore, this study addresses the research gap by investigating the factors influencing purchase intention of organic rice, using Thailand as a case study. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was adopted as a theoretical framework, and a conceptual framework is cross-validated through a three-pronged approach involving a literature review, expert interviews, and field survey. Then exploratory factor analysis is performed to ensure the constructs‘ validity and reliability. After that, structural equation modeling is employed to test the conceptual framework and hypotheses. Through a concrete study of more than 800 samples, surprisingly, the findings indicate that several factors usually thought to be significant in predicting purchase intention in the literature were found to be insignificant in this study, which may be the result of cultural differences. These factors are perceived health and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), sensory perception, peer pressure, advertisement, perceived price and convenience, and perceived knowledge. Moreover, trust can be separated into two types: trust in documents and trust in non-documents; this is a novel finding never mentioned before in the literature. In this study, only trust in documents and consumers‘ experiences significantly affected purchase intention of organic rice. The academic, managerial, and policy implications are discussed. Furthermore, future studies should consider the cross-regional context because a wider geographical area would enhance the generalizability of the findings due to the differences in demographics and the surrounding environment. |
| Year | 2020 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Doctor of Philosophy in Management (Publication code = SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Donyaprueth Krairit |
| Examination Committee(s) | Badir, Yuosre;Huyng Trung Luong;Montet, Didier; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Mahasarakham University, Thailand; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2020 |