Individualistic or collectivistic: which consideration motivates purchasing intention of organic foods? A developing country perspective

Purpose - This paper investigates the impact of individualistic (health) and collectivistic considerations (environmental) on the purchasing intention of organic foods. Design/methodology/approach - The study collected 391 responses from service holders of diversified tiers from Bangladesh. It considers two-step structural equation model (SEM), as well as the Ordinal Logistic regression to analyze the fact. Findings - SEM analysis explores that, both the individualistic and collectivistic considerations affect purchasing intention of organic foods. The regression result finds that income, the number of earning members, occupation, age and BMI are influential determinants of weekly purchasing frequency of organic foods. This research suggests, along with consumer's economic solvency an organized market with dissemination of health and environmental benefits of organic foods acts as a catalyst for purchasing intention of those products. Research limitations/implications - However, there is still scope of investigating intention-behavior gap between the actual purchasing behavior and purchasing intention, which is not addressed in this study. Originality/value - To understand the perception of comparatively educated and solvent people toward purchasing intention of organic foods, this research is one of the pioneering attempts in the context of an unorganized organic food market.