The Dilemma of Purchase Intention: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Actual Consumption of Organic Food

This article describes how many past studies have assessed the consumption behavior by employing purchase intention drivers/motivational factors of organic food as a proxy to foster organic food consumption. However, the preceding studies' foci do not embrace the consumption itself where purchasing may come secondary to consumption decisions.. Consumption reflects high involvement with the product; and the barriers and motivations are as real as the product itself, which makes it an ideal moment to examine the motivation. Also, there is a lack of effort in re-assessing theories of planned behavior by extending it or incorporating time orientation, different dimensions of attitude and organic food quality attributes to increase and improve understanding of actual organic food consumption behavior. Hence, the objective of this article is to propose an ideal approach and develop a conceptual framework to examine factors influencing organic food consumption. This article provides insight and a better understanding of actual consumption of organic food and adds a new momentum to the growing literature.