Economic and Behavioral Determinants of Sustainable Purchase Behavior Toward Eco-Friendly Food Products: Evidence from Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajee.v5i1.6373Keywords:
Ease of Purchase, Eco Friendly Food Products, Environmental Concern, Environmental Knowledge, Purchase Intention, Sustainable Purchase BehaviorAbstract
The rising environmental degradation has made sustainable consumption an issue of global concern, but not many consumers have embraced it in developing economies. This paper discusses the antecedents of sustainable buying behavior on eco friendly food products in Bangladesh as an extension of Theory of Planned Behavior. The model incorporates the environmental knowledge, environmental concern, perceived consumer effectiveness, eco label credibility and ease of purchase with purchase intention a mediating variable. The survey involved a total of 302 respondents who were asked to complete a web based survey and the data were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. According to the results, environmental concern is a strong predictor of purchase intention (beta = 0.422, p < 0.001), sustainable behavior (beta = 0.163, p = 0.045). There is also a significant effect of ease of purchase on intention ( = 0.351, p < 0.001), and behavior ( = 0.178, p = 0.002). The relationship between environmental knowledge and behavior is positive (beta = 0.154, p = 0.038), but it does not appear in intention. There are no significant effects of eco label credibility and perceived consumer effectiveness on intention or behavior. Environmental concern and ease of purchase have a significant effect on purchase intention which is significantly predicted by sustainable behavior (beta = 0.314, p < 0.001) but mediated by environmental concern and ease of purchase. The results indicate that the emotional concern and product availability contribute more to sustainable food purchases in Bangladesh than label trust or perceived personal impact that can provide valuable information in policy and marketing strategies.
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