Consumer purchase intention for organic personal care products

Abstract

Purpose: Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine the effects of consumer values and past experiences on consumer purchase intention of organic personal care products, this study aims to consider further the moderating effect of perceived behavioral control on the attitude‐intention relationship.Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted with 207 online panel members, and multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationships among the variables.Findings: The results indicate that environmental consciousness and appearance consciousness positively influence attitude toward buying organic personal care products. The addition of past experiences as a predictor of purchase intention and perceived behavioral control as a moderator of the attitude‐purchase intention relationship yielded an improvement on the TPB model.Practical implications: This study suggests that retailers can develop effective marketing strategies emphasizing ecological beauty, product safety, and affordable prices to increase consumers' intentions to buy organic personal care products.Originality/value: This study provides valuable insight into US consumer behavior regarding organic personal care products by examining the factors that influence consumers' attitudes toward buying organic personal care products and consumers' purchase intentions for the products. Furthermore, this study extends an application of the TPB by examining the moderating influence of perceived behavioral control on the attitude‐intention relationship.