Food neophobia and ethnic food consumption intention An extension of the theory of planned behaviour
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to serve as groundwork to investigate the determinants of ethnic food consumption intention in the context of developing markets. Using the theory of planned behaviour as the underlying basis, it is aimed to explain the effect of attitude, subjective norm and...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/14261/ http://ir.unimas.my/14261/ http://ir.unimas.my/14261/ http://ir.unimas.my/14261/1/Food%20neophobia%20and%20ethnic%20food.pdf |
| Summary: | Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to serve as groundwork to investigate the determinants of
ethnic food consumption intention in the context of developing markets. Using the theory of planned
behaviour as the underlying basis, it is aimed to explain the effect of attitude, subjective norm and
perceived behaviour control on consumption intention towards Dayak food. Since Dayak food is
relatively unfamiliar compared to conventional food in Malaysia, food neophobia is incorporated into
the model so as to assess its moderation effect on every postulated relationship.
Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative approach via self-administered questionnaire was
adopted. In all, 300 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to non-Dayak Malaysians, and 211
usable copies were subsequently collected, suggesting that non-response bias was not a major issue.
A post hoc Harman single-factor analysis was also performed to ensure the variance in the data was not
explained by one single factor, thus addressing the common method bias. Structural equation
modelling using partial least squares approach was then utilized to assess the relationships of
variables under investigation and the moderation effect of food neophobia.
Findings – After ensuring the data have acceptable reliability and validity, structural model
assessment was performed to test the hypotheses. The findings show that attitude, subjective norm
and perceived behavioural control all have positive effect on consumption intention of non-Dayak
Malaysians towards Dayak food. However, food neophobia is only found to have a moderation effect
on the relationship between subjective norm and consumption intention.
Research limitations/implications – First, the sample is largely consisted of college and university
students in Malaysia who are believed to be more daring to try new things, including new food. Second
and more importantly, the dearth of literature and empirical studies on Dayak food and ethnic food in
Malaysia might have actually pointed to the limitation in using only quantitative questionnaire in the
study. As salient beliefs are the antecedents in the theory of planned behaviour, knowing consumers’
specific beliefs about Dayak food would have provided a more detailed and comprehensive
understanding of consumption intention and the moderating effect of food neophobia |
|---|