Food Quality and Preference 28 (2013) 279–286
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Food Quality and Preference
journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate / foodqual
Green food consumption intention, behaviors and influencing factors amongChinese consumers
Qinghua Zhu a,1, Ying Li a,b,2, Yong Geng c,⇑, Yu Qi d,3
a School of Business Management, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning Province 116024, PR Chinab School of Economics and Management, Dalian University, Dalian, Liaoning Province 116622, PR Chinac Institute of Applied Ecology, China Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110016, PR Chinad Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, PR China
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history:Received 13 May 2012Received in revised form 16 October 2012Accepted 16 October 2012Available online 23 October 2012
Keywords:Sustainable consumptionGreen food consumption intentionGreen food consumption behaviorsInfluencing factorsMediation effectModeration effect
0950-3293/$ - see front matter � 2012 Elsevier Ltd. Ahttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2012.10.005
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +84 24 83970371E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Q. Zhu)
[email protected] (Y. Geng), [email protected] (Y1 Tel.: +86 411 8470 6018; fax: +86 411 8470 8342.2 Tel.: +86 411 8470 7351; fax: +86 411 8470 8342.3 Tel.: +86 22 23508936; fax: +86 22 23507136.
Green food consumption can guarantee the life quality of consumers as well as promote green food pro-duction. However, green food consumption is not an easy task which needs governmental policies, con-sumers’ environmental value, and convenient channels. This paper aims to examine how to promotegreen food consumption intention and in the end bring real green food consumption behaviors by usingsamples of 457 Chinese consumers. Based on the theory of planned behavior, we develop a conceptualmodel which proposes that internal influencing factors of consumers mediate the relationships betweenexternal influencing factors and green food consumption intention while context factors such as purchas-ing convenience moderate the relationships between green food consumption intention and behaviors.Hierarchical regression results show that promotion/diffusion can bring green food consumption inten-tion but environmental value of consumers is needed. Purchasing convenience can promote green foodconsumption intention to become real green food consumption behaviors but it is not convenient tobuy green food in China yet. Education affects green food consumption intention and family income deci-des if green food consumption intention can really bring green food consumption behaviors. We concludethat Chinese governments should strengthen supervision of green food production and labeling systemsas well as develop more channels to improve environmental value of consumers. With more convenientpurchasing channels and increasing incomes of consumers, green food consumption intention can morelikely bring green food consumption behaviors.
� 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction tem is needed for sustainable food consumption (Partidario,
To achieve sustainable development, efforts should go beyondcleaner production to sustainable consumption (Clark, 2007;Narayanaswamy & Stone, 2007). In a narrow view, sustainable con-sumption only includes buyer behaviors for greener products thatbring less pollution during production (OECD, 2002). In a broadview, it needs a reconsideration to change lifestyles, and changingconsumption habits is key for success of sustainable consumption(Marchand & Walker, 2008). Generally, sustainable consumptionhas become increasingly important to prevent non-environmentalpractices of manufacturers (Mont & Plepys, 2008). Thus, sustainableconsumption has gained increasing attention all over the world.
Food consumption is associated with several kinds of environ-mental impacts, and a collaborating production–consumption sys-
ll rights reserved.
., [email protected] (Y. Li),. Qi).
Lambert, & Evans, 2007). Sustainable consumption need to be con-sidered as a social activity, enhancing quality of life for consumers(Briceno & Stagl, 2006). In Germany, governments have developedpolicies to promote sustainable consumption pattern on organicfood (Brand, 2006). A study among consumers in England showsthat sustainable consumption of green food, including consumers’beliefs, willingness and real behaviors about green food consump-tion, is an important way for environmental protection (Tobler,Visschers, & Siegrist, 2011). Consumers can contribute to sustain-able development through their sustainable consumption, but re-sults among Swiss consumers show that the trustableenvironmental evaluation on food is still needed (Tanner, 2006).
Greening food consumption patterns has become a global issueand is not an easy task (Spaargaren & Mol, 2008). Food safety andenvironmental issues related to food planting, process and produc-tion in China have become common concerns. Limited studies onsustainable consumption and even fewer studies concentratingon green food consumption are most about developed countries.A thorough understanding on how to promote green food con-sumption intention among consumers in developing countries
280 Q. Zhu et al. / Food Quality and Preference 28 (2013) 279–286
such as China, and how to bring real green food consumptionbehaviors is needed. In China, food is grouped to three types. Thefirst type is contaminants-free food, which is a basic requirementto be sold in domestic markets. The second type is green foodwhich is promoted as high quality products in domestic markets.The third type is organic food which mainly targets exporting mar-kets. Since contaminants-free food is a basic requirement and thetotal amount of organic food is very limited with expensive prices,we focus on green food in China in this study.
2. A conceptual model and hypotheses development
2.1. A conceptual model on green food consumption
According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), individuals’specific behaviors are determined by their intentions to performthose behaviors, and such behavioral intention can be predictedby three antecedents: attitude toward behavior, subjective normand perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1985). For sustainable con-sumption of food, attitude can be considered as individual (internal)value, subject or social form is external social pressure, while behav-ioral control indicates if green food is available or convenient to buy(Vermeir & Verbeke, 2008). Besides, both personal factors and con-text factors can be determinants of sustainable consumption ofgreen food (Tanner & Kast, 2003). In our paper, we extend the TPBmodel to hypothesize that individual values (internal influencingfactors) are mediators for the relationship between subject or socialform (external influencing factors) and green food consumptionintention while perceived behavioral controls (context factors) aremoderators for the relationship of green food consumption inten-tion and real behaviors. A conceptual model is shown in Fig. 1.
We define internal influencing factors as those related to con-sumers’ personal values while we define external influencing fac-tors as those related to social environmental or governmentalmanagement. Fig. 1 shows that internal influencing factors aremediators of relationships between external influencing factorsand green food consumption intention. Such hypothesis meansthat internal influencing factors are necessary to bring green foodconsumption intention under drivers or pressure of external influ-encing factors. In other words, without internal influencing factors,external influencing factors cannot result in green food consump-tion intention. Fig. 1 also shows that context factors are modera-tors of relationships between green food consumption intentionand green food consumption behaviors. Such hypothesis meansthat with the better context, green food consumption intentioncan result in more green food consumption behaviors.
2.2. Mediation effect of internal influencing factors on green foodconsumption intention
A mediating effect means that a variable as a mediator is neces-sary for an independent variable to affect a dependent variable.
Internal influencing
factors
External influencing
factors
Green food consumption
intention
Green food consumption
behaviors
Context factors
Demographical control variables
Fig. 1. A conceptual model of motivation for green food consumption.
Influence from external actors can bring sustainable food con-sumption (Oosterveer & Spaargaren, 2011). But green consumptionis strongly influenced by personal factors such as consumer values,norms, and habits although it is context dependent (Peattie, 2010).A study in Belgium shows that consumer consciousness has be-come a major factor for sustainable purchasing behavior (Van deVelde, Verbeke, Popp, Buysse, & Van Huylenbroeck, 2009). Accord-ing to the results of a survey among Swiss consumers, personal fac-tors such as environmental values or beliefs are needed to promotesustainable consumption of green food (Tanner & Kast, 2003).
Chinese governments have made efforts to promote green foodconsumption through food safety supervision and high qualityfood labeling. Chinese governments have struggled to deal withfood safety by controlling soil contamination (Liu et al., 2012), pes-ticide residue (Shi, Lv, & Feng, 2011) and food processing (Zhou,Helen, & Liang, 2011). Food producers in China have also promotedgreen food through medias such as TV (Wang & Zhao, 2003). Be-sides these efforts by governments and food producers, withoutnecessary environmental value, Chinese consumers may not in-tend to buy green food even with such external influence.
Based on discussions above, we posit the first hypothesis.
Hypothesis 1. Internal influence factors mediate relationshipsbetween external influencing factors and green food consumptionintention.
2.3. Moderation effect of context factors on consumption behaviors ofgreen food
A moderating effect means that a variable as a moderator canstrengthen or weaken the relationship between an independentvariable and a dependent variable. Internal influencing factors suchas green value can bring green food consumption intention, butfacilitators are need for real green food consumption behaviors(Young, Hwang, McDonald, & Oates, 2010). Some conditions suchas local green food network are needed for consumers with inten-tion to really buy green food (Seyfang, 2006). Contextual factorssuch as socioeconomic characteristics, living conditions, and storecharacteristics facilitate green food consumer behaviors amongSwiss consumers (Tanner & Kast, 2003). Without the right context,consumers may buy non-environmentally friendly food despitetheir intention to green food consumption (Tanner, 2006).
Chinese consumers are willing to pay 5–10% of premium forgreen food, but access to information on green food is important(Zeng & Wei, 2007). In China, there are special counters for greenfood in some supermarkets. Some small groceries located in com-munities also sell green food. Unfortunately, most Chinese con-sumers could not identify green food since they do not knowrelated marks of green food and do not know where to buy greenfood.
Based on discussions above, we posit the second hypothesis.
Hypothesis 2. Context factors moderate relationships betweengreen food consumption intention and behaviors.
2.4. Control variables
Different clusters of consumers exist in terms of their sustain-able consumption intention, and different channels are needed topromote consumers with different characteristics to adopt sustain-able consumption behaviors (Van de Velde et al., 2009). For exam-ple, women generally prefer green food consumption patternscompared to men (Tobler et al., 2011). Thus, we consider gender,age, education, and family income as four control variables.
Table 2Rotated factor matrix for factor analysis of internal influencing items.
Factors
1 2
To survive, humans have to harmoniously coexist with thenature
0.709 0.100
Humans need to understand the existing and developmentways of the nature and then comply with these ways
0.745 0.217
We need to harmoniously coexist with the nature 0.768 0.187Humans are only part of the nature 0.715 0.173Promoting green food helps preserve better environment of
our country0.721 0.083
Green food makes me consider more about environmentalprotection of our country
0.126 0.815
Production styles of green food can decrease pollution in theworld
0.160 0.823
Promoting green food helps preserve environment for nextgeneration
0.142 0.836
When humans interfere the nature over the limit, disasterswill come
0.234 0.783
Extraction method: maximum likelihood.Rotation method: varimax with Kaiser normalization.Rotation converged in 3 iterations.
Table 3
Q. Zhu et al. / Food Quality and Preference 28 (2013) 279–286 281
3. Methodology
3.1. Items development and samples
3.1.1. Items developmentBased on the literature review, we developed all items. Further,
we interviewed scholars in the field as well as ten consumers withdifferent background in terms of gender, ages, education, and fam-ily income. These scholars and consumers reviewed our question-naire to comment if all important items are included and if theycan clearly understand each question. Based on their comments,we did minor modification, mainly on words expression to avoidmisunderstanding of our questions. All statements are measuredon a five-point measurement scale.
According to the previous literature (Grankvist & Biel, 2001;Wandel & Bugge, 1997), we developed seven items on green foodconsumption, including: (1) I plan to continue to buy green food,(2) I plan to buy green food next month, (3) I will buy green foodto guarantee my health, (4) I would like to pay more for green foodfor high quality life, (5) I would like to buy green food to avoid ill-ness since unhealthy food may hurt my health, (6) I would like tobuy green food to reduce environmental damage, and (7) I wouldlike to buy green food as a responsible consumer. A five-point mea-surement scale is used with an anchor on 1 = completely unwilling,2 = unwilling, 3 = neutral, 4 = willing, and 5 = completely willing.
For Chinese consumers, measures of green consumption behav-iors can include shopping frequency of green products, moneyspent on green products and the number of green products boughtwithin last month (Chan, 2001). After discussing with severalscholars in this field and 214 representative consumers, we devel-oped four items to measure 215 green food consumption behav-iors: (1) I always buy green food, (2) I always try to buy foodwith green labeling marks, (3) I buy green food even with higherprices, and (4) I recommend green food that I consumed to my rel-atives and friends. A five-point measurement scale is used with ananchor on 1 = never done, 2 = occasionally do, 3 = do it for half ofmy purchases, 4 = frequently do, and 5 = always do it.
Consumers’ judgments on the environmental significance offood products are key to sustainable consumption while such judg-ments depend on strict evaluation by governments and trustablepromotion by media (Tanner, 2006). Mainly based on Tanner(2006), we develop four external influencing variables (items),including two items related to media and two items related to gov-ernments (see details in Table 1). According to ten consumers weinterviewed, influence from friends can be another reason to buygreen food. Thus we include one more related item, that is, ‘‘I willfollow friends to buy green food’’. General environmental aware-ness (Van de Velde et al., 2009) and personal environmental values(Tanner & Kast, 2003) can be internal reasons that a consumer pre-fers to buy green food. According to suggestions from scholars and
Table 1Rotated factor matrix for factor analysis of external influencing items.
Items Factors
1 2
Promotion by medias can increase green food consumption 0.763 0.152More channels for promotion by media can increase green
food consumption0.796 0.080
I will follow friends to buy green food 0.600 0.080Food safety supervision by governments is satisfactory 0.102 0.962Green food labeling management by governments is
satisfactory0.143 0.786
Extraction method: maximum likelihood.Rotation method: varimax with Kaiser normalization.Rotation converged in 3 iterations.
consumers we interviewed, we develop five items related to gen-eral environmental awareness and four items related to personalenvironmental value related to green food (see details in Table 2).Special needs and purchasing convenience (Tanner & Kast, 2003)are two key context factors, and mainly based on this referenceand suggestions from scholars, we develop four items for both fac-tors (see details in Table 3). To answer each question related toinfluencing and context items, we used five anchors as 1 = totallydisagree, 2 = partly disagree, 3 = never mind, 4 = partly agree, and5 = totally agree.
3.1.2. SamplesOur surveys were undertaken from July 21 to August 31 of
2011. We trained 8 students to guarantee that they understandthe questionnaire very well, and these 8 students did surveys dur-ing their summer holiday. Economy is imbalanced in China, andgenerally cities in eastern coastal areas are richer. Thus we choseurban areas of Shanghai (the largest and richest Chinese city)and Dalian (a coastal and richest city in Northeast China) as repre-sentatives of those from developed areas. We chose Wafangdian (asmall city in Liaoning Province), Yueyang in Hunan Province, andJiaozuo in Henan Province as representatives of those from devel-oping areas.
Rotated factor matrix for factor analysis of context items.
Factors
1 2
When giving presents, I would choose green food with higherprices
0.784 0.097
When preparing parties or dinners, I would choose greenfood
0.802 0.137
When payment is flexible such as credit or band card can beused, I would buy green food
0.764 0.213
With good mood, I would buy green food to reward myself 0.673 0.300Shops selling green food have good environment 0.167 0.813Shops selling green food are located with convenient
transportation0.194 0.815
Purchasing green food has many channels 0.167 0.708
Extraction method: principal component analysis.Rotation method: varimax with Kaiser normalization.Rotation converged in 3 iterations.
Table 4Descriptive statistic results of green food consumption and influencing factors.
Factors Means Standarddeviations
Green food consumption intention 3.58 0.71Green food consumption behaviors 2.45 0.88
External influencing factorsPromotion/diffusion 3.35 0.82Governmental efforts 2.34 1.00
Internal influencing factorsGeneral environmental value 3.78 0.80Personal environmental value related togreen food
4.11 0.74
Context factorsSpecial needs 3.44 0.80Convenience 3.23 0.76
282 Q. Zhu et al. / Food Quality and Preference 28 (2013) 279–286
First, we chose communities with different consumption levels.We interviewed peoples in communities, and asked them to fill thequestionnaire. Such interviews show that people can easily under-stand our questionnaire without any confusion. Further, we ran-domly selected people who happened to appear in commercialstreets and supermarkets, and asked them to fill the questionnaireon site. We handed out 488 questionnaires, and 457 were usablewithout missing answers to all questions, including 259 were fromdeveloped areas, and 198 were from developing areas. Among 457respondents, 250 are female and 207 are male; most (423) are be-tween 18 and 55 while 21 are younger than 18 and 13 are olderthan 56. The majority (255) of interviewees have bachelor degreeswhile 162 have lower education background and 39 have master ordoctoral degrees. Most have an average monthly family income be-tween RMB 2000 and 7000 while 51 with the monthly family in-come of lower than RMB 2000 and 29 with monthly familyincome of higher than RMB 7000. Generally, consumers with high-er income prefer to buy green food.
3.2. Factor analysis and general descriptive analysis
3.2.1. Factor analysisWe did an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify the the-
oretical dimensions (factors) of green food consumption intentionand behaviors as well as three types of influencing and context fac-tors. Maximum likelihood method with a varimax rotation wasused to extract the theoretical factors. Both the screen test and ini-tial eigenvalue test are used. The number of eigenvalues over 1indicates the number of factors we can group for items.
Only one factor has eigenvalue over 1 in this study, which sug-gests one meaningful factor for both green food consumptionintention and behaviors. One factor for green food consumptionintention and behaviors explains 66.8% and 56.8% of the variations,respectively. A further reliability test is examined if items can begrouped into one factor. If a reliability coefficient alpha value isover the benchmark value of 0.70, we can conclude that itemsgrouped into this factor is reasonable (Nunnally & Bernstein,1994). The reliability coefficient alpha values in this study are highwith 0.83 for the factor of green food consumption intention and0.87 for the factor of green food consumption behaviors.
Both the screen test and initial eigenvalue test suggest two fac-tors for external influencing variables. Two external influencingfactors on green food consumption intention explain 64.7% of theinherent variations. Loadings for external influencing items ongreen food consumption intention are shown in Table 1. We groupone item into a certain factor when the loading of this item on onefactor is higher than 0.60 while lower than 0.40 on the other fac-tors. To further check if certain items can be grouped into one fac-tor, we examined the reliability of the factor. The reliabilitycoefficient alpha values for two factors are 0.77 and 0.87, respec-tively. According to the characteristics of items for factors, we labelthem as promotion/diffusion and governmental efforts.
Similarly, both the screen test and initial eigenvalue test suggesttwo factors for internal influencing variables. Two internal influenc-ing factors on green food consumption intention explain 62.0% ofthe inherent variations. Loadings for internal influencing items ongreen food consumption intention are shown in Table 2. The firstfive items have loadings higher than 0.715 on Factor 1 while lowerthan 0.217 on Factor 2, which indicates that these five items can bereasonably grouped to Factor 1. Similarly, the last four items haveloadings higher than 0.783 on Factor 2 while lower than 0.234 onFactor 1, which indicates that these four items can be reasonablygrouped to Factor 2. The reliability coefficient alpha values fortwo factors are 0.75 and 0.73, respectively. According to the charac-teristics of items for factors, we label them as general environmen-tal value and personal environmental value related to green food.
The screen test and initial eigenvalue test also suggest two fac-tors for context variables. Two context factors explain 76.5% of theinherent variations. Loadings for context items are shown in Ta-ble 3. The first four items have loadings higher than 0.673 on Factor1 while lower than 0.300 on Factor 2, which indicates that thesefour items can be reasonably grouped to Factor 1. Similarly, the lastthree items have loadings higher than 0.708 on Factor 2 while low-er than 0.194 on Factor 1, which indicates that these three itemscan be reasonably grouped to Factor 2. The reliability coefficient al-pha values for two factors are 0.78 and 0.72, respectively. Accord-ing to the characteristics of items for factors, we label them asspecial needs and purchasing convenience.
3.2.2. General descriptive analysisGeneral descriptive results of green food consumption intention
and behaviors as well as three types of influencing and context fac-tors are shown in Table 4. To further examine the situation of greenfood consumption intention and behaviors, we show results of fre-quencies (numbers) and percentages for each item (shown inTable 5).
The mean value of green food consumption intention is 3.58(3 = neutral, 4 = willing), which indicates that consumers are partlywilling to buy green food. A further check of Table 5 shows thatmajorities of respondent chose 3 = neutral or 4 = willing for allgreen food consumption intention items. However, the factor ofthe green food consumption behaviors has a much lower mean va-lue (2.45), which shows that green food consumption intention isnot associated with real green food consumption behaviors. A fur-ther check of Table 5 shows that majorities of respondent chose2 = occasionally do or 3 = do it for half of my purchase for all greenfood consumption behavior items.
For three types of influencing factors, internal factors have high-er mean values, followed by context factors, and external factorshave the lowest mean values. Two internal influencing factors, per-sonal environmental value related to green food and general envi-ronmental values have the highest mean values of 4.11 and 3.78,respectively. Such results indicate that consumers have generallyhigher environmental awareness. But such internal environmentalvalues can bring green food consumption intention and real behav-iors only if external influencing environment and context exist.
4. Results and discussions
4.1. Results
4.1.1. Mediation effects of internal influencing factors on green foodconsumption intention
A mediating effect indicates that a direct regression resultbetween an independent variable and a dependent variable is
Table 5Frequencies of scales for green food consumption intention and behaviors.
Factors Items 1 2 3 4 5
Green food consumptionintentiona
(1) I plan to continue to buy green food 26(5.7%)c 31(6.8%) 164(35.9%) 182(39.8%) 54(11.8%)(2) I plan to buy green food next month 14(3.1%) 46(10.1%) 188(41.1%) 155(33.9%) 54(11.8%)(3) I will buy green food to guarantee my health 8(1.8%) 37(8.1%) 102(22.3%) 208(45.5%) 102(22.3%)(4) I would like to pay more for green food for high quality life 13(2.8%) 41(9.0%) 164(35.9%) 177(38.7%) 62(13.6%)(5) I would like to buy green food to avoid illness since unhealthyfood may hurt my health
13(2.8%) 28(6.1%) 102(22.3%) 227(49.7%) 87(19.0%)
(6) I would like to buy green food to reduce environmental damage 17(3.7%) 47(10.3%) 155(33.9%) 184(40.3%) 54(11.8%)(7) I would like to buy green food as a responsible consumer 9(2.0%) 31(6.8%) 135(29.5%) 209(45.7%) 73(16.0%)
Green food consumptionbehaviorsb
(1) I always buy green food 91(19.9%) 203(44.4%) 92(20.1%) 59(12.9%) 12(2.6%)(2) I always try to buy food with green labeling marks 74(16.2%) 184(40.3%) 104(22.8%) 78(17.1%) 17(3.7%)(3) I buy green food even with higher prices 64(13.9%) 194(42.5%) 104(22.7%) 75(16.4%) 20(4.4%)(4) I recommend green food that I consumed to my relatives andfriends
125(27.4%) 150(32.8%) 86(18.8%) 75(16.4%) 21(4.6%)
a For green food consumption intention, 1 = completely unwilling, 2 = unwilling, 3 = neutral, 4 = willing, and 5 = completely willing.b For green food consumption behaviors, 1 = never done, 2 = occasionally do, 3 = do it for half of my purchases, 4 = frequently do, and 5 = always do it.c Number and percentage of respondents picking up this scale, number (percentage).
Table 6Mediation effects of internal influencing factors on green food consumption intention.
Factors Step1
Step 2 Step 3
Control variables Gender 0.06 0.05 0.06Age 0.09 0.11
⁄0.07
Education 0.11⁄
0.10⁄
0.11⁄⁄
Family income 0.11⁄
0.09 0.05
Independent factor Promotion/diffusion 0.35⁄⁄⁄
0.18⁄⁄
Mediators (internalinfluencingfactors)
General environmentalvalue
0.41⁄⁄⁄
Personal environmentalvalue related to green food
0.22⁄⁄⁄
F for the step 4.4⁄⁄
63.0⁄⁄⁄
93.8⁄⁄⁄
F for the regression 4.4⁄⁄
16.6⁄⁄⁄
43.6⁄⁄⁄
Adjusted R2 0.10 0.13 0.45
⁄p < 0.05.
⁄⁄p < 0.01.
⁄⁄⁄p < 0.001.
Q. Zhu et al. / Food Quality and Preference 28 (2013) 279–286 283
weakened or disappears when a mediator is entered. Define x as anindependent variable, y as a dependent variable, and m as amediator.
Without m, y = cx, where c is the coefficient of regressionanalysis.
When m is included, and thus,
y ¼ c0xþ abx
where a representing the regression coefficient of X to M, b repre-senting the regression coefficient of M to Y adjusted for X, and c0
the regression coefficient of X to Y adjusted for M.Then, the mediation effect is ab, and ab = c – c0.One key issue of this study is to examine if internal influencing
factors are mediators and necessary for green food consumptionintention under the certain situation of external influencing fac-tors. Thus, we examine the mediation effect of internal influencingfactors on the relationship between external influencing factorsand green food consumption intention. Mediating effects dependon four conditions (Baron and Kenny, 1986).
The first condition is that the independent variable must affectthe dependent variable. We used regression analysis to examinethe relationships between two external influencing factors (pro-motion/diffusion and governmental effort) and one factor of greenfood consumption intention. The significant coefficient (0.310,p = 0.039) shows that promotion/diffusion affects green food con-sumption intention. However, the coefficient for the relationshipbetween the factors of governmental efforts and green food con-sumption intention is not significant (p = 0.379). Thus, we willnot consider the external influencing factor of governmental effortfor the following analysis.
The second condition is that the independent variables must af-fect the mediating variables. Regression results between promo-tion/diffusion and two internal influencing factors show twosignificant betas, they are, 0.28 for internal value concept and0.24 for internal environmental concept at p = 0.001. Thus, the sec-ond condition for testing mediation is met.
The third condition is that the mediator must affect the depen-dent variable. Results for Step 3 in Table 6 show two significant be-tas for the relationships between two mediators and onedependent factor. Thus, the third condition is supported.
The fourth condition mainly evaluates the significant change ofthe direct relationships between the independent and dependentvariable after the mediating variable is introduced. We can con-clude that there is perfect or complete mediation if the relationshipbetween an independent variable and a dependent variable losesall significance when the mediating variable is introduced (Wong,
Lai, & Ngai, 2009). If the significance of the relationship betweenthe independent variable and the dependent variable is lessened,but is still significant, then we can conclude that there is the partialmediation effect. If there is no change in significance, then nomediation exists.
To examine the fourth condition, we used hierarchical regres-sion analysis. Results of regression coefficients are shown in Ta-ble 6. For the first step, we include control variables such asgender, age, education and family income. Then we entered theindependent factor, the external influencing factor of promotion/diffusion for the second step. For the third step, we entered twomediators, the internal influencing factors. To check if a mediationeffect exists, we can compare the change of the significant level aswell as the value of the coefficient for the independent factor ofpromotion/diffusion between Step 2 and Step 3.
For Step 2, the relationship between promotion/diffusion andgreen food consumption intention is significant with the beta of0.35 at p = 0.001. After we entered two mediators, the relationshipbetween promotion/diffusion and green food consumption inten-tion is still significant, but the beta is reduced to 0.18, and the sig-nificance level is changed from 0.001 to 0.05. At the same time, twobetas for the relationships between two mediators and the depen-dent factors are both significant at p = 0.001, they are, 0.41 and0.22, respectively. Such results indicate that both general environ-mental value and personal environmental value related to green
284 Q. Zhu et al. / Food Quality and Preference 28 (2013) 279–286
food partly mediate relationship between promotion/diffusion andgreen food consumption intention. Hypothesis 1 is partlysupported.
4.1.2. Moderating effects of context variables on relationship betweengreen food consumption intention and behaviors
A moderating effect indicates that the relationship between anindependent variable and a dependent variable can be strength-ened or weakened when a moderator is included. Define x as anindependent variable, y as a dependent variable, and m as amoderator.
y ¼ axþ bmþ cxm
A significant c indicates a moderation effect exists.To test the moderating effect of context factors on the relation-
ship between green food consumption intention and behaviors, wefollowed the variance partitioning procedures outlined by method-ologists (Jaccard, Wan, & Turrisi, 1990) and employed in a previousstudy (Zhu, Geng, & Lai, 2011). We conducted four steps to exam-ine the moderating effect, and results are shown in Table 7. First,we entered the control variables including gender, age, educationand family into the regression. Second, we entered the indepen-dent factor of green food consumption intention. Third, we enteredthe two moderators, special needs and purchasing convenience, asa block. Finally, we entered the two interaction terms of one inde-pendent factor and two moderators as a block. We can identify amoderating effect when interaction terms account for significantincremental (step) variances in a dependent variable, either indi-vidually, signified by the values of the betas, or collectively, signi-fied by the values of the incremental F-statistic (Dean & Snell,1991).
Multicollinearity can be a serious problem since it can distortresults in moderated regression analysis (Jaccard et al., 1990). Tomitigate any potential issues of multicollinearity on our statisticresults, we employed the ‘‘centering’’ technique following a previ-ous study (Zhu & Sarkis, 2004). Centering involves the use of devi-ation scores for each predictor variable and for the two moderatorvariables (Jaccard et al., 1990). Acceptable variance inflation factors(VIF), those close to 1.00, were found in our regression analyses.Thus, we believe that multicollinearity should not be an issue.
A significant F (4.1 at p = 0.05) for the fourth step indicates thata moderation effect of the context factors on the relationship ofgreen food consumption intention and behaviors. Thus, Hypothesis2 is supported. A further examination shows that purchasing con-venience has a significant moderation effect with a beta of 0.09 atp = 0.05 while special needs do not have a moderation effect.
Table 7Moderation effect of context variables on green food consumption behaviors.
Factors
Control variables GenderAgeEducationFamily income
Independent factor Green food consumption intentio
Moderators Special needsConvenience
Consumption intention � special needsConsumption intention � convenience
F for the stepF for the regressionAdjusted R2
⁄p < 0.05.
⁄⁄p < 0.01.
⁄⁄⁄p < 0.001.
4.2. Discussions
Results in Table 6 show that two factors related to environmen-tal values both partly mediate the relationship between the exter-nal influencing factor of promotion/diffusion and the green foodconsumption intention. Such results show that consumers’ envi-ronmental value is necessary to bring green food consumptionintention under the certain external situation. The food cultureand the culture’s level of environmental concern play key roles insustainable consumption (Thogersen, 2010). In China, the publichas been very concerned about air, water, and food pollution,improvement of the environment for community life and furtherglobal environmental changes, but how to transfer such concernsinto environmental awareness or environmental value needs bet-ter education and public initiatives in environmental protectionand management (Li et al., 2009).
Governmental efforts such as through a comprehensive sustain-ability label could considerably influence green food consumptionpatterns (Engels, Hansmann, & Scholz, 2010). However, our statis-tic result shows that governmental efforts including food safetysupervision and green food labeling management do not affectgreen food consumption intention. The first condition to test medi-ation effect is not satisfied. Such an outcome may result from lowlevel of consumers’ satisfaction with governmental effort with amean value of 2.45 (see in Table 4). Even in developed countriessuch as Finland, how to develop effective national programs to pro-mote sustainable consumption is still difficult, and a key issue is tobe transparent about the reasons why these programs are madeand, particularly, to whom and for which uses (Berg & Hukkinen,2011). Radical and realistic policies on sustainable consumptionare sometimes contradictory (Perrels, 2008). In China, strict foodsafety supervision and green product promotion should be radicalpolicies, but such policies are not realistic in short term due to lackof necessary evaluation technologies, persons with expertise andincreasing supervision cost. Generally, green food management isa public responsibility of the local government and there are atleast three aspects to consider: effectiveness, efficiency and equity.For effectiveness, the intent is to ensure goals and objectives areachieved and principles are respected. This requires a clear visionstatement for the city’s green food management, along with expli-cit goals and objectives related to a desirable future condition. Italso requires that the city government increases the total budgetfor green food regulation enforcement so that the financial limitcan be solved. Once those are in place, it will be possible to monitorand report progress in achieving them. For efficiency, the emphasisis on achieving the vision, goals and objectives in the most efficientmanner. While it may be controversial, one general principle could
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
0.01 �0.03 �0.03 �0.030.06 0.02 0.02 0.020.07 0.01 0.01 0.010.16
⁄⁄⁄0.11
⁄⁄0.10
⁄0.10
⁄
n 0.53⁄⁄⁄
0.53⁄⁄⁄
0.5⁄⁄⁄
0.06 0.05�0.10
⁄ �0.09⁄
0.040.09
⁄
4.7⁄⁄⁄
178.3⁄⁄⁄
2.5 4.1⁄
4.7⁄⁄⁄
40.9⁄⁄⁄
30.1⁄⁄⁄
24.6⁄⁄⁄
0.04 0.31 0.32 0.33
Q. Zhu et al. / Food Quality and Preference 28 (2013) 279–286 285
be to improve those officials’ knowledge and awareness by trainingthe trainees and thereby make sure that they meet the demands ofefficient enforcement. It will be also useful for various agencies toregularly meet each other and discuss how to solve the conflictsand improve the quality of enforcement together so that theycan respect different perspectives from different agencies and inte-grate them into the enforcement progress. Regarding equity,emphasis is on achieving fairness related to the incidence and dis-tribution of benefits and costs from any initiatives. With regard tothose citizens with lower income, equity requires that green foodavailability to these citizens should be improved. Therefore, howto reduce the price of such green food is a critical issue so thatthese citizens can consume green food. Possible measures may in-clude special price only to low income families (with special passesissued by local government), financial subsides to green food pro-ducers who provide cheaper green food to poor families, and com-bined financial subsides and direct marketing channels to specialgroups (such as orphanages, nursing homes for the aged and othercharity organizations).
Results in Table 7 show that purchasing convenience positivelymoderates the relationship between green food consumptionintention and behaviors, which means that with high purchasingconvenience green food consumption intention tends to morelikely bring green food consumption behaviors. A previous studyshows that 30% of consumers cannot translate their green foodconsumption intention into real purchase due to purchasing incon-venience (Young et al., 2010). Thus, how to improve purchasingconvenience is important to promote green food consumptionbehaviors in China. Based on current special counters in supermar-kets and limited numbers of special groceries selling green food,food producers need to seek more convenient channels for con-sumers to buy green food. Meanwhile, governmental agencies needto provide policy supports to facilitate the creation of such market-ing channels, such as setting up green food counter/corner in allthe newly established supermarkets and groceries, building up di-rect business relation between green food producers and institu-tional consumers (schools, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, etc.).
Results in Table 6 show that only education affects green foodconsumption intention after mediators of internal influencing fac-tors are entered in Step 4. Such result shows that consumers withhigher education more likely tend to buy green food, which alsoindicates that general environmental education for the public isnot enough. Table 7 shows that only family income affects the rela-tionship between green food consumption intention and behav-iors. With increasing income such as the growth of middle classin China, consumers with green food consumption intention tendto really buy green food in the end (Shi, Cheng, Lei, Wen, & Merri-field, 2011). Such results also indicate that local governmentsshould make their further efforts to increase general public’sawareness on consuming green food. Awareness-raising activitiesrelated to green food promotion (including TV promotions, news-letters and regional symposia and workshops) should be used tobuild understanding, since such initiatives can provide forums atwhich experiences from different parts of the world and from dif-ferent institutions could be objectively reviewed and lessonsdrawn. These activities can also create opportunities for stakehold-ers to strengthen their mutual understandings, trust and respect,which will become a solid foundation for further collaboration.Ideally, these programs should be achieved through school pro-grams, information sessions at the community level, print andelectronic media, and brochures.
5. Conclusions
Rethinking the role that consumption plays in individual qualityof life and societal development has become critical to address
environmental problems (Briceno & Stagl, 2006). Sustainabilityelements may lead to a new paradigm in food consumption(Schacht, Leal, Koppe, Struksnaes, & Busch-Stockfisch, 2010), andsustainable consumption may bring values not only for consumersbut also for market managers and producers of green food (Alkon,2008). In China, environmental issue related to food has certainrisks to consumers’ health (Yang, Xu, Liu, He, & Long, 2011). Thus,green food consumption can be helpful not only to relieve environ-mental issues but also to benefit consumers’ health. Cooperationamong producers, consumers and other stakeholders can bringmore sustainable solutions in production–consumption systems(Partidario et al., 2007). Under such a circumstance, integrating ef-forts of all stakeholders is a key issue to promote green food con-sumption in China.
Governmental effort is critical to promote green food consump-tion. Green food labeling can not only provide information commu-nication between consumers and producers but also bring moresustainable and ethical business practices (Hartlieb & Jones,2009). Stewardship or supervision by government is key to pro-mote both food consumption quality and environmental protec-tion (Szucs, Geers, & Sossidou, 2009). Without a credibleevaluation system, a consumer may not buy green food even withconsumption intention (Tanner, 2006). Our research outcomesindicated that the Chinese government needs to initiate an inte-grated effort to promote green food consumption. During this pro-cess, effectiveness, efficiency and equity should be simultaneouslyaddressed so that the best results can be achieved.
Environmental value of consumers is necessary to motivategreen food consumption intention. Environmental motives influ-ence consumers to purchase green food (Tobler et al., 2011). Eco-logical citizenship which can improve environmental values maybe a powerful motivating force for sustainable consumptionbehavior (Seyfang, 2006). Chinese consumers have paid increasingattention to the environmental, but more education is needed topromote environmental awareness or environmental values (Liet al., 2009). With the increased demand for green food and theincreasing awareness of environmental protection, Chinese con-sumers will tend to have increasing green food consumption inten-tion and behaviors (Zhang, 2008). However, our research outcomesindicate that there is still a need to further improve general pub-lic’s awareness on consuming green food through various capacitybuilding activities and create more convenient marketing channelsso that more consumers can purchase green food.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by a grant from National Science Fundfor Distinguished Young Scholars (71025002), National Key BasicResearch Program of China (973 Program, 2011CB013406) andthe National Natural Science Foundation of China Key Projects(71033004), as well as Chinese Academy of Sciences (2008-318).
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