Selecting environmental psychology theories to predict people’s consumption intention of locally produced organic foods

Abstract This study examines which of the three environmental psychology theories (i.e., the combined value‐belief‐norm (VBN) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model, VBN model or TPB model) can effectively explain and predict people's consumption intention of locally produced organic foods (OFs). This study collected 775 valid self‐reported questionnaires in Taiwan to examine the environmental psychology theories. A comparison of a series of structural equation modelling analyses revealed that the explanatory powers of the combined model and the TPB model can explain approximately as high as 47% of the variation in people's consumption intention of locally produced OFs; however, the VBN model can only explain 14% of the variation. Furthermore, the results indicated that people's attitude towards the consumption of locally produced OFs and perceived behavioural control determine the consumption intention of locally produced OFs. This result can be further explained through a causal chain: from an individual's stable value orientations (i.e., egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric) and environment general beliefs (new environmental paradigm) to the beliefs that their actions may affect the environment (awareness of consequences beliefs) and beliefs that the individual has responsibility to reduce this threat (ascription of responsibility beliefs). Given the same explanatory power, selecting the TPB model or the combined model depends on whether the aim is to effectively predict sustainable food consumption intention such as locally produced OFs or to comprehensively understand the antecedents and consequences of people's consumption intention of sustainable food.