PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The emergence of a ‘new normal’ life caused by pandemic Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) leads to consumer perception and business practices changes. However, there is limited data on the current market demand and condition on consumer purchase intention of organic food associated with food safety knowledge. Thus, this study aimed to examine consumer perception toward organic food in a new normal life. A total of 330 valid responses were received for analysis using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and PROCESS. The data were collected in Malaysia using an online questionnaire mainly because of physical distances and Movement Control Order (MCO). The finding revealed that personal attitude, perceived social pressure, and perceived autonomy influence organic food purchase intention in a new normal life. However, it is not perceived as green trust. Besides, food safety knowledge significantly moderates the relationship between personal attitudes toward organic food purchase intention. The finding is valuable for current producers, marketers, and the government body to understand the changes in consumer purchase intention in a new normal life and assist future planning and operationalising to protect, develop and maintain the organic food industry.

• Adawiyah, R., Najib, M., & Ali, M. M. (2021). Information effect on organic vegetable purchase interest through consumer preferences and awareness. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 8(2), 1055-1062. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no2.1055

• Aertsens, J., Verbeke, W., Mondelaers, K., & van Huylenbroeck, G. (2009). Personal determinants of organic food consumption: A review. British Food Journal, 111(10), 1140-1167. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700910992961

• Awang, Z., Hui, L. S., & Zainudin, N. F. S. (2018). Pendekatan mudah SEM - Structural equation modelling. MPWS Rich Resources Sdn. Bhd.

• Babulal, V., & Krishnan, D. B. (2020, November). Experts: 2021 Budget does not address challenges facing agriculture sector. New Straits Times.

• Bai, L., Wang, M., & Gong, S. (2019). Understanding the antecedents of organic food purchases: The important roles of beliefs, subjective norms, and identity expressiveness. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(11), 3045-3063. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113045

• Baktash, L., & Talib, M. A. (2019). Green marketing strategies: Exploring intrinsic and extrinsic factors towards green customers’ loyalty. Quality - Access to Success, 20(168), 127-134.

• Briggs, A. R., Coleman, M., & Morrison, M. (2012). Research methods in educational leadership and management. SAGE Publications.

• Chaturvedi, A., Chand, M. R., & Rahman, M. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 on consumer behavior towards organic food in India. In Predictive and preventive measures for Covid-19 pandemic (pp. 127-148). Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4236-1_8

• Correa, C., Junior, S., & Da Silva, D. (2017). The social control exerted by advertising: A study on the perception of greenwashing in green products at retail. British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science, 19(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.9734/bjesbs/2017/29819

• Eichhorn, B. R. (2014). Common method variance techniques. Midwest SAS Users Group, 1-11.

• Euromonitor International. (2017). Certified organic: Opportunities in food and beverages. Euromonitor, 66. https://www.euromonitor.com/certified-organic-opportunities-in-food-and-beverages/report

• Fraser, D. (2001). The “New Perception” of animal agriculture: Legless cows, featherless chickens, and a need for genuine analysis. Journal of Animal Science, 79(3), 634-641. https://doi.org/10.2527/2001.793634x

• Giampietri, E., Verneau, F., Del Giudice, T., Carfora, V., & Finco, A. (2018). A theory of planned behaviour perspective for investigating the role of trust in consumer purchasing decision related to short food supply chains. Food Quality and Preference, 64, 160-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2017.09.012

• Ha, T. M., Shakur, S., & Pham Do, K. H. (2018). Consumer concern about food safety in Hanoi,Vietnam. Food Control, 98, 238-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2018.11.031

• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective (Global Edi). Pearson Education.

• Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.

• Ham, M., Pap, A., & Stanic, M. (2018). What drives organic food purchasing? Evidence from Croatia. British Food Journal, 120(4), 734-748. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb011783

• Hassen, T. B., El Bilali, H., & Allahyari, M. S. (2020). Impact of covid-19 on food behavior and consumption in Qatar. Sustainability, 12, 6973. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176973

• Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.

• Jaafar, N. A. A., Sulaiman, N., Sabran, M. R., & Badari, S. A. Z. (2020). A systematic review of 10 years of empirical studies on organic food consumption among Malaysian consumers. Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics, 25(S1), 111-134.

• Jaiswal, D., & Kant, R. (2018). Green purchasing behaviour: A conceptual framework and empirical investigation of Indian consumers. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 41(December 2017), 60-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.11.008

• Junior, S. B., Martínez, M. P., Correa, C. M., Moura-Leite, R. C., & Da Silva, D. (2019). Greenwashing effect, attitudes, and beliefs in green consumption. RAUSP Management Journal, 54(2), 226-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/RAUSP-08-2018-0070

• Kana, G. (2020, May). Dent in Malaysians’ spending. The Star Online.

• Latip, M. S. A., Newaz, F. T., Latip, S. N. N. A., May, R. Y. Y., & Rahman, A. E. A. (2021). The sustainable purchase intention in a new normal of COVID-19: An empirical study in Malaysia. Journal of Asian Finance Economics and Business, 8(5), 951-959. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no5.0951

• Latip, M. S. A., Newaz, F. T., Noh, I., & Mohamad, A. M. (2020a).Individual green consideration model: A conceptual study. International Journal of Management, 11(7), 849-858. https://doi.org/10.34218/IJM.11.7.2020.075

• Latip, M. S. A., Newaz, F. T., Ramasamy, R., Tumin, S. A., & Noh, I. (2020b). How do food safety knowledge and trust affect individual’s green considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia? Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics, 24, 261-285.

• Lian, S. B. (2017). What motivates consumers to purchase organic food in Malaysia? Asian Social Science, 13(9), 100. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v13n9p100

• Lian, S. B., & Yoong, L. C. (2019). Assessing the young consumers’ motives and purchase behavior for organic food: An empirical evidence from a developing nation. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(1), 69-87. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v9-i1/5364

• Madden, T. J., Ellen, P. S., & Ajzen, I. (1992). A Comparison of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Reasoned Action. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18(1), 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167292181001

• Nguyen, H. V., Nguyen, N., Nguyen, B. K., Lobo, A., & Vu, P. A. (2019). Organic food purchases in an emerging market: The influence of consumers’ personal factors and green marketing practices of food stores. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(6), 1037. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16061037

• Prentice, C., Chen, J., & Wang, X. (2019). The influence of product and personal attributes on organic food marketing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 46, 70-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.10.020

• Putten, Y. Y. A., & Nair, P. B. (2019). Green food product purchase intention: Factors influencing Malaysian consumers. Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 27(2), 1131-1144.

• Qi, X., & Ploeger, A. (2019). Explaining consumers’ intentions towards purchasing green food in Qingdao, China: The amendment and extension of the theory of planned behavior. Appetite, 133, 414-422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.12.004

• Qi, X., Yu, H., & Ploeger, A. (2020). Exploring influential factors including COVID-19 on green food purchase intentions and the intention–behaviour gap: A qualitative study among consumers in a Chinese context. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197106

• Rieger, J., Kuhlgatz, C., & Anders, S. (2016). Food scandals, media attention and habit persistence among desensitised meat consumers. Food Policy, 64, 82-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.09.005

• Sajed, A. N. N., & Amgain, K. (2020). Corona virus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and the strategy for prevention. Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(1), 1-4.

• Scalco, A., Noventa, S., Sartori, R., & Ceschi, A. (2017). Predicting organic food consumption: A meta-analytic structural equation model based on the theory of planned behavior. Appetite, 112, 235-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.02.007

• Shaw, A. (2004). Discourses of risk in lay accounts of microbiological safety and BSE: A qualitative interview study. Health Risk & Society, 6, 151-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369857042000219779

• Somasundram, C., Razali, Z., & Santhirasegaram, V. (2016). A review on organic food production in Malaysia. Horticulturae, 2(12), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae2030012

• Teng, P. K., Rezai, G., Mohamed, Z., & Shamsudin, M. N. (2011). Consumers’ intention to purchase green foods in Malaysia. International Conference on Innovation, Management and Service, 14, 112-118.

• Wang, J., Shen, M., & Gao, Z. (2018). Research on the irrational behavior of consumers’ safe consumption and its influencing factors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(12), 2764-2777. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122764

• Xie, B., Wang, L., Yang, H., Wang, Y., & Zhang, M. (2015). Consumer perceptions and attitudes of organic food products in eastern China. British Food Journal, 117(3), 1105-1121. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2013-0255

• Xie, X., Huang, L., Li, J., & Zhu, H. (2020). Generational differences in perceptions of food health/risk and attitudes toward organic food and game meat: The case of the COVID-19 crisis in China. In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(9), 3148-3165. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093148

• Yzer, M. (2017). Theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior. The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0075