Consumers' Purchase Intentions towards Water ...

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ScienceDirect Procedia Economics and Finance 9 (2014) 407 – 416

The Economies of Balkan and Eastern Europe Countries in the Changed World (EBEEC 2013)

Consumers’ Purchase Intentions towards Water Buffalo Milk Products (WBMPs) in the Greater Area of Thessaloniki, Greece Stela Cazacua*, Konstantinos Rotsiosa and Gerasimos Moshonasa a

Per roti s Col lege, Amer i can Far m School , Mari nou Anti pa 54, Thessal oniki 551 02, Gr eece

Abstract Over the last decade, water buffalo population in Greece in spite of its small s ize, has been increasing significantly. Furthermore, the consumption of water buffalo milk products (WBMPs) has been ris ing, due to a large extent to the full taste and the health benefits of these products. This paper investigates the consumers’ purchasing intentions towards WBMPs in the greater area of Thessaloniki, Greece, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). According to the TPB theory, a) attitude towards the behavior, b) subjective norms and c) perceived behavioral control, jointly influence the intention to a specific behavior. Furthermore, the stronger the intention, the more likely the expected behavior is. In this paper we propose a model of behavioral intention based on the TPB theory and we investigate the impact of behavioral and normative beliefs on the WBMPs purchasing intention of consumers in the greater area of Thessaloniki, Greece. More specifically, we have examined consumers’ knowledge, nutritional benefits, general attitudes and social contacts . The quantitative analytical approach is used to test the above model and hypotheses, based on empirical data gathered from 247 questionnaires. The find ings indicate that, product knowledge, nutritional benefits, attitudes and social contacts positively affect WBMPs purchasing intention of residents in the greater area of Thessaloniki, as argued in the TPB model. The study reveals that the factors which are found to positively influence the intention to purchase WBMPs are similar to the ones that affect dairy milk purchase intention.

© © 2014 2014 The The Authors. Authors.Published Publishedby byElsevier ElsevierB.V. B.V. Selection ofof Accountancy, Greece underresponsibility responsibilityofofKavala KavalaInstitute InstituteofofTechnology, Technology,Department Department Accountancy, Greece. Selection and and peer-review peer-reviewunder Keywords: M arketing; TP B; p urchase intentio n; W ater Buffalo M ilk P roduct,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 0 030 -23 10 -49 2 8 00 ; fax: 00 30 -49 2 -815. E-mail address: [email protected]

2212-5671 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Kavala Institute of Technology, Department of Accountancy, Greece doi:10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00042-2

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1. I nt roduction The dairy industry plays a significant role in the economies of many countries (Sajjad et al., 2011). Overall, the production of milk has increased considerably in the last decade, and water buffalo milk (WBM) increase was second only to dairy milk (Han et al., 2012). The most important buffalo milk producers are India, Pakistan, China, Nepal etc. Among the European countries, major producers are Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, the former being the eighteenth larger in the world (FAOSTAT, 2013). The buffalo milk sector is considered a relatively young one, since it has started to develop recently (Borghese, 2005). Products manufactured by WBM are among others, pasteurized fresh milk, concentrated milk, fat-rich milk products (e.g. butter), heat-desiccated milk products (e.g. khoa, rabri), heat-acid coagulated milk products (e.g. paneer), fermented milk products (e.g. yogurt), frozen milk products (e.g. ice-cream), dehydrated milk products (e.g. tea and coffee whitener powders), cheeses (e.g. Mozzarella) (Borghese, 2005). WBM products (WBMPs), such as mozzarella cheese, curd, yo gurt and ice cream, are becoming more and more popular due to WBM’s rich nutrition content, leading to a continuous demand increase (Han et al., 2012; Borghese, 2005). As a result the market for these products has been increasing and in many countries, the price is much higher than the bovine milk price (Borghese, 2005). Mozzarella cheese produced with WBM is a highly valued product, particularly in Italy (Han et al., 2012; Tripaldi, 2005; Borghese, 2005), the USA (Han et al., 2012; Borghese, 2005), Germany, France, UK and Japan (Borghese, 2005). In comparison with the bovine Mozzarella it has higher fat content and different sensorial characteristics (Tripaldi, 2005). In addition, WBM has higher content of protein (i.e. casein), fat, lactose, minerals (i.e. calcium) and vitamins as compared to bovine’s milk (Tripaldi, 2005; Han et al., 2012). Another popular WBM product, due to its creamy textures and rich flavor, is yogurt (Han et al., 2012). In ice-cream, the WBM makes the product smoother and more compact, thus improving the product’s body and texture (Borghese, 2005). As mentioned previously, Greece is among the biggest producers of WBM in Europe even though buffalo population has declined significantly in recent decades from 75000 animals in 1950s to 2503 animals in 2009 (Borghese, 2011; Kazoglou et al., 2011). However, the population has increased to 3137 animals in 2010 and this had a positive impact on the production of WBM (Kazoglou et al., 2011). The production of buffalo milk in Greece in the 1960s was approximately 19000 tonnes, then in the 70s’ it decreased to 3000 tonnes, reaching the minimum level in 2002 of only 32 tonnes (FAOSTAT, 2013). In 2003 it started increasing and reached 160 tonnes in 2011. The buffaloes are spread in the West, Centre and North of Greece (Kazoglou et al., 2011), mainly in the geographical areas of Thessaloniki, Serres and Rodopi (Borghese, 2011). They are raised primarily for the production of meat, however a small number of breeders trade or produce dairy products (Kazoglou et al., 2011). Researchers from the Greek Ministry of Agriculture and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, have worked to improve buffalo production in order for buffalo farming to “become an economic viable activity” (Borghese, 2011, p. 290). The increase of WBM production in Greece should be connected to the higher consumer demand of WBMPs, due to changing consumer behavior. Several studies have investigated the consumer behavior towards different types of milk and their related products, such as bovine milk, milk produced from clowned cows, milk substitutes, hormonefree milk and organic milk. However, no research at least to our knowledge, has investigated consumer characteristics of WBMPs and their purchasing intentions and motivations. In this paper we examine the impact of behavioral and normative beliefs on Greek consumers’ attitudes and purchasing intentions towards WBMPs based the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). First, we present a brief theoretical background of the theory used and of the proposed model and next we describe the methodology used. Then we analyze and interpret our findings. In the last section we draw conclusions and we propose specific recommendations and directions for further research.

2. L I TERA TURE REV IEW 2.1. Theory of Planned Behavior The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used in this study. The main aspect of the TPB is the person’s intention to perform a certain behavior (Ajzen, 1991). The stronger the intention, the more likely the individual will perform the behavior. The TPB assumes that there are three theoretically independent factors that jointly influence

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intention (Figure 1): (1) the attitude towards the behavior; (2) the subjective norm and (3) the perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991). Attitude or behavioral beliefs refer to the degree to which the individual has a positive or negative evaluation of a certain behavior. Subjective norm or normative beliefs are the “social pressure to perform or not to perform the given behavior” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188); it refers, for instance, to the influence that family, friends or colleagues have on the behavior. Finally, the perceived behavioral control (PBC) refers to “perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior” (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188), which include factors such as obstacles and past behavior.

Behavioural Beliefs

Attitude

Normative Beliefs

Subjective Norm

Control Beliefs

PBC

Intention

Behaviour

Fig. 1 . Theo ry of P lanned Behavio r (as adopted by Armitage and Conner, 2001, p.472).

According to Ajzen (1991), the TPB is well supported by broad empirical evidence; thus intentions are predicted with high accuracy by the three factors mentioned above. The TPB has proven to have strong predictive power (d’Ardenne et al., 2011). Hence, the TPB appears to be the most appropriate for this study, as it will investigate the impact of behavioral and normative beliefs on Greek consumers’ attitudes and purchasing intentions towards WBMPs. Additionally, the TPB has been successfully applied to a broad number of dietary behaviors (d’Ardenne et al., 2011), thus, as WBM is a highly nutritional ingredient, it could be assumed that consumers use WBMP s for dietary purposes. However, it must be noted that the TPB cannot explain entirely all differences in behavior, because of the behavioral-intention gap, where individuals have strong intentions to perform a certain behavior, but fail to

perform it. The conceptual model that illustrates the influence of the behavioral and normative beliefs on WBMP s purchasing intention was constructed based on the TPB theory (Figure 2). The following factors fall under the behavioral beliefs: (i) product knowledge of WBMPs, (ii) nutrition content of WBMPs and (iii) general attitude towards WBMPs. Normative beliefs are expressed by social contacts, such as family, friends and colleagues. It should be noted that this study examines the factors that influence consumers’ purchasing intentions of WBMPs rather than the consumers’ purchasing behavior of these products, so the TPB will only be used up to the “intention” element.

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Behavioral Beliefs: 1. Product Knowledge of WBMP 2. Nutrition Content of WBMP 3. Attitude towards WBMP

Attitudes

Behavioral Intention Normative Beliefs: 4. Social Contacts

Behavior

Subjective Norms

Fig. 2. P ropo sed mo del that illustrates the impact of behavioral and normative beliefs on W BM P purchasing intention.

2.2. Research Hypotheses Development Product Knowledge. Product knowledge plays an important role in the investigation of consumer behavior. Several researchers have concluded that the consumer’s product knowledge has a significant positive impact on the buying decision (Shirin & Kambiz, 2011; Lin & Chen, 2006), including consumers’ purchase intention. Thus, consumer’s knowledge of WBMPs could also have a certain impact on their purchasing intention. Jensen & Kesavan (1993), show that knowledge has a significant influence on consumption of dairy and milk products. There is evidence that college students’ dairy consumption is influenced by product knowledge (Xu et al., 2010). Moreover, there is a high awareness among consumers that dairy milk has a high calcium content (Bus & Worsley, 2002, p.201); thus there is a chance that consumers have also good knowledge of WBMPs, that could lead to a strong purchasing intention. As noted in the introductory section, WBM has higher content of several minerals, protein, fat and vitamins as compared to bovine milk and as a result this products exhibit numerous health benefits. It has been demonstrated that poor knowledge on products that offer health benefits has a negative impact on consumption (Carillo et al., 2011); hence limited knowledge on WBMPs and their beneficial ingredients could lead to a weak purchase intention. Based on these findings, we propose that perceived consumers’ knowledge on WBMP positively affects their purchase intention (H1). Nutrition Factor. Nutrition and health concerns appear to be significant to consumers. Nutrition is a major “determinant of chronic disease” and scientific evidence shows that changes in a diet can have positive or negative effects on human’s health (WHO, 2003, p. 2). Diet and nutrition have a significant influence on the improvement and maintenance of good health throughout the whole life span (WHO, 2003). Because of health concerns, individuals choose to consume products that contain the essential nutrients. For this reason the nutritional factor of the products appears to have a significant impact on consumer’s purchase intention. For instance, Xu et al., (2010) have shown that health concerns influence the frequency of milk consumption. According to another study a large number of respondents consume milk because of its healthiness and nutrition content (Mitsostergios & Skiadas, 1994). Moreover, the majority of consumers agree that milk is a good source of nutrients (Bus & Worsley, 2002; ESADA, 2002; Mitsostergios & Skiadas, 1994). Thus, it seems that nutrition education has been the most successful in cultivating the belief types which have been proved throughout the literature to have a positive effect on dairy food consumption (Nolan-Clark et al., 2011). Capps & Schmitz (1991), argue that nearly every new product claims to have certain health or nutritional benefits. In line with the above, and taking into account that many of the WBMPs are considered relatively new in Thessaloniki’s market, it is hypothesized that nutritional benefits of WBMP positively affect Greek consumers’ behavioral intention to purchase WBMP (H2). Attitudes towards WBMP. According to the TPB, consumers’ general attitudes towards a specific product can also influence the purchase intention of this product. Attitudes are created from beliefs and opinions individuals have

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about “the object of the attitude” (Ajzen, 1991, p.191). It could be assumed that individuals who perceive WBMPs to be healthy and nutritious, will most likely have a positive attitude towards purchasing them. Based on consumers’ attitudes towards milk and milk products, the heavy and regular consumers of milk can be categorized as: lo yal traditionalist/naturalists, naturalists, realists and achievers (ESADA, 2002). Overall, consumers have positive perceptions about milk (Bus & Worsley, 2002), particularly about fresh milk from dairy farmers (Mitsostergios & Skiadas, 1994). Banda (1992) indicates that goat and sheep milk have similar acceptance levels among cow milk consumers. Thus, probably WBM and its related products are also positively perceived by individuals. However, general attitudes towards milk from cloned animals are diverse: some consumers show a negative attitude, others are skeptical and only a few held a positive attitude (Butler et al., 2008). It is noteworthy to examine the consumers’ general attitude towards WBMPs; thus we propose that there is a positive relationship between Greek consumers’ attitudes towards WBMPs and their intent to purchase these products (H3). Social Contacts. Subjective norms, also referred to as normative beliefs, have a significant impact on purchasing intention and are related to the probability that key individuals and groups support or condemn a certain behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Generally, subjective norms are influenced by an individual’s desire to act in accordance with the expectations of friends, family or social groups (McKnight, 2007). Thus, when a person is surrounded by family or peers to whom purchasing of WBMPs is important, and if that person wishes to please them, there would be more pressure and the likelihood of WBMPs products would be higher. For example, Xu et al. (2010) report that family eating habits have a strong impact on college students’ dairy choices. Similar findings are reported by Nolan-Clark et al. (2011) and ESADA (2002), who found that dairy product consumption is significantly influenced by family buying habits and choices. In addition, physicians were also identified as a strong normative influence on dairy food consumption (Nolan-Clark et al., 2011). According to Vermeir and Verbeke (2004), social pressure from peers, can influence purchasing intentions to purchase, regardless of relatively negative attitudes. On the contrary, other studies have concluded that subjective norms have no significant effect on purchasing intention (Patch et al., 2005). These results are justified by the specific product under investigation and by consumer’s profile. Based on the above, we propose that social contacts (such as family, friends, and colleagues) have a positive relationship to Greek consumers’ intentions to purchase WBMPs (H4).

3. M ETHODOL OGY This study investigates beliefs and attituded and a quantitative analytical approach, proposed by Amaratunga et al. (2002) was adopted. The questionnaire was sent by e-mail and distributed to various locations in the greater area of Thessaloniki. A total of 247 questionnaires were answered during January and February of 2013. The study’s purpose was stated in a cover letter and respondents were asked to answer a set of questions/statements designed to test the four proposed research hypotheses. Each set of questions/statements contained 2 -4 items. The questionnaire was based on the conceptual and methodological considerations analyzed by Ajzen (2002). Hence, the behavioral and normative beliefs and the purchasing intention were measured using these techniques. In order to test the hypotheses, simple, clear, short and relevant statements were included. More specifically respondents were asked to provide an answer on a seven-point Likert scale, corresponding to the agreement or disagreement with each statement. For instance, in order to measure the Nutrition Factor variable, one of the three constructs used is: “Water Buffalo Milk Products are necessary in my diet or my family’s diet”. If the respondent strongly agrees with the statement, then response #1 represents his/her level of agreement. The highest level of disagreement is illustrated by #7, while a neutral or undecided position is illustrated by # 4. Only for the Attitude variable, the highest level of agreement is illustrated by #7 and the highest level of disagreement is illustrated by #1. As mentioned previously, constructs for the variables were mostly taken from Ajzen (2002). In addition, constructs were adopted from other studies, such as Verbeke (2005), Labrecque et al. (2006) and Boniface and Umberger (2012).

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4. RESUL TS and analysis 4.1. Validity Factor analysis was used in order to check for validity and to reduce the data to principal components. The different questions were loaded into a component variable since all had individual loadings higher than 0.600. The variables were named: Knowledge, Nutrition, Attitude, Social and Intention (see Table 1). The question from Social Influence questions set (“In replacement of cow milk”) is dropped due to poor loadings (0.420 before rotation and 0.648 after rotation). In addition, the Cronbach’s alpha value suggested to exclude this question as presented below. Therefore, all the components extracted corresponded to the TPB model of Behavioral and Normative Beliefs. Table 1. Extracted Variables. Variable Name

Type o f questio ns

Number of questions in the set

Knowledge

I kno w abo ut W BM P .

3

Nutrition

W BM P are necessary in my diet or my family’s diet.

3

Attitude

I have a po sitive attitude to wards W BM P

4

Social

At ho me, I wo uld co nsume W BMP in gatherings with friends

3 => 2

Intention

I intend to buy W BM P

3

4.2. Reliability

Reliability was tested with Cronbach’s alpha for the four question sets. The table below summarizes the results. The lowest Cronbach’s alpha was set at 0.7. For most of the questions, the results indicate relatively a good level of internal consistency for the scales with 247 respondents (see table below). However, as discussed earlier, it was decided to remove one question from the component (Social ), because the Cronbach’s alpha increased from 0.784 to 0.920. Table 2. Cronbach’s Alpha Results. Variable Name

Cronbach’s Alpha Value

Kno wledge

.897

Nutritio n

.805

Attitude

.775

So cial

.784 => 0.920

Intentio n

.723

4.3. Analysis Having tested for validity and reliability, the individual questions from each variable were averaged, so a new variable mean was calculated for each variable. Descriptive statistics results are illustrated in Table 3. Table 3. Descriptive Statistics

Std.

N

Range

Min

Max

Mean

Statistic

Statistic

Statistic

Statistic

Statistic

Knowledge

247

6,0

1,0

7,0

2,492

,0988

1,5527

2,411

1,154

Nutrition

247

5,0

1,0

6,0

3,220

,0721

1,1339

1,286

Attitude

247

6,0

1,0

7,0

4,734

,0664

1,0442

1,090

Variance

Skewness

Statistic

Statistic

Kurtosis

Deviation Std. Error

Statistic

Std.

Statistic

Std.

,155

,729

,309

,109

,155

- ,437

,309

,008

,155

,576

,309

Error

Error

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247

6,0

1,0

7,0

3,743

,0887

1,3934

1,941

,514

,155

- ,084

,309

Intention

247

6,0

1,0

7,0

3,790

,0793

1,2459

1,552

,365

,155

,096

,309

Valid N (listwise)

247

Social

Knowledge. The responses of the people who completed the questionnaires have a mean value of 2.492, so they agree to partially agree that they know about WBMPs. The individual mean scores ranged from 2.35 to 2.72. Most values are concentrated on the right of the mean (skewness>0), the highest on our data set. Nutrition. A mean value of 3.220 indicates that respondents partially agree that WBMP is a healthy and nutritious choice for them and their families. 2.74 3.15 and 3.77 are the individual means of the set questions with the highest being “WBMP are necessary for the respondents’ and their families’ diet”. Attitude. As regards the Attitude variable, the highest level of agreement is illustrated by #7 and the highest level of disagreement is illustrated by #1. The respondents show an overall neutral attitude towards WBMP with a mean value of 4.734 and the highest individual mean of 5.24 indicating that they consider the purchase of WBMP useful, followed by pleasant and desirable. Social. Individual scores were 3.84 and 3.69, indicating that respondents are neutral about the fact that they are influenced by friends and family in purchasing WBMP. The average mean score of 3,743 further stresses that the respondents neither agree nor disagree on the fact that consumption of WBMP is influenced by friends and during special events. 4.4. Correlations The four calculated means, namely Knowledge, Nutrition, Attitude, and Social and the one for Intention, fail to clear the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, therefore, the Kendall’s Tau_b test was mainly used to test for correlation (see Table 4, 5, 6, 7). Table 4: Non - parametric Co rrelatio ns: Kno wledge & Intentio n. KNOW LEDGE Kendall's tau_ b

KNOW LEDGE

IN TEN TION

IN TEN TION

Co rrelation Coefficient

1.000

.113*

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.

.018

N

247

244

Co rrelation Coefficient

.113*

1.000

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.018

.

N

244

244

*. Correlatio n is significant at the 0 .0 5 level (2 -tailed). Table 5: Non - parametric Co rrelatio ns: Nutritio n & Intentio n. IN TEN TION Kendall's tau_ b

IN TEN TION

NUTR ITION

NUTR ITION

Co rrelation Coefficient

1.000

.275**

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.

.000

N

244

244

Co rrelation Coefficient

.275**

1.000

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.000

.

N

244

247

**. Correlatio n is significant at the 0 .01 level (2 - tailed).

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IN TEN TION

ATTITUDE

ATTITUDE

Co rrelation Coefficient

1.000

.150**

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.

.001

N

244

244

Co rrelation Coefficient

.150**

1.000

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.001

.

N

244

244

**. Correlation is significant at the 0 .01 level (2 - tailed). Table 7: Non - parametric Co rrelatio ns: Social & Intentio n. IN TEN TION Kendall's tau_ b

IN TEN TION

SOCIAL

SOCIAL

Co rrelation Coefficient

1.000

.242**

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.

.000

N

244

244

Co rrelation Coefficient

.242**

1.000

Sig. (2 - tailed)

.000

.

N

244

244

**. Correlatio n is significant at the 0 .01 level (2 - tailed).

All variables were significant at the 1% level. Knowledge, Nutrition, Attitude and Social are all positively related with Intention. All these are in accordance with the proposed model, which is therefore accepted.

5. Discussion Based on our findings, we conclude that the higher the respondents’ level of Product Knowledge of WBMPs is, the higher their Intention is to buy these products, so the first hypothesis is accepted. This result is in accordance with the findings of Jensen and Kesavan (1993) and Xu et al., (2010) on dairy milk products. Knowledge about a product plays a crucial role in consumers’ intentions. In our study, the mean score of knowledge is the highest among the variables, a fact that underlines the emphasis of the respondents’ product knowledge as an agreeable factor in their intention to bu y WBMPs. The Nutrition Content of WBMPs is positively related to the respondents’ high Intention to purchase these products. The second hypothesis is accepted and is in accordance with results presented by Xu et al., (2010), Bus and Worsley (2002) and Mitsostergios and Skiadas (1994). Respondents who place high nutritional value on WBMPs, and value them for themselves and their families, are positively influenced towards their purchase. In our data, Nutrition has the highest correlation among the three variables. This strong relationship is probably a result of the fact that respondents recognize the nutritional value of WBM, with its higher content in protein, vitamins and minerals, as superior milk compared to bovine (Tripaldi, 2005; Han et al., 2012). Thessaloniki residents apparently discover or rediscover, the healthiness of the WBM and are leaning towards a stronger intention to buy WBMPs. Individuals with a positive attitude towards WBMPs are also more likely to purchase them, since there is a positive correlation with their Intentions to buy these products. For those who have tasted WBMPs in the past and place a high value on them, it is a welcoming-encouraging factor to repeat this positive experience, when they given the opportunity. The third hypothesis is accepted, similarly to the results presented by Bus & Worsley (2002) and Mitsostergios & Skiadas (1994). The respondents who consider the decision as useful, pleasant and desirable, must have a positive attitude towards purchasing WBMPs. Finally, social contacts with friends and families on various occasions and holidays have a positive impact on the consumers Intention to buy WBM products, so the last hypothesis is also accepted. Thus, we conclude that subjective norms have a significant influence on purchasing intention, similar to the findings of Xu et al., (2010), No lan-Clark et al. (2011), ESADA (2002) and Vermeir and Verbeke (2004). Apparently the relaxed or festive

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atmosphere shared with family and friends has a strong positive influence on the respondents’ likelihood to purchase WBMPs.

6. CONCL USI ON This is to the best of knowledge the first attempt to investigate factors that influence the purchasing intention of WBM products in Greece. The impact of factors on the WBMPs purchasing behavior has been examined with the use of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Most specifically, the consumers’ knowledge, nutritional benefits, general attitudes and social contacts and their impact on WBMPs purchasing behavior of the residents in the greater area of Thessaloniki has been analyzed. The findings are in accordance with the Theory of Planned Behavior. Based on our findings we conclude that product knowledge, nutritional benefits, attitudes and social contacts positively affect WBMPs purchasing intention, as argued in the TPB model. Furthermore, this study reveals that the factors which positively influence the intention to purchase WBMPs are similar to the ones that affect dairy milk purchase intention. This study has practical implications for individuals involved in the sector. Consumers’ education of the products nutritional attributes and characteristics are important in order to increase demand of WBMPs. Furthermore, this study revealed that these products are currently consumed mainly during special family occasions and gatherings. Efforts should be made in order to establish the consumption of these products on a more frequent basis. The main limitation of this study is that the TPB cannot explain entirely all differences in behavior, because of the behavioralintention gap, where individuals have strong intentions to perform a certain behavior, but fail to perform it. We plan to further investigate and identify the parameters that affect the consumer purchasing intentions of these products. More specifically, we will examine the control beliefs of the TPB model, in order to produce an overarching model on the attitudes and purchasing behavior of consumers regarding WBMPs.

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