Perceived Consequences: General or Specific? The Case of Palm Oil-Free Products

Brigitta Plasek, Zoltán Lakner, Katalin Badak-Kerti, Anikó Kovács and Ágoston Temesi
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Brigitta Plasek: Department of Food Chain Management, Institute of Economic Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Zoltán Lakner: Department of Food Chain Management, Institute of Economic Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Katalin Badak-Kerti: Institute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Anikó Kovács: Institute of Food Science and Technology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Ágoston Temesi: Department of Food Chain Management, Institute of Economic Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 1118 Budapest, Hungary

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Palm oil production and consumption involve several consequences, the perception of which are significant factors that influence consumer behavior. The aim of our research is to explore which health, environmental, or social consequences associated with palm oil influence consumers most in their behavior to avoid palm oil. We examined the three risk types from two approaches: from the viewpoint of generally perceived consequences, and the viewpoint of consequences perceived specifically in relation to palm oil. We collected data through an online consumer survey ( n = 336), and we applied the method of structural equation modeling to achieve our research aim. According to our results, depending on the approach, all three consequence types influence consumer purchase intentions. Of them, the perceived effects of palm oil on health have the strongest influence on consumption intent, followed by environmental damage caused by palm oil production. The effect of general health consequences show indirect significance through information seeking, which also indicates the importance of the approach to consequence perception. Indirectly or directly, only general social consequences influence purchase intent. Our research suggests that companies developing palm oil-free products could benefit from a label on the product stating their palm oil-free nature.

Keywords: consumer behavior; green products; palm oil free; structural equation modeling; SEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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