Intentions to Consume Sustainably Produced Fish: The Moderator Effects of Involvement and Environmental Awareness

Kåre Skallerud, John Armbrecht and Ho Huy Tuu
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Kåre Skallerud: School of Business and Economics, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
John Armbrecht: School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Ho Huy Tuu: Economics Faculty, Nha Trang University, Nha Trang, Vietnam

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to apply the conceptual framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain the consumption of sustainable produced fish in Sweden. We seek to understand the moderating role of food product involvement and environmental awareness as extensions of traditional constructs such as attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control. The data were derived from a representative sample of 1974 Swedish consumers. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the relationships between constructs and evaluate the reliability and the validity of the constructs. Attitudes had a significantly positive effect on intention to consume fish in general and sustainably produced fish in particular. Social norms had significantly positive effect on intention to consume fish in general, but no effect on intention to consume sustainably produced fish. Behavioral control had no effect on behavioral intention. Interestingly, involvement negatively moderated the effect of attitudes on both intention to consume more fish and to consume more sustainably produced fish. Environmental awareness also negatively moderated the effect of attitudes on intention to consume more sustainably produced fish. It seems that attempts to create food product involvement and environmental awareness among consumers may have the opposite effect—a boomerang effect—than what conventional wisdom and much of the research on fish consumption indicates. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords: fish consumption; sustainability; attitudes; social norms; food product involvement; environmental awareness; Sweden (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 (5)

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