An Empirical Investigation of Food Consumer Behaviour in an Emerging Market

This study examines food consumers in the capital of Romania. A study of 485 consumers using the Theory of Reasoned Action underpinned the investigation of

determinants of food choice. Drawing on a Structural Equation Models approach, causal paths for six commodities are estimated. Attitudes and habits tend to be significant predictors of intention to consume food. Intention is a significant, yet modest, predictor of actual behaviour. Although attitudes tend to be a key predictor in TRA, the higher paths for attitudes relative to habit contrast the study of Saba and Di Natale (1999). As reported elsewhere (Bagozzi and Warshaw 1990) the predictive power of the models in explaining behavioural intent exceeds the corresponding one for behaviour. The results of this empirical study support the notion that attitudes and habits influence behavioral intentions of food consumers in this emerging market. Competing structural models are discussed and the implications of the study for both food marketers and health campaigners are highlighted.