Research On The Formation Mechanism Of Ethical Purchasing Behavior Of Agricultural Products

In recent years,the rapid growth of global consumption has highlighted a series of environmental and social problems.The public began to realize the seriousness of the consequences,paid more and more attention to the ethical nature of consumption and focused on the impact of their own purchasing behavior on health,environmental protection and long-term social development.In the field of agricultural products,consumers pay more attention to ethical factors,and the sense of ethical crisis is more urgent.In China,the focus of consumers’ demand for agricultural products has gradually shifted from the quantity and types to safety,health,ecology,social responsibility,sustainability and other ethical factors.More and more consumers say they will choose ethical agricultural products that are more beneficial to their health,their life and society.However,those consumers with ethical attitudes and intentions seldom make real ethical purchases,and there is a certain "intension-behavior" gap in ethical consumption of agricultural products.In this context,it is particularly necessary to study the formation mechanism of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products.Based on classical theory and related literature,the paper first builds the formation mechanism model of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products,then proposes the dimensions and measurement of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products,next,analyzes the mechanism between variables in the model through empirical research,and finally gives suggestions of promoting ethical purchasing of agricultural products from the perspectives of consumers,businesses and government.The main topics and conclusions of this study are as follows:Section 1:model construction on the formation mechanism of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural productsThis study reviews relevant theories and literatures in the field of ethical consumption,consumer behavior and consumer decision-making.Based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior and Hunt-Vitell’s Ethical Decision-making Model,this study constructs the formation mechanism model of Chinese consumers’ ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products.The research model includes 8 variables:ethical purchasing attitude toward agricultural products,ethical group norm,face,ethical behavioral control,ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products,ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products,ethical purchasing situation and ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products.Ethical purchasing attitude toward agricultural products,ethical behavioral control,ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products and ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products are the original variables in the Theory of Planned Behavior and Hunt-Vitell’s Ethical Decision-making Model.Ethical group norm and face are the variables modified according to Chinese background.Ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products and ethical purchasing situation are new explanatory variables introduced in this study.Section 2:dimensions and measurement of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural productsEthical purchasing behavior of agricultural products is a unique and complex concept with multiple attributes.It is not a pure economic behavior,but a comprehensive behavior integrating public health,ecological environment,social responsibility,and sustainable development.This study discusses the dimensions and measurement scale of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products in our country.Though exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis,the paper confirms that ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products includes 5 dimensions:ecology and security ethical purchase,nutrition and health ethical purchase,certification and identification ethical purchase,social responsibility ethical purchase,natural channels ethical purchase,a total of 17 items.Through descriptive statistical analysis,this study obtains the mean values of all dimensions.The score of nutrition and health ethical purchase is in the top of the list,followed by ecology and security ethical purchase,certification and identification ethical purchase,and natural channels ethical purchase,with social responsibility ethical purchase scoring the lowest.Section 3:empirical study on the formation mechanism of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural productsThis research designs and launches the questionnaire according to standardized process,and collects the data according to scientific norms.Through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis,the paper determines the measurement scale has good reliability and validity,and then uses the structural equation model to verify the formation mechanism model of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products and its hypotheses.The results show that the formation of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products is influenced by direct effects and indirect effects.(1)direct effects:the direct influencing factors of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products include ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products,ethical behavioral control and ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products.Among them,the most powerful one is ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products,followed by ethical behavioral control,and then ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products.Ethical purchasing attitude toward agricultural products,ethical group norms,face,and ethical behavioral control have positive effects on ethical purchasing intention of agricultural products.Among them,the most powerful factor is ethical group norms,followed by face,ethical purchasing attitude toward agricultural products,and ethical behavioral control.Ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products has a positive effect on ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products.(2)indirect effects:ethical purchasing attitude toward agricultural products,ethical group norms,face,ethical behavioral control influence ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products through ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products.Section 4:"intention-behavior" gap of ethical purchase of agricultural productsConsumers’ claims to make ethical purchase are not properly reflected in sales.This study shows that the "intention-behavior" gap does exist in the ethical purchase of agricultural products,and the formation of the gap is influenced by both internal factors(including consumer self-efficacy and ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products)and external factors(including the controllability of purchasing behavior and ethical purchasing situation).The results of the study show that the formation of the"intention-behavior" gap in ethical purchase of agricultural products is also affected by three kinds of effects.(1)distal effects:the relationship between ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products and ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products will be mediated by ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products.Ethical purchasing attitude toward agricultural products,ethical group norms,face,ethical behavioral control influence ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products through ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products which in turn affect ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products.(2)moderation effects:ethical purchasing situation moderates the relationship between ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products and ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products.Specifically,in the context of good physical environment and strong ethical marketing incentive,the effect of ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products on ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products is higher than that in the context of poor physical environment and weak ethical marketing incentive.(3)direct effects:ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products is not only directly affected by ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products,but also directly affected by ethical behavioral control.Based on the main research conclusions,this study gives practical suggestions:(1)consumers need to establish ethical consumption values and attitudes,cultivate ethical consumption lifestyle and purchasing model,and improve ethical purchasing power.(2)enterprises need to improve the perceived value of ethical agricultural products and increase consumers’ ethical purchasing intention;provide rational prices of ethical agricultural products and improve distribution channels to enhance consumers’perceived behavioral control;strengthen the promotion of ethical agricultural products and enhance the role of ethical marketing situation;assist consumers to complete ethical purchasing plan of agricultural products;link achievement to ethical consumption.(3)the government should strengthen publicity and guidance to construct ethical social norms,increase the education and training of ethical consumption,improve the trust mechanism,establish ethical certification and provide technical supports and policy supports.The possible innovations are as follows:(1)the existing connotation,dimensions and measurement of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products have been developed and enriched.On the basis of the existing literature,this study extracts ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products,which is divided into 5 dimensions,with a total of 17 measurement items.Among them,certification and identification ethical purchase and natural channels ethical purchase are two new dimensions refined in this study,which makes the existing research more in line with the unique attributes of China’s market and the dynamic development of ethical consumption.(2)Combining consumer ethics theory with behavior theory,this paper constructs and empirically studies the formation mechanism model of ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products,and shows the whole process of "attitude-intention-behavior" of consumers’ethical purchase of agricultural products.There are 8 variables in the model,4 variables(ethical purchasing attitude toward agricultural products,ethical behavior control,ethical purchasing intention toward agricultural products,ethical purchasing behavior of agricultural products)are the original variables under the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior and Hunt-Vitell Ethical Decision-making Model.Ethical group norm and face are the revised variables of the Theory Planned Behavior based on Chinese background.Ethical purchasing plan toward agricultural products and ethical purchasing situation are two new explanatory variables introduced in this study.From the results of the model analysis,the Theory Planned Behavior and Hunt-Vitell Ethical Decision-making Model are applicable in the field of ethical consumption of agricultural products.It is necessary to revise the theory according to Chinese cultural characteristics.The new variables introduced can make up for the deficiency of the original theory to a certain extent.(3)Single product indicator method is used to detect moderation effect in the research model by using structural equation model.The exogenous variables and endogenous variables in this study are latent variables,and the moderator is a continuous latent variable with several items.Compared with traditional SPSS hierarchical regression analysis,the single product indicator method is very effective in analyzing interaction effect when dealing with complex models.