Research report The influence of ethical values and food choice motivations on intentions to purchase sustainably sourced foods Kylie Dowd, Karena J. Burke ⇑ Central Queensland University, School of Human, Health and Social Sciences, Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Higher Education Division, Rockhampton, Qld 4701, Australia article info Article history: Received 13 June 2012 Received in revised form 17 May 2013 Accepted 21 May 2013 Available online 11 June 2013 Keywords: Food choice Food motivations Australia Theory of Planned Behaviour Ethical values Sustainable food abstract This study examined a three-step adaptation of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) applied to the intention of consumers to purchase sustainably sourced food. The sample consisted of 137 participants, of which 109 were female, who were recruited through a farmers market and an organic produce outlet in an Australian capital city. Participants completed an online questionnaire containing the TPB scales of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intention; measures of positive moral atti- tude and ethical self identity; and food choice motives. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the predictive utility of the TPB in isolation (step 1) and the TPB expanded to include the con- structs of moral attitude and ethical self-identity (step 2). The results indicated the expansion of the TPB to include these constructs added significantly to the predictive model measuring intention to purchase sustainably sourced food. The third step in the adaptation utilised this expanded TPB model and added a measure of retail channel (where consumers reported buying fresh produce) and 9 food choice motives, in order to assess the predictive utility of the inclusion of choice motivations in this context. Of the 8 food choice motives examined, only health and ethical values significantly predicted intention to purchase sustainably sourced food. However, with the addition of food choice motives, ethical self-identity was no longer a significant predictor of intention to purchase sustainably sourced food. Overall the adapted TPB model explained 76% of the variance in intention to purchase sustainably sourced food. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction ‘Ethical consumerism’ has flourished in the last decade, both in scope and in scale. What was once a focus on environmental/ ‘green’ behaviour has expanded to cover issues of animal welfare, human rights, country of origin, fair trade, health, anti-globalisa- tion and many other related concerns (Auger & Devinney, 2007; Carrington, Neville, & Whitwell, 2010). Similarly, ethical consum- erism has shifted from being an issue on the periphery of society to the mainstream (Carrington et al., 2010). Crane and Matten (2004) defined ethical consumerism as: ‘‘the conscious and delib- erate choice to make certain consumption choices due to personal and moral beliefs’’ (p. 290). By doing so, the consumer seeks to influence corporate practices by buying or not buying certain prod- ucts, or demonstrating a willingness to pay for ethically-produced goods (Auger & Devinney, 2007). Food production is one of the most commonly-discussed issues in the ethical consumer literature. The increase in ‘Fair Trade’- branded products, such as chocolate and coffee, are invariably cited as proof of growing mainstream consumer sentiment about ethical issues due to their increasing visibility and popularity (Auger & Devinney, 2007; Carrington et al., 2010). Motivations for purchas- ing organic food have been widely researched in a number of dif- ferent countries (Finch, 2006; Fotopoulos & Chryssochoidis, 2001; Lockie, Lyons, Lawrence, & Grice, 2004), and while the organic mar- ket has generated a lot of research, there is evidence to suggest that there is a considerable amount of consumer interest in issues not necessarily captured by the organic label. For example, a study by Zander and Hamm (2010), found that animal welfare, regional production and fair prices for farmers were the most important ethical attributes of organic food for consumers, and that consum- ers were willing to pay extra for those products. These attributes loosely describe what might be thought of as food that has been produced or sourced in a sustainable manner. Sustainably pro- duced food has been neglected in the ethical consumerism litera- ture, not least because it is an emerging concept. With that in mind, and with popular interest in the nature of food production growing (e.g., Lawrence, 2008; Pollan, 2006; Schlosser, 2002), it is timely to examine moral and ethical concerns in the context of food choice. This study focuses on ‘sustainably sourced food’ – a term in- tended to encapsulate buyers of certified organic produce as well as those concerned with other ethical dimensions of food choice, 0195-6663/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.05.024 ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: k.j.burke@cqu.edu.au (K.J. Burke). Appetite 69 (2013) 137–144 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Appetite journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/appet