34 How perceived threats of air pollution affect the resident’s purchasing behavior of functional foods Ching-Hsiang Wu a , Po-Chuen Hsieh b , Frank Pan c * a Pharmacist; Department of Pharmacy, Tajen University, Taiwan. b Professor; Department of Pharmacy, Tajen University, Taiwan. c* Associate Professor; Department of Hospitality Management Tajen University, Pingtung, Taiwan. Email address: frankpan@tajen.edu.tw (Corresponding author) Corresponding author ARTICLE HISTORY: Received: 05-Dec-2017 Accepted: 11-Jan-2018 Online available: 26-Jan- 2018 Keywords: Functional foods, Health belief model, Respiratory diseases, Air pollution ABSTRACT Air pollution jeopardized human’s health, in particular the respiratory diseases. Along with the industrial development, air pollution had extended effects to the surrounding areas. Plenty of evidence had shown that some functional foods were developed to strengthen the lung health. Based on the health belief model (HBM), this research explored the effects of each contributor on purchasing functional foods. There are 90 valid responses gather from the highly air polluted area, Hsio-Kang district of Kaohsiung. Statistical results indicated that the HBM significantly explained the functional food purchasing behavior for the designated area (R 2 =22.6). The perceived susceptibility is the strongest predictor (β= 0.42) for the behavior, followed by perceived benefits ( β= 0.19), and perceived barriers (β= -0.10). Some implications and suggestions based on the discussion and conclusion were offered for reference. Contribution/ Originality CH Wu contributed to the research with initiating the research idea and providing the rationale of the research background, performing comprehensive literature review, and making extensive communication with respondents during data collection; Dr. PC Hsieh contributed with paper editing, and data analysis and interpretation; and Dr. F Pan was responsible for research design, research supervising, report writing in this article, and acted as the publishing correspondence to communicate with journal editors. DOI: 10.18488/journal.1006/2017.7.1/1006.1.34.38 ISSN (P): 2309-8295, ISSN (E): 2225-4226 Citation: Ching-Hsiang Wu, Po-Chuen Hsieh and Frank Pan (2017). How perceived threats of air pollution affect the resident’s purchasing behavior of functional foods. Journal of Asian Business Strategy, 7(1), 34-38. © 2017 Asian Economic and Social Society. All rights reserved Journal of Asian Business Strategy Volume 7, Issue 1(2017): 34-38 http://www.aessweb.com/journals/5006