Why millennials of smart city are willing to pay premium for toxic-free food products: social media perspective

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the smart city millennials’ willingness to pay a premium (WTP) toward toxic-free food products (TFPs). Specifically, it explores the role of social media and environmental concern (EC), using the theory of planned behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a self-administered questionnaire to gather data from 337 millennials living in an Indian smart city, and analyzed them using PLS-SEM.

Findings

The authors found that both EC and social media influence millennials' attitude and purchase intention (PI). The PI so formed, in turn, has both a significant and positive influence on the WTP for TFPs.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the study is possibly pioneering, especially in the Indian context, as it considers the theory of planned behavior (TPB)'s perspective on millennials of a smart city with respect to TFP. Besides, data on the willingness to pay premium vis-à-vis the social media influence have also shed light on the contexts' uniqueness.

Citation

Trivedi, M., Bulsara, H.P. and Shukla, Y. (2023), "Why millennials of smart city are willing to pay premium for toxic-free food products: social media perspective", British Food Journal, Vol. 125 No. 9, pp. 3368-3388. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-07-2022-0649