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To elucidate the factors influencing suboptimal food (SF) purchase intention among Taiwanese consumers, this study extended the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model by incorporating driving factors that encourage purchasing of SFs, that is, incorporating food waste awareness and personal norms. The inhibiting moderator of health consciousness and facilitating moderator of price consciousness were also considered.

A total of 305 online questionnaire responses were analysed. Moderated regression analysis was performed to test the hypotheses proposed in this study.

Consumer attitudes toward purchasing SFs and perceived behavioural control as well as their food waste awareness and personal norms are determinants of their SF purchase intention. Health consciousness inhibits SF purchase intention, and price consciousness promotes SF purchase intention. In addition, the moderating effect of health consciousness reverses the positive relationship between personal norms and SF purchase intention, turning the relationship negative. However, the moderating effect of price consciousness strengthens the positive relationship between personal norms and SF purchase intention.

In addition to extending the TPB model, this study considered the main effects and moderating effects of health consciousness and price consciousness on consumers’ intention to purchase SF. The research findings contribute to the understanding of the relevant factors that influence Taiwanese consumers’ SF purchase intention. The study also outlines the implications of its findings in terms of encouraging consumers to purchase SFs to reduce food waste.

Many studies have demonstrated that consumers tend to reject “suboptimal foods” (SF), despite the foods being suitable for human consumption. This study integrated the value–belief–norm (VBN) model and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to analyze Taiwanese consumers’ purchase intention of SF and the factors that influence it, including values, beliefs, personal norms, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The integrated model also considered the influences of consumers’ “motivations to reduce food waste” and “situational factors.”

We surveyed 308 Taiwanese consumers by using an online Google Forms questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was performed to investigate the proposed integrated model.

The empirical results indicated that the integrated VBN and TPB model had high exploratory power for explaining consumers’ purchase intention of SF. Additionally, it revealed consumers’ personal norms and their motivations to reduce food waste to determine their attitude toward purchasing SF.

In addition to establishing an integrated VBN and TPB model, this study considered other factors that may influence consumers’ attitude toward purchasing SF. Our findings contribute to the understanding of Taiwanese consumers’ attitude toward and purchase intention of SF and identify relevant influencing factors. Our findings can be applied to foster appreciation among consumers toward SF and persuade them to purchase SF.

The adverse effects on environmental sustainability, human health and animal welfare are often cited as the main reasons for reducing animal-based meat production and consumption. This study explored the food choice motives that determine consumer attitude toward plant-based meat (PBM) as a sustainable meat alternative. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was applied to further determine whether an individual’s attitude toward PBM, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control influence their willingness to try novel meat substitutes (i.e. PBM). Finally, the moderating effect of meat attachment was also considered.

Online self-reported questionnaires were administered in Taiwan, and 294 valid questionnaires were collected. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderated regression were employed for analysis.

The results clarified the food choice motives that influenced consumer attitude toward PBM and revealed that attitude and subjective norms pertaining to trying PBM explained up to 35.03% of the variance in consumer willingness to try PBM. Notably, consumer meat attachment moderated the positive relationship between consumer attitude toward PBM and willingness to try PBM such that it became negative.

On the basis of the empirical findings regarding the food choice motives that influence consumer attitude and willingness to try PBM, this study provided practical implications for marketers seeking to increase consumer willingness to try PBM.

The main theoretical contribution of this research is that food choice motives should be considered in a TPB model to explain consumer willingness to try PBM. The moderating effect of consumer meat attachment should also be considered.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the technology readiness and acceptance model (TRAM) to consider an individual’s health consciousness (HC), thereby improving the capability of the model to predict an individual’s attitude toward and intention to download and use dietary and fitness apps.

A total of 994 participants completed a self-reported online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling and χ² difference testing were conducted to compare the predictive capability of the proposed health consciousness TRAM (HC-TRAM) and the TRAM. The comparison of the proposed HC-TRAM in terms of potential and actual users of dietary and fitness apps was also discussed.

The results obtained from the HC-TRAM and the TRAM indicate that in addition to technology readiness, HC exerts a positive effect on the perceived ease of use and usefulness of dietary and fitness apps. χ² difference test results indicated that the predictive capability of the proposed HC-TRAM is higher than that of the TRAM.

The drivers and inhibitors of a person’s readiness to embrace modern information technology play roles when predicting his or her intention to download and use dietary and fitness apps. HC should be promoted by encouraging people to eat right and regularly perform appropriate exercise to prevent obesity and overweight, thereby maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

This study incorporated individual cognitive factors and HC into the TRAM to fill the literature gap and deepen and broaden existing theoretical frameworks of the TRAM in the public health sector.

This study aimed to explore the determinants of household food waste behavior to mitigate the negative effects of consumption on climate change through a model that extends the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by integrating motivations to reduce food waste – in addition to moral norms – as well as situational factors – in addition to planning and shopping routines – that affect food waste.

Online self-report questionnaires were used to collect empirical data in Taiwan; a total of 304 responses were retrieved. Two-step structural equation modeling was subsequently conducted.

The results indicated that the extended TPB model, which notably included motivations to reduce food waste and moral norms regarding reducing food waste, explained 56.84% of the variance in intention not to waste food. Perceived behavioral control regarding reducing food waste was associated with food planning and shopping routines. Intention not to waste food, food shopping routines, and situational factors were determinants of food waste behavior and explained 15.72% of the variance in food waste behavior.

The main theoretical contribution of this study is that the extended TPB model that includes both moral norms and motivation to reduce food waste elucidates the role of motivations in the formation of attitudes. In addition, not only intention not to waste food and shopping routines but also situational factors explained food waste behavior. These findings provide practical and policy implications for enhancing people's intention not to waste food and for reducing their actual food waste behavior.

Self‐service technologies (SSTs) allow customers to offer their own service encounters via the interaction of electronic service interfaces or machines rather than by interacting with a firm's service personnel. This paper aims to develop an integrated model designed to predict and explain an individual's continuous use of SSTs based on the concepts of technology readiness (TR), technology acceptance model (TAM), and theory of planned behavior (TPB).

The participants are from 481 SST users as the sample finally. Structural equation modeling is applied to demonstrate the stability of the proposed model and the results of hypotheses testing.

This paper finds that consumers' satisfaction significantly influences continuance intention, while the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) simultaneously influence satisfaction. Optimism and innovativeness are also the significant motivators of satisfaction. However, TR's inhibitors (discomfort and insecurity) have no significantly negative influence on continuance intention towards adopting SST services.

Different from previous SSTs studies, this paper suggests that SN and PBC play critical factors in users' adoption at SSTs encounters. However, additionally empirical evidences should be discussed why the inhibitors (discomfort and insecurity) of TR have no effect.

This paper proposes a comprehensive model to synthesize the essence of TR, TAM, and TPB for explaining customers' continuous intention of SSTs.

As huge environmental impacts caused by the coffee industry are significant and controversial in the course from cultivation to consumption, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether or not different types of green claims based on the product lifecycle can lead to different extents of green psychological variables including purchase intention.

The green claims of Starbucks were chosen as the research target for this study not only because the coffee chain store is working on the “Starbucks” Shared Planet’ program, which makes a commitment to do business in ways that are good for people and the planet, but also because such a program can be categorized into three major green message elements on the basis of the product lifecycle. A total of 920 valid self-reported questionnaires collected in Taiwan were used for this empirical analysis.

One-way ANOVA results reveal that all of the three green claims of Starbucks can lead to consumers building up the same level of green brand image of this company, with “ethical sourcing” significantly possessing more impacts on the other green psychological variables (i.e. green trust, green satisfaction, green brand equity, and green purchase intention).

The empirical results and findings from this study are helpful to the coffee industry marketers if they, in formulating various promotion campaigns, can communicate with the consumers with an eye to increasing their green brand image and other green psychological variables, including green purchase intention.

This study is among the first to introduce different types of green claims on a basis of the product lifecycle to examine whether or not consumers’ green psychological variables will be different.

In addition to having an understanding of consumers' food choice motives which influence their attitudes toward GM foods in Taiwan, the aim of this study is to ascertain whether gender differences play a role in consumers' food choice motives and their attitudes toward GM foods.

A total of 12 distinct food choice motives, adapted from the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) is posted on a questionnaire collection web site to collect research data. A total of 522 useful responses were elicited as the data input for analysis.

The results indicate that mood, sensory appeal, price, and familiarity were found to have positive impacts on consumers' attitudes toward GM foods but natural content is observed to have a negative impact on consumers' attitudes toward GM foods. Moreover, female consumers have a more negative attitude toward GM foods than male consumers when they consider whether GM foods are healthy or not.

The marketers of this GM foods sector in Taiwan should emphasize the price advantage and the appealing sensory aspects of GM foods. By doing so, consumers could familiarize themselves with such foods being promoted. However, how to prevent them from treating GM foods as unnatural and unhealthy is an important task for GM foods marketers.

This is the first study to investigate the gender gap in food choice motives as a determinant of consumers' attitudes toward GM foods in Taiwan. Based on the empirical findings, some suggestions are provided here to benefit the marketers of this GM foods sector in Taiwan.

Previous studies indicate that both health and taste are important factors in the food choice process. Owing to the industrialization of food processing and biotechnological innovations on the one hand and a series of food scandals on the other, consumers are now more concerned about modern food hazards. The present study aims to investigate whether consumers with varying degrees of modern tainted foods worries and gender difference will show variations in the Health and Taste Attitude Scales (HTAS).

Of a total of 1,500 questionnaires sent out, 533 were found useful for this empirical analysis. The measurement items of the Health and Taste Attitude Scale (HTAS) were scored as the data input to test for the impacts of modern tainted foods worries and gender by ANOVA tests.

The results of this study conducted in Taiwan indicate that those people identified in the ‘‘high modern tainted foods worries’’ group have more interests in health in foods but the ‘‘low modern tainted foods worries’’ group have more interests in taste in foods. In addition, though more concerned about health in foods, female consumers are also more interested in sweet foods.

Some suggestions for food marketers and food policy makers are also provided in this study.

To the best knowledge of this researcher, this study represents one of the first attempts to investigate the health and taste attitudes in Taiwan and tests for the impacts of modern tainted foods worries and gender.

Instead of using general food choice motives, this study adopts more specific attitudes – i.e. health consciousness and environmental attitudes – to predict the consumer's attitude toward organic foods. The main objective of the paper is to test the hypothesis whether health consciousness and environmental attitudes influence the consumer's attitude toward organic foods through an individual's healthy lifestyle.

Data were collected in Taiwan by means of a national self‐administered consumer questionnaire survey in this study. A series of regression models are used to detect how the mediating role of the healthy lifestyle construct plays in the relationships between the determinant factors (i.e. health consciousness and environmental attitudes) and the consumer's attitude toward organic foods.

The results are consistent with previous studies, which assert that concern for one's health and for the environment are the two most commonly stated motives for purchasing organic foods, with the former exceeding the latter in importance. In addition, the healthy lifestyle indeed exerts effective mediating effects on the positive relationships between health consciousness and environmental attitudes and the consumer's attitude toward organic foods. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle should be advocated to render the consumer's attitude toward organic foods more positive.

Based on the findings, the selection of advertising messages, social interaction and so forth should revolve around the issues of health consciousness, environmental attitudes, and healthy lifestyle in the future.

This study is one of the first to examine the mediating effect of a healthy lifestyle that bears on organic foods. The empirical findings from this study are expected to benefit the continued development of the organic sector in Taiwan's food industry.