Authors: Yunchen Yao, Songyu Jiang
ABSTRACT: Green food consumption is increasingly connected with food quality, personal health, and sustainable production, yet favorable public attitudes do not ensure routine purchasing among students. This study integrated the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain green food purchase intention among higher education students in Wuhan, China. Using convenience and purposive sampling, this study collected 570 valid responses from full-time university students aged 18 years or above in Wuhan who had previously purchased certified green food through online and on-campus surveys. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data and test the proposed relationships. The results uncover that perceived severity and perceived benefits positively predicted attitude, whereas perceived barriers had a negative effect. Perceived susceptibility was not significant. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control positively predicted purchase intention, explaining 56.1% of its variance. Attitude mediated the effects of perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers, but not perceived susceptibility. The findings indicate that students’ purchase intention is shaped more strongly by credible benefits, manageable sacrifice, and purchasing capability than by generalized vulnerability. The results support coordinated action by certification bodies, universities, producers, retailers, and digital platforms to improve verification, affordability, availability, and informed choice.
Keywords: Green food; purchase intention; Health Belief Model; Theory of Planned Behavior; higher education students; China.