Healthy Eating Determinants: A Study among Malaysian Young Adults

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effect of health consciousness, knowledge about healthy food, attitudes toward healthy food, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control on the intention to consume healthy food, which subsequently affects the consumption of healthy food among Malaysian young adults. The current study also examined the moderating effect of perceived barriers on the association between intention to consume healthy food and the consumption of healthy food. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 1651 Malaysian young adults (between the age of 18 and 40 years) by sharing a Google form link through social media. The findings reveal that health consciousness, knowledge about healthy food, attitude toward healthy food, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control had a significant positive effect on the intention to consume healthy food. Findings also show that the intention to consume healthy food has a significant positive effect on the consumption of healthy food among Malaysian young adults. Furthermore, the findings reveal the positive and significant mediating effect of the intention to consume healthy food and the significant moderating effect of perceived barriers on the association between the intention to consume healthy food and the consumption of healthy food. The multi-group analysis revealed that the effect of perceived barriers on the consumption of healthy food and the moderating effect of perceived barriers were significantly higher among urban respondents. Health and agriculture policymakers should focus on the attributes of healthy eating practices and their health benefits to promote the mass adoption of healthy food among Malaysian young adults.

Consumer Perceived Value of Organic Vegetables: Does Ethnic Group Matter?

“…Nutrient contents are the primary element for a health concern that results in consumers having a positive perceived value of organic vegetables. According to Al Mamun et al (2020), the young Malaysian population is increasingly interested in having a healthy diet and getting involved in organic food consumption. Therefore, it is hypothesized that: H2: Health concern positively influences consumer perceived value of organic vegetables.…”

Do Chefs Value Health in Their Olive Oil Purchasing Decisions?

“…In short, this consumer preoccupation with health in general, having transcended the “healthy lifestyle” trend [ 31 ], has now grown to become the main motivator for buyers or as the most highly valued attribute in the purchase of foods for consumption at home [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ] and also when eating out [ 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

Hypotheses for the Reasons behind Beer Consumer’s Willingness to Purchase Beer: An Expanded Theory from a Planned Behavior Perspective

“…The theory of planned behavior (TPB) proposed by Ajzen [ 10 ] is considered to be one of the most effective theories for predicting human behavior [ 11 ]. According to TPB, subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived behavioral control affect behavioral intention and behavior [ 12 , 13 ].…”

“…TPB has been adopted to understand food choice behavior [ 14 ] and food waste behavior [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. TPB has also been applied to investigate behavioral intention and behavior related to many types of foods, such as fruits and vegetables [ 19 ], organic foods [ 20 , 21 ], healthy food [ 11 ], fast food [ 13 ], and genetically modified foods [ 22 ].…”

“…Attitude can be interpreted as the extent to which a person has a positive or negative assessment of their behavior [ 32 ], and it is important in research on food consumption behavior [ 33 ]. Perceived behavioral control can be interpreted as a person’s ability to independently control their behavior [ 11 ], and the concept of perceived behavioral control is directly derived from self-efficacy, and it is similar to self-efficacy [ 34 ].…”