DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER PURCHASE INTENTION TOWARDS CHEESES WITH GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: EXTENDING THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR

Purpose - The present study attempts to investigate consumer intention to purchase cheeses with Geographical Indication (GI) by employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of determinants as hypothesized by the TPB - attitudes, perceived behavioral control, social norms, together with the additional determinant of consumer trust in the labeling system - on consumer buying intentions. Design/Methodology/Approach - A structured online questionnaire was developed and distributed to respon-dents. The survey was conducted country-wide and 806 responses were collected.Findings and Implications - The findings of SEM analysis indicate that all latent constructs have direct positive effects on intention to buy cheeses with GI.Limitations - Focused on analyzing purchase intentions towards GI cheeses, the study lacks the assessment of actual purchasing behavior.Originality - The study justified the introduction of a new construct in the TPB by increasing the proposed framework's predictive power in determining consumer intention to purchase cheeses with GI. Moreover, the results of the study are discussed in the context of mar-keting communications with consumers.