Does Corporate Reputation Matter? Role of Social Media in Consumer Intention to Purchase Innovative Food Product

The exponential growth of the corporate reputation in food industry has resulted in innovations in every link of its supply chain. There have been studies that have characterized innovation in various industries from the perspective of technology, but far fewer in the area of corporate reputation, consumer perception, and intention towards innovations in food products. This research analyses the innovations in the food industry from the perspective of the consumer and provides a conceptual framework of food innovation stages. The study also investigates the relationship between corporate reputation and intention towards food innovation along with the other components of TPB model with an extension of social media engagement. The results from India and US samples confirm that social media engagement has a significant role to play in creating intention to purchase innovative food products. The study compares the US and Indian samples and identifies differences in subjective norms and perceived behavioural control.