Altruistic or egoistic: Which value promotes organic food consumption among young consumers? A study in the context of a developing nation

The present research attempts to understand the importance of altruistic and egoistic value in determining the young consumers' intention to buy organic food. Environmental concern was considered as the altruistic value, whereas health concern as egoistic value. Using the convenience sampling method, a total of 304 usable responses was collected from young consumers, with the help of self administered questionnaire survey approach. Data analysis was done using two step structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, i.e. measurement model and structural model. Findings indicated that, both altruistic as well as egoistic value influences the intention to buy organic food among young Indian consumers. However, egoistic value was found to have more impact on the consumers' organic food purchase intention. The present research is one of the initial attempts in the Indian context to understand the importance of values (altruistic and egoistic) organic food consumption among young consumers.