Hygienic food handling intention. An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior in the Chinese cultural context

In China, more than half of all reported cases of food poisoning accidents and deaths cases occur in the household, and it is estimated that 30-40% of these are a result of improper food handling behaviors. In the current study, an extended model of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and a modified model of the extended TPB for the Chinese cultural context were proposed and proved applicable to predict hygienic food handling intention based on the data from 901 questionnaires from Mainland China. The explanatory power of the two extended TPB models was strong and almost the same, and the eight variables of attitude, habit, past behavior, subjective norm, face consciousness, conformity consciousness, perceived behavior control, and perceived ease were found to be significant predictors of hygienic food handling intention. Furthermore, intention was found to be particularly dependent on perceived behavior control and perceived ease, explaining the phenomenon that consumers have positive attitudes but are less likely to generate intentions. The study examined the adaptability of TPB in different cultures by comparing it with a modified model for the Chinese cultural context. The research results suggest interventions aimed at improving safe food handling intentions should focus on the impacts of attitude, perceived behavior control, perception of ease, normative influences, and habits; in addition, interventions can also take advantage of Chinese consumers' conformity consciousness.