기능성 식품에 대한 구매행동과 소비자 지식의 조절효과 분석

Consumer Behavior of Functional Food with Moderating Effect of Consumer Knowledge

The purpose of this study was to explain the consumer purchasing behavior for functional food. First, the process for functional food was explained by verifying an extended model that combined the theory of planned behavior and the behavioral reasoning theory. Consumer purchasing behavior for functional food was analyzed in connection with factors related to the inference process, including consumer value of functional food, expected benefit, risk perception, consumer knowledge, attitude related to purchasing behavior, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral process of purchasing intention. Second, the mediating effect was analyzed to examine the indirect effect of consumer value and attitude on the process of functional food. The moderating effect of consumer knowledge, which affects the inference process of consumer’s information exploration, was analyzed. The results were as follows. First, the consumer value of functional food was found to have a statistically significant effect on the expected benefit, perceived risk, and consumer attitude. Attitude toward functional food and perceived behavioral control had a significant effect on purchasing intention. Also, the expected benefit and perceived risk had a significant effect on consumer attitude. In this process, the expected benefit had a significant mediating effect on consumer value, attitude, and purchasing intention. Second, subjective knowledge of consumers about functional food had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between expected benefit and consumer attitude. This study might be expected to provide useful consumer information for establishing marketing strategies to promote purchasing functional food.