Resumo

In the Brazilian scenario, the rapid and expressive increase in the domestic demand for organic products, driven by the growing number of consumers concerned about healthy eating, points to an increase in domestic consumption and national production, with an estimated growth of over 20 percent per year. With this, Brazil would be consolidating itself as a major organic food producer, with over 15 thousand producing properties, 75 percent of which are family-owned, with 70 percent of production destined for export.

Despite the adverse effect of skepticism on green marketing and green consumption, its influence on the purchase decision-making process, in the context of organic foods, is still underexplored. Addressing this gap, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of consumer skepticism on the perceived value and purchase intention of organic foods.

The concept of organic food skepticism is the situational disbelief provoked by claims made in marketing messages regarding organic foods. The literature points out that consumer’s assessment of product value, that is perceived value, triggers an emotional response that influences purchase intention.

In order to achieve the study objective, it was carried out quantitative research through a survey with a sample of 174 consumers from the cities of Campina Grande and João Pessoa/PB. Data analysis was carried out by descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis using partial least squares (PLS) to estimate the measurement model and to evaluate the structural model.

The negative relationship between skepticism and perceived value, and the positive relationship between the perceived value of organic foods and their purchase intention were evidenced. The negative relationship between skepticism and purchase intention, in contrast, was not confirmed by data analysis.

The present study reveals an evolution in the field of knowledge of the consumer behavior of organic products, being one of the few to consider the concept of consumer skepticism in the influence of two important factors of the purchase decision-making process of organic foods: purchase intention and perceived value.

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