International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences

Differences of customer purchase behavior toward organic rice in Indonesia and Taiwan
Massoud Moslehpour Pham Van Kien Ilham Danyfisla

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Massoud Moslehpour Pham Van Kien Ilham Danyfisla , (2014),"Differences of customer purchase behavior
toward organic rice in Indonesia and Taiwan", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 6
Iss 4 pp. 348 - 368
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IJQSS
6,4

Differences of customer purchase

behavior toward organic rice in
Indonesia and Taiwan

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348

Massoud Moslehpour and Pham Van Kien

Department of Business Administration, Asia University,
Taichung, Taiwan, and

Received 20 April 2013

Revised 6 September 2013
5 February 2014
Accepted 18 February 2014

Ilham Danyfisla
Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the similarities and differences in consumer
purchasing behavior of Taiwanese and Indonesian organic rice consumers.
Design/methodology/approach This study uses quantitative methods with the primary data
collected from consumers in Indonesia and Taiwan through structured questionnaire to understand
customer purchasing behavior toward organic rice in the two countries. A total of 415 useable
questionnaires were computed and analyzed through factor analysis, reliability analysis, regression
analysis, correlation and t-test.
Findings The results of this research indicate significant differences between Indonesia and Taiwan
in their consumer knowledge and consumer purchase behavior, but not for environmental concerns and
consumer attitude.
Practical implications The results of this study will assist producers of organic rice in developing
countries to adapt to new organic food standards and marketing to ensure high food quality standards
for both domestic and export markets.
Originality/value This study provides insights into the preferences of consumers of organic rice
both in Taiwan and Indonesia. Empirical results in this study provides comparisons between two
countries attitudes toward organic rice and this study emphasizes the correlation between consumer
purchasing behavior, consumer knowledge, environmental concerns and attitude for Indonesian
respondents, Taiwanese respondent, and both combined.
Keywords Indonesia and Taiwan, Customer attitude, Customer knowledge,
Customer purchase Behavior, Environmental concerns, Organic rice
Paper type Research paper

International Journal of Quality and

Service Sciences
Vol. 6 No. 4, 2014
pp. 348-368
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1756-669X
DOI 10.1108/IJQSS-04-2013-0024

Introduction
Globalization of food markets has triggered concern about food quality, standards
and preferences. Around the world, consumers are becoming more aware of the
quality attributes of different commodities found in the market and are choosing
products that closely match their tastes and preferences. Consumers often express
their preferences for product quality by paying a standard price for the product that
fulfills their desired characteristics. These premiums give producers an incentive to
improve product quality and consequently enhancing the welfare of the consumer

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and the producer (Malhotra, 2004). As a result, organic food has appeared and
become popular because it brings the good health to consumers, profitability to
producers and harmfulness to the environment. According to Hill and Lynchehaun
(2002), organic rice is free from chemical and free from fat, has high-carbohydrate
and low-sugar content.
Taiwan is a developing country with increasing living standards and concerns for
the environment and well-being of its citizens. Organic food in Taiwan was initiated two
decades ago, with an increasing trend since (Tung and Huang, 2011). There is very little
research on consumer food quality preferences in developing countries and research
findings from developed countries cannot be transferred to other countries because
culture, taste preferences and perceptions differ among the countries (Grunert et al.,
2000). Moreover, in Indonesian rice market conventional rice is still the main choice for
most of the consumers. Like Indonesia, conventional rice is also the major of staple food
in Taiwan. Although organic rice cultivation has many benefits; it can not dominate the
market in Taiwan and Indonesia. Researchers have explained this phenomenon through
three aspects: producers, consumers and governments policy. Among them, consumers
are seen as the key factor leading to the food market trend in each country.
According to Solomon (2006) and Blackwell et al. (2001), customer purchase behavior
is a complex pattern for market researchers. Simply defined, it is the study of
psychological, social and physical actions when people buy, use and dispose products,
services, ideas and practices. They studied characteristics of individual consumers such
as demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand peoples wants.
It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends,
reference groups and society in general (Solomon, 2006; Blackwell et al., 2001).
Furthermore, consumer behavior theory intending to identify consumer variables,
explain relationships between variables and specify cause and effect outcomes from
variable interactions (Kioumarsi et al., 2009). Relationship marketing is an influential
asset for customer behavior analysis, as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the
true meaning of marketing through the reaffirmation of the importance of the customer
or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer
relationship management, personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing
(Kioumarsi et al., 2009). Among those, which factor has the greatest influence on
consumer purchase behavior? And what are the differences and similarities of customer
environmental concern, consumer attitude and consumer purchase behavior toward
organic rice in Indonesia and Taiwan?
The results of this study help researchers to distinguish and compare the customer
purchase behavior between Indonesia and Taiwan. Indonesia and Taiwan as two
distinctive markets for organic rice and consumer are chosen to find out the similar and
different attitude and behavior toward organic rice consumption. This research
describes consumer behavior, preferences and concerns toward organic rice in both
countries. Furthermore, this study explores the possible factors influencing purchase
behavior of Taiwanese and Indonesian consumers. This research attempts to find the
differences and similarities regarding purchase behavior of organic rice customer
between Indonesian customer and Taiwanese customer. Additionally, this research
aims at contributing to the understanding of Indonesian and Taiwanese consumers
attitudes, environmental concerns, knowledge and their behavior toward organic rice.

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350

Literature review
Organic rice
According to International Rice Research Institute, organic rice is rice that is
certified by an independent body, and has been grown and processed according to
set organic standards. Normally, organic means free from synthetic or artificial
pesticides and fertilizers. Soil fertility is maintained through natural processes
such as growing cover crops and/or the application of composted manure and plant
wastes. Crops are rotated in fields to avoid growing the same crop year after year in
the same field. Non-chemical forms of pest control are used to manage insects,
diseases and weeds. Organic rice contains more iron and less copper than
conventional rice (Saha et al., 2007). Organic rice did appear to be whiter and softer
when cooked than conventional rice (McClung, 2009).
Organic rice in Indonesia and Taiwan
With a population of millions, Indonesia is the worlds fourth most populous country,
and its population is growing at a rate of 1.7 per cent per year. Agriculture plays a
substantial role in the Indonesian economy, involving more than 55 per cent of the
population, and accounting for 19 per cent of the gross domestic product and more than
60 per cent of the value of non-oil exports. Over the past two decades, annual agricultural
output has grown by 4 per cent (Gusmayanti et al., 2006; Badan Pusat Statistik, 2011).
Indonesia is a widespread archipelago of 17,500 islands located along the equator in
Southeast Asia, with a diverse tropical environment and plentiful annual precipitation.
Located along the ring of fire, the nation is home to the most active volcanic islands in
the world (Java and Bali). The volcanic origin of the archipelago provided vast areas of
fertile soils which support both dense tropical rainforest and agriculture. Average
annual rainfall in the country is roughly 3,175 mm (125 inches), but can exceed 6,100 mm
(240 inches) in the mountainous highlands. The combination of copious rainfall and
fertile soils make many areas of the islands ideally suited for farming. Total agricultural
land in 2010 was estimated by the Indonesian government at roughly 40.7 million
hectares, or 22 per cent of the total land area in the country (Komatsuzaki and Syuaib,
2010).
Rice is by far the most important food crop grown in the country today, with a
cultivated area estimated by USDA at 12.2 million hectares in 2011, accounting for 30
per cent of total agricultural land. Rice is grown by approximately 77 per cent of all
farmers in the country (25.9 million) under predominantly subsistence conditions. The
average farm size is very small at less than 1 hectare, with the majority of farmers
cultivating landholdings between 0.1-0.5 hectares in size. Rice production is heavily
concentrated on the islands of Java and Sumatra, with nearly 60 per cent of total
production emanating from Java alone (Pertiwi, 2003).
Organic rice in Taiwan
Rice is the staple food in Taiwan, with a total planted area covering two cropping
seasons of 339,949 hectare in 2000. This was the lowest rice acreage for more than 50
years. Rice production in Taiwan is facing the challenge of cheap imports of up to
140,000 MT per annum under World Trade Organization. Taiwans economy and health
care standards have been improving. Consumers concerns about the environment and
health issues are also on the rise.

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Organic food in Taiwan was initiated two decades ago, with an increasing trend
since (Tung and Huang, 2011). It is now consumed by a small but specific group of
people. Moreover, rice is the traditional staple food and main crops in Taiwan.
Because market share of organic rice is still small compared to the rice market in
Taiwan, it is difficult to intercept organic consumers in ordinary retail market. A
survey in a general retail grocery market is infeasible for a consumption study for
organic rice. The choice of food is usually based on the consumption culture (Chang
et al., 2008). According to some previous studies about organic consumption in
Taiwan, organic consumption in Taiwan is often due to protections for life,
environment and human health under the special concerns of culture and religion
(Liu and Lee, 2010; Chang et al., 2008). Tung and Huang (2011) studied the pricing
differentials between organic and ordinary agricultural products in Taiwan and
suggested that consumers are willing to pay a 10-30 per cent premium for organic
products. There are few studies related to purchase behavior of organic food and the
factors influencing consumer purchase behavior in Taiwan (Tung and Huang, 2011).
Consumers purchase organic food for the sake of environmental protection and
health effects (Liu and Lee, 2010; Chang et al., 2008).
Consumer purchase behavior is a complex pattern and sophisticated
understanding for marketing researches, but simply defined study of psychological,
social and physical actions when people buy, use and dispose products, services,
ideas and practices (Solomon, 2006; Blackwell et al., 2011; Peter and Olson, 2008). In
consumer behavior theory, consumers have their own decisions to balance the
marginal health utility and marginal price of one unit of quality food products.
There are three main aspects of consumer preference toward willingness to buy
organic rice such as knowledge, attitude and intention. Knowledge about products
and their benefits influences their willingness to pay for the products. Knowledge of
people is affected by type and quality of information made available to consumers
(Engel et al., 1986).
Consumer purchase behavior consist of ideas, feelings, experiences and actions of
consumers with additional environmental factors like advertisement, prices and income
per month (Solomon, 2006; Blackwell et al., 2011; Peter and Olson, 2008). Furthermore,
consumer behavior is a dynamic process which continuously changes in ideas,
perceptions and activities of consumers as an individual or in a group. Engel mentioned
that consumer behavior as those acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining,
using, and disposing of economic goods and services, including the decision process that
precede and determine these acts (Engel et al., 1986). Simple observation provides
limited insight into the complex nature of consumer choice and researchers have
increasingly sought the more sophisticated concepts and methods of investigation
provided by behavioral sciences to understand, predict and possibly control consumer
behavior more effectively.
Internal factors affecting consumer behavior
Internal factors affecting consumer behavior come from inside the consumer. The
internal factors influence how an individual reacts to group influences, environmental
changes, marketing efforts, own attitudes, personality, perceptions and self-concepts.
These influences explain the ways consumers interact with environment around them,
recognize their feelings, gather and analyze information, formulate thoughts and

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352

opinions and take action. Internal factors can better understand the why and how of
specific behaviors. The following section will explain more in detail internal factors
affecting consumer behavior.
Attitude: Attitude greatly influences consumer buying behavior. Attitude is the
individuals consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluation, tendency or feeling about
particular subject (Chisnall, 1995). In other words attitude is the overall, enduring
evaluation of a concept or object, such as a person, a brand or a service (Arnold and
Zinkhan, 2004). Attitude can be defined as a mental, emotional or rational predisposition
with regard to a fact, state, person or an object. Attitude theory has its roots in social
psychology and therefore the literature review will begin with research from this area.
Louis (1928) was one of the first researchers to define attitude. According to him attitude
is the sum of persons feelings toward a given object (Louis, 1928). Allport (1935, p. 810)
provided a broader definition for the concept:
[] a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive
and dynamic influence upon the individuals response to all objects and situations with which
it is related.

A research by Triandis, on the other hand, represented the multidimensional view

because according to him, the interplay between affection, cognition and conation is
important in attitude formation (Triandis, 1971). Later, Ruiz and Sicilia (2004) proposed
that the affective and cognitive systems are connected but may also work individually.
Therefore, a consumers response to a certain object is dependent on his or her tendency
to use these systems in processing information. Peter and Olson (2008) maintain that
generally in modern research, attitude is seen as a one-dimensional concept.
In the context of consumer behavior, this research studies the attitude of buyers
toward all the relevant attributes of organic rice and the marketer and markets. The
purpose of this research is to explore the similarities and differences in attitude between
Indonesian consumer and Taiwanese consumer toward organic rice.
Learning and Knowledge: Another part of internal factors affecting customer
behavior is learning and knowledge. Learning theorists do not completely agree on how
learning takes place, and therefore it has been difficult to come up with a general
definition of learning. From a psychological perspective, learning refers to a relatively
permanent change in behavior which comes with experience (Solomon, 2006). From the
marketing point of view, consumer learning is the process by which individuals acquire
the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future-related
behavior (Arnold and Zinkhan, 2004). According to Kotler and Armstrong, learning is
an act that changes peoples behavior because of their experiences (Armstrong and
Kotler, 2007). In addition, consumer thinking about a product according to desired
properties, probable risks and advantages and then attribute occurs toward a product.
Relative buying attributes are connected to personal values and needs, consumers build
knowledge bridges and this is examined by means-end chain theory. Some features are
highly connected to personal values and belief, while others are less connected (Peter
and Olson, 2008).
External factors affecting customer behavior
External factors represent those factors outside of the individual that affect individual
consumers, decision-making units and institutions. External factors consist of two

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groups, namely, socio-cultural influences and an organizations marketing efforts.

Schiffman and Kanuk (2004) noted that the socio-cultural environment has a major
influence on the consumer and consists of wide range of non-commercial influences.
Social-cultural factors are those factors that affect a consumers behavior as a result of
integration between the consumer and the external environment.
Environmental concerns
Grunert and Juhl (1995) reported that there is relationship among the environmental
concerns and buying behavior toward organic food. Then, positive environmental
concerns factors have positive influence with respect to purchase frequency of organic
food. Durham and Andreade mentioned that consumers attitudes toward
environmental concerns factors are the main reason to explain organic food purchases
behavior. One of the purposes of this study aims at exploring the relationship between
customer purchase behavior and environmental concerns toward organic rice in
Indonesia and Taiwan and to check the positive correlation between customer
knowledge with environmental concerns (Durham and Andrade, 2005). The goal of
producing and promoting organic rice are to protect the environment, to maintain the
fertility of the land and to preserve the natural properties of food processes.

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Methodology
This research used quantitative method with primary data from consumers in Indonesia
and Taiwan to understand customer purchase behavior toward organic rice in
Indonesia and Taiwan. The research aims at discovering customer behavior toward
organic rice using statistical analyses to know the relationship among independent and
dependent variable. The following sections will describe the research model, statement
of the hypotheses and the instrumentation.
Research model and framework
This research used a simple framework to reflect the factors affecting consumers
purchase. Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the framework and hypotheses of the
study.
H1
Consumer
Knowledge

H2
Country of
Origin

H3

Environmental
Concerns

H4

H6a
H5a
H5b
H5c

Consumer
Attitude

H6b

Purchase
Behavior

H6c

Figure 1.
Research Framework

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Research hypothesis
According to the theoretical framework demonstrated in Figure 1, the research
hypotheses are as follows:
H1. Consumers of organic rice in Taiwan and Indonesia have a statistically
significant different purchase behavior.

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354

H2. Consumers of organic rice in Taiwan and Indonesia have a statistically

significant different knowledge of organic rice.
H3. Consumers of organic rice in Taiwan and Indonesia have a statistically
significant different environmental concern.
H4. Consumers of organic rice in Indonesia and Taiwan have a statistically
significant different attitude toward organic rice.
H5. There is a statistically significant correlation among consumer knowledge,
environmental concerns and consumers attitude of organic rice consumers in
Indonesia and Taiwan.
H5a1. There is a statistically significant correlation between consumer knowledge
and environmental concerns of organic rice consumers in Taiwan.
H5b1. There is a statistically significant correlation between consumer
knowledge and consumer attitude of organic rice consumers in Taiwan.
H5c1. There is a statistically significant correlation between environmental
concerns and consumers attitude of organic rice consumers in Taiwan.
H5a2. There is a statistically significant correlation between consumer knowledge
and environmental concerns of organic rice consumers in Indonesia.
H5b2. There is a statistically significant correlation between consumer
knowledge and consumer attitude of organic rice consumers in
Indonesia.
H5c2. There is a statistically significant correlation between environmental
concerns and consumer attitude of organic rice consumers in Indonesia.
H6. Consumer knowledge, environmental concerns and consumer attitude have a
statistically significant influence on purchase behavior.
H6a1. Consumer knowledge of Taiwanese consumers has statistically
significant influence on their purchase behavior.
H6b1. Environmental concerns of Taiwanese consumers have statistically
significant influence on their purchase behavior.
H6c1. Consumer attitude of Taiwanese consumers have a statistically
significant influence on their purchase behavior.
H6a2. Consumer knowledge of Indonesian consumers has a statistically
significant influence on their purchase behavior.
H6b2. Environmental concerns of Indonesian consumers have a statistically
significant influence on their purchase behavior.

H6c2. Consumer attitude of Indonesian consumers has a statistically

significant influence on their purchase behavior.

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Measurement and scaling

The questionnaire for this study was designed based on previous similar studies and the
data were collected from Indonesia and Taiwan. The questionnaire was designed based
on five-point Likert scale varying from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Data collection methods
Data collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. Inaccurate data
collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results. This
study uses the primary data collection method. A survey questionnaire was designed for
gathering the data in Indonesia and Taiwan. There were 210 usable questionnaires from
Indonesia and 205 from Taiwan. This research used two different versions of the same
questionnaire, both in Chinese and Indonesian. The original questionnaire was
developed in English and translated into Chinese and Indonesian.
Questionnaire design and pilot test
The questionnaires purpose is to help gathering data to unveil the relationship among
variables stated in the hypothesis section. The questionnaire consists of two parts: the
first part is general questions which provide information from customer in term of their
social demographic information, frequency of the organic rice consumption, first
purchase of organic rice and place of shopping organic rice. The second part is specific
questions which aid in gaining more information from customer about their behavior,
attitude, environmental concerns and knowledge about organic rice. The respondents
were asked to answer the questions based on the Likert scale previously mentioned. A
pilot test was done by 60 respondents from each country to detect any problems and
correct them before the actual study is conducted.
Results and discussion
Demographic characteristic
In this study, a total of 415 valid questionnaires were collected from 210 Indonesian
students and 205 Taiwanese students. There are six demographic categories: age,
status, nationality/country of origin, gender, education level and income per month.
Table I presents result of demographic information.
As shown in Table I, in terms of demographic information, among total respondents
from Taiwan 58 (28.3 per cent) were male and 147 (71.71 per cent) were female. The
Indonesian respondents were 72 (34.29 per cent) male and 138 (66.5 per cent) female
(Figure 10b). The total number of female respondents for both countries were 130 (31.33
per cent) male and 285 (68.7 per cent) were female.
The second analysis for demographic profile is status of respondents. As shown in
Table I, most respondents from Indonesia and Taiwan were single with percentage (93.7
per cent) and respondents (6.3 per cent) were married.
The age of the respondents was divided into five categories which ranged from less
than age 18 years old to more than 28 years old. From data, most of respondents have a
age ranged of 18-21 years old (72.8 per cent), the second age group age ranged 22-25
years old (22.7 per cent) followed by less than 18 years old (1.9 per cent), 25-28 years old

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Table I.
Demographic information

Category

Indonesia
Frequency
(%)

Taiwan
Frequency
(%)

Total (%)

Total frequency

Gender
Male
Female

72
138

34.29
65.71

58
147

28.29
71.71

31.33
68.67

130
285

Marital status
Single
Married

203
7

96.67
3.33

186
19

90.73
9.27

93.73
6.27

389
26

Age (years)
18
18-21
22-25
25-28
28

0
163
41
1
5

0.00
77.62
19.52
0.48
2.38

8
139
53
5
0

3.90
67.80
25.85
2.44
0.00

1.93
72.77
22.65
1.45
1.20

8
302
94
6
5

Education level
Undergraduate
Graduate
Doctorate

196
11
3

93.33
5.24
1.43

174
31
0

84.88
15.12
0.00

89.16
10.12
0.72

370
42
3

Estimate income per month

NT$ 6,000
148
NT$ 6,000-15,000
55
NT$ 15,001-35,000
4
NT$ 35,001-45,000
0
NT$ 45,000
3

70.48
26.19
1.90
0.00
1.43

67
96
29
13
0

32.68
46.83
14.15
6.34
0.00

51.81
36.39
7.95
3.13
0.72

215
151
33
13
3

(1.4 per cent) and more than 28 years old (1.2 per cent). The data was collected from
university students, therefore, the age range of 18-21 ranked the highest.
This research divided the level of education into three levels including
undergraduate, graduate/master and doctorate/PhD program. In terms of education,
most of respondents were undergraduate students. For Indonesia and Taiwan, the
number of participants who study in undergraduate program is 89.2 per cent, graduate/
master program is 10.1 per cent and doctoral/PhD program is 0.7 per cent. The
respondents who have the education level in undergraduate can represent customer
knowledge and also describe purchase behavior toward organic rice.
The estimated income per month of the respondents was divided into five groups. In
this case estimate income per month of Indonesia respondents was converted to NT$
(Taiwan dollar). At the time of this study USD1 NT$ 30. Among total respondents in
this research, most have income per month of NT$ 6,000, which accounted for 51.81
per cent, the second highest ranged income per month is NT$ 6,000-15,000 with 36.4 per
cent, followed by NT$ 15,001-35,000 with 8 per cent, NT$ 35,001-45,000 with 3.1 per cent
and NT$ 45,000 with 0.7 per cent.
Reliability test
Reliability can reflect the internal consistency of the indicators measuring a given
construct. Therefore, before the hypothesis is tested, the reliability of the measurement

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scale should be checked. Among various form of reliability, this study prefers
Cronbachs alpha, which is the most common of inter-item consistency reliability (Kline,
2005). Acceptable Cronbachs alpha needs to be greater than 0.6 in social research for
each item. Therefore, the reliability of the measurements was assessed by calculating
the Cronbachs alpha reliability coefficient. The results of reliability test indicated that
all variables are reliable (Table II). The results of reliability analyses indicated some
items in the questionnaire should be deleted due to their inconsistency and inadequacy
within the total measurement.
Three questions for purchase behavior, PB1 (how much do you consumer organic
rice), PB4 (where do you buy organic rice) and PB5 (approximately when did you buy
first organic rice) and one question for consumer attitude A1 (price of organic rice is
more expensive than rice non-organic) were deleted from the questionnaire. After
deleting these questions, the reliability coefficients for each variable are as follows:
consumer purchase behavior 0.636, consumer knowledge 0.866, environmental
concerns 0.845 and consumer attitude 0.825.
In this study, 450 questionnaires were distributed and 415 valid questionnaires were
returned. Table III describes the nature of each variable. The mean value of consumer
purchase behavior is 2.90, the mean value of consumer knowledge is 4.13, the mean
value of environmental concerns is 3.89 and the mean value of consumer attitude is 3.72.

Customer
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Validity test factor analysis

Researchers generally establish the construct validity of a measure by correlating it
with a number of other measures and arguing from the pattern of correlations.
For measuring the validity of each variable, the rules of which are defined below:
KMO (KaiserMeyerOlkins measure of sampling adequacy) is suggested to be
more than 0.5, but more than 0.4 is justifiable.
Eigen value must be greater than 1 and factor loading with a cut-off point of 0.5.
According to the results of factor analysis, the variables have a KMO value of more than
0.5 and an Eigen value of more than 1. The last categories to measure validity test is

Cronbachs alpha ()
This research
Previous research

No.

Variables

1
2
3
4

Consumer purchase behavior (PB)

Knowledge (CK)
Environmental concerns (EC)
Attitude (A)

Category
Consumer purchase behavior
Consumer knowledge
Environmental concerns
Consumer attitude

0.636
0.866
0.845
0.825

No. of questions

0.631
0.844
0.735
0.752

3
8
5
5

Table II.
Reliability assessment of
variables

Valid N

Minimum

Maximum

Mean statistic

SE

SD

415
415
415
415

1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00

5.00
5.00
5.00
5.00

2.90
4.13
3.89
3.72

0.07
0.02
0.03
0.03

1.39
0.49
0.52
0.57

Table III.
Descriptive results for
each variable

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factor loading, the value of which should be more than 0.5. Factor loading for every
question is greater than 0.5.
As illustrated in Table IV, three questions which measure consumer purchase behavior
have factor loading of higher than 0.5, which ranged from 0.58 to 0.87. Other questions
related to this variable that had low factor loadings were deleted. Eigen value for consumer
purchase behavior is 1.75. The cumulative proportion for consumer purchase behavior is
58.48 per cent indicating that consumer purchase behavior based on the research model of
this study explains almost 58.5 per cent of total variance in this study.
Consumer knowledge has eight questions. For this construct, factor loadings for all
chosen questions are higher than 0.5, which ranged between 0.62 and 0.79. Eigen value
for consumer knowledge is 4.18. The value of the cumulative proportion for consumer
knowledge is 52.3 per cent, meaning that consumer knowledge explains 52.3 per cent of
total variance in this study. The results for environmental concerns and consumer
attitude are also presented in Table IV.
t-Test, regression and correlation analyses
This study used t-test to check the statistically significant differences between
Taiwanese and Indonesian consumers. H1 mentioned that organic rice consumers in
Taiwan and Indonesia have statistically significant differences in their purchase
behavior. This hypothesis is tested using t-test analysis. The results in Table V indicate
that there are statistically significant differences between Taiwanese and Indonesian
consumers in their purchase behavior toward organic rice at the significant level p

Variable
Consumer
purchase
behavior
Consumer
knowledge

Environmental
concerns

Consumer
attitude

Table IV.
Factor analysis

Questionnaire
items
PB2
PB3
PB6
CK1
CK2
CK3
CK4
CK5
CK6
CK7
CK8
EC1
EC2
EC3
EC4
EC5
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6

Note: *** p 0.001

Factor
loading

Eigen
value

Cumulative
proportion %

KMO

Chi-square

p-value

0.582
0.867
0.815
0.775
0.767
0.752
0.704
0.790
0.638
0.721
0.618
0.758
0.661
0.847
0.832
0.824
0.686
0.77
0.86
0.80
0.71

1.75

58.48

0.56

209.79

0.00***

4.18

52.29

0.83

150.34

0.00***

3.09

61.97

0.85

819.38

0.00***

2.99

59.71

0.81

772.19

0.00***

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0.001. Consequently, H1 is supported. This indicates that Indonesian consumers are

aware of where to purchase organic rice and are more inclined toward purchasing
organic rice than Taiwanese consumers.
To examine H2, t-test was used to check statistically significant differences between
Indonesian and Taiwanese consumers in their knowledge about organic rice. As shown
in Table VI, the p-value is 1.16, greater than the acceptable value (p 0.05), which means
that there are no statistically significant differences between Indonesian and Taiwanese
respondents in their knowledge toward organic rice, consequently H2 is rejected.
Consumers in both countries are equally knowledgeable about organic rice.
For H3, to check if there are statistically significant differences between Indonesian and
Taiwanese consumers related to their environmental concerns. This study adopted t-test
analysis. The results is shown in Table VII with p 0.001; therefore, there are statistically
significant differences between Indonesian and Taiwanese in their environmental concerns.
Thus, H3 is supported. Taiwanese respondents seem to be more concerned about
environment and preservation of earth. Taiwanese concern about the environment might be
the key to marketing the organic products, including organic rice.
H4 mentions that organic rice consumers in Indonesia and Taiwan have statistically
significant differences in their attitude toward organic rice. Based on p-value 0.48
( 0.05) shown in Table VIII, we can conclude that there are no statistically significant
difference between Indonesian and Taiwanese consumers in their attitude toward
organic rice. Consequently, H4 is rejected.
Correlation analyses: This section aims at testing H5. To complete this task, the
correlation analysis is applied to examine the correlation between independent variables
and dependent variable related to organic rice. The correlation analysis also was divided

Country
Indonesia
Taiwan

Mean
2.99
2.80

Purchase behavior
Mean difference

Significance

36.03

0.000***

Consumers knowledge
Mean difference

Significance

0.09

2.49

1.16

Consumers attitude
Mean difference

Significance

24.80

0.000***

1.19

Note: *** p 0.001

Country
Indonesia
Taiwan

Country
Indonesia
Taiwan
Note: *** p 0.001

Mean
4.18
4.08

Mean
3.83
3.93

0.1

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359

Table V.
t-Test results for
Indonesia and Taiwan
consumers purchase
behavior

Table VI.
t-Test results for
Indonesia and Taiwan
consumers knowledge

Table VII.
t-Test results for
differences in
environmental concerns of
Indonesian and
Taiwanese consumers

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360

Table VIII.
t-Test results for different
attitude in Indonesia and
Taiwan

into three sections, including Taiwanese consumers, Indonesian consumers and both
countries together, respectively.
The results of the correlation analysis for Taiwan are shown in Table IX in which
consumer knowledge of organic rice has significantly positive correlation with
consumers environmental concerns (0.80) and attitude (0.38) at the confidence level of 99
per cent. There is also significantly positive correlation between consumers
environmental concerns and attitude with the correlation value being 0.34. Therefore,
H5a1, H5b1 and H5c1 are all supported for Taiwan.
The results of the correlation analysis for Indonesia are shown in Table X.
Consumers attitude toward organic rice is significantly and positively correlated to
consumers knowledge (0.35) and environmental concerns (0.49) at the confidence level
of 99 per cent. However, there is no statistically significant correlation between
consumers environmental concerns and consumers knowledge due to the correlation
value does not meet the accepted value in the confident level of 95 per cent. In summary,
for Indonesia, H5c2 is not supported, while H5a2 and H5b2 are supported.
The results of the correlation analysis for both Indonesia and Taiwan are presented
in Table XI. Based on Pearson coefficient values, there are significantly positive
correlations among consumer knowledge to consumer environmental concerns (0.42)
and consumer attitude (0.42). Furthermore, there is also the significant relationship
between consumer attitude and consumer knowledge with the Pearson coefficient value
being 0.49. Thus, H5 is supported for Indonesian and Taiwanese consumers.
In short, based on the above analysis, the proposition of statistically significant
correlations among consumer knowledge, environmental concerns and consumers
attitude of organic rice consumers in H6 is fully supported in Taiwan and mostly

Country
Indonesia
Taiwan

Variable
Table IX.
Correlation analysis for
Taiwan (H5a1, H5b1 and
H5c1)

CK_T
EC_T
AT_T

3.89
3.54

Consumers attitude
Mean difference

Significance

0.55

0.51

0.48

CK_T

EC_T

A_T

0.80** (H5a1)
1

0.38** (H5b1)
0.34** (H5c1)
1

CK_I

EC_I

A_I

0.134 (H5a2)
1

0.35** (H5b2)
0.49** (H5c2)
1

Note: ** p 0.01

Variable
Table X.
Correlation analysis for
Indonesia (H5a2, H5b2
and H5c2)

Mean

CK_I
EC_I
AT_I
Note: ** p 0.01

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supported in Indonesia. When combining the two countries, the findings are in
accordance with previous studies. Consequently, H6 is accepted.
Based on the results of the t-test and correlation analyses, we can summarize the
differences between the two countries based on the simple descriptive analysis, which is
summarized in Table XII. Indonesian consumers have a higher mean (M 2.99) than
Taiwan consumers (M 2.81) in terms of consumer purchase behavior. It means that
Indonesian consumers are more willing to purchase organic rice than Taiwanese
consumers. In addition, Indonesian respondents (M 4.18) have more basic knowledge
about organic rice than Taiwanese (M 4.08). As for the environmental concerns,
Taiwanese respondents (M 3.94) are more concerned about their environment than
Indonesian respondents (M 3.83). It indicates that Taiwanese consumers are more
aware of environment than Indonesian consumers. Regarding consumer attitude,
Indonesian consumers have more positive attitude than Taiwanese consumers toward
organic rice. The mean for Indonesian and Taiwanese consumers is 3.89 and 3.54,
respectively. This could perhaps be related to having better knowledge of organic rice.
Regression analysis: To test H6, the study used the regression analysis to investigate
influences of independent variables (consumer knowledge, environmental concerns and
consumer attitude) on dependent variables (consumer purchase behavior) in terms of
organic rice in Indonesia and Taiwan. The analysis is divided into three parts with the
aim of examining two countries both together and separately. Each part includes three
models for three separate independent variables in which, Model 1 is used for the
regression of consumer purchase behavior and consumer knowledge, Model 2 is for
consumer purchase behavior and environmental concerns and Model 3 is for consumer
purchase behavior and consumer attitude.
Part 1 used Taiwanese respondents to carry out regression models of consumer
purchase behavior and its predicted variables. The results from Table XIII show that the
F test value for Model 1 is 2.34 (p-value 1.28), which means that the influence of
consumer knowledge on purchase behavior is not significant at the confident level of
Variable
CK
EC
AT

CK

EC

0.42**
1

0.38**
0.49**
1

Note: ** p 0.01

Variable

Country of origin

Consumer purchase behavior

Taiwan
Indonesia
Taiwan
Indonesia
Taiwan
Indonesia
Taiwan
Indonesia

Consumer knowledge
Environmental concerns
Consumer attitude

Mean

205
210
205
210
205
210
205
210

2.8063
2.9967
4.0804
4.1799
3.939
3.8341
3.5400
3.8956

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361

Table XI.
Correlation analysis for
both Taiwan and
Indonesia

Table XII.
Descriptive analysis for
each variable

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Independent variable

Model 1
(CK_T PB)

CK_T
EC_T
AT_T

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362
Table XIII.
Regression analysis for
Taiwanese consumers

Model parameters
R2
Adjusted R2
F
p-value

Model 2
(EC_T PB)

Model 3
(AT_T PB)

0.25
0.18*
0.06
0.06
0.06
2.34
1.28

0.032
0.026
6.62
0.01

0.004
0.004
0.16
0.69

Note: * p 0.05

95 per cent. While, Model 2 gives the better results with F-value being 6.62 (p-value
0.01) and adjusted R-squared of 0.026. Thus, environmental concerns of Taiwanese
consumers account for only 3 per cent of variance in their purchase behavior toward
organic rice. Similar to consumer knowledge factor, Taiwanese attitude of organic rice
does not show any significant influence on their purchase behavior in Model 3
(F-value 0.16, p-value 0.69). As a result, H6a1 and H6c1 are rejected, while H6b1 is
supported. In other words, H6 is weakly supported for Taiwanese consumers.
Then, Part 2 used Indonesia respondents to conduct regression analysis between the
independent variables and dependent variable (consumer purchase behavior).
Table XIV reports the F test value for Model 1 is 9.86, Model 2 is 26.91 and Model 3 is
9.13. The p-values are 0.002, 0.000 and 0.003, respectively. The results indicate that the
independent variables all significantly influence consumer purchase behavior. The
adjusted value of R-square for Model 1 is 0.04, which means that this model accounts for
4 per cent of the variance in purchase behavior as a whole. Environmental concerns
account for 11 per cent of variance, while consumer attitude account for 4 per cent of
variance in consumers purchase behavior. Beta coefficient values for consumer
knowledge is 0.215, for environmental concerns is 0.342 and for consumer attitude is
0.207. In other words, there are significant influences of consumers knowledge, attitude

Independent variable
CK_I
EC_I
AT_I

Table XIV.
Regression analysis for
Indonesian consumers

Model parameter
R2
Adjusted R2
F
p-value
Notes: ** p 0.01; *** p 0.001

Model 1
(CK PB)

Model 2
(EC PB)

Model 3
(AT PB)

0.215**
(0.34***)
0.21**
0.05
0.04
9.86
0.002

0.12
0.11
26.91
0.000

0.04
0.04
9.13
0.003

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and environmental concerns on their purchase behavior. However, these influences are
not strong enough when R-squares in three models only account for the small shares.
The largest share of influence for the Indonesian consumers is from environmental
cancers, and that is a negative influence. Encouraging Indonesian consumers to
purchase organic rice through environmental concerns does not seem to be a successful
marketing strategy. In summary, H6a2, Ha6b2 and H6c2 are all accepted or H6.
Finally, Indonesian and Taiwanese respondents are combined together in this part.
Table XV shows the F test value for Model 1 is 11.86 (p-value 0.01) with a beta value
of 0.17. It means that the linear relationship between consumer purchase and consumer
knowledge for two countries as a whole is significant. The value of adjusted R-square for
consumer knowledge accounts for 2.8 per cent of the variance. F-value in Model 2 is 2.32
(p-value 0.28), which is not significant at the 95 per cent confidence level. Eventually,
F-value for Model 3 is 8.51 (p-value 0.04), which meets the acceptable confidence level.
Therefore, it can be concluded that consumer knowledge, consumer attitude in two
countries positively influence consumer purchase behavior. However this influence is
very weak.

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363

Conclusion
Results for hypotheses testing
This study used t-test, regression models and correlation analyses to test the
predetermined six hypotheses with the aid of the SPSS program. The results are
summarized in Table XVI below.

Independent Variable

Model 1
(CK_T PB)

CK
EC
AT

Model 2
(EC_T PB)

Model 3
(AT_T PB)

0.17**
0.20
0.14*

Model Parameter
R2
Adjusted R2
F
p-value

0.03
0.03
11.86
0.01

0.04
0.02
2.32
0.28

0.02
0.02
8.51
0.04

Note: * p 0.05

Hypothesis

Results

Hypothesis

Results

Hypothesis

Results

H1
H2
H3
H4

Supported
Rejected
Supported
Rejected

H5
H5a1
H5b1
H5c1
H5a2
H5b2
H5c2

Strongly Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Rejected
Supported
Supported

H6
H6a1
H6b1
H6c1
H6a2
H6b2
H6c2

Weakly Supported
Rejected
Supported
rejected
Supported
Supported
Supported

Table XV.
Regression analysis for
both Indonesian and
Taiwanese consumers

Table XVI.
Summary of hypotheses
testing

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The purposes of this study are:

to examine the differences and similarities of Taiwanese and Indonesian consumers
with regard to consumer knowledge, environmental concerns, consumer attitude and
consumer purchase behavior toward organic rice;
to investigate the relationship among consumer knowledge, environmental concerns,
consumer attitude and consumer purchase behavior toward organic rice; and
to explore influences of consumer knowledge, environmental concerns and consumer
attitude on consumer purchase toward organic rice in Taiwan and Indonesia.
The results from hypotheses testing through statistical analyses give readers better
understanding and more information about consumer purchase behavior in Indonesia
and Taiwan. The relationship between each variable in conceptual model were tested
and discussed separately based on each hypothesis.
Firstly, the examination of the demographic profile points out that there are
statistically significant differences between Indonesian and Taiwanese consumers in
their social demographic properties. According to the results of t-test for social
demographic factors, there are significant differences between Indonesian consumers
and Taiwanese consumers in their marital status, education level and incomes per
month. Furthermore, based on descriptive analyses of respondents gender, it becomes
evident that male respondents are more willing to purchase organic rice than female
respondents; however, female respondents have more knowledge toward organic rice
than male respondents. As for environmental concerns and consumer attitude the
female respondents demonstrated more concerns about environment toward organic
rice than male respondents. The female respondents are more concerned about
environment such household works everyday, while they have less a will to purchase
organic rice because the price of organic rice is more expensive than conventional rice.
Based on the results of estimate income per month, respondents with high incomes are
more willing to purchase organic rice than other income categories.
This study shows that Indonesian consumers have same purchase behavior as
Taiwanese consumers. Therefore, the governments of both countries could cooperate to
encourage consumers to consume organic rice because this product has benefits for their
life and environment. This study is one of the first researches to analyze consumer
purchase behavior in Taiwan and Indonesia. The empirical findings from this study
may benefit the continued development of the organic sector in Taiwan and Indonesia.
It may further help cooperative between the two countries to produce and market
organic rice.
In addition, consumers in Taiwan and Indonesia have statistically significant
differences in their knowledge of organic rice. The results of descriptive analysis for
consumer knowledge indicate that Indonesian consumers have more knowledge about
organic rice than Taiwanese consumers. This finding can encourage Taiwan
government to give people more knowledge about organic rice; for example, provide
some course related to agricultural organic products or the advantages of consuming
organic rice in universities. It can influence students to be more willing to purchase
organic rice and more benefits of healthy food choices. Moreover, we should increase the
knowledge about the advantages of consuming organic rice. Furthermore, the findings
of this study indicate that there is a significant relationship between consumer

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knowledge and consumer attitude in Taiwan. The organic rice industry can cooperate
with the Government and public organizations to produce brochures about the
advantages of consume organic rice, campaigns and TV programs for the general
public.
Regarding consumers attitude toward organic rice, consumers in Indonesia and
Taiwan are quite different. In general, each country has different characteristics
especially the attitude, based on the results for consumer attitude, Indonesian
consumers have more positive attitude than Taiwan consumers toward organic rice. In
this study, consumer attitude toward organic rice means consumers belief and tendency
to evaluate organic rice in different ways such a taste, accessibility, health concerns, etc.
This finding is consistent with previous study (Chen, 2009). In Taiwan, despite the fact
that most people have health consciousness attitude, they still often fail to consider
whether everything they do is healthy. In fact, they do not even want to ask themselves
whether the things they eat are good for them. In other words, if consumers could
consider all the time that everything they do and everything they eat should be good for
them, then their attitude toward organic rice will improve. In addition, increased
consumer attitude can have a positive influence on purchase behavior of organic rice. In
line with this consumers knowledge, environmental concerns and consumers attitude
have different influences on purchase behavior in Indonesia and Taiwan. Therefore,
understanding and the perceptions of consumers about the organic rice is important
because it can help consumers to recognize the characteristics and the benefits of
organic rice compared with non-organic rice and adopt a positive attitude toward
organic rice. Findings from previous studies reveals that consumer with a positive
attitude toward a product will be more inclined to select the store and buy the product
(Moye and Kincade, 1999).
Finally, the results of the correlation among consumer knowledge, environmental
concerns and consumer attitude and purchase behavior are in accordance with
Grunert and Juhls study in 1995. They found that there is a relationship between the
environmental concerns and buying decision with regard to organic food. Thus,
positive attitudes toward environmental factors could lead to positive attitude and
knowledge with respect to purchasing decision and buying frequency (Grunert and
Juhl, 1995).
In conclusion, this study provides knowledge of factors affecting consumer purchase
behavior toward organic rice. Empirical results provide readers and practitioners the
comprehensive comparison between two countries in the given field. The findings of
this study will help the government of both countries to have a better understanding of
consumer purchase behavior, and therefore encourage farmers to produce more organic
rice. Eventually, the findings of this study could encourage the schools/universities to
give better understanding of the benefits of consuming organic rice.
Future research
Future studies should create more detailed questions about consumer purchase
behavior, customer knowledge, environmental concerns and attitude toward
organic rice. It means that future studies should be looking for other factors which
may influence consumer purchase behavior toward organic rice. This study used
convenience sampling technique to collect data from the universities, but it would be

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more significant if future researches could include a larger portion of the population
to enhance the scope of the present study.
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Economics Association (New Name (2008), Agricultural and Applied Economics
Association).

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Shephered, R., Magnusson, M. and Per-Olow, S. (2005), Determinants of consumer behavior

related to organic foods, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Vol. 34 Nos 4/5,
pp. 352-359.
About the authors
Massoud Moslehpour graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. He is a
multi-disciplinary professor and has been teaching in several countries for the past 20 years. He is
currently teaching English, Spanish, Corporate Culture, Human Resource Management and
Quantitative Research Methods as Assistant Professor for the departments of Business
Administration and Foreign Languages at Asia University in Taichung, Taiwan. His
business-related areas of interest and expertise are: Consumer Behavior, Corporate Culture,
Customer Satisfaction and multimedia applications in teaching. Massoud Moslehpour is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: mm@asia.edu.tw
Pham Van Kien is a PhD. Candidate of Department of Business Administration at Asia
University. His research interests include supply chain management, outsourcing and
consumer behavior, innovation of technology, patent analysis and strategic management. His
articles have been accepted in PICMET international conference and AISC-Taiwan
international conference.

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