The Usefulness of the Theory of Planned Behavior: Understanding U.S. Fast Food Consumption of Generation Y Chinese Consumers

The purpose of this study was to assess how well a popular U.S. developed behavioral model, the theory of planned behavior, was able to explain Generation Y Chinese consumers’ purchase behavior regarding a fast food restaurant meal. Results provided considerable support in terms of robustness of the theory of planned behavior to predict and explain intentions to buy a fast food meal. The model also provided reasonable measures of fit for the Chinese sample. The findings can enhance the extant literature on the universal applicability of the model and can serve as useful references for further investigations of the validity of the model under other cultural settings and for other behavioral categories.