Measuring the Moderating Effect of Food Involvement in the Relationship between Food Choice Motives and Fruit Consumption

The principal objective of this study was to assess the effects of food involvement moderating the relationship between food choice motives, including health concerns, weight control and ethical concern, and fruit consumption. A total of 290 questionnaires were completed. Moderated regression analysis was utilized to assess the relationships among variables. The results of the study showed that the results of data analysis also indicated good model fit. The direct effects of health concerns on fruit consumption were statistically significant in Models 1 and 2. However, the direct effects of ethical concern on fruit consumption were statistically significant in Model 3. As had been expected, the interaction of ethical concerns and food involvement exerted a significant effect on fruit consumption in Model 3. However, the interaction of health concern and food involvement, as well as weight control and food involvement exerted no significant effects on fruit consumption. Moreover, ethical concerns about fruit consumption exerted a significant negative effect at the low level and a positive effect at the high level of food involvement, except in cases in which the level of food involvement was medium. The results of this study revealed that fruit marketers should attach importance to the interaction effect of food involvement in order to better understand the elements of market demand and customer loyalty.