Application of extended theory of planned behavior to predict intention in food safety practices among adult consumers in Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
Foodborne disease (FBD) is a global problem that also occurred in Malaysia. Despite various efforts, food poisoning cases continue to show an increment. This case is not only occurred at food premises but also reported at home. Recognizing this, adult consumers who handle food at home should even...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/99217/1/FSTM%202020%2020%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | Foodborne disease (FBD) is a global problem that also occurred in Malaysia. Despite
various efforts, food poisoning cases continue to show an increment. This case is not
only occurred at food premises but also reported at home. Recognizing this, adult
consumers who handle food at home should even know and adhere to the practice of
food safety. It was also essential to examine the relationship between a sociodemographic
profile and factors that influence the level of food safety knowledge and
self-reported practices. In this study, the corporation of food safety knowledge to
extend the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was attempted to explain the factors
affecting intention on safe food handling. The moderating effect of gender and
educational level on the relationship between TPB factors and intention was also
determined. The cross-sectional survey by using self-administered questionnaires was
carried out for hypothesis testing. A total of 623 adult consumers aged 20 and above
participated in this study and were selected using convenience sampling. The
descriptive analysis showed that food safety knowledge was good even though the selfreported
practices had been unsatisfactory. The analysis using one-way ANOVA and
independent sample t-test showed that both food safety knowledge and self-reported
practices were significantly different based on gender, education level, number of
children in the family, and frequency of food preparation at home. Meanwhile, the
result of logistic regression indicated that education level (p = 0.00) were the most
reliable predictor for food safety knowledge level while gender (p = 0.00) is the main
contributor to self-reported practices. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation
Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate the measurement model and structural
model of extended TPB. The assessment of measurement model was meet the
requirement for convergent (Overall factor loading>0.60, AVE>0.5, CR>0.7) and
discriminant validity (HTMT ratio<0.850). The result structural model revealed that
attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control had a positive and significant
effect towards intention on safe food handling. Moreover, the subjective norm was the
main predictor of consumer safe food handling intention (β = 0.418, R² = 0.337, Q² = 0.252, p < .05). As such, the role of the family to promote safe food handling at home
is evident. Food safety knowledge also had a positive impact on consumer's attitude (β
= 0.107, R² = 0.012, Q² = 0.004, p < .05). Based on the result of multi-group analysis it
indicated that only educational level significantly moderates the relationship between
perceived behavior control and intention of safe food handling (p = 0.02). However,
there was no significant moderating effect of attitude (p = 0.286) and subjective norm
(p = 0.070). The results attained from the analyses produced a model that predicts the
intention of safe food handling among consumers including the factor that moderate it.
Several implications were also depicted from the findings of this study. Therefore, this
study has contributed to the existing knowledge in food safety and facilitates the
exploration of future research focusing on consumers that handle food at home. |
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