Factors Influencing Kosher Food Purchase Intention: an Investigation on Non-Jewish Customers Qian Yang Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2017 Factors influencing Kosher food purchase intention: An investigation on non-Jewish customers Qian Yang Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Advertising and Promotion Management Commons, Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, Marketing Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Yang, Qian, "Factors influencing Kosher food purchase intention: An investigation on non-Jewish customers" (2017). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 15468. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/15468 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Factors influencing Kosher food purchase intention: An investigation on non-Jewish customers by Qian Yang A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Hospitality Management Program of Study Committee: Eunha Jeong, Co-major Professor Robert Bosselman, Co-major Professor SoJung Lee The student author and the program of study committee are solely responsible for the content of this thesis. The Graduate College will ensure this thesis is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2017 Copyright © Qian Yang, 2017. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................................................ v ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1 Background....................................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement............................................................................................................ 1 Purpose of the Study......................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Study.................................................................................................. 3 Definition of Terms...........................................................................................................4 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................. 5 Kosher Food Market......................................................................................................... 5 Perception on Kosher Food Characteristics...................................................................... 6 Kosher food quality and safety................................................................................. 6 Kosher food healthfulness.........................................................................................8 Animal welfare..........................................................................................................9 Intrinsic Motivations....................................................................................................... 10 Special dietary fulfillment.......................................................................................11 Spiritual fulfillment.................................................................................................12 Social Environmental Factors......................................................................................... 13 Peer pressure........................................................................................................... 13 Availability of Kosher food.................................................................................... 14 Summary......................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................... 16 Pilot Study.......................................................................................................................16 Instrument....................................................................................................................... 18 Data Collection............................................................................................................... 19 Data Analysis.................................................................................................................. 19 CHAPTER 4. RESULT.......................................................................................................... 21 Pilot Study Result............................................................................................................21 Descriptive profile of the respondents.................................................................... 21 Result of pilot study................................................................................................ 23 Survey Result.................................................................................................................. 27 Descriptive profile of the respondents.................................................................... 27 Result of exploratory factor analysis...................................................................... 29 iii CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION................................................................................................34 Summary and Discussion................................................................................................34 Theoretical Implication................................................................................................... 37 Practical Implications......................................................................................................38 Limitation and Future Study Suggestions.......................................................................39 REFERENCES........................................................................................................................41 APPENDIX A INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................45 APPENDIX B SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE.......................................................................47 APPENDIX C IRB APPROVAL........................................................................................... 54 iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1 Descriptive profile of the pilot study respondents..................................................... 22 Table 2 Descriptive profile of the survey respondents........................................................... 28 Table 3 Result of exploratory factor analysis......................................................................... 31 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to my major professor, Dr. Eunha (Lena) Jeong. Without her mentorship, encouragement, and support throughout the course of this research, this work would not have been completed. Also, I am grateful to have Dr. Robert Bosselman as co-major professor, who guided and helped me with his professional academic experiences, and Dr. SoJung Lee as committee member, who offered valuable comments and suggestions throughout the research. In addition, I would also like to thank my friends, colleagues, the department faculty and staff for making my time at Iowa State University a wonderful experience. I want to also offer my appreciation to those who were willing to participate in my surveys and observations, without whom, this thesis would not have been possible. vi ABSTRACT Kosher food properly prepared according Jewish dietary law has become one of the biggest trends in the food service industry. The demand for Kosher food markedly increased in recent years, especially in non-Jewish community. To examine the intention of non- Jewish consumers in purchasing Kosher food, this study investigated underlying factors influencing a such behavior from three aspects, namely, consumers’ perceptions towards Kosher food, intrinsic motivations, and social environmental factors. After a thorough literature review of potential factors, a pilot study of six structured one-on-one interviews were conducted to verify previously identified factors from the literature review and discover other potential factors for Kosher food consumption behavior. Based on the interview result, an online survey was developed and distributed to randomly selected non-Jewish consumers purchasing Kosher food in United States. A total of 203 usable data were collected through online survey questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to finalize the data. Results showed 10 underlying factors that may influence the intention of non-Jewish customers to purchase Kosher food. Four underlying perceptions on Kosher food characteristics were found, which include Kosher food quality, healthfulness, Kosher food safety, and animal welfare.