The Effects of Altruistic and Egoistic Values on Organic Food Purchase:

A Conceptual Replication of Yadav (2016) With a Two-Wave Survey

Abstract

Yadav (2016) suggested that both altruistic (environmental) and egoistic (health) values influence organic food purchase intention. However, these results may be biased by social desirability and other measurement challenges. To address this, we conducted two-wave online surveys at one-month intervals with Japanese participants, aiming to replicate and extend Yadav’s model by examining links to actual organic food purchase. The results revealed that egoistic values positively influenced both purchase attitude and purchase intention toward organic food, whereas altruistic values unexpectedly had negative effects—contrary to Yadav’s findings. Moreover, purchase intention significantly predicts actual purchase behavior. These discrepancies may be attributed to contextual differences such as country, age distribution, or educational levels of the respondents. Our study highlights the importance of considering sociodemographic factors and actual behavior in consumer research on ethical consumption. Future research should further examine how these values interact with social and psychological mediators to influence ethical consumption in various cultural and demographic contexts.