Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate farmers’ intentions to comply with pesticide application standards based on an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB).
Design/methodology/approach: Built on a TPB framework, it was examined how perceived behavioural control (PBC), behavioural goal (BG), behavioural attitude (BA) and subjective norm (SN) influenced farmers’ intention to comply with pesticide application standards. Data of 986 farmers from five major agricultural provinces in China were collected following a stratified random sampling method. Structural equation modelling was employed for hypothesis testing and analysis.
Findings: The results showed that PBC, BG, behavioural attitude and SN had positive impacts on farmers’ intention in abiding by the standards. Among them in determining farmers’ intention towards compliance with pesticide application standards, farmers’ PBC was found to be the most influential factor, while SN was the least influential factor.
Originality/value: The results indicated that the traditional TPB constructs had significant correlations with farmers’ intention to comply with pesticide standards, demonstrating the applicability of the TPB in the understanding of farmers’ decision-making in a developing country context. It is suggested that psychological factors should be taken into consideration in studying farmers’ decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach: Built on a TPB framework, it was examined how perceived behavioural control (PBC), behavioural goal (BG), behavioural attitude (BA) and subjective norm (SN) influenced farmers’ intention to comply with pesticide application standards. Data of 986 farmers from five major agricultural provinces in China were collected following a stratified random sampling method. Structural equation modelling was employed for hypothesis testing and analysis.
Findings: The results showed that PBC, BG, behavioural attitude and SN had positive impacts on farmers’ intention in abiding by the standards. Among them in determining farmers’ intention towards compliance with pesticide application standards, farmers’ PBC was found to be the most influential factor, while SN was the least influential factor.
Originality/value: The results indicated that the traditional TPB constructs had significant correlations with farmers’ intention to comply with pesticide standards, demonstrating the applicability of the TPB in the understanding of farmers’ decision-making in a developing country context. It is suggested that psychological factors should be taken into consideration in studying farmers’ decision-making.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 608-625 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | China Agricultural Economic Review |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 27 Jul 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Oct 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Food Safety Research Base of Jiangsu Province, School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China May Chu Department of Government and Public Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Yuan yuan Deng School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China Honming Lam School of Life Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and Jianjun Tang Centre for Public Health/Gibson Institute for Land, Food and Environment, Belfast, UK
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.
Keywords
- Pesticide application practices
- Structural equation modelling
- Theory of planned behaviour
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics