The influence of intrinsic motivational forces on consumers’ product purchase intentions

Abstract

Food is perceived as the top most surviving need of humans since their existence. With the passage of time, this need has been further revolutionized with added requirements of safety and hygienic factors. Halal food having both of these factors, has gained popularity among both Muslims and non-Muslims consumers. Despite of ever increasing trend of Halal food consumption, the research to uncap this amazingly growing sector is still in its infancy stages. Interestingly, the role of intrinsic motivation in shaping up intention of the consumers for Halal food purchase is still not well explored. This study has addressed this untapped area to build better understanding using Self-Determination Theory (SDT), from the domain of psychology which addresses the psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. SDT in this research with well-designed conceptual framework tried to highlight the role of intrinsic motivation for Halal food purchase intention. Whereby, the freedom to choose a product is referred as individuals’ autonomy, while individuals’ knowledge and the capability to buy Halal food product is termed as competence. Whereas, relatedness precisely talks about the social bonding of individuals through having better feelings and care for others in any environmental setting. Henceforth, first time ever, SDT has been used to explore the impact of intrinsic motivation on Halal food purchase intentions, whereby anatomy, competence, and relatedness is thoroughly providing an opportunity to analyze the shaped up individuals’ intentions and behaviors, respectively. Lastly, the important implications and future recommendations are also discussed in this study.