Role of Sensory Appeal, Nutritional Quality, Safety, and Health Determinants on Convenience Food Choice in an Academic Environment

The present research aims to investigate the extent to which sensory appeal, nutritional quality, safety, and health determinants influence purchase intention, consumption, and satisfaction of consumers towards convenience food. The non-probability purposive sampling approach was adopted for the recruitment of consumers. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 501 consumers. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were adopted to analyze the data. Factor loading, Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, average variance extracted, and correlations estimate of constructs revealed good internal consistency and reliability of scale items as well as convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs. The path analysis of structural model demonstrated positive relationship between sensory appeal, nutritional quality, safety attributes, healthiness, and purchase intention of convenience food. Further, the path analysis of structural model revealed that purchase intention with consumption as well as consumption with satisfaction were positively associated for convenience food. Sensory appeal was the key determinant influencing purchase intention, consumption, and satisfaction of consumers towards convenience food. The good taste, pleasant appearance, nice smell, and appealing texture within sensory appeal were the most important factors influencing purchase intention, consumption, and satisfaction of consumers towards convenience food. Further, the consumers in emerging economies such as India focus more on sensory appeal in convenience food choice.