GREEN LABELING AND ACTUAL BUYING BEHAVIOR OF ORGANIC CHICKEN: THE ROLE OF TRUST IN ORGANIC CERTIFICATION AND EPISTEMIC VALUE
This study examines the formation of actual buying behavior among Organic chicken consumers by focusing on the informational and trust mechanisms associated with green labeling and consumer knowledge. The study develops a focused structural model in which Green Labeling and Epistemic Value predict Trust in Organic Certification and Actual Buying Behavior. The model is motivated by the distinctive characteristics of Organic chicken as a premium and credence-oriented food product: consumers can observe attributes such as appearance and freshness, but claims concerning production practices, environmental responsibility, and organic certification require external information and institutional assurance. Data were obtained from 300 respondents who reported experience purchasing Organic chicken. The analysis uses covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) with Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) following the analytical framework and regression output of the underlying study. Green Labeling has a positive and significant effect on Trust in Organic Certification (unstandardized estimate = 0.455; C.R. = 6.223; p < 0.001), while Epistemic Value also has a positive and significant effect on trust (estimate = 0.177; C.R. = 3.510; p < 0.001). Trust in Organic Certification positively affects Actual Buying Behavior (estimate = 0.308; C.R. = 5.761; p < 0.001). Epistemic Value has a strong positive direct effect on Actual Buying Behavior (standardized β = 0.379; C.R. = 5.864; p < 0.001). In contrast, Green Labeling does not have a significant direct standardized effect on Actual Buying Behavior (β = 0.097; p = 0.145), although the supplied unstandardized regression-weight output reports p = 0.007; the discrepancy is transparently discussed. The indirect effect of Green Labeling through Trust (0.129) exceeds its direct standardized effect (0.097), while Epistemic Value has a dominant direct effect (0.379) supplemented by an indirect effect through trust (0.067). The findings indicate that labeling becomes behaviorally meaningful when it creates credible trust and that consumer knowledge is a central driver of actual purchasing behavior.
Organic Chicken; Green Labeling; Epistemic Value; Trust In Organic Certification; Actual Buying Behavior; Consumer Behavior; Indonesia.