The purchase of organic fish in Bangladesh: Safeguarding against COVID-19

Prince, Sheikh Ashiqurrahman; Wahid, Ishraat Saira Article The purchase of organic fish in Bangladesh: Safeguarding against COVID-19 Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Prince, Sheikh Ashiqurrahman; Wahid, Ishraat Saira (2020) : The purchase of organic fish in Bangladesh: Safeguarding against COVID-19, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 7, Iss. 1, pp. 1-29, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/244996 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. Published online: 04 Nov 2020. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1002 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Page 1 of 29 The purchase of organic fish in Bangladesh: Safeguarding against COVID-19 Sheikh Ashiqurrahman Prince and Ishraat Saira Wahid Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 MANAGEMENT | RESEARCH ARTICLE The purchase of organic fish in Bangladesh: Safeguarding against COVID-19 Sheikh Ashiqurrahman Prince 1 * and Ishraat Saira Wahid 2 Abstract: Based on the theory of planned behaviour and cognitive dissonance, this research investigates how consumers’ consciousness of the attributes of organic fish impacts the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance and how the consciousness of verbal recommendations affect the relationship between the consciousness of necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish and consumers’ intention to purchase the fish. Applying these two theories and adding a new variable—social-distance purchasing—into the model, the research contributes significantly to current literature. Using a stratified random sampling, this research collected 320 data points from high, upper-middle and middle-income consumers that have been analysed through Amos Graphics and PROCESS macro in SPSS for the structural equation modelling. The findings of the research provide valuable insights to reduce the infection from COVID-19 as well as enhances the external validity and generalisability of the consumers’ organic-food purchasing behaviour research. Subjects: Consumer Psychology; Nutrition; Marketing Research; Consumer Behaviour Keywords: COVID-19; organic fish; consciousness; social-distance purchasing; theory of planned behaviour; theory of cognitive dissonance Sheikh Ashiqurrahman Prince ABOUT THE AUTHORS Sheikh Ashiqurrahman Prince is an Associate Professor at the Department of Management Studies of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman Science and Technology University (BSMRSTU), Bangladesh. His research interests include various areas of Business and Management such as Consumer Behaviour, Microcredit Business and Human Resource Management. Ishraat Saira Wahid is working as an Assistant Professor at the School of Business, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). Her research interest focuses on various Business and Economics related topic such as Human Resource Management (HRM), Training and Development, Microcredit and Green Business Practices. PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT Since the world is facing a global pandemic of COVID-19—a disease caused by adulterated foods—conducting research on consumers’ consciousness of healthy foods, such as organic foods, has become extremely important for human survival. A large number of people in Bangladesh still violate the social distance which affect many consumers’ intention to purchase organic fish. The study found that consumers’ consciousness of verbal recommendations strengthens the positive relationship between that of necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish and the intention to purchase the fish. The research again suggests that only the consciousness of health benefits is positively influenced; however, a consciousness of the high price and lower availability of organic fish is negatively influenced by the consciousness of the appropriate social distance practices while purchasing such fish. Based on the empirical findings, government and concern authorities can take necessary steps to alleviate the COVID19 pandemic. Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 2 of 29 Received: 24 June 2020 Accepted: 18 October 2020 *Corresponding author: Sheikh Ashiqurrahman Prince, Department of Mangaement Studies, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Goplaganj 8100, Bangladesh E-mail: [email protected] Reviewing editor: Zhouxiang Lu, Security and Police, Shin Ansan University, South Korea Additional information is available at the end of the article © 2020 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. 1. Introduction 1.1. COVID-19 and fish adulteration in Bangladesh The planet has been facing a rapidly developing global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since December 2019 (Somily & BaHammam, 2020). The outbreak of the virus—for which a treatment has yet to be discovered—occurred in a seafood market in Wuhan, China. The market used to sell other animals in addition to fish (including dogs, chickens, pigs, rats and civets) in close proximity. Many fish and animals have viruses of their own. Such viruses can transfer from one species to another, so the species can become an amplifier, which significantly increases the amount of virus on the wet market. That market situation makes it easy for zoonotic diseases to transfer from animals to humans (Ben & Shawn, 2020). When the COVID-19 virus is transmitted to the human body, it spreads from person to person within a close proximity, similar to other respiratory diseases, such as the flu. Bodily fluid droplets—such as saliva or mucus—from an infected person are spread by coughing or sneezing in the air or on surfaces. Others can then come in contact with these droplets and become infected with (and even killed by) the virus by touching contaminated surfaces and then their faces (Aljazeera, 15 March Aljazeera, 2020). The World Health Organization has declared a coronavirus pandemic, with COVID-19 having spread to at least 213 countries and territories. As of 13 October 2020, there are more than 38,049,049 confirmed cases worldwide, including 1,085,482 deaths (World Health Organization, 2020a). Thousands of markets in Bangladesh are similar to the Wuhan market and sell a wide variety of common and exotic fish. Adulteration has been prevalent in Bangladesh’s fishery production and marketing chain over the last few decades (Ali, 2013; Goon et al., 2014). Bangladesh is a country that is overpopulated, surrounded by rivers and interconnected with rivers and canals. The rivers are important water sources for drinking, fish harvesting, household use, irrigation and industrial use. Approximately 80 percent of industrial units, primarily including dyeing and textile industries, do not have an effluent treatment plant in place (Islam et al., 2015) resulting the release of industrial waste into the inland water system. Thus, fish may absorb substantial amounts of metal from the water, making them contaminated (Ahmed et al., 2016). In addition, farmed fish have recently gained a reputation as health hazards (Mohammad, 2019) due to the industry producing hybrid fish and using excessive pesticides (Main, 2020). Many traders and middlemen inject jelly, gum, water, rice starch and other substances into shrimp to raise their weight and make them appear healthier. A common practice among food vendors is to spray fish with chemical preservatives—including formalin—to improve their longevity and appearance (Goon et al., 2014; Khan, 2013). In addition, formalin and carbide are used in seafood, and oleomargarine (or lard) and DDT are added to dried fish to keep certain items fresh that are being sold openly in supermarkets (Goon et al., 2014; Hussain & Sullivan, 2013). The toxicity, long persistence, bioaccumulation and biomagnification in the food chain pose a significant threat to human and ecological health (Ali, 2013). As a result, food adulteration has been identified as one of the key reasons for the growth of cancer, liver and kidney disease in recent health-ministry research (Rahman et al., 2016). In Bangladesh, the total number of infected cases of COVID-19 till 13 October 2020, is close to 379,738 with the death toll at 5,555 (IEDCR, 2020). In the next generation, the effects of food adulteration may be serious (Chowdhury, 2019). In order to reduce the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic—as well as the human-health hazards caused by aquatic adulteration—the consumption of organic fish should be strongly demanded. Organic food seeks to improve food production by following rigid rules and practices that observe the safety and health issues of people, plants, animals and soil (Essoussi & Zahaf, 2008). In addition, fish is the most popular food for Bangladeshi people since the country is surrounded by rivers and situated in northern part of Bay of Bengal. Fish is not a delicacy in this part of the world rather everyday millions of people consumes it. Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 3 of 29 Based on the above-mentioned facts, it can be noted that relationship between COVID-19 and handling organic fish is highly related to how marketer’s and consumers can safeguard food adulteration by maintaining social distancing while purchasing or handling the fish in the market. As we know that fish is most perishable product due to their biological composition and it requires to maintain certain temperature to preserve so that it can have longer shelf life for a certain amount of time. Therefore, recognising the preeminent importance of conducting research on how to safeguard humans from fish adulteration, this study aims to investigate Bangladeshi consumers’ intention to buy organic fish. Consumers’ organic food consumption research is very comprehensive. Many social and scientific studies have been conducted on the consumers’ organic food purchasing intention in different countries (for example, Prince, 2019; Asif et al., 2018; Basha & Lal, 2019; Brécard et al., 2009; Buder et al., 2014; Chekima et al., 2016; Díaz et al., 2012; Hartmann & Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2012; Hwang, 2016; Jäger & Weber, 2020; Janssen, 2018; Kapuge, 2016; Lee & Goudeau, 2014; Liu et al., 2013; Magistris & Gracia, 2008; Mann et al., 2012; Molinillo et al., 2020; Mondelaers et al., 2009; Padel & Foster, 2005; Prince & Krairit, 2017; Rana & Paul, 2017; Sampaio & Gosling, 2014; Soler et al., 2002; Tranter et al., 2009; Truong et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2012; Yadav & Pathak, 2016; Yin et al., 2010; Yu et al., 2014). However, scant studies have been conducted in the Asian context (for example, Prince, 2019; Basha & Lal, 2019; Chekima et al., 2016; Kapuge, 2016; Prince & Krairit, 2017; Truong et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2012; Yadav & Pathak, 2016; Yin et al., 2010). Therefore, for the generalisability, the study on organic foods should be conducted in South Asian context including Bangladesh. In the existing literature, limited studies have investigated how consumers’ consciousness of the attributes of organic fish impacts the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance, which in turn affects the intention behind purchasing the fish, and how the consciousness of verbal recommendations affect the relationship between the consciousness of necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish and consumers’ intention to purchase the fish. Considering the knowledge gap, the present study generates the following research questions to investigate: ●How does consumers’ consciousness of the attributes of organic fish (health benefits, high price and less availability) impact the number of opportunities to purchase organic fish at a safe social distance? ●How does consumers’ consciousness of the necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish mediate the relationship between the attributes of organic fish and it the consumers’ intent to purchase them? ●How does consumers’ consciousness of verbal recommendations moderate the relationship between that of necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish and the intention to purchase the fish? This research attempts to investigate all of the above issues using the theory of planned behavior and cognitive dissonance and has incorporated a new variable—social-distance purchasing—into the model. Applying these two theories and adding a new variable—socialdistance purchasing—into the model, the research contributes significantly to current literature. In addition, this research enhances the external validity and generalizability of prior empirical studies conducted on organic food purchasing studies. Bangladesh is the world’s fifth-largest producer of aquaculture. In the last three decades, production has increased significantly, shifting from 144,723 metric tonnes in 1986 to 2,203,554 metric tonnes in 2016 —an increase of more than 15 times. But behind its success lies a trail of polluting activities that endanger its people’s health and sustainable fisheries (Mohammad, 2019). The empirical findings of the current study suggest a number of strategies for the government and stakeholders that will help to alleviate fish adulteration as well as to combat COVID-19 pandemic to develop a sustainable fish industry in Bangladesh. Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 4 of 29 2. Literature review The study investigates how consumers’ consciousness of the attributes of organic fish impacts the number of opportunities to purchase such fish while maintaining safe social distance and how the consciousness of verbal recommendations affects the relationship between the consciousness of necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish and consumers’ intention to purchase the fish. It was imperative to define the related terms and concepts pertinent to the aim of the study and therefore described below in the following sections. 2.1. Definition of related terms and concepts 2.1.1. Adulterated food According to Attrey (2017), “Adulterant” means, any substance that is or may be used to make the food unhealthy, inferior, misbranded, or containing extraneous matter. Food adulteration is a very old and widespread problem that is frequently seen in low-economic areas such as Bangladesh. Hazardous chemicals including sodium cyclamate, cyanide, calcium carbide, and formalin are used for ripening, keeping new, and storing green tropical fruits before they are offered. Low-cost textile dyes are used to dye vegetables, fruits, common sweetmeats, soft drinks, beverages, confectioneries to attract the attention of customers. Fishmongers retain formalin-fish to hold the body firm in order to cover up internal decomposition. These intakes of chemically modified foods can cause complex diseases and have direct implications such as liver and kidney failure, autism, metabolic dysfunctions and cancer (Mohammad et al., 2018). 2.1.2. Organic food: fish In the existing literature, definitions of organic food may vary depending on the country and context. For example, according to Canadian respondents, “organic foods are products that contain no chemical, fertiliser, genetically modified organisms, pesticides, hormones or antibiotics; are neither packaged nor processed; cause no harm to animals; require no injections for animals; are nutritious, tasty and colourful; stay fresh longer; and were produced in labouroriented production companies” (Hamzaoui Essoussi & Zahaf, 2008). Hoefkens et al. (2009) indicated that Flemish consumers perceive organic food as less contaminated, healthier, safer and containing more nutrients than conventional food, having surveyed 529 consumers and applied statistical analysis to examine the components. In the context of France, Kouba (2003) further confirmed that “organic animal products have lower levels of veterinary drugs and pesticides”. According to the definition of organic food suggested by The Codex Alimentarius—which is a set of globally accepted food health and food quality principles, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations—organic food comes from an organic farm system that supports the ecosystem (Alimentarius, 2020). In the context of Bangladesh, organic fish can be referred to as “deshi”, i.e. indigenous fish, that are caught in the wild or organically farmed and produced by intensive monoculture (Mohammad, 2019). From the above definitions, it can be concluded that organic fish come from the water source that relies on ecological processes and no undue chemical are applied to them. Therefore, organic fish can be referred to as safe food (Liu et al., 2013). This is the definition used in this study. 2.1.3. Consciousness Consciousness towards our eating habits has been given much consideration as a way to safeguard humans against COVID-19 (Miles, 2020). Therefore, this study considers this factor as a major aspect of the attributes of organic foods. To put it simply, this study argues that when consumers feel dissonance about whether they should buy organic or farmed fish, consumers still prefer to buy organic fish—which is the same basis of the theory of cognitive dissonance. As per the theory, when consumers feel dissonance, they may change the behaviour or attitude (Yan et al., 2008). Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 5 of 29 2.1.4. Social-distancing Social distancing, also known as physical distancing, is the act of leaving appropriate space between people and in stores while shopping (Dickson & MacLachlan, 1990). It also means avoiding close contact with others during an infectious disease epidemic in order to mitigate exposure and reduce infectious transmission (Staff, 2020). De Vos (2020) further described social distancing as reducing interactions between individuals to slow down the spread of the virus. In the context of this study, social-distance purchasing can be described as purchasing products while consumers are at least one metre (or three feet) apart from other consumers or staff (World Health Organization, 2020b) in order to reduce the contagious transmission of COVID-19. It was also essential to identify and examine the literature that is pertinent to the aim of the study. It is worth mentioning that a significant number of researches has been published on Covid 19 in the current literature. However, limited studies have focused on Covid 19 and organic or green food purchasing research. In the following section, the research provides a snapshot of the exiting literature on the research issues, justifying the reasons of choosing the constructs of the study under separate heading: 2.2. Organic foods’ attributes Aspects of the green movement include ecological thinking and sustainability (Dangelico & Pontrandolfo, 2010), which are the same as the bases for organic food. In addition, Liu et al. (2013) have synonymously used green food and organic food. Therefore, this study includes and reviews studies related to organic and green food–purchasing intention. It is evident that organic and green–food research is very rigorous, and many studies have dealt with important factors that affect the demand of the food (Rana & Paul, 2017). In this study, we review articles in order to select the most important and common attributes of organic food, which have been suggested by other researchers over the last three decades. However, in the existing literature, health benefits are found one of the most important attributes of organic or green food suggested by significant number of studies. 2.2.1. Health-benefit consciousness Health benefits are extremely important attributes that have an impact on the intention to purchase organic food, as indicated by the majority of organic food studies (Prince, 2019; Rana & Paul, 2017). For example, Hwang (2016) found that food safety concerns are key motives behind the purchase of organic food by older consumers in the US. Basha and Lal (2019) indicate that health benefits are also an important determinant that motivates Indian consumers to purchase organic food. Magistris and Gracia (2008) applied a structural equation model (SEM) to 200 consumers and report that health issues have a positive impact on the purchasing of organic food by Italian consumers. Mondelaers et al. (2009) confirm that Flemish consumers prefer organic food for health-related reasons, as discovered during an experimental survey of 527 respondents. The idea that consumers’ intention to purchase organic food is positively linked to their health and safety issues is further supported by Truong et al. (2012), having surveyed 264 Vietnamese consumers to produce results. Sampaio and Gosling (2014) report a positive effect on the intent to purchase organic food by Brazilian consumers. Padel and Foster (2005) also indicate that the fundamental principle that drives British consumers to purchase organic foods is a balanced diet. Janssen (2018) confirms that healthiness and naturalness are the most influential drivers of organic-food consumption in Germany. Several studies have explored the psychological aspect of health benefits—i.e. health consciousness—and investigated how it affects the intention to purchase organic food. For example, Asif et al. (2018) indicate that health consciousness is a major aspect that significantly influences the Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 6 of 29 intention of Pakistani, Turkish and Iranian consumers to buy organic food. Health consciousness is again suggested to have a major impact on the intention of Sri Lankan consumers to buy organic food, as suggested by Kapuge (2016), who applied the data of 400 consumers to a multiple linear regression model. Health consciousness significantly and positively impacts the intention to purchase organic food by Indian customers, which again is verified by Yadav and Pathak (2016). Health consciousness significantly impacts Brazilian and Spanish consumers’ purchase of organic food is further confirmed by Molinillo et al. (2020). Consumers’ concern about self-health is a major factor that affect Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase organic food, as again indicated by Yin et al. (2010), who applied a logit model to generate results. Few studies have investigated the positive emotional health benefits that affect the intention to purchase organic food. For instance, the idea that consumers’ cognitive and affirmative interpretation of health benefits statistically and positively affects Bangladeshi consumers’ intention to purchase organic meat is confirmed by Prince and Krairit (2017). Health benefits of organic food have a significant impact on the positive attitude of US consumers that leads to food loyalty, according to Lee and Goudeau (2014), who conducted a web-based survey of 725 consumers and used Amos to test their hypotheses. From the above discussion, it is evident that health benefits of organic food are, without exception, suggested to significantly and positively influence consumers’ intention to purchase the food. In addition, a number of studies have investigated the consciousness of health benefits; others have investigated the positive emotional benefits. Since the planet has been facing the global pandemic of COVID-19, which was caused by adulterated food, the importance of conducting research on purchasing safe food, i.e. organic food (Liu et al., 2013) at a safe social distance, may be extremely important for human survival. Given the above discussion, our research considered the consciousness of health benefits as a major attribute of organic food, and we have therefore integrated this variable into our model. Hence, this study hypothesises that: H 1a : Consumers’ consciousness of the health benefits of organic fish positively impacts the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance. The research again assumes that consumers’ consciousness of the health benefits of organic fish will positively impact the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance, which in turn will affect the intention to purchase the fish. Therefore, the study argues that: H 1b : Consumers’ consciousness of the necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish positively mediates the relationship between the health benefits and the intention of purchasing the fish. It is worthwhile to mention that apart from health benefits, price is another major attribute suggested by many authors influencing the intention to purchase organic or green food. 2.2.2. Price consciousness Rana and Paul (2017) conducted extensive organic food studies in the context of various countries, reviewed and analysed the factors that affect the purchasing intention of organic food and proposed suggestions for future study. Yin et al. (2010) indicate that the price of organic food is an influential factor that determines Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase organic food, using 432 data points to analyse their findings. Price is also an important determinant that motivates Indian consumers to buy organic food; this is further suggested by Basha and Lal (2019), who investigated key determinants of organic-food purchasing from extant research. Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 7 of 29 customers cough and or sneeze when they purchase, experience that customers do not stay 2 meters away from others when shopping, fear that the purchasing does not guarantee social distancing, concern that customers’ bodily fluid droplets—such as saliva or mucus may spread when purchasing, anxiety that COVID-19 virus can be transmitted to your body while purchasing). 3.2.5. Consciousness of verbal recommendations Consumers’ consciousness of verbal recommendation was evaluated using the six items proposed in the current literature and the pilot study as well (e.g., trust on reference group, concern about references’ recommendation, positiveness in references’ conversation, interest in references’ recommendation, trust in references’ conversation, satisfied with references’ preferences). 3.3. Population and sampling It is evident that only handful of studies have been conducted on organic food purchasing field in Asian context (for example, Prince, 2019; Basha & Lal, 2019; Chekima et al., 2016; Kapuge, 2016; Prince & Krairit, 2017; Truong et al., 2012; Xu et al., 2012; Yadav & Pathak, 2016; Yin et al., 2010), for generalisability, more study on organic foods should be conducted in South Asian context including Bangladesh. Thereofore, this research focuses on Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which has a population of 15 million (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2015). To collect data, the research used stratified random sampling in which the population is divided into strata, or subgroups, and then participants are selected proportionately from different strata (Mason et al., 1999). To get the more accurate data, the study used stratified random sampling which facilitates the researchers to retrieve a respondents sample that best represents the overall population under the study by segmenting them into subgroups. By estimating more accurately each of the component parts, the researcher get more precise estimates for each stratum ensure stratified sampling results in more reliable and detailed information (Kothari, 2004). The research used organisations with different levels of income—i.e. high, upper-middle and middle—as strata. In an organisation, different types of people with different ranks and incomes work together. Although each organisation is situated in a particular place, the workers reside in different districts and locations throughout the city. As stated, by selecting different types of organisations, this study has ensured a cross section of high, upper middle and middle–income groups of respondents in different districts of Dhaka. The survey was conducted from March–June 2020. The study collcted data from 400 respndnets from the Ministry of Government of Bangladesh; the High Commission; multinational companies; the Centre for Management Development; the Agribusiness for Trade Competitiveness Project; public and private universities; foreign, public and private schools; real estate companies; colleges; news subscribers; and national and foreign NGOs. In addition, consumers from supermarkets and various people across different parts of Dhaka have been survyed in this study. As sated earlier that the ratio of farmed and organic fish production in Bangladesh is 15:1 (Mohammad, 2019), the number of regular organic fish consumers in the country is also far less than that of farmed fish consumers. Intially the study gathered 400 questionnaire who regularly purcahse organic fish. After being carefully assessed, the study rejected the data from 80 participants and accepted that of 320 participants for analysis in this study. 4. Result 4.1. Descriptive statistics Table 2 which reveals the descriptive statistics of the respondents shows that the study has information from 320 respondents. Most of the respondents have a maximum age in between 24–29 and minimum 60 or above. Table 2 again indicates that 72% of the respondents are male and the rest are female. As far as education qualification is concerned, the highest number of Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 14 of 29 respondents holds a Master’s degree, and the lowest is the vocational degree. Furthermore, Table 1 indicates that the largest number of respondents are married and only a few are divorced. Many respondents have a maximum 6 family members with 4 children and an average monthly income of taka in between 41,000–60,999. All of the above metrics have a mean and standard deviation of maximum 3.3144 and 1.6808. 4.2. Confirmatory factor analysis The IBM SPSS Amos Version 21 was used for conducting a confirmatory factor analysis in order to validate the measurement model. The model generated five latent constructs with a good model fit: X 2 = 1433.245, df = 882, p = 0.000, X 2 /df = 1.625, AGFI =.849; PCFI = 0.838 CFI = .943 (see Table 3). (Chang & Chang, 2017; Prince, 2018; Wahid & Hyams-Ssekasi, 2018) Following the revision of the model based on the above parameters, the confirmatory factor analysis findings (see Table 4) indicate that all factor loadings surpass the threshold value of 4 and are statistically significant (p < 0.001) (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). Each construct’s alpha (α) value is also above the acceptable value of 0.7 (Pallant, 2013). The composite reliability values of each construct also surpass the threshold value of 0.60, showing strong internal consistency for each construct’s objects (Teng & Lu, 2016). Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the respondents Obs Max Min Mean Std. deviation Age 320 24–29 60 or above 3.1344 1.68082 Gender 320 72.20% (male) 27.80% (female) 1.2781 .44878 Highest education 320 Masters Vocational degree 4.30 1.028 Marital status 320 Married Divorce 1.4063 .56321 Number of children 320 4 0 .9844 1.19156 Family size 320 6 1 4.3875 1.41194 Family income 320 41,000–60,999 101,000 or more 3.0813 1.57158 Table 3. Model fit (CFA) Structural model Cut-off value Fit statistics X 2 1433.245 Df 882 P < 0.05 .000 X 2 /df 2 to 5 1.625 AGFI .8 .849 PCFI >0.7 . 838 CFI 0.9 .943 Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 15 of 29 Table 4. The CFA components Estimate S.E. P Std factor loading α Composite reliability Consciousness of health benefit (CnsHealthBenft) 1. Positiveness in the core benefit of organic fish 1 0.71 0.821 0.9 2. Trust that organic fish is less polluted than other meat 0.831 0.092 *** 0.58 3. Believe that organic fish is safe 0.87 0.089 *** 0.64 4. Know that organic fish is less contaminated than other fish 0.602 0.09 *** 0.43 5. Confidence in the health benefits of organic fish 0.636 0.08 *** 0.51 6. Interest in the quality of the organic fish 0.92 0.088 *** 0.65 7. Aware that organic fish is nutritious 0.704 0.085 *** 0.54 8. Satisfied with the features of organic fish 0.958 0.095 *** 0.67 Consciousness of verbal recommendations (CnsVerbalRec) 1. Trust on reference group 1 0.80 0.904 0.91 2. Concern about references’ recommendation 1.06 0.057 *** 0.81 (Continued) Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 16 of 29 Table 4. (Continued) Estimate S.E. P Std factor loading α Composite reliability 3. Positiveness in references’ conversation 0.975 0.063 *** 0.81 4. Interest in references’ recommendation 0.947 0.062 *** 0.80 5. Trust in references’ conversation 0.8 0.063 *** 0.69 6. Satisfied with references’ preferences 0.788 0.058 *** 0.73 Consciousness of high Price (CnsPrice) 1. Belief that fish price does not offer much value for money 1 0.72 0.904 0.88 2. Know that the price of the fish is not influential 1.033 0.072 *** 0.70 3. Belief that the fish price is not fair 1.095 0.07 *** 0.75 4. Doubt in fish price offering value for money 1.19 0.092 *** 0.80 5. Disinterest in fish’s price 1.197 0.091 *** 0.80 6. Dissatisfied with the value for the fish price 1.176 0.091 *** 0.80 Consciousness of social distance purchasing (CnsSocDisPurchase) 1. Know that customers do not keep social distance while purchasing 1 0.81 0.862 0.89 (Continued) Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 17 of 29 Table 4. (Continued) Estimate S.E. P Std factor loading α Composite reliability 2. Noticed that customers cough and or sneeze when they purchase 0.862 0.06 *** 0.75 3. Experience that customers do not stay 2 meters away from others when shopping 0.916 0.059 *** 0.80 4. Fear that the purchasing does not guarantee social distancing 0.889 0.061 *** 0.76 5. Concern that customers’ bodily fluid droplets—such as saliva or mucus may spread when purchasing 0.688 0.061 *** 0.62 6. Anxiety that COVID19 virus can be transmitted to your body while purchasing 0.61 0.061 *** 0.56 Consciousness for less availability (CnsAvailability) 1. Doubt in organic fish’s availability 1 0.75 0.881 0.88 2. Dissatisfied with organic fish’s production 1.031 0.066 *** 0.78 3. Know that organic fish’s production is inadequate 0.93 0.079 *** 0.72 (Continued) Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 18 of 29 Table 4. (Continued) Estimate S.E. P Std factor loading α Composite reliability 4. Experience on less available types of organic fish 0.894 0.079 *** 0.70 5. Believe that the organic fish is less available 0.918 0.077 *** 0.70 6. Least interest in types of organic fish’s availability 1.057 0.079 *** 0.80 Note ***p < 0.001; N 320 Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 19 of 29 4.3. Structural equation model The study then performed the structural equation model (SEM) with Amos Version 21 to find the relation between the five constructs. The SEM represents acceptable fit: X 2 = 790.718, df = 327, p = 0.000, X 2 /df = 2.418, AGFI = 0.807; PCFI = 0.771, RMSEA = 0.067 (see Table 5). (Chang & Chang, 2017; Prince, 2018; Wahid & Hyams-Ssekasi, 2018) Then the study ran Amos Graphics, which is shown in the following Figure 2: The result of the SEM suggests that at the p < 0.05 significance level, consumers’ consciousness for health benefit (H 1a ) is statistically and positively associated with that of social distance to safely buy organic fish. The findings further show that consciousness of high price (H 2a ) and less availability (H 3a ) are statistically and negatively associated with that of social distance to safely buy organic fish. The results again confirmed that consumers’ consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish (H 4 ) has a significant impact towards their intention to purchase such fish. 4.4. Mediation test In order to test whether consumers’ consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish positively mediates the relationship between that of health benefits (H 1b ) and negatively mediates those of high price (H 2b ) and less availability (H 2b ) against their intention to purchase the fish, the study conducted Hayes Process v3.3 Macro (in SPSS) for mediation analysis. Table 6 shows that the positive path from the consciousness of health benefits (CnsHealthBenft) to that of social distance to safely buy organic fish (CnsSocDisPurchase) is positive and statistically significant (b = .4274, s.e. = .0561, p = <.001). The direct effect of consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish (CnsSocDisPurchase) on the intent to purchase organic fish is positive and significant (b = .2435, s.e. = .0385, p = <.001). A non-parametric bootstrapping is used to test the Table 5. Model fit (SEM) Structural model Cut-off value Fit statistics X 2 790.718 Df 327 P < 0.05 .000 X 2 /df 2 to 5 2.418 AGFI .8 .807 PCFI >0.7 0.771 RMSEA Between > 0.05 to < 0.08 .067 Figure 2. The structural equation model. Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 20 of 29 indirect effect. In order to have a significant indirect effect, the 95% CI should indicate an absence of zero. The result of the test shows that the indirect effect (IE = .1433) is significant: 95% CI = .0844,.2216) (Mike, 2019). Therefore, the first mediation test (H 1b ) indicates that consumers’ consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish positively and significantly mediates the relationship between that of health benefit and of the intent to purchase the fish. Table 6 further indicates that the negative path from the consciousness of high price to that of social distance to safely buy organic fish (CnsSocDisPurchase) is positive and statistically significant (b = .0775, s.e. = .0331, p = .02). The direct effect of consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish (CnsSocDisPurchase) on the intention to purchase organic fish is also positive and significant (b = .3337, s.e. = .0400, p = <.000). Furthermore, the indirect effect (IE = .0857) is significant: 95% (CI = .0417, .1382) as the result excludes zero (Mike, 2019). Therefore, the second mediation test (H 2b ) indicates that consumers’ consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish negatively and significantly mediates the relationship between that of high price and the intention to purchase organic fish. According to Table 6, the negative path from the consciousness of less availability (CnsAvailability) to that of social distance to safely buy organic fish (CnsSocDisPurchase) is positive and statistically significant (b = .1901, s.e. = .0399, p = <.000). The direct effect of consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish (CnsSocDisPurchase) on the intention to purchase organic fish is also positive and significant (b = .2755, s.e. = .0413, p = <.001). Furthermore, the indirect effect (IE = .1178) is significant: 95% (CI = .0741, .1743), as the result excludes zero (Mike, 2019). Therefore, the third mediation test (H 3b ) indicates that consumers’ consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish negatively mediates the relationship between that of less availability and the intention to purchase organic fish. 4.5. Moderation test The study conducted the moderation test in order to find whether the consciousness of verbal recommendation moderates (reinforces or weakens) the relationship between that of social distance to safely buy organic fish and of the intention to purchase the fish (H 5 ) (see Figure 3). Table 6. Mediation test results H 1b Model coeff s.e P Effect Boot LLCI Boot ULCI CnsHealth Benft 0.4274 0.0561 .000 .1433 0.0844 0.2216 CnsSocDis Purchase 0.2437 0.0385 .000 H 2b Model coeff s.e P Effect Boot LLCI Boot ULCI CnsPrice 0.0775 0.0331 .020 .0857 0.0417 0.1382 CnsSocDis Purchase 0.3337 0.04 .000 H 3b Model coeff s.e P Effect Boot LLCI Boot ULCI Cns Availability 0.1901 0.0399 .000 0.1178 0.0741 0.1743 CnsSocDis Purchase 0.2755 0.0413 .000 Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 21 of 29 The above moderating test results (Figure 4) indicate that consciousness of verbal recommendation (CnsVerbalRec) moderates (strengthens) the positive relationship between that of social distance to safely buy organic fish (CnsSocDisPurchase) and the intention to purchase the fish (H 5 ) (unstandardised regression coefficients of independent variable of 0.29, moderator of 0.17 and interaction of −0.06 with intercept value of 3) (Wahid & Hyams-Ssekasi, 2018). The study has drawn the following model from the results of the above analyses. The study produces the following table showing all the results of analyses: It is evident that each finding of the study mentioned in the Table 7, reflects the theory of cognititve dissoance as the finding evalutes the level of consumers’ belief, knowing, awareness, understanding and behaviours whether to purcahse or not organic fish. In contrast, when we plot all the findings of the study in the form of the conceptual model, it illustrates the theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour as the model indicates that more positive consciousness for the organic foods’ attributes, verbal recommendations (individual attitude) and maintaining safe social distance while buying organic fish (others’ normative expectations), the greater the intention to purchase the fish (perceived control over the action). Although, the current study found that only the consciousness of health benefits is positively mediated; however, a consciousness of the high price and lower availability of organic fish is negatively mediated by the consciousness of the appropriate social distance practices while purchasing organic fish. Therefore, the study suggests appropriate strategies such as lowering the price, promoting plenty of organic fish as well as enhancing the organic fish’s verbal recommendations for improving such fish market as mentioned in the section below. Figure 3. Moderation test. Figure 4. Results of the study. Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 22 of 29 5. Discussion The study aims to investigate how consumers’ consciousness of the attributes of organic fish impacts the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance, which in turn affects the intention behind purchasing the fish, and how the consciousness of verbal recommendations affect the relationship between the consciousness of necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish and consumers’ intention to purchase the fish. All of these issues have been examined using the theory of planned behaviour and cognitive dissonance. The present study indicates that consumers’ consumers’ consciousness of social distance to safely buy organic fish has a direct effect on their intention to purchase the fish (H 4 ). Limited studies have investigated this variable—i.e. social-distance purchasing—in organic food consumption research. From a methodological viewpoint, the study has added a new dimension to the Table 7. Hypotheses test result Hypothesis Relationship Result H 1a Consumers’ consciousness of the health benefits of organic fish positively impacts the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance Supported H 1b Consumers’ consciousness of the necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish positively mediates the relationship between the health benefits and the intention of purchasing the fish. Supported H 2a Consumers’ consciousness of the high price of organic fish has a negative effect on the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance. Supported H 2b Consumers’ consciousness of the necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish negatively mediates the relationship between high prices and the intent to purchase the fish. Supported H 3a Consumers’ consciousness of less availability of organic fish has a negative effect on the number of opportunities to purchase such fish at a safe social distance. Supported H 3b Consumers’ consciousness of the necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish negatively mediates the relationship between less availability and an intention to purchase the fish. Supported H 4 Consumers’ consciousness of the necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish has a direct effect on their intention to purchase the fish. Supported H 5 Consumers’ consciousness of verbal recommendations moderates the relationship between that of necessary social distance to safely buy organic fish and the intention to purchase the fish. Supported Prince & Saira Wahid, Cogent Business & Management (2020), 7: 1841524 https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1841524 Page 23 of 29