When someone decides to buy organic food products trust plays a role. Consumers, in fact, are neither supposed to have the appropriate knowledge to evaluate the characteristics of these products, nor can they control that the food was actually manufactured following the procedures prescribed by organic production. Therefore, trust may contribute to the explanation of both purchasing intention and behavior since it represents a heuristic or shortcut that people adopt in order to reduce the large amount of information that consumers need to take into account. The present research aimed to analyze the role of trust in organic products on buying behavior adopting the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as theoretical framework. A relational model was tested in which this variable was supposed to act as a background factor associated with all the classical constructs foreseen by the theory and the buying behavior. Also, indirect effects of trust on both intention and behavior were assessed. Two studies were conducted targeting the purchase of organic food products in general (Study 1) and of fresh organic fruit and vegetables (Study 2). In both studies, the data collection was organized in two waves, with a time lag of 1 month. At Time 1, the questionnaires included measures of intention, its antecedents and trust, while at Time 2 self-reported buying behavior was collected. Data were supplied by two convenience samples of Italian adults (237 and 227 participants) and analyzed via structural equation modeling. Results turned out to be overlapping in both studies, since trust was positively associated with attitude and subjective norm, and it was indirectly associated with intention and behavior, thanks to the mediation of the TPB constructs. The outcomes highlighted the importance of people’s trust in organic products as a meaningful antecedent that boosts the TPB-based psychosocial processes that are supposed to stand behind both purchasing intentions and behaviors.

Individual energy-saving behaviours are crucial for reducing energy consumption, and research on the determinants of these behaviours has been increasing over the last decade. The aim of this study is to explore the determinants of two specific behaviours: ‘switching off non-essential lights’ and ‘completely switching off electronic devices’. An extended model of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been used as the theoretical research framework. The extension was implemented by considering two components (affective and cognitive) of the attitude towards these behaviours and then adding habit as a new variable. A two-waves study was conducted in which a convenience sample of Italian workers completed a questionnaire measuring the TPB constructs in relation to the two energy-saving behaviours (Time 1). The participants then completed another questionnaire a month later to assess self-reports of these behaviours (Time 2). The inclusion of habit improved the predictive power of the TPB, and the extended model was found to explain 65.5% and 76.1% of the variance in intentions and 16.2% and 22.9% of the variance in behaviours. Cognitive attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and habit were significantly related to intentions, and perceived behavioural control was the strongest predictor. Habit moderated some relationships between the TPB constructs and intentions. Behaviours were associated directly only with intentions. The results of this study support the efficacy of the TPB model in predicting target behaviours; they also suggest some strategies that can be followed to promote these energy-saving behaviours.