Because beer is one of the most common alcoholic beverages consumed in the world, this research adopted an expanded theory of planned behavior (TPB) perspective to understand why beer consumers purchase beer. This study investigated the effects of injunctive norms, descriptive norms, attitude, and perceived behavioral control on alcohol identity and purchase intention. The possible mediating role of alcohol identity was also investigated. This study was conducted in Taiwan, and a total of 452 beer consumers participated in the survey. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship among the study variables. The results revealed that alcohol identity positively influences purchase intention, and attitude positively affects alcohol identity and purchase intention. In addition, injunctive norms have a positive influence on alcohol identity, and descriptive norms positively affect purchase intention. In particular, perceived behavioral control has a negative influence on alcohol identity but has a positive influence on purchase intention. This study also found that alcohol identity mediates the attitude-purchase intention relationship. By examining the consumption behavior of beer consumers from the TPB perspective, this study contributed to an understanding of beer consumption behavior.
Keywords: alcohol identity; attitude; beer consumption; perceived behavioral control; social norms; theory of planned behavior.