A Cluster Analysis of Young Adult College Students' Beef Consumption Behavior Using the Constructs of a Proposed Modified Model of Planned Behavior

Abstract

The theory of reasoned action (TRA) served as the theoretical framework for this study. This study focused on the development and analysis of a proposed modified model of planned behavior (MMpB) to investigate the beef consumption habits of young adult college students. The participants were a convenience self-selected sample of young adult college students from a major southeastern and southwestern university. A self-report survey was administered to (N = 914) students in classrooms at both universities. Using cluster and discriminant analysis three distinct cluster groupings were found based on the behavior construct.

KEYWORDS:

• Theory of reasoned action
• theory of planned behavior
• consumer behavior
• expanded rational expectations model
• cluster analysis
• discriminant analysis
• beef consumption
• theoretical development and modification

Acknowledgments

This project could not have been completed without the financial support of the Department of Nutrition, Hospitality, and Retail at Texas Tech University.