Chetsada Noknoi

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Functional food plays an essential role in enhancing strong health and preventing the risk of diverse infectious diseases. This study examines the determinants influencing consumers’ functional food purchase intention in the Southern region of Thailand. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) is employed as a research model. The survey is conducted using a quantitative method, while 420 consumers’ responses are obtained employing questionnaire at convenience and department stores from February to March 2025. The target sample comprised consumers in three provinces with large economies, including Phuket, Songkhla, and Surat Thani, who knew about functional food and were interested in purchasing it. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to analyze the research hypotheses. The results indicate that product innovation adoption (β = 0.528, p < 0.001) and influencers (β = 0.518, p < 0.001) have a significant positive influence on purchase intention. On the other hand, brand trust (β = –0.094, p = 0.316) and health consciousness (β = –0.046, p = 0.456) demonstrate insignificant negative impacts on purchase intention. Influencers (β = 0.505, p < 0.001) and health consciousness (β = 0.392, p < 0.001) have a significant positive effect on product innovation adoption. Moreover, influencers (β = 0.266, p < 0.001) and health consciousness (β = 0.207, p < 0.001) positively influence purchase intention indirectly through significant product innovation adoption. The findings will be beneficial and provide managerial implications for manufactures, marketers and state agencies to conduct relevant strategies, which can increase consumers’ functional food purchase intention efficiently.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Thai retail stock investors face competing pressures from sustainability criteria, behavioral bias, and volatility typical of an emerging market. The study examines relationships among sustainable investment, heuristic bias, and financial literacy in predicting investment decisions, and tests risk perception as a mediator and investment horizon as a moderator. A primary survey was administered from August 1 to August 31, 2025, using self-administered questionnaires. Data from 580 retail investors across six Thai regions were analyzed in SmartPLS 4.0 using 5,000 bootstrap resamples. The results indicate that heuristic bias (β = 0.428, p < 0.001) and financial literacy (β = 0.401, p < 0.001) emerged as the strongest predictors of risk perception, and sustainable investment also had a positive effect with a smaller magnitude (β = 0.145, p < 0.001). Risk perception had a positive effect on investment decisions (β = 0.439, p < 0.001) and mediated all three predictors, with the largest indirect effect observed for heuristic bias (indirect β = 0.188, p < 0.001). Investment horizon strengthened the association between sustainable investment and investment decision (β = 0.417, p < 0.001). The results confirm policy attention to financial education and bias-awareness initiatives and support efforts to encourage longer holding periods among retail investors. Market stakeholders can also improve the quality of environmental, social, and governance disclosures and promote practical risk-assessment frameworks to enable retail investors to translate sustainability information into more informed investment decisions.