Go Sustainability—Willingness to Pay for Eco–Agricultural Innovation: Understanding Chinese Traditional Cultural Values and Label Trust Using a VAB Hierarchy Model

Abstract

This study aims to develop a nuanced understanding of the link between Chinese cultural values, the “Green food” label, and consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for Green food based on the value–attitude–behavior hierarchy model. Structural equation modeling (SEM-AMOS24.0), the bootstrapping test, and the ANOVA test are used to analyze data collected through an on-site questionnaire survey of 402 valid Green food consumers in China. The hypotheses and the theoretical model are verified. The results show that trust in the Green food label directly influences willingness to pay for Green food and indirectly through attitude. Chinese cultural value orientations significantly influence Chinese consumers’ WTP for Green food through both attitude and label trust. The findings provide a valuable reference for Green food suppliers and governments to promote Green food consumption worldwide and to create a more sustainable food production system in China. Although limitations of the cross-sectional study are narrowed using SEM, to fully grasp consumers’ psychological development and the influence of cultural values, a longitudinal study with strict condition controls is recommended for future research.

1. Introduction

The word “Green” is overexposed and espoused as a marketing tool to the point that it has become a cliché. In its simplest form, it refers to everything that is beneficial to the environment—green movement, green architecture, green fashion, green eating which uses less energy, reuses, or recycles materials and is less harmful to the earth in some way [1]. After the Second World War, Europe, the United States, Japan and other developed countries have pursued agricultural modernization on the basis of industrialization, which has greatly enriched the food supply in these countries. However, this has also produced some negative effects. So-called agricultural modernization relies too much on chemical fertilizers and pesticides (“petroleum agriculture”) and is harmful to the environment, resources and human health in the long term.

In the early 1970s, the idea of “organic agriculture”, which aims to reduce chemical overuse, to protect the ecological environment and improve food safety, has spread from the United States to Europe and Japan. It is adopted in many countries. Some countries began to take economic and legal measures to encourage and support the development and production of their own pollution-free food. Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia and other developed countries have accelerated research into ecological agriculture, aiming to explore the mode of sustainable development, taking agriculture as the starting point, to alleviate the severe pressure on the environment and resources caused by “petroleum agriculture”. Meanwhile, more and more consumers, particularly in developed countries, are realizing that their food choices are causes of mortality and ecological degradation, and thar they should buy food that is produced using less pesticides and fertilizers [2,3,4,5].

Pursuing sustainability—how does this resonate in developing countries such as China, which has the largest population in the world? In the international context, China has decided to develop pollution-free, safe and high-quality nutritional food, and named it “Green food” in May 1990 [6]. The Ministry of Agriculture of China formally set the standard and label for Green food. Green food refers to food that is certified by China’s Green Food Development Centre (CGFDC) with properties similar to organic food in terms of safety, quality, nutrition and being pollution free [6]. Green food is often priced lower—even several times lower—than the organically produced food in the market. Hence, it is regarded as affordable and an acceptable choice, a cheaper alternative to organic food.

Businesses, we argue, should carefully consider the cultural values that shape or change consumers’ attitudes, predict consumers’ willingness to pay for Green food using the value–attitude–behavior (VAB) hierarchy model [7], and consider trust towards the identifiable marketing tool (the Green food label). This will shed light on Green food purchase intentions and help them predict consumers’ buying behaviors.

2. Motivation, Problem Statement and Research Questions

Green food is in the spotlight. According to the annual reports of CGFDC from 2016 to 2020, the number of authenticated enterprises has increased from 544 to 19,321, and the number of authenticated products has increased from 892 to 42,739 in 1997–2020. China has established 742 standardized production bases for Green food raw materials, covering 29 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and bases with a certified area of 10.4 million hectares and a total output of 103.3 million tons in 2020. Moreover, the total number of products in the Green food category has grown to 5 with 57 products [8].

Green food has the potential to improve the ecological environment and accelerate the construction of ecological civilization in China [9]. China has 294.17 million mu (about 19.61 million hectares) of environmentally monitored land certificated for the production of eco-foods (Green food and organic food), compared to the world total of 72.3 million hectares for organically managed agricultural land in 2019 [10]. These eco–agricultural areas in China provide a good foundation for the development of safe, high-quality and pollution-free food produce. This also affords China a great opportunity and capacity to produce enough eco-food to feed the world as it has entered the WTO, providing more opportunities for international marketers as one of the largest developing countries.

Global organic food consumption recently reported double-digit year-on-year growth [11]. The United States accounted for approximately 42%, while China accounted for approximately 8% of global organic retail sales in 2019 [12]. Meanwhile, although the standard of Green food is based on international standards of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), and formulated with reference to the standards of developed countries [13], the Chinese national “organic” logo (the Green food label) has not achieved export competitiveness. It has a limited presence outside China, with a USD 3.68 billion exports sales compared with USD 73.56 billion domestic sales (CGFDC) [11]. Hence, it is important to understand how market acceptance of China Green food can be promoted so that the premium price Green food can achieve wider acceptability and gain a higher market share in the domestic and international markets. This would not only benefit the marketers and consumers of Green food; higher acceptance of the national eco-food label would flow back to the farmers in a circular sustainable economy.

Eco-food consumption is complex. This complexity is often underestimated in field research from a trust perspective in both management and consumption. Eco-labels offer an identifiable marketing tool to convey a product’s environmentally friendly and socially desirable characteristics from the producer to final consumers, as well as facilitating consumers shifting dietary preference in favor of healthier and safer options, compared to conventionally grown food [14,15]. The high-quality image, market position and functional role of Green food have been widely accepted and established, and its label has been widely (above 80%) recognized by the whole society [9]. In 2022, the Edelman Trust Barometer shows that trust among Chinese citizens in their government is the highest is had been in a decade (91%), and the highest worldwide (compare 39% in the US). [16].

In this context, the trust of a government certified Green food label is expected to rise exponentially. Chinese people will pay more attention to their culture with the increase of national self-confidence; every culture has a system of values concerning what is generally accepted and preferred [17]. Most studies are on organic food, and there is a dearth of studies on Chinese Green food consumption patterns. A clear picture on how cultural value orientations can influence interpretations of the meaning of sustainability and how these differences in interpretation can result in sustainable Green food consumption is lacking. Thus, this study considers two of the three great ancient philosophical teachings and cultural ways of life, values and belief system, namely Confucianism collectivism and Daoism against the background of the worldwide spreading of Chinese cultural values.

Research Question—How do cultural value orientations (Confucianism collectivism and Daoism) motivate or impede attitudes and trust regarding consumers’ willingness to pay for Green food?

3. Literature Review

3.1. Confucian Collectivism, Daoism, Attitude and Label Trust

Collectivists typically demonstrate positive green product attitude [18,19,20], which is positively correlated with green consumption [21]. However, collectivistic values have typical limitations in cross-cultural research [22]. Chinese people emphasize the collectivistic “in groups” concept, and value the group’s welfare over their own [23,24]. In particular, Chinese consumers’ moral, humanistic and collectivistic predispositions to do good are close to and always affected by the three dimensions of Confucian collectivism, namely a strong inclination to live up to others’ expectations, “guanxi” (relationships to others) and “face saving” in daily life [25]. Confucian collectivism also has been used in conspicuous consumption [25,26]. As Green food is priced higher compared to ordinary food, it is important to understand how Confucian collectivism will affect consumers’ attitude in the context of Green food purchasing. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

H1a: 

Confucian collectivism is significantly and positively related to attitude.

Lao Zi’s great book, the Dao De Jing, demonstrates the dimension of holism in Daoism [27]. It provides a relational worldview of co-existence, i.e., harmony between humanity and nature; disharmony with nature will bring about disastrous effects on mankind [28]. “Nature” plays a very important role in Daoism; it presents the ideological starting point, which makes Daoists rethink environmental problems and working solutions [29]. Similarly, consumers who maintain “unity of man and nature” and ‘universalism’ are more motivated to protect the environment and have positive attitudes to/evaluations of eco-friendly products [22,30]. It is hoped that the ecological concept in Daoist thought will prove vital, and that positive attitudes will affect practical actions and thus produce better ecological benefits [31]. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

H2a: 

Daoism is significantly and positively related to attitude.

Further, it is necessary to introduce trust as a variable by which to explore the influence of traditional cultural values on Green food purchasing, as people from different national cultures differ in their willingness to trust [32]. Trust is divided into interpersonal trust and institution-based trust [33]. Baniamin et al. (2020) propose that individuals who are more affected by traditional cultural values have higher levels of institutional trust [34]. For Chinese people influenced by Confucian collectivism, trust always coincides with “guanxi” which facilitate mutual trust [35]. The relationship between individuals and authority follows a “hierarchical” authoritarianism tendency; those individuals hold political authority in awe [36]. In other words, Confucian collectivism values improving the level of institution-based trust, especially for the absolute body of authority—the government with great power [37]. It is supposed that Chinese consumers who are more influenced by the values of Confucian collectivism believe more that the Green food label certified by the government is trustworthy. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

H1b: 

Confucian collectivism is significantly and positively related to label trust.

In contrast to Confucian collectivism which values power highly, Daoism advocates anarchism which deemphasizes power and promotes withdrawal from society and politics [38]. There is no leadership within the government on environmental issues [39]. However, the title of the Dao De Jing mentioned is interpreted as way (Dao) and virtue (De) which comes close to the western terms “ethics” or “morality” [40]. Daoists aim to govern by “wuwei” (non-action natural way of things), as well as to live a life how it is and as it comes; it is the trust in human virtue, after all [29]. Daoists favor a child-like transparency of mind without complicated thoughts [41]. As the leader of Chinese Daoist Association, Huang (2013) proposes that Daoists live a virtuous way of life, they believe everything is in correlation, in the efficacy of cause and effect, and that doing bad things should be condemned [42]. In this context, whether the Green food label is nationally certified or not, consumers influenced by the values of Daoism should believe that the Green food label is as it claims to be, including its high quality, safety and ecofriendly attributes. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

H2b: 

Daoism is significantly and positively related to label trust.

3.2. Attitude, Label Trust and Willingness to Pay

Consumers are willing to pay a premium for socially responsible products [43]. Consumers with enough product knowledge and green literacy are more likely to have good attitude and spend more money on eco-products [44]. Consumers’ attitude towards green products and willingness to pay for them is correlated [45,46]. The more favorable the attitude is, the higher the likelihood that consumers will buy organic food. Refs. [43,47,48] reported that sustainability values influence pro-environmental attitude which, in turn, leads to a willingness to pay more for organic menus via the VAB approach. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

H3: 

Attitude is significantly and positively related to the willingness to pay for Green food.

If trust in the label is positively related to attitude, then it will affect purchase intention and willingness to pay [49,50]. Quality label trust is a significant factor in influencing purchase intention [51]. Green trust and willingness to pay higher premium for eco-labeled products are positively corelated [21,52]. Organic food labelling is an important strategy, effectively leading to a positive attitude towards organic food which is safe and environmentally friendly [53]. Teng and Wang (2015) highlight that trust both directly influences purchase intention toward organic food and indirectly through attitude [54]. However, Bai et al. (2019) propose that perceived trustworthiness only directly affects organic food purchase intention, not through attitude [55]. It has even been found—in the case of organic yogurt—that using an organic logo is one of the least important attributes compared with the other attributes [56]. Many Green food enterprises also put the blame for low consumption rate squarely on unsatisfactory performance of the Green food label in China [57]. Thus, it is the aim of this study to investigate and validate the importance of green label trust with respect to both attitude and willingness to pay. Therefore, it is hypothesized that (Figure 1):

H4: 

Label trust is significantly and positively related to the willingness to pay for Green food.

H5: 

Label trust is significantly and positively related to attitude.

4. Data Analysis and Descriptive Statistics

4.1. Measurement

Based on those previous studies as shown in

Table 1. Measurement scales.

Variables	Items	Sample Items	Sources
Confucian collectivism (CC)	4	1. I view the past to be as important as the present, so I cannot do anything would make the earth worse. 2. Tradition is important to me. I need to follow the rules and customs handed down by my religion, country, and family. 3. Face is important for me. I would do my best to keep behavioral appropriateness in case of losing face and social status. 4. I should leave the earth in a better shape for the next generation.	Cho et al., 2013 [22]
Daoism (EVD)	3	1. Live a life how it is and as it comes; be virtuous and natural, as everything is in correlation. The cause and effect equation works. 2. Human beings should respect nature and live in harmony with nature. 3. Sustainable development and environment protection should be considered in economic development.	Zhang, 2005 [28] Hennig, 2017 [29];
Attitude (FA)	3	1. I prefer Green food. 2. I think Green food is good. 3. I have positive evaluation of Green food.	Liang, 2016 [58]
Label trust (LT)	3	1. I think food with the Green food label is trustworthy. 2. I think Green food labelling is rigorous in production and inspection. 3. I trust the Green food label authentication institution; the certification process is honest and credible.	Teng and Wang, 2015 [54]
Willingness to pay (WTP)	3	1. I am willing to pay an excess price for Green food. 2. The probability that I pay an excess price for Green food is high. 3. I will continue to pay an excess price for Green food.	Konuk et al., 2015 [52]

, measurement scales are developed for the questionnaire survey data collected in this study. All 16 items of 5 variables are measured on a 7-point Likert scale with a 1 representing “Strongly disagree”, a 2 representing “Quite disagree”, a 3 representing “Slightly disagree”, a 4 representing “Neutral”, a 5 representing “Slightly agree”, a 6 representing “Quite agree”, and a 7 representing “Strongly agree”. An on-site data survey was conducted in the period September to December in 2021. We filtered 402 valid samples for further data analysis by excluding outliers and invalid/incomplete responses.

4.2. Sample Description

The descriptive statistics shown in

Table 2. Sample demographic characteristics.

Item	Characteristics	N	Percentage
Gender	Male	219	54.5
	Female	183	45.5
	Total	402	100
Education	Bachelor and below	265	65.9
	Master	90	22.4
	Doctor	47	11.7
	Total	402	100
Monthly income	Below 5000 RMB	107	26.6
	5000–8000 RMB	102	25.4
	8000–10,000 RMB	82	20.4
	10,000–15,000 RMB	79	19.7
	Above 15,000 RMB	32	8.0
	Total	402	100
Occupation	Government official	26	6.5
	Private company	154	38.6
	State owned enterprise	144	35.8
	Education system	77	19.2
	Total	402	100
Percentage of pay more	15%	212	52.7
	25%	115	28.6
	50%	57	14.2
	100%	18	4.5
	Total	402	100

Source: Authors’ own compilation.

display the gender, education, monthly income, and occupation of the surveyed respondents. Among all respondents, 219 are males (54.5%) and 183 are females (45.5%). Level of education results show that 265 of the respondents (65.9%) have a bachelor qualification and below, while 90 respondents have a master’s qualification (22.4%) and 47 respondents who have a doctorate qualification (11.7%). Further, monthly incomes are ranked by five levels. A majority of 107 respondents (26.6%) earned below 5000 RMB, followed by 102 (25.4%) who earn 5000 RMB to 8000 RMB, 82 respondents who earn 8000 RMB to 10,000 RMB (20.4%), 79 respondents (19.7%) who earn 10,000 RMB to 15,000 RMB monthly, and 32 respondents (8.0%) who earn above 15,000 RMB monthly. Moreover, 26 (6.5%) respondents work for the government, 154 (38.6%) respondents work for a private company, 144 (35.8%) respondents work for a state owned enterprise, and 77 (19.2%) respondents work for the education system. The results show that all the demographic dimensions in this study are spread across all levels. It is good to show a generalizable result.

In addition, the results of investigating the maximum amount that consumers are willing to pay indicated that there is high price sensitivity when it comes to Green food purchases. Of the respondents, 115 (28.6%) are willing to pay up to 25% more for Green food compared to ordinary food. Further, 212 respondents (52.7%) are willing to pay up to 15% more for Green food. There are 57 respondents (14.2%) who are willing to pay up to 50% more for Green food, and only 18 respondents (4.5%) are willing to pay up to double the price of ordinary food for Green food.

4.3. Reliability and Validity Verification by EFA and CFA

In this context, an EFA (exploratory factor analysis) is conducted using Pearson’s inter-construct correlation test (

Table 3. Inter-construct correlation matrix.

Coefficients	CC	EVD	FA	LT	WTP
CC	1.000
EVD	0.540 ***	1.000
FA	0.462 ***	0.417 ***	1.000
LT	0.409 ***	0.400 ***	0.475 ***	1.000
WTP	0.202 ***	0.234 ***	0.442 ***	0.475 ***	1.000
Mean	4.8986	4.8259	4.8340	4.4842	4.0017
SD	0.977	1.315	1.098	1.261	1.449

Note: n = 402; *** Sig. Level p < 0.001. Source: authors’ own compilation.

), the KMO and Bartlett’s test (

Table 4. KMO and Bartlett’s Test.

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy		0.886
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity	Approx. Chi-Square	4040.396
	df	120
	sig	0.000

Source: authors’ own compilation.

), and the PCA with the varimax rotation test (

Table 5. Rotated factor matrix.

Items	Factor
	CC	EVD	FA	LT	WTP
CC1	0.742
CC2	0.788
CC3	0.770
CC4	0.831
EVD1		0.779
EVD2		0.865
EVD3		0.842
FA1			0.836
FA2			0.832
FA3			0.782
LT1				0.837
LT2				0.858
LT3				0.831
WTP1					0.880
WTP2					0.863
WTP3					0.864
Cronbach’s a	0.854	0.863	0.874	0.902	0.889
Eigenvalue	6.642	2.378	1.308	1.227	1.103
Variance (%)	41.515	14.860	8.176	7.668	6.897

Extraction method: principal component analysis; Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization; rotation converged in 10 iterations. Source: authors’ own compilation.

) of SPSS 24.0, to verify construct validity. Correlation values between constructs ranging from 0.202 to 0.540 which fall below 0.7 and perfectly significant and satisfactory. That the KMO value = 0.886 (above 0.6) and the Bartlett’s test reached statistical significance (p = 0.000) well support the factorability of the correlation matrix. Further, the convergent validity is validated with factor loadings ranging from 0.742 to 0.880 (above 0.6). This shows that the five constructs are well differentiated from each other and that the items within a single construct are highly correlated. That the Cronbach’s α coefficient falls between 0.854 and 0.902 (above 0.7) indicates a most reliable level of internal consistency.

Further, a CFA (confirmatory factor analysis) was conducted by using AMOS 24.0. As shown in

Table 6. CFA results.

Variables	Item	Factor Loading	SE	t-Value	Cronbach’s α	AVE	CR
CC	CC1	1			0.854	0.595	0.854
	CC2	1.041	0.071	14.662
	CC3	1.115	0.075	14.867
	CC4	1.042	0.074	14.081
EVD	EVD1	1			0.863	0.697	0.873
	EVD2	0.987	0.053	18.623
	EVD3	0.921	0.052	17.712
FA	FA1	1			0.874	0.703	0.876
	FA2	1.007	0.051	19.745
	FA3	0.949	0.053	17.906
LT	LT1	1			0.902	0.755	0.903
	LT2	1.017	0.045	22.600
	LT3	0.997	0.046	21.674
WTP	WTP1	1			0.889	0.794	0.900
	WTP2	1.105	0.048	23.021
	WTP3	1.003	0.051	16.667

Source: authors’ own compilation.

, the composite reliability values (CR) range from 0.854 to 0.903 (above 0.7) and the average variance extracted (AVE) values range from 0.595 to 0.794 (above 0.5), indicating good convergent validity. The t-values for all the standardized factor loadings of items are significant at a 0.001 level. The double-checked Cronbach’s α coefficient ranging from 0.854 to 0.902 (above 0.7) also demonstrates the reliability of these measures. Thus, the CFA results displayed evidence at satisfactory levels of reliability and validity for the subsequent data analysis by structural equation modeling (SEM).

4.4. Structural Model

The SEM results show that χ² = 144.485 (p < 0.01), df = 96, GFI = 0.957, AGFI = 0.939, NFI = 0.965, CFI = 0.988, IFI = 0.988, RMSEA = 0.035, and RMR = 0.059. The χ² of 114.485 with 96 degrees of freedom showed a 1.505:1 chi-square to degrees of freedom ratio, which satisfies the recommended ratio of below 3:1. All fitting indicators meet the ideal indices. Further, the variance of constructs explained by antecedents are evaluated. All antecedents of attitude explained 39.9% of variance in FA. In addition, CC and EVD explained 25.7% of variance in LT; FA and LT explained 34.5% of variance in WTP (Figure 2).

4.5. Results

The SEM results show that all hypotheses are supported (p < 0.05) as shown in

Table 7. Coefficient Estimate Results.

				Path Estimate	Standardized Regression Weights	S.E.	C.R.	p	Hypothesis
H1a	FA	←	CC	0.329	0.287	0.078	4.208	***	supported
H1b	LT	←	CC	0.370	0.262	0.085	4.324	***	supported
H2a	FA	←	EVD	0.145	0.162	0.058	2.485	0.013	supported
H2b	LT	←	EVD	0.252	0.262	0.065	3.844	***	supported
H3	WTP	←	FA	0.332	0.301	0.065	5.123	***	supported
H4	WTP	←	LT	0.384	0.371	0.061	6.325	***	supported
H5	FA	←	LT	0.301	0.321	0.053	5.676	***	supported

Note: *** Sig. Level p < 0.001. Source: authors’ own compilation.

. In particular, CC, EVD, and label trust positively and significantly affect FA (β = 0.329, β = 0.145, β = 0.301, respectively). CC and EVD positively and significantly related to LT (β = 0.370, β = 0.252, respectively). Moreover, FA and LT had positive and significant relationship with WTP (β = 0.332, β = 0.384, respectively). Further, FA shows partial mediation effects on the relationship of LT to WTP as shown in

Table 8. Mediating Effects Analysis.

		Bootstrapping
		Product of Coefficients		Bias-Corrected		Percentile
Variable	Point Estimate	SE	Z	Lower	Upper	Lower	Upper
Total Effects
LT→WTP	0.484	0.071	6.817	0.302	0.692	0.302	0.692
Indirect Effects
LT→WTP	0.100	0.041	2.439	0.022	0.262	0.020	0.233
Direct Effects
LT→WTP	0.384	0.082	4.683	0.174	0.601	0.181	0.605

Note: Repetitions: 1500; Confidence interval: 95%. Source: authors’ own compilation.

.

The study also conducts an ANOVA test by demographic factors. It is found that significant difference exists in different educational levels (Sig. = 0.000 < 0.05), occupations (Sig. = 0.001 < 0.05), and monthly income levels (Sig. = 0.000 < 0.05) with respect to willingness to pay for Green food. Multiple comparisons for WTP are also conducted (mean difference is significant at 0.05 level). In particular, consumers with a higher education level would have stronger willingness to pay for a premium price, while there is no significant difference shown between the doctorate and master’s groups. Further, the private company group shows significant differences compared with the state owned enterprise and education system groups, but not the government official group. Moreover, willingness to pay increases with the increasing income levels. However, significant differences are only evident in groups with large income gaps, such as those groups below 5000 and above 8000; there is no significant difference between groups of below 3500 RMB, 3500–5000 RMB, and 5000–8000 RMB, and groups of 8000–10,000 RMB, 10,000–15,000 RMB, and 15,000 RMB above.

To recap, with respect to the results from the SEM analysis, bootstrapping test and ANOVA test, the hypotheses and the theoretical model are verified. FA plays an important mediating role in the relationship between LT and WTP. Both CC and EVD significantly influence LT and FA which not only validate the value–attitude hierarchy but also further the understanding of good attitude and label trust formation. LT and FA significantly influence WTP. Groups which have higher education levels and monthly incomes, especially those working in state owned enterprise and the education system, show higher level of WTP for Green food.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

It is not surprising that the two strategic cultural philosophies reflecting deep rooted Chinese world-views—Confucian collectivism and Daoism—significantly influence Green food attitude. The findings validate and expand the literature on the VAB hierarchy model in green consumption. Cultural values automatically and spontaneously exist in people’s normal life, and directly affect the formation of attitude, which in turn affects their intention to buy green products [19,22,59,60]. Further, as one of the prestigious masters of Chinese traditional culture, Nan Huaijin propose that Confucian and Daoist cultural values are likened to the Chinese attitude towards the bakery and pharmacy: only when people fall ill, they will visit the pharmacy [28]. Accordingly, the results indicate that Chinese consumers have already begun to be aware of the imbalance between human, society, and nature. They will adapt their lifestyles and behaviors to be in congruent with Daoism as they believe Daoism will provide a solution; it is thus important for consumers to protect “nature” by purchasing Green food which does no harm to the environment.

Confucian collectivism and Daoism are also found to influence label trust significantly and positively. Chinese consumers who are more influenced by Confucian collectivism values should have higher levels of trust in the Green food label certified by the government, which is supported by Hallikainen and Laukkanen (2018), Lu and Zhang (2017), and Xing and Sims (2011) [35,36,37]. Further, it is observed that the oriental wisdom contained in the Daoist classics will benefit today’s world by enlightening Chinese consumers with respect green consumption; they will trust, more assuredly, that Green food is like what its label represents [29,61].

Attitude is found to be a strong predictor of WTP in the study. The result is consistent with those of previous studies [43,47,62]. Label trust has a direct positive and significant relationship with WTP, and an indirect relationship via attitude in this study. It keeps consistency with a study of organic food consumption by Teng and Wang (2015) [54]. Thus, the poor market performance of Green food should not be attributed to the label as is proposed by Van Loo et al. (2013) and Meng (2016) [56,57]. The low education level of farmers and small business leaders are reasons for the low renewal rate of certification to a large extent [63].

6. Implications and Suggestions

The sample site in this study, Beijng, a first-tier city with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of around 164,200 yuan (USD 25,147.00), is comparable to many developed nations such as Sweden. According to the latest forecast by Oxford Economics, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Tianjin will be among the world’s 10 largest cities in terms of GDP by 2035. Beijing consumers could represent one of the most important consumer groups for responsible and sustainable consumptions in the long-term perspective. In this context, Beijing can also represent the global developed markets. Thus, this study would provide a more valid and reliable reference for the government and marketers developing strategies to promote Green food to the world.

This research contributes to the understanding of Chinese traditional cultural values and label trust using a VAB hierarchy model in the context of willingness to pay for Green food. It also sheds light on theoretical implications in academia for further research potential. In addition, the findings of the relationships between those key influencing factors and the dependent variables suggest useful implications to Green food enterprises and the government concerning marketing strategies and relative policies to improve Green food consumption and the development of the whole Green food industry abroad.

In order to have long-term sustainable development, marketing strategies must incorporate aspects of traditional cultural values. Understanding the importance of Daoist values to consumers can help marketers develop more targeted marketing campaigns, promoting the value of Daoist self-cultivation towards Green food consumption. Thus, marketers should strongly appeal in their branding of the importance of “going green” to cultivating a harmonious and peaceful state of mind.

It is observed that the phenomenon of “greenwashing” is taking root in the Green food marketplace. Many illegal businesses use the Green food trademark, which seriously affects the reputation of Green food. Hence, consumers begin to be skeptical and critical of companies’ green information and statements [64]. This is one of the major challenges faced by the Green food industry and government supervisors. Government departments should strive to do a good job in the supervision of the Green food market, to strengthen the standard-management of Green food labeling, to improve the management system of Green food labeling, and to urge enterprises to improve certification and standardize the use of labels. Green food enterprises should pay attention to brand cultivation and enhancement; they should not rely solely on the Green food label. Enhancing labelling trust effectively improves eco-food sale performance as labels bridge the incomplete information gap between sellers and buyers by presenting information on product quality and value functions on the package.

Moreover, strengthening trust in domestic government helps to strengthen mutual trust between international communities. If the domestic trust is low, it will greatly reduce the international trust because the government pays more attention to domestic than foreign affairs [65]. Thus, only by cracking down on the illegal use of Green food labels—i.e., the counterfeiting of Green food—can the market reputation of Green food be maintained. This will give true Green food enterprises and Green food a fair chance at cracking the worldwide Green food market.

7. Limitations and Future Study Trends

Firstly, Green food is discussed as a whole in this study, regardless of specific categories. The willingness to pay (WTP) varies between different food categories [66,67]. For instance, consumers are found to be willing to pay more for vegetables than for grains or other dairy products [66]. Therefore, different Green food categories (such as fruits and vegetables, cereals and oils, Animal, and poultry products, etc.) should be specified and measured in future studies.

Secondly, China is labeled as a highly collectivist cultural country; Confucian collectivism, which is closely associated with Chinese people, is examined in the study. However, some studies also propose that China, with rapid economic growth and cultural acculturation, has become an industrialized nation with, while Chinese people are becoming less collectivistic and more individualistic than before [68]. Therefore, individualism also should be taken into consideration in future studies. It is required to investigate the whether the potential increase in individualism could affect Chinese people with a different cultural background.

Thirdly, whilst there are obvious advantages to cross-sectional studies such as saving time and money and the ease with which one carries out a study with good operational time-efficiency, limitations also exist as it does not help determine the cause-and-effect relationship. To narrow this limitation of the cross-sectional study, SEM is conducted in this research to identify the causal relationships between variables and reduce the statistical deviations based on the research model. However, to fully grasp consumers’ psychological development and the influence of cultural values, a longitudinal study with strict condition controls would be much more helpful. Therefore, we suggest future research use a cross-over study method, combining a cross-sectional study with a longitudinal study.