Title: COVID-19 phobia and dietary supplement purchase intention: the mediating role of TPB antecedents and health consciousness

Authors: Swati Goswami; Kuldeep Verma

Addresses: Department of Commerce, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India ' Center for Mountain Tourism and Hospitality Studies, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India

Abstract: The present study extended the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model by including constructs of COVID-19 phobia (C19P) and health consciousness (HC). In the extended model, a structural equation modelling analysis was employed to investigate the direct impact of COVID-19 phobia (coronaphobia) on consumers' buying intentions for dietary supplements (DS) as well as the mediating effect on this relationship, via attitude (AT), subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioural control (PBC), and health consciousness. The survey took place in New Delhi and NCR regions of India and received 250 responses via Google forms. The findings revealed a positive association between C19P and respondents' AT, PBC, SN, and HC for DS. Furthermore, C19P was found to have a negative and non-significant direct effect on DS purchase intention but has an indirect significant effect on intention through AT and HC. The findings have important implications for researchers, marketers, and healthcare professionals.

Keywords: COVID-19 phobia; dietary supplements; purchase intention; extended theory of planned behaviour; TPB; protection motivation theory; health belief model; HBM; health consciousness; C19P-S.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2026.155660

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2026 Vol.40 No.4, pp.488 - 513

Received: 03 Dec 2022
Accepted: 26 Feb 2023
Published online: 10 Aug 2026 *

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