Growers’ behavioral intentions towards agricultural insurance participation: Big Five personality traits within the TPB framework

Abstract

This study seeks to establish the influence of the Big Five personality traits, which include Openness, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Extraversion, on growers’ willingness to embrace crop insurance schemes. Furthermore, it explores the role of Attitude, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control, as proposed in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), on this relationship. Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 412 growers of arecanut and pepper. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via Smart-PLS 3.3. The analysis revealed that Perceived Behavioral Control (β = 0.462**), Subjective Norms (β = 0.260**), and Attitude (β = 0.115**) positively influenced growers’ behavioral intentions. Interestingly, the Big Five personality traits themselves did not have a direct effect on these intentions. Further mediation analysis demonstrated that Attitude and Subjective Norms fully mediated the effects of Extraversion (α = 0.026**, β = 0.069), Neuroticism (α = 0.019**, β = –0.016), and Openness (α = 0.024**, β = 0.069) on Behavioral Intention. However, these variables did not mediate the relationship between Agreeableness (α = 0.011, β = 0.058), Conscientiousness (α = –0.017, β = –0.080), and Behavioral Intention. Additionally, perceived behavioral control mediated the link between personality traits and intention, though this was not the case for Conscientiousness. This study contributes to the application of the TPB by incorporating the Big Five personality traits and exploring their interaction with the TPB dimensions.

Keywords

• agriculture
• crop insurance
• growers
• personality traits
• Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)