From Geographical Indication (GI) Signals to Purchase: Layered Trust and the Price Bottleneck

Geographical indications (GIs) are intended to reduce uncertainty in imported fruit, yet they may increase purchase intention without translating into purchase behavior. Drawing on an extended TPB-value perspective, this study conceptualizes GI perception as a higher-order formative construct (perceived quality, perceived health benefits, and perceived knowledge) and theorizes a layered trust mechanism in which trust in quality spills over into trust in safety. Survey data from Vietnam and Taiwan (N=584) were analyzed using PLS-SEM; MICOM supported measurement invariance, enabling PLS-based multi-group comparisons. GI perception strengthens both trust layers, the quality-to-safety spillover is robust, and trust in safety is the dominant driver of purchase intention. However, perceived price emerges as a post-intention bottleneck that weakens intention-to-(self-reported) purchase conversion, with a sharper constraint in Vietnam than in Taiwan. Overall, the findings clarify when GI signals become value-creating trust and when affordability breaks the trust-to-action link.