Examining the Effect of Health Consciousness on Sports Product Purchase Behavioral Intention

This study explores how health consciousness influences consumers’ purchase behavioral intention toward sports products, employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the theoretical framework. Data were collected from 352 valid responses in Tainan, Taiwan, and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results demonstrate that health consciousness exerts significant positive effects on attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Among the TPB components, attitude and perceived behavioral control significantly enhance purchase behavioral intention, whereas the effect of subjective norms is not significant. Furthermore, health consciousness directly and indirectly affects purchase behavioral intention through attitude and perceived behavioral control, confirming its role as a key psychological antecedent. The findings validate the TPB’s applicability in health-oriented consumption and extend the model by incorporating health consciousness as an exogenous variable. The study provides both theoretical implications—by deepening understanding of health-driven consumer behavior—and managerial insights for developing health-oriented brand positioning and marketing strategies in the sports industry.  JEL classification numbers: M31, D91, I12.