Niraj Kumar

Study of consumers’ behavior for non-vegetarian products in emerging market of India

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to understand non-vegetarian food consumption behavior, and factors affecting the same of the consumers of middle-sized market, where organized retailing is still at infancy. Design/methodology/approach - – A total of 182 households of two middle-sized cities of India were personally surveyed with a structured questionnaire. Simple statistical analysis such as frequency distribution, factor analysis and analysis of variance, logit regression were carried out to infer the required information. Findings - – Although an important constituent of the food, for most the consumers, purchase of non-vegetarian products were weekly, well planned, and family affairs. Assured good quality, followed by the meat preparation in front of the customers’ eye emerged important market attributes for selecting the store by the consumers. The study revealed that consumers were mainly dependent on search and credence attributes of the product for non-vegetarian food purchase decisions. Research limitations/implications - – This paper analyses non-vegetarian food consumption food behavior of those customers, for whom non-vegetarian food is still considered as special food, and who belong to middle-sized cities where organized food retailing has just started. Originality/value - – The subject is relatively less researched in emerging markets where organized food retail is still at infancy, and where non-vegetarian foods are considered special.

Corporate environmental responsibility – transitional and evolving

Purpose – This paper aims to put forward typology of factors for corporate environmental responsibility for easy comprehension and to propose a conceptual framework taking into account factors, barriers and benefits of corporate environmental responsibility. It also aims to suggest how corporate environmentalism is evolving in a developing country context.Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper, based on review of literature and the gaps in it. An attempt has been made to incorporate various aspects of corporate environmental responsibility and study the relationship between them.Practical implications – The framework suggests parameters for policy makers to facilitate corporations in implementing corporate environmentalism. Managers will realize the barriers and benefits of corporate environmental responsibility and can adapt to implement environmental responsibility.Originality/value – A rational approach is applied which takes into account three basic aspects of environmental responsib...

Do labels influence purchase decisions of food products? Study of young consumers of an emerging market

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the usage and influence of food labels by the young consumers of an emerging market where food labeling regulation is comparatively recent phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach A purposely developed questionnaire was administered to 300 randomly selected youths of age between 18 and 30 years. The first part of the questionnaire sought information on socio-demographic profile, whereas the second part of the questionnaire had questions related to consumers’ perception of importance, their reading behavior, and their responses on the information content of food labels. Appropriate statistical tools were used to analyze the data. Findings Results revealed that young Indian consumers attached considerable importance to the food labels and read it before making a final purchase decision. In addition to price, all the product attributes which had implications for the consumers’ health were considered as extremely important by the young consumers. Information regarding different important product attributes can be broadly clubbed in two categories, namely, “product specification” and “product quality.” The final decision to purchase a product based on the food labels varied significantly based on the consumers’ gender, age, food habit, and residential locality. Research limitations/implications Nature of study does not allow drawing a conclusion regarding the causal relationship between food labels and consumers’ purchase decisions. Originality/value As labeling regulation is a comparatively recent phenomenon in India, study of the usage and influence of food labels on young consumers’ purchase decision, a hitherto not much-studied subject, will contribute significantly to the literature on food labels.

Does the consumers’ buying behavior differ for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food products?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and compare the factors which affect the consumers’ buying behavior of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food products in an emerging middle-size market. The paper also compares the preferences of the consumers for various food products and their respective market attributes. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 282 households of two middle-sized cities of India were personally surveyed with a structured questionnaire. Simple statistical analysis such as frequency distribution, factor analysis and analysis of variance, and logit regression were carried out to infer the required information. Findings – The results indicate that consumers consume more of vegetarian product than that of non-vegetarian products. Most of the consumers were interested in seeing and verifying the products of both of the categories before buying. Age and income of the consumers play important role in influencing their buying behavior for vegetarian food products, but not that of non-vegetarian food products. It was found that credence attributes of products, and market attributes play a dominant role in influencing the consumers’ behavior for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food products. Packaged branded products were not popular in both the food categories. Research limitations/implications – The localized nature of this study limits the scope of wider generalization. Future research could use larger samples spread across all regions having different food culture. Practical implications – The findings of the study will be of help to food retailers who are interested to know whether the consumers’ buying process for these two categories of food products is more or less same or different in nature. This would help them to customize their product-specific marketing strategies as per the customers’ preferences and requirements. Originality/value – The paper gives a comparative insight on consumers’ behavior toward both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. It provides specific reasons for having different or similar marketing strategies for two categories of food.

The Attitude of Indian Youth Toward Nutrition: Factors, Segments, and Implications

ABSTRACT Although consumers’ attitude toward healthy or nutritious foods has been studied, factors affecting attitude have not been sufficiently studied. This study deals with the factors affecting the attitude of Indian youth toward nutrition. The article also attempts to segment youth consumers on the basis of their attitude. The responses of 379 youths to the specifically developed questionnaire were subjected to principal component analysis to identify attitudinal factors and to delineate the segments of youth cluster analysis. Discriminant analysis was performed to establish the differences among segments. Five factors, namely “not sure,” “volume consciousness,” “costly but willing to pay,” “healthy homemade,” and “taste and practical,” were identified as having influence on youths’ attitude toward nutrition. Marital status, gender, and cities where youths have spent their last 5 years had significant influence on those attitudinal factors. Based on the varying importance of different attitudinal factors, consumers were categorized in three distinct segments. Based on the findings of the study, different management interventions can be planned to increase the intake of nutritious food by the youths of different segments.

Fruit and Vegetable Consumers’ Behavior: Implications for Organized Retailers in Emerging Markets

The authors attempt to understand selected behaviors of fruit and vegetable consumers of mid-sized cities of a developing economy, which are important for any retailer to appreciate. The study was carried out in two mid-sized cities of the Orissa state of India with 100 respondents by using the specially developed questionnaire. Statistical tools were used to analyze the data. The study revealed that vegetables are consumed in greater quantity and purchased more frequently than fruits. Consumers attached more importance to credence attributes than to search and experience attributes while making their purchase decisions. Family income and consumers’ education were found to have significant influence on the consumers’ willingness to pay for graded and packaged products. Organized retailers can take cues from the findings of the study to decide about location, nature and quality of assortment, and their marketing strategies.

Extensiveness of farmers’ buying process of agri-inputs in India: implications for marketing

Purpose - Understanding of the farmers’ buying process is of great economic and strategic relevance for agri-business firms. The purpose of this paper is to explain the extensiveness of the buying process of Indian farmers in their purchase of agri-inputs and discusses its implications for agri-industries. Design/methodology/approach - Four different dimensions of the buying process, namely, buying decision time, number of information sources used, number of evaluated suppliers, and number of conversations with suppliers were used to study the extensiveness of the buying process of the farmers. Responses of 278 farmers were analyzed with the help of mean and frequency distribution, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings - Overall, the extensiveness of the buying process for the frequently purchased inputs was less in comparison to that of the infrequently purchased inputs. However, there were differences in the extensiveness of the buying process for the inputs within the same category. Farmers’ characteristics influenced their buying process and the impact was more evident in case of frequently purchased agri-inputs. All the four dimensions of the farmers’ buying process were found to be positively correlated for most of the agri-inputs. Research limitations/implications - The farmers’ buying process varies for different agri-inputs and is dependent on the farmers’ characteristics. Firms can use the findings of the study to develop appropriate marketing strategies to broaden their customers’ base and increase sales. Originality/value - The paper offers an insight into the farmers’ buying process in India and how the farmers behave in different dimensions of the buying process. There are very few studies on the subject carried out in the Indian context.

Understanding Corporate Identity of SMES: Conceptualization and Preliminary Construction of Scale

Globalization and integration of market has impacted Organizations in multiple ways. This has increased customers’ choices and degree of freedom and increased constraints on the organization in the context of business-to-customer (B2C) organizations. Corporate identity is important for consumer marketing for various reasons (see, He and Mukherjee, 2009). Organizations are pressed hard to meet changing customer expectations in a fiercely competitive environment. Further, it no longer remains the issue of just focusing on customer alone, other stakeholders like channel partners, investors are equally getting demanding. Under these conditions it becomes necessary for the organization not to be everything to everyone and loose its identity. Thus the notion of identity of an organization (corporate identity) becomes very important. Corporate identity(CI) is germane to all kind of organization irrespective of the size including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (Balmer, 2012). However, there is scarcity of empirical study on corporate identity (Melewar et al.,2005).This study constructs a reliable and valid scale of the corporate identity of SMEs in food processing sector (B2C) in India. India is one of the member countries of BRICS. BRICS members together have significance influence on regional and global affairs due to their huge market size, population, and land contribution in world GDP (BRICS Report, 2012). Therefore, India as a member of BRICS makes interesting context to this study. The interest population comprised only SMEs which meets the following selection criteria: (1) have an investment of above Rs 10 mn and below Rs 100 mn in plant and machinery (MSMED Act, 2006) or have a upper cut-off Rs 1,000 mn turnover (D&B India, 1996) (2) The organization is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of some kind of branded products in B2C segment (3) Have a legal existence either as proprietary, partnership, private limited or limited organization. The food processing sector in India is a rapidly growing sector and SMEs constitute a significant portion in terms of number of units as well as output and employment generation. Some estimates suggest that 33% of food processing sector organizations come under SMEs. Indian food processing industry is widely recognized as a ‘sunrise industry’ (NIFTEM, 2012) because of its huge growth potential. The processed food segment of the food sector in India consists of a variety of items like: Dairy products, Fruits and vegetables, Grains, Meat and Poultry, Sea food, Packaged/convenience food and Packaged drinking water/beverages. Present study comprises of representation from SMEs of all segments except sea food. This study reviews and refines the concept of corporate identity and describes the procedures for initial development and testing of an instrument that captures the essence of corporate identity in SMEs.

Use and Contribution of Information Sources in Buying Process of Agri-inputs by Farmers in India

The present study was undertaken with the objective of studying use and contribution of information sources in the purchase of agri-inputs by Indian farmers. The importance of an information source was measured in terms of its relevance as perceived by the farmers during the buying process. The study revealed that farmers preferred noncommercial, personal sources of information and the number of information sources used by them depended on the perceived importance of the product, the various options (brands) available to them, and credibility of the information sources. The personal characteristics of farmers did not have a significant influence on the number of information sources used by the farmers.

Attitude towards soft drinks and its consumption pattern: a study of Gen Y consumers of India

Purpose This study examines the consumption patterns and attitudes towards soft drinks among Indian youth. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was used to investigate consumption patterns, attitudes, and socio-demographic profiles of college-attending respondents between the ages of 18 and 30. Cluster analysis and factor analysis was undertaken to obtain a better understanding of the attitudes among young consumers towards soft drinks. A logistic regression model was used as a predictor to distinguish between frequent and non-frequent soft drink consumers. Findings Indian youths preferred diet drinks and fruit juices more than regular soft drinks. Soft drinks were mostly consumed as distinct drinks (not as substitutes) and on specific occasions. Easy availability of soft drinks at the locations closure to consumers was a critical factor in determining consumers’ purchase and consumption level. Attitude towards the utility and nutritional dimensions of soft drinks had a positive and significant inf...