Rika Terano

Consumers’ Shopping Preferences for Retail Format Choice Between Modern and Traditional Retails in Malaysia

The retail landscape in Malaysia is transforming from a traditional to a modern retail format. The large retailers are increasing their dominance over small shops in the country by offering their customers a wide stock of fresh food products. The small shops are still surviving, although with difficulty, and they continue to provide a choice of shopping venue. The objective of this study is to show the advantages of both the modern and traditional retailers that are available to Malaysian consumers and to investigate what determines consumers’ shopping preferences for their retail format. A structured questionnaire was constructed to gather shopping preferences from 650 respondents in Selangor. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and binary logit model were used to analyze the data. The results show that sociodemographic variables such as age, education, being accompanied by children while shopping, and family size as well as packaging, store environment, and price of products have influence on retail format choice.

Preference for Locally Grown or Imported Fruit Among the Millennial Generation in Johor, Malaysia

ABSTRACT This study attempts to explore factors influencing the choice of locally grown or imported fruits among young Malaysians. It investigates how consumer preference, socioeconomics, and demographic profiles can affect their choice of which fruit category they pick. Five hundred respondents were interviewed by using a structured questionnaire to collect information related to their fruit preferences and choices. The millennium generation in Malaysia, especially the Malay living in Johor, were surveyed as a representation of future consumers of fruit and their subsequent choices and demand. Factor analysis was carried out on statements regarding consumer preferences on choices of local or imported fruit. Five factors were identified as the outstanding consumer preferences for fruits. Demographic profiles of the respondents such as family size, and dimension of fruit preferences, including country of origin, perceived quality, and environmental concerns, were important factors that affect consumers’ purchasing behavior in choosing locally grown or imported fruits. Logit regression indicated that family size, country of origin product quality, perceived quality, and variety of fruits will likely influence the preferences for fruit among the younger generation.

Opinions of Non-Vegetarian Consumers Among the Chinese Community in Malaysia Toward Vegetarian Food and Diets

ABSTRACT Generally, vegetarianism has been gaining in popularity, especially among the Chinese and Indian communities. This could be due to religious beliefs, or it could be due to health concerns. The advancement in food technology has made the intake of plant-based protein products possible for vegetarian consumers through meat substitutes. As food consumption trends in Malaysia are characterized by foods with high cholesterol and calories and lower amounts of plant foods, there is concern about healthy eating and health among Malaysians. Statistics have shown that there are obesity and heart-related problems among Malaysians, that the numbers are increasing, and that these phenomena are related to the food that is currently being consumed by Malaysians. The objective of this study is to identify the potential market for vegetarian food among non-vegetarian Chinese consumers in Malaysia. The specific objectives are to determine the dimensions of non-vegetarian consumers’ opinions toward vegetarian food and diets, and to determine the factors that influence non-vegetarian consumers’ opinions toward vegetarian food and diets. Five hundred Chinese respondents who are non-vegetarians were interviewed using a structured questionnaire distributed in Pinang. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and binary logistic regression were used in this study. The results of the study show that more than 58.6% of the respondents have a positive opinion toward vegetarian food and diets. They could be influenced by their demographic profiles, food preferences and knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward vegetarian food and diets. Environmental and animal well-being concerns, being taught to be vegetarian for religious reasons, and the influence of surrounding people on eating habits were also important factors influencing non-vegetarians’ opinions on vegetarian food and diets.

FACTORS AFFECTING URBAN DWELLERS TO PRACTICE URBAN AGRICULTURE.

Urban farming is becoming an important activity among the urban dwellers in most developing countries. It is not only to ensure full utilization of the available space for agriculture, but also for sustaining the need of food among the urban dwellers. Since the related campaign and concept of urban agriculture are quite new in Malaysia, the objective of this study is to investigate the intention of urban dwellers towards practicing urban agriculture especially among the strata households. A multistage sampling technique involving stratified sampling was used to select the respondents. A face-to-face interview was carried out using structured questionnaires distributed to 400 respondents. The descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and binary logistic analysis were applied to analyze the data. The results of the study show that respondents have positive perceptions on urban agriculture and most of them have intentions to practice urban agriculture in the future. Factor analysis generated four latent factors that prescribe respondents intention to practice urban agriculture. These factors were positive attitude towards urban agriculture concept, confidence in practicing urban agriculture, societal environment and role model influences. A binary logistic analysis model was used to determine the socio demographic characteristics, and the extracted factors from factor analysis influenced the urban dwellers to practice urban agriculture. The results indicate that age, gender, educational level, and household size with the four latent factors mentioned previously were the likely factors that will influence urban dwellers to have intention to practice urban agriculture.