Analysis of Consumer Behavior in Regard to the Beef Meat in Kosovo ()
Abstract
In this study, consumer’s behavior in the Kosovo in respect to beef meat was studied using different socio-economic variables assessed by so-called evaluation criteria as: “very important”, “important”, “same”, and “less important”. The overall objective of the study was to analyze the consumer behavior in regard to beef meat in Kosovo and possibly identify effects of different variables on consumer decision upon purchase of beef meat. Beef meat was perceived differently at various types of purchasing places. Important socio-economic variables explaining individual respondent differences in consumer behaviors regarding purchase of beef meat involved in our study were: price, label, package, quality, trust, and origin of the product, gender of consumer, monthly family income, family member size, employment status of respondents, different regions in Kosovo. Perceived quality, price and trust of the beef meat product were significantly more important (P < 0.05) than all other characteristics no matter of gender, family size, respondent region, monthly economic income or other issues. Supermarkets and retail story’s are the preferred place for buying beef meat for all family size groups ranging from 46.10% - 72.06%, respectively. Conclusions derived from the analysis suggest that assessment of consumer’s behavior through evaluation criteria can contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior in respect of beef meat and will have positive impact and improve linkages between farmers, traders, processors and consumers as last part of this chain in Kosovo.
1. Introduction
In order to strengthen market information services and improves market access for consumers in Kosovo, the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD) implemented a consumer survey as a part of the Marketing Support Project (MSP). Although the low economic status of people in Kosovo, last period a specific attention has been given to the different consumer perception based on their needs and opportunities, gender, living status, etc in Kosovo by giving encourage to diversification and attributes for meat and meat products. Characterized by semi-continental climate condition, Kosovo is situated in South-East part of Europe with about 2 million inhabitants. Total surface is 10.887 km2, out of this about 53% is arable land. Currently, the rural families in Kosovo count about 7.4 members. The farm size is small and 55% of farms are 1 - 3 Ha. Meat production in Kosovo is based on cow, sheep and chicken, respectively [1]. This study introduces the meat and meat product consumption patterns in Kosovo, considering that last years some new trends of food consumption are evident [2]. Reasons for these trends might be multifactor such as increasing interest for food safety, health concerns, quality products, preference for new products, socio-economic changes, food products of different packaging units, food description, etc. The meat sector, after dairy is the most important sector contributing directly to family income for rural households in Kosovo. The main meat consumed is beef, followed by chicken. The consumption of meat per capita in Kosovo is considered to be about 41 kg. Kosovo farms cover about 19% of total country meat demand, the balance being imported. The chicken meat, 96% is imported while for beef, 75%. Due to lower feed costs and export subsidies the imported meat and processed meat is usually cheaper than the equivalent Kosovo product. The major sources of imported meat and processed meat are for beef, Brazil and Poland, and USA [1]. However, due to some meat food safety events last decades in the world market by many authors [3-5], have been pointed out that the meat industry including consumer perception has changed. In the consumer psychology and behavior disciplines, it is widely recognized that there exists a distinct filter or gap between the external (objective) and the internal (subjective) world of consumers [6]. It has been indicated that a label and package of can serve as an important factors on overall qualitative perception of the consumer in the evaluation process [4,7,8]. Furthermore, meat quality, labeling and packaging could be as a future strategy for attracting consumer confidence [9,10]. Consumers who experienced (bought) meat with a quality label reported a more favorable attitude towards and a better knowledge of labeled meat [11]. To enable the further uptake of quality assurance program and in particular to ensure buyers and consumers are properly informed regarding meat, the quality, trust, price, label, package and origin were central pillars of the study initiatives. The overall Objective of the study was to analyze the consumer behavior in regard to beef meat in Kosovo and possibly identify effects of different variables on consumer decision upon purchase this meat.
2. Material and Method
The main focus of this paper was to evaluate and study of consumer’s behavior with regard to beef meat in Kosovo. The survey was carried out among 1215 respondents from different regions and socio-economic groups. The interviews were conducted in super-markets (311) Wholesale story’s (78), Retail story’s (471), ambulant traders (45), green market (53) farms gate (257). The study was conducted during period June to November 2011 carried out by trained interviewers. Number of respondent perception per attitude variables (price, label, origin of the product, package, quality and trust) are presented in Table 1. All consumers’ baying beef meat was chosen randomly during period of survey.
The information from interview were collected and inserted directly in questionnaire which contains qualitative and quantitative questions. The questionnaire was comprised of information according to where consumers were buying meat and their perceptions towards supply with these products and attitudes.
To assess the overall impact the questionnaire was also comprised of different socio-economic variables as: 1) Sex of consumer (Female, Male); 2) Monthly income: Group I: up to 200 EUR, group II: 201 - 300 EUR, group III: 301 - 400 EUR, group IV: over 400 EUR; 3) Employment status: (Yes-Employed and No-Unemployed; 4) Family member size: Group I: 1- 5, group II: 6 - 10, group III: >10; 5) Regions: Prishtina, Prizreni, Gjilani and Peja; 6) Ranges of age: I: >20 years old, II: 21 - 35 years old, III: 36 - 50 years old, IV: <50 years old. To respondent perception was qualified according to their attitudes classifying the variables to the definition as: “very important”, “important”, “same” and “less important”. Perception of consumers about beef meat was assessed using different variables: price, label, package, trust, and origin of the product (imported or local). Due to lack of consumers experience for interviews, poor quality of interview in some cases, and uncompleted records were removed from final analysis.
Statistical analysis: To analyze the results Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, second edition, Sage Publication Ltd. [12] was used. An analysis of variances was performed to analyze the level of significances for effects of different variables on perception of consumer about beef meat. While contingency analyses were used to analyze indicator’s perception of consumers about beef meat using classification criteria’s (“very important”, “important”, “same” and “less important”).
3. Results
Figure 1, depicts that beef meat with local origin seems