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HOW DO
CONSUMERS USE
DIGITAL MEDIA TO
RESEARCH FOOD
PRODUCTS?
REHMAN ASLAM
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
2013
COURSE

: MBA

MODULE CODE

: MKTM021

SUPERVISING TUTOR

: DAVID ALCOCK

STUDENT NO.

: 11429586

STUDENT NAME

: REHMAN ASLAM

SUBMISSION DATE

: JANUARY 28, 2013

WORD COUNT

: 15,957

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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................. i
1.

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 6
1.1
1.2

UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ........................................................................... 8

1.3

IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH .................................................................................................10

1.4

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH ........................................................................12

1.5

LIMITATION OF RESEARCH ....................................................................................................12

1.6

2.

BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 8

ORGANIZATION / STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH ..................................................................14

LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 16
2.1
2.2

BRAND AWARENESS OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS FOOD PRODUCTS ...........................22

2.3

DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES ..............................................................................................25

2.4

PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS ..............................................................................28

2.5

CONSUMER SATISFACTION ...................................................................................................32

2.6

BRAND LOYALTY .....................................................................................................................33

2.7

3.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR SPECIFIC TO FOOD PRODUCTS ......................................... 18

SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................34

RESEARCH METHODOLGY ...................................................................................... 38
3.1

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................40

3.2

RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN ...................................................................................41

3.3

METHOD OF SAMPLING .........................................................................................................42

3.4

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION .........................................................................................43

3.5

THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SURVEY PERIOD .....................................................................44

3.6

THE MEASUREMENT MODEL – LIKERT SCALE ...................................................................45

3.7

METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS .............................................................................................45

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3.7.1

RELIABILTY OF DATA .............................................................................. 46

3.7.2

VALIDITY OF DATA .................................................................................................47

3.8
3.9

4.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATION ....................................................................................................47
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................48

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ................................................................. 49
4.1

PILOT TEST ............................................................................................................ 51

4.2

ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SAMPLE ........................................................................... 51

4.3

RELIABILITY TEST ....................................................................................................................52

4.4

COLLATING AND PRESENTING THE RESULTS ...................................................................53
4.4.1

HOW AWARE ARE THE CONSUMERS ABOUT BRANDED FOOD
PRODUCTS? CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND AWARENESS ................ 54
4.4.1.1. CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS .....................................................................56
A. PERCEIVED QUALITY ..............................................................................57
B. PERCEIVED VALUE ...................................................................................59
C. PERCEIVED PRICE .....................................................................................60
D. PERCEIVED RISK .......................................................................................62
4.4.1.2. BRAND AWARENESS ................................................................................63

4.4.2

WHICH MEDIA(S) DO THEY USE TO RESEARCH AND WHAT
INFORMATION DO THEY LOOK FOR ONLINE ON FOOD PRODUCTS?
DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES ................................................................. 64
A.
B.

4.4.3

USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA ...............................................................................66
INFORMATION SEARCH ...............................................................................68

WHAT IS THE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS AFTER THEY RESEARCH
ABOUT FOOD PRODUCTS? PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS,
CONSUMER SATISFACTION, BRAND LOYALTY ......................................... 69
A.

PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS ...................................................71

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B.
4.5

5.

CONSUMER SATISFACTION AND BRAND LOYALTY .............................72

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ......................................................73

DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................... 74
5.1

MAJOR FINDINGS THROUGH THE SURVEY ........................................................................76

5.2

HOW AWARE ARE THE CONSUMERS ABOUT BRANDED FOOD
PRODUCTS?7CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND AWARENES .............................. 77
5.2.1
5.2.2

PERCEIVED VALUE ...................................................................................................78

5.2.3

PERCEIVED PRICE .....................................................................................................78

5.2.4

PERCEIVED RISK .......................................................................................................79

5.2.5
5.3

PERCEIVED QUALITY ............................................................................... 78

BRAND AWARENESS ................................................................................................79

WHICH MEDIA(S) DO THEY USE TO RESEARCH AND WHAT INFORMATION
DO THEY LOOK FOR ONLINE ON FOOD PRODUCTS? – DIGITAL MEDIA AND
ITS USE .................................................................................................................. 79
5.3.1
5.3.2

5.4

USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA ..........................................................................................80
INFORMATION SEARCH ..........................................................................................80

WHAT IS THE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS AFTER THEY RESEARCH ABOUT
FOOD PRODUCTS? – PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS, CONSUMER
SATISFACTION, BRAND LOYALTY ......................................................................... 80
5.4.1
5.4.2

5.5

PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS ..............................................................81
CONSUMER SATISFACTION AND BRAND LOYALTY ........................................81

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ......................................... 82

6.

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 83

7.

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 86

8.

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 96
APPENDIX – A: QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................ 97
APPENDIX – B: LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................... 101
APPENDIX – C: LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................ 102

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CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION

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1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this research being undertaken is to find the best possible
answer to the following question which roots into the consumer behavior:
“HOW DO CONSUMERS USE DIGITAL MEDIA TO RESEARCH FOOD PRODUCTS?”
Consumer behavior is an ongoing process and does not only happen at the time
of transaction between consumer and seller. It is said that understanding
consumer behavior is good business (Solomon, et al., 2010). Marketers
understand the consumer needs and try to satisfy their needs to the extent they
come to know about these.
The use of digital media has changed the way consumers used to search for food
products and interact with the business (Lin & Hsieh, 2007). It engages the
consumer in an interactive manner while providing their required information
with various alternatives as well.
A good example of the use of digital media for providing information related to
food products and simultaneously engaging the consumers with the product is
the launch of Magnum’s facebook page in twenty countries in February 2011 by
Unilever. It gained more than one million fans within five months only. It invites
fans to share their views and experiences on Magnum along with their ideas
about the variety of decadent delights and providing them information about the
products at the same time. The fans share their indulgences and get information
about the upcoming ones. The launch of Magnum’s online game in early 2011
took internet by storm. The fans can play through the luxurious brands’ websites
making the character move across these (Anon., 2011).
The study of consumer behavior in this era of contemporary digital media is the
subject of this research. The growing use of smart phones and other digital
media for search of information online has become popular and consumers
prefer using these new digital media over the traditional ones including
television and radio (Kiljander, et al., 2003). This emergent trend has affected
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the consumer behavior towards food products and their perceptions towards the
same which has attracted the researcher to undertake this research. This
research would be useful for companies as to what should be their focus while
making strategies for online shoppers.

1.1 BACKGROUND
From the late nineteenth century to approximately 1970s, various mass
media

had

developed,

labeled

as

traditional

media

from

today’s

perspective (Kung, et al., 2008). The technological changes after 1970s
provided opportunities for the new media to emerge. Lievrouw &
Livingstone (2002) discussed that the key concept behind new media is of
‘convergence’
boundaries

because
between

the

technological

previously

changes have

independent

areas.

blurred

the

Broadcasting,

communications, electronics, computing and publishing technologies have
merged. Gorman

& McLean

(2003) opined that collectively these

technologies can be categorized as content, platforms and distribution.
These have converged to provide information to the consumers at a single
source.
This convenience of getting information at one place has triggered the use
of digital media tremendously over the past few years and has affected the
consumer behavior. The use of traditional marketing mediums including
print, television and out-of-home advertising has its own importance but it
has been less effective in today’s market as compared to the contemporary
digital mediums including internet and mobile marketing.

1.2 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Consumer behavior is the set of processes involved when the individuals or
groups select, purchase, use or dispose products or services to satisfy their
needs or desires (Solomon, et al., 2010). It includes search for information
related to the products and services as well.
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The behavior differs while dealing with products and dealing with services.
The risk associated with the purchase of a service is higher than that of a
product. According to Blythe (2008), a poor product can be returned or
replaced but the poor service cannot be returned. For example, a faulty
shaving machine can be returned to the seller for replacement but a bad
haircut couldn’t be replaced with a good one. Hence the consumers have to
be more cautious and have to gather more information regarding a service
than a product.
It is important to know what consumer behavior is because it is the major
part of this research. According to Jayawardhena, et al. (2007), consumer
behavior in traditional shopping and online shopping are mostly the same.
Customers usually don’t use complete information about products that is
available to them while shopping. Their buying decisions are sometimes
habitual or automatic and sometimes influenced by emotions or behavior
of others towards that product. Consumers read information only when
they perceive any benefit from doing it.
Schiffman & Kanuk (2004) discussed that consumers trust brands and
label names that are recognized, this actually distorts their buying
decisions. Their behavior is influenced by the way information is presented
to them and the situation in which the choice is made. These are the shortcuts that consumers use to shorten the decision making process, which
actually distort their behavior.
Consumer behavior is affected by the losses they had suffered from or
known from others. This repugnance behavior towards loss restricts
consumers to change or avoid their decisions no matter how many benefits
come with the losses. Consumers are more reluctant to suffer loss than
they are motivated by the benefits of the product.
The value placed to any product is inconsistent. Consumers tend to change
their priorities and value placed on a product time to time. Their emotional
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attachments may restrict their behavior to replace the old products with
the new and improved ones even if it is cost effective to do so.
Blackwell, et al. (2001) explained that consumers’ behavior is influenced
by their social circle they move in. All consumers are susceptible to social
pressures as well as situational effects. Relatives, colleagues, neighbors or
friends buying a product can influence the decision making of consumers
towards buying the similar product. This refers to the indirect influence on
consumer behavior. More direct could be the salesperson persuading to
buy a certain product.
A wide range of similar products can turn out to be irresistible to
consumers making the process of decision making difficult. Consumers
tend to research less, consider fewer choices, and evaluate available
information differently as the range of choices increase. It can confuse the
consumers about their prime objective expected from the product.
According to Armstrong & Kotler (2012), consumers might not buy the
product just for its functional need; they might make a decision to buy it
to make a statement about their personality and what they would like to
be.
According to a report by Policy Studies Institute (2006), the above
information about consumers helps us in understanding their behavior and
the factors by which it is influenced and not necessarily only by the need
of the product.

1.3 IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH
Torkzadeh & Dhillon (2002) opined that consumers searching for variety
of products and services, and purchasing these online have been
acknowledged as a specialized segment of the market. Their behavior as
consumers is now being regarded as significant to the businesses and
marketers.
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This research, therefore, would focus on consumer behavior towards food
products and use of digital media by these consumers to search for
information about food products online. This research would be helpful to
marketers while preparing their marketing strategies especially for online
shoppers.
Consumers change their behavior with time and circumstances within
which they are purchasing products and services. According to Solomon, et
al. (2010), the criteria consumers use to assess products and services in a
situation may differ from those in different situation.
Consumers expect the advertisements and branding on digital media to be
interactive and informative Emerald Group Publishing Limited (2011). It
influences their decisions to buy or abstain from buying that product.
Burger King launched Subservient Chicken, a viral campaign to promote its
new line of sandwiches. It created a website where visitors could ask the
chicken to do various actions including dancing and watching television.
This was filmed by the creative team in collaboration with an actor wearing
a chicken suit acting around four hundred different actions. The campaign
gathered the attention of consumers and attracted them to play with the
chicken. The results showed nine percent a week increase in the month
following this campaign (Gillin, 2009). The increase in sales for Burger
King indicated the behavior of consumers after playing with the chicken
online, pushing people to buy the Subservient Chicken. Consumer behavior
can be studied closely by the response of consumers to such campaigns,
including consumer engagement, use of digital media and information
search, impact on their purchasing behavior. Such campaigns also help
companies to study consumer behavior closely and design the campaigns
accordingly to engage the consumers.

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1.4 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
The prime objective of this research is to find answer to the research
question “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?”
The research question can be dismantled in the following objectives for the
purpose of specific and focused research:
A.

How aware are the consumers about branded food products? –
Consumer behavior and Brand awareness

B.

Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they
look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses

C.

What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food
products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction,
brand loyalty

This research will find out the answers to the above objectives that will
collectively help in answering the research question. We have taken help
from various studies and theories of consumer behavior to achieve results
from this research. Theories of consumer behavior, purchasing behavior
and decision, importance of consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty are
discussed to carry out the research that how consumers research about
food products using digital media. Literature related to digital media, its
history and evolution and use has also been discussed to research why
consumers use digital media to research and what digital media they use.

1.5 LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH
As mentioned above in 1.2 that consumers’ behavior tends to change with
situations; there are certain variables that influence the behavior of a
consumer.

These

are

categorized

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into

demographics,

REHMAN ASLAM

geographic,
psychographic and behavioral by the researchers. The variables include
age, gender, social class, ethnic group, region, personality, lifestyle, brand
loyalty, benefits desired of the product or service etc (Solomon, et al.,
2010).
This research would be limited to the consumer behavior towards two
types of food products that are getting famous in recent times; these
include ready-to-eat food products and organic food products. This will
help the research to be focused on specific food products and consumer
behavior towards these. It will also help in arriving at the findings of what
digital media is being used by consumers for research.
Ready-to-Eat Food Products have been described by Ramasamy, et al.,
(2005) as the food presented or out for sale without further cooking or
preparation, which is packaged on the site where they are being sold and
are ready for consumption and utilization by consumers. Canned foods,
convenience foods, fast foods, frozen foods, instant products, dried foods,
preserved foods, etc. all comes under ready-to-eat foods. Usually, food is
prepared keeping in view various factors including the habits, tastes, social
status, availability, traditions, economic factor and geographic location of
the consumers. Awareness is being created about these food products
specially through digital media.
Organic Food Products have been defined by Lockie, et al. (2006) as
produce grown using practices that enhance soil health and natural
ecological processes of nutrient and energy recycling which reduces the
impacts of farming using artificial fertilizers and farming products.
Generally health conscious consumers buy organic food even though these
are expensive than the usual food products.
Another limitation of this research is the sample size which was selected
on personal contacts basis stretched over ten countries with different
cultures, technological infrastructures, consumer’s habits; it was restricted
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to ten respondents per country but the people were chosen on the basis of
their inclination towards and use of internet for shopping food products
online.

1.6 ORGANIZATION / STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH
The research paper has been organized in the following structure to
achieve the objectives:

A.

Chapter 1: Introduction to the research being conducted with the
objectives achieved.

B.

Chapter 2: Review of literature discussing the research objective
and also the criticism about the research area.

C.

Chapter 3: Research

methodology

and

design

discussing

the

approach taken for research and data collection methods to establish
the objectives.
D.

Chapter 4: Research findings and Analysis through the approach
taken and data collected and presented including the qualitative data
answering the research objectives.

E.

Chapter 5: Discussion on the results arrived at in chapter 4
application of theories relating to the research objectives in line with
the results.

F.

Chapter 6: Conclusion and summary of the research findings and
recommendations, if any, for improvement.

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G.

Chapter 7: Appendices including the survey questionnaire.

H.

Chapter 8: References from the literature supporting the research.

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CHAPTER 2:
LITERATURE
REVIEW

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter focuses on finding the answers to the research question through the
published research carried out in past regarding consumer behavior specific to
food products, brand awareness of food products, use of digital media, purchase
behavior of consumers researching about products online, and the relationship
among brand awareness, use of digital media and consumer behavior regarding
purchase of food products.
The research question
“HOW DO CONSUMERS USE DIGITAL MEDIA TO RESEARCH FOOD PRODUCTS?”
is presented and reviewed under the following objectives:
A.

How aware are the consumers about branded food products? –
Consumer behavior and Brand awareness

B.

Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they
look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses

C.

What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food
products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction,
brand loyalty

These three objectives are further distributed in the following areas of study to
emphasize on the research in detail:
2.1

Consumer behavior specific to food products; important to explore the
behavior of consumers aiming towards the objective that how they
research about food products.

2.2

Brand awareness of consumers towards food products; the study about
awareness of consumers towards food products is important in answering

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the objective and explains why consumers actually do the research about
these products.
2.3

Digital media and its uses; history of digital media and its use in today’s
world is essential in answering the research objective that which digital
media are most commonly used by consumers to research about food
products.

2.4

Purchase behavior of consumers; the behavior of consumers to buy any
product is essential in finding the answer to the research carried out
because the consumers usually research about products when they have an
intention to buy those products.

2.5

Consumer Satisfaction; the satisfaction of consumers by the information
available to them online and also their post-purchase satisfaction is
necessary to help in finding answer to the research question why
consumers research online.

2.6

Brand loyalty; the behavior of consumers towards a brand being loyal to it
would help in the main research to answer why consumer research about
any product online.

The study of the above areas related to consumer behavior and digital media will
assist in developing the research methodology and subsequent findings with
areas of improvements related to the research.

2.1 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR SPECIFIC TO FOOD PRODUCTS
This objective relates to the consumer behavior specific to food products.
It will help in finding answer towards our main objective “how do
consumers use digital media to research food products?” and developing an
understanding of their behavior towards two main types of food products,
ready-to-eat food products and organic food products. These types of food
products are getting famous in today’s fast paced working world and
health conscious people from this fast paced world.
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Capaldi (2006) discussed that consumer behavior is product specific which
is proven to be true from the studies of other disciplines as well. The
inspirations that persuade consumer’s decision for a cellular phone are
poles apart from the ones that drive the decision of buying a new car.
According to Blythe (2008), there is a huge room for researchers to learn
from exploring how consumers behave in different ways when purchasing
different types of products. This section presents an overview of recent
research from marketing about consumer behavior specific to food
products. Related literature from other disciplines of study has been
discussed in this section as well.
The category of food and drink serve as a necessary part in consumers’
lives. Consumers are well aware of this group of products. Specific
consumer behavior can be examined through the psychology and
composition of the consumption of food, which Capaldi (2006) suggests is
explained by a number of reasons including food preferences are
extraordinarily defiant to change, preference for a food increases with
consumption, flavor-flavor learning and the dessert effect.
a.

Food preferences are extraordinarily defiant to change: food
behavior is much less likely to change unlike other behaviors, as long
as the consumer does not experience an adverse effect to the food
such as food poisoning or nutritional deficiencies.

b.

Consumption of food’s relation to preference: the more consumers
consume any food, the more they develop a preference for it. Shah &
Oppenheimer (2008) have termed as ‘heuristics’ by researchers.

c.

Flavor-flavor learning: the preference for a new food is more likely
to develop if it is matched with the consumption of an already liked
food.

d.

The dessert effect: food relates not only to our hunger, health and
tastes for certain products but also to our lifestyle, family and
personality. Lonneker, et al. (2008) suggest buying and eating food is
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no longer just an issue of sustenance, but one of status, personal selfmodeling and identity: opening a refrigerator in front of strangers ‘is
like baring the soul’.
Ozaki, et al. (2008) considered it tricky to study the consumer behavior
regarding their purchasing preferences towards food products. Their study
disclosed that consumers usually present socially popular answers when
inquired about their behavior towards the purchase of food products, this
leads to a difference of opinion between stated inclinations and their
actual behavior. Consumers find it difficult to express and justify their
motivators for making a decision for food purchases.
Just (2006) discussed that consumer behavior towards the purchases of
food products is probably motivated by an automatic and emotive thought
process than controlled and cognitive process. This is evident by the
regularity with which they buy food and it is dependent on much
emotional and automatic favoritism. Food satisfies one of the most basic
needs of consumers, i.e. hunger. The preference and habit of a specific
food product would be affected if the consumer is hungry. Hence, the
behavior of consumers is different in different circumstances.
Cotton (2007) explored the major development in the food segment in
relation to the promotion of specialist food producers. He reported the
emerging trend of status symbols being transformed into status lifestyles.
Consumers want better products rather than wanting more as the levels of
prosperity increases and lifestyles gets better. Likewise, people would like
to get the best in contrast to them wanting more in past as their status
improves.

Different

cultures

have

different

views

regarding

environmentally preferred food products and these products are desired to
be consumed; no matter how consumers link these to their purchasing
behavior. Baker & Hart (2008) explored this development of consumers
towards seeking higher quality and coined the emergence of such
consumers’ group as ‘Transumers’ (Trendwatching.com, 2006). Their
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status lifestyle is one of transience which is driven exclusively by enjoying
as many diverse products as feasible. However, the search for status
lifestyles can contribute directly to the strengths of specialist food brands
including environmentally preferable products, by offering experience and
participation. This can be experienced through digital media or prospects
for consumers to visit the food production site.
Consumers are shifting from home cooking towards ready-to-eat food and
dining out. Basically this is due to the modern lifestyle that leaves the
consumer with less time for them while earning good money. The
consumption of convenience meals is growing among the consumers;
however, the consumers are also attracting towards a more relaxed
entertaining

approach

to

cooking

for

weekend

meals

including

celebrations. In terms of marketing, Blythe (2008) proposed the use of cobranding for local products and ingredients to make the derivation of food
more obvious and to increase food’s desirability. For example the use of
milk from local farm with tea will possibly raise the value of both brands.
Moving towards finding the answers to the research being undertaken, the
researcher thinks that consumers’ perceptions are important to study in
this research as according to Moorthy & Hawkins (2005) these affect the
behavior of consumers towards a brand or product. These include quality
perception, price perception, value perception and risk perception.
a.

perceived quality is considered as the most important driver of a
consumer’s buying behavior De Maeyer & Estelami (2011). The
quality of food products highly influence the attitude of consumer to
search for any brand online.

b.

perceived price is another basic factor that consumer takes into
consideration

while

searching

for

any

product

online

and

subsequently buying the product.
c.

perceived value has superseded quality in some respects as
contended by Cronin, et al. (2000) and satisfaction Sweeney, et al.
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(1999). The consumers perceive high value for their money spent on
purchase of food products.
d.

perceived risk is the significance and uncertainty of consequences
associated to any product Cho & Lee (2006) that a consumer assess in
a decision making situation.

The analysis of these perceptions would help this research to gather valid
data that will help in arriving at a conclusion to research question “how do
consumers use digital media to research food products?” As the researchers
like (Capaldi, 2006; Blythe, 2008) suggested that consumer behavior is
product specific, this research will therefore be finding answers for
consumer behavior and the use of digital media specific to food products.

2.2 BRAND

AWARENESS

OF

CONSUMERS

TOWARDS

FOOD

PRODUCTS
This objective relates to the awareness of food products among consumers
and its importance.

A.

How aware are the consumers about branded food products?
Brand awareness has been described by Keller (2008) as the strength of the
brand itself in memory as reflected by consumers’ ability to identify
various brand elements such as brand name, character, logo, symbol,
packaging, and slogan under different situations.
Several measures of awareness of brand elements are used by marketers to
know the relative importance of brand awareness for consumer behavior
and its role in the success of the marketing program. According to
Solomon, et al. (2010), these elements include brand recognition, brand
recall, corrections for guessing and strategic implications.

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a.

Brand Recognition is the identification of brand by consumers under
a variety of circumstances and can rest on the identification of any of
the brand elements. There are six criteria for brand elements in
general

including

memo

ability,

meaningfulness,

likability,

transferability, adaptability and protect ability (de Chernatony, 2010).
Variety of recognition tests are used by marketers and researchers
ranging from basic to somewhat subtle tests. In basic tests,
consumers are given a set of individual items orally or visually and
asked whether they have previously heard or seen these items. While
in other tests, perceptually degraded versions of products, which are
distorted or masked, are given to consumers for brand recognition.
Keller (2008) discussed that packaging is really important for brand
recognition. The ideal conditions to recognize a brand by its
packaging, as considered by researchers are, when a consumer
i.

with 20 – 20 vision

ii.

is face-to-face with a package

iii.

at a distance of less than five feet

iv.

under ideal lighting conditions.

However the conditions under which the consumer shop may not be
ideal, therefore a number of specific criteria are used by researchers
to test the effectiveness of package for recognition. According to
Keller (2008), these include the degree of shelf impact, recall of
specific design elements of a package, distance and angle at which the
package is first identified, speed with which the package can be
identified and perceived package size.
Marketers can determine the existence of specific brand elements and
the extent of their strength of the association for brand recognition,
by applying these direct and indirect measures and criteria. These
measures provide

an

approximation

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recall-ability;
therefore Temporal (2010) believes that we need measures of brand
recall to determine whether consumers actually recall the brand
elements under different scenarios.
b.

Brand Recall is a more demanding memory task not just asking
consumers to say whether they have seen it before or not, but
consumers have to retrieve the actual brand elements from their
memory when given some related cue or probe. According to Franzen
& Moriarty (2009), the most important issue is the prominence of
brand, how quickly does a consumer recalls a brand; do they recall the
brand under right circumstances? Is it automatically or easily
recalled? Is it the first brand they recall? Test involving brand name
recognition with missing letters Keller (2008) (refer Table I) may be
particularly important for consumers to recall brands with high level
of recognition.
1.

D__NE_

DISNEY

2.

K_D_K

KODAK

3.

L_G_

LEGO

4.

N_K_

NIKE

5.

G_LL__T_

GILLETTE

6.

H_LL__RK

HALLMARK

7.

HY__T

HYATT

8.

D_LT_

DELTA

Table I: Brand Awareness Test (Top of the Mind)

It is evident from Table I that a brand with high level of awareness
will be identified and recognized under less than ideal conditions with
less information.
The purchasing behavior of consumers is greatly subjective to awareness
and attitude towards the product. The major source of information was
considered to be the commercial advertisements on television and also the
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product displays in the retail stores. Whatever the source of information be
it, consumers are affected by the information they get about food
products. Ramasamy, et al. (2005) believes that the decision making
process of consumers is based on various features of the products
including their own opinion of the product or brand.

2.3 DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES
The objective of discussing the digital media and its uses would help in
answering the research question to explain what digital media is used by
the consumers and why they use it.
At the start of twenty-first century, some emerging media appear to have
the potential of influencing how consumers access information about the
products. According to Gorman & McLean (2003), this happened because
the traditional media companies have adapted to deliver information about
their products in a diverse manner.
The use of new technologies by companies to serve customers is rapidly
growing. Technological interfaces, called as Self-service technologies (SSTs)
enable consumers to produce a service independent of direct employee
interaction (Meuter, et al., 2003). According to Lin & Hsieh (2007) it has
changed the way consumers interact with companies to create service
outcomes.
These new media include personal digital assistants and associated
handheld devices including cellular phones. According to Gorman &
McLean (2003), it also includes the devices that use WAP technology to
access information electronically.
Researchers suggest that marketspace transaction is replacing traditional
marketplace transaction. Marketspace is referred to a virtual domain where
products and services are available as digital information and can be
disseminated through information based mediums (Rayport & Sviokla,
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1995). Marketspace transactions do not require any interpersonal contact
between the buyer and seller, therefore the information conveyed through
the digital media should have integrity, authenticity, accuracy and
completeness.
A.

Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they
look for online on food products?
There is no doubt the rapid pace of digital media growth has transformed
the way consumers think, behave and interact with each other and with
businesses. However, most consumer products companies struggle with
adapting their strategies, capabilities and internal processes to meet these
new consumer needs. Kung, et al. (2008) discussed that this major shift in
the consumers’ dialogue with brand is because of the use of internet and
contemporary

new

media.

Feedback

was

restricted

to

one

way

communication as the information about these brands was disseminated
consumers through television, newspapers and radio.
Consumers use digital and social media throughout the purchasing
process, from searching for a product, to the identification of product and
comparison with similar other products, to purchasing and post-purchase
customer services. The opportunity to engage with the consumers in an
effective and timely manner to build long-term loyalty is huge. However,
the implications are massive if the companies fail to provide effective and
timely information and service to the consumers.
Moving towards digital technology for marketing and corporate strategies
by the consumer products companies help these to understand their
consumers and their needs individually. It enables these companies to
target them accordingly.
The most common and favorite medium to search for information is
internet which has become more popular than other means of doing so.
Consumers use internet to collect information about brands and products.
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Delafrooz, et al. (2009) opined that the success of businesses rely on the
establishment of valuable communications between consumers and
business’ websites. Consumers can search for their queries and required
products on websites, and in case they couldn’t find what they are looking
for, they can always communicate to the customer services through free
phones or emails. The consumers expect quick responses related to their
queries and in real time most of the times. If the consumers do not receive
answers or even satisfactory response then they usually dislike the
products. According to Cheng, et al. (2006), consumers spend more time
on the Internet searching for products and brands than any other media.
These consumers can interact with the product or brand for longer time
than they do on the traditional mediums including television and radio.
Such behavior of engagement by the consumers leads to a closer inspection
which can result in picking up any errors in the information available on
the websites. The information should be corrected and updated in case the
consumers report any gap in the information.
Brands have come under the era of two way communication after the
introduction of internet and smart phones to search for information. Social
networking websites, companies’ websites and online blogs have turned
into chief sources of information related to food products. According to
Crespo & del Bosque (2010), thousands of consumers have become
habitual to communicate with the products, shopping online and providing
reviews subsequently. These consumers relate themselves to the brands
and products they are aware of and giving feedback to the businesses
related to these products. This communication has now become interactive
and constant; one medium of information can guide to the other one; such
as from television to internet.
Researchers like (Young, 2010; Thorson & Duffy, 2011; Shilbury &
Westerbeek, 2009) have outlined many advantages of using digital media
for marketing over the traditional mediums. These include:
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a.

reduced cost by avoiding printing ads in yellow pages directories and
news papers, or telecasting advertisements on radio and television;

b.

measurability of impact on business and sales. Online marketing
makes it easier to track the traffic of consumers online and impact on
increased sales thereon;

c.

brand engagement by providing updated information online to
consumers that make their purchase decisions easier and create brand
awareness.

According to Young (2010), all these advantages not only benefit the
companies but also lead towards brand awareness, engagement and
consumers’ intent to purchase the product.
Barkhuus & Polichar (2011) investigated that consumers have adapted and
adopted various features in smart phones to suit their lifestyles and needs.
They prefer using smart phones to access internet even when there are
other devices such as PCs available for it. According to Kiljander, et al.
(2003) searching for information on the web using smart phones is a highly
desirable activity of consumers. This ease and convenience permits the
consumers to research for food products as well on the go.
However, research done by Liu, et al. (2003) has shown that consumers
give up looking for their required product or turn to traditional channels to
purchase their required products if they couldn’t find what they are
looking for. The incomplete or missing information lead to this attitude of
consumers. This research would find how consumers can search for
products online efficiently and what do companies need to do to keep the
consumers stuck to their products.

2.4 PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS
This objective explains the process of purchasing which includes
information gathering, evaluation and making a decision to buy a product.
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This will help in finding the reasons and factors that makes a consumer
research about products.
A.

What research they do on food products that influence their decisions to
buy or abstain from buying?
Consumers look for contents to satisfy their specific and actual needs. The
information

available

to them

should be

concrete

and complete.

Incomplete or even redundant information may confuse the consumers
(Bakker & Sadaba, 2008). This information is necessary for consumers to
develop intent for purchasing the product.
According to Salzman, et al. (2003), consumers expect from the businesses
that they consider their importance as consumers of their products and
recognize

their

value

by

providing

comprehensive

and

updated

information of the products. These consumers have not limited themselves
to searching for information and seeking opinions for the products they
intend to buy.
The consumer evaluates the information about any product and
develops a consideration to purchase that product; this behavior is
referred to as the purchase intention of the consumer. Keller (2001)
discussed that the behavior can be viewed as a major factor for predicting
consumers’ purchasing trends as well as their individual intentions. When
consumers choose one good, the final decision depended on their intention.
Therefore, most marketers think the intention of the consumers is a
valuable method of forecasting purchasing by the consumers. In addition,
both (Sudhir & Talukdar, 2004; Sethuraman, 2003) and offer that quality
perception and purchase intention have a positive relationship. It is also
assumed that consumers’ purchase intention will be influenced by quality
perception, objective price and value perception. Quality perception of
consumers is the result of individual’s judgment for a product, and
consumers can evaluate a product by judging the superiority of products.
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Perceived quality may be wholly objective or totally subjective. It includes a
subject-object interaction because consumers would form a subjectively
brand image by product or service diversity. Furthermore, quality
consciousness of a product can be valued in contrast to other goods, and
the sense is objective because it depends on the subjects and the context.
Aaker (2000) defines that perceived quality is that the recognized level for
the quality of whole product, as well as the subjective satisfaction in
comparing with other brands’ quality for certain sakes. Therefore,
perceived quality can make consumers have a subjective judgment and
form brand differences of product or service. Finally, consumers’ perceived
quality becomes an influence factor, when they want to buy a product.
However, Aaker (2000) thinks there are some differences between
perceived quality and actual quality.
a.

Different quality cognitions exist in consumers and manufacturers;
manufacturers must focus on some product attributes, when they
promote their products. However, consumers might do not consider
the attribute is important for them.

b.

Prior image or knowledge; the consumers with more prior knowledge
are inclined to have more interrelated schemata of product-related
cognitions, which would affect their processing of quality-related
information. Moreover, consumers may be affected by former bad
quality, and then they do not want to believe that new products have
already improved their quality.

c.

Incomplete product information; generally, consumers are seldom to
acquire necessary information to evaluate the product objectively.
Even though they have abundant information, they may not have
enough time to judge the product (Binninger, 2008). Finally, what
they only can do is that they just choose the most important
information

to

evaluate

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product

alternatively.

REHMAN ASLAM

Additionally,
consumers may choose wrong cues or do not know what the correct
product information is.
(Binninger, 2008; Sethuraman, 2003) found that the quality of products
serves as an essential role in the satisfaction and purchase decision of the
consumers.
Online consumer behavior is complex and can be described as the process
of purchasing products or services via the Internet. Researchers like Liang
& Lai (2000) have indicated that this process have similarities with
traditional shopping behaviors. Consumers use internet for searching
related information for food products when they recognize a need for
products or services during the process of internet shopping. If the
information search result can meet their needs, the potential consumers
evaluate alternatives in order to choose one of the best products or
services, and finally purchase that product. After this whole purchase
process, according to Teo & Yeong (2003), the post-purchase evaluation is
done to assist in future purchase decisions.
There are many studies of online consumer behaviors in recent years, most
of them focus on the factors influencing the online consumer behaviors,
and the researchers seem to find different factors in different ways.
Moreover, there is a variety of studies which focus on comparisons
between online and offline consumer behavior in relation to different
products has been presented. Consumers often use the Internet search for
product information before buying from online or offline stores. It makes
the dependability on digital media and its information more important.
According to Wolfinbarger & Gilly (2001), the Internet shopping allows
consumers more freedom to continuously visit and purchase products;
even they leave without a purchase.
This research will find relationship between the purchase behavior of
consumer while using digital media for searching about food products
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online. The researcher believes that the quality of information available
online has significant affect on the purchase behavior of consumers. This
will be discussed in the light of research findings in coming chapters.

2.5 CONSUMER SATISFACTION
Olsen, et al. (2005) defines consumer satisfaction as a global appraisal or a
mind-set toward a product or service. Consumer satisfaction depends on
the comparison between the initial or expected quality and the real results
or experienced quality. The quality of information available to consumers
about food products through the digital media convenient to use would
develop intent to purchase which would result in the subsequent purchase
of the product by the consumers. According to Bennett (2010), consumer
satisfaction results in long lasting relationship with a brand which leads
towards brand loyalty.
Foxall (2005) described the process of determining consumer satisfaction
where customer needs are identified, their expectations are determined,
resulting in building relationship with that brand. It is observed that a
customer buying a food product will only be satisfied if the food is of good
quality and is hygienic. Satisfaction is a result of positive brand
experiences which includes good product performance, confirmation of
positive experiences from others and the effective customer service of the
companies. Franzen & Moriarty (2009) opined that the consumer
satisfaction is directly proportional to the brand relationship. The more
satisfied the customer, the more long lasting the brand relationship. In
case of this research, good quality food products would lead towards the
positive brand experience and long lasting brand relationship.
Satisfaction arises when the consumers’ expectation are met while
dissatisfaction

arises when

these

expectations are

not

confirmed.

Dimitriades (2006) opined that if the customers are satisfied, they become

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less price conscious, less susceptible to competitors’ attacks and brand
loyal for longer period.
This research is aimed towards finding answer towards consumer behavior
and use of digital media for information search. If the information at the
disposal of consumers is comprehensive and consumers have positive
perceptions of the product then satisfaction level would be high. The
survey to be undertaken during this research would prove this statement.

2.6 BRAND LOYALTY
Brand loyalty has been described by Franzen & Moriarty (2009) as a
commitment of consumer to buy a brand on an ongoing basis in the future
which results in repurchase of the brand despite of competitors’ efforts to
enforce brand switching behavior and situational influences as well.
According to Temporal (2010), brand awareness leads to involvement of
consumers after getting information about the product and purchasing
followed by trust and respect for the brand which eventually turns into
brand loyalty. Oliver (1999) opined that brand loyalty has a behavioral as
well as an attitudinal aspect. The brand commitment from consumers
reflects their future brand buying behavior. According to Cai & Hobson
(2004),

brand

loyalty

should

be

confirmed

through

positive

and

encouraging customer experiences.
On the other hand Franzen & Moriarty (2009) discussed that some experts
criticize the brand loyalty of consumers and believe that consumers are
loyal to a group of preferred brands within a category and rarely to a
specific brand. The consumers switch among the brands in the category
depending upon the marketing factors such as availability, price, service
and consumer’s previous experience with the specific brand and similar
brands of competitors.
According to Phillips (2007), most people born during the last two decades
of the twentieth century are not brand loyal. These consumers are less
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brand loyal than previous generations, due to their constant exposure to
price promotions. They want products that match their personality and
lifestyle, paying little attention to brands. Littman (2008) discussed that
these consumers’ choice of new brands is often determined by peer
recommendation

transmitted directly or through

social networking

channels. This makes the role of digital media and the quality of
information available to the consumers online very important.
Researcher of this dissertation believes that a satisfied customer who had
good experience with a product or brand may lead the customer to that
product or brand when a similar product is to be purchased. The
researcher will find an answer to this statement through the findings of the
survey.

2.7 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW
The main question of this research, “how do consumers use digital media to
research food products?” was distributed into three main objectives, to help
in finding answers about the research topic while focusing on the relevant
published literature and the research carried out.
A.

How aware are the consumers about branded food products?
Consumer behavior is transforming from searching for food products
through traditional media towards contemporary digital media and
they are now involving more in digital media use for getting
information about food products according to Crespo & del Bosque
(2010), developing intent to purchase, making decision to buy the
product (Aaker, 2000), level of satisfaction and subsequent loyalty
towards the products and brands. Their perceptions about the quality,
value, price or risk while decision making are relatively easier to fulfill
than in the past. They can research thousands of similar food
products online to minimize their concerns about the products.
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Ideally consumers should be more aware about the products due to
the free access to product information online.
The consumer behavior towards food products is less likely to change
unless the consumers do not experience an adverse effect to that
product. Their preference increase as they consume more of the same
product. Lonneker, et al. (2008) & Capaldi (2006) suggest that this
consistent behavior has turned into the lifestyles of the consumers.
Consumers are more conscious is researching for food products and
subsequently buying these products as these relate to things ranging
from our health, personality to our life expectancy.
This behavior suggests that the consumers would thoroughly research
for the food products more than they do for other products. The
awareness about any food product would influence their behavior
towards the product as well. Solomon, et al. (2010) discussed that
brand awareness includes brand recognition and recall which let the
consumers recognize any brand when they see it. These two elements
also help in searching for information using digital media.

B.

Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do
they look for online on food products?
Over the years digital marketing has changed how consumers engage
with brands and is rapidly changing the landscape of traditional
marketing strategies and structures (Thorson & Duffy, 2011). Food
industry has also changed the way it used to communicate and
market its products to the consumers. Kung, et al. (2008) also opined
that the medium has been changed from traditional to digital over the
years which show the importance of digital media in the businesses
and their marketing.

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Consumers’ behavior towards a food product and their ability to
recognize a brand has provided convenience of searching about these
products online using different digital media including smart phones,
tablet PCs and laptops. Researchers like Barkhuus & Polichar (2011)
and Kiljander, et al. (2003) investigated that smart phones have
become popular in searching for information on the web. Consumers
have customized their smart phones applications to provide them the
information on the go. They stated that consumers prefer using smart
phones over other digital media to search for information.
According to Bakker & Sadaba (2008), the quality of information
available to users online should be appropriate and not incomplete or
even redundant. This directly relates to their behavior to be favorable
or

adverse

towards any product. The

consumers expect the

information to be complete, comprehensive and updated.
C.

What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food
products?
The consumers search for food products according to their needs and
recognize the brands that they are familiar to. Smart phones are the
most popular and common digital media gadget used to search for
information (Kiljander, et al., 2003). Consumers develop intent to
purchase the product after assessing the information and comparing
the results with similar products online. Once they choose the best
option, they buy the product and experience the actual product.
If the actual result of the product is as per the expectations and need
of the consumers than they develop the behavior of satisfaction for
that specific product or brand (Olsen, et al., 2005). According to Cai &
Hobson (2004), this satisfaction through positive brand experience
leads to brand loyalty. This satisfaction makes them less price
conscious towards the specific brands and products (Dimitriades,
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2006). Eventually consumers buy the products repeatedly. They also
recommend the products and the brand to their friends and in their
social circle.
The literature review has helped in finding the answer to the research topic
“how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” Changing
lifestyles of consumers are resulting in a trend where basic food
preferences are being surpassed by seeking new food experiences and
using contemporary digital media for information on these products.
Consumers mostly research about food products using smart phones
which are getting popular and most commonly used as the digital media
gadget. They research a wide range of option due to the ease of search on
the World Wide Web. Their positive product experience after buying the
actual product and experiencing the expected quality with the actual one
makes them satisfied towards the product and loyal to the brand.

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CHAPTER 3:
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

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3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The objective of this research is to find answer to the research question “how do
consumers use digital media to research food products?” making use of the
theories and research on consumer behavior, digital media, consumer buying
behavior, consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
The main research question was dismantled into the following objectives to help
in focusing on the relevant published literature and research carried out:
A.

How aware are the consumers about branded food products? –
Consumer behavior and Brand awareness

B.

Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they
look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses

C.

What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food
products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction,
brand loyalty

The academic literature referred to and discussed in the literature review
(chapter 2) of this dissertation has given us the answers to the research carried
out on the topic of dissertation in relevant areas. This suggests that the quality
of information available online and appropriate digital media helps consumers in
researching about the food products making their decision of buying convenient
and effective. The information provided online, if matches the original product
when bought, provides great satisfaction to the consumer and subsequently
developing brand loyalty.
According to Kiljander, et al. (2003) the use of digital media to search for
information online is getting popular. People prefer using smart phones over
traditional media to search for information. This rapid and huge shift towards

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new digital media has attracted the interest of the researcher towards this
research “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?”

3.1 INTRODUCTION
The basic objective of this chapter is to compose and gather dependable
and valuable data about consumer behavior towards food products
available online that helps in answering the research question; the data for
this research is composed through professional and reliable practices. This
chapter explains the study methodology which consists of research
problem and objective, research approach and strategy, sampling method,
data collection method, analysis of data in general and methodology used
for this study in particular with limitations of data collection.
In this section the tools of research are highlighted, that were chosen to
evaluate the current behavioral state of consumers towards researching
about food products using digital media. According to Saunders (2009),
Amaratunga, et al. (2002) and Feurer & Chaharbaghi (1995), when we are
dealing in a highly dynamic marketing environment, there is no single
method that can be publicized as the best. However, to carry out the
research and find answers to the research question, this research paper
followed an exploratory research which explored and examined the current
behavior of consumers related to searching about food products online.
According to Denscombe (2010), this approach helps the researcher in
generating information and insights. After analyzing the current situation,
an investigation has been done to figure out whether there exist any
shortcomings to the current situation.
SPSS was used to analyze the data gathered through survey questionnaire
for this research about searching food products using digital media and
consumer behavior. This has helped the researcher in correlating the
results of finding with the research already done.

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3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN
Saunders, et al. (2003) proposed two research approaches which are
‘deductive’ and ‘inductive’. A systematic approach which is well structured
is quite crucial in order to conduct a research, no matter what area is being
researched and which strategy is adopted. According to Easterby- Smith,
et al. (2002), a deductive research is the one that generally begins with a
theory, principle or an idea; based on these the researcher make a
hypothesis which is then testing by collecting information and data to
arrive at a result if the hypothesis was right or wrong. On the other hand,
inductive approach is a responsive approach as there is no requirement of
existing and proven theories to collect information and data. Researchers
adopting inductive approach tend to study a small sample in contrast to a
large sample used in deductive approach. These researchers tend to use
qualitative data, and other mixture of data to establish different concepts
of phenomenon.
This research thus adopts inductive approach as promoted by Thomas
(2006) to condense the extensive raw data about consumers’ pre-purchase
as well as post purchase behavior towards food products and the use of
digital media. This data is collected through the responses of the
questionnaire from seventy eight respondents and condensed into a
summary. The researcher has established links between the research
objectives and the findings derived from the research data in order to
arrive at the answers to the research question (David, 2003). In order to
attain the objective of this research, a questionnaire has been sent to
different internet users who use digital media and social networks. The
tools have been chosen keeping in mind the complexity of data involved
and time constraint. According to Blumberg, et al. (2005) these mentioned
factors play a significant role in choosing a research methodology for
business research.

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3.3 METHOD OF SAMPLING
The main objective behind conducting a primary research is to better
understand the topic and determine significance about a specific situation,
experience and constructing a theory (Kent, 2001). The motive behind this
research was to find answer to how does consumers research about food
products using digital media; therefore, the candidates for questionnaires
were intentionally selected to successfully reach a conclusion. These
candidates were articulate and reflective, willing to share their experience
openly and active users of digital media and internet.
Tomlinson & Boorman (2001) have proposed and described three types of
non-random sampling methods namely snowball, purposive and theoretical
sampling. Denscombe (2010) describes purposive sampling as a method
which allows the researcher to deliberately choose people for the research
based on their known attributes i.e. their relevance and knowledge towards
the topic. Snowball sampling is also known as chain sampling or referral
sampling. Biggam (2011) describes this method as a process in which a few
people from relevant area of research are known to the researcher who
request them to refer more interested people to participate in the research
being undertaken. A mix of purposive and snowball sampling method is
chosen for this research to reach the quality of work useful for this
research. This mix of methods would consume less time to gather data and
would help in increasing the sample size as well.
The researcher had sent the questionnaire to twenty (20) people known on
the basis of their relevance and knowledge towards online food products
purchasing. These people were requested to send the questionnaire to
others with same attributes. In this survey, the sample consisted of one
hundred (100) consumers from which seventy eight (78) could respond
back. As Denscombe (2010) stated that small sample size is sufficient for
small scale qualitative research, the number of respondents to the
questionnaire ensures that adequate data is collected for this research and
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that the sample represents the characteristics of the population. The
consumers,

including

but

not

limited

to,

housewives,

students,

accountants, engineers and marketers across North America, Europe,
Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australia were chosen for the purpose of this
research. This diverse selection of consumers became possible due to
researcher’s experience in industry and connections with people across the
world.

3.4 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
According to Nguyen & Oloufa (2001) telephonic interviews, face to face
interviews and mail self administered questionnaire are the most common
survey methods to analyze collected data. All of these methods assist the
researcher to gather data personally and address the specific issue and
areas important to research. According to Hox & Boeije (2005), primary
data collection also gives control over data to the researcher.
A questionnaire was drafted covering all research objectives in order to
collect the data in an efficient manner to represent an evocative winding up
of the research. It was written in simple English making it easily
understandable by the respondents. This was taken into consideration
keeping in view the diverse sample of respondents from different ethnic
and cultural backgrounds. The use of jargons was avoided to avoid
misinterpretation of questions asked as suggested by Blumberg, et al.
(2005). Piloting has also been done to minimize the ambiguity in the
questionnaire.
The questionnaire was sent to active internet users who were carefully
selected by the researcher for the purpose of this study. Researcher thinks
that the best understanding of the research depends on the selection of
sample. This research deals with consumer behavior linked with digital
media.

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3.5 THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SURVEY PERIOD
Polonsky & Waller (2005) have suggested that the response rate of the
respondents significantly depends on the length

of questionnaire,

personalization and introductory notification. Therefore, these factors
have also been taken care of while designing the questionnaire. The mind
sets of respondents were developed well in advance by informing them
about the questionnaire to be sent to them. The length of the designed
questionnaire is also appropriate; it consists of 27 questions which require
less than 15 minutes to answer them. It was distributed in nine parts to
assist the researcher to study and analyze the responses more precisely.
The respondents were given two weeks’ time to respond to the
questionnaire so the responses came in time, as delays in sending and
receiving the responses via email were already accounted for within the
two weeks’ time frame.

Breakup of Questionnaire

7

14
6

Consumer Behavior & Brand Awareness
Digital Media & Information
Purchase Behavior, Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty

Figure I: Breakup of questionnaires research area wise

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3.6 THE MEASUREMENT MODEL – LIKERT SCALE
The most

generally used psychometric scale

among

psychological

measurements that involve self-reporting is the Likert scale (Wakita, et al.,
2012). Likert Scale is used to gather the empirical data; this is a well
established research tool which allows ascribing quantitative value to
qualitative

data

making

it

amendable

to

statistical

analysis.

The

questionnaire was prepared to aid the respondents to understand the
questions easily and to answer swiftly. The Likert scale for the
questionnaire includes six variables from strongly agree to strongly
disagree giving the respondents a wide range to answer the questions. The
element of neutral response has been excluded from this research to
minimize ambiguity in the responses from respondents.

3.7 METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS
Kent (2001) opined that when the data is gathered, analysis of that data is
the next step. This analysis helps in providing information about the
research objectives and describing relationship among these objectives.
Quantitative and qualitative approaches are the most common tools of
data analysis. According to Saunders, et al. (2003), quantitative model is
based on a scientific approach (surveys, feedback forms) whereas
qualitative model is descriptive (case studies, interviews). This research
would make use of both the approaches as according to Feurer &
Chaharbaghi (1995) a right balance between the two approaches is helpful
in

the

achievement

and implementation

of the most

appropriate

researching strategy. The following illustration clarifies this balance
between the two approaches:

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Figure II: Contingent approach to research (Source: Feurer and Chaharbaghi, 1995)

3.7.1

RELIABILITY OF DATA
The consistency and accuracy of information gathered in a survey is
referred to as reliability of data by Flick (2006). According to him it is
easier and simpler to test the reliability of qualitative data in contrast to
the quantitative data. The method of data analysis used in this research
has been described by the researcher to avoid any issue with reliability
of data. Bryman (2004) suggested that repetition of the data collection
on different locations and occasions ensures reliability. Researcher has
collected data from consumers from ten different countries within two
weeks, making the data collected at multiple places and occasions to
ensure reliability. Transparency of theoretical work is also maintained by
relating the structure with the research and providing substantiation to
the conclusion drawn.

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3.7.2

VALIDITY OF DATA
According to Robson (2002) there are various types of errors or biases
that affect the research from the researchers’ point of view. Researcher
can mould and manipulate the responses received during the research in
order to make these compatible with the desired outcome of the
research.
The validity of content has been achieved, as opined by Brod, et al.
(2009), by generalizing the responses of the survey into a broader
domain with the intention of obtaining a representative of the whole
domain as relevant as possible. The researcher has presented the results
as received from the respondents but in a generalized manner. Efforts
have been made to avoid individual responses to be presented as the
representative of the whole survey.

3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
This research complies with The University of Northampton code of ethics
to account for core ethical reflection, covering informed consent and issues
of confidentiality. The business ethical requirements are observed during
this research and therefore the right of participants and data gathered
from research is fortified. According to Polansky (1998) there are various
ethical issues that are faced by researchers during data gathering. These
include subject recruitment issue (justification for sample chosen),
autonomy and information issues, data analysis issues, harm issues (any
harm to respondents physically or otherwise) and anonymity and
confidentiality issues.
Researcher has taken all necessary steps to comply all the ethical
considerations. The participants involved in this research were fully made
conscious of the research and any possible risk implicated, and it was
guaranteed that no participant will be affected by the research adversely.
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Anonymity is maintained of the respondents and can only be disclosed
with their consent. It was ensured that no disturbance is made to the
routine tasks of the participants. Therefore the questionnaire was sent to
them via email and it was filled and responded back by them according to
their

time

of convenience

within

the

requested two weeks. The

confidentiality of data is also ensured and no third party could have access
to the information gathered.

3.9 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter has provided detailed description of research methodologies
used and adopted in order to answer the research objectives. A mix of
purposive and snowball sampling methods is used to save time and get
data from more respondents. The questionnaire was introduced with the
reason for adopting primary research and the benefits of it for this
research.
Qualitative method is used to gather data while a mix of both qualitative
and quantitative methods are used to analyze the data gathered through
questionnaire. Compliance of code of ethics lay down by researchers and
The University of Northampton is also mentioned in the chapter.
Discussion based on the results of data gathered is carried out in the next
chapters with subsequent findings and conclusions drawn from the
discussion and findings under the literature reviewed in chapter 2 of this
dissertation. SPSS is used to analyze the data and the results are presented
in tabular and graphical illustrations.

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CHAPTER 4:
RESEARCH FINDINGS
AND ANALYSIS

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4. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
This chapter focuses on the research findings from the questionnaire (refer
Appendix – A) prepared under methods and procedures mentioned in previous
chapter, research methodology (refer Chapter 3) and analysis of these findings.
Research findings will be discussed under the areas discussed in literature review
(refer Chapter 2) to provide clarity to the reader and to provide a base for
discussion in proceeding chapter of this dissertation. Graphical presentation will
help in understanding the findings convenient.
The questionnaire was based on the literature review discussed in this research’s
Chapter 2. The questionnaire was sent to one hundred (100) consumers from
which seventy eight (78) consumers responded (refer figure III). These
respondents provided their feedback on every question of the questionnaire that
made it possible for the researcher to analyze the data in its entirety.

Response of Questionnaires Sent

22
Respondents who
replied
Respondents who
did not reply

78

Figure III: Breakup of response of questionnaires sent

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4.1 PILOT TEST
The pilot test was carried out for the questionnaire initially prepared by
the researcher by sending it to five respondents including a marketer, a
housewife, a postgraduate student, an online shopper and a professor of
marketing in Pakistan. Statements in the questionnaire were reviewed by
these people who are active internet users, to ensure that they had no
confusion in understanding it. Statements were amended in the light of
their feedback to make it easy to understand for the complete sample. The
final questionnaire (refer Appendix A) was sent to hundred consumers
following a mix of purposive and snowball sampling.

4.2 ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SAMPLE
The research questionnaire was sent to 100 consumers from ten different
countries across the world out of which 78 consumers participated in this
survey. The questionnaire was resent to the consumers who didn’t respond
in the first time to achieve uniformity in number of respondents from each
country. The researcher made every possible effort to get the uniformity,
though only seven responses were received from two countries in contrast
to eight from every other country. These countries included Australia (8),
Canada (8), Germany (8), India (8), Pakistan (8), South Africa (7),
Switzerland (7), United Kingdom (8), United Arab Emirates (8) and United
States of America (8).
The research is about the consumer behavior towards food products using
digital media so it was important to include the participants with the
background of using internet and online shopping. Their views have given
a better view about the research and are helpful in the answers to the
research question. Their opinion about the online information, perceptions
about quality, value, price and risk, online purchasing behavior, post
purchase behavior including satisfaction and brand loyalty has helped in
finding answer to the main research question of this dissertation.
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4.3 RELIABILITY TEST
The reliability of data and responses is one of the most important things in
any research as opined by (Flick, 2006). SPSS was used to test the reliability
of data through carrying out Cronbach’s Alpha analysis. According to
(Sijtsma, 2009), this is considered to be the most reported statistical
indicator of test scores’ quality. As per Table II, the score of Cronbach’s
alpha is above the acceptable limit of 0.70, which has been considered
highly reliable by researchers like (Carmines & Zeller, 1988; Bryman,
2004) and is represented in figure IV. These scores suggest that the
responses are internally consistent.
Reliability Statistics

Area of research

No. of Items

-

Consumer Behavior & Brand Awareness

-

Digital Media & Information

-

Purchase Behavior, Consumer Satisfaction and

Alpha

14

.798

6

Brand Loyalty

.759

7

.765

Table II: Cronbach’s Alpha showing Reliability Statistics

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Reliabilty of Responses
0.82
0.80

0.798

0.78

0.765

0.76

0.759
0.74
Cronbach's
Alpha

0.72

0.70
Consumer Behavior &
Brand Awareness

Digital Media &
Information

Purchase Behavior,
Customer Satisfaction
and Brand Loyalty

Figure IV: Cronbach’s Alpha above minimum acceptable limit of 0.7

4.4 COLLATING AND PRESENTING THE RESULTS
This research is focused on the research question “how do consumers use
digital media to research food products?” In order to analyze the responses
received through the survey, the researcher has aligned the responses with
the research objectives:
A.

How aware are the consumers about branded food products? –
Consumer behavior and Brand awareness

B.

Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they
look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses

C.

What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food
products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction,
brand loyalty

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SPSS was used to analyze the data collected through survey for addressing
the responses and collating these with the objectives and presenting the
same in tabular and graphical form.

4.4.1 HOW AWARE ARE THE CONSUMERS ABOUT BRANDED FOOD
PRODUCTS?

–

CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR

AND

BRAND

AWARENESS
The consumer behavior towards food products and brand awareness is
the essential part of this research and the major part of the
questionnaire was focused towards these areas. 81% respondents agreed
to the

statements in

the questionnaire representing

the

whole

population of seventy eight. The mean of this section i.e. 2.31 (calculated
by the sum total of means, divided by the number of questions) supports
this agreement towards the research questions related to this area.
These respondents agreed to the statements relating to perceptions
about quality, value, price and brand awareness. They responded about
perceived risk strongly in agreement. Table III presents the mean of each
area where likert scale was used for the questionnaire, scaling from 1
being strongly agree to 6 being strongly disagree. Figure V shows the
pictorial representation of individual areas with their respective means.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND
AWARENESS

N

Mean

ALL

2.31

PERCEIVED QUALITY
-

Std.
Deviation

1.15

2.73

I think quality is an important choice

78

-

I trust quality in online products

-

I think online products seem to be good
quality

2.63

1.397

78

criteria when I buy the product online

2.76

1.341

78

2.79

1.333
table continued …

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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND
AWARENESS

N

Mean

PERCEIVED VALUE
-

I think online products generally appear to

78

2.19

1.117

78

I think the package of online products
looks similar to the ones in stores

-

Deviation

2.01

be good value
-

Std.

2.54

1.439

78

1.29

.941

When I buy the online products, I would
like to be sure that I am getting my money’s
worth

PERCEIVED PRICE
-

2.53

I think price is an important factor when I
buy online products

-

The price of online products is generally
lower than I would expect them to be

-

I compare prices of other brands online
before I choose one

78

2.38

1.209

78

2.86

1.307

78

2.33

.784

PERCEIVED RISK
-

1.79

I am always certain that online brands
provide real value for money in terms of

78

2.31

1.435

78

1.54

.935

78

1.51

.849

product quality
-

When I buy a product online, I would never
make a mistake to buy wrong product

-

When I am researching a product online, I
will make that choice very carefully

BRAND AWARENESS
-

2.60

I search for the brand of food product I
recognize

-

I recognize a brand when it comes up in the
search

78

2.33

1.245

78

2.86

1.492

Table III: Consumer behavior and brand awareness statistical results

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3
2.5
2

2.73

1.5

2.6

2.53
2.01

1.79

1
0.5
0
Area of Research
Perceived Quality

Perceived Value

Perceived Risk

Perceived Price

Brand Awareness

Figure V: Consumer behavior and brand awareness graphical representation

4.4.1.1 CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS
The perceptions of consumer related to quality, value, price and risk
are essential to discuss here as they affect the consumers’ behavior
related to searching for information and buying for food products as
well. Positive perceptions of the consumer towards food products
would lead to buying the products, and subsequently good product
experience will lead to consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Therefore it is important to put forward the findings of the survey
related to consumer’s perceptions.

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A. PERCEIVED QUALITY

Perceived Quality
25%
Agree

75%

Disagree

Figure VI: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Quality

The first objective of this research is focused towards the consumer
behavior and brand awareness of food products. Consumer behavior
was mainly aimed towards consumer perceptions.
Figure VI shows the responses of consumers focused towards quality
perception. Out of seventy eight respondents, 75% believes that
quality is an important choice criterion and they trust that the food
products available online are of good quality. 25% people disagreed
with the statements as they think that quality of the online products is
not good and that food products should be bought in stores. 18% of
the total population (refer A-1 Appendix A) preferred other factors
such as price over quality while shopping online.

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100%
82%
73%

80%

71%

60%
40%
20%

27%

29%

18%

Agree
Disagree

0%
I think quality is I trust quality in I think online
an important online products products seem
choice criteria
to be good
when I buy the
quality
product online
Figure VII: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Quality

Figure VII shows that 82% respondents agreed (refer A-1 Appendix A)
that they consider quality as the major element while searching for
products online and also while subsequently purchasing the products.
73% respondents (refer A-2 Appendix A) trusted in the quality of the
online food products, while 71% (refer A-3 Appendix A) perceive the
quality of online food products to be good. The respondents in
disagreement to these statements believe that quality is not the major
element for online food products, and they don’t trust the quality and
perceive the quality of these products to be good.

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B. PERCEIVED VALUE

Perceived Value
16%

Agree
Disagree

84%

Figure VIII: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Value

Figure VIII shows the consumers’ perception about value associated to
food products available online. Overall 84% of the 78 respondents
believe the food products should provide value for money spent and
they consider that these products appear to be of good value. 16%
respondents think otherwise that these products do not worth buying
online.
100%

96%

86%

80%

69%

60%
31%

40%
20%

14%

4%

0%
I think online
I think the
products
package of
generally appear online products
to be good value looks similar to
the ones in
stores

Agree
Disagree

When I buy the
online products,
I would like to
be sure that I
am getting my
money’s worth

Figure IX: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Value

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Figure IX portrays that 86% respondents (refer B-1 Appendix A)
perceived that the food products available online appear to have a
good value. 69% respondents (refer B-2 Appendix A) believed that the
package of online products is similar to the ones in stores and 96%
(refer B-3 Appendix A) wanted to get the best value of the money they
spent on online food products. The respondents in disagreement
perceived the value of food products available online are not worthy.

C. PERCEIVED PRICE

Perceived Price
19%

Agree

81%

Disagree

Figure X: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Price

Figure X portrays consumers’ perception about value associated to
food products available online. Overall 81% of the respondents believe
that price is also an important choice criterion when they are
searching for food products online. They compare the prices of
similar products before they make their choice to buy any product.
19% of the respondents preferred other factors such as quality to be
more important than price.

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100%

90%

88%

80%

64%

60%
36%

40%
20%

12%

10%

Agree
Disagree

0%
I think price is
The price of I compare prices
an important online products of other brands
factor when I
is generally
online before I
buy online
lower than I
choose one
products
would expect
them to be
Figure XI: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Price

Figure XI displays that 88% respondents (refer C-1 Appendix A)
consider the price of a food product to be an important factor while
searching and buying the product. 64% (refer C-2 Appendix A) think
that the prices are cheaper online. And 90% (refer C-3 Appendix A)
compare the prices of similar food products online while searching
and purchasing. The respondents in disagreement did not think that
price is the major element in their search for food products online.
These people emphasize more on quality and other elements. These
quality conscious people do not compare the prices of other brands
before they decide what product to buy.

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D. PERCEIVED RISK

Perceived Risk
13%

Agree
Disagree

87%

Figure XII: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Risk

Figure XII displays the consumers’ perception about risks associated
to food products available online. Overall 87% of the respondents
perceive the risks attached to the online information and products
beforehand. They are careful in making their choices and would avoid
any mistakes. Overall 13% of the respondents are not very careful in
the risk assessment about food products while searching online.

80%

95%

91%

100%
76%

60%
40%

24%

20%

9%

5%

0%
I am always
When I buy a
When I am
certain that product online, I researching a
online brands
would never product online, I
provide real
make a mistake will make that
value for money to buy wrong
choice very
in terms of
product
carefully
product quality

Agree
Disagree

Figure XIII: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Risk

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Figure XIII reflects that 76% respondents (refer D-1 Appendix A)
believed that the online brands provide real value for money, 91%
(refer D-2 Appendix A) would be keen never to make a mistake while
buying food products online. They wanted to be sure that the food
products available online match their need and requirement before
they make decision to buy these. 95% (refer D-3 Appendix A) would
make their choice very carefully. On the other hand, the people who
disagreed were the ones who like to experience new things and hence
they would take risks in buying food products online.

4.4.1.2 BRAND AWARENESS

Brand Awareness
22%
Agree

78%

Disagree

Figure XIV: Responses for the questionnaire section – Brand Awareness

Figure XIV portrays the responses about the brand awareness, brand
recognition and brand recall of the food products available online.
Overall 78% of the respondents are aware of the brand of food
products they search for online or recognize these brands when they
come up in the search results. 22% of the respondents are indifferent
as to which brand to search for or does not recognize the brands
when they come up in the search results.

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100%
85%
80%

71%

60%
Agree

40%

29%

Disagree

15%

20%
0%

I search for the brand of
I recognize a brand
food product I recognize when it comes up in the
search
Figure XV: Responses for the individual statements – Brand Awareness

It is clear from figure XV that 85% respondents (refer E-1 Appendix A)
searched for the food products they already recognized and 71%
(refer E-2 Appendix A) responded that they recognize food products
and brands when these come up in the search.

4.4.2 WHICH MEDIA(S) DO THEY USE TO RESEARCH AND WHAT
INFORMATION
PRODUCTS?

DO

THEY

LOOK

FOR

ONLINE

ON

FOOD

– DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES

Consumers are using digital media to search for food products as it is
evident from the responses of the questionnaire. 85% of the respondents
agree that they use digital media such as smart phone, laptops, tablet
PCs to search for food products online. The overall mean of this area i.e.
2.5 (refer table IV), suggests that responses are internally consistent. The
individual means of digital media and information are graphically
represented in figure XVI.

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DIGITAL MEDIA AND INFORMATION
SEARCH

N

Mean

ALL

2.50

DIGITAL MEDIA
-

I use smart phone to search for food
I use laptop/tablet PC to search for food
I always search for products using digital
media

2.33

1.560

78

2.13

1.221

78

2.10

1.039

INFORMATION
-

2.81

I think products available online have

78

comprehensive product information
-

I think the information available online is
relevant

-

I think the information available online is
updated

2.99

1.274

78

2.54

1.439

78

2.91

1.637

Table IV: Digital media and information search statistical results
3
2.5

2.81

2
1.5

1.15

78

products online
-

Deviation

2.19

products online
-

Std.

2.19

1
0.5
0
Area of Research
Digital Media

Information

Figure XVI: Digital media and information graphical representation

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A. USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA

Use of Digital Media
15%

Agree

85%

Disagree

Figure XVII: Responses for the questionnaire section – Use of Digital Media

The second objective of this research is focused on the use of digital
media and information search by consumers related to food products.
The questionnaire included statements related to the use of digital
media by consumers and the frequency of searching about food
products using these digital media.
Figure XVII shows that overall 85% respondents actively use digital
media including smart phones, tablet PCs and laptops to search for
the food products online. 92% respondents have accepted that they
always use digital media to search for information about food
products which was one of the statement in the questionnaire (refer F1 Appendix A). Overall 15% respondents use other traditional digital
media to search for food products.

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100%
80%

92%

88%
76%

60%
40%

Agree

24%

20%

12%

8%

Disagree

0%
I use smart
I use
I always search
phone to search laptop/tablet PC for products
for food
to search for
using digital
products online food products
media
online
Figure XVIII: Responses for the individual statements – Use of Digital Media

76% respondents (refer F-1 Appendix A) frequently use smart phones
to search for food products online as shown in figure XVIII. 88%
respondents (refer F-2 Appendix A) use other digital media gadgets
like laptops and tablet PCs including smart phones for the same
purpose. 92% respondents (refer F-3 Appendix A) replied that they
always search for information related to food products online. The
respondents who disagreed are the ones who still refer to traditional
digital media for information search regarding food products or
prefer going to stores for the same purpose.

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B. INFORMATION SEARCH

Information Search
31%
Agree

69%

Disagree

Figure XIX: Responses for the questionnaire section – Information Search

Figure XIX shows responses of the consumers related to the quality of
information available to consumers about the food products. Overall
69% of the respondents believe that the information available online
about food products is comprehensive, relevant and updated. Whereas
31% believes that the information is not comprehensive and is
outdated.
100%

80%

72%

69%

65%

60%
40%

28%

31%

35%
Agree

20%

Disagree

0%
I think products
I think the
I think the
available online information
information
have
available online available online
comprehensive
is relevant
is updated
product
information
Figure XX: Responses for the individual statements – Information Search

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More than 65% of the total respondents agreed that the information
related to food products online is comprehensive and updated which
exhibits their exploratory surfing behavior. However 28% to 35%
respondents think otherwise as shown in figure XX; according to their
responses the information available online is neither comprehensive
nor updated.

4.4.3 WHAT IS THE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS AFTER
THEY

RESEARCH ABOUT FOOD

PURCHASE

BEHAVIOR

SATISFACTION,

OF

PRODUCTS? –

CONSUMERS,

CONSUMER

BRAND LOYALTY

Table V displays the statistical results for the consumer purchasing
behavior, their satisfaction of the product and brand loyalty. The overall
mean of 2.71 suggests that the respondents have agreed that they prefer
buying online due to convenience. They are satisfied with the products
they buy and turn into brand ambassadors recommending the products
to their acquaintances. The individual means of these three areas of
research are graphically represented in figure XXI.

PURCHASE BEHAVIOR, CONSUMER
SATISFACTION AND BRAND LOYALTY

N

Mean

ALL

2.71

PURCHASE BEHAVIOR
I think products are worth buying online

-

I consider purchasing the products online

1.36

I always buy products online

69 ~

78

2.99

1.274

78

2.41

1.409

78

because it is convenient

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2.50

-

-

Std.

2.10

REHMAN ASLAM

1.315
table continued …
Digital Media & Consumer Behavior
Digital Media & Consumer Behavior
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Digital Media & Consumer Behavior
Digital Media & Consumer Behavior
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Digital Media & Consumer Behavior

  • 1. HOW DO CONSUMERS USE DIGITAL MEDIA TO RESEARCH FOOD PRODUCTS? REHMAN ASLAM MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 2013
  • 2. COURSE : MBA MODULE CODE : MKTM021 SUPERVISING TUTOR : DAVID ALCOCK STUDENT NO. : 11429586 STUDENT NAME : REHMAN ASLAM SUBMISSION DATE : JANUARY 28, 2013 WORD COUNT : 15,957 MKTM021 ~ 2~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 3. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................. i 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 6 1.1 1.2 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ........................................................................... 8 1.3 IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH .................................................................................................10 1.4 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH ........................................................................12 1.5 LIMITATION OF RESEARCH ....................................................................................................12 1.6 2. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 8 ORGANIZATION / STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH ..................................................................14 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 16 2.1 2.2 BRAND AWARENESS OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS FOOD PRODUCTS ...........................22 2.3 DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES ..............................................................................................25 2.4 PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS ..............................................................................28 2.5 CONSUMER SATISFACTION ...................................................................................................32 2.6 BRAND LOYALTY .....................................................................................................................33 2.7 3. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR SPECIFIC TO FOOD PRODUCTS ......................................... 18 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................34 RESEARCH METHODOLGY ...................................................................................... 38 3.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................40 3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN ...................................................................................41 3.3 METHOD OF SAMPLING .........................................................................................................42 3.4 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION .........................................................................................43 3.5 THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SURVEY PERIOD .....................................................................44 3.6 THE MEASUREMENT MODEL – LIKERT SCALE ...................................................................45 3.7 METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS .............................................................................................45 MKTM021 ~ 3~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 4. 3.7.1 RELIABILTY OF DATA .............................................................................. 46 3.7.2 VALIDITY OF DATA .................................................................................................47 3.8 3.9 4. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION ....................................................................................................47 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................48 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ................................................................. 49 4.1 PILOT TEST ............................................................................................................ 51 4.2 ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SAMPLE ........................................................................... 51 4.3 RELIABILITY TEST ....................................................................................................................52 4.4 COLLATING AND PRESENTING THE RESULTS ...................................................................53 4.4.1 HOW AWARE ARE THE CONSUMERS ABOUT BRANDED FOOD PRODUCTS? CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND AWARENESS ................ 54 4.4.1.1. CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS .....................................................................56 A. PERCEIVED QUALITY ..............................................................................57 B. PERCEIVED VALUE ...................................................................................59 C. PERCEIVED PRICE .....................................................................................60 D. PERCEIVED RISK .......................................................................................62 4.4.1.2. BRAND AWARENESS ................................................................................63 4.4.2 WHICH MEDIA(S) DO THEY USE TO RESEARCH AND WHAT INFORMATION DO THEY LOOK FOR ONLINE ON FOOD PRODUCTS? DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES ................................................................. 64 A. B. 4.4.3 USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA ...............................................................................66 INFORMATION SEARCH ...............................................................................68 WHAT IS THE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS AFTER THEY RESEARCH ABOUT FOOD PRODUCTS? PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS, CONSUMER SATISFACTION, BRAND LOYALTY ......................................... 69 A. PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS ...................................................71 MKTM021 ~ 4~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 5. B. 4.5 5. CONSUMER SATISFACTION AND BRAND LOYALTY .............................72 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ......................................................73 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................... 74 5.1 MAJOR FINDINGS THROUGH THE SURVEY ........................................................................76 5.2 HOW AWARE ARE THE CONSUMERS ABOUT BRANDED FOOD PRODUCTS?7CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND AWARENES .............................. 77 5.2.1 5.2.2 PERCEIVED VALUE ...................................................................................................78 5.2.3 PERCEIVED PRICE .....................................................................................................78 5.2.4 PERCEIVED RISK .......................................................................................................79 5.2.5 5.3 PERCEIVED QUALITY ............................................................................... 78 BRAND AWARENESS ................................................................................................79 WHICH MEDIA(S) DO THEY USE TO RESEARCH AND WHAT INFORMATION DO THEY LOOK FOR ONLINE ON FOOD PRODUCTS? – DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USE .................................................................................................................. 79 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.4 USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA ..........................................................................................80 INFORMATION SEARCH ..........................................................................................80 WHAT IS THE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS AFTER THEY RESEARCH ABOUT FOOD PRODUCTS? – PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS, CONSUMER SATISFACTION, BRAND LOYALTY ......................................................................... 80 5.4.1 5.4.2 5.5 PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS ..............................................................81 CONSUMER SATISFACTION AND BRAND LOYALTY ........................................81 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ......................................... 82 6. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 83 7. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 86 8. APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 96 APPENDIX – A: QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................ 97 APPENDIX – B: LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................... 101 APPENDIX – C: LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................ 102 MKTM021 ~ 5~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 7. 1. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this research being undertaken is to find the best possible answer to the following question which roots into the consumer behavior: “HOW DO CONSUMERS USE DIGITAL MEDIA TO RESEARCH FOOD PRODUCTS?” Consumer behavior is an ongoing process and does not only happen at the time of transaction between consumer and seller. It is said that understanding consumer behavior is good business (Solomon, et al., 2010). Marketers understand the consumer needs and try to satisfy their needs to the extent they come to know about these. The use of digital media has changed the way consumers used to search for food products and interact with the business (Lin & Hsieh, 2007). It engages the consumer in an interactive manner while providing their required information with various alternatives as well. A good example of the use of digital media for providing information related to food products and simultaneously engaging the consumers with the product is the launch of Magnum’s facebook page in twenty countries in February 2011 by Unilever. It gained more than one million fans within five months only. It invites fans to share their views and experiences on Magnum along with their ideas about the variety of decadent delights and providing them information about the products at the same time. The fans share their indulgences and get information about the upcoming ones. The launch of Magnum’s online game in early 2011 took internet by storm. The fans can play through the luxurious brands’ websites making the character move across these (Anon., 2011). The study of consumer behavior in this era of contemporary digital media is the subject of this research. The growing use of smart phones and other digital media for search of information online has become popular and consumers prefer using these new digital media over the traditional ones including television and radio (Kiljander, et al., 2003). This emergent trend has affected MKTM021 ~ 7~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 8. the consumer behavior towards food products and their perceptions towards the same which has attracted the researcher to undertake this research. This research would be useful for companies as to what should be their focus while making strategies for online shoppers. 1.1 BACKGROUND From the late nineteenth century to approximately 1970s, various mass media had developed, labeled as traditional media from today’s perspective (Kung, et al., 2008). The technological changes after 1970s provided opportunities for the new media to emerge. Lievrouw & Livingstone (2002) discussed that the key concept behind new media is of ‘convergence’ boundaries because between the technological previously changes have independent areas. blurred the Broadcasting, communications, electronics, computing and publishing technologies have merged. Gorman & McLean (2003) opined that collectively these technologies can be categorized as content, platforms and distribution. These have converged to provide information to the consumers at a single source. This convenience of getting information at one place has triggered the use of digital media tremendously over the past few years and has affected the consumer behavior. The use of traditional marketing mediums including print, television and out-of-home advertising has its own importance but it has been less effective in today’s market as compared to the contemporary digital mediums including internet and mobile marketing. 1.2 UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Consumer behavior is the set of processes involved when the individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose products or services to satisfy their needs or desires (Solomon, et al., 2010). It includes search for information related to the products and services as well. MKTM021 ~ 8~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 9. The behavior differs while dealing with products and dealing with services. The risk associated with the purchase of a service is higher than that of a product. According to Blythe (2008), a poor product can be returned or replaced but the poor service cannot be returned. For example, a faulty shaving machine can be returned to the seller for replacement but a bad haircut couldn’t be replaced with a good one. Hence the consumers have to be more cautious and have to gather more information regarding a service than a product. It is important to know what consumer behavior is because it is the major part of this research. According to Jayawardhena, et al. (2007), consumer behavior in traditional shopping and online shopping are mostly the same. Customers usually don’t use complete information about products that is available to them while shopping. Their buying decisions are sometimes habitual or automatic and sometimes influenced by emotions or behavior of others towards that product. Consumers read information only when they perceive any benefit from doing it. Schiffman & Kanuk (2004) discussed that consumers trust brands and label names that are recognized, this actually distorts their buying decisions. Their behavior is influenced by the way information is presented to them and the situation in which the choice is made. These are the shortcuts that consumers use to shorten the decision making process, which actually distort their behavior. Consumer behavior is affected by the losses they had suffered from or known from others. This repugnance behavior towards loss restricts consumers to change or avoid their decisions no matter how many benefits come with the losses. Consumers are more reluctant to suffer loss than they are motivated by the benefits of the product. The value placed to any product is inconsistent. Consumers tend to change their priorities and value placed on a product time to time. Their emotional MKTM021 ~ 9~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 10. attachments may restrict their behavior to replace the old products with the new and improved ones even if it is cost effective to do so. Blackwell, et al. (2001) explained that consumers’ behavior is influenced by their social circle they move in. All consumers are susceptible to social pressures as well as situational effects. Relatives, colleagues, neighbors or friends buying a product can influence the decision making of consumers towards buying the similar product. This refers to the indirect influence on consumer behavior. More direct could be the salesperson persuading to buy a certain product. A wide range of similar products can turn out to be irresistible to consumers making the process of decision making difficult. Consumers tend to research less, consider fewer choices, and evaluate available information differently as the range of choices increase. It can confuse the consumers about their prime objective expected from the product. According to Armstrong & Kotler (2012), consumers might not buy the product just for its functional need; they might make a decision to buy it to make a statement about their personality and what they would like to be. According to a report by Policy Studies Institute (2006), the above information about consumers helps us in understanding their behavior and the factors by which it is influenced and not necessarily only by the need of the product. 1.3 IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH Torkzadeh & Dhillon (2002) opined that consumers searching for variety of products and services, and purchasing these online have been acknowledged as a specialized segment of the market. Their behavior as consumers is now being regarded as significant to the businesses and marketers. MKTM021 ~ 10 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 11. This research, therefore, would focus on consumer behavior towards food products and use of digital media by these consumers to search for information about food products online. This research would be helpful to marketers while preparing their marketing strategies especially for online shoppers. Consumers change their behavior with time and circumstances within which they are purchasing products and services. According to Solomon, et al. (2010), the criteria consumers use to assess products and services in a situation may differ from those in different situation. Consumers expect the advertisements and branding on digital media to be interactive and informative Emerald Group Publishing Limited (2011). It influences their decisions to buy or abstain from buying that product. Burger King launched Subservient Chicken, a viral campaign to promote its new line of sandwiches. It created a website where visitors could ask the chicken to do various actions including dancing and watching television. This was filmed by the creative team in collaboration with an actor wearing a chicken suit acting around four hundred different actions. The campaign gathered the attention of consumers and attracted them to play with the chicken. The results showed nine percent a week increase in the month following this campaign (Gillin, 2009). The increase in sales for Burger King indicated the behavior of consumers after playing with the chicken online, pushing people to buy the Subservient Chicken. Consumer behavior can be studied closely by the response of consumers to such campaigns, including consumer engagement, use of digital media and information search, impact on their purchasing behavior. Such campaigns also help companies to study consumer behavior closely and design the campaigns accordingly to engage the consumers. MKTM021 ~ 11 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 12. 1.4 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH The prime objective of this research is to find answer to the research question “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” The research question can be dismantled in the following objectives for the purpose of specific and focused research: A. How aware are the consumers about branded food products? – Consumer behavior and Brand awareness B. Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses C. What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty This research will find out the answers to the above objectives that will collectively help in answering the research question. We have taken help from various studies and theories of consumer behavior to achieve results from this research. Theories of consumer behavior, purchasing behavior and decision, importance of consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty are discussed to carry out the research that how consumers research about food products using digital media. Literature related to digital media, its history and evolution and use has also been discussed to research why consumers use digital media to research and what digital media they use. 1.5 LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH As mentioned above in 1.2 that consumers’ behavior tends to change with situations; there are certain variables that influence the behavior of a consumer. These are categorized MKTM021 ~ 12 ~ into demographics, REHMAN ASLAM geographic,
  • 13. psychographic and behavioral by the researchers. The variables include age, gender, social class, ethnic group, region, personality, lifestyle, brand loyalty, benefits desired of the product or service etc (Solomon, et al., 2010). This research would be limited to the consumer behavior towards two types of food products that are getting famous in recent times; these include ready-to-eat food products and organic food products. This will help the research to be focused on specific food products and consumer behavior towards these. It will also help in arriving at the findings of what digital media is being used by consumers for research. Ready-to-Eat Food Products have been described by Ramasamy, et al., (2005) as the food presented or out for sale without further cooking or preparation, which is packaged on the site where they are being sold and are ready for consumption and utilization by consumers. Canned foods, convenience foods, fast foods, frozen foods, instant products, dried foods, preserved foods, etc. all comes under ready-to-eat foods. Usually, food is prepared keeping in view various factors including the habits, tastes, social status, availability, traditions, economic factor and geographic location of the consumers. Awareness is being created about these food products specially through digital media. Organic Food Products have been defined by Lockie, et al. (2006) as produce grown using practices that enhance soil health and natural ecological processes of nutrient and energy recycling which reduces the impacts of farming using artificial fertilizers and farming products. Generally health conscious consumers buy organic food even though these are expensive than the usual food products. Another limitation of this research is the sample size which was selected on personal contacts basis stretched over ten countries with different cultures, technological infrastructures, consumer’s habits; it was restricted MKTM021 ~ 13 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 14. to ten respondents per country but the people were chosen on the basis of their inclination towards and use of internet for shopping food products online. 1.6 ORGANIZATION / STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH The research paper has been organized in the following structure to achieve the objectives: A. Chapter 1: Introduction to the research being conducted with the objectives achieved. B. Chapter 2: Review of literature discussing the research objective and also the criticism about the research area. C. Chapter 3: Research methodology and design discussing the approach taken for research and data collection methods to establish the objectives. D. Chapter 4: Research findings and Analysis through the approach taken and data collected and presented including the qualitative data answering the research objectives. E. Chapter 5: Discussion on the results arrived at in chapter 4 application of theories relating to the research objectives in line with the results. F. Chapter 6: Conclusion and summary of the research findings and recommendations, if any, for improvement. MKTM021 ~ 14 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 15. G. Chapter 7: Appendices including the survey questionnaire. H. Chapter 8: References from the literature supporting the research. MKTM021 ~ 15 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 17. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter focuses on finding the answers to the research question through the published research carried out in past regarding consumer behavior specific to food products, brand awareness of food products, use of digital media, purchase behavior of consumers researching about products online, and the relationship among brand awareness, use of digital media and consumer behavior regarding purchase of food products. The research question “HOW DO CONSUMERS USE DIGITAL MEDIA TO RESEARCH FOOD PRODUCTS?” is presented and reviewed under the following objectives: A. How aware are the consumers about branded food products? – Consumer behavior and Brand awareness B. Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses C. What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty These three objectives are further distributed in the following areas of study to emphasize on the research in detail: 2.1 Consumer behavior specific to food products; important to explore the behavior of consumers aiming towards the objective that how they research about food products. 2.2 Brand awareness of consumers towards food products; the study about awareness of consumers towards food products is important in answering MKTM021 ~ 17 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 18. the objective and explains why consumers actually do the research about these products. 2.3 Digital media and its uses; history of digital media and its use in today’s world is essential in answering the research objective that which digital media are most commonly used by consumers to research about food products. 2.4 Purchase behavior of consumers; the behavior of consumers to buy any product is essential in finding the answer to the research carried out because the consumers usually research about products when they have an intention to buy those products. 2.5 Consumer Satisfaction; the satisfaction of consumers by the information available to them online and also their post-purchase satisfaction is necessary to help in finding answer to the research question why consumers research online. 2.6 Brand loyalty; the behavior of consumers towards a brand being loyal to it would help in the main research to answer why consumer research about any product online. The study of the above areas related to consumer behavior and digital media will assist in developing the research methodology and subsequent findings with areas of improvements related to the research. 2.1 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR SPECIFIC TO FOOD PRODUCTS This objective relates to the consumer behavior specific to food products. It will help in finding answer towards our main objective “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” and developing an understanding of their behavior towards two main types of food products, ready-to-eat food products and organic food products. These types of food products are getting famous in today’s fast paced working world and health conscious people from this fast paced world. MKTM021 ~ 18 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 19. Capaldi (2006) discussed that consumer behavior is product specific which is proven to be true from the studies of other disciplines as well. The inspirations that persuade consumer’s decision for a cellular phone are poles apart from the ones that drive the decision of buying a new car. According to Blythe (2008), there is a huge room for researchers to learn from exploring how consumers behave in different ways when purchasing different types of products. This section presents an overview of recent research from marketing about consumer behavior specific to food products. Related literature from other disciplines of study has been discussed in this section as well. The category of food and drink serve as a necessary part in consumers’ lives. Consumers are well aware of this group of products. Specific consumer behavior can be examined through the psychology and composition of the consumption of food, which Capaldi (2006) suggests is explained by a number of reasons including food preferences are extraordinarily defiant to change, preference for a food increases with consumption, flavor-flavor learning and the dessert effect. a. Food preferences are extraordinarily defiant to change: food behavior is much less likely to change unlike other behaviors, as long as the consumer does not experience an adverse effect to the food such as food poisoning or nutritional deficiencies. b. Consumption of food’s relation to preference: the more consumers consume any food, the more they develop a preference for it. Shah & Oppenheimer (2008) have termed as ‘heuristics’ by researchers. c. Flavor-flavor learning: the preference for a new food is more likely to develop if it is matched with the consumption of an already liked food. d. The dessert effect: food relates not only to our hunger, health and tastes for certain products but also to our lifestyle, family and personality. Lonneker, et al. (2008) suggest buying and eating food is MKTM021 ~ 19 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 20. no longer just an issue of sustenance, but one of status, personal selfmodeling and identity: opening a refrigerator in front of strangers ‘is like baring the soul’. Ozaki, et al. (2008) considered it tricky to study the consumer behavior regarding their purchasing preferences towards food products. Their study disclosed that consumers usually present socially popular answers when inquired about their behavior towards the purchase of food products, this leads to a difference of opinion between stated inclinations and their actual behavior. Consumers find it difficult to express and justify their motivators for making a decision for food purchases. Just (2006) discussed that consumer behavior towards the purchases of food products is probably motivated by an automatic and emotive thought process than controlled and cognitive process. This is evident by the regularity with which they buy food and it is dependent on much emotional and automatic favoritism. Food satisfies one of the most basic needs of consumers, i.e. hunger. The preference and habit of a specific food product would be affected if the consumer is hungry. Hence, the behavior of consumers is different in different circumstances. Cotton (2007) explored the major development in the food segment in relation to the promotion of specialist food producers. He reported the emerging trend of status symbols being transformed into status lifestyles. Consumers want better products rather than wanting more as the levels of prosperity increases and lifestyles gets better. Likewise, people would like to get the best in contrast to them wanting more in past as their status improves. Different cultures have different views regarding environmentally preferred food products and these products are desired to be consumed; no matter how consumers link these to their purchasing behavior. Baker & Hart (2008) explored this development of consumers towards seeking higher quality and coined the emergence of such consumers’ group as ‘Transumers’ (Trendwatching.com, 2006). Their MKTM021 ~ 20 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 21. status lifestyle is one of transience which is driven exclusively by enjoying as many diverse products as feasible. However, the search for status lifestyles can contribute directly to the strengths of specialist food brands including environmentally preferable products, by offering experience and participation. This can be experienced through digital media or prospects for consumers to visit the food production site. Consumers are shifting from home cooking towards ready-to-eat food and dining out. Basically this is due to the modern lifestyle that leaves the consumer with less time for them while earning good money. The consumption of convenience meals is growing among the consumers; however, the consumers are also attracting towards a more relaxed entertaining approach to cooking for weekend meals including celebrations. In terms of marketing, Blythe (2008) proposed the use of cobranding for local products and ingredients to make the derivation of food more obvious and to increase food’s desirability. For example the use of milk from local farm with tea will possibly raise the value of both brands. Moving towards finding the answers to the research being undertaken, the researcher thinks that consumers’ perceptions are important to study in this research as according to Moorthy & Hawkins (2005) these affect the behavior of consumers towards a brand or product. These include quality perception, price perception, value perception and risk perception. a. perceived quality is considered as the most important driver of a consumer’s buying behavior De Maeyer & Estelami (2011). The quality of food products highly influence the attitude of consumer to search for any brand online. b. perceived price is another basic factor that consumer takes into consideration while searching for any product online and subsequently buying the product. c. perceived value has superseded quality in some respects as contended by Cronin, et al. (2000) and satisfaction Sweeney, et al. MKTM021 ~ 21 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 22. (1999). The consumers perceive high value for their money spent on purchase of food products. d. perceived risk is the significance and uncertainty of consequences associated to any product Cho & Lee (2006) that a consumer assess in a decision making situation. The analysis of these perceptions would help this research to gather valid data that will help in arriving at a conclusion to research question “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” As the researchers like (Capaldi, 2006; Blythe, 2008) suggested that consumer behavior is product specific, this research will therefore be finding answers for consumer behavior and the use of digital media specific to food products. 2.2 BRAND AWARENESS OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS FOOD PRODUCTS This objective relates to the awareness of food products among consumers and its importance. A. How aware are the consumers about branded food products? Brand awareness has been described by Keller (2008) as the strength of the brand itself in memory as reflected by consumers’ ability to identify various brand elements such as brand name, character, logo, symbol, packaging, and slogan under different situations. Several measures of awareness of brand elements are used by marketers to know the relative importance of brand awareness for consumer behavior and its role in the success of the marketing program. According to Solomon, et al. (2010), these elements include brand recognition, brand recall, corrections for guessing and strategic implications. MKTM021 ~ 22 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 23. a. Brand Recognition is the identification of brand by consumers under a variety of circumstances and can rest on the identification of any of the brand elements. There are six criteria for brand elements in general including memo ability, meaningfulness, likability, transferability, adaptability and protect ability (de Chernatony, 2010). Variety of recognition tests are used by marketers and researchers ranging from basic to somewhat subtle tests. In basic tests, consumers are given a set of individual items orally or visually and asked whether they have previously heard or seen these items. While in other tests, perceptually degraded versions of products, which are distorted or masked, are given to consumers for brand recognition. Keller (2008) discussed that packaging is really important for brand recognition. The ideal conditions to recognize a brand by its packaging, as considered by researchers are, when a consumer i. with 20 – 20 vision ii. is face-to-face with a package iii. at a distance of less than five feet iv. under ideal lighting conditions. However the conditions under which the consumer shop may not be ideal, therefore a number of specific criteria are used by researchers to test the effectiveness of package for recognition. According to Keller (2008), these include the degree of shelf impact, recall of specific design elements of a package, distance and angle at which the package is first identified, speed with which the package can be identified and perceived package size. Marketers can determine the existence of specific brand elements and the extent of their strength of the association for brand recognition, by applying these direct and indirect measures and criteria. These measures provide an approximation MKTM021 ~ 23 ~ of potential REHMAN ASLAM recall-ability;
  • 24. therefore Temporal (2010) believes that we need measures of brand recall to determine whether consumers actually recall the brand elements under different scenarios. b. Brand Recall is a more demanding memory task not just asking consumers to say whether they have seen it before or not, but consumers have to retrieve the actual brand elements from their memory when given some related cue or probe. According to Franzen & Moriarty (2009), the most important issue is the prominence of brand, how quickly does a consumer recalls a brand; do they recall the brand under right circumstances? Is it automatically or easily recalled? Is it the first brand they recall? Test involving brand name recognition with missing letters Keller (2008) (refer Table I) may be particularly important for consumers to recall brands with high level of recognition. 1. D__NE_ DISNEY 2. K_D_K KODAK 3. L_G_ LEGO 4. N_K_ NIKE 5. G_LL__T_ GILLETTE 6. H_LL__RK HALLMARK 7. HY__T HYATT 8. D_LT_ DELTA Table I: Brand Awareness Test (Top of the Mind) It is evident from Table I that a brand with high level of awareness will be identified and recognized under less than ideal conditions with less information. The purchasing behavior of consumers is greatly subjective to awareness and attitude towards the product. The major source of information was considered to be the commercial advertisements on television and also the MKTM021 ~ 24 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 25. product displays in the retail stores. Whatever the source of information be it, consumers are affected by the information they get about food products. Ramasamy, et al. (2005) believes that the decision making process of consumers is based on various features of the products including their own opinion of the product or brand. 2.3 DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES The objective of discussing the digital media and its uses would help in answering the research question to explain what digital media is used by the consumers and why they use it. At the start of twenty-first century, some emerging media appear to have the potential of influencing how consumers access information about the products. According to Gorman & McLean (2003), this happened because the traditional media companies have adapted to deliver information about their products in a diverse manner. The use of new technologies by companies to serve customers is rapidly growing. Technological interfaces, called as Self-service technologies (SSTs) enable consumers to produce a service independent of direct employee interaction (Meuter, et al., 2003). According to Lin & Hsieh (2007) it has changed the way consumers interact with companies to create service outcomes. These new media include personal digital assistants and associated handheld devices including cellular phones. According to Gorman & McLean (2003), it also includes the devices that use WAP technology to access information electronically. Researchers suggest that marketspace transaction is replacing traditional marketplace transaction. Marketspace is referred to a virtual domain where products and services are available as digital information and can be disseminated through information based mediums (Rayport & Sviokla, MKTM021 ~ 25 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 26. 1995). Marketspace transactions do not require any interpersonal contact between the buyer and seller, therefore the information conveyed through the digital media should have integrity, authenticity, accuracy and completeness. A. Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they look for online on food products? There is no doubt the rapid pace of digital media growth has transformed the way consumers think, behave and interact with each other and with businesses. However, most consumer products companies struggle with adapting their strategies, capabilities and internal processes to meet these new consumer needs. Kung, et al. (2008) discussed that this major shift in the consumers’ dialogue with brand is because of the use of internet and contemporary new media. Feedback was restricted to one way communication as the information about these brands was disseminated consumers through television, newspapers and radio. Consumers use digital and social media throughout the purchasing process, from searching for a product, to the identification of product and comparison with similar other products, to purchasing and post-purchase customer services. The opportunity to engage with the consumers in an effective and timely manner to build long-term loyalty is huge. However, the implications are massive if the companies fail to provide effective and timely information and service to the consumers. Moving towards digital technology for marketing and corporate strategies by the consumer products companies help these to understand their consumers and their needs individually. It enables these companies to target them accordingly. The most common and favorite medium to search for information is internet which has become more popular than other means of doing so. Consumers use internet to collect information about brands and products. MKTM021 ~ 26 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 27. Delafrooz, et al. (2009) opined that the success of businesses rely on the establishment of valuable communications between consumers and business’ websites. Consumers can search for their queries and required products on websites, and in case they couldn’t find what they are looking for, they can always communicate to the customer services through free phones or emails. The consumers expect quick responses related to their queries and in real time most of the times. If the consumers do not receive answers or even satisfactory response then they usually dislike the products. According to Cheng, et al. (2006), consumers spend more time on the Internet searching for products and brands than any other media. These consumers can interact with the product or brand for longer time than they do on the traditional mediums including television and radio. Such behavior of engagement by the consumers leads to a closer inspection which can result in picking up any errors in the information available on the websites. The information should be corrected and updated in case the consumers report any gap in the information. Brands have come under the era of two way communication after the introduction of internet and smart phones to search for information. Social networking websites, companies’ websites and online blogs have turned into chief sources of information related to food products. According to Crespo & del Bosque (2010), thousands of consumers have become habitual to communicate with the products, shopping online and providing reviews subsequently. These consumers relate themselves to the brands and products they are aware of and giving feedback to the businesses related to these products. This communication has now become interactive and constant; one medium of information can guide to the other one; such as from television to internet. Researchers like (Young, 2010; Thorson & Duffy, 2011; Shilbury & Westerbeek, 2009) have outlined many advantages of using digital media for marketing over the traditional mediums. These include: MKTM021 ~ 27 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 28. a. reduced cost by avoiding printing ads in yellow pages directories and news papers, or telecasting advertisements on radio and television; b. measurability of impact on business and sales. Online marketing makes it easier to track the traffic of consumers online and impact on increased sales thereon; c. brand engagement by providing updated information online to consumers that make their purchase decisions easier and create brand awareness. According to Young (2010), all these advantages not only benefit the companies but also lead towards brand awareness, engagement and consumers’ intent to purchase the product. Barkhuus & Polichar (2011) investigated that consumers have adapted and adopted various features in smart phones to suit their lifestyles and needs. They prefer using smart phones to access internet even when there are other devices such as PCs available for it. According to Kiljander, et al. (2003) searching for information on the web using smart phones is a highly desirable activity of consumers. This ease and convenience permits the consumers to research for food products as well on the go. However, research done by Liu, et al. (2003) has shown that consumers give up looking for their required product or turn to traditional channels to purchase their required products if they couldn’t find what they are looking for. The incomplete or missing information lead to this attitude of consumers. This research would find how consumers can search for products online efficiently and what do companies need to do to keep the consumers stuck to their products. 2.4 PURCHASE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS This objective explains the process of purchasing which includes information gathering, evaluation and making a decision to buy a product. MKTM021 ~ 28 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 29. This will help in finding the reasons and factors that makes a consumer research about products. A. What research they do on food products that influence their decisions to buy or abstain from buying? Consumers look for contents to satisfy their specific and actual needs. The information available to them should be concrete and complete. Incomplete or even redundant information may confuse the consumers (Bakker & Sadaba, 2008). This information is necessary for consumers to develop intent for purchasing the product. According to Salzman, et al. (2003), consumers expect from the businesses that they consider their importance as consumers of their products and recognize their value by providing comprehensive and updated information of the products. These consumers have not limited themselves to searching for information and seeking opinions for the products they intend to buy. The consumer evaluates the information about any product and develops a consideration to purchase that product; this behavior is referred to as the purchase intention of the consumer. Keller (2001) discussed that the behavior can be viewed as a major factor for predicting consumers’ purchasing trends as well as their individual intentions. When consumers choose one good, the final decision depended on their intention. Therefore, most marketers think the intention of the consumers is a valuable method of forecasting purchasing by the consumers. In addition, both (Sudhir & Talukdar, 2004; Sethuraman, 2003) and offer that quality perception and purchase intention have a positive relationship. It is also assumed that consumers’ purchase intention will be influenced by quality perception, objective price and value perception. Quality perception of consumers is the result of individual’s judgment for a product, and consumers can evaluate a product by judging the superiority of products. MKTM021 ~ 29 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 30. Perceived quality may be wholly objective or totally subjective. It includes a subject-object interaction because consumers would form a subjectively brand image by product or service diversity. Furthermore, quality consciousness of a product can be valued in contrast to other goods, and the sense is objective because it depends on the subjects and the context. Aaker (2000) defines that perceived quality is that the recognized level for the quality of whole product, as well as the subjective satisfaction in comparing with other brands’ quality for certain sakes. Therefore, perceived quality can make consumers have a subjective judgment and form brand differences of product or service. Finally, consumers’ perceived quality becomes an influence factor, when they want to buy a product. However, Aaker (2000) thinks there are some differences between perceived quality and actual quality. a. Different quality cognitions exist in consumers and manufacturers; manufacturers must focus on some product attributes, when they promote their products. However, consumers might do not consider the attribute is important for them. b. Prior image or knowledge; the consumers with more prior knowledge are inclined to have more interrelated schemata of product-related cognitions, which would affect their processing of quality-related information. Moreover, consumers may be affected by former bad quality, and then they do not want to believe that new products have already improved their quality. c. Incomplete product information; generally, consumers are seldom to acquire necessary information to evaluate the product objectively. Even though they have abundant information, they may not have enough time to judge the product (Binninger, 2008). Finally, what they only can do is that they just choose the most important information to evaluate MKTM021 ~ a 30 ~ product alternatively. REHMAN ASLAM Additionally,
  • 31. consumers may choose wrong cues or do not know what the correct product information is. (Binninger, 2008; Sethuraman, 2003) found that the quality of products serves as an essential role in the satisfaction and purchase decision of the consumers. Online consumer behavior is complex and can be described as the process of purchasing products or services via the Internet. Researchers like Liang & Lai (2000) have indicated that this process have similarities with traditional shopping behaviors. Consumers use internet for searching related information for food products when they recognize a need for products or services during the process of internet shopping. If the information search result can meet their needs, the potential consumers evaluate alternatives in order to choose one of the best products or services, and finally purchase that product. After this whole purchase process, according to Teo & Yeong (2003), the post-purchase evaluation is done to assist in future purchase decisions. There are many studies of online consumer behaviors in recent years, most of them focus on the factors influencing the online consumer behaviors, and the researchers seem to find different factors in different ways. Moreover, there is a variety of studies which focus on comparisons between online and offline consumer behavior in relation to different products has been presented. Consumers often use the Internet search for product information before buying from online or offline stores. It makes the dependability on digital media and its information more important. According to Wolfinbarger & Gilly (2001), the Internet shopping allows consumers more freedom to continuously visit and purchase products; even they leave without a purchase. This research will find relationship between the purchase behavior of consumer while using digital media for searching about food products MKTM021 ~ 31 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 32. online. The researcher believes that the quality of information available online has significant affect on the purchase behavior of consumers. This will be discussed in the light of research findings in coming chapters. 2.5 CONSUMER SATISFACTION Olsen, et al. (2005) defines consumer satisfaction as a global appraisal or a mind-set toward a product or service. Consumer satisfaction depends on the comparison between the initial or expected quality and the real results or experienced quality. The quality of information available to consumers about food products through the digital media convenient to use would develop intent to purchase which would result in the subsequent purchase of the product by the consumers. According to Bennett (2010), consumer satisfaction results in long lasting relationship with a brand which leads towards brand loyalty. Foxall (2005) described the process of determining consumer satisfaction where customer needs are identified, their expectations are determined, resulting in building relationship with that brand. It is observed that a customer buying a food product will only be satisfied if the food is of good quality and is hygienic. Satisfaction is a result of positive brand experiences which includes good product performance, confirmation of positive experiences from others and the effective customer service of the companies. Franzen & Moriarty (2009) opined that the consumer satisfaction is directly proportional to the brand relationship. The more satisfied the customer, the more long lasting the brand relationship. In case of this research, good quality food products would lead towards the positive brand experience and long lasting brand relationship. Satisfaction arises when the consumers’ expectation are met while dissatisfaction arises when these expectations are not confirmed. Dimitriades (2006) opined that if the customers are satisfied, they become MKTM021 ~ 32 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 33. less price conscious, less susceptible to competitors’ attacks and brand loyal for longer period. This research is aimed towards finding answer towards consumer behavior and use of digital media for information search. If the information at the disposal of consumers is comprehensive and consumers have positive perceptions of the product then satisfaction level would be high. The survey to be undertaken during this research would prove this statement. 2.6 BRAND LOYALTY Brand loyalty has been described by Franzen & Moriarty (2009) as a commitment of consumer to buy a brand on an ongoing basis in the future which results in repurchase of the brand despite of competitors’ efforts to enforce brand switching behavior and situational influences as well. According to Temporal (2010), brand awareness leads to involvement of consumers after getting information about the product and purchasing followed by trust and respect for the brand which eventually turns into brand loyalty. Oliver (1999) opined that brand loyalty has a behavioral as well as an attitudinal aspect. The brand commitment from consumers reflects their future brand buying behavior. According to Cai & Hobson (2004), brand loyalty should be confirmed through positive and encouraging customer experiences. On the other hand Franzen & Moriarty (2009) discussed that some experts criticize the brand loyalty of consumers and believe that consumers are loyal to a group of preferred brands within a category and rarely to a specific brand. The consumers switch among the brands in the category depending upon the marketing factors such as availability, price, service and consumer’s previous experience with the specific brand and similar brands of competitors. According to Phillips (2007), most people born during the last two decades of the twentieth century are not brand loyal. These consumers are less MKTM021 ~ 33 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 34. brand loyal than previous generations, due to their constant exposure to price promotions. They want products that match their personality and lifestyle, paying little attention to brands. Littman (2008) discussed that these consumers’ choice of new brands is often determined by peer recommendation transmitted directly or through social networking channels. This makes the role of digital media and the quality of information available to the consumers online very important. Researcher of this dissertation believes that a satisfied customer who had good experience with a product or brand may lead the customer to that product or brand when a similar product is to be purchased. The researcher will find an answer to this statement through the findings of the survey. 2.7 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW The main question of this research, “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” was distributed into three main objectives, to help in finding answers about the research topic while focusing on the relevant published literature and the research carried out. A. How aware are the consumers about branded food products? Consumer behavior is transforming from searching for food products through traditional media towards contemporary digital media and they are now involving more in digital media use for getting information about food products according to Crespo & del Bosque (2010), developing intent to purchase, making decision to buy the product (Aaker, 2000), level of satisfaction and subsequent loyalty towards the products and brands. Their perceptions about the quality, value, price or risk while decision making are relatively easier to fulfill than in the past. They can research thousands of similar food products online to minimize their concerns about the products. MKTM021 ~ 34 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 35. Ideally consumers should be more aware about the products due to the free access to product information online. The consumer behavior towards food products is less likely to change unless the consumers do not experience an adverse effect to that product. Their preference increase as they consume more of the same product. Lonneker, et al. (2008) & Capaldi (2006) suggest that this consistent behavior has turned into the lifestyles of the consumers. Consumers are more conscious is researching for food products and subsequently buying these products as these relate to things ranging from our health, personality to our life expectancy. This behavior suggests that the consumers would thoroughly research for the food products more than they do for other products. The awareness about any food product would influence their behavior towards the product as well. Solomon, et al. (2010) discussed that brand awareness includes brand recognition and recall which let the consumers recognize any brand when they see it. These two elements also help in searching for information using digital media. B. Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they look for online on food products? Over the years digital marketing has changed how consumers engage with brands and is rapidly changing the landscape of traditional marketing strategies and structures (Thorson & Duffy, 2011). Food industry has also changed the way it used to communicate and market its products to the consumers. Kung, et al. (2008) also opined that the medium has been changed from traditional to digital over the years which show the importance of digital media in the businesses and their marketing. MKTM021 ~ 35 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 36. Consumers’ behavior towards a food product and their ability to recognize a brand has provided convenience of searching about these products online using different digital media including smart phones, tablet PCs and laptops. Researchers like Barkhuus & Polichar (2011) and Kiljander, et al. (2003) investigated that smart phones have become popular in searching for information on the web. Consumers have customized their smart phones applications to provide them the information on the go. They stated that consumers prefer using smart phones over other digital media to search for information. According to Bakker & Sadaba (2008), the quality of information available to users online should be appropriate and not incomplete or even redundant. This directly relates to their behavior to be favorable or adverse towards any product. The consumers expect the information to be complete, comprehensive and updated. C. What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food products? The consumers search for food products according to their needs and recognize the brands that they are familiar to. Smart phones are the most popular and common digital media gadget used to search for information (Kiljander, et al., 2003). Consumers develop intent to purchase the product after assessing the information and comparing the results with similar products online. Once they choose the best option, they buy the product and experience the actual product. If the actual result of the product is as per the expectations and need of the consumers than they develop the behavior of satisfaction for that specific product or brand (Olsen, et al., 2005). According to Cai & Hobson (2004), this satisfaction through positive brand experience leads to brand loyalty. This satisfaction makes them less price conscious towards the specific brands and products (Dimitriades, MKTM021 ~ 36 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 37. 2006). Eventually consumers buy the products repeatedly. They also recommend the products and the brand to their friends and in their social circle. The literature review has helped in finding the answer to the research topic “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” Changing lifestyles of consumers are resulting in a trend where basic food preferences are being surpassed by seeking new food experiences and using contemporary digital media for information on these products. Consumers mostly research about food products using smart phones which are getting popular and most commonly used as the digital media gadget. They research a wide range of option due to the ease of search on the World Wide Web. Their positive product experience after buying the actual product and experiencing the expected quality with the actual one makes them satisfied towards the product and loyal to the brand. MKTM021 ~ 37 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 39. 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The objective of this research is to find answer to the research question “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” making use of the theories and research on consumer behavior, digital media, consumer buying behavior, consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty. The main research question was dismantled into the following objectives to help in focusing on the relevant published literature and research carried out: A. How aware are the consumers about branded food products? – Consumer behavior and Brand awareness B. Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses C. What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty The academic literature referred to and discussed in the literature review (chapter 2) of this dissertation has given us the answers to the research carried out on the topic of dissertation in relevant areas. This suggests that the quality of information available online and appropriate digital media helps consumers in researching about the food products making their decision of buying convenient and effective. The information provided online, if matches the original product when bought, provides great satisfaction to the consumer and subsequently developing brand loyalty. According to Kiljander, et al. (2003) the use of digital media to search for information online is getting popular. People prefer using smart phones over traditional media to search for information. This rapid and huge shift towards MKTM021 ~ 39 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 40. new digital media has attracted the interest of the researcher towards this research “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” 3.1 INTRODUCTION The basic objective of this chapter is to compose and gather dependable and valuable data about consumer behavior towards food products available online that helps in answering the research question; the data for this research is composed through professional and reliable practices. This chapter explains the study methodology which consists of research problem and objective, research approach and strategy, sampling method, data collection method, analysis of data in general and methodology used for this study in particular with limitations of data collection. In this section the tools of research are highlighted, that were chosen to evaluate the current behavioral state of consumers towards researching about food products using digital media. According to Saunders (2009), Amaratunga, et al. (2002) and Feurer & Chaharbaghi (1995), when we are dealing in a highly dynamic marketing environment, there is no single method that can be publicized as the best. However, to carry out the research and find answers to the research question, this research paper followed an exploratory research which explored and examined the current behavior of consumers related to searching about food products online. According to Denscombe (2010), this approach helps the researcher in generating information and insights. After analyzing the current situation, an investigation has been done to figure out whether there exist any shortcomings to the current situation. SPSS was used to analyze the data gathered through survey questionnaire for this research about searching food products using digital media and consumer behavior. This has helped the researcher in correlating the results of finding with the research already done. MKTM021 ~ 40 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 41. 3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH AND DESIGN Saunders, et al. (2003) proposed two research approaches which are ‘deductive’ and ‘inductive’. A systematic approach which is well structured is quite crucial in order to conduct a research, no matter what area is being researched and which strategy is adopted. According to Easterby- Smith, et al. (2002), a deductive research is the one that generally begins with a theory, principle or an idea; based on these the researcher make a hypothesis which is then testing by collecting information and data to arrive at a result if the hypothesis was right or wrong. On the other hand, inductive approach is a responsive approach as there is no requirement of existing and proven theories to collect information and data. Researchers adopting inductive approach tend to study a small sample in contrast to a large sample used in deductive approach. These researchers tend to use qualitative data, and other mixture of data to establish different concepts of phenomenon. This research thus adopts inductive approach as promoted by Thomas (2006) to condense the extensive raw data about consumers’ pre-purchase as well as post purchase behavior towards food products and the use of digital media. This data is collected through the responses of the questionnaire from seventy eight respondents and condensed into a summary. The researcher has established links between the research objectives and the findings derived from the research data in order to arrive at the answers to the research question (David, 2003). In order to attain the objective of this research, a questionnaire has been sent to different internet users who use digital media and social networks. The tools have been chosen keeping in mind the complexity of data involved and time constraint. According to Blumberg, et al. (2005) these mentioned factors play a significant role in choosing a research methodology for business research. MKTM021 ~ 41 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 42. 3.3 METHOD OF SAMPLING The main objective behind conducting a primary research is to better understand the topic and determine significance about a specific situation, experience and constructing a theory (Kent, 2001). The motive behind this research was to find answer to how does consumers research about food products using digital media; therefore, the candidates for questionnaires were intentionally selected to successfully reach a conclusion. These candidates were articulate and reflective, willing to share their experience openly and active users of digital media and internet. Tomlinson & Boorman (2001) have proposed and described three types of non-random sampling methods namely snowball, purposive and theoretical sampling. Denscombe (2010) describes purposive sampling as a method which allows the researcher to deliberately choose people for the research based on their known attributes i.e. their relevance and knowledge towards the topic. Snowball sampling is also known as chain sampling or referral sampling. Biggam (2011) describes this method as a process in which a few people from relevant area of research are known to the researcher who request them to refer more interested people to participate in the research being undertaken. A mix of purposive and snowball sampling method is chosen for this research to reach the quality of work useful for this research. This mix of methods would consume less time to gather data and would help in increasing the sample size as well. The researcher had sent the questionnaire to twenty (20) people known on the basis of their relevance and knowledge towards online food products purchasing. These people were requested to send the questionnaire to others with same attributes. In this survey, the sample consisted of one hundred (100) consumers from which seventy eight (78) could respond back. As Denscombe (2010) stated that small sample size is sufficient for small scale qualitative research, the number of respondents to the questionnaire ensures that adequate data is collected for this research and MKTM021 ~ 42 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 43. that the sample represents the characteristics of the population. The consumers, including but not limited to, housewives, students, accountants, engineers and marketers across North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australia were chosen for the purpose of this research. This diverse selection of consumers became possible due to researcher’s experience in industry and connections with people across the world. 3.4 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION According to Nguyen & Oloufa (2001) telephonic interviews, face to face interviews and mail self administered questionnaire are the most common survey methods to analyze collected data. All of these methods assist the researcher to gather data personally and address the specific issue and areas important to research. According to Hox & Boeije (2005), primary data collection also gives control over data to the researcher. A questionnaire was drafted covering all research objectives in order to collect the data in an efficient manner to represent an evocative winding up of the research. It was written in simple English making it easily understandable by the respondents. This was taken into consideration keeping in view the diverse sample of respondents from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The use of jargons was avoided to avoid misinterpretation of questions asked as suggested by Blumberg, et al. (2005). Piloting has also been done to minimize the ambiguity in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to active internet users who were carefully selected by the researcher for the purpose of this study. Researcher thinks that the best understanding of the research depends on the selection of sample. This research deals with consumer behavior linked with digital media. MKTM021 ~ 43 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 44. 3.5 THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SURVEY PERIOD Polonsky & Waller (2005) have suggested that the response rate of the respondents significantly depends on the length of questionnaire, personalization and introductory notification. Therefore, these factors have also been taken care of while designing the questionnaire. The mind sets of respondents were developed well in advance by informing them about the questionnaire to be sent to them. The length of the designed questionnaire is also appropriate; it consists of 27 questions which require less than 15 minutes to answer them. It was distributed in nine parts to assist the researcher to study and analyze the responses more precisely. The respondents were given two weeks’ time to respond to the questionnaire so the responses came in time, as delays in sending and receiving the responses via email were already accounted for within the two weeks’ time frame. Breakup of Questionnaire 7 14 6 Consumer Behavior & Brand Awareness Digital Media & Information Purchase Behavior, Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty Figure I: Breakup of questionnaires research area wise MKTM021 ~ 44 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 45. 3.6 THE MEASUREMENT MODEL – LIKERT SCALE The most generally used psychometric scale among psychological measurements that involve self-reporting is the Likert scale (Wakita, et al., 2012). Likert Scale is used to gather the empirical data; this is a well established research tool which allows ascribing quantitative value to qualitative data making it amendable to statistical analysis. The questionnaire was prepared to aid the respondents to understand the questions easily and to answer swiftly. The Likert scale for the questionnaire includes six variables from strongly agree to strongly disagree giving the respondents a wide range to answer the questions. The element of neutral response has been excluded from this research to minimize ambiguity in the responses from respondents. 3.7 METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS Kent (2001) opined that when the data is gathered, analysis of that data is the next step. This analysis helps in providing information about the research objectives and describing relationship among these objectives. Quantitative and qualitative approaches are the most common tools of data analysis. According to Saunders, et al. (2003), quantitative model is based on a scientific approach (surveys, feedback forms) whereas qualitative model is descriptive (case studies, interviews). This research would make use of both the approaches as according to Feurer & Chaharbaghi (1995) a right balance between the two approaches is helpful in the achievement and implementation of the most appropriate researching strategy. The following illustration clarifies this balance between the two approaches: MKTM021 ~ 45 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 46. Figure II: Contingent approach to research (Source: Feurer and Chaharbaghi, 1995) 3.7.1 RELIABILITY OF DATA The consistency and accuracy of information gathered in a survey is referred to as reliability of data by Flick (2006). According to him it is easier and simpler to test the reliability of qualitative data in contrast to the quantitative data. The method of data analysis used in this research has been described by the researcher to avoid any issue with reliability of data. Bryman (2004) suggested that repetition of the data collection on different locations and occasions ensures reliability. Researcher has collected data from consumers from ten different countries within two weeks, making the data collected at multiple places and occasions to ensure reliability. Transparency of theoretical work is also maintained by relating the structure with the research and providing substantiation to the conclusion drawn. MKTM021 ~ 46 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 47. 3.7.2 VALIDITY OF DATA According to Robson (2002) there are various types of errors or biases that affect the research from the researchers’ point of view. Researcher can mould and manipulate the responses received during the research in order to make these compatible with the desired outcome of the research. The validity of content has been achieved, as opined by Brod, et al. (2009), by generalizing the responses of the survey into a broader domain with the intention of obtaining a representative of the whole domain as relevant as possible. The researcher has presented the results as received from the respondents but in a generalized manner. Efforts have been made to avoid individual responses to be presented as the representative of the whole survey. 3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION This research complies with The University of Northampton code of ethics to account for core ethical reflection, covering informed consent and issues of confidentiality. The business ethical requirements are observed during this research and therefore the right of participants and data gathered from research is fortified. According to Polansky (1998) there are various ethical issues that are faced by researchers during data gathering. These include subject recruitment issue (justification for sample chosen), autonomy and information issues, data analysis issues, harm issues (any harm to respondents physically or otherwise) and anonymity and confidentiality issues. Researcher has taken all necessary steps to comply all the ethical considerations. The participants involved in this research were fully made conscious of the research and any possible risk implicated, and it was guaranteed that no participant will be affected by the research adversely. MKTM021 ~ 47 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 48. Anonymity is maintained of the respondents and can only be disclosed with their consent. It was ensured that no disturbance is made to the routine tasks of the participants. Therefore the questionnaire was sent to them via email and it was filled and responded back by them according to their time of convenience within the requested two weeks. The confidentiality of data is also ensured and no third party could have access to the information gathered. 3.9 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter has provided detailed description of research methodologies used and adopted in order to answer the research objectives. A mix of purposive and snowball sampling methods is used to save time and get data from more respondents. The questionnaire was introduced with the reason for adopting primary research and the benefits of it for this research. Qualitative method is used to gather data while a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to analyze the data gathered through questionnaire. Compliance of code of ethics lay down by researchers and The University of Northampton is also mentioned in the chapter. Discussion based on the results of data gathered is carried out in the next chapters with subsequent findings and conclusions drawn from the discussion and findings under the literature reviewed in chapter 2 of this dissertation. SPSS is used to analyze the data and the results are presented in tabular and graphical illustrations. MKTM021 ~ 48 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 49. CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS MKTM021 ~ 49 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 50. 4. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS This chapter focuses on the research findings from the questionnaire (refer Appendix – A) prepared under methods and procedures mentioned in previous chapter, research methodology (refer Chapter 3) and analysis of these findings. Research findings will be discussed under the areas discussed in literature review (refer Chapter 2) to provide clarity to the reader and to provide a base for discussion in proceeding chapter of this dissertation. Graphical presentation will help in understanding the findings convenient. The questionnaire was based on the literature review discussed in this research’s Chapter 2. The questionnaire was sent to one hundred (100) consumers from which seventy eight (78) consumers responded (refer figure III). These respondents provided their feedback on every question of the questionnaire that made it possible for the researcher to analyze the data in its entirety. Response of Questionnaires Sent 22 Respondents who replied Respondents who did not reply 78 Figure III: Breakup of response of questionnaires sent MKTM021 ~ 50 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 51. 4.1 PILOT TEST The pilot test was carried out for the questionnaire initially prepared by the researcher by sending it to five respondents including a marketer, a housewife, a postgraduate student, an online shopper and a professor of marketing in Pakistan. Statements in the questionnaire were reviewed by these people who are active internet users, to ensure that they had no confusion in understanding it. Statements were amended in the light of their feedback to make it easy to understand for the complete sample. The final questionnaire (refer Appendix A) was sent to hundred consumers following a mix of purposive and snowball sampling. 4.2 ANALYSIS OF SELECTED SAMPLE The research questionnaire was sent to 100 consumers from ten different countries across the world out of which 78 consumers participated in this survey. The questionnaire was resent to the consumers who didn’t respond in the first time to achieve uniformity in number of respondents from each country. The researcher made every possible effort to get the uniformity, though only seven responses were received from two countries in contrast to eight from every other country. These countries included Australia (8), Canada (8), Germany (8), India (8), Pakistan (8), South Africa (7), Switzerland (7), United Kingdom (8), United Arab Emirates (8) and United States of America (8). The research is about the consumer behavior towards food products using digital media so it was important to include the participants with the background of using internet and online shopping. Their views have given a better view about the research and are helpful in the answers to the research question. Their opinion about the online information, perceptions about quality, value, price and risk, online purchasing behavior, post purchase behavior including satisfaction and brand loyalty has helped in finding answer to the main research question of this dissertation. MKTM021 ~ 51 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 52. 4.3 RELIABILITY TEST The reliability of data and responses is one of the most important things in any research as opined by (Flick, 2006). SPSS was used to test the reliability of data through carrying out Cronbach’s Alpha analysis. According to (Sijtsma, 2009), this is considered to be the most reported statistical indicator of test scores’ quality. As per Table II, the score of Cronbach’s alpha is above the acceptable limit of 0.70, which has been considered highly reliable by researchers like (Carmines & Zeller, 1988; Bryman, 2004) and is represented in figure IV. These scores suggest that the responses are internally consistent. Reliability Statistics Area of research No. of Items - Consumer Behavior & Brand Awareness - Digital Media & Information - Purchase Behavior, Consumer Satisfaction and Alpha 14 .798 6 Brand Loyalty .759 7 .765 Table II: Cronbach’s Alpha showing Reliability Statistics MKTM021 ~ Cronbach's 52 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 53. Reliabilty of Responses 0.82 0.80 0.798 0.78 0.765 0.76 0.759 0.74 Cronbach's Alpha 0.72 0.70 Consumer Behavior & Brand Awareness Digital Media & Information Purchase Behavior, Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty Figure IV: Cronbach’s Alpha above minimum acceptable limit of 0.7 4.4 COLLATING AND PRESENTING THE RESULTS This research is focused on the research question “how do consumers use digital media to research food products?” In order to analyze the responses received through the survey, the researcher has aligned the responses with the research objectives: A. How aware are the consumers about branded food products? – Consumer behavior and Brand awareness B. Which media(s) do they use to research and what information do they look for online on food products? – Digital Media and its uses C. What is the behavior of consumers after they research about food products? – Purchase behavior of consumers, consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty MKTM021 ~ 53 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 54. SPSS was used to analyze the data collected through survey for addressing the responses and collating these with the objectives and presenting the same in tabular and graphical form. 4.4.1 HOW AWARE ARE THE CONSUMERS ABOUT BRANDED FOOD PRODUCTS? – CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND AWARENESS The consumer behavior towards food products and brand awareness is the essential part of this research and the major part of the questionnaire was focused towards these areas. 81% respondents agreed to the statements in the questionnaire representing the whole population of seventy eight. The mean of this section i.e. 2.31 (calculated by the sum total of means, divided by the number of questions) supports this agreement towards the research questions related to this area. These respondents agreed to the statements relating to perceptions about quality, value, price and brand awareness. They responded about perceived risk strongly in agreement. Table III presents the mean of each area where likert scale was used for the questionnaire, scaling from 1 being strongly agree to 6 being strongly disagree. Figure V shows the pictorial representation of individual areas with their respective means. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND AWARENESS N Mean ALL 2.31 PERCEIVED QUALITY - Std. Deviation 1.15 2.73 I think quality is an important choice 78 - I trust quality in online products - I think online products seem to be good quality 2.63 1.397 78 criteria when I buy the product online 2.76 1.341 78 2.79 1.333 table continued … MKTM021 ~ 54 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 55. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND BRAND AWARENESS N Mean PERCEIVED VALUE - I think online products generally appear to 78 2.19 1.117 78 I think the package of online products looks similar to the ones in stores - Deviation 2.01 be good value - Std. 2.54 1.439 78 1.29 .941 When I buy the online products, I would like to be sure that I am getting my money’s worth PERCEIVED PRICE - 2.53 I think price is an important factor when I buy online products - The price of online products is generally lower than I would expect them to be - I compare prices of other brands online before I choose one 78 2.38 1.209 78 2.86 1.307 78 2.33 .784 PERCEIVED RISK - 1.79 I am always certain that online brands provide real value for money in terms of 78 2.31 1.435 78 1.54 .935 78 1.51 .849 product quality - When I buy a product online, I would never make a mistake to buy wrong product - When I am researching a product online, I will make that choice very carefully BRAND AWARENESS - 2.60 I search for the brand of food product I recognize - I recognize a brand when it comes up in the search 78 2.33 1.245 78 2.86 1.492 Table III: Consumer behavior and brand awareness statistical results MKTM021 ~ 55 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 56. 3 2.5 2 2.73 1.5 2.6 2.53 2.01 1.79 1 0.5 0 Area of Research Perceived Quality Perceived Value Perceived Risk Perceived Price Brand Awareness Figure V: Consumer behavior and brand awareness graphical representation 4.4.1.1 CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS The perceptions of consumer related to quality, value, price and risk are essential to discuss here as they affect the consumers’ behavior related to searching for information and buying for food products as well. Positive perceptions of the consumer towards food products would lead to buying the products, and subsequently good product experience will lead to consumer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Therefore it is important to put forward the findings of the survey related to consumer’s perceptions. MKTM021 ~ 56 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 57. A. PERCEIVED QUALITY Perceived Quality 25% Agree 75% Disagree Figure VI: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Quality The first objective of this research is focused towards the consumer behavior and brand awareness of food products. Consumer behavior was mainly aimed towards consumer perceptions. Figure VI shows the responses of consumers focused towards quality perception. Out of seventy eight respondents, 75% believes that quality is an important choice criterion and they trust that the food products available online are of good quality. 25% people disagreed with the statements as they think that quality of the online products is not good and that food products should be bought in stores. 18% of the total population (refer A-1 Appendix A) preferred other factors such as price over quality while shopping online. MKTM021 ~ 57 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 58. 100% 82% 73% 80% 71% 60% 40% 20% 27% 29% 18% Agree Disagree 0% I think quality is I trust quality in I think online an important online products products seem choice criteria to be good when I buy the quality product online Figure VII: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Quality Figure VII shows that 82% respondents agreed (refer A-1 Appendix A) that they consider quality as the major element while searching for products online and also while subsequently purchasing the products. 73% respondents (refer A-2 Appendix A) trusted in the quality of the online food products, while 71% (refer A-3 Appendix A) perceive the quality of online food products to be good. The respondents in disagreement to these statements believe that quality is not the major element for online food products, and they don’t trust the quality and perceive the quality of these products to be good. MKTM021 ~ 58 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 59. B. PERCEIVED VALUE Perceived Value 16% Agree Disagree 84% Figure VIII: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Value Figure VIII shows the consumers’ perception about value associated to food products available online. Overall 84% of the 78 respondents believe the food products should provide value for money spent and they consider that these products appear to be of good value. 16% respondents think otherwise that these products do not worth buying online. 100% 96% 86% 80% 69% 60% 31% 40% 20% 14% 4% 0% I think online I think the products package of generally appear online products to be good value looks similar to the ones in stores Agree Disagree When I buy the online products, I would like to be sure that I am getting my money’s worth Figure IX: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Value MKTM021 ~ 59 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 60. Figure IX portrays that 86% respondents (refer B-1 Appendix A) perceived that the food products available online appear to have a good value. 69% respondents (refer B-2 Appendix A) believed that the package of online products is similar to the ones in stores and 96% (refer B-3 Appendix A) wanted to get the best value of the money they spent on online food products. The respondents in disagreement perceived the value of food products available online are not worthy. C. PERCEIVED PRICE Perceived Price 19% Agree 81% Disagree Figure X: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Price Figure X portrays consumers’ perception about value associated to food products available online. Overall 81% of the respondents believe that price is also an important choice criterion when they are searching for food products online. They compare the prices of similar products before they make their choice to buy any product. 19% of the respondents preferred other factors such as quality to be more important than price. MKTM021 ~ 60 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 61. 100% 90% 88% 80% 64% 60% 36% 40% 20% 12% 10% Agree Disagree 0% I think price is The price of I compare prices an important online products of other brands factor when I is generally online before I buy online lower than I choose one products would expect them to be Figure XI: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Price Figure XI displays that 88% respondents (refer C-1 Appendix A) consider the price of a food product to be an important factor while searching and buying the product. 64% (refer C-2 Appendix A) think that the prices are cheaper online. And 90% (refer C-3 Appendix A) compare the prices of similar food products online while searching and purchasing. The respondents in disagreement did not think that price is the major element in their search for food products online. These people emphasize more on quality and other elements. These quality conscious people do not compare the prices of other brands before they decide what product to buy. MKTM021 ~ 61 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 62. D. PERCEIVED RISK Perceived Risk 13% Agree Disagree 87% Figure XII: Responses for the questionnaire section – Perceived Risk Figure XII displays the consumers’ perception about risks associated to food products available online. Overall 87% of the respondents perceive the risks attached to the online information and products beforehand. They are careful in making their choices and would avoid any mistakes. Overall 13% of the respondents are not very careful in the risk assessment about food products while searching online. 80% 95% 91% 100% 76% 60% 40% 24% 20% 9% 5% 0% I am always When I buy a When I am certain that product online, I researching a online brands would never product online, I provide real make a mistake will make that value for money to buy wrong choice very in terms of product carefully product quality Agree Disagree Figure XIII: Responses for the individual statements – Perceived Risk MKTM021 ~ 62 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 63. Figure XIII reflects that 76% respondents (refer D-1 Appendix A) believed that the online brands provide real value for money, 91% (refer D-2 Appendix A) would be keen never to make a mistake while buying food products online. They wanted to be sure that the food products available online match their need and requirement before they make decision to buy these. 95% (refer D-3 Appendix A) would make their choice very carefully. On the other hand, the people who disagreed were the ones who like to experience new things and hence they would take risks in buying food products online. 4.4.1.2 BRAND AWARENESS Brand Awareness 22% Agree 78% Disagree Figure XIV: Responses for the questionnaire section – Brand Awareness Figure XIV portrays the responses about the brand awareness, brand recognition and brand recall of the food products available online. Overall 78% of the respondents are aware of the brand of food products they search for online or recognize these brands when they come up in the search results. 22% of the respondents are indifferent as to which brand to search for or does not recognize the brands when they come up in the search results. MKTM021 ~ 63 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 64. 100% 85% 80% 71% 60% Agree 40% 29% Disagree 15% 20% 0% I search for the brand of I recognize a brand food product I recognize when it comes up in the search Figure XV: Responses for the individual statements – Brand Awareness It is clear from figure XV that 85% respondents (refer E-1 Appendix A) searched for the food products they already recognized and 71% (refer E-2 Appendix A) responded that they recognize food products and brands when these come up in the search. 4.4.2 WHICH MEDIA(S) DO THEY USE TO RESEARCH AND WHAT INFORMATION PRODUCTS? DO THEY LOOK FOR ONLINE ON FOOD – DIGITAL MEDIA AND ITS USES Consumers are using digital media to search for food products as it is evident from the responses of the questionnaire. 85% of the respondents agree that they use digital media such as smart phone, laptops, tablet PCs to search for food products online. The overall mean of this area i.e. 2.5 (refer table IV), suggests that responses are internally consistent. The individual means of digital media and information are graphically represented in figure XVI. MKTM021 ~ 64 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 65. DIGITAL MEDIA AND INFORMATION SEARCH N Mean ALL 2.50 DIGITAL MEDIA - I use smart phone to search for food I use laptop/tablet PC to search for food I always search for products using digital media 2.33 1.560 78 2.13 1.221 78 2.10 1.039 INFORMATION - 2.81 I think products available online have 78 comprehensive product information - I think the information available online is relevant - I think the information available online is updated 2.99 1.274 78 2.54 1.439 78 2.91 1.637 Table IV: Digital media and information search statistical results 3 2.5 2.81 2 1.5 1.15 78 products online - Deviation 2.19 products online - Std. 2.19 1 0.5 0 Area of Research Digital Media Information Figure XVI: Digital media and information graphical representation MKTM021 ~ 65 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 66. A. USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA Use of Digital Media 15% Agree 85% Disagree Figure XVII: Responses for the questionnaire section – Use of Digital Media The second objective of this research is focused on the use of digital media and information search by consumers related to food products. The questionnaire included statements related to the use of digital media by consumers and the frequency of searching about food products using these digital media. Figure XVII shows that overall 85% respondents actively use digital media including smart phones, tablet PCs and laptops to search for the food products online. 92% respondents have accepted that they always use digital media to search for information about food products which was one of the statement in the questionnaire (refer F1 Appendix A). Overall 15% respondents use other traditional digital media to search for food products. MKTM021 ~ 66 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 67. 100% 80% 92% 88% 76% 60% 40% Agree 24% 20% 12% 8% Disagree 0% I use smart I use I always search phone to search laptop/tablet PC for products for food to search for using digital products online food products media online Figure XVIII: Responses for the individual statements – Use of Digital Media 76% respondents (refer F-1 Appendix A) frequently use smart phones to search for food products online as shown in figure XVIII. 88% respondents (refer F-2 Appendix A) use other digital media gadgets like laptops and tablet PCs including smart phones for the same purpose. 92% respondents (refer F-3 Appendix A) replied that they always search for information related to food products online. The respondents who disagreed are the ones who still refer to traditional digital media for information search regarding food products or prefer going to stores for the same purpose. MKTM021 ~ 67 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 68. B. INFORMATION SEARCH Information Search 31% Agree 69% Disagree Figure XIX: Responses for the questionnaire section – Information Search Figure XIX shows responses of the consumers related to the quality of information available to consumers about the food products. Overall 69% of the respondents believe that the information available online about food products is comprehensive, relevant and updated. Whereas 31% believes that the information is not comprehensive and is outdated. 100% 80% 72% 69% 65% 60% 40% 28% 31% 35% Agree 20% Disagree 0% I think products I think the I think the available online information information have available online available online comprehensive is relevant is updated product information Figure XX: Responses for the individual statements – Information Search MKTM021 ~ 68 ~ REHMAN ASLAM
  • 69. More than 65% of the total respondents agreed that the information related to food products online is comprehensive and updated which exhibits their exploratory surfing behavior. However 28% to 35% respondents think otherwise as shown in figure XX; according to their responses the information available online is neither comprehensive nor updated. 4.4.3 WHAT IS THE BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS AFTER THEY RESEARCH ABOUT FOOD PURCHASE BEHAVIOR SATISFACTION, OF PRODUCTS? – CONSUMERS, CONSUMER BRAND LOYALTY Table V displays the statistical results for the consumer purchasing behavior, their satisfaction of the product and brand loyalty. The overall mean of 2.71 suggests that the respondents have agreed that they prefer buying online due to convenience. They are satisfied with the products they buy and turn into brand ambassadors recommending the products to their acquaintances. The individual means of these three areas of research are graphically represented in figure XXI. PURCHASE BEHAVIOR, CONSUMER SATISFACTION AND BRAND LOYALTY N Mean ALL 2.71 PURCHASE BEHAVIOR I think products are worth buying online - I consider purchasing the products online 1.36 I always buy products online 69 ~ 78 2.99 1.274 78 2.41 1.409 78 because it is convenient MKTM021 ~ Deviation 2.50 - - Std. 2.10 REHMAN ASLAM 1.315 table continued …