Consumer Behavior and Retail Outlet Choice for Fresh Meat in Panabo City, Philippines

Abstract

The increasing population, the rise of middle-income households, and changing lifestyle of Filipino households are among the reasons why the retail food industry in the Philippines is undergoing a lot of transformations for the past years. Despite the rapid expansion of modern retail outlets, studies reveal that traditional forms still dominate the food retail. More researches need to be conducted to understand the buying behavior of consumers. This study aims to assess buying behavior and retail outlet choice in purchasing fresh meat of consumers in Panabo City, Philippines. It also includes the assessment of the effects of the newly implemented Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law on the buying behavior and retail outlet choice of the consumers. The three retail outlets included in the study were supermarket, wet market, and temporary market (talipapa). There were 300 respondents who were interviewed in five different villages in Panabo City. The researchers used the multinomial logistic model to identify the variables that significantly affect the retail outlet choice and the buying behavior of the consumers. The factors include sociodemographic profile, frequency of visits, budget allocation, and different retail attributes. It was found that civil status, monthly income, and budget allocation are the sociodemographic factors that affect the retail outlet choice of the respondents for fresh meat. Moreover, retail attributes such as convenience, price of product, convenience, special offers, quality of product, cleanliness, food safety, and mode of payment affect the consumer behavior and retail attributes of the respondents.