Abstract:
This study assesses the consumer preferences towards “socially responsible production of
food” in the context of urban women consumers in Anuradhapura District. The empirical
analysis focuses on whether women consumers accept certain “alterations” made to three
major food products, including: (1) “Hormone Injected” Chicken; (2) “Pasteurized” Milk,
and (3) “Genetically-Modified” Soya Meat, and further, how much they are willing-to-pay for
such products as a premium. A series of Dichotomous-Choice Contingency Valuation questions
were formulated, which elicits consumer willingness-to-pay for such products, by taking into
account of certain motivational factors, including: (a) health; (b) labeling; (c) packaging,
and (4) animal welfare. These were included in a structured questionnaire together with other
questions to explore consumer motivational and demographic characteristics influencing their
choices. The questionnaire was administrated with 500 randomly selected consumers visiting
major supermarkets in the Anuradhapura city during May – June 2010. The Stated Preference
models characterized by the Principle Component Analysis Technique were employed to assess
the relative strengths of consumer preferences and motivation to purchase these products. The
outcome of analysis implies that consumer expectations on food firms’ “ethical conduct in
production”, the “level of food quality” and their “anxieties over the food risks” were increased
progressively in the recent past and that had an impact on their food purchasing behavior and
consumption patterns. The results imply that remaining food firms and potential entrants into
the market should consider catering their client-base with socially responsible food products to
be competitive in the market.
