The Impact of the Behaviour Patterns of Vegetable Consumers on Marketing Activities

Abstract

In the process of developing the vegetable sector in Sri Lanka, it is essential to consider the needs, preferences and behaviour of consumers. The main objective of this study is to find the consumer behavioural pattern and its impact on the vegetable marketing process. Due to explanatory nature of the study both cross sectional survey method and case studies were used. To statistically analyse the data, frequency distributions and Chi-squire tests were used. The majority (98%) of the consumers consider the good quality of the products, while preferring the main marketplace. The main marketplaces used by corsumers are city/main markets (21%), polas / weekly fairs (24%), village retaiiers (20.1%), and supermarkets (27%). The most important characteristics of vegetables for consumers are appearance (80%), freshness (72%), and the price (68%). A large majority (79%) of the consumers are also willing to pay higher prices for high quality products.