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Attributes determining consumer preference for organic rice in Bangkok, Thailand

Hatairat Sakolwitayanon (Department of Food, Agriculture and Bioresources, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand)
Peeyush Soni (Department of Food, Agriculture and Bioresources, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand) (Department of Agriculture and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India)
Jourdain Damien (The Joint Research Unit “Water Management, Actors and Uses”, Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development, Montpellier, France) (Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa, University of Pretoria, Johannesburg, South Africa)

British Food Journal

ISSN: 0007-070X

Article publication date: 9 August 2018

Issue publication date: 30 August 2018

549

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore key attributes of organic rice that consumers use in the process of choosing organic rice, and to segment organic rice market in Bangkok. Moreover, the study tends to identify the best clustering techniques, between latent class cluster analysis (LCCA) and traditional cluster analysis (CA), for precise segmentation.

Design/methodology/approach

Best–worst scaling (BWS) method was applied to measure the level of relative importance of organic rice attributes. Then, LCCA and CA techniques were applied to recognize market segmentation. Finally, homogeneity and heterogeneity of the resulting clusters were determined to compare performance of the two clustering techniques.

Findings

The LCCA technique was identified better than the CA in classification of consumers. According to LCCA solution, the organic rice market in Bangkok (Thailand) consisted of six distinct clusters, which can be grouped into three categories based on consumers’ profile. Organic rice consumer categories were identified as “Art of eating” and “Superior quality seeker” clusters focusing on special features and quality of the organic rice; consumer category “Basic concern” cluster heavily relied on organic certification logo and manufacturing information; and other consumer categories were “Price driven,” “Eyes on price” and “Thorough explorer” clusters.

Originality/value

This study first applies BWS score to examine consumers’ preference for organic rice attributes and segments market, providing results for practical use for retailers, producers and marketers.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely acknowledge the scholarship support for the first author from the Royal Thai Government and the Asian Institute of Technology.

Citation

Sakolwitayanon, H., Soni, P. and Damien, J. (2018), "Attributes determining consumer preference for organic rice in Bangkok, Thailand", British Food Journal, Vol. 120 No. 9, pp. 2017-2032. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-12-2017-0667

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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