Universal Journal of Management 6(8): 273-279, 2018 http://www.hrpub.org
DOI: 10.13189/ujm.2018.060802
Factors Affecting Customers’ Brand Choice Behavior of
Semi Processed Frozen Food Products: A Study in
Khulna City, Bangladesh
S. M. Monirul Islam
1,*
, Abul Kalam
2
, Afia Fahmida
3
1
Department of Business Administration, Northern University of Business and Technology Khulna, Bangladesh
2
Marketing, Department of Business Administration, HDSTU, Bangladesh
3
Department of Business Administration, Bangladesh Army University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh
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Abstract This paper investigates the determinants of
consumers’ choice of semi processed frozen snacks food
products (especially snacks category) and develops an
empirical understanding of the factors affecting customers’
choice behavior. We have chosen this study to look
specifically at processed frozen snacks and breakfast
products as they represent a rapidly increasing segment of
the restaurant snacks and breakfast replacement category.
In this research descriptive statistics and factor analysis
have been conducted to identify the factors that actually
affect Consumers’ decision in selecting semi processed
frozen food products of different brands. Responsiveness
has been got regarding the factors like brand image, quality,
how much hygiene, price, processing time etc. Eight salient
features of the product were selected after a pretesting
consumer survey and initial discussion with the channel
members. After analyze the total variance it is found that
three principal components are liable for more than 60% of
total variance, each of which initial Eigen value is also
more than 01 (required). After varimax rotated component
matrix analysis it is found that 5 variables i.e. product
quality, price, taste, availability and competitive
superiority, are strongly correlated with the three principal
components.
Keywords Consumer Choice, Frozen Foods, Factor
Analysis
1. Introduction
Once a time, people made everything as possible by
themselves for fulfilling their own needs. Later the
civilization has been growing up and work specialization
got preference, which refers that an individual or a group of
people will produce a certain goods or service as their
expertise and remaining everything they will purchase
from other people who have expertise on those. This
concept made the industries more productive, economic
and professional. Food is the basic human need (Maslow,
A. [1] 1943), because of the physiological category of
needs the potentiality of food industry will remain until the
human being exists in the planet. Due to the lack of time to
prepare own food and consumers’ focus on professional
production; processed/semi processed and ready food
industry becomes multibillion dollar industry in developed
countries, even in the developing and under developed
countries like Bangladesh the demand of this industry is
growing fast. In urban life the time constraint is increasing
day by day, people are busy with their professional works
and business, time for household is reducing. Even the
females don’t have much time for managing the
household as they are now actively participating in higher
education, professional service, business and other jobs,
especially in urban areas. In this demographic and social
atmosphere urban people are interested in to the time
saving value of different products. In respect of this
awareness, semi processed frozen food products have
already become very essential needs of the urban people in
Bangladesh. At present, more than 50 different types of
products covering a wide range of categories like semi
processed fish finger, shrimps finger, beef/chicken burger,
processed chicken, semi processed vegetable/chicken rolls,
Samosa, Singara, French fries, porata, rooti, sandwich and
other breakfast and snacks item.
Khulna is one of the district and divisional cities of
Bangladesh; in respect of area, it ranks 1
st
among the 10
districts in Khulna division and 4
th
among the 64 districts
of the country. According to the population census 2011,
total number of households of Khulna district was 547000
which was 1.70% of total households of the country. The
total number of population of the district was 2313000
which was 1.60% of total population of the country. (BBS: