The majority of people in Odisha prefer non-vegetarian food to vegetarian. According to a study, the average urban family spends about 38 per cent of their total income on food, about 8.7 per cent of which is non-vegetarian against the national average of 7.25 per cent.
The study, coauthored by senior faculty member of IIM-Lucknow Sanjeev Kapoor and faculty member in Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, Niraj Kumar, was published in a UK-based research journal.
The study revealed that fish was the most frequently purchased product on a weekly basis, mainly because Odisha is a coastal state that had fish in abundance and of varying quality. The next frequently purchased item was chicken followed by mutton, which consumers brought on a fortnightly basis.
On an average, most of the consumers bought about 1 kg of non-vegetarian products in one transaction. The purchase of fish was more than a kg because it was considered a part of regular food and also was comparatively cheaper,” the study said.
The study also maintained that consumers less than 25 years preferred frequent purchase of mutton as compared to their older counterparts. Similarly, young consumers brought more mutton and chicken as compared to those belonging to the older age group.
The study also indicated that 68 per cent consumers buy non-vegetarian products on the basis of quality while 87 per cent were interested in seeing the product before buying it and preferred physically verifying and selecting the product. The study, however, concluded that organized retailers of non-vegetarian products will have to wait for some more time before they think of replacing unorganized retailers.
“The main aim of the study was to understand buying behaviour of consumers, which can be used to develop appropriate marketing strategies. Buying behaviour of consumers was studied through quantity and frequency of purchase expenditure pattern, and preferred location of store for non-vegetarian products,” said Niraj Kumar of XIMB.
The study was done in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, two cities with the maximum gross district domestic product during the year 2012-2013 among all the districts of Odisha. A total of 182 non-vegetarian households from diverse socio-economic backgrounds were interviewed on buying behavior for non-vegetarian food products.
Courtesy: Times of India