A Comparative Analysis for Factors Affecting Food Choice among Rural and Urban Households of Central Gujarat

Abstract

The food is one of the basic needs of human kind. However, physiological and nutritional factors affect food choice, but many factors affecting food choice broadly included social, economic, cultural, personal and environmental. The Indian spends almost half of the income on food items. The consumers of India can be broadly classified based on geography as rural and urban consumers. The consumption patterns in rural and urban areas varied in various aspects. Do the rural and urban consumers differ in food choice, being an important and basic need of human? The present study was planned to understand the factors affecting food choice, and it further examined the difference between rural and urban for food choices. The study found three factors through factor analysis, namely environmental influence, product feature and availability, and affordability and promotion. The significant difference was found between rural and urban areas for factors affecting food choice. The study's outcome will help the marketer design the marketing strategies for the products and new product design, and it will also help design the segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies.