Consumers’ preference for purchasing vegetables in Bangladesh: What matters?

Abstract

This study assesses Bangladeshi consumer-preferred traits while purchasing vegetables, considering four attributes -freshness, price, quality, and safety together with the socio-demographic variables of consumers. In addition, this study also aims to find the factors influencing consumers' price consciousness while purchasing vegetables. A total of 220 consumers were surveyed in person across Bangladesh's two main cities- Dhaka and Mymensingh. We find that age, education, income, and food expenditure are the discriminating factors influencing consumer preferences for vegetable attributes. Additionally, we show that income, food spending, shopping patterns, and the purchase site impact consumers' price consciousness while buying vegetables. Our results indicate that higher-income and well-educated Bangladeshi buyers are ready to shell out extra for fresh vegetables compared to their lower-income and less-educated counterparts who are more price-conscious. Importantly, our results show that consumers in a developing country, accounting for socio-demographic characteristics, share many of the same preference traits and price consciousness as those in developed countries when purchasing vegetables.