Organizational Buyer Behavior of Caribbean Food and Beverage Importers

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This paper examines the behavior of Caribbean importers with respect to the purchase of branded food and beverage products manufactured in the Canadian province of Ontario. The determinants of the import purchase decision are identified, and the import response of buyers to changes in the importance rating of key purchase criteria is quantified. The study is based on personal interviews with forty-eight Caribbean food and beverage purchasing executives. The results indicate that price and requests from local customers are the most important decision criteria used by Caribbean importers. Also, firms with a recent history of importing Ontario food and beverage products place a higher level of importance on brand image and package design. A one-unit decrease in the importance rating of the packaging design variable was found to increase the odds of a firm importing from Ontario by thirty percent.