A STUDY ON PURCHASE PATTERN AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS

FARMERS’ MARKETS (UZHAVAR SANTHAI) IN COIMBATORE

Sangeetha Achyuth, Student, M. Com, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore

Abstract
The purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables is an integral part of a consumer’s
expenditure. Heightened awareness of food safety concerns, carbon emissions produced from
food transportation, have led to the increasing popularity of the consumption of local foods.
These issues have not only raised consumer awareness, but they have led to an increase in
alternative options for consumers to purchase their food from farmers’ markets. Every consumer
looks forward to buying good quality, pesticide-free, hygienic and safe produce at affordable
prices. Hence the Government of Tamil Nadu introduced a new concept called “Uzhavar Santhai”
or Farmers’ Market, in 1999 setup to facilitate the farmers to sell fresh produce and other
products directly to the consumers at remunerative prices. The focus of this study is to determine
the purchase pattern, reasons for visiting Farmers’ Markets and analyze customers’ level of
satisfaction.

Introduction
India is primarily an agricultural country and agriculture contributes a major share of the
national income of India. Agriculture in India meets almost all the food requirements of the
people. Backed by large disposable incomes, the agriculture sector is now witnessing an
extraordinary change in consumption patterns. Agricultural marketing, in its widest sense,
comprises all the operations involved in the movement of food and raw materials from the field to
the consumer. As the agriculture sector contributes greatly towards the betterment and
improvement of the standard of living of the people in India, each subunit in the agricultural
sector needs thorough attention. Direct marketing, a method that eliminates middlemen from
exploiting farmers and consumers is a development brought in by the Government of India and
eliminates some of the weaknesses in agricultural marketing. To eliminate these middlemen, the
Government of Tamil Nadu introduced a new concept called “Uzhavar Santhai” or Farmers’
Market, in 1999. The main reason behind starting this market system was to facilitate the farmers
to sell fresh fruits, vegetables, and other products directly to the consumers at remunerative prices
without the intervention of middlemen and traders. However, several factors such as quality, shelf
life of the product, nutritive value, etc., play an important role in the customer’s purchase
decision. The purpose of this study is to determine consumer purchase pattern, motivation to shop
at Farmers’ Markets and measure the level of satisfaction of consumers visiting Farmers’
Markets.

Statement of the Problem

The purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables is an integral part of a consumer’s
expenditure. Every consumer looks forward to buying good quality, pesticide-free, hygienic and
safe produce at affordable prices. These issues have not only raised consumer awareness, but they
have led to an increase in alternative options for consumers to purchase their food from farmers’
markets. The study aims to analyze the purchase pattern of customers, the factors that influence
them to visit Farmers’ Markets and measure the level of satisfaction of customers visiting
Farmers’ Markets.

Objectives of the Study

1. To determine the purchase pattern of consumers visiting farmer’s markets.
2. To examine the factors influencing consumers to shop at Farmers’ markets (Uzhavar Santhai).
3. To measure the level of satisfaction of consumers visiting Farmers’ Markets.

Research Methodology
Purposive sampling technique was adopted to gather data. This sampling method was
used to gather accurate data from customers visiting the market. The study mainly uses primary
data collected using a structured questionnaire distributed to customers who purchase from the
Farmers’ Market (Uzhavar Santhai). For further reference, secondary data from Journal
publications, articles, blogs, and books have been used.

Review of Literature
The main place for purchasing locally grown produce is a city or town’s farmer’s market.
Bagozzi and Dholakia (1999) mentioned that consumption and purchasing decisions are
influenced by price. Wolf (1997) in a study examined responses of consumers with the objective
of comparing the profile of farmers' market shoppers. Consumers have indicated that quality and
value for money are among the most important factors influencing their purchase. Henry La
Trobe (2001) observed in his paper that when buying fresh foods, interviewees stated the
importance of quality and freshness in their choice of produce. A study by Elangovan (2015)
reveals that majority of the respondents have a positive impression towards farmers’ markets and
these markets as they are reasonably priced.
Panchanatham and Salvavinayagam, (2008), through their study found that consumers
are satisfied with the freshness, availability of produce and quality of produce purchased from
Farmers’ Markets. The paper further stated that selling at Uzhavar Santhai motivated the farmer
to have 100% direct contact with consumers. Trobe (2001) in the findings of his qualitative
research mentioned that the lack of middlemen in direct marketing played a major role in
customers satisfaction as there were reduced prices and direct interaction between the farmers and
the community. Evidence from the study by Otto and Varner (2005) revealed that consumers
show great satisfaction towards shopping from direct farmer to consumer markets as they were
located in places close to homes and had access to public transport nearby.
However, a study by Rudra Saibaba and Suresh Vadde (2009) and Ahmed Salma,
Subhendu Dey (2012) revealed that majority of respondents wanted an improvement in the
behaviour of sellers, better parking facility as well as other amenities at the Rythu Bazaar.
Addition of features to improve the look of the market was also suggested for better functioning.
Similar to the above study, Shanmuga Sundaram and Nataranjan (2001) undertook a study on
Uzhavar Santhai to analyse its benefits and problems and to suggest ways to improve its
performance. The respondents expressed that working hours of the market be extended as people
don’t get public transport early in the morning. They suggested that the government should
provide special buses that ply during market working hours to help reach to and from the market.

Analysis and Interpretation

Demographic profile of the respondents-Percentage Analysis

Percentage Analysis has been used to segregate and classify the Demographic Profile of
consumers visiting Farmers’ Markets in Coimbatore.
 Maximum number of respondents belong to the age group of 26-35 years.
 58% of the respondents are Female.
 88% of the respondents are Married.
  38% of the respondents are Post-Graduates.
 42% of the respondents are Salaried employees.
 62.7% of the respondents are from Urban areas.
 66% of the respondents live in Nuclear families.
 44% of the respondents have 1-3 members in their family.
 94% of the respondents have 1-3 earning members in their family.
 39.3% of the respondents have a Monthly Household Income between Rs.25,000-Rs.50,000.

Purchase pattern of the respondents - Percentage Analysis

Percentage Analysis has been used to segregate and classify the Purchase Pattern of consumers
visiting Farmers’ Markets in Coimbatore.
 36.7% of the respondents shop once every two weeks.
 39.3% of the respondents travel less than 2 km to visit the Farmers’ Market.
 60.7% of the respondents visit between 5 am-6 am.
 52% of the respondents shop for less than an hour.
 44% of the respondents spend between Rs.500-Rs.1000 per month at Farmers’ Market.

Reasons for Shopping at Farmers’ Markets - Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics has been used to summarize the data and analyse the mean and the
standard deviation of the variables. The highest value of the mean is used to analyse the Reasons
for visiting Farmers’ Markets. A three-point scale was used to measure the level of influence on
the consumers, where 3 was assigned “Highly Influenced”, 2 was assigned “Moderately
Influenced” and 1 was assigned “Not Influenced”. Upon calculating the mean and standard
deviation of the various factors, it was found that the highest mean value was for Freshness and
Quality at 2.92 followed by Availability of seasonal fruits and vegetables at 2.91. The least
influential factor was found to be Good buyer-seller relationship at 2.14. Hence freshness and
quality of produce serve as the main influencing factors that motivate consumers to visit Farmers’
Markets.

Demographic Factors Vs Factors Influencing Consumers to Visit Farmers’ Market -

ANOVA

ANOVA has been used at 5% level of Significance to test the mean difference between
Demographic Factors and the Factors Influencing consumers to visit Farmers’ Markets.

H0: There is no significant difference between demographic factors such as age, educational
qualification, employment status, residential area and monthly household income and factors
influencing consumers to visit farmers’ markets.

Table 1 Demographic Factors Vs Factors influencing visit - ANOVA

No. of Std. F
Factors Classification Mean Sig. S/NS
Respondents Deviation Value
Below 25 years 13 2.6454 0.20574
26 - 35 years 55 2.6431 0.41875
Age 0.823 0.483 NS
36 - 45 years 48 2.5788 0.28151
Above 45 years 34 2.6900 0.22202
Educational No formal 1.678 0.158 NS
9 2.6922 0.31072
Qualification education
School Level 21 2.5900 0.25462
Diploma/Degree 44 2.5995 0.24802
Post-Graduation 57 2.7058 0.38525
 Professional 19 2.5142 0.32250
Salaried 63 2.6357 0.41022
Self Employed 32 2.6784 0.24185
Employment
Professional 10 2.6070 0.31181 0.479 0.751 NS
Status
Home maker 32 2.5750 0.22375
Retired 13 2.6746 0.24330
Urban 94 2.6597 0.35389
Residential
Semi-urban 50 2.5738 0.26146 1.365 0.259 NS
Area
Rural 6 2.7167 0.24760
Below Rs.25000 15 2.6820 0.25237
Monthly
Rs.25001- 50000 59 2.5959 0.26397
Household 0.976 0.406 NS
Rs.50001-100000 55 2.6811 0.40923
Income
Above Rs.100000 21 2.5786 0.25543
(Source Computed Data)

The results of the ANOVA table above show the F-Value as 0.823 for age, 1.678 for
educational qualification, 0.479 for employment status, 1.365 for residential area and 0.976 for
monthly household income. The calculated P-Value for age is 0.483, educational qualification is
0.158, employment status is 0.751, residential area is 0.259 and monthly household income is
0.406. Since the P-Value at 5% level of significance is more than 0.05 for the above factors, it
can be concluded that there is no significant difference between demographic factors and factors
influencing consumers to visit Farmers’ Markets.

Level of Satisfaction - Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics has been used to summarize the data and analyse the mean and the
standard
deviation of the variables. The highest value of the mean is used to analyse the level of
satisfaction of customers visiting Farmers’ Markets. A three-point scale was used to measure the
level of satisfaction of the consumers, where 3 was assigned “Satisfied”, 2 was assigned
“Neutral” and 1 was assigned “Not Satisfied”. Upon calculating the mean and standard deviation
of the various factors, it was found that the mean value is the highest for “Availability of
Seasonal Fruits” and “Availability of Seasonal Vegetables” with a score of 2.89 followed by
Freshness of items in the market. From this it can be understood that consumers are highly
satisfied with the availability of seasonal fruits and vegetables whereas they are least satisfied
with factors such as Maintenance of the area which has a mean score of 1.69 and Garbage
disposal system with a mean score of 1.54. Hence it can be concluded that while several factors
contribute to the satisfaction of consumers, factors with a lower mean score show that steps need
to be taken to improve the condition and working of the Farmers’ Market.

Factors to be implemented in Farmers’ Markets - Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics has been used to summarize the data and analyse the mean and the
standard deviation of the variables. The highest value of the mean is used to analyse the factors to
be implemented at Farmers’ Markets.

Table 2 Factors to be implemented in Farmers’ Markets - Descriptive Statistics

No. of Std.
Factors Percent Mean
Respondents Deviation
Separate parking area 107 71.3 2.63 0.628
Extension of market working hours 108 72 2.66 0.589
Regular supervision & inspection of
127 84.7 2.82 0.450
daily activities
Proper maintenance of the area 131 87.3 2.83 0.469
 Proper garbage disposal system 124 82.7 2.76 0.564
Wheel chair facility 78 52 2.43 0.649
ATM Facility 92 61.3 2.50 0.693
Trolley and Helper facility 87 58 2.41 0.761
Cold storage 112 74.7 2.68 0.594
(Source Computed Data)

A three-point scale was used to measure the agreeability of respondents towards the
following suggestions. The value 3 was assigned “Agree”, 2 was assigned “Neutral” and 1 was
assigned “Disagree”. From the table it can be understood that “Proper Maintenance of the Area”
is the most requested factor. 87.3% of the respondents suggested this factor and its mean value is
the highest at 2.83. This data may be useful for further development of the market area and its
functioning.

Suggestions

From this study it can be concluded that consumers are more aware of the implications of
consuming preserved or genetically modified food. The findings of the study reveal that consumers
are greatly influenced by factors such as freshness of produce, quality and cost-effectiveness. These
factors also contribute to the level of satisfaction. Factors such as proper garbage disposal, running
and maintenance of the area, served as major areas of criticism while cold storage to improve
freshness and a separate parking area to regulate traffic for convenience are some of the major areas
of improvement suggested by consumers. Hence steps must be taken to strengthen the functioning
of Farmers’ Markets and provide consumers the best services in order to improve their level of
satisfaction. By setting up trucks for frequent garbage disposal and employing maintenance staff for
the area, the cleanliness of the market can be improved. Regular visits by officials have to be made
to ensure the proper running of the activities of the markets. Grievances of both the local farmers as
well as the consumers have to be regularly attended to. If the Government takes necessary steps to
implement these suggestions, it can ensure smoother functioning and a more successful Farmers’
Market.

Limitations of the Study

1. The result of analysis made in the study depends fully on the accuracy, reliability of
information given by respondents.
2. The study pertains to the opinions of the respondents visiting the Farmers’ Market at
Singanallur, Coimbatore.
3. The period of study is limited to 5 months.
4. The entire analysis of the study, its findings and conclusion are based on the data
collected through 150 samples.

Conclusion

Increased awareness of health and food distribution channels among consumers has created
a world of implications for the food production industry. Consumers are straying from the
traditionally, large-scale produced goods at grocery stores and turning to community fuelled
farmers’ markets. The Government and local operators of markets are encouraged to understand
consumer profile, provide quality and healthy products, maintain the important sense of community
at markets by standardizing and maintain the area, providing the required facilities and raising the
quality of local Farmers’ Markets to a global level.
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