A Study on Consumer Buying Behavior of Bread

Presented by
ABOOBACKER SIDDIQUE TP MBA (BU) Reg No 006 PRESIDENCY COLLEGE, BANGALORE

Introduction
Bread is one of the most important staple foods in almost all countries. It is an excellent source of nutrition. The Indian bakery industry is one of the largest processed food industries and its production has been steadily increasing. This study was conducted in Coimbatore city. Random sampling was followed to select a sample of100 households in the city.

Research involves a sequence of steps

1. Defining a research problem. 2. Finalizing a research design. 3. Developing a research hypothesis.

4. Planning the research methodology.

5. Data collection.

6. Data analysis.
7. Conclusion and Recommendations.

Problem Focus
Bread is becoming a key component of regular
diet. Several brands exist in production and marketing of bread. There is a strong competition among national brands, regional brands and local brands of bread. In this context, it is essential for a firm to understand the behavior of consumers and their expectations. Information on buying behavior will be helpful for formulating marketing strategies. Hence, a study has been undertaken to examine buying behavior of consumers in Coimbatore city.

Objectives
The objectives of the study are: To analyze the consumption pattern of bread; To study the buying behavior of the consumers with regard to bread; and To identify the factors influencing the consumers buying behavior with respect to bread.

Methodology
Chi-square was calculated by finding the difference between observed and theoretical frequency for each possible outcome, squaring them, dividing each by the theoretical frequency, and taking the sum of the results:

E i = an observed frequency; E i = an expected frequency, asserted by null hypothesis.

Data collection

Results and Discussion

Influence of Number of Working Persons on the Purchase of Bread

Number of working persons in the family positively influenced the purchase behavior.
The working population preferred bread because they felt that it is very convenient breakfast food.

Consumption Pattern Type of Bread

Different types of bread are available in the market and the respondents are asked to indicate the types of bread preferred. The results are presented in Table 2.

It can be observed that milk bread (59%) and sweet bread (55%) are the most preferred types of bread among the sample households.

Reason for Consumption

The respondents are asked to indicate when they usually consume bread. The data are analyzed and the results are presented in Table

It can be observed that only one-third of the sample households consumed bread as a regular diet, while the rest of the sample households consumed bread as per the circumstances,

Consumption Time
People consume bread at different times in a day.

It could be inferred that majority (52%) of the sample households are consuming bread during morning hours (breakfast) and 29% of the sample households were consuming bread during evening hours (snack).

Buying Behavior
Buying behavior is the process wherein individuals decide on whether, what, when, where, how and from whom to purchase goods and services

Place of Purchase of Bread

It could be inferred that majority of the respondents (43%) buy bread from nearby bakery shops. This might be the reason for the preference of private label of bread by the sample respondents.

Factors Influencing Purchase of Bread

Consumers rated easy to prepare as the main factor which influences the purchase of bread followed by preferred by elder person, good taste, reasonable price, easy availability, advertisement, and package attractiveness.

Conclusion
It was found that the working population preferred bread as they considered it to be a very convenient breakfast food.

Generally, consumers preferred milk bread over sweet and wheat bread.
Only one-third of the sample households consumed bread as a regular diet. Generally, households consumed bread during morning hours (breakfast). In general, consumers purchase bread from nearby bakery shops whenever needed. The consumers feel that saves time and preferred by children are the important factors influencing purchase of bread.