Bulletin UASVM Horticulture, 66(2)/2009

Print ISSN 1843-5254; Electronic ISSN 1843-5394

Research Concerning the Behaviour of the Coffee Consumer

Elena PET1), Tiberiu IANCU1), Corina Ruset1), Anda MILIN1), Genoveva BUZAMAT1),
Nicoleta BUZILA2)
1)

Faculty of Farm Management, Banat`s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary

Medicine Timisoara, 119 Calea Aradului, Timisoara; Romania; petz_elena@yahoo.com
2
) Faculty Economics Science, University Tibiscus Timisoara, 1/A Daliei St., Timisoara,
Romania

Abstract. The coffee market is a dynamic market due to the numerous mades, to the wide
range of assortments and to the high number of people that are more and more sophisticated. There has
been lately a trend toward pre-packaged coffee, i.e. towards high quality produce and to larger weight
coffee packages. Despite the high price of the coffee, Romanians drink more and more coffee. The
leading assortment is ground coffee followed by soluble coffee.
Keywords: needs, aspirations, demand, offer, consumption, behaviour, market

INTRODUCTION
Marketing research is not an exact science, and it is not an exact science either. It is
about working with people, with their ever-changing needs and desires under the impact of
hundreds of factors that are more or less known. Market analysis shows what people wish to
purchase, to consume, or to use. As a rule, this means something different from what
companies want us to believe, to produce and to sell. It is not enough to must study peoples
needs; we should also know peoples desires and aspirations. The main component of
marketing research is the study of consumer behaviour.
The research of consumer behaviour concerns different attitudes in the process of
buying decision (e.g. peoples attitude towards information, the choice of the purchase place,
fidelity towards the made, getting aware of the price, knowing consumers difficult nature,
etc.). Consumer behaviour is a complex phenomenon and, at the same time, an
interdisciplinary field.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study aims at presenting the coffee consumer profile, the way the choosing and
purchasing of the different types of coffee on the market is done, and the way coffee made
notoriety is determined.
The target population consisted of all the people aged over 18 and living in Timioara.
The sampling method we used was the quotas method. In applying this method, we started
from the characteristics of the target population (e.g. age, sex, occupation, etc.).
Sample size varies depending on the thrust threshold and on the accepted error. The
way the questionnaire was applied consisted in a field survey, i.e. questioning people outside
the shops.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

At present, consumers are masters of their incomes. Social stratification differentiates
incomes and determines significant variations of the consumption structure. Knowing the
structure of the consumers attitude is a good opportunity to investigate the causes
determining the acceptance or rejection of a produce. The most important means is
researching consumers desires.
Question no. 1 in our questionnaire, Do you drink coffee? is a filter question. As a
result of the answers we got to this question, we could see that 56% of the people we
questioned drink coffee; 17% answered hey do not drink coffee at all; and 27% answered they
only drink coffee sometimes. Thus, the 17 people answering they never drink coffee were
removed from the study.
The answer to question, How often do you drink coffee? resulted in the following
answers: 92% of the respondents answered they drink coffee daily; while 8% answered they
drink coffee occasionally.
The answer to the question, Who purchases the coffee in your family? showed that
it is the housewife who does it (76% of the cases).
As for the question, How often do you purchase coffee? 40% of the respondents
answered they purchase it once a month, 28% answered they purchase it twice a month, and
20% answered they purchase it rather seldom.
As for the amount of coffee people purchase, the figure below shows that 40% of the
coffee purchasers prefer packages of 500 g, while 36% prefer packages of 250 g (Fig. 1).
40%
40%

36%

35%
30%
25%
20%

16%

15%
8%

10%
5%
0%
250 g

500 g

1000 g

More

Fig. 1. Amount of coffee purchased

The answers to question, On what occasion do you purchase coffee?, 72% of the
respondents said they purchase coffee for the daily consumption, while 8% said they purchase
coffee for other goals.
The questionnaire showed that 64% of the respondents purchase their coffee at the
hyeprmarket and supermarket, 24% of the respondents purchase coffee from the corner shops,
and 12% purchase coffee from the market. As for the coffee made, we could see that 48% of
the respondents prefer the Jakobs made, 24% purchase the Elita made, 16% purchase the
Amigo made, 8% purchase the Tchibo made, and 4% purchase the Amaroy and Lavazza
mades (Fig. 2).
The answers to question, What do you appreciate most in the coffee you purchase?,
50% of the respondents answered it is flavour, 40% answered it is the taste, and 10%
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answered it is strength. Asfor the factors influencing purchase decision, we could see from the
respondents answers that 44% of them are influenced by the price, 28% answered they are
influenced by the made, and 20% of the respondents admitted it is the advertising (Fig. 3).
48%

50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

24%
16%
8%
4%
Elita

Jacobs

Amigo

Tchibo

Other
specifications

Fig. 2. Coffee mades

44%

45%
40%
35%

28%

30%
25%

20%

20%
15%
8%

10%
5%
0%
Advertising

Price

Packaging

Trade

Fig. 3. Factors influencing purchase decision

40%
40%
32%

35%

28%

30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Home, in family

At the caf/ At w ork (school),

terrace, w ith
the automatic
friends
coffee

Fig. 4. Favourite place for coffee consumption

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The answers to question, Where do you usually have your coffee?, showed that 40%
of the respondents answered it is at home, 32% answered they have their coffee with their
friends, at coffee shops, on terraces, etc., and 28% of the respondents said they have their
coffee at their work place, from the coffee machine (Fig. 4). As for the age of the respondents,
we could see that 36% of them are aged 26-40, 28% are aged 18-25, 20% are aged 41-65, and
16% are aged above 65.
From the point of view of their income, 56% of the respondents earn less than 1,000
LEI /month, 20% earn between 1,000 and 1,500 LEI /month, 16% of the respondents earn
between 1,501 LEI /month and 2,000 LEI /month, and only 8% of the respondents earn more
than 2,000 LEI /month.
CONCLUSIONS
In order to get higher performances, any company needs a strong consumer-oriented
marketing strategy. Therefore, it is very important to monitor and study the consumer
behaviour from all points of view: type of consumer, age, sex, occupation, group of
appurtenance, personality, culture, etc. the questions marketing operators should use in their
studies and shaping of purchase behaviour and consumption behaviour in their attempt to
better decide how to react are such questions as Who?, When?, How?, How much?, From
where?, How many times?, etc. To have a closer look at the factors influencing the behaviour
of the coffee consumer we have carried out the present study by applying a questionnaire to a
number of 60 people whose main common feature is that they all live in the city of Timisoara.
On the ground of this study, we can draw the following conclusions:
56% of the respondents drink coffee, 27% drink it sometimes, and 17% never;
92% of the respondents drink coffee daily, while 8% drink it occasionally;
76% of the coffee purchasers are women;
40% of the respondents purchase coffee once a month, 28% twice a month, and 20% rather
seldom;
40% of the respondents prefer packages of 500 g, while 36% prefer 250 g packages;
72% of the respondents purchase coffee for their daily consumption, while 8% purchase it for other
reasons;
64% of the respondents purchase their coffee at the hyeprmarket and supermarket, 24% from the
corner shops, and 12% from the market,
48% of the respondents prefer the Jakobs made, 24% Elita, 16% Amigo, 8% Tchibo, and 4%
Amaroy and Lavazza;
50% of the respondents purchase coffee for its flavour, 40% for its taste, and 10% for its strength;
44% of the respondents are influenced by the coffee price in their purchase, 28% by the made, and
10% by the adds;
40% of the respondents prefer have their coffee at home, 32% in town, and 28% at the work place;
36% of the respondents were aged 26-40, 28% were aged 18-25, 20% were aged 41-65, and 16%
were aged above 65.
56% of the respondents earn less than 1,0 00 LEI /month , 20% earn between 1,000 and 1, 500 LEI/month, 16% of the respondents earn between 1,501 LEI /month and 2 ,000 LEI /mon th, and on ly 8% of the respondents earn more than 2,000 LEI /month.

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