The Correlation Between the Daily Allowance and the Buying Behavior on the

Daily Food Consumption of Grade 12 ABM Students for the Academic Year
2019-2020

The Problem and Its Background factor

I. Introduction
As the demands of academic activities inside the school premises increase,
it is necessary for the students to have sufficient allowance to provide for their
physiological and academic needs—they need an excessive amount of energy
to achieve their goals and finish their tasks, to comply with the school's
academic requirements, and to survive the daily struggles of being students.
They need to fill their stomachs with food in order for them to regain the energy
that they have used in doing their daily activities. However, there are factors
that may affect a student’s buying behavior with regards to their food
consumption which can be influenced by their beliefs, attitude, and
preferences.
According to a study by Ramya and Ali, consumers’ buying behavior can be
largely influenced by economic factors such as personal income, family
income, income expectations, and savings, (2016). Consumers’ choices on
what to purchase are affected by the said factors. Money plays a big part in the
purchasing process, especially for the students. They need to consider their
budget to avoid buying impulsively.
Nowadays, students with adequate allowance prefer to buy affordable
meals that would surely fill their stomachs so they could work all day long, and
at the same time, are able to save money for their daily necessities. In a
research conducted by DiSantis, et. al., consumers seek for low-priced
products to save money, time, and effort (2013). This is why most of the time,
the consumers’ buying behavior depends upon the price of a product.
Observably, some consumers buy meals multiple times a day which lead them
to not actually saving money, because multiple purchasing of low-priced
 products could sometimes be similar with buying high-priced products once per
day.
Apparently, students with higher budget tend to buy expensive meals
because they have the capacity to do so. Other students who are on a tight
budget buy meals that are neither low nor high-priced, as they still look for
quality and make sure they get the right amount of nutrition from it.

II. Background of the Study

In order to provide for their needs of food consumers spend a certain

amount of money (on food and appliances) and perform a certain amount of
household production (shopping, food and meal preparation) There are not
many consumers in industrialized countries who can indulge themselves in
always eating out and there is no opportunity for all to grow one's own food. In
a Dutch household on the average 2196 of all expenditure and 3596 of the total
household production is spent on food consumption. In The Netherlands circa
2.5 million unpaid labor years are spent by all households on household
production relating to food consumption. At an estimate the share of this unpaid
labor input varies from 26% to 33% of the Gross National Product and from
29% to 40% of the National Income (calculated from figures as described by
Bruyn-Hundt, 1983).

In the Philippines, the latest Food Consumption Survey (FCS) by the Food
and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology
(FNRI-DOST) in 2013 showed that 69.3 percent or about 7 in 10 Filipino
households do not meet their dietary energy requirement. This was 2.4 percent
higher than the 2008 survey results, as presented during the National Nutrition
Summit Part 2, Dusit Thani Hotel, Manila last December 10, 2014. The top 20
commonly consumed foods of Filipinos did not change, except for the rankings.
The top five most commonly consumed foods were rice, salt, cooking oil, coffee
and bread. People living in urban areas had higher intakes of total food, fats
and oils, meat and products, poultry, milk and products, eggs, fruits and
 miscellaneous items than rural residents. In contrast, those living in the rural
areas had higher intakes of cereals and products, starchy roots and tubers, fish
and products, and vegetables than urban residents. The survey further
revealed that only 62.7 percent of the households met their daily dietary protein
requirement. What are alarming were the mean one-day per capita nutrient
intakes for iron and calcium, where only 8.7 percent and 15.2 percent of
households met the estimated average requirement (EAR), respectively.
(FNRI, 2014)

Moreover, the proportion of households meeting the EAR was also low for
vitamin A at 25.0 percent, riboflavin at 21.7 percent, vitamin C at 32.9 percent,
and thiamin at 35.1 percent. The survey also assessed the food wastage of
Filipino households. Data revealed that about 14.0 grams or about one
tablespoon of rice, corn and products were wasted. This was a slight increase
in plate waste from the 2008 survey particularly for rice, corn and products
especially among rural households. Plate waste is defined as the edible
portions of food which are left on the dining table or in the plates after the family
has finished eating and are usually given to pets or discarded. (FNRI, 2014)
In conclusion, the country's percentage of dietary energy decreased over
the years. More in-depth analysis on the distribution of food among the
population, as well as the evaluation of food-related programs that address
inadequacy of intake among household.

III. Theoretical Framework

According to the Theory of Reasoned Action by Martin Fishbein and Icek

Azjen (1975), there are stimuli that limit the influence of the factors on behavior.
Also, it wants to emphasize the relationship between the said factors and
human actions. These factors are based on human’s attitude and subjective
norms which affect man’s behavioral intention to predict situations such as
whenever our attitude wants or leads us to accomplish something but the
relevant norms suggest that we should do other things.
 The three factors that may affect the buying behavior of the consumers are
money, opinion of other people, and the practicality of the consumers. Money
affects the behavior of a consumer because a consumer may desire or crave
for a certain need or want, but due to lack of money, he or she cannot afford to
buy it. The opinion of other people also affects the consumer’s buying behavior
because it may influence the consumer by means of price, taste preferences,
trend and advertisements. Last factor is the practicality of the consumers. With
the high value of necessities in the market nowadays, consumers tend to
choose the ones with cheaper price than those that will satisfy them.

The theory will be operationalized in the study by means of understanding

how Grade 12 ABM Students budget their daily allowance to their daily food
consumptions. The attitude and subjective norms of the consumers will also
materialize in the research to further explain the behavior of the students in
food purchase and consumption.
 IV. Conceptual Framework

Input Process Output

1. Demographic 1. Data gathering by The Correlation on

profile means of a survey daily allowance to the
2. Money allotted for questionnaire for buying behavior with
food the respondents regards to food
3. Correlation of the study consumption of
between the daily 2. Documentation of Grade 12 ABM Senior
allowance and the gathered data High School Students
buying behavior on 3. Analyzing the in Polytechnic
the daily food data gathered University of the
consumption of from the Philippines.
the students respondents

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Figure 1. Conceptual Framework Paradigm

The paradigm above shows the relation of the input, process, and output of
this study. The input shows that the researchers need (1) demographic profile
of the respondents, (2) money allotted for daily food consumption of the
students. After gathering and analyzing the data results, the researchers
proved the correlation between the daily allowance and buying behavior with
regards to food of the students.
V. Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study is to know the correlation between the daily
allowance and the buying behavior with regards to daily food consumption of
the students in Polytechnic University of the Philippines taking Accountancy,
Business and Management Strand for the academic year 2019-2020. This
research study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What is the respondent’s profile in terms of:

1.1 Sex
1.2 Age
1.3 Estimated amount of daily allowance
1.4 Current residence concerning if they are staying in a dormitory or in their
parents’ house
1.5 Number of times that a student buys meals in a day
2. Where does the respondent prefer to buy meals?
3. How much do the students usually spend in buying meals?
4. What is the correlation of the students’ daily allowance to their buying
behavior regarding their daily food consumption in terms of:
4.1 Budgeting
4.2 Individual preferences
5. Is there a significant relationship between a student’s daily allowance and
their buying behavior on their daily food consumption?
VI. Objectives of the Study

This study aims to examine the correlation between the daily allowance and
the buying behavior of the respondents with regards to their daily food
consumption.
VII. Hypotheses

There is no significant difference between the daily allowance and the

buying behavior with regards to daily food consumption of Grade 12 ABM
Senior High School students in Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

VIII. Significance of the Study

Students have different allowances when they go to school every day.
Some students do not spend their allowance because they put it up into their
savings; while on the other hand, some spend it for their other expenses
especially when it comes to food. When students have their lunch break, or
when they are going home, they are tempted to buy things specially food to
gain the energy that they consumed during the discussions in their class. The
buying behavior of the students usually depends on their daily allowance. The
data and the findings of this study will benefit the students in helping them to
identify the correlation of their daily allowance and their buying behavior with
regards to their daily food consumption.
At the same time, the data that will be gathered in this research will also
benefit the parents because they are usually the source of the allowance of the
students. It will help them identify if the allowance that they give to their children
is enough for their daily food consumption.

IX. Limitations of the Study

The study that will be conducted place a limit on itself in determining the
correlation between the daily allowance and the buying behavior with regards
to daily food consumption of grade 12 ABM Senior High School students in
Polytechnic University of the Philippines for the academic year 2019-2020.

X. Definition of Terms
 Buying behavior – this pertains to the factors affecting a consumer’s
decision, namely beliefs, principles, attitudes and preferences.
 Food Consumption – this pertains to the number of times a buyer buys
food in a span of 24 hours
 Meal/Food – this encompasses both rice meals and snacks which
include biscuits, junk foods, sandwiches etc.