Task No.

Task Name Word Count

1. Research Project Proposal

London Business Academy – Mandalay Htet Naing Win ()

Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................2

1.1 Background of Study.......................................................................................................2

1.2 Objectives of the Study...................................................................................................3
1.3 Research Questions........................................................................................................3
1.4 Scope of the Study..........................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................................4

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................9

3.1: Introduction...................................................................................................................9
3.2: Design of the Study........................................................................................................9
3.3: Study Site.....................................................................................................................10
3.4: Targeted Population....................................................................................................10
3.5: Sampling and Sample Size............................................................................................10
3.6: Data Collection Procedure...........................................................................................10
3.7: Ethical Consideration...................................................................................................11
3.8: Data Analysis Procedure..............................................................................................11
3.9: Research Plan...............................................................................................................11
Bibliography........................................................................................................................12

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London Business Academy – Mandalay Htet Naing Win ()

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study

Starting from 2015, organic vegetation market starts to be popular among

Myanmar people. Organic products are called those which are grown without the use
of pesticides and fertilizers. Organic food as a product from a farming system which
avoids the use of syntheticfertilizers and pesticides.
Organic farming in Myanmar has not been well documented yet. In this research,
it is focused only on the Mandalay consumers. There are over one million residents in
Mandalay according to 2019’s population research which is small comparison to
entire population of Myanmar citizens. People are beginning to be attracted by the
word “organic” since Myanmar has been designated using lots of chemicals which
harm public health. Food safety and consumer protection are becoming important.
However, awareness and behaviour may differ - few appear willing to pay a premium.
Consumer preferences are not well known and many assumptions are made without
direct evidence. Trust levels are low and there is scepticism of product that is called
organic because of limited traceability and abuses or imitations. Overall, there are
weak linkages between producers and consumers.
Since the linkage is the problem, producers need to perform direct link between
farmer and consumers so as to know what consumers require and what they can
perform for them in order that the local organic market will be widespread
undoubtedly.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

The main aim of this research is to enhance the current relation between consumers

and market. In order to achieve this main objective, some sub-objectives can be

formulated;

1. To determine the consumer influencing factors on decision of buying fruits

and vegetables,

2. To study the impact factor of market choice,

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3. To find out the correlation between consumers’ behaviors and their market

choice.

1.3 Research Questions

1. What are the influencing factors on decision of buying organic fruits and vegetables?

2. What are the impact factors of market choice?

3. How the people’s market choice and consumers’ behaviors are correlated with each

other and how does the consumers’ behavior influence on the market choice

decision?

1.4 Scope of the Study

This research will be written focusing on consumers’ behaviors and market

choice of organic green groceries only domestic Mandalay city organic market among
people of Mandalay and producers of Mandalay within one-year period. In this paper,
quantitative analysis method will be used through the well-defined structured
questionnaire and interview. In order to understand the issues faced by the
entrepreneurs, a technique of in-depth interview has also been conducted with few
organic producers involved in selling organic products. As this paper is conducted on
only one particular place, it might not be suitable in other places. It may also be
possible that the information of the respondents is not always true and it could
sometimes be bias data. As some data are taken from secondary sources like internet,
newspapers, journals, it may lack of proper explanations and sometimes they may be
wrongly interrupted. Moreover, the researcher targets only in organic groceries (not
in inorganic products and others) between consumers and producers with direct
market.

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London Business Academy – Mandalay Htet Naing Win ()

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter represents some literature reviews related to this research.

Myanmar has 10879000 hectares of arable land depending on 2015 report of World
Bank collection of development indicators. According to the Myanmar economic and
social development plan, the major concern is to enhance the production of organic
products. Nowadays, the quality of food, consumer health and food safety have
become important cases. Public awareness of food safety is rising among consumers
which make people to choose organic products than chemical products. General
public awareness is important to make consumers believe in the food safety and
certification of a product as organic (Panyakul, V., 2003).

Markets are emphasized in literature, especially for ‘mindful markets’, where

consumers are aware of the true costs of production and pay regularly and in advance for
products that are traceable/have history ( van Willenswaard, W., 2015). Linkages between
producers and consumers are vital, as is having fair prices that enable good living conditions
(Niggli et al. 2014). The consumers’ interest in buying organic vegetables and its
attractiveness to public depend on the marketing strategy used by retail sellers and its
advertising. Highlighting the benefits of healthy organic food is important for the consumers
and market relations. It is necessary to distinguish the price and safety for a consumer
between the organic products and products grown in arable land.

(Shafie, F.A. and Rennie, D., 2012)The author investigated the consumer concern
about the food safety based on health risk, agricultural, and environmental changes
associated with modern food production including genetic modification and the
improper use of pesticides. The author also reviewed the end users willingness to pay
for the organic food. The author stated that Food safety, human health and
environmental concern along with sensory attributes such as nutritive value, taste,
freshness and appearance influence organic food consumer preferences. Demographic
(Hughner, Mcdonagh, Prothero, Ii, & Stanton, 2007). The author investigated the
reasons for purchasing the organic food. The author has identified 15 themes to
understand the motive for purchase and non-purchase of organic food. The motive for
purchase includes Health & nutrition concern, Superior taste, Concern for
environment, Concern for animal welfare, Support of local economy, Fashionable /

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Curiosity, Nostalgia, More wholesome. While under non-purchasing Organic food the
author has listed almost 6 themes. This includes High price premiums, Lack of
organic food availability, Skepticism of certification board, Insufficient marketing,
Sensory defects, Satisfaction with current food stores. The analysis under these
themes was executed through published sources. The analysis reveals that health
benefits are the primary reason for the purchase of Organic food. High Cost is the
major reason for the non-purchase of organic food. The author has made an attempt in
investigating the consumer perception towards organic product and marketing in
Mysore. The author has collected the data through the well-structured questionnaire
from the customers visiting organic products marketing agency and service
organization from the district of Mysore. The survey results reveal that the demand
for the organic product is good in urban area however few hurdles including
availability of few number of shops, lack of awareness, Low number of organic
producers are the major issues faced by the industry. The author suggested to
government and producers to take more steps on enhancing good marketing system in
Mandalay.

The followings are the factors affecting consumers’ behaviours:

1 Social factors

People from different social classes have different desires and consumption patterns. Social
classes seem to be divided into three groups: upper class, middle class and lower class.Social
factors also impact the buying behavior of consumers. The important social factors are:
reference groups, family, role and status.

1.1 Reference Groups

Reference groups have potential in forming a person attitude or behavior. The impact
ofreference groups varies across products and brands. For example if the product is visible
such as dress, shoes, car etc then the influence of reference groups will be high. Reference
groups also include opinion leader (a person who influences other because of his special skill,
knowledge or other characteristics).

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1.2 Family

Buyer behavior is strongly influenced by the member of a family. Therefore marketers are
trying to find the roles and influence of the husband, wife and children. If the buying decision
of aparticular product is influenced by wife then the marketers will try to target the women in
their advertisement. Here we should note that buying roles change with change in consumer
lifestyles.

1.3 Roles and Status

Each person possesses different roles and status in the society depending upon the groups,
clubs, family, organization etc. to which he belongs. For example a woman is working in an
organization as finance manager. Now she is playing two roles, one of finance manager and
other of mother. Therefore her buying decisions will be influenced by her role and status.

2 Cultural factors

Culture influence is one of the most powerful factors of consumer buyer behaviour. Cultural
factors include the basic values taught by a person’s family, friends and his environment and
society. As it performs an important role, this needs to be taken into account in this research.

3. Personal Factors 
Personal factors can also affect the consumer behavior. Some of the important personal
factors that influence the buying behavior are: lifestyle, economic situation, occupation, age,
personality and self concept. 

3.1 Age 
Age and life-cycle have potential impact on the consumer buying behavior. It is obvious that
the consumers change the purchase of goods and services with the passage of time. Family
life-cycle consists of different stages such young singles, married couples, unmarried couples
etc which help marketers to develop appropriate products for each stage.

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3.2 Occupation 
The occupation of a person has significant impact on his buying behavior. For example a
marketing manager of an organization will try to purchase business suits, whereas a low level
worker in the same organization will purchase rugged work clothes.

 3.3 Economic Situation 

Consumer economic situation has great influence on his buying behavior. If the income and
savings of a customer is high then he will purchase more expensive products. On the other
hand, a person with low income and savings will purchase inexpensive products. 

3.4 Lifestyle 
Lifestyle of customers is another import factor affecting the consumer buying behavior.
Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and is expressed by the things in his/her
surroundings. It is determined by customer interests, opinions, activities etc and shapes his
whole pattern of acting and interacting in the world. 

3.5 Personality 
Personality changes from person to person, time to time and place to place. Therefore it can
greatly influence the buying behavior of customers. Actually, Personality is not what one
wears; rather it is the totality of behavior of a man in different circumstances. It has different
characteristics such as: dominance, aggressiveness, self-confidence etc which can be useful to
determine the consumer behavior for particular product or service. 

4. Psychological Factors 
There are four important psychological factors affecting the consumer buying behavior. These
are: perception, motivation, learning, beliefs and attitudes. Dr. Nilesh B. Gajjar / International
Journal of Research In Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 1, Issue:2, April 2013 (IJRHS)
ISSN: 2320 -771X 13 Online International, Reviewed & Indexed Monthly Journal
www.raijmr.com RET Academy for International Journals of Multidisciplinary Research
(RAIJMR)

 4.1 Motivation 

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The level of motivation also affects the buying behavior of customers. Every person has
different needs such as physiological needs, biological needs, social needs etc. The nature of
the needs is that, some of them are most pressing while others are least pressing. Therefore a
need becomes a motive when it is more pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction.

 4.2 Perception 
Selecting, organizing and interpreting information in a way to produce a meaningful
experience of the world is called perception. There are three different perceptual processes
which are selective attention, selective distortion and selective retention. In case of selective
attention, marketers try to attract the customer attention. Whereas, in case of selective
distortion, customers try to interpret the information in a way that will support what the
customers already believe. Similarly, in case of selective retention, marketers try to retain
information that supports their beliefs. 

4.3 Beliefs and Attitudes 

Customer possesses specific belief and attitude towards various products. Since such beliefs
and attitudes make up brand image and affect consumer buying behavior therefore marketers
are interested in them. Marketers can change the beliefs and attitudes of customers by
launching special campaigns in this regard.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1: Introduction
In spite of the growing market, organic product as industry faces many
challenges. The higher cost of organic food, the expensive process in the form of
intensive management and labor used in organic production, consumer changing
perception on health benefits of organic food are few major issues faced by the
industry. Academic research also reveals (Pearson, Henryks, & Jones,2010) the fact
the though there is a positive attitude towards the organic products, there is relatively
a low purchase level. The literature also claims that the end user switch between using
organic and inorganic products. Considering this issue the researcher in this paper has
investigated the issues faced by the consumers by collecting the data through the
survey from the customers of organic stores and also the investigated the challenges

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faced by the entrepreneurs producing organic products through the structured

interview.

3.2: Design of the Study

This research is conducted by qualitative method to investigate the behaviours
among consumers between 20 years old to 50 years old at the markets in Mandalay.
The qualitative approach helps to know and gain the customers’ opinions, feelings,
experiences and preferences and so this will also help the producers to get the right
knowledge to create what the consumers want. This approach will consume much
time to get the enough data because it needs to interview and survey to many people
by one or by group which takes a lot of time for just one datum.

3.3: Study Site

The targeted research areas are at the 41 wholesale market where the larger
number of consumers can be found in Mandalay because Mandalay has the second
largest population in Myanmar and also the center of the trading. As Mandalay is
situated in the center of Myanmar, it becomes the largest wholesale market for nearby
towns and upper Myanmar.

3.4: Targeted Population

For the current study customers visiting selected market in Mandalay covered.
A total of 122 respondents were approached. Out of these 122 respondents, 22
respondents were uninterested in responding or were falling short of time, for which
this analysis is being made. Thus a sample of 100 respondents was taken finally for
the study.

3.5: Sampling and Sample Size

It was not feasible to cover the entire consumer visiting market. So for the
purpose of this study 100 random customers were selected for the study. Convenience
sampling method has been used for selecting the sample.

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3.6: Data Collection Procedure

For the study, both primary and secondary data were collected. For primary
data, a structured questionnaire was developed and administered to the respondents.
For secondary data, existing literature in form of magazines, papers, company
literature, book, journals, web sources were consulted.
To collect first hand or primary data a structured, closed-ended, multiple-
choice questionnaire was prepared and was administered the sample of respondents
selected for the study. Questions are related to general profile of respondents,
attributes of consumers’ market choices, consumer satisfaction related to fruit and
vegetable market, problems faced by comsumer and overall factors influencing
decision of buying fruits and vegetables.

3.7: Ethical Consideration

The researcher has the responsibility to analyze what are the possible ethical
issues related with collecting and analyzing primary data such as sending permission
letter to conduct organization, sharing informed letter to targeted participants,
collecting data, data storage and security. All of the collected data must be
confidentially. Before collecting data from participants, the researcher will send
permission letter to head of organization, after that, send informed/correct letter to
participants to request to participate in the research. The research has the duty to
arrange how to solve the possible ethical concerns.

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3.8: Data Analysis Procedure

I will be in interviews, follow-up interviews, observations, and casual contact with
consumer. The memo will also be written while listening to the recording, interviews,
write transcripts and reflect on specific interviews. Besides interviews and follow-up
interviews, I hope to get other data throughout the study, such as comments from
administrative colleagues and teachers, documents or other materials of interest and
keep reviewing literature.
I expect that the current data analysis will be conducted throughout the study. All
memos and field notes will be entered into computer files. I will use a software
program to organized around different topics and the topics found in these files. Also
number and letter scheme will be used to specify categories and subcategories.

3.9: Research Plan

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Research Activities
2019 2019 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020
Literature Review
Develop questions for data
collection
Pilot interviews
Data Collection
Data Analysis

Write up for first draft

Write up for final draft

Submission of dissertation
Table 1: Research Plan

Bibliography

Du, S., Bartels, J., Reinders, M. and Sen, S., 2015. A Cross-Country
Investigation of Organic Consumption Behavior: a Social Identification
Perspective. ACR Asia-Pacific Advances.
Gajjar, N.B., 2013. Factors affecting consumer behavior. International Journal of Research in
Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(2), pp.10-15.

Pearson, D., Henryks, J. and Jones, H., 2011. Organic food: What we know (and do not
know) about consumers. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 26(2), pp.171-177.

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Panyakul, V., 2003. Organic agriculture in Thailand. Production and export of organic Fruit
and vegetables in Asia, 3(5).

van Willenswaard, W., 2015. Mindful Markets: Producer–Consumer Partnerships towards a

New Economy.

DeLonge, M.S., Miles, A. and Carlisle, L., 2016. Investing in the transition to sustainable
agriculture. Environmental Science & Policy, 55, pp.266-273.

Shafie, F.A. and Rennie, D., 2012. Consumer perceptions towards organic food. Procedia-
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 49, pp.360-367.

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