Consumers' Purchasing Behaviour for Fresh Meat from Modern Retail Stores and Traditional Markets in Malaysia and Indonesia

Background

As living standards have increased, urban consumers have become more aware of the quality and health aspects of food. For these middle class consumers, modern supermarkets offer a much safer and more pleasant shopping environment than the traditional wet markets or street hawkers (Gray, 1996; White, 2009). Changing life styles may also impact on consumers’ perception of value and the quality of food products, as well as the way they purchase daily necessities. Most consumers place more importance on price than quality and appearance, but when purchasing from modern retailers such as supermarkets and hypermarkets, health and nutritional concerns may become more influential (Rangkuti & Slette, 2010).

Based on a three-step model of supermarket diffusion in the developing countries, supermarkets first appeal to upper-income consumers, then to the emerging middle class and finally to the urban poor (Tessier, 2010). Supermarkets are competitive in processed foods first (dry and packaged items such as vegetable oils), then semi-processed foods (dairy, chicken, beef and fruit), and finally into fresh produce (Reardon et al., 2010).