PROPOSAL

Topic: Attitudes of Consumers toward Asian Foods

1. The Brief Context of the Project

A major benefit of post-World War two immigration to Australia is food diversity. In 1998, Australians enjoyed a cosmopolitan smorgasbord of diverse and distinctive foods from numerous cultures and countries (Retail World, 6 Jul 1997). The retail grocery market for authentic Asian, Indian and Mexican foods is growing rapidly. Manufacturers and importers are concentrating on products that simplify in-home preparation for Australians who enjoy multicultural cuisine but have little time to prepare it. Some marketers of Asian foods are trying to get retailers to place them alongside the mainstream categories. 

Australia’s eating habits are in a period of rapid transition (Ripe, C.1996). What Australians eat today is different from what they did ten and twenty years ago. BIS Shrapnel, a financial consulting firm (Asianweek, 2 Feb 1996), reported that 51 per cent of Australians eat Chinese or other Asian food regularly, up from 41 per cent in 1992. Fish-and-chips fiends fell to 48 per cent, based on interviews with 1,500 consumers in 1995. The trend seems partially due to the influx of Asian immigrants, many of whom open fast food outlets. This is a significant and measure of culture change. Within no more than a generation, the choices of food have changed dramatically, both in restaurant and in the home. 

The food industry has acknowledged these trends. As we can see the types of food product now available on supermarket shelves reflect it. Retail World (15 Sep 1997) pointed out that international foods, particularly Asian, are enjoying popularity in Australia and in 1996 consumers spent $A1 billions on Asian meals and ingredients, with grocery accounting for $A35.4 millions of this. Sales of Asian food in supermarkets grew by 27%. Similarly, AC Nielsen reported the result of a survey in 1997 that Australian consumers are purchasing more imported Asian food products and seeking to expand the types of ingredients that they use in their meals. Australia dose not has a significant Asian population. Since Asians in 1991 constituted 4.1 per cent of the total population, it is difficult to consider them a significant market force. However, it is argued that the market for Asian food in Australia is much greater than this small percentage would suggest. Australia has a reputation for the speed at which it has adopted Asian foods and the extent to which that adoption is widespread (Vinning, G1995).

The definition given by Mead (1945) on food habits is clear and practical: “Food habits are the ways in which individuals or groups of persons, is response to social and cultural pressures, choose, consume and make use of available foods”. Food is on the move wherever styles and tastes, and economies, and shifting. While much of Asian region is foregoing its traditional diet in favour of Western foods, increasingly Australia is going in the opposite direction. 

In this project, I will explore attitudes and behaviour of consumers in Melbourne and suburbs towards Asian food. Although what is happening in Melbourne is not totally of what is happening in the rest of Australia, Melbourne is at the forefront of trends because it is famous in multiculturism. This study will find out who are eating Asian food in Melbourne. What are Melbournians eating and how often do they eat Asian food? Who is preparing it? Where are they eating and how is it changing? What are the effects having on Asian food consumption? How do various lifestyles and economic factors such as price, income, information, and the value of time affect consumer food behaviour? How are they purchasing and eating? To answer these questions, a survey will be conducted among consumers in several areas in Melbourne and suburbs. Three markets for Asian food in Melbourne can be identified as follows:
 

• Asians living in Melbourne
• Melbournians eating variants of Asian food 
• Asians visiting Melbourne

2. The Aims and Objective of the Project

The Aims and objective of the project are as follows:

• To provide an analysis of consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior toward Asian food.
• To investigate who are Asian food consumers in Melbourne and to provide an analysis of delineated market segments that will orient the food operators toward optimal marketing effectiveness for Asian food products.
• To explore consumer’s awareness, knowledge, familiarity, previous and present consumption of Asian food.
• To investigate trends in Asian food habits in Melbourne and suburbs
• To identify consumer preferences, what consumers like about Asian food and to determine factors that influence trends in Asian food consumption
• To determine attributes used by consumers in purchasing Asian food products
• To evaluate the influences of information on Asian food that effect consumers purchasing decision
• To analyze level of satisfaction among consumers regard Asian food

3. Why the Project Has Been Identified

As I pointed out above, the answers to these questions are of some interest to everyone, since we are all consumers of food. Marketing success is based on knowing what the customers want and providing it. Successful food marketers, from fast food outlets to supermarket, focus on meeting the needs and desires of consumers. The consumer is setting the agenda for the entire food system. Consumer demands are transmitted from food retailers to wholesalers and processors and ultimately back to the farmers. The industry has become consumer-driven. Since there is an absence of recent research regarding attitudes and behaviour of consumers toward Asian Food, it is the reason why the project has been identified.

4. Potential Source of Information

There are two major sources for this study. The first source is secondary materials that will be shown under the ‘Brief bibliography’ section. The second source, the one on which major emphasis will be placed, is primary data that will be collected from a survey. The details of the survey will be described in ‘Methodology’ section of this proposal. 
 

Brief bibliography

• Adel, P. & Wija, A. 1983, Manual for Social Surveys on Food Habits and Consumption in Developing Countries, Pudoc Wegeningen, Netherlands.
• Baghurst, K. 1990, What are Australian eating?: Results from the 1985 and 1990 Victorian Nutrition Survey, CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition, Australia.
• Fahey, K. 1995, Feeding the Dragon: Processed Asian Food Opportunities in China and Hong Kong, RIRDC, Paper No 95/18, Australia.
• Field, N. 1999, ‘GST on food labelled sexist, ageist’. Australian Financial Review, 29 Jan.
• Food Week, ‘HMR opportunities in Asian food popularity’. 2 Jul 1998, p.7.
• Heilbron, S. & Larkin, J.T. 1995, Corporate Strategies and Structures: Penetrating Asian Markets, RIRDC, Paper No 95/7, Australia.
• Hunts, S. 1975, The Food Habits of Asian Immigrants, University of London, England.
• Lawson, A. 1997, ‘More spice in our live’. Herald Sun, 30 Oct, p.13.
• Molpus, C.M. 1999, ‘The next generation’. Progressive Grocer, Jan, p.19, USA.
• Retail World, ‘Demand grows for hot, spicy and authentic’. 4 Aug 1997, p.11.
• Retail World, ‘Oriental merchant doubles volume’. 4 Aug 1997, p.14.
• Ripe, C. 1996, Goodbye Culinary Cringe, 2nd ed., Allen & Unwin, NSW, Australia.
• Rod, T. & Webster, E. 1995, Immigration and Trade with East Asia in the Food Industry, Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. 
• Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation 1996, Opportunites in Asian Food Service Markets, RIRDC Paper No 96/16. 
• Sanderson, B. 1998, ‘Ethnic food focus shifts’. Retail World, 6-19 July, p.15.
• Sanjur, D. 1982, Sicial and Cultural Perspectives in Nutrition, Prentice Hall, USA.
• Senauer, B., Asp, E. & Kinsey, J. 1993, Food Trends and the Changing Consumer, 2nd ed., Eagan Press. USA.
• Shoebridge, N. 1997, ‘Unifoods takes the Asian taste test to supermarket’. Business Review Weekly, 7 July.
• Vinning, G. 1995, Asian Food – Marketing Trends and Prospects. RIRDC, Paper No 93/3, Australia.

5. Plan for Anticipated Progress (Apr. 1- Oct.27 1999)

Timetable for completing the project will be as follows:

6. Methodology

6.1 Method

The method selected for the collection of data is ‘cross-sectional survey’ which is one of survey-interviewing methods. We will collect data from a number of different respondents at a single point in time. The reason of using this method is because this type of study attempts to collect information on measures such as awareness, trail, purchase, usage level and it focuses on product and consumer market which matches with the aims of the project. Furthermore, it is because I also want to examine the relationships among a set of relevant marketing-related variables across different sections of respondents.

Each person selected will be asked to fill a questionnaire booklet with a covering letter explaining the purpose of the study. The booklet will contained not only questions relating to attitude and behaviour toward Asian food but also extensive demographic data including age, gender, cultural background and occupational profile. 
 

6.2 Sample

The survey will be conducted at on a local basis that attempts to collect informative data from 250 people. A random sampling technique will be employed by the used of the freely available block and section map of Melbourne the suburbs. The areas of this survey will be as follows:

• Melbourne, Bourk Street, Chinatown 
• St. Kilda, Chapel Street, Malvern 
• Lygon Street, Brunswick, Footscray
• Richmond, Kew, Camberwell, Glen Iris 
• Box Hill, Springvale

A sampling interval of one dwelling in four was chosen in order to achieve a completed sample size of approximately 250.

7. Tentative Lists

Tentative list of the project will be as follows:
 

Trial Table of Contents

Abstract              (1 page)

Declaration        (1 page)

Acknowledgements       (1 page)

Chapter1: Introduction    (1-6 pages)

i. Background
 ii. Objectives of the project

Chapter2: Asian food and trends           (up to 20 pages)

 i.   Trends affect eating behaviour (e.g. Ethnic Diversity, regional 
      differences, household consumption, education)
 ii.  Research works done on similar matters (i.e. integrate a literature 
      survey) and finish the chapter with 
 iii. A bibliography

Chapter3: Survey Operation  (up to 15 pages)
 

Information need (demographic factors, lifestyles, market segementation, attributes, packaging, advertising, brand)– flow from chapter2

Rationale for data collection methods

Appropriate to method – questionnaire for quantitative work.

Sample definition: access to, biases from

Representative – surveys

Samples type and site in surveys

Encoding data

Chapter4: Data Analysis & Results  (10-20 pages)

Chapter5: Data Interpretation
                  Conclusion & strategic recommendations (10-20 pages)

Appendices

• Material used (e.g. Questionnaires)
• List of Tables and pages
• List of Figures/ exhibits and pages
• Detailed Tabular Results 
• Data File 

If you have any recommendations about my project , please feel free email me. It wouldl be very much appreciated. Thank you.