Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Product attributes play an important role in marketing from the

perspective of the consumer and the marketer. Consumer’s value attributes

since they are used as the basis for evaluating a product and attributes

provide benefits consumers seek when purchasing a product. Consumers

also use attributes to make comparisons between competitive brands and

perceive attributes important in the decision-making process more positively

or negatively. The importance of studying attributes goes beyond the physical

features of a product since consumers link attributes to consequences of

purchasing and consuming products. Some consequences often lead to

certain end states or values that consumers wish to achieve.

Product attributes are the characteristics of products through which

products are identified and differentiated. In other words, product attributes

can be defined as the features or specific descriptive aspects of a marketing

strategy that represent the consumer's evaluative criteria in the selection of

particular goods or services.

Consumer behavior is a widely studied field. Understanding it

completely is impossible, because it is related so closely to human mind.

However, forecasting how a human behaves in purchasing situations can be

estimated through previous purchasing decisions. Consumers might think that

“I have always bought this same brand or product”, but they do not recognize

that the affecting factor behind this decision.

Background of the study

One of the favorite snacks of the Filipinos is chicharon. Chicharon in

the Phlippines is usually consumed with vinegar and it is a well-loved snack. It

may be bought anywhere and it is popular as “pulutan” or finger food, to be

eaten while consuming alcoholic beverages.

Chicharon is prepared by deep – frying dried pork rind with little salt. It

is staple pasalubong whenever one goes to the Philippines. The crunchiness

of the chicharon is sure to give customers to buy the product.

Quality seems to be accepted as a fundamental component to satisfy

customer. But, sometimes the taste, texture, aroma, color and appearance

are the factors that affect the sudden change on its original quality. This may

cause for the consumer to dislike the product and may shift into another one

This Study aimed to determine the product attributes influencing the

buying decision in terms of Taste, Price, Packaging and Product Preparation.

It may benefit the business owner for them to improve their chicharon product,

the consumers and even the future researchers.

Literature Review

It is worth noting that consumer buying behavior is studied as a part of

the marketing and its main objective is to learn the way how the individual’s

groups organizations choose, buy, use and dispose the goods and the factors

such as their previous experience, taste, price and branding on which the

consumers base their purchasing decision (Kotler and Keller 2014).

 Attributes play a vital role when consumer engage in decision rule

since the outcome of a purchase decision is determined by its attributes.

Consumer, furthermore evaluate products on the basis of attributes they

perceived to be important to them.

There is a relationship between brand image and purchase intention.

Advisement is a major factor to increase brand image on consumer, for that

reason some companies use different kind of advertisement stimuli to capture

purchase intention. Consumers who are influenced by advertisement shift

their interests to the other brand which advertises the products

(Hashim&Muhammad , 2013).

Syed Quratulain Kazmi (2012) studied the “Consumer Perception and

Buying decisions (The Pasta Study)” without any promotional strategy any

product cannot run profitably in market. Product awareness is the factor which

impacts the popularity and usage rate of any product specially the food item.

Cooking method is the factor which can bring the social shift in the market and

enhance the taste bud of any product. Awareness about the proper method of

cooking will affect the popularity of product a lot.

In marketing customers are the embattled people who will use the

product. It is very vital to understand the behavior if the customers on any

products, Trying to sell any product without understanding customer behavior

is the same like looking for something in the dark. Each company needs to

know what makes customer to choose their product over a competitors or why

customers need to buy a product (Lonkila 2012).

 Durmaz et al (2012) studied the “A theoretical Approach to the Role of

Perception on the Consumer Buying Decision Process” Marketing is a

dynamic because customers are dynamic. When talking about perception we

always have to keep in mind that we perceived world not as it is, nut as we

think it is. That means that there are innumerable perceived worlds out there.

This statement is based on the fact that every human being relates the

observed world to its past experience, its value, etc. Perception is more than

just gathering information about a certain event at a certain time. It involves,

recognizing stimuli, processing and storing to them.

Tooraj Sadeghi et.al. (2011) studied the “Correlation between Feelings

and Brand Perception on Purchase Intention”. Creating a strong brand image

can be a powerful marketing strategy to reduce uncertainty about evaluation

of a product and to increase the purchase intentions. A well-known familiar

brand name associated with a positive brand image creates competitive

advantages in terms of increasing consumers` interest, attention and positive

evaluation of a product and encourages repeat purchases. Consumers tend to

allocate more attention to a familiar and to engage more effort in processing

information about a product with a well-known brand name. When consumers

lack knowledge about attributes of a product and are uncertain about the

product brand name play an important role in reducing perceived risk and

assessing product quality.

According to Clement (2007) as well as Reimannet. al. (2011)

importantly raise awareness to the fact that current marketing theory does not

sufficiently cover the importance of packaging designs influence on

purchasing decision. Packaging design has a great impact on the visual

purchasing behavior of the consumer and thus it is a particularly relevant topic

to investigate in more detail with regards to commodity product liked bottled

water.

Perception is how they interpret the world around them and make

sense of it in their brain. They do so via stimuli that affect that affect their

different senses. Sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. How they combine

these senses also make a difference. For example, on one study, consumers

were blindfolded and asked to drink a new brand of clear beer. Most of them

said the product tasted like regular beer. However, when the blindfolds came

off and they drank the beer, many of them described it’s as “watery” tasting

(Ries, 2011).

Decision rules can be based on compensatory decision rule, where

consumers evaluate brand on the basis of relevant attributes and a score is

computed for each brand. The estimated score for each brand reflects its

merit and benefits as a potential choice (Schiffman and Kanuk 2010).

According to Blackwell et al. 2010 that the decision rule are strategies

adopted by consumers to make selection from consideration set or choice

alternatives and it range from very simple procedures to very complex ones

that involve more effort and time. The purpose of decision rules is to reduce

the risk and burden in making complex decision.

Individuals may adapt different criteria to evaluate which product best

meet their need based on the type of purchase and how consumers anticipate

each will perform according to the various criteria (Souza et. al. 2009).
 According to Burounik (2009) are less interested on purchasing the

product that is considers being the risky endeavors. Customers would find out

about the quality of a product from those who have firsthand experience to

reduce the risk using more time to survey and paying something.

Crowding is another situational factor. Have they ever left a store and

not purchased anything because it was just too crowded? Some studies have

shown that consumers feel better about retailer who attempt to prevent

overcrowding in their stores. However, other studies have shown that to a

certain extent, crowding can have a positive impact on a person`s buying

experience. The phenomenon is often referred to a “herd behavior”. (Gaumer

and Leif, 2008).

Gwin et al. (2005) define product attributes as the characteristic or

features that an object may or may not have and includes both intrinsic and

extrinsic features. Benefits are the positive outcomes that come from the

attributes. People seek products that have attributes that will solve their

problems and fulfills their needs. Understanding why a consumer chooses a

product based upon its attributes helps marketers to understand why some

consumers have preferences for certain brands.

Kim et al (2004) offered a utility-based model of demand along with a

practical method of conducting likelihood-based inference for this model.

However, the simple model in Kim et al is lacking several important features.

In marketing applications, there are typically a very large number of product

offerings with a wide variety of product attributes. In order to make policy

statements about optimal product assortment or design of new products, it is

important to allow for product characteristics or attributes to enter the utility

function. The purpose of this paper is to consider a number of extensions of

the Kim et al model of demand to incorporate product attribute information. As

the basic utility model is nonlinear and allows for satiation or diminishing

marginal utility, we will have several different ways of incorporating product

attributes – both to influence the level of marginal utility afforded by a product

offering as well as to influence the rate of satiation.

According to Palmer (2003), a product is any tangible and intangible

item that satisfies a need. Consumers do not buy products as an end in

themselves. They buy products for the benefits which they provide. Products

therefore comprise of complex bundles of attributes which must be translated

into benefits for customers. The main challenge facing marketers today is how

to influence the purchase behavior of consumers in favor of the product,

service and experiences which they offer.

Theoretical Framework

According to Fahy and Jobber 2012, 61 – 62, The five steps of the

decision making process are need recognition, information search, evaluation

of alternatives, purchase and post purchase evaluation of decision. The five

steps of the decision making process are need recognition, information

search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post purchase evaluation of

decision.

Need recognition is the first stage of the buying process where the

buyer recognizes a problem or need. In the case of luxury goods, this can

mean that the buyer recognizes a want, or even a need can be driven either
by internal or external stimuli. Internal stimuli are normal needs such as

hunger and thirst, whereas external stimuli are for example advertisements or

friends.

Information search is where the consumer searches for more

information on a good. This occurs when problem recognition is strong

enough ( Fahy and jobber 2012, 62 ) The information can be acquired from

multiple sources such as friends, acquaintances, advertising, mass media,

internet searches or actually experiencing the product.

Evaluation of alternatives may take place after a consumer is done with

searching for information, and has narrowed down the choices and arrived to

a set of different brands. Different options are evaluated in order to decide

which to buy.

The purchase decision comes after ranking brands and most often

arrving to a brand that is most preferred by the consumer. Kotler and

Armstrong ( 2010, 179 ) states that “a marketer`s job does not end when the

product is bought”. The final stage of the model explains how consumers may

experience post purchase behaviour related to how satisfied or dissappointed

the consumer is. The post purchase decision arises from uncertainty of

whether the choice was correct ( Fahy and Jobber 2012, 63 - 65

Conceptual Framework

The concept of the study was to know the relationship of the product

attributes in the buying decisions. The first box is the independent variable

which includes the profile of the respondents, Product attributes of Amang

Yul`schicharon in terms of Taste, Price, Packaging and Product Preparation

and significant relationship between the profile and the product attributes of

AmangYul`s Chicharon,While the second box is the dependent variable which

includes the identified product attributes of AmangYul`s Chicharon

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Demographic Profile
of the Business:
1.1 Year of Existence
1.2 Location
1.3 Initial Capital
Interviewed and Analyzed Product
1.4 Type of Business Distribution of attributes
1.5 Forms of Business Questionnaire influencing the
buying decision
Product Attributes of Amang Yul`s
2.1 Price Chicharon

2.2 Taste/Texture
2.3 Packaging
2.4 Strategy
Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of the study was to determine the Product attributes

influencing the buying decision of AmangYul`sChicharon

Specifically this study was conducted to answer the following questions

1. What is the profile of the business in terms of:

1.1 Year of Existence

1.2 Location

1.3 Initial Capital

1.4 Type of Business

1.5 Forms of Business

2. What is the profile of customer in terms of:

2.1 Address

2.2 Age

2.3 Sex

2.4 Status

2.5 Monthly income

3. What are the product attributes that affects the consumer decision on

purchasing AmangYul`sChicharon?

2.1 Price

2.2 Taste/Texture

2.3 Packaging

2.4 Strategy
 4. Is there a significant relationship between the profile of the business

and the product attributes that influence the buying decisions of

AmangYul`sChicharon.

Hyphothesis of the Study

This study tested the null hypothesis of the study.

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between the profile and the

product attributes influencing the buying decision of AmangYul`sChicharon.

Significance of the Study

The findings will contribute general field of knowledge which is one of

the main objectives of the research work. This study will be useful to the

following

Community. The relevant information will give knowledge on the

consumers who will buy for their products

Business Owner. The result of the study may help to now the aspects

they need to improve and some suggestions that will heap to their business.

Students. This study will give additional knowledge especially those in

business-related.

Consumer. This will help the consumer to have knowledge on the

quality of their preferred product.

Researcher. This study will give additional information, which serves

as reference and possible way to achieve success as researcher.

 Future Researcher. This finding of the study will help them to study

more related topics and it will serve as a guide.

Scope and Limitation

This study was conducted to determine the Product attributes

influencing the buying decision of AmangYul`schicharon which the researcher

had 100 respondents from the main store of AmangYul`s Chicharon in

Siniloan, Laguna. It was conducted through the use of questionnaire –

checklist which consists of questionnaire that needed an answer according to

their preference.

Definition of Terms

To understand this study, the following terms were operationally

defined

Buying Decision. Is the process or act by which the respondent

choose the AmangYul`sChicharon.

Chicharon. It is crispy fried pork rind which the skin of a pig is deep-

fried with the fat still attached, resulting in a curled and crunchy snack food.

Consumer Behavior. This study or individuals, groups or

organizations and the processes they use to select, secure and dispose of

products, services, experience or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that

these processes have on the consumer and society.

 Packaging. The materials in which objects are wrapped before

being sold.

Price. Is the amount of money that you have to pay in order to buy a

particular product.

Product. It is the item offered for sale.

Product attributes. It is a characteristic that defines a particular

product and will affect a consumer's purchase decision.

Taste. The sensation of flavor perceived in the mouth and throat on

contact with a substance.

Strategy. The attribute that use to attract customers.