Analysis of Consumer Behavior in Regard to the Beef Meat in Kosovo

Abstract

In this study, consumer’s behavior in the Kosovo in respect to beef meat was studied using different socio-economic variables assessed by so-called evaluation criteria as: “very important”, “important”, “same”, and “less important”. The overall objective of the study was to analyze the consumer behavior in regard to beef meat in Kosovo and possibly identify effects of different variables on consumer decision upon purchase of beef meat. Beef meat was perceived differently at various types of purchasing places. Important socio-economic variables explaining individual respondent differences in consumer behaviors regarding purchase of beef meat involved in our study were: price, label, package, quality, trust, and origin of the product, gender of consumer, monthly family income, family member size, employment status of respondents, different regions in Kosovo. Perceived quality, price and trust of the beef meat product were significantly more important (P < 0.05) than all other characteristics no matter of gender, family size, respondent region, monthly economic income or other issues. Supermarkets and retail story’s are the preferred place for buying beef meat for all family size groups ranging from 46.10% - 72.06%, respectively. Conclusions derived from the analysis suggest that assessment of consumer’s behavior through evaluation criteria can contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior in respect of beef meat and will have positive impact and improve linkages between farmers, traders, processors and consumers as last part of this chain in Kosovo.