A Study on the Buying Behaviour and Effective Marketing of Ready-To-Eat Meals in Singapore

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor for supporting me throughout my project and giving his valuable suggestions. Finally thanks to all my friends and family for their utmost support and inspiration.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It also represents my own views & not essentially the ones associated with university.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

This study is about the buying behaviour and effective marketing of ready to eat meals in Singapore. The process of marketing refers to the determination of the services or products that may be of consumers' interest, the strategy which can possibly be used in sales and the business and communication development. The entire procedure of marketing is utilized to generate the approach which forms the basis of business communication, sales techniques and business development. Within each segment several brands of ready to eat meal are offered by different firms. Since private label brands are thriving in recent years and attractive because of low prices, a separate private label segment is also specified. Given this segmentation, estimation of the demand system becomes easier because the number of parameters that need to be estimated is reduced. Moreover, there are very few statistical tests of alternative segment structures. Ready to eat meal marketers have responded with a variety of advertising tactics, ranging from avoidance to modification of promotional practices to withdrawing advertising to developing labelling programs. The commonly acknowledged market segment structures given above are tested to see if they are statistically accepted. Tests for segmentation can also aid in antitrust analysis. The total sample size for the study is 50. The respondents of the study are people who are living in Singapore.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

LIST OF TABLESVII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Introduction1

Background2

Theoretical framework2

Problem statement3

Aims and objectives of the study3

Research questions4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW5

Ready to eat meals Advertising and Marketing Tactics5

Marketing war5

Scepticism toward RTE marketing6

Consumer behaviour7

Factors influencing consumer behaviour9

Family and Reference Group influences9

Atmospheric Effects9

Consumer Decision-making10

Consumer behaviour towards ready to eat meals12

Personal values that motivate ready to eat meals choice13

Beliefs and perceptions about ready to eat meals14

Attitudes towards ready to eat meals14

Food choice conceptual model14

Consumer and sensory16

Grounded Theory18

Grounded Theory and ready to eat meal choice20

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY23

Overview23

Research Philosophy23

Data collection24

Sampling24

Data analysis24

SPSS tool24

Ethical consideration25

Validity25

Research bias26

Informed Consent26

Confidentiality27

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION28

Demographics (section A)28

Buying behavior (section B)30

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION37

CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONS39

Possible strategy39

Future research40

REFERENCES42

APPENDICES45

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Gender28

Table 2: Age28

Table 3: Education28

Table 4: Monthly income29

Table 5: Occupation29

Table 6: Living with29

Table 7: Do you purchase30

Table 8: Types of RTE meals30

Table 9: Reason to purchase RTE30

Table 10: For whom31

Table 11: How often31

Table 12: When do you eat it32

Table 13: Serving size32

Table 14: Choose between 2 similar meals32

Table 15: Willingness to pay33

Table 16: How did you know33

Table 17: Sales promotion34

Table 18: Where do you purchase34

Table 19: Rate visibility34

Table 20: Why RTE meal was not purchased before35

Table 21: Would you purchase in future35

Table 22: Sales promo36

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

This thesis addresses the buying behaviour and effective marketing of ready to eat meals in Singapore...