[An investigation of customer attitudes toward the consumption of convenience food: A comparative study between United Kingdom and Cyprus]

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

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

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ABSTRACT

This study tries to explore the concept of customer attitudes toward the convenience food in a holistic context. The research also analyzes many factors of customer behaviour and tries to gauge the impact of customer behaviour on convenience food. Finally the research describes various factors that are responsible for moral issues and tries to describe the overall effect of convenience food on the market. To enhance the research we have studied the customers' behaviours of UK and Cyprus.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1 Outline of the Study1

1.2 Research Aims and Objectives1

1.3 Limitations, Assumptions, and Suggestion for Future Research1

1.4 Significance of the Study2

1.4.1 Implication for Academia2

1.4.2 Implication for Industry3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

2.1 Consumer Behaviour4

2.2 Attraction of the Product or Service5

2.2 Consumers Affecting Factors5

2.2.1 External Influence5

2.2.2 Internal Influences7

2.3 Consumer Segmentation9

2.4 Types of Market Segmentation10

2.4.1 Geographic Segmentation10

2.4.2 Demographic Segmentation10

2.4.3 Psychographic Segmentation10

2.4.4 Behavioural Targeting10

2.5 Theories of Consumer Behaviour10

2.5.1 Rational Economic Theory11

2.5.2 Learning Theory11

2.5.3 Psychoanalytic Theory11

2.5.4 Social Theory12

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY13

3.1 Research Types13

3.1.1 Exploratory13

3.1.2 Descriptive13

3.1.3 Explanatory14

3.1.4 Evaluative14

3.1.5 Qualitative15

3.1.6 Quantitative15

3.2 Statistics16

3.2.1 Population16

3.2.2 Sample16

3.3 Types of Sampling16

3.3.1 Survey16

3.3.2 Interview16

3.4 Observation17

3.4.1 Direct Observation17

3.4.2 Indirect Observation17

3.5 Data Collection Instrument17

3.5.1 Questionnaire17

3.6 Secondary Research18

3.7 Research Methodology Used18

3.8 Reason for Choosing Questionnaire Based Survey19

3.9 Research Instrument19

3.10 Participants19

3.11 Limitations and Suggestion for Future Research20

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS21

4.1 Results from SPSS21

4.1.1 Consumers of United Kingdom21

4.1.2 Consumers of Cyprus22

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS23

5.1 Moral Attitudes' Influence on Behaviour23

5.2 Convenience Food's Consumers in Cyprus25

5.3 Comparison Table26

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION27

REFERENCES28

APPENDIX32

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Outline of the Study

This research focuses on the customer attitudes toward the consumption of convenience food. The study comprises of the following chapters:

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Conclusion

1.2 Research Aims and Objectives

The aim of the dissertation is to investigate to what extend customers are willing to consume convenience food, and their perception of the implications of this consumption. The study will also find out the differences in attitudes between UK and Cyprus residents. Objectives of the study are to find out:

What are consumers' attitudes toward convenience food?

What is their motivation for or against consumption of convenience foods?

What are the differences of attitudes between the two populations?

1.3 Limitations, Assumptions, and Suggestion for Future Research

A number of limitations of our study must be mentioned. These limitations also provide avenues for further research.

A major limitation is that only two populations were selected. In future studies a number of different countries can be selected to improve ...