Fair-Trade Practice in Coffee-Buying decision between British and Thai Consumer



Fair-Trade Practice in Coffee-Buying decision between British and Thai Consumer

Introduction

Today's high competition in international business environments allows the globalisation of consumer taste. The needs for marketer to develop the products (brands) or services to meet the consumer buying and consumption behaviour affect organization of all industries. In Asia, food and drink is one of the industries which have been affected by the western culture including Coffee drinking.

Coffee has become one of the most popular hot drinks around the world; UK and Thai is no exception. UK and Thai, as a cosmopolitan city is no longer foreign with global coffee brands like Starbucks, Pacific Coffee, and others. The convergence of various nationalities that flock their way to the region is tantamount to the presence of popular global brands that they use to purchase. Coffee shops both local and international in nature are thriving drivers of the food and beverage industry. In UK and Thai, a coffee experience is considered to be culturally related. Eastern traditions indicate tea drinking as part of familial gathering or just mere socialization. In UK and Thai, coffee shops are always occupied by people of various races for the purpose of drinking or conversing over a cup of coffee. Today, the traditional coffee experience expanded its potentialities as well as target market. Consumers are now very much inclined to a coffee experience in their most favorite coffee shop(Coyles, 2002,, 81).

In order to gain the competitive advantage, one of the most important components is to determine and then manipulate on factors influencing buying and consumption behaviour. It is widely recognize that consumers can be considered as the fuel of any business venture. Not only that they are the ones who purchase the products and/or services of the firm, consumers may choose particular product (brand) not just because it provides the functional or performance benefits expected, but also because it can be used to express consumers' personality, social status or affiliation (symbolic purposes) or to fulfill their internal psychological needs, such as the need for change or newness (emotional purposes) (Kim et al, 2002).

Moreover brand loyalty is also recognized as consumer's conscious or unconscious decision which expressed through intention or behavior to repurchase a brand continually. To identify the factors which reinforce those habits and attitude will contribute the firm developing their competitive branding strategies.

Though there have been numerous consumer researches in the past linking factors that affect consumer buying behavior, the variables of these factors may not be applicable to all products and markets. In such case like emerging market trend of coffee consumption among the younger generations in UK and Thai, it is essential to conduct a consumer research study to this particular market segment in order to better understand the consumers buying behavior. Also this will serve as an innovative source of marketing information that may change the usual coffee business setting

Research Problem and objectives

With the purpose to investigate the precise factors that affect attitude and ...