Thesis (M. Tech. (Food and Beverage management, Dept. of Hospitality, Tourism and Project Management) -- Vaal University of Technology / Background: About 66 percent of South Africans are urbanised. The majority of
this population is forced by circumstances to live in informal settlements. Despite
the income challenges faced, the market expenditure by these low-income
consumers amounts to R129 billion per year. A lack of information exists
regarding food product attributes that guide purchasing choice for maize meal.
Objective of the study: To identify and describe the food product attributes
experienced as most important during purchasing of maize meal by low-income
consumers in informal settlements in the Johannesburg-Vaal region.
Methods: Phase 1 comprised a quantitative survey in three informal! and one
formal settlement (n=502), testing the level of importance perceived for 14 food
product attributes. In Phase 2, focus group discussions were conducted to
describe and compare the understanding of the food product attributes between
groups and with literature.
Results: Phase 1 defines income level as the boundary within which low-income
consumers perceived the importance of food product attributes. Satiety value
and the affordability of food products override sensory attributes as the main
decision choice, as usually applicable to higher income groups. Nutrient content
was ranked least important. These findings can probably be allocated to the need
of low-income consumers to satisfy priorities for survival (satiety value). Phase 2
reported no distinctive differences in the meaning of terms between groups.
However, a difference exists in the depth of meaning. The majority of descriptive
elements indicated a link to economic attributes. Strong cross-links between
attributes were revealed through the findings. No major differences were found in
the understanding of food product attributes between the respondents' groups
and with existing literature. Two concept elements, the versatility of product use
as linked to taste and the ability of sensory qualities to report quality of maize
meal as linked to product safety, were revealed by the current study.
Key words: Food product attributes, low-income households, staple food, maize
meal, informal settlement, purchase choice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:vut/oai:digiresearch.vut.ac.za:10352/246 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Marumo, Kuda. |
| Contributors | Duvenage, S. S., Schönfeldt, H. C. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | v. (various pagings) -- illustrations |
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