A Study on Determinants of Blended Edible Oil Buying Behaviour of Consumers in Chennai City

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1 A Study on Determinants of Blended Edible Oil Buying Behaviour of Consumers in Chennai City G.Srikanth Director, National Institute of Management Studies Karapakkam, T.N.,India. N.Rajaveni Asst. Professor, National Institute of Management Studies Karapakkam, T.N.,India. Abstract This study had been focused on the objective of finding out the determinants of blended edible oil purchasing behaviour of consumers in Chennai. Buyer behaviour towards edible oil purchase was mainly influenced by various factors. Consumer are seeking to prepare taste food, it completes only by adding suitable oil in the dishes. Consumers are buying oils on the basis of taste, price, and health status associated with it. Recently, blended oil is almost obtained a permanent place in the budget of many households, because it offers less fat content and brings tasty food. Therefore in this direction, this seminal work has been stared with the objective of knowing demographic factors of consumers using blended oil and factors determining buying and consumption in the use of blended oil. There was a total of 100 consumers contributed their opinion on the buying and using pattern of blended oils. This study attributed the material goods of blended oil for the betterment of consumption. This study seeks data by distributing questionnaire as survey instrument. The collected data was tested with percentage analysis and factor analysis. Statistical analysis contributes that there were large number of factors determines the buying and consumption of blended oil. Key Words Used: Blended oil, Edible oil, Buying and Consumption pattern, Demographic factors of consumers, Determinants 1. INTRODUCTION Vegetable oil ingestion is the most crucial aspect in everyone s everyday s life. Consumers are seeking to prepare taste food without compromising nutritional value and health benefits as it completes only by adding suitable oil in the dishes that provide human body with energy. The lifestyle and dietary choices make the consumers everyday to choose not only the right amount of oil, but also ensure that use an oil of the best quality. In modern world, an individual has abundance with choices that make decision on consumption a phenomenal task towards health benefits and bad consequences of dietary fat as it gets a lot of bad drive on health. In fact, dietary fat is essential for healthy life but how to choose the right kind of Saturated fats, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats present in vegetable oil which play a key role in regulating many physiological processes in the body, such as controlling blood pressure lowering blood cholesterol, preventing vascular damage in the brain and blood clot in the arteries (Neitzel, 2010). 2. FATTY ACIDS Polyunsaturated fats include Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, such as ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) and LA (linoleic acid) are actually essential because they cannot be synthesizing in the human body and can only be obtained from human diet. These fatty acids are essential for heart-health. The dietary fats and oils intake cause many of the diseases in human body. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has suggested that the fat intake is 20 per cent energy in a normal diet which ensures 8-10 per cent energy from SFAs, and PUFAs each and per cent energy from MUFAs (ICMR, 2010). Whereas, The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the total fat intake to be in IRJBM ( ) Volume No VII, December 2014, Issue 13 Page 56

2 the range of percent with saturated fatty acids <10 per cent, polyunsaturated ted fatty acids 6-11 per cent and mono-unsaturated fatty acids percent (WHO, 2008) to help support cardiovascular health. A daily amount of this intake would be about two to three tablespoons which would be perfectly in keeping with a healthy balanced diet. 3. BLENDED OILS Consumers are buying oils on the basis of taste, price, and health status associated with it. Recently, blended oil is almost obtained a permanent place in the budget of many households, because it offers less fat content and brings tasty food. In determining the human health due to its fatty acid composition, blending of vegetable oils is gaining popularity to develop a healthier and stable vegetable oil so as to satisfy consumer needs. Blending is a reasonable method of make improvements in the fatty acid composition and physicochemical characteristics to enhance in oxidative stability. For example, Soybean oil with high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is the main oil used for cooking and frying. Soybean oil is considered superior to many vegetable oils, but it is inferior in thermal stability at high temperatures. To overcome the problem of poor oxidative stability (OS) of soybean oil, ways of modifying fatty acid composition and increasing natural antioxidants were sought, such as combining high-oleic sunflower oil with corn oil or hydrogenated soybean oil with soybean oil (Abdulkarim et al., 2010; Naghshineh et al., 2010) or combining palm-olein with soybean oil (Warner and Gupta, 2005). The Canola /Olive oil `blend is best suited for the Asian style of cooking for it has higher smoke points than most of the edible oil. It is uniquely suitable for frying and cooking high temperature. 4. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Blended oils are gaining popularity worldwide due to advantages they offer such as improved thermal stability, oxidative stability, nutritional benefits (Sharma et al. 1996; Frankel et al.1994) and an ability to tailor the desired properties. Most importantly, they are cheaper alternatives or substitutes to pure vegetable oils. Comparative studies on physical properties of vegetables oils and their blends after frying indicated a minimization in peroxide value using blended oils (Susheelamma et al. 2002). Blending different types of oils, the consumer can be offered a better quality product with respect to flavour and nutritive value Chopra et al. (2004). There are mainly three aspects to consider any oil as the healthiest cooking oil, that is, ratio of saturated/ mono unsaturated/ polyunsaturated fatty acid, ratio of necessary fatty acids and existence of natural antioxidants (White, 2000). The oils can be blended even to derive the protective advantage due to the presence of specific ingredients that present protection against oxidation to develop frying recyclability (Toliwal et al. 2005). Prakash et al. (2001) studied the effects of blending on sensory odour profile and physicochemical properties of selected vegetable oils. Shiela et al. (2004) investigated the storage stability of blends of groundnut oil, sunflower oil and mustard seed oil with plamolein, rice bran oil and sesame oil. Blending of two or more oils with different characteristics is one of the simplest procedures to make new specific products. Mixing different kinds of vegetable oils not only can change fatty acids profile, but also increase the levels of bioactive lipids and natural antioxidants in the blends and give better quality oils, as well as improved nutritional value at affordable prices (Marmesat et al., 2012; Aladedunye and Przybylski, 2013). Antioxidant compounds in rice bran oil have professed health benefits such as improving the storage stability of foods (Chotimarkorn and Silalai, 2008). Also, it has been determined that the amount of cholesterol lowering occurs to a greater extent than expected from the fatty acid composition of the oil, suggesting that besides fatty acids, other components in the oil were responsible for the cholesterol lowering effect. Oryzanol has been reported to be used in the cure of nerve imbalance and disorders of menopause (Iqbal et al., 2005). IRJBM ( ) Volume No VII, December 2014, Issue 13 Page 57

3 5. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY This study is carried out with the following objectives, these are as follows: 1. To represent the personal profile of the consumers using blended oil for cooking in the sample area. 2. To identify the present status of consumption pattern of blended oil among consumers in Chennai. 3. To identify the factors determining buying and consumption pattern of blended oil for cooking purposes in Chennai 6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The study has utilized descriptive research design to formulate this work. The population targeted for the study is consumers who are all buying and using edible oil for domestic cooking purposes. The sample for the study is consumers using blended oil for cooking. This study collects data from the decision makers of cooking oil purchase and the informative hand about the use of cooking oil. The consumers, who have more than one year of using blended oil for cooking and with an expertise overall all areas of content in edible oil are selected for getting data. The sample size consists of 100 consumers and participation ratio exists 100%. Two sets of data have been utilized; the first set of data is the primary data. Structured and non-disguised questionnaire has been utilized as survey instrument to collect primary data for analysis. It has been collected by providing printed questionnaire personally in the hands of participants. For data collection purpose, the questionnaire has been divided into four parts, first part is intended with the questions to get demographic profile of consumers, and second part is prepared with the questions to know present status of consumption pattern. Third parts deals with factors determining buying and consumption pattern of blended oil. The second set of data used for the study is secondary data. It is collected from internet sources, magazines and journals, books, news papers and reports of various bodies. This survey instrument was previously pre-tested with 15 consumers in the study area. As a result of the pre-test, important changes in handling of works and information were made in the questionnaire. The content validity of the survey instrument was checked with the experts and professionals in this field. Percentage analysis, factor analysis has been applied for analysis of data. 7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 7.1 Analysis of Demographic Profile The demographic characteristics of respondents are analyzed and its results are discussed in the following sub-headings. Table-1 presents the distribution of prominent demographic variables like gender, age, academic qualification, marital status, monthly income. Simple percentage analysis has been utilized to analyse demographic profile. Table 1: Demographic Profile of Respondents Profile Characteristics Frequency Percentage Gender Male 20 20% Female 80 80% % Age % % 51 & Above 22 22% Illiterate 12 22% Academic Qualification School Education 18 39% Diploma/UG 39 24% PG/Professional 31 15% Monthly Income Below 15, % IRJBM ( ) Volume No VII, December 2014, Issue 13 Page 58

4 Marital status Occupation 15,001 35, % 35,001 75, % Above 75, % Married 82 82% Unmarried 18 18% Housewife/Retired 22 56% Employed 56 22% Business/Profession 17 17% Others 5 5% Source: Primary Data It could be seen in the above table, demographic profile are clearly analyzed and gender level shows that about 20 per cent are males while the rest of 80 per cent are females. Age of the consumers obviously reveals that about 15% are in the age group of years, 32% are falls between years, followed by 31% belongs to years, and 22% are more than 51 years of age. Academic qualification of the participants explains that 12% of respondents are illiterate, 18% of respondents are school educated, 39% are diploma/ under graduate degree holders and rest 31% are having qualification of PG/Professional. It is observed from the monthly income of the consumers, 10% are earning income of less than 15,000, 26% of respondents are earning income of 15,001 to 35, % of respondent s income ranges from 35,001 to 75,000, 19% of respondents earning falls more than 75,001 per month. Marital status of the consumers reveals that 82% are belongs to married and 18% are belongs to unmarried category. Occupation of the consumers are gathered in four intervals, 22% are housewife/retired category, 56% are employed in private and government sector, 17% are business/profession category and rest 5% are students and others. 7.2 Factors determining Buying and Consumption Pattern Consumption pattern of blended oil is primarily determined by internal and external factors in respect of blended oils. Internal factors include product centric factors and consumption needs; whereas external factors include consumer personal facets, promotional activities prevailing in the market. Internal factors are associated with the use of blended oil, which is controllable in nature and external factors are the example of forces from market, which is uncontrollable in nature. Both the factors are determining the buying and consumption pattern of blended oil. By considering this fact into account, this analysis has been conducted with principal component factor analysis. A five point Likert scale has been developed with the points ranging from 5 to 1, 5 is for Strongly Agree, 4 is for Agree, 3 is for Neutral, 2 is for Disagree and 1 is for Strongly Disagree and used to collect data. So as to check the reliability factor among the factors and variables, the Cronbach alpha has been performed and it strongly concedes that reliability of data ranges from 0.92 to Table 2: Factor Analysis Factors (Mean) Product Centric (2.93) Variables Quality feature Price Taste Pureness of oil Nutrition Content Smell of oil Cleanness of oil Blending proportion Fat content Flavor stability Storage stability Factor Loadings Eigen Value % of Variance Personal facets Health benefits IRJBM ( ) Volume No VII, December 2014, Issue 13 Page 59

5 (2.45) Less expensive Weight protection Cardiac health Reduced fat content Safeguards against disease Family Strength Suitability of all ages Promotional activities (2.32) Consumption needs (2.19) Advertisement Celebrity Endorsement Extra-Offers and freebies Availability at all places Recommendation of retailers/sellers Attractive Packing Demonstration in Exhibitions Nutritious and healthful food Monounsaturated oil Tasty food preparation Frying of foods Important ingredients Source: Primary Data Table-2 provides the various factors determining buying and consumption of blended oil. Factors, factorial mean, factor variables, factor loadings, Eigen value and percentage of variance explained. The factorial mean evidences the value of product centric (2.93), personal facets (2.45), promotional activities (2.32) and consumption needs (2.19).The content validity ratio is also checked for the entire variable and it shows the scale falls more than 0.5. The score falls less than 0.5 has been eliminated, because it has little impact in this data. Put together all four factors and 31 variables explain 80.17% of variance of data. The following are the succinct validation about the factor analysis derived. Product centric factor is the main determining factor in buying and consumption pattern of blended oil, which covers eleven variables and explains 28.73% of variance in data with Eigen value of Quality feature, price of the oil, taste, blended proportion of oils and storage stability are the most determining factor in the buying and consumption of blended oils. Moreover, personal facets have remarkable influence in determining buying and consumption of blended oil. It explains 19.92% of variance in data with Eigen value of Health benefit, less expensive and reduced fat content are mostly considered by the consumers to use blended oils. Buying and consumption has also been determined by the promotional activities taken by the respective company. Promotional activities have been loaded with seven variables and explain 13.97% of variance in data with the Eigen value of Advertisement and extra-offers and freebies actively create the demand for the use of blended oil. Buying and consumption of any product may driven by the incidental issues. Hence, blended oil has no exception to this fact; it is loaded with variables which explain 8.93% variance in data with Eigen value of Reference group influences and recommendation of physician plays active role in the determining the buying and consumption in this regard. Usually, the consumers buys product while meeting their needs, here consumer needs has been loaded with five strings and explain 4.76% variance in data with Eigen value of Nutritious and healthful food, monounsaturated oil and important ingredients are the most important factor in this category. Lastly, substitution product create effect in determining buying and consumption, it explains 3.86% variance in data with Eigen value of Comparatively low-priced and better health contents determines buying and consumption of blended oil. It is clear that the buying and consumption of blended oils are determined by large number of factors, which was considered above. IRJBM ( ) Volume No VII, December 2014, Issue 13 Page 60

6 8. CONCLUSION The consumption of edible oil increases due to population growth, rising income levels but the enormous changes in urbanization, the lifestyle and dietary choices influences the awareness level of excessive ingestion of saturated fat that elevates total low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and has a negative outcome of blood pressure and arrhythmias. While considering this fact, now mixing of two or three oil is permitted. Use of modern mixing method eliminates the unwanted fat in the oil, which is highly suitable for child to aged person. This study considers the factors determining on buying and consumption of blended oil. It is identified that the consumers are partially aware about the importance of using blended oil and partially not aware about the technical features connected with the blended oil. It is ascertained that the product centric aspects and personal facets are primarily determines the buying and consumption of blended oil. In addition to that the impact of reduced fatty acids and ensuring better health is the prime motivation for buying blended oil among the consumers. Reference [1] Abdulkarim, S.M. and Ghazali, H.M Fatty acid ratios and their relative amounts as indicators of oil stability and extent of oil deterioration during frying. J. Food Agri.Environ., 10: [2] Ajay, V. and Prabhakaran, D Coronary heart disease in Indians: Implications of the INTERHEART study. Indian J. Med. Res., 132: [3] Aluyor, E.O. and Jesu, M.O The use of antioxidants in vegetable oils A review.african J.Biotechnol., 7: [4] Anderson, B.M. and David, W.M Are all n-3polyunsaturated fatty acids created equal? Lipids Health Dis., 8: [5] Chotimarkorn C, Silalai N (2008). Addition of rice bran oil to soybean oil during frying increases the oxidative stability of the fried dough from rice flour during storage. Food Res Inter, 41, [6] Chopra, R., Kumari, K.K. and Nagraj, G. (2004), Fatty Acid Profile and Shelf Life of Linseed-groundnut, Linseed-sunflower and Linseed-palm oil Blends, Journal of Oil Technology Association of India, Vol.36, pp [7] Chung J, Lee Y, Choe E (2006), Effects of sesame oil addition to soybean oil during frying on the lipid oxidative stability and antioxidants contents of the fried products during storage in the dark. J Food Sci, 71, [8] Iqbal S, Bhanger MI, Anwar F (2005), Antioxidant properties and components of some commercially available varieties of rice bran in Pakistan. Food Chem, 93, [9] Monika Choudhary and Kiran Grover (2013), Blended rice bran and olive oil moving towards a new cooking media. International Journal for Life Sciences and Educational Research,Vol.1(1), pp , April [10] Prakash M., Ravi R. and Bhat K. K. (2001), Effect of Blending on Sensory Odor Profile and Physicochemical Properties of Select Vegetable Oils, Journal of Food Lipids, Vol. 8 (3), pp [11] Sharma H.K., Singhal R.S. and Kulkarni P.R. (1996), Blended oils - New Entrants in India, Journal of Science and Industrial Research, Vol. 4, pp [12] Shiela P.M., Sreerama Y.N. and Gopala-Krishna A.G. (2004), Storage Stability Evaluation of some Packed Vegetable Oil Blends, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Vol.81 (12), pp [13] Toliwal, S.D., Tiwari, M.R. and Verma, S. (2005), Studies on Thermal Stability of Palm-corn Oil Blends, Journal of Oil Technology Association of India, Vol.37, pp [14] White, J.P., (2000), Fatty Acids in Oil Seeds. In: Fatty Acids in Foods and their Health Implications, Chow, C.K. (Eds.). Marcel Dekker Inc, New York, USA, pp IRJBM ( ) Volume No VII, December 2014, Issue 13 Page 61

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