Consumer Preference For Common Bean Attributes In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

ABSTRACT

Consumers’ preferences for food products are always based on observable and nonobservable attributes. Common beans which are globally important for income generation as well as food and nutrition security, appeal to consumers in different ways. One important distinction of this nature is with respect to colour, size, cooking time and gravy quality. When multiple common beans’ varieties with varying attribute levels are exposed, consumers normally select multiple varieties on the same occasion while rejecting some of the offerings. However, studies that have explicitly assessed factors underlying such a decision making have generally been rare and confined to demographic and socioeconomic factors only. Factors such as societal and cultural have been ignored in the previous studies. Ignoring these factors can distort the measured effects and contribute to the failure of interventions aimed at altering food preferences. This study incorporated the factors ignored in the previous studies along with demographic and socio-economic factors to understand better consumers’ preferences for the common bean in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The rationale was to identify means to support actors in the bean value chain to improve their businesses and wellbeing. Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was employed in order to elicit individual preference and uncover how individuals selected common beans with varying attributes levels using a random sample of 732 respondents. Four different attributes including colour (4 levels), grain size (3 levels), cooking time (2 levels) and gravy quality (2 levels) were studied. Data analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics and Poisson Regression Model (PRM). Results from descriptive statistics showed that common beans with yellow colour, small grain size, good gravy and shorter cooking time were the most preferred. However, common bean with mottled red colour, poor gravy and longer cooking time were the least preferred. Results from PRM showed that the probability of choosing two common beans types was the highest, although for some consumers, the number of choices ranged from zero to eight. The observed wide range of consumers’ choice of beans reflect the diversity of consumer preferences which are partly influenced by their food habits and other factors including demographic, cultural orientation and economic factors like levels of income and occupation. The study recommends that breeding and market development efforts should primarily focus on both most preferred type of common beans and unique preferences of consumers whose choices are predominantly within a narrow range of common beans. Meeting the varied demand of consumers means increasing the range of choices that appeal to consumers.