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SETTING OF THE PROBLEM AND JUSTIFICATION
“Stomach fillers” such as the starch staple-type foods, which include bread, rice and maize meal, comprise about half of the typical South African consumer‟s grocery budget. This stands in contrast to an allocation of only 15 percent to similar expenditure by American and European consumers (Connellan as reported by Watson, 2008:2). The combined impact of 50 percent of South Africans existing on less than ZAR430 (US$42)/ month (Fedusa as quoted by Carstens, 2008:6) and a 15,8 percent increase in food costs over the last year (Hermann, as quoted by Carstens, 2008:6), implies a severe threat to food security. For the purpose of comparison, an exchange rate for the South African Rand (ZAR) and the United States Dollar (US$) of ZAR10.217 ≈ US$1, as on 8 December 2008, was applied throughout the text of this thesis.
Currently, various food products that proclaim characteristics and advantages aimed at specific consumers from the different income groups are readily available on the South African market. Low-income consumers are, however, demographically different and have different needs for goods and services (Alwitt & Donley, 1996:68). The challenge is, therefore, to skilfully integrate knowledge of consumer needs, as indicated by preferences for specific attributes during food choice, with the low-income consumers‟ perception of reality (Conner & Armitage, 2002:2).
As yet, no clear guidelines have been formulated for the effective and cost efficient implementation of “consumer intelligence” during the early phases of the food product development process (Costa & Jongen, 2006:8-9), not withstanding any links to the needs of a developing country. Of special importance to this study is an innovative strategy advocating that consumers‟ current and future needs be considered in the development of new products, in order to add true value (Urban & Hauser, 1993:48).
CHAPTER 1 SETTING OF THE PROBLEM AND JUSTIFICATION
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Setting of the problem
1.3 Justification of the study
1.4 Structure of the thesis
1.5 Reference list
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE CONTEXT
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Consumer food choice
2.3 Trends in quality perception
2.4 Consumer perception of food quality
2.5 Food product attributes of importance
2.6 Food choice and low-income
2.7 Food product development
2.8 Food product concept formulation
2.9 Reference list
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research aim
3.2.1 Sub-objectives of the study
3.3 Conceptual framework
3.4 Clarification of terminology
3.5 Research design
3.5.1 Mode of inquiry and type of research design
3.6 Operationalisation
3.6.1 Phase 1: Identification, selection and screening of concepts to formulate and develop
food product design parameters
3.6.2 Phase 2: Evaluation of the food product design parameters against an established product and description of the identified concepts
3.6.3 Phase 3: Development of a food product concept formulation framework
3.7 Quality of measurement
3.7.1 Validity
3.7.1.1 External validity
3.7.1.2 Internal validity
3.7.2 Reliability
3.8 Study population
3.8.1 Low-income consumers
3.8.2 Experts in food (in)security
3.9 Ethics
3.9.1 Permission
3.9.2 Ethical considerations
3.10 Outcomes of the study
3.11 Reference list
CHAPTER 4 ATTRIBUTES OF IMPORTANCE IN STAPLE-TYPE FOOD PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT FOR LOW-INCOME URBANISED CONSUMERS IN SOUTH AFRICA
4.1 Abstract
4.2 Introduction
4.3 Methods
4.4 Results and discussion
4.5 Conclusions
4.6 Recommendations
4.7 Recognition
4.8 References
CHAPTER 5 FOOD PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES GUIDING PURCHASING CHOICE OF MAIZE MEAL BY LOW-INCOME SOUTH AFRICAN CONSUMERS: A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH
CHAPTER 6 FOOD PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES GUIDING PURCHASING CHOICE OF MAIZE MEAL BY LOW-INCOME SOUTH AFRICAN CONSUMERS: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH
CHAPTER 7 INTEGRATION AND APPLICATION
