CANTHO UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

HO NGUYEN THAO

RESEARCH ON PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR OF YOUNG
CUSTOMERS ON TOCOTOCO BUBBLE TEA IN HO CHI
MINH CITY

BACHELOR THESIS

High-Quality Program
Major: International Business
Major code: 52340120

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Can Tho City, Jan/2021
CANTHO UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

HO NGUYEN THAO
B1607768

RESEARCH ON PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR OF YOUNG
CUSTOMERS ON TOCOTOCO BUBBLE TEA IN HO CHI
MINH CITY

FULL NAME OF SUPERVISOR
Dr. BUI THI KIM THANH

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Can Tho City, Jan/2021
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

I declare that:
•

I have complied with the thesis examination procedure at Can Tho University,
School of Economics.

•

This thesis is entirely my own original work, except where I have
acknowledged use of source material [such as books, journal articles, other
published material, the Internet, and the work of another student/s or any other
person/s].

•

This thesis has not been submitted for examination at Can Tho University or
elsewhere.

•

The university and/or the examiners may communicate a copy of this thesis
item to a plagiarism checking service (which may then retain a copy of the
thesis on its database for the purpose of future plagiarism checking).


Full name

Signature

HO NGUYEN THAO

3

Date (dd/mm/yy)


ABSTRACT

In Present Marketing Scenario, the Study of Consumer Behavior has
become essential. Consumers are the kings of markets. Without consumers no
business organization can run. All the activities of the business concerns end with
consumers and consumer satisfaction. Customer behavior study is based on
consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of
user, payer and buyer. Consumer buying behaviour has become an integral part of
strategic market planning.
This study is to research on purchasing behaviour of young customers on
ToCoToCo bubble tea in Ho Chi Minh. The study’s regression model analysis
shows that there are 6 factors influencing young customers to choose ToCoToCo
bubble tea (1) Distribution network, (2) Personal Factor, (3) Product, (4) Price,
(5) Advertising, (6) Customer service (listed in descending order of influence).
Based on results, some policy implications are proposed for ToCoToCo bubble
tea’s managers to help them make reasonable policies to attract customers to
choose ToCoToCo bubble tea brand and help managers of other bubble tea brands
in Ho Chi Minh City in general to expand their businesses.


Keywords: Behaviour, consumer, bubble tea, Ho Chi Minh City, ToCoToCo.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

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CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS
1.1. THE RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Bubble tea in recent years has become a familiar beverage of Vietnamese
youth in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. The bubble tea movement
originating from Taiwan becomes hotter than ever when it appears massively,
with the density of private bubble tea shops across the country. However, with the
discovery of toxic substances in the ingredients of unknown origin of private
bubble tea shops, the image of bubble tea in the eyes of consumers and especially
young people has been greatly reduced.
Though, the attraction from this beverage never lost, after the time the
toxic substances from bubble tea were discovered and announced, ToCoToCo
opened its first store in 2013, with passion and hunger to build a brand of pure
Vietnamese bubble tea, bearing a strong flavor of the homeland with clean and
clear origin ingredients. ToCoToCo is dedicated to exploiting Vietnamese

agricultural products to create fresh, safe, and nutritious beverage. ToCoToCo
believes that enjoying a glass of bubble tea made from Moc Chau tea, bubble
from Nghe An cassava or mulberry jam from Da Lat will be the most distinctive
and wonderful experience for their customers.
Also, from that difference, the ToCoToCo brand has made rapid progress
and gradually dominates the bubble tea market with more than 200 stores across
the country, especially 81 stores in Ho Chi Minh City. The milestone of 2018
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marked the brand's dream of reaching out to the world when ToCoToCo officially
appeared in the US and continued its success in Australia, Japan, Korea,
Singapore.
Nowadays, ToCoToCo has become one of the most famous bubble tea
brands in the Ho Chi Minh City market and is well received and loved by many
consumers, especially young people. Therefore, in order to understand why Ho
Chi Minh City youth loves this brand of bubble tea as well as looking for
recommendations to support the brand awareness of this beverage brand on a
wider range than the author chose the topic “Research on purchasing behaviour
of young customers on ToCoToCo bubble tea in Ho Chi Minh City”.

1.2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1.2.1. General objective
Research and analyze young generation consuming behavior towards
product bubble tea of brand ToCoToCo in Ho Chi Minh City, thereby contributing
several recommendations for ToCoToCo.
1.2.2. Specific objectives
Objective 1: Investigate demand and habit of using ToCoToCo bubble-tea
of young people in Ho Chi Minh City.
Objective 2: Analyze the effects of product quality, price, personal factors,

distribution, customer service and advertising on ToCoToCo bubble-tea
consumption behavior of young people in Ho Chi Minh City.
Objective 3: Consequently, offer some recommendations to help
ToCoToCo bubble tea stores in Ho Chi Minh increase sales.
1.3. RESEARCH SCOPE AND SUBJECT
1.3.1. Research scope
Space: Ho Chi Minh City is a major commercial center of the country with
a large population and diverse demographics. Furthermore, Ho Chi Minh City is
also a major consumer of bubble-tea. Therefore, the survey in Ho Chi Minh City
will ensure the representativeness of the sample.
Time: from October 01, 2020 to December 28, 2020.
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1.3.2. Research subject
Consumer behavior of customers aged 18-25 years old in Ho Chi Minh
City.
1.4. NOVELTY OF THE TOPIC
Firstly, the study proposes a theoretical model and scale of the main
factors affecting the behavior of bubble-tea consumers in Ho Chi Minh City as
well as providing some objective test results to clarify the hypothesis from the
model. Thereby, the study will be the basis for research on consumer behavior of
this product.
Secondly, the research results suggest key factors affecting bubble tea
consumption behavior of young people in Ho Chi Minh City, thereby helping
young people get a more correct perception of bubble tea and bubble tea habits in
particular and food in general, to ensure both economic factors and safety.
Thirdly, the research results support ToCoToCo to identify market needs
as well as customer tastes, important factors affecting the decision-making
process of consuming bubble tea products of today's youth. In addition, the also

proposes the number of industry-specific strategic solutions in production and
consumption. Since then, the enterprise has the basis to form and develop market
strategies suitable to potential customers.
1.5. TOPIC STRUCTURE
The topic consists of 5 chapters:
Chapter 1: Overview of the thesis. In this chapter, an overview of the thesis
will be presented such as: the rationale of the study, research objectives, research
scope and objects, research methods and thesis layout.
Chapter 2: Theoretical background and conceptual model. The content of the
chapter will present an overview of the current bubble-tea market in Ho Chi Minh
City, factors affecting the behavior of using bubble-tea of young people, the
introduction of previous research models related to the topic of bubble tea using
behavior, and then propose a research model.

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Chapter 3: Research design. The content of this chapter presents the research
process, construction of scales, methods to test scales and test models.
Chapter 4: Analysis of research results. The content of this chapter describes
the research sample and research results on factors affecting bubble-tea
consumption behavior of young generation in Ho Chi Minh City.
Chapter 5: Solutions and recommendation. Based on the research results
presented, this chapter will offer solutions and recommendations to raise
awareness about ToCoToCo bubble tea from which ToCoToCo bubble tea
consumption will be raised among youth in Ho Chi Minh City.

CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTUAL MODELS
2.1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1.1. Consumer behavior
Consumer behaviour is the study of the process involved in selecting,
purchasing, using, or disposing of products, services, ideas or experiences by
individuals, groups and organisations to meet their needs and desires. (Solomon,
2006).
The importance of understanding consumer buying behaviour is essential.
According to Kotler & Keller (2015) for both manufacturers and service
providers, the ways in which customers choose their products and services can be
extremely important as this gives them a competitive advantage over their
competitors in various ways.
2.1.1.1. Important factors that influence consumer behavior
Kotler & Keller (2015) outline that consumer’s buying behaviour is
influenced by four driven factors: cultural, social, personal, and psychological
factors. The deepest influence on consumer’s buying behaviour is caused by
cultural factors among others.
2.1.1.1.1. Cultural factors
Culture is the basic determinant of an individual’s wants and behaviour.
Culture is a particular group of people's characteristics and knowledge, including
language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and the arts. Culture, subculture
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and social class have a particular impact on consumer buying behaviour. Each
culture consists of smaller subcultures and varies from one country to another.
These subcultures identify and classify people based on their shared customs and
beliefs. Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographic
regions. Therefore, companies should create specialized marketing programs to
suit certain preferences of a subculture. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
According to Kotler & Keller (2015) each individual belongs to a certain
social class that influences the buying decision. People who belong to the same

social class share similar interests, values and behaviour. Therefore, members
from different social class possess different buying behaviours and have distinct
product and brand preferences. In order to understand how to best market existing
products and find opportunities for new products, marketers need to pay close
attention to cultural values in each country.
2.1.1.1.2. Social factors
Besides cultural factors, our buying behaviour is affected by social factors
such as reference groups, family, and social roles and status. A person’s reference
group is a group that is associated with an individual who wants to be a part and
be called as a member of that group. For instance, family, friends, neighbours, as
well as religious, professional, and trade-union groups can influence consumer
preference in choosing a specific product or service. It is observed that all
members of the reference group share common buying behaviour and influence
each other strongly on product and brand choices. Therefore, marketers should
identify the roles that influence other people's behaviour within the reference
group. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
Family members are considered to be the most influential reference group
for an individual’s decision making with an emphasis on the purchase of certain
goods and services. Moreover, family factor influences the individual’s
personality, attitude and beliefs. According to Kotler & Keller (2015) there are
two families in a buyer’s life: a family of orientation and family of procreation.
The family of orientation consists of parents and siblings, where parents have a
strong influence on a person’s behaviour. However, a family of procreation
includes the person’s spouse and children, where the preferences tend to change
with the influence of the spouse.
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The position and role of an individual in society also affect his/her buying
behaviour. For example, it is expected that a person holding a supreme position in

the organization will buy those items that advocate his or her status. Marketers
should try to understand the position and role of the individual long before the
product is endorsed. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
2.1.1.1.3. Personal factors
Personal characteristics have a direct impact on consumer behaviour and
they include age and life cycle stage, occupation and economic situations,
personality and self-concept, lifestyle and values. Therefore, it is important for
marketers to understand this factor before designing a marketing campaign.
A consumer’s taste and preferences are most often influenced by their age.
This can be most commonly seen in food, clothing and any recreational activity
purchases they may do. People tend to buy different products in the different life
cycle stages throughout the entire life. For example, the brand of a perfume which
individual used some years ago might not suit his/her desires and needs in the
present moment. Therefore, preferences in purchasing a product constantly
change. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
Occupation and economic circumstances influence consumer behaviour in
the marketplace as well. Both product and brand choice are affected by the
economic circumstances of the individual. Simultaneously, individuals tend to
buy products and services that promote their profession and role in society.
Buying patterns vary according to the individual’s occupation. (Kotler & Keller,
2015)
Consumer buying behaviour is strongly affected by personality and selfconcept factors. By personality, Kotler & Keller (2015) distinguish human
psychological characteristics that lead to behaviour buying responses that are
relatively consistent and enduring. Each brand has a personality. Consumers tend
to choose and use brands that correspond to their personality and are consistent
with their actual self-concept that corresponds to how they view themselves.
Marketers carefully examine brand experiences to express brand personalities.
According to Kotler & Keller (2015) lifestyle and core values also
influence consumer buying behaviour. By lifestyle, the author defines an
individual’s interest, opinions and activities that reflect the person’s pattern of

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living in the society. However, core values guide people’s enduring choices and
desires and underlie attitudes and behaviours. Therefore, marketers orientate of
consumer’s basic values and believe that their buying behaviour can be
influenced by appeals to the inner selves of people.
2.1.1.1.4. Psychological factors
Psychological factors can affect consumer behaviour very strongly. That
includes motivation, perception, learning and memory.
The level of motivation affects consumers' buying behaviour. People tend
to have many needs through any given time. Some needs are biogenic; they arise
from physiological states of tension such as hunger, thirst, or discomfort and other
needs are psychogenic; they arise from physiological states of tension such as the
need for recognition, esteem, or belonging. Therefore, people will try to satisfy
the most important need first and then move to the next need. (Kotler & Keller,
2015)
A motivated person is ready to act with the perception of the situation.
Perception is also a psychological factor that is the process by which an
individual selects, organizes, and interprets information to draw a meaningful
picture of the world. Depending on their individual beliefs and attitudes, different
people have different perceptions of the same product. Therefore, marketers
should try to understand the behaviour and attitude of each individual to gain
their attention towards the offerings. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
Learning process arises from a consumer’s experiences and is followed by
action. According to Kotler & Keller (2015) learning is produced from drives,
stimuli, cues, responses, and reinforcement, which means that if a consumer has a
positive buying experience, then in the future the customer will choose the same
brand.
Consumers tend to have several strong associations and information about

a brand that creates essential brand knowledge. Through thoughts and feelings,
perceptions and images, experiences, beliefs and attitudes, customers create brand
associations. Therefore, marketers have to ensure that consumers have the
product and service experiences that create the right brand knowledge and
maintain this information in their memory. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
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2.1.2. Consumer decision-making process
The decision-making process is the method that marketers use to identify
and track the decision of a customer journey. This method helps to analyse the
consumer’s decision-making process from beginning to the end and it is divided
into five separate stages where all the steps are carefully studied by marketing
managers. This process helps to understand how information is obtained, how
beliefs are formed, and what consumer criteria for product selection are specified.
(Solomon, 2006) Moreover, aspects of acting in a more sustainable way and
integration of sustainable consumption in each stage of the consumer decisionmaking process are discussed in this chapter.
Problem

Information

recognition

search

Evaluation
of
alternatives

Purchase

decision

Postpurchase
behaviour

Source: Kotler & Keller, 2015

Figure 2.1 The five-model stage
2.1.2.1. Problem recognition
The consumer buying decision-making process starts with the problem
recognition stage. This stage identifies the difference between the consumer’s
recognition of needs and wants. It occurs when the consumer senses a significant
difference between his or her current state of affairs versus a desired and ideal
state. (Solomon, 2006) By collecting information from a number of consumers,
marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need. (Kotler
& Keller, 2015) For instance, a problem recognition might occur when an
individual changed the environment to constantly raining weather. Then, a
person’s need will be to find suitable warm and rain protection cloths as well as
an umbrella.
2.1.2.2. Information search
According to Solomon (2006) when the problem has been recognized,
consumer needs to find information to resolve it. Information search is the
process when a consumer examines his or her environment in order to find
suitable data to make a reasonable decision. In practice, information search
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activity becomes greater when the purchase is important, so there is a need to
learn more about the purchase and study different information sources. (Solomon,
2006) Marketers need to understand what kind of information consumers are

looking for at different times and locations. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
According to Kotler & Keller (2015) a consumer is able to gather
information from the four main groups of information sources. These information
sources are divided by personal, commercial, public, and experiential sources.
However, each information source influences the buying decision and varies
according to the product category and the characteristics of the consumer.
The commercial source is a marketer- dominated source, where a
consumer receives the greatest amount of information about the product. This
source includes advertisements, websites, salespersons, dealers, packaging and
displays.
However, the most effective sources are personal, public, and experiential
that tend to be independent authorities. Personal sources are defined by family,
friends, neighbours and acquaintances. Information source such as public
includes mass media, social media, and consumer rating organisations. (Kotler &
Keller, 2015)
The experiential source for searching information consists of acts such as
handling, examining, and using the product itself. In fact, choosing this source of
information puts an emphasis on the consumption experience and what a
consumer can experience by using the specific kind of a product. Thus, it would
be based on an individual’s own perception of the product through the earlier use
of it. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
In addition, the public source, which includes mass media provides an
increasingly valuable information towards advertising a specific range of
products with consumption benefits to the environment and the world itself.
Therefore, consumers become aware of these groups of products and brands
through the public sources and are more likely to be engaged in sustainable
consumption through purchasing products from a sustainable brand.
2.1.2.3. Evaluation of alternatives
According to Solomon (2006) there is much effort involved in a purchase
decision, when it takes place at a time when the available alternatives must be

chosen. Nowadays, it is becoming more challenging for a consumer to make a
choice on a purchase, as the market provides a variation of brands that clamours
customer’s attention.
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Evaluation of alternatives starts with identifying alternatives. A consumer
involved in extended problem-solving will carefully evaluate several brands,
while someone who makes a regular decision may not consider alternatives to
their normal brand. Consumer evaluates a product with the careful categorization
of all the options based on his/her knowledge and beliefs about the brand and
afterwards selects a product among the alternatives. The choice can be influenced
by the integration of information from sources, information present at the time of
purchase, and beliefs about the brands created through advertising. (Solomon,
2006)
In this stage of a consumer’s decision-making process, environmental
concerns and buying behaviour of evaluating the product alternatives are based
around environmental costs, risks and benefits that will lead to the future
assessment of choices in choosing what to purchase. One approach to evaluating
more sustainable consumption patterns of a consumer is to consider whether a
customer is acquiring the more sustainable option from the product alternatives
and at the same time to consider future behaviour in using and disposing of the
product.
2.1.2.4. Purchase decision
The consumer forms preferences among the brands in the choice set during
the evaluation stage and further creates an intention to buy the most preferred
brand. During the purchase decision process, the consumer still has to make five
following sub-decisions: brand, dealer, quantity, timing, and payment method.
(Kotler & Keller, 2015)
Consumers may not formally evaluate each purchase decision in some

cases, while the final decision may be affected by intervening factors in other
cases. The first intervening factor is a factor of an attitude of others. An
individual’s purchase decision might affect what others think about the purchase
because people tend to depend on other’s opinion and attitude. The second
intervening factor includes unanticipated situational factors. These factors might
affect the postponing, modifying or avoiding of a purchase decision because of a
perceived risk. Marketers need to understand the factors that give consumers a
sense of risk and provide information and support to reduce it. (Kotler & Keller,
2015)
In addition, in order to increase consumer’s sustainable performance in
consumption, a consumer might reconsider the manner of buying behaviour. In
the stage of a purchase decision, it might be evaluated through the purchasing of
15


the product with an emphasis on environmental benefit against other attributes of
product features such as price, performance, and design.
2.1.2.5. Post-purchase evaluation
Consumers may feel uncertain about a purchase after noticing disquieting
product features or hearing good recommendations about other brands. According
to Kotler & Keller (2015) marketing communications should supply support and
beliefs for consumers that reinforce and continually support positive feelings
about a purchase. In addition, marketers should monitor consumer behaviour
from post-purchase satisfaction, post-purchase actions and post-purchase product
use and disposal.
Satisfaction is a function of the closeness between expectations and
perceived performance of the product. The state of customer feelings after a
purchase influences greatly a company’s brand as it makes the difference if the
customer buys the product again in the future and talks positively or negatively
about the product features to others. Moreover, marketers should also monitor

how buyers use and dispose of the product. Product consumption rate is a key
driver of sales frequency — the faster buyers consume a product, the sooner they
can be back on the market to buy it back. (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
Likewise, during this stage, the total consumption process approach has to
be taken into consideration. The use and post-use phases play a key role in a
sustainable impact and sustainable consumer performance after the customer
made a purchase. This phase plays a crucial role for the environment in terms of
the overloaded landfill. Therefore, consumers can keep, reuse, and dispose of a
product in a more sustainable way through selling or recycling that can lead to
positive changes to the environment and production processes. (Sustainable guide
for consumers: Eat well and save the planet! 2007)
It can be concluded that the buying behaviour of consumers will determine
the success or failure of new products and services being marketed on the basis of
their performance in sustainability. Their overall behaviour will also have a strong
impact on the sustainability performance of all goods and services due to the role
of consumers in determining sustainability impacts during the use and disposal
phases of the consumption process. (Wikipedia, 2019)
2.1.3. Factors linked to demography
Demography arrangements also have an impact of the consumer
behaviour. The Kids, adolescent, grown up adult, mid age and old age people
have different personalities and different set of values. The attractive features of
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products may have separate impact on different age group of consumers, also it
may have separate impact on the area that people dwell. The study by Deva
Prasanna presents a review of the literature, in the field of consumer behaviour
towards FMCG products. There is marvelous complication in consumer
behaviour. There may be several aspects both rational and emotional that may act
mutually in influencing the purchase decision. The age factor, gender, place /

location etc. has huge impact in the response from the consumers. Shahir Bhatt
& Amola Bhatt through their research paper on Consumer Behaviour Towards
Packaged Food in Rural Areas: An Empirical Study in Ahmedabad District,
Gujarat have attempted to understand different aspects of rural consumer
behaviour on buying of packaged food products. The study aims to identify the
factors which are important while purchasing packaged food products. The study
also examines the relationship between the factors brought out and demographic
factors like age and monthly income. The study observes that the factors for
selecting packaged food include health, convenience, proximity, mood, price,
brand, and sensory appeal. Additionally, it is found that 3 factors, namely health,
convenience, and mood, have significant relationship with age, and four factors,
namely health, mood, price and brand, have significant relationship with monthly
income. The study reveals that consumers with income less than Rs.5000 give
more importance to health, mood, and price, whereas brand as a factor is more
significant for higher income consumers. These findings reveal the characteristics
of the target audience, which can be taken into consideration by the marketers of
FMCG products while designing the product, packaged food products in this
case.
2.1.4. Consumer preference & attitude
The preference, choice, demand, attitude, and actions of consumers are
interlinked. Also, they all have impact on purchase decisions of consumers. Dr.
K.Alagarsamy & S. Wilson through their literary work on “A Study on Customer
Behavior Towards Banking Services With Special Reference To Public Sector
Banks in Sivagangai Dist.”, state that the banking sector has under gone many
changes in the new economic policy based on privatization, globalization and
liberalizations adopted by government of India. Customer is the king in the
present-day banking. Since the banks are providing tailor made services to the
changing needs of the ultra-modern customer to face their stiff competition from
the rival banks. Today the customer services preference keeps on changing at a
rapid speed and their demands. Today the challenging and tough job for the

bankers is retaining their existing customer base and acquiring new customer. The
aim of the bankers is to make the customers c achieve their financial goals. To
17


achieve the highly challenging task of customers satisfaction bankers are turning
to technology for help. Bankers are not only satisfying the customer but must also
trigger the attitude of the customers towards the bank. Even though the customer
is well educated, still sometimes due to high technology banking services they
hesitate for the transaction. Preeti Tak and Ashish Pareek through their literary
work on Consumer Attitude Towards Luxury Brands: An Empirical Study have
established their thought on the relationship between consumer’s need for
uniqueness dimensions, fashion consciousness and consumer’s attitude towards
luxury brands. The findings suggest that the three dimensions of consumer’s need
for uniqueness and fashion consciousness are positively related to consumer’s
attitude towards luxury brands. Thus, consumers like to express their
individuality by adopting new fashion brands and styles. This finding has an
important marketing implication, as it suggests that marketers could devise a
suitable strategy to communicate the uniqueness of their products. The result also
supports the probable link between fashion consciousness and attitude towards
luxury brands. The Research paper by Mithilesh Pandey & Neelam Nakra
focuses on the consumer preference towards the smartphone brands. Their study
leads to understanding that one of the major factors for selecting the smartphone
is the Operating System (OS). This paper studies the consumer preference
towards various OS and preference towards a smartphone brand with android as
its OS. The study found that android and iOS are the most preferred OS, while
Samsung is the highest preferred brand to be selected for an android platform.
The price, screen size and RAM size are the most important attributes while
choosing the smartphone brand.
2.1.5. Quality & innovations

Consumer Behaviour demonstrates largely the willingness to be associated
with the brand and the usage pattern. The organizations keep working towards
their attractive features in order to attract customers. Quality management of
products and innovations form important measure to retain & acquire customers.
Karunik and Schiffman in their book on Consumer Behavior have highlighted
the dynamic business environment and they it be turbulent as never before & the
service industry as promising as never before. In this era of intense competition
companies understand the customer is the king in the market and success depends
a lot on the efficiency of the managers in delivering the promised product or
services. The responsibility lies on the organisations to develop a culture, ethics,
responsibility, value, and quality services should be offered to achieve higher
level of customer satisfaction. Dynamic consumer behaviour is required to
analyze various factors affecting consumer purchase decision directly or
18


indirectly. C. Lovelock & J. Writz ed the book Services Marketing while
emphasising on services marketing as a broad area and placed marketing issues
within a broader general management context while offering a balanced focused
on close ties that link marketing, operations, and human resource marketing. It
also relates the understanding of consumer behaviour function to develop
appropriate marketing strategy. Service triangle feature of services and service
marketing strategies are also discussed in this book with detailed explanation of
service quality model. The study by Manaktola & Jauhari was conducted in
NCR Delhi, India which explored consumer attitude and behaviour towards the
green practices in lodging industry. They identified the willingness of consumers
to pay for green hotels. The findings of the study were that there was the
significant relationship between consumer attitudes and behaviour towards green
practices in hotel industry but only 15% of the consumers were willing to pay for
environmental initiatives. Consumer Behaviour Towards Mobile Tele Services:

A Case Study At Visakhapatnam City by Dr. M. Ramesh emphasizes that
Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the
processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services,
experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on
the consumer and society. An attempt is made here to elicit the views of the
respondents on the consumer behaviour towards mobile Tele services in
Visakhapatnam city under the study. Based on results, it is suggested that product
quality from the marketer’s perspective is associated with communication, price,
feature, function, or performance of a product.
2.2. CONCEPTUAL MODELS
2.2.1. Models for consumer behavior
2.2.1.1. Theory of Reasoned Action - TRA
The theory of rational action - TRA (Fishbein, M. & Ajzen 1975)
demonstrates the coordination of the components of attitudes in a structure
designed to better predict and analyze consumer behavior in society is based on
these two basic concepts:
(1) Consumer attitudes toward performing the behavior
(2) Subjective consumer standards

Attitude towards behavior

19

Consump-tion trends
Subjective standards

Purchasing behavior


Source: Fishbein, M. & Ajzen, 1975


Figure 2.2 Theory of Reasoned Action - TRA
2.2.1.2. Model of signaling theory
Erdem and Swait (1998) examine how market imperfections and
information asymmetry affect consumer attitudes and behavior, leading to a
cognitively appropriate approach and signaling aspects to consumer behavior, as
well as emphasizing the role of credibility and clarity in explaining people's
perceived quality and perceived risk.
Perceived risk

Source:

Figure 2.3 Model of signaling theory

Credibility

Erdem & Swait,
1998

Perceived quality

Expected benefits

Consumpti-on trends

Clarity
Information costs

2.2.1.3. Model of consumption trends
Based on the model of Zeithaml (1998), it is assumed that price and brand

name are two important factors of perceived quality and have a positive impact
on consumption trends. Dodds, Monroe, and Grewal in 1991 built a model to test
the direct and indirect relationships between exogenous signals (price, brand,
store name) on a buyer's evaluation of the product about factors related to
perception and influence on consumption trends. Research has shown an
important role in the value that consumers perceive. This value can motivate or
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Brand name

Brand awareness

Store name

Store awareness

Perceived quality

Price

Perceived value

Perceived price

Perceived cost
hinder the consumption of a brand, because this value is a result of the quality
received and the consumer's expense.
Source: Dodds, Monroe & Grewal, 1991


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Figure 2.4 Model of consumption trends

Consump


2.2.2. Previous studies of consumer behavior
2.2.2.1. Analysis of factors affecting the consumption of safe vegetables
in Cantho city
The research paper of two s Nguyen Van Thuan and Vo Thanh Danh in
2011 shows that 5 factors affecting safe consumer behavior in Can Tho city are:
reputation of distributor, quality of vegetables (fresh, beautiful, clean) and
assortment of vegetables, convenient shopping, reasonable price, good service

Reputation of the distributor

Quality of vegetables and types

Good service attitude

Decision buying safe
vegetables

Good price

Convenient for shopping

attitude.
Source: Nguyen & Vo, 2011


2.2.2.2. Research "Behavior of powdered milk consumption for children
under 6 years old in Can Tho city"
According to the two authors Le Thi Thu Trang and Tran Nguyen Toan
Trung, 2014 - Factors affecting the decision to choose powdered milk for babies
under 6 months old in Can Tho city include packaging and branding, marketing,
use, price and quality, group effect, convenience.
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Figure 2.5 Model of factors affecting the behavior of safe vegetable consumption
in Can Tho city


23


Figure 2.6 Behavior of powdered milk consumption for children under 6 years
old in Can Tho city

24


Uses

Marketing

Price and quality

Decision choosing powder
milk for your baby


Influential group

Packaging and brands

Convenient

Source: Le & Tran, 2014

2.2.2.3. Research "Factors affecting the demand for pure coffee in HO
CHI MINH CITY market"

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