Consumer purchasing intention and behaviour toward chicken meat in Sulaymaniyah City: empirical evidence from a field survey

Abstract

Consumer behavioural study is an important determinant factor in food marketing for the value chain of agribusiness and poultry production development strategies. The aims of this study were to determine the consumer purchasing behavioural intention of chicken meat within the application of planned behavioural control toward the food purchasing framework developed by Ajzen (2015). This study was carried out in Sulaymaniyah city, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The data were collected via a structured questionnaire form indicating the respondents' choice and decision-making process while purchasing chicken meat and the reasons behind its consumption based on a 5-point Likert Scale. The major questions were focused on purchasing places and preferred chicken meat types and cuts and consumption and purchasing frequency, as well as determining the effectors for the purchasing decision of the respondents and the TPB's three constructs: attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioural control (PBC) that form a behavioural intention (BI). The findings from this study showed a positive consumer attitude and perceived behavioural control (p-value = 0.000, β = 0.469; p-value = 0.000, β = 0.704, respectively) towards chicken meat purchase and consumption in Sulaymaniyah city. However, the subjective norms had negative significant influences (p-value = 0.000, β = -0.261) compared to ATT and PBC of consumers in purchasing and consuming chicken meat. It was also found that 89.4% of the respondents consume chicken at home once a week or more. This study renders valuable guidance for further development in the agribusiness sector and marketing strategies in the KRI.