Possibilities and constraints of marketing environmentally friendly produced vegetables in Thailand [Elektronische Ressource] / von Chuthaporn Vanit-Anunchai

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Informations

• Publié par: gottfried_wilhelm_leibniz_universitat_hannover
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 16
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Possibilities and Constraints of Marketing
Environmentally Friendly Produced Vegetables in Thailand


Von der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät
der Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades


Doktorin der Wirtschaftswissenschaften
– Doctor rerum politicarum –


genehmigte Dissertation
von


Chuthaporn Vanit-Anunchai, M.S. (Ag. Econ.)
geboren am 04.04.1972 in Bangkok, the Kingdom of Thailand


2006































Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Erich Schmidt
Lehrstuhl Marktanalyse und Agrarpolitik
Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät der Gottfried Wilhelm
Leibniz Universität Hannover
Zweitgutachter: Assoc. Prof. Somporn Isvilanonda
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Kasetsart University, Thailand
Tag der Promotion: 5.9.2006
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My foremost thank goes to the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the generous
financial support that made my doctoral studies possible.
Without the assistance of many individuals, I could not have come this far. I wish to
express my deepest appreciation to my Doctor Father, Prof. Dr. Erich Schmidt for his
patience, encouragement, guidance, suggestions, and valuable comments during the
time I worked on this thesis. I have learned a great deal from him and will never forget
the valuable lessons he taught me. Without him, this thesis would not have been
possible. I highly appreciate Prof. Dr. Hermann Waibel, my committee chair, for the
time he provided out of his busy schedules. I am very grateful for Dr. Ute Lohse’s (the
committee member) interest in this thesis. In addition, special thanks are due to
another committee member Assoc. Prof. Somporn Isvilanonda who introduced me the
opportunity to study in Germany and gave me the full support to end of this journey. I
would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Suwanna Praneetvatakul for her
encouragement and advice led me to Hanover. For technical support, I wish to thank
Assist. Prof. Dr. Penporn Janekarnkij for the valuable comments and guidance on the
questionnaire design. I would also like to extend my thank to Prof. Dr. Supachit
Manopimoke of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan for her cheerful
comments and positive thinking.
It has been a great pleasure working at the Institute of Economics in Horticulture,
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hanover. They are the most dedicated and
generous colleagues. I wish to thank all staff members for their support and friendship.
While staying in Germany, Prof. Dr. Dieter Hörmann gave me his hospitality and
kindness that I very much appreciate.
A note of thanks must also go to my coworkers in Thailand. Their kindness and
assistance will always be remembered. Special thanks and appreciation are expressed
to Ms. Tinda Chareukprasopchoke, Logistics Manager of Carrefour, who gave me the
kindness collaborations. I also wish to acknowledge the others manager and staff of
TOPs, Aden and BigC for good collaborations during the survey in their stores.
Appreciation is also extended to Thai government agencies (DOA, DOAE, MOPH)
and private organizations (Green net, ACT) for useful information and data. I have iv
benefited enormously from several private companies involved in the production-
marketing system for organic vegetables. I had good excursions to many organic farms
in Thailand: “Rai Pluk-Ruk” the biggest organic farm in Thailand, PPP farm, River
Kwai’s farm, the Royal project foundation (Doi Kham) and group of farmers in Khon
Kaen. I am extremely appreciative of those great experiences. Several graduate
students of Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in both Kasetsart
University and Khon Kean University joined me in the hard task for consumer survey-
many thanks for their good jobs. My immense thanks also go to Yaowarat Sriwaranon,
Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, for consumer-survey assistance in
Khon Kaen.
The best and worst moments of my doctoral thesis journey have been shared with
many friends. I wish to thank my best German friend Bernd and his family for sharing
their happiness. I always keep in my mind how good time I had with Hardeweg’s
family. I also thank to Hippolyte for his friendship and sharing my hard times. It is
really good memory. My loneliness was disappeared by the friendships with many
people during the time when I was far away from home. I would like to thank Frau
Schmidt (my housewife idol) for her encouragement and her wonderful gifts which
was full of her kindness and cheerful. I always feel happy and appreciative. I wish to
thank to my Thai friends: Pornchai, Fongjan, Piyatat- for sharing and taking care -and
the others who are not named here.
I am forever indebted to my parents who always give me unlimited giving and love.
Their support and love forged my desire to achieve all that I could in life. I also want
to thank my elder sister and younger brother for their full support and encouragement.
Finally, I want to thank my husband Somsak for all your unconditional love and
understanding. Time and distance never separate us.
Chuthaporn Vanit-Anunchai
Hannover, July 2006 v
ABSTRACT
During the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in environmental pollution
and health concerns related to food contamination among Thai consumers, following
the same trend seen within many industrialised countries. That development has
produced a strong demand for vegetables from environmentally friendly production
systems
This thesis aims to provide in-depth information on the possibilities and constraints
associated with consumer-oriented marketing activities for environmentally friendly
produced vegetables (EFPV) in Thailand, thus filling the current information gap. The
study comprises an overview of vegetable production, consumption, and marketing of
EFPV in Thailand; evaluation of product attributes desired by consumers; explanation
of the purchase decision; assessment of consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP); and,
finally, conclusions for improving the marketing of EFPV in Thailand. The analyses
are based on descriptive statistics and three advanced multivariate methods: conjoint
analysis, logistic regression and the contingent valuation method.
A systematic description of the supplemented market for EFPV in Thailand has been
compiled using official statistical data, complemented by information collected from
the representatives of public and private organisations involved in the EFPV
production-marketing system. In order to reveal consumer behaviour, the multivariate
methods analysed the primary data that were collected by face-to-face interviews with
1,320 respondents at different points of sale in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen.
According to the results from conjoint analysis, government certification and
pesticide-safety levels are the attributes that consumers valued more than price. This
indicates that the market development for EFPV is highly dependent on consumer
confidence; so good quality control of the product is vital to any plan to develop and
sustain the EFPV market. Like most European governments, the Thai Government
should use a “unified certificate” policy to promote EFPV products in their domestic
market in order to avoid the current consumer confusion caused by too many different
labels and certificates. vi
Statistical analysis using logistic regression reveals that the positive important factors
influencing purchase decisions are (in descending order of importance) income, age,
awareness of pesticide contaminations (attitudes), affiliation to special diets
(Macrobiotic and Cheewajit), reduction of pesticide contamination on vegetables by
special dressing methods (by chemical liquid), concerns about pesticide residues, and
higher education. The likelihood of purchasing EFPV is negatively correlated to the
frequency of eating out. These results provide useful information that helps marketers
to know their customers and develop market segmentation strategy.
Obtained from the contingent value method, the consumers’ WTP for EFPV is 94%
higher than the price of conventionally produced vegetables, and higher than the
existing price premium (78%) for EFPV in the retail market. This indicates that the
relatively high market prices for EFPV are not the limiting constraint for market
development, although in any case the price premium for EFPV tends to decline. In
fact, the high WTP indicates encouraging possibilities for EFPV market expansion in
term of quantity, quality and varieties of product.
Regarding the factors that affect the magnitude of WTP, the latter is highly and
positively influenced by the frequency of purchasing EFPV, affiliation to special diets,
awareness of health and chemical residue problems, and household members suffering
from chronic diseases. The likelihood of purchasing EFPV, and the magnitude of
WTP, both increase as consumers become more aware