Ethnic customer attitudes and beliefs toward consuming New Zealand dairy products : an exploratory study of New Zealand Chinese community in the Manawatu : a thesis present in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Agribusiness, Massey University

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to identify the genuine attitudes and beliefs of New Zealand ethnic Chinese people toward consuming New Zealand dairy products. The purpose of this research is to provide some indicators to assist the achievement of further competitiveness in the whole process of developing marketing strategies in the Chinese market. The research examines the determinants of the overall attitudes toward the behaviour of consuming dairy products. The analysis shows the impact of cultural values and selected demographics on Chinese consumers' attitudes and beliefs. This research was conducted in Palmerston North, New Zealand. In this research, the Fishbein and Ajzen expectancy-value model was applied to examine the attitudes and beliefs of New Zealand-settled Chinese people toward consuming dairy products. Validity of this theory was tested before it was employed to the Chinese consumers. Results from this study suggest validity when it is employed to the Chinese consumers. This study reports on an exploratory survey of 75 Chinese respondents throughout Palmerston North during September 2001. In this research, the Fishbein and Ajzen expectancy-value model (F/A model) was used to examine attitudes of Chinese people toward consuming four different New Zealand dairy products: fluid milk, yoghurt, ice cream and cheese. The findings show that the respondents have positive attitudes toward consuming different New Zealand dairy products. Attributes relevant to these products such as quality, nutrition, product sensory (mouth-feel) and wide product availability, are the attributes that most contribute to their overall attitudes. Analysis of Variance shows a positive relationship between the F/A model attitudes and respondents' age for fluid milk. That is, old Chinese people have more positive attitudes toward consuming fluid milk. Furthermore, it also proved that the New Zealand-settled Chinese people have similar dairy preferences to Chinese who live in Mainland China, their preferences are not changed due to different lengths of residency. That is, fluid milk is the most consumed dairy product and cheese is the least favourite dairy food for most Chinese.