Abstract:
This study intended to explore the demand for packaged and branded processed food
products in selected urban and rural towns of Tanzania. Two urban cities (Morogoro and
Dodoma) and four rural towns (Turiani, Matombo, Hombolo and Msaga) were chosen
whereby the sample size of 630 respondents was randomly selected. Garrett’s ranking
technique, Logistic Regression Model, Multinomial Logistic Model and Kruskal Wallis
Test were used to asses consumer’s purchasing habits and drivers of consumer choices.
Results showed that there were variations and some similarities in consumers’ habits in
rural and urban areas, in small and big towns on; nature of processed food bought, buying
places, specific type of product preferred and the most influencing drivers for the preferred
product. Furthermore, the study revealed that a majority of the consumers in urban areas
were driven by “quantity” as they bought in large volumes of packaged maize flour while
the rural consumers were influenced by “storage” when they bought large volumes of
packaged maize flour. While “large volume” was the most important factor influencing
urban consumers at the purchase of packaged edible oil, “safety” was the most important
attribute for rural consumers. In addition, the study showed that consumers from both rural
towns and urban cities prefer branded maize flour and branded cooking oils due to their
preference for “good sensory test”. Majorly, from the findings study draws two
recommendations; (i) There is a need for governmental influence through its regulatory
bodies to enforce selling of packaged and branded processed food as a measure of
ensuring information symmetry between the manufacturer and consumer, (ii)
Manufacturers of processed foods need to devise new and innovative marketing strategies
on packaging and branding for further penetration to rural markets.
