Cimentaciones

Preliminary analysis of the detailed consumer survey revealed that beef, goat meat, chicken, fresh milk and pasteurized milk were the most important products consumed by majority of the consumers. Conjoint analysis was used for beef, goat meat, fresh milk and pasteurized milk because for these products, consumers considered several attributes when judging product quality and safety. In the case of chicken, preference rating suggested that the only important attributes were breed (local slightly preferred to exotic) and type of bird (young birds highly preferred to cockerels or hens).

In order to undertake conjoint analysis, it was necessary to create profiles of each of the four products composed of selected attributes and attribute levels, and ask respondents to

evaluate and rank the profiles. An attribute is a general product characteristic (such as fat content) while an attribute level is a specific value of the attribute (such as high, low or some specific value of a currency).

During the consumer survey, respondents were not directly asked to rank criteria and indicators of quality and safety of different products that they purchased. However, preliminary analysis of the responses on preference ratings of products based on different uses and attributes provided some indication of the most important criteria and indicators of quality and safety that the respondents used in their buying decisions. These were combined with the PRA results to develop a short list of criteria for designing a supplementary survey.

Accordingly, four attributes of beef (breed, sex, fat content and price) were chosen, the first three of which had two levels each while the fourth had three levels. For goat meat, sex, fat content and freshness had two levels each and price had three. For raw milk, breed, fat content and purity had two levels each and price had three. For pasteurized milk, fat content and packaging had two levels each and price had three.²

Taking all the attributes and levels, a large number of profiles would emerge in a full factorial design for each product; this would be impossible to implement as respondents would be unable to compare so many profiles. Therefore, the orthogonal design of SPSS conjoint procedure (SPSS 2005) was used to select 12 profiles (the first 8 are design and last 4 are hold-outs) out of all possible combinations for each of the 4 products (Tables 3.2 to 3.5).

Table 3.2. Conjoint orthogonal design for beef in Dhaka and Mymensingh Profile Breed Type Fat content Price (BDT/kg)

1 Indian Bull High 190

2 Indian Cow Low 170

3 Local Cow Low 190

4 Local Bull Low 170

5 Local Bull High 170

6 Indian Bull Low 180

7 Indian Cow High 170

8 Local Cow High 180

9 Indian Bull High 170

10 Local Cow High 170

11 Local Bull Low 180

12 Local Bull Low 190

The three levels of price were low (BDT 170), medium (BDT 180) and high (BDT 190).

2. In the case of pasteurized milk, brand could have been included as an attribute but consumers in Mymen-singh did not have access to different brands as widely and easily as those in Dhaka at the time of the survey, so the overall responses would have been unbalanced. Hence, the attribute ‘brand’ was not included in the profile of pasteurized milk.

Table 3.3. Conjoint orthogonal design for goat meat in Dhaka and Mymensingh Profile Sex Fat content Freshness Price (BDT/kg)

1 Male High Fresh with blood 250

2 Female High Water added 230

3 Male Low Water added 230

4 Male Low Fresh with blood 230

5 Female Low Fresh with blood 240

6 Female High Fresh with blood 230

7 Female Low Water added 250

8 Male High Water added 240

9 Female High Water added 240

10 Female High Fresh with blood 240

11 Male Low Water added 250

12 Male Low Water added 240

The three levels of price were low (BDT 230), medium (BDT 240) and high (BDT 250).

Table 3.4. Conjoint orthogonal design for raw milk in Dhaka and Mymensingh Profile Breed Fat content Purity Price (BDT/litre)

1 Cross High Pure 27

2 Cross Low Water added 33

3 Local High Water added 27

4 Local Low Water added 27

5 Cross Low Pure 27

6 Cross High Water added 30

7 Local High Pure 33

The three levels of price were low (BDT 27), medium (BDT 30) and high (BDT 33).

Table 3.5. Conjoint orthogonal design for pasteurized milk in Dhaka and Mymensingh Profile Fat content Packing Price (BDT/litre)

1 Full cream Polypack 38

2 Low Polypack 35

3 Full cream Paper carton 35

4 Low Polypack 32

5 Full cream Polypack 32

6 Full cream Paper carton 32

7 Low Paper carton 32

8 Low Paper carton 38

9 Low Paper carton 35

10 Full cream Paper carton 38

11 Full cream Polypack 38

12 Low Polypack 38

A structured questionnaire was developed based on each of the product profile tables for beef, goat meat, and raw and pasteurized milk. A conjoint card was prepared for each product profile, with colour pictures used to depict the various levels of the attributes. This approach made it easy to transfer the ideas of each product profile for explanation to the respondents which in turn improved the quality of the data collected. Since other data on respondent characteristics and consumption patterns were collected during a previously conducted consumption survey, this survey focused only on the product profile data.

Survey data were collected in June 2007 from a subsample of 380 households (42% of the original 900): 260 households in Dhaka and 120 in Mymensingh. This was assumed to be adequate to obtain reliable estimates. A sample size of 300–500 is typical in commercial conjoint studies (Cattin and Wittink 1982).

Special care was taken to collect accurate data on the product profile scoring. To prevent mistakes like overvaluation of attributes presented in the upper part of the profile cards, all the attributes and their corresponding levels, and the meaning of the ratings were first explained to the respondents. The enumerators began by explaining the meaning of the levels of the attributes represented by one product and the meaning of the corresponding ratings.

The respondents were then asked to explain their understanding of the levels of the attributes and the ratings. This procedure was repeated in turn for each product, a process which took 15–30 minutes. These preliminary explanations were necessary to ensure that the attribute names provided the information that was intended in the survey. Once the explanation procedure was completed, the respondents were presented with 12 product profile cards without any order and asked to rate the profiles on a scale of 1 (least preferred) to 10 (most preferred). This rating procedure was repeated for the remaining three products.