Factors Influencing the Choice of Maize Flour Brands by Consumers in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Consumer behaviour is the focus on the processes a consumer uses to make purchase decisions, as well as to use and dispose of purchased goods or services. Understanding consumer behaviour is one of the largest challenges a business can face. Currently, the competitive market has forced companies to produce goods based on their target customer‟s needs and for them to attain commercial success, it is important that they understand their consumer‟s behaviour as some customers may not know their own deeper inner motivation or their reaction to affecting factors. The maize milling sector in Kenya is very competitive, mainly because of its low entry barriers leading to price as the only competing factor. With turnover and earnings driven primarily by market share and capacity utilization, the major determinant of success among its players is organic growth and cost leadership. The success of each individual company is dependent on its ability to gain market share and this has made the industry players to go through various lengths to increase capacity and to manage their costs. This study sought to determine the factors that influence the choice of maize flour brands by consumers in Nairobi, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research method. The population of the study comprised of 80 consumers of maize flour brands in Nairobi i.e. retail customers receiving services in four selected supermarket in Nairobi. The selected supermarkets were, Nakumatt, Uchumi, Tuskys and Naivas. The study used questionnaires, which were given to customers buying flour in the supermarkets to fill. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics whereby frequencies and percentages, generated from the various data categories were computed and presented in graphs, pie charts, and tables. The study concluded that various factors such as price, perceived quality, the level of income, and the social cultural aspects influence the choice of maize flour brands by consumers in Nairobi. However, the execution parts faced some challenges as most of the corporations fail in gathering detailed information about every aspect of the consumer behaviour when releasing their brands to the market. Thus, this study recommends that disparities resulting from the difference in their purchasing power should be utilized properly by the maize millers by producing brands that suit different classes in the society.