Products attributes that influence Tanzania beverage consumers` purchase behaviour: the case of milk and milk products

The study explored product attributors that influence Tanzania`s purchase behaviour of milk and milk products. Although milk products does not match the number of livestock, the little produced has difficulty in finding a market. Post- harvest studies indicate substantial milk losses in the value chain. Also milk per capita competition is lower than in other East African countries. The study involved both desk and field research the desk research and field research. The desk research collected information related to the theories and concepts of consumers purchase behaviour, secondary data, and official statistics. Feld research was conducted in Dar es Salaam and Arusha cities. One hundred and twenty current and potential consumers were interviewed. A combination of sampling techniques was used. The research assistants administered questionnaires using the direct interview method under supervision of the research. Income and marital status were found to have significant (p0.05_ influence on purchase behaviour. However, level of education and the culture of individuals had no significant (p,0.05) influence. Similarly, marketing strategies including product, price, promotion and place indicated having an influence on purchase behaviour. It was therefore recommended that stakeholders of the dairy industry need to educate current and potential consumers about the importance of milk and milk products for good health as well as the potential risk of unprocessed milk to transmit diseases. Also marketers need to be more aggressive in promoting the industry.