Purchase intention towards edible bird's nest product among different groups of Malaysian consumers

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is a glutinous mucilaginous secretion produced by the salivary glands of male Swiftlets. Until today, EBN has been consumed as a health supplement to restore human body deficiency by supplying nutrients. The beneficial effects of EBN on human health proclaimed by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners have been proven with all the lab research conducted by previous studies. A growing number of investors and ranchers are being attracted to venture into the Swiftlet farming business because this industry possesses higher market value and is viewed as a million-dollar industry. This industry could be a new source of wealth and contribute to Malaysian economic growth. In 2011, this industry has experienced in price slump due to the high nitrate level found in raw EBN. This has significantly tarnished Malaysia’s image. All ranchers and investors in this industry felt the vast impact from the price declination of EBN. As the contamination found in EBN has caused the price to fall steeply, the issue of adulteration in EBN with haram-related sources appears to be an ongoing discussion. These issues further heighten the fear and anxiety among consumers to consume EBN products. As a result, ranchers failed to survive since local EBN products could not be exported to China and also due to relatively low demand for EBN products in Malaysia. Therefore, this study aims to compare the difference in intention level between the groups of buyer and non-buyer, identify factors that influence intention to purchase and repurchase EBN products among non-buyers and buyers in Malaysia, discover potential and existing consumers, and investigate the differences between buyers based on their spending behaviours. Purposive sampling was chosen as a sampling technique to select individuals from an entire group of residents in the Klang Valley region. The respondents selected for this study were divided into two groups, namely non-buyer and buyer. The respondents should also meet specific criteria by which they must be over 18 years old and earn a monthly income. These criteria were important to make sure the respondents were qualified to make a purchase decision. Data collection was conducted in a selfadministered questionnaire with an equal number of samples collected for both nonbuyer and buyer groups. Mann-Whitney U test, Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM), Two-Step Cluster, and Multi-Group Analysis (MGA) were used in analyzing the data. Mann-Whitney u test was performed to compare the difference in intention level between the groups of buyer and non-buyer. The result reveals that the intention level between the two groups is different. The buyer group has a greater intention to purchase EBN products compared to the non-buyer group. PLS-SEM was conducted to identify factors that influence the intention to purchase and repurchase EBN products among non-buyers and buyers, respectively. The results for the non-buyer group reveal that firstly, all factors from the marketing effort (product, price, promotion, and distribution) positively influence attitude; secondly, food safety and halal logo positively influence perceived behavioural control; thirdly, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and health consciousness favorably influence purchase intention; fourthly, health consciousness has not significantly influenced attitude. Meanwhile, the results for the buyer group reveal that firstly, only two factors from the marketing effort (price and distribution) have positively influence attitude; secondly, health consciousness has a stronger influence on repurchase intention compared to attitude; thirdly, other intended factors have similar findings with the non-buyer group. Two-Step Cluster was then employed to discover potential and existing consumers among the non-buyers and buyers, respectively. The results reveal that three clusters have been discovered for both groups. For the non-buyer group, cluster 1 and cluster 3 shared similar features, where they are both Malays, Muslims, and university graduates. However, consumers in cluster 1 are males, single, younger, and earn lesser monthly income compared to those of cluster 3. While, consumers in cluster 2 are non-Malays, single, young female, and earn less than RM3,500 monthly. For the buyer group, cluster 1 and cluster 2 are dominated by Malays and have spent less than RM100. But, cluster 1 and cluster 2 have a different level of income, marital status, and employment. Besides that, cluster 3 is non-Muslims, earns more than RM3,500, and can be classified as big spenders compared to other clusters. All of these three clusters are dominated by educated female and have purchased EBN products from the drug stores. Further investigation using MGA was performed to identify the differences between buyers based on their spending behaviour. The results support two hypotheses, which indicate significant differences between the highspending and low-spending buyers in regards to EBN prices and products. This study makes several practical implications and considers various decisions that are cost-effective for different groups to motivate buying behaviour. On top of that, the theoretical implication of this study provides evidence that there is a substantial difference between the explanatory power for the non-buyer and buyer models. In terms of policy implication, this study suggests that the government should encourage cooperatives or collaborations that involve Swiftlet ranchers, manufacturers, government agencies, higher-education institutions, and private sectors. These co-operative efforts will help to effectively prevent unhealthy activities and strengthening law enforcement to curb harmful practices and protect consumers from being deceived by unethical ranchers and manufacturers. In conclusion, this thesis filled the gap in the literature and lead to a deeper understanding of consumers’ intention to purchase and repurchase EBN products.

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