'Riceberry', the Future Rice Revolution for Consumers

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‘RICEBERRY’, THE FUTURE RICE REVOLUTION FOR CONSUMERS

MISS MULLIKA ANGSUWATTANA

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN MARKETING (INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM) FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND ACCOUNTANCY THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2014 COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ‘RICEBERRY’, THE FUTURE RICE REVOLUTION FOR CONSUMERS

MISS MULLIKA ANGSUWATTANA

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Independent Study Title ‘RICEBERRY’, THE FUTURE RICE REVOLUTION FOR CONSUMERS Author MISS Mullika Angsuwattana Degree Master of Science Program in Marketing (International Program) Major Field/Faculty/University Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy Thammasat University Independent Study Advisor Professor Dr. Kenneth E. Miller, Ph.D.

Academic Years 2014

ABSTRACT

Rice has gained wide popularity around the world, not only Thailand and South East Asia. Although, there is a revolution of rice called Riceberry, which contains higher nutrients and helps farmers moving toward organic farming Riceberry has not yet gained popularity in daily consumption. However, there are worldwide trends toward healthier food and organic food ingredients. The study seeks understanding the consumers’ attitude towards healthy rice or healthier rice and identified the impact on their decision-making based on the healthy perception, rice color, price preference, and branding. This report seeks to provide information on the consumer attitudes behavior and the choice process for this revolutionary healthy rice product. The applied marketing recommendations are included at the finding.

Keywords: Riceberry, Rice berry, Healthy Choice, Healthy Eating, Health Conscious

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude toward Professor Dr. Kenneth E. Miller for all his valuable supports. Firstly, his advice is significantly increased my report quality. Not only, he has provided an academic advice but also personnel point of views toward the topic. His advisory has opened up my thinking into different prospective which could help me analyze the results with wider thoughts. Secondly, he encourages me through all the report’s phases. He devoted his time to think about and encourage his students. Thirdly, he understands my strength and weakness for the report. He generously walks me through for the improvement. Again, thank you very much for all your great advice and support. He will always be a great professor for future students.

Miss Mullika Angsuwattana

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ABSTRACT (2)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (3)

LIST OF TABLES (7)

LIST OF FIGURES (8)

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Research Objective 1 1.2.1 Understand consumer profile 2 1.2.2 Understand healthy choice of rice 2 1.2.3 Understand the impact of rice color on buying decision 2 1.2.4 Define the consumers price sensitivity 3 1.2.5 Define branding factor 3 1.2.6 Develop communication and recommendation for Riceberry marketing approach 3

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4

2.1 Revolution of Organic Farmer 4 2.2 Healthy Lifestyle 4 2.3 The Popular Riceberry this era 5

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 6

3.1 Research Design 6 3.1.1 Research Methodology 6 3.1.1.1 Exploratory Research 6 3.1.1.2 Descriptive Research 7 3.2 Sampling Selection 8 3.3 Data Collection 8 3.3.2 Quantitative Method 9

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 10

4.1 In-depth Interview Analysis 10 4.2 Consumer Profile 10 4.2.1 Generic Profile 10 4.2.2 Frequent Buyers 11 4.2.3 Purchasing Behavior 12 4.2.4 Consumers Behavior 12 4.3 Healthy Choice of Rice 13 4.3.1 Healthy Choice vs. Healthy Choices Perception 13 4.3.2 Riceberry Healthy Choice 14 4.4 Rice Color 15 4.4.1 Healthy Choice vs. Healthy Choices Perception 15 4.4.2 Unimportance of Rice Color 15 4.5 Price Sensitivity 16 4.5.1 Price Perceptual 16 4.5.2 Friends and Family Recommended impact Pricing Decision 16 4.6 Branding Factor 17 4.6.1 Branding Factor vs. Top of mind brand 18 4.6.2 Unimportance Branding Factor 18

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CHAPTER 5CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 19

5.1 Healthy Choice 19 5.2 Rice color 20 5.3 Branding 20 5.4 Marketing Channel 21

REFERENCES 22 TABLE TABLE 1 25 TABLE 2 26 TABLE 3 27 TABLE 4 29 TABLE 5 31 TABLE 6 33 TABLE 7 35

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A 37 APPENDIX B 38 APPENDIX C 48 APPENDIX D 49

BIOGRAPHY 50

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables Page TABLE 1: RICEBERRY BRANDS 25 TABLE 2: RESPONDENTS INTEREST DURING LEISURE TIME 26 TABLE 3: HEALTHY CHOICE CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION 27 TABLE 4: RICE COLOR CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION 29 TABLE 5: PRICE SENSITIVITY CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION 31 TABLE 6: BRANDING FACTOR CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION 33 TABLE 7: THE IMPORTANCE OF RICE BUYING DECISION 35

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Page Figure 1: Gender 11 Figure 2: Age 11 Figure 3: Age group between male and female 11 Figure 4: Frequency of Rice buy vs. Riceberry buy 12 Figure 5: Normally spend each time with Riceberry purchased 12 Figure 6: Often purchase Riceberry 12 Figure 7: Importance of healthy choice 13 Figure 7A: Healthy choice of rice attitude 13 Figure 8: Regression Standardize Residual of healthy choice 14 Figure 9: Importance of rice color 15 Figure 10: Importance of price 16 Figure 11: Consumer Riceberry Brand 17 Figure 12: Consumer Top of Mind Brand 17 Figure 13: Importance of brand image 17 Figure 14: Importance of brand I trust 17 Figure 15: Healthy Choice Top Box vs. Reasonable 19 Figure 16: Reason not Purchase Riceberry 19 Figure 17: White rice most purchase frequent 20 Figure 18: Place of Purchase 20

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction Rice is a traditional Thais’ main dish for 3 meals per day. We named ‘Thai Jasmine / Fragrant the number one rice in Thailand locally and internationally. Thai Jasmine / Fragrant rice contains Pandan-leave fragrant and gains popularity over the years. Thai Jasmine / Fragrant rice has white color and good scent as a Jasmine flower. Riceberry is a new species of rice with not only better product benefits of higher nutrient, antioxidants, iron, vitamin B1, vitamin E, fiber, and low sugar level on consumers’ aspect. But also farmers’ aspect for the resistance to drought, floods, and the rice blast disease which is considered one of the world's most destructive rice diseases that can strike all aerial parts of the rice plant. It is a cross species between Jasmine / Fragrant rice and black aromatic rice. It is widely available in organic stores and events but only available at specific Discount store and Supermarket. The price is ranges from 90 -180 THB/kg. The study of Riceberry based on the trend toward a healthier living where consumers give more attention to healthy choices. Thai consumers now choose healthier products in their daily lives but when comes to ‘rice’, which they consume every day, they do not choose the better and healthier choice. We will try to understand consumers’ attitude towards healthy rice or healthier rice and identify the impact on their decision-making based on health perception, rice color, price preference, and branding to derive the communication and marketing recommendation.

1.2 Research Objective Riceberry, the future rice revolution for consumers has chosen to be a part of a contemporary topic in applied marketing to seek the understanding of consumers’ perception towards the revolution of rice. The study covers four objectives, which are to understand; • Healthy choice of rice • The impact of rice color buying decision 2

• Consumers price sensitivity • Branding factors The research findings assist marketers and / or top management in decision making. We seek to understand consumer attitudes towards healthy rice or healthier rice and identify the impact on their buying decisions based on health perceptions, rice color, price preference, and branding to derive communication and marketing recommendations. The objectives are outlines as below. 1.2.1 Understand consumer profile 1.2.1.1 Demographic profile of consumer 1.2.1.2 Psychographic profile of consumer 1.2.1.3 Behavioral profile of consumer 1.2.2 Understand healthy choice of rice 1.2.2.1 The impact of healthy choice on buying decisions 1.2.2.2 Consumer’s attitude toward healthy choice 1.2.2.3 Understand consumers healthy choice of rice 1.2.2.4 Understand consumers’ current brand with healthy choice of rice 1.2.2.5 Understand factors of healthy choice of rice 1.2.3 Understand the impact of rice color on buying decision 1.2.3.1 Determine consumer’s attitude toward rice color 1.2.3.2 Ascertain whether rice color is important 1.2.3.3 Understand appealing factors based on rice color 1.2.3.4 Understand attitude of benefits based on rice color 1.2.3.5 Understand factor related to rice color which create the brand switching

1.2.4 Define the consumers price sensitivity 1.2.4.1 Determine consumer’s price reference on rice 1.2.4.2 Determine the price range which consumers purchase in in last months 1.2.4.3 cAssess consumer’s attitude toward pricing on rice 1.2.4.4 Understand factors of pricing decision 1.2.5 Define branding factors 1.2.5.1 The impact of branding on buying decision 1.2.5.2 Guage consumer brand preference 1.2.5.3 Determine consumers’ current brand 1.2.5.4 Asses factors of brand choice 1.2.5.5 Guage consumer’s attitude toward rice brands 1.2.6 Develop communication and recommendation for Riceberry marketing approach 1.2.6.1 Assess appealing factors on Riceberry buying decision 1.2.5.2 Evaluate consumer’s attitude toward Riceberry buying decision

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Revolution of Organic Farmer Farming has been the main occupation in Thailand in the past however the number of farmers decreased significantly from 1995. The children of farming families struggle for better education and seek a life in the big cities of Thailand rather than pursuing their parents’ occupation as farmers. Farmers have many choices of rice growing. Most of them choose to grow the economic rice grain with a higher production and fully seed but less tolerate of bugs and diseases. The organic farming started together with the healthy living lifestyle. Consumers give precedence to what they consume. Some farmers are changing to farm organic rice with the increased of cost without insecticide. There is cooperation among farmers and non-profit organizations to increase the benefits of organic farming and productivity. As long as, a healthy lifestyle is the next generation’s choice of living, organic farming will be continued. Organic farming not only helps the farmer and the consumer but it also helps the environment. Consumers in many countries are willing to pay a premium for organic food. One study analyzes the consumer's willingness to pay for organic vegetables in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The results show that consumers were interested in organic vegetables and were willing to pay an average price premium of 59%. There are two types of consumers who were willing to pay higher prices to buy organic vegetables (1) consumers who are concerned about health and food and (2) families who have high household income and education. 2.2 Healthy Lifestyle Since 1970s, there has been increased concern about the high costs of health care hence consumers have searched for the better way of living. Consumers started to realize they could change their living lifestyle in order to have lesser medical bills. Although it sounds beneficial not everyone pursues this healthy living lifestyle. 5

From a study on generation Y consumption choices for organic foods, the results show that graduates who are older and more educated indicated that the types of foods most often consumed are organic vegetables, organic fruit and organic eggs. These are consumed because they think that organic food taste better. These consumers are also environmentally conscious. They think that it’s worth paying more for organic products and for the types of products consumed. In a study conducted in Malaysia, researchers seek to estimate consumers’ awareness toward organic rice. The results of the study show that socio-demographic variables like gender and race have significantly influence consumers’ awareness towards organic rice, which then can impact on their awareness and consciousness of purchase intention. Thus, the marketers should understand consumers’ awareness and favorable attitudes towards organic rice consumption and develop marketing strategies to capture target segments. 2.3 The Popular Riceberry this era Since 1999, Thais have gained a concern for healthy lifestyles. More Thais have chosen Brown Jasmine rice or other Brown rice over traditional Thai Jasmine / Fragrant rice. In 2010, Riceberry revolution was discovered by Kasetsart University's Rice Science Center & Rice Gene Discovery Unit (RSC&RGDU). Riceberry contains additional nutritious ingredients such as OMEGA 3, Zinc, vitamin B1, vitamin E, etc. The royal association, ‘Friends in need of pa’, helps support the communication and creates awareness on the value added benefits for health-conscious rice consumers. Nevertheless, consumers do not prefer Riceberry because (1) their long standing habit of consuming white rice and (2) the price which is significantly higher than white rice. Riceberry had chefs create different recipes such as Riceberry bread, Riceberry donut, Riceberry soup, etc. Riceberry has beneficial properties, whereby it does not absorb water, does not contain sweeter and does have a unique fragrance.

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design The research conducted in both exploratory research and descriptive research to define factors, which influence consumers’ buying decision and Riceberry preference. In-depth interview will be conducted for eight samples through the convenience sampling with personal connection and face-to-face with consumers at distribution channel. The Questionnaire survey was conducted for 160 samples through the convenience sampling with personal connection through online channel. The target respondents must be Bangkok and suburban area aged between 18 – 50 year-old and tend to have a health conscious and living healthy lifestyle. 3.1.1 Research Methodology 3.1.1.1 Exploratory Research The data collection collected from Secondary research and in- depth interview. The statement below describes expected results from each research method. (1) Secondary Research  Identify primary data on consumer insight and attitude toward Riceberry  Identify price range which available in the market  Identify brands of healthy choice of rice which available in the market  Identify point of purchase of Riceberry availability currently  Be able to identify other markets and alternative choices of Riceberry (2) In-depth Interview  Understand consumers profile  Understand the impact of rice color buying decision  Understand the consumers price sensitivity  Understand branding factor 7

 Understand healthy choice of rice 3.1.1.2 Descriptive Research In this type of research, we conducted a quantitative method by using questionnaire to further clarify and confirm the primary data from secondary research and in-depth interview results. The statement below describes results from the research method. Since there will be a small sample size if there is a focus only Riceberry consumers hence the research will be defined consumers healthy choice whether supreme benefits and other factors could have the impact on buying decision. (1) Questionnaire The questionnaire will include the following topics:

• Consumer profile including demographic, psychographic, and behavior • The importance of healthy choice on the buying decision • Consumer’s attitude toward healthy choice • Current brand chosen • Factors of healthy choice • Consumer attitude toward rice color • Rice color which consumers consume in daily life • Appealing factors based on rice color • Perceived benefits based on rice color • Factors related to rice color which encourage the brand switching • Price reference on rice • Price range which consumers purchase in in last months • Attitude toward pricing of rice • Factors of pricing decision • Impact of branding on the buying decision • Consumer brand preference • Current brand • Brand choice factors • Attitude toward rice brands • Appealing factors on Riceberry buying decision 8

• Evaluation consumer’s attitude toward Riceberry buying decision 3.2 Sample Selection Target population which is applicable for both qualitative and quantitative methods must have the following qualifications; • Male / Female respondents age between 18 – 50 years old • Living in Bangkok and suburban area • Health conscious / living healthy lifestyle (Soft quota) 3.3 Data Collection 3.3.1 Qualitative Methods 3.3.1.1 In-depth Interview Sampling technique: Convenience sampling collected through personal connection and consumers who using the service of stores and /or organic events. For the consumers who using the service of stores and /or organic events, there is an incentive for each respondents after conducted the interview. Age Gender Consumer Type Number of focus groups 18 - 50 years old Female Non Health Conscious 1 18 - 50 years old Male Non Health Conscious 1 18 - 50 years old Female Health Conscious 1 18 - 50 years old Male Health Conscious 1 Total in-depth interview 4

3.3.2 Quantitative Method 1) Convenience sampling through personal connection and face-to-face contacts with consumers who use the service of health stores and /or organic events through administration of hard-copy, self-administered questionnaire or online questionnaire. 2) Convenience sampling through personal connection and online community which are accessed Facebook, Line, and Webboard, etc. using an online questionnaire. Online questionnaire distribution is performed by the following procedures: o Using personal connection via Facebook, Webboard, etc. o Using top Thai Webboards such as Pantip.com, Talk.mthai.com, webboard.sanook.com, etc. o Using open source social networking engine via Line, Whatsapp, etc.

The sample size is 160 with the soft quota of three characteristics; gender, geography and healthy living.

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 In-depth Interview Analysis There are 4 respondents from the in-depth interviews with the aged group skewed toward 30 years old and above. Name Age Gender Consumer Type Anne 38 Female Non Health Conscious Tung 30 Male Non Health Conscious Dao 36 Female Health Conscious Dang 40 Male Health Conscious

There are 3 findings from the interview. 1) Health consciousness is key to the decision to purchase Riceberry as it contains higher nutrients, antioxidants, iron, vitamin B1 and fiber but low sugar level which unrelated to price preference. Dao and Dang have are living a healthy lifestyle will purchase Riceberry, although, the price is higher than the other brands and the perceived value is also higher. On the other hand, Anne and Tung have a non-healthy living lifestyle they do not purchase Riceberry if it is more expensive than brown rice or white rice. 2) Rice color differentiation will impact their choice of purchase. Anne prefers brown rice and red brown rice because she perceives they have a higher quality. Dang and Dao consume Riceberry regularly and rarely consume white rice. 3) All respondents do not have any preferred brand. They believe that as there is not any strong message in the marketing communication. 4.2 Survey results Consumer Profile 4.2.1 Generic Profile Females are 75% of the sample. 45% of the sample is between 23 – 35 years old and 53% of the sample is older than 35 years old. There are equal numbers of males and females in the 23 – 35 years old age group.

25 75 % %

Male Female

Figure 1: Gender

Figure 3: Age group between male and female Figure 2: Age

50% 45% 45.0% 45.0% 45% 40% 35% 30% 30% 25% 25% Male 20% Female 15% 10% 6.7% 3.4% 5% 0% 0% Under 22 years 23-35 years old 36-50 years old Over 50 years old old

4.2.2 Frequent Buyers When questioned respondents on their knowledge of Riceberry, most of the female respondents mentioned that it is healthy rice. Nevertheless, most of male respondents could not state what actually Riceberry is. Several general questions were asked about Riceberry. 84% of respondents has ever purchased rice .525 of the sample had previously purchased Riceberry. There is a significant positive correlation of the frequency of rice purchase with the frequency of the purchase of Riceberry (r = .446, p<.05). Therefore, higher frequency of respondents buying rice is associated with higher frequency of respondents buying Riceberry (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Frequency of Rice buy vs. Riceberry buy 4.2.3 Purchasing Behavior Most of respondents purchase Riceberry less than once a month and they normally spend around 101 THB – 200THB each time of the purchased (see Figures 5 and 6).

Figure 5: Normally spend each

time with Riceberry purchased Figure 6: Often purchase Riceberry

2-3 times per week 1.3%

More than once a day 1.3% 501THB – 800THB 3.8% Once a week 2.5% Less than 101THB 6.3% 2-3 times per month 8.8%

Once a month 13.8% 301THB – 500THB 10.0%

Less than once a month 25.0% 101 THB – 200THB 32.5%

Don't know 47.5% Don't know 47.5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 4.2.4 Consumer Behavior Respondents were questioned on their media habits. While female respondents most prefer to read book, followed by spending time on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Youtube) in their leisure time (12.6% and 12.3%, respectively), males spend their leisure time on exercise, followed by watching movies (12.9% and 11.8%, respectively). (See Table 2)

4.3 Healthy Choice of Rice Respondents ranked top the importance of healthy choice on the impact of Bottom 2 box 3.8% their purchasing decision among other factors Middle box 43.6% with the score of top two boxes of 52.50% Top 2 box 52.5% (see Figure 7).

0% 20% 40% 60%

Figure 7: Importance of healthy choice

4.3.1 Healthy Choice vs. Healthy Choices Perception Respondents were asked attitudes about the healthy choice of rice. Figure 4A shows that additives are healthy (Q15_2), Riceberry is healthier than white rice and that brown, red brown and black rice is healthier than Riceberry. They did not agree that friends and family consume healthy rice (Q15_6) see table 7A. Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean Q15_1 160 1 7 4.79 Q15_2 160 2 7 5.45 Q15_3 160 1 7 3.75 Q15_4 160 1 7 4.91 Q15_5 160 1 7 5.36 Q15_6 160 1 7 4.45 Valid N 160 (listwise)

Figure 7A: Healthy choice of rice attitude

Correlations between important of healthy choice of rice (Q14_4) and healthy choices of rice perception (Q15) are significant (p < .05.). Significant positive relationships exists between healthy choice and the consideration of healthy choice which as listed below; Q15_1 Rice which is recent milled (r = .213) Q15_2 Rice which contains additional nutritious ingredients (r = .440) Q15_4 Riceberry is my healthy choice (r = .433) Q15_5 Brown rice, Red brown rice and Black rice is my healthy choice (r = .358) 14

Q15_6 Friends and family consume (r = .227) Results indicate that respondents for whom healthy choice was important (Q14_4) have more positive attitudes toward healthy rice (Q15) Nevertheless, respondents for whom white rice is the healthy choice score (Q15_3) which is not correlated with the importance of Healthy Choice (Q14_4) (p > .05). (See Table 3)

4.3.2 Riceberry Healthy Choice All variables together explain 27% of the variance (R square) in healthy choice of rice, which is highly significant, as indicated by the F-value of 9.419 with the dependent variable of the impact of healthy choice and independent variables in Q15 (see Table 3 and Figure 8). Regression results are indicate that rice which contains additional nutritious and Riceberry contributes to the healthy choice of rice with a positive significant of p value < .000.

Figure 8: Regression Standardize

Residual of healthy choice

4.4 Rice Color Rice color is a factor which has low importance on the impact of respondents purchasing decision. 22.5% of respondents scored 4 and almost 50% of respondents scored the importance of rice color between scored 3-slightly important and scored 5- moderately importance (see Figure 9).

Bottom 2 box 30.0%

Middle box 47.5%

Top 2 box 22.5%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Figure 9: Importance of rice color

4.4.1 Rice Color Purchase Intention The importance score of rice color (Q14_1) has no significant and correlations between preferred rice color purchased (Q19) with p > .05. Nevertheless, it was a hypothesized that a positive relationship would exist between the importance score of rice color and white rice which indicate higher importance of rice color associated with higher white rice purchased by consumers (r = .159, p < .05) (See Table 4). 4.4.2 Unimportance of Rice Color Given that p > .05, the null hypothesis is rejected and accept alternative hypothesis the importance of rice color for each difference of rice color are approximately equal (see Table 4). The actual color of the rice while is not important, the important issue is that rice color is the label for specific rice. In the laboratory, black, brown and purple rice is found to be more healthy and nutritious than white rice.

4.5 Price Sensitivity Respondents ranked top the important of Bottom 2 box 2.5% reasonable price on the impact of their

Middle box 43.8% purchasing decision with 53.8% of top two box score (see Figure 10). Furthermore, Top 2 box 53.8% there is a correlation between the 0% 20% 40% 60% importance of reasonable price (Q14_3) Figure 10: Importance of price and the importance of product quality

(Q14_2) of r = .469, p < .05 (see Table 5). 4.5.1 Price Perceptions Correlations were performed between the importance of reasonable price of rice (Q14_3) and the price perceptual questions (Q20). The results confirm that a significant positive relationship exist p < .05 as listed below; Q20_1 I will buy if it is the cheapest at point of purchase (r = .283) Q20_2 I will buy only if there is a promotion / discount (r = .230) Q20_5 I will buy the brand I like regardless the price (r = -.189) Q20_6 I will buy the brand if my friends & family recommend regardless the price (r = .184) The exceptions are Q20_3 “I don’t consider about price “and Q20_4 “I will buy only the same price I used to buy” (p > .05).

4.5.2 Friends and Family Recommended impact Pricing Decisions Regression on dependent variable of the impact on price sensitive against pricing perception statements (Q20) shows the results significant with R2 of 0.121, t=12.244 and p < .05. The examination of t-values indicates that, as expected, the cheapest price and brand which their friends and family recommended contributes to the importance of reasonable price (see Table 5).

4.6 Branding Factor

Figure 11: Consumer Riceberry Brand Figure 12: Consumer Top of Mind Brand

MBK rice Doi Kam 1.3% 1.3% Koa Nai In 1.3% Kao Kid Dee 1.3% Kao Thong Bang Wai 1.3% Kaopansuk 1.3% Kaopansuk 1.3% Sinlek 2.5% Koa Nai In 1.3% Tham 2.5% Rice For Health 2.5% Khao Dinosour 3.8% Rice For Health 6.3% Tham 3.8% Organics Macrobiotic 6.3% Hong Thong 6.3% Buy direct from… 10.0% KhaoTraChat 15.0% Organic Riceberry 7.5% Organic Riceberry 17.5% Buy direct from… 8.8% Hong Thong 18.8% Don't know 12.5% 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% Respondents mostly purchase Riceberry directly from Farmer / OTOP (8.8%) while more than 70% do not know their Riceberry brand. In the other hand, their top of mind rice brand is Hong Thong (18.8%), followed by Organic Riceberry (17.5%) and Khao Tra Chat (15.0%) (see Figures 11 and 12). Respondents mostly ranked the importance of branding factors between scored 3-slightly important and scored 5-moderately importance with their purchase intention (see Figures 13 and 14).

Bottom 2 box 25.0% Bottom 2 box 18.8%

Middle box 60.0% Middle box 60.0%

Top 2 box 15.0% Top 2 box 21.3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Figure 13: Importance of brand image Figure 14: Importance of brand I trust

4.6.1 Branding Factor vs. Top of mind brand Correlations between importance of branding factors (Q14_6 & Q14_7) and Top of Mind Brand (Q17) were -.226 and -.221, respectively (See table 6). Moreover, correlations are significant (p < .05) between the importance of branding factors (Q14_6 & Q14_7) and brand perception (Q21) as listed below; Q21_1 I will buy the brand I know (r = .222 /.285) Q21_2 I will buy the brand only when there is any promotion / discount (r = .295 /.258) Q21_4 I will buy only the same brand I used to buy (r = .239 /.271) Q21_5 I will buy other brands if the brand I used to buy is not available (r = .285 /.260) Results indicate that higher the branding image and brand trust scores are associated with higher consideration of branding perception scores. Surprisingly, a significant relationship does not exist between branding and brands which are recommended by friends and family (p > .05) (See Table 6). 4.6.2 Unimportance Branding Factor Regression results are significant with R2 of .041, t=9.568 and p < .05. However, examination of the results indicate that the brand image is not a significant predictor of brand trust (p > .05.).

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS In conclusion, this market research is conducted to provide the information for the marketer and top management decision making and is summarized as below. 5.1 Healthy Choice Although, 10.4% of consumers who do not purchase Riceberry think that Riceberry price isn’t reasonable compare to quality. Healthy consumers are fewer prices sensitive to Riceberry and they will purchase at any price if they like the product as they think Riceberry has a reasonable price. Hence, the brand should target on healthy living lifestyle consumers to appreciate the price gap benefit (see Figures 15 and 16).

Figure 15: Healthy Choice Top Box vs. Reasonable

Price Q8_4 Unreasonable Price Reasonable Price Row N % Count Row N % Count Healthy 10.0% 16 90.0% 144

Choice Healthy 0.0% 0 100.0% 84 Choice

Top Box

Figure 16: Reason not Purchase Riceberry

I don’t like the 1.3% package

I don’t like its color 2.6%

Others buy it 5.2%

My friend and family 7.8% do not consume it I think Riceberry is not 7.8% my choice

I think the price isn’t 10.4% reasonable compare … I prefer White rice 10.4% over Riceberry

I don’t know where to 22.1% get it

I don't know why 58.4%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 20

5.2 Rice color The results show 10.4% of consumers do not purchase Riceberry prefer white rice over Riceberry, however rice color does not have an impact on the buying decision. This factor is related to their habit and it requires time for the acceptance.

Figure 17: White rice most purchase frequent Q8_3 I do not prefer White rice over I prefer White rice over Riceberry Riceberry Percent Count Percent Count White rice most 14.3% 10 85.7% 60 purchase frequent

5.3 Branding There is 70% of consumers do not know their Riceberry brand. Their top of mind Riceberry brand is Organic Riceberry (17.5%) (see Figure 12). It is the opportunity for the brand to implement branding strategy and create brand awareness to get the first mover opportunity.

Figure 18: Place of Purchase

Macro 1.2% Food Land 1.2% Buy from internet 2.5% Central Food Hall 2.5% Max Value 2.5% Tesco Lotus Express 2.5% 7-11 2.5% Gourmet market 3.8% Tops Daily 3.8% Organic events 3.8% Lemon Farm 5.0% Home fresh mart 6.2% Organic stores 6.2% Big C / Big C Extra 7.5% Tesco Lotus / Tesco… 10.0%

Tops 11.2% Buy direct from… 13.6% I don’t remember 50.0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 21

5.4 Marketing Channel Lastly, 13.6% of consumers purchase Riceberry directly from Farmer / OTOP but 50% of them do not remember the place where they purchased Riceberry. Furthermore, when they are asked the reason why they do not purchase Riceberry (Q8) more than 20% don’t know where to get Riceberry. Channel distribution strategy is a must for a business success. It is clear that there is significant potential for the growth and promotion of Riceberry. Important and significant marketing action must focus on the promotion of the health benefits, branding initiatives, differentiation and distribution coverage and awareness.

REFERENCES

Books and Book Articles Boyle, M. and Holben, D. (2013). Community nutrition in action. Belmont: Wadsworth. Hartte, M. (n.d.). The Fit ‘n Healthy Plan. NNCP. Khrua magazine. (2014). Bangkok: Sangdad Media Group Co., Ltd., Riceberry, the popular organic rice this era Maeban. (2014). Bangkok: maeban Co., Ltd., pp.30 – 54: Clean Diet. Wolfe, D. (2009). Eating for beauty. Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books.

Articles Food Matters, (2015). 7 Tricks To Eat Healthy All Week. [online] Available at: http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/7-tricks-to-eat-healthy-all-week [Accessed 25 Apr. 2015]. Huynh Viet, Khai. 'Assessing Consumer Preferences For Organic Vegetables: A Case Study In The Mekong Delta, Vietnam'. Information Management and Business Review (2015): 41-47. Print. Regine, Dr. Kristen M. 'Generation Y Consumer Choice For Organic Foods'. (2015): n. pag. Print. 'Awareness And Preference Of The Consumers Towards Purchasing Of Organic Fruits & Vegetables'. Journal of Business Management & Economics (2015): n. pag. Web. http://www.ifrj.upm.edu.my/[Accessed 5 May. 2015].

Electronic Media Facebook, (2014). มูลนิธิอาสาเพื่อนพึ่ง (ภาฯ) ยามยาก สภากาชาดไทย. [online] Available at: https://th-th.facebook.com/friendsinneedofpa [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Facebook, (2014). [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Riceberry- Rice-Thailand-ข้าวไรซ์เบอรี่/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015].

Facebook, (2015). เพื่อนพึ่ง (ภาฯ) เศรษฐกิจพอเพียงเกษตรอินทรีย์. [online] [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Food Matters, (2015). Wellness Guides. [online] Available at: 23

http://www.foodmatters.tv/wellness-guides [Accessed 22 Apr. 2015]. Greennet, (2004). Green Net. 2 online] Available at: http://www.greennet.or.th [Accessed 27 Apr. 2015]. GreenShopCafe, (2014). GreenShopCafe ร้านกรีนช็อปคาเฟ่. [online] Available at: http://www.greenshopcafe.com// [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Lemonfarm.com, (2014). ของขวัญสุขภาพ กระเช้าสุขภาพ ของขวัญปีใหม่ กระเช้าปีใหม่ เพื่อสุขภาพ ออร์แกนิค แมค

โครไบโอติกส์ สินค้าสุขภาพ Organics Macrobiotics. [online] Available at: http://www.lemonfarm.com/lmf/index.php [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Mcot.net, (2014). Riceberry, Sinlek: two new Thai rice breeds with more minerals | MCOT.net. [online] Available at: http://www.mcot.net/site/content?id=4ff671540b01dabf3c00746a#.VJFLpNK UeSo/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Organicnaturalexpo.com, (2014). ORGANIC & NATURAL EXPO 2014. [online] Available at: http://www.organicnaturalexpo.com/index.html/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Organic.moc.go.th, (2014). Organic Thai Products. [online] Available at: http://www. organic.moc.go.th [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Princess-pa-foundation.or.th, (2014). www.princess-pa-foundation.or.th : มูลนิธิ อาสา

เพื่อนพึ่ง (ภาฯ) ยามยาก สภากาชาดไทย. [online] Available at: http://www.princess-pa- foundation.or.th/index.html/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. Rakbankerd.com, (2014). www.rakbankerd.com [online] Available at: www.rakbankerd.com [Accessed 25 Apr. 2015]. Thehealthculture.com, (2012). Healthy lifestyles: The antecedents | The Health Culture. [online] Available at: http://www.thehealthculture.com/2012/10/healthy-lifestyles-the-antecedents/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015]. 24

TABLES

TABLE 1 RICEBERRY BRANDS

TABLE 2 RESPONDENTS INTEREST DURING LEISURE TIME

TABLE 3 HEALTHY CHOICE CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION

TABLE 4

RICE COLOR CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION

TABLE 5

PRICE SENSITIVITY CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION

TABLE 6

BRANDING FACTOR CORRELATIONS AND REGRESSION

TABLE 7

THE IMPORTANCE OF RICE BUYING DECISION

APPENDICES 37

APPENDIX A IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE

Q1. Have you heard of Riceberry? Q2. Please describe Riceberry in your own words. Q3. What kind of rice do you usually have? Why? Q4. Have you ever purchased Riceberry? Q4.1 How much do you purchase? Q 4.2 If not, why? Q5. Where do you buy Riceberry from? Q6. Do you think you are a health conscious person? Why? Q7. Does rice color impact your choice of purchase? Q8. Is price a factor for your purchase decision? Q9. Is there any sale promotion would you prefer? Q10. Do you have any prefer Riceberry brand?

APPENDIX B QUESTIONNAIRE Section A: Screening Question Q1. Have you heard of Riceberry?

o Yes (1) o No (2) Terminate Q2. Please describe Riceberry in your own words. Riceberry is______Q3. Have you ever purchased Rice?

o Yes (1) o No (2) Skip to Q7. Q4. How often do you purchase Rice?

o Less than once a month (1) o Once a month (2) o 2-3 times per month (3) o Once a week (4) o 2-3 times per week (5) o 4-6 times per week (6) o Every day (7) o More than once a day (8) Q5. How much is a pack/ KG of Rice which you normally purchased?

o More than 200THB (1) o 101THB – 200THB (2) o Less than 101THB (3) o Others (Specify) ______Q6. How much do you normally spend each time with Rice purchased?

o More than 1,000THB (1) o 801THB – 1,000THB (2)

o 501THB – 800THB (3) o 301THB – 500THB (4) o 101THB – 200THB (5) o Less than 101THB (6) Q7. Have you ever purchased Riceberry?

o Yes (1) Skip to Q9. o No (2) Q8. What is the reason why don’t you purchase Riceberry? (Can select more than one choice)  I think Riceberry is not my choice (1)  I don’t like its color (2)  I prefer White rice over Riceberry (3)  I think the price isn’t reasonable compare to quality (4)  I don’t like the package (5)  I don’t like the brand (6)  I don’t know where to get it (7)  My friend and family do not consume it (8)  Others (Specify) ______Skip to Q14. ______Q9. How often do you purchase Riceberry?

o Less than once a month (1) o Once a month (2) o 2-3 times per month (3) o Once a week (4) o 2-3 times per week (5) o 4-6 times per week (6) o every day (7) o More than once a day (8)

Q10. What is brand (s) have you ever purchased Riceberry in the last month? (Can select more than one choice)

 Organics Macrobiotic (1)  Hong Thong (2)  Tham (3)  Organic Riceberry (4)  Sinlek (5)  Kaopansuk (6)  Rice For Health (7)  Hug Pun (8)  Kao Thong Bang Wai (9)  Sang Tawan (10)  Koa Nai In (11)  Others (Specify) ______ I don’t remember Q11. Which channel do you usually buy Riceberry (Can select more than one choice)  Lemon Farm (1)  Max Value (9)  Central Food Hall (16)  JJ Market (2)  Max Value Tunjai (10)  Gourmet market (17)  Organic stores (3)  Family Mart (11)  Villa market (18)  Organic events (4)  Tesco Lotus /  Food Land (19)  7-11 (5) Tesco Lotus Extra (12)  Others (Specify)  Tesco Lotus Express (6)  Big C / Big C Extra (13) ______ Tops Daily (7)  Tops (14)  Mini Big C (8)  Home fresh mart (15) Q12. How much is a pack/ KG of Riceberry which you normally purchased?

o More than 200THB (1) o 101THB – 200THB (2) o Less than 101THB (3) o Others (Specify) ______

Q13. How much do you normally spend each time with Riceberry purchased?

o More than 1,000THB (1)

o 801THB – 1,000THB (2) o 501THB – 800THB (3) o 301THB – 500THB (4) o 101 THB – 200THB (5) o Less than 101THB (6)

Section B: General Question Q14. From score 1-7, what are factors which impact your buying decision on Rice? 1 – Not at all important, 2 – Low important, 3 – Slightly important, 4 – Neutral, 5 – Moderately important, 6 – Very important, 7 – Extremely important 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Q14_1 Rice Color Q14_2 Product Quality Q14_3 Reasonable Price Q14_4 Healthy Choice Q14_5 Attractiveness of packaging Q14_6 Brand image Q14_7 Brand I trust Q14_8 Attractiveness of brand presenter Q14_9 Number of brands / shops Q14_10 Interesting of brands / shops Q14_11 Appearance of brand website Q14_12 Appearance of bran in social media Q14_13 Interesting of brand instance benefit Q14_14 Interesting of brand privileges for

member benefit Q14_15 Quality of customer service Q14_16 Convenient for online shopping and delivery Q14_17 My friends & family recommend it Q14_18 Overall satisfaction

Q15. How much do you agree with following statements of Healthy Choice of rice? 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Somewhat disagree, 4 – Neither disagree nor disagree, 5 – Somewhat agree, 6 – Agree, 7 – Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Q15_1 Rice which recent mill Q15_2 Rice which contains additional nutritious such

as OMEGA 3, Zinc Q15_3 White rice is my healthy choice Q15_4 Riceberry is my healthy choice Q15_5 Brown rice, Red brown rice and Black rice is

my healthy choice Q15_6 Friends and family consume

Q16. Please rank the healthy choice of rice from 1 – 5, 1 – Healthiest and 5 – Less Healthy 1 2 3 4 5 Q16_1 White rice Q16_2 Brown rice Q16_3 Red brown rice Q16_4 Black rice Q16_5 Riceberry

Q17. What is brand of rice would you prefer to purchase the most?

o Organics Macrobiotic (1) o Hong Thong (2) o Tham (3) o Organic Riceberry (4) o Sinlek (5) o Kaopansuk (6) o Rice For Health (7) o Hug Pun (8)

o Kao Thong Bang Wai (9) o Sang Tawan (10) o Koa Nai In (11) o KhaoTraChat (12) o Others (Specify) ______Q18. What is brand (s) of rice have you ever purchased? (Can select more than one choice)  Organics Macrobiotic (1)  Hong Thong (2)  Tham (3)  Organic Riceberry (4)  Sinlek (5)  Kaopansuk (6)  Rice For Health (7)  Hug Pun (8)  Kao Thong Bang Wai (9)  Sang Tawan (10)  Koa Nai In (11)  KhaoTraChat (12)  Others (Specify) ______Q19. Please rank the rice color which you will purchase the most frequent to less frequent, 1 – Most and 5 – Less 1 2 3 4 5 Q19_1 White rice Q19_2 Brown rice Q19_3 Red brown rice Q19_4 Black rice Q19_5 Riceberry Q20. How much do you agree with following statements of price of rice? 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Somewhat disagree, 4 – Neither disagree nor disagree, 5 – Somewhat agree, 6 – Agree, 7 – Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Q20_1 I will buy if it is the cheapest at point of

purchase Q20_2 I will buy only if there is a promotion / discount Q20_3 I don’t consider about price Q20_4 I will buy only the same price I used to buy Q20_5 I will buy the brand I like regardless the price Q20_6 I will buy the brand if my friends & family

recommend regardless the price

Q21. How much do you agree with following statements of brand of rice? 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Somewhat disagree, 4 – Neither disagree nor disagree, 5 – Somewhat agree, 6 – Agree, 7 – Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Q21_1 I will buy the brand I know Q21_2 I will buy the brand only when there is any

promotion / discount Q21_3 I don’t care about the rice brand Q21_4 I will buy only the same brand I used to buy Q21_5 I will buy other brands if the brand I used to buy

is not available Q21_6 I will buy the brand which recommend from

friends & family

Q22. How do you know Riceberry? (Can select more than one choice)  TV (1)  Radio (2)  Newspaper (3)  Advertising on BTS (4)  Outdoor Billboard (i.e. Bus stop) (5)  Website (i.e. Pantip,Sanook ) (6)  Social media (i.e. Facebook, Instagram) (7)

 Youtube (8)  Magazine (9)  Friends / Family (10)  Event (11)  Others (Specify) ______

Section C: Respondent Profile Section C: ข้อมูลส่วนบุคคล

Q23. What is your gender?

o Male (1) o Female (2) Q24. What is your age?

o Under 18 years old (1) o 18-22 years old (2) o 23-29 years old (3) o 30-35 years old (4) o 36-50 years old (5) o Over 50 years old (6) Q25. What is the highest level of education you have completed?

o Lower than high school degree (1) o High School (2) o Vocational Certificate (3) o High Vocational Certificate (4) o Bachelor Degree (5) o Master Degree (6) o Higher than Master Degree (7) Q26. What is your occupation?

o Student (1) o Government o Unemployed (7) o Freelance (2) Officer (4) o Others (Specify) o Officers (3) o House Wife (5) ______o Retired (6)

Q27. What is your average monthly income?

o Less than 8,000 Baht (1) o 8,001 - 15,000 Baht (2) o 15,001 - 18,000 Baht (3) o 18,001 - 24,000 Baht (4) o 24,001 - 35,000 Baht (5) o 35,001 - 50,000 Baht (6) o 50,001 - 85,000 Baht (7) o More than 85,000 Baht (8) Q28. What is your current marital status?

o Single, never married (1) o Married without children (2) o Married with children (3) o Divorced / Separated (4) o Widowed (5) o Others (Specify) ______29. Which residence type do you live now?

o Dormitory / Apartment (1) o Condominium (2) o Commercial Building (3) o Townhouse (4) o Detached House (5) o Semi-Detached House (6) o Others (Specify) ______Q30. How many people live in your household? ______

Q31. Please specify your interest or activities in leisure. (Can select more than one choice)

 Movie (1)  Restaurants (2)  Investment (3)  Hang out with friends (4)  Exercise (5)  Art (6)  Music (7)  Read Book (8)  Cooking (9)  Crafts (10)  TV (11)  Online game (12)  Webboard (Pantip, Sanook) (13)  Social (Facebook, Instagram) (14)  Others (Specify) ______

APPENDIX C SAMPLE ORGANIC STORES 1) Lemon Farm: http://www.lemonfarm.com/lmf/index.php

2) ‘Friends in need of pa’ Store

3) Greenshopcafe: http://www.greenshopcafe.com/

APPENDIX D ORGANIC EVENT AND EXPO 2015

BIOGRAPHY

Name MISS Mullika Angsuwattana Date of Birth May 25, 1978 Educational Attainment 2000: Bachelor Degree in Business Administration, Thammasat University Work Position Digital Media Manager mInteraction, GroupM

Work Experiences Digital Media Manager mInteraction, GroupM