A Model of Consumer Decision-Making for the Adoption of Thai Food in Victoria, Australia by Pannakarn Leepaiboon This thesis is presented in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing Faculty of Business and Law VicfbftfWhiversity Melbourne, Australia 2007 Vfte2.THESIS 647.959450688 LEE 30001008775696 Leepaiboon, Pannakarn A model of consumer decision-making for the adoption of Thai food in DECLARATION I, Pannakarn Leepaiboon, declare that the Ph.D. thesis entitled 'A Model of Consumer Decision-Making for the Adoption of Thai Food in Victoria, Australia' is no more than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, references and footnotes. This thesis contains no material that has been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work. Signed Date •i/<^ 19^00"^ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the process of this research. I have received strong support from the Thai media. This support sustained my belief that this study relevant to assisting Thai food restaurant owners, distributors, manufacturers, and farmers in my home country, Thailand. The Thai Rath newspaper, Daily News, Thai Post, and SBS Radio have all generously praised the content and relevance of my study to promotion of Thailand and its culture (see Appendix 8). In undertaking this research, I am indebted to my principal supervisor, Associate Professor Linda M. Roberts, Victoria University, for her supervision throughout the writing of this thesis. Her advice and support, particularly in the final stages of critical reading and feedback, were indispensable. I am also grateful to my first co- supervisor, Dr Rudolph Brown and my second co-supervisor, Mr. Paul Whitelaw, for his reading and feedback with some useful comments at the last stage. Especial thanks are also due to Professor Brian King, Head School of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing, for his support and always friendly manner during my study. My gratitude extends to Dr. Robert Z. Waryszak for his provisional comments on the survey and interview questionnaires. My special thanks to Dr. Petre Aim Santry, for her ongoing support and language advice throughout the thesis making the process of thesis writing smoother. My especially grateful to Dr. Jean Dawson, for her kindness and critical prove of reading and feedback with useful suggestions for my thesis at the last stage. Without the excellent facilities provided during my study at the City Flinders Campus in Melbourne, this thesis would be hardly complete, 1 am especially grateful to Dr. Nick Billington, Head School of Victoria Graduate School of Business. 11 I would like to thank Professor Elaine Martin, Director of Postgraduate Research Studies and Head, Office for Postgraduate Research including Ms.Natalie Sciberras and the staff for organizing many useful seminars for research students. I also wish to thank all library staff of Victoria University, especially at the City Flinders Campus for their friendly and always providing a good service to me. My special thanks are also due to Ms. Kate Hill, Ms. Katrina Soitaridis and Ms. Georgette Karagiozis for their kindness for assisting me when I needed stationery during my study at Victoria University. Without sufficient data for analyzing results, this thesis could not be complete and contributed knowledge for further research. I would like to especially thank all the kindly and helpful participants, the thirty owners of Thai restaurants in the state of Victoria, Australia and the 1042 responses from customers. Thank you to all of you for sharing knowledge and experience in practical ways for understanding the significant factors affecting consumer in the adoption of Thai food in Victoria, Australia. I would also like to thank Professor Brian King, Dr. Nick Billington, Mr. Rob Fraser and Mr. Pomthep Bongkotpisut, for their encouragement and supporting me to have a chance for being involved and organizing the first year of the "Thai Culture and Food Fesfival" in Melbourne, 2004. During studying for my Ph.D. at Victoria University, I have appreciated many good and friendly friends for their discussions, sharing knowledge and cheerfulness; especially thanks to Dr. Francis Malane, Dr. Aster Yong, Dr. Bung-on Chartrungruang, Dr. Nuttawuth Muenjohn, Dr. Verawoot Vatjanapukka, Dr. Ananong Vatjanapukka, Dr. Sachiko Nishimura and Dr. Napapom Kripanont. in Without my parents, brothers and sisters in Thailand, I would never have had the opportunity to have world-wide visions. I am deeply indebted to them for supporting me financially, for my study for my Bachelor's degree in Bangkok, Thailand; my Master's degree in Sydney and my Ph.D. studies in Melbourne, Australia including traveling overseas. All of my heartfelt grateful thanks are due for their belief in me through ongoing emotional and practical support, making the completion of this thesis possible. A lot of people always ask me 'why do you want to study a Ph.D. degree? I consistently answer 'it is my dream since I was young!' Therefore, 'AH of you have made the one of my dreams come true'. Especially, my mum and dad who have already passed away, but always in my heart; my brothers and sisters. Thank you for your true love to me! IV ABSTRACT Owing to the rapid increase in the number of Thai restaurants in the Australian multicultural context during the past decade, there has been a need for greater understanding of the factors contributing to customer adoption of Thai food. Therefore, in order to provide a basis for the creation of sustainable marketing strategies in this context, the purpose of this research has been to develop 'A Model of Consumer Decision-Making for the Adoption of Thai Food in Victoria, Australia'. In this model three main parts of the Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (EBM) Consumer Decision-making Process (1995) and Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2001): pre- purchase; purchase and consumption; and post-consumption have been adapted and incorporated. In the testing of this model, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, using descriptive and inferential analyses, has been used. The qualitative component involved interviews with thirty Thai restaurant owners and the quantitative component utilized a questionnaire for a survey of 1,009 respondent customers, following their consumption of Thai food. The major conclusions from the findings of this research are that, at the pre-purchase evaluation stage, using a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics (ANOVA and the standard multiple regression), factors affecting customer adoption of Thai food were found to include seven aspects: demographics; experience; subjective knowledge; need recognition; sources of information and evaluation of alternatives. During the consumption evaluation stage descriptive analysis revealed that descriptions of Thai dishes and recommendations from friends who were satisfied with Thai food were the most significant factors affecting customers in deciding to order Thai dishes at Thai restaurants. Added to this, at the post-consumption evaluation stage, results using inferential statistics (correlation analysis) in relation to the 4Ps marketing mix revealed that both 'product' and 'price' had significant relationships to overall customer liking of Thai food, intention to repeat purchase and intention to recommend Thai food to friends. For 'place' (convenient location of Thai restaurant) only one significant relationship was found to overall customer liking of Thai food and 'promotion' had no significant relationship to customers liking of Thai food, intention to repeat purchase or intention to recommend Thai food to friends. At the post-consumption evaluation stage, results from the application of inferential statistics (correlation analysis) revealed that there were significant relationships among the overall liking of Thai food, intention to repeat purchase, intention to recommend Thai food to friends and frequency of eating out for Thai food for dinner. In accordance with an authentic Thai taste, results using inferential statistics (ANOVA) indicate that customers' experience and subjective knowledge of Thai food were shown to be significant factors affecting their decision to repeat purchase. Finally, results using descriptive analysis in relation to a comparison of the opinions of Thai restaurant owners and their customers revealed that Thai restaurant owners were largely unaware of customer wishes for authentic Thai food tastes, rather than the modified, overly sweet and creamy dishes that the restaurant owners believe their customers want. This first model: 'A Model of Consumer Decision-Making for the Adoption of Thai Food in Victoria, Australia' has been tested, and has shown the significant factors affecting consumers in deciding to adopt Thai food in Victoria, Australia. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT v TABLE OF CONTENTS vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xvii LIST OF TABLES xviii LISTOF FIGURES xxviii LIST OF APPENDICES xxx CHAPTER 1 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Background to the Research 2 1.2 . Research Problem 3 1.3 Research Aims 3 1.4 Significanceof the Study 4 1.5 Scope of the Study 6 1.6 Definitions of Terms 6 1.7 Structure of the Study 6 1.8 Chapter Summary 8 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THAI FOOD IN THAILAND AND AUSTRALIA 2.0 Introduction 10 2.1 Food Production in Thailand 10 2.2 Development of Thai Cuisine 12