Factors Influencing Consumers' Choice of Imported Poultry Meat Products in a Developing Market: Lessons from Zimbabwe

The main objective of this study was to explore factors that influence consumers’ choice of imported poultry meat products in Zimbabwe, a developing market. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse data collected from a sample of 305 consumers. The study found that factors that influence consumers’ choice of imported poultry meat products are price, health and safety issues, accessibility, appearance, taste, tenderness, genetically-modified food status, product labelling, country of origin, packaging, production methods and branding. These factors are classified into three overlapping categories, namely economic factors, quality and product attributes, and the firm’s marketing efforts. Economic factors include price in relation to consumer disposable income. Quality and product attributes include health and safety issues, appearance, taste, tenderness, genetically-modified food status, packaging, country of origin and production methods. The firm’s marketing efforts include price, accessibility, product labelling, packaging and branding. These findings have implications for theory and practice.