Analysis of factors influencing the deal proneness of consumers for processed foods

The aims of this study were to examine whether there are consumer segments that have a propensity to be deal prone in purchasing processed foods and to identify those characteristics of consumers that reflect their deal proneness. Thus, raw data from the Korea Consumer Attitude Survey was analyzed by frequency, factor analysis, and Tobit regression. The major findings are as follows. Individual deal proneness are different according to regional and socio-economic characteristics, and the lifestyle of the consumers also affects deal proneness. Socio-economic variables that have significant impacts on deal proneness for processed foods are residential areas, preferred lifestyle types, sex, age, educational background of the household head and type of store mostly used. With regard to lifestyle, it was found that consumers with a lifestyle that includes convenience, brand pursuit, and convenience are more likely to have a higher degree of deal proneness for processed foods. From the results based on different food groups, it was found that deal proneness for different food groups is affected by the areas, types of sales promotion, and socio-economic characteristics of the consumers. This result suggests that the differences in the consumption of processed foods and deal proneness are indicative for the need to use marketing strategies that consider the characteristics of consumers.