“A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CONSUMER DECISION

CRITERIA IN CHOOSING MASS BEER

OR IMPORTED BEER”

BY

MR CHATCHANIN ITTHIPORNVITHOON

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

“A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CONSUMER DECISION

CRITERIA IN CHOOSING MASS BEER

OR IMPORTED BEER”

BY

MR. CHATCHANIN ITTHIPORNVITHOON

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

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Independent study Title A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CONSUMER

DECISION CRITERIA IN CHOOSING MASS

BEER or IMPORTED BEER

Author MR CHATCHANIN ITTHIPORNVITHOON

Degree Master of Science Program in Marketing

(International Program)

Major Field/Faculty/University Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy

Thammasat University

Independent Study Advisor Professor Paul G. Patterson, Ph.D.

Academic Years 2014

ABSTRACT

A comparative consumer decision criteria in choosing between mass beer

and import beer is important for brands to understand, in order to target the right group

and allocate their budget effectively to the marketing elements. This study analyzes

consumer purchasing behavior and examines key drivers of both mass beer, which is

the most favorable alcohol beverage for Thai people and import beer which represent

the new promising trend in beer market.

In-depth interviews have been conducted to see responses from selected

respondents for analysis. Finding suggests that for restaurant that targets mass beer

drinker, taste and promotion are key drivers to motivate consumers at point of sales, In

addition, it is important to create awareness of promotion since beer is low-involvement

products. For import beer, recommendation and word of mouth on social media would

attract import beer drinkers to visit the restaurant. The findings indicated that product

taste and packaging are also key drivers for consumers to consider.

Keyword: Restaurant, Beer, Drinker,

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank you my professor, Dr. Paul Patterson, for valuable

advice to complete this study. His constant support as well as valuable comments along

the project period help me finished this project.

In addition, I would also like to thank you my interviewees for their help in

the data collection process, their time for the interview voluntarily and their support to

complete this study. Finally, I would like to thank you to all of my family to support

me.

Mr. Chatchanin Itthipornvithoon

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT (2)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (3)

LIST OF TABLES (6)

LIST OF FIGURES (7)

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Research theme 1

1.3 Research purpose 1

1.4 Research objective 2

1.5 Conceptual framework 2

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 3

2.1 Beer industry in Thailand 3

2.2 Consumer Buying Behavior Model 6

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 8

3.1 Research procedure 8

3.2 Data sampling 9

3.3 Interview schedule 9

3.4 Analysis procedure 11

3.5 Summary 11

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CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 12

4.1 Mass beer focus consumers 12

4.1.1 Occasion / Frequency / Spending / Influencer 12

4.1.2 Key Driver 14

4.1.3 Brand preference / Loyalty 16

4.1.4 Perceived difference between mass beer and import beer 17

4.2 Import beer focus consumers 17

4.2.1 Occasion / Frequency / Spending / Influencer 17

4.2.2 Key Driver 18

4.2.3 Brand preference / Loyalty 20

4.2.4 Perceived difference between mass beer and import beer 20

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 21

5.1 Conclusions 21

5.1.1 Mass beer focus consumers 21

5.1.2 Import beer focus consumers 23

5.1.3 Summary of types of drinkers 24

5.2 Limitations 24

5.3 Business implications 25

5.4 Recommendations for further research 27

REFERENCES 28

APPENDICES

In-depth interview questions 31

BIOGRAPHY 32

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables Page

4.1 Pre-screen result 12

4.2 Occasionally / frequently / Spending / Influencer for mainly mass drinkers 13

4.3 Key driver of buying decision for mainly mass drinkers 14

4.4 Top 3 key drivers for mainly mass drinkers 15

4.5 Brand preference / Loyalty for mainly mass drinkers 16

4.6 Perceived difference between mass and import beer

for mainly mass drinkers 17

4.7 Occasionally / frequently / Spending / Influencer

for mainly import drinkers 18

4.8 Key driver of buying decision for mainly import drinkers 18

4.9 Top 3 key drivers for mainly import drinkers 19

4.10 Brand preference / Loyalty for mainly import drinkers 20

4.11 Perceived difference between mass and import beer

for mainly import drinkers 20

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Page

1.1 Conceptual Framework 2

2.1 Mass beer industry market share 3

2.2 Consumer Buying Behavior Process 6

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research background

Current situation of beer industry is expected to continuously stagnate because

Thailand’s political situation and economic crisis have impacted the purchasing

decision of consumers. While total beer industry is being stagnant, import beer on the

other hand, has grown consistently. The price of this sector is quite high from 80 to 300

baht according to high tariff, but, surprisingly it doesn’t affect sale volume in this sector.

The main driver for import beer are behavior and lifestyle of urbanite who enjoys going

out to drink at pub & restaurant.

As the problems mentioned above, beer market in Thailand will face a big

obstacle from economics and legal. Therefore, to be successfully increase sales in Thai

market, beer manufacturers should focus on consumer attitudes & motivations towards

beer products.

1.2 Research theme

Proposal area of knowledge: Society

Research proposal type: Investigate a contemporary topic in applied marketing

1.3 Research purpose

The main purpose to conduct this research is to study beer industry in Thailand

focusing on consumer buying behavior. The research will be applied to understand

consumer behavior at each stage and study about decision criteria on buying mass beer

and import beer.

This research is expected to provide understanding of consumers’ need and

opinion about beer industry in Thailand. The result of this research would be helpful

for marketer to develop strategy in order to attract different consumers and also help

the restaurants and pub owners to understand more about consumers’ insight.

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1.4 Research objective

1. To understand consumer’s purchase habits for mass beer and import beer -

frequency, occasion to drink, willingness to pay.

2. To determine key factors that impacts consumer decision criteria toward mass

& import beer - brand perception, brand loyalty.

3. To identify key differences in decision criteria between mass beer and import

beer.

1.5 Conceptual Framework

This is to study the beer industry in Thailand, focusing on consumer purchasing

behavior, which will be applied to develop understanding of consumer behavior at each

stage and involvement in purchasing.

Figure 1.1: Conceptual Framework

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Background of beer industry

2.1.1 History of beer industry in Thailand

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” Benjamin Franklin

1706. According to Wikipedia "Beer is one of the world's oldest prepared beverages,

possibly dating back to the early Neolithic or 9000 BC," Beer is made with water, hops,

barley and yeast. It has been brewed on a large scale in Thailand since around 1933

when Boonrawd Srethabutra founded the Boon Rawd Brewery and started brewing

Singha beer. Singha enjoyed near total domination of the beer market until the mid

1990’s when popular beer maker like ThaiBev launched Chang. ThaiBev and Boon

Rawd compete for market share for a long period. Both brands were incredibly popular

with numerous brands. Leo for example was brewed by Boon Rawd, while Archa was

brewed by ThaiBev. While there were foreign lagers like Heineken San Miguel and San

Miguel Light. (Rob McBroom, 2013)

In order to win over competitors in the market, beer manufacturers were trying

to differentiate their product. They set prices differently for each beer segment.

According to Nattakarn and Suteera (2009), Thai beer market was segmented by the

basis of pricing. It comprises of three groups which are economy, standard and premium

as follow; the green color in graph 2 shows the market share of each brands while blue

and yellow represent other brand in markets.

Figure 2.1: Mass beer industry market share (Reference: Marketeer 2013)

7%8%

85%

Beer market share by segment

Premium Standard Economy

80% 85%

55%

12%10%

30%

8% 5%15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Premium Standard Economy

Market share in each segment

4

I. Premium class refers to beer brands at the top of the market with the value of 7

percent of total market. Examples of the premium brands are Heineken, San

Miguel, Asahi and other import brands. They target consumers who have high

income and those who are driven by social acceptance.

II. Standard refers to beer that focuses on selling to average income group. Sale

value is only approximately 8 percent of the total Thai beer market Examples

for standard brands are Singha, Tiger, and Chang lights.

III. Economy refers to beer with lowest price among all segments because it is

produced by lower quality material. This category of beer represents 85 percent

of the total beer market in the country. Examples for economy brands are

Chang, Leo, and Archa.

2.1.2 Current market situation

Current situation of beer industry is expected to continuously be stagnant,

because of political situation and economic crisis of Thailand. Thai beer consumers are

aware of impact from economic condition, so they are more conscious with spendings

which has caused reduction of purchasing power. In 2013, Thai beer market had total

revenues of 120 billion baht which decreased from 216 billion baht in 2012. The market

is expected to grow to 125 billion in 2014. In addition, in terms of sale volume the

volume of beer sold declined from 2150 million liters in 2012 to 2045 million liters in

2013 and expected to decrease to 1948 million liter in 2014. (marketeer, 2014)

2.1.3 A new-age of beer

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There was clearly a downfall in total market, however import beer on the other

hand, has grown continuously. According to prachachart, in 2013, there were over 100

brands of import beer sold in pub, restaurants and high-end supermarket targeting

consumers who have high purchasing power. As a result of high tariff in beer industry,

the price of this sector is quite high, starting from 80 to 300 baht, but it doesn’t affect

the sale volume in this sector. Import beer trend is coming and it creates behavior and

lifestyle of urbanite who enjoys going out to drink at pub & restaurant. They also love

try new things, such as those import brands or local homemade beer. The most popular

import brand are Hoegaarden, Leff Blonde, Stella Artois Beer and Bodingtons Beer.

Although this market has niche value comparing to the total market, but there are big

players in Thailand, such as Boon Rawd, are watching this sector closely.

For those brands that understand key factors which affect consumer’s

purchasing decisions, together with consumer’s purchasing habit of mass and import

beer it is highly advantageous, since they can target the right group and allocate their

budget effectively to the correct marketing elements. For this research, we concentrate

only on beer consumption in restaurants and pubs.

2.1.4 Type of beer

One of the greatest things about beer is that there is such a wide variety of styles

available. There are so many different styles of beer which can be categorized by

various methods. (Rob McBroom, 2014)

1. By manufacturing: MacroBrews vs MicroBrews (craft beer)

According to (Unlockmen 2014), Beer manufacturing is separated into 2

categories. First one is Macrobrew or mass beer such as Singh or Chang. It is produced

by machine. Second one is MicroBrews or Craft Beer, on the other hand is a small

traditional manufacturing beer. Craft beer is produced and sold locally with unique

smell and flavor.

2. By raw material & Process: Different type of Beer (Lagers VS Ale)

According to (Wishbeer 2013), there are two main types of beer: Ale and Lager.

They are determined by the type of yeast used and how the fermentation process. Ale

is a top fermented beer that is fermented at the top of the tank with higher temperature.

6

Therefore it is darker in color, and generally stronger in taste than lagers. Drinking

lagers beer in normal temperature without ice is the best way to taste Ale beer. While,

Lager which is the bottom fermented beer at cooler temperatures is clearer, crisper and

smoother. Lagers is suitable in low temperature drinking which match with Thailand’s

weather.

3. By pasteurization process: Draft vs Bottle

Beer is also separated by pasteurization process into two types. First is Draft

beer or Fresh beer, a not pasteurized type that needs to be kept in low temperature.

Second one is the bottle, a pasteurized beer that needs to go through the process before

filling into the bottle. This process causes damages to taste of the beer.

2.2 Consumer Buying Behavior Model

Figure 2.2: Consumer Buying Behavior Process

Since consumer decision process model is the important part to understand

consumers need. 5 step of decision process should be included to understand consumers

1. Need recognition, 2. Information Search, 3. Pre-purchase evaluation, 4. Purchase,

and 5. Post-purchase evaluation (Blackwell et al., 2006).

1. Need Recognition: this stage is about when consumer is aware of the difference

between their perception and the actual satisfaction level (Solomon et al., 2006).

Need recognition

Information search

Pre-purchase evaluation

Purchase

Post-purchase evaluation

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2. Information search: The effort to search information vary for different customers

and depend on variables like personality, social class, income, life style, past

experience (Moorthy et al., 1997). Information search can be divided into pre-

purchase search and on-going search. Pre-purchase search occur when the

customer recognized a need and search for more information. Ongoing search is

based on personal interest in a particular brand.

3. Pre-purchase evaluation: Consumers compare between different products and

brands to make purchasing decision. Customers pay attention to the attributes,

which are related to their needs (Kotler et al., 2005). Attributes like Flavor, size,

packaging, quality and price are commonly used to determine consumer decision.

Any changes in these attributes can affect consumer decisions on brand or product

choices (Blackwell et al., 2006).

4. Purchase: There are two phases contributing to decision making process,

including place and brand selection. Place selection is made by deciding where

to drink beer. Brand selection is affected by the recommendation from

salesperson, visual display, menus inside the restaurant and point of sales

advertising (Blackwell et al., 2006).

5. Post-purchase: Post-purchase normally composed of consumption, post-purchase

evaluation and divestment stage according to the Blackwell statement. Customers

begin consuming products and then evaluate the consumption process.

(Blackwell et al., 2006).

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Procedure

The study will use qualitative method analysis. The main methodology is to

clarify and understand the issue corresponding to the objectives. Research method is

divided into two ways per following.

1. Secondary Research:

This is to find out information from external sources, published data such as

newspaper article, online sources, blogs and related research study, in order to conduct

background research, beer industry overview and current situation of the market.

2. Exploratory Research Methodology

Exploratory research aims to understand overall beer industry, key players and

segmentation of beer in Thailand. This is to explore market size and growth, key players

and their activities with restaurants, target market and characteristics of consumers in

each restaurant.

In- depth interview:

This stage is to understand consumption behavior, brand preference,

consumer’s purchasing habits at restaurant and key drivers for consumer’s purchasing

decision. Face-to-face interview can eliminate responses that are influenced by other

people in order to find perception and behavior, motivation and decision making

process for beer with reason behind.

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3.2 Data Sampling

For this research, non-probability, convenience sampling is used as a tool,

which looks for participants on purpose. Four consumers who regularly consume mass

beer but never try import beer - were chosen to have interviews. Eleven consumers who

consume mass and import beer, were also interviewed. This is a combination of quota

sampling and convenience sampling under the non-probability sampling classification.

Among fifteen interviewees, all are male to female aged between 25 and 35.

They all are workers who live in Bangkok with the income level B+ and above.

3.3 Interview schedule

The interview was consist of three stages, all the questions are open-ended

questions since it can allow interviewees to answer as little or as much as they want.

Examples or choices were provided when respondents had no ideas or answers. All

Questions were designed to serve research objectives. Some question maybe skip or re-

sequence up to the response from interviewer

3.3.1 Stage one:

The interview began with filtered questions to explore the mass / import

sampling aforementioned. Three questions were conducted per following:

1. Do you drink mass beer? Which brand have you tried? What do you like most?

2. Do you drink import beer? Which brand have you tried? What do you like most?

3. Comparing between mass and import which one is your favorite? (If selected

both)

The follow question then started getting involved in consumption behavior in

terms of consumption frequency, occasion, spending and reason for consuming. There

were five questions in this stage as listed below:

4. How often do you drink beer? What type is it (Bottle, Can or Pine)

5. Where do you drink mass /import beer most often?

6. When do you consume mass / import beer? Or what occasion do you drink?

7. If your friends or family recommend you to buy one beer brand (either import

or mass), Are you going to conform? Why? Who are you going to listen to most?

3.3.2 Stage two

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The questions that were asked in this stage had purpose to find out key factors

of consumer buying decisions towards beer. At this stage the questions were divided

into two parts. First, questions numbered 8 to 13 are related to key drivers for beer

consumption. Second, questions numbered 14 to 17 are involved in brand preference

and loyalty, in order to understand post-purchase process.

8. Do you think that attractive promotion can make you decide to buy the product?

9. Do you think the taste of the product is necessary for you to decide to drink?

10. If you don’t know the products taste, what is the next factor to make you decide

to drink beer?

11. Do you think photo or package can make you decide to drink that beer?

12. In your opinion what is a major difference of mass beer and import beer? Do

you know exactly what difference between both beers is?

13. Can you rank top three important factors that makes you decide to drink mass /

import beer?

14. Do you have the brand (you wish) to purchase in your mind before going to the

restaurant / pub?

15. If yes, what brand and why?

16. If no, what is the first factor at restaurant or pub to make you buy the beer?

17. If the brand that you purchase most often is not available at that time, will you

buy other brand instead or not buying beer at all?

3.3.3 Stage three

In the last stage of interview, interviewees were asked about their basic

information consisting of name, age, and income.

3.4 Analysis Procedures

Data Analysis procedures

1. Data management: This process will summarize and display the information

gathered from research and made it simple and easy to understand in a way that

facilitates to drawing the conclusions, identify linkage and develop explanations

of respondents’ answer.

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2. Analysis & Conclusion: This process aim to identify patterns and themes of the

data, what is similar and what is different between each variables to draw

conclusion for each objectives.

3.5 Summary

The data collection of in-depth interview has been conducted by interview. The

data analysis and interpretation will be conducted after market research. For the

exploratory research, key finding will be concluded into the descriptive format.

In conclusion, the finding of market research will be written and reported to the

public under the aspiration of researcher in order to provide useful information to help

marketers making decision.

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CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The result of research will be divided into two groups, consisting of 1. Main

mass beer drinkers. 2. Main import beer drinkers. Table1 will show pre-screen result of

main beer consumption.

Table 4.1: Pre-screen result

Name Gender Mass Beer Import Beer Main Beer

consumption

Bell Female + + Import

June Female + + Import

Ball Male + + Mass

Mean Male + + Mass

Max Male + + Mass

Joy Female + + Mass

Nattiez Female + + Mass

Meng Male + - Mass

Chai Male + - Mass

Kid Male + + Mass

Pook Female + + Mass

Palm Male + - Mass

Pon Male + - Mass

Pat Female + + Import

New Male + + Import

4.1 Mass beer focus consumers

4.1.1 Occasion / Frequency / Spending / Influencer

From data sampling, four in fifteen respondents drink only mass beer but never try

import beer while eleven in fifteen mainly drinks mass beer.

13

Table 4.2: Occasion / frequency / Spending / Influencer for mainly mass drinkers

Name Occasion Consumption

(Per Week)

Amount

(Bottle/Can)

Spending

/ times Influencer

Ball Night Out 1 2 150 -

Mean Dinner / Celebration 2 2 200 Friends

Max Dinner / Celebration 2 2 150 -

Joy Dinner 1 1 100 -

Nattiez Dinner / Night Out 0.5 2 150 Friends

Meng Dinner / Night Out 1 2 200 -

Chai Dinner / Celebration 1.5 2 200 -

Kid Night Out 1.5 3 400 Shopkeeper

Pook Dinner 1.5 2 300 Friends

Palm Night Out 2 3 400 -

Pon Dinner / Night Out 1 2 300 -

The interview results show that, for reasons of occasion, eight in twelve

respondents mainly drink mass beer with meal for dinner while six in twelve consumed

beer at party with their friends after work or on weekends.

In terms of amount four in eleven respondents drink beer less than once a week,

while the rest consume more than once a week. Regarding purchasing amounts, eight

respondents purchased 2 bottles per time while the rest purchased 1 or 3 bottle per time.

The average spending of mass beer group is around 100-200 baht per times, depending

on what restaurant they go.

About influencer, only four of those who mainly drink mass beer think that

recommendation is important. Three respondents had friends as an influencer. For

example Mean said that he always consult to his friends to suggest a beer to drink while

one respondent, Kid always as shopkeeper to be the influencer. He asked what kind of

beer is signature for the restaurant.

In conclusion, majority of respondents drink mass beer once to twice a week

when they have dinner and sometimes when they have party with their friends. Most of

them do not need influencer or suggestion in order to select the brand of beer.

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4.1.2 Key Driver

Table 4.3: Key driver of buying decision for mainly mass drinkers

Name Promotion Taste Brand

Reputation Package Other

Ball + + + - Budget

Mean + + + -

Max + + + +

Joy + + + -

Nattiez + + + -

Meng + + - - Budget

Chai + + - - Budget

Kid - + + +

Pook + + + + Recommendation

Palm - + + +

Pon + + + +

From interviews, ten of respondents accepted that promotion in restaurant

affected their decision. However some consumers, such as Pon stated that promotion

will affect his decision only if he likes the brand or taste, since he doesn’t want to spend

money on non-tasty beer. Another consumer who did not agree with promotion stated

that, the promotion beer may show the slow run rate of sales so they need to run

promotion.

There were ten respondents who agreed that brand reputation affects their

decision especially mass beer. They believe that brand reputation can guarantee quality

of product. On the other hand, only five respondents agree that packaging of beer affects

their purchasing decision especially when they find that their favorite brand is not

available at that time. For example, Palm state that the beer with attractive package can

encourage him to buy. Some stated that it could imply the quality and reliability of

product.

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All respondents strongly agreed that taste is key drivers that impact their buying

decision since some respondents revealed that taste is a very important attribute to make

them purchase even if they had not tasted yet but once someone recommends that this

brand has a good taste, they will have no hesitation to buy. It is also key attribute to

make them re-purchase.

Moreover, three respondents mentioned that their current budget and price of

beer were their key drivers, Chai and Meng agreed that their decision limited base on

budget constraint. One respondent also mentioned about the recommendation from

friends was affected her brand choice.

By general frequency methods, this can indicate that Taste is the best key drivers

followed by Promotion and Brand reputation respectively. Packaging is perceived to be

the least important driver.

Table 4.4: Top 3 key drivers for mainly mass drinkers

Key Driver

Name 1 2 3

Ball Taste Brand Reputation Budget

Mean Taste Brand Reputation Promotion

Max Promotion Taste Brand Reputation

Joy Promotion Taste Brand Reputation

Nattiez Taste Brand Reputation Promotion

Meng Budget Promotion Taste

Chai Promotion Budget Taste

Kid Taste Brand Reputation Package

Pook Promotion Recommendation Package

Palm Package Taste Brand Reputation

Pon Taste Brand Reputation Promotion

To consider the top three key drivers in consumer’s mind, question was settled. The

result shown in Table 4, the top three key drivers for mass beer main drinkers are Taste,

Promotion and brand reputation respectively. Budget attributes, which was not

mentioned in questioning, was raised to be the 4th key driver.

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4.1.3 Brand preference / Loyalty

Table 4.5: Brand preference / Loyalty for mainly mass drinkers

Name Mass Brand Loyalty Import Brand Loyalty

Ball Chang + Beer Lao -

Mean Singha + Stella -

Max Singha - Hoegaarden -

Joy Leo - Hoegaarden -

Nattiez Heineken - Corona -

Meng Chang + - -

Chai Leo + - -

Kid Heineken - Stella -

Pook Singha - Corona -

Palm Leo + - -

Pon Leo + - -

In addition, questions were also conducted to examine brand preference and

loyalty to understand consumer in post-purchase process. The information obtained in

Table 5 shows that most respondents had Leo, Singha and Heineken as their favorite

brand. However only half of them are loyal to the brand since they state that they will

not drink if it’s not their favorite brand while other half of respondents are open to other

brand trial if their favorite brand is not available. Some of consumers in this group had

tried import beer such as Hoegaarden, Stella rios, Beer Lao and Corona but all of them

are not loyal to the brand since they prefer mass beer than import beer.

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4.1.4 Perceived difference between mass beer and import beer

Table 4.6: Perceived difference between mass and import beer for mainly mass

drinkers

Name Key difference between categories Reason for non-trial

Ball Price of beer / Taste -

Mean Price of beer / Taste -

Max Price of beer -

Joy Price of beer / Taste -

Nattiez Price of beer -

Meng - Over budget

Chai - Too high price

Kid Price of beer / Taste -

Pook Price of beer / Taste -

Palm - Too high price

Pon - Hard to find

Those who have tried import beer firmly agreed that price of beer is key

difference between mass and import beer. For example Ball perceived import beer has

better taste than mass beer but with double price comparing to mass beer, he prefer to

drink mass beer regularly. Among four respondents who never tried import beer, price

is also a barrier to the category while one consumer, Pon stated that he can hardly find

import beer in restaurant he usually go to.

4.2 Import beer focus consumers

4.2.1 Occasion / Frequency / Spending / Influencer

From data sampling, four in fifteen respondents drink mainly drink import beer

and all of them also had experience with mass beer.

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Table 4.7: Occasion / frequency / Spending / Influencer for mainly import drinkers

Name Occasion Consumption

(Per Week)

Amount

(Bottle/Can)

Spending

/ times Influencer

Pat

Dinner /

Celebration /Trial 1.5 2 500 Shopkeeper

New Dinner / Trial 1 3 600 Shopkeeper

Bell Dinner/Celebration 0.5 2 400 Friends

June Dinner / Night Out 0.75 2 300 Friends

From interview, these four respondents consumed both mass and import beer

but they mainly prefer import beer. Two of respondents are light drinkers since they

drink less than once a week while the rest drink more than once a week. All respondents

mainly drink beer with meal for dinner while some of them drink import beer for

celebration and for the sense of trial. Regarding purchasing amounts, one respondent

purchased 3 bottle per time while the rest purchased 2 bottles per time. The average

spending of import beer group is higher than those who mainly drink mass beer at

around 400-600 baht per times. All of respondents in this group give high importance

to influencer. Two respondents, Bell and June had friends as an influencer to

recommend them to try import beer while the rest ask shopkeeper to provide the brand

option.

In conclusion, most respondents in import beer group drink beer during dinner,

celebration and trial. All of them believe influencers who recommend the beer to them.

4.2.2 Key Driver

Table 4.8: Key driver of buying decision for mainly import drinkers

Name Promotion Taste Brand

Reputation Package Other

Pat - + + + Recommendation

New + + + + Recommendation

Bell + + + + Flavor

June - + - + Recommendation

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As interview result, Table 8 shows that half of respondents accepted that

promotion in restaurant affected their decision on import beer while the rest of

respondent state that promotion will affected his decision only if it is the brand they are

already satisfied with taste.

There were three respondents who agreed that brand reputation affect their

decision because if they notice the brand that has been mentioned as reputation brand,

they will not hesitate to try them. For example, When Pat knew that hoegaarden is one

of good reputation import beer so she easily tried the beer and love it.

All respondents obviously agreed that taste and packaging are key drivers to

impact their buying decision. Taste is a very important attribute to make them purchase

and also was the key attribute to make them re-purchase. Bell for example love to drink

Leo and Hoegaaden since she perceived the taste is match to her. Packaging affects

perceived value of import beer. Even if they have not yet tasted, Packaging can

influence consumer decision to select the brands. For example, New once tried owl beer

from Japan because of the signature package of owl logo. In addition, three respondents

mentioned that recommendation from influencer is one of key driver to select the brand.

One of respondent also state that with the variety of flavor, it can affect her to select the

brand.

By general frequency method, this could indicate that Taste and Packaging were

the key drivers that affect consumer’s decision followed by Brand reputation and

Recommendation from influencers at the same rate. Promotion is considered to be the

last one in this category.

Table 4.9: Top 3 key drivers for mainly import drinkers

Key Driver

Name 1 2 3

Pat Taste Recommendation Package

New Package Recommendation Taste

Bell Taste Flavor Promotion

June Recommendation Taste Package

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The top three key drivers in consumer’s mind are shown in Table 9, Taste is

number 1 key driver. It is interesting that Recommendation from influencer is the driver

that had not been mentioned in questions but all respondents raised it to be number 2

key driver in their mind. Packaging which mentioned as key driver in last section is

considered as number 3 key driver.

4.2.3 Brand preference / Loyalty

Table 4.10: Brand preference / Loyalty for mainly mass drinkers

Name Mass Brand Loyalty Import Brand Loyalty

Pat Heineken - Hoegaarden +

New Heineken - Stella -

Bell Leo - Hoegaarden -

June Heineken - Pauliner -

The information in Table 10 shows that three of respondents have Heineken as

their favorite brand for mass beer but with no brand loyalty. Consumers in this group

prefer variety of import beer such as Hoegaarden, Stella rios, and Pauliner but only one

respondent has loyalty to Hoegaarden.

4.2.4 Perceived difference between mass beer and import beer

Table 11: Perceived difference between mass and import beer for mainly mass

drinkers

Name Key difference between categories

Pat Taste

New Taste / Social status

Bell Taste / variety of flavor

June Taste / Social status

All respondents who mainly drink import beer agreed that import beer is better in terms

of taste. Some of them also mentioned about luxury perception during consumption.

One of respondent also stated that import beer has more variety of flavor and type of

beer to choose than mass beer.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusions

5.1.1 Mass beer focus consumers

5.1.1.1 Mass beer consumer who never try import beer

Consumption behavior / Purchase habit

The determining criteria towards consumer’s need in beer have been examined.

Our findings suggest that all respondents who mainly drink mass beer but never try

import beer are looking for value for money. They are aware of cost and promotion as

most important factors. They have not put much effort to search for information before

buying and recommendation doesn’t have much affect to this group.

Key drivers

The key findings from frequency method provide the information that Cost, Taste, and

Promotion are the key drivers for these respondents. Mass beer drinkers are normally

attracted by these key factors, so in order to increase the trial and re-purchase rate,

Promotion is the key factors to attract consumer to purchase at restaurant for this group,

(since consumer typically purchases with less information searching) which is in line

with the result from the top three key drivers (mind indicate, Cost, Promotion and taste)

Brand preference / Loyalty

Leo and Chang is ranked favorite beer among these groups of people because the beer

is not expensive. This group of people is also loyal to the brand if the taste of those

brands is acceptable for them.

Perceived difference between mass beer and import beer

Our findings show that this group of people is not willing to try import beer because of

huge difference in price comparing with mass beer that they consume regularly. So

restaurant that targets this group of consumers may not benefit from offering import

beer.

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5.1.1.2 Mass beer focus consumers

Consumption behavior / Purchase habit

To find out consumer’s need, the research shows that this group of people drinks mass

beer mostly at dinner with meal and night out to enhance fun. With average spending

around 200 -300 baht, some of them always purchase beer because of friends’

recommendations with less effort to look for more information by themselves. Hence,

the important source of information is friend’s recommendations.

Key drivers

The key drivers from frequency method show that Taste, Brand reputation and

Promotion are key drivers for consumer who mainly consume mass beer. To examine

the top three key drivers in consumer’s mind, the result shows that Taste, Promotion

and Brand reputation are ranked as top three respectively, which is in-line with the

frequency. These groups of people said that packaging doesn’t affect their decision to

buy beer since they already have the brand in-mind when they are purchasing.

Brand preference / Loyalty

Heineken and Singha are ranked as favorite among these groups of people since they

have higher willingness to pay, comparing to previous group. However, this group has

lower loyalty to their favorite brand because they think that there will always be

alternative for drinks. For import beer some of consumers has favorite brand like

Hoegaarden, Corona or beer Lao but none of them are loyal to the brand since they

prefer mass beer than import beer.

Perceived difference between mass beer and import beer

This group of people believe that price of beer is the key difference between mass and

import beer. With double price charge, they would prefer to drink mass beer since it

can help facilitating fun environment to them as the same as mass beer.

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5.1.2 Import beer focus consumers

Consumption behavior / Purchase habit

Our findings suggest that respondents in this group consume import beer due to Taste

trial and social status when they are hanging out with friends. They consume import

beer in different occasions such as dinners and parties and they are willing to pay higher

than mass beer focus drinkers. This group does some information search and rely more

on recommendation from influencer.

Key drivers

The key drivers from frequency method show that Taste, Packaging and Brand

reputation are the key drivers of import beer drinkers. Anyhow, the respondents indicate

that the top three key drivers in their mind are Taste, Recommendation and Packaging.

This imply that recommendation and advertising impacts this group of respondents

mostly in terms of purchasing decisions.

Brand preference / Loyalty

Heineken is favorite mass beer of these groups of people since they think it is the only

brand that has luxurious characteristic while Hoegaarden, Stella Rios and Pauliner are

favorite brand for import beer category. However, this group of people has no loyalty

to their favorite brand because they are seeking rare and luxurious import beer to satisfy

their need of beer trial and status.

Perceived difference between mass beer and import beer

This group of people believes that import beer is better in terms of taste of beer with

high malt and more ingredients. Some of them also mentioned about express luxury

perception during consumption by sharing the photo on Instagram. One of respondent

also stated that import beer has more variety of flavor and type of beer to choose than

mass beer.

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5.1.3 Summary of types of drinkers

Looking in-term of life style and drinking behavior, type of drinkers can be

separateed into 3 which are

A. Explorer – Consumers who drink beer in sense of trial, there will be no specific

or loyal brand for this group. This group of people is willing to spend more

money for the first time to try the beer in both import and craft beer.

B. Cost aware enthusiast – Those who love to drink beer but still concerned of

price as their first priority. This group of people is risk averse, they would select

the brand that they certainly know the quality.

C. Loyalist – Consumers who love to drink only specific brands they are familiar

with.

An understanding about types of beer consumers is useful to brands to know

better and be able to create proper promotion and marketing strategy.

5.2 Limitations

From this research, there are three limitations regarding the sampling method

and time. First, qualitative research method can get depth consumers insight but cannot

provide representative samples from the target population. Second, due to time

constraint, the number of samples interviewed is very limited. If more time is allowed,

more samples could be collected and it could enhance the credibility of the study.

Lastly, the characteristics of the interviews such as gender, age, income and education

will have effect on the nature of answers especially income, since there are some

respondents talking about budget constraint. In addition, interviewers may ask leading

questions that affect to consumer answer. To overcome these limitations, quantitative

research is recommended to further the result to the real populations.

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5.3 Business Implications

Mass beer and Import beer has different product characteristic, which leads to different

stages of buying decision behavior. For mass beer, the product is a low-involvement

product. Therefore purchasing criteria are, firstly, needs recognition, where most people

order beer mostly during dinner and party to have fun with it. Next stage, mass beer

people are hardly searching for information. They normally receive information

passively such as friend recommendations and advertising in restaurants. They then go

to the stage of purchasing before brand evaluation. People often purchase the product

and then evaluate it on initial trial, if the product meets their minimum level of

satisfaction especially on taste, they will repeat purchase.

On the other hand, Import beer has the characteristic of medium to high involvement

product, consumers who regularly drink import beer started the stages with needs

recognition where they drink mass beer during dinner and party to shows the social

status. Followed by information search which import beer group did some information

search by themselves and rely more on review, recommendation from friends and

shopkeeper. Then follow by the stage of purchasing, brand evaluation and during post-

purchasing since the characteristic of these groups is always want to explore the new

product. Therefore they have low loyalty to the brand and had high willingness to try

the new brand.

5.3.1 Restaurant / Pub that target mass beer drinkers

First of all restaurant & pub should do quick research of the characteristic of

consumers who visit them. They have to understand consumer needs in terms of product

attributes, which Taste is one of the most important factor for mass beer consumers,

then they can select product attributes to match perfectly with consumers taste.

Next stage, since consumers consider beer as low involvement product so they

rarely did information search before going to restaurant, therefore, advertising should

be developed to help people to know the promotion so it can attract mass beer

consumers as it is their top key driver to purchase and draw them to the place. In

addition, recommendation from friends can be applied to spread the information to mass

beer consumer.

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In purchasing stage, point of sales in pub & restaurant is very crucial since

customers will be stimulated by the key drivers at point of sale, which is Promotion that

should go consistency with product advertising.

After consuming the product, people will evaluate and make decisions whether

to buy further or switch the brand. Therefore, the restaurant should look at sale report

of each period to see which brand of beer has great sale, so this implies that they should

put effort on those brands.

5.3.2 Restaurant / Pub that target import beer drinkers

At first stage, to target import beer drinkers the restaurant should understand the

characteristic of customers in their area and also needs of target customers to select the

type of import beer that match with consumer’s needs. Next stage, since this group of

consumers often did some information searching on the internet so the advertising on

both online and offline should be developed to attract people who are fan of import

beer. Moreover if the restaurant has unique import beer or craft beer that match with

the target consumers, they would have great advantage to attract these consumers to

visit restaurants; for example EST33 produces their craft beer with import ingredient

and recipe.

Brand recommendation should be developed effectively to draw people since it

is one of the key driver for import beer drinkers. Word of mouth seems to be best

recommendation among these consumers therefore the campaign on social network

such as sharing and creating own review import beer. The recommendations should be

created throughout, which mainly comes from the consumer satisfaction after tasting

and willingness to give their word of mouth. The restaurant can also make the people

know the brands by offer limited trial sampling since they will evaluate the brand once

they consume, which might help motivating them to purchase and might create

recommendations if they are satisfied with the product.

In purchasing stage, the point of sales such as visual packaging or photos play

the important role since people associate between information obtained passively and

product visibility at point of sales and decide to purchase. The recommendation from

shopkeeper also play an important role to create purchase interest since it is one of the

top key driver for import beer drinkers.

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Since the consumers of import beer had the characteristic of trial and non-

loyalist, new flavor or the update of new import beer would be important driver to make

consumers revisit and purchase in the pub and restaurant again.

5.4 Recommendations for further research

As mentioned in the previous section, a research has some limitation and can be

improve in the further research to provide more insightful findings. A quantitative

research should be conducted to check the result with more scale population.

By taking the above recommendations, researchers should be able to get deeper

insight from different perspectives, about the consumer buying behavior and key

drivers on beer industry to help develop understanding and marketing elements.

28

REFERENCES

Books and Book Articles

Nattakarn Ramasut, Suteera Saranpattranon, “A study of attitudes toward beer

products in Bangkok” (2009), Malardalen University, Sweden.

Rattiya Bausorn, “Alcohol consumption behavior of bachelor Degree Students

in Bangkok Area” (2012), ASEAN Institute for health development.

Blackwell, R. D., Miniard, P. W. & Engel, J. F. (2006). Consumer behavior.

Mason: Thomson.

Miles, M.B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An

expanded sourcebook. Sage: London.

Dave Ritter, influental factors on brand choice and consumption behaviors: an

Exploratory study on college students and beer (2008), University of Florida

Janeen Olsen, An Exploratory Study into Wine Drinking in Bars, Pubs and

nightclubs in United States (2008), Sonoma State University.

Istvanne hajdu, Anita Major, Zoltan Lakner, “Consumer behavior in the

Hungarian beer market” (2007).

Electronic Media

Professor V.R. Lane, Ph.D., “Craft Beer and Consumer behavior”, Available

at http://www.thaiauto.or.th/2012/research/research-

detail.asp?rsh_id=10#.UlPUoBZzrFJ

Rob Mcbroom, “Beer in Thailand” (2013), WISHBEER BLOG Available at

http://blog.wishbeer.com/beer/beer-in-thailand/

Rob Mcbroom, “Beer trends in Thailand for 2014” (2013), WISHBEER BLOG

Available at http://blog.wishbeer.com/beer/beer-trends-in-thailand-for-2014

Marketeer, “Premium beer market share” (2013), Marketeer blog, Available at

http://marketeer.co.th/2014/09/beer-premiem/

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Unlockmen-Dr.K, “beer 101 Understanding of beer” (2014), unlockmen blog,

Available at http://unlockmen.com/food_and_drink/item/465-what-is-craft-

beer.html

Prachachart (2013), 100 imported beer to Thailand, Available at

http://www.prachachat.net/news_detail.php?newsid=1415643122

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APPENDICES

31

APPENDIX A

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.

1. Do you drink mass beer? Which brand have you tried? What do you like most?

2. Do you drink import beer? Which brand have you tried? What do you like most?

3. Comparing between mass vs import which one is your favorite? (If selected both)

4. How often do you drink beer? What type is it? (Bottle, Can or Pine)

5. Where do you drink mass /import beer most often?

6. When do you consume mass / import beer? Or which occasion do you drink it?

7. If your friends or family recommend you to buy one beer brand (either import or

mass), Are you going to conform? Why? Who do you believe most?

8. Do you think that attractive promotion can make you decide to buy the product?

9. Do you think the taste of the product is important to your decision to drink?

10. If you don’t know products taste, what is the next factor to make you decide to

drink beer?

11. Do you think the photos or package can make you decide to drink that beer?

12. In your opinion what is the major difference between mass beer and import beer?

Do you know exactly what difference between both?

13. Can you rank the top three important factors, which make you decide to drink

mass / import beer?

14. Do you have the brand (you wish) to purchase in your mind before going to the

restaurant / pub?

15. If yes, what brand and why?

16. If no, what is the first factor at restaurant or pub to make you buy the beer?

17. If the brand that you purchase most often is not available at that time, will you buy

other brand instead or not buying beer at all?

Name______________________ Surname_____________________

Nickname________ Age________________________

Gender_________________ Occupation__________________

Income_____________________

32

BIOGRAPHY

Name Mr. Chatchanin Itthipornvithoon

Date of Birth November 20,1988

Educational Attainment

2011: Bachelor degree in Economics

Work Position Intelligent Specialist

Ideafusion Consulting & Research Co. Ltd.

Work Experiences Assistant to President

Shaiyo Triple A Group