Consumer Behavior - Study on Australian Snack Market

1Running head: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer Behavior
Author Name
Institutional Affiliation
Author Note

2CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer Behavior
I. Context and Problem/Opportunity
The unhealthy diets of the people Australia is the most significant reason behind their
poor health. The people residing therein are found to be largely inclined towards the
consumption of unhealthy foods as compared to the healthy ones (Cameron, Sayers, Sacks &
Thornton, 2017). At present, the consumer’s demand for healthier food products is recorded to
be increasing at a rapid rate due to their concern about obesity. This situation among the
Australian snack markets has provided Smith’s Sunbites with an opportunity to launch its
product extension. The brand has come up with a healthy snack named ‘Sensations’ and is
aiming at building awareness on the new sub-brand, which is actually a range of baked sweet
potatoes.
II. Literature Review
According to Sarmugam & Worsley (2015), the people of Australia are immensely busy
and hence rely mostly on fast foods and the ready meals which are available in the snack market.
This increasing consumption of fast foods and snacks by the consumers in the country has led
towards poor nutritional value in them, thereby leading to increase in the rate of obesity among
the consumers. The threats of health issues and obesity has presently enhanced and alarmed on
developing positive consciousness at least to some extent, which can be further identified as
affecting the consumer’s purchase-decision regarding such food-items (Sarmugam & Worsley,
2015). It has been agreed by Kneebone (2015), who added that a large part of the Australian
consumers has further shifted their food-habits along with their preference for snack and fast
foods to healthy diets. However, amidst this section of the population, the households with
higher income are identified to be consuming snacks at a higher range as compared to the others
consumers, who cannot afford on buying them. At present, consumer behaviors project that they
only demand healthier snacks due to their rise in consciousness towards their health. Obesity and
other health issues of consumers have driven their behaviors towards developing health
consciousness within themselves (Kneebone, 2015). This is because they have apparently
understood that the consumption of unhealthy snack leads to the serious health problem such as
obesity. Therefore, the governments have also started developing strategies and taking initiatives

3CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
towards the elimination of this issue from the roots. One such strategy is the introduction of
organic along with high fiber foods that are ordered for being sold in the grocery markets as well
(NSW, 2014).
Under the same context, Raghunatha, Naylor & Hoyer (2006) argued that not only the
health conscious consumers has changed their preference of foods but have also changed their
behavior towards the product that they consume as per their taste intuition. In the past, food used
to be chosen only based on taste, but at the present, the nutritional value of the products are also
taken into due consideration. Although taste and health are two different perspectives, the
majority of the consumers nowadays consider both together before purchasing any food products
(Raghunatha, Naylor & Hoyer, 2006). Simliarly, Vasiljevic, Pechey & Marteau (2015) projects
that an individual consumer’s hunger level can also bring about a vast change on their purchase-
behavior of food, which they want to consume rather than the healthiness of the same.
Consumer’s hunger also at times can contribute to the making of their decision of the food
products rather than just the attractiveness or the higher nutritional level. This can be explained
with an example stating that the consumption of a cereal bar instead of a chocolate bar can serve
the same purposes of taste and satisfaction of hunger among the consumers, without harming the
health (Vasiljevic, Pechey & Marteau, 2015). At present, Development of Agriculture and
Fisheries (2018) highlights that due to increase in obesity and other health issues among the
public, the baked sweet potato can bring about a huge impact on the health conscious of the
overall consumers in Australia. Since it is baked instead of being fried, contains no fat, is tasty
and involves high fiber, its demand has hiked. Moreover, it also saves the consumers from
suffering from fat-related health problems such as bowel cancer (DAF, 2018). Under the global
study of Burri (2011), it has been evident that baked sweet potatoes have attained a huge success
across the world not only for its nutritional value, but also for treating the patients suffering from
VA deficiency. At present, it is mostly put into practice in the healthcare settings of the US as it
has been identified to be free from any toxic elements (Burri, 2011).
The occurrence of health issues such as overweight and obesity was understood as being
the major problems for the consumers in Australia. This further led to a rise in demands of the
customers for the healthy food products and organic ones as well. Among all, one of the health
governing body, as well as the community of New South Wales in Australia, have succeeded in
aiding most of the customers suffering throughout this phase. They followed a framework of 6

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stages, through which they succeeded. Implementing this framework, NSW was able to identify
the major source of obesity and overweight that occurs within the consumers. After knowing the
major sources, they developed numerous interventions and then assessed them for identifying the
best and appropriate interventions to be implemented. Besides, for implementing different types
of interventions, they further generated success for promoting the health of the patients or the
consumers suffering from serious health issues. Identifying the risks and overcoming them
throughout the process of interventions were the biggest perspective that added to the overall
success (Gill, King & Webb, 2005).
In addition, Barosh, Friel Engelhardt & Chan (2014) stated that consumer behaviors in
Australia have affected the markets as well as their own individual health. The behaviors may be
intentional but in most cases in Australia, food security is considered as the key issue for altering
the consumer’s behavior from one product to the other. These insecurities have led to a rise in
prices of the foods, which in turn has affected the consumption structure of the households with
lesser income. The urge of the consumers on buying cheaper foods are determined in accordance
with their affordability rates as well. This is the reason for consumers of Australia requiring an
introduction of healthier and affordable foods so that they can recover from their illness and stay
fit at the same time. This can be done by consuming healthy foods such as Smith’s baked sweet
potato (Barosh, Friel Engelhardt & Chan, 2014).
III. Theoretical Framework
The 5 Stages of Consumers’ Buying Decision-Making Process
Consumer behavior and buying decision-making process are influenced by the
environmental factors and individual differences, which may be understood as a preference or
attitude (Lee, 2005). Based on the application of the 5 stages involved in the buying process of
the consumer, brand awareness can be made possible. The 5 stages comprise need for problem
recognition, information search, and evaluation of the alternatives, purchase decision and the
post-purchase behavior (Eriksson, 2015).
Need for Problem Recognition. Being the first stage, a problem must be identified
before taking any action for filling the gap between their current and desired status. It is