A Study on Consumer WTP and Respondent’s Income Wise Consumption Pattern for Khandsari Sugar in Coimbatore City of Tamil Nadu

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is one of the most important commercial crops of the tropics. It is the main source of sugar in the world. Jaggery (Gur) and Khandsari sugar are a traditional product of sugarcane which is the natural mixture of sugar and molasses. Jaggery and Khandsari are found to be a major agro-processing industry in rural sector. Today’s scenario people were shifting towards the consumption of khandsari sugar due to various reasons. Hence this study was carried out with consumer willingness to pay towards the price of khandsari sugar and their consumption wise pattern through their income. Convenience sampling was adopted and collected the information from 120 respondents of Coimbatore city as divided of five zones. Primary data was collected through well-structured interview schedule and Chi-square test, Multiple regression analysis were carried out to analyse the study. The outcomes of the study revealed that income was significantly associated with consumption usage, purchasing frequency, purchasing quantity and consumption purpose. Also age, educational status and monthly income influenced the consumer to pay more for khandsari sugar.

Aim: The purpose of the study was to find the consumer consumption pattern and their willingness to pay towards the purchase of khandsari sugar. Here, income was analysed with consumption pattern in Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu.

Design of study and Methodology: The study was limited to Coimbatore city of Tamil Nadu with the sample of 120 respondents. The city was categorised into five zones such as south, north, central, east and west. The sampling method adopted here was convenience sampling. The data were collected through well-structured interview schedule and information was collected the people who purchased khandsari sugar. Chi-square test was used to analyse the consumption pattern of khandsari sugar whereas for consumer willingness to pay regression analysis was use.

Findings:

Income status of the sample respondents showed that average income peoples preferred to purchase khandsari sugar and were medium sized families.

The consumption usage of khandsari sugar by the sample respondents revealed that, income was the main factor which influenced to consume more khandsari sugar

Consumer willingness to pay for khandsari sugar resulted that, the maximum chance of consumer willingness to pay for purchase of khandsari sugar was family type and the minimum chance of consumer willingness to pay for purchase of khandsari sugar was family size.