The Impact of Consumer Attitudes towards the consumption of local brands; a case study of Highland brand food products in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This research study aims at identifying the impact of consumer attitudes towards the consumption of local food brands in Sri Lanka. There is a common belief among the Sri Lankan consumers that imported items are better than local products. Milk products of local brands (except the fresh milk) have been considered to be inferior to foreign brands by the consumers. The present research focuses on the study of Sri Lankan consumers’ attitudes towards highland brand food products. For this purpose, 106 respondents were selected by the cluster sampling method. Respondents were selected from all nine provinces in the island and the information was collected through a questionnaire and interviews. The findings show that only in Southern province the consumers have positive attitudes toward highland brand. The consumers from other provinces show preference for Anchor and other brands such as Lakspray and Nespray. Consumers from other provinces have the view that the promotional activities of the Highland brand should be improved. The quality should be enhanced and the production technology (especially for the full cream milk powder) should be improved to be on par with the other competitive brands. It can therefore, be concluded that the market share potential can be enhanced if the company would improve its operations