Abstract:
The increasing of turnovers and earnings of maize flour brands food companies depends on how
to suit offer on consumer’s expectation and location. This paper has assessed consumer
expectations on attributes of maize flour food, and help to locate consumers on consumption
chain. The study is based on data collected from 250 respondents in the city of Djidja, Benin.
Descriptive statistics, vector error correction model (VECM), Likert scale (LS) and average
propensity to consumption (APC) have been used in data analysis. Women were most (70%)
involved in the flour consumption chain in the study area. The VECM revealed relevant
attributes which were ranking with the LS from the most importance as availability, flour
cleanness, price, storage time, and the dryness stage. The APC shows that wealthiest
rerspondents were very exigents on attributes, refered to supermarkets as retail outlets and
belonged to low consumption segment; while the low and intermediate income respondents
were less exigents, purchassed flour brands food in small retail shops, flour kiosks/vendors and
road side outlets and were respectvely identified on high and intermediate consumption
segments. Findings contribute to improvement of marketing strategies including quality, supply
level and appropriate policy of maize flour brands distribution for consumer expectation
satisfaction.
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