Abstract
Edible oil is a critical component of food and a significant source of energy for human beings. Most households in Sri Lanka prepare daily meals with edible oils. However, the adulteration of cooking oil is abundantly taking place in the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the buying behavior of coconut oil consumers and their perception of regular and virgin coconut oils. Moreover, the relationship between the socioeconomic factors of Sri Lankan coconut oil consumers and their buying behavior was also investigated. Pre-tested questionnaires were administered to a total of 100 respondents, who were selected using simple random-sampling techniques in the Homagama divisional secretariats. Data analysis was carried out by means of descriptive statistics, important-performance analysis and the chi-square test.
The results obtained indicate that the majority of the consumers surveyed (54%) generally purchase regular coconut oil. Although a certain number of the consumers (10%) use virgin coconut oil, a significant percentage (30%) was found to use palm oil (vegetable oil) for meal preparation. Furthermore, a significant relationship was established between the socioeconomic factors of the respondent’s age and monthly income and their buying behavior of coconut oil. The consumers’ perception of regular and virgin coconut oils gave priority to the quality, appearance and information about the product ingredients when purchasing virgin coconut oil. Moreover, when purchasing regular coconut oil, the respondents gave priority to the price, availability and promotion of the product. A significant relationship was established between the respondents’ health issues and their coconut oil buying behavior. The consumers who had at least one family member suffering from cholesterol mainly purchased regular coconut oil and palm oil. Therefore, it is timely and important to increase the consumer awareness of the benefits of using virgin coconut oil instead of adulterated regular coconut oil or palm oil.