Purchasing Decisions and Consumer Behavior in BoP- Albanian Reality

Poverty is a rather complex phenomenon combining several dimensions. One of the best approaches to define poverty is perhaps just to ask ordinary people how they would define it and list what features they perceive as most important. Many studies have been made about customer behavior, but few have dealt with the bottom of the pyramid. The World Bank defines extreme poverty is living on less than $1.90 per day, whereas poverty is defined as living $2–$5.5 per day. According to data from the World Bank over 2016 published in its recent Migration and Mobility report, 5.8% of the Albanian population lives in extreme poverty, while 34% live in poverty. About 25% of Albanians are living with less than US$ 2 per day. On a daily basis, the poorest people (representing 5% of the total population) struggle to eat adequately. More than half the population also lives in rural areas, where the poverty rate is 66% higher than in the capital – Tirana. Such a situation is partly explained by the lack of non-farm job opportunities. To cut the effects of poverty, the state provides economic aid to this category of people. The full amount of family economic assistance, regardless of its composition, can not be higher than 8,000 lek or US $ 65 per month. In our study, we focused only on one city of Albania (Permet). From the data of the institution dealing with the registration of the poor and the distribution of economic aid, 244 families received economic assistance at this institution. 45 questionnaires were conducted, out of which 40 were valid and were further studied to get a descriptive approach about the behaviors and habits of these consumers. The questionnaire consists on 21 closed questions, mainly about purchasing decisions and habits using Likert’s scale (5 scales) according to which: 1-not important to 5-extremely important. Data analyses point out the main factors affecting purchasing decisions for BOP customers, such as: the place where they usually buy the products, the frequency of purchase and the most purchased type of food. Most BOP consumers do not adapt to the new products, they do not want to read the instructions on the packaging or reluctant to try new products because they underestimate yourself. Respondents give priority to the senses of touch, sight and wind in purchasing food products and, unlike other consumers do not focus on packaging and product advertising, but want to have on hand and see the product. The main criteria for buying a food product for these customers are the quality and the price. This means that the survival consumers seeking affordable products but are not willing to sacrifice quality. Respondents do not feel a bond or strong brand loyalty. It is assumed that the poor can not afford being loyal to the brands but they just want to satisfy their basic food needs and tend to give priority to price and quality. So the brand's impact is not important in choosing food products for survival customers.