Consumer Preferences for Quality Attributes of Rice: A Conjoint Analysis

Rice production in Sri Lanka has already achieved the self sufficiency status with an average per capita annual consumption of 110 kg. The production will be further enhanced with input supports, land expansion and technological breakthroughs. At the same time, the changes occurred in the Sri Lankan society such as increase in per capita income and urbanization have modified the consumer preferences. In this context, consumer preferences for different quality attributes of rice were assessed based on conjoint methodology. The appropriate attributes and levels were identified from a focus group discussion and subsequently a conjoint questionnaire was administered using a sample of 185 consumers under a fractional factorial design. ANOVA and part worth utility models were estimated. The relative importance of attributes was calculated using part-worths. ANOVA results indicate that of the four attributes, type, color and purity were significant, but price was not significant. Part worth estimates revealed that the purity is the most important attribute when selecting a type of rice.