Clustering of Thai Confectionery Consumers by Personal Characteristics, Marketing Mix, Buyer’s Decision Process and Buyer’s Response

Abstract

This research aimed to categorize Thai confectionery consumers based on personal characteristics, marketing mix, purchase decision process, and buyer’s response. It was quantitative research by collecting data from questionnaires. The sample was 421 Thai confectionery consumers in Thailand.

The study found that Thai confectionery consumers can be grouped into 4 groups, with the largest volume in the fourth group (33%). This group of consumers were all females (100%) which were more than half of Gen Y (66.9%), single (76.3%), with bachelor's degrees (71.9%). The most consumers were employees of private companies (53.2%), lived mostly in the south (54%), and mainly decided to purchase Thai confectionery by themselves (61.2%). There were a variety of Thai confectionery preference and the most favorite were Pinched gold egg yolk, Golden drop, Golden thread, Jackfruit seed (32.4%). The average expenditure on Thai confection per purchase was 100-300 baht (71.2%). Notably, this group purchased Thai confections exclusively from specialized shops (100%) and preferred cash for payment (51.8%). In addition, consumers in this group valued the marketing mix more in Process, Place, and Physical evidence than other groups in terms of the purchasing decision process found that consumers in the fourth group had a higher level of opinion about the decision-making process than other groups in all aspects showed that the consumers truly value and love the consumption of Thai confectionery.