Research on Dairy Consumption of Rural Residents in Yanqing District of Beijing

Huidong GAO, Rao CHEN*, Weimin YANG, Shilong ZHANG

1. School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Agriculture/Beijing New Countryside Construction Research Base, Beijing 102206, China; 2. Library of Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, China

Abstract Taking the rural residents in Yanqing District of Beijing as the research object, through field investigations and interviews, it is found that the main characteristics, income and expenditure level, preference and cognitive level of rural residents are the factors that affect the dairy consumption behavior of rural residents. Using the bivariate regression model for empirical analysis, it is concluded that rural residents’ occupation, monthly average income, purchase expenditure and attitude towards dairy safety have a significant impact on rural residents’ dairy consumption behavior, and then relevant constructive suggestions are put forward to guide rural residents’ balanced consumption.

Key words Rural residents, Dairy consumption, Consumption behavior, Influencing factors

1 Introduction

The development of dairy industry in China started relatively late. When studying dairy consumption in rural areas, some scholars found that the consumption of dairy products in rural areas is obviously lower than that of urban residents due to the restriction and hindrance of income level, consumption habit, education level, consumption environment and policy support. In order to increase the dairy consumption of rural residents, Chinese scholars have further put forward some measures for enterprises and governments to release the potential consumption vitality of the rural dairy market. When studying the influencing factors of dairy consumption behavior, some scholars have confirmed that factors such as dairy product safety events, consumer family income and family structure, personal annual income, purchase frequency, shelf life and dairy product quality have a great impact on consumers’ consumption behavior. Based on the investigation of the relevant data of dairy consumption of rural residents in 10 towns and 4 townships in Yanqing District of Beijing City, this paper analyzes the main factors affecting the dairy consumption of rural residents, and then puts forward relevant suggestions.

2 General situation of dairy consumption of rural residents in Yanqing District

By using the method of multi-stage stratified random sampling, the following sample villages in Yanqing District were selected: Dafutuo Village, Dongsangyuan Village, Liubinbao Village, Xidazhuangke Village, Huangtuliang Village and Zhenzhuquan Village. A total of 304 questionnaires were collected. The content of the survey is mainly related to the main characteristics of rural residents, income level, cognitive level, consumer expenditure, consumer preference and willingness to buy and so on.

2.1 Consumer ageFrom the individual characteristics of rural consumers surveyed, the age of dairy consumers is concentrated in the age groups of 31-40 and 41-50 years, accounting for 38.95% and 32.37%, respectively. This shows that middle-aged people are the main group of people who buy dairy products in rural families, and from the analysis of the source of income, only 10.53% of the people’s income comes entirely from farming, indicating that non-agricultural income accounts for a high proportion of the income sources of rural residents.

2.2 Consumer income levelJudging from the income and expenditure level of rural consumers, 64.47% of those with a per capita monthly income of more than 4 000 yuan account for 64.47%, and those with a monthly income of less than 2 000 yuan only account for 10.53%. As China continues to adhere to the implementation of the accurate anti-poverty policy, it is obvious that the income of rural residents has been greatly increased, and the effect of the accurate anti-poverty policy is remarkable. In the purchase expenditure of dairy products, the monthly expenditure levels of rural residents are mostly concentrated in the range of 200-400 and 400-600 yuan, and the purchasing power of dairy products of rural residents shows a strong growth trend.

2.3 Consumption types and brands of dairy productsFrom the preference of rural consumers, it is mainly reflected in the choice of types and brands of dairy products. When buying dairy products, 197 rural residents choose more liquid milk (pure milk, yogurt, fresh milk), accounting for 64.8%, the people who buy milk powder (whole milk powder, infant milk powder,etc.) account for 31.6%, and the people who buy butter, cream, cheese and other products account for 12.6%. As a result, it can be found that the dairy consumption of rural residents is mostly concentrated in the purchase of liquid milk, and the consumption type is relatively simple, which has a lot to do with eating habits. At the same time, because they don’t know much about cheese and butter, and the price is on the high side, rural residents seldom consider buying them.

From the perspective of dairy brands purchased by rural residents, 256 people chose domestic brands, accounting for 84.2%, while only 15.8% bought foreign brands. This shows that rural residents are more willing to choose domestic brands, on the one hand, it reflects the trust in domestic brands, on the other hand, it also reflects the relatively low spending power of high-priced foreign brands.

3 Analysis of influencing factors of dairy consumption of rural residents in Yanqing District

Through the summary and analysis of the data obtained from the survey, it is found that the main characteristics of consumers, the level of income and expenditure, consumer preference and cognitive level and other factors have an impact on the consumption of dairy products of rural residents. In order to further study the influence of these factors on the dairy consumption behavior of rural residents, the paper uses the bivariate curvilinear regression model for empirical analysis.Yis selected as the explained variable andXas the explanatory variable. The regression model is constructed as follows:

Y=β0+β1X1+β2X2+β3X3+…+βnXn+ε

Further analysis is made by Stata 16.0, and the regression results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Regression results of bivariate logistic model

The regression results show that the four independent variables, occupation, monthly average income, expenditure on dairy products and consumers’ attitude towards dairy safety, are significant, indicating that the purchasing behavior of rural residents is greatly affected by these independent variables. The regression results of the other four independent variables are not significant. The exponential coefficient of the regression result of the bivariate logistic model can be interpreted as the relative willingness. When other conditions remain unchanged, the relative willingness of rural residents to buy dairy products increases by 1.852 515 times for every increase of 1 person in rural residents who are employees of public institutions; when other conditions remain unchanged, for every 1 yuan increase in the average monthly income of rural residents, the relative willingness of rural residents to buy dairy products increases by 0.999 690 2 times; when other conditions remain unchanged, for every 1 yuan increase in rural residents’ expenditure on dairy products, the relative willingness of rural residents to buy dairy products increases by 1.011 048 times; when other conditions remain unchanged, the relative willingness of rural residents to buy dairy products increases by 2.153 344 times for every additional person who is confident about the quality and safety of dairy products.

Through comparative analysis, the independent variables with significant effect (P<α=0.05) are occupation, average monthly income, expenditure on dairy products and consumers’ attitude towards dairy safety. The regression results of other independent variables are not significant, indicating that it has no significant effect on the dairy consumption behavior of rural residents. It is specifically reflected in the following aspects:

(i) The occupations of rural residents show a trend of diversification, and the number of farmers decreases. The occupation of rural residents is no longer limited to farming. On the one hand, with the transition of China’s agriculture from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, the widespread use of modern technology has reduced the demand for farmers. On the other hand, due to the policy of returning farmland to forest, part of the cultivated land of rural residents in the survey area is used to plant trees, which reduces the number of farmers to a certain extent.

(ii) Rural residents rely on industrial development, and their sources of income are diversified. With the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, residents in rural areas begin to develop various industries according to local conditions, and transfer to the secondary and tertiary industries, resulting in a continuous reduction of farmers.

(iii) The biggest factor affecting the consumption behavior of rural residents is the attitude towards the safety of dairy consumption. Among the four independent variables with significant effect, the consumer’s attitude towards the safety of dairy products has the greatest impact on the dairy consumption behavior of rural residents. From the regression results of the model, we can see that the more rural residents are satisfied with the quality of dairy products, the more rural residents will buy dairy products. Whether the quality of dairy products is safe or not has a direct impact on the purchase confidence of rural residents to a large extent.

4 Suggestions on speeding up the consumption of dairy products of rural residents

4.1 Paying attention to the demand of rural residents for dairy products and strengthening research and development

With the development of rural economy and the promotion of modernization, the process of rural urbanization is accelerating. We should pay attention to the consumption potential of rural residents and fully consider the huge growth space of rural dairy market. We should strengthen the research and development of products in the rural dairy market, produce dairy products suitable for rural residents, actively open up the rural dairy market, and release the potential purchasing power of rural residents.

4.2 Paying attention to shaping the good image of dairy enterprises and building up the purchasing confidence of rural residentsConsumers’ loyalty to branded dairy products is due to their high degree of trust. If a dairy company has a good corporate image, consumers will increase the purchase of dairy products of this brand. As the state has successively issued policies such asOutlineofthePlanfortheRectificationandRevitalizationoftheDairyIndustry,RegulationsontheSupervisionandAdministrationofDairyQualityandSafety, andNationalDairyDevelopmentPlan, the dairy market has gradually stabilized and consumers begin to restore confidence in the safe consumption of dairy products.

4.3 Disseminating knowledge related to dairy products through multiple channels to make up for the lack of awareness of rural residentsThe channel for rural residents to obtain dairy information is less convenient than that for urban residents. The government can make use of lectures, television and the Internet to actively carry out lectures on the nutritional value and safety of dairy products, gradually cultivate the consumption habits of rural residents, and guide rural residents to increase their consumption of dairy products. At the same time, in the pre-production link of dairy products, the government should ensure the safety of milk sources of dairy products, control the quality of feed, and ensure the quality and safety of inputs. In the production process, it is necessary to control the amount of food additives, preservatives and other additives. In the post-production link, it is necessary to strengthen the after-sales service of dairy enterprises and strengthen supervision and management.