Salted and preserved duck eggs: a consumer market segmentation analysis

Area of Science:

• Food marketing
• Consumer behavior analysis
• Ethnic food markets

Background:

• Increasing ethnic diversity and consumer demand for local foods create opportunities in the ethnic foods sector.
• The study focuses on the ethnic Chinese market for salted and preserved duck eggs in Vancouver, BC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a market segmentation model for duck eggs based on consumer attitudes and product attribute importance.
• To define consumer segments using acculturation score, demographics, and purchasing behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Survey data from 410 randomly selected Vancouver households with Chinese surnames.
• Principal component analysis and 2-step cluster analysis for market segmentation.
• Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests to analyze segment differences.

Main Results:

• Identified four market segments: Enthusiasts, Potentialists, Pragmatists, and Health Skeptics (for salted eggs), and Neutralists (for preserved eggs).
• Significant differences found in attitudes and attribute importance across segments.
• Segments showed bias against Chinese imports and generally did not perceive eggs as 'Healthy Products', except for Enthusiasts.
• Lower acculturation scores correlated with specific segment preferences and a higher willingness to pay a premium (≥10%) for BC-produced eggs.

Conclusions:

• Opportunities exist for local producers and processors targeting the ethnic Chinese market in BC.
• Chinese Canadians with lower acculturation scores represent a key potential market segment.
• Emphasis on local production (BC-produced) significantly increases consumer satisfaction and willingness to pay for duck eggs.