Abstract:
Among the different types of dairy products, the demand for fresh milk is extortionate.
Because, it is a nutritionally rich and precious human nourishment. After spreading a
rumor that the imported powdered milk contains pig fat, palm oil, and other harmful
chemicals for humans, Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA)
recommended consuming fresh milk instead of powdered milk. Under this backdrop, it is
prudent to answer the question of how Colombo district consumers’ perception has been
fabricated on purchase intention towards fresh milk packets. The general objective of this
study was to identify consumers’ perceptions of purchasing fresh milk packets. Further,
the study attempted to identify the factors influencing the consumer purchase intention for
fresh milk packets. The study adopted the stratified simple random sampling technique to
generate a sample of 650. The operational methodology for this study had three stages.
The first stage was the Exploratory Factor Analysis to identify the major factors that
influence the consumer purchase intention towards fresh milk packets. The second stage
was the Confirmatory Factor Analysis to confirm the identified major factors from the
Exploratory Factor Analysis. Finally, the Structural Equation Model was applied to
identify the relationships between the identified factors in the model. The study found that
perceived price, perceived packaging, perceived quality, brand name, and product
advertising positively influence consumer perception to purchase fresh milk packets.
Moreover, the study revealed that Perceived Quality is the most crucial factor in
consumer purchase intention. Therefore, the study suggested that fresh milk packets
production should focus more on quality. Hence, the companies should strict to maintain
the quality that the consumers in the Colombo district expect.
Keywords: Consumer purchase intention, Factor analysis, Fresh milk packets, Perceived
quality, Structural equation model
