Tea Consumption Behavior of Undergraduates in Uva Wellassa University: The Theory of Planned Behaviour Approach

Abstract

Sri Lanka has a history of more than 150 years of tea production and consumption. The country produces tea mainly for exportation and in year 2012 Sri Lanka has produced about 320 million kilograms of tea and about 6 million had been consumed locally. The consumption of tea has taken a momentum in the world market with the widespread dissemination of novel findings about the functional benefits of teas so that it is perceived as a healthy beverage. However, there have been many other beverages available in the market today including soft drinks dominated by the cola drinks, coffee and hard drinks which are severely competing with the tea in the beverage market. Tea as a beverage has been slowly modifying its versatility to best suit with the changing needs of the present day consumers. That has been a greater disadvantage when it comes to compete with other beverages which are very readily changed its characteristic to best suit the need of the consumers. The trend of consuming beverages other than tea is wide spreading and it is significant among the youth that would definitely affect the tea market significantly in times to come. If it is to consolidate the demand for tea, it is very important to promote the tea among youngsters. Considering the timely need of promoting tea among youth, this study was designed to identify the determinants of tea consumption behavior among youngsters which is paramount important in developing propaganda activities to promote tea. There are number of theories and models have been developed to understand the consumer behavior and each of those theories and models are accompanied with its own merits and demerits. Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) proposed by Ajzen (1975) was used in the study considering its vasality and strenth to unveil the comsumer beaviour more comprehensively. The TPB framework explains that attitudes, subjective norm andperceived control belief influence behavioral intension which in addition to actual control influences subsequent behavior. Attitude reveals the degree to which a person has favourable or unfavourable evaluation of the behaviour in question. Then the subjective norm uncovers the belief of other people concerning how the individual should behave in a given situation and perceived behavioural control construct summarizes the factors, either internal or external that can help or hinder the performance of the behaviour. Accordingly, the intention toward the tea consumption behavior is measured by gauging the Attitude, Subjective Norm and the Perceived behavioral control.