Consumers’ willingness to pay for lettuce in supermarkets and specialty shops in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study examines willingness to pay (WTP) for lettuce in supermarkets and specialty stores in Ilorin, Nigeria. A two-stage sampling technique was used to select 250 respondents from two supermarkets and two specialty stores in the study area. Data were collected with structured questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics and Tobit regression. Results showed that 79.2% of the shoppers were willing to pay for lettuce in such shops. The mean WTP for a bundle (averaging 0.5kg) of lettuce by the respondents was N640.50, in constrast to the current price of N1000.00 per bundle in the study area. The significant variables that positively influenced the consumers’ WTP were age (p < 0.01), access to food safety information (p < 0.05), number of teenagers in the household (p < 0.05), household composition above 60 years (p < 0.01) and nutritional knowledge of food planner (p < 0.01) while importance attached to price negatively affected it (p < 0.01). Therefore any food security policy involving sales of lettuce in supermarkets and specialty stores should be made in a way that the price should not be greater than N640.50 per bundle. Also, policies aimed at improving access to food safety and nutritional knowledge of household’s food planner should be put in place by the government and other food security agencies.

Description

Keywords

Food security, lettuce, policies, shoppers, willingness to pay

Citation

2. Omotesho, O. A., Falola, A., Omotesho, K. F. & Abikoye, A. S. (2016): Consumers’ willingness to pay for lettuce in supermarkets and specialty shops in Ilorin Metropolis, Nigeria. Centrepoint Journal (Science Edition), 22(1):36-49. Published by University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Available at https//www.unilorin.edu.ng/centrepoint

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