Two Essays on Chinese Consumer Preferences and Shopping Behaviors for Fresh Food

As China opens its market to the international community, more producers have started to seek opportunities in Chinese market. The rapid process of urbanization and the introduction of supermarkets has affected consumer preferences and behaviors in China. Chinese consumers not only purchase food from traditional farmers’ markets but also buy packaged grocery products. Furthermore, with the growing popularity of online shopping and availability of online payment platforms, consumers are no longer confined to shopping in physical stores. Instead, they are starting to buy products from websites, ranging from clothes, books, and electronic devices to fresh foods. This thesis was aimed at analyzing consumers’ preferences and behaviors in China and is comprised of two independent research papers. The first essay used a choice experiment to conduct the consumer survey to capture consumers’ willingness-to-pay for pork in different attributes. The second one investigated Chinese consumer’s online food shopping perception and behaviors and examined factors that influence their online shopping behavior through a consumer survey. Results from these two essays shed light on factors influencing Chinese consumers’ preferences and behaviors and can be adopted by pork industry producers and e-commerce industry to expand their business in Chinese market and by policymakers on food regulations and policies