The sustainability benefits of millets are well established, and the literature is witnessing an emerging body of work to evaluate factors affecting millet consumption. Previous studies recommend understanding motives and barriers to consumption for developing millet promotional strategies for demand creation. Subscriptions are envisaged to enable consumers to directly connect with millet producers and retailers, thereby removing several consumption barriers. The present study aims to assess the consumer perception towards subscription of millet-based products (MBPs) and their willingness to subscribe.
The study explores an amalgamation of three consumer behaviour theories, namely, Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour, Perceived Risk Theory and Theory of Consumption Value to assess consumer’s willingness to subscribe to MBPs. The study employs binary logistic regression to assess demographic factors and structural equation modelling to assess motives and barriers influencing consumers’ willingness to subscribe. Finally, the significant demographic factors are mapped against significant motives and barriers to results in a Consumer Trait Matrix.
Nearly 59% of the respondents are willing to subscribe. The higher the frequency of millet consumption, the higher the willingness. In terms of motives and barriers, “attitude towards millets”, “subscription attitude” and “past behaviour” have a positive influence on willingness to subscribe. In addition, “consumption motives” and “consumption barriers” significantly influence “past behaviour” of consumers.
The study contributes to advancing the research by assessing subscriptions as a strategy to promote millet consumption. Industry players can utilize the Consumer Trait Matrix for devising their marketing and communication strategies for millet promotion.
