Impact of Observable Quality Attributes on Hedonic Pricing of Mutton in Pakistan: Insights from Consumer Preferences

Abstract

Pricing of a product is vigorous for marketing strategies, which has a significant impact on the buying behavior of customers and businesses. The objective of the study is to identify the influence of diverse quality attributes of mutton on retail prices from customers' perspectives when they purchase mutton. For this purpose, the primary data were collected using a pre-tested well-defined questionnaire from the consumers of four major metropolitan cities of Pakistan i.e., Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Islamabad. The revealed preference theory is applied in the present study. The study used the hedonic price model considering log-linear functional form to evaluate the influence of mutton attributes on the retail price. The outcomes of this study reveal that place of purchase, meat color, hygienic condition, aroma, meat cuts, texture, juiciness, fat contents, and abattoir`s stamp are key variables that have an affirmative and substantial effect on the price of mutton at the retail level.  The results reveal that coefficients of hygienic condition, juiciness, and abattoir stamp have significant positive, whereas fat content has a negative effect on the price of mutton. The outcomes of this study will help the producers for product development with an appropriate mix of quality attributes of mutton. The implications of the outcomes have been conferred in the context of developing profitable strategies for the meat industry in an emerging country.