POPULARITY FACTORS IN BAKERY BUSSINESES IN BAYAMBANG

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The history about bread dates back to ancient Egypt, for over 10,000;

where they used to crop grains along the Nile River for bred production.

Although such food was used as compensation forms at work, they were

found to be basic and showed a social importance (Franklin, 2013). It

believes that for around the year 2500 BC, bakers began producing the first

fermented breads.

However, according to Ramos (2011), the oldest evidence of

fermented bread consumption was also found in ancient Egypt and date back

to around 3000 BC. In addition, some historians state that the yeast was

used for bread-making purposes in the prehistoric period. Bread production

became a profession, and its sale in large scale gave rise to bakeries. Santos

(2012) points out that bakeries spread throughout the world in the twelfth

century, the occasion on which France became the world center for the

manufacture of luxury breads. At the same time, new baking techniques and

bakery improvements were studied in Italy. Thus, Italians are found to be

responsible for bakery business in Brazil, which established typical bakeries

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in the nineteenth century; firstly, in the State of Minas Gerais, and later

throughout the country

Bakeries have passed through several changes from their appearance

to the present. These changes were in terms of physical structure,

production systems, kind of products, service that they provide, and many

others. Some of these changes result from a natural response of bakeries

when they face demands resulting from transformations occurring in the

market. Souki (2013) points out that today’s world changes extend to the

political, economic, cultural, social and technological spheres, resulting in

new market trends, as well as affecting food consumers and their

consumption pattern. This author also states that such changes urge

organizations to review their structures, operating strategies and

management paradigms so that they can continue competitive.

According to Baguio et. al. (2016), a bakery is a

place where products such as bread, cake, and pastries are baked or sold

and also called bakeshop. The combination of flour, yeast, water, salt, and

sugar are known as the main ingredients of bread that can help us to have a

small bakery and to serve other people. We all know that the bakery

products have been popular around the world and are one of the oldest

artificial foods. It started with a simple biscuit, the common products of

bakery and it is also can be different in their shapes, size, style, flavor and

textures. You can add other ingredients like fruits, colors or other to improve

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the flavor of your bread. There is something in bread that can appeal

customers, but the question is how and why the bakery owners can do it?

Bread is the primary product of bakeries. Bread is a Spanish heritage

wheat to the Filipinos. Spaniards brought in wheat flour as well as the

techniques of making bread. As time passed by, Filipinos eventually love to

eat bread in the morning and during snacks rather than eating rice because

bread helps people to lose weight. According to a study, people on a lower

-calorie diet that include whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, lose

more belly fat than those who ate only refined grains such as white bread

and white rice, (Lopez et.al, 2019).

In the demand of a bakeries products to consumers popularity is one

factor that is important. how does one gain popularity? What are the

variables that re needed to gain such popularity and what are the indicators

that a certain business is popular? This study is anchored on these questions

and would like to identify the popularity factors of bakery business in

Bayambang. How is popularity attained and what are the advantages and

disadvantages of gaining such popularity?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

In the conduct of this study the Maslow's hierarchy of needs will be its

theoretical framework. According to Hopper (2020), Maslow's hierarchy of

needs is a theory by Abraham Maslow, which puts forward that people are

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motivated by five basic categories of needs: physiological, safety, love,

esteem, and self-actualization.

In this theory, higher needs in the hierarchy begin to emerge when

people feel they have sufficiently satisfied the previous need.

Although later research does not fully support all of Maslow’s theory,

his research has impacted other psychologists and contributed to the field of

positive psychology.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This related studies and literature as reviewed in this study

significantly contributed to the conceptualization and formulation of the

research framework to the factors that are related to popularity of bakery

businesses in Bayambang, Pangasinan. Concepts that popularity is one of

the key factors of selling products and that in attaining popularity a business

has to ascertain some key variables or indicators sand that on the other

hand such popularity may have advantages or disadvantages?

It is through that the mentioned concepts that pushed the researcher

to study factors that affect the popularity factors of bakery businesses in

Bayambang, Pangasinan as shown in the paradigm below.

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PARADIGM OF THE STUDY

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES PROCESS

DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Profile of the
Respondents
A. Age Perceptions of
B. Gender Respondents
C. Civil Status On the Bakeries in
SURVEY terms of
D. Address
E. Highest Educational
QUESTIONNAI a. Popularity
Attainment RE b. Quality of products
F. Nature of Work c. Pricing of products
Profile of the Bakeries d. Marketing Scheme
A. Years in Operation e. Location of the
B. Location business
C. Products
D. Marketing
strategies
E. Pricing

The paradigm of the study shows the dependent variables which are

the indicators that respondents may perceive in the popularity of a bakery

business. These factors may be affected by the respondents’ profiles which

are the age, gender, civil status, address, highest educational attainment

and nature of work. The popularity of the bakery business may also be

affected by the bakeries profile in terms of years of operation, location,

products, Marketing strategies and pricing.

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The purpose of this study is to determine popularity factors of bakery

businesses in Bayambang, Pangasinan. Specifically, it aims to answer the

following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following

variables:

1.1 Age,

1.2 Gender,

1.3 Civil Status,

1.4 Address,

1.5 Highest Educational Attainment, and

1.6 Nature of Work?

2. What is the profile of the bakery businesses in Bayambang, Pangasinan

in terms of:

2.1 Years in Operation,

2.2 Location,

2.3 Products,

2.4 Marketing strategies,

2.5 Pricing,

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 3. What is the perception of the respondents in the status of the bakery

business along the following:

3.1 Popularity,

3.2 Quality of Products,

3.3 Pricing of products,

3.4 Marketing Scheme, and

3.5 Location of the Business?

4. Is there significant difference in the perception of the respondents

when grouped accordingly by their profile?

5. Is there a significant relationship between the perception of the

respondent sand the profile of the bakery businesses?

6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a popular

business?

HYPOTHESIS

The following null hypothesis will be tested at .05 level of significance.

1. There is no significant difference in the perception of the respondents

when grouped accordingly by their profile?

2. There is no significant relationship between the perception of the

respondent and the profile of the bakery businesses?

3.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is about the popularity factors of bakery business in

Bayambang, Pangasinan would benefit many people. These people are as

follows:

Bakeries – This would be able to help them know the current status of their

business in certain indicators used in this study.

Consumers – This research would be able to let the consumers know what

are the variables that need to be considered in choosing a bakery to buy

from.

Future Researchers – In the coming years, there will be students or

researchers who will be studying related topics like this study. The research

will complement and will contribute to future researches as one of the

Related Literature.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

This study would primarily deal on the popularity factors and other

related variable’s and indicators among bakery businesses in Bayambang,

Pangasinan for the year 2020. The respondents would be conveniently and

randomly selected customers of the different Bakeries in Bayambang,

Pangasinan.

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DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following terms are hereby definer operationally as they are used

in the study.

Address. Refers to the location from where the customer resides.

Age. Refers to the number of years a person is living from its birth.

Civil Status. Refers to the marital status of the respondent classified

into single, married, widow or separated.

Gender. Refers to the sexuality of the respondents classified into male

or female

Highest Educational Attainment. Refers to the finished course of

formal education attended by the respondent.

Location or Location of the Business. Refers to the place where

the bakery business is situated or operates its business.

Marketing Scheme or Marketing strategies. Refers to the

different marketing strategies used by the bakery in promoting their

products such as promotional activities and promotional media

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 Nature of Work. Refers to the work of the respondent classified into

categories such as government employee, private business employee, Labor-

workforce, self-employed or Agriculture related

Popularity Refers to the fact that something or someone is liked,

enjoyed, or supported by many people (https://dictionary.cambridge.org), in

this study refers to the degree of likeness or support to a certain Bakery in

Bayambang, Pangasinan.

Pricing or Pricing of products. Refers to the amount of many in

exchange of the bakery products.

Products. Refers to the different products offered in a bakery such as

bread, cakes, pastries and others.

Quality of Products. Refers to the superiority and value of the

products

Respondents – Students or persons who gave answers to the

questionnaire floated by the researchers.

Years in Operation. Refers to the number of years the Bakery has

been operating since it started.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES AND LITERATURE

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 This chapter of the research deals with the foreign and local literature

and studies that will make the present study more profound. Such includes

theses, journals, dissertations, reviews, books, articles and their other online

sources.

Foreign

Consumer Behavior and Buying Decision Process

According to Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2013, p. 06), consumer

behavior has traditionally been defined as a basket of options consisting of

activities by means of which people obtain, consume and offer products and

services. The bakery sector is contained among the largest industries of

Brazil, which consist of approximately 63,000 companies that attended about

41.5 million customers in 2014 (ITPC, 2015).

This sector consists of bakery industry, as well as bakeries, which are

considered to be retail stores particularly for food selling. In addition, the

bakery industry environment shows a fierce competition every day, due to

the entry of new bakeries and other competitors such as supermarkets,

grocery stores, coffee shops, bars, convenience stores, and many others. The

food consumers, however, become more demanding (REZENDE, 2013),

spurring bakeries to develop a continuous improvement process. Thus,

reviews for the current state of understanding of bakery sector has

approached about various consumer behavior facets (GRILLO, 2014).

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 Regarding the consumer behavior field of study, researchers such as

Bevilacqua (2013), described the model for the purchasing decisions

process, outlined in Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2013). The model

developed by Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2013, p. 73), shows that the

purchase decision process consists of the following stages: (i) recognition of

the need; (ii) information search process ; (iii) evaluation of pre-purchase

alternatives; (iv) purchase; (v) consumption; (vi) evaluation of post-consumer

and disposal stages.

Li and Wang (2014) researched about the buying decision process in

bakeries that adopted this model, and they also found that consumers goes

typically through these stages, although they are affected by environmental

factors (culture, social class, reference groups, etc.) and individual factors

(beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, etc.).

Fagundes et al. (2012), Santos et al. (2013) point out about the

existence of five roles played by individuals during the purchase decision

process. In the same sense, Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2013) highlighted

that the initiator is the person who suggests the buying of a product or

service, and gathers information that help in the decision making process.

The influencer is the person whose views influence the decision making

process. The decision-maker is who decides what, how and where to buy a

given product or service. The buyer is who makes the purchase, and the user

is the person who uses or consumes the product or service. The first stage of

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the purchase decision process is, according to Blackwell, Miniard and Engel

(2013, p. 74), the need recognition, which “occurs when the individual feels

the difference between what he or she perceives to be the ideal versus the

current state of things.”

According to Sheth, Mittal and Newman (2011), the identification of the

need may arise from internal or external stimuli. The internal stimuli start

with the erception of the discomfort of physical and/or psychological nature,

which becomes impulses. The external stimuli are impulses caused by

external agents, revealing a need that was not previously perceived. These

authors also describe that external stimuli are usually caused by market

actors such as advertisements, advertising or influential groups that are

found along with the individual such as neighbors, co-workers or family

members. For baked goods containing conventional, organic and / or

genetically modified components, Aerni (2011) shows the influence of the

public opinion, media and social groups in the buying process and consumer

willingness to pay. Giraldi and Tagnin (2013), and Alves, La Falce and De

Muylder (2013) well describe the importance of these stimuli, which is the

trigger for all other stages in the on-screen model for the purchase decision

process. The second stage is known as for information search. In this stage,

the consumer can perform searches on his memory (internal search) or

external sources of information (external search). The internal search occurs

when consumers demand information on their prior knowledge about

products, services, companies, brands or businesses acquired over time,

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including the buying and consumption past experience. The external search

is characterized by information found from the search carried out in various

sources such as radio, newspapers, magazines, television, Internet,

billboards, and many others. In addition, sources for the external search also

consists of relatives, friends, co-workers, experts and other opinion-forming

groups able to influence consumers decisions (BLACKWELL; MINIARD; ENGEL,

2013). The third step in the buying decision process is called evaluation of

alternatives. Souki et al. (2010).

Therefore, evaluations obtained from the memory or new reviews,

based on information obtained by means of internal or external search, help

in the consumers choice process. Regarding the competition strategy at the

baked goods market, Tavares and Castro (2013) highlight the important of

the perception of buyers about a given product, for example about its price,

quality and services provided. At this stage, images and mental associations

are used by consumers to affect the choice process of products, whereas the

quality and value are crucial in their purchasing options (RECHE et al., 2013).

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Local

The Bread, Baking and Pastry Industry (BBP Industry)

The baking industry, in all developed countries consists of four

segments: retail, wholesale, instore and food service. Wholesale bakeries are

the backbone of this industry.

A retail bakery is a low-volume facility, where a variety of baked goods

are produced and sold to consumers from the same location. Many retail

bakeries are now offering whole-grain and multigrain breads, but flavor

continues to be a priority among retail bakery consumers.

The wholesale baking industry sector consists of three segments: cake,

bread and related products, frozen bakery products and crackers and

cookies. A wholesale bakery is typically equipped with extensive production

facilities and reaches consumers through retail locations, such as grocery

stores and food stores (Cauvain and Young, 2016, pp.5).

In-store bakeries are found in grocery stores and are relatively small

but offer a substantial range of fresh baked products, with increasing

amounts of whole-grain breads being produced.

Baked goods in the food service sector are those served in restaurants

and cafeterias, and they are generally produced by a wholesale bakery.

The weak economy associated with the past decade has reduced retail

bakery sales, as well as sales for in-store bakeries and food service

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companies. Today's consumers prefer to purchase their baked goods at

wholesale club stores.

The basic trends in BBP product innovation are related to Health,

Pleasure and Convenience. Convenience largely relates to changes in the

social habits, increased working hours for women, changing household

structures. Consumers have no time to cook, to shop or to prepare their

foods (Cauvain and Young, 2006, pp.18).

For 'Pleasure' positioning there are identified three clear routes for new

products 'novelty and fun', 'ethnic and exotic' or 'indulgent and premium.

Pleasure accounted for half of all new launches and was the dominant trend

years ago.

Actually, health trend is a relevant drive for innovation in the BBP

industry. Consumers perceive many bakery products like as healthy and

these that are seen as indulgent, such as cakes and pastries, are often

successful when given 'low and light' features - thus allowing for 'guilt-free

indulgence' (Global business insights, 2011).

In the Philippines, in 2010 bakery industry processed 455,000 Tm in

products with a value of 1,000,000 Php with a turnover annual growth of

approximately 10 %. Commercial distribution in each area. Fresh sliced

bread and cakes are the most important products in the Filipino market

(Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), 2018).

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Health as driver for innovation: Building health with BBP products?

The study of Fertnandez (2019), when analyzing the growing number

of new products innovations launched each year related to health topics; it

seems that food companies are searching for new ways to attract new

conscious consumers. In relation to these strategies, two trends have been

identified:

• Functional ingredients: During the past years, a large number of

scientific studies had been published outlining a direct association between

unbalanced diets and rising incidences of chronic health-related issues,

including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. This international

debate has launched a rapidly rising, increasing investment in industry for

research in products with nutritionally value-added ingredients that promote

health and wellness (Maric et al, 2019).

Mostly, the innovations in BBP were designed aiming at for more

healthful products by including more whole grains, fiber, prebiotics and

probiotics, or antioxidant ingredients. Consumers now, have an increasing

interest in food that promotes and maintains energy, enhance satiety, or

make consumers feel full after eating. This demand gives BBP industry

added opportunities to develop products containing new functional

ingredients compliant with these requirements (Dela Cruz, 2018).

Gluten- and allergen-free BBP products: The percentage of population

affected by food allergies is not known accurately since the definitions differ,

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but it has been estimated in the range of 2-10% and it is more frequent in

children than in adults. Although any type of food can cause an allergic

response, 90 percent of all reactions are caused by eight allergens: peanuts,

tree nuts, eggs, milk, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. Unfortunately, traditional

baked products rely on many foods listed as allergens, especially wheat-

based flour, the trigger for celiac. This poses a challenge for both the

ingredient and production sides of the plant (Hüttner, E.K., Arendt, 2010).

Convenience and Pleasure in BBP products: new ideas for innovation

Fresh BBP products are affordable treats for consumer. The markets

observers offer some trends that apply to convenience products in the future

ahead for BBP industries (Suarez, 2016):

• Cupcakes. This bakery trend follows with power; cupcakes are still

extremely popular with consumers.

• Bakery on a stick. Similar a cupcakes, Cake pops, which are bite-

sized round cakes on a stick decorated with fun designs, are popping up in

bakeries and coffee houses everywhere. They’re cute and easy to eat on the

run.

• Innovative doughnuts. Bakeries are offering doughnuts topped with

nostalgic treats, like Fruit Loops and toppings, and innovative flavors. •

Savory. Fresh bakery is a draw through all day parts: Stromboli, pizza rolls,

croissants and other products can be customized with cheeses, meats,

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vegetables and other savory ingredients for taking during lunch, dinner and

snack times.

• Play with portion size. If consumers must see pastries as a lower-

calorie option, they will purchase more than one.

• Go local and seasonal. BBP products can appeal to regional and

ethnic tastes, and they can be customized for the season.

• Perfect Pies. Pies can be offered in all shapes and sizes, ready-to-go,

including if necessary, beverage.

• Pretzels and sticks. Different and innovative ingredients may be used

for making pretzels or sticks using as a meal in themselves.

• Specialty bread. The consumer palate for better bread has expanded.

A wide variety of artisan and specialty breads, par-baked and frozen dough

bread products are available for convenient, in restaurants, c-stores, or

retailers bake-off production.

• Fashion flavors. Salty/sweet, sweet/spicy and tropical fruits are just a

few of the nontraditional flavors for innovation in BBP industry.

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 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This Chapter of the study presents the research design and the subject

of the study. Furthermore, the research instrument and validation

procedures used in this study were likewise discussed.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This research will utilize descriptive and quantitative research design

to obtain information among the respondents of the study who are the

customers and the bakeries of Bayambang, Pangasinan

LOCALE AND POPULATION

This study will be conducted at Bayambang, Pangasinan for the year

2020. The respondents are 100 conveniently and randomly selected

customers of the selected four (4) bakeries in Bayambang, Pangasinan. The

researcher will utilize a questionnaire for gathering data about the

respondents of the study.

Furthermore, intensive library researches, interviews and legworks are

to be done to be able to gather sufficient data to answer and address the

problem of the study.

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DATA GATHERING TOOL

The main data gathering tool that the researchers shall use in this

research is the questionnaire checklist.

This will be administered by the researchers, after that the researchers

shall make a letter of request to be signed by Dr. Rowel A. Crisostomo,

school director of Perpetual Help College of Pangasinan for the permission of

conducting the study. Each respondent shall be given a copy of the sample

questionnaire, and possible effects shall be determined by checking the best

rating. The results will be the bases of computing which popularity factors.

STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF DATA

After the distribution and collection of questionnaires, the researchers

will gather data. These will be treated statistically, as follows.

For specific problem number 1,2 and 6 frequency counts and percentage will

be used. The formula for percentage is as follows:

nf
P= x 100%
N

where: f = number of frequency

X = weight in each frequency

N = total number of respondents

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 To answer specific problem number 3 on the perceptions of the

respondents, Average Weighted Means (AWM) was utilized. The formula for

AWM is shown below.

AWM =
∑ ❑ f iXi
N

The obtained AWM will be interpreted using the following scale:

Scale Value Descriptive Equivalent

3.27 -4.00 Strongly Agree (SrA)

2.52-3.26 Agree(A)

1.76- 2.51 Slightly Agree (SlA)

1.0-1.75 Disagree (D)

To test the null hypothesis “There is no significant difference in the

perception of the respondents when grouped accordingly by their profile”,

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) will be utilized, while to test the hypothesis

“There is no significant relationship between the perception of the

respondent and the profile of the bakery businesses”, Chi-square test will be

used. Both procedures will be done through Statistical Packages for Social

Sciences (SPSS) Software.

To answer specific problem number 6 on the advantages and

disadvantages of being popular, percentage and ranking will be utilized.

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