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Factors influencing the purchasing decision on bubble tea in Bangkok

Thesis · May 2020

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 Factors influencing the purchasing decision
on bubble tea in Bangkok
by

Suratcha Jongpradit 5906643605

Tricia Mae Kalingo 5906643357
Narisa Wongrungphakorn 5906643878

Submitted to

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dumrong Adunyarittigun

Business English Communication

International Program
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Thammasat University

Academic Year 2019

 ABSTRACT
Bubble milk tea, the famous beverage at this time, is still in high demand despite the
health effects that come from sugar and food additives contained in the ingredients. The research
aims to investigate the purchasing behavior on bubble milk tea despite the health effects of food
additives in Bangkok. Furthermore, this study seeks to examine consumers’ awareness of food
additives in bubble tea and to explore the underlying factors that influence consumers to
purchase bubble tea despite health effects from food additives. This study was conducted via
online-questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and observation. 304 consumers who purchase bubble
milk tea in the top 3 areas (Siam, Chitlom, and Silom) that have the highest number of bubble tea
stores in Bangkok, Thailand were conducted. 10 interviewees were conducted face-to-face in
front of bubble tea stores in 3 areas. Bubble tea customers were observed by their gender,
purchased menu, and purchased time. The findings indicated that the desire for sweetened
beverage factors influenced consumers to buy bubble milk tea the most. The findings illustrated
that customers took place factors as the most important among marketing mix factors. The study
indicated that the majority of people were not aware of food additives in bubble milk tea. The
result suggested that consumers still consume bubble milk tea because it’s delicious.

Keywords: Bubble tea, Boba tea, Bubble milk tea, Food additives, Sugar, Sugar-sweetened
beverage (SSBs)

INTRODUCTION
In the present time, the availability and easier access to bubble tea stores grow continually.
Bubble tea business in Thailand maintain to grow; the market value is at 2.5 million baht, which
the annual growth of the year 2011 is at 15% and anticipated to grow (Polpak, 2014). Which,
Bubble milk tea original flavor alone has a worldwide total market share of 44.14% in 2017 and
expected to grow in the next five years at 8460 US dollars. (Shukla, 2019). Meanwhile, the
dangers contained in this beverage are starting to spread through social media, creating
awareness to people about the liquid they consume. It was shown that the obesity rates in
Thailand have increased due to overnutrition and sugar consumption of the population
(Bhadrakom, 2019). To point out, a 16-ounce serving of boba milk tea exceeds the daily sugar
intake and contains at least 200-450 calories. (Millen et al., 2016). Causing from child obesity to
serious health illnesses caused mainly by sugar consumption such as diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, and certain kinds of cancers, high blood pressure, asthma, respiratory problems, sleep
disorders, and liver disease (Min, Green, & Kim 2016). However, not only sugar that contained
could cause harm in our health but also food additives that come from the boba of the bubble tea
too. The maleic acid comes with boba, a typical and cheap food additive. If you over-consume
maleic acid, it can lead to chronic kidney disease. (Gutiérrez, 2013). Therefore, it is essential and
our purpose of studying the factors influencing the purchasing decision on bubble tea in Bangkok
according to the marketing mix (4Ps) and let people know about the harm contained in their
favorite drink, bubble tea.
Although considerable research has been devoted to several factors, including marketing mix
(4Ps) that influence the purchasing decision, less attention has been paid to other factors that
influence customers to buy bubble milk tea regarding health effects. Many studies, moreover,
tended to focus on the growth of the bubble tea market worldwide, which is expected to
skyrocket to 100 billion by 2023 (Thaitrakulpanich 2019). Many studies on bubble tea were
conducted in Thailand; however, information on health effects from food additives in bubble tea
is lacking. However, it remains unclear whether consumers are aware of food additives in bubble
tea. Food additives can cause huge effects on health problems. It would thus be of interest to
learn factors that influence consumers to purchase bubble tea, regardless of the number of food
additives in the drinks.
This study aims to investigate the consumer buying decision of bubble milk tea in Bangkok
despite the health issue. Considering factors influencing people's perception of buying decisions
could help investigate customers' awareness of food additives added in beverages they consume.
As well as factors including the effects of the marketing mix (4Ps) on which drive them to buy
regardless of concern on the health impact caused by bubble milk tea.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this research is to investigate factors that influence the purchasing
decision on bubble milk tea despite health effects from food additives in Bangkok. The
sub-objectives of the study are to:
1. To investigate consumers’ awareness of food additives in bubble tea.
2. To explore the underlying factors that influence consumers to purchase bubble tea despite
health effects from food additives.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research questions for this study are:
1. Do perceptions of food additives affect the consumers’ purchasing decision of bubble
milk tea?
2. If consumers are aware of food additives in bubble milk tea, what other factors influence
the purchasing decision?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Global bubble tea market

The size of the global bubble milk tea market, where it has originated in Taiwan, has been
increasing for the past few years and is expected to escalate its growth rate for more than 8.5%
during 2018-2025 as forecasted (More, 2019). Moreover, clarification from Bharat Book Bureau
on the research that the bubble tea market includes a wide variety of bubble tea. For instance,
green tea, white tea, and oolong tea. Moreover, all of these types of tea are popular globally due
to habituation and familiarity with tea. Additionally, due to its popularity and a large amount of
consumption by people in their daily lives, the bubble tea market is expected to grow more than
double in the upcoming future. Moreover, as tea is used daily, most producers in the bubble tea
market focus on delivering cost-effective products. Low costs of almost all major products in the
bubble tea market makes it easy for consumers to familiarize themselves with different teas and
develop a consuming habit over time (More, 2019). Moreover, the global bubble tea market is
hugely competitive and fragmented. The major players in the global bubble tea market are well
established in their respective regions.

Demographic Characteristics of Consumers

Bubble tea consumers are mostly office employee females, age range from 20-30 years old with
individual income around 10,000-20,000 THB per month. Their purchase decisions are for
refreshment, and they consume around 4-6 cups a week in the evening. (Saesieo, 2016). Besides,
consumers who earned more than 55,000 per month would mostly drink more than 6 cups per
week in the afternoon (Potipeeranun, 2018).

Bubble tea menu

Menus, indeed, serve as the first impression for a consumer and have an impact on driving the
customer to purchase the item. (McCall & Lynn, 2008). Bubble tea is also known as bubble milk
tea and pearl milk tea. The chewy tapioca is the essential ingredient along with the basics of
regular tea. Tea can be assorted up to 10-25 flavors under three categories of teas, which are milk
tea, green tea, and red tea. However, the bestseller milk tea does not influence purchasing
decisions. Rather the additional price for topping influences purchasing decisions to the
consumer. To emphasize, some shops do not include boba into their menu; therefore, consumers
would need to add 5-10 THB for the toppings. Besides, the level of sugar that the shop provides
has an impact on the product and consumption decisions as well. (Saesieo, 2016).

Social media impacts

Social media is one of the factors that impact the correlation between customer behavior and the
volume of sales. It could indicate that online channel nowadays, has influenced how people live
and how they make their decision. Social media plays a significant role in putting the consumers
at the central role in business activities and provides a new aspect of tools for the interaction of
consumers. Vendors have to think about how social media has affected consumer buying
behavior (Madni, 2014). There is an increasing growth in using social media as communication
tools, as well as the importance and development of social media, has been growing, which made
it even more challenging (Civelek, 2009; Şener, 2012). Its effect takes a significant change in the
customer’s purchasing behavior. It is reasonable that it is aimed to analyze the influence of social
media on the buying decision of consumers in developing countries. This kind of investigation
could lead to knowing how social media is affecting consumers’ decisions when they are
purchasing a product that is influenced by social media (Civelek, 2009; Şener, 2012). Dann and
Dann (2011) showed that social media is structured upon the basis of interconnected
components, for example, communication media, content, and social interaction. Social media
provided a different dimension of information that people use to socialize, which makes it easier
to create communication flow. Moreover, many people can spread useful information with
several online audiences, and conversation leads to a worldwide effect (Dann and Dann, 2011).
Therefore, social media is widely used for creating brand awareness, increasing your audience
reach, and helping to build a relationship with your potential and existing customers.

Customer loyalty
Customer loyalty or repurchasing behavior is created through excellent products and services
from the company. When customers with brand loyalty purchase the products, they will
encourage others to buy the products as well. They also rethink when they have to buy products
from another company. The repurchasing of the products can generate higher sales and incomes
for the company (S. A. Sudari et al., 2019). Tight competition is developed from information
technology. Every company should apply the marketing mix to create customer loyalty and
attract customers. The marketing mix is the main factor that can influence both customer loyalty
and satisfaction (S. A. Sudari et al., 2019). S. A. Sudari et al. ’s study (2019) found out that price
affects customer satisfaction and customer loyalty the most, followed by place, promotion, and
product. They suggested companies, especially SMEs to focus on price management strategy to
increase the effectiveness of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Health effects
Bubble tea, one of the most favorite sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), is the cause of the
contribution of several diseases. Many institutions investigate these beverages, and they found
out that bubble tea contains high amounts of sugar and fat (Weil, 2012). Most of the
sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) exceed Dietary Guidelines for Americans and also increase
the risk of obesity. J. Min et al. (2016) experimented with calories in bubble tea, and they found
out that most of the bubble tea contains ingredients that exceed 500 calories which contribute to
25% of total daily calories. Bubble tea consists of many components, and the primary one is the
black tapioca boba balls. They are generally made from brown sugar, sweet potato, and cassava
starch, while white tapioca balls are made from caramel, cassava starch, and chamomile root,
which are less common. J. Min et al. (2016) informed that one serving (60 grams) of dry tapioca
balls are filled with 77.9 calories. J. Min et al. (2016) found out that a single-serve of a bubble
tea (473 ml.) and tapioca balls contain 299 calories and 38 grams of sugar. Sugar-sweetened
beverages (SSBs) do not replace calories from food, but they add more calories and increase total
caloric intake. They could result in weight gain and an increase in obesity rates. Malik et al.
(2010) and Bray and Popkin (2014) stated that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) could increase
body weight and type 2 diabetes and other diseases relating to obesity. Risk factors such as
sedentary lifestyle and obesity have a result in type 2 diabetes, which is a common chronic
disease. Type 2 diabetes causes significant health issues worldwide, which affect both
populations from developed and developing countries. Moreover, this disease has several
epidemiological characteristics. There is a report that type 2 diabetes keeps increasing in
developed countries such as Japan and the United States. Type 2 diabetes is also a severe
condition at a dangerous rate among developing countries. In the next 20 years, type 2 diabetes is
going to rise, especially in patients with age 45-64 years old who live in developing countries.
Children, teenagers, and adolescents have huge increasing rates of childhood obesity, which is
considered a common aspect; and, this is an urgent situation of the epidemic and a new public
health problem.

Marketing mix
1. Product
Design
 Frankly, bubble tea is a simple beverage with bubble or fruity flavors added, which has
two primary focuses: its container (mostly in a cup) and its actual bubble (Shchehula, 2017). The
appearance of container is that the opening part of the cup must be tightly sealed by a plastic
wrap material as well as the cup should be visible to allow customers to see what inside the drink
they are going to consume from the outside (Liang, 2012).

Quality
The quality of bubble tea mainly focuses on ingredients such as tea and bubble; it should
not be too sweet or sugary (Shchehula, 2017). This bubble tea drink is still generally expected to
taste more of tea than sugar, milk, or artificial flavor (Liang, 2012). Therefore, the Taiwanese
bubble tea shop allows customers to customize their preferred sugar level (e.g., 20%-100%)
(Liang, 2012). Moreover, essential ingredients should be imported from Taiwan as bubble tea
originated in this country, so they generally have a high quality of ingredients and the final
products (Liang, 2012). Nevertheless, the excellent quality of the bubble is that it should be soft
on the outside while giving a chewy texture from an inside (Liang, 2012).

2. Place
Bubble milk tea is usually sold directly to customers through a physical store, the
majority of this will be within the distribution channel, and using almost no mediator: people
order and grab their drink (Shchehula, 2017). Bubble milk tea shops in Thailand, for example,
kiosks and trolleys, are at every corner of retail shopping complexes, office buildings, train
stations, hospitals, universities, and business areas (Jitpleecheep, 2019).

3. Price
The price to pay has influenced customers’ perception of the purchasing decision
(Saesieo, 2016). Išorait (2016) argued that “price is perceived as the only element of the
marketing mix, generating revenue and the most important customer satisfaction and loyalty
factor.” Moreover, most of the customers perceive that value and price are highly related, “the
higher the price, the higher the value.” (Brillant et al., 2011). Not only offering competitive
prices, but the firms must match the price with the quality and quantity of the products. Thus, the
cost can also create customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, as well (Išorait, 2016).

4. Promotion
Promotion is an activity offering, selling, and recognizing the products to consumers.
Promotion must be attractive and can encourage consumers to buy and consume the products as
always (Išorait, 2016).
Special offers (Shchehula, 2017)
● Giving a discount
● Get free drink on your birthday
● User testing
Customers will be given away a free testing mini-cup of some popular products as well as
a new product that can motivate people to try, and if they like it, they will buy and come back
again (Shchehula, 2017).
METHODOLOGY
Participants
Considering that the study assesses the factors that affect the purchasing decision on bubble milk
tea in Bangkok, the population of the study is all consumers who purchase bubble milk tea in
Bangkok.

Sampling Method
The population of the study is all consumers who purchase bubble milk tea in Bangkok. The
exact numbers of people are undefined (Nayeem, 2017). The margin of error is 5%, with a
confidence level of 95%. Samples are calculated to 385 and added more than 15 samples to have
400 at the end. Non-probability sampling is applied in this study with 1 stage;
1. Select bubble tea stores’ areas for the survey (Purposive sampling). Siam, Silom, and
Chidlom are top 3 areas with the most significant numbers of bubble tea stores in
Bangkok (Nalinee, 2019) The total bubble tea shops of the three regions are 95 shops: 42,
31, and 22 respectively.

Instruments
In this study, online-questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and observation are used to collect
information.

Online Questionnaire
This method is selected to collect information about the factors influencing purchasing decisions
on bubble tea in Bangkok. We use the Google form to create an online questionnaire for a total of
4 parts, which composed of personal information, the bubble tea consuming behavior, the bubble
tea marketing factor affecting the buying decision, and the health effects of bubble milk tea — a
total of 14 items, ten items on purchasing choices, and four items on personal information
questions.
 Interview
A semi-structured type of interview is selected. In order to acquire more details about their
purchasing decision on bubble tea, this interview is via face-to-face following these questions
1. Why do you drink bubble milk tea?
2. How many cups of bubble tea do you consume a week?
3. Which level of sweetness do you usually order?
4. Who influences you to drink bubble milk tea?
5. Does marketing promotion affect your purchasing decision?
6. Do you know about food additives?
Further questions might be asked, depending on the situation. The interview should take
approximately 10-15 minutes with randomly selected interviewees. The participants would be
informed about the voice recorder and notes being recorded during the interview session, but
their identity would be kept confidential.

Observation
In this study, we will use the descriptive observation type. We will focus on observing the
demographics of those who purchase bubble tea and the behavior in buying bubble milk tea.
Everything that happened at the store will be noted down to collect information as much as
possible.

Data Collection and data analysis

The data were collected over a month in November 2018 to investigate factors that influence the
purchasing decision on bubble milk tea despite health effects from food additives in Bangkok.
The data were collected via an online questionnaire to investigate people’s opinions as well as
gain information about bubble tea consumption. Subsequently, completed the survey and SPSS
(a software package used for interactive, or batched, statistical analysis) was used to analyze
statistical information on factors influencing the purchasing decision on bubble milk tea.
Furthermore, consumers at bubble tea stores were observed, and ten were conducted by in-depth
interviews to gain more information apart from the observation.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

RESULT
Table 1. Personal Information of the Occupation Response Percentage
respondents
Students 185 60.9
Table 1.1 Age profile of the respondents
Government 16 5.3
n = 304 Officials

Age Response Percentage Office 69 22.7

Workers
-18 35 11.5
Business 9 3
19-25 199 65.5 owners
26-45 67 22 Freelancers 15 4.9
45-65 3 1 Unemployed 6 2
Total 304 100 Others 4 1.3

Total 304 100

Table 1.2 Gender profile of the respondents

Table 1.4 Income profile of the respondents
n = 304
n = 304
Gender Response Percentage
Income Response Percentage
Female 268 88.2
15,000 and below 152 50
Male 36 11.8
15,001-30,000 103 33.9
Total 304 100
30,001-50,000 28 9.2

50,000 and above 21 6.9

Table 1.3 Occupation profile of the
respondents Total 304 100

n = 304
Table 1 clearly shows that when it comes to
personal profile of respondents, 88.2% were
female at the age of 19-25 (65.5%). Most of
them are students and office workers with
60.9% and 22.7% respectively. 50% of
participants had income 15,000 and below
while 33.9% had income 15,001-30,000
Table 2 Bubble tea consuming behavior of Table 2.3 Level of sweetness ordered of
respondents respondents
Table 2.1 Factors influencing the Level of sweetness Response Perce
purchasing decision on bubble tea of ntage
respondents 125% 3 1

Factors Mean Scale 100% 57 18.8

Refreshing 4.04 Agree 75% 45 14.8

Desired for sweetened 4.16 Agree 50% 106 34.9

beverage
25% 88 28.9
Social media influence 3.65 Neutral
Total 304 100
Stress relief 3.89 Neutral

Level of sweetness 3.6 Neutral Table 2.4 Influencers of respondents

Amount of calories 3.35 Neutral Influencers Yes Percent No Percent
age age
Table 2.2 Cups of bubble tea per week of Family 53 17.4 249 81.9
respondents Partner 88 28.9 214 70.4
Cups Response Percentage Friends 226 74.3 76 25
1-2 229 75.3 Staff 23 7.6 279 91.8
3-4 52 17.1 Social 82 27 220 72.4
influencers
4-5 12 3.9
Celebrities 14 4.6 288 94.7
5 cups and 11 3.6
above

Total 304 100

Table 2 illustrates the data of bubble tea consuming behavior of respondents. The respondents
agree on the desire for sweetened beverage and refreshing as factors that influence respondents’
purchasing decision on bubble tea. 75.3% of participants drink bubble milk tea 1-2 cups per
week while 17.1% consume bubble milk tea 3-4 cups per week. They usually ordered at the
sweetness level at 50% (34.9%) and 25% sweetness level were ordered by 28.9% of respondents.
Surprisingly, more than half of respondents (74.3%) were influenced by friends. 28.9%
responded that they got an influence from their partner.

Table 3 Bubble tea marketing factors on Table 3.2 The influence of Price factors of
purchasing decision of respondents respondents
Table 3.1 The influence of Product factors of Price factors Mean Scale
respondents
The prices are 4.43 Agree
Product factors Mean Scale reasonable for the
quality of the drink
Tea’s scent 4.32 Agree
The prices are suitable 4.38 Agree
Variety of menus 3.94 Neutral for the amount of the
drink
Variety of toppings 3.66 Neutral
The prices are 4.29 Agree
Boba texture 4.45 Agree affordable for everyone
Quality of ingredients 4.61 Agree
Table 3.2 clearly shows that participants
Environmental friendly 3.75 Neutral
materials agree on all price factors: the prices are

Image of the drink 3.86 Neutral reasonable for the quality of the drink, the
prices are suitable for the amount of the
Table 3.1 points out the influence of product drink, and the prices are affordable for
factors of respondents. The respondents everyone.
agree on tea’s scent, boba texture, and
quality of ingredients as product factors that
influence them to purchase bubble milk tea.
Table 3.3 The influence of Place factors of Table 3.4 demonstrates the factors that
respondents influence participants to buy bubble milk

Place factors Mean Scale tea. The participants agree on advertising

and staff’s service.
Accessibility of bubble 4.51 Agree
milk tea stores Table 4 The influence of food additives in

Various purchasing 4.23 Agree bubble milk tea to respondents

channels Table 4.1 Respondents’ awareness on food
The store’s location is 4.51 Agree additives in bubble milk tea
convenient for service
Awareness Response Percentage

Table 3.3 shows the place factors that Yes 151 49.7

encourage respondents to consume bubble No 153 50.3

milk tea. The respondents agree on all the
place factors: the accessibility of bubble
milk tea stores, various purchasing channels,
and the store’s location is convenient for
service.
Table 3.4 The influence of Promotion factors
of respondents
Total 304 100
Table 4.1 illustrates respondents’ awareness
on food additives in bubble milk tea. The
result shows that half of the respondents
(50.3%) were not aware of food additives in
bubble milk tea while 49.7% of them were
aware of food additives.

Promotion factors Mean Scale

Advertising 4.42 Agree

Promotional menus 3.96 Neutral

Attractiveness of the 3.96 Neutral

storefront’s signs

Staff’s service 4.38 Agree

Customer loyalty 3.79 Neutral

program
 DISCUSSION
1. Personal profile of respondents based on age, gender, income and occupation.
As far as we had been observing customers at bubble milk tea store, female at the age between
19-25 years old has the majority of consuming this kind of beverage, while the consumption of
male gains less percentage. Most of them are students followed by office workers and
government officials, which relates to the incomes of participants that are falling between 15,000
and 30,000 baht per month.
According to the study of Saesieo (2016), most bubble tea consumers are female employees, age
range from 20-30 years old with individual income around 10,000-20,000 THB per month.

2. The consuming behavior of respondents on bubble milk tea.

Sugar-sweetened beverages vary in a large volume. However, the bubble milk tea stands out the
most, and its market share has been increasing for the past few years and is expected to escalate
its growth rate for more than 8.5% during 2018-2025 as forecasted. (More,2019). According to
the interviewees mostly responds to the reason for purchasing bubble tea more than other
sugar-sweetened beverages by their personal preference and their love towards bubble milk tea.
One of the interviewees mentioned, “I originally love drinking tea that contains milk” “Because
milk tea is different from other beverages because of the bubble, so it gives distinct texture,
unlike the others.”
Upon consuming bubble milk tea, most of the participants would consume 1-2 cups per week
with a 50-75% level of sweetness. When asked the interviewees about adding bubble tea in their
drinks, a large number of interviewees do not always add bubbles. An interviewee mentioned, “ I
only add bubble toppings sometimes, because the bubble tea can make me fat, so if that day I am
already full, I will avoid ordering it.” “ I do not normally order with bubble, I just start eating it
when it becomes a trend, but I will tell them to put only a small amount.” However, the least of
the interviewees also always add bubbles in their drinks as well.
 3. Bubble tea marketing factors on purchasing decision.
According to marketing mix factors including product, price, place, and promotion, it can be
analyzed from the survey that, firstly, people are concerned about product factors such as tea’s
scent, boba texture, and quality of ingredients the most. Nevertheless, a variety of toppings and
environmentally friendly materials do not consider concerning factors. Secondly, price factors
that relate to the quality of the drink are what respondents see as necessary — followed by a
suitable price for the amount of the drink. However, according to our findings, we asked one of
our participants, “if the price of bubble tea affects their buying decision or not,” they respond
“no” if the taste is right, then the price does not matter. Thirdly, the majority of people agree that
places where allow easy accessibility and the store’s location that is convenient for service are
one of the factors influencing them to buy. It is clear that, for example, in the Siam area where
there is a variety of bubble milk tea stores and is the central business district has a large number
of milk tea customers. Lastly, promotion factors such as advertising and staff’s service also have
an impact on their purchasing decision as well as the attractiveness of the storefront’s signs and
promotional menus. Moreover, when we ask “whether they agree that promotions such as a
discount or buy one get one free have any impact toward their buying decision or not,” the
responses “yes, it does.” This response is related to the previous study from Shchehula, 2017 that
giving a discount, get free drinks on your birthday, or user testing could motivate you to try, and
if they like it, they will buy and come back again.

4. Food additives in bubble milk tea.

Surprisingly, the survey shows that there is a slight difference in people realizing about food
additives in bubble milk tea. It shows that 50.3% of consumers do not know it. On the contrary,
49.7% of participants, which is a large number of people know about this issue, and according to
the interview session, most of the interviewees acknowledge about the health effects on bubble
tea as well via social media content sharing. However, they are still consuming bubble milk tea
in their daily lives. The reason why they continue drinking bubble milk tea is that it is delicious;
they are addicted to this, or as a stress reliever.
Interviewees revealed "I know about it, there were surveys published, but it seems that I still
can't stop, I still want to drink it, I cannot stop myself", "I acknowledge it, but didn't pay
attention because if we want to drink it, just drink it, if we think we might not be able to drink it
at all", or "The truth is I know about it, but I still can't deal with it, and because I like it, I will
overlook about this matter. I am not a very healthy concern type of person. To point out, "I still
can't stop drinking it" shows that their self-satisfaction escalates over the health concerning
problem that could cause them such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain kinds of
cancers, high blood pressure, asthma, respiratory problems, sleep disorders, and liver disease
(Min, Green, & Kim 2016).

IMPLICATION
The results provide new insight into factors encouraging buying behavior. It turns out that factors
such as the price does not play an essential role in motivating them to buy this kind of beverage.
On the contrary, significant factors that influence them to buy composed of a promotion, a taste
of the drink itself, social media impact, and the need to satisfy themselves. Moreover, factors
concerning health such as obesity or food additives do not matter or have any effect on their
purchasing decision. As shown in the interview, we asked about the promotion, whether it
impacts their buying decision or not. Most of the responses were ‘NO’; they were more reliance
on self-decision that they will buy whenever they want to or need space to sit.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

For further research, in order to gather more information, it is suggested that there should be an
appropriate amount of time to be able to collect the information needed. Furthermore, the
interviewer should ask more questions that would help to get an in-depth answer that benefits
researchers and avoid difficulty in determining the result.
LIMITATION

There was a potential limitation in our studies. First, we had time limitations, and we only had
three weeks to collect data information. Second, we calculated by sampling the total number of
participants for the online questionnaire at 400. Due to time limitations, we were able to collect
only 304 participants within three weeks. Third, we were unable to collect 40 interviewees as it
is 10% of the 400 participants. To point out, we were able to interview only ten interviewees who
might not be enough when compared to the number of questionnaire participants. Fourth, the
interviewees’ answers were somehow challenging to interpret. Lastly, we had tried giving
incentive rewards; however, we are still unable to reach our set target.

RECOMMENDATION

According to the research findings, A significant amount of the participants do not know about
the disadvantages that bubble milk tea contains. Some acknowledge the health effects, but they
still overlook this matter. We recommend that these health effects from this beverage should be
officially published by government officials not only the health effects from the sugar but also
the food additives to entirely create understanding and create awareness to the people.
REFERENCE

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Policy-Trends in Dietary Patterns and Consumer Policies in Thailand. Retrieved from

http://ap.fftc.agnet.org/ap_db.php?id=898.

Bubble Tea Market - Get Exclusive Report on Trends, Size, and Revenue Analysis with Forecast
to 2025. (2019, May 15). Retrieved from
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Appendices
Appendix A : Raw data
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