Consumer Preference for Sesame Cold Pressed and Refined Oil in Northern Telangana Zone, India: Evidence from Binary Logit Model

Abstract

Sesame oil is consumed from ancient times for its extensive health benefits. Now a days cold pressed oils are more preferred than refined oil due to its high nutritional value. The study has made an attempt to know the consumers preference and the various factors influencing them for consumption of sesame cold pressed and refined edible oil in the Northern Telangana zone where sesame is produced and processed extensively. The data has been collected through predefined schedules from 60 consumers randomly who often visit 30 sesame processing units that were purposively selected from three districts Jagtial, Nirmal and Nizamabad from Northern Telangana zone. The collected data was analyzed through binary logit model. The results of the study revealed that Cold pressed sesame edible oil is more preferred by the consumers due to its high nutritional value and health benefits as compared to the refined sesame edible oil. It also showed that the major factors like odour, taste, word of mouth promotion, traditional usage, health benefits and high nutritional value were major factors influencing the consumers towards the consumption of sesame edible oil in the study region. Sesame cold pressed oil is highly preferred over refined oil because of its natural process of extraction and nutritional benefits.