Lentils have been a part of the human diet for ages, especially in the developing countries, as a source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Understanding and identifying consumers who care about the country-of-origin of these lentils are important in strategic lentil marketing. Thus, the present study aims to identify consumers who think that country- of-origin is an important attribute while purchasing red lentils by conducting an intercept survey of 300 consumers in grocery stores, supermarkets and other family-run stores in Sri Lanka between July-August 2010. This survey collected detailed information relating to demographic, socioeconomic, grocery purchasing pattern and behavior. The results obtained using logit model indicate that those who frequently consume lentils every day, who use non-packed red lentils, who use packed red lentils with store’s own label, who think brand is an important attribute, who work in the government sector, and who earn between 45,001 and 65,000 Sri Lankan rupees per month are more likely to consider the country-of-origin as an important factor while purchasing red lentils.

Consumers differ in their consumption behavior with respect to taste and preference. Most of the empirical studies (Green and Sirinivasan, 1990; Hair et al., 2006; and Ares and Deliza, 2010), so far, analyzed the relationship between the quantity consumed of a specific product and different characteristics of the household. It failed to adequately address the consumer preference, such as the number of different products a household consumes in a specific time period. Understanding variety in food consumption is important for nutrition and for protection against chronic diseases (Randall et al., 1985; Krebs-Smith et al., 1987; Vecchia et al., 1997; and Hatloy et al., 1998). In a developing economy, lentils play an important role in the human diet and is often referred to as the ‘poor man’s meat’ because it contains high amount of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. They are also low in sodium, fat and cholesterol. Lentils support general wellbeing and reduce the risk of illnesses and hence are good in controlling diabetes, preventing coronary and cardiovascular disease and lowering blood cholesterol levels due to their high-fiber content (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2012).

Legumes naturally fix atmospheric nitrogen, which provides a nutrient for their growth, and maintains soil fertility for subsequent crop rotations. This nitrogen fixation ability of legumes helps to cut down on the application of artificial nitrogen fertilizer and promotes environmental sustainability (Muehlbauer and Tullu, 1997; Graham and Vance, 2003; and Gowda et al., 2007). As a consequence of pulse production shortfalls in recent years, the poor has been affected by increasing food prices (Akibode and Maredia, 2011; Chandrashekhar, 2011; and Prensa Libre.com, 2012). High prices limit the ability of the poor to purchase sufficient quantities (as indicated by income elasticity data). High prices can also force the poor to change their diets towards less nutritious foods—a caution issued by a recent international conference on ‘Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health’ (IFPRI, 2010).

Marketing Management Journal, Influence of Country-of-Origin, Lentils on Consumer Preference, Strategic lentil marketing.