VOLUME 13 NUMBER 2 (July to December 2020)

Arjay A. Gerance*¹, Dormita R. del Carmen¹, and Elda B. Esguerra^1,2

¹Postharvest Horticulture Training and Research Center
      (PHTRC), College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS),
      University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB),
      College, Laguna 4031
²Institute of Crop Science (ICropS), CAFS, UPLB, College,
      Laguna 4031

Growing attention has been paid to the consumption of dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.) and guava (Psidium guajava L. ‘Queso de Bola’), which are among the emerging fruits that have large economic potentials due to increasing popularity and demand. This study provided an understanding of the factors influencing consumer purchase decision from 200 respondents as affected by preferences and demographic characteristics. Results showed that Filipino urban consumers still put greater value on intrinsic attributes including freshness, peel color, overall peel quality, and taste. Strong correlations to household conditions implied that as income increases and/or household size becomes bigger, consumers were more active in purchase decision processes. Consumer segments identified health-conscious and convenience-inclined groups as less sensitive to price changes whereas aesthetic-conscious/price-sensitive groups paid more attention to visual quality attributes while being price-conscious. However, purchase disappointments signaled a possible mismatch in production and consumption thus improvements along the value chain starting from production, postharvest handling, and marketing, as well as concomitant priority research areas, can be made to capture consumer preferences. Consequently, this would translate to increased market demand from satisfied consumers, reduced losses, and chain efficiency that could propel the development of the emerging fruit industries.