Persepsi Konsumen Produk Alternatif Susu Berbasis Nabati dan Pengaruh Kualitas Produk terhadap Loyalitas Konsumen

Abstract

There has been a shift in the trend of animal milk consumption towards plant based milk alternatives (PBMA). Many scientific studies state that animal milk cannot be replaced by PBMA when assessed in terms of nutrition. Indonesia itself has issued regulations through PerBPOM Number 13 of 2023 concerning food categories. BPOM categorizes this product as a fruit and vegetable-based drink. Some products circulating in Indonesia and have passed BPOM register their products as a category of fruit and vegetable-based drinks without using milk terminology, but in the packaging and in the marketing process milk terminology is often included. It is feared that this will form a wrong perception in consumers related to PBMA. This study aimed to (1) evaluate respondents' perceptions of PBMA, (2) analyze the purchasing decision process for PBMA, and (3) analyze the effect of the quality of PBMA on respondents' loyalty. The types and sources of data used were primary data derived from surveys of respondents. There were a misperception of respondents towards PBMA. Of the seven perceptions tested, there were five misperceptions, namely related to calories, high fat, protein sources, calcium sources, and allergy causes. This misperception were due to the lack of exposure of respondents to information about the nutritional content of PBMA, besides that PBMA were also a new product so that information about PBMA has not been widely discussed. The purchasing decision process consists of five stages, namely need recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior. At the need recognition stage, 33% of respondents want to get animals but cannot consume them because they have health symptoms. At the information search stage, 48% of respondents searched on the internet media. At the alternative evaluation stage, 51% of respondents stated that PBMA was more expensive than animal milk. At the purchase decision stage, 61% of respondents bought at minimarkets. At the post-purchase stage, 97% of respondents were satisfied with PBMA. Eight product quality attributes (performance, specialty, reliability, suitability, durability, service, aesthetics, and product impression) affect the loyalty of respondents. Three of the eight attributes have a significant effect, namely the attributes of product performance, reliability, service, and product impression.