Structural break in preferences of Iranian urban and rural milk consumers

Consumer behavior and preferences among households’ milk may be in different time periods, different. It is important to change behavior in the studied time period specified by identifying changes in people's behavior, can be used to evaluate policy payments made or implemented new policies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the structural stability or break of Iranian consumers’ preferences for pasteurized and non-pasteurized milk. In this regard, using the cost and income statistics of urban and rural households’ in Iran Statistics Center in the period 1990-2016. Also to analyze household preferences, from a non-parametric pre-disclosed test (WARP) and Kruskal-Wallis statistics (K-W) have been used to distinguish permanent structural changes from fleeting shocks. For this purpose, the matrix of poorly expressed preferences was compiled using the average price and quantity of pasteurized and non-pasteurized milk in urban and rural areas, and by comparing consumer choices in different time periods. The results of the WARP matrix indicate a contradiction in the preferences of consumers of both pasteurized and non-pasteurized milk. In other words, the rational behavior of consumers of pasteurized milk and non-pasteurized milk is rejected in Iran. Also, the results of the K-W statistic indicate a structural change in 1995, indicating a structural failure in the preferences of Iranian consumers for milk. As a result, in future studies, it is suggested that special attention be paid to behavioral economics and consumer preferences for important products such as milk.