Literature review is a critical and an evaluative summary of the themes, issues, and arguments of a specific clearly defined research topic. The aim of this chapter is to review the points of findings about the title ‘how milk brands affect the purchasing decisions of consumers.’

2.1 Brief History on Milk Brands in Mauritius

Mauritius imports milk powders from Australia and New Zealand. The milk powders have different brand names such as Farmland, Twin cow and others all depend the countries, which it come from. Once it reaches the home country, it is being channeled to two or more industries in Mauritius for its packaging. Then, it is being sold in bulk to shops, super and hypermarkets. Companies such as Innodis Ltd, ISO Pack Ltd, Eden vale Distributors Ltd, and other pack the different milk brands and distribute them.

However, Mauritius imports milk from other countries because its consumption has rapidly been increased. In addition, importation of milk is becoming necessary for Mauritius due to increase in demand of branded milk by Mauritian clients. Regardless to the price and quantity, quality of the product has always been the main factor for customers in their product selection. “Branding” plays a key role in the recognition of the product.

The annual consumption of milk in Mauritius is approximately nine millions litres which is equivalent to 12% of the total consumption of different brand names (Hulman et al., 1990). There is a rise in the demand for milk in Mauritius. In 2013, the Mauritian customers are moving towards mostly Farmland due to its quality and advertisement on T.V and radio. In our island, the brand names for milk have substitutes due to the different brand names available on the market. Thus, if we are not satisfied with a particular milk brand, we always have the choice to opt for another brand. According to AGA Webmaster FOA (2013), the aim is to ensure milk brand marketed in Mauritius are affordable and the emphasis on Human Resources Development (H.R.D) and provision of inputs and services to enhance production and milk brand processing to facilitate marketing in Mauritius.

In the year 1971, the Milk and Meat Project Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) interpreted that, there is a lack of supplement limited milk production. Furthermore, it was not determined whether it was energy or protein in the supplement that was important, and the basal diet of cane tops and grasses was not evaluated. The FAO has proved that milk yield could be increased significantly by better feeding and management.

2.2 Elements That Influences Consumers Towards Milk Brand

Through advertising, design and media commentary milk brands have made its place in the market in Mauritius. This leads branding to give an image of the product to consumers to make a purchasing decision. As per Pearce (2013), the elements that influence consumers are as follows: