A study on the purchase likelihoods & expenditure Patterns of selected household items in Malaysia.

• Main Author: Andrew Tan , Khee Guan
• Format: Monograph
• Published: Universiti Sains Malaysia 2017
• Subjects: H1-99 Social sciences (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/36802/

A number of studies have examined alcohol and cigarette consumption, but none have explored demand for both products simultaneously even though consumption decisions are likely often related. The present study uses microdata from the 2009/20 I 0 Malaysian Household Expenditure Survey. A novel bivariate Tobit model that accounts for error heteroscedasticity is used to estimate Malaysian consumers' decisions to purchase cigarettes and alcohol and amount spent for each. The results indicate that household income and regional location, and the age, gender, education level and occupation type of the household head are associated with consumption decisions and expenditure levels, with some variation by ethnic group, suggesting the importance of these characteristics in policy deliberations to reduce consumption.