Indicators Influencing the Consum er Preferences in Buying from Street Vendors : A Study on Cox ’ s Bazar, Bangladesh

Existence of the street vendors in a de veloping country is a common phenomenon and in recent years the activities of street vendors and their contribution through the informal economy have become a contemporary issue. The study area, Cox ’ s Bazar, is considered as the tourist capital of Bangladesh and street vendors play on t hat opportunity grabbing massive attention of the consume rs or more precisely tourists . Most of the street vendors in Cox ’ s Bazar are seen alongside the edge of di fferent important points of sea beaches . This paper aims at stipulating the factors that mo tivate consumers buyi ng from street vendors . A structured questionnaire using likert scal e was used to survey around 200 respondents and through the factor analysis 6 impor tant factors were identified . The study reveals that the consumers prefer to buy the souvenir items to keep a memento from a destination, the value for money, the diversity of products, showm anship of the vendors, nature of the products and the flexibility in purchasing when buying from the vendors in Cox ’ s Bazar . Based on the findings, the street vendors can construct a stro ng competitive advantage and a high level of consumer satisfaction that can eventually improve their (vendors) wellbeing and the economy as a whole