the hypnotic consumption: a study on the impact of khat...

Khaled Mohamoud Abdilahi

College of Business and economics

Faculty of Economics

Bachelor’s Degree Thesis

August 2015

[email protected]

The hypnotic consumption: A study on the impact of Khat addiction on consumer behavior in Hargeisa Somaliland.

University of

Hargeisa

(UOH)

mailto:[email protected]

Hypnotic Consumption: A study on the impact of Khat addiction on consumer behaviour.

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A Thesis Proposal

Presented to the

Faculty of economics in the

University of Hargeisa

Hargeisa, Somaliland

__________________

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

Of bachelor in Economics

________________

By:

Khaled Mohamoud Abdullah

August, 2015


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Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures.................................................................................................. V

List of Figures ................................................................................................................... VI

List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................. VII

Declaration A ................................................................................................................. VIII

Declaration B .................................................................................................................... IX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................. X

Dedication ......................................................................................................................... XI

Abstract ............................................................................................................................ XII

1 Chapter one: ..................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Introduction and Rationale ................................................................................... 1

1.2 Background .......................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Problem Statement ............................................................................................... 4

1.4 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................ 6

1.5 Objectives of the study ......................................................................................... 6

1.6 Research questions ............................................................................................... 7

1.7 Scope of the study ................................................................................................ 7

1.8 Significance of the Study ..................................................................................... 8

1.9 Description of the study area ................................................................................ 9

1.10 Operational Definitions of variables ............................................................... 10

1.10.1 Consumer Behaviour .................................................................................. 10

1.10.2 Abnormal Consumer Behaviour ................................................................. 10

1.10.3 Khat Addiction ............................................................................................ 10

1.11 Limitations of the study .................................................................................. 10

1.11.1 Financial limitations: .................................................................................. 11

1.11.2 Institutional Limitations: ............................................................................. 11

1.11.3 Technical Limitations: ................................................................................ 11

1.12 Organization of the Paper ............................................................................... 12

2 Literature Review........................................................................................................... 13

2.1 Abnormal Consumer Behaviour: ....................................................................... 13

2.2 Khat and Addiction: ........................................................................................... 17

2.3 Modelling addiction and consumer behaviour: .................................................. 18

2.3.1 Imperfectly rational addiction models: ....................................................... 18


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2.3.2 Myopic-addiction models: .......................................................................... 19

2.3.3 Rational-addiction models: ......................................................................... 24

3 Chapter Three: ............................................................................................................... 29

3.1 Study Design ...................................................................................................... 29

3.1.1 Sampling Procedure .................................................................................... 29

3.1.2 Population: .................................................................................................. 29

3.1.3 Sample frame: ............................................................................................. 30

3.2 Data type and sources ......................................................................................... 31

3.3 Data Collection Instrument ................................................................................ 31

3.4 Data analyses and interpretation ........................................................................ 32

4 Chapter Four .................................................................................................................. 33

4.1 Findings and Analyses ....................................................................................... 33

4.2 Sample Characteristics ....................................................................................... 33

4.3 Descriptive analyses ........................................................................................... 38

4.4 Khat addiction and consumer behaviour ............................................................ 49

4.5 Khat addiction and consumer rationality ........................................................... 50

5 Chapter five:................................................................................................................... 51

5.1 5.1 Discussion, implications and Conclusion..................................................... 51

5.2 Implications and recommendation ..................................................................... 52

5.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 53

References ......................................................................................................................... 54

Appendix One: Correlation Tables ................................................................................... 56

Appendix Two: Survey Questionnaire Consent Letter ..................................................... 60

Appendix Three: Survey Questionnaire............................................................................ 62


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List of Tables and Figures

Table ‎3.1 Population and sample proportion: ............................................................................... 30

Table ‎4.1 Employment status: ....................................................................................................... 33

Table ‎4.2 Respondent’s age range: ................................................................................................ 34

Table ‎4.3 Respondent’s marital status: ......................................................................................... 34

Table ‎4.4 Khat chewing: ................................................................................................................. 35

Table ‎4.5 If chewing Khat is regular : ............................................................................................. 35

Table ‎4.6 If Khat an important part of respondent: ...................................................................... 36

Table ‎4.7 If Khat is equally important as food: .............................................................................. 36

Table ‎4.8 If expenditure of on Khat consumption is waste of time and money ............................ 37

Table ‎7.1 Correlation between past Khat chewing & level of spending on Khat .......................... 57

Table ‎7.2 Correlation between past Khat chewing & income allocated for family ...................... 57

Table ‎7.3 Correlation between spending on Khat & income allocated for the family .................. 58

Table ‎7.4 Correlation between past Khat chewing & response to Khat price rise ....................... 58

Table ‎7.5 Correlation between Khat spending & information on adverse health and economic

effects related to Khat ................................................................................................................... 59


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List of Figures

Figure ‎4-1 Number of past years in Khat chewing: ........................................................................ 38

Figure ‎4-2 Number of daily hourse spent in chewing Khat ........................................................... 39

Figure ‎4-3 The degree of expected hardship if Khat chewer quite from Khat chewing ................ 40

Figure ‎4-4 Degree of perceived dependence on Khat on Khat chewing ....................................... 41

Figure ‎4-5 Respondent's monthly income level: ........................................................................... 42

Figure ‎4-6 Level of income allocated for family by the Khat chewer ............................................ 43

Figure ‎4-7 Level of monthly Khat expenditure by the Khat chewer .............................................. 44

Figure ‎4-8 Degree of Khat chewer's familiarity with adverse health effects from Khat chewing . 45

Figure ‎4-9 Degree of Khat chewer's familiarity with adverse economic effects of Khat chewing 46

Figure ‎4-10 If Khat prices go up by fifty percent and respondent’s income level remains constant

the Khat addict would spend a percentage of money on Khat relevant to price change ............. 47

Figure ‎4-11 If Khat prices go down by fifty percent and the respondent’s income level remains

constant the Khat addict would spend a percentage on Khat relevant to price change .............. 48


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List of Acronyms

UOH University of Hargeisa

NPS New Psychoactive Substances

INCB International Narcotics Control Board

EMCDDA European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

NIDA National Institute on Drug Abuse


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Declaration A

I declare that this thesis is my original work and that all sources of materials used for this

thesis/dissertation have been duly acknowledged. This thesis/dissertation has been

submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Of bachelor in

Economics at the University of Hargeisa and is deposited at the University Library to be

made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. I solemnly declare that this

thesis/dissertation is not submitted to any other institution anywhere for the award of any

academic degree, diploma, or certificate. Brief questions from this dissertation are

allowable without special permission provided that accurate acknowledgement of source

is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation form or reproduction of this

manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the college of business and

economics or the Dean of the faculty of economics when in his or her judgment the

proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances,

however, permission must be obtained from the author.

Khaled Mohamoud Abdilahi: _____________________

Name and the Signature of the Author

_____________________________________

Date


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Declaration B

"I confirm that the work reported in this thesis was carried out by the candidate under my

supervision".

Abdishakur Mohamed Hussein: _____________________

Name and the Signature of the Supervisor

_____________________________________

Date


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to tribute and thank to Allah for the help of being able finishing this thesis. I

would like to thank the University of Hargeisa for facilitating the supervisory of this

bachelor’s Degree thesis project and all the guidance and support which was necessary

for the writing up of this thesis.

My appreciation and thank also goes to the dean of the faculty of economics in the

University who without it, there was no possibility to pursue this study here. It is a great

pleasure to express my deepest and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Abdishakur

for his precious assistance and guidance during the course of this thesis. I was really

privileged in having him as my advisor. Without his generous devotion from the early

title modification to the final conclusion of this thesis through adding his constructive and

ever teaching comments, this paper might not have this shape. Thus, I am very much

indebted to him. Finally, I would like to thank my family members for their devotion and

moral support. I would also thank to my friends for their encouragement and

demonstrative support to get through the difficult times and everybody who was

important to the successful realization of this thesis and the entire course. My apology

goes to anybody who contributed even the least that I cannot mention personally one by

one. You are all dear to me and my heartfelt appreciation goes to you.


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Dedication

To the people, scholars and academics in the Republic of Somaliland


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Abstract

This study examined the impact of Khat consumption on consumer behaviour using a

cross-sectional field survey. The research examined a sample size of 33 individuals

randomly selected from different parts of Hargeisa city. In the absence of an economic

model that examines the relationship between Khat addiction and consumer behaviour,

we have found that Khat addicts derive a utility from Khat consumption expressed in the

form of high or a feeling of happiness due to the dopamine hormone release in the brain.

On this basis, Khat addict’s consumption is basically rational. But on the other hand,

Khat addicts ignore relevant information on the adverse health and economic effects of

Khat addiction on the addict thus, Khat addicts behave irrationally. In this light, we have

found that Khat addicts hold inconsistent preferences and the power of addiction on their

behaviour prevails on the expense of their long term health and economic well-being.

This finding coincides with the exemplification of the tobacco consumption’s imperfectly

rational addiction model: “Everybody behaves like two people, one who wants clean

lungs and long life and another who adores tobacco. . . . The two are in a continual

contest for control; the ‘straight’ one often in command most of the time, but the

wayward one needing only to get occasional control to spoil the other’s best laid plan.”

(Schelling, 1978, p. 290)


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1 Chapter one:

1.1 Introduction and Rationale

The rise of the neoclassical synthesis in the postmodern epoch came with an ontological

framework that defines the intrinsic and the essence of economic behaviour as a

consequence of the rational choice theory in which individuals are trying to maximize

their happiness and wellbeing by interacting with profit maximizing firms in

hypothetically perfect markets. In addition, the role of the government is overseeing the

whole system by preventing or fixing market failures and inequality.

Based on the rational economic theory, the field of consumer behaviour covers a lot of

ground: It is the study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select,

purchase, use, or dispose or products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and

desires. Needs and desires to be satisfied range from hunger and thirst to love and, status,

or even spiritual fulfilment. (Solomon, 2012)

Albeit the fact that the contemporary economic intelligentsia had long been familiar with

abnormal economic behaviours like addictive consumption of narcotics and compulsive

consumerism yet they had largely ignored to address these perverse economic behaviours

wrongly assuming that these behaviours are fundamentally irrational hence doesn’t apply

to the basic economic epistemological principle of rationality.

This epistemological negligence was prevalent before the 1980s but since then, a

respectable body of knowledge had been created to explain the economics of abnormal

consumerism and addictive habits.

Whether a commodity conforms to the law of diminishing or increasing return, the

increase in consumption arising from a fall in price is gradual; and, further, habits which

have once grown up around the use of a commodity while its price is low are not so

quickly abandoned when its price rises again (Marshall 1920, appendix H, section 3, p.

807). ere arshal showcases the e istence and the economic sanity of abnormal

behaviour albeit in a limited sense by admitting that habitual or addictive


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consumption is reluctantly elastic with price fluctuations in contrast with rational

consumption which is perfectly elastic with price changes. Because of the increasing rate

of globalization and the abuse of narcotics and illicit drugs, the individual consumer has

become more important than ever and it necessitates behavioural economists to put a

greater emphasis on researching negative economic behaviours that can adversely affect

the wellbeing of the consumer in particular and the economy in general.

(Solomon 2004) defines ‘consumer addiction as a physiological or psychological

dependency on products or services’. In general, three main intrinsic features are

characterized to understand consumer addiction in an economic sense namely

tolerance reinforcement and withdrawal . ( shton and Stepney 2 haloup a

USDHHS 1988) tolerance implies the mechanism, by which the body adopts with drug

uptake, escalating consumption pattern over time to balance diminishing marginal level

of utility. Reinforcement explains the rewards and responses associated with the

consumption of the addictive substance over time. Withdrawal is related with the adverse

effects of quitting, reducing or interrupting the consumption of the addictive product.

This means that the consumer is likely to proceed using the addictive product to avoid the

adverse effects of the withdrawal. (Ashton and Stepney, 1982)

Research on abnormal consumer behavior in the context of Khat addiction is completely

missing according to my knowledge. The best way to deal with the Khat addiction

phenomenon and the subsequent yet inevitable economic repercussions of this narcotic

which is massively consumed by the Somalis and Yemenis has long been confusing

social practitioners. This thesis attempts to address the nature of a specific abnormal

consumer behavior and its relation with Khat addiction. This study have tried to explain

how Khat addiction affects the consumer behavior and decision making in a utilitarian

framework.

1.2 Background


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New empirical data shows that the trend and the magnitude of worldwide licit and illicit

narcotics of new psychoactive substance (NPS)1 production and their consumption have

been rising in recent years [UNODC, 2014 Global Synthetic Drugs Assessment]. This

phenomenon has largely been lin ed with albeit not limited to the lack of

international consensus on the legality of the NPS hence not controlled under the

international law, exacerbated by the complexity of NPS trafficking and marketing

methods in which recently internet and new black markets took significant roles in the

facilitation of NPS consumption under the banner of recreational herbs, legal high

products or research material. In addition to unstable socioeconomic and political

conditions, (INCB, Annual report 2014) the absence of public awareness due to the low

number and quality of recent researches about NPS narcotics and their harmful

socioeconomic and health related consequences have exacerbated the proliferation of

NPS narcotic.

In a regional effort to build a consensus on NPS, the council of European Union endorsed

a new system for quick exchange of information on NPS as an early warning system in

1997 and in 2005 the European Union council took a decision concerning all NPS

(2005/387/JHA). Based on that decision, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and

Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) compiles each year the latest information about the NPS

their health related risks and socioeconomic consequences and then prepares an updated

report which would be disseminated for public use and shared with European member

states.

In 2013, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) commenced an

international early warning system on NPS as a rapid information sharing mechanism in

an attempt to tackle the emerging phenomenon of NPS consumption. UNODC's

Executive Director Yury Fedotov have said in a press release: "The adverse effects of

NPS are poorly understood and present a global health risk. Concerted action is urgently

1 “NPS – New psychoactive substances are substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a preparation,

that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a public health threat. In this context, the term ‘new’ does not necessarily refer to new inventions but to substances that have been recently become available.” [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]


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needed by the international community to prevent the manufacture, trafficking and abuse

of these drugs. UNODC is playing a leading role in addressing this challenge by

launching an early warning advisory system on NPS, which is the first global reference

point on these substances." (UNODC)

7% of these New Psychoactive Substances are plant-based which includes the Khat

among other plant-based substances (UNODC, 2014). Khat is a shrub with a scientific

name of (catha edulis) of the celastraceae family (UNODC).

In Somalia, men habitually consume Khat than women: 75% of men chew khat regularly

compared with only 7–10% of women. (Alem et al. 1999)

Khat is not new to the world as it was first identified in Europe during the 18th

century

(UNOD ) it’s a traditional mildly hallucinogenic psychostimulant narcotic mainly

cultivated in East Africa and Southern Arabia (UNODC). Khat is highly prevalent in

Somalia, Somaliand, Ethiopia, Kenya, Yemen and—in a lesser extent—Southern Africa.

Expatriates from East Africa who live in Europe and North America also consume

smuggled Khat though in some countries it’s not scheduled under the list of illicit

narcotics. The United States National Institute on Drug Use estimates the number of Khat

consumer worldwide to be as much as 20 million users. (US, National Institute on Drug

Abuse, 2015) Much of them are addicted.

s Green R. . ( ) argues ‘Khat production totals perhaps $ 00 million at wholesale

prices almost all in Ethiopia ($500 million), Kenya ($300 million) and Somaliland ($50

million). Ethiopia uses perhaps half its output exporting the remainder to Somaliland,

Djibouti, London, Yemen and Somalia. Kenyan Somalis use perhaps a fifth of output

with the balance exported to Somalia and London. Somaliland is a user/importer (about

one quarter domestically produced), Djibouti and the diaspora (to the extent Khat is

available) are importers and users.’

1.3 Problem Statement


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The magnitude of this phenomenon is reflected by the growing and problematic nature of

Khat consumption in Somaliland. Before a decade and a half Green, R. H. (1999)

estimated that hat narcotic is the largest “personal consumption at about 25 per cent

commerce and associated services at up to 20 per cent rop production at about 50 per

cent Imports on the order of 30 per cent Ta revenue contributing perhaps 25 per cent of

Somaliland government’s revenue.”

In a recent path-breaking anthropological study by Hansen, P. (2010) the amount of Khat

imports in Somaliland is around 6,500 to 7,200 tons per year from Ethiopia costing an

average of $50 million dollars. Besides health related problems Khat causes massive

drain of Somaliland’s aggregate and household economy.

Since the 1950’s when the colonial authorities in Somaliland British protectorate

officially banned Khat consumption, there had been several attempts to ban Khat

consumption in Somalia. In 1983 the Somali regime imposed a total ban on Khat

importation and production (Samatar, 1989; Bestemann, 1999; Green, 1999; Cabdi,

2005). But the attempt failed to completely stop Khat inflow as it was smuggled from

Ethiopia (cf. Samatar, 1985:55–56).

This study was motivated by the persistent debate on the phenomenon of Khat addiction

and its economic consequences in global, regional and national levels and the recent ban

on Khat importation and consumption in the UK. s many individuals in Somaliland’s

elites in social, political, religious and economic realms repeatedly warning policy

makers and the general public about the growing consumption of Khat and alleged

adverse costs caused by Khat abuse, — though a lot of interdisciplinary studies proved

and analyzed most of these claims — it seemed to me that a thorough theoretical and

empirical investigation is be necessary to understand these claims in a basic

microeconomic point of view.

In this paper, we have addressed the problem of abnormal economic behavior induced by

Khat addiction. We have analyzed whether Khat dependency is a rational phenomenon


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that can be explained in the theory of economics or if it is wholly irrational behavior

hence doesn’t deserve to be approached with an economic perspective. The fundamental

problem that this study has attempted to solve is the lack of understanding on the

dynamics of decision-making regarding income allocation and consumption of Khat

addicts. I have tried to use a useful model to depict the economic relationship between

these variables and how they overlap with each other with respect to time.

1.4 Purpose of the Study

The fundamental purpose of this study is to produce knowledge and fill the research gap

about the economics of Khat addiction. It also aims to help economists and social

practitioners understand the behaviour of addicts in an economic sense. It also intends to

spark an academic debate and motivate academics to pursue further research on this

subject.

This study aims to explore, discover and analyze the Impact of khat addiction on personal

decision making process, household income allocation and expenditure of the addicts in

Hargiesa, Somaliland.

1.5 Objectives of the study

1. To develop simple logical models for the khat addiction and consumption

expenditure, income level and Khat consumption, mapping the mechanism by

which income affects Khat consumption.

2. To capture the intrinsic mechanism of individual decision making process

regarding Khat consumption.


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3. To understand the underlining behavioural factors that help sustain the flourishing

industry of khat business.

4. To be able to answer whether Khat consumption is a rational behaviour or not.

5. To discover how time affects consumer behaviour in the context of Khat

consumption.

6. To explain why Khat addicts depend on Khat consumption and how income level

is related to Khat consumption.

1.6 Research questions

1. How time is relative in determining consumer behaviour of the Khat user

and how past consumption determines the present consumption of the

Khat user?

2. What is the relationship between Khat addiction and consumption

behaviour? Does Khat addiction affect consumer behaviour?

3. How Khat addiction affects consumer decision making process and

determines household income allocation? What is the relationship between

income level and Khat consumption level?

4. What is the nature of the consumption behaviour of the Khat addict?

5. Is the economic behaviour of the Khat addict rational or irrational?

6. What is the explanation of Khat dependency in an economic sense and

why Khat addicts use Khat?

1.7 Scope of the study

The scope of this study is circumscribed within the theoretical framework of abnormal

consumer behaviour. This thesis did not add any new contributions to the already known

literature on Khat and the basic definition of addiction. This paper aims to boil-down the


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intriguing consumption behaviour of Khat addicts by scrutinizing psychological motives,

expectations and physical rewards or relative harms thus; the subsequent analysis was be

limited to socioeconomic upshots in a narrow cause and effect relationship.

The core and fundamental subject matter that this thesis is trying to explain is a human

related phenomenon thus we assume that the application of our findings on similar

circumstances should not necessarily be limited to the specific group of people that we

have addressed nor the defined geographical area that we have investigated during this

study.

On the other hand, the target people of this investigation and the resultant analysis were

based on a sample chosen from the employed and married Khat addicted portion of

Hargiesa male population with lower and middle income level. This study excludes

female Khat addicts, mentally ill males, and unemployed males. The timeframe of this

study is three months of cross-sectional research.

1.8 Significance of the Study

This study is quite significant in both local and international realm in the sense that

similar studies are absolutely non-existent in the specific context of Khat usage. On the

other hand this is study didn’t contribute to the existing knowledge regarding consumer

behaviour and narcotic addiction like cigarette consumption and alcohol abuse.

Different types of audiences might benefit from this study and it’s definitely helpful in

improving the general desire of a Khat free society and economy. Khat addicts who can

read and can have access to this study might benefit it as they might witness the perverse

way in which their subconscious mind works, how they get motivated, obliged to spend

too much money on Khat, the way in which time affects their Khat consumption


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behaviour and they are likely see more clearly of the blur which has long blinded them

and prevented them to see the economic problematic of their addiction.

Social science academics like economists, socialists, anthropologists and behavioural

psychologists might benefit from this study in a really profound way as they can

understand the intriguing phenomenon of Khat addiction in an economic context boiled-

down into its unambiguous intrinsic characterises, relationship of different variables and

mechanisms of decision making in the realm of consumption and income allocation.

Honest and development oriented policy makers, legislators, government authorities,

social and political practitioners might get a ready-made analysis, viable scientific

justification and primary understanding on the subject and the phenomenon of the deviant

economic behaviour of Khat addicts. This is likely facilitate policy formulation, methods

of dealing with the negative economic consequences of Khat addiction and long run

future courses of action regarding development and socioeconomic progress.

1.9 Description of the study area

Studying human behaviour is not an easy job; it’s very complicated as the underlying

factors are complex, overlapping and intriguing. When it comes to economic decision

making, rationality is a fundamental principle in explaining consumer behaviour but also

information and expectations play an important role.

The target population of this study is focused on the employed males with low or middle

income levels in the Hargeisa metropolitan area. Hargiesa is the capital city of

Somaliland it has a relatively growing economy as it represents a business hub

connecting the international port city of Berbera, the rest of Somaliland and the Somali

region of Ethiopia. It is the most populated city in Somaliland and the second largest city

in the former Somali republic.

A huge amount of Khat enters Hargeisa via Wajaale and many people majority of whom

are males that can afford consume the Ethiopian grown Khat.


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A 2012 survey conducted by the international labour organization estimated the number

of males who are employed is 16,882 employees. The reason I chose employees is that

they earn their income through hard work thus I assume they are more likely to be

economically sane than any other group. I have also targeted males who are head of a

household as their expenditure and budget patterns affect their decision making process.

The reason that I chose males is that they represent the majority of Khat addicts and had

power in expenditure decisions in household level so their consumer behaviour reflects a

wide fertile area for investigation.

1.10 Operational Definitions of variables

1.10.1 Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour in the context of this study is regarded as the sum of

manners and patterns of expenditure on consumption.

1.10.2 Abnormal Consumer Behaviour

The operational and nuanced definition of the abnormal consumer behaviour

in this context can be explained as the impulsive and regular expenditure on

the consumption of a relatively less useful good.

1.10.3 Khat Addiction

We define addiction in this paper’s ambience as the utilitarian dependency on

Khat consumption.

1.11 Limitations of the study

There are too many limitation hampering the scope, reliability and quality of this study.

These limitations include financial, institutional and technical limitations.


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1.11.1 Financial limitations:

The project of this research lacks financial support and the financial burden is completely

the researcher’s responsibility. s the researcher is currently under-employed and the

university increased tuition fees, the sample size and the geographical coverage of the

investigation was extremely limited.

1.11.2 Institutional Limitations:

The university’s help is limited to the e tent of supervising this study with a limited time

frame and providing a written guideline for the thesis project.

1.11.3 Technical Limitations:

1. Extraneous variables which are beyond the researcher’s control such as

respondent’s honesty, personal biases and uncontrolled setting of the study.

2. Instrumentation: The research instrument on work performance is not

standardized. Therefore a validity and reliability test where needed to be

done to produce a credible measurement of the research variables.

3. Testing: The use of research assistants can bring about inconsistency in

the administration of the questionnaires in terms of time of

administration, understanding of the items in the questionnaires and

explanations given to the respondents. To minimize this threat, the

research assistants oriented and briefed on the procedures to be done in

data collection.

4. Attrition/Mortality: Not all questionnaires maybe returned neither

completely answered nor even retrieved back due to circumstances on the

part of the respondents such as travels, sickness, hospitalization and

refusal/withdrawal to participate. In anticipation to this, the researcher

has reserved more respondents by exceeding the minimum sample size.

The respondents were also reminded not to leave any item in the

questionnaires unanswered and have been closely followed up as to the

date of retrieval.


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1.12 Organization of the Paper

This paper is structured as follow: the chapter one gives a general overview of the study

area. The second chapter encapsulates some of the published literature on Khat,

addiction, and modeling of abnormal consumer behavior. It frames the theoretical

context, the empirical material and the conceptual framework of the study. Chapter three

postulates the research methodology. It depicts the common methodology and the

specification of the behavioral model and the data collection and analyzing techniques.

Chapter four offers and discusses the core discoveries of the study. It would elucidate the

eloquent and the behavioral economic analysis. The final chapter drew conclusions and

repercussions.


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2 Literature Review

The academic literature regarding this study’s main variables is so vast and diverse

depicting amazing details and deep insights of knowledge and information. Researchers

all over the world from different fields of knowledge from humanities to natural sciences

to social sciences participated in a marathon of producing knowledge in attempt to feed

the not only the unlimited human curiosity but also by contributing important information

to our collective human civilization helping our development and progress.

2.1 Abnormal Consumer Behaviour:

In the 70’s of the last century compared to the history of most disciplines, the study of

consumer behaviour was in its infancy, dating back less than 50 years. (Kollat, D. T.,

Engel, J. F., & Blackwell, R. D. (1970).)

In a ground-breaking study authored by (Krych, R. 1989) titled as (Abnormal consumer

behaviour: a model of addictive behaviours) and as a growing body of empirical evidence

reframes the definition of behavioural and activity addictions (gambling, overeating,

Internet use, narcotics, etc.), the author discusses the definition of the abnormal consumer

behaviour:


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“One of the presenters this morning defined deviant behavior as "any behavior which

differs from the normal standard". I submit that we would be hard pressed to defend this

definition due to the difficulty in defining the term "normal". Many definitions of deviant

behavior are very subjective and emotionally laden in nature, and often the term "deviant

behavior" arises whenever someone else is doing something we ourselves don't like or

approve of. For example, in the not-so-distant past people who indulged in consumption

of a drug or engaged in some other form of activity to the point of social or physical

harm, and continued with such behavior despite expressed intentions to stop, and despite

recommendations from others, were said to be suffering from a form of mania, such as

dipsomania, narcotomania, kleptomania, or pyromania, to name a few. They were often

seen to be in the grip of "morbid appetites" or "diseases of the will". Although such

language is largely outdated, the phenomenon to which this language referred have

continued unabated, and the repertoire of addictions has even expanded. Addiction to

alcohol and drugs is well known, of course. Compulsive gambling is another well-known

addiction. In recent years various eating disorders have been conceptualized as types of

addictions to food. We are also hearing and learning more about sexual addiction,

addiction to work ("workaholics"); some people are examining addiction to video games.

We also hear of addiction to spending (as mentioned in this conference), exercise addicts,

people addicted to religion, and others. Currently there are many researchers attempting

to examine and understand these phenomenon more completely.

History teaches us that the same behavior can be viewed from totally different

perspectives depending on the fashion of thought at the time, and the orientation of the

observer. For example, some addictive behaviors have been viewed as non-problematic

overindulgence (in the early days of the United States, drinking to the point of

drunkenness was common, but was seen as nonproblematic overindulgence), sinful

behavior, criminal activity, as a disease, as maladaptive behavior, and as deviance. Many

of these perspectives lose their objectivity in emotionality and value laden beliefs and

attitudes.”


Page15

Here the author exemplifies the difficulty in defining the abnormal consumer behaviour

and this raises questions as to the possibility of establishing a general consensus on the

understanding of abnormal consumer behaviors.

A 1975 literature review paper published in the journal of Advances in Consumer

Research by William H. Cummings titled as (Cognitive Dissonance and Consumer

Behaviour: a Review of the Evidence) portrays a the psychology of abnormal consumer

behaviour in a more nuanced way and puts it in a wider theoretical context by examining

the applicability of the theory of cognitive dissonance which (Festinger, L. 1962) defined

it as the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating

to behavioural decisions and attitude change.

In its introduction, the researcher lays down the theoretical framework of explaining the

abnormal consumer behaviour: “The theory of cognitive dissonance has generated a good

deal of research in consumer behavior, however, this research has not yet been fully

reviewed and critiqued. The relevant evidence from three phases of consumer behavior is

reviewed here: pre-decisional determinants of product preference, post-decisional

determinants of product preference, and information seeking behavior. The evidence

from the first two areas generally supports the dissonance-based predictions, while the

evidence from the third area generally fails to support the predictions.

There have been a number of nasty rumors lately that "cognitive dissonance theory is

dead" and that "cognitive dissonance theory began to be out of date a long time ago."

This may well be so. It would seem, however, that before we bury dissonance theory, we

should make sure that all the phenomena and events which it explains (particularly post-

decisional attitude change) are also dead or out of date. We should make sure that the

theory is entirely incorporated within new and more general theories. And we should be

sure that dissonance theory is incapable of generating further predictions of interest to

social scientists.


Page16

A few years ago, dissonance theory generated considerable interest and enthusiasm. The

generalizability of the theory from the social psychology laboratory to consumer behavior

appeared quite certain. Twenty-three studies have since examined the applicability of

dissonance theory to consumer behavior. [We have attempted to include all relevant

studies from the Consumer Behavior literature while including as few studies as possible

from the social psychological literature. Only three studies from the social psychological

literature have been included in this review. Three studies from the consumer behavior

literature have been excluded. Oshikawa's study (1970) is not directly relevant to

consumer behavior. Reizenstein's study (1971) hints at relevance to dissonance theory but

fails to provide necessary choice-making conditions for producing dissonance among the

subjects. Bell's study (1967) is questionable on basic conceptual grounds, viz., "direct"

indication of magnitude of dissonance arousal.] Although a number of reviews have

examined the theoretical relevance of dissonance theory to the consumer behavior area,

no review has apparently yet attempted to integrate and critique the empirical evidence

on this matter.”

William H. Cummings concludes: “We feel that the application of dissonance theory to

consumer behavior -- at least within the areas of predecisional and postdecisional

determinants of product satisfaction -- has been substantiated. There have been a number

of methodological problems in this line of research, but most of them are of a sort that

can be avoided by means of a simple inventory of possible pitfalls or the addition of the

appropriate control conditions. It does not appear that dissonance theory can be

adequately incorporated within any other framework and retain its power to generate new

and intriguing hypotheses. And that power -- to generate hypotheses should continue to

be the major selling point of dissonance theory.”

Here I gave William H. Cummings a pass for suggesting the usefulness of the cognitive

dissonance as a theoretical framework that could be applied to the wider field of

consumer behaviour but my critique is that William H. Cummings perspective is too

holistic and ambiguous so I disagree that this theory could be applied on consumer


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behaviour in its generality but on the other hand, it could be very useful if we apply it on

the specific niche of the abnormal consumer behaviour as it retains a powerful

explanatory potential.

2.2 Khat and Addiction:

For the recent decades, a respectable body of multi-disciplinary literature has emerged

focusing on Khat from different perspectives like pharmacology, physiology and

psychology, economics, sociology and in so many other related fields but they are mostly

narrow and not comprehensive. Unfortunately, nothing has been written on the effect of

Khat addiction on consumer behaviour. When I searched academic article titles that

include the word Khat , google scholar2 showed 1,670 published material that contain the

phrase Khat in their title.

Those with economic relevance were only 24 and they are not specifically focused on

Khat in economic context but with a wider social and cultural framework, these include

(Gezon, L. (2012); Adenew, B. (2005); Randrianame, M., Szendrei, K., Tongue, A., &

Shahandeh, B. (1983); Hassan, M. R. S. (2001); Dimba, E., Aden, A., Ndolo, U., &

Chindia, M. L. (2006); World Health Organization. (1983))

The addiction potential of Khat has been contested as some academics view its addictive

potentiality as very low (W.H.O, 2006; Pennings, E. J. M., Opperhuizen, A., & van

Amsterdam, J. G. C. (2008)) while others disagree with them. (Kassim and Croucher,

2006; (Gossop et al.,1995)

Nevertheless, the quality and credibility of those findings that prove the high potential

addiction of Khat are relatively unequivocal. Khat has high addictive potential due to its

constituent, "cathinone." Cathinone, (1(5) + (minus sign) aminopropiophenon), is a

2 Google Scholar is the largest academic search engine which includes most peer-reviewed online journals

of Europe and America's largest scholarly publishers plus scholarly books and other non-peer reviewed

journals. It indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature 90% of all material published in English

across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. (Trend Watch, 2014)


Page18

sympathomimetic, similar but not identical to cocaine and amphetamine in activity and

addiction potential. (Giannini, A. J., & Nakoneczie, A. M. (1995) et al)

2.3 Modelling addiction and consumer behaviour:

Khat addiction and consumer behaviour has never been modelled but behavioural

economists put a great focus in modelling similar addictions like nicotine addiction and

cigarette consumption.

A great work authored by (Chaloupka, F. J., Tauras, J. A., & Grossman, M. 2000)

discusses different models for rational addiction in the context of cigarettes.

2.3.1 Imperfectly rational addiction models:

“Elster (1979), McKenzie (1979), Winston (1980), and Schelling (1978, 1980, 1984a,

1984b) best exemplify the economic models of imperfectly rational addictive behavior.

These models generally assume stable but inconsistent short-run and long-run

preferences.

This is seen for e ample in Schelling’s ( 7 p. 2 0) description of a smo er trying to

‘ ic the habit’: Everybody behaves like two people, one who wants clean lungs and long

life and another who adores tobacco. . . . The two are in a continual contest for control;

the ‘straight’ one often in command most of the time, but the wayward one needing only

to get occasional control to spoil the other’s best laid plan. Thus, the farsighted

personality may enroll in a smoking-cessation program, only to be undone by the short-

sighted personality’s relapse in a wea moment.Winston ( 0) formally modeled this

behavior and described how this contest between personalities leads to the evolution of

what he called ‘anti-mar ets’ which he defined as firms or institutions that individuals


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will pay to help them stop consuming (e.g. smoking cessation programs or

pharmaceutical companies producing nicotine-replacement products).

Strotz (1956) was the first to develop a formal model of such behavior, describing the

constrained utility maximization process as one in which an individual chooses a future

consumption path that maximizes current utility, but later in life changes this plan ‘even

though his original expectations of future desires and means of consumption are verified’

(p. 165).This inconsistency between current and future preferences arises when a non-

exponential discount function is used (this is discussed further below). Strotz went on to

suggest that rational persons will recognize this inconsistency and plan accordingly, by

pre-committing their future behavior or by modifying consumption plans to be consistent

with future preferences when unable to pre-commit.

Pollak (1968) went one step further, arguing that an individual may behave naively even

when using an exponential discount function.Thaler and Shefrin (1981) described the

problem similarly, referring to an individual at any point in time as both a ‘far-sighted

planner and a myopic doer’ (p. 3 2) with the two in continual conflict. While these

models present interesting discussions of some aspects of addictive behavior, they have

not yet been applied empirically to cigarette smoking or other addictions.

2.3.2 Myopic-addiction models:

The naive behavior described in some of the imperfectly rational models of addiction is

the basis for many of the myopic models of addictive behavior. As Pollak (1975)

observed, behavior is naive in the sense that an individual recognizes the dependence of

current addictive consumption decisions on past consumption, but then ignores the

impact of current and past choices on future consumption decisions when making current

choices. Many of these models treat preferences as endogenous, allowing tastes to change

over time in response to past consumption (Gorman 1967; Pollak 1970, 1976, 1978; von

Weizsacker 1971; El-Safty 1976a, 1976b; Hammond 1976a, 1976b). These models are


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similar in spirit to those in which tastes change in response to factors other than past

consumption, including advertising (Galbraith 1958, 1972; Dixit and Norman 1978) and

prices (Pollak 1977).

In some implementations of these models, past consumption affects current consumption

through an accumulated stock of past consumption (e.g. Houthakker and Taylor 1966,

1970). These models are comparable to those of the demand for durable consumer goods

that use a stoc adjustment process (e.g. how’s ( 60) model of the demand for

automobiles and Garcia dos Santos’ ( 72) analysis of the demands for household

durables).

As Phlips (1983) noted, however, the distinction between models with endogenous tastes

and those with stable preferences within a household production framework is purely

semantic, since the underlying mathematics of the two are the same. The earliest

theoretical models of demand in the context of myopic addiction can be traced to the

irreversible demand models (Haavelmo 1944; Duesenberry 1949; Modigliani 1949;

Farrell 1952). Farrell, for example, described an irreversible demand function as one in

which current demand depends on all past price and income combinations.

As a result, price and income elasticities are constant, but may differ for

increases and decreases in price and income. Farrell tested this model empirically, using

data from the United Kingdom on the demands for tobacco and beer from 1870, 112

Tobacco control in developing countries through 1938, in a model that included not only

current price and income, but also price, income, and consumption in the prior year. In

general, his estimates were inconclusive,

although he did find limited evidence of habit formation for tobacco use.

The notion of asymmetric responses to price and income reappeared in Scitovsky (1976)

and was applied to cigarette demand by Young (1983), using US data from 1929–73. The

basic notion was that the response to a price increase or drop in income will be smaller in

absolute value than the response to a comparable price reduction or increase in income.


Page21

Young asserted that this was due to the addictive nature of cigarette smoking. Young’s

empirical model included separate variables for price increases, price reductions, income

increases, and income reductions, as well as a variety of other factors affecting demand.

Using Ridge regression methods, Young obtained estimates consistent with his

hypotheses. His estimated price elasticity of demand for price increases (–0.33) was

slightly more than half of his estimate for price decreases (–0.61), with a comparable

relationship for income (income elasticity of 0.30 for increases and 0.15 for reductions).

Pekurinen (1989) took the same approach to estimating cigarette demand in Finland,

concluding that Finnish smoking was almost twice as responsive to price reductions

(elasticity of –0.94) as it was to price increases (elasticity of –0.49). In the Young and

Pekurinen models, myopic behavior is captured by the asymmetric responses to changes

in price and income.

In contrast to the earlier work by Farrell (1952), these models are essentially atheoretical

and ignore the effect of past consumption on current consumption that is emphasized in

most theoretical models of addiction. As Godfrey (1989) noted, this mis-specification of

demand is likely to produce biased estimates of the effect of price on cigarette demand.

Most empirical applications of myopic models of addiction are based on the pioneering

work by Houthakker and Taylor (1966, 1970).

They formally introduced the dependence of current consumption of an addictive good on

its past consumption by modeling current demand as a function of a ‘stoc of habits’:

C(t) = a + βS(t) +X(t) G (5.1)

Where C(t) is consumption of the addictive good at time t, X(t) is a vector of factors

influencing demand, and S(t) is the stock of habits at time t, defined as:


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S(t) = C(t - 1) + (1 - d)S(t - 1), (5.2)

Where d is the rate of depreciation. This stoc of habits or ‘addictive stoc ’ represents

the depreciated sum of all past consumption of the addictive good and explicitly captures

the dependence of current consumption on past consumption. Making appropriate

substitutions, Houthakker and Taylor derived the following demand equation:

C(t) = p + tC(t - 1) + [X(t) - X(t - 1)]j + X(t)q. ( 5.3)

Thus, after simplification, the addictive nature of demand is captured by making current

consumption dependent on past consumption. Houthakker and Taylor predicted that t will

be positive for addictive or habit forming goods like tobacco products. Houthakker and

Taylor estimated alternative versions of eqn 5.3 for a number of goods, including

cigarettes, using annual aggregates for the US and several Western European countries.

Their estimates provided considerable support for their hypothesis of habit formation in

demand, with positive estimates of the structural stock coefficient (b) for almost all of the

non-durable consumer goods, including cigarettes, they examined.

Mullahy (1985) took a similar approach in his empirical examination of cigarette

demand using US survey data. In his model, the stock of past cigarette consumption has a

negative impact on the production of commodities such as health and the satisfaction

received from current smoking. Mullahy used a two-part model to estimate cigarette

demand, as well as instrumental variables methods to account for the unobserved

individual heterogeneity likely to be correlated with the stock of past consumption.

Mullahy found strong support for the hypothesis that cigarette smoking is an addictive

behavior, as shown by the positive and significant estimates he obtained for the addictive

stock in both the smoking participation and conditional demand equations. His estimates

for price are quite similar to those obtained by Lewit and Coate (1982), with the overall

price elasticity of demand centered on –0.47. In addition, Mullahy estimated that men


Page23

were more price-responsive than women (total price elasticities of –0.56 and –0.39,

respectively).

Finally, using an interaction between the addictive stock and price, Mullahy concluded

that more-addicted smokers (defined as those with a larger addictive stock) were less

responsive to price than their less-addicted counterparts. Using an approach that

combined aspects of the Houthakker and Taylor model with Deaton and uellbauer’s

(1980) Almost Ideal Demand System, Jones (1989) explicitly modeled the acquired

tolerance characteristic of addictive consumption.

Tolerance, in his model, is captured by replacing the money prices of addictive goods,

including cigarettes, with their shadow prices, which include a variety of other costs

associated with addictive consumption, including future health consequences and reduced

productivity. Jones used quarterly data from the UK to estimate this model for cigarettes

and various other goods, as well as an alternative model that ignores the addictive or

habitual nature of cigarette demand. He found that the more conventional model, with an

own-price elasticity of cigarette demand of –0.29, provided a better statistical fit than the

habit model, with an own-price elasticity of –0.60. Nonetheless, Jones concluded that

addiction was an important factor in cigarette smoking, speculating that the effects of

withdrawal are more important than those of tolerance.

In a model reminiscent of the partial adjustment process described by Marshall

(1920), Baltagi and Levin (1986) estimated cigarette demand using a time-series of

annual state-cross-sections for the period 1964–80. In their model, changes in cigarette

consumption over time depend on the divergence between ‘desired’ cigarette

consumption and actual consumption, where desired consumption depends on prices,

income, current and lagged advertising, and other factors.

They estimated a coefficient on lagged cigarette consumption of 0.9, which they interpret

as evidence of addiction, while estimating an own-price elasticity of cigarette demand of

–0.22.


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2.3.3 Rational-addiction models:

Several researchers have modeled addiction as a rational behavior. In this context,

rationality simply implies that individuals incorporate the interdependence between past,

current, and future consumption into their utility-maximization process. This is in

contrast to the assumption, implicit in myopic models of addictive behavior, that future

implications are ignored when making current decisions.

In other words, myopic behavior implies an infinite discounting of the future, while

rational behavior implies that future implications are considered, while not ruling out a

relatively high discount rate. Several of the rational-addiction models, including those of

Lluch (1974), Spinnewyn (1981), and Boyer (1983), assume that tastes are endogenous.

These models build on the significant contributions of Ryder and Heal (1973), Boyer

(1978), and others in the optimal growth literature who have developed endogenous taste

models with rational behavior.

Spinnewyn (1981) and Phlips and Spinnewyn (1982) argued that incorporating rational

decision-ma ing into models of habit formation results in models that are ‘formally

equivalent to models without habit formation’ (Spinnewyn p. 2). This

observational equivalence is obtained by redefining wealth and the cost of current

consumption, so as to account for the additional costs associated with the addictive stock.

The demand equations that result are equivalent to those obtained from myopic models of

addictive behavior. Thus, they argue, assuming rationality only leads to unnecessary

complications.

This assertion was challenged by Pashardes (1986) in his empirical test of the myopic

versus rational models in the context of the Almost Ideal Demand System. In his model,

myopic and rational demand equations are the limiting cases of a more general model. In

the context of his general model, Pashardes derived demand equations for a rational

consumer in which current consumption is determined by past consumption and current


Page25

preferences with full knowledge about the impact of current decisions on the future costs

of consumption.

He then tested for rational and myopic behavior using British data for nine groups of

commodities, including tobacco products, alcohol, food, and others, for the period 1947–

80. Pashardes found considerable evidence to support the hypothesis of rational behavior

in general, as well as evidence that cigarette smoking is an addictive behavior. Finally, he

noted that expectations concerning the future price and other costs of consumption played

an important role in consumer behavior. Becker and Murphy (1988) similarly rejected the

notion that myopic behavior is empirically indistinguishable from rational behavior in

their theory of rational addiction.

They assumed that individuals consistently maximize utility over their life-cycle, taking

into account the future consequences of their choices. At any point in time t, an

individual’s utility U(t) depends on current addictive consumption (t) current

consumption of a composite of non-addictive consumption, Y(t), and the stock of past

consumption, S(t):

U(t ) = U[C(t ), Y(t ), S(t )]. (5.4)

They assumed that U(t) is a strongly concave function of C, Y, and S, and that the

lifetime utility function is separable over time in C,Y, and S, but not in C and Y alone.

Tolerance is incorporated by assuming that the marginal utility of the addictive stock is

negative. Reinforcement is modeled by assuming that an increase in the addictive stock

raises the marginal utility of current addictive consumption. Finally, eqn 5.4 captures

withdrawal, since total utility falls with the cessation of addictive consumption. Becker

and Murphy define the stock accumulation process as:

∂S(t ) ∂t = (t ) - dS(t ) - h[D(t )]. (5.5)


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This is comparable to the stock accumulation process described in other models of

addiction, with the exception of the D(t) term representing endogenous attempts to reduce

the addictive stock.

Maximizing lifetime utility subject to an appropriate budget constraint and the stock

accumulation process can be described by eqn 5.5 yields the following first order

condition for the addictive good:

UC (t ) = mpC (t ), (5.6)

where m is the marginal utility of wealth and pC(t) is the full price of the addictive good,

which depends on the money price of the good and the future utility costs (or shadow

price) of the addictive stock. For harmful addictions, the full price of addictive

consumption exceeds its money price due to the effects of tolerance and the health

consequences of consumption, for example. Moreover, the full price is lower as

depreciation on the addictive stock is faster or as the rate of time-preference is higher.

Becker and Murphy (1988) and Becker et al. (1991) developed several hypotheses from

this basic model.

First addictive consumption displays ‘adjacent complementarity’ that is, due to

reinforcement, the quantities of the addictive good consumed in different time periods are

complements. As a result, current consumption of the addictive good will be inversely

related not only to the current price of the good but also to all past and future prices.

Consequently, the long-run effect of a permanent change in price will exceed the short-

run effect. In addition, price responsiveness varies with time-preference: addicts with

higher discount rates will be relatively more responsive to changes in money price than

those with lower discount rates. The opposite will be true with respect to the effects of

information concerning the future consequences of addictive consumption. Thus, the

model suggests that younger, less educated persons and those on lower incomes will be

relatively more responsive to changes in the money price of cigarettes, while older, more


Page27

educated persons and those on higher incomes will be relatively more responsive to new

information on the health consequences of cigarette smoking.

Strong adjacent complementarity, reflecting strong addiction, can lead to unstable steady

states in the Becker and Murphy model. This is a key feature of their rational addiction

theory helping to e plain the binge behavior and ‘cold tur ey’ quit behavior observed

among addicts. Furthermore, these unstable steady states imply that there will be a

bimodal distribution of consumption, again something that is observed for many

addictive goods. In addition Bec er and urphy’s model implies that temporary events,

including price reductions, peer pressure, or stressful events, can lead to permanent

addictions.

Given a quadratic utility function (which has the useful property that the first order

conditions for each of the arguments are linear) and the individual’s rate of time

preference, s, being equal to the market interest rate.

As Becker et al. (1994) noted, the positive past and future price effects seem

contradictory, given the discussion of adjacent complementarity. However, eqn 5.7 holds

past and future consumption constant, eliminating the mechanism through which past and

future prices affect current consumption. If past consumption did not change as past

prices rose, then some other factor must have led to an increase in past consumption,

offsetting the decrease caused by the price increase. This increase in past consumption is

what causes current consumption to be positively related to past price when past and

future consumption are held constant. For addictive goods, eqn 5.7 implies that current

consumption is positively related to past consumption, with the degree of addiction

reflected by a3.

The Becker and Murphy rational-addiction model has several interesting implications

with respect to the effects of price on demand for an addictive good.


Page28

Several other applications of the Becker and Murphy model have employed aggregate

time-series data for various countries or other jurisdictions. Keeler et al. (1993), using

data from California, Pekurinen (1991), using data for Finland, and Bardsley and

Olekalns (1998), with data for Australia, produced estimates consistent with the

hypothesis of rational addiction.

Duffy (1996), Cameron (1997), and Conniffe (1995), using annual time-series data for

the United Kingdom, Greece, and Ireland, respectively, found little support for the

rational-addiction model. However, the latter two studies were limited by the relatively

small number of observations available for their analyses, while all three have problems

resulting from the use of several highly correlated regressors.

Finally, Douglas (1998) used hazard models to examine the determinants of smoking

initiation and cessation in the context of the Becker and Murphy (1988) rational addiction

model. In contrast to his finding that price does not significantly affect the hazard of

smoking initiation, Douglas concluded that increases in price significantly increase the

likelihood (hazard) of smoking cessation. He estimated a price elasticity for the duration

of the smoking habit of 1.07 with respect to future price, consistent with the hypothesis of

rational addiction; paradoxically, past and current prices were not found to have a

statistically significant effect on cessation. Similarly, his parametric and non-parametric

results imply that the hazard of smoking cessation has positive duration dependence; a

finding Douglas suggested is consistent with rational addiction in that the rational smoker

will discount future health costs less as they become more imminent.” (Chaloupka, F. J.,

Tauras, J. A., & Grossman, M. 2000)


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3 Chapter Three:

3.1 Study Design

This research was based on a cross-sectional survey and the researcher sporadically and

randomly visited Khat chewing cafes and Khat retail shops gathering data from Khat

addicts and users.

This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods in a descriptive and

explanatory process of objectivity.

3.1.1 Sampling Procedure

A random sample of employed and married male khat chewers aged 18 years and above,

was undertaken through this study.

3.1.2 Population:

The total number of employed males in Hargiesa area is 16,882 according to International

Labour Organization (ILO, 2012). This study targeted a sub-population of 40 individuals

that share all the above mentioned characteristics.


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3.1.3 Sample frame:

The sample size of this survey was 33 individuals with a confidence interval of 7

and a confidence level of 95%. The researcher has used this below formula to

drive sample size.

ss =

Z 2 * (p) * (1-p)

c 2

Equation 1

Where:

Z = Z value (1.96 for 95% confidence level)

p = percentage picking a choice, expressed as decimal

(.5 used for sample size needed)

c = confidence interval, expressed as decimal

(e.g., .07 = ±7)

Table 3.1 Population and sample proportion:

S/N Hargeisa Male Married Khat Employed Total Sample


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Residential

areas

addicts

1 26 June 3 2 2 2 9 8

2 Kood-Buur 3 2 3 3 11 9

3 A/Dhagax 2 2 1 2 7 5

4 M/Haybe 3 1 1 1 6 5

5 G/Libaax 2 1 2 2 7 6

Total 13 8 9 10 40 33

Source: Own calculation

3.2 Data type and sources

Primary and secondary data were both employed. This was to ensure that the relevant

information necessary for the study have been obtained. Primary data was collected

through questionnaires and interviews by contacting males in Khat chewing cafes and

shops by demanding their full consent and information related to their Khat consumption

patterns and other relevant information. The secondary data was obtained from other

sources such as; journal articles, which are relevant to the study, past research work,

dissertation and thesis, which carries the necessary information relevant and important to

the study. In addition, cross- sectional data was gathered which we regard it the only

obtainable type of data in our distinct circumstance.

3.3 Data Collection Instrument

The researcher uses a well-structured multiple choice survey questionnaire with some

direct questions to gather the necessary data for this study. The questionnaire contains six

main parts each part haves several questions representing the main objectives of the

study. The purpose of this questionnaire is to assess the relationships and

interdependence of the different variables of this study, in particular, the instrument is

designed to gather data relating the impact of Khat addiction on consumer behaviour.


Page32

The first part of the questionnaire focuses on participants personal details like age,

employment status, and marital status. The second part focuses on khat usage patterns

and how time is related. The third part focuses on the degree of Khat dependence. Part

four puts some emphases on income level and expenditure behaviour. Part five

concentrates on the participant’s familiarity with adverse economic, health and social

effect of khat addiction while part six specially targets the information related to

hypothetical consumption decisions if Khat prices change.

3.4 Data analyses and interpretation

The researcher has used descriptive methods for data amylases, elaborating and

discovering the inter-relationships of the different variables and how one impact on the

other. The researcher has also used charts to present finding of this study.

Nonetheless, the researcher has employed one of the three relevant rational addiction

models used for abnormal consumer behaviour and its consequences.

Other relevant explanations and analyses were employed to fully capture the main themes

of the findings and by doing so the author drew conclusion based on these analysis.


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4 Chapter Four

4.1 Findings and Analyses

This finding represents many weeks of field investigation depicted in the results of our

questionnaire which we intended to measure the impact of Khat chewing on consumer

behaviour. Here we present and discuss the prevalence, relationships and impacts of the

variables of this study. This section presents the answers of our research questions and

the outcome of study objectives. The sample was drawn from all five districts of Hargeisa

city randomly.

4.2 Sample Characteristics

Table 4.1 Employment status:

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Valid Employed 28 84.8 84.8

Unemployed 5 15.2 15.2

Total 33 100.0 100.0

Source: Own finding.

As shown in table 2.0, almost 84.8% of the respondents were employed while only 15.2%

were unemployed. This fact anchors the any other relative facts found during this

research, like income level, expenditure and income allocation patterns.


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Table 4.2 Respondent’s age range:


Valid 15-25 7 21.2 21.2

25-35 18 54.5 54.5

35-above 8 24.2 24.2

Total 33 100.0 100.0


Here, 54.5% of the respondents are in the age range of 25 – 35 which shows that the bulk

of our respondents are mature enough to have a rational way of thinking. 21.2% of our

respondents were under the age of 25 years old while 24.2% were above the age of 35.

This result shows that youngsters and above 35 adult’s participation was low in contrast

to the 25 to 35 age range. As we were targeting Khat chewing cafes (Maqaaxiiyo), Khat

shops (Kolay) and some random houses and businesses; this age gap can be interpreted as

a manifestation of Khat chewer’s normal age range. For the youngsters they are usually

not independent from their families so cultural obstacles might hinder if they had any

Khat chewing desires while the majority of above 35 adults might have either quitted or

never addicted to Khat for difference reasons.

Table 4.3 Respondent’s marital status:


Valid Married 25 75.8 75.8

Single 8 24.2 24.2

Total 33 100.0 100.0



Page35

This table shows that 75.8% of our respondents were married while only 24.2% reported

as of being singles. This result show that the vast majority of our respondents were head

of households and in addition to the high employment level it makes them heads of

households which necessitates them to take responsibility thus allocate income wisely as

they are supposed to be.

Table 4.4 Khat chewing:


Valid Chew Khat 29 87.9 87.9

Don't chew Khat 4 12.1 12.1

Total 33 100.0 100.0


Table 4.5 If chewing Khat is regular :


Valid 4 12.1 12.1

Agree 24 72.7 72.7

Disagree 5 15.2 15.2

Total 33 100.0 100.0


Table 5.0 shows the percentage of our respondents who are Khat chewers. Almost 88%

of them reported that they chew Khat while only 12% reported that they do not chew

Khat. When asked on why they chew or not chew Khat, respondents made different

feedbacks, the majority of chewers asserted that they get happiness and a high from

chewing Khat. This response is very typical and predictable but others claimed that Khat

relieves them from feeling stress and despair. Those who don’t chew Khat justified

choice on different reasons. Some of them justified it using cultural and religious reasons

while others used economical and health related justifications. The interesting thing here

is that in addition to the previous result, table 6.0, shows that the majority of Khat

chewers, a 72% of the valid responds chew Khat on regular basis not haphazardly.


Page36

This result adds meaning on the previous results and paints a big picture. This means that

the majority of our respondents are in the age range of 25 to 35, employed, head of

households and chew Khat regularly.

This result acts as a concrete basis on this study and helps draw a meaningful conclusion.

It also helps us to understand the wider context of Khat chewers in Hargiesa.

Table 4.6 If Khat an important part of respondent:


Valid 4 12.1 12.1

Agree 25 75.8 75.8

Disagree 4 12.1 12.1

Total 33 100.0 100.0


Table 4.7 If Khat is equally important as food:


Valid 4 12.1 12.1

Agree 9 27.3 27.3

Disagree 20 60.6 60.6

Total 33 100.0 100.0


Table 7.0, shows the attitudes of Khat chewers towards Khat. A majority of 76% of the

respondents agreed that Khat is an important part of their life. This finding shows a

positive view towards Khat in the perspective of Khat chewers. This majority justified

their attitudes towards Khat on different bases. Ironically, some of them used religious

justifications claiming that Khat leaves are sacred by Allah and that Muslim saints of

Qadiryah used to chew Khat for rituals. The mainstream religious discourse in


Page37

Somaliland rejects these sorts of claims portraying them as baseless Khuraafah or dogma.

A slight minority of 12% of Khat chewers disagreed with the suggestion.

On the other hand, table 8.0, shows that a majority of Khat chewers, 60% disagree with

the suggestion that Khat is equally important as other food while a slight minority

reported that they do agree with the suggestion. This result represents the comparability

of Khat chewing and consuming food and the majority of our respondents took a sane

stance on this dilemma.

Table 4.8 If expenditure of on Khat consumption is waste of time and money


Valid 4 12.1 12.1

Strongly agree 20 60.6 60.6

Agree 5 15.2 15.2

Disagree 2 6.1 6.1

Strongly disagree 2 6.1 6.1

Total 33 100.0 100.0


Table 9.0, Is the one of several variables that we used to measure the rationality and

attitudes of Khat chewers. Respondents were asked whether or not they view Khat

consumption as a waste of time and money. A majority of 60% responded strong

agreement with the suggestion while a small minority slightly agreed or disagreed on

different levels.

Respondents were as ed if they agree why they chew Khat while they believe that it’s a

waste of time and money, the majority of them failed to answer the question while others

admitted that their behaviour is irrational due to the addiction.

All in all, this result shows a clear inconsistency of preferences and it manifests a case of

cognitive dissonance.


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4.3 Descriptive analyses

This section presents graphic results of numeric and scale variables followed by

descriptive analyses. Here we have discussed histogram data with statistical results.

Interpretation and discussion follows where applicable. These histograms show the

frequency of respondents and how they responded to the questions.

Figure 4-1 Number of past years in Khat chewing:


Figure 4.1, shows the statistical results of the frequency of this variable, the number of

past years that a Khat chewer used to chew and the frequency of respondents. A 2.86

mean shows that respondents are slightly normally distributed in close to 3 years of Khat

chewing past.


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Figure 4-2 Number of daily hourse spent in chewing Khat


In this figure, the responses of the question of the number of daily hours that Khat

chewers chew Khat are normally distributed in 3.48 by which we can detect a slight

skewedness to the right. This means that in general respondents chew Khat more than 3

hours per day.


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Figure 4-3 The degree of expected hardship if Khat chewer quite from Khat chewing


Figure 4.3, measures the how the respondents reported degree of hardship that

withdrawal might cause. A mean close to 4 from a scale of 1 to 5 means that the majority

of respondents think that withdrawal from Khat would cause hardship to them. As you

see, the graph is skewed in the right and that is evidence that fear from withdrawal

consequences has a significant effect on the Khat chewing habit. Thus we argue that it

enforces Khat chewers to sustain chewing causing addiction.


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Figure 4-4 Degree of perceived dependence on Khat on Khat chewing


Figure 4.4, shows how the respondents are dependent on Khat. As you see, the mean is

3.69 which skewed the graph into the right direction. This also shows that more Khat

chewers are dependent on Khat which is an explanation of how addict respondents are to

Khat.


Page42

Figure 4-5 Respondent's monthly income level:


Figure 4.5, illustrates the monthly income level of our respondents. The majority of our

respondents have income level of $43 it’s somewhat normally distributed as the

standard deviation is $124.


Page43

Figure 4-6 Level of income allocated for family by the Khat chewer


Figure 4.6, illustrates the portion of monthly income that Khat chewers allocate to their

families. This result is striking as the mean here is $205 and the standard deviation is

$135 it shows that the income allocation is not normally distributed and the skewedness

in inclined in the left side of the graph. This means that the majority of Khat chewers

allocate less money for their families in contrast to their income level.


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Figure 4-7 Level of monthly Khat expenditure by the Khat chewer


This figure illustrates the portion of monthly income that Khat chewers allocate it for

Khat consumption. We have a mean of $222 and a standard deviation of $109 which

shows that it’s normally distributed. If we compare between this mean and the previous

one in figure 6, we can see that this later allocation for Khat is larger than the amount of

income allocated for family. Though the majority of the respondents seem to balance the

expenditure between family and Khat consumption yet this balance is by itself a

manifestation of economic wastage but at least it explains how these Khat chewers

sustain marriage.


Page45

Figure 4-8 Degree of Khat chewer's familiarity with adverse health effects from Khat chewing


This figure illustrates the respondent’s degree of familiarity with adverse health effects

of Khat. Although a mean of 2.45 shows a perfectly distributed graph yet as you can see,

the graph is slightly skewed in the left side which shows that a slight majority of our

respondents are somehow unfamiliar with the adverse health consequences of Khat

chewing. This might be due to lack of awareness or lower education.


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Figure 4-9 Degree of Khat chewer's familiarity with adverse economic effects of Khat chewing


Figure 4.9, illustrates how respondents are familiar with adverse economic effects of

Khat. As the result shows, the mean is exactly 4 while standard deviation is 0.9. In

addition to the right side skewed graph the mean demonstrates that the majority of Khat

chewers are highly familiar with adverse economic effects of Khat. This is not surprising

compared to figure 8, health effects of Khat might take long time to witness but the

economic problems would be on daily basis and every Khat chewer with a low income

level definitely realizes that.


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Figure 4-10 If Khat prices go up by fifty percent and respondent’s income level remains

constant the Khat addict would spend a percentage of money on Khat relevant to price change


Figure 4. 0 e amines the respondent’s responses to a hypothetical price change on Khat.

Many respondents as a mean of 24 illustrates, have responded to 50% rise in Khat prices

by sacrificing almost 24% more money to buy Khat while their income is constant. This

shows a degree of rationality as they cut some of their consumption and a proof for the

addiction. A slight minority reported that they would expend the same percentage that

Khat prices rise. But as long as this is hypothetical, actual responses might differ. But this

hypothetical decrease of demand is supported by a relative empirical finding on the

demand of cigarettes and the impact of addiction on the rationality of the consumer by

(Young, 1983).


Page48

Figure 4-11 If Khat prices go down by fifty percent and the respondent’s income level remains

constant the Khat addict would spend a percentage on Khat relevant to price change


Figure 4.11, illustrates a normally distributed graph of respondents and their responses

when asked a hypothetical question which says; if Khat prices decrease 50% how much

percent would you increase your consumption? The majority responded that they would

increase as much as 30% as you can see from the mean. The interpretation of this result is

that the desire of Khat chewers to chew more Khat is as high as their demand illustrates.


Page49

4.4 Khat addiction and consumer behaviour

During our investigation and analysis we have used several questions to measure

addiction variable and consumption behavior variable respectively. For addiction

measuring, we have asked our respondents several questions and the results were

illustrated in chapter four figures of 1, 3 and 4. Figure one, illustrated the number of past

years that the responder used to chew Khat while figure two was focused on drawing data

relating to withdrawal of Khat. Figure two is the result respondents who reported how

bad life would be if they quite from chewing Khat by depicting their responses in a 1 to 5

number scale. Finally, figure four addresses the outcome of how responders reported

when directly asked to scale the degree of their dependence on Khat in a 1 to 5 number

scale.

Regarding consumption behavior, we have also asked several questions to our

respondents in order to elicit data from them. First of all, we have asked our respondents

their respective monthly income levels. Second, we have asked them the portion of their

income that they allocate both to their families and their Khat consumption budget

respectively. Third, we have asked the number of daily hours that they spend on chewing

khat. Finally we have asked them how they would respond if Khat prices go up in 50% or

go down by 50% and we have analyzed their responses in chapter four especially figure

10 and figure 11.

After we have analyzed rigorously using Pearson Correlation statistics on the nature of

the relationship between Khat addiction and consumer behavior we have found that:

1. The past consumption specified here as the number of past years that the

consumer used to chew Khat has a strong linear and positive relationship of


Page50

+0.766 with the level of consumer expenditure on Khat. A two tailed

significance test shows a high level of significance of 0.00. This means as the

past consumption increases the consumer is very likely to increase his

consumption of the addictive good. (for further information look Appendix

one, table 7.1)


consumer used to chew Khat has a moderate negative relationship of about -

0.533 with the level of allocated income for the addict’s family. two tailed

test shows a high significance level of about 0.003. This means the higher the

past consumption the lower the allocated income for the addict’s family. (for

further information look Appendix one, table 7.2)

3. The level of expenditure on Khat by the addict has a moderate negative

relationship of -0.508 with the level of income that the addict allocates for his

family. A two tailed test shows a high significance level of 0.005. This means

the higher the Khat addict expends on Khat the lower he allocates money for

his family. (for further information look Appendix one, table 7.3)


consumer used to chew Khat has a very strong positive and linear relationship

of +0.848 with the level of demand for Khat if prices rise. Two tailed test

shows a high significance level of 0. (for further information look Appendix

one, table 7.4)

4.5 Khat addiction and consumer rationality


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After we examined the relationship between levels of expenditure on Khat and the level

of addict’s information of the adverse health consequences of Khat addiction we have

found a moderate positive linear relationship of +0.543. This is due to inconsistent

preferences and it shows an imperfectly rational behavior and the explanation is that

addiction is causing this behavior as we discussed before. Also lack of health related

awareness has something to do with these results. (for further information look Appendix

one, table 7.5)

On the other hand, the relationship between levels of expenditure on Khat and the level of

addict’s information of the adverse economic consequences of Khat addiction we have

found that there is a weak positive relationship of about +0.159 which means an

imperfectly rational behavior. The explanation of this behavior is that though addicts are

pretty familiar with bad economic repercussions of Khat addiction yet addiction the

strong effects of dependence prevail.

5 Chapter five:

5.1 5.1 Discussion, implications and Conclusion


Page52

Khat addiction heavily affects and into a large e tent determines Khat addict’s

consumption, expenditure patterns and family income allocation decisions. The

underlining reason for this is the dilemma of competing sources of utility that the Khat

addicts face during their lifetime. As the addiction period increases Khat addicts

accumulate a bigger utility stock and as we have seen in the literature review of the

cigarette addiction this anchors addict’s tolerance, reinforcement and fear of withdrawal.

The issue of modeling drug addiction and its relationship with consumer behavior has

long been ignored and this paper adds a new emphasis on a small literature that has been

written about modeling cigarette addiction and its repercussions on consumer behavior.

Our finding principally coincides with Schelling’s model of the imperfectly rational

addiction model yet it slightly diverts from it as we didn’t use assumptions of the past and

future conflict of perferences as Schelling did, but we have compared the sort of conflict

of preferences that arises when the Khat addict is faced by the dilemma of allocating

income either for his family or for his Khat consumption.

We have also inspected the kind of inconsistency of preferences that the addict faces

when his information on the negative consequences of his addiction are compared with

the short run utility that he derives from Khat addiction. This means that Khat addicts

retain some degree of rationality and this was evidenced by how Khat addicts responded

to the hypothetical price changes through which they showed a moderate degree of

sensitivity and reaction when they have thought about Khat price changes.

5.2 Implications and recommendation

The findings of this paper have policy implications as the government can predict the

possible effects of policies that are designed to fight with Khat addiction and deal with its

negative complication on both the society in general and the economy in particular.


Page53

The findings of this paper indicate that if excise taxes are increased on Khat imports the

demand of Khat would decrease though not as much as normal goods. Hence, increasing

excise tax would help contain the problem of Khat addiction into some extent.

Henceforth, we are recommending for the government to increase excise taxes on Khat

imports besides other methods to contain and cure the problem of Khat addiction in

Somalialnd based on the scientific findings of this study.

5.3 Conclusion

Here we argue that the imperfect rational addiction model is the perfect fit for the

abnormal consumer behavior induced by Khat addiction. We have found that Khat

addicts consume Khat to get high or a feeling of happiness or relief of stress. This is due

to the dopamine hormone release in the brain after chewing Khat. On this basis, Khat

addicts derive a utility from Khat consumption thus their consumption is basically

rational. But on the other hand, Khat addicts ignore relevant information on the adverse

health and economic effects of Khat addiction hence Khat addicts behave irrationally.

Henceforth, we have found that Khat addicts hold inconsistent preferences and behave in

an imperfectly rational way.


Page54

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Appendix One: Correlation Tables


Page57

Table 5.1 Correlation between past Khat chewing & level of spending on Khat

Correlations Number of years that

you were chewing

Khat is?

You expend your

income on Khat as

much as?

Number of years that you were

chewing Khat is?

Pearson Correlation 1 .766**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 29 29

You expend your income on Khat as

much as?

Pearson Correlation .766** 1


N 29 29

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).


Table 5.2 Correlation between past Khat chewing & income allocated for family

Correlations Number of years that

you were chewing

Khat is?

You allocate your

family as much as?


chewing Khat is?

Pearson Correlation 1 -.533**


N 29 29

You allocate your family as much as? Pearson Correlation -.533** 1


N 29 29




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Table 5.3 Correlation between spending on Khat & income allocated for the family

Correlations

You allocate your

family as much as?

You expend your

income on Khat as

much as?

You allocate your family as much as? Pearson Correlation 1 -.508**


N 29 29


much as?

Pearson Correlation -.508** 1


N 29 29



Table 5.4 Correlation between past Khat chewing & response to Khat price rise

Correlations

Number of years that

you were chewing

Khat is?

If Khat prices go up

by fifty percent and

your income level

remains constant you

would sacrifice as

much money on Khat

as?


chewing Khat is?

Pearson Correlation 1 .848**


N 29 29

If Khat prices go up by fifty percent

and your income level remains

constant you would sacrifice as much

money on Khat as?

Pearson Correlation .848** 1


N 29 29




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Table 5.5 Correlation between Khat spending & information on adverse health and economic

effects related to Khat

Correlations

You expend your

income on Khat as

much as?

You are familiar with

adverse health effects

that are related to

Khat? Select

familiarity scale:

You are familiar with

adverse economic

effects of Khat?


much as?

Pearson Correlation 1 .543** .159

Sig. (2-tailed) .002 .409

N 29 29 29

You are familiar with adverse health

effects that are related to Khat?

Select familiarity scale:

Pearson Correlation .543** 1 .049

Sig. (2-tailed) .002 .801

N 29 29 29

You are familiar with adverse

economic effects of Khat?

Pearson Correlation .159 .049 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .409 .801

N 29 29 29




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Appendix Two: Survey Questionnaire Consent Letter

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF KHAT ADDICTION ON CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR

I am an undergraduate student at the University of Hargeisa. My name is Khaled

Mohamoud Abdilahi Undergrad.

I am preparing my thesis project in the faculty of economics. As a graduation

requirement, I am working on a thesis project whereby I need to collect information on

how Khat addiction impacts consumer behavior of employed and married males in

Hargeisa area. I am therefore asking if you would agree to participate in my research by

answering a questionnaire.

The questionnaire has 10 questions and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

You do not have to participate at all, or, even if you agree now, you can terminate your

participation at any time without prejudice. You also do not have to answer individual

questions you don’t want to answer. Your name will not be attached to the questionnaire

and I will ensure that your participation remains confidential.

I can tell you that your response may be included in the paper I will write at the

conclusion of this project; however, your responses would be anonymous and nobody

could connect your responses with you as an individual.

A benefit you may experience by participating in this study is greater knowledge of how

Khat addiction might impact your general consumption behavior.


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By participating in this study, you risk being upset or made uncomfortable by the

questions asked. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to instantly tell

to me.

____________________________________ ________________

Participant signature Date

____________________________________ _________________

Researcher Signature Date


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Appendix Three: Survey Questionnaire

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF KHAT ADDICTION ON CONSUMER

BEHAVIOR

Supervisor: Abdishakur Mohamed Hussein Researcher: Khaled Mohamoud Abdilahi

Institution: University of Hargeisa Date: August- 2015

Period: August- 2015 Signature:

Instructions

Please carefully read the questions then select the choice that best aligns with your experience and reality and kindly answer the questions:

N.B: 1 – 5 Scales are ascending so the higher you agree the larger number you choose.

Part I: Individual characteristics

1) Your age is between:

a. 15 - 25

b. 25 - 35

c. 35 - above

2) Your employment status

a. Employed

b. Unemployed

3) Your marital status

a. Married

b. Single


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Part II: Khat usage and time

Why did you choose that answer?

1) You chew Khat

a. Agree

b. Disagree

2) You regularly chew Khat

a. Agree

b. Disagree

3) Number of years that you were chewing Khat is?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5

f. 6

4) Number of hours you chew Khat per day is?:

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5


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Part III: Khat dependence

Explain why you think so?

If you agree what kind of hardship you think you will face if you quite Khat chewing?

1) Khat is an important part of your life?

a. Agree

b. Disagree

2) It would be hard if you try to quite chewing Khat? : Select hardship scale 1-5.

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5

3) Khat is equally important as other food?

a. Agree

b. Disagree


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Part IV: Income level and expenditure on Khat

Explain if you think your consumption behavior is rational or not?

4) Your dependence on Khat is? Select dependence scale 1 – 5.

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5

5) Your income per month is between?

a. < $100

b. $100

b. $200

c. $300

d. $400

e. > $500

6)

You allocate your family as much as?

a. $

7) You expend your income on Khat as much as?

a. $


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Part V: Information on adverse effects of Khat addiction

If agree, why you prefer Khat chewing over your health and fitness?

If agree, why did you waste your money and time?

8) You are familiar with health effects that are related to Khat addiction? Scale how much

you agree 1 - 5

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5

9) You are familiar with adverse economic effects of Khat? Scale how much you agree 1 - 5

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5

10) Expenditure on Khat consumption is economically waste of time and money

a. Agree

b. Disagree


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Part VI: Hypothetical price change and its effect on Khat consumption

11) If khat prices go up by 50% and your income level remains constant you would sacrifice

as much money to buy specific amount of Khat as?

a. 20%

b. 30%

c. 40%

d. 50%

12) If Khat prices go down by 50% you would increase your consumption of Khat as much as?

a. 20%

b. 30%

c. 40%

d. 50%

13) If Khat prices go up suddenly and your income level remains constant you would cut your

consumption of Khat?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. 4

e. 5

the hypnotic consumption: a study on the impact of khat...

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