valuePrimitive Boolean(default: false)

Specifies the value binding behavior for the widget when the initial model value is null. If set to true, the View-Model field will be updated with the primitive value of the selected item's field (defined in the dataValueField option).if set to false, the View-Model field will be updated with the selected item - the entire non-primitive object.

Example - specify that the View-Model field should be updated with the selected item value

<div id="example">
  <div>Change the value of the dropdowns and observe the logged value in the console.</div>
  <br/>

  <select id="dropdownPrimitive" data-bind="value: selectedProductId, source: products" >
  </select>

  <select id="dropdown" data-bind="value: selectedProduct, source: products" >
  </select>
</div>
<script>
$("#dropdownPrimitive").kendoDropDownList({
  valuePrimitive: true,
  dataTextField: "name",
  dataValueField: "id",
  optionLabel: "Select product..."
});

$("#dropdown").kendoDropDownList({
  valuePrimitive: false,
  dataTextField: "name",
  dataValueField: "id",
  optionLabel: "Select product..."
});

var viewModel = kendo.observable({
  selectedProductId: null,
  selectedProduct: null,
  products: [
    { id: 1, name: "Coffee" },
    { id: 2, name: "Tea" },
    { id: 3, name: "Juice" }
  ]
});

viewModel.bind("change", function(ev) {
  //result when the second item is selected in the $("#dropdownPrimitive") DropDownList: value: {"id":2,"name":"Tea"}
  //result when the second item is selected in the $("#dropdown") DropDownList: value: 2

  if (ev.field === "selectedProduct") {
    console.log("value: " + JSON.stringify(this.get(ev.field)));
  } else if (ev.field === "selectedProductId") {
    console.log("value: " + this.get(ev.field));
  }
});

kendo.bind($("#example"), viewModel);
</script>