The document is a summer project report on consumer behavior towards ready-to-eat food products submitted to Rural Outreach Private Limited. It includes an introduction discussing the growth of the food processing industry in India and factors driving demand for ready-to-eat foods. It also provides acknowledgements and declarations sections. The contents section outlines the different chapters to be included in the report on the topic of the study.
1. SUMMER PROJECT REPORT
On
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS READY- TO-EAT FOOD
PRODUCTS
prepared for and presented to
RURAL OUTREACH PRIVATE LIMITED
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
ORGANISATION GUIDE
INSTITUTIONAL GUIDE
Mr. Anadi Anand
DR.RAKHI GUPTA.
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF
DEGREE OF MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION FROM
GAUTAM BUDDHA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
By
NAME: - MOHD AMIR
Roll No 1212470080
(3rd Semester 2012 – 2014)
2. INSTITUTE OF CO-OPERATIVE & CORPORATE
MANAGEMENT, RESEARCH & TRAINING, LUCKNOW
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I owe a great many thanks to a great many people who helped and supported me during the
writing of this project. My deepest thanks to Dr.Rakhi Gupta the Guide of the project for
guiding and correcting various documents of mine with attention and care. She has taken
pain to go through the project and make necessary correction as and when needed. I express
my thanks to the Principal Dr.Ajay Prakash for extending his support. My deep sense of
gratitude to Mr.Anadi Anand Supervisor RURAL OUTREACH PRIVATE LIMITED
for support and guidance. Thanks and appreciation to the helpful people at Rural Outreach
Private Limited for their support. I would also thank my Institution and my faculty
members without whom this project would have been a distant reality. I also extend my
heartfelt thanks to my family and well wishers.
3. DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the project work entitled „„CONSUMER BEHAVIOURTOWARDS”
READY- TO-EAT FOOD PRODUCTS submitted to the ICCMRT, is a record of an original
work done by me under the guidance of Mr. Anadi Anand and Dr. Rakhi Gupta and this project
work has not performed the basis for the award of any Degree or diploma and similar project if any.
MOHD AMIR
ROLL NO 1212470080
6. CONTENTS
Sl. No.
Chapter Particulars
CERTIFICATE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF APPENDICES
1
INTRODUCTION
2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1
2.2
Purchase behaviour of consumers
2.3
Brand preference
2.4
Factors influencing brand preference
2.5
3
Awareness of consumers towards branded products
Alternative purchase plans
METHODOLOGY
3.1
Description of study area
3.2
Sampling design and data collection
3.3
Analytical tools employed in the study
7. 4
RESULTS
4.1
Awareness of consumers towards branded ready to eat food
products.
4.2
Purchase behaviour of consumers towards ready to eat food
products.
4.3
4.4
Factors influencing brand preference.
4.5
5
Brand preference of the consumers.
Alternative purchase plans of the consumers.
DISCUSSION
5.1
Awareness of consumers towards branded ready-to-eat food
products.
5.2
Purchase behaviour of consumers towards ready to eat food
products.
5.3
5.4
Factors influencing brand preference.
5.5
6
Brand preference of the consumers.
Alternative purchase plans of the consumers.
SUMMARY AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
9. LIST OF TABLES
Table
Title
No.
4.1
General information of selected samples in Hubli and Dharwad
4.2
Brand awareness of consumers about biscuits among different age groups
4.3
Brand awareness of consumers about chips among different age groups
4.4
Brand awareness of consumers about fruit juice among different age groups
4.5
Brand awareness of consumers about ice creams among different age groups
4.6
Influence of media to create awareness about the brands
4.7
Buyers and non-buyers of ready to eat food products
4.8
Reasons for purchasing ready to eat food products by consumers of Hubli –
Dharwad
4.9
Reasons for not purchasing ready to eat food products by consumers of Hubli
– Dharwad
4.10
Monthly expenditure of households on food items
4.11
Monthly expenditure of households on ready-to-eat food products
4.12
Frequency and place of purchase by the respondents
4.13
Nature of purchase decision among different age groups
4.14
Influence of income on purchase decisions on ready to eat food products
4.15
Influence /impact of education to make purchase decision on ready to eat food
products
4.6
Preference for type of biscuits among different age groups
4.17
Preference for variety of chips among different age groups
4.18
Preference for flavour in chips among different age groups
4.19
Preference for type of fruit juice among different age groups
4.20
Preference for type of ice creams among different age groups
10. 4.21
Preference for flavour in ice creams among different age groups
4.22
Brand preference for biscuits
4.23
Brand preference for chips
4.24
Brand preference for fruit juice
12. LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
Title
No.
1
Brand awareness of consumers about biscuits among different age
groups
2.
Brand awareness of consumers about chips among different age
groups
3.
Brand awareness of consumers about fruit juice among different age
groups
4.
Brand awareness of consumers about ice creams among different
age groups
5.
Influence of media to create awareness about the brands
6.
Monthly expenditure of households on food items
7.
Monthly expenditure of households on ready-to-eat food products
14. 1. INTRODUCTION
There is nobody in the world who is left out of the class of consumers.
The consumer-hood continues till one‟s last breath in the world.
The consumer purchases a variety of goods and services to satisfy his wants and he is
always influenced in his purchasing activities by some considerations which lead him to
select a particular commodity or a particular retail store in preference to others. So,
consumer buying is more complex. Consumer purchases are likely to be influenced by
physiological, psychological and sociological factors. The commodities and services are
brought by the consumer to satisfy his basic needs, for comfort, pleasure, recreation and
happiness. Every individual has physiological need such as hunger, shelter, thirst, etc.,
which have to be satisfied for survival. The psychological factors like status prestige and
social factors like friends, neighbours, job and relatives influence their purchasing
activities.
People bear certain beliefs and attitudes towards certain types of goods, brands of
commodities and retail outlets based on their previous experience. When there is a need,
they are able to discover some new commodities capable of satisfying their needs. Before
the commodities and brands are selected, these commodities must compete successfully
against alternatives in the market. The selection of a particular commodity becomes
important for consumer since there are wide varieties of consumer goods in the market.
Again selection of a particular commodity depends on income of the consumer and
necessity of the product to the individual. Before the selection of the commodity
purchased, an individual requires information regarding the various sources of supply of
the commodity, its brands, relative merits and demerits, uses and value of their
characteristic features and services offered. The common sources through which individual
gathers information are from advertising media (television, radio and news papers), friends,
retailers in the locality, displays in shops and food labels.
India is one of the largest food producers of the world with the organised sector accounting
for food output worth US $34827 million, only a small percentage of its farm produce is
15. processed into value-added products. For instance, even though the country is the second
largest producer of fruits and vegetables, hardly two per cent of the production is
processed. This underlines the enormous scope for investing in the processed food sector in
the areas of infrastructure, packaging and machinery. India, in fact, needs US $28 billion of
investment to raise its food processing levels by 8-10 per cent.The potential for
investment in this sector is further accentuated by the following factors:
•
A huge and exponentially growing demand represented by a market of one billion people
spending on an average about 50 per cent of household expenditures on food coupled by a
scenario of rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles.
•
A 30 million upper and middle class segment of the total population
consume processed and packaged food with another 200 million people,
projected to shift to this group by 2010. Thanks largely to rapid
urbanization and changing lifestyles.
•
Well-developed infrastructure and distribution network.
•
Increase in per capita income and purchasing power.
•
Large pool of scientific, technical and skilled manpower.
•
Introduction of series of investment friendly initiatives by the
Government including strengthening and augmenting of road and rail
network, modernization of ports, prioritization of infrastructure for post
harvest management, logistics (including cold chain), markets, retailing,
food processing.
•
Introduction of a number of liberal policy initiatives by the Government
to boost food processing activities.
16. •
53 food parks approved to enable small and medium food and beverage
units to set up and to use capital intensive common facilities such as cold
storage, warehouse, quality control labs, effluent treatment plant, etc.
17. Over the past five decades, India has taken giant steps in producing food
grains, milk, fruits and vegetables. The production of raw food materials is
estimated to worth over Rs. 60,000 crore. After primary, secondary and tertiary
processing, the total size of the industry is estimated to be as high as Rs.
1,10,000 crore. This cost overrun reflects the opportunities that food processing
industry offers to the economy as a whole and entrepreneurs in individual. Big
opportunities lie in upgradation from commodities to packaged and branded
products and convenient foods, which offer value for money, products focused
towards children and young adults and products catering to those who lead a fast
modern day life. Realizing the potential and in order to provide further boost, the
government has exempted from excise duty for condensed milk, ice cream,
preparations of meat, fish and poultry, pectins, pasta and yeast. Further, excise
duty on certain ready-to-eat packaged foods is reduced to 8 per cent from 16 per
cent. The food processing industry will also be benefited from the reduction in
excise duty on paper, a cut in customs duty on major bulk plastics and a
reduction of customs duty on packaging machines, which would reduce
packaging costs (Budget, 2007).
The Food Processing Industry In India
The Food processing industry has an important role to play in linking the
farmers to the final consumers in the domestic as well as the international
markets. Food processing combined with marketing has the potential of solving
the basic problems of agricultural surpluses, wastages, rural jobs, and better
remuneration to the growers. In the next ten years, food production is expected to
double. These produces, if processed and marketed smartly, can make India a
leading food supplier of the world.
India with a population of 1.08 billion (growing at about 1.70% per
annum) provides a large and growing market for food products. Food products
are the single largest component of private consumption expenditure, accounting
18. for as much as 49.00 per cent of the total spending. Furthermore, the upward
mobility of income classes and increasing need for convenience and hygiene is
driving demand for (a) perishables and non food staples and (b) processed foods.
Also, eating out is a booming practice in urban India and processed foods are
accepted as alternative to the home cooked food because of the convenience it
offers. Also, with the globalization of trade and availability of high speed
logistics, food retailers in developed countries are sourcing an year-round supply
of fruits and vegetables from developing countries. Thus, both for local
consumption as well for export there is a year round opportunity for fruits and
vegetables, meat and poultry products and ready-to-eat processed foods.
The total exports of Indian food processing industry had increased by
about three times to Rs. 53,000 crores in 2003-04, from Rs. 17,600 crores in
2002-03. Considering the greater potential for food processing industry in India,
government had committed to encourage various activities for the development
of this sector. Indian government had been giving importance to the food
processing sector, by way of fiscal incentives to encourage commercialization
and value addition of agricultural produce, for minimizing pre/post harvest
wastage, generating employment and export growth. The government gave fiveyear tax holiday for new food processing units in fruits and vegetable processing.
From 2000-01 to 2006-07 government had also approved proposals for joint
ventures; foreign collaboration, industrial licenses and 100.00 per cent export
oriented units envisaging an investment of Rs. 19,100 crores during 2002-03.
Out of this, foreign investment was over Rs. 9100 crores.
The processed food industry should introduce innovative new products of
high quality at low cost in small package sizes in ready-to-eat format. To cash on
this booming opportunity, smart players have to enter the growing market with a
high potential of retail Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Ready-to-eat food products
19. Unlike olden days where man used to have his food lavishly and slowly,
the present trend changed the habits of foods, which are simple and easy to
digest. Hence, the existence of these foods fulfilled all the needs of modern
human being. Canned foods, convenience foods, fast foods, frozen foods, instant
products, dried foods, preserved foods, etc. all comes under ready-to-eat foods.
The food habits in India have changed due to the western influence and the usage
of these foods is also on the rise.
20. In India, majority of food consumption is still at home. Nevertheless, out
of home food consumption is increasing due to increase in urbanization,
breaking up of the traditional joint family system, desire for quality, time which
translates into an increased need for convenience, increasing number of working
women, rise in per capita income, changing lifestyles and increasing level of
affluence in the middle income group had brought about changes in food habits.
In the last two decades, the share of urban population has increased from 23.30
per cent in 1981 to 27.80 per cent in 2001. During the same period the female
work participation rate had increased from 19.70 to 25.70 per cent. The per
capita income increased from Rs. 7,328 in 1980-81 to Rs 10,306 in 2000-01. The
change in food habits was evident from the growth of food processing industries.
Generally, food is prepared depending on the habits, tastes, social status,
economic factor, availability, traditions, habitats, etc., of the people of that
region. The most sought after in the present age are the ready- to- eat foods.
Ready-to-eat food is food offered or exposed for sale without additional
cooking or preparation, which is packaged on the premises where they are being
sold and are ready for consumption.
With the income level rising, demand for milk, meat, fish, fruits and
vegetables is also increasing in India. With more urbanization, Indian families
also consume more processed foods, more ready-to-eat foods, etc. Asian
Americans, now numbering over 10 million along with the other 13 million
persons of Indian origin spread all over the world are a huge potential market for
the Ready-to-eat (RTE) foods out of India. This creates a scope for the producers
to come out with a long range of dishes including the usual meals. India had
been at the forefront for variety of dishes both in domestic and global market.
Ready-to-eat foods are very popular in the western region of the world. Even
India is being influenced by these ready-to-eat foods.
21. Development of the metropolitan cities due to increase in population,
emergence of industries, evolution of various new factors, time factor, etc.,
created the need for ready-to-eat foods in the market. Due to industrialization,
the labour category is getting attracted to it because of better emoluments and
hence there is shortage of home maid-servants. Due to this, the housewives, in
order to save time started using ready-to-eat foods.
As the literacy rate is increasing among the women, a large number of
them in our country are taking up jobs to setup their own status in the society and
to use the extra income generated. These are creating the need for ready-to-eat
foods. Earlier times, a single family consisted of many people i.e., a group of
several nuclear families were living in a single place. Hence, larger quantities of
the food were used to be prepared. But as these joint families started
disappearing due to various reasons, each single family started using these readyto-eat foods in order to save time and energy.
Due to establishment of multi- national companies in India, the lady of
the house also started working, because of which there is no time to prepare food
at home. Hence, this created the need for using ready-to-eat foods. The standard
of living is also changing due to raise in income level, influence of western
countries, more global trade, traveling etc., hence, people are changing their taste
to ready-to-eat foods more compared to the old traditionally prepared foods.
In the modern era, the media, particularly electronic and print media, are
playing an important role in creating awareness of the products manufactured
and released in the market.
All these factors are responsible for the popularity of ready-to-eat food
products in Indian market. The marketers should see to it that the ready-to-eat
food is available to the consumers without any difficulty at competitive rates.
The products should be provided to consumers by keeping in mind as when they
22. want, where they want and the manner in which they want. These methods help
in increasing the sales of the product with good feed back from the customers
and creating niche for ready-to-eat foods in the market.
Problem focus
Several firms had been engaging in production and marketing of ready-toeat food products. Hence, the consumers had a greater option to choose from. In
this context, a study on consumer behaviour was seemed to be important to
understand the buying behaviour and preferences of different consumers.
Understanding the consumer behaviour would help the firms in formulating
strategies to cater to the needs of the consumer and thereby increase their market
share. Consumer‟s taste and preference were found to change rapidly, especially
in a dynamic environment. Keeping in view the importance of consumer
behaviour and consumption pattern, the present study was under taken with the
following objectives.
23. Objectives of the study
The specific objectives of the study were:
i.
To ascertain the awareness of consumers towards branded ready-to-eat
food products.
ii.
To study the purchase behaviour of ready-to-eat food products.
iii.
To evaluate brand preference of the consumers.
iv.
To study the factors influencing brand preference.
v.
To evaluate alternative purchase plans of the consumers.
Limitation of the study
This study was based on primary data collected from sample consumers by
survey method. As many of the consumers furnished the required information
24. from their memory and experience, the collected data would be subjected to
recall bias. The study area was limited to Hubli and Dharwad cities and the
findings may not be applicable to other markets, as vast difference exist among
the consumers with regard to demographic and psychographic characteristics.
Hence, the findings of the study may be considered appropriate for the situations
similar to study area and extra care should be taken while generalizing the
results.
25. 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In this chapter, research work done in the past regarding awareness,
purchase behaviour, brand preference, factors influencing brand preference and
alternative purchase plans has been reviewed and presented under the following
sub-headings.
2.1
Awareness of consumers towards branded products
2.2
Purchase behaviour of consumers
2.3
Brand preference
2.4
Factors influencing brand preference
2.5
Alternative purchase plans
2.1 AWARENESS OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS BRANDED
PRODUCTS
Aaker (2000) opined that, brand awareness was remarkably durable and
sustainable asset. It provides a sense of familiarity especially in lowinvolvement products such as soaps, a sense of presence or commitment and
substance and it was very important to recall at the time of purchasing process.
26. Apart from the conventional mass media, there were other effective means to
create awareness viz., event promotions, publicity, sampling and other attention
getting approaches.
Brown et al. (2000) reported that the need for effective nutritional
education for young consumers has become increasingly apparent, given their
general food habits and behaviour, particularly during adolescence and analyzed
that the interaction between young consumers‟ food preferences and their
nutritional awareness behavour, within three environments (home, school and
social interaction appears to be somewhat overshadowed by the young
consumers, while developing an independence trait, particularly, during the
adolescent years. The authors suggested that food preferences are often of a „fast
food‟ type and consequently the food habits of many young consumers may fuel
the consumption of poorly nutritionally balanced meals. While young consumers
were aware of healthy eating, their food preference behaviour did not always
appear to reflect such knowledge, particularly within the school and social
environments.
Beverland (2001) studied the level of brand awareness within the New Zealand
market for ZESPRI kiwi fruit. The effectiveness of this branding strategy
employed by kiwi fruit, New Zealand was studied. The implications of the
findings for agribusiness in general using the data collected from surveys of kiwi
fruit consumers (n=106) outside three major super market chains in Auckland,
New Zealand, suggested that the level of brand awareness for ZESPRI is low
among consumers. It is indicated that brand awareness could be increased
through a relationship- making programme involving targeted marketing and
supply chain management.
Chen (2001) expressed a different thought on brand awareness that it was
a necessary asset but not sufficient for building strong brand equity. In this view,
a brand could be well known because it had bad quality.
Yee and Young (2001) aimed to create awareness of high fat content of
pies, studied consumer and producer awareness about nutrition labeling on
27. packaging. For this, seven leading pie brands were analyzed for fat content and
are ranged from 7.10 to 19.20 per cent fat. Potato topped or cottage pies had the
lowest fat content (7.10 - 9.20% fat). Most pies did not display nutritional
labeling on packaging. Over half of the consumers (52.00%) who responded to
the survey (42.00% response rate) were aware of the campaign. The study was
successful at raising consumer awareness about the high fat content of pies and
influencing the food environment with a greater availability of lower fat pies. It
is possible to produce acceptable lower fat pies and food companies should be
encouraged to make small changes to the fat content of food products like pies.
Potato topped pies are lower in fat and are widely available. Regular pie eaters
could be encouraged to select these as a lower fat option.
Nandagopal and Chinnaiyan (2003) studied that the level of awareness
among the rural consumers about the brand of soft drinks was high which was
indicated by the mode of purchase of the soft drinks by “Brand Name”.
The major source of brand awareness was word of mouth followed by
advertisements, family members, relatives and friends
Ramasamy et al. (2005) reported that, the buying behaviour is vastly
influenced by awareness and attitude towards the product. Commercial
advertisements over television was said to be the most important source of
information, followed by displays in retail outlets. Consumers do build opinion
about a brand on the basis of which various product features play an important
role in decision making process. A large number of respondents laid emphasis on
quality and felt that price is an important factor while the others attached
importance to image of manufacturer.
28. .
2.2
PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS
Balaji (1985) studied fish consumption behaviour of 526 consumers in
Vishakapatnam city. The study revealed that 77.00 per cent of respondents
consumed fish for dinner and 22.00 per cent for lunch. About 30.00 per cent of
the respondents did not consume fish on festival days, as those days were
considered auspicious, while the rest had no notations and consumed fish,
irrespective of festivals.
Jorin (1987) examined changes in spending power and buying habits of
Swiss consumers since the beginning of the 20th century and in the more recent
past. Current trends include greater emphasis on health and safety of foodstuffs
and less attention to price, increased demand for low calorie light products and
increased demand for organically grown foods. For young people, more concern
with enjoyment and less for health, with more meals eaten from home and
generally an increased demand for convenience foods. The prospects for high
quality branded products were seen to be good.
Puri and Sanghera (1989) conducted a study to know the consumption
pattern of processed products in Chandigarh. Jam was found to be most popular,
irrespective of income. Orange squash consumption was maximum in high and
middle – income families. Pineaaple juice consumption increased with a rise in
the income.
Rees (1992), in his study revealed that factors influencing the consumer‟s
choice of food were flavour, texture, appearance, advertising, a reduction in
traditional cooking, fragmentation of family means and an increase in
„snacking‟.etc. Demographic and household role changes and the introduction of
microwave ovens had produced changes in eating habits. Vigorous sale of
29. chilled and other prepared foods was related to the large numbers of working
wives and single people, who require value convenience. Development in
retailing with concentration of 80.00 per cent of food sales in supermarkets was
also considered to be important. Consumers were responding to messages about
safety and healthy eating. They were concerned about the way in which food was
produced and want safe, „natural‟, high quality food at an appropriate price.
Results of the study conducted by Joshi (1993) in Dharwad on food
purchasing habits and consumer awareness among rural and urban housewives
indicated that majority of the urban respondents purchased the groceries like
cereals (52.00%), pulses (64.00%), oils (73.00%), spices (72.00%) and sugar
(69.00%) on monthly basis. While perishables like fruits (48.00%), eggs
(41.00%) and meat (46.00%) were purchased once in week and milk (48.00%)
was purchased daily. Rural respondents purchased cereals (70.00%), pulses
(71.00%), oils (71.00%), spices (71.00%), sugar (71.00%) and fruits (73.00%)
once in week and milk (78.00%) daily. Regarding place of purchase 83.00 per
cent of urban and 99.00 per cent of rural respondents purchased all the groceries
like sugar, rice, and wheat from fair price shops. Both rural and urban
respondents purchased groceries (99.00% each), perishables (89.00% and
99.00% respectively), ready to use foods (97.00% and 87.00% respectively) and
commercially available foods (96.00% and 6.00% respectively) from retail
shops. Price, quality and weight of the products were the important factors
considered by both rural and urban respondents while purchasing of food items.
Ragavan (1994) reported that, quality, regular availability, price, accuracy
in weighing and billing, range of vegetables and accessibility as the factors in the
order of importance which had influenced purchase of vegetables by respondents
from modern retail outlet.
Dhillon et al. (1995), while studying the purchase behaviour in Ludhiana, rural
and urban respondents ranked nearby market (mean score of 1.47 for rural and
2.10 for urban)
30. and main market (mean score of 0.88 for rural and 1.38 for urban) as their first
and second preference of order respectively for the purchase of food items. The
prime factor indicated by the rural respondents for buying their food items was
appearance with mean score of 4.01, followed by price, quality and place of
buying to which they ranked second, third and fourth with mean scores of 3.81,
3.45 and 2.96 respectively. But urban respondents visualized these factors little
differently and ranked quality, appearance, place of buying and expiry date as
first, second, third and fourth ranks with mean score of 4.69, 4.01, 3.20 and 3.05
respectively.
Singh et al. (1995) examined the factors influencing consumer
preferences for milk. They were milk quality, convenient, availability, supply in
quantity desired, flavour, colour, freshness and mode of payment which showed
higher levels of consumer satisfaction.
Purchasing practices of consumers in Parbhani was studied by Kulkarni
and Murali (1996). The results revealed that 83.50 per cent of consumers were
seeking the information from television regarding the products availability and
this was followed by neighbours (71.00%) and newspapers (69.50%).
Consumers preferred retail market for the purchase of groceries (65.00%), milk
and milk products (100.00%), vegetables (100.00%), fruits (100.00%) and
snacks (75.00%) and they adopted cash payment. Majority (75.00%) of the
consumers preferred quality for the purchase of food.
Sundar (1997) revealed that, grocery department of Saravana Bava
Cooperative Supermarket, Cuddalore was enjoying favorable images of
consumers in the attributes, such as, equality of price, behaviour of sales persons,
moving space, location, correctness of weight, packaging of goods, number of
sales persons and convenient shopping hours. At the same time, the image was
weak in the attributes, such as, quality of goods, availability of range of products,
variety of goods, acceptance of returns, credit facility, door delivery and sales
31. promotional measures.
Amitha (1998) studied the factors influencing the consumption of selected
dairy products in Bangalore city. The results of the study revealed that, income
and price significantly influenced the consumption of table butter. Price had a
negative impact and income a positive impact on consumption.
A socio-economic influence of rural consumer behaviour studied by
Sayulu and Reddy (1998), concluded that frequency of purchase of commodities
by rural consumers was highly influenced by the type and nature of the products.
Products like groceries (40.35%) and others which included vegetables, milk etc.
(48.25%) purchased on daily basis and 33.33 per cent and 42.98 per cent of them
purchased these products on weekly basis. Cash purchase was highest in case of
products like groceries (44.74%) followed by credit purchase with 38.60 per cent
and 21.06 per cent respectively. Price of the goods was considered to be the most
important factor by more than 88.00 per cent of the respondents followed by
easy availability (66.66%) and neighbours (54.00%).
Kamalaveni and Nirmala (2000) reported that, there is complete
agreement between ranking given by the housewives and working women
regarding the reasons promoting them to buy Instant Food Products. Age,
occupation, education, family size and annual income had much influence on the
per capita expenditure of the Instant Food Products.
Srinivasan (2000) revealed that, consumer with higher educational level
was found to consume more processed products. The quantities of processed
fruit and vegetable products were consumed more in high income group. The
tolerance limit of price increase identified was less than 5 per cent, any price
change above this limit, would result in discontinuance of the use of the
processed product. Consumers preferred processed products because of
convenience of ready-to-eat form.
32. Hugar et al. (2001) carried out a study on dynamics of consumer behaviour in
vegetable marketing in Dharwad city. Low income groups purchased lesser
quantity (3.25 kg/week) of vegetables as compared to medium (5.40 kg/week)
and high income groups (4.66 kg/week). Majority of low income group preferred
to purchase vegetables from producers because of reasonable price. High and
medium income families preferred stall vendors for the purchase of vegetables
because of better quality and correct weighment.
Prell et al. (2002) conducted a study to examine the factors influencing
adolescents‟ fish consumption in school. Fish consumption was assessed by
observation on 4 occasions.
33. Attitudes towards the fish, friends‟ behaviour and perceived control were
important predictors of the intention to eat fish and barriers for fish consumption
were a negative attitude towards both smell and accompaniments and fear of
finding bones. But the eaters of fish were more satisfied with the taste, texture
and appearance of the fish and rated safety significantly higher than those who
resisted. They also thought to a greater extent that the fish was healthy and
prepared with care. The results suggested that, it is important to alter dishes so
that they appeal to children and to pay attention to the whole meal,
accompaniments included. Finally it was recommended to convey the pupils that
the fish served would be healthy and prepared with care.
Nagaraja (2004) opined that, buying behaviour is very much influenced
by experience of their own and of neighbour consumers and his family. Above
all, the quality of the product and its easy availability were the primary and the
vital determinants of his buying behaviour. Consumers were influenced by touch
and feel aspect of any promotional activity.
Shivkumar (2004) showed that the consumer, irrespective of income
groups, was mainly influenced by the opinions of their family members to
purchase. Consumers were also influenced by the dealers‟ recommendation,
followed by advertisement.
2.3
BRAND PREFERENCE
Gluckman (1986) studied the factors influencing consumption and
preference for wine. The explicit factors identified were, the familiarity with
brand name, the price of wine, quality or the mouth feel of the liquid, taste with
regard to its sweetness or dryness and the suitability for all tastes. Some of the
implicit factors identified through extensive questioning were colour and
34. appearance. Most of the consumers seemed to prefer white wine to red.
Consumers preferred French or German made wines to Spanish or Yugoslavian
wines.
Kumar et al. (1987) observed the factors influencing the buying decision
making of 200 respondents for various food products. Country of origin and
brand of the products were cross- tabulated against age, gender and income.
Results revealed that the considered factors were independent of age, education
and income. The brand image seemed to be more important than the origin of the
product, since the consumers were attracted by the brands.
Shanmugsundaram (1990) studied about soft drink preference in Vellore
town of North Arcot district in Tamil Nadu. The study revealed that, the most
preferred soft drink among respondents as Gold spot (26.00%), followed by
Limca (24.80%). It was found that the taste was the main factor for preference of
particular brand and among the media; television played a vital role in
influencing consumer to go for a particular brand. Because of convenience in
carrying, tetra pack was most preferred one.
Ali (1992) studied the brand loyalty and switching pattern of processed
fruit and vegetable products in Bangalore city by using Markov Chain analysis.
The result of study revealed that Kissan brand of jam and Maggi brand of
ketchup had a maximum brand loyalty among consumers and less amount of
brand switching occurred for these brands.
Sabeson (1992), in his study stated that high quality, price and taste of the
product were the major criteria based on which the customers selected a brand of
processed fruits and vegetable products.
Hans et al. (1996) revealed that, the brand switching of consumer was
based on variety seeking behaviour, motivations, curiosity and price motive.
35. Veena (1996) studied brand switching and brand loyalty of processed
fruit and vegetable products in Karnataka state by using Markov Chain analysis.
The result of the study revealed that Maggi, Sil and Kissan were having market
retention of 74.20, 55.78 and 48.74 per cent, respectively for jam products. The
equilibrium shares determined in order to predict future market position among
the different brand showed that in long run shares of Kissan, Rex. Other brands
were likely to decline, mainly on account of increased market shares of Gala, Sil
and Maggi.
Padmanabhan (1999) conducted study on brand loyalty, which revealed
that the price of the preferred brand, efficiency of the preferred brand and
influence of advertisement significantly influenced the brand loyalty. Only when
the price of a particular brand is comparatively low, the farmers would naturally
prefer to low priced brand. Otherwise farmers would naturally continue to
purchase the same brand Low and Lamb Jr. (2000) came out with an interesting
conclusion that well known brands tend to exhibit multi-dimensional brand
associations, consistent with the idea that consumers have more developed
memory structures for more familiar brands. Consumers might be willing to
expend more energy in processing information regarding familiar brands
compared to unfamiliar brands.
Kamenidou (2002) presented the findings on the purchasing and
consumption behaviour of Greek households towards three processed peach
products: canned peaches in syrup, juice and peach jam. The results revealed that
47.50 per cent of the households purchased canned peaches in syrup, 67.40 per
cent purchased peach juice and 42.60 per cent purchased peach jam. Reasons for
such purchase were satisfactory taste and qualities and household‟s perception
that they were healthy products. The results also indicated that the consumption
quantities were considered low, while households usually purchased the same
brand name, meaning that there was a tendency for brand loyalty.
36. Sampathkumar (2003) studied about brand preference in soft drinks in
Telangana region of Andra Pradesh. He found that in rural market about 37.50
per cent of consumers preferred Thumbs-up (urban 30%), followed by Coca cola
(28.50%) (urban 37.50%), Pepsi 12.50 per cent (urban 9.00%), Limca (4.00%)
(urban 8.50%). Most of the urban consumers (67.00%) purchased soft drinks in
nearest Kirani stores (rural 73.00%), followed by super bazaar (27.00%) (rural
26.00%) and others (6.00%) (rural 1.00%). The method of physical distribution
played very vital role in company‟s success and failure in the market.
Transportation was among the major functions of physical distribution.
Transport adds time and place utility for the product.
Vincent (2006) studied brand consciousness among children. The study
showed that children start to recognize product brands at an early age, which
influence family buying behaviuor. It was helpful for parents in making purchase
decision of durable goods for the family
37. .
FACTORS INFLUENCING BRAND PREFERENCE
Singh and Singh (1981) found that consumers had single or multi-brand
loyalty based on the nature of product, like necessities or luxuries. Brand choice
and store loyalty were found to affect the brand loyalty of the consumer. The
factors that influence and strengthen loyalty to brand were quality of product,
habit of use and ready and regular availability.
Sabeson (1992) in his study stated that, high quality, price and taste of the
products were the major criteria based on which the consumers selected a brand
of processed fruits and vegetable products.
Ashalatha (1998) studied the factors influencing the performance of
BAMUL milk for a sample of 100 respondents. The study revealed that the
factors such as door delivery, clean packing, quality, hygienic preparation, time
saving and reliability, good value for money, freshness and desired flavour were
important in the order in influencing the decision of buyers for BAMUL milk.
The study undertaken by Sheeja (1998) in Coimbatore district considered
the quality aspects like aroma, taste, freshness and purity as the major factors
deciding the preference for a particular brand of processed spices.
38. Raj Reddy and Pruthviraju (1999) studied about buying motives of rural
consumers about seeds and different sources of information about brands with
regard to seeds. It was found that factors influencing brand loyalty of farmers
were dealer‟s suggestions, quality product and co-farmers. The problems faced
by farmers were supply of seed or poor quality seed, higher price, adulteration
and irregular supply of seeds.
Gaur and Waheed (2002) conducted a study on buying behaviour for
branded fine rice in Chennai and Coimbatore city. The study indicated that
retailers were ranked as the prime source of information and the family members
as the next important source of information about the branded fine rice. Rice
mandy formed the major source of purchase for Chennai (73.00%) and
Coimbatore (70.00%) households. Quality and image of the brand were ranked
as first and second factors influencing brand preference in both Chennai and
Coimbatore cities.
Sanjaya et al. (2002) reported that, the decision for purchasing branded fine rice
was mostly made by the wives of the family. The retailers were ranked as the
prime sources of information about branded fine rice. The monthly purchase was
the most preferred frequency of purchase, which might be due to the fact that
most of the respondents were of monthly salaried class and they would have
planned their purchase accordingly along with other provision items. The quality
and the image of the brand were ranked as the major factors for brand preference
in the purchase of branded fine rice.
In a study conducted by Sarwade (2002) it has been observed that the
price was the factor, which influenced the purchasing decision as against the
quality of the product. It is very interesting to find out that the company image
and brand image were not totally considered by the households.
Nandagopal and Chinnaiyan (2003) conducted a study on brand
39. preference of soft drinks in rural Tamil Nadu, using Garrets ranking technique,
to rank factors influencing the soft drinks preferred by rural consumer. They
found that, the product quality was ranked as first, followed by retail price. Good
quality and availability were the main factors, which influenced the rural
consumers of a particular brand of a product.
Ramasamy et al. (2005) studied consumer behaviour towards instant food
products in Madurai, the second largest city in Tamil Nadu and observed that
consumers do build opinion about a brand on the basis of which various product
features play an important role in decision making process. A large number of
respondents (78.00%) laid emphasis on quality and 76.00 per cent on price
which was an important factor, while 64.00 per cent of the respondents attached
importance to the image of the manufacturer and 50.00 per cent considered
packaging as an important factor and an equal percentage (50.00%) felt longer
shelf life influenced them.
Banumathy and Hemameena (2006), while studying consumer brand preference
with respect to soft drinks, found that after globalization most of the consumers
like the Vincent (2006) elicited that quality was an important factor that draws
consumer towards branded products. Branded products were accepted as good
quality products. People do not mind paying extra for branded products, as they
get value for money. Media is a key constituent in promoting and influencing
brand. A child‟s insistence affects family‟s buying behaviour. Children are
highly aware and conscious of branded items. Although unbranded products
sometimes give same satisfaction as branded products, customers would still
prefer to purchase a branded product international brands such as Pepsi and
Coco-cola. Consumers preferred a certain brand or a particular drink mainly
because of its taste and refreshing ability.
40. .
2.5
ALTERNATIVE PURCHASE PLANS
Rajarashmi and Sudarsana (2004) revealed that, almost all sample
respondents preferred branded products and if their favorite brand is not
available in the retail shop, they will go for another store and purchase their
favorite brand. If it is not available in the market, the respondents were ready to
postpone their purchase decision.
Anandan et al. (2007) studied that, majority of the respondents (54.00%)
will buy another brand if preferred brand is not available, 18.00 per cent of the
respondents will go to the nearby town for buying the preferred brand. Fifteen
per cent of the respondents will postpone their purchase decision. It was revealed
from the study that customers cannot postpone the decision of buying the
detergents, as it was one of the essential commodities.
41. 3. METHODOLOGY
The present study was undertaken to know the awareness of consumers
towards branded ready-to-eat food products, purchase behaviour of ready-to-eat
food products, brand preference of the consumers, factors influencing brand
preference and to study the alternative purchase plans of the consumers. This
chapter covers the following aspects:
3.1
Description of study area
3.2
Sampling design and data collection
3.3
Analytical tools employed in the study
3.1
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA
Dharwad and Hubli are the fastest growing cities in the state next to
Bangalore. The population is heterogeneous with diverse cultural, religious and
economic background. This urban conglomeration covers an area of 190 square
kilometers with a population of 7.86 lakhs (2001 census). Because of the
existence of various linguistic, religious and ethnic groups, it has been a very
good marketing centre for launching new products. Since, the twin cities provide
an ideal setting to study the behaviour of consumers towards ready-to-eat food
products, the present study was undertaken.
3.2
SAMPLING DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION
3.2.1 Selection of ready- to- eat food products
Preliminary discussions were held with the local consumers and the
marketers about the consumption of ready- to- eat food products as well as about
42. the brands available and preferred in the study area to gather information on the
products to be selected for the study. Based on the discussions, the most
commonly available and used products in the study area were selected. The
particular products were selected in such a way as to represent one product from
each food group like cereals, fruits, vegetables and milk and milk products.
The products selected for the study were as follows:
•
Cereal based – Biscuits
•
Fruit based – Fruit juices
•
Vegetable based – Chips
•
Milk & milk products based – Ice creams
3.2.2 Sample selection
The total samples selected for the study was 200 respondents. In the first
phase Hubli and Dharwad twin cities were selected purposively. In the next
phase, 100 sample consumers each from Hubli and Dharwad were selected
randomly irrespective of age, education and income level.
Classification of the respondents
The respondents were classified into different categories based on age.
Age
Age Group 1 (AG1) – Below 20 years
43. Age Group 2 (AG2) – Between 21 – 40 years
Age Group 3 (AG3) – Between 41 – 60 years
Age Group 4 (AG4) – Above 60 years
Income
The respondents were post classified into three income groups based on
their income by using the formula:
44. Mean ±0.425 x S.D.
Low income – Below Rs. 8615.70 per month.
Middle income – Between Rs. 8615.70 to Rs. 13,638.30 per month.
High income – Above Rs. 13,638.30 per month.
Collection of data
To study the objectives, required data were collected from primary as
well as secondary sources.
Primary data
The data required for the study were collected from the respondents by
personal interview method with the help of pre-structured questionnaire. The
respondents were interviewed at retail outlets, departmental stores, bakeries and
even at the homes. The questionnaire consisted of:
Part I
: General information like name, age, education, sex, occupation, food
habit,
family income and family type. Monthly expenditure on food items in general
and ready- to- eat food products in particular.
Part II
: Specific information included the information regarding purchase
behaviour,
factors influencing the purchase of ready- to- eat food products,
brand
awareness, sources of information for brand awareness, frequency
45. of
purchase, nature of purchase decision, place of purchase,
influencers of
purchase decision, brand preference, factors influencing to prefer
particular
brand and alternative purchase plans of the consumers.
Secondary data
The secondary data on location, demography and regarding population of
the study area were collected from District Statistical Office and published
sources.
3.3
ANALYTICAL TOOLS USED
The data collected for the study was processed and analyzed by using
suitable statistical techniques. Frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation
and Garret‟s ranking techniques were used to present the collected data. A
detailed description of the analytical tools employed in the study is presented
below.
3.3.1 Tabular Analysis
Percentage analysis was used to study the socio economic characteristics
like age, education, occupation, family size, family type, consumer awareness
towards branded ready-to- eat food products, sources of information for brand
awareness, frequency of purchase, nature of purchase decision, place of
purchase, influencers of purchase decision and alternative purchase plans of the
consumers.
3.3.2 Garrett’s Ranking Technique
46. Garrett‟s ranking technique was adopted for the studying brand
preferences and factors influencing for preference of a particular brand.
In the first stage: ranking given by 200 respondents for each factor was
analyzed. Eg: Rank given by the respondents
Respondent
Factors
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
-
5
1
2
9
10
-
-
4
3
-
8
-
7
6
2
3
2
7
-
10
-
6
4
1
-
8
-
9
5
-
3
3
6
-
8
-
10
-
2
1
-
7
9
-
5
4
47. In the second stage: Thus assigned ranks by the individual respondents were
counted into percent position value by using the formula.
Per cent position = 100 (Rij – 0.5)/Nj.
Where, Rij stands for rank given for the ith factor by the jth
individual. Nj stands for number of factors ranked by jth
individual.
The per cent position value for the same assigned ranks by the respondents as follows.
Respondent
Factors
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
-
45
5
15
85
95
-
-
35
25
-
75
-
65
55
2
25
15
65
-
95
-
55
35
5
-
75
-
85
45
-
3
25
55
-
75
-
95
-
15
5
-
65
85
-
45
35
Stage III – For each per cent position scores were obtained with reference to Garrett’s tables
and each per cent position value was converted into scores by reference to Garrett’s Table.
Eg: Garrett’s table scores for the per cent position values as follows
Respondent
Factors
No.
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
-
52
82
70
30
18
-
-
57
63
-
37
-
42
47
48. 2
63
70
42
-
18
-
47
57
82
-
37
-
30
52
-
3
63
47
-
37
-
18
-
70
82
-
42
30
-
52
57
In the fourth stage – Summation of these scores for each factor was worked out for the
number of respondents who ranked for each factor.
Respondent
Factors
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
-
52
82
70
30
18
-
-
57
63
-
37
-
42
47
2
63
70
42
-
18
-
47
57
82
-
37
-
30
52
-
3
63
47
-
37
-
18
-
70
82
-
42
30
-
52
57
∑
126
169
124
107
48
36
47
127
221
63
79
67
30
196
104
49. In the fifth stage – Mean scores were calculated by dividing the total score by the number of
respondents.
Respondent
Factors
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
-
52
82
70
30
18
-
-
57
63
-
37
-
42
47
2
63
70
42
-
18
-
47
57
82
-
37
-
30
52
-
3
63
47
-
37
-
18
-
70
82
-
42
30
-
52
57
∑
126 169
124
107
48
36
47
127
221
63
79
67
30
196
104
63
62
53.50
24
18
47
63.50
73.66 63
39
33.50
30
65.33
52
Mean
56.33
In the last stage – Overall ranking was obtained by assigning ranks 1, 2, 3 …. etc. in the
descending order of the mean score.
Respondent
Factors
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
-
52
82
70
30
18
-
-
57
63
-
37
-
42
47
2
63
70
42
-
18
-
47
57
82
-
37
-
30
52
-
3
63
47
-
37
-
18
-
70
82
-
42
30
-
52
57
Mean
63
56.33
62
53.50
24
18
47
63.50
73.66 63
39
33.50
30
65.33
52
VI
V
VII
XIII
XIV
Ranks
IV
IX
III
I
IV
X
XI
XII
II
VIII
50. 4. RESULTS
The results of the study are presented under the following headings.
4.1
Awareness of consumers towards branded ready-to-eat food products.
4.2
Purchase behaviour of consumers towards ready-to-eat food products.
4.3
Brand preference of the consumers.
4.4
Factors influencing brand preference.
4.5
Alternative purchase plans of the consumers.
4.1
AWARENESS OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS BRANDED
READY-TO-EAT FOOD PRODUCTS
To know the awareness, it is necessary to study socio-economic
characteristics of the consumers, as these are the important variables, which
decide the consumption pattern of food products in the family. Generally it is
believed that, as the income, age and education of the consumers increase, the
expenditure on consumption of food products also increases. Hence, the
consumers‟ socio-economic characteristics were studied and the results are
presented hereunder.
4.1.1 General information about the selected samples
Table 4.1 presents the general information of selected samples in Hubli
and Dharwad cities. It could be seen from the table that the maximum number of
respondents i.e., 55.00 per cent of them belonged to the age group 2 (21-40
years). Thirty two per cent of them were below 20 years i.e., they belonged to the
51. AG1 and 9 per cent of them were between the age of 41 to 60 years (AG3). Very
few per cent of the respondents were above 60 years (4.00%) and they belonged
to the age group 4.
Among the total respondents 61.00 per cent of them were female and
remaining 39.00 per cent of them were male.
Maximum number of the selected respondents were degree holders
(44.00%), 30.00 per cent of them were of PUC level, 14.00 per cent of the
respondents were post graduates and 10.00 per cent of them were of high school
level. Very less percentage of the respondents were of primary school level
(2.00%). It was also observed from the table that none of the respondents were
illiterates.
Most of the respondents belonged to nuclear families (89.00%) and
remaining 11.00 per cent of them were living in joint families.
Maximum number of respondents (44.00%) belonged to the medium
family size of 5-7 members. This was followed by family size of less than 5
members (41.00%) i.e., small family and 15.00 per cent of them belonged to
large family (more than 7 members).
Among the selected samples 73.00 per cent of them were vegetarians and
remaining 27.00 per cent were non-vegetarians.
Most of the respondents (40.00%) belonged to low income group (<Rs.
8615.70/month), 34.00 per cent of them belonged to middle
income group
(Rs. 8715.70 –
13,638.30/month) and remaining 26.00 per cent of them were belonged to high
income group (> Rs. 13638.30/month).
52. Under occupation classification, 68.00 per cent of them were students,
12.00 per cent of them were government employees, 9.00 per cent were
housewives, 8.00 per cent of them were working under private sectors and very
few of the respondents were engaged in business activities (3.00%).
53. Table 4.1. General information of selected samples in Hubli and Dharwad
(N = 200)
General information
Categories
No. of
Percentage
respondents
Below 20 years (AG1)
64
32.00
21-40 years (AG2)
110
55.00
41-60 years (AG3)
18
9.00
>60 years (AG4)
8
4.00
Male
78
39.00
Female
122
61.00
Illiterate
-
-
Primary school
4
2.00
High school
20
10.00
PUC
60
30.00
Degree
88
44.00
PG
28
14.00
Joint
22
11.00
Nuclear
178
89.00
Small (below 5)
82
41.00
Medium ( 5-7)
88
44.00
Large (more than 7)
30
15.00
Vegetarian
146
73.00
Non - vegetarian
54
27.00
Low (< Rs. 8615.70)
80
40.00
Middle (Rs. 8615.70 – 13638.30)
68
34.00
High (> Rs. 13638.30)
52
26.00
Student
136
68.00
House wife
18
9.00
Age
Sex
Education
Family type
Family size
Food habit
Monthly income (Rs)
55. 4.1.2 Brand awareness of consumers about biscuits among different age
groups
Table 4.2 presents the brand awareness of consumers about biscuits
among different age groups which is also represented in Fig. 1. Majority of the
respondents (99.00%) were aware of Parle-G brand followed by Marie gold
biscuits (97.00%), 96.00 per cent each were conscious of Tiger biscuits, Good
day and Krack jack, 81.00 per cent of the respondents knew Glucose brand.
Britannia 50-50 and Hide and seek brands were very popular among 80.00 per
cent each of the respondents, 78.00 per cent, 70.00 per cent, 64.00 per cent,
62.00 per cent and 56.00 per cent of the respondents knew Parle Monaco,
Britannia little hearts, Sunfeast glucose, Sunfeast snacky and Britannia Time
pass brands respectively. Only a small percentage of the respondents were
familiar with Chocolate chip cookies (43.00%).
Among age group one (AG1) cent per cent each of the respondents were
aware of Parle-G, Good day and Krack jack brands, while brands of Tiger
biscuits and Marie gold biscuits were popular among 96.87 per cent each of the
respondents. Glucose biscuits, Hide and seek, Parle Monaco and Sunfeast
glucose brands were known to 84.37 per cent, 78.12 per cent, 75.00 per cent and
71.87 per cent of respondents, respectively. Britannia 50-50 and Sunfeast snacky
brands were familiar among 65.62 per cent each of the respondents and Britannia
little hearts was known to 62.50 per cent of the respondents. Only 53.12 per cent
each of them were aware of Chocolate chip cookies and Britannia Time pass
brands. In the case of AG2, 98.18 per cent each were aware of Parle-G and Good
day brands, followed by 96.36 per cent each aware of Tiger biscuits, Marie gold
and Krack jack brands, only 40.00 per cent of them know about Chocolate chip
cookies. Marie gold biscuits were popular among cent per cent each of the
respondents of AG3 and AG4. Chocolate chip cookies was familiar among 44.44
per cent of AG3 respondents only. But none of the respondents of AG4 were
aware of Chocolate chip cookies brand, Sunfeast snacky, Sunfeast glucose,
Britannia Time pass and also Britannia little hearts brands.
56. 4.1.3 Brand awareness of consumers about chips among different age
groups
Brand awareness of consumers about chips among different age groups is
depicted in Table 4.3 and Fig.2. Most of the respondents were aware of Lays
(96.00%), Uncle chips (83.00%), Bingo (67.00%), Haldiram chips (63.00%),
Lehar (50.00%), Lip chips (35.00%) brands and less percentage of the
respondents knew Diamond chips (32.00%) brand. Lays brand was familiar
among 100.00 per cent, 96.36 per cent, 88.88 per cent and 75.00 per cent of the
consumers of AG1, AG2, AG3 and AG4 accordingly.
In case of AG1, Uncle chips, Lip chips, Diamond chips and Lehar chips
were well known to 93.75, 43.75, 34.37 and 50.00 per cent of the respondents
and about 59.37 per cent each aware of Bingo and Haldiram brands.
More than half of the respondents of AG2 and AG3 were conscious of
Lehar brand. Uncle chips and Bingo brands were familiar among more than
70.00 per cent of the AG2 and AG3 respondents. In addition to these brands,
Haldiram chips was known to 70.90 per cent of AG2 and 55.55 per cent of AG3
respondents. About, 36.36 per cent each were aware of Lip chips and Diamond
chips among AG2. In case of AG3 Lip chips and Diamond chips were well
known to 11.11 per cent each of the respondents. Fifty per cent of the
respondents were aware of Uncle chips and 25.00 per cent of the respondents
were conscious of Bingo brand in case of AG4 respondents. It could also be seen
from the table that, none of the respondents of this age group were familiar with
Haldiram, Lip, Diamond and Lehar brands of chips.
4.1.4 Brand awareness of consumers about fruit juice among different age
groups
Table 4.4 and Fig. 3 reveals the brand awareness of consumers about fruit
57. juice among different age groups. Frooti brand was very popular i.e., 96.00 per
cent of respondents were aware, followed by Maaza brand (93.00%), Slice
(87.00%), Appy (76.00%), Real fresh (62.00%), Pulpy orange (58.00%) and
Tropicana twister (44.00%) at the overall level. Cent per cent of the respondents
of AG1 and AG4 were conscious of Frooti brand. About 62.50, 78.12, 46.87 and
50.00 per cent of the respondents were aware of Real fresh, Appy, Tropicana
twister and Pulpy orange brands among AG1 respondents. Maaza and Slice
58. brands were well known to 96.87 per cent each of the respondents. Among AG2,
majority of the respondents were familiar with Frooti and Maaza brands (94.54%
each). Slice, Appy, Pulpy orange and Real fresh brands were familiar among
85.45, 83.63, 69.09 and 63.63 per cent of the respondents. About 49.09 per cent
of the respondents were aware of Tropicana twister brand. All the respondents of
AG3 were conscious of Maaza brand. Frooti, Slice and Real fresh brands were
familiar among more than 70.00 per cent of respondents. Less percentage of the
respondents were aware of Tropicana twister brand (22.22%). Among AG4 only
25.00 per cent each of the respondents knew Maaza and Slice brands. It was also
observed from the table that Real fresh, Appy, Tropicana twister and Pulpy
orange brands were not known to any of the respondents of AG4.
4.1.5 Brand awareness of consumers about ice creams among different age
groups
Brand awareness of consumers about ice creams among different age
groups is presented in Table 4.5 and Fig. 4. It could be seen from the table that
majority of the respondents were aware of Amul brand (99.00%), followed by
Arun, MTR and Nandini (66.00% each), 62.00 per cent were aware of Kwality
walls, Vadilal (56.00%), Dairy day (49.00%), Hangya (39.00%) and 25.00 per
cent of them were conscious of Dinshaws brand. All the respondents of AG1,
AG2 and AG4 were aware of Amul brand. About 68.75 per cent each were
aware of Arun and Nandini brands, MTR and Vadilal brands were known to
56.25 per cent each of the respondents, 50.00 per cent each of them were aware
of Kwality walls and Dairy day brands. Hangya and Dinshaws brands were
known to 40.62 per cent and 25.00 per cent respectively. In case of AG2, 72.72
per cent each were conscious of MTR and Kwality walls brands. More than half
of the respondents were familiar with Arun, Nandini and Vadilal barnds. Only
21.81 per cent of the respondents knew Dinshaws brand. Among AG3, majority
of the respondents were aware of Amul and MTR brands (88.88% each)
followed by Nandini (77.77%), Arun, Kwality walls, Vadilal, Dairy day and
59. Dinshaws brands were familiar among more than half of the respondents. Only
44.44 per cent of the respondents of AG3 were conscious of Hangya brand. In
case of AG4, Arun, Vadilal and Dairy day brands were known to 25.00 per cent
each of respondents and none of them were aware of MTR, Nandini, Kwality
walls, Hangya and Dinshaws brands.
4.1.6 Influence of media to create awareness about the brands
Influence of media to create awareness about the brands in the study area
were analysed and depicted in Table 4.6. It was observed from the table that, in
case of biscuits television was the major source for getting information about the
brands (92.00%). This was followed by newspapers (66.00%), friends/relatives
(51.00%), shopkeeper or retailer (48.00%), window display (43.00%), magazines
(39.00%) and radio (20.00%).
In case of other products i.e., chips, fruit juice and ice creams, majority of
the respondents were influenced by television (93.00%, 86.00% and 81.00% of
the respondents for chips, fruit juice and ice creams respectively) followed by
friends/relatives (62.00%, 59.00% and 64.00% of the respondents for chips, fruit
juice and ice creams respectively) and newspapers (57.00%, 56.00% and 62.00%
of the respondents for chips, fruit juice and ice creams respectively). Radio was
the least preferred media for brand awareness of these products (10.00%, 13.00%
and 12.00% of the respondents for chips, fruit juice and ice creams respectively).
Overall, television was preferred as the major source of information for brand
awareness (26.13%) followed by newspapers and friends/relatives (17.89% and
17.52% respectively). About 12.62 per cent of the respondents were influenced
by shopkeeper / retailer, 11.06 per cent by magazines, 10.69 per cent by window
display and very few of the respondents i.e., 4.08 per cent were influenced by
radio (Fig. 5).
61. Britannia little hearts
40(62.50)
88 (80.00)
12 (66.66)
-
140 (70.00)
Note : Figures in parentheses indicate the percentage to the total number of respondents
in the category.
75. Table 4.6. Influence of media to create awareness about the brands
(N = 200)
Products
Source
Overall
Biscuits
Chips
Fruit juice
Ice creams
Television
184 (92.00)
186(93.00)
172(86.00)
162(81.00)
704 (26.13)
Radio
40 (20.00)
20(10.00)
26(13.00)
24(12.00)
110 (4.08)
Newspapers
132 (66.00)
114(57.00)
112(56.00)
124(62.00)
482 (17.89)
Magazines
78 (39.00)
64(32.00)
76(38.00)
80(40.00)
298 (11.06)
Friends/relatives
102(51.00)
124(62.00)
118(59.00)
128(64.00)
472 (17.52)
Shopkeeper/retailer
96(48.00)
82(41.00)
74(37.00)
88(44.00)
340 (12.62)
Window display
86(43.00)
68(34.00)
68(34.00)
66(33.00)
288 (10.69)
Total = 2694 (100.00)
76. Note : Figures in the parentheses indicate percentage to the total sample size.
77. 4.2
PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS
4.2.1 Buyers and non-buyers of ready-to-eat food products
The data on buyers and non buyers of ready-to-eat food products in the
study area is presented in Table 4.7. The table revealed that biscuits were
consumed by all the respondents in the study area. Hundred per cent each of the
respondents across all the age groups consumed biscuits. About 92.00 per cent of
the respondents purchased chips for consumption and remaining 8.00 per cent of
them were not buying. In case of AG1, chips were consumed by all the
respondents. About 98.18 per cent of the respondents of AG2 bought chips for
consumption. Among AG3, 66.66 per cent of them were buying chips for
consumption and remaining 33.33 per cent of them were non buyers. Fruit juice
was bought by 93.00 per cent of the respondents and remaining 7.00 per cent of
them were not buying. Hundred per cent, 96.36 per cent and 88.88 per cent of the
respondents of AG1, AG2 and AG3 respectively consumed fruit juice. Fruit juice
was not consumed by 3.63 per cent and 11.11 per cent of the respondents of AG2
and AG3 accordingly. Ice creams were consumed by 94.00 per cent of the
respondents and remaining 6.00 per cent of them were not consuming.
About 96.87, 98.18 and cent per cent of the respondents of AG1, AG2
and AG3 consumed ice creams. Only a meagre per cent of the respondents of
AG1 (3.12%) and AG2 (1.81%) did not consume ice creams. All the respondents
of AG4 were non-buyers of chips, fruit juice and ice creams.
4.2.2 Reasons for purchasing ready-to-eat food products
An attempt was made to elicit the factors considered by the respondents
for purchase of ready-to-eat food products in Hubli and Dharwad cities. It was
noticed from the Table 4.8 that the major factors considered while purchasing
biscuits were convenience to use as snacks (65.00%), liking of the family
members (60.00%) and ready availability (53.00%). The other reasons for the
78. purchase of biscuits were taste, satisfaction, easy availability in the shops, save
time of preparation and influence of friends/relatives (46.00%, 43.00%, 39.00%,
23.00% and 15.00% respectively). Taste was the main reason for purchasing
chips (80.43%). The other factors considered while purchasing chips were
convenience to use as snacks (64.13%), satisfaction (52.17%), ready availability
(46.73%), save time of preparation (39.13%), influence of friends/relatives
(36.95%), liking of the family members (31.52%) and easy availability in the
shops (26.08%). Only a meagre percentage of the respondents said other reasons
(1.08%) like habit of eating and time pass. Fruit juice was consumed mainly
because of taste (59.13%) followed by ready availability (55.91%), save time of
preparation (49.46%), satisfaction (47.31%), influence of friends or relatives
(44.08%), liking of the family members (36.55%), convenience to use (26.88%)
and easy availability in the shops (15.05%). Only 9.67 per cent of the
respondents said they consume fruit juice because of its nutritive value and good
for health. In case of ice creams, 61.70 per cent of the respondents consume
because of its taste, 55.31, 44.68, 39.36, 34.04, 27.65, 25.53 and 13.82 per cent
of the respondents opined that satisfaction, influence of friends/relatives, liking
by the family members, ready availability, save time of preparation, easy
availability in the shops and convenience to use respectively were the factors
responsible for purchasing ice creams.
4.2.3 Reasons for not purchasing ready-to-eat food products
Reasons for not purchasing ready-to-eat food products, as opined by the
respondents are presented in Table 4.9. It was revealed from the table that, there
was no reason for the respondents for not purchasing biscuits. That is the
researcher could not find anybody who disliked the product. Cent per cent of the
respondents did not purchase chips since they were health conscious. About
62.50 per cent of the respondents did not purchase due to low quality of the
product. The other reasons for not consuming chips were dislike towards the
product and high price (50.00% each). In the case of fruit juice majority of the
respondents (85.71%) were not purchasing this product because they preferred
79. home made products. The other reasons for not purchasing fruit juice were high
price (71.42%), dislike towards the product (42.85%) and 28.57 per cent of them
did not purchase because of its low quality. In case of ice creams cent per cent of
the respondents did not purchase because they disliked the product, 66.66 per
cent of them were not using this product because they were health conscious and
33.33 per cent of the respondents quoted other reason like allergy to cold.
80. High price and low quality were the reasons for not consuming ice creams by
16.66 per cent each of the respondents.
4.2.4 Monthly expenditure of households on food items
The monthly average expenditure of the households is presented in Table
4.10 and Fig.6. It could be seen from the table that the households monthly
expenditure increased with increase in monthly income. The average monthly
expenditure on ready-to-eat food products was found to be highest in case of
high income group (Rs.423.07), followed by middle income group (Rs. 298.52)
and low income group (Rs.224.00). On an average Hubli and Dharwad
consumers spend Rs. 301.10 per month on ready-to-eat food products which was
around 14.00 per cent of their monthly consumption expenditure. Similar trend
was noticed with respect to other food items like cereals, pulses, fats and oils,
fruits and vegetables and milk and milk products. With respect to total monthly
expenditure, it was Rs. 2747.60 in high income group, Rs. 2331.35 in middle
income group and Rs. 1566.00 in low income group.
Among the three income groups studied high income group spend more
proportion (15.39%) of their monthly consumption expenditure on ready-to-eat
food products, while low income group spend 14.30 per cent of their monthly
consumption expenditure. It was surprising to see the consumption expenditure
of middle income group on ready-to-eat food products, where in they spend only
12.80 per cent of their monthly expenditure on ready-to-eat food products.
4.2.5 Monthly expenditure of households on ready-to-eat food
products
The monthly average expenditure of households on ready-to-eat food
products is presented in Table 4.11 and Fig.7. The average monthly expenditure
on biscuits was found to be highest in case of high income group (Rs. 128.38)
81. followed by middle income group (Rs.82.94) and low income group (Rs. 60.70).
Similar trend was noticed with respect to other products like chips, fruit juice
and ice creams. On an average Hubli and Dharwad consumers spend about Rs.
85.86 on biscuits, Rs.41.75 on chips, Rs. 57.80 on fruit juice and Rs. 58.70 on
ice creams monthly.
The analysis of expenditure on ready-to-eat food products revealed that,
on an average the consumers of Hubli-Dharwad spend maximum on biscuits
(35.17%) followed by ice creams (24.04%), fruit juice (23.67%) and chips
(17.10%) out of their monthly expenditure on ready-to-eat food products.
Among the income groups studied, high income group spend the maximum on
biscuits (35.51%) followed by ice creams (26.44%), fruit juices (22.55%) and
chips (15.48%) out of their total consumption on ready-to-eat food products.
While middle income group after spending maximum on biscuits (34.45%), next
they preferred fruit juice (25.71%), ice creams (20.70%) and least was on chips
(19.11%). The expenditure of low income group followed the pattern of high
income group in the order of their spending on ready-to-eat food products.
4.2.6 Frequency and place of purchase
Table 4.12 shows the frequency and place of purchase by the respondents.
It could be seen from the table that, majority of the respondents purchased
biscuits twice in a week from bakeries and departmental stores (70.58% each)
and 41.17 per cent each of them purchased from retail outlet. This was followed
by once in a week from departmental stores (63.63%), bakeries (57.57%) and
42.42 per cent of the respondents purchased from retail outlets.
Most of the respondents purchased chips, fruits juice and ice creams
whenever needed. Majority of them purchased chips from bakeries (77.77%)
followed by departmental stores (29.62%) and only 24.07 per cent of the
respondents purchased from retail outlets. This was followed by fortnightly
82. purchase of chips from bakeries (93.33%), departmental stores (40.00%) and
20.00 per cent of them purchased from retail outlets.
In case of fruit juice, maximum of the respondents purchased from
bakeries (50.87%) and least per cent of the respondents purchased from retail
outlets (22.80%). This was followed by once in a week purchase from bakeries
(53.84%), retail outlets (30.76%), departmental stores (23.07%) and least per
cent of the respondents purchased from ice parlors (15.38%). Ice creams were
mostly purchased in ice parlour (96.72%), when ever needed. Thirteen per cent
of the respondents bought ice creams from bakeries. Very few of them purchased
from retail outlets (4.91%) and departmental stores (3.27%). This was followed
by once in a week purchase from ice parlors (94.11%), bakeries (23.52%), retail
outlets (17.64%) and 11.76 per cent of them purchased from departmental stores.
83. 4.2.7 Nature of purchase decision
Nature of purchase decision among different age groups is presented in Table
4.13. In case of biscuits, among the first two age groups, maximum of the
respondents did a planned purchase (71.87% and 61.81% respectively) and only
28.12 per cent and 38.18 per cent of first and second age groups respectively did
impulsive buying. But in case of AG3, 55.55 per cent of them did impulsive
buying followed by only 44.44 per cent of them went for planned purchase. In
the last group, all the respondents planned and purchased biscuits and none of
them opted for impulsive buying. Overall, 65.00 per cent of them did planned
purchase and only 35.00 per cent of them did go for impulsive buying for
biscuits. About 73.91 per cent of the chips buyers did impulsive buying and
remaining 26.08 per cent of them did go for planned purchases. Among the first
three age groups, majority of the respondents did go for impulsive buying
(68.75%, 74.07% and 100.00% of the respondents of AG1, AG2 and AG3
respectively). About 31.25 per cent 25.92 per cent of the respondents of AG1 and
AG2 did planned purchase and none of the respondents of AG3 did planned
purchase.
Among the fruit juice buyers, 55.91 per cent of them planned the
purchase of fruit juice and remaining 44.08 per cent of them did go for impulsive
buying. Among the first age group most of them planned and purchased fruit
juice (68.75%) and only 31.25 per cent of them did go for impulsive buying. In
case of AG2, marginally higher per cent of the respondents did impulsive buying
(50.94%) followed by planned purchase by 49.05 per cent of the respondents. In
case of AG3, 50.00 per cent each of the respondents did go for impulsive buying
and planned purchase. In the case of ice creams, among the first age group
maximum of the respondents planned and purchased ice creams (64.51%)
followed by only 35.48 per cent of them went for impulsive buying. But in case
of AG2 and AG3 majority of them did impulsive buying (57.40% and 66.66%
respectively), 42.59 per cent and 33.33 per cent of AG2 and AG3 respectively
84. did planned purchase. Overall, 51.06 and 48.93 per cent of ice cream buyers did
go for impulsive buying and planned purchase respectively.
4.2.8 Influence of income on purchase decisions on ready-to-eat
food products
Table 4.14 shows the influence of income on purchase decisions on
ready-to-eat food products. It could be noticed from the table that majority of the
respondents took self decision while purchasing biscuits (77.50%, 58.82% and
61.53% of low, middle and high income groups respectively), chips (58.66%,
74.19% and 59.57% respectively) and fruit juice (57.14%, 75.57% and 72.00%
respectively). This was followed by children‟s and parent‟s influence in low and
other two income groups respectively (52.00%, 51.47% and 38.46%). In case of
chips, next to self decision, friends influenced during the purchase in low and
high income groups (34.66% and 42.55% respectively) and children‟s influence
was 48.38 per cent in the medium income group. The purchase of juice was
influenced by friends and parents in low and other two income groups
respectively (41.55, 54.23% and 52.00%). In case of ice creams majority of the
respondents of low (66.00%) and high income groups (72.00%) took self
decision. In the same income groups, children and friends influence the purchase
of ice-creams next to self decision (42.85% and 56.00%). However in case of
medium income group, friends influence the most (55.88%) followed by self
decision (44.11%).
4.2.9 Influence / Impact of education to make purchase decision
on ready-to-eat food products
Table 4.15 depicts the influence/impact of education to make purchase
decision on ready-to-eat food products. It could be seen from the table that
majority of the respondents of the education levels of primary school (100.00%),
high school (100.00%) and PUC level (73.33%), were influenced by parents
85. while purchasing biscuits. Most of the respondents of degree holders and post
graduates took their own decision while purchasing biscuits (97.72% and
62.28% respectively).
87. AG2 (n= 110)
2 (1.81)
AG3 (n= 18)
18 (100.00)
-
AG4 (n= 8)
-
8 (100.00)
Total (N = 200)
Ice creams
108 (98.18)
188 (94.00)
12 (6.00)
Note : Figures in the parentheses indicate percentage to the total number of respondents in
each age group.
92. Table 4.9. Reasons for not purchasing ready-to-eat food products by
consumers of
Hubli – Dharwad
Products
Reasons
Biscuits
Chips
Fruit juice
Ice creams
(n=0)
(n=16)
(n=14)
(n=12)
-
-
-
-
8
6
12
(50.00)
(42.85)
(100.00)
8
10
2
(50.00)
(71.42)
(16.66)
Lack of awareness of products
available in the market
Dislike the product
High price
-
-
93. 10
4
2
(62.50)
Low quality
(28.57)
(16.66)
-
-
-
-
Not available in the shops
-
Health conscious
-
16
-
(100.00)
8
(66.66)
12
-
4
(85.71)
Any other
(33.33)
-
Note : Figures in parentheses indicate the percentage to the total number of non-users of the
respective product.
94. Table 4.10. Monthly expenditure of households on food items
(Rs./month)
Items
Income group
Low income
Middle income
Average
High income
283.15
541.47
588.46
450.60
(18.08)
(22.22)
(21.41)
(21.12)
Pulses 241.50
327.94
398.07
311.60
(15.42)
(14.06)
(14.48)
(14.61)
244.25
314.70
398.46
308.30
(15.59)
(13.49)
(14.50)
(14.45)
261.25
394.11
423.07
348.50
(16.68)
(16.90)
(15.39)
(16.34)
311.25
545.61
516.17
418.30
(19.87)
(23.40)
(18.78)
(19.61)
Ready- 224.00
298.52
423.07
301.10
(14.30)
(12.80)
(15.39)
(14.11)
1566.00
2331.35
2747.60
2133.30
(100.00)
(100.00)
(100.00)
(100.00)
Cereals
Fats and oils
Fruits
and vegetables
Milk
and milk products
to-eat food products
Total
Note : Figures in parentheses indicate the percentage
96. Fig. 6. Monthly expenditure of households on food items
Fig. 6. Monthly expenditure of households on food items
97. Table 4.11. Monthly expenditure of households on ready-to-eat food products
(Rs./month)
Items
Income group
Average
Low income
Biscuits 60.70
Middle income
High income
82.94
128.38
85.86
(34.45)
(35.51)
(35.17)
46.02
55.96
41.75
(17.01)
(19.11)
(15.48)
(17.10)
38.87
61.91
8153
57.80
(22.91)
(25.71)
(22.55)
(23.67)
(35.77)
Chips 28.87
Fruit
juice
100. Fig. 7. Monthly expenditure of households on ready-to-eat food products
Fig. 7. Monthly expenditure of households on ready-to-eat food products
101. Table 4.12. Frequency and place of purchase by the respondents
Daily (n = 28)
R
D
Twice in a week (n = 68)
B
I
R
D
Once in a week (n = 66)
B
I
R
D
B
Fortnightly (n = 12)
I
R
D
Whenever needed (n = 26)
B
I
R
D
B
I
Biscuits
(n
200)
22
6
16
(78.57)
=
(21.42)
(57.14)
-
28
Daily (n = 2)
48
48
(41.17)
(70.58)
(70.58)
-
28
42
38
(42.42) (63.63)
Twice in a week (n = 20)
-
6
6
(50.00)
(57.57)
(50.00)
Once in a week (n = 24)
-
-
20
24
20
(76.92)
(92.30)
(76.92)
Fortnightly (n = 30)
-
Whenever needed (n = 108)
Chips
R
(n
D
B
I
R
D
B
I
R
D
B
I
R
D
B
I
R
D
B
I
=
184)
-
-
2
-
12
Daily (n = 8)
R
Fruit
D
8
18
(60.00)
(100.00)
(40.00)
(90.00)
-
10
6
Twice in a week (n = 14)
B
I
R
D
22
(41.66) (23.07)
-
6
12
28
(20.00)
(91.66)
(40.00)
(93.33)
Once in a week (n = 26)
B
I
R
D
B
-
26
32
84
(24.07)
(29.62)
(77.77)
Fortnightly (n = 24)
I
R
D
-
Whenever needed (n = 114)
B
I
R
D
B
I
juice (n
= 186)
-
4
4
4
4
2
12
6
8
(50.00)
(50.00)
(50.00)
(28.57)
(14.28)
(85.70)
(42.85)
(30.76) (23.07)
Daily (n = 4)
Twice in a week (n = 6)
6
14
4
10
12
12
(53.84)
(15.38)
(41.66)
(50.00)
(50.00)
Once in a week (n = 34)
Fortnightly (n = 22)
-
26
36
58
(22.80)
(31.50)
(50.87)
38
(33.33)
Whenever needed (n = 122)