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A Study on Consumer Buying Preference of Ice-Cream with special reference to Amul Dairy Products

Executive Summary The project is about consumer perception towards Ice Cream with special reference to Amul and Kwality Walls Ice creams. This brings the information culled from various sources, it includes different sources of delectable ice creams, kulfi etc., and it gives the information from different regions of the country. From the ancient time onwards, India is popular for preparing a wide variety of milk delicious. It is an unending process, an array of sweets are made from different regions of the country. The milk’s perishable taste has overcome. The processing aim is to extend the shelf life of milk. Thus the various diverse methods has been developed to prepare as well as to preserve milk. 50-55% of milk produced in India is converted into variety of milk products, using some processes such as coagulation, desiccation, fermentation etc. Even though 46% of the milk produced is consumed as liquid milk, its consumption can be stimulated. Milk plays an important role in national diet as well as in day today life. In households, the milk is preserved for 24 hours by repeated boiling, also it is soured by adding lactic contents to it, which brings an acid taste, particularly in hot climate and called as buttermilk.

Chapter – I INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION There is nobody in the world that 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 ing for food output worth US $34827 million, only a small percentage of its farm produce is 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.

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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.

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Well-developed infrastructure and distribution network.

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Increase in per capita income and purchasing power.

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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. 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. 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 up gradation 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). 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 t 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 198081 to Rs 10,306 in 2000-01. The change in food habits was evident from the growth of food processing industries. Problem focus several firms had been engaging in production and marketing of Ice Creams. 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.

Objectives of the Study The specific objectives of the study were: •

To ascertain the awareness of consumers towards branded Ice Creams.

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To study the purchase behaviour of Ice Creams.

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To evaluate brand preference of the consumers.

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To study the factors influencing brand preference.

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To evaluate alternative purchase plans of the consumers.

Need For the Study Management needs to know the customer preference information in order to take sound decisions. Surveys on customer preference can produce favorable or unfavorable result, but bringing a number of benefits to management. A study on customer preference helps to understand the performance of the organization and the behavior of the customers. The study of customer preference indicates the expectations of the customers. Customer preference helps to understand the loyalty of the customer towards the products. The management finds a possible way to fulfill the expectations of customers and attracts new customers.

Scope of the Study The study aims to find the customers preference of Ice Creams with reference to Amul Dairy Products. The study is restricted to information regarding the customer’s likes and dislikes, their expectations, personal decisions and family decisions and loyalty of the customers. The study has been carried out for period of 2 months and has focused on all type of customers. The study appraises the company’s success in meeting the requirement of the country by helping the farmers to raise the agriculture output and meeting the requirements of the country’s population for food grains. The study focused on how the company and its competitors marketing their products. The study is also helpful for the company to formulate suitable and innovative strategies to capture market leader position.

Limitations 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 from their memory and experience, the collected data would be subjected to recall bias. The study area was limited to Hyderabad and Secunderabad cities and the findings may not be applicable to other markets, as vast difference exists 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

Chapter – 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. •

Awareness of consumers towards branded products

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Purchase behaviour of consumers

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Brand preference

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Factors influencing brand preference

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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 low- involvement 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. 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 relationshipmaking 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 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 ments, family , relatives and friends. Ramasamy et al. (2005) reported that, the buying behaviour is vastly influenced by awareness and attitude towards the product. Commercial ments 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. 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 Pineapple 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 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) 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. 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. 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. 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 to purchase. Consumers were also influenced by the dealers’ recommendation, followed by ment. 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 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 was crosstabulated 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. 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 of increased market shares of Gala, Sil and Maggi. Panabhan (1999) conducted study on brand loyalty, which revealed that the price of the preferred brand, efficiency of the preferred brand and influence of ment 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. 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.

Kim-Hyunah et al. (2005) analyzed the relationship among brand equity factors (brand awareness, brand image, brand preference and brand loyalty) and suggested a strategy for brand management in contract food service management companies. He concluded that brand awareness has positive effect on brand image and brand preference and recommended that the contract food service companies should focus on improving brand awareness as a brand strategy. In addition, brand preference and brand image had significant positive effects on brand loyalty. Thus, the companies should strive to strengthen brand loyalty through building brand preference and brand image. Brand loyalty promoted more customer visits, which was directly related to profitability of contract food service management companies, the authors concluded. Kubendran and Vanniarajan (2005) studied that, the change in consumption pattern was due to changes in food habits. If income and urbanization increase among consumers, the percentage of income spent on consumption increased. The urban consumer’s preferred mostly branded products compared to rural consumers. The most significant factors influencing buying decisions were accessibility, quality, regular supply, door delivery and the mode of payment. Narang (2006) opined that, a buyer does not stick to one brand in case of food purchasing. They should be able recall different brand names when they go for purchase. Repetitive advertising can be used to promote brand recall. The product should be associated with style and trend, so that it appeals to the youth and the brand name should be developed as a fashion statement. Promotional schemes such as discounts and free offers with purchase were suggested to increase rates. 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. 2.4 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. 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 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. Kubendran and Vanniarajan (2005) founded that, the change in consumption pattern is due to changes in food habits. If income and urbanization increase among consumers, the percentage of income spent on consumption increases. The urban consumers prefer mostly branded products compared to rural consumers. The most significant factors influencing buying decisions were acceptability, quality, regular supply, door delivery and the mode of payment. 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 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. 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. 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.

Chapter – 3 THEORICTICAL BACKGROUND

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR: It is defined as all psychological, social and physical behavior of potential customers as they become aware, evaluate, purchase, consume, and tell to others about product and services.  Buying behavior involves both individual ( psychological) and group process. o Buyer behavior

is reflected from awareness right through post purchase

evaluation indicating satisfaction and non satisfaction , from purchaser o Buyer behavior includes communication, purchasing and consumption behavior o Consumer behavior is basically social in nature hence the social factors play important roles in shaping buying behavior o Buyer behavior includes both customer and industrial behavior.

“Hence consumer behavior is an orderly process whereby the consumer interacts with the environment for making a purchase decision on products “

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND MARKETING MANAGEMENT Marketing managements work around consumers which is actually the market for them  Understanding their behavior is very vital in every segment to plan marketing activities accordingly.  Both industrial and individual customers are vital in marketing management

DIVERSITY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: customer and consumer words are referred as synonyms but the difference exists

 customer - the purchaser of product or service , may or may not be the end  consumer- the end , may or may not be the purchaser  New age of business demands differentiation of customers by individual differences in consumer expectations, preferences and influences.  Firms need to go into deep of consumer behavior to analyze and act to achieve objectives

CONCEPT & NEED FOR STUDYING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:Consumer behavior can be said to be the study of how individual make decision on how to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on various consumption related items. This simple definition of consumer behavior tells the markets to resolve every activity around the ultimate consumers & gauge their behavior by specially focusing on: 

Who buys products or services?

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How do they buy products or services?

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Where do they buy them?

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How often they buy them?

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Why do they buy them?

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How often they use them?

These questions will help in understanding better what factors influences the decision making process of the customers. The decision making process identifies the number of people who are involve in this process & describes a role to them like s, decides, influences & buyers. It is believed that consumers or customers make purchase decision on the basis of receipt of a small number of selectivity chosen pieces of information. Thus it will be very important to understand what & how mush them to evaluate the goods & services offerings. CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS:-

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Stimuli- need, reasons, influences, gathering information

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Information processing- process , analyze information about product

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Decision making - on the basis of analysis , decision to go for

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Response- response to buy without any prejudice

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For industrial buyers the process is almost similar only with addition of re-buy, modified re buy or new task.

FACTOR INFLUENCING BUYING BEHAVIOR:

Individual factors

 Cognitive thinking process – perception , attitudes , Needs/motives  Personal characteristics – demography, lifestyles ,personal traits  Environmental factors  Culture- values ,beliefs, sub cultural / cross cultural factors  Social class- social class , society  Influence groups – family, opinion leaders, reference group 

Situational variables – purchase occasion , market communication, shopping behavior, price , sales influence , product position

CONSUMER SATISFACTION:All business firms have realized that marketing is a core element of management philosophy & the key to its success lies in focusing more & more on the customers. That is, it will be the customer who will decide where the firm is heading. Thus the challenge before the marketer is to ensure that they should satisfy every customer.

Satisfaction is an important element in the evaluating stage. Satisfaction refers to the buyers state of being adequately rewarded in a buying situation for the sacrifices he has made one the customer purchase & use the product they may then become either satisfy or dissatisfied. The result of satisfaction to customer form the purchase of the product or services is that more favourable post-purchase attitude, higher purchase intention & brand loyalty to be exhibited that the same behavior is likely to be exhibited in a similar purchasing situation. The term ‘consumer’ is a typically used to refer to someone who regularly purchase from a particular store or company. Customers are people who are happy with the product & services & are willing to come back & pay for it again. Today the firms aim to give satisfaction to the customer through marketing concepts. The firm try to help the buyers in the solving the problem then competitors. The marketers must see that consumers with purchasing power constitute a potentials buyers are identified. It is essential for the marketer to carry out the business in such a way that they give satisfaction to consumers needed. When a firm markets a product or service it should aim to enjoy consumer’s satisfaction & profit maximization. CONSUMER RESEARCH:Consumer research is the methodology used to study consumer behavior research offer set diverse to identify consumer needs it is used to identify both felt & unfelt needs, to learn how consumers. Perceive product & brand & stores. What their attitudes are before and after promotional campaigns & how & why they make their consumption decision.

Chapter – 4 INDUSTRY & COMPANY PROFILE

HISTORY OF ICE-CREAMS: Ice cream's origins are known to reach back as far as the second century B.C., although no specific date of origin or inventor has been undisputably credited with its discovery. We know that Alexander the Great enjoyed snow and ice flavored with honey and nectar. Biblical references also show that King Solomon was fond of iced drinks during harvesting. During the Roman Empire, Nero Claudius Caesar (A.D. 54-86) frequently sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavored with fruits and juices. Over a thousand years later, Marco Polo returned to Italy from the Far East with a recipe that closely resembled what is now called sherbet. Historians estimate that this recipe evolved into ice cream sometime in the 16th century. England seems to have discovered ice cream at the same time, or perhaps even earlier than the Italians. "Cream Ice," as it was called, appeared regularly at the table of Charles I during the 17th century. was introduced to similar frozen desserts in 1553 by the Italian Catherine de Medici when she became the wife of Henry II of . It wasn't until 1660 that ice cream was made available to the general public. The Sicilian Procopio introduced a recipe blending milk, cream, butter and eggs at Café Procope, the first café in Paris. THE FROZEN DESSERT PRODUCTS:Ice Cream consists of a mixture of dairy ingredients such as milk and nonfat milk, and ingredients for sweetening and flavoring, such as fruits, nuts and chocolate chips. Functional ingredients, such as stabilizers and emulsifiers, are often included in the product to promote proper texture and enhance the eating experience. By federal law, ice cream must contain at least 10% milk fat, before the addition of bulky ingredients, and must weigh a minimum of 4.5 pounds to the gallon. •

Frozen Custard or French Ice Cream must also contain a minimum of 10% milk fat, as well as at least 1.4 % egg yolk solids.

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Sherbets have a milk fat content of between 1% and 2%, and atslightly higher sweetener content than ice cream. Sherbet weighs a minimum of 6 pounds to the gallon and is flavored either with fruit or other characterizing ingredients.

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Gelato is characterized by an intense flavor and is served in a semi-frozen state that is similar to "soft serve" ice cream. Italian-style gelato is more dense than ice cream, since it has less air in the product. Typically, gelato has more milk than cream and also contains sweeteners, egg yolks and flavoring.

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Sorbet and Water Ices are similar to sherbets, but contain no dairy ingredients.

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A Quiescently Frozen Confection is a frozen novelty such as a water ice novelty on a stick.

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Frozen Yogurt consists of a mixture of dairy ingredients such as milk and nonfat milk which have been cultured, as well as ingredients for sweetening and flavoring.

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Novelties are separately packaged single servings of a frozen dessert -- such as ice cream sandwiches, fudge sticks and juice bars -- that may or may not contain dairy ingredients

ICE CREAM INDUSTRY IN INDIA The ice cream market growth picked up after de-reservation of the sector in 1997. The total size of Indian ice-cream industry is 800+ crores. In the organized sector the major players are Hindustan Lever represented mainly by Kwality Walls brand. Amul with an estimated market share of 38% is biggest player in market also he is rapidly gaining market share and lastly Vadilal is the player in the national market with 8-9% of the market share. Almost 40% of the ice creams sold in the country are consumed in the western region with Mumbai being the main market, followed by 30% in the north and 20% in the south. Growth:The Indian government adopted the policy of liberalization regarding the ice cream industry also and it is since then that this sector has shown an annual growth ranging from 1520% per annum for last 1- 2 year. Till now it is estimated at worth of 800+ crores. This growth rate is expected to continue for another next 2- 3 years because of lower base. Per capita

consumption of ice-cream in India is still a dismal 106 ml per annum against 22 liters in markets like the US. So Indian ice-cream industry is still is in growth phase. This is a good sign for competitors. Types:Indian Ice Cream market can be segmented in three different ways, namely on the basis of flavors; on the basis of stock keeping units / packaging and on the basis of consumer segments. On the basis of flavors the market today has a number of flavors like vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mango, butterscotch a number of fruit flavors; dry fruit flavors traditional flavors like Kesar- Pista, Kaju- Draksh etc. The market is totally dominated by Vanilla, Strawberry and chocolate, which together for more than 70% of the market followed by butterscotch and other fruit flavors. Production area: In rural areas, kulfis / ice creams made by small / cottage industry are popular. The market for organized sector is restricted to large metropolitan cities. In small towns and villages, there are thousands of small players who produce ice- creams / kulfis in their home backyard and cater to the local market. Almost 40% of the ice creams sold in the country are consumed in the western region with Mumbai being the main market, followed by 30% in the north and 20% in the south.

FUTURE OF ICE CREAM MARKET IN INDIA Ice Cream market will expand with increase in number of malls - HLL has been increasing their ice cream outlets - Swirl. Few years consumers use to go out for walk after dinner and use to buy ice creams from hawkers. But now consumer who often visit malls for entertainment prefer to buy ice creams during different times of the day as it is visible upfront and feel like spending Rs. 50 for that tasty chocolate swirl with cake and nuts. As marketers are understanding the different needs of consumers, be it health conscious people, kids, youngsters, young etc, and coming up with products specific for them... with portfolio of flavors, consumer today has

plethora of options at hand to choose from and therefore high probability of buying one more scoop of ice cream. Also with increasing wallet size and innovative modern retail formats, it has definitely given a good chance to the ice cream industry in India.

AMUL Amul began the dairy cooperative movement in India and formed an apex cooperative organization, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is tly owned by some 2.2 million milk producers in Gujarat, India. Amul was formally ed on December 14, 1946. The brand name Amul, sourced from the Sanskrit word Amoolya, means priceless. It was suggested by a quality control expert in Anand. Some cite the origin as an acronym to (Anand Milk Union Limited).The Amul revolution was started as awareness among the farmers. It grew and matured into a protest movement that was channeled towards economic prosperity. ORGANISATION: Amul is a dairy cooperative movement in India. It is a brand name managed by an apex cooperative organization, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is tly owned by some 2.41 million milk producers in Gujarat, India. It is based in Anand town of Gujarat and has been a sterling example of a co-operative organization's success in the long term. The Amul Pattern has established itself as a uniquely appropriate model for rural development. Amul has spurred the White Revolution of India, which has made India one of the largest milk producers in the world. It is also the world's biggest vegetarian cheese brand. Success of Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited and setting up of District Co-operative Milk Producers' Unions needed a state-level organization for entire Gujarat. That leads to creation of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF). RANGE OF PRODUCTS:Amul's product range includes milk powders, milk, butter, ghee, cheese, chocolate, ice cream, cream, shrikhand, paneer, gulab jamuns, basundi, Nutramul brand and others. . Amul Butter, Amul Milk Powder, Amul Ghee, Amulspray, Amul Cheese, Amul

Chocolates, Amul Shrikhand, Amul Ice cream, Nutramul, Amul Milk and Amulya In January 2006, Amul plans to launch India's first sports drink Stamina, which will be competing with Coca Cola's Powerade and PepsiCo's Gatorade. COMPETITION AND EXPORT:In January 2006, Amul plans to launch India's first sports drink Stamina, which will be competing with Coca Cola's Powerade and PepsiCo's Gatorade Amul is the largest food brand in India with an annual turnover of US $868 million (2005-06). Currently Amul has 2.41 million producer with milk collection average of 5.08 million litres/day. Besides India, Amul has entered overseas markets such as Mauritius, UAE, USA, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and a few South African countries. Its bid to enter Japanese market in 1994 had not succeeded, but now it has fresh plans of flooding the Japanese markets. Other potential markets being considered include Sri Lanka. REVOLUTIONARY WORK:In 1996 Amul was one of the first major organizations in India to have a website. This site has been used both to develop an intranet of Amul distributors as well as a cyber-store for consumers, one of the first examples of e-commerce activity in India. The CEO of Amul, Mr. B M Vyas, recently said, "Amul is not a food company, it is an IT company in the food business". He was recognizing that the most efficient way of building links between milk producers and consumers so as to provide the best returns for both is through IT innovation. Amul has been able to withstand the onslaught of private and foreign players in the dairy industry and has also been able to export products in limited quantities. The success of Amul resulted in similar organizations being setup by state governments throughout India, most of which had reasonable success. Examples are Vijaya in Andhra Pradesh, Aavin in Tamil Nadu and others. SITUATION OF FARMERS:Over five decades ago, the life of an average farmer in Kheda District was very much like that of his/her counterpart anywhere else in India. His/her income was derived almost entirely from seasonal crops. The income from milk buffaloes was undependable. Private traders

and middlemen controlled the marketing and distribution system for the milk. As milk is perishable, farmers were compelled to sell it for whatever they were offered. Often, they had to sell cream and ghee at throw-away prices. In this situation, the private trader made a killing. Gradually, the realization dawned on the farmers that the exploitation by the trader could be checked only if they marketed their milk themselves. Amul was the result of the realization that they could pool up their milk and work as a cooperative. KAIRA DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS UNION:The Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited began pasteurizing milk for the Bombay Milk Scheme in June 1948. By the end of 1948, more than 400 farmers ed in more Village Society, and the quantity of milk handled by one Union increased from 250 to 5,000 liters a day. The success of Amul was instrumental in launching the White Revolution that resulted in increased milk production in India. It is officially termed as Operation Flood by Amul. The breakthrough technology of spray-drying and processing buffalo milk, developed by Mr. H.M. Dalaya, was one of the key factors that contributed to the Revolution. EXTRA ORDINARY STORY OF AMUL Every day Amul collects 447,000 litres of milk from 2.12 million farmers (many illiterate), converts the milk into branded, packaged products, and delivers goods worth Rs 6 crore (Rs 60 million) to over 500,000 retail outlets across the country. Its supply chain is easily one of the most complicated in the world. If we are visit to any Amul or Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) office a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi will be missing but we can certainly see one particular photograph showing a long line of Gujarati women waiting patiently for a union truck to come and collect the milk they have brought in shining brass matkas. This makes the farmers or the member of the organization of the organization how to prevent the milk from souring. Hence, Amul takes various initiatives to make the farmer or the producer understand how to provide service to the consumers with the only resource available with them i.e. milk a perishable one. The prominent display of picture states the message” NEVER FORGET YOUR CUSTOMER. IF YOU DON’T SUCCESS IS CERTAIN” At the time Amul was formed, consumers had limited purchasing power, and modest consumption levels of milk and other dairy products. Being a co-operative organization

Amul adopted a low-cost price strategy to make its products affordable and attractive to consumers by guaranteeing them value for money. Amul also introduced higher value products. Beginning with liquid milk, Amul enhanced the product mix through the progressive addition of higher value products while maintaining the desired growth in existing products. Despite competition in the high value dairy product segments from firms such as Hindustan Lever, Nestle and Britannia, GCMMF ensures that the product mix and the sequence in which Amul introduces its products is consistent with the core philosophy of providing milk at a basic, affordable price.

AMUL PRODUCTS AMUL means "priceless" in Sanskrit. The brand name "Amul," from the Sanskrit "Amoolya," was suggested by a quality control expert in Anand. Variants, all meaning "priceless", are found in several Indian languages. Amul products have been in use in millions of homes since 1946. Amul Butter, Amul Milk Powder, Amul Ghee, Amulspray, Amul Cheese, Amul Chocolates, Amul Shrikhand, Amul Ice cream, Nutramul, Amul Milk and Amulya have made Amul a leading food brand in India. (Turnover: Rs. 37.74 billion in 2005-06). Today Amul is a symbol of many things of high-quality products sold at reasonable prices of the genesis of a vast co-operative network of the triumph of indigenous technology of the marketing savvy of a farmers' organization. Amul represents a proven model for dairy development. •

Amul Pasteurized Butter

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AMUL LITE : A Low Fat Low Cholesterol Bread Spread

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Amul Spray Infant Milk Food

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Amul Instant Full Cream Milk Powder

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Amul Emmental Cheese

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AMUL PIZZA CHEESE

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AMUL MALAI PANEER

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Amul Pure Ghee.

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Mithai Mate

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Amul Shrikhand

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Masti Dahi

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Amul Ice Creams

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Amul Mithaee

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Gulab Jamun Mix

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Amul Chocolates

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Amul Basundi

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Amul Shakti Health Food Drink

Kwallity Walls Kwality Foods is co-founded by Dr. Kanti Parekh Ph.D. Food Scientist, a Food Technologist, QA specialist and a Flavorist. With his combined expertise of 40 plus years, the co-founders has ensured that a high quality, safe product is manufactured with reproducible consistency. The idea behind the all natural ice cream is simple. Kwality Ice Cream is the quintessence of what a super ethnic ice cream should be. It is conceived by people that know and understand the necessity of a high caliber gourmet product. Just one taste will win you over. Kwality Ice Cream is available in a variety of delicious flavors and packaged in convenient sizes of cups, pints, half gallon, 1.5 G and 3 Gallon tubs. It is also available in parlors in Edison, Franklin Park, Iselin, Long Island, Hicksville and restaurants as individual scoops. We, at Kwality Ice Cream highly value good customer service. We are open for and are committed to suggestions and comments. Kwality Ice Cream is the pioneer in the Indian ice-cream manufacturing industry and in 1956

became the first company in the country to use imported technology for manufacturing ice-cream on a commercial scale. As the ice-cream industry exploded in India, in 1995 Kwality Group ed hands with Hindustan Lever Limited and then there was no looking back. The Indian consumer market was introduced to “KWALITY WALLS” – the result of collaboration between global brand Walls and the leading Indian ice-cream brand Kwality. Though the two giants eventually parted ways, the collaboration made Kwality a household name and created deep in roads for the brand in the consumer market. Today, Kwality is not just a brand – it is the icecream associated with the Indian summer; it’s the first choice in ice-cream for any child or adult during the scorching Indian summers. Kwalityice-creams are trusted not only for their rich, creamy flavours, but also for their trusted quality and nutritious food value. Kwallity Wall’s was launched in 1995 as Hindustan Unilever Ltd ‘s. master brand for ice creams. With in-depth knowledge of the Indian market and Unilever’s state-of-the-art technology, Kwallity Wall’s has been delivering superior quality products under its international brands. Hindustan Unilever started by merging 6 existing ice cream brands in the country and then launched Kwallity Wall’s range of ice creams and frozen desserts. Kwality Wall's is a major producer and distributor of ice cream and other dessert products in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. It is a company of Hindustan Unilever, the arm of Unilever in India, and is an extension of the Wall's ice cream brand ofGreat Britain. However, in some countries like India, most of Kwality Wall's products are not milk based ice cream but rather vegetable fat based frozen desserts The Global Scoop •

Unilever is the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer, with an annual turnover of €5 billion

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Heartbrand products are sold in more than 40 countries. The Heartbrand operates under different names in different markets (Wall's in the UK and most parts of Asia, Algida in Italy, Langnese in , Kibon in Brazil, and Ola in the Netherlands)

In a world of stress, denial and restraint, providing moments of daily pleasure to consumers, through our delightfully delicious products, is our ion. We believe in spreading happiness and smiles through every cone, cup, stick and tub we sell. Our biggest satisfaction comes from the look of bliss and happiness of our consumers faces, as they devour our products. Our ion is inspired by our love for simple ingredients like Milk, Fruit and Chocolate, which make our products the best “Pleasure Food” there is. Kwality Wall’s- the brand with the heart logo - is been loved for its wide variety of products, from indulgent treats like Cornetto & Feast (for teens and young adults), to Paddle Pop (for kids), to family favorites like our Creamy Delight, & Carte D’or and Fruttare (for people who love refreshing fruits). KEY FACTS •

Unilever is the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer, operating under the Heartbrand and Kwality Wall’s is present in India since 1993.

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Heartbrand products are sold in more than 40 countries worldwide.

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Also sold as Algida in Italy & Turkey, Langnese in , Kibon in Brazil, Streets in Australia and Ola in the Netherlands.

SWOT Analysis of Overall Ice Cream Market in India Strengths: The strengths of Ice Cream market in India is the availability of natural resources which can be capitalized to improve and increase the market size available. Weaknesses: Many un-organized sector players manufacturing ice creams are not hygiene and quality conscious and they just try to compete on price resulting in unhealthy competition with organized sector manufacturers as well as good unorganized sector manufacturers. Many organized players are thus finding difficulty to maintain and survive in the market as they have high fixed overheads.

Opportunities: Looking to the International scenario, Ice Cream industry in India has a huge potential in the untapped market available with us. Ice Creams of various types can be made available to the people at large to increase the consumption.

Threats: Due to globalization many Multi Nationals are entering in India with a good financial back up, latest technologies and equally good quality products with attractive pricing and different varieties. This can create problem for Indian manufacturers of Ice Creams if they can’t match their quality and price with them. SWOT Analysis of Amul: Strength: Their main strength is the huge network they have with manufacturing units at various locations all India and the strong financial backup they have. 1. Good product range includes various flavors, party packs, sticks, cones etc. 2. Good quality and packaging, and good advertising. 3. Amul is one of the most respected top-of-the-mind brands. 4. Also launched probiotic and sugar free ice creams. 5. Offers over 200 products across India. Weakness: 1. Local unorganized sector giving ice cream at low price without any quality. 2. Growing competition from international and other brands means limited market share. 3. Limited international presence as compared to leading global brands Opportunity: 1. High End ice-cream to tap the higher income group also 2. Tie-up with food chains, restaurants 3. Mobile vans for better visibility Threats:

1. Kulfi in rural markets 2. Local ice creams and sweet dishes 3. Health conscious people refraining from sweets

SWOT analysis of kwality walls Strength: 1. Strong brand name 2. Excellent advertising and visibility 3. Good product distribution and availability 4. Lots of flavors and varieties available Weakness: 1) Food products have a limited shelf life. Opportunity: 1. Better and newer flavors. Threats: 1. Threat from existing ice-cream brands 2. Local Kulfis

Research Design A research design is the specification of methods and procedure for acquiring the information needed. It is the overall operation pattern or frame work of the project that stipulates what information is to be collected from which sources by what procedures. It is evident that research design is more or less a blue print of research. Research design specifies the sources for collection of requisite information and its measurement and analysis with a view to arriving at certain meaningful conclusion at the end of proposed study.

Data source The source from which we get the information or data for research is known as data source. The researcher can gather primary data, secondary data or both.

Primary data:The data are freshly gathered for specific purpose or for a specific research project. The researcher collected the data by himself without use of any secondary source. 

Census It refers to collecting data from the entire population. Census takes a long time and hence

is not suitable for our research. So we used the other type which is called sample.

 Sample It refers to a pie taken from a population. For this research mainly primary data are important. For our study we have used primary data. Through questionnaire, we interacted with 80 consumers. We hoped to get proper analysis and conclusion from that information

Secondary data:The data which already exists somewhere and it was gathered for some other purpose in the past. Here we get the information through internet by using different websites. To start investigation by examine secondary data to see whether the problem can be partly or fully solved without collecting costly primary data. In this report I have to choose primary data to know about the consumer behavior on ice cream.

Data collection Data collection Tools and Techniques The researcher has to decide on the appropriate tool for data collection. These tools are:  Interview schedules - which are used for exploratory research,  Questionnaires - which are used for surveys We have gathered data using questionnaire as our tool. Questionnaire: Questionnaire is the most important tool for data collection. It contains questions that a researcher wishes to ask his respondents. It is important that these questions are easy to understand and every person finds it easy to answer. As far as possible use of all technical or double meaning words are avoided in questionnaires. 1. Open ended questions:To such questions, respondents can give their suggestion in writing. As the respondents are giving answers in writing and not using tick marks, it becomes lengthy and time consuming and also boring for the respondents. So mostly, close ended questions are used. 2. Close ended questions:-

Close ended questions are those where respondents have to select a response from among the multiple choices offered to him or her. For close ended questions, a person only has to tick mark. So I have used close ended questionnaire in this report for survey of ice cream.

Sample size A decision regarding the number of units to be selected from the population is to be made when it is decided to take a sample from a population. The number of units to be selected from a population is called the size of a sample. It means that a researcher has to first consider the size of population first. From that, he has to decide sample size and then research on it. Sample size is based on the time available to the researcher or decision maker. It is also dependent on the nature of the problem or research design. From the estimated consumer of ice cream, I have taken 80 consumers randomly as population sample.

SAMPLING METHODS A Researcher generally has taken a small portion of the population for study which is referred to as sample. The process of selecting a sample from the population is sampling. In sampling methods there are mainly two methods: (1) Random sampling (2) Non random sampling For this purposes my research I consider simple random sampling.

Target population The target population for the research project is the no. customer in Hyderabad using ice cream.

Analytical tool: In this Percentage method and SWOT analysis has been used.

Presentational tool: In this bar diagram and pie charts have been used for presenting the result of survey.

Data Analysis and Data Presentation GENDER: Gender play vital role in purchase decisions. Gender classified on sex basis i.e. male and female. Gender classification is requiring to marketer because different gender exhibits different perception towards products. In classification of gender the following number is used to know their perception. Classification of Customers Based On Sex Sex Male Female

No. of respondents 35 65

Percentage % 35 65

Total

100

100

Sources: Primary Data

INTERPRETATION: 35% of the respondents are male and 65% of the respondents are female. From the above table we can conclude that, the majority of the respondents were belongs to female group. OCCUPATION: Occupation is also influences a person’s consumption pattern. A blue collar worker will buy work clothes, work shoes and lunch boxes. Similarly the Amul Icecream is purchased by various occupants. The following occupants of the respondents are classifies for the data collection. Analysis of Occupation of the Respondents Occupation

No. of. respondents

Business Employee House wife Others Total

20 10 65 05 100 Sources: Primary Data

Percentage % 20 10 65 05 100

INTERPRETATION: 20% of the respondents are businessmen, 10% of the respondents are employees, and 65% of the respondents are house wives, 05% of the respondents are others group. INCOME: Income decided the purchasing power of the customer. If the income is high then, they go for high quality irrespective of price of the product. Hence in this research I like to collect the data how income is influence to purchase Amul Ice-cream. Analysis of Monthly Income of the Respondents Monthly income

No. of respondents

Percentage %

Below 5000 5001-10000 10001-15000

38 30 21

38 30 21

15001 & above Total

11 100 Sources: Primary Data

11 100

INTERPRETATION: As per the data 38% of the respondents earn per month below 5000, 30% of the respondents earn 5001 to 10000, 21% of the respondents earn above 10001 to 15000. 11% of the respondents earn 15000 & above. From the above table we can conclude that majority of the respondents’ monthly income group of below 5000 and more than 5000 to 10000. 1) Do you buy Ice cream? Purpose: To find out how many people are buying ice cream.

Particulars

Percentage

Yes

80%

No

20%

Interpretation: The chart indicates that the highest percentage of consumer (80%) would like to buy ice cream and 20% consumers are not interested to buy ice cream.

2) How often do you consume ice cream? Purpose: to find out how many times consumer consumes the ice cream. Particulars Every day 3to4 time in a week Once in every week Once in a 15 days Total

No.of respondents 12 29 24 15 80

Percentage 15% 36.25% 30% 18.75% 100%

Interpretation: Out of 80 consumers, 36.25% consumers prefer ice cream 3 to4 times in a week and 30% consumers prefer ice cream once in a week. And they all other consumers are preferring ice cream to every day, once in 15 days.

3) When do you consume ice cream? Purpose: To find out which time consumers would like to prefer ice cream.

Particular Parties Social occasions As desserts With friends

No. of respondents 41 39 24 94

percentage 20.7% 19.69% 12.12% 47.47%

Interpretation: In above chart 47% consumer s prefer ice cream to eat with friends and 21% consumers would like to eat in parties and 20% consumers would like to on social occasions and 12% consumers would like to eat on desserts. It means the new generation and younger consumers would like to prefer ice cream with their friends and parties also. 4) Which are your favorite Ice creams?

Purpose: To know about favorite ice cream of consumer.

Particular Vanilla Butter scotch Kesar-pista Rajbhog Chocolate Total

Opinion of respondets 30 46 38 42 54 80

Percentage 14.29% 21.90% 18.10% 20% 25.70% 100%

Interpretation: In this above chart out of 80 consumers, 25.70% consumers most like chocolate ice cream and 21.9% consumers like butter scotch ice cream, and 20% consumers like kesar pista ice cream and other consumers are like vanilla and Rajbhog ice cream. The reason was that most of the consumer’s favorite ice cream is chocolate flavor. 5) Do you think brand name is also important in the ice cream? Purpose: To know about importance of brand name by the consumers. Particular

No. of respondents

Percentage

Yes

67

83.75%

No

13

16.25%

Total

80

100%

Interpretation: This chart indicates that 83.75% consumers are give the importance of brand because people are brand conscious and other 16.25% consumers are but giving importance of brand because they are not believe in brand.

6) Rate the following brands on scale of 1 to 5? Purpose: To find out consumers most like brand of ice cream.

Rank

No. of respondents 1 2 3 4

5

Brand Amul Vadilala Havmor Kwality Walls Mother dairy

30 10 5 26 13

8 5 11 10 47

17 22 10 31 3

7 33 28 9 9

20 14 27 8 10

Interpretation: This chart indicates that 30% consumers prefer Amul brand of ice cream because of good quality, taste and innovation of the product and 26% consumers are preferred Kwality wallsl ice cream because of quality taste and ment and 12% consumers preferred vadilal ice cream and other consumers are preferred Havmor and mother dairy ice cream.

7) Which factors influences you to buy Ice cream? (Rate on scale 1 to 10) Purpose: To find out features most like by consumers.

Rank Particulars Quality Taste Price ment Brand Packaging Availability Friends Smoothness service

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

23 23 10 3 7 1 3 2 2 2

27 23 9 4 2 4 2 1 4 2

7 16 24 4 20 4 1 5 2 4

6 6 21 20 15 4 1 1 4 16

4 3 6 24 19 4 5 13 6 7

2 1 4 5 3 24 9 14 15 4

1 3 3 5 9 14 20 14 13 7

3 2 2 6 3 12 14 10 10 16

3 2 1 6 3 12 14 10 20 10

2 2 2 4 2 5 16 3 9 15

Interpretation: This chart indicates that 23% consumer are giving first rank of taste and quality because taste and quality is most important factor of ice cream and 10% consumer giving 2 rank of price because of price is valuable factors to buy ice cream depend on consumers and 7% consumers are giving third rank of brand because brand is also important factor to preferred ice cream and 3% consumers are giving fourth rank of ment because without popularity consumer would not like to buy ice cream and other consumers are believe in service , smoothness, availability, and packaging.

8) How much do you normally spend on ice cream in one helping? Purpose: To find out how much price consumers spent on ice cream.

Particular 5 to 20 20 to 30 30 to 40 4o to 50 5o above Total

No. of respondents 20 35 11 6 8 80

Percentage 25% 43.75% 13.75% 7.5% 10% 100%

Interpretation: This chart indicates that 22% consumers are Rs. 20to30 spent on ice cream because it affordable price by the consumers and 12% consumers are spent on ice cream 5 to 20 because people would like to prefer candies and cone and 7% consumers are spent on ice cream 30to40 because of their taste and high quality and flavor of ice cream and all other consumers are like to spent 40to50 on ice cream like tub and pack.

9) How do you prefer to have your ice cream in? Purpose: To find which type of ice cream consumer prefer in ice cream. Particular Cup Cone Rollcut Candy Tub pack

Interpretation:

No.of respondents 37 46 19 22 15 12

Percentage 24.50% 30.46% 12.58% 14.57% 9.93% 7.94%

This chart indicates that 30.46% consumer most like to preferred ice cream in cone because kids are most attract with cone and 24.50% consumers would like to preferred in cups because of different flavor and everyone eat ice cream in cup and 14.57% consumers would like to preferred in candies because of the different flavor and kids like most and other people like roll cut, tub and pack because it is in huge quantity and it’s for family. 10) Rate the following brands on scale of 1 to 10 for the following parameter? Purpose: To find out features of ice cream brand like most feature by consumers.

Brands

Havmor

Amul

Vadilal

Kwality walls

Quality

2

1

3

5

Taste

2

1

3

5

Service

2

1

4

5

Availability

2

1

1

7

Pricing

2

3

2

8

ment

2

5

8

8

Packaging

5

3

2

5

Customer friendly

6

5

4

9

Innovation

2

1

3

6

Promotional offers

4

1

3

10

parameter

Interpretation: In the above chart consumers are giving first rank to quality, taste, service, innovation and availability of Amul ice cream and second rank consumers are giving to Havmor ice cream because of taste, quality, service, availability and innovation. Third rank gives to vadilal ice cream because of taste service promotional offers. And forth rank gives to kwality walls in service, taste, packaging and others parameters consumers are giving fifth, rank on advertising, packaging.

11) Where do you usually buy your ice cream? Purpose: To find which place consumer would most like to buy ice cream. Particular Super market Ic cream parlor/restaurants Mini market Conveniences stores Ice cream cart/ vehicle Total

No. of respondents 35 45 19 12 6 117

Percentage 29.91% 38.46% 16.24% 10.26% 5.13% 100%

Interpretation: In the above chart 38.46% consumer would most like to preferred ice cream from ice cream parlor because there are available of every type of ice cream and 29.91% consumers like preferred ice cream from super malls and other consumer like to purchase ice cream from Conveniences store and ice cream vehicle. 12) Most of the time you become aware about new ice cream brand/ flavor is through? Purpose: To find out which media consumer aware about ice cream.

Particular Word of mouth Television Radio Newspaper Magazines Movie theatres Leaflets total

No. of respondents 22 25 19 40 8 16 14 144

Percentage 15.28% 17.36% 13.19% 27.78% 5.55% 11.11% 9.72% 100%

Interpretation: In the above chart 14% consumers are aware about ice cream through news paper because everyone read newspaper and Shaw the ment of ice cream and 9% consumers are aware through television because television is most nonverbal and verbal communication to give to people are aware and 8% consumers are aware through word of mouth because taking about ice cream with friend face to face communication to people are believe that product and other consumers are aware about leaflets, movie theatres and magazine which are media consumers are aware about ice cream.

13) Who is the most influencer to buy ice cream?

Purpose: to find out whose consumer are most like to preferred ice cream. Particular

No. of

Percentage

Kids Parents Teenagers Others Total

respondents 43 20 35 10 108

39.85% 18.51% 32.41% 9.26% 100%

Interpretation:

In the above chart 39.85% consumers are influence to buy ice cream by kids because kids are very affecting to the ice cream and 32.41% consumers preferred ice cream by teenagers in the parties , with friends and 18.51% consumers are preferred ice cream by parents and all others consumers would like to influence.

14) Which types of offers attends you the more?

Purpose: To find out consumer would the most like offer in ice cream.

Particulars Discount Gift Value addition Combo pack Others Total

No. of respondents 49 33 10 20 4 116

Percentage 42.24% 28.45% 8.62% 17.24% 3.45% 100%

Interpretation: In the above chart 21% consumers are most like to prefer discount offer in ice cream and 14% consumers are like to prefer gift offer in ice cream and 9% people are preferred combo pack offer in ice cream and other consumers are like value addition offer and others. Offer in ice cream. 15) Do you like sugarless ice cream? If yes, then which company Purpose: To know about awareness of sugarless ice cream by customer.

Particular

No. of respondents

Percentage

Amul Havmor Kwality 9 7 6 27.5%

Yes

2

No

2 58

72.5%

Total

80

100

Interpretation: In the above chart we can see that 72.50% consumers are not like sugarless ice cream and 27.5% consumers are like sugar less ice cream in that ice cream most like consumer Amul brand and other consumers like Havmor and Kwality brand.

FINDINGS •

Consumer is more and more buy ice cream.

•

Consumers are preferred ice cream in any time.

•

Consumer is most like flavor of chocolate and butter scotch ice cream.

•

Consumers are giving importance to brand name so focus on that brand name.

•

Consumers are most like to preferred Amul ice cream compare to other brand.

•

Consumer is like most features of quality, taste, brand, price, ment and service in ice cream.

•

Consumer is spent money on ice cream on average price of Rs. 20 to 30.

•

Consumer is most like to preferred ice cream in cone.

•

Consumer is most like to prefer features of Amul ice cream compare to other brands.

•

Awareness of ice cream through newspaper.

•

Most influencer of ice cream by kids and teenagers.

•

Consumer like more quantity to buy & get benefit of price with discount and gifts.

RECOMMENDATIONS I have observed that people of age group 20 to 30 are maximum consumer of Sudha Ice-cream. So the target market for Sudha Ice-cream is people of age group20-30 years & also kids of age group 10-20 because kids are always easy targets. Some improvement is required in the flavours like Mango, Strawberry, Blind love, etc. Majority of the consumers almost 52% are not satisfied with the location of Sudha outlets. They want more convenient locations. Here major focus should be on providing convenient locations for consumers& introducing “PUSH STRATEGY” in order to make sure that Sudha Ice-cream is always available to consumers 23% of them want some improvement in the quality, 18% in quantity & rest 7% in price. But 40% of the consumers don’t think that Sudha is consistent in maintaining the quality of its product. This is a thing to worry because inconsistency in the quality of the product cans lead to decrease in loyal customer.

CONCLUSION I have to conclude on the study of this report “consumer behavior on ice cream industry with the help of Amul ice-cream”. Consumer is giving responses of the buying ice cream depend various features of ice cream. So consumer and consumers are very conscious about brand name on that basis Amul is good brand for consumer and factors most likes by the consumer of havmor ice cream. On that survey Kwality walls ice cream and vadilal ice cream is best competitor of Amul ice cream. Amul has 35% of the market of ice-cream at Gujarat in its hand. Amul is improved a lot in the couple of years. It gives more value to consumers than profit, but in Gujarat. Havmor has earned its place. My summer internship project to Havmor was co-operating and friendly and the guide gave us all the information. I want Havmor has been worked up to its real meaning of its name “ HAVE – MORE

BIBLOGRAPHY •

Website: www.havmor.com www.google.com

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•

Book:

Marketing management

Author: Philip kottler 13th edition Page no.89 •

Information collect from magazines, newspaper etc.

ANNXURE QUESTIONNAIRE OF “CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON ICE CREAM INDUSTRIES WITH THE HELP OF HAVMOR ICE CREAM”. 1) Do you buy Ice cream? Yes

No

2) How often do you consume ice cream?

Every day 3 to4 time in a week Once every week Once in a 15 days

3) When do you consume ice cream? Parties Social occasions As desserts With friends

4) Which are your favorite Ice creams? I. II. III. IV.

5) Do you think brand name is also important in the ice cream? Yes

No

6) Rate the following brands on scale of 1 to 5? Amul Vadilal Kwality walls Havmor

Mother dairy

7) Which factors influences you to buy Ice cream? (Rate on scale 1 to 10) Quality Taste Price ment Brand Packaging Availability Friends Smoothness Service

8) How much do you normally spend on ice cream in one helping? 5 to 20 20to30 30to40 40to50 Above 50 9) How do you prefer to have your ice cream in?

Cup Cone Rollcut Candy Tub Pack 11) Rate the following brands on scale of 1 to 10 for the following parameter? Brands

Amul

Havmor Vadilal

Kwality walls

parameter Quality Taste Service Availability Pricing ment Packaging Customer friendly Innovation Promotional offers

12) Where do you usually buy your ice cream? Super market Ice cream parlour/ restaurants Mini market Convenience stores Ice cream cart/ vehicle 13) Most of the time you become aware about new ice cream brand/ flavor is through? Words of mouth Television Radio Newspaper

Magazines Movie theatres Leaflets 14) Who is the most influencer to buy ice cream? Kids Parents Teenagers Others 15) Which types of offers attends you the more? Discounts Gifts Value addition Combo pack Others 16) Do you like sugarless ice cream? If yes, then which company

Yes

Personal details Name: Add: Age: Occupation:

No