Perception Study 496k41

A PROJECT REPORT ON

A PERCEPTION STUDY OF PATANJALI AYURVEDA

SUBMITTED BY

SHRADDHA S. KANGUTKAR ROLL NO. 1615518

M.COM (BUSINESS MANAGEMENT) PART 2 [Semester 3] MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE MULUND (W) – 400080.

SUBMITTED TO

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

ACADEMIC YEAR

2016-17

PROJECT GUIDE

PROF. PAJA ARVIND 1

DECLARATION I, Ms. Shraddha S. Kangutkar (Roll No. 1615518), of Mulund College of Commerce of M.Com (Business Management) (Part 2) [Semester 3], hereby declare, that I have completed my project titled, ‘A Perception Study of Patanjali Ayurveda’ for the subject ‘Research Methodology’ in the Academic Year 2016-2017. The information submitted herein is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

Date: _____________

________________________ Signature of Student

Place: _____________

[Shraddha S. Kangutkar]

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MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, MULUND (W)-400 080.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that, Ms. SHRADDHA KANGUTKAR, of M.Com Business Management Semester 3 (2016-2017) has successfully completed the project on ‘A Perception study of Patanjali Ayurveda’ under the guidance of Prof. PAJA ARVIND.

______________________________

______________________________

Signature of the Principal

Signature of the Course Coordinator

[Dr. Parvathi Venkatesh]

[Prof. S. A. Pawar]

_______________________________ Signature of the Project Guide/Internal Examiner

_______________________________ Signature of the External Examiner

[Prof. Paja Arvind]

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The College, the Faculty, the Library, my classmates and the atmosphere in the college were all the favourable contributory factors for the preparation of the project, right from the point when the topic was selected till the final copy was prepared. It was an enriching experience and the contribution from the following individuals has helped me make the project as it appears today.

Firstly, I would like to thank my Project Guide, Professor Paja Arvind, for giving the proper guidance and for the valuable inputs. I would also like to thank our Course Coordinator, Professor. S. A. Pawar, for all the advice and encouragement. Lastly, but in no way the least, I would like to thank our principal, Professor Dr. Parvathi Venkatesh for providing all the required resources on time.

I thank all the istration staff of MCC M.Com Business Management and all other people who inspired and guided me in successfully completing my project.

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INDEX

SR NO

PAG TOPIC

. 1.

E NO.

INTRODUCTION

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

8

3.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

21

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE & RESEARCH QUESTIONS

E

6

2.

4.

SIGNATUR

22

5.

RESEARCH DESIGN

23

6.

SAMPLING METHOD

26

7.

DATA COLLECTION

27

8.

CONCLUSION

30

9.

WEBLIOGRAPHY

36

10.

ANNEXURE - QUESTIONNAIRE

37

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INTRODUCTION The ever changing marketing scenario and heightened competition over the globe has amplified the role of brand at unparalleled level. Every person is a consumer of different brands at the same time. The choice and usage of a particular brand by the consumer over the time is affected by the quality benefits offered by the brand especially when it comes to brand of eatables and cosmetics. Consumer satisfaction is derived when he compares the actual performance of the product with the performance he expected out of the usage. Philip Kotler (2008) observed that satisfaction is a person's feelings of pressure or disappointment resulting from product's perceived performance (outcome) in relation to his or her expectations. If the perceived benefits turned out to be almost same as expected, customer is highly satisfied and that is how the company achieves loyalty of the customer towards the products. In Indian scenario, perceptions about a particular brand are important because Indian customers rely on the perception of their near and dear ones before actually buying or using the product. The perceptions of the people around us affect our decision to buy or not to buy the product. Perceptions are highly subjective and thus easily distorted. The qualm of buying and not buying continues into the mind or the black box of the prospective consumer unless his decision is not ed by many. Thus in order to survive in the marketing environment of a country like India, brands need to be positioned in the minds of people. India is already an attractive destination for brands to set in due to favourable marketing conditions. India has known to be a hub of Herbal brands as well since the herbal products are deeply associated with the spirituality sentiments of the people. A WHO (World Health Organization) study estimates that about 80 percent of world population depends on natural products for their health care instead of modern medicines primarily because of side effects and high cost of modern medicine (Sharma, Shanker, Tyagi, Singh, & Rao, 2008) The worldwide herbal market products are around $6.2 billion and estimated to reach $5 trillion by the year 2050 (WHO & Kumar & Janagam, 2011) This paper carries out a study on what factors affect buying decision of the buyers for brand PATANJALI. “Patanjali “- a brand set up by PATANJALI AYURVEDA LTD is backed by robust preaching and promotion of World renowned Guru Swami Ramdevji and an international authority on Ayurveda and Traditional Herbs. The company is set up with an objective to provide superior quality of products at fair price and to get their customers rid of the chronic diseases by 6

providing products which are organic and natural. This concept of Herbal and Pure has gained momentum in India and across the world since people now a days are more centred towards keeping themselves near to Nature due to their commercialized routines. PATANJALI AYURVEDA LTD has more than 100 different products in the catalogue for Skin, Hair, Heart, Eyes and Kidney diseases. Patanjali’s recent tie up with Future Group to enter into FMCG segment through Big Bazaar Retail stores is another big advantage towards the availability of Patanjali Products near to their consumers. The Patanjali Products have rightly been placed at advantage by the very concept of “Marketing through Spirituality”. Hence, in this project we will study the perception of Patanjali’s customers towards not only the products it offers but also the marketing strategy it uses.

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Company Profile: Patanjali Ayurved

Prakriti ka ashirwad Type

Private

Industry

Consumer goods

Founded

2005

Founder

Ramdev Acharya Balkrishna Pankaj Srivastava

Headquarters

Haridwar, India

Area served

India and Nepal

Products

Foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products& Ayurvedic medicine ₹5,000 crore(US$740 million) (2015-16)

Revenue Number of employees

200,000 (2011–12)

Website

www.patanjaliayurved.net patanjaliayurved.org

Patanjali

Ayurved

Limited is

an Indian FMCG company.

Manufacturing

units

and

headquarters are located in the rural/urban area of Haridwar while the ed office is located at Delhi. The company manufactures mineral and herbal products. It also has manufacturing units in Nepal under the trademark Nepal Gramudhyog and imports majority 8

of herbs in India from Himalayas of Nepal. According to CLSA and HSBC, Patanjali is the fastest growing FMCG company in India. It is valued at ₹3,000 crore (US$450 million) and some predict revenues of ₹5,000 crore (US$740 million) for the fiscal 2015–16. Ramdev baba has stated in his interview with CNN-News18 that profit from Patanjali Products goes to charity. The ‘Patanjaliayurved.net’ domain is owned by Patanjali Ayurved Limited incorporated in 2006 under Companies Act, 1956 with its ed office at D-26, Pushpanjali Bijwasan Enclave, New Delhi - 110061. ‘Patanjaliayurved.net’ is the official online Patanjali store of Patanjali Ayurved Limited. Full range of best quality, trusted Patanjali products are now just a click away from customers’ door step. They are dedicated towards best service, quality products, real time assistance. We present full product range of food, cosmetics, medicines, books, CD s, DVD s & Audio cassettes at best price.

Patanjali Ayurved Limited produces quality Herbomineral preparations. To monitor quality, the Divya Yog Mandir Trust and Patanjali Yog Peeth grow many endangered herbs on its farmland. The principles of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are rigorously followed in the plant and Company prides itself on being environment friendly.

A high stress on quality, several quality circles and special quality circles and special project teams working on Total Quality Management (TQM) projects make quality a way of life in Patanjali Ayurved Limited. This enables Patanjali Ayurved Limited to produce herbomineral preparations with uniform levels of batch-to-batch consistency. This ensures that the customer gets the same high quality product regardless of where it is purchased.

The special equipment required for manufacturing of sterile products (bhasma, ghanstva, eyedrop, capsule, etc.) includes component washing machines, steam sterilizers, membrane filter machines, manufacturing vessels, blenders, liquid filling machines, powder filling machines, sealing and labelling machines, vacuum testing chambers, inspection machines, lyophilisers, pressure vessels, etc. are provided depending on the type and volume of activity.

Unit sterilizers are double ended with suitable interlocking arrangements between the doors. The effectiveness of the sterilization process is established initially by biological inactivation 9

studies using microbial spore indicators and then at least oncea year by carrying out thermal mapping of the chamber. Filling machines are challenged initially and then at periodic intervals by stimulation trials including sterile media fill. On procurement, engineers with the of production and quality assurance personnel have done installation qualification of each of the equipment. Equipment for critical processes like aseptic filling and sterilizers are suitably validated according to a written programme before putting them to use. Standard operating procedures are available for each equipment for its calibration and operation and cleaning.

Yoga guru-turned-tycoon Baba Ramdev has just set the bar higher for his consumer products business—Rs.1 trillion ($14.9 billion) in net sales, a target he thinks can be reached in 10 years, if not five. The bearded 50-year-old yoga guru has no doubt at all that Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, which he set up in 2006, will get there; it’s just a matter of time. “It’ll happen naturally. I don’t dream, I only work,” Ramdev said in a rare interview on 24 May in Haridwar, the north Indian Hindu holy town on the banks of the Ganges, which houses the headquarters of his business empire. The target is a 20-fold increase from the Rs.5,000 crore in net sales that Patanjali posted in the business year that ended on 31 March. Next stop: Rs.10,000 crore in net sales in the year to next March. The breadth of Ramdev’s ambition can be gauged from the fact that Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), the local unit of Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unilever Plc., which has been around in India since 1888, hasn’t even touched one-third of Ramdev’s target. In the year to 31 March, HUL posted net sales of Rs.32,482.72 crore. The target also represents a third of the size of India’s entire packaged consumer products market at present, estimated at about Rs.3.2 trillion a year and projected to grow 12-15% annually over the next five years, reaching Rs.6.1 trillion in 2019, according to a September 10

2015 report by industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and advisory firm KPMG. Of course, Patanjali is used to a red-hot pace of growth. The company, which sells everything from shampoo and toothpaste to biscuits and noodles, and rice and wheat to honey and ghee, more than doubled its sales in the year ended 31 March, from Rs.2,006 crore in the previous year. (To put that in perspective, HUL’s sales rose 4% in the same period.) Sales have multiplied 11-fold from Rs.446 crore in 2011-12. Business is a byproduct: “People trust us, and that’s what is making Patanjali big,” Ramdev said in the 24 May interview with Mint at Shant Kutir (peace cottage), his abode, dressed in saffron robes and sitting cross-legged on an over-sized chair. “We are not into small things. Whatever we do, we multiply—be it yoga, be it ayurveda and now business.” “Today, more than one billion people know me in this country, and the whole world knows me. Our promise is we’ll never ruin the trust people have in us, come what may,” he said. Shant Kutir is a gated property spread over a couple of acres, and the cottage was built in 2009-10, modelled partly on Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The compound has no air of the frugality that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, India’s independence hero, famously practiced. It is guarded 24x7 by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), has a man-made water well and an artificial waterfall and watch towers. Neatly manicured lawns surround the main cottage. The cottage itself is air-conditioned, with Persian-design carpets and cushioned sofas in the room where Ramdev receives visitors. Ramdev, who is driven around in a white Range Rover Evoque, initially found fame as a yoga evangelist, teaching the benefits of the Indian physical and spiritual discipline through television channel Aastha since 2000. “Business is a byproduct,” he said in the interview. “The Patanjali brand, prosperity and profit—everything is a by-product.” Ramdev downplays his own role in building Patanjali into an emerging consumer products giant, saying his only role is that of a brand ambassador who works for free in television commercials representing the brands his company makes.

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Even so, it’s clear that a razor-sharp business brain is deftly charting the future of Patanjali Ayurved. The rise of Patanjali may be backed by the faith that Ramdev’s millions of disciples repose in the yoga guru, who, in 2011, briefly became a crusader against government corruption and had to hurriedly leave the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi dressed in a salwar suit lent by a female follower to escape a brutal police crackdown. 13

But there’s also something beyond reliance on blind faith. Patanjali knows where exactly it is headed and what it should do to get there. Over the next few years, Patanjali will focus on six areas: natural medicine, natural cosmetics, natural dairy products and food, natural cattle feed and feed supplements, biofertilizers and bio-pesticides, and natural indigenous seeds, said Ramdev. In April, Mumbai-based Pittie Group, the nationwide distributor for Patanjali products, sewed up a distribution arrangement with Apollo Pharmacy. It also has a marketing arrangement with Kishore Biyani’s Future Retail Ltd for selling Patanjali products in 243 cities across India. Patanjali Ayurved has also teamed up with billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s retail chain Reliance Retail to sell its products. Over the next year, Patanjali will increase its retail presence through 4,000 distributors, more than 10,000 company-owned outlets, 100 Patanjali-branded stores and supermarkets, the company said in a statement recently. Over the next five years, Patanjali will set up six more factories in other parts of the country, Ramdev said, declining to divulge investment details. Patanjali currently has three factories and a bunch of contract manufacturers. Acharya Balkrishna, Ramdev’s close confidant and managing director of Patanjali Ayurved, said in a press conference on 27 April that the company will spend more than Rs.1,000 crore to set up new production units and Rs.150 crore on a research and development facility. “We’ll employ about 500,000 people once all these factories are built, besides the indirect beneficiaries,” says Ramdev. To build the factories, Ramdev said, Patanjali is buying land everywhere at “market price”.

Advertising, MNC style: Patanjali’s expansion is backed by a high-powered marketing campaign led by Ramdev himself. Between January and March, Patanjali Ayurved doubled the number of ments it airs on TV channels, according to data from television viewership measurement agency Broadcast Audience Research Council India, or BARC.

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Patanjali’s weekly ad insertions on television jumped 102% from 11,897 in the first week of January to 24,050 in the week ended 25 March, according to BARC. Ad insertions by Patanjali are 20% more than those by the next most-d brand on TV—Cadbury, a chocolate brand owned by Mondelez India Foods Pvt. Ltd. According to Anuja Chauhan, creative consultant at advertising agency JWT India and a writer, “Patanjali is riding on Ramdev’s huge fan following. The company got two things right—one, the whole India-ayurveda connection and, second, the MNC style of advertising.” His own channel, Aastha, is a handy marketing tool as well. On a typical day, Ramdev wakes up at 3.30am and starts his day with gooseberry juice, rich in vitamin C and considered a great immunity booster in ayurveda—the ancient Indian system of medicine. By 5am, he reaches his yoga ashram, Patanjali Yogpeeth, a couple of kilometres from Shant Kutir, to conduct a yoga session that is televised live. The yoga session lasts a couple of hours. On this particular day, Balkrishna s him during the session to talk about the “goodness” of Patanjali products. Ramdev and Balkrishna converse about how good Patanjali’s cattle feed is and how they can double the milk output of cows. Listening to them are more than a thousand middle-aged followers from the farming community who are attending a five-day yoga camp (attendees pay a fee of Rs.1,000-2,000 per day for such yoga camps), besides millions of television viewers. A new range of cattle feed will be launched soon, the duo says. According to Ramdev, Patanjali already sells about Rs.150 crore worth of cattle feed a year and expects to cross the Rs.1,000-crore mark this year. Patanjali’s day-to-day operations are overseen by Ram Bharat, 38, who works from a huge wood-crafted office at the company’s factory in Padartha, an industrial zone in Haridwar that is spread over 150 acres. Bharatbhai, as he is called, is Ramdev’s younger brother. He refuses to be photographed, and rarely consents to interviews. According to managers at the factory, he is easily accessible when it comes to business. Bharat first came into the limelight in May last year when he was sent to judicial custody on charges of instigating a clash between a Haridwar truck union and guards at the factory, which ended in one person’s death and injuries to four people. 15

On the other hand, multiple people at Patanjali believe the business brain behind Patanjali’s success is none other than Swami Muktanand, a director at Patanjali. However, Muktanand’s whereabouts are not known. The corporate communications professionals at Patanjali and management personnel declined to give any details, and requests for an interview were declined. Analysts at top securities houses have taken note that there’s a serious player in town; for an unlisted company, that’s quite an achievement. “The company’s business model is rewriting the rules of consumer marketing in India. We think rapid growth will continue, driven by an ever-increasing consumer demand for its products; the launch of new categories; and a broader retail and distribution network (two thirds of revenue comes from northern India),” Amit Sachdeva, an analyst with HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt. Ltd, wrote in a report dated 5 February. “The success of Patanjali has raised investor concerns about the impact on established consumer names,” Sachdeva wrote. Ramdev openly ridicules his multinational competition. “It’s just the start. Ab tak Colgate ka toh gate khul gaya, Nestle ka toh panchhi urne wala hai, Pantene ka toh pant gila hone wala hai; aur do saal me, Unilever ka lever kharab ho jayega (By now, Colgate’s gate has opened; Nestle’s bird has flown (a reference to Nestle India Ltd’s logo), Pantene’s (a shampoo brand by Procter and Gamble India) pants are going to get wet, and in two years, Unilever’s lever will fail),” Ramdev said on 27 April at a press conference in Delhi. In a 11 January 2016 report, Credit-Suisse Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd analyst Rohit Kadam wrote that Patanjali’s “meteoric rise” had hurt Colgate-Palmolive (India). The sales of Colgate’s toothpastes slowed from an annual growth pace of about 10% to just 1% in the quarter ended December as Patanjali’s Dant Kanti made inroads, he wrote. HUL, Colgate and Procter and Gamble declined comment for the story. Nestle India Ltd chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said he believed “disruptive competition is always good to have”.

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“Competition energizes me. I firmly believe every company play on its strengths. Our strength is nutrition, science, health and wellness. That’s what we are all about. We are good at these, and we’ll be playing to it. Let’s focus on what we need to do and get that right,” he added. Cigarette maker ITC Ltd, which branched out into foods, home and personal care products in 2001 and reported sales of Rs.9,704.40 crore for the year ended 31 March 2016, is also aware of the formidable competition posed by Patanjali. “We have taken note of Patanjali’s rapid growth and are recalibrating our strategy,” V.L. Rajesh, chief executive (foods business), ITC, said in New Delhi on 19 May.

Outsourcing: To be sure, there are concerns about some Patanjali products and scepticism about some of its claims. In May, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) found “gross exaggeration” in the commercials on hair oil, mustard oil and washing power made by the company. The Patanjali factory in Padartha is guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and most areas are off-limits to the media. With Ramdev’s permission, this reporter was allowed to visit some parts of the factory, this is what he found: Patanjali claims to make natural ghee (clarified butter) from cow milk. At the factory, pasteurized unsalted butter produced by the Karnataka Co-operative Milk Products Federation Ltd was being mixed with local cow milk to produce ghee. The aloe vera unit is a processing and packaging unit, which was using pulp supplied by Dhandev Resorts and Health Care Pvt. Ltd (a Jaisalmer-based company owned by Roop Ram, an Indian National Congress leader). Patanjali claims that it has its own aloe vera plantations for making aloe vera juice. And contrary to Ramdev’s claims, Patanjali outsources manufacturing of some products like other packaged consumer products companies do. For instance, biscuits are made by Delhibased Sona Biscuits (that also sells biscuits under Sobisco brand) and juices by a bunch of 17

companies, including GK Dairy and Milk Products Pvt. Ltd (this company also sells products under the Gopalji brand). Patanjali’s juice products, which Ramdev claims to be natural, contains added sugar, water and required preservatives. Haridwar-based Aakash Yog Health Products Ltd manufactures noodles for Patanjali. Aakash used to make noodles for HUL’s Knorr brand, till recently. Some of these names are mentioned in the fine print of product packets. Mint confirmed these with the managers at Patanjali’s Padartha factory. According to Ramdev, Patanjali has more than 200 scientists who research and develop its products. These scientists are barred from meeting outsiders. “We can’t divulge the formulations and what we are developing,” said Vineet Gupta, a senior manager, declining a request by one reporter to meet the scientists. One analyst, who has visited Patanjali factories multiple times and spoke on condition of anonymity, says Patanjali products are essentially herbal clones. “The process is simple. Top-selling products across brands are picked up from the market and then similar products are developed based on herbal formulations under Patanjali brands. Mostly, they are replicas of successful products of multinational companies,” the analyst said. Sachdeva of HSBC is more charitable. “About 85% of all production is done in-house, and Patanjali is looking to replicate the success of its first food park in four other cities, including Nagpur in Maharashtra. Patanjali is also using e-commerce channels to distribute its products across India and is appointing new distributors to expand its footprint,” he wrote in his report.

‘For a good cause’: Ramdev says the plan is to build six more factories, each as big as the one in Padartha, and move into new areas like handlooms and organic farming.

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People who work at Patanjali profess to have ed the company to promote a “good cause”—a movement that Ramdev calls “swadeshi andolan” (literally, indigenous or local protest, a movement for freedom from the clutches of MNCs). “I did not for money. I feel honoured to Patanjali, to be a part of Swamiji’s movement for a good cause,” says Ajay Bhandari, general manager (quality control), who ed Patanjali this year after a 21-year career in different established firms. Patanjali, which Ramdev says is a zero-debt company, is right now selling everything it is making. Managing director Balkrishna said in May that there is a huge gap between domestic demand and supply. Patanjali exports products to the UK, US, Canada and Mauritius, which are home to large Indian populations. Nivedita R. Nathoo, who is the sole distributor for Patanjali products in Mauritius, said the products fly off the shelves even in the island republic. He may be promoting Patanjali products with an evangelistic zeal, but Ramdev claims he himself doesn’t use any of them. At Shant Kutir, guests are served freshly squeezed mosambi juice. And the man who is out to build the next consumer products giant out of India says he doesn’t view buyers of Patanjali products as consumers. “We have changed the rules of manufacturing, packaging, marketing. We don’t consider them to be consumers. We take them as part of our families. Consumerism is not our culture,” he said. Ramdev is perceived to be close to India’s ruling coalition, and has appeared with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several public platforms. But the yoga guru disclaims any interest in politics. “I want to stay the way I am—sanyas, rashtradharma... (renunciation and duty to the nation) I want to do everything without any greed. Directly, I’ll never participate at any political position,” concludes Ramdev.

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He picks up his Micromax mobile phone, puts a pile of papers into his saffron bag, boards his Range Rover and rushes for his next meeting, leaving many questions unanswered and unasked, at the peaceful Shant Kutir.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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 Primary Research Methodology Primary Research Methodology was used by supplying a set of Questions to the relevant audience, i.e., the audience in the know of Patanjali Ayurved and who may or may not be using it. A Questionnaire of 20 questions was prepared and 50 responses collected.

 Secondary Research Methodology: Secondary Data was gathered from the Internet, various publications and magazines as well as books to know about the company, its history, practices it undertakes and so on. Secondary data helped in knowing about Patanjali Ayurved.

 Limitations: There are certain limitations pertaining to the project as the FMCG business is very competitive. Data with regard to future plans of the various players including Patanjali Ayurved is not available easily.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE & RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 Research Objectives: 21

The Research Objectives are as follows: 1) To determine whether people are aware of the products that Patanjali Ayurved offers? 2) To know whether the consumers aware of the Patanjali Ayurved products, actually use them? 3) To deduce if the customers are satisfied with the Patanjali Ayurved Products? 4) To find out the methods of promotion used by Patanjali for promoting their products?

 Research Questions: The Research Questions are as follows: 1) How many people are aware of the products that Patanjali Ayurved offers? 2) How many people prefer the products offered by Patanjali Ayurved? 3) What are the methods used for promoting their products by Patanjali Ayurved?

 Relevance of Research: To find out acceptability among customers.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is based on ideas or principles within which research is conducted. It forms the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data. It will be basically a systematic enquiry aimed at providing information to solve managerial problems. It will help 22

in guiding business decisions. For this research sufficient time and care will be given for forming the questionnaire, deciding the types of data to be gathered and procedure to be used for this purpose.

It consists of clean statement of the research problem procedures and information processing and analysis of data collected. It includes hypothesis also.

A research design is the plan of a research study. The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlational, semi-experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and subtype (e.g., descriptive-longitudinal case study), research question, hypotheses, independent and dependent variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan. Research design is the framework that has been created to seek answers to research questions. I have used Descriptive Research which includes survey and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The main characteristics of this method are that the researchers have no control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening.

Descriptive Research Design: Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred. Rather it addresses the "what" question (what are the characteristics of Minnesota state population or situation being studied?) The characteristics used to describe the situation or population are usually some kind of categorical scheme also known as descriptive categories. For example, the periodic table categorizes the elements. Scientists use knowledge about the nature of electrons, protons and neutrons to devise this categorical scheme. We now take for granted the periodic table, yet it took descriptive research to devise it. Descriptive research generally precedes explanatory research. For example, over time the periodic table’s description of the elements allowed scientists to explain chemical reaction and make sound prediction when elements were combined.

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Definition and Purpose: Descriptive research designs help provide answers to the questions of who, what, when, where, and how associated with a particular research problem; a descriptive study cannot conclusively ascertain answers to why. Descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena and to describe "what exists" with respect to variables or conditions in a situation.

What do these studies tell us?

1) The subject is being observed in a completely natural and unchanged natural environment. True experiments, whilst giving analyzable data, often adversely influence the normal behaviour of the subject [a.k.a., the Heisenberg effect whereby measurements of certain systems cannot be made without affecting the systems]. Hence, we are studying the customers’ behaviour towards Patanjali Ayurved products without changing their surroundings and while they are in their natural habitat. 2) Descriptive research is often used as a pre-cursor to more quantitative research designs with the general overview giving some valuable pointers as to what variables are worth testing quantitatively. Therefore, the findings from this study will be further used for analysis of the consumer behaviour. 3) If the limitations are understood, they can be a useful tool in developing a more focused study. Therefore, the limitations that the responses of all the people aware of the Patanjali Ayurved products and all of them that are using them cannot be obtained is a limitation that should be understood and accordingly a sample universe should be selected and questionnaire prepared. 4) Descriptive studies can yield rich data that lead to important recommendations in practice. Hence, the descriptive questionnaire gives us a detailed understanding of people’s perception of and towards Patanjali Ayurved Products. 5) Approach collects a large amount of data for detailed analysis. Inspite of the limited size of data and limited amount of time, 50 responses were collected and that is a huge amount of a sample size. 24

What these studies don't tell us (Limitations)?

1) The results from a descriptive research cannot be used to discover a definitive answer or to disprove a hypothesis. 2) Because descriptive designs often utilize observational methods [as opposed to quantitative methods], the results cannot be replicated. 3) The descriptive function of research is heavily dependent on instrumentation for measurement and observation. Like in the case of this Research, Questionnaire format was used.

SAMPLING METHOD

The research sampling method that will be used in this study is random sampling to obtain a more scientific result that could be used to represent the entirety of the population. Data collection was conducted through the usage of internet for collecting responses. 25

Respondents: The respondents in this research will all be coming from one single location – Mumbai city. The selected city has been chosen because of the conditions present in the area proving conducive to the research and also as it fits the time frame and resources of the research. The randomly sampled respondents were asked by the researcher for consent and approval to answer the questionnaire. The opinion of experts was also sought in this research to provide explanations regarding the respondent’s perception of Patanjali Ayurved products.

Questionnaire: The questionnaire requires information about the behaviour of consumers towards Patanjali Ayurved products. It also has questions related to other Ayurvedic products that are available in the market and their costs. The questionnaire gives an insight about the most popular Patanjali Ayurved products and if the prices are comfortable for the target audience.

DATA COLLECTION

There are basically two ways of collecting the data primary &secondary. There is a large no. of FMCG companies in the market, to find the defining strategies used, the methodology used is survey method.

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Type of Data Used For this research study, primary data as well as secondary data was collected. Success of any statistical investigation depends on the availability of accurate and reliable data. This depends on the appropriateness of the method for data collection. The perception of the people is never static; but it changes with time. Hence the data which will be used in this study is primary in nature although I have used secondary data wherever available and required. Primary and secondary data are the two methods used for data collection.

Primary Data: It is essential to collect primary data to make sample survey. A successful and the most popular technique of data collection is through a questionnaire, thus a questionnaire was framed and distributed. A set of questions related to the research topic of ‘Perception Study of Patanjali Products’ was formulated. Response for each questions included in the questionnaire has been collected from the customers. The questionnaire is formed in such a way that the information required for the study is acquired from each item i.e. questions. The respondent’s category range from housewives & working women to working men.

Secondary Data: This Report is dedicated to Secondary information about company profile and various decisions taken by the company regarding product line expansion, product line pruning and various other matters related to product line. I have collected this information with the help of internet and journals. This report gives you relevant information about various activities taken by Patanjali Ayurved. Secondary data has been collected from magazines, newspaper, company literature and websites. Secondary research was done to build an indepth understanding of the satisfaction levels of customers. 27

Data Collection Tools: I have collected all the information with the help of Internet, Journals and Secondary source.

Sample Plan: Units- People residing in the Mumbai; Size- 50 respondents

Research Instrument: Research instruments, for the purpose of primary data collection were Questionnaires, for the purpose of secondary data, Internet was used.

Selection of study area: Mumbai

Sampling unit: It defines the target population that will sample together for carrying out the analysis. Here it includes different areas and households.

Tools Used: Analysis will be made on the basis of the responses of the respondents and the results of the interviews. Statistical tools that will be used are Pie charts, Bar graphs and Tabulation apart from statistical techniques based on the requirement of the data collected.

Sample size: 50 Respondents

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CONCLUSION The Research in the paper shows that there are many significant factors that together make up the buying decision of the product. Customers’ perception towards a brand is built largely on the satisfactory value the receives after paying for the product and the benefits the looks for. In the above study, a large portion of the is satisfied from Patanjali products. It may be because of reasonable price of the product. It may be due to ability of the product to cure the problem. The satisfaction brings in the retention of customer. Patanjali is enjoying the advantageous position in market through spirituality element involved in its products. 29

However, it should not ignore the competitors like Naturals, pure roots, Vindhya herbals. Patanjali in order to retain more customers and satisfy them,must fulfill the claims made by the company before any other brand may mushroom up and take away the benefits of marketing through spirituality.

Following strategies of Patanjali Ayurved have also been found out:  Aspires to be part of every kitchen: Patanjali is working on a kitchen concept, as part of which it will launch products that will touch all categories of the products used in an Indian kitchen. For instance, the company already has products that are used in the Indian kitchen such as dishwash bar, ghee, rice (has 3 variants of rice), pulses, spices, mustard oil, flour and madhuram (replacement for sugar made out of jaggery) under the Patanjali brand name.

 Attractive pricing, natural positioning ensure competitiveness: Patanjali’s key strength, apart from its superior product quality, lies in pricing. The company’s products are priced at ~15‐30% discount to competition, which makes it an attractive proposition for consumers. It is able to offer such discounts primarily because of having negligible A&P spend versus other consumer companies which have A&P spends ranging from 12‐18%, as a % of sales. Another reason for the discounts is the consumer‐ centric ideology of the organisation and selling best quality products at attractive price points. There may even be some products in the company’s portfolio which are making losses or fetch low margins, but it continues to sell these products to meet consumer needs. 30

Table 1: Pricing of Patanjali products versus other consumer goods companies: Product Name

Qty

Patanjali

Comparabl

Products

e

Prices

Price

Comparable Company

Special

500 gm

115

160

Dabur Chyawanprash

Chyawanprash Pineapple Juice Cow Ghee

1 Ltr 1 Ltr

85 450

99 710

Dabur Real Juice Parsi dairy farm Cow

Honey Patanjali Saundraya

500 gm 60 gm

135 60

199 80

ghee pure Dabur Honey Pears Face Wash

Face Wash Patanjali Kesh Kanti

200 gm

110

159

Head & Sholders Anti 31

Anti Dandruff

Dandruff Shampoo

Shampoo Patanjali Dant Kanti

200 gm

68

84

Pepsodent Germicheck

(Tooth Paste) Patanjali Kanti Neem

75 gm

15

24

Himalaya Neem &

Bathing Soap Patanjali Super Dish

175 gm

10

15

Turmeric VIM Dish was Bar

Wash Bar Patanjali Corn Flakes

500 gm

145

182

Kelloggs Corn Flakes ‐

Mix Patanjali Detergent

250 gm

13

19

Original RIN Detergent Powder

Powder Popular

 The 3 principles vital for growth: Patanjali Ayurved is an incorporated company under the Companies Act – Patanjali Ayurved Limited. Though a corporate entity, its working and ideology is not completely that can be compared to that of a perfect corporate culture. The company is focussed on top‐line growth rather than profitability. Its business ideology is inspired by Swami Ramdev’s ideologies to touch every life through Patanjali which will help the consumers and be present in all the segments where the consumers feel they can get a better product at a better price. The organisation conducts its business on the following 3 main principles: 

Providing world‐class products to consumers (making sure the company does not add



any preservatives or uses natural preservatives as far as possible). Producing products in the most cost‐effective manner so that the products are priced



very reasonably. Whatever profits the company earns are ploughed back into business so that it can invest the same for launch of new products, cost effectiveness or further capacity expansion. 32

Patanjali will not launch any products that are harmful to the health of consumers and detrimental to the health and lifestyle of the people. Hence, the company will not get into product categories like tobacco and liquor which are bad for health. Going forward, the company also plans to open 500‐600 branches of Acharyakulam (educational institutions).

Table 2: Product catalogue Grocery and

Dals and Pulses

Staples Edible Oil & Ghee Flour / Atta Staples / Spices Confectionery

Ghee, Mustard Oil Atta, Besan, Others Spices, Salt, Rice Biscuits, Cookies , Candies

Snacks & Breakfast

Honey, Papad, snacks, Namkeek

Beverages

Sauces & Pickles Sweets Juices & Fruit Drinks

Ketchup, Pickles Murabba, Soan Papdi Apple, Amla, Litchi

Perosnal Care

Sharbat & Squash Face Care

Squash, Sharbat Face Cream, Lip Care, Face wash

Body Care Hair Care

Body Wash, Foot care, Lotions Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Oil,

Soaps & Hand wash Oral Care Make up

Hair Color Hand wash, soaps Tooth brush, paste Kajal

Ready Food

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Health Care

Shaving and Grooming Health Drinks,

Households

Chyawanprash, Nutrition & Supplements, Digestives Worship related, Cleaning

Shave Gel, Shave cream

& Washing, Herbal Gulal

 Lower and effective advertising aids lower pricing: Patanjali Ayurved has limited advertising expenses, which gives it enough leeway to on the savings from lower ad spends by way of lower prices. The company s in a limited way – news tickers, regional newspapers, some digital advertising, etc., though going ahead it might start other forms of advertising too. Patanjali has adopted the unique information‐ based advertising. For instance, the company highlights the positives of cow’s ghee, which automatically helps sale of Patanjali Ghee. In the recent past, the company’s print advertising has seen a marked increase.

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WEBLIOGRAPHY

 http://www.edelresearch.com/showreportpdf-30172/PATANJALI_AYURVED__VISIT_NOTE-OCT-15-EDEL  http://www.livemint.com/Companies/hLEBBx17cFY5rPjTjmIP9O/The-Patanjalistory.html  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patanjali_Ayurved  http://patanjaliayurved.net/about_us  http://www.thefrustratedindian.com/2016/01/rise-of-patanjali-the-untold-story-of-ahindu-baba-taking-on-mncs/  https://explorable.com/research-paper-example

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ANNEXURE – QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Do you use and Ayurvedic products? a) Yes b) No

2) Which kind of Ayurvedic products do you use? a) Beauty Care b) Hair Care c) Food Products d) Home Care e) Dental Care f) Body Care

3) While buying Ayurved oriented products what do you look for the most? a) Price b) Quality c) Availabilty d) People’s recommendations e) Packaging

4) What are the ayurvedic products you know out of the following? a) Himalaya b) Patanjali c) Dabur d) Zandu 36

5) Where did you find out about Patanjali from? a) Television ads b) From a friend/relative/colleague c) From Shopkeepers d) From standalone Patanjali shops e) From TV ads

6) Do you find Patanjali Products easily available? a) Yes b) No

7) How do you find the price of Patanjali products? a) Very expensive b) Expensive c) Good d) Cheap e) Very cheap

8) What product range of Patanjali have you tried products from? a) Personal Care b) Hair Care c) Food Products d) Dental Care e) Home Care f) Body Care

9) How did you find the quality of Patanjali Ayurved products? a) Good b) Average c) Bad 37

10) How long have you been using the products offered by Patanjali? a) Less than 6 months b) 6 months-1 year c) More than 1 year d) More than 3 years

11) How do you find the packaging of Patanjali Ayurved products? a) Attractive b) Appealing c) Average d) Bad e) Worse

12) Would you buy Ptanjali products if they were to expand their product range into Pet Care and other ranges? a) Yes b) No

13) Is the way Patanjali Ayurved being marketed appealing to you? a) Yes b) No

14) Are you satisfied with Patanjali Ayurved Products? a) Yes b) No

15) Do you think Patanjali is a value for money product? a) Yes b) No

16) Did you get any after-sales-service from the company? Any exchange for a damaged product? 38

a) Yes b) No

17) Have you had any problems by using the product? a) Yes b) No

18) Do you think Patanjali products are Value-for-money products? a) Yes b) No

19) Will you buy Patanjali products again? a) Yes b) No

20) Will you recommend Patanjali Ayurved products to anyone? a) Yes b) No

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THANK YOU!

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