APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE

 

284

Appendix

Ques t i onn a i re CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS DAIRY PRODUCTS

IN CHITTOOR DISTRICT

Dear Respondent,

This academic survey is to investigate the various factors that

influence the consumer behaviour in buying dairy products with special

reference to Chittoor District. This is to invite you to spare your valuable time

to complete the questionnaire and return it back at your earliest convenience.

Please be assured that your responses and your personal information would

be kept confidential and anonymous. Please take time to fill out this

questionnaire as accurately as possible. Your responses would be of a great

contribution to this research. I deeply appreciate your kind cooperation.

- M. Soma Sekhara

(Researcher)

SECTION – I PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

(Tick on appropriate one)

Name of the respondent: ___________________________

Age: ________ years Gender: Male / Female

Education: Illiterate / Primary / High / SSC / Graduation / Post graduation

Area of Residence: _______________(Street Name/ Area Name/ Pachayat)

City / Town: ______________________(Municipality / Mandal)

Monthly Income of the Family:

[ ] Up to Rs. 5000 [ ] Rs. 5,001 – 10,000 [ ] Rs.10,001 – 15,000

[ ] 15,001 – 20,000 [ ] above Rs. 20,000

Number of members in the family

Adults’ __________ Children (below 12 years) __________

Food Habit: Vegetarians / Non - vegetarians

 

285

SECTION – II CONSUMER MOTIVATION

Importance of the purpose or need which motivate you to purchase dairy

products

(Please fill each purpose with appropriate variables)

1 – Most unimportant, 2 – unimportant,3 – Neither important nor unimportant,

4 – Important, 5 – Most Important

Purpose / Need Milk Butter

Milk Curd Ghee

a. Part of Regular Diet

b. Festivals and Religious

Ceremonies

c. Parties and Functions

d. Preparation of Sweets etc.

e. Medical Advise

f. Casually

g. As a matter of prestige

h. Influence of others

If you are not purchasing the dairy products, (please tick the appropriate

reason to do so).

De-motivator Milk Butter

Milk Curd Ghee

a. Medical Advice (Health

Grounds)

b. No liking / taste

c. Feel it Costly

d. Not felt any need

e. On the advice of others

 

286

SECTION – III CONSUMER PURCHASING PREFERENCES AND PATTERNS

Do you plan your purchasing of dairy products before actual shopping

(please tick)

Product All the

times

Most of

the times

Few

times

Very few

times Never

a. Milk

b. Butter Milk

c. Curd

d. Ghee

Monthly Consumption Pattern

Dairy Products Preference (Brand / Local /Own prepared)

Purchased from (Door Delivery, Company Outlet, Convenience

Store) Milk

Butter Milk

Curd

Ghee

Average Quantity of consumption of the dairy products per day or month

a. Milk __________ litres / day _______________ litres/month

b. Butter milk __________packets/day

_______________packets/month

c. Curd __________packets/day

_______________packets/month

d. Ghee __________gms/day

_______________kg/month

 

287

Quantity Preferences

While purchasing the dairy products, what is your preferred package size?

(please tick)

a. Milk up to 200 ml / 500 ml / 1 ltr / 2 ltrs / above 2 ltrs

b. Butter Milk up to 200 ml / 500 ml / 1 ltr / 2 ltrs / above 2 ltrs

c. Curd up to 200 ml / 500 ml / 1 ltr / 2 ltrs / above 2 ltrs

d. Ghee up to 200 gms / 500 gms / 1 kg / 2 kg / above 2

kg

Store Selection Importance of factors to select a particular store to purchase dairy products

(Please fill each factor with your level of importance)

1 – Extremely unimportant 2 – Quite unimportant 3 – Neutral

4 – Quite important 5 - Extremely important

Favourable Factor Milk Butter Milk

Curd Ghee

a. Availability of superior quality products

b. Reliable in dealings

c. Reasonable / competitive prices

d. Wide range of products / brands available

e. Nearer to residence

f. Credit facility

g. Acceptance of bank credit cards

h. Good/Friendly salesmanship

i. Good environment inside the store

j. More social prestige

k. Store belongs to known people

l. Availability of door delivery facility

m. Scope of bargaining

 

288

Consumer Preference towards Organized / Unorganized Sector Factors considered in purchasing dairy products from organized sector

(Please indicate your level of agreement)

a. Preferred taste

b. No fear of adulteration

c. More hygienic preparation

d. Easy availability

e. Better quality

f. Clean and attractive packing

g. Effective advertising

h. Influence of others

Factors considered in purchasing dairy products from un-organized

sector

(Please indicate your level of agreement) a. Low prices

b. Local availability

c. Non-availability of reputed brands

d. Available in required quantities

e. Regular supply

f. Available on credit terms

g. Liked and recommended by others

1 – Very low preference 2 – Low preference 3 – Neutral 4 – High Preference 5 – Very high preference

1 – Very low preference 2 – Low preference 3 – Neutral 4 – High Preference 5 – Very high preference

 

289

SECTION-IV INFLUENCING FACTORS

Indicate the importance of the following Attributes in your decision to

purchase dairy products

1 – Most unimportant, 2 – unimportant, 3 – Neither important nor

unimportant, 4 – Important, 5 – Most Important

Factors Dairy Products

Milk Butter Milk Curd Ghee

Quality 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Flavour 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Freshness 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Colour 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Taste 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Fat content 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Brand Image 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Reasonable Price

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Availability 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Convenience 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Advertisements or offers

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Retailers Influence

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Product Safety 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Hygienic and Attractive packing

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

(Note: Circle your level of agreement appropriately)

 

290

SECTION-V IMPACT OF FAMILY AND PEER GROUPS

Age of the Family Head:

[ ] Up to 30 years [ ] 31 – 40 years [ ] 41 – 50 years [ ] above 51years

Family Roles

Initiator in the family to purchase the dairy products (please tick)

Product Wife

usually

Husband

usually Both

Children

usually Others

a) Milk

b) Butter Milk

c) Curd

d) Ghee

Role dominance of the family members in the matters relating to purchasing

of dairy products (Please fill each product and activity with any of the variables)

W - Wife usually; H – Husband usually; B – Both; C – Children usually; O – Others

Product Brand

Selection

Quantity

decision

Frequency

decision

Actual

shopping

a. Milk

b. Butter Milk

c. Curd

d. Ghee

Who makes buying decisions?

Dairy

Products

Who makes buying decision?

Family Member (Father/Mother/Son/Daughter/others)

Age Education Occupation

Milk

Butter

Milk

Curd

Ghee

 

291

Role of peer group in the purchasing of dairy products

1 – Very low 2 – Low 3 – Neither high nor low 4 – High 5 – Very high

Products Providing

market information

Initiation to

purchase

Recommendation

of brand

Recommendation

of store

Milk

Butter milk

Curd

Ghee

* * * * *

PART – I PUBLISHED PAPERS IN REPUTED

INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS

S.NO TITILE ISSN 1 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS DAIRY

PRODUCTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH 0975-3427

2 A STUDY ON THE CONSUMER PREFERENCES OF MILK PRODUCTS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CHITTOOR DISTRICT

2320-2939

3 CONSUMER SATISFACTION: A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO MILK CONSUMERS

2319-1899

4 THE EFFECT OF MARKETING MIX IN BUYING DECISION ON DAIRY PRODUCTS AND MILK PREFERENCES

2312-3434

5 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR : UNDERSTANDING THE RURAL AND URBAN CONSUMERS

2322-0899

6 TREMENDOUS CHANGES IN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY & MARKETING ETHICS WITH THE EFFECT OF GLOBALIZATION

0975-3427

7 A STUDY ON FACTORS INFLUENCING BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF RURAL CONSUMERS IN FMCG PRODUCTS

2320-9399

8 THE ROLE OF MARKETING MANAGERIN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SUCCESS

2321-3434

9 THE CATALYTIC ROLE OF NGO’S: WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

2320-9399

10 A STUDY RELATING TO THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS OF PURCHASING TWO-WHEELER’S IN RURAL AREA OF ANDHRA PRADESH

2319-7285

11 A STUDY ON CONSUMER PERSEPTION TOWARDS MARKETING OF MILK IN CHITTOOR, ANDHRA PRADESH

ACCEPTER FOR PUBLICATION

PART – II PUBLISHED PAPERS IN REPUTED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

S.NO TITILE ISBN

1 QUALITY OF WORK LIFE OF EMPLOYEES : AN HR STRATEGY

978-81-926045-0-3

PART – III

PUBLISHED PAPERS IN REPUTED NATIONAL CONFERENCES

S.NO TITILE ISBN

1 INNOVATION & CREATIVITY IN INDIAN RURAL RETAIL MARKETING

978-81-922783-0-8

2 QUALITY OF WORK LIFE ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS IN CURRENT SCENARIO

978-93-81568-01-09

3 INFLUENCE OF INTERNET & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON WORK AND HRM

978-81-234-1866-7

4 BRAND BUILDING CHALLENGES IN GLOBAL MARKETS

978-81-921579-0-0

5 RURAL ENTERPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN ANDHRA PRADESH USING INNOVATION AS A STRATEGIC TOOL

978-93-5051-574-4

6 INNOVATIVE HR PRACTICES OF INDIAN COMPANIES

978-93-82163-21-3

PART – IV

PARTICIPATED IN NATIONAL SEMINARS & FDP S.NO TITILE SPONSERED

1 STRATEGIC IMPLIMENTATIONS OF FDI IN RETAILING-2012

UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION - UGC

2 GOOD GOVERNENCE – ITS RELEVANCE AND IMPLICATIONS

UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION – UGC

3 BUILDING HUMAN CAPITAL A ICSSR 4 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ISSUES

AND CHALLENGES FOR 21ST CENTURYUNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION – UGC

5 FDP ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

DEPT. OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, GOVT. OF INDIA

~esearch Publications

I. A Compantlw Study on Socioeconomic Status of Women Entrepreneurs In Rayahsoma and Kostha Andhra

2. A Day to Day F W ~ X R.gtme Bonefits a Novice Investor 3. A Utrrrtun Rovlow on Tnlning and Development 4. A Paper on Human Resource Accounting and Auditing 6. A Study on Customer Loyalty Towards Hlndustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd.,

at M u r , Andhra Prrdosh 6. A Wdy on Online Trade Vs Offline Trade 7. A Study on the Distrlbutlon Performance of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB)

Crmtlon of P 8 . t ~ Power through Anthropmorphlsm - A Literature Study a ConauAwr Eehavlor: Towards Dalry Products In Andhm Pradeeh J a . A study on Conrumor Pntuence of TeIevlsion Channels in Colmbatore city 1l.lmportanco of Social Yedla In Market Research 12. Effect of Trrnsformatlonal and Trmuctlonal Leadonhlp Styles on Certain

PerulvedJob Outcomrs It. Olobal Supply Chain Yanag.ment - A Slmpllfled Yodel 14. Human R e m u m In tomt ion System

* 16. Influence of Yoga on Mental Health of IT Indurtrlal Employees 18. lntnprenrur tho k x t W.vr to Entroprenwr 17.A CompmUw Study on Pwfwmnee of ln61.n IPO Market 18. krdembip Tnnds a d Innovrtlv, IrMgomnt Pmctices and Efficiency:

A Study of 8up.nnnurt.d L r d m In Hlgher Eduwtlon Insti tutu in lndla la. W W t Torrkn: Changing Scmuio in Health C m Sutor 20, kk. h h v l o u r of Indian Capital Yarkot: An Enpirlcal Study on Bombay Stock

Erchmnm lndla Limited and National Stock Exchang. Indla Limited 21. Price EfNclmty d Aulrn Emerging Capltal Yarkots 22. lnitlal Roturnr end Short Run Perfarmmw of Indian IPO'S 23.8trategic Yanagemont: Continuou8 Improvemnt Vs Breakthrough Innovation 24.8tr.u Management Among Qovrrnment and Prlvate Sector Bank Employees U . T h Elhctr of Yacroeconomlc Variables on BSE Oil Stock Returns 2$.Tlo Ikl, al Social Networking 8 b 8 for Pro-Employment Icreenlng 27.A or A ~ n c l a l Performance Analysis in TPTC at Wllupuram Z&Prm&&om Crobkn of Cutflower In Tamil Nrdu m.A Y.ll a Entnpnneurkl Attltudo among Technical Qraduates In an

r m l ~ ~ w c t *- k(rmn lndlan Stock and Commodity Market N . A w . r l ) kvMIon ot E-Taillng industry in India and its m

=A a- ~ I ~ # e n c e among Teachers: A Case Study r --I InotiMionr In I(mche~puram - Tamlln

Editorial Board

Chairman

Advisory Con~mittee

Dr. Raju Davis Pereppada~l IIoly Grace Academy of Management Studies

I . Dr. A Sukumaran Nair Former Vice Chancellor MG University

2. Dr. Raju Chandrashekhar Former Vice Chancellor International University St.Kitts, Australia

3. Dr. Justin Paul Faculty, Foster school oSBusiness Washington University, USA

4. Dr. Sreekumar Nellickapilly Asst. Professor, IIT, Chennai

Members

Dr.Sheela Srivastava, Director, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies Dr. K. H. Shahjahan, Dean, Corporate Kelations, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies Dr. Sujatha, Principal, Holy Grace Academy of Engineering Dr. P. K. Ghosh, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies Prof. Sunny Jacob, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies Prof. Subakaran, Holy Grace Academy of Management studies Prof. Fr. Benny, Holy Grace Academy of Management studies Prof. Ranjeet Kumar, Holy Grace Academy of Management studies Editor- in-Chief Dr. Sheela Srivastava,

Director, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies Executive Editor Prof. Jacob Mathew,

Holy Grace Academy of Management studies

Editorial Committee

Prof. Ranjan Varghese (Formerly XLRI) Dr. Gopinathan Unnithan, Holy Grace Academy of Management Studies Prof. Rekha Venugopalan, Holy Grace Academy of Management studies

Business Editor

Prof. Bijoy Parameswaran, Holy Grace Academy of Management studies

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: TOWARDS DAIRY PRODUCTS

IN ANDHRA PRADESH M. SOMA St.KI1AKA

Research Schola~ Departmer~t of Business Managc~i~cnt

Sri Venkateswara University Tirupati-5 17502. Andhra Pradustl

somumbaphd@~prnail.com

Dr. SARDAK CiIIGLOTH Assoc~atc Professor,

Department Busincss Management, Sri Venkateswara llniversity,

Timpati-5 17502, Andhrri Pradcsh drsardar(igmail.cotn

Abstract: The area of consumer behavior consists of a diverse set of persons interested in narrating, understanding or forecasting behavior by consumers. Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. This study takes up the question of buying behavior of customers and the reasons for the preference of Milk products in a wide context. It tries to identifying the existing market structure for the product. This study tries to identify the factors influencing the customers to buy milk products, and to identify the consumer brand preferences as well as to analyze the purchase behavior of customers in preferring their choice I availability of milk products. The study concluded with a number of findings and suggestions some of which are: consumers Ape, Education and Income level, consumers buying preferences and consumers buying practices. Key Words: - Consumer behavior, Consumer Preferences, Consumer Buying practices, Milk Products, Toned milk, Double Toned milk, Full Crearu milk. Introduction: Thc essence of the modern marketing concept is that all clements of business should be geared towards the satisfactic~n of consumer. This requires a thorough understanding of consumer and his purchasing motivations. Without such insights, marketers will fail to segment markets effectively and design strategies far an effective penetration into the defined market segments. The adoption of the consumer focus is in fact the real difference between

the traditional concept of selling and the modem concept of marketing. Thus, cun.;umer is sovereign in the present day marketing system.

The decision of thc consumer makes and unmakes the marketers. Whrirvur wins thr confidence of the consumer win., the day and whoever loses it, is lost All the activities in marketing are centered on the consumer only. In facl, marketing starts with the consumer. and enas with the consumer. The consutner is thc fulcrum or the pivot upon which the business moves.

Top management rnust achieve the integration of all the activities of marketing by using the marketing mix elements namely product, price. place or physical distribution and promotion illto a singlc strategic plan based upon thc knowledge of consumer actions and reactions. It is necessary to dissect consumer needs, preferences, and othcr related elements into separate compartments, isolate thcrn and then make use of them, and satisfjhg them. In short, the goal of a marketer should he to reach as many numbers of consumers as possihle and satisfy [hem. This goal can be achieved easily if the marketer understands the behavior of the consumer at the right time and i n the right scnse. Thus, consumer behavior is one of the areas in marketing where manufacturers, middlemen and other marketing agencies should concentrate and should be conscious and cautious. The concept of consumer behavior:

Consumer behavior is simply a sub section of the larger field of human bcliavic~r. Conyu~ner

Holy Grace Management Review Volume 6 No: 1 September, 2014

behavior finds its bases in hio-psychn-sociological factors. That is, biological dtives such as need for food, water, sleep and warmth have influence upon consumer. Psychological niotives like social approval, self-esteem, sccurrty, status and knowledge also have strong influence on consumers. Besides these, consumers have to respond to sociological forces like family, rcference group, social class and culture. Hence, consunicr behavior can be expla~ned in tcrms of potential influences of psycl~ological and sociological and enviror~rnental factors, as well as biological and physiolog~cal phenomena.

Consumer bellavior is i~npulsivc. It is neither emotional nor rational, but both. It is caused or affected by learning and comnlunication. Consumer behavior is viewed as a process of' problem solving. 'lhis consumer's problcm solving behavior is subject to group influence and occurs under strong motivational circumstances. As per William L Wilkie. consumcr behavior is "the activities that people engage i r~ when selecting, purchasing and using products and services so as to satisfy the needs and desires Such activities involve mental and elnotional process, in addition to physical actions". Schiffman and Kanuk state "consunier behaviour is the behaviour that consuliiers display in searching for, purchasing, ustng and evaluating products, services and ideas which they expect will satisfy their needs". llere. Schiffman and Kanuk have llscd 'evaluation' in the context of re-purchase. If it is first purchase. consumer's mind will first evaluate and finally adopt or reject the product. Thus, consutner behaviour involves all the acts of individuals that involve buying and using products, including the decision process that precede and determine these acts. Although thc factors that precede and determine consunicr hehaviour are a combination of external and internal influences, which interact constantly, it is helpful to analyze them as separate elements.

The study of consumer behaviour is the attempt to understand and predict tiurnan actions in buying process. Consumer behaviour encompasses a vast area including consumer motivation, preferences, purchasing patterns, buying process, shopping behaviour, etc. Thus, the study of consumer preferences concentrates to answer the question, "why, when, where. what and how do the consuniers buy". Importance of dairy industry

Dairy industry is having greater importance in the economy due to its contribution to the economy as well as to the rural poor by providing an opportunity to uplift then1 by generating additional income through it. Dairying has heen practiced as

rural cottage industry siricc ages. lndia accounts for onc-sixth of cattle and half (11' buffalo population of thc world. Among 70 million rural households in India in 2001, those operating up to two hectares ti~rnr 42 per cent of the households and 37 per cent are landless. Those landless and small farmers have 53 per cent of the livestock In their possession and produced 52 per cent ot' the milk. Howcver in the production and per caplta ava~lab~lrty of milk lndia stands in a vzr: lo\+ position. India's darr)ing is today in a state of dynamic transition with raptd development in milk production, processing and marketing hy virtue of the efforts made by the Ciovernnient of lndia under various programs for benefiting the small rural milk producers and the under-privileged urban consumers. The direct contributjorl of dairying to the rural sector through additional income and employment to the producer is well recognized. Indian dai ry products:

In biblical times, the model home was in "a land flowing with milk and hnnep". Today also a common expression used with reference to nutrition that "milk is the most nearl) perfect f o o d . Milk is defined to be lacteal sccretion, in practical free from colostrum's which is obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows. Generally, milk is the secretion of the mammary glands of animals that nurture their young.

Dairy products refer to the milk products that are produced out of whole milk. The prevention of food Adulteration (PFA) rules, 1955 ( as reformed up to Jan 15,1991). define milk (da~ry) products as " the products attained out of milk such as cream, malai, curd, skimmed milk, chhana cheese, processed cheese, ice cream, milk ice, condensed skimmed rnilk, infant milk food, milk powder, khoa, ghee, table butter and desi hurter".

The significance of milk and milk products has been recognized in this country since Vedic which is relating lo Vedas times (five thousand years ago) and the diversity of ways in which rnilk is used for the preparation of native products has developed approximately as an art Recently these methods have heen studied on scientific lines.

Till the year 1940, there was very little brought out information on the method of preparation and the use of dairy products in ltidia. Dr. W.

L. Davies got the credit for the first publication and the first Director of dairy rcscarch institute, Rangalore. Within a span of five and since a half decades Davics book canir across, moderately large research has been conducted at the National Dairy Kesearch Institute and other places. Statement of the problem

Holy Grace Management Review Volume 6 No: 1 September, 2014

The speed of human mind 1s hst because i t has multi-dimensional perception. This multi- dimensional perception makes human behaviour Inu~ti-~noti~ated H I S likes and dislikes cliange in no time. He is extremely happy to buy a product at one mclment, hut at the anothcr moment he lnay suffer kern cognitive dissonance. Tlius thc human bctiavlour is unpredictable and because of i t t l~e researchers hegin to get Into difficulties which are bothrrso~nc and made the hehaviour of consumer myopic. As the human behaviour is qo enonriously varicd, so delicately complex and so ohscurely motivated, the study of co~isurner bct~aviour becomes so complicated and morc difficull. Further, consumer hehaviour also changes over a period of time, because of the change in income, occupation, residence, education, age and st) forth.

Clnless consumer hehaviour I S thoroughly understood from time to Lime. it would not be possible for the marketers to design an appropriate marketing mix to appeal and influence the varied segmented consumers Thus, the study of consumer behaviour hecomes essential for the marketers to withstand the onslaughts from the competitors and survive in the market. The cun~ulative result of all these elemcnts is that the study of consumer behav~our emerges as one of the mqjor. challenges to the present day marketers. Need for the present study

The consumer motives, perceptions, pretercnces, patterns of purchasing and influences differ from product to product. So the marketers in each type nf industry have to study consumer behaviour according to their problems on hand. The need for understanding the cunsumer behaviour in dairy products, which are very essential for the survival of human beings, is therefore important to the decision makers, be they the marketers or intellectuals interested in scientific research. Review of literature

The rapid development of Indian dairy industry. especially after the 1991 economic libaali7.ation measures, forced the marketers to conduct more research studies on consumer hehaviour. But, in reality, from the research viewpoint, consumer behaviour in dairy products is an arca, which is quite new and relatively unexplored. Though this industry has developed adequately in India and many brands of different dairy products are being marketed, the specific studies on consumer behaviour in dairy product have received little attention on the pan of the researchers. Since the inception of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in 1950, some studies relating to consumption behaviour have appeared using the

NSS data. There are some stud~cs i l l 11.1.. I L ~ . I I ~ tnadc by Bosc (1960). Ciangull ( 1 4(i1J). K I J I I ~ ~ I ' j i ~ c l R o y (1960); Sinha (1966); Joncs (1971 ) . klclit,~ nnJ Gupta (1976); National Council of Aly~ll i~l 1 conc)~nic Ilcsearch (1967 and 1970) 2nd ~ I I L * Natlonol ('ommission on Agriculture (1070)

Katnam and Spell~nan ( 1072) studletl uonsumcr attitude relating to taste. acccptdhility and ptsrsonal prcfercnces of 250 hcru~cl~clld\ i n the Hoi~olulu metropolitan area tbr t - q u l . ~ ~ ~ n ~ l k , ski~n niilk and tillcd milk. I t was tounti tliclt acceptability factors for skim milk and filled I I I I I ~ I-t*prt.scntcd att~tudes that adversely affect ~rcgt~lar lnllk consurnpllon through substitutio~~. Nutlitional value, styllqh drink, societal factor and healtl~ ciiniidcrations werc found to be the main factor.; s~gniticantly lbvor~ng the consumptions of rcgular milk. Coniumption of filled milk, hnwcicr. tlcpcnd morc on econoniic factors. income had a lo\* impact o n the con\umpllon of skim milk.

Prabhakaran (1978) studied thc consumer preferences for milk and milk products rn Madras city. He found that quality, taste and llavor were the important factors for pretkrring organized sector products. I t was also observed that thc preference of a package size is positively related to the income of a family

Anand (1979) anal>zed cntrsumers' opinion for milk and dairv ~roducts of Milk nlant. Arnbala , . (Havana) on the basis of dala collected by personally interviewing consumers. It was found that ci>nsumers were satist%d with package and distribution of milk products Subash C. Mehta conducted another study to obtain consumers' vicu of markctine in India. Hc selected a sarnple of 350 consumers in Ahmadabad for the purpose of the study. He obsemed that (i) consumers do not view marketing as an anti-consumer actikity; (ii) consumers indicate the prefcrence to buy nationally known brands despite their hclicf that advertising increascd the cost of the products; (iii) cunsumers have a strong bias in fiivour of imported products and their high price is rationallzed by the consumers through perceived better quality; (iv) consumers are not totally against thr opwztion of foreign co~npanies in India; (v) while departmental stores are perceived as high priced but good service stores, super markets have the imagc of reasonably priced but poor service stores, (vi) the consumers have widely recognized usefulness of the advertising though there are apprehensions ahout the content of advertising; and (vii) consumers generally perceive an improvement in the quality of the products available in thc market except for consumer durablcs

Holy Grace Management Review Volume h No: 1 September, 2014

where there are divided clpmions ahout their quality and performance.

Most of' these studies. however, have mainly been directed at estimating cxpcnditurc and income elasticity's of certain dairk products. arid thr qualitative aspect. of consumcr hchaviour has been almost ignored. Also most of thcsc sludies have been confined to broad cornmodity groups and little attention has been paid towards ~tudying consumer motives, preferences, selections and consumption patterns with respect to dairy products. Further, there is hardly any specitic study in recent years in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh on the consumer behaviour in relation to dairy products. Hence, a modest attempt is made in the present study in this direction. Objectives of the study:

P To understand the awareness level of respondents regarding various brands of milk available

i. To know the consumer motivating factors in store selection for purchasing a milk product

P To identify the influencing factors in buying dairy products. Methodology The Sample: The present study has been organized on a sample of 400 households or families, It is a residential and consumption unit which is considered as respondent. It excludes institutions like students' hostels, residential hostels, hospitals and prisons from the purview of our study. To choose 400 respondents, first the area was restricted to the limits of 4 districts (Rayalaseema Area) namely, Chittoor, Kadapa, Anantapuram, and Kumool. Then a random sampling has been adopted. Data Collection: The data we collected frotn the selected respondents through pre-tested questionnaire, personal inlerviews and observation techniques. The questionnaire was of structured in multiple queslions covering different heads. To develop a list of information items for framing the questionnaire, s review was inade on existing literature and some of the marketing consultants were Analysis and interpretations

approached. A preliminary draA ot'tlic qucztiun~rai~~ was propared and a pilot study wa3 contluctcd on 50 rehpondents. This helped in ~rnpro\.ing upon the quality of questionnaire by including questions relating to consumer awarcrlcss. pi-ctcrence\ and conwrner satisfaction and also gavc an ~nd~catinn as to thf k~nd of response that would hc to~thcomin~. With sonic modifications, inclus1on3 and excluslorlc a final questionnaire was developed

Attempts were made to contact housewives and get response to the questionnaire. In case i t was not possible to obtain a response ti-om the hou.;ewives it was ensured that at least orlc other n~ernher of the farnily has been interv~ewed. In casc of' non-rcsponse or r~on-co-opcration fionr a l~ouschold chosen on random sampling, a substitute household in the same area was adopted for i~iterviewing SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF' THE STUDY

The consurner unit is taken to be a family or household. The study has been conducted or1 the assumption that consumer behaviour with respecl to food products in general and the dairy products in part~cular mostly depend on two variables, viz., Income of the family and the A ~ P of the family members. William J. Stanton alsu opined. "(hnsumer behaviour also changes over a period of time because of the change in income and changc i r r life cycle stage (age) and other factors". ]'he samr opinion was expressed by Philip Kotler and Gary Annstrong also. So the aggregate income of the whole farnily and the age of' the family head are the two variables considered for the study purpose. The following are the limitations:

1 . The study has not covered the critlre population of consumers due to limited resources and limited time at the disposal.

2. Correc~ness and accuracy In respect of data pertaining to the study on consumers.

But every effort was rnade to extract correct info~mation by putting cross check questions and through informal discussion wliich provided the right information useful to the study.

L I .- Total 1 400 100

1.5000-10000 I 1 2 7 1 31.75

~ a b l ; I: ~ e m o g r a ~ h i c Characteristics of Respondents

Holy Grace Management Review Volume 6 No:I September, 2014

Percentage (%)

43

Characteristics Respondents

1 18-40 1 172

lncomr Level

Product Tuned Milk Double Toned Milk Full C'ram Milk

Holy Grace Management Review Volume 6 No:] September, 2014

10001-1 5000 ..,. ..,.. " - 15001-20000

A hove 20000

I Total 400

Total

Respondents 264 - -- 73 67

100

108

78

87

Percentage ( ' X , k

I8 25 1 5 75

(Source: Fieid .Strn~t<c:,.)

In this above fable 2 shows out of 400 consumers, milk. and 15.75 respondents preferred fill1 cream 66% of the consumers preferred toned milk, 18.25 milk. percentages of consumers preferred Double toned Table: 3 Location

(Source: Field S Most of the respondents (fable 3) prcfererrce The below tablc 4 shows that out of thc 400 Manufacturers out lets, because the company out lets respondents are interviewed (table 4) 100 (25%) of are maintained hygienic environmet~t, out of the 400 the respondents arc motivated by particular store for consumers, 128 (32%) respondents preferred in door delivery facility, 95 respondents (23.75%) arc company nutlets only. 22% respondents preferred motivated by Hygienic cnvironmcnt, 12.5% arc Vendors, 19.25% respondents Kirana-shops, 15% motivated hy credit facility, 11 .25% respondents are respondents super markets, and 11.75'Yi respondents motivated by Availability of products, and remaining preference in General 1 Provision store. 7.5% are motivated by store belong to knnw-people. Motivating factors of consumers in buying a milk

product from a particular store. Table:

(.7ourcc~: Ficld Sor~,c:,.) For the above table 1 tlcll~cti that out of 400 ot Ks.5000-10000 pci ni~vltl~, 27";, ~-csp~rr~dur~ta ' respondents 29 percent hellmg.: to 50 ycars agc, 28 ht.lorlg 10 th~. Incnmc category of R\ 10001 -1 5000, pcrccnt respor~deri~s belong 111 ;lho\c 50 years and 4.3 21 .7fi1).i, a~itl 10.5";~ ~crllrindcnt\ hclonp 10 thc inco~nc percentages of respondents arc b c t ~ e c n 18 yean to catcxury o l ' n i o ~ ~ than R. 20000 and R I ]%I01 -20000 40 years age. In the incomc group out of 400 rcspccti\ cl) respondents, 31.75% belong to he tncotnc category Tahle: 2 C:onsumer Preferred Milk Products Available there. --

2 7 - - ~ - -

19.5

400

2 7 I00

(Source: Field Suntey) importance of product attributes which motivate motivate to purchase milk products.32 75 '?a made to purchase Milk Products. purcliasc due to fat cor~tents of produc1.;0.75"!~ /,or l'hc below table 5 shows that respondents have given Ireshness. 24.5% for taste, and 12% nlatle purcl1ase fbr the importance of product attr~butes which tbr ~ntluence of fricnds and relatives Table: 5 Importance of product attributes which motivate to purchase Milk Products.

I Attribute I No. o f I Percentage (%) I Freshness 10.75

Fat Contents 32.75 lnflucnce uf friends / relatives

Total I I

{Source: Fteld .T~lnq)~/ Findings of the study I. Income, age and educational background of the respondents 57 per cent of respondents are age from 41 years to

above 51 years. 58.75 per cent 01' respondents' income level from Rs.10, 001 to Ks.15000 only. 54.5 per cent respondents Post graduates and under graduates. And most of the respondents are aware of the availability of products and more than one variety of milk. 2. Consumer Preferences: It is evident from1 the study that most (66 per cent) of the respondents prefer toned milk whereas a small group of respondents of 15.75per cent prefer full cream milk. 18.25 per crnt of the respondents prefer doubles toned milk. The largest numhcr of respondents accounting for 32.75per cent said that it is the 'Fat contents' that influences the choice of n~i lk product. The smallest number accounting for 11.25 per cent expressed that it is the factor of 'easy availability' that is responsible for the preference of a milk product. 3. Consumer Buying Practices: The majority of the respondents 33 percent prefer Manufacturer outlets, 22 per cent prefer vendol- milk and 11.75 per cent prefer General / Provision stores. And rest of the respondents prefer Super markets, Kirana shops.

Suggestions: Consumers buy milk out of their functional, inspirational values, benefits and the psychological value delivered by the product. Most consumer buying decisions are influenced by the preferences they have about the product. The milk product image is formed out of the knowledge the consumers have about the perceived benefits the product offers or the value it delivers or o111er aspects of the products such as price, quality, availability, accessibility, etc. So the manufacturers have to produce the product with all the above requirements. Illtimately, it i s the brand or firm which provides bettel- services than competitors through and with the help of the agents will attract more consurrler accounts Service and satisfaction are not static words. They are relative responses. Prompt supply, regular supply, making availanle throughout, providing value in the service rendered by agents, the behavic~ur of the agents, avoidance of adulteration and supplying required quantities of milk are the prime objectives of any milk agent which will influence the success of the milk producers. Conclusion: In India, milk is produced by masses and therefore development in dairying would have direct impact on the hves of millions of the rural musses engaged in rearing dairy animals. This study would contribute directly or ~ndirectly to the dairy finns to understand the consumers, thereby increasing the consumption level of dairy products which in turn reflect so many dairy farmers in India. REFERENCES:

1. Albert M. Field and John, C. McDowell (1992). Dairy Enterprises, J.A. Lippon C'ott Company. New York

2. Aneja, R. P(1983). "A (:omprel~erlsive Approach to Milk Marketing and the Role of I.ong-Life Milk", Indian Dairy Man, Vol. XXXII, No.9.

Holy Gracc Management Review Volumc 6 No: l Septernba, 2014

3. Bansil, P.C (1984) Agricultural Problems o f India, Vikas Publishing House 17vt.L.td.,New Delhi.

4. Cathy TayIor(2002) "i 'on.sumer~ know Native Brands.Hcst". i\d\\cck. Scpt. 17. 1990, p.31.

5 Chnningham. Kosc b1.( 11/72). "Consumer 1.oyalty to Sturr and I3rand". tlarbal-d Business Review, Vol 19, pp. 127-130.

0. David Loudotl, Alhert J Dclla B~t ta (1997). C'onsumcr Bchaviour. Concepts and Applications, Ncw York, McGraw Hil l Book Company.

7. Girdhari, G.D., Biradar, R. D. (1996). "Dairy Plant Profit Judp~ng Technique", The

12. Jacob Jacoby (1971). "l'crsonality and Innovation Proneness". Jourrial o f Marketing Research. Vol X. pp 244-47.

13. Lcssing V. Parker ( 1973). .'Consumer Store Images and Store Loqalties". Journal o f Marketing, Vol. 37 pp.72-74.

14. Markin, R.J. (1993). The Psychology o f Consumer Behavinur, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Indian Journal c ~ f Ccrmmcrcc. \ ( 1 1 \ \ X \ ' . I'art-3, No 132, Scptcmhcr.

8. Guha Thakurta. B. K (2003). C ~ I I ~ ~ I I I I ~ ~ I ~ ~ I ~ Patterns 111 Ind~a, Study of I n t c~ - l< rg i (~n~~ l Variations, Bombay, Tat:i Mi (~~n\ \ l iu l l Publishing C'o. Ltd.

0 tlarry I.. lIc\i\ (1970). -I)IIIICII\IOII\ 0 1 Martial rolcs in I'onsun~cr L)c~.i>ic)r~ M;lki~ig". Journill o f MarLctirig K~~\carcI). Vol. 7, May, pp.168-177.

10. Houard A, Jagadis11 N. Sllrtli (2001 ) l lic I heor). of Buyer Beha\ iour. Ic\\ YOI.~.

John W ~ l c y ant1 Sons 11. Indian Council of Agricultural IZc-,ear-ch

( 1997). Handbook of A1111iial Ilu\halidrv, New Drlhi

I 5 I'hilip Kotlcr and Gary Arn~stronp (1999). Principles o f Marketing. Nru Deltii, Prcnticc - Hall o f India Pvt 1 td

16. Sch~ffman, L.G. Kaouk. I. 1 (2001 ) Consumer Behaviour, New Delhi IJrmtice Hall o f India Private L.imited.

Holy Grace Management Review Volume 6 No:] September, 2014

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"KPTCLs PREDOMINANT ROLE IN INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANACEME NT AND

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1 ENHANACEMENTAND VALUE CREATION" I 1 I by Anuradha T.S , Yeshwant Rao N & Sandhya C I I

" A Study on Competency n ~ a p p ~ n g of the ernpibyecs In Text~le Manuficfunng h 3 - ? j l Companies with reference to Bangalore city"

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Let vour k s h b c G l o b a l ~ c a ~ ~ ~ c ~ a r c h orTruC- Reforma- VoI- 6 No 6 AD, 2014

"A study on the Consumer Preferences of Milk products with special reference to Chittoor District"

By Mr. Soma Sekhara In' & Dr. Sardar ~ ~ ~ 1 0 t h ' ~ '

Abstract

The area of consumer behaviour consists of a diversc set of persons interested in narrating, understanding or forecasting behaviour by consumers. Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. This study takes up the question of buying behaviour of customers and the reasons for the preference of Milk products in a wide context. It tries to identifying the existing market structure for the product. This study tries to identify the factors influencing the customers to buy milk products, and to identify the consumer brand preferences as well as to analyze the purchase behaviour of customers in preferring their choice 1 availability of milk products. The study concluded with a number of findings and suggestions some of which are: consumers Age, Education and Income level, consumers buying preferences and consumers buying practices.

Key Words: - Consumer behaviour, Consumer Preferences, Consumer Buying practices, Milk Products, Toned milk, Double Toned milk, Full Cream milk

.~ - l a l ~ r . Soma Sekhara,

Research Scholar, Dcpt of MBA,

Sri Venkateswara University, Ti~upati-517502, Andhra Pradesh,

Email: somumbaphd@gmail.com, Cell: 0988567261 6

Associate Professor, Dept of MBA,

Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati-5 17502,

Andhra Pradesh, India. Email: drsardar@gmail.com

Cell: 09440328486

1. ~ntroduction: The essence of the modern marketing concept is that all elements of business should

be geared towards the satisfaction of consumer. This requires a thorough understanding of consumer and his purchasing motivations. Without such insights, marketers will fail to segment markets effectively and design strategies for an effective penetration into the defined market segments. The adoption of the consumer focus is in fact the real difference between the traditional concept of selling and the modern concept of marketing. Thus, consumer is sovereign in the present day marketing system. The decision of the consumer makes and unmakes the marketers. Whoever wins the confidence of the consumer wins the day and whoever loses it, is lost. All the activities in marketing are centered around the consumer only. In fact, marketing starts with the consumer and ends with the consumer. The consumer is the fulcrum or the pivot upon which the business moves.

"Aano b h a d r a a k r a t h a v ~ y a n t h u v lshwathahaV-"Let the noble thoughts come to al l from a l l d ~ r e c t l o n s " Page No 40

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Top management must achieve the integration of all the activities of marketing by using the marketing mix elements namely product, price, place or physical distribution and promotion into a single strategic plan based upon the knowledge of consumer actions and reactions. It is necessary to dissect consumer needs, preferences, and other related elements into separatc compartments, isolatc them and then make use of them, and satisfying them. In short, the goal of a marketer should be to reach as many numbers of consumers as possible and satisfy them. This goal can be achieved easily if thc marketer understands the behaviour of the consumer at the right time and in the right sense. Thus, consumer behaviour is one of the areas in marketing where manufacturers, middlemen and other marketing agencies should concentrate and should be conscious and cautious.

2. Thc Concept of Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour is simply a sub section of the larger field of human behaviour.

Consumer behaviour finds its bases in bio-psycho-sociological factors. That is, biological drives such as need for food, water, sleep and wannth have influcncc upon consumer. Psychological motives like social approval, self csteem, security, status and knowledge also have strong influence on consumers. Besides these, consumers have to respond to sociological forccs like family, reference goup , social class and culture. Hence, consumer behaviour can be explained in terms of potential influences of psychological and sociological and environmental factors, as well as biological and physiological phenomena.

Consumer behaviour is impulsive. It is neither emotional nor rational, but both. It is caused or affected by learning and communication. Consumer bchaviour is viewed as a process of problem solving. This consumer's problcm solving behaviour is subject to group influence and occurs under strong motivational circumstances. As per William L Wilkie, consumer behaviour is "the activities that people engage in when selecting, purchas~ng and using products and services so as to satisfy the needs and desires. Such activities involve mental and emotional process, in addition to physical actions". Schiffman and Kanuk state "consumer behaviour is the behaviour that consumers display in searching for, purchasing. using and evaluating products, services and ideas which they expect will satisfy their needs". Here, ~chiffma; and Kanuk have used 'evaluation' in the context of re-purchase. If it is first purchase, consumer's mind will first evaluate and finally adopt or reject the product. Thus, consumer behaviour involves all the acts of individuals that involve buying and using products, including the decision process that precede and determine these acts. Although the factors that precede and determine consumer behaviour are a combination of external and intenla1 influences, which interact constantly, it is helpful to analyse them as separate elements.

The study of consumer behaviour is the attempt to understand and predict human actions in buying process. Consumer behaviour encompasses a vast area including consumer motivation, preferences, purchasing patterns, buying process, shopping behaviour, etc. Thus, the study of consumer preferences concentrates to answer the question, "why, when, where, what and how do the consumers buy".

"Aano bhadraa ltrathavo yanthu vishwathahat'-"Let the noble thoughts conle to all trom all directi~lns". Page No 41 Acme Intellects Research Center- A wing of Help to Help Charitable Trustm

3. Importance of Dairy Industry Dairy industry is having greater importance in the economy due to its contribution to

the economy as well as to the rural poor by providing an opportunity to uplift them by generating additional income through it. Dairying has been practiced as rural cottage industry since ages. lndia accounts for one-sixth of cattle and half of buffalo population of the world. Among 70 million rural households in India in 2001, those operating up to two hectares form 42 per cent of the households and 37 per cent are landless. Those landless and small farmers have 53 per cent of the livestock in their possession and produced 52 per cent of the milk. However in the production and per capita availability of milk lndia stands in a very low position. India's dairying is today in a state of dynamic transition with rapid development in milk production, processing and marketing by virtue of the efforts made by the Government of lndia under various programs for benefiting the small rural milk producers and the under- privileged urban consumers. The direct contribution of dairying to the rural sector through additional income and employment to the producer is well recognized.

4. Statement of the Problem The speed of human inind is fast because it has multi-dimensional pcrception. This

multi-dimensional perception makes human behaviour multi-motivated. Ilis likes and dislikes change in no time. He is extremely happy to buy a product at one moment, but at the another moment he may suffer from cognitive dissonance. Thus the human behaviour is unpredictable and because of it the researchers begin to get into difficulties which are bothersome and made the behaviour of consumer myopic. As the human bchaviour is so enormously varied, so delicately complex and so obscurely motivated, the study of consumer behaviour becomes so complicated and more difficult. Further, consumer behaviour also changes over a period of time, because of the change in income, occupation, residence, education, age and so forth.

Unless consumer behaviour is thoroughly understood from time to time, it would not be possible for the marketers to design an appropriate marketing mix to appeal and influence the varied segmented consumers. Thus, the study of consumer behaviour becomes essential fbr the marketers to withstand the onslaughts from the competitors and survive in the market. The cumulative result of all these elements is that the study of consumer behaviour emerges as one of the major challenges to the present day marketers.

5. heed for the present study The consumer motives, perceptions, preferences, patterns of purchasing and

influences differ fiom product to product. So the marketers in each type of industry have to study consumer behaviour according to their problems on hand. The need for understanding the consumer behaviour in dairy products, which are very essential for the survival of human beings, is therefore important to the decision makers, be they the marketers or intellectuals interested in scientific research.

"Aano bhadraa krathavo yanthu vishwathaha"-"Let the noble thoughts come to all from all d~rect~ons" Page No 42 Acme lptellects @essarch $enter- A wing of Help to Help Charitable Trusto

6. Review of Literature The rapid development of Indian dairy industry, especially after the 1091 economic

liberalization measures, forced the marketers to conduct more research studies on consumer behaviour. But, in reality, from the research viewpoint, consumer behaviour in dairy products is an area, which is quite new and relatively unexplored. Though this industry has developed adequately in India and many brands of different dairy products are being marketed, the specific studies on consumer behaviour in dairy product have received little attention on the part of the researchers. Since the inception of the National Sample Survey (Jrganisation (NSSO) in 1950, some studies relating to consumption behaviour have appeared using the NSS data. There are some studies in this regard made by Bose (l9hO), Ganguli ( I 960); Rudra and Roy (1960); Sinha (1966); Jones (1971); Mchta and Gupta (1976); National Council of Applied Economic Research (1967 and 1970) and the National Commission on Agriculture ( 1976).

Indian Studies: National Council of Applied Economic Research ( 1 967) conducted a survey to study

the effects of developm~nt on household consumption. The income elasticity's of demand for milk for non-developmental area (0.82) was higher than for the developmental area (0.62). The consumption of milk and dairy products was found to increase sharply with income.

Ratnam and Spellman (1972) studied consumer attitude rclating to taste, acceptability and personal preferences of 250 households in the Honolulu metropolitan area for regular milk, skim milk and filled milk. It was found that acceptability factors for skim milk and filled milk represented attitudes that adversely affect reylar milk consumption through substitution. Nutritional value, stylish drink, societal factor and health considerations were found to be the main factors significantly favouring the consumptions of reylar milk. Consumption of filled milk, however, depend more on economic factors. Income had a low impact on the consumption of skim milk.

Prabhakaran (1978) studied the consumer preferences for milk and milk products in Madras city. Me found that quality, taste and flavour were the important factors for preferring organised sector products. It was also observed that the preference of a package size is positively related to the income of a family.

Anand (1979) analysed consumers' opinion for milk and dairy products of Milk plant, Ambala (Haryana) on the basis of data collected by personally interviewing consumers. It was found that consumers were satisfied with package and distribution of milk products.

Subash C. Mehta conducted another study to obtain consumers' view of tnarketing in India. He selected a sample of 350 consumers in Ahmadabad for the purpose of the study. He observed that (i) consumers do not view marketing as an anti-consumer activity; (ii) consumers indicate the preference to buy nationally known brands despite their helief that advertising increased the cost of the products; (iii) consumers have a strong bias in favour of imported products and their high price is rationalized by the consumers through perceived better quality: (iv) consumers are not totally against the operation of foreign companies in India; (v) while departmental stores are perceived as high priced but good service stores, super markets have the image of reasonably priced but poor service stores; (vi) the consumers have widely recognized usefulness of the advertising though there are apprehensions ahout

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the content of advertising; and (vii) consumers generally perceive an improvement in the quality of the products available in the market except for consumer durables whcre there are divided opinions about their quality and performance.

Most of these studies, however, have mainly been directed at estimating expenditure and income elasticity's of certain dairy products, and the qualitative aspect of consumer behaviour has been almost ignored. Also most of these studies have been confincd to broad commodity groups and little attention has been paid towards studying consunler motives, preferences, selections and consumption patterns with respect to dairy products. Further, there is hardly any specific study in recent years in Visakhapatnam district on the consumer behaviour in relation to dairy products. Hence, a modest attempt is made in the preswlt study in this direction.

7. Objectives of the Study k To study the consumer preferen~es In selecting a type of mllk from there

ava~lable F To know the consumer motivating factorb In store 5clectlon for purchaqtng a

mllk product w To find out the mottvdtlng factor5 of consumer In huylng d part~culm brand of

mllk.

8. Methodology The Sample

The present study has been organised on a sample of 400 households or families. It is a residential and consumption unit which is considered as respondent. It cxcludcs institutions like students' hostels, residential hostels, hospitals and prisons from the purview of our study. In the present study two statistical tools were used. These are percentage method and weighted average method to analyse the study findings.

To choose 400 respondents, first the area was restricted to the limits of 8 Municipalities namely, Madanapalli, Srikalahasti, Punganur, Palamaneru, Nagari, Puttur, Chittoor and Tirupati city in Andllra pradesh. Then a random sampling has been adopted. To give equal representation to entire district all thc seven municipalities' areas were considered. Out of the total 256 divisions in 7 areas I00 divisions were selected on random sampling and then from each of I00 divisions, 4 respondents (households or fanilies) were picked up on random sampling. Data Collection

The data we collected from the selected respondents through pre-tested questionnaire, personal interviews and observation techniques. The questionnaire was of structurcd in multiple questions covering .different heads. To develop a list of information items for framing the questionnaire, a review was made on existing literature and some of the marketing consultants were approached. A prelitninary draft of the questionnaire was prepared and a pilot study was conducted on 50 respondents. This helped in improving upon the quality of questionnaire by including questions relating to consumer awareness, preferences and consumer satisfaction and also gave an indication as to the kind of response

"Aano bhadraa krathavo yanthu vishwathaha"-"Let the noble thoughts come to all from all d~rections". Page No.44 Atme lntelkcts Research Center- A wing of Help to Help Charitable Truste

that would be forthcoming. With some modificat~ons, inclusions and exclusions a final questionnaire was developed.

Attempts were made to contact housewives and get response to the qucstionna~re. In case it was not posslble to obtain a response from the housewives it was cnsurcd that at least one other member of the family has been interviewed. In case of non-response or nun co- operation from a household chosen on random sampling, a substitute household in the same area was adopted for interviewing.

9. Scope and limitations of the study The consumer unit is taken to be a family or household. The study has been conducted

on the assumption that consumer behaviour with respect to food products in general and the dairy products in particular mostly depend on two variables, viz., Income of the family and the Age of thc family members. William J. Stanton also opined, "Consumer bchaviour also changes over a period of time because of the change in income and change in life cycle stage (agc) and other factors". The same opinion was expressed by Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong also. So the aggregate income of the whole family and the age of the fail~llily head are the two variables cor.sidered for the study purpose.

We made a sample making the Chittoor District as the empirical base. Limitations of time and resources accounted for the geogaphical concentrations to a singlc district. This incidentally provides for a control with respect to:

a) The inequalities in the income, age and educational background of the respondcnts b) The inequalities in the consumers awareness and exposure to the different types of

milk available in the study area c) The availability and consumer awareness of different brands of milk available d) Regional and cultural differences in natural and geographical endowments I t is not appropriate to state that this study is insulated from limitations. The following are the limitations: I) The study has not covered the entire population of consuiners due to limited resources

and limited time at the disposal. 2) Correctiless and accuracy in respect of data pertaining to the study on consumers.

But every effort was made to extract correct information by putting cross check questions and through informal discussion which provided the right ipformation useful to the study.

10 . Validity of the study Any study based on a consumer survey through a predesigncd questionnaire suffers

from the basic limitation of the possibility of difference between what is recorded and what is truth, no matter how carefully the questionnaire has been designed and field study has been conducted. This is because the consumers may not deliberately report their true preference and, even if they want to da so, there are bound to be differences owing to well-known problems of filters in com~iunication process. Care was taken to minimize this error by conducting interviews personally and spending a lot of time on establishing rapport with respondents.

"Aano Lhadraa krathavo yanthu vrshwathahaW-"Let the noble thoughts come to ail froin all dlrect~ons" !"1.:17 No 45 Acme Intellects Research Center- A wing of Help to kelp Charitable Trust'

Acmc In1ellccts liltelnational Jbulnnl of Research in Manogancnt. Social Sc~cnccs & 1-ethnology lSSN 232.0 - 2939 (Pr~nl) 2320.2793 (Unltnc) L e w s e a r c h he GIQbal scorch- An Ultimale scarch of'l'rulh- Rcformslhrou~h K_eeadt.Vol- h No .h A u O l 4

This study relates to the Chittoor district. Therefore, although there is a possibility of applicability of the conclusions of study for other areas, no such regional applicability beyond the consumers of Chittoor district is assured.

1 I . Analysis and interpretations Income, age and educational background of the respondents

Table: 1

Description I 1 I f y n d e n t s 1 O/' 1 1 8 ~ s to30 16.25 31 yrs to 40 41 yrs to 50 116

I Above 50vl.s 1112 Total

I Rs.5000- 10000 3 1.75

Education 1 Under a t e 1 ;;.75 1 High school I ~ n G a r y

x-' --p-/-izl Illiterate

(Source. Ficld Sitrvcy) For the above fable I depicts that out of 400 respondents 29 percent belongs to 50

years age,28 percent respondents belongs to above 50 years and 43 percentage of respondents are between 18 years to 40 years age. In the Income group out of 400 respondents, 3 1.75% belongs to the income category of Rs.5000-10000 per month, 27% respondents are belongs t~ the income category of Rs.10001-15000, 21.75% and 19.5% respondents are belongs to the income category of more.than Rs.20000 and Ks.15001-20000 respectively. In the educat~onal back ground, out of 400 respondents, 30.75% post graduates, 23.75% under graduates, 17% high school, 16.25% primary and 12.25 % respondents are Illtterates.

Consumer Preferred of Milk Products from their Availability Table: 2

Product Respondents Percentage (%)

Double Toned Milk 18.25

Full Cram Milk 15.75

Total 400 100

(Source: Field Surve-v)

"Aano bhadraa krathavo yanthu v~shwathaha"-"Let the noble thoughts come to all from all d ~ r e c t ~ o n ~ " Page N0.46 Acme Intellects R e r e ~ c h . C ~ f e r - A wing of Help tp Help Charitable Trust*

In this above table 2 shows out of 400 consumers, 66% of the consumers are preferred to purchase toned milk, 18.25 percentages of consumers are preferred to buy Double toned milk, and 15.75 respondents are preferred to purchase full cream milk.

Locations preferred by consumers to purchase Milk products Table: 3

/ No. of 1 Type of Stores General 1 Provision t- 47 .-

stores Vendors -- Manufacturers out Super markets 60 15

p g & & h o p s - 2 -1 Total 406 100

.A "-2

(Source: Field Sun1e-y)

Most of the respc~ndents (table 3) are givcn to preference for Manufacturers out lets, because tlie company oul lets arc maintained hygienic environment, out of the 400 consumers, 128 (32%) respondents are preferred to purchase in company outlets only.22% respondents preference givcn to Vendors, 19.25% respondents are Kirana-shops, 15% respondents are super markets, and 1 1.75% respondents arc given preference to purchase in General I Provision store.

Motivating factors of consumers in buying a milk product in a particular store Table: 4

- -- -- - - - No. of Prrcentagc Respondents (%) 45 11.25

b. Nearer to residency

.-

Total 400 L

(Source: Field Suwey) Out of the 400 respondents interviewed (table 4) 100 (25%) of the respondents are

motivating by particular store for door delivery facility, 95 respondents (23.75%) are motivated by purchase in Hygienic environment, 12.5% are motivated by credit facility, . 11.25% respondents are motivated by Availability of products, and remaining 7.5% are motivated by store belongs to know-people.

"Aano bhadraa krathavo yanthu v~shwathaha"-"Let the noble thol~~ht'i come to all from all directions" Pagr No.47 .Acme intellects Research Center- A wing of Help to Help Charitable Trust'

Acme In~~llccts Intcmnt~onaf.l(smal of Keseo!.ch in Msnagnnenl. Soc~al Sc~er~ces & Teclmologv ISSN 2320 - 201') (Pnnl) 2120.2703 ( O n l l n r ~ Let "our Kescarch be Global search- A11 Ulw-ch of Truth-"efwns lhrr,wh R t y q r s U N o . A p r X 4

(Source: Field Sun~cy)

The table 5 shows that respondents are given to importance of product attributes which mottvate to purchase milk products.32.75 % made purchase due to fat contents of product,30.75% for freshness, 24.5Oh for taste, and 12% made purchase for influence of friends and relatives.

Importance of product attributes which motivate to purchase Milk Products. Table: 5

12. Finding of thc study

Attribute

a)Freshness ----- b)Taste c)Fat Contents d) Influence of

friends / relatives Total

12.1. Income, age and educational background of the respondents 57 per cent of respondents are age from 41 years to above 51 years. 58.75 per cent of

respondents are income level froin Rs.10, 001 to Rs.15000 only. 54.5 per cent respondents are Post graduates and under graduates and most of the respondents aware of the availability of products and more than one variety of milk.

12.2. Consumer Preferences It is evident from thc study that most (66 per cent) of respondents prefer toned milk

whereas a small group of respondents of 1 5.75per ccnt prefer full cream milk. 1 8.25 per cent of respondents prefer doubles toned milk.

The largest number respondents accounting for 32.75per cent said that it is thc 'Fat contents' that influences the choice of milk product. The smallest number accounting for 11.25 per cent expressed that it is the factor of 'easy availability' that is responsible for the preference of a milk product.

12.3. Consumer Buying Practices Knowing the buying behaviour of the milk consumers such as where the consumer

prefers to buy milk, the quantity of milk per day he buys, the frequency ,of purchase, tjming of purchase, how much price they are willing to pay, in what mode they want to pay and what the other products of the milk they are going to buy is very essentiql to the tndustry to supply milk and to make products available accordingly in the market.

The majority o f the respondents 33 percent are prefer Manufacturer out lets, 22 per cent prefer vendor milk and 11.75 per cent prefer General / Provision stores and rest of the respondents prefers Super markets, Kirana shops.

No. of Respondents 123 30.75 98 131 32.75 48

400

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13. Suggestions Consumers buy milk out of their functional, insp~rational values, benefits and the

psychological value delivered by the product. Most consumer buying decisions are in f lue~~~ec i by the preferences they have about the product. The milk product image is formed out of thc knowledge the consumers have about the perceived benefits the product offers or the valuc it delivers or other aspects of the products such as price, quality, availability, accessibility, etc. So the manufacturers have to produce the product with all the above requirements.

Though it is housewives, who many times influence the brand choice, place choice and time choice of the purchase of milk, sometimes the husband or the male mcrnber of the house is also involved in influencing the factors of brand, place, quantity and time. Hence the producers of milk have to focus on the entire family.

Evolution of technology has hrought complexity to Industry and in the products. Milk is also not exempted from this. Today there are many varieties of milk available in the markct such toned milk, double toned milk. full cream milk and skimmed milk. The knowledge of the awareness of these products is very much essential to thc consumers to take buying decision on his own rather than depending on the seller. Due to this there is a need for the producers to create a high level of awareness among the consumers about their products.

Awareness of the availability of diffcrent types of milk in the market place alone is not sufficient for the consumer to make a hilying decision. The knowledge of the availability of different brands in the market, their manufacturers and their image which influence the huying decision is also essential to the consumer.

Like any marketing firm, dairy firms who market thc milk wlll have to spend a lot of lnoney on various types of promotional activities and especially advertising to bring awareness about their brands in the mind of consumer. For this proper sclection of channel for communicating their brands is also very important.

Normally, milk will be made available through agents in the market in the morning and in the evening. No doubt that it is the most convenient time to many of the consumers. But this is not enough. In the urban areas where the use of packed milk sales is very high, consumers expects that milk that they like should be available throighout the day to carry as per their convenience. .

Ultimately, it is the brand or firm which provides better services than competilors through and with the help of the agents will attract more consumer accounts. Service and satisfaction are not static words. They are relative responses. Promptsupply. regular supply, making available throughout, providing value in the service rendered by agents, the hehaviour of the agents, avoidance of adulteration and supplying required quantities of milk are the prime objectives of any milk agent which will influence the success of the milk producers.

"Aano bhadraa krathavo yanthu v1shwathahd"'"Let the noble thoughts cone to all from all d~rrr!~ons" P a g ~ No 49 Acme Intellects Research Center- A wing nf Help to Help Chantable Trustm

Acme In~ellecfs Inlcmal~onal .loumnl of Resesrch in Managcmcnt, Snc~al Sc~n~ccs K Technnhgy ISSN 2320 ? q I c l (P t~n l ) 2320~27ul ( o n l ~ n c ~ L m r R e s e n r r h h 4 ~ s 4 ' ~ ~ h - - An IJll~mate d QI~L~ : . I<clonns lhroud~ R , $ s ~ i l t c I ~ I - 6 Ne (7 A ~ > r ~ l ) I ~ . l

14. Conclusion: Marketing is not a campaign; it's a commitment. And there's no more important

commitment than that which we make to our lifeblood - our customers trying to understand the consumer's behavior in connection with a product has been called mapping the customer's consumption system. The marketer's task is to devise marketing activities and assemble fully integrated marketing programs to create, communicate, and deliver value for consumers. Marketers are carefully defining customer segments and are listening to people, as never before, many of them have realized that the key to success is building lifetime relationships between brand and customers, and marketers who believe in this philosophy are marketing an effort to keep in touch with their customers on a regular basis.

15. References: I ) Albert M. Field and John. C. McDowell (1992). Dairy Enletprisrs. J.B. Lippon Cort Ct,ml>any, Mew

Yorli

2) Ancia, R. P(1983). 'X Aomprehen.sivc Approdch ro Mrlk A4arketing rind thc Role cfLong-Life Mrik': Indian Dair), Man. Val. XXXII, Nc8.Y.

3) Bunsil. P. C (1984) Agn'cullurul Problems o f lndiu, Vilius Puhlishrng Housc Pvt Lrd.. Ncw Delhi 4) Cathy Tnylor(2002) "Consumer.: know Nulive B m n d s , N ~ ~ s ~ " , Adwcck, Si-pr. 17. 1990, p.31. 51 Cunningham, Rase M. ( I 9 72). "Consumer Lqycrlw to Slow and Brand", Har~'ur-d Bu.rines.s Review. Vol.

39, W . 127-136

6) David Loudon, Aiherl J. Della Bitta (1997) Conrumer Behaviour, Concepts and App1icarton.s. New York. McGraw Hill Book Compan)~.

7) Girdhur-i, G.D., Biradar, R. D. (1996). "Dainj Plant Profit Judging Te~hnrque", The Indiun Journrrl of Commercr, Vol XXXV, Yurt-3, No.132, September.

8) Guhu Thakurto, A. K (2003). Consumption Purrcrns in Indiu, Siudv oJ Inrer-Regiorrcll l'ar;ations, Bom- hay. Tala Mr~Gruwhill Publishing Co. Lld.

Y) I-larr?, L. Dcvis (1970). "Dimensions o f Martial roles In Consumer Decision Making", Journal qf

Marketing Research, Val. 7. Mav . pp. 168-1 77. 10) Howard A, Jagadish N. Sheth (2001). The Theory qfBuver Behuldour, N ~ w York, Juhr? U'rlcv and Sons. 11) Indian Council oj'Agrrcu11ural Research (1997). Handbook ofAnima1 Husband?, Nctv Drlhi. 12) Jacob Jacoby (1971). "Personali{y and Innovation Pron~ness", Jou~nul cf'Markeltng Rc.ceurch, Vol. 8,

pp. 244-47. 13) Lessing V. Parker (I Y 73). "Consumer S~ore Images and Slore Lovalties " .Iournal o f Murkering. Vol

3 7 pp. 72- 74 14) Markin. R.J. (1 993). The Psychology of Consumer Behaviour, P~,t~nricc.fIc~ll, Englewclod flcfi, N.J. 15) Philip Kotler and G a b Armstrong (1999). Principles of Marketing, NPH' Delhi. Prentir.~, - Hull of ln-

dia Pvr. Lld. 16) Schiffman. L.G. Kanuk, ~ . i . (2001). Consumer Brhaviour, Mew Dclhi: Prenticr F?all q f Indiu Private

Limited. 17) Singh, S.P. and Paul L. KelLv. . (19RU. Amul An Experiment in Rural Ecunomic Dr8velopment. Mac-

Millan Co., New Delhi. 18) Stanfon. W.J. (1 991). Fundamenfals qfMarketing, New York, McGraw Hill lnc 19) Tucker W.T. (1 996) "The Development o f Brand Loyalty ", Journal r!f'Murketlng Research. Vol. I ,

pp.32-3.7. 20) Vikaya Sasrn), R.K.,(1980). "A Case study of Con.~umer's Opinion sunrev ?/Dairy Products': Indran

Journal of Marketing", Vol. pp. 9-12,

"Aano bhadraa krathavo yanthu vlshwathaham-"Let the noble thoughts come to all from all directions". Page No 50 Acme Intellects Research Center- A wing of Help to Help Charitable Trustm

Journal of RESEARCH, EXTENSION AND

DEVELOPMENT

Vol.1 No.3 November 2012

CONTENTS

Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in the Primary Health Care of Rural Elderly

M. Bhaskaraiah and K. Munlgaiah Hydro Power Development in Himachal Pradesh

Ajay Kumar Environment, Human Rights and Sustainable Development

S. Ka2aivani Effect of Selected Yogic Practices on Emotional Maturity of College of Education Students

Dr. N . Kurnar Data Base Management System for Children with Specific Learning Disability

A.P. Senthil Kumar Problems of Married Working Women: A Comparison among Nurses and Teachers

Dr. Kalyani Kenneth \ Right to Information from a Human Right Perspective

V . Sekar Corruption and Human Rights-The Linkage

Haans J Freddy

Consumer Satisfaction: A study with Reference to 132 J Milk Consumers

Dr. Sardar Gugloth and Margani Soma Sekharn

Construction of Sacred Space: The Spatial 140 Dimensions of the Kherai Altar

Dr. Madhurima Goswami Social Exclusion and Youth Participation 147

Mohammed Fazil. L and Dr. Allah Baksh. S Discrimination Faced by Widows 154

Dr. K. Nagaraju Emerging Dimensions in Time-Management: 159 Latest Tools and Techniques

Dr. Ramesh Kumar Chatunledi Self Help Groups and Women Empowerment: 164 Myth and Reality

Dr. M. Jeyaseelan Paradigm Shift on Labour and Employment in 170 Plantation Sector: An Indian Scenario

Dr. P.G. Balasubramanian and Dr. R. Kathiravan

Socio-Economic and Health Status of Elderly 176 Dr. S , S . Vijayanchali and Dr. E. Arumuga Gandhi

JRED, Vol.1, No.3, Nov. 2012, ISSN: 2319-1899

CONSUMER SATISFACTION: A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO MILK CONSUMERS

Dr. Sardar Gugloth' and Margani Soma Sekhara"

ABSTRACT In today's competitive market, consumer plays vital role in the

marketing. Hence, the marketers hme to understand the real needs, u~ants, beliefs and attitudes of the consumers towards their products and services. Milk is an essential commodity required on a daily basis, and serves as a multiple product for direct consumers and multiple inputs for industrial users, respectively, in the preparation offood and suwet items. Severalfactors influence the consumers in buying the milk and milk products. Based on the experience, it u7a.9 realized that there upas need for an organized dairy. The objective of modem marketing is to make projts through satis&ng consumer needs and zuants. This paper analyzes the consumer's satisfaction in relation to pasteurized and unpasteurized milk in Tirupati city, Andhra Pradesh and the level of satisfaction in tenns of quality, price, taste and mailability of milk etc. It also discusses the production of milk and state-wise per capita mailability in India.

INTRODUCTION India is the world's second largest producer of food next to

chaina, and has the potential of being the biggest with the food and agricultural sector. The total food production in India is likely to double in the next ten years and there is an opportunity for large investment in food and food processing technologies, skills and equipment, especially in the areas of canning, dairy and food processing, fruits & vegitables, fishers, Milk & Milk products. India happens to be the highest producer of milk in the world. India is the largest and one of the most economical milk producers in the world with an estimated production of 105 MT. It is the most important sector of the Indian economy particularly in poverty alleviation and employment generation. This sector contributes close to one-fourth of India's National income and total work force engaged in agriculture is about 60%. At global level, milk has been identified as an integral part of fwd for centuries. The success of White revolution in India has largely been written by millions of small holders. About 70 million dairy farmers produce more than 50% of the milk in the country. MiU( and milk products are one of the important components of the Indian food industry. Consumption of milk and milk products is deeply rooted in our tradition and it is an essential item during rituals, festivals and auspicious events. The annual milk production is presently 92 million tones, contributing around Rs. 1000 Billions to the GDP providing assured and remunerative employment around the year to 60 Million families. The dairy animals make a substantial contribution to

Associate Professor & Resewch Scholar*., Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra hadesh

JRED, Vol.1, No.3, Nov. 2012, ISSN: 2319-1899

household food security by providing income, quality food, energy, fertilizer and assets in over majority of the rural households in India. The Animal Husbandry is the single largest contributor under the agriculture sector, which provides a remunerative employment around the year at a very small investment. The dairy animals make a substantial contribution to household food security by providing income, quality food, energy, fertilizer and assets over majority of the rural households in India. India contributes almost 65% of the total world buffalo milk. With the advent of modem technology India has risen from an insignificant amount of 200,000 litres per day (Ipd) of milk in 1951, to 20 million litres per day in 2010. The country is home to almost 400 dairy plants. The following would be helpful in understanding an overview of the Indian dairy sector:

The country is the largest milk producer all over the world, around 100 million MT. Milch animals (45% indigenous cattle, 55 % buffaloes, and 10% cross bred ccws). Immensely low productivity, around 1000 kg/year (world average 2038 kg/ year). Large no. of unproductive animals, low genetic potency, poor nutrition and lack of services are the main factors for the low productivity. There are -different regions-developed, average, below average (eastern states of Orissa, Bihar and NE region) in the dairy industry.

Marketing is an art of attracting and retaining new and current customers respectively. This is possible only when the producers and sellers are able to fully satisfy the customers continuously. The consumers are said to be satisfied when the actual results exceed their expectations; otherwise they are said to be dissatisfied. Therefore, satisfaction is the feeling of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance in relation to his/her expectation (Banumathy and Kalaivani, 2006). Scope of the Study

The study helps to know who the customers are, what they want, how they use and react to the product. The needs and wants of the customer are carefully studied by conducting surveys on consumer satisfaction. The study helps to gain information about the consumer's satisfaction level of towards quality, price, availability of milk, and consumption level of milk. The aim of the research is that the study will help to gain knowledge on the issues such as the factors influencing the customer preference towards milk, the satisfaction of the respondents with their pasteurized and unpasteurized milk and to know the opinions and ideas of the consumers about the milk. Hence, an attempt has been made to analyze consumer satisfaction with reference to milk consumers in Tirupati city, Andhra Pradesh with the objectives to ananalyze state-wise milk production and per capita availability in India; to study the level of

JRED, Vol.1, No.3, Nov. 2012, ISSN: 2319-1899

consumer satisfaction towards milk consumption; to know the general information on milk consumers; and to offer suggestions to the marketers. Methodology

The study was based on both Primary and Secondary sources of data. The primary data was collected from the consumers of both prefer pasteurized and unpasteurized milk in Tirupati city. The questionnaires were prepared and administered to 210 consumers of milk to collect the required information. 105 respondents preferred pasteurized milk and 105 respondents preferred unpasteurized milk consumers by selecting 210 consumers randomly from each as sample for the study. The co1Iected data were analysed and the generalizations achieved through the study has been discussed in this paper. DATA ANALYSIS

The state-wise production of milk (2010-2011) and per capita availability in India during 2009-10 is presented in Table 1. It reveals that total production of milk was high in Uttar Pradesh and less in Delhi as compared to other states of India. However, the per capita availability was highest in Punjab and lowest in Delhi of all. Andhra Pradesh stands in 2* in total milk production and stands 7" in per capita availability of milk among the states of India.

Table 1: State-wise Milk Production in India

December, 2011.

JRED, Vol.1, No.3, Nov. 2012, ISSN: 2319-1899

Survey Organization, Ministry of Statistics dr Programme Irnplen~e~~tation, and Go1 (*NA: Not Avalable)

Table 2 presents the monthly per capita consumption expenditure on various board groups of items during from 2004-2010. In the year of Jan 2004-June 2004 the expenditure on milk and milk products in Rural and urban was Rs.47.60; Rs.82.98 respectively and also total expenditure of household both non-food and food items in Rural and Urban was Rs.564.70; Rs. 1040.16. In the year of July 2009 and June 2010 the expenditure on milk and milk product increased in rural and urban was Rs80.55; Rs.137.01 and also total expenditure of household both non-food and food items in Rural and Urban was Rs.1053.64; Rs.1984.46 respectively.

Table 3: Age-wise classification of Respondents

Table 3 presents that in the study area the highest percentage of pasteurized and un pasteurized milk consumers are in the age group of 31-40 years and below 30 years respectively, whereas the lowest percentage of pasteurized and un pasteurized milk consumers are above 40 years old.

Table 4 reveals that a large number of consumers of both pasteurized and unpasteurized Milk are graduates and a small number of consumers of both types of milk are Post graduates holders. And among post graduates is 12.38% of pasteurized milk consumers and 20.95% of unpasteurized milk consumers.

Total

57 (27.14) 64 (30.47) 49 (3.34) 40 (19.05) UO (100)

Age

Below 30 31-40 41-50 Above 50

Total

No of Consumers Pasteurized 31 (29.52) 35 (33.34) 22 (20.95) 17 (16.19) 10.5 (100)

Unpasteurized 26 (24.76) 29 (27.62) 27 (25.7'2) 23 (21.90) 10s (100)

JRED, Vol.1, No.3, Nov. 2012, ISSN: 2319-1899

Table 4: Education Status of the Respondents

Table 5: Income level of the Respondents

It is clear from Table 5 that the monthly income of 37.14% pasteurized and 39.04% of un pasteurized milk consumer's is between Rs.15,Wl-20,000, whereas the monthly income of 17.14% of pasteurized and 15.23% of unpasteurized milk consumers is above Rs.25, 000, which constitutes that highest and lowest percentage of consumers based on

Income

Less than 15,000 15,001-20,000 20,001-25,000 Above 25,000

Total

the monthly income in the area of study. Table 6: Quantum of Milk Consumption by Respondents

Tabk 6 reveals that 32.38% of pasteurized milk consumers and 36.19% of unpasteurized milk consumers consume on average one litre per day in the study area. They constitute the highest percentage of consumer among the sample respondents. Similarly, 13.54% of pasteurized and 11.42% of unpasteurized milk consumers consumes average two litres per day that constitute the lowest percentage of consumers among the sample respondents.

Table 7: Satisfaction Level towards Quality of Milk

Total

54 (25.71) SO (30.09) 42 (20.00) 34 (16.19) 210 (100)

No of Consumers

Quantity Mi'k

Half liter One liter One and half liter Two-liter

Total

Pasteurized 27 (25.71) 39 (37.14) 21 (20)

18 (17.14) lo5 (100)

Unpasteurized 27 (25.71) 41 (39.04) 21 (20) 16 (1523) lo5 (100)

Total

65 (30.95) 72 (34.28) 47 (22.38) 26 (12.38) 210 (100)

No of Consumers Pasteurized 31 (29.52) 34 (32.38) 26 (24.76) 14 (13.34) 105 (100)

Unpasteurized 34 (32.38) 38 (36.19) 21 (20) 12 (11.42) 105 (100)

JRED, Vol.1, No.3, Nov. 2012. ISSN: 2319-1899

Table 7 reveals that the level of satisfaction with quality of milk is highly and satisfies with 35.23%; 29.52% of consumers, average with 22.38% of consumers and low with 12.85% of milk consumers in the study area. Further, the level of satisfaction for quality is highly with a high percentage of unpasteurized milk consumers 39% and a low percentage of unpasteurized milk consumers 9.5%. And the level of satisfaction for quality is highly with a high percentage of pasteurized milk consumers 31.42% and a low percentage of pasteurized milk consumers 16.19%. This signifies that the satisfaction Ievel for quality is high with more of unpasteurized milk consumers and less of pasteurized milk consumers in the study area. In other words, the level of satisfaction is high with more of unpasteurized milk consumers as compared to pasteurized milk consumers.

Table 8: Satisfaction Level towards Price of Milk

Table 8 reveals that the level of satisfaction for price of milk is high with 22.38% of consumers, average with 30.95% consumers and low with 19.52% of milk consumers in the study area. Further the level of satisfaction is high for price with high percentage of unpasteurized 25.71%. And low percentage of unpasteurized milk consumer's 17.14%. The level of satisfaction is high for price with high percentage of pasteurized 19.04%. And low percentage of pasteurized milk co~~sumer's 21.90%. This signifies that the satisfaction level of price is high with more number of unpasteurized and less numbers of pasteurized milk

Level of Satisfaction

: Highly satisfy Satisfy Average satisfy Low satisfy

Total

consumers in the study. Besides, the level of satisfaction is average with 34.28% of pasteurized and 27.61% of unpasteurized miIk consumers.

Table 9: Satisfaction Level towards Taste of Milk

Table 9 presents that the satisfaction level for taste is high for 32.38%. average for 30% and low for 7.14% of milk consumers in the study area. Moreover, the level of satisfaction is high with high percentage of unpasteurized milk consumers 32.38% and a low percentage of unpasteurized milk consumers 7.61%. The level of satisfaction is high with high percentage of pasteurized milk consumers

Total

47 (22.38) 57 (27.14) 65 (30.95) 41 (19.52) 210 (100)

No of Consumers Pasteurized 20 (19.04) 26 (24.76) 36 (34.28) 23 (21.90) 105 (100)

Unpasteurized 27 (25.71) 31 (29.52) 29 (27.61) 18 (17.14) 105 (100)

JRED, Vol.1, No.3, Nov. 2012, ISSN: 2319-1899

27.61% and a low percentage of pasteurized rnilk consumers 6.67%. Besides, the level of satisfaction is average with 34.28% of pasteurized milk consumers and 25.71 % of unpasteurized milk consumers.

Table 10: Satisfaction Level towards Availability of Milk

I t is revealed from Table 10 that the level of satisfaction for timely supply of milk is high for 35.71%, average for 21.42% and low for 10.95% of consumers in the study area. It also reveals that the satisfaction level is high with more of pasteurized miIk consumers 37.14%, due to supply at the right times as compared with unpasteurized milk consumers 34.28%. This signifies that the supply network of unpasteurized milk suppliers is not compatible with the supply network of pasteurized milk suppliers in the city.- SUGGESTIONS

The quality of milk of pasteurized rnilk is not as per the expectations of consumers as compared quality of unpasteurized milk. Hence; pasteurized milk suppliers should improve the quality of milk at the

Total

75 (35.71) 67 (31.90) 45 (21.42) 23 (10.95) 210 (100)

Level of satisfaction

Highly satisfy Satisfy Average satisfy Low satisfy

Total

- - earliest possible. The majority of pasteurized milk consumers expressed their dissatisfaction towards the taste of milk. Therefore improvement in the taste of milk is the urgent requirement. The suppliers of unpasteurized milk generally sell at a lower rate as compared to the pasteurized milk suppliers in the Tirupati city. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reduce the price by taking the advantage of economies of scale. Presently half a litre is the lowest quantity of milk given by all suppliers of pasteurized and unpasteurized milk in the study area. Therefore, introduction of 250ml and 750ml size pockets can help to increase the market share by attracting the lowest segments and some other segments of markets. The satisfaction level of majority of unpasteurized milk consumers is low with supply of milk in the study area. Therefore; it is suggested to improve the supply network by forming a voluntary association - - - of milk suppliers.

0 Market research is to be conduct to find the demand for milk and to explore the marketing potentialities.

No of Consumers Pasteurized 39 (37.14) 35 (33.34) 21 (20) 16 (15.23) 105 (100)

Unpasteurized 36 (34.28) 32 (30.47) 24 (22.85) 7 (6.67) 105 (100)

JRED, VoLl, No.3, Nov. 2012, ISSN: 2319-1899

CONCLUSION The effectiveness of marketing management depends on

effectiveness in consumer satisfaction, as it is the main objective of marketing management. The marketing management must adopt appropriate techniques to collect information on consumer's satisfaction t i -adopt appropriate marketing strategies to keep abreast of the competition. Therefore, marketing management of pasteurized milk suppliers must go for a regular consumer satisfaction survey to adopt an appropriate marketing strategy at the right time to enhance their effectiveness in satisfying the consumers of milk.

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