Report on Soap Study

7/31/2019 Report on Soap Study

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Consumer Research Report

On

Study of buying behaviour of consumersregarding soaps

SUBMITTED BY:

SINTU PATRA(222)

VIVEK KUMAR GUPTADIVYA KHATRI(190)PRIYAM DUBEY(207)

SECTION- M3BATCH: 2010-2012


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CONTENTS

TOPIC PAGE NO.

1.INTRODUCTION1.1 Brief introduction .31.2 Size of the company..31.3 Total contribution to the economy/sales...41.4 Top leading companies.41.5 Latest developments.4

2. PROJECT PROFILE2.1 Objectives..52.2 Problem formulation..52.3 Scope of the study..52.4 Limitations.5

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY3.1 Research design63.2 Data sources..63.3 Research approach63.4 Research instrument..6

3.5 Variables used...63.6 Sample size73.7 Sampling technique...73.8 Sampling area73.9 Method of data collection..73.10 Tools and techniques....7

4. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION8-19

5. FINDINGS..20-21

6. RECOMMENDATIONS22

7. STRATEGIES FOR WEAK BRAND..23-24

8. CONCLUSION..25


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INTRODUCTION

Brief Introduction

Soaps are categorized into men's soaps, ladies' soaps and common soaps. There

are few specialty soaps like the Glycerine soaps, sandal soaps, speciallyflavored soaps, medicated soaps and baby soaps. Specialty soaps are highvalued which enjoy only a small share of the market in value terms. The marketis growing at 7% a year. Soap is a product for many people and the lathering upcan be a treasured part of a morning or nightly routine. Whether it might bescented or unscented, in bars, gels, and liquids, soap is a part of our daily lives.In the United States, soap is a $1.390 million (US$) industry with over 50 massmarket brands. But in Indian markets the sales potential for soap is onlybeginning to be realized. At the end of the year 2000, soap was a $1.032 million(US$) business in India.India is a country with a population of 1,030 million people. With the householdpenetration of soaps is 98%. People belonging to different income levels usedifferent brands, which fall under different segments, but all income levels usesoaps, making it the second largest category in India. Rural consumers in Indiaconstitute 70% of the population. Rural demand is growing, with more andmore soap brands being launched in the discount segment targeting the lowersocio-economic strata of consumers total annual soap sales by companiesmarketing their brands at national or state levels is estimated at 14,000 tonnes ofa total soap market considered to be about 126,000 tonnes.

Size of the Industry

The Indian Soap Industry includes about 700 companies with combined annualrevenue of about $17 billion. Major companies in this industry include divisionsof P&G, Unilever, and Dial. The Indian Soap Industry is highly concentratedwith the top 50 companies holding almost 90% of the market. The market sizeof global soap and detergent market size was estimated to be around 31M tonnein 2004, which is estimated to grow to 33M tonne in the coming years. Toiletsoaps account for more than 10% of the total market of soap and detergents. In

Asia, the countries like China and India are showing rapid growth in the toiletsoap section. Market share of body wash was estimated to be around 2% in2004 and is showing signs of healthy growth in these markets. Indias soapmarket is Rs 41.75 billion.Indian Soap Industry volume is Rs 4,800-crore. For the purpose of gaining acompetitive edge, Indian companies are now relaunching their brands withvalue-additions to woo consumers across India. For instance, Hindustan LeverLtd (HLL) has recently launched a host of toilet soap brands which includeLifebuoy, Lux, Breeze and Lirilwith value additions. Also is in the process of

rolling out Ayush ayurvedic soap. The aim is to meet the evolving needs ofcustomers.


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Total Contribution to the economy / sales

In terms of market share for Indian Soap Industry the data indicates that HLLhad a market share of 64 % in the soap market, followed by Nirma at 16.8 %and Godrej at 4.4%. Nirmas market share was in the northern region was 21 %.

The largest contributor to the toilet soaps market in Indian market is HindustanLever with the total contribution to the economy & enjoys almost a two-thirdsshare, with the second ranked Nirma Soaps placed at a distantly low share of16.8%. Lux and Lifebuoy have held the sway of the market for almost fiftyyears.

Top Leading Companies

In the Rs 4,800-crore Indian toilet soaps market, the lead players include:HULGodrej Consumer Products LtdColgate Palmolive Ltd andWipro Consumer Care

Latest developments

In Indian Soap Industry the entry of new players in the 6,500-crore toilet soapsindustry is expected to bring about a new twist in the "Indian soap opera".ITC Ltd has started investing in aggressive brand-building and productdevelopment projects to promote its brands, Fiama De Wills, Vivel and Superia.Godrej Consumer Products Ltd and Wipro Consumer Care Lighting are

established players in the Industry which are beefing up their research projectsand advertising plans to take on new rivals.With increasing competition, the Indian Soap Industry is expected to register ahealthy growth this fisca. The sector registered a 15% value growth.GCPL is hiking its advertising budget by 20% to gain high visibility for itsbrands.


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PROJECT PROFILE

Objective

Study the customer buying behavior on various soap brands and finding outwhich is the strongest and weakest brand and suggesting the best possiblestrategy for weakest brand among the brands taken under consideration andrelating the different aspects of customer buying pattern, habit and preference.

Problem Formulation

In this competitive era the Indian market is flooded with different brands ofsoap with a vast variety of qualities differentiating them in different categories.The purpose of the survey is to find out the behavior of customer towards thesebrands and finding out which brand is weakest.

Scope of the study

This survey helps in finding the most likely brand. Finding the weakest brand and helping to make the best possible strategy

for increasing the sales of that brand.

Buying behavior of customer on various aspects such as

Which brands customers prefer most, from where the customers prefer topurchase, why they purchase the particular product.

Understanding the current market trend Survey also helps in identifying segments of customers on the basis of

income, age group, sex and education

Limitations

The sample size is small i.e. 163 which certainly not reflect the wholesociety.

Data can vary for different places. Responses can be baised because of human behaviour. Survey was conducted in Sangam Vihar and Devli Extension area which

is also a limitation.

Placibo effect. For many of the data analysis cases, simple descriptive tests are used.

Sophisticated statistical tests might reveal the results with most Statisticalsignificance.


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RESEARCH METHODOLGY

Research refers to search for knowledge. It is the pursuit of truth with the helpof study, observation, composition and experiment.Research methodology is a systematic way to solve the research problems. It

helps in studying the various steps that are adopted by researcher to study theresearch problems along with the logic behind it. It describes what must bedone, how will be done, what data will be needed and how the data will beanalyzed.

Research Plan

Research design:-Descriptive Research- the descriptive research design is onethat describes the things such as the market potential for a product. It describessystematically a situation, problem, phenomenon, service or program anddescribes attitude towards an issue. The main purpose of such studies is todescribe what is prevalent with respect to the issue/problem under study. Itincludes questionnaire survey and fact finding inquiry.

Data sources:- Primary data.

Research approach:- Face to face interview.

Research instrument:- Questionnaire.

Variables Used

Price Age groupBrand Gender

Income Quality

Types of soap OffersFragrance AvailabilityPackaging


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Sample design

Sample Size:- We have restricted the sample size to 163 respondents. This wasdone keeping in mind the time constraints and the fact that we felt this numberwould be enough to serve the information needs required to show the trends.

Sampling technique:- Simple Random sampling.

Sampling Area:- Sangam Vihar and Devil Extension.

Method of data collection

To know the response, we used questionnaire method. It has been designed as aprimary research instrument. Questionnaires were given to the respondents andthey were asked to answer the questions given in the questionnaire.

Tools and Techniques

As no study could be successfully completed without proper tools and

techniques, same is with this project. For the better presentation and rightexplanation we used tools of statistics and computer very frequently whichhelped us to analyze the data properly. Basic tools which we used for thisproject are:-

BAR GRAPH PIE CHARTS TABLES

Bar charts and pie charts are very useful tools for every research to show theresult in a clear & simple way. We have used bar graph and pie-charts in this

project for showing data in a systematic way, so its not necessary for anyobserver to read all the theoretical detail. It is simple and on seeing the chartsanybody can understand what is being said.

Technological tools:-

MS-WORD MS-EXCEL


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Analysis and Interpretations

Q1. What is your gender?

Analysis and interpretations:-

1) There were 163 respondents.2) 59 of them were females and 104 were male.

Q2. In which of the following age group do you belong?

104

59

MALE

FEMALE

6

68

53

24

12

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

under 18 18-24 25-35 36-50 above 50

Series1


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Analysis and interpretations:-

1) There were 163 respondents.

2) 6 of them were under 18years of age.3) 68 belonged under the age group of 18-24years.4.53 belonged under the age group of 25-35years.5.24 belonged under the age group of 36-50 years.6.12 were above 50 years of age.

Q3.How much formal education have you completed?

Analysis and interpretation:-

1) There were 163 respondents.2) 139 were college graduate.3) 25 were less than a college graduate.

25

139

>colage graduate

colage graduate


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Q4.Which of the following categories your total family or personal income fall?


1) There were 163 respondents.2) 15 of them fell under Rs10,000 category.3) 41 of them fell under Rs11,000-25,000 category.

4) 61 of them fell under Rs.25000-49999 category.5) 46 of them had salary above Rs 50,000.

15

41

61

46

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

under 10000 11000-25000 25000-49999 above or 50000

Series1


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Q.5 What is your profession?


1) There were 163 respondents.2) 65 of them were students.3) 54 of them were servicemen.

4) 4 of them were unemployed.5) 29 of them were self-employed.6) 11 of them were housewives.

65

54

4

29

11

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Student Service Unemployed Self employed Housewife

Series1


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Q.6 Which type of soap do you use for bathing purpose?


1) There were 163 respondents.2) 48 people use beauty soap.

3) 42 people use germ soap.4) 34 people use mild soap.5) 28 people use herbal soap.6) 11 people use liquid soap.7) Rest of the 6 people use other type of soap which includes natural soap,glycerin soap, home-made soap etc.8) We conclude that most of the people prefer using a beauty soap to improvetheir skin quality, and the least used type of soap is liquid soap.

48

4228

11

34

6

Beauty

Germ

Herbal

Liquid

Mild

Other


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Q7. Which brand of soap do you often buy?


1) 31 people use Dove2) 25 people use Dettol.3) 16 people use Margo.4) 14 people use Lux and the same number of people use Fiama Di Wills.5) 12 people use Pears.

6) 8 people use Savlon.7) 7 people use Rexona.8) 5 people use Cinthol.9) 4 people use Santoor10) 4 people use Breeze.11) We conclude that majority of the respondents use Dove which shows it isthe strongest brand, and soaps like cinthol, santoor, and breeze represents weakbrand.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

4 5

25

31

8

1411

4

1416

12

74

8 Series1


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Q8. Which factor influences you the most in buying soap? Rate them from 1-7.(1-highest 7-lowest)


1) There were 163 respondents.

2) According to the survey conducted, it is found that it is the quality of theproduct that influences the customer most while making a purchase. 71 peoplehave given rate-1 to the quality3) Price is another major influencer which stands 2nd.4) Fragrance stands 3rd in terms of rating.5) Availability and offer influences least while making a purchase.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

71

15 14 18 26 15 4

26

11

41 32 23

16 14

20

27

34 35 27

14

6

9

25

4136

23

20

9

11

28

1923

24

35

23

14

35

6 1324

26

45

12 228 6 16

3761

Chart Title

Rate 7

Rate6

Rate5

Rate 4

Rate3

Rate2

Rate1


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Q9.From where do you buy your soap?


1) There were 163 respondents.2) Majority of the respondents i.e. 98 people buy their soap from retail shop.3) 46 people buy it from supermarket.

4) 16 people buy it from high street.5) Only 3 respondents buy soaps from internet.6) We conclude that people find it easy and convenient to buy soaps from retailshop or supermarket rather than purchasing it online.

16

46

98

3

High Street

Supermarket

Retail Shop

Internet


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Q10. Rate your product on the basis of given criteria. (5-highly satisfied 1-least satisfied)


1)The survey shows that people were highly satisfied with the quality of soapthat they are using.2)People were satisfied with the price that they are paying for the soap. Hence it

is rated-4.3) Availability is also not a major issue. Rated-3.3) Respondents were not much satisfied with the offers and discounts availablewith the soap.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Quality Offer Price Availability

5 17 4 77

47

13

2430

49

58 36

48

30

5446

75

2034

50Rate5

Rate4

Rate3

Rate2

Rate1


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Q11.How much soap do you buy?


1)There were 163 respondents.2) Majority of the respondents (i.e. 91 people) purchased 2 pieces of soap at atime.3) 38 people purchase 1 soap at a time

4) 34 people purchase more than 2 soaps at a time.

Q12. How much are you ready to spend on soap?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1 PIECE 2 PIECE MORE THAN 2PIECE

38

91

34Series1

34

88

32

8

1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

13-25 25-49 50-100 ABOVE 100


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1) There were 163 respondents.2) Majority of the respondents(i.e.88) were ready to spend between Rs25-49 on

buying soap.3) 34 people were ready to spend between Rs.13-25 on buying soap.4) 32 people were ready to spend between Rs.50-100 on buying soap.5) and there was just 1 respondent who spent less than Rs13 to buy soap.

Q13.Which of the following promotions regarding the soap interests you?


1) There were 163 respondents.2) 86 people opted for buy 1 get 1 free offer. 3) 46 people opted for buy 3 get 2 free offer. 4) 18 people opted for loyalty card scheme.5) 13 people opted for money off next purchase scheme.

86

46

18

13

BIGI

B3G2

LCS

MONP


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Q14. How often do you buy soap?


1) There were 163 respondents.2) 108 respondents buy soap on a monthly basis.3) 47 respondents buy soap on weekly basis.

4) 5 respondents buy soap on yearly basis.5) 3 respondents buy soap on daily basis.6) We conclude that majority of the people prefer buying soap on monthlybasis, and buying soap on yearly basis is least preferred.

108

47

35

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

MONTHLY WEEKLY DAILY YEARLY

Series1


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Findings-

People now a days prefer beauty soap, mild soap and germ soap overrefreshing soaps like Cinthol, Liril etc. The buying pattern and behaviourhas changed.

While purchasing a soap peoples 1st preference is the quality of theproduct, then comes price accompanied by packing , fragrance and brand.

Soaps are easily available in every retail stores, outlets, and showrooms.So people normally purchase soaps from retail stores rather than makingthe purchase complex by buying it from the internet.

People are highly satisfied with the quality of soap they use. They dontmind paying more if the product gives them the desired benefits andvalue.

Majority of the customers go for Buy 1, get 1 free offer. Dove is the strongest brand available in the market according to the

survey conducted because it offers a rich quality as desired by the

customers.

(rate-5 highest rate-1 lowest)

2 2

7

20

3

12

14

4

1

65

8

11

0

5

10

15

20

25

rate1 Rate2 Rate3 Rate4 Rate5

Quality

offer

Price

Availability


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The weakest brand according to the survey, is Santoor. Liril, Breeze,Cinthol because of its low quality, less visibility and promotion.

(rate-5 highest rate-1 lowest)

1

5

6

3

22

1

9

3

2

1

2

8

4

2

3

4

3

4

3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Rate1 Rate2 Rate3 Rate4 Rate5

Quality

Price

Offer

Availability


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Recommendations

Indian customers are price sensitive so in order to increase sale, somelucrative offers like discount should be given to customers. Since

majority of customers have favored this promotional tool. There should be no compromise with quality in order to reduce price

since majority care about quality more than price.

Customers want to associate her with the brand and they dont feel moreimpact of celebrities on her buying decision.

There is fewer need of going for ad involving high profile celebrity.Instead some favorable should be done directly to the customer.

Purchasing power of Indian customers is going up so it needs to expandgeographically.


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Strategy for weak brand

Target Segment:

Need to identify the new target segment since Cinthol and Liril is refreshingsoap so we can target the athletes or the people who do more of a physicalwork. Breez and Santor can be targeted to the teenagers.

Positioning:

The positioning is not strong as compared to its competitors. It is not able todifferentiate itself from the other brands available in the market.Cinthol and Liril can be reposition as deodorant soap or soap for men.Breez can be repositioned as beauty soap.Santoor can be reposition as Natural soap.

Packaging and Designing:

In this competitive world you need to be more attractive so there is need tochange the packaging and designing. Give a new look to the product.

Product:

Provide quality because it caters todays demand .The customer is moreconcerned about their skin rather than price.

Promotion:

Increase the advertisements. Brand promotion through various shows. Provide offers and discounts. Provide schemes like- if you can collect 100 point then you can get a

chance to meet this star.

Effective advertising which should touch the minds and emotions of thepeople.

Impressive taglines which should be easy to remember. It should be shortand meaningful.

Renew its website. Motivational quotes.


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Increase the visibility:

Need to increase the visibility either by promotion or either organizingsome games in malls or other public places or putting up banners .

By hiring shelf space in supermarkets and retail stores By giving margin to retailers.


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Conclusion:

This project titled Study of the buying behaviour of consumers regardingsoaps has helped in studying the buying behaviour of the consumers.

It has helped to understand the consumer perception and also the behavior ofconsumer towards a particular product. This project has helped to understandthe needs and requirements of the consumer.The survey conducted has helped us to identify the strong and weak brands ofsoaps available in the market. We have also suggested marketing strategies forweak brand so that they are able to compete in a better manner.

Report on Soap Study

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