Source: E-mail dt. 19.10.2011
A
Study on Brand Preference of Baby food with special reference to Gobichettipalayam town in Erode District
Prof. K. Rajendran
Assistant
Professor, Department of Management
Dr.V.Parthiban
Associate
professor, Department of Management
Abstract
The paper highlights the
socio- economic characteristics of baby food customers, awareness of consumers
and the factors influencing them to purchase baby food products. The paper is
based on a study which reveals that majority of the consumers (80%) is having
medium and high level of awareness with regard to baby food. The study revealed
that convenience is the main factor influencing the purchase of baby food
products.
Keywords
Consumer, Brand preference, Awareness, Baby food,
Consumer Attitude.
Introduction
Branding and packing play a very
important role than a mere name. Consumer’s knowledge about the product is
increased by advertisements. An advertisement helps the consumers to save their
time in purchasing. Advertisements have become the part of life for every one
as a listener through some media or the other. In the present context of
information explosion and media influence, these advertisements play a major
role in changing the consumer behaviour of the
society.
Preference of brand
depends upon the consumers’ brand perception about the product. Only through
the brand name the individuality of a product is established. Consumers are at
ease while shopping as identification is possible through brands. Packaging
helps to differentiate similar products. Packaging and labeling are inseparable
and are closely related to branding.
Importance of
Baby food
Good health is the most
important thing in the life of every children. To be
healthy, energetic food containing calcium, protein and vitamins should be
taken. In the changing scenario, the “baby’s health” is the top priority for
the parents. Every father and mother wants to make their baby very strong and
healthy. For this, parents always try to give their baby, nutritious food. As
Statement of the Problem
There are various baby
food manufacturers producing different baby foods in our country and they are
playing an important role in fulfilling the needs of consumer. Many new
companies have also emerged as manufacturers of new brands of baby food
product.
At present the consumers
are more dynamic. Their tastes, needs and preferences are changing as per the
current scenario. The consumer now looks for product differentiation and the
convenience offered. The consumer has certain expectation from branded baby
beverage food in terms of its quality, price, taste, flavour
and packing. The increasing money spent on advertisement makes the consumer
aware of the latest brands in the market.
Review of Literature
In
the study conducted by Dr. K. Ramasamy, Dr. G. Kalaivanan and S. Sukumar (June 2005)
on “Consumer behaviour towards instant food products
in
A study conducted by A.V.Ramana and P.Viswanath (March
2005) on “Consumer Behaviour and awareness with
special reference to edible oil users in Anantapur town”
concluded that awareness among the consumers about the consumer rights,
existence of consumer forums and the procedure to file the case with the forum
is very low even among educated people and businessmen.
A study conducted by R.Jayaraman (August 1984) titled “Demarketing
Baby Foods”emphasised that the market should analyze
the needs and wants through integrated marketing efforts to satisfiy
the consumers. This aspect of marketing warns the consumers in general of the
harmful nature of the product.
A study conducted by Dr.S.Shanmugasundaram and Reginald James (April 1990)on
“Demographic and psychological factors that influence the pattern and selection
in soft drinks and tetra-pack drinks” found that among the factors that
influenced persons to buy and prefer tetra pack drinks, convenience in carrying
it found to be prominent.
Objectives
This
paper is based on the study conducted by the author with the following objectives:
1. To
evaluate the factors which influence the customers to buy a baby food.
- To
measure the awareness of the customers of baby food products.
- To analyse the problem faced by buyers of baby food.
- To offer
suggestions to improve the market of baby food product.
Hypotheses
The study examines the following null
hypothesis.
1. There is no significant relationship
between the gender and brand awareness of baby food.
2. There is no significant relationship between
the educational qualification and brand awareness of baby food.
3. There is no
significant relationship between the occupational status and brand awareness of
baby food.
4. There is no significant relationship between
the income of the respondents and brand awareness of baby food.
5. There is no significant relationship between
the type of family and brand awareness of baby food.
Methodology
The study is based on
primary data. The primary data were collected by interviewing the respondents
with the help of pre-tested schedule. First, a pilot study was conducted on a
sample of 50 respondents. While finalizing the schedule some questions were
added and some modifications were made followed by redrafting of the schedule
in its final form.
Sample Design
The sample size is 250 and non-probability
convenience sampling method was used.
Frame Work Analysis
The statistical
techniques such as percentage and chi-square test were applied.
Area of the Study
The area of the study is
limited to Gobichettipalayam town in Erode district, Tamilnadu.
Period of the Study
The study was conducted
during the period between December 2010 and April 2011.
Profile of the
respondents:
Out of 250 respondents, 20 percent of the
respondents are belonging to the young age group, 48 percent of the respondents
are belonging to the middle age group and 32 percent respondents are belonging
to the old age group.44 percent belong to male category and 56 percent of the
respondents belong to female category. 7.2 percent of the respondents are
illiterate, 34.8 Percent of the respondents have education up to school level,
50 percent of the respondents have education up to college level, 8 percent of the respondents are professional degree holders.
Out of 250 respondents, 20
percent of the respondents are employees, 32 percent of the respondents are
businessmen / professionals, 30 percent of the respondents are agriculturists
and 18 percent of the respondents are housewives. 20 percent of the respondents
belong to low level income group, 56 percent of the respondents belong to
medium level income group and 24 percent of the respondents belong to
high-level income group. 40 percent
of the respondents belong to nucleus family and 60 percent of the respondents
belong to joint family.
Out of 250 respondents, 24
percent of the respondents are having one child in their families, 44 percent
of the respondents are having two children in their families and 32 percent of
the respondents are having above two children in their families. 34 percent of
the respondent’s children are belonging to the age group of up to 1 year, 40
percent are belonging to the age group of 2 to 3 years and 26 percent are
belonging to the age group of above 3 years.
Awareness of Brand
Brand awareness amongst customers may differ from each other on account
of their age
groups, gender, education,
occupational status, type of family and income of the family. Based on the
background information of the respondents an attempt has been made to examine
the brand awareness of consumers about baby food in
Distribution of
respondents according to their Brand Awareness about Baby Food
To measure the brand
awareness, fifteen brands were considered. They are Cerelac,
Farex, Nestogen, Lactogen, Amulspary, Pediasure, Protinex, Dexolac, Nestum, Amul, Lactodex, Raptakos, Truphox, Angel, Vijayspray.
The maximum score that
was assigned by a respondent for all the fifteen brands would be 15 and minimum
score of 1. The respondent who scored awareness of classified into low ( 1 to 5) medium (6 to 10) and high (11 to 15).
The sample respondents
were distributed on the basis of total score from the fifteen brands.
Classification
on the basis of brand awareness
|
Awareness |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
|
Low 1 to 5 |
50 |
20 |
|
Medium 6 to 10 |
130 |
52 |
High 11 to 15
|
70 |
28 |
Total
|
250 |
100 |
The above table
indicates that 28 percent of the respondents are having high awareness, 52
percent of the respondents are having low awareness and 20 percent of the
respondents are having low awareness.
Relationship
between socio-economic characteristics and brand awareness
Relationship
between gender and awareness
Null
hypothesis:
There
is no significant relationship between gender and brand awarness.
To
test the above hypothesis the chi-square test was applied.
The below table
reveals the relationship between gender and brand awareness about the baby
food.
|
|
Awareness |
|
||
|
Gender |
Low |
Medium |
High |
Total |
Male
|
20 (19%) |
60 (54%) |
30 (27%) |
110 (100%) |
|
Female |
30 (21%) |
70 (50%) |
40 (29%) |
140 (100%) |
|
Total |
50 (20%) |
130 (52%) |
70 (28%) |
250 (100%) |
(Figures in parentheses are percentage)
DF = 2,c2 value = 0.791,Table value = 5.991
The above table
indicates that 54% of the male respondents have medium awareness, 27% of them have
high awareness and 19% of them have low awareness.50% of the female respondents
have medium awareness, 29% of them have high awareness and 21% of them have low
awareness.
To test the hypothesis
that there is no significant relationship between the gender and brand
awareness of baby food Chi-square test is applied. The calculated
chi-square value (0.791) is less than table value (5.991). So we accept null
hypothesis. That is, there is no significant relationship between the gender
and brand awareness of baby food.
This may be due to the fact
that male and female have equal access to the media such as TV, Newspapers,
etc. and have equal opportunity to know about the various brands and related information.
Hence, it is concluded that brand awareness is not associated with the gender
of the respondents.
Relationship between
Education and Awareness
Null
hypothesis:
There
is no significant relationship between education and brand awareness.To
test above the hypothesis the chi-square test was applied
|
|
Awareness |
|
||
|
Education |
Low |
Medium |
High |
Total |
Illiterate
|
7 (39%) |
6 (33%) |
5 (28%) |
18 (100%) |
School level
|
12 (14%) |
55 (63%) |
20 (23%) |
87 (100%) |
|
College level |
25 (20%) |
64 (51%) |
36 (29%) |
125 (100%) |
|
Professional Degree |
6 (30%) |
5 (25%) |
9 (45%) |
20 (100%) |
|
Total |
50 (20%) |
130 (52%) |
70 (28%) |
250 (100%) |
(Figures in parentheses are percentage)
DF = 6,c2 value = 14.891,Table value = 12.592
The
above table indicates that 39% of the Illiterate respondents have low awareness,33% of them have
medium awareness and 28% of them have
high awareness.63% of the school level respondents have medium awareness, 23% of them
have high awareness and 14% of them have low awareness. 51% of the college
level respondents have medium awareness, 29% of them have high awareness and
20% of them have low awareness. 45% of the professional degree holders have
high awareness, 30% of them have low awareness and 25% of them have medium
awareness.
To test the hypothesis
that is there is significant relationship between the educational qualification
and brand awareness of baby food Chi-square test has been applied. The
chi-square test value is 14.891 which is more than
table value 12.592. So we reject the null hypothesis. Hence, the alternative
hypothesis, that there is significant relationship between education and brand
awareness about the baby food was accepted.
This may be due to the
reason that the educated persons have fair access to the various media and have
opportunity to know about the various brands and related information. Hence, it
is concluded that brand awareness is associated with the educational
qualification of the respondents.
Relationship between
Occupation and Awareness
Null
hypothesis:
There
is no significant relationship between occupation and brand awareness.
|
|
Awareness |
|
||
|
Occupation |
Low |
Medium |
High |
Total |
Employees
|
15 (30%) |
20 (40%) |
15 (30%) |
50 (100%) |
|
Businessmen/
Professionals |
15 (19%) |
40 (50%) |
25 (31%) |
80 (100%) |
|
Agriculturists |
10 (13%) |
55 (74%) |
10 (13%) |
75 (100%) |
|
Housewives |
10 (23%) |
15 (33%) |
20 (44%) |
45 (100%) |
|
Total |
50 (20%) |
130 (52%) |
70 (28%) |
250 (100%) |
(Figures in parentheses are percentage) DF = 6,c2 value =
20.13,Table value = 12.592
The above table
indicates that 40% of the respondents belong to employees category have medium
awareness and 30% of them have low& high awareness. 50% of the respondents belong
to businessmen/ professionals’ categsory have medium
awareness, 31% of them have high awareness and 19% of them have low awareness.
74% of the respondents belong to agriculturists have medium awareness and 13%
of them have low & high awareness. 44% of the respondents belong to
housewives have high awareness, 33% of them have medium awareness and 23% of them
have low awareness.
To test the hypothesis
that is there is no significant relationship between the occupation and brand
awareness Chi-square test is applied. The chi-square value is 20.13 which is more than table value 12.592. So we reject null
hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis, i.e,
there is a significant relationship between the occupation and brand awareness.
This may be due to the
fact that businessmen and professionals have more exposure to the happenings
around them due to their day-to-day engagements and activities and they have
more opportunity and chances to know about various brands than the people who
are employees, agricultures and housewives. Hence, it is concluded that brand
awareness is associated with the occupation of the sample respondents.
Relationship between
Income and Awareness
Null
hypothesis:
There
is no significant relationship between income and brand awareness.
To
test above the hypothesis the chi-square test was applied. The
below table reveals the relationship between income and brand awareness about
the baby food.
|
|
Awareness |
|
||
|
Income |
Low |
Medium |
High |
Total |
Low level
|
15 (30%) |
25 (50%) |
10 (20%) |
50 (100%) |
|
Medium level |
15 (10%) |
85 (61%) |
40 (29%) |
140 (100%) |
|
High level |
20 (34%) |
20 (33%) |
20 (33%) |
60 (100%) |
|
Total |
50 (20%) |
130 (52%) |
70 (28%) |
250 (100%) |
(Figures in parentheses are percentage)
DF = 6,c2 value = 21.738,Table value = 12.592
The above table
indicates that 50% of the respondents belong to low level income category have
medium awareness, 30% of them have low awareness and 20% of them have high
awareness. 61% of the respondents belong to medium level income category have
medium awareness, 29% of them have high awareness and 10% of them have low
awareness. 34% of the respondents belong to high level income category have low
awareness and 33% of them have medium & high awareness.
To test the hypothesis
that is there is no significant relationship between the income and awareness
Chi-square test was applied.
The chi-square value is
21.738 which is more than the table value (12.592). So
the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted, i.e.,
there is significant relationship between the income and brand awareness of
baby food. Hence, it is concluded that brand awareness is associated with the
income of the respondents.
Relationship between
Type of Family and Awareness
Null
hypothesis:
There
is no significant relationship between type of family and brand awareness.
To
test above the hypothesis the chi-square test was applied.
The below
table reveals that the relationship between type of family and brand awareness
about the baby food.
|
|
Awareness |
|
||
|
Type of Family |
Low |
Medium |
High |
Total |
Nucleus
|
25 (25%) |
50 (50%) |
25 (25%) |
100 (100%) |
|
Joint |
25 (17%) |
80 (53%) |
45 (30%) |
150 (100%) |
|
Total |
50 (20%) |
130 (52%) |
70 (28%) |
250 (100%) |
(Figures in parentheses are percentage)
DF = 2,c2 value = 2.745, Table value = 5.991
The above table
indicates that 50% of the respondents belong to nucleus family have medium
awareness and 25% of them have low & high awareness. 53% of the respondents
belong to joint family have medium awareness, 30% of them have high awareness
and 17% of them have low awareness.
To test the hypothesis
that is, there is no significant relationship between the type of family and
brand awareness, Chi-square test was applied.
The calculated value of chi-square is 2.745
which is less than table value 5.991. So we accept
null hypothesis,
that is, there is no significant relationship between type of family and brand
awareness of baby food. Hence, it is concluded that brand awareness is not
associated with the type of family of the respondents.
Classification
on the basis of Brand Preference
|
Brands |
Frequency
|
Percentage (%) |
|
Amul |
40 |
16 |
|
Amulspray |
10 |
4 |
|
Angel |
5 |
2 |
|
Cerelac |
40 |
16 |
|
Farex |
50 |
20 |
|
Lactogen |
30 |
12 |
|
Nestogen |
15 |
6 |
|
Nestum |
15 |
6 |
|
Pediasure |
20 |
8 |
|
Protinex |
20 |
8 |
|
Total |
250 |
100 |
The
above table shows that 16 percent of the respondents prefer Amul,
4 percent of the
respondents prefer Amulspray, 2 percent of the respondents prefer Angel, 16
percent of the respondents prefer Cerelac, 20 percent
of them prefer Farex, 12 percent of them prefer Lactogen, 6 percent of them prefer Negtogen& Nestum, 8 percent
of them prefer Pediasur &Protinex.
Hence, it is concluded that considerable number of the sample respondents are
using Farex, Cerelac and Amul.
Classification
on the basis of Reason for Purchase
|
Reasons |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
Strength & Health
|
50 |
20 |
|
Extra Nutrition |
75 |
30 |
|
Baby’s Health |
85 |
34 |
|
Made according to the health needs |
40 |
16 |
|
Total |
250 |
100 |
The above table shows that 20 percent of the respondents
purchase the baby food for the
reason of strength
and health, 30 percent of the respondents purchase for extra nutrition, 34
percent of the respondents purchase for baby’s health and 16 percent of the
respondents purchase for the baby’s health needs. Hence, it is concluded that
considerable number of
respondents purchase the baby food to make the baby healthy.
Factors influencing
the consumers to purchase a particular brand of Baby Food
In the consumer market
all baby food manufacturers are trying to boost up their brand image. But
consumer’s brand choice is based upon various factors like price,
quality, quantity, brand image, healthcare, taste and smell, convenience and
easy availability etc.
Ranking
Analysis
To identify the relative
importance of the factors influencing the brand preference of baby food, it is
decided to use Garrett’s ranking technique. Eight factors related to brand
preference of baby food are identified and analyzed. All the 250 sample
respondents are called to assign rank to all these factors in the order of
magnitude. Each respondent is instructed to indicate the importance of the
factor by giving rank I to the most important factor which influences the brand
preference rank II to the second important one and so on.Garrett’s
ranking technique is used to rank the factors with the following formula.
100 (Rij
– 0.5)
Percent Position =
Nj
Where Rij =
Rank given for the ith factor by the jth respondents.
Nj
= Number of factor ranked by jth
respondents.
By referring the
Garrett’s table the percent position estimated is converted into scores. For
each factor the scores of each individual are added and then mean value is
calculated. The factors having highest mean value is considered to be the most
important. The score of the ranks as follows:
|
Rank |
I |
II |
III |
IV |
V
|
VI |
|
VIII |
Score
|
79 |
67 |
59 |
53 |
46 |
40 |
32 |
20 |
Table showing the ranking analysis of the
factors influencing the brand preference of baby
food.
Score value
of factors influencing the baby food consumers: Garrett Ranking Method.
|
Factors |
Sum |
Mean |
Rank |
|
Price |
475 |
4.75 |
IV |
|
Quality |
262 |
2.62 |
|
|
Quantity |
424 |
4.24 |
VI |
|
Brand image |
587 |
5.87 |
II |
|
Health care |
200 |
2.00 |
VIII |
|
Taste & Smell |
430 |
4.30 |
V |
|
Convenience |
650 |
6.50 |
I |
|
Easy availability |
578 |
5.78 |
III |
On the basis of the
table, it can be concluded that convenience is an important factor that
influences the brand preference of baby food with highest mean score of 6.50,
the second important factor is Brand image (mean score 5.87), the third
important factor is easy availability (mean score 5.78), the fourth factor is
price (mean score 4.75), the fifth factor is taste & smell (mean score
4.30), the six factor is quantity (mean score 4.24), the seventh factor is
quality (mean score 2.62) and the last
factor is health care (mean score 2.00).By using Garrett’s ranking technique it
is concluded that convenience is an important factor that influences the
customer to purchase the particular brand of baby food.
Suggestions
From the findings of the
study, the following suggestions are made which will help the manufacturers of
baby food products to make their business lucrative and favourable
to the consumers.
1. It
is found that majority of the consumers prefered Farex and Cerelac compared to other brands like Lactogen,
Nestum, Nestogen etc. Hence
it is suggested that the manufacturers of Farex, Lactogen, Nestum, Nestogen, Amulspray, etc., should
concentrate in developing the features of their brand such as quality, flavour, taste, colour and vitamin
content.
2. It
is found that majority of the respondents are suffering from the problem of
higher price. Hence it is suggested that the manufacturers may try to reduce
the price of the baby food products by reducing cost of production by
controlling some of the expenditures like packaging, distribution and other
possible manufacturing expenses.
3. It
is found that majority of the respondents are facing the problem of quality.
Hence it is suggested that the manufacturers may try to increase the quality of
baby food and add some extra natural healthy proteins.
4. It
is found that majority of the respondents are village people and are not aware
about healthcare. Hence it is suggested to conduct awareness programs in the
rural areas and try to increase the advertisement through the different media
like TV, Radio, and Newspaper etc.
5. It
is found that majority of the respondents feel that they are not affordable to
buy high quantity packages. Hence it is suggested that the producers may try to
supply the products with smaller quantity packages which will be suited to the
average family also.
Conclusion
It is quite evident that
awareness level with regard to baby food is to be improved. The buyers, give much preference to health of the babies and
extra nutrition. Also convevenience and brand image
are the top two factors, which influence the buying decision.
References
1.
Jayaraman R., (August
1984) “Demarketing Baby Foods”, Indian Journal
Marketing, Vol.XIV, No.12, P-23.
2.
.Ramana A.V and Viswanath P., (March 2005) “consumer Behaviour
and Awareness with special Reference to Edible Oil Users”, Indian Journal
Marketing, Vol.XXXV, No.3, P-35.
3.
Ramasamy K., Kalaivanan G. and Sukumar S.,
(June 2005) “Consumer Behaviour towards instant food
products”, Indian Journal Marketing, Vol.XXXV, No.6,
P-26.
4.
Shanmugasundaram S. and
Reginald James, (April 1990) “Demographic and Psychological factors that influence the pattern and
selection in softdrinks and tetra-pack drinks”,
Indian Journal Marketing, Vol.XX, No.7, P-22.