A STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:

READY TO EAT FOOD IN DELHI/NCR

(Submitted towards partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award

Of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management 2013-2015)

Submitted By: Pankaj Madaan

Supervisor: Dr. Praveen Gupta

Class: PGDM-Gen (2013-2015)

Area: Marketing

Roll No. 122/2013

LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, DELHI

January 2015

Copyright notice:
This document and its content are copyright of Pankaj Madaan. All rights reserved.
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited.

LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, DELHI

Dated

CERTIFICATE

Certified that Pankaj Madaan has successfully completed Project Study

entitled A Study of Consumer Behavior: Ready to Eat Food in Delhi/NCR under my
guidance. It is his original work, and is fit for evaluation in partial
fulfillment for the requirement of the Two Year (Full-Time) Post Graduate
Diploma in Management.

(Pankaj Madaan)

(Dr. Praveen Gupta)

Project Study
(Records of Meetings with the Project Guide)
Meeting #

Date

Purpose

Remarks

Signature
(Project
Guide)

Note: The records of meetings are to be retained by the students. This document is required
to be shown at the time of mid-term evaluation and submitted along with the final
report.

ii

DECLARATION BY STUDENT
I, Pankaj Madaan, student of PGDM 2013-15, studying at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of
Management, hereby declare that the end term project report titled A Study Of Consumer
Behaviour: Ready To Eat Food In Delhi/NCR completely belongs to me and is an original
piece of work.
The contents of the project report have not been published before and reflect the work done
by me for my end term project.

This project report is being submitted towards the partial fulfilment of Post Graduate
Diploma in Management undertaken at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New
Delhi.

Pankaj Madaan

iii

PREFACE

This project comes under the purview of FMCG sector and it covers the application of the
topic titled, A Study of Consumer Behavior: Ready to Eat Food in Delhi/NCR. This report
focuses on the detailed research about the above mentioned topic.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) goods are popularly named as consumer packaged
goods. Items in this category include all consumables (other than groceries/pulses) people
buy at regular intervals. The most common in the list are toilet soaps, detergents, shampoos,
toothpaste, shaving products, shoe polish, packaged foodstuff, and household accessories and
extends to certain electronic goods. These items are meant for daily of frequent consumption
and have a high return. The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy
with a total market size in excess of US$ 13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC presence and is
characterised by a well-established distribution network, intense competition between the
organised and unorganised segments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw
materials, cheaper labour costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a
competitive advantage.
I have done a detailed study for this topic over different platforms & then compiled this study
report to help readers understand about FMCG sector particularly about the ready to Eat Food
sector. Any further suggestions are always welcome.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
As a part of curriculum at LBSIM, the end term project aims at overall development of the
students by providing them an opportunity to exposure and space to apply their theoretical
knowledge in practice. Behind every endeavour lies a deep sea of gratitude to those who have
extended their support and without whom it would have been very difficult to accomplish the
task successfully. To them I lay the words of gratitude.
I express my gratitude to Dr. Praveen Gupta, Faculty Guide for his continuous
encouragement, guidance and constructive feedbacks which helped me to go about this
project. His cooperation and enthusiasm motivated and helped me to make this project a
success.
Last but not the least I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have in one way or
the other interacted with me and made it possible for me to complete this project

Thank you
Pankaj Madaan

Table of Contents
S.No

Topic

Page No.
xi

Executive Summary
1.

Research Framework

1.1

Indias Food Processing Industry

1.2

Background for the Study

1.3

Major Players in the Ready to Eat Segment

1.4

Some Salient Features of RTE Market:

Objectives

2.1

Motivation for the Study

2.2

Objective of the Study

2.3

Research Methodology

2.4

Research Problem

2.5

Scope of the Study

Conceptual Framework

3.1

Consumer Behavior The Concept.

3.2

Factors influencing consumer buying behavior

3.3

Consumer lifestyle and shift in the consumer behavior

2.

3.

10

scenario

4.

Findings

11

4.1

Demographics:

11

4.2

Other Variables

15

SPSS Analysis

19

5.1

Factor Analysis using SPSS

19

5.2

CHI Square Test

23

5.

5.2.1 First was between do you have bought Ready to Eat

24

Food and Occupation.

5.2.2 First was between do you have bought Ready to Eat

26

Food and Family Type.

5.3

Linear Regression Analysis

vi

28

Conclusion

31

Limitations of the Study

32

References

33

Appendix

34

vii

List of Tables
S. No.
1

Table Title

Total monthly consumption expenditures on Food items

viii

Pg. No.
5

List of Figures/Graphs
S. No. Title of Figure/ Graph

Pg. No.

1.

Gender distribution

11

2.

Age Distribution

12

3.

Marital Status of Respondents

12

4.

Occupation of Respondents

13

5.

Family Type Distribution

14

6.

Family Income Distribution

14

7.

How many times food is cooked at home

15

8.

Have you ever bought Ready to Eat food

16

9.

What type of RTE you buy

17

10.

When food is not cooked at home what you do

17

11.

How did you know about RTE

18

ix

List of Annexures
S. No.
1

Title of Annexures
Questionnaire

Pg. No.
48

Executive Summary
India has been a consumption-driven economy for the last many decades. Consumer spending
in the country is expected to increase about 2.5 times by 2025. Broadly categorised into urban
and rural markets, the Indian consumer segment is gaining high attention and pampering from
marketers across the globe. Global corporations view India as one of the key markets from
where future growth will emerge. The growth in Indias consumer market will be primarily
driven by a favourable population composition and rising disposable incomes.
Globally, the demand for ready-to-eat (RTE) food products has been increasing over the last
few years on account of busier lifestyle of consumers and their rising income levels. Due to
increased employment opportunities, a large number of people are migrating from tier 1 and
tier 2 cities to metropolitans, which is an important driver for RTE food products in the
country. Nuclear families and bachelors residing in metros for study or employment purpose
are among the major consumers of RTE food products in India. The number of working
women is particularly on the rise, which is again driving the demand for RTE food products.
All these factors are creating significant awareness about ready meals among consumers.
Growth in retail chains and outlets is also adding to the product awareness among consumers
in the country. Supermarkets, convenience stores and hypermarkets are emerging as the key
points-of-sale offering a wide range RTE food products manufactured by leading companies
such as ITC, Kohinoor, Haldirams, McCain, MTR, etc.
According to India Ready-to-eat Food Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019, the Indian
RTE food market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21.99% during 2014-19, in value terms.
Increasing workforce, improving consumer lifestyle, and expanding retail formats are the key
drivers buoying growth in RTE food products demand in the country. Northern and western
region are the key revenue contributors in the RTE food market, with major demand
emanating from cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, etc. Segment wise, shelf stable
RTE food demand exceeds that of frozen RTE food in the country. This is attributable to the
fact that frozen RTE food needs proper refrigeration for maintaining their shelf life.

xi

Chapter 1: Research Framework

1.1 Indias Food Processing Industry

Indias Food Processing industry is one of the largest industries in the country. It has been
ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. The Indian food
industry is estimated to be worth over US$ 200 billion and is expected to grow to US$ 310
billion by 2015. India is one of the worlds major food producers but accounts for only 1.7 per
cent (valued at US$ 7.5 billion) of world trade in this sector this share is slated to increase to 3
per cent (US$ 20 billion) by 2015. The Indian food processing industry is estimated at US$ 70
billion. The industry employs 1.6 million workers directly.
Food processing is a large sector that covers activities such as agriculture, horticulture,
plantation, animal husbandry and fisheries. The Ministry of Food Processing, Government of
India has defined the following segments within the Food Processing industry:
Dairy, fruits & vegetable processing
Grain processing
Meat & poultry processing
Fisheries
Consumer foods including packaged foods, beverages and packaged drinking water.
Although the industry is large in terms of size, it is still at a nascent stage in terms of
development. Out of the countrys total agriculture and food produce, only 2 per cent is
processed. The highest share of processed food is in the Dairy sector, where 37 per cent of the
total produce is processed, of which 15 per cent is processed by the organized sector. Primary
food processing (packaged fruit and vegetables, milk, milled flour and rice, tea, spices, etc.)
constitutes around 60 per cent of processed foods. In comparison, the organized sector is
relatively small, with around 516 flour mills, 568 fish processing units, 5,293 fruit and vegetable
processing units, 171 meat processing units and numerous dairy processing units at state and
district levels.

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1.2 Background for the Study

"Ready-to-eat" is defined as the status of the food being ready for immediate consumption at the
point of sale. It could be raw or cooked, hot or chilled, and can be consumed without further
heat-treatment including re-heating. Ready to eat foods are food products that require no further
processing to ensure their safety. They may or may not have been cooked: i.e. Fruits, sushi, some
species of shellfish, spices. Foods such as luncheon meats, tuna salad, bakery products and
cheeses are also considered RTE foods. The pioneer introduction of retorting technology in India
has made the sale of Ready-to-Eat food products commercially viable with great taste [7, 8]. In
normal practice, the ready-to-eat food are consumed in a short span of time, but with the
advancement in packaging technology, it is now possible to produce these items commercially
and to extend the shelf-life up to a few years.
There is some lack of clarity about differentiation between RTE and Ready to Cook (RTC) and
both are commonly referred to as RTE. RTC products are mainly various pastes where a
consumer adds vegetables or meat to prepare a dish. RTE products, on the other hand, normally
come as a complete preparation in the frozen form or in the cans or in packets with inner pouch
and what is referred here are part of meals in pouches and not the snack or other segments. RTE
products have a shelf life of about 12-15 months. Thereafter the product may be safe but may
lose color and aroma.
Working couples with changing life style and lack of time have led to growth of RTE products in
the recent times. Some of the popular products in the market include dal makhani, palak paneer,
dal tadka, rajma, navratan korma, paw bhaji, various rice preparations and host of others. Some
entrepreneurs also have regional products and there are about dozen brands from some of the
companies like ITC, MTR, Tasty Bite, Satnam Overseas, Capital Foods in the market with most
of them exporting to the Middle East, Europe and North America successfully. Current
production is estimated at about 20,000 T of which over 80% is exported.
RTE products are prepared in a large industrial kitchen like any other product but care is taken in
formulating the product with respect to ingredients and cooking it just bare minimum as the

2|Page

product undergoes steam sterilization during processing. It is a specialized technology requiring

alertness, high degree of precision, process controls and handling.
The ready-to-eat (RTE) market in India, currently estimated at Rs. 128 crore (2006) is expected
to expand and to reach Rs. 2,900 crore by 2015, according to an analysis done by Tata Strategic
Management Group (TSMG). In its analysis, TSMG said that the factors contributing to the
growth would be changes like cold chain development, disintermediation, streamlining of
taxation, economies of scale on the supply side, coupled with increasing disposable incomes,
diminishing culinary skills and the need for convenience on the demand side.
When customer needs to eat, the food item pouch is either put in microwave oven to warm it or
keep in heated water for a few minutes and then serve to eat.
Such ready to eat meals have been especially given to soldiers in army of many countries who
require carrying their rations while on war front or while located far away from their main unit.
The market for food is simply huge and as of January 2010 estimated to be Rs 5000 billion
annually. It is growing for two main reasons: population growth and improvement in consumers
spending ability.

1.3 Major Players in the Ready to Eat Segment

MTR

Kohinoor Foods

ITC

Haldiram

Tasty Bites

McCain

Sumeru

Amul

3|Page

1.4 Some Salient Features of RTE Market:

Globalization of Indian food and its culture are the core factors for popularization of
ready to eat foods.

Retail outlet culture is now growing rapidly in India.

Shelf life of these foods is at least 12-18 months.

Quality, Taste and Flavor of these foods remains as good as fresh up to the expiry
date.

More working bachelors staying away from homes.

Cost effective in comparison to the Indian cuisine served by the restaurants in foreign
countries.

4|Page

Chapter 2: Objectives

2.1 Motivation for the Study

According to ITC press release on March 2008, Indian RTE market is worth around Rs 80-100
crore. The market is somewhat in a stagnant state and the growth is minimal.
According to reports by CNBC-TV18, despite gradual duty cuts on Ready to Eat and instant
mixes the sector is not doing well and growth is minimal. The concept behind RTE is that urban
families are strapped for time and will definitely buy RTE packs to save on cooking time
however this doesnt seem to be so because in India people still prefer food cooked and served
piping hot by someone else or themselves so people hire cooks instead of buying RTE packs.
The National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 4in its 66th round survey covering the period
from July 2009 to June 2010 shows an average rural Indian household to have allocated 53.6 %
of its total monthly consumption expenditures on Food items. The corresponding share of the
urban household was less at 40.7 %.

Share of food in Rural

total

Urban

consumer

expenditure Year
1987-88

64.0

56.4

1993-94

63.2

24.7

1999-00

59.4

48

2004-05

55.0

42.5

2009-2010

53.6

40.7

Table No. 1:

Total monthly consumption expenditures on Food items

5|Page

Food is something that people consume on a daily basis. With more disposable income in their
pockets, people are more interested in new products and their propensity to try and taste different
things increases. Brands for Food and beverages grow due to the regular nature of their use and
consumption. Undoubtedly food accounts for the largest share of consumer spending. The
percentage of income spent in the households will drive a change in the food market. This
change happening in the eating pattern of households is nothing short of a revolution. The timestarved working Indian consumer who is in no mood to spend an hour in the kitchen preparing
food, is adopting a new eating habit to suit her lifestyle. She is stocking up on packaged and
Ready-To-Eat / Cook products that not only serve the purpose of a tasty meal but also save the
time. Thus taste and convenience become major requirements. This is the result of the busier
lifestyle of the modern consumer with both partners working and lesser time available for
shopping as well as preparing food at home.
Hence, this study was undertaken to understand the psyche behind consumers and what factors
goes into influencing their buying decision making.
This is a dilemma faced by marketers of Ready to eat Industry. Marketing being very close to my
heart and strategic marketing is my passion and hence I took up this study to understand the
problems that marketers face and what are the different mean which can prove strategically
beneficial in overcoming these hurdles.

2.2 Objective of the Study

Key objectives of the study were:

To analyse factors influencing the buying behaviour of Ready to Eat Food Products.

To analyse the consumer buying decision related to the demographics.

To analyse the variables affecting the buying decision of the consumers towards Ready to
Eat food.

6|Page

2.3 Research Methodology

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be
understood as a science of study how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various
steps that are generally adopted by the researcher in studying his research problem along with the
logic behind them.
a. Research Design
The proposed study is of Descriptive.
b. Primary Data
Gathered through use of Structured Questionnaires.

c. Sampling Design
All people residing in Delhi/NCR and People existing & potential customer comprise of
population.
d. Sample Size
A sample of 161 respondents from the different locations in Delhi/NCR area were taken.
e. Research Tools
MS EXCEL, SPSS

2.4 Research Problem

This Study deals with the Ready to eat Industry in India. The study also aims at understanding
the factors influencing buying decision making of the RTE products. The factors under
consideration are advertising, price, Product, Value proposition etc.
The various issues which needs focus in this field are

Product quality expected or preferred in Ready To Eat food products

7|Page

Shopping pattern including outlet choices ,timing and frequency of purchases of Ready
To Eat Food products

Attitudes and family practices with regard to shopping and purchases decisions of Ready
To Eat food products.

This research intends to analyze these factors which will provide insight into this
emerging sector of Ready-To-Eat Food Products.

2.5 Scope of the Study

The project is a study of the factors affecting consumer buying behavior of Ready to Eat Meals
in India. The study is undertaken to understand all the negative and positive perceptions about
the Ready to Eat products.
In the study I have highlighted the following points:

Percentage of people aware about RTE & have purchased it;

Percentage of people buying an RTE product on monthly basis vs. emergency basis;

SOPs for preferring RTE products by the people as an option when needed;

8|Page

Chapter 3: Conceptual Framework

3.1 Consumer Behavior The Concept.
The field of consumer behavior is rooted in a marketing strategy that evolved in the late 1950s ,
when some marketers began to realize that they could sell more goods more easily if they
produced only those goods they had already determined that consumers would buy. Instead of
trying to persuade the customers to buy the products already produced by the companies,
marketing oriented firms found it was a lot easier to produce only those goods they had
confirmed through research, that consumers wanted. An intuitive understanding of consumer
behavior was the key to the growth of companies that have remained successful, even today.
The term Consumer Behavior is defined by Schiffman and Kanuk the behavior that consumers
display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluation and disposing of products, and services
that they expect will satisfy their needs. Consumer Behavior focuses on how individuals make
decisions to spend their valuable resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items.
In order to succeed in any business, especially in todays dynamic and rapidly evolving market
place, marketers need to know everything they can about consumers. Thus Consumer Behavior
has become an integral part of Strategic market planning. Consumer Research is the
methodology used to study consumer behavior. It takes place at every phase of the consumption
process, before, during, and after the purchase.

3.2 Factors influencing consumer buying behavior

Consumer buying behavior is affected by various factors that determine the products and brand
preferences of consumers. Every marketer needs to understand the impact of these factors on
consumer buying behavior so that they can design appropriate marketing strategies to appeal to
consumer preferences. The various factors that influence consumer buying behavior include
demographic and personal, social, cultural, and psychological factors.

9|Page

3.3 Consumer lifestyle and shift in the consumer behavior scenario

Though marketers use the various marketing strategies they always look for the changes
happening in the market place to make their strategies suitable for the changing customer needs.
The marketers have already indulged in some crystal ball gazing. The present day consumers
have matured from those seeking satisfaction to those who want to be delighted by their
marketers. The products needed, brands desired, the approach towards consuming all have
transformed radically. The latest socio-cultural trends in proliferating brands and a growing
economy have created both opportunities and challenges for the marketers. The SMarketing13
Convention 09 organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in Chennai had come out with
the views of marketing and advertising specialists who think over the challenge of the fast
changing consumer, customer power, digital marketing, innovation, new avenues for growth and
talent management. Thus the modern customers can be captivated by innovative products and by
implementing innovative marketing strategies. The new age consumer will also be brand skeptic,
value conscious , eco savvy , more socially vibrant in with the advent of social networking sites
and mobile communities and above all these he will be more convenience conscious.
Thus all these show that Indian consumer is expected to evolve into a younger, richer, more
educated, busier and confident entity. The marketers need to change their marketing strategies to
suit this ever changing customer. Todays challenge is The Challenge of Consumption
.Consumption throws up the challenge of creating a shift from basic needs to desires and
convenience. Such a shift is mainly felt in the food and grocery which is the second largest
segment in the retail industry.

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Chapter 4: Findings
On the basis of the survey in which the questionnaire was floated by the means of email as well
as by getting them filled personally 161 respondents had filled the questionnaire and on that
basis following were the findings.

4.1 Demographics:
As the objective was highly linked with the demographics of the respondents so in order to catch
the demographics of the respondents following were asked:

1.

Gender

GENDER
Female

Male

35%

65%

Figure1: Gender distribution

It is observed that the major portions of the respondents were male with 65% and
percentage of female respondents was 35%. Out of 161 respondents 105 were male and
56 were female.

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2.

Age Group

AGE
18-25

26-40

41-55

55 and above

4%
8%
15%

73%

Figure 2: Age Distribution

It is observed that the major portions of the respondents were between the age group of
18-25 with 73% followed by 26-40 with 15%, 41-55 with 8% and percentage of
respondents who were 55 and above was 4%. Out of 161 respondents 118 were between
age group of 18-25, while 24 were in 26-40 followed by 41-55 with 13 and last were
above 55 with 6 respondents.

3.

Marital Status

Marital Status
Single

Married

11%

89%

Figure 3: Marital Status of Respondents

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Out of all the respondents 140 respondents were not married while only 21 were married leading
to 89% of the total respondents being single while only 11% were married.

4.

Occupation

Occupation was divided in four categories as it has been proved in early researched that
occupation plays an important part in decision making whether to buy a Ready to Eat
food or not so this factor was of prime importance and much of emphasis was laid on it.

Occupation
Housemaker

Others

Self Employed

Serviceman/Servicewoman

Student
5%
43%

9%

6%

37%

Figure 4: Occupation of Respondents

Out of 161 respondents major chunk was Students contributing to 43% of the total respondents
closely followed by the service contributing to 37% and rest were 9% house makers, 6% selfemployed and 5% others. 70 respondents were students out of 161 followed by 59 servicemen/
servicewomen while 14 were house makers and both self-employed and others were 9.

5.

Family type
Likewise occupation family type was also an important factor in decision making of the
respondents of choosing the Ready to eat food. Three family types were taken into
consideration which was nuclear family, staying single and joint family.

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Family Type
Joint Family

Nuclear Family

26%

Staying Single

28%

46%

Figure 5: Family Type Distribution

It was found out that maximum respondents were from nuclear family with 46% of the total
respondents followed by 28% from joint family and 26% were staying single. 74 respondents
were from nuclear family 45 were from joint family while 42 were staying single.

6.

Family Income

Family Income
4%
29%

Less than Rs.1.5 lacs

Rs. 1.5-5 lacs
48%

Rs. 10 lacs and above

Rs. 5-10 lacs

19%

Figure 6: Family Income Distribution

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Major portion of the respondents were from category Rs 1.5-5 lacs with 48% followed by 29%
of respondents from Rs 5-10 lacs category while 195 were from Rs 10 lacs and above and 4%
were less than 1.5 lacs.
Apart from the above demographics others questions which were relevant for the study and were
undertaken were as follows:

4.2 Other Variables

1. How many times food is cooked in your home weekly

How many times food is cooked in

your home weekly
All Days

Never

Weekdays

Weekends

0%
22%
8%
70%

Figure7: How many times food is cooked at home

As this question was determinant of whether the consumers buy Ready to Eat Food when food
was not cooked at their homes so it is also quiet relevant. Out of 161 respondents 70% responded
that food is cooked at their homes all the days while 22% responded that only on weekdays food
was cooked, 8% responded it was never cooked may be these responded to the persons who are
staying single.

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2. Have you ever bought Ready to Eat food

Have you ever bought Ready to Eat

Food
17%
Yes
No
83%

Figure 8: Have you ever bought Ready to Eat food

It was found out that maximum number of people have bought Ready to Eat food atleast
once which gives the conclusion that people are well aware about the ready to eat food
segment. Also this can be due to the fact that maximum number of respondents
contributed of students and servicemen/servicewomen given that they are living either in
a nuclear family or staying single which proves the already given facts that demand for
Ready to Eat food has increased due to time paucity and people staying away from the
home where they are working and access to the fast and nutritious food.
Out of 161 respondents 83% have bought Ready to Eat Food atleast once while 17% have
never bought it which means 133 respondents have bought ready to eat food while 28
have never bought Ready to Eat food.

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3. What type of Ready to Eat food you buy

What type of Ready to Eat

food you buy
Frozen Meal

Ambient Temperature Ready to cook

50%

50%

Figure 9: What type of RTE you buy

This question was to test whether people buy canned food or the frozen food as these are
prominent two categories of the Ready to Eat food. Respondents were equally poised as can be
seen from the outcome that 50% bought frozen food while other 50% bought canned food.

4. When food is not cooked at home what do you do

When food is not cooked at home

what do you do
69.14%
51.23%

23.46%

Order a food from

Restaurant

Pick up a ready to eat meal

Visit a Restaurant

Figure 10: When food is not cooked at home what you do

17 | P a g e

It was to check what consumers do when food is not cooked at their homes. It was found
out that 69% of the respondents ordered food from a restaurant while a little amount only
23% pick up a ready to eat food and 51% visit a restaurant. To further study this various
questions were asked which were to be answered on a Likert scale.

5. How did you come to know about Ready to Eat Food

How did you come to know about

Ready to Eat Food
57.58%

51.52%
34.85%

1.52%

1.52%

Figure 11: How did you know about RTE

It was found out that respondents became ware about the ready to eat food via means of
display at the malls which contributed to 58% awareness among people, while 35%
became aware by means of T.V commercials word of mouth was also influential which
was around 52% while internet and newspaper were 1.5% only which leads to conclusion
that Ready to Eat food companies are not using digital media to a good extent also people
were most influenced by the word of mouth and display at malls, so this can be used by
the companies as to buy more shelf space and generate more user content in order to
spread word of mouth to create awareness among the people about Ready to Eat food.

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Chapter 5: SPSS Analysis

SPSS is a widely used program for statistical analysis in social science. It is also used by market
researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing
organizations, data miners and others. In addition to statistical analysis, data management (case
selection, file reshaping, creating derived data) and data documentation (a metadata dictionary
was stored in the data file) are features of the base software.
Statistics included in the base software:

Descriptive statistics: Cross tabulation, Frequencies, Descriptives, Explore, Descriptive

Ratio Statistics

Bivariate statistics: Means, t-test, ANOVA, Correlation (bivariate, partial, distances),

Nonparametric tests

Prediction for numerical outcomes: Linear regression

Prediction for identifying groups: Factor analysis, cluster analysis (two-step, K-means,
hierarchical), Discriminant

5.1 Factor Analysis using SPSS

Factor analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated
variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors.

Principal Components Analysis (PCA) is a variable reduction technique which maximizes the
amount of variance accounted for in the observed variables by a smaller group of variables called
COMPONENTS. As an example, consider the following situation. Let's say, we have 500
questions on a survey we designed to measure persistence. We want to reduce the number of
questions so that it does not take someone 3 hours to complete the survey. It would be
appropriate to use PCA to reduce the number of questions by identifying and removing
redundant questions. For instance, if question 122 and question 356 are virtually identical (i.e.
they ask the exact same thing but in different ways), then one of them is not necessary. The PCA

19 | P a g e

process allows us to reduce the number of questions or variables down to their PRINCIPAL
COMPONENTS.
PCA is commonly, but very confusingly, called exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The use of the
word factor in EFA is inappropriate and confusing because we are really interested in
COMPONENTS, not factors. This issue is made more confusing by some software packages
(e.g. PASW/SPSS & SAS) which list or use PCA under the heading factor analysis.

Second, Factor Analysis (FA) is typically used to confirm the latent factor structure for a group
of measured variables. Latent factors are unobserved variables which typically cannot be directly
measured; but, they are assumed to cause the scores we observe on the measured or indicator
variables. FA is a model based technique. It is concerned with modeling the relationships
between measured variables, latent factors, and error.

In this study factor analysis was done to find out the factors which the consumers find in Read to
Eat food. It was done as in the beginning number of variables taken were 15 which after applying
the factor analysis were reduced to 4 factors.

OUTPUT
KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.
Approx. Chi-Square
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

.758
1777.774

Df

105

Sig.

.000

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin: Measure of Sampling Adequacy - This measure varies between 0 and 1,

and values closer to 1 are better. A value of .6 is a suggested minimum. In this study as seen
from above table value comes out to be 0.758 which can be said as to be appropriate for
conducting further analysis to reduce factors as 0.758>0.6.

20 | P a g e

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity - This tests the null hypothesis that the correlation matrix is an
identity matrix. An identity matrix is matrix in which all of the diagonal elements are 1 and all
off diagonal elements are 0. You want to reject this null hypothesis.

Taken together, these tests provide a minimum standard which should be passed before a factor
analysis (or a principal components analysis) should be conducted.

In this case both the conditions are satisfied hence procedure can be further preceded.
Total Variance Explained
Component

Initial Eigenvalues
Total

% of

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings

Cumulative %

Total

Variance

% of

Cumulative %

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total

Variance

% of

Cumulative

Variance

6.753

45.022

45.022

6.753

45.022

45.022

3.829

25.527

25.527

1.929

12.857

57.879

1.929

12.857

57.879

2.824

18.829

44.356

1.609

10.729

68.609

1.609

10.729

68.609

2.681

17.872

62.228

1.173

7.820

76.429

1.173

7.820

76.429

2.130

14.201

76.429

.636

4.241

80.670

.534

3.561

84.231

.491

3.272

87.503

.473

3.150

90.653

.375

2.497

93.151

10

.306

2.043

95.194

11

.213

1.418

96.611

12

.179

1.195

97.806

13

.141

.938

98.744

14

.120

.798

99.541

15

.069

.459

100.000

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

21 | P a g e

Extraction - The values in this column indicate the proportion of each variable's variance that
can be explained by the retained factors. Variables with high values are well represented in the
common factor space, while variables with low values are not well represented.

(In this

example, there were not any particularly low values.) They are the reproduced variances from
the factors that you have extracted. From the cumulative percentage column it is clear that
76.429% of the variance can be explained by these four factors only.
Rotated Component Matrix

Component
1

[Saves a lot of time]

.284

.444

.704

.125

[Saves a lot of effort in cooking]

.207

.056

.866

.112

[Pricing of Ready to Eat food]

.563

.155

.646

.019

[Value for money]

.535

.509

.363

.158

[Availability of Ready to Eat Food]

.819

-.113

.183

.098

[Has sufficient quantity]

.772

.261

.150

.261

.326

.198

.191

.813

[Taste as compared with freshly prepared food]

.795

.160

.169

.095

[Manufactured at best quality standards]

.545

.202

.241

.656

[Nutritional Value]

.596

.433

-.128

.400

-.108

.194

.705

.549

.518

-.213

.370

.431

.015

.784

.157

.292

-.003

.857

.163

.147

.409

.731

.067

-.381

[I dont see any sort of health problem due to its

consumption ]

[I choose Ready to Eat products from the well-known

brands only.]
[Pack sizes Availability]
[I look for how to prepare/cook/store the product while
buying Ready to Eat products.]
[I choose Ready to Eat product when I dont know the
recipe of the meal.]
[I often buy Ready to Eat meals of seasonal products
only]

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 9 iterations.

22 | P a g e

For each component which had rotated component greater than 0.7 was considered so
accordingly for the first factor Availability of Ready to Eat Food, Has sufficient quantity and
Taste as compared with freshly prepared food was taken for second factor I look for how to
prepare/cook/store the product, I choose Ready to Eat product when I dont know the recipe of
the meal and I often buy Ready to Eat meals of seasonal products only were undertaken for the
third factor Saves a lot of time, Saves a lot of effort in cooking, Pricing of Ready to Eat food and
I choose Ready to Eat products from the well-known brands only were undertaken while for the
fourth factor I dont see any sort of health problem due to its consumption, Manufactured at best
quality standards were taken. These four factors were renamed as:
1. Food Aesthetics: It includes Availability of Ready to Eat Food, Has sufficient quantity
and Taste as compared with freshly prepared food.
2. Readiness: It includes I look for how to prepare/cook/store the product while buying
Ready to Eat products, I choose Ready to Eat product when I dont know the recipe of the
meal and I often buy Ready to Eat meals of seasonal products only.
3. Optimality and Brand name: This factor includes three factors which were Saves a lot
of time, Saves a lot of effort in cooking, I choose Ready to Eat products from the wellknown brands only.

4. Manufacturing Quality: This factor includes one variables namely manufactured at best
quality.

5.2 CHI Square Test

A chi-square test, also referred to as test (infrequently as the chi-squared test), is any statistical
hypothesis test in which the sampling distribution of the test statistic is a chi-square distribution
when the null hypothesis is true. Also considered a chi-square test is a test in which this is
asymptotically true, meaning that the sampling distribution (if the null hypothesis is true) can be
made to approximate a chi-square distribution as closely as desired by making the sample size
large enough. The chi-square (I) test is used to determine whether there is a significant difference
between the expected frequencies and the observed frequencies in one or more categories.

23 | P a g e

OUTPUT
Two Chi Square Tests were which were as follows:
1. First was between do you have bought Ready to Eat Food and occupation.
2. Second was between do you have bought Ready to Eat Food and Family type.
These two were implemented to check the buying behavior of the consumers and to check
whether there is a relationship between the buying behavior of the consumers and there family
type, occupation.

5.2.1 First was between do you have bought Ready to Eat Food and
Occupation.
Chi-Square Tests
Value

df

Asymp. Sig. (2sided)

Pearson Chi-Square
Likelihood Ratio
Linear-by-Linear Association
N of Valid Cases
a.

.000

21.773

.000

1.208

.272

23.922

161

3 cells (30.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum

expected count is 1.57.

When reading this table we are interested in the results of the "Pearson Chi-Square" row. We
can see here that (1) = 23.922, p < .001. This tells us that there is statistically significant
association between consumer buying and occupation.
Symmetric Measures
Value

Asymp. Std. Error

Approx. T

Approx. Sig.

Phi

.385

.000

Cramer's V

.385

.000

Interval by Interval

Pearson's R

.087

.097

1.100

.273

Ordinal by Ordinal

Spearman Correlation

.078

.098

.989

.324

Nominal by Nominal

N of Valid Cases

161

a. Not assuming the null hypothesis.

b. Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.
c. Based on normal approximation.

24 | P a g e

Phi and Cramer's V are both tests of the strength of

Have you ever purchased Ready to

eat food?

association. We can see that the strength of association

Yes

between the variables is moderate.

Count
% within Occupation
Self Employed

Total

No
4

44.4%

55.6%

100.0%

3.0%

17.9%

5.6%

2.5%

3.1%

5.6%

63

70

90.0%

10.0%

100.0%

47.4%

25.0%

43.5%

39.1%

4.3%

43.5%

14

14

100.0%

0.0%

100.0%

10.5%

0.0%

8.7%

8.7%

0.0%

8.7%

48

11

59

81.4%

18.6%

100.0%

36.1%

39.3%

36.6%

29.8%

6.8%

36.6%

44.4%

55.6%

100.0%

3.0%

17.9%

5.6%

2.5%

3.1%

5.6%

133

28

161

82.6%

17.4%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

82.6%

17.4%

100.0%

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Occupation

Student

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Occupation

Occupation

Homemaker

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Occupation

Serviceman/Servicewoman

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Occupation

Others

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Occupation

Total

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total

25 | P a g e

This table allows us to understand that all the occupations do not prefer Ready to Eat Food
students; homemakers prefer it while others dont.

5.2.2 First was between do you have bought Ready to Eat Food and
Family Type.
Chi-Square Tests
Value

df

Asymp. Sig. (2sided)

.002

19.316

.000

Linear-by-Linear Association

.066

.797

N of Valid Cases

161

Pearson Chi-Square

12.459

Likelihood Ratio

a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected
count is 7.30.

When reading this table we are interested in the results of the "Pearson Chi-Square" row. We
can see here that (1) = 1.459, p < .05. This tells us that there is statistically significant
association between consumer buying and occupation

Symmetric Measures
Value

Asymp. Std.
Error

Approx. T

Approx. Sig.

Phi

.278

.002

Cramer's V

.278

.002

Interval by Interval

Pearson's R

.020

.090

.257

.798

Ordinal by Ordinal

Spearman Correlation

.000

.090

.000

1.000

Nominal by Nominal

N of Valid Cases

161

a. Not assuming the null hypothesis.

b. Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.

26 | P a g e

Family Type * Have you ever purchased Ready to eat food? Crosstabulation
Have you ever purchased Ready

Total

to eat food?
Yes
Count
% within Family Type
Nuclear Family

No
58

16

74

78.4%

21.6%

100.0%

43.6%

57.1%

46.0%

36.0%

9.9%

46.0%

42

42

100.0%

0.0%

100.0%

31.6%

0.0%

26.1%

26.1%

0.0%

26.1%

33

12

45

73.3%

26.7%

100.0%

24.8%

42.9%

28.0%

20.5%

7.5%

28.0%

133

28

161

82.6%

17.4%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

82.6%

17.4%

100.0%

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Family Type

Family Type

Staying Single

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Family Type

Joint Family

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total
Count
% within Family Type

Total

% within Have you ever

purchased Ready to eat
food?
% of Total

It is observed that both single staying and nuclear family prefer Ready to Eat food while Joint
family does not prefer ready to eat food.

27 | P a g e

5.3 Linear Regression Analysis

In statistics, linear regression is an approach for modeling the relationship between a
scalar dependent variable y and one or more explanatory variables denoted X. The case
of one explanatory variable is called simple linear regression. For more than one
explanatory variable, the process is called multiple linear regression.

Linear regression is the next step up after correlation. It is used when we want to predict
the value of a variable based on the value of another variable. The variable we want to
predict is called the dependent variable (or sometimes, the outcome variable). The
variable we are using to predict the other variable's value is called the independent
variable (or sometimes, the predictor variable).

OUTPUT
Model Summary
Model

.687

R Square
a

.473

Adjusted R

Std. Error of the

Square

Estimate
.418

.290

a. Predictors: (Constant), [I often buy Ready to Eat meals of seasonal

products only], [I dont see any sort of health problem due to its
consumption ], [Availability of Ready to Eat Food], [Saves a lot of effort
in cooking], [I look for how to prepare/cook/store the product while
buying Ready to Eat products.], [Pack sizes Availablity], [Nutritional
Value], [Taste as compared with freshly prepared food], [Pricing of
Ready to Eat food], [I choose Ready to Eat product when I dont know
the recipe of the meal.], [Has sufficient quantity], [Value for money],
[Saves a lot of time], [I choose Ready to Eat products from the wellknown brands only.], [Manufactured at best quality standards]

From the above ANOVA table it is clear that these variables explain 41.8% of the variance. Now
the interpretation from the Regression table is seen to determine the significant variables.

28 | P a g e

Coefficients
Model

Unstandardized Coefficients

Standardized

Sig.

Coefficients
B

Std. Error

(Constant)

1.152

.202

[Saves a lot of time]

-.264

.063

-.128

[Saves a lot of effort in

cooking]
[Pricing of Ready to Eat food]
[Value for money]
[Availability of Ready to Eat
Food]
[Has sufficient quantity]

Beta
5.716

.000

-.511

-4.163

.000

.060

-.239

-2.151

.033

.122

.048

.354

2.542

.012

-.089

.046

-.242

-1.934

.055

-.100

.042

-.251

-2.383

.018

.051

.041

.146

1.242

.216

-.027

.042

-.087

-.651

.516

-.030

.033

-.087

-.903

.368

.064

.051

.164

1.237

.218

-.013

.032

-.038

-.413

.680

-.043

.053

-.102

-.820

.414

.092

.040

.255

2.315

.022

.069

.049

.147

1.415

.159

.028

.037

.082

.755

.451

.068

.037

.210

1.866

.064

[I dont see any sort of health

problem due to its
consumption ]
[Taste as compared with
freshly prepared food]
[Manufactured at best quality
1

standards]
[Nutritional Value]
[I choose Ready to Eat
products from the well-known
brands only.]
[Pack sizes Availability]
[I look for how to
prepare/cook/store the
product while buying Ready to
Eat products.]
[I choose Ready to Eat
product when I dont know the
recipe of the meal.]
[I often buy Ready to Eat
meals of seasonal products
only]

a. Dependent Variable: Have you ever purchased Ready to eat food?

29 | P a g e

From the above table it is interpreted that only Saves a lot of time, Saves a lot of effort in
cooking, Pricing of Ready to Eat food, Availability of Ready to Eat Food and Pack sizes
Availability were the variables which were significant as p value of these variables were less
than 0.05.

30 | P a g e

Conclusion
The Ready to eat foods though having a very ancient history of being carried as ration when food
was carried for expeditions for long periods away from the main land, primarily by soldiers and
merchants on ships, they have grained significance and prominence in recent times due to advent
of newer technologies for storage and packing of the food items. With the advent of modern
trade and increasing working population with higher disposable incomes ready to eat food
categories have gained prominence in recent times. Thus it has become extremely important to
know and understand the needs and expectations of consumers. This project basically studies
various behaviors of consumer decision making process with respect to ready to eat food
categories. From the study it was found that factors on which the preference of the customer
depends are food aesthetics, readiness, optimality and brand name and quality assurance. Also
the study focuses on finding a relationship between the buying decision of the consumer and
their family income, family type and some other variables. It is advent from the study that the
buying decision is somewhat significantly associated with family income and family type. Also
other variables on which the buying decision depends were time, availability, effort. Apart from
it price and pack size availability also plays a major role in decision making of consumer to
whether buy Ready to Eat food or not.

31 | P a g e

Limitations of the Study

The study could be done by taking the responses from a greater sample size. There are no
questions related to information search, brand preference. As a part of further study the following
additions/changes can be made: for the customers who have never consumed RTE, asking those
reasons why they do not buy RTE; understand from which source most consumers collect
information regarding RTE food and evaluate the relative importance of their information
sources. Biasness could not be avoided due to convenience sampling as time was short and
sample size was not taken large so there was biasness in the study. A full scale research could
not be conducted due to monetary and time constraints. Findings may not be very highly accurate
as the sampling was biased and majority of respondents were from the same age group.

32 | P a g e

References

www.cfs.gov.hk/english/food_leg/food_leg_mgref.html

www.aamp.com/fspdfs/rte.pdf

http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/getfile?URN=etd-0114108-

http://www.punebds.com/postarticle/viewcatwisedetail.aspx?name=Product%20Develop
ment

http://www.punebds.com/postarticle/Home.aspx

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19018679/fast-food-industry-in-india-a-study

www.outlookprofit.com/article.aspx?261956

http://issuu.com/retailnews/docs/retailnews1sept08

Ministry of Food Processing Industries:

http://www.mofpi.nic.in/ContentPage.aspx?CategoryId=148

Influences of Product Features, "Food Quality and Preference, 18, 296-304

Buckley, M., Cowan, C., McCarthy, M. & O'Sullivan, C. (2005), "The Convenience

Consumer and Food Related Lifestyles in Great Britain," Journal of Food Products
Marketing, 11, 3-25.

Keane, A. & Willetts, A. (1994), "Factors that Affect Food Choice," Nutrition & Food
Science, 4, 15-17.

www.marketingritson.com/documents/week1brandtracking.pdf

33 | P a g e

Appendix
Questionnaire

Ready to Eat Food

Kindly fill the most appropriate option
* Required
Gender *
o

Male

Female

Age *
o

18-25

26-40

41-55

o
55 and above
Marital Status *
o

Single

o
Married
Occupation *
o

Serviceman/Servicewoman

Self Employed

Housemaker

Student

o
Others
You belong to a *
o

Joint Family

Nuclear Family

o
Staying Single
Annual Family Income *

34 | P a g e

Less than Rs.1.5 lacs

Rs. 1.5-5 lacs

Rs. 5-10 lacs

Rs. 10 lacs and above

Given a normal week, meals (i.e. lunch & dinner) are cooked at home on *
o

All Days

Weekdays

Weekend

o
Never
On days when meals are not cooked at home, how do you manage *

Select more than 1 if applicable

o

Visit a Restaurant

Order a food from Restaurant

o
Pick up a ready to eat meal
Have you ever purchased Ready to eat food? *
o

Yes

No
If yes then what kind of ready to eat meal you bought
(Frozen Food- E.g. Frozen Paranthas, Ambient Temperature Ready to cook- E.g MTR
ready to cook meals)
o

Frozen Meal

o
Ambient Temperature Ready to cook
You picked up Ready to Food when
o

Shopping for monthly grocery items

Separately during emergency

Do you remember any of Ready to eat Brands?

How did you come to know about the Ready To Eat Packs?
(Choose more than one if applicable)
o

TV commercials
35 | P a g e

Display at Malls

Word of Mouth

Other:

Kindly rate your opinion on the following parameters for Ready

to Eat Food
*

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neither
Agree nor
Disagree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

Saves a lot of time

Saves a lot of effort in
cooking
Pricing of Ready to Eat
food
Value for money
Availability of Ready to
Eat Food
Has sufficient quantity
I dont see any sort of
health problem due to its
consumption
Taste as compared with
freshly prepared food
Manufactured at best
quality standards
Nutritional Value
I choose Ready to Eat
products from the well36 | P a g e

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neither
Agree nor
Disagree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

known brands only.

Pack sizes Availability
I look for how to
prepare/cook/store the
product while buying
Ready to Eat products.
I choose Ready to Eat
product when I dont
know the recipe of the
meal.
I often buy Ready to Eat
meals of seasonal
products only

37 | P a g e