Prepared For

Ms. Nayeema Ahmed

Lecturer
Dept. of Business Administration

Prepared By
Dewan Imran Ahmed
ID: 2003-1-10-043

Sayem Rais
ID: 2003-1-10-188

Md. Jamiul Islam

ID: 2002-3-10-011

Esfar Ahmed Chowdhury

ID: 2002-3-14-005

Aashna Dilnaz
ID: 2002-3-10-054

Sharmin Akhter Shova

ID: 2003-3-10-087

Ayesha Khan
ID: 2003-3-30-003

Date of Submission: 19 August 2006

East West University

August 19, 2006

Ms. Nayeema Ahmed

Lecturer
Dept. of Business Administration
East West University
43 Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka-1212

Sub: Letter of Transmittal

Dear Madam
We are pleased to submit the following report you had asked us to develop with a given
guidelines. For this purpose, we made “Perception about soft drinks in Bangladesh”,
to be the subject matter of our report.
We are glad to submit it as part of completion of the requirements for our Consumer
Behavior (MKT-410) course with you.
We have tried our best in trying to put up a good report with as much information as we
could gather during the limited span allotted for writing the report.

Thanking you for your kind support and help throughout the course, we remain.

Sincerely yours

Sayem Rais Dewan Imran Ahmed Jamiul Islam

Sharmin Akhter Shova Aashna Dilnaz Ayesha Khan

Esfar Ahmed Chowdhury

 Sub: Letter of Authorization

Dear Students

As part of your Consumer Behavior course, you are requested to do a report on

“Perception on soft drinks in Bangladesh” .You are requested to collect and analyze
data and prepare a report with conclusion.

Submission date of the report is August 19, 2006.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

MS. Nayeema Ahmed

Lecturer
Dept. of Business Administration
East West University
Dhaka

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
At first we present our due regards to the Almighty, who have provided us the brilliant
opportunity to build and complete this report successfully with good health & sound
mind. In this course, we are required to prepare a report. So, as per our course instructor’s
(MS. Nayeema Ahmed) recommendation we have decided to prepare a report on
“Perception on soft drinks in Bangladesh”. It has been a pleasure and an honor to show
our heartiest respect to MS. Nayeema Ahmed for giving us the opportunity to work for
this report. Her enriched and powerfully structured discussion has been a great help in
each step of this report writing.

During the working of this report would not have been realized without the support and
encouragement of many people. We would like to express our feelings and great
affections with our heartiest appreciation to all people who are given valuable
information for preparing the report. We would like to thank our peers and senior
brothers and sisters who have helped us by giving valuable advices and experiences. Last
of all we would like to thank the readers who have given their valuable times to read this
report.

We would like to acknowledge our classmates for helping us in this report. All the
classmates who have helped us lot and supported us to make it possible to lead the
research into a standard form.
We are also thankful to the Delta school for providing us the physical arrangements and
allow us to conduct FGD.

Finally, we thank our dear parents for encouraging us throughout the work. Their
information has helped us in ways that cannot be expressed in few words. We thank them
all with our deepest feelings.

Executive Summary
With the change in the lifestyle of people and modernization getting in trend,
Bangladeshi market place has become a battlefield for various soft drinks brands. There
are some popular soft drinks brands ruling their operation in Bangladesh. These are Coca
Cola, Sprite, Pepsi, RC Cola, Uro, Virgin Cola, and Mojo and so on. As the weather now
is hot and humid, the war seems to be more intense among soft drink brands. In this
particular project, we are trying to see the perception of consumers about soft drinks. We
have seen that introduction of band-roll in soft drinks has created an uneven competition
in the Bangladesh market with the largest local beverage companies enjoying a field day
at the cost of others.

We have conducted two Focus group Discussion (FGD), from FGD we have develop
hypothesis. Based on the Hypothesis we established few questionnaires and then we have
taken the survey of 100 people and our target group is mainly universities and school
students. Our aim is to find out what people think about soft drinks and what they feel in
terms of price, advertisement, flavor, package, taste etc.
 Background

There is saying –“Behind every action there is a reason”. So our report has a reason to
arise. At first during our Consumer Behavior our course instructor Ms. Nayeema Ahmed
told us that we have to submit a group report. She has given us the opportunity to choose
our own topic. We have discussed our topic with our respectful teacher and she has
approved. The topic of our report is- Perception about the soft drinks in Bangladesh. So
this is the whole story of assigning the report to us. By choosing this topic we can know
how people perceive about different soft drinks in Bangladesh.

Problem Statement

Management Decision Problem:

We are conducting our research on such a topic; through which all the soft drink
companies available in Bangladesh, will be able to know what people thinks about their
brands, what are the features they like or dislike, what aspect of promotion influence
them & how it can be make more effective.

Broad Objective

“To identify the consumer perception

about soft drinks in Bangladesh.”
 Specific Objective

The objectives of this report are the followings:

 To see whether consumers go for brand because of taste & flavor.
 To find out whether advertising plays an important role in brand selection.
 To see whether sales promotion can motivate consumers to consume more.
 To find out whether consumers think price is an important criterion.
 To see whether consumers believe that packaging can influence purchase.
 Packaging with product information will attract more consumers.
 To see whether taste is the most important factor to create brand loyalty.
 To see whether new flavor will gain consumer attention.
 To see whether Inefficiency in distribution will create dissatisfaction among the
consumers.

Approaching the problem

For approaching the problem, we have undertaken the Focus Group discussion (FGD).
We have undertaken two FGDs, one in the university, which consists of seven people,
and the second one has been taken place in Delta school and that FGD consists of 6
people. All of these respondents are students. Basically our focus is on young generation.
We have identified quite a few problems by doing these FGD. In both FGDs we have
identified that they have different type of perception about soft drinks, such as some said
they are brand loyal, some also said that they were influenced by an effective
advertisement. Some also said that they are price sensitive and so on so forth. After that
we have developed the questionnaire to see what the population thinks about soft drinks.
We have taken survey of 100 people and all of them are of young ages. Our intention to
approach the problem so we have taken FGDs programmed as well as the Survey
technique. From FGD we have developed hypothesis and from hypothesis we have
identified the problem statement.
 Frequency Table

We have used SPSS software to develop the frequency table:

Gender

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Male 71 71.0 71.0 71.0
Female 29 29.0 29.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Age

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid 12-19
6 6.0 6.0 6.0
years
20-29
94 94.0 94.0 100.0
years
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

How often do you drink a soft drink in a week?

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid 1-3 times 48 48.0 48.0 48.0
4-6 times a
32 32.0 32.0 80.0
week
7-9 times 11 11.0 11.0 91.0
more than
9 9.0 9.0 100.0
9
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0
 What is your brand preference?

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Coca
37 37.0 37.0 37.0
Cola
Sprite 31 31.0 31.0 68.0
Pepsi 8 8.0 8.0 76.0
7-Up 10 10.0 10.0 86.0
RC Cola 3 3.0 3.0 89.0
Mojo 6 6.0 6.0 95.0
Uro Cola 1 1.0 1.0 96.0
Others 4 4.0 4.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Advertising play an important role in selecting a brand

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
48 48.0 48.0 48.0
Agree
Agree 42 42.0 42.0 90.0
Neutral 5 5.0 5.0 95.0
Disagree 5 5.0 5.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Brand personality may influence you to choose a brand

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
29 29.0 29.0 29.0
Agree
Agree 51 51.0 51.0 80.0
Neutral 14 14.0 14.0 94.0
Disagree 5 5.0 5.0 99.0
strongly
1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Disagree
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0
Sales promotion can attract your attention towards a particular brand

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
26 26.0 26.0 26.0
Agree
Agree 51 51.0 51.0 77.0
Neutral 18 18.0 18.0 95.0
Disagree 3 3.0 3.0 98.0
strongly
2 2.0 2.0 100.0
Disagree
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Price can be an important factor in selecting a brand

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
29 29.0 29.0 29.0
Agree
Agree 45 45.0 45.0 74.0
Neutral 16 16.0 16.0 90.0
Disagree 8 8.0 8.0 98.0
strongly
2 2.0 2.0 100.0
Disagree
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Increase in price can influence you to change your preferred brand

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
19 19.0 19.0 19.0
Agree
Agree 39 39.0 39.0 58.0
Neutral 24 24.0 24.0 82.0
Disagree 12 12.0 12.0 94.0
strongly
6 6.0 6.0 100.0
Disagree
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Colorful packaging attracts you to taste a new brand

 Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
21 21.0 21.0 21.0
Agree
Agree 44 44.0 44.0 65.0
Neutral 21 21.0 21.0 86.0
Disagree 13 13.0 13.0 99.0
strongly
1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Disagree
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Packaging should contain product information

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
58 58.0 58.0 58.0
Agree
Agree 34 34.0 34.0 92.0
Neutral 7 7.0 7.0 99.0
Disagree 1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

You will stay your prefer brand even if the color changes

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
22 22.0 22.0 22.0
Agree
Agree 31 31.0 31.0 53.0
Neutral 25 25.0 25.0 78.0
Disagree 17 17.0 17.0 95.0
strongly
5 5.0 5.0 100.0
Disagree
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Taste is the important factor in creating brand loyalty

 Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
53 53.0 53.0 53.0
Agree
Agree 36 36.0 36.0 89.0
Neutral 7 7.0 7.0 96.0
Disagree 4 4.0 4.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

If a soft drink brand came up with a new flavor that will gain your attention

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
23 23.0 23.0 23.0
Agree
Agree 46 46.0 46.0 69.0
Neutral 24 24.0 24.0 93.0
Disagree 7 7.0 7.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0

Lack of distribution efficiency can create dissatisfaction towards your

preferred brand

Valid Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent Percent
Valid Strongly
35 35.0 35.0 35.0
Agree
Agree 42 42.0 42.0 77.0
Neutral 17 17.0 17.0 94.0
Disagree 5 5.0 5.0 99.0
strongly
1 1.0 1.0 100.0
Disagree
Total 100 100.0 100.0 100.0
 Hypothesis

• Consumers go for brand because of taste & flavor.

• Most of the consumers prefer non-cola rather than cola.
• The advertising plays an important role in brand selection.
• Brand personality can influence consumers in choosing a soft drink brand.
• Sales promotion can motivate consumers to consume more.
• Consumers think price is an important criterion.
• Consumers believe that packaging can influence purchase.
• Packaging with product information will attract more consumers.
• Color change in soft drink brands may create dissatisfaction.
• Taste is the most important factor to create brand loyalty.
• New flavor will gain consumer attention.
• Inefficiency in distribution will create dissatisfaction among the consumers.

Scope of the research

Resources:
To fulfill the purpose of our project we have conducted two Focus group Discussion
(FGD) sessions, in which we have used Voice recorder, Video Camera, pen, paper &
physical arrangements like table, chairs, and refreshment materials. We have also taken
the help of computer, printer & photocopier in every step to complete our report.

Limitation:
We faced some limitations while preparing this report. Most importantly we were hard hit
by time constrains which prevented us from doing a more elaborate study. We could not
prepare this assignment more elaborately for our limited knowledge. We found that many
people are skeptic in reveling information. Despite all this limitations, we tried our best to
make it a concise study.
 Research Design
Data Collection from secondary sources:

We have searched the internet websites to find out whether there is any previous study
conducted on the same topic. We have also searched in the research site ‘Jstor’ held in
East West University, websites of all local & the selected international soft drink brands.

Data collection from primary sources:

We have conducted two focus group interview sessions to collect the fresh response of
our respondents who were mostly university & A-level students.

Method:

We have used self administered questionnaire to collect information from our target
group. We used this method as we have used SPSS to identify frequency distribution.

Scaling technique:

In our questionnaire, we have used nominal & interval scale. We have used nominal scale
as we were asked to find only the frequency distribution. We used interval scale as it is a
higher-level scale, it will enable us to find frequency distribution as well as other
analysis.
 Questionnaire Development

Dear Respondent, For official use

We are the students of East West University, conducting a Consumer Behavior

Project on the “Perception on Soft Drinks in Bangladesh”. We are trying to
see the perception of a consumer about soft drinks. To serve that purpose, we need
some information from you; your correct information is extremely valuable for us.
We will need your attention only for 10 to 15 minutes to fill this questionnaire. Any
information provided will be kept confidential and used for project purpose only.
Thanks for your valuable time and cooperation.

1 Gender: For official use

o Male
o Female

2 Ages:

o 12- 19 years
o 20- 29 years
o 30- 39 years
o 40- 49 years
o above 49 years

3. How often do you drink soft drinks in a week?

o 1-3 times
o 4-6 times a week
o 7-9 times
o more than 9
4 What is your brand preference?

o Coca Cola
o Sprite
o Pepsi
o 7- Up
o RC Cola
o Mojo
o Uro Cola
o Pran Cola
o Others

5. Advertising play an important role in selecting a brand

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

6. Brand personality may influence you to choose a brand

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

7. Sales promotion can attract your attention towards a particular brand

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

8. Price can be an important factor in selecting a brand

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)
 9. Increase in price can influence you to change your preferred brand

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

10. Colorful packaging attracts you to taste a new band

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

11. Packaging should contain product information

( Ingredients, manufacturing & expiring dates)

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

12. You will stay with your prefer brand even if the color changes.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

13. Taste is the important factor in creating brand loyalty.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)
 14. If a soft drink brand come up with a new flavor that will gain your
attention

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

15. Lack of distribution efficiency can create dissatisfaction towards your

preferred brand.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree (2) (3) (4) Disagree
(1) (5)

16. I like my brand because

_______________________________________________________________________
_
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
___

For Official Use Only

1. Name of the interviewer:_________________________________

2. Start Time:____________________________________________

3 .End Time:_____________________________________________

4. Signature:______________________________________________

5.Name & Signature of Supervisor:___________________________

6.Date:__________________________________________________
Sample size:

The sample size has been determined on the basis of two crucial components-time and
money. We have been able to conduct our survey over one hundred respondents who are
mostly the students of East West University. Our time constraint did not allow us to go
for rigorous sample size. Therefore we believe it will represent our population of interest.

Fieldwork:

We have conducted our survey in the classrooms of East West University. As our
population of interest was basically the young generation we felt that we could easily
complete the survey by delivering the questionnaire within our campus.

Data Analysis

Methodology:
We have developed questionnaire by using nominal & interval scale. We have used SPSS
software to identify the frequency distribution & descriptive statistics. By using the SPSS
we construct frequency table for each of the variable, through which we can easily
predict consumer preference, impact of advertisement and packaging, price sensitivity
etc.

Cost and Time:

As we mentioned earlier we had very little time to complete our report. If we could do
our research over at least 1000 respondents then our confidence level might have
increased to a certain extent. But conducting a survey over 1000 people requires lot of
time and money. Never the less we tried our level best to put all the necessary materials
to make it a fruitful report.
 Results

Interpretations of the Findings:

Table 1
Gender: From our analysis we found that 71 percent of our respondents were
male and 29 percent were female.
Table 2
Age: Our analysis shows among the 100 respondents 6 percent belongs to 12-19
years age group and 94 percent belongs to 20-29 years age group.
Table 3
Consumption per Week: 48 percent of the consumers said they take their
preferred soft drink 1-3times per week. 32 percent said they take 4-6 times a week.
11 percent said they consume7-9 times a week. Only 9 percent said they consume
more than 9 times a week.
Table 4
Brand Preference: 37 percent said they are brand loyal of Coca Cola, 31 percent
preferred Sprite, 10 percent choose 7-up, 6 percent preferred Mojo, 3 percent liked
Rc Cola, only 1 person choose Uro Cola and the rest 4 percent preferred other
available soft drinks.
Table 5
Importance of Advertisement: 90 percent respondents agreed that
advertisement plays an important role in selecting a brand; among the 90 percent 48
percent strongly believe that they go for a certain brand after watching the
advertisement.

Table 6
Brand Personality: 29 persons strongly agreed that they are influenced by the
brand personality, 51 percent agrees that brand personality is important in
choosing a brand. 14 percent were neutral and 5 percent disagreed on this
statement.
Table 7
Sales Promotion: 26 percent of consumer strongly agreed that they are
influenced by the sales promotion, 51 percent agrees that sales promotion is
important, 18 percent were neutral, and 5 percent disagreed on this statement.
Table 8
Price: In case of price, 29 percent strongly believes that price is very important in
selecting a brand. 45 percent agrees that price is important. 16 percent were neutral
and 8 percent disagreed.
Table 9
Price Variation: 19 percent strongly agreed that if the price increases, they will
shift to other brand. 39 percent agreed and 24 percent were neutral on this fact.
Table 10
Colorful Packaging: 21 percent of consumers strongly agreed that colorful
packaging attracts them to taste a new brand. 44 Percent agreed, 21 percent were
neutral and 13 percent disagreed.
Table 11
Packaging including information: 58 Percent of consumer strongly agrees that
packaging should contain product information. 34 percent agreed, 7 percent were
neutral and 1 percent disagreed with this fact.
Table 12
Impact of Color Change: 22 percent strongly agreed that they will stay with
their preferred brand even if the color changes, 31 percent agreed and 25 percent
remain neutral and 17 percent disagreed.
Table 13
Taste: 53 Percent of the consumer agreed that taste is an important factor in
creating brand loyalty. 36 Percent agreed, 7 percent were neutral and 4 percent
disagreed with this fact.
Table 14
Impact of New Flavor: 23 percent of the respondents strongly agreed that they
will taste the new flavor, 49 percent agreed and 24 percent disagreed. Only 7
percent were disagreed on this statement.
Table 15
Lack of Distribution Efficiency: 35 percent strongly agreed that effective
distribution is very important. 42 percent agreed and 17 percent were neutral.

Respondents Reaction on open-ended question

We have provided an open ended question to identify the most critical factor for which
consumers like a brand. Our findings are:

• Taste and flavor

• Packaging
• Color and logo
• Advertisements
• Emotional attachment with the brand
• Effective distribution
• Price
• Different taste from others
• Brand has the capability to match his or her personality
• Shape of the bottle
 Recommendation

Effective advertisements can increase brand preference and thereby increase sales.
• Use of world famous celebrities also influences consumers in selecting a brand.
So in IMC all local and international brands should use celebrities to endorse their
brand.
• Price can be an important factor; over pricing can create dissatisfaction among the
consumers & hamper the progression of brand loyalty.
• Sales promotion can increase short term sales but for increasing long term sales
companies should come up with innovative features.
• Packaging should be attractive as it can entice consumer to taste a brand.
• Packaging should contain product Information i.e ingredients, manufacturing and
expiring date, recyclable sign, vegetarian sign and other social and environmental
features.
• It is not wise to change the color of an existing brand. As consumers normally
develop an emotional attachment with the brand, they may not like the new look
of their preferred brand. Pepsi Blue can be a lesson for us.
• Taste should be the most important factor any soft drink company concentrates
on. If the taste is bad no matter how good the IMC or packaging, the chances are
very low that the brand will be successful.
• Soft drink companies car try different flavors to create new market segments or
increase the size of existing market.
• Distribution should be effective; all the members in the distribution channel must
be made aware that the products reach the retail outlets in every corner of the
country before the launch of IMC.
• Companies should come up with new and innovative IMC campaigns in every
stage of the product life cycle. In introduction they should do awareness building
campaign, in growth stage product features and products differentiation is
 addressed the IMC, in maturity stage remainder advertisements should be used.
So that consumers constantly kept in touch with the brand.

Consumer Insight-Thought Process

Target Group: We have decided to choose younger generation in our sample, as this
group occupies the highest proportion of the soft drinks market though out the world.
From our survey, we found what they think about the present soft drink brands, what is
their expectation and what measure soft drink companies should take to influence them.

Current Believe Compelling Future Believe

• International Brands like Coke,
Pepsi are better than the local • Hope the local brands come up
brands. with new innovative
• Like the promotional promotional campaigns.
Campaigns of international • If the taste & flavor of some of
brands than local brands. the local brands are enriched,
• Foreign brand personalities are they will be delighted to taste
more influential than local. those brands.
• Price hike may create • If the packaging is
dissatisfaction. standardized, local brands will
• Love colorful packaging. get more preference.
• Appreciate product information
contained in the packaging.
• Color change in soft drink
brands is not welcomed.
• Quite happy with the taste of
present brands.
• Wants to get their preferred
brand in every convenient retail
outlet.
 Consumer Insight
• Love the brands Desired Future
personalities. Behavior
• Love to get sales • Divert the
promotions. consumer’s
• Happy with the taste & attention from
flavor of present soft foreign brands
drink brands. to locals
Current Behavior • Price increase may through
• Consume a soft drink only create dissatisfaction. innovative
because of taste& flavor. promotional
• Consume local brands, as it campaigns.
is cheap & easily available. • Encourage the
• Consume more during soft drink
sales promotional consumption in
breakfast,
campaigns.
launch &
dinner.

Conclusion

We have conducted our report to identify the consumers’ perception about all the
available soft drinks in Bangladesh. Though we have a small sample size but we believe
it represents our population of interest. From our research we found that still
international brands are more preferred over local brands. If local soft drink brands can
make effective innovative advertisements, introduce sales promotional programs,
improve the packaging, make the distribution effective and most importantly stress
should be given to the taste and flavor because as we know product is the core of brand,
if the taste is poor no matter how good the advertisement or packaging it will not get the
consumers attention. It has also been identified that that consumer is not bother about the
price of their respective brand. If the soft drink companies wants to retain the market
share they have to consider all the factors such as advertisement, price, taste, flavor etc.
• www.Google.com
• www. Jstor .org
• www.partexbeverage.com
• www.globesoftdrinks.com
• www.akijbeverage.com
• www.pepsiworld.com
• www.coke.com
• www.virgincola.com
• www.doublecola.com