11 March 2010

Marketing Research Proposal

Group 7:

Gowri P
Deepak R Pillai
Hema Mathew
Karthikgopal V
MadhavanKutty T
Nirmala G
Vinay Gupta
Contents

1. Introduction 3
2. Decision maker’s and Marketing research problem 4
3. Objectives 5
4. Theoretical framework 9
5. Types of Research 10
 Qualitative research
 Quantitative research
6. Secondary Data Analysis 
 The background 11
 The specifics 12
7. Timing 14
8. Fees 15
9. References 16

2
 Introduction

The "official" definition of consumer behaviour is "The study of individuals, groups, or

organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products,
services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have
on the consumer and society."Consumer behaviour has been an area of study not only to
improve sales, but also to strategize the promotional plans, and explore the unmet needs of
the consumer. It has been a challenge to tap the potential market and cater to all the needs
of a retail shopper. The factors affecting the buying behaviour, varies with the category of
the product. For instance, we all must have experienced that for a food product we tend to
go for a popular brand but for a non-food product we are ready to settle for a non-popular
brand with an attractive pricing or offer. What is in the minds of the consumer? What
influences the buying pattern? How can a marketer tap these psychographic patterns?

Is it the Price? Quality? Brand? that influences the most?

How should the marketer juggle the THREE to tap the market?

3
 Decision Maker problem

How to improve sales in a modern retail outlet by providing the rite assortment mix that
caters to the consumer behaviour patterns?

Marketing Research problem

To identify the consumer buying behaviour in modern retail sector across the categories like
staple, food and non food and get the right assortment mix to increase sales.

4
Objectives
This research would provide information on the following components:
 Do consumers buy more of branded food? Why?
 Are consumers brand conscious in non food sector? Why?
 How offers on these categories affect purchasing behaviour.
 Is there a difference in the buying behaviour of food and non - food?
 Does impulse buying play a major part of modern buying behaviour?
 What will be ideal mix to cater to the consumer needs of all categories?

Research Questions
The research questions and their hypothesis, in the context of the components, are:

1. Do consumers buy more of branded food? Why?

Question Hypothesis
Is there a definite preference for branded There is a definite preference for branded
food? food.
Do consumers prefer buying branded staple Consumers prefer buying branded staple
products? products.
Are the consumers looking out for some Consumers are looking out for some
attributes in branded food? attributes in food

2. Are consumers brand conscious in non food sector? Why?

Question Hypothesis
Sales perspective
Does the major share of sales for non-food Major share of sales for non-food items
items belong to branded/unbranded occur for unbranded products.
category?
Does the major share of sales for non-food Major share of sales for non-food items
items belong to low price/high price occur for low price products.

5
category?
Perception of consumers
Is a branded non food item having high price High price of branded non-food items is not
considered a fit for buy? considered fit for buy.
Is a branded non food item having low price
considered a fit for buy?
Is an unbranded food item having low price Low price of unbranded goods is considered
considered fit for buy? fit for buy.
Is an unbranded food item having high price
considered fit for buy?
Is high priced food items perceived to have High priced non-food items are perceived as
higher quality? having high quality.
Is low priced food items perceived to have Low priced non-food items are perceived as
low quality? having low quality.
Is branded non-food items perceived to have Branded non-food items are perceived to
high quality? have high quality.

3. How offers on these categories affect purchasing behaviour.

Question Hypothesis

Do customers prefer a product if the same Customers prefer a product if the same
product is given as a compliment? product is given as a compliment
Do customers prefer a product if a food Customers prefer if another food product is
product is given as a compliment? given as a compliment
Do customers prefer a product if a non food Customers prefer if a non food product is
product is given as a compliment? given as a compliment
Do customers prefer a product if a price cut Customers prefer a product if a price cut is
is given on the product? given on the product
Do customers prefer a basket of Customers prefer a basket of
complementary products? complementary products
Do customers prefer a product if a free Customers prefer a product if a free coupon

6
coupon is given? is given
Do customers buy products if a discount is Customers buy products if a discount is given
given for certain purchase on that day? for certain purchase
Do customers buy products if a discount is
Customers buy products if a discount is given
given for certain purchase on membership
for certain purchase on membership cards
cards?

4. Is there a difference in the buying behaviour of food and non - food?

Question Hypothesis

Does the price have an impact on Price affects consumer’s buying decision on
consumer’s buying decision on food items food items and non-food items.
and non-food items?
Does brand name dilute the effect of price Brand name dilutes the effect of price
among food items? among food items
Does brand name dilute the effect of price Brand name dilutes the effect of price
among non-food items? among non-food items
Does brand name dilute the effect of price Brand name dilutes the effect of price
among staples? among staples
Does the consumer’s perception of quality – The consumer’s perception of quality –
brand name relation vary among brand name relation varies among
categories? categories
Does the rank order of criteria that influence The rank order of criteria that influence a
a buying decision differ for the three buying decision differs for the three
categories? categories

5. Does impulse buying play a major part of modern buying behaviour?

Question Hypothesis
Is impulse buying different in food, non-food Impulse buying is different in food, non-food

7
item, and staple? item, staple.
Does the impulse buying behaviour vary Impulse buying does vary depending on the
depending on the age group, gender, SEC? age group, gender and SEC.
Do promotional offers play a major role in Promotional offers play a major role in
impulse buying behaviour? impulse buying behaviour.
Are the consumers driven by the brand Consumers are driven by the brand visibility
visibility in impulse buying? in impulse buying.
Does autonomy in selection of goods play a Autonomy in selection of goods play a role in
role in impulse buying behaviour? impulse buying behaviour.
Do price/offers play a role in impulse buying Autonomy in selection of goods play a role in
behaviour for staples? impulse buying behaviour
Does quality of staples play a role in impulse Quality of staples play a role in impulse
buying? buying
Does amicable atmosphere play a major role Amicable atmosphere play a major role in
in impulse buying? impulse buying
Does influence of others purchase result to Influence of others purchase result to
impulse buying? impulse buying
Which among food, non-food and staples is more price sensitive to impulse buying?

6. What will be ideal mix to cater to the consumer needs of all categories?

The above objectives gives us the over view of the sensitivity of price and brand in different
categories.

We need to further answer the following questions-

o What is the demographic and psychographic profile of the customers of Modern

Retail?
o Do the customers look for variety and assortment of products at Modern Retail?
o Does modern retail store sell at competitive prices when compared to Kirana stores?
o Are the customers aware of the consumer promotions in the store?

8
These will define the customer and their expectations better. Thereby enabling the retail
manager to answer following questions:
 What is the optimal assortment mix?
 How to better manage the shelf space?
 What ratios should the price and brand conscious product is shelved?
 How to make the offers more effective?
 How to target impulse buyers?

Theoretical Framework
According to the ‘India Retail Report :2009’,the Indian retail industry will be worth Rs
18,10,000 crore by 2010 and organized retail will have 13 percent of the total market at Rs
2,30,000 crore[1]. This shows the enormous opportunities and challenges that await the
Indian retail industry. The changing economic times, demographics, lifestyle and
psychographics of consumers are among the major challenges that the Indian retailers are
going to face. The increasing disposable income of the middle class will provide plenty of
opportunities for the Indian retailers. The secret to tapping this segment lies in providing
the right retail format and assortment of price, product and quality.

Careful understanding of consumers and their decision drivers are necessary in catering to
the needs of the Indian consumer. One of the popular consumer buying models in the
management literature is the black-box model. The model considers consumers as a black
box susceptible to 2 stimuli-marketing stimuli, environmental stimuli. The marketing stimuli
are through the 4Ps of marketing -product, price, promotion and place. The environmental
stimuli are the economic, technological, political, cultural, demographic and natural forces
that influence consumer behaviour. These stimuli then induce decision making processes in
the consumers which then translate into a response. The response is product choice, brand
choice, outlet choice, dealer choice, purchase timing, amount and frequency. The marketers
are interested in understanding and influencing theses underlying decision making
processes. The stimulus-response model of buyer behaviour is shown below.

9
Types of Research
Qualitative research

The exploratory research will give a lot of qualitative data that will give us an overall
view about how a consumer perceives a modern retail shop, their ideas and their mindset. It
will give us an insight into their sensitivity towards price and quality.

 Interviews with experts.

 Interactions with modern retail customers.
 Unstructured observational study of customers.
 Secondary research in internet and books.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research gives us more defined value that can be obtained from
descriptive survey. The data is obtained through in-depth interviews with store managers
and customers. We will also have a questionnaire to see the proportion of consumers in
modern retail who exhibit different behaviour across different categories.

 Questionnaire is based on the hypothesis to get customer perceptions.

 Structured interviews with consumers to gauge their preferences and awareness.

10
  In depth interviews with retail managers to get their experience and views.
 Structured observations to study what customers buy.

Secondary Data Analysis

The Background

Understanding consumer buying behaviour can help firms to design the marketing
strategies as per the needs and requirements of the customers. Researchers have found
that gaining insights to the “why” part of the consumer buying behaviour can contribute to
the success of the organization.

Positioning the portfolio of offers and understanding the needs of the customers can help
firms to gain competitive advantage and enhanced consumer commitment reveals the TNS
research.

Savannah and Albany, GA advertising point out that advertising and promotion can cause
‘stampede’ and catch the attention of the people as it grabs the attention of people at large.

The qualitative research has helped to focus on the needs and wants of customers and to
gain insights in the ever changing retail environment says Kirk Ward, executive vice
president of Research International. This research can uncover fundamental needs that
drive shoppers.EARCH-INT.COM
Altering the product offering and directing towards the desires of customers acts as a
challenge in the current retail market. Sometimes variety provided by the retailer confuses
the consumers and makes the choice of the product difficult. Here the brand of the product
can play a major role in decision- making. Quality of life, perceived value, and lifestyle
positioning also affect their shopping behaviour.
These insights help them develop strategies and tactics to innovate that can help drive sales.
Researchers have found that workshops and consultative techniques shed light on brand
awareness thereby help in making decisions.

Retailers had been offering lower quality, lower price products. With the change in scenario,
people are more focused on quality, design and packaging. Reputation of the brand strongly
influences consumer behaviour. Shopper’s attitude towards the brands is strongly
11
influenced by the recommendations of professionals, family and friends. However,
consumers’ perception differs with experience, and confirming earlier studies. Risk factor
can also play a major role in buying behaviour. When consumers perceive the purchase of a
product as more risky, the intention of the purchase is declined. Consumers always are in a
[2]
look out to reduce adverse consequences that are likely to arise.

The Specifics

o What are the factors that drive consumer preferences towards branded/unbranded
items among foods, non-foods and staples?
o What is impulse buying?
o Can a clearer understanding of impulse buying help in tapping the consumer better?

A Few Pointers

Foods

The preferences of the consumers clearly indicate their priority for cleanliness/freshness of
food products followed by price, quality, variety, packaging, and non-seasonal availability.
[3]
There are many researches which suggest that there is a correlation between brand and
consumer perception of the above. This seems to point to a preference towards branded
food items rather than unbranded foods.

Non-foods

Non food sales are generally brand driven. But this is a category where we might find that
brand and price become close priorities at a macro level across various segments.

Staples

The trend of commodity-to-brand is yet to gain pace and staples are generally price driven.
While performance of branded staple foods has been patchy and short of expectations, one
market that's remained on top of the heap grown fast is branded salt. [4]

There is not much consensus on whether the various attempts at branding staples like atta
have been successful, though the exercise seems to be paying off for premium rice varieties.

12
Cooking oil has been another commodity within staples where branding made an impact
which could probably have been because it was a previously fragmented and unorganised
sector. (e.g. Marico's Saffola).

Pricing power is an indicator of how preferred a brand is. And a brand's pricing power is a
function of its perceived utility, quality, and the level of competition. Despite stiff
competition in the cooking oil market, Saffola has been able to maintain its edge. So much
so that it is the only profitable brand in an industry that includes majors like Hindustan Lever
and ITC Agro. Marico can extract a premium from the market because Saffola's brand power
derives from its low cholesterol; the light refined oil is perceived as being healthier than its
peers. [5]

But sill, there is reason to believe that among other staples like atta, sugar etc promotional
offers and prices could be major drivers.

Impulse Buying

Impulse buying ‘predicts that people intend to acquire material symbols of personal and
social identity’.

Impulse buying differs with respect to products among men and women. Price of a good and
its usefulness play a less important role in impulsive behaviour. Some types of consumer
goods make more likely impulse purchases than others, and those which were reported
most frequently - clothes, jewellery, ornaments - are closely linked to self-image and
appearance.[6]

An idea of which goods are most likely to be bought impulsively can be helpful in deciding
the promotion schemes

13
Timeline
“Time and tide waits for none”

The target dates for the following processes in Marketing Research:

Survey questionnaire – March 17

Pre-test of questionnaire – March 18
Quantitative research – March 20, 21
Data mining - March 25
Analysis of data – April 2
Presentation – April 3
Reporting - April 4

Fees

The fee for the service to be rendered is as follows:

No. of resources engaged : 7

No. of working hours per person in a week : 4*6 = 24 hours
No. of weeks : 5 weeks
Total no. of working hours : 7*5*24 = 840 hours

But all we ask for is your support, blessings and Cadbury celebrations.

14
References

1. http://www.retailangle.com/Newsdetail.asp?Newsid=1262&Newstitle=India_Retail_
Report:_2009
2. http://www.irs.stir.ac.uk/pdf/Working_papers/0001.pdf

http://www.tnsglobal.com/_assets/files/ActionableInsights.pdf

http://businessmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/revealing_the_why_in_consu
mer_buying_behavior#ixzz0hkXAREf9

3. “Buying behaviour of consumers for food products in an emerging economy” Jabir

Ali, Sanjeev Kapoor, Janakiraman Moorthy.British Food Journal
4. www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/
5. http://money.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?86342
6. “Objects, Decision Considerations and Self-Image in Men's and Women's Impulse
Purchases “ Helga Dittmar, Jane Beattie and Susanne Friese

15