The ready to eat industry is a highly competitive one.

To be successful, Company must be able to

project the right image as well as meet the need of the customers. Marketing strategies must be
formulated to attract customers. This report looks at some aspects of the Ready-to-eat market in
India. It examines the buying behaviour of Indian ladies and gauges their perception of
marketing variables.

Process of conversion of Management problem into

Measurement Question

MANAGEMENT PROBLEM
To find out behaviour and purchase habits of Indian ladies for ready-to-eat snacks

RESEARCH PROBLEM
To identify the factors affecting the overall demand of Ready-to-eat snacks despite being the
convenience product.

 Market penetration of the Ready-to-eat snacks

 Indian ladies perception about Ready-to-eat snacks
 Buying pattern of Ready-to-eat snacks
 Factors affecting repeat purchase of Ready-to-eat snacks

DEFINING THE VARIABLES

Independent variable: Ready-to-Eat market

Dependent variable: Buying Behaviour of Indian ladies.

 DATA COLLECTION METHOD
Research tool: Questionnaire

Survey method: To obtain a better insight of the Ready-to-eat market, survey was conducted
and data was collected through Personal survey method. A questionnaire was designed to
answer the following questions:

Design of questionnaire:

It is composed of four segments in this investigation.

The first part contains information of:

 What are the preference of the consumer regarding brands

 Belief about Ready-to-eat snacks
 When do they buy Ready-to-eat snacks
 Which brand of Ready-to-eat snacks they heard of

The second part contains:

 Price which the customers are to pay for the Ready-to-eat snacks
 Role of retailers in promoting Ready-to-eat brand
 From where customers get information about Ready-to-eat products and brands from

The third part consists:

 Comparison of Ready-to-eat snacks with homemade food

 Importance of Brand ambassador in promoting product
 Whether customer is satisfied with the range being provided by Ready-to-eat brands.

The fourth part consists of:

 Name
 Age
 Marital status
 Occupation

Which is necessary to predict the lifestyle of the respondent and to know the
family background, this will help in relating how consumer’s preference varies with varying
parameters.
In brief,

Management Research problem Investigation Measurement

problem question question
 To find out  Understand the  Which  Which brand
behaviour and factors products they is the market
purchase influencing prefer? leader?
habits of buying
Indian ladies decision  From where  What is the
for ready-to- making of they like to frequency of
eat snacks Ready-to-eat purchase? their
snacks. The purchase?
factors under
consideration  When do they
are purchase?  What is the
advertising, size of pack
price, product,  From where they like to
etc. they get purchase?
reference?
 Are they
satisfied from
 Do they the range of
consider child product
preference? available?
 QUESTIONNAIRE
Respected madam,

I, YOGESH TEKWANI, a student of TYBBA from BRCM College of Business

Administration, am doing a survey on the topic” Study of Behaviour of Indian Ladies while
buying Ready-To-Eat (RTE) Snacks” as per the requirement of the BBA curriculum. Kindly
give me your support by providing the needed data. Information given by you will be strictly
confidential and will be used for academic purpose only.

Q1. Do you buy ready to eat snacks?

 Yes
 No

Q2. Which of these do you mostly prefer?

 Branded snacks
 Unbranded snacks
 Any of these

Q3. When do you buy ready to eat snacks?

 While shopping for monthly grocery items

 Separately during emergency

Q4. How often do you buy ready to eat snacks?

 Once in 1-2 weeks

 Once in 3-4 weeks
 Once in 5-6 weeks
 On regular basis

Q5. When do you generally have ready to eat snacks?

 Whenever feel hungry

 During movies or while watching TV
 Anytime of the day
Q6. Rate the product from 1-3 as per your preference (with 1-most preferred and 3-least
preferred)

PRODUCTS RANK
Chips
Namkeens
Fun foods (Fraiams,
cheese-balls, etc)

Q7. Which brands amongst given below you heard of?

PRODUCTS BRANDS
Chips  Frito’s-Lays
 ITC’s-Bingo
 Garden
 Janta
 Balaji
 Other, specify _____
Namkeens  Haldiram
 Garden
 S M Food’s-Peppy Namkin
 Arito’s-Lehar
 Other, specify _____
Fun foods  Frito’s-Kurkure
 S M food’s-Peppy
 Bonker
 ITC’s-Bingo
 Other, specify _____

Q8. Do you store ready to eat snacks?

 Yes
 No

Q9. Which size of pack do you prefer?

 16 gm /32 gm
 100 gm
 500 gm
 1 kg
Q10. Kindly rate your opinion on the following parameters

STRONGLY AGREE NEITHER DISAGREE STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE OR DISAGREE
DISAGREE
RTE snacks are
easily available
whenever I need
I don’t see any sort of
health problem due to
consumption of RTE
snacks
I think a ready to eat
snacks is value of
money
I think RTE snacks is
not tasty as freshly
cooked home food
I know that RTE
packs are
manufactured at the
best of quality
concern

Q11. Are you influenced to buy RTE snacks due to large quantity of RTE placed at retailers?

 Yes
 No
 May be

Q12. How do you respond if the desired brand is not available?

 Take another
 Visit next shop
 Postpone your purchase

Q13. Do you consider your children preference?

 Yes
 No

Q14. Do you think brand ambassador play an important role in endorsing RTE snacks?

 Yes
 No
Q15. What is the source from where you get information regarding ready to eat snacks?

 Print Ads
 TV
 Hoardings
 Magazines
 Newspaper
 Retailers

Q16. Are you satisfied with the range of RTE snacks available?

 Yes
 No

PERSONAL DETAILS

NAME: ______________________________________________________________________

AGE:

 18-25
 20-40
 41-55
 55 above

MARITAL STATUS:

 SINGLE
 MARRIED

OCCUPATION:

 Service
 Self employed
 Housewife
 Retire/others

Thank you.
 ANALYSIS OF DATA & INTERPRETATION
Q1. Do you buy ready to eat snacks?

 Yes

 No
OBJECTIVE: This question is designed to know whether respondent is aware about ready-to-
eat snacks and have purchased it and to check the market penetration of Ready-to-eat snacks.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using percentage method and can be represented using Bar
chart.

Percent
Yes 100%
No -

DO YOU BUY RTE SNACKS

NO

YES

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

It is clear from the above chart that 100% of the respondent has purchased and used the ready to
eat snacks and have given their rating based on their experience. From this we can conclude that
Ready to eat snacks has penetrated sufficiently in the Indian market.
Q2. Which of these do you mostly prefer?

 Branded snacks

 Unbranded snacks

 Any of these
OBJECTIVE: This question is to determine the preference of the respondent (branded vs.
unbranded).

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using percentage method and can be represented using Pie
chart.

Percent
Branded snacks 72.5%
Unbranded snacks 5%
Both 22.5%

BRAND PREFERENCE

23%

BRANDED SNACKS
5%
UNBRANDED SNACKS

BOTH

73%

Out of 40 ladies surveyed, 72.5% of them prefers to have branded snacks, whereas 5% of them
prefer to have both branded and unbranded snacks.
Q3. When do you buy ready to eat snacks?

 While shopping for monthly grocery items

 Separately during emergency

OBJECTIVE: This question is to determine on what occasion the respondent is buying ready to
eat snacks.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using percentage method and can be represented using Pie
chart.

Percent
While shopping for monthly grocery items 55%
Separately during emergency 45%

WHEN DO YOU PICK UP READY TO EAT SNACKS

While shopping for monthly

grocery items

Separately during emergency

55% of the respondent said that the RTE snacks are the part of their monthly grocery shopping
and not emergency purchase.
Q4. How often do you buy ready to eat snacks?

 Once in 1-2 weeks

 Once in 3-4 weeks

 Once in 5-6 weeks

 On regular basis
OBJECTIVE: This question helps us to know the frequency by which respondent is buying
Ready to eat snacks.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using statistical tool “MODE” as Mode tells the result which
is occurring for the most times.

Percent
Once in 1-2 weeks 45%
Once in 3-4 weeks 42.5%
Once in 5-6 weeks 2.5%
On regular basis 10%

HOW OFTEN PURCHASED

50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Once in 1-2 weeks Once in 3-4 weeks Once in 5-6 weeks On regular basis

It is clear that most of the respondent prefers to buy ready to eat snacks once in 1-2 weeks.
Q5. When do you generally have ready to eat snacks?

 Whenever feel hungry

 During movies or while watching TV

 Anytime of the day

OBJECTIVE: This question is to determine when respondent prefers to consume ready to eat
snacks.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using weighted average mean method.

Percent
Whenever feel hungry 50%
During movies or while watching TV 17.5%
Any time of the day 32.5%

GENERALLY EAT DURING

33%

Whenever feel hungry

During movies or while watching
50% TV
Any time of the day

18%

Out of 40 surveyed ladies, 20 of them prefer to have RTE snacks whenever they feel hungry, 7 of
them prefer to RTE snacks during movies or while watching TV; whereas 13 of them prefer to
have RTE at any time of the day. From this we can conclude that ready to eat snacks act as
convenience food which can be consumed whenever you feel hungry.
Q6. Rate the product from 1-3 as per your preference (with 1-most preferred and 3-least
preferred)

PRODUCTS RANK
Chips
Namkeens
Fun foods (fraiams, cheese-balls, etc)

OBJECTIVE: This question is designed to know about the most preferred snack

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using weighted average rank method.

Product/preference Chips Namkeens Fun foods

Most preference 22 10 8
General preference 17 9 14
Least preference 1 21 18
Total 40 40 40

100%
90%
80%
70%
60% least preference
50% general preference
40% most preference
30%
20%
10%
0%
CHIPS NAMKEENS FUN FOODS

Out of 40 surveyed ladies, 22 prefer chips, 10 prefer Namkeens and only 8 prefer fun foods as
their most preferred option. As far as 2 nd preference is concerned, 17 prefer chips, 9 prefer
Namkeens and 14 prefer fun foods. With the reference to the last option only 1 out of 40
surveyed ladies prefers Chips as the last option; whereas 21 of them has Namkeens as the last
option and 18 of them has fun foods as their last option. Fun foods as whole is generally been
selected as the substitute to wafers and Namkeens.
Q7. Which brands amongst given below you heard of?

PRODUCTS BRANDS
Chips  Frito’s –lays
 ITC’s – Bingo
 Garden
 Janta
 Balaji
 Other, specify _____
Namkeens  Haldiram
 Garden
 S M Food’s – Peppy Namkeens
 Arito’s - Lehar
 Other, specify _____

Fun foods  Frito’s –Kurkure

 S M Foods – Peppy
 Bonker
 ITC’s - Bingo
 Other, specify _____

OBJECTIVE: This question is asked to know the market leaders of ready to eat snacks as per
customers and their first preference of choice

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using statistical tool “MEAN”

Product: Chips

CHIPS PERCENT
Frito’s –lays 50%
ITC’s- Bingo 28%
Garden 30%
Janta 7.5%
Balaji 67.5%
Others -
 CHIPS
80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
fritos-lays itc's -bingo garden janta balaji others

It is clear from the above chart that maximum respondent know about Balaji, Lays and Bingo
and these brands have maximum market share.

Product: Namkeens

NAMKEENS PERCENT
Haldiram 77.5%
Garden 42.5%
S M Foods-Peppy Namkeens 25%
Arito’s -Lehar 25%
others -

NAMKEENS
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
It is clear from the above chart that maximum respondent know about Haldiram and Garden and
these brands have maximum market share.

Product: Fun foods

FUN FOODS PERCENT

Frito’s - Kurkure 62.5%
S m foods peppy 30%
Bonker 12.5%
ITC’s - bingo 52.5%
others -

FUN-FOODS
70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Frito’s - Kurkure S m foods peppy bonker Itc’s - bingo others

It is clear from the above chart that maximum respondent know about Kurkure, Bingo and Peppy
and these brands have maximum market share.
Q8. Do you store ready to eat snacks?

 Yes

 No
OBJECTIVE: This question is to know whether the respondent stores ready to eat snacks or not

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using Percentage method.

Percent
Yes 92.5%
No 7.5%

DO YOU STORE READY TO EAT SNACKS?

100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
YES NO

Out of 40 ladies surveyed, 92.5% of them store ready to eat snacks.

Q9. Which size of pack do you prefer?

 16 gm /32 gm

 100 gm

 500 gm

 1 kg
OBJECTIVE: This question is asked to determine the preference of the respondent regarding
quantity of purchase.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using statistical tool “MODE”

PACK PERCENT
16 gm/ 32 gm 10%
100 gm 52.5%
500 gm 35%
1 kg 2.5%

PREFERED PACK SIZE

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
16 gm/ 32 gm 100 gm 500 gm 1 kg

Out of 40 respondents, 4 of them prefer pack of 16/32 gm, 21 of them prefer pack of 100 gm and
14 of them prefer pack of 500 gm. Only 1 of them prefers pack of 1 kg. This clearly depicts rte
snacks are considered as time pass food.
Q10. Kindly rate your opinion on the following parameters

STRONGLY AGREE NEITHER DISAGREE STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE OR DISAGREE
DISAGREE
RTE snacks are
easily available
whenever I need
I don’t see any
sort of health
problem due to
consumption of
RTE snacks
I think a ready to
eat snacks is
value of money
I think RTE
snacks is not
tasty as freshly
cooked home
food
I know that RTE
packs are
manufactured at
the best of
quality concern

OBJECTIVE: This question is to determine the consumer perception (belief) regarding ready to
eat snacks.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using Percentage method.

 RTE snacks are easily available whenever I need: This question is set up in order to check
the consumer feedback regarding easy availability of ready to eat snacks.

Percent
Strongly agree 50%
Agree 42.5%
Neither agree or disagree 7.5%
Disagree -
Strongly disagree -
 RTE SNACKS ARE EASILY AVAILABLE

strongly agree

agree

neither agree or disagree

disagree

strongly disagree

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Almost 92.5% of the respondents feel that RTE snacks are easily available whenever required.
This shows the commendable distribution network established by RTE marketers.

 I don’t see any sort of health problem due to consumption of RTE snacks: This question
is set up in order to check the consumer feedback regarding health problem related to ready to
eat snacks.

Percent
Strongly agree 10%
Agree 32.5%
Neither agree or disagree 40%
Disagree 15%
Strongly disagree 2.5%

RTE SNACKS CREATES NO HEALTH PROBLEM

strongly agree

agree

neither agree or disagree

disagree

strongly disagree

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

15% respondents feel that RTE snacks are not good for health while 40% respondents neither
agree nor disagree with the above fact which is concerning statistics for the RTE companies.
When a product is considered harmful for health its reliability decreases and brand value loses.
Same is the case for RTE. This could be one of the reasons why in spite of efforts taken by
companies the growth in RTE segment is stagnant. This is very critical factors affecting the
behaviour of consumers.

 I think a ready to eat snacks is value of money: This question respond to value of money
for ready to eat snacks.

Percent
Strongly agree 7.5%
Agree 47.5%
Neither agree or disagree 20%
Disagree 25%
Strongly disagree -

RTE SNACKS ARE VALUE OF MONEY

strongly agree

agree

neither agree or disagree

disagree

strongly disagree

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

55% respondents feel that RTE packs are value for money while only 25 % respondent feel they
are not while the rest 20% respondents did not agree on either. Thus it is clear that people think
RTE snacks are value of money.
 I think RTE snack is not tasty as freshly cooked home food: This question is designed in
order to check the consumer feedback regarding the taste between ready to eat snacks and
homemade food.

Percent
Strongly agree 10%
Agree 32.5%
Neither agree or disagree 22.5%
Disagree 32.5%
Strongly disagree 2.5%

RTE SNACKS ARE NOT AS TASTY AS HOME COOKED FOOD

strongly agree

agree

neither agree or disagree

disagree

strongly disagree

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

42.5% respondents feel that RTE snacks are not tasty as homemade food and only
34%respondent feel otherwise. This depicts unique characteristics of Indian household which
always believes that homemade foods are more tasty and nutritious.

 I know that RTE packs are manufactured at the best of quality concern: This question is
set up in order to check the consumer feedback regarding quality of ready to eat snacks.
 Percent
Strongly agree 17.5%
Agree 42.5%
Neither agree or disagree 25%
Disagree 7.5%
Strongly disagree 7.5%

RTE SNACKS ARE MANUFACTURED AT BEST OF QUALITY

CONCERN
strongly agree

agree

neither agree or disagree

disagree

strongly disagree

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

As the result suggest 25% respondent are not sure whether ready to eat meals are manufactured
under best quality standards. If the manufacturers can repose confidence by eliminating all
doubts in the consumers' minds and assure them that these products are not a health hazard, then
the consumption may increase.

Q11. Are you influenced to buy RTE snacks due to large quantity of RTE placed at
retailers?

 Yes
  No

 May be
OBJECTIVE: This question identifies the role of retailer display in consumer purchase.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using Percentage method.

Percent
Yes 30%
No 35%
May be 35%

RETAILERS DISPLAY AFFECT PURCHASE

yes
no
may be

It is clear that customer is just not influenced by retailer display but also considers other factors
before purchase.

Q12. How do you respond if the desired brand is not available?

 Take another

 Visit next shop

  Postpone your purchase
OBJECTIVE: This question is designed to check brand loyalty of the respondents.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using Percentage method.

Percent
Take another brand 35%
Visit next shop 55%
Postpone your purchase 10%

IF THE DESIRED BRAND IS NOT AVAILABLE

10%

35%
take another brand
visit next shop
postpone your purchase

55%

55% respondent says that they will next shop and 10% respondent says that they will post pone
their purchase if the desired brand is not available which shows the brand loyalty on the part of
the consumers.

Q13. Do you consider your children preference?

 Yes

 No
OBJECTIVE: This question is design to know whether ladies consider their child preference for
purchase of Ready to eat snacks or not.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using Percentage method.

Percent
Consider 75%
Do not consider 25%

CHILD PREFERENCE

25%

consider
do not consider

75%

It is clear that most of the ladies do consider their child preference for the purchase of RTE
snacks.

Q14. Do you think brand ambassador play an important role in endorsing RTE snacks?

 Yes

 No
OBJECTIVE: we know the role of brand ambassador plays an important role for success of
product but Ready to eat snack is something that can be accepted once the customer tries it. So
this question is made to check their response.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using Percentage method.

Percent
Yes 55%
No 45%

ROLE OF BRAND AMBASSADOR

45%
yes no
55%

It is clear that respondent still think that quality and taste matters more than brand ambassadors.

Q15. What is the source from where you get information regarding ready to eat snacks?

 Print Ads

 TV
  Hoardings

 Magazines

 Newspaper

 Retailers
OBJECTIVE: This question is designed to check about the promotion schemes that should be
used by the companies and what media channel.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using weighted average mean method.

Percent
Print Ads 20%
TV 85%
Hoardings 10%
Magazines 12.5%
Newspaper 22.5%
Retailers 22.5%

HOW DID YOU COME TO KNOW ABOUT RTE SNACKS?

print Ads 20.00%

TV 85.00%

hoardings 10.00%

magazines 12.50%

newspaper 22.50%

retailers 22.50%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00%

As seen from the above chart the ready to eat snacks have the highest visibility in TV
commercial and then Retailers and Newspaper. The companies should leverage this option to
increase the visibility and the penetration of the Ready to eat snacks.

Q16. Are you satisfied with the range of RTE snacks available?
  Yes
 No

OBJECTIVE: it is the open ended question to check whether respondent is comfortable with
range of RTE snacks available in the market.

ANALYSIS: This can be analyzed using Percentage method.

Percent
Yes 85%
No 15%

ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH RANGE OF RTE AVAILABLE?

15%

yes
no

85%

Around 85% of the respondent were comfortable with the range of rte available but rest still
feel that rte has much more potential and can capture more market.

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

 Lays, Haldiram, Kurkure and Balaji has the maximum market share in the market.
 Ready to eat snacks are cost effective.

 The major concern for consumers is the health aspect. They have a perception that
these Ready to eat snacks are not good for health. Hence marketers have to touch
upon this point. The advertising, communication and promotion should revolve
around this point.

 Indian Households are averse to outside food and they feel only home cooked food
can provide the taste and quality. This is a big hurdle for the RTE industry and the
efforts should be taken to improve the quality of the snacks by using better
manufacturing, and packing methods.

 As it is seen that the consumers came to know about RTE snacks from Television
Ads and display at malls. This proves that two promotion methodologies were very
effective. The third and the most important as far is food products is concerned “word
of mouth” is where marketers should work on. This can only happen if the consumers
are satisfied with their experience and will they give a positive word of mouth
feedback to their relatives and friends. This is the most effective form of
communication when it comes to something edible as consumers tend to trust people
who have already used it rather than advertisement.

BRCM COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY PROJECT

TOPIC:

STUDY OF BEHAVIOUR OF INDIAN LADIES WHILE

BUYING READY TO EAT SNACKS

SUBMITTED BY: YOGESH TEKWANI

ROLL NO: 236
TY BBA DIV-3

SUBMITTED TO: MR OJAS DESAI

SUBMITTED ON: 23 AUGUST, 2010