Consumer Decision making process

for
Deodorant purchase (Men’s Category)

Group 7

Abhishek Gaurav M073-15

Abhay Navjeet Singh Narula M071-15

Sudeep Ranjan Sahu M127-15

Jitin Kurian M096-15

Swapnil Ranu M129-15

Neelam Kumari M033-15

Contents
Problem Statement ............................................................................................................................ 3
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Theoretical Underpinning ................................................................................................................... 3
A consumer decision making process can be of three types – Cognitive, habitual and affective. ... 3
Literature Review and Research Hypothesis .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Research Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 4
Focus Group....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Factor Analysis (Factor’s for deodorant Purchase) ........................................................................... 6
Total Variance Explained .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Factor Analysis (Shopper Orientation)............................................................................................. 10
Regression Analysis (Shopping Orientation) ................................................................................... 12
Conclusion (Factor affecting Deodorant Purchase) .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Conclusion (Shopper Orientation) ..................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Managerial Implication ....................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix-I (Code Book) ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix –II (Questionnaire) ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Problem Statement
Analysis of Consumer Decision making process for Deodorant purchase in the men’s category

Abstract
Deodorants are one of the major products in consumer market, so the marketing opportunity is
huge. Consumer’s buying decision-making process has to be well understood by the manufacturers
in order to increase sales and make market strategies to influence consumer’s purchase intention.
The key point to influence consumer’s willingness to buy is perceived value. We adopted the
PERVAL scale to analyze the influences of perceived value on consumer’s purchase intention
toward deodorant category. Eighty-eight students were taken as sample to participate in and fill out
the questionnaire. Our major finding was that all dimensions of perceived value have significant
impact on consumers’ purchase intentions. Through this market research we suggest that
manufacturers can develop effective marketing strategies through emphasis on price, quality of
product, fragrances, packages, and designs of product etc. to enhance consumers’ perceived value
to increase their purchase intentions.

Theoretical Underpinning
A consumer decision making process can be of three types – Cognitive, habitual and affective.
The table shows the various step in a cognitive decision making along with the factor
considered at each state

Consumer Factors for Consideration

Decision
Need Recognition
Making Stage Analyse the Stimuli and Personality trait (segmentation) that has
resulted in Need recognition
Initial Consideration Set Environmental factors: culture, social class, Personal influence and
family. Situational factors: experience, Social acceptability and
value related consideration.
Memory recall (advertisement, brand recall, etc.)

Pre-Purchase Attributes of Product: Price, Fragrance, Packaging etc.

Evaluation of Previous experience (satisfaction, loyalty)
Moment of Purchase
Alternatives Availability of products: Impulse buying behaviour, etc.
Emotional and Situational factors: Pressure of nearby (friends,
sales- person)
Post-Purchase Satisfaction Level (Performance vs. Expectation)
Evaluation External Validation-Advertisement, Friends/nearby people
appreciation
In the case of Habitual decision making the consumer makes choices with little or no
conscious effort. Here the various behavioural economics factors such as priming, nudging
and decision making bias form the basis of consumer decision making process.
In the case of affective decision making decisions are made on basis of emotional reactions.
The above process of decision making is true for people who fall in the adopter category of
the product. There are some consumers who fall in the non-adopter category of the
product. They need to be interviewed so as to find out the reasons which deter them from
consuming the product.
The above theoretical underpinning would form the basis of our study.
 Research Methodology
The present study used IIM Ranchi students as the target respondents (they were easily
accessible), and thus this study has essentially employed Convenience Sampling. Moreover,
for concept identification and construct analysis, the homogenous nature of the student
sample allowed for more exact theoretical predictions.

The study was initiated with an in depth interview of 8 people, target audience was between the
ages 22-30 years and comprised of male participants only (as the study is on usage of male
deodorants). Each individual was interviewed for around 15 to 20 minutes which helped us to
determine the various factors which influenced them while they buy Deodorants. On the basis of
these identified factors a survey was conducted on the students of IIM Ranchi. A total of 36
question were prepared for the same on these attributes. In addition, readability, wording, format,
and length of the questionnaire were discussed in detail for further improvement in the instrument.
All the respondents had prior experience with deodorants use and purchase. For each question,
respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the survey instruments.
Also all the students to whom it was administered belonged to different parts of country from
different background of work experience and thereby could be used as a representative sample
for the required demographic profile of the customers

In this survey we used mail surveys as the target audience were familiar with the Internet
and computers. They were asked to rate their experiences and highlight the decision-
influencing factors during deodorant purchase. In total, 103 responses were collected. After
screening ambiguous and invalid responses, 86 valid responses were retained.

This study is exploratory in nature and has used exploratory factor analysis as we are not
sure if the results are always applicable. This helped us to reduce the number of factors
which influenced the buying behavior of the respondents. After the factor analysis was
conducted we ran a linear regression of the factor scores with the purchase frequency of the
customers to determine which factor influenced the most to the purchase intent of the
customers

Also another survey was conducted to determine the shopper orientation for different
channel of Deodorants. In this we could determine what kind of shoppers are there and what
influence them when they buy deodorants in different channels. Here also after determining
the shopper orientation through factor analysis a liner regression was run for different kinds
of stores like Organized retail, Kirana Stores, Chemists and cosmetics stores and what kind
of shoppers buy from these different channels.

Interview Results
In total we interviewed around 6 males and these are the key findings we got
from these interviews

Respondent-1

This respondent was not a regular user of deodorant. He uses deodorant 3-4 times in a week.
So, It is not habitual to him to use deodorant and here by is not much involved in choosing the
kind of deodorant. For him the most important attribute was the fragrance of the deodorant
which must not be too heavy. So, he often buys from those places where he can try the
deodorant before buying it. Also, he depends on the outside media like television ads to know
about the different brands of the deo but the wacky ads do not increase his buying intent for
that particular brand rather he goes by testing the brand fragrance before taking the decision.
Also the respondent was not influenced by any his close relatives or friends’ choice and chose
the deodorant according to his own preference and had no TRA. When asked about the brands
he could recall, he mentioned only two or three which he had used recently. So, he do not have
much brand recall. He is motivated by the way he presents himself and uses deo as more of an
avoidance motive to avoid bad odor rather than approach of smelling good. So, he has
appearance anxiety if his deodorant smells too heavy.

Respondant-2

This male Respondent has been using deodorant for the past 5 years and was first influenced
to by the deo by the influence of his friends when he first joined engineering college. He
wanted to make a good public appearance and wanted to make a good impression on people
and attract opposite sex. He mostly buys those deodorants which his friends use and by that
he felt a kind of belongingness to the group. So, he did not have much information of different
kinds of brands available and seek information from his friends and their experience with
different brands of deodorants.

Respondant-3

This guy is very brand specific to a particular brand of deodorant. He has been using this particular
brand for the last 4 years. The first time he used it was by the influence of his elder brother and
since then he has been using that particular brand. He uses different channels to buy that particular
brand in case its not available in the stores. Also in that brand he like only two particular kind of
fragrance which he feels is light and suits him. He tries to relate the deodorant to his public
acceptance and is quite conscious about how he presents himself in the public. He also like the
particular shape and the packaging of the brand of deo and do not want to try any new size or
variety of deo of the same brand. Also he is not willing to change his deo if the price is reduced or
some promotional offers are given on any other brands. By using that deodorant he feels confident
and presentable and that particular brand is tried and tested and thereby is deeply imbibed in his
mind. So, he do not search for more varieties when he goes for shopping and buys that particular
variety.

Respondant-4

This particular individual is influenced by the looks and the package of the deodorant rather than
the fragrance. He considers that if the packaging or the graphics is good then he would prefer that
rather that any dull looking deodorant. Also for him product disposal is an important thing as he is
variety seeking and tries different deodorants with good bottle shape as well as a design and
packaging. For him deodorant should look good on his table. With respect to use, he is not a
frequent user and neither is influenced by the price or promotional schemes of Buy 1 get 1 free as
he wants to try new varieties. H prefers those schemes of reduced price for the same volume of
deodorant. Mostly he buys deodorants from Big Bazaar or shops where a wide variety of
deodorants are on display and he can choose the best looking. For him the visualization as well as
the placement of the deodorant is quite important in the shop.

Respondent-5

This respondent looks for premium feel of the product. He aspires to feel sophisticated or luxury
oriented. So, he perceives that by buying premium looking deodorants he tries to fulfil his aspiration
to be part of that group. He is quite influenced by the premium packaging of the product or the
perceived notion among his friends about the premiumness of the product. He wants to make a
mark that he is sophisticated and have a need for power and appreciation by his group of friends. At
the same moment he does not purchase too costly deodorant but can assimilate a little higher price
if he could get a more premium looking and better fragrance deodorant which also lasts long and
marks his presence. He is too conscious of his appearance and is motivated to spend time to
improve his appearance and make a mark on other people.

Based on the interview, we identified a group of seven attributes that really mattered to the
participants, they were:
 Public Self-consciousness
 Appearance Anxiety
 Appearance Motive
 Consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence(Normative)
 Consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence(Informative)
 Trial ability
 Prices and Offers
 Susceptibility to television ads
 Brand Selectiveness
 Premiumness of the Brand
 The physical appearance of the product (size, packaging, graphics)

Factor Analysis (Factor’s for deodorant Purchase)

On the basis of the 11 attributes and variables we designed a questionnaire with 36 questions
covering all the 11 parameters that influence the buying of deodorants. On the basis of the
questions we got 101 responses out of which we selected 86 after the various data cleaning
and removing the missing responses. On these 86 responses a EFA was run using SPSS and
the following is the output:
KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .694
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 1635.977

Df 595
Sig. .000

This table shows two tests that indicate the suitability of your data for structure detection. The Kaiser-
Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy is a statistic that indicates the proportion of variance
in your variables that might be caused by underlying factors. High values (close to 1.0) generally
indicate that a factor analysis may be useful with your data. If the value is less than 0.50, the results
of the factor analysis probably won't be very useful.
As the value is 0.694, the factor analysis is useful with our data.

Bartlett's test of sphericity tests the hypothesis that your correlation matrix is an identity matrix,
which would indicate that your variables are unrelated and therefore unsuitable for structure
detection. Small values (less than 0.05) of the significance level indicate that a factor analysis may
be useful with your data.
As the value of significance is 0.000 so the factor analysis is useful with our data. This showed that
the data was fit for factor analysis.
The various factors which got extracted is as shown below.

Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared Rotation Sums of Squared
Initial Eigenvalues
Loadings Loadings
Factor
% of Cumulati % of Cumulati % of Cumulati
Total Total Total
Variance ve % Variance ve % Variance ve %
1 7.23 20.656 20.656 6.896 19.704 19.704 3.038 8.681 8.681
2 4.887 13.962 34.618 4.549 12.997 32.702 2.793 7.981 16.662
3 2.281 6.516 41.134 1.876 5.361 38.062 2.653 7.581 24.243
4 2.139 6.111 47.246 1.738 4.967 43.029 2.458 7.023 31.266
5 1.843 5.266 52.512 1.47 4.199 47.229 2.29 6.542 37.809
6 1.622 4.634 57.146 1.292 3.692 50.921 1.853 5.294 43.102
7 1.414 4.039 61.185 1.015 2.901 53.822 1.484 4.24 47.342
8 1.302 3.721 64.906 0.915 2.615 56.437 1.471 4.203 51.545
9 1.141 3.26 68.165 0.755 2.158 58.595 1.457 4.162 55.708
10 1.054 3.012 71.177 0.705 2.015 60.61 1.292 3.692 59.399
11 1.033 2.951 74.128 0.677 1.935 62.545 1.101 3.145 62.545
12 0.985 2.815 76.943
13 0.813 2.323 79.266
14 0.745 2.128 81.393
15 0.693 1.979 83.373
16 0.63 1.799 85.172
17 0.546 1.559 86.731
18 0.47 1.343 88.074
19 0.462 1.32 89.394
20 0.428 1.224 90.618
21 0.402 1.149 91.767
22 0.363 1.037 92.805
23 0.342 0.977 93.781
24 0.338 0.965 94.747
25 0.29 0.829 95.575
26 0.246 0.702 96.277
27 0.222 0.634 96.911
28 0.209 0.598 97.509
29 0.193 0.55 98.06
30 0.16 0.457 98.517
31 0.132 0.377 98.894
32 0.125 0.358 99.252
33 0.097 0.278 99.529
34 0.088 0.251 99.78
35 0.077 0.22 100
Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.
As we can see from the above table, factor 1 is the most important factor which is able to explain
20.656 % of the total variation in the model followed by factor 2 and so on. Now as the 11 factors
are
extracted, it determines that 74.128% of the behavior of the deodorant users can be explained by
these 11 factors.

Scree plot helps to determine the optimal number of components. The eigenvalue of each
component in the initial solution is plotted. Generally, you want to extract the components on the
steep slope. The components on the shallow slope contribute little to the solution. The first 11
components have Eigen value greater than 1, so using the first 11 components becomes an easy
choice.

Using the rotated factor matrix as shown below contains the rotated factor loadings (factor pattern
matrix), which represent both how the variables are weighted for each factor but also the
correlation between the variables and the factor.
Rotated Factor Matrixa
Factor

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
PSC1 .724
PSC2 .514 .512
PSC3 .753
AA1 .671
AA2
AM1 .780
AM2 .765
AM3 .652
NSII2 .811
NSII3 .653
NSII4 .785
NSII5 .503
NSII6
NSII7 .669
ISII1
ISII2
ISII3 .569
STA1 .610
STA2 .751
STA3
CONSER1 .721

CONSER2 .737

PROD1 .574
PROD2
PROD3 .766
PROD4 .736
PREMIUM1 .725

PREMIUM2 .678

PREMIUM3 .743

TRIAL1
TRIAL2 .663
TRIAL3 .726
PRICES1 .680
PRICES2
PRICES3
Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 13 iterations.
On the basis of the factor loading on the different factors we get the following Dimensions for the various
factors:

Factor 1 External influence

Factor 2 Belongingness to group
Factor 3 Product utilitarian Features
Factor 4 Appearance Motive
Factor 5 Public Self Conscious
Factor 6 Brand Selectiveness
Factor 7 Product Information
Factor 8 Trialability

Coefficients
Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95%Lower 95.0%
Upper 95.0%
Intercept 3.988636 0.079641 50.08278 1.28E-61 3.830115 4.147157 3.830115 4.147157
Factor 1 -0.31897 0.088195 -3.61669 0.000524 -0.49452 -0.14343 -0.49452 -0.14343
Factor 2 0.057023 0.087525 0.651505 0.516612 -0.11719 0.231236 -0.11719 0.231236
Factor 3 -0.0671 0.086717 -0.77374 0.441393 -0.2397 0.10551 -0.2397 0.10551
Factor 4 0.172839 0.087497 1.975373 0.051718 -0.00132 0.346997 -0.00132 0.346997
Factor 5 0.153566 0.088586 1.733525 0.086904 -0.02276 0.329893 -0.02276 0.329893
Factor 6 -0.02186 0.091105 -0.2399 0.811032 -0.2032 0.159484 -0.2032 0.159484
Factor 7 -0.24477 0.091628 -2.67136 0.009171 -0.42715 -0.06239 -0.42715 -0.06239
Factor 8 0.021596 0.09245 0.233599 0.8159 -0.16242 0.205613 -0.16242 0.205613

On the basis of the regression analysis between the frequency of the purchase of the
deodorants by the male consumers and the various factors we determined that Factor 1,
Factor 4, and Factor 7 affect the most to the decision making process at 95% confidence
interval.

Factor Analysis (Shopper Orientation)

An EFA was conducted on the same sample of students with 50 responses for 14 questions to
determine shopper orientation.

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .609
Approx. Chi-Square 169.306
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity df 91
Sig. .000

The KMO value is 0.609, the factor analysis is useful with our data.

According to the Bartlett's test of sphericity as the value of significance is 0.000 so the factor
analysis is useful with our data. This showed that the data was fit for factor analysis.

We used principal axis factor with varimax rotation to reduce the cross loading of
factors.
The various factors which got extracted is as shown below.

Total Variance Explained

Component Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Rotation Sums of Squared
Squared Loadings Loadings
Total % of Cumulative Total % of Cumulative Total % of Cumulative
Variance % Variance % Variance %
1 3.174 22.669 22.669 3.174 22.669 22.669 2.568 18.343 18.343
2 2.017 14.407 37.075 2.017 14.407 37.075 1.974 14.100 32.442
3 1.768 12.630 49.706 1.768 12.630 49.706 1.937 13.836 46.279
4 1.448 10.345 60.051 1.448 10.345 60.051 1.663 11.876 58.155
5 1.143 8.164 68.215 1.143 8.164 68.215 1.408 10.060 68.215
6 .899 6.419 74.635
7 .744 5.316 79.951
8 .627 4.480 84.430
9 .610 4.357 88.787
10 .449 3.210 91.997
11 .353 2.523 94.520
12 .288 2.057 96.577
13 .275 1.965 98.541
14 .204 1.459 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

From the above table, factor 1 is the most important factor which is able to explain 22.669 % of the
total variation in the model followed by factor 2 and so on. Now as the 5 factors are extracted, it
determines that 68.215 % of shopping orientation in deodorant purchase.

Scree plot helps to determine the optimal number of components.

Here is the rotated component matrix. Few items got eliminated based on our analysis method.
 Rotated Component Matrixa
Component
1 2 3 4 5
VAR00006 .663
VAR00007 .837
VAR00008 .782
VAR00009 .727
VAR00010 .547 .652
VAR00011
VAR00012 .648
VAR00013 .851
VAR00014 .794
VAR00015 .665
VAR00016 .633
VAR00017 .803
VAR00018 .685
VAR00019 .795
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 9 iterations.

These Five factor form the 5 kind of shopping orientation in deodorant purchase.
The Underlying Dimension of these 5 factors are

Factor 1 Variety Seeking

Doing Shopping for managing
Factor 2 Stress
Factor 3 Local Shopper
Factor 4 Brand Conscious
Factor 5 Price conscious
Regression Analysis (Shopping Orientation)
Regression analysis for Kirana Stores
Coefficients

Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients

B Std. Error Beta

(Constant) 2.522 .176 14.328 .000

REGR factor score 1 for .172 .178 .139 .967 .339

analysis 1

REGR factor score 2 for .069 .178 .056 .386 .702

analysis 1
1 REGR factor score 3 for -.063 .178 -.051 -.354 .725
analysis 1

REGR factor score 4 for .063 .178 .051 .355 .724

analysis 1

REGR factor score 5 for -.387 .178 -.314 -2.176 .035

analysis 1
 b-Regression analysis for Cosmetics store

Coefficients

Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients

B Std. Error Beta

(Constant) 2.178 .146 14.949 .000

REGR factor score 1 for .045 .147 .042 .302 .764

analysis 1

REGR factor score 2 for -.235 .147 -.222 -1.597 .118

analysis 1
1 REGR factor score 3 for .092 .147 .087 .623 .537
analysis 1
REGR factor score 4 for .371 .147 .351 2.518 .016
analysis 1

REGR factor score 5 for -.072 .147 -.068 -.488 .628

analysis 1

Regression Analysis for Chemist

Coefficientsa

Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients

B Std. Error Beta

(Constant) 1.750 .105 16.673 .000

REGR factor score 1 for -.101 .106 -.130 -.949 .348

analysis 1

REGR factor score 2 for .063 .106 .081 .590 .559

analysis 1
1 REGR factor score 3 for -.192 .106 -.248 -1.814 .077
analysis 1

REGR factor score 4 for .278 .106 .358 2.618 .012

analysis 1

REGR factor score 5 for -.018 .106 -.023 -.165 .870

analysis 1
Regression Analysis for Organised Retail

Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized t Sig.

Coefficients

B Std. Error Beta

(Constant) 3.188 .135 23.654 .000

REGR factor score 1 for .183 .136 .200 1.345 .186

analysis 1

REGR factor score 2 for -.022 .136 -.024 -.164 .871

analysis 1
1 REGR factor score 3 for .037 .136 .040 .269 .789
analysis 1

REGR factor score 4 for .144 .136 .158 1.060 .295

analysis 1
REGR factor score 5 for -.037 .136 -.040 -.268 .790
analysis 1

Findings and Inferences

On the basis of the statistical analysis we concluded the following factors which influence the
buying decision of the individual

Factor 1 External influence

Factor 2 Belongingness to group
Factor 3 Product utilitarian Features
Factor 4 Appearance Motive
Factor 5 Public Self Conscious
Factor 6 Brand Selectiveness
Factor 7 Product Information
Factor 8 Trial ability

Is the brand in the evoked set or consideration set?

Evoked Set
When the consumers were asked about the different brands that they remembered about
deodorants the most common brands which came in their mind were as shown below. As we
can see the highest is Park avenue and Axe. Park avenue is more due to the premium appeal it
had and this brand holds a kind of aspiration to itself. Park Avenue creates a kind of positive
influence for the customers to be the member of the group of people who use it.
Whereas axe is the next brand due to the wacky ads which is shown in the television. Also they
go for cosmetic variations of the ads for different fragrances and it leads to recall of the male
consumers. Axe creates a image of sensuousness, wilderness, fashion and evoking the
hedonic instincts whereas park avenue is more about sophistication, luxury and
professionalism.
Also the ad of Fogg of more number of sprays and the premium appeal of the Fog wood also
leads to the recall of the brand among the consumers. Mostly Fog is related to more of
utilitarian benefits like more number of sprays, value for money, more lasting.
 EVOKED SET
Nike Axe Old Spice Wild Stone Fogg
Park Avenue Set Wet Cinthol Engage Adidas
Addiction Yardley Nivea Playboy

4% 6%
8%
4%
1% 15%
7%
3% 6%
3%
5% 10%

16% 12%

Consideration Set
 CONSIDERATION SET
Nike Axe Old Spice Wild Stone Fogg
Park Avenue Set Wet Cinthol Engage Adidas
Addiction Yardley Nivea Playboy

5% 4%
8% 14%
3%
0%
1%
4%
8%

9%
29%
15%

While in case of the consideration set the maximum was again Park avenue followed by Fogg
and Axe. This showed the how successful the marketers have been in making the customer
purchase for their product. But by comparing brand wise then axe although had a good recall
due to the ads customers do not prefer buying the same which is not in case of Park avenue or
Old spice which show subtle ads and try to involve the customers more. These brands try to
make the purchase more involved and there by create better positioning in the minds of the
consumers in terms of their quality or brand per se.

Brandwise comparision Evoked set to consideration set

50
40
30
20
10
0

Evoked set Consideration set

Decision Rules in Buying Behavior

Compensatory: Some consumers select on the overall sum of all the attributes that they need in
a particular brand of Deo. For example, if they find that Park Avenue is overall good in terms of
packaging, fragrance, Price, Variety, Lasting, effect on skin over Axe then they will buy Park
Avenue.
Conjunctive: Certain consumers need that at least the price should be less than Rs 200 or at
least they should have a light fragrance. In that way all products although might be premium or
long lasting will not be considered as they do not fulfil the above criteria.
Disjunctive: For certain consumers they need that the Packaging should look premium as well
as the it should be gentle on skin, in that case all the brands which have these features will be
selected by the consumer to his consideration set.
After the consumer makes his consideration set, he uses lexicographic principle where among
those of the consideration set, if he considers fragrance as the most important factor, then he
chose that brand or variety which gives the best fragrance. In case two varieties give similar
feeling in terms of fragrance then he looks for the price point or one with premium looks as the
next important parameter and finally makes the choice.
Need & motivation

The consumer wants to present his better self to the world, he will always try to appeal to others
by the way he looks. This builds in him the need to look good. Marketers do not create needs
but can make consumers aware of needs. A need is what is necessary for people to live a
healthy life. The unfulfillment of this need leads to tension which in turn drive the consumer to
purchase and consumption. While purchasing the consumer is faced with several inputs from
different sources and also his cognitive process affects his decision making. Thus the marketer
of the deodorant should target in giving inputs to his learning and cognitive process inputs.
Finally, after the purchase his tension reduces.

Deodorant satisfies the need social need of the customer. Since people are social beings, they
need to belong and be accepted by others. People try to satisfy their need for affection,
acceptance and friendship. They need to maintain themselves in a society and try to be
accepted.

Motivation
Consumer motivation is the drive to satisfy needs and wants, which include both physiological
and psychological, through the purchase and use of products and services. The deodorant is a
kind of negative motivation to the consumer because they use deodorant in order to avoid
public humiliation and avoidance by others. Thus deodorant becomes an avoidance product

Personality
Personality and other related characteristics affect the way people behave, period. And that
also goes for our behavior as consumers. Product should generally blend in or match with who
we think we are. Thus deodorant should and must have a brand image.
The lifestyle of the consumer is the consistent pattern of his life. His personality influences how
he live and what things are important to him as he live his life, every day. And it reflects his
personality, his attitudes, his values, his beliefs, his worries/challenges, his overall outlook on
 life, and his habits of consumption. It's all part of his style of living. The deodorant marketer
must pay attention to marketing communications messages and he will be able to spot many of
the trends as they are reflected in marketer's appeals to consumers.

Attitude Functions

Apart from helping a consumer make evaluations about a product/service offering ending up in
purchase decisions (to buy/not to buy), attitudes play other functions as well. They perform four
basic functions, viz., utilitarian function, ego defensive function, value expressive function, and
knowledge function. The four functions are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are related to
each other and consumer attitudes are illustrative of a combination of functions.
a) Utilitarian function: Consumers form positive attitudes towards product/service offerings
because they provide a utility, in other words, they provide a rewarding experience through the
benefits that they provide.
b) Ego defensive function: Consumers form attitudes as they help defend their ego, self-
image and self-concept.
c) Value expressive function: Positive attitudes are formed when a product or service
expresses a person’s values and lifestyle, personality and self-image, and self-concept.
d) Knowledge function: Attitudes are formed when consumers want to reaffirm their
knowledge base, to finally help them simplify purchase decision making.

Function of Meaning of function Objects of Attitudes Deodorant

Attitudes
Utilitarian - to provide utility. Such products that - Sophistication – Consumers
function provide utility. consider using a deodorant is
necessity
- Hygiene – Consumers bought
deodorant for hygiene purposes
- Camouflaging Smell – Many
consumers bought deodorant to
avoid body odour & be more
presentable in public
- Pack Size – Consumers consider
buying deodorants based on pack
size and avoided both small & big
packs
Ego -support a person’s Such products that - Affiliation – Consumers try to get
defensive ego, self-image and relate to and support a associated to certain groups or
function self-concept. person’s ego, self- recognised as certain person use
image and self- deodorant with same persona
concept. - Social Acceptance – Consumer low
on confidence try to boost their self-
confidence by using deodorant
Value - reflect values and Such products that - Personality – Consumer buy
expressive lifestyle, personality reflect values and deodorants such that deodorant
function and self-image, and lifestyle, personality persona and user personality match
self-concept. and self-image, and - Lifestyle – It is required to match the
self-concept. kind of lifestyle, e.g. If I use branded
products, I buy branded deodorants.
Knowledge -structure knowledge Such products that Knowledge function has little role in
function and reaffirm it. structure knowledge Deodorant market as most of the time
and reaffirm it; they the buying decision is based on social,
provide conformance, impulse or value.
certainty and reliability.

Theory of Reasoned Action

The theory of Reasoned action has two components:
 Evaluation of outcomes by people themselves
 Effect of reference group
In the case of deodorant purchase the motivation to comply with specific referent is quite low.
People rarely worry about the effect of referent group unless and until they find that the smell of
the deodorant is too bad. However, in specific cases like that of a couple where the female
dictated the choice of deodorant to the male partner the effect of reference was high in the
purchase of deodorant.
We found out that in case of deodorant people do evaluate the outcome of their previous
purchase while making the next purchase. These outcomes form the attitude towards the brand
and ultimately lead to buying behavior of deodorant.
Effect of Reference Group
Reference Group are normally of the following four types of influence:
 Normative Influence
 Comparative Influence
 Formal
 Informal
In case of deodorant purchase we found out that formal and informal influence dominated the
other two influence. People generally bought those brand of deodorant which they saw their
friends and colleagues using.
For example, most of the people were first exposed to the use of Deodorant when they came to
their own college and saw their friends or someone in the relatives using that brand of
deodorant.
The subsequent purchase of deodorant was also based on the fact that their friends and
relative used certain brand of deodorant.

External Influence: PoP Stimuli

As pointed by Michael Solomon “A well designed in-store display boosts impulse purchases by
as much as 10 percent”. These displays can influence a consumer’s buying decision when
buying a product. The product packaging, a tester pack and free samples can have an impact
on consumer’s intent to buy. The displays for the product must be attention catching which
would ignite curiosity in the minds of consumer for further inspection and selection. This
curiosity would pull them to the product and then our quality product would make an impact on
consumer perception.
Consumer perception can be influenced by the displays and the salesperson involved in
promoting the product.
Displays
Presentation is one of the important factors that creates perception about the brand in the
minds of customer. A suggestion could be a rotating display unit for the deodorants such that
the variety offered by brand can be easily. This would also help us distinguish our deodorant
section. Also under each variety a short description about the product and a tester can be
added. This will create indulgence and the customer can even have the feel of the product.
With addition of a tester other deodorants would be sealed and customer would assured of
having a brand new product.
The other option could be to place the deodorants at eyelevel and adjacent to quality brands.
The adjacencies help in easy comparison of the product. This would help the customer easily
notice the brand. Also adding a tester would ensure that the consumer tries the product and
then decide.
Packaging
The deodorant packaging would be a representative of a brand. It must speak of its quality on
its own. A unique packaging can receive most attention then following the cycle of inspection
and selection. The packaging can communicate the benefit the product would give and would
also attract the target it wants to select. The packaging should reflect masculinity and yet must
be convenient in terms of its usage. It can be designed for different sizes. A travel friendly pack
can be introduced which would cater to the intermittent needs of the consumer. A travel friendly
pack can be a small square shaped box just enough for 5-6 sprays. This pack can also foster
trialability of the product.
Enhancing the shopping experience
Most important time to gain customer’s attention is while they are waiting in line. Few displays
can be added near the billing counter. This would be to provoke impulse buying at the last
moment while they have a lot of time to pay attention to a product.
Salesperson
The salesperson must be trained enough to about the product and the variety a brand offers.
They must also be able to opine when any two brands are compared and they must focus on
relative strength of our brand to others. Salesperson are often a crucial connection in terms of
shaping a purchase intent of customer. Hence, when approached they must be able to explain
the product and the brand to the customer. Also they must be able to adapt according to the
traits and preferences of the consumer.
Trialability
A great product is useless until people know about its utility and how it is to be used. In case of
our product i.e. deodorants trialability is an important part. These deodorants other than
controlling the body odour also represents the personality of a person. Hence, trialability is a
must. Tester is a must to ensure product compatibility with a person and ensuring customer
satisfaction. A travel friendly packages can be introduced which would allow users to try the
product for a week or so and then going for a bigger package.

CONCLUSION

Wild Stone as per the survey has a wide acceptability in the market. The core concept is the
brand to become the iconic Indian Male Fantasy Brand that owns the space of the Indian
sensuality. Wild Stone bases its products on the changing needs of India's youth. The brand
provides products like deodorants and perfumes.
The project provides a deep insight about the brand and how it is positioned in the market. The
project gave an idea of the brand's desired perception i.e. what attributes the company want
consumers to relate it with its brand and what is the actual perception of the consumers
towards the brand. Finding the gap and fulfilling them by new strategies and innovative ideas.
Wild Stone has a good scope to increase their market share by making launching variants in
their products and using strategies to knock out the gap which prevails between the consumer
perception and the company's perception.