Project Report

On

“Consumer’s perception regarding branded and unbranded

Grocery items in Delhi”
(Final project Report)

Submitted for partial fulfillment of requirement for the award of degree of

Master of Business Administration

Of
Chandigarh Business School of Administration
Landran (Mohali)
(Session-2017-19)
By
Akanksha
(1723472)
MBA 4th semester
Under the supervision of
Ms Pallavi Pahuja (Assistant Professor)

1
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report titled “Consumer’s perception

regarding branded and unbranded grocery items in Delhi” submitted for the
Degree of Master of Business Administration is my original work and the
project report has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma,
associate-ship, fellowship or similar other titles. It has not been submitted to
any other University or Institution for the award of any degree or diploma.

Akanksha
(1723472)
MBA 4th Semester
Chandigarh Business School of Administration

Date:
Place:

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 CERTIFICATE BY GUIDE

It is certified that Ms.Akanksha is a student of Chandigarh Business School

of Administration, Landran (Mohali).Her University Roll no. is 1723472.
She has completed her project work titled “Consumer’s perception regarding
branded and unbranded grocery items in Delhi” under my guidance. This
project fulfils the requirement of the curriculum prescribed by Chandigarh
Business School of Administration, Landran (Mohali) for the said course.
I recommend this project work for evaluation and consideration for the
award of Degree to the student.

Supervisor’s Signature:
Supervisor’s Name: Ms Pallavi Pahuja

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMNENT

I express my sincere thanks to my project guide, Ms Pallavi Pahuja,

Assistant Professor of Chandigarh Business School of Administration,
Landran, for guiding me right from the inception till the successful
completion of the project.
I am grateful to Dr.Sunyana Khurana, Head of the Department.
I wish to record my sincere thanks to my family and friends for their help
and cooperation throughout my project.
My thanks are due to those who helped me in collecting data or analysis or
typesetting etc.

Akanksha
(1723472)
MBA 4th Semester

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 PREFACE

A person learns to understand business from a realistic angle. With the help
of major project an individual show the practices of business.

I have done my project on the topic “ Consumers perception regarding

branded and unbranded grocery items in Delhi”. In my research I studied
firstly what is brand, importance of brand for company & about the
branded grocery items. Then I collected the data through questionnaire
to know what consumer perceive about branded grocery. Do they accept
the branded grocery items or the prefer to buy lose or unbranded grocery, in
my research I also have tried to find out the factors that pushes a customer
from unbranded to branded & also the factor that stop them to buy
unbranded items. In today’s world of cutthroat competition the theory
“survival of the fittest” prevails. A comparison has to be made and weak
points should be overcome in order to meet customer’s demand with more
efficiency.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTERS TITLES PAGE NO.

Chapter-1 Introduction about the 8-9

project

 Objectives of the
study
 Significance of the
project

Chapter-2 Introduction to the study 10-29

 What is brand
 How brand is created
 Brand value to
consumers
 Brand equity
 Branding promotion
 Consumer Perception
 Consumer decision
making and buying
process

Chapter-3 Review of Literature 30-35

Chapter-4 Research Methodology 36-39

 Defining the problem

 Research objective
 Sampling plan
 Sampling size
 Sampling Procedure
 Research design
 Data collection

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  Limitations of the
study
Chapter-5 Data Analysis and 40-48
Interpretations
Chapter-6 Findings and Suggestions 49-51

Chapter-7 Conclusion 52-53

Bibliography 54

Annexure 55-59

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 CHAPTER -1
INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE PROJECT

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 Introduction about the project

Objectives of the study:

1) To check the awareness level of consumers regarding branded grocery items.
2) To study the perception of consumer about the packaged and branded
grocery items.
3) To know the place from where customer purchase branded items.
4) To know about the factor affecting a customer’s choice of branded
unbranded items.
5) To know whether is there is impact of income level on the sale of branded
unbranded grocery items.

Significance of the Project:

 Customer Perception decides how much a product sells and how a company is
perceived.

 Customer Perception is a marketing concept that tells us what customers think

about a brand or a company or its offerings. It can be positive or negative feelings,
perceptions, inhibitions, predispositions, expectations or experiences that a
customer has.

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 CHAPTER-2
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

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 Introduction to the Study
The packaged food industry is probably one of the most promising emerging markets
in India today. Gone are the days when wheat was sent to the local ‘chakki’ to be milled
into flour or mustard oil grinded at the local ‘kolu’s’. People today have become
extremely conscious and are willing to pay the extra rupees in order to ensure
that quality product enter their kitchens.

There has been a complete overhaul of lifestyle and traditional systems in the last
decade or so with the emergence and growth of nuclear families. Meals are no more a
family ‘event’ but have been relegated to a mundane routine. People are hard-
pressed for time and are constantly in need of that magic something will save them
an additional minute without compromising on nourishment.

This must-hallowed gap has been effectively filled by the packaged foods
industry. Starting from instant noodles and soup, packaged rice and flour and on to frozen
peas and meat all of which is contently located under the roof of the local supermarket.
Branded and packaged foods fill this gap not by saving only by saving time for
the consumer but also ensure quality and consistency.

The local supermarket too has come a long way. Today they door of urban India by
the hundreds. Associated distractions notwithstanding, the supermarket has
emerged as the one-stop shopping solution for families, where all domiciles necessarily
rub shoulders within each other at prices that are competitive and more often than
not even lower than the local ‘karyana’ store.

Through trial and error intelligent consumers has realized how very beneficial these
‘alternatives’ are. From salt to noodles, peas to chicken, every thing is available
today treated, processed and hygienically packaged untouched by hand. Consumers
have started preferring them in spite of the fact that they are offered at a premium i.e.
priced slightly higher than what they would get at the local sabzi mandi or butcher
hop unbranded (and relatively more unclean).

Companies efforts have been aimed further ease the consumer’s shopping experience
and at the same time giving them total value for money. So in my research I have
selected this topic the ‘study of consumer perception about branded and
unbranded items’. In this project I find the consumer liking disliking their way of
thinking & their way adopting the thing. I studied what are the various factors that
perceive are important while purchasing and where the branded & unbranded grocery to
them.

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 The meaning of brands

Brands are a means of differentiating a company’s products and service from those of
its competitors.
There is plenty of evidence to prove that customers will pay a substantial price
premium for a good brand and remain loyal to that brand. It is important,
therefore, to understand what brands are and why they are important.

MacDonald sums this up nicely in the following quote emphasizing the

importance of brands:

“…It is not factories that make profits, but relationships with customers,and it is company and
brand names which secure those relationships”.

Businesses that invest in and sustain leading brands prosper whereas those that fail are
left to fight for the lower profits available in commodity mark.

What is a Brand?

One definition of a brand is as follows:

“A name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these, that is intended to identify
the goods and services of one business or group of businesses and to differentiate them from
those of competitors”.

Inter brand - a leading branding consultancy - defines a brand in this way:

“A mixture of tangible and intangible attributes symbolized in a

trademark, which, if properly managed, creates influence and generates value”.

Manufacturers can use their own brands (known as manufacturer’ brand) a brands of
their distributor (distributor brands). Manufacturer/distributor use brand names for a
verity of reasons from simple identification purposes to having legal protection for
unique features of the products from imitations and help consumers recognizes
certain quality parameters. In some cases, brands are just used to endow the product
with unique story and character which itself can be a basis for product differentiation.

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 How a brand is created

Grocery companies spend enormous sum on building brand equity by way of:

 Advertisements/publicity
 Free samples
 Low entry price
 Promotions

1) Advertisements/publicity

Advertisement and promotion can induce trials but for sustained

loyalty, the manufacturer has to offer superior quality and value of money. Most
successful brands are founded on chance discovery of a new product/process or
assiduous research and development work. Major players invest in R&D on their
exiting brands and improve the product quality continuously to maintain their
edge over competitors. Advertising is paid communication through a non-personal
medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. Variations
include publicity, public relations, product placemen t sponsorship, underwriting, and
sales promotion.

Every major medium is used to deliver these messages:

Television,radio,movies magazines, newspapers, the internet, and billboards.

Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of an airport
walkway, and the sides of buses, or heard in telephone hold messages or in-store PA
systems – nearly anywhere a visual or audible communication can be placed.

Advertising clients are predominantly, but not exclusively, for-profit

corporation seeking to increase demand for their products or services

2) Low entry price

Establishing a relatively low price for a product or service, usually to stimulate

demand and acquire market share. This makes the most economic sense for the seller
when there are significant economies of scale achievable from high volume production,
or when the buyers are price sensitive and the seller has few competitive advantages

3) Free samples

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A free sample is a portion of food or other product which is given out in shopping
malls, grocery stores, and other venues. Sometimes samples of non-perishable items
are included in direct marketing mailings.

The purpose of a free sample is to acquaint the consumer with a new product. The
concept of a free sample is not unlike that of a test drive, in that a customer is able to try
out a product before purchasing it.
There are lots of free samples online. Often, people will create forums to share free
samples they find, such as the Slick Deals
Establishing a relatively low price for a product or service, usually to stimulate demand
and acquire market share. This makes the most economic sense for the seller when there
are significant economies of scale achievable from high volume production, or when the
buyers are price sensitive and the seller has few competitive advantages.

4) Promotion

Single element of an advertising campaign. A promotion might be a short-term price

reduction, contest or sweepstakes, package giveaway, or free sample offer. A
promotion might also be a single mailing within a direct mail campaign or series of
advertisements that make up part of an ongoing print advertising campaign. The
Milk Advisory Board has employed celebrities with milk mustaches in a series
of magazine ads. These "Got Milk?" print ads are a promotion within an overall
campaign to increase milk consumption.

5) Promotional Objectives

There are a number of promotional objectives, some of the most common being
information dissemination, product demand, product differentiation, product
highlights, and sales stabilization. Regardless of the promotional objective selected,
the company's goal is to inform and convince consumers to buy the product.

Brand value to consumers

Brands, in fact, influence consumer behavior in a number

1. Reassurance:

A brand is stamp of authenticity. It adds value by promising ‘reliability’ and help to

establish repeat purchase patterns. In a foreign country, people seek the reassurance

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of familiar brands, even though they are presumably traveling to find new experiences.

2. Value expression:

We choose brands that reflect the individual values that we possess as individual. We do
this to communicate the desire singles in the highly social environment we inhabit.

3. Usage:

A strong brand increases a consumer’s usage and spends over time, either within a
category or as abridge into other categories. It has been successful in every
category, because the perception has been the same-“consistent valve delivery
to the same”.

4 . Brand switch:

In FMCG markets, experimenting less with competition means that the brand achieve
larger proportion of the category spend by the consumer. For example, maggi soup is
always bought by the consumer, and is not being substituted by other soup brands.

What factors are important in building brand value?

Professor David Jobber identifies seven main factors in building successful brands.

1) Quality
Quality is a vital ingredient of a good brand. The core benefits must be delivered well,
consistently. Research confirms that, statistically, higher quality brands achieve a higher
market share and higher profitability that their inferior competitors.

2) Positioning
Positioning is about the position a brand occupies in a market in the minds of consumers.
Strong brands have a clear, often unique position in the target market. It can be achieved
through the combination of brand name, image, service standards, product guarantees,
packaging and the way in which it is delivered.

3) Repositioning

Repositioning occurs when a brand tries to change its market position to reflect a change
in consumer’s tastes. This is often required when a brand has become tired, perhaps
15
because its original market has matured or has gone into decline. The repositioning
of the Lucozade brand from a sweet drink for children to a leading sports
drink is one example. Another would be the changing style of entertainers with
above- average longevity such as Kylie Minogue and Cliff Richard.

4) Communications
All elements of the promotional mix need to be used to develop and sustain customer
perceptions. Initially, the challenge is to build awareness, then to develop the brand
personality and reinforce the perception.

5) First-mover advantage
In terms of brand development, first-mover means that it is possible for the first successful
brand in a market to create a clear positioning in the minds of target customers before the
competition enters the market.

Business strategists often talk about first-mover advantage. In terms of brand

development, by “first-mover” they mean that it is possible for the first successful
brand in a market to create a clear positioning in the minds of target
customers before the competition enters the market. There is plenty of evidence
to support this. Think of some leading consumer product brands like Gillette,
Coca Cola and Sell tape that, in many ways, defined the markets they operate in
and continue to lead. However, being first into a market does not necessarily
guarantee long-term success. Competitors – drawn to the high growth and profit
potential demonstrated by the“market-mover” – will enter the market and copy
the best elements of the leader’s brand (a good example is the way that Body Shop
developed the “ethical” personal care market but were soon facing stiff competition
from the major high street cosmetics retailers.

6) Long-term perspective

This leads to the need to invest in the brand over the long-term. Building customer
awareness, communicating the brand’s message and creating customer loyalty takes time.
This means that management must invest in a brand, perhaps at the expense of short-term
profitability. This means that management must “invest” in abrand, perhaps at the expense
of short-term profitability.

7) Internal marketing
Management should ensure that the brand is marketed internally as well as externally. By
this we mean that the whole business should understand the brand values and positioning.
This is particularly important in service businesses where a critical part of the brand value

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is the type and quality of service that a customer receives. Think of the brands that you
value in the restaurant, hotel and retail sectors. It is likely that your favorite brands
invest heavily in staff training so that the face-to- face contact that you have with the
brand helps secure your loyalty.

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Understanding what is brand equity

Over 21,000 new products were introduced in 2004 alone yet history tells us that
better than 90% of them won’t be on the shelf a year later. Why such a high failure
rate and why this been a historical trend. The development of a successful product-,
which includes the product, the package, the product name and identity,
is a challenging. But not insurmountable task. The like hood for success can be
greatly enhanced if one focuses on certain critical issues.Clear product definition
and proper execution and implantation that definition can lead to success and longevity
in the market.

Through the 1980’s and 90’s there has been a growing corporate on
increasing shareholder value. Typical heading-grabbing story of these decades
have included waves of layoffs, corporate restructuring and an emphasis on
operating efficiencies.

One solution is to grow the brand. This serves to build consumer and investor
confidence in and loyalty to the company. A strong brand acts as a promise, leading
faithful customers to pay a premium over competitive products. Like wise the
stock of highly reputed companies’ trade at premiums to other in their
respective industries. The most important assets of any business are intangible: the
company name, brand, symbols, and slogans, and their underlying association
s, perceived quality, name awareness, customer base, and proprietary
resources such as patents, trademarks and channel relationship.

These assets, which comprise brands equity, are primary sources of competitive
advances and future earning. Yet, research show that manager cannot identify with
confidence their brand association, level of consumer awareness, or degree of
customer loyalty. Moreover, in the last decade manager desperate for short-term
financial result have often unwittingly damaged their brands through

Price promotions and un wise brand extensions, causing irreversible

deterioration of the value of the brand name.

Although several companies, such as Hindustan Lever Limited and other companies
have recently create an equity management position to be guardian of the v
alue of the brand names, far too few manager really understand the concept of
brand equity and how it must be implemented.

In a fascinating and unsightly examination of the phenomenon of brand equity, it is

extremely important to know how to avoid the temptation to place short-term
performance before the health of the brand and instead, to manage brands strategically
creating, developing and exploiting each of the assets in turn, likewise companies

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can increase their new product’s chances and maximize the potential rewards, by
understanding what their target market desires. For instance, it’s tempting to short-cut
market research and rich a product idea to market.

Large sum of money become invested in the process. Even if poor consumers
result occur, companies may continue on when they should postpone or cancel
the launch.

Companies must first listen to the voice of the consumer is a critical one to hear but
one that many firms have difficult in translating into product.Many companies
hear the words spoken by the consumers and work hard to deliver on them but, as is
often the case, what is says is actually meant (by the consumer) may be very, very
different.

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 Branding and Brand Equity
In today’s environment, building strong brands establishing brand equity is becoming
more and more challenging. Increased pressure to complete on price, increased
competition through product introductions and store brands, and the fragmentation of
advertising and market segments are just a sample of the pressure being faced by
companies in today’s highly competitive environment.

What is Brand Equity?

“Brand equity” refers to the value of a brand. Brand equity is based on the extent to
which the brand has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality and strong
product associations. Brand equity also includes other “intangible” assets such as
patents, trademarks and channel relationships.

There are different definitions of brand equity, but they do have several factors in
common:

: These are as follows

Monetary Value:

The amount of additional income expected from a branded product over and above
what might be expected from an identical,but unbranded product. For example,
grocery stores frequently sell unbranded versions of name brand product. The same
companies produce the branded and unbranded product, but they carry a generic brand
or store brand label like Hawkins. Store brands sell for significantly less than brand
counterparts, even when the contents are identical. This differential is the monetary
value of the brand name.

Intangible:

The intangible value association with a product that cannot be accounted for by
price or features. Pepsi and coke have created many intangible benefits for its
product by associating them with film stars. Children and adult want to consumer
their product to feel some association with this star. It is not the ingredients or the
features that drive demand for their products, but the marketing image that has been
create. Buyers are willing to pay extremely high price premium over lesser-known
brands, which may offer the same or better, product quality and features.

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Perceived Quality:

The overall perception of quality and image attributed to a product, independent of its
physical features. Mercedes and BMW have established their brand names as
synonymous with high- quality, luxurious automobiles. Years of marketing, image
building and quality manufacturing have lead to perceive Mercedes and BMW as
providing superior quality to other brand name automobiles even when such a perception
is unwarranted.
In short, brand equity is asset of assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name,
and symbol that add to or subtract from the value provide by the product or
service to a firm and/or that of firm’s customers.

The overall description of brand equity incorporates the ability to provided added value
to your company’s product and service. This added value can be used to your
company’s advantage to charge price premium. Lower marketing cost and offer
greater opportunities fir customer purchase. A badly mismanage brand can actually have
negative brand equity, meaning that potential customers have such low perception of
the brand that they prescribe less value to the product than they would if they
objectively assessed all its attributes/features.

One of the examples of brand equity is in the soft drink industry. Without a brand name
and all of the marketing dollars that have gone into, coca-cola a brand name and all of
the marketing dollars that have gone into, coca-cola would be nothing more than flavored
water. Due to the company’s long-term marketing efforts and protection, enhancement
and nurturing of their brand name, coke is one of the most recognizable brands the
world. This includes lost sales, lost marketing dollars and lost promotions, additional
marketing costs to promote a new brand, and significantly lower awareness and trial
rates forms their new brand.

Branding Promotion

Developing a promotion as a brand can provide a powerful tool for building Additional
brand awareness and positive associations. An excellent method to achieve this is
through linking the promotion to the actual brand. For example, consider a
promotion to win a trip to Disney world for a product with no link to Disney world
or travel. The contest participants will most likely forget except the actual product
associated with the prize.

Compare this with a company’s brand promotion that directly on the association of the
product thus power of the brand. A promotion such as this affects non-participants as
well as those involved, creating a platform to be built on each year.

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Furthermore developing a tight link between and the brand avoids the possibility of
promoting other brands. In effect, it is recommended to brand a promotion so that it
cannot a linked to anther brands.

BRANDING IN GROCERY

Historically, traditional food items were the domain of small local players. Grocery item
earlier were sold loose and unbranded. Then some progressive traders started the
cleaning, grading and primary packaging. And the next stage of development was
branding so primary food such as Atta (wheat flour). But those were mainly regional
brands. Popular among these were “rose” and Shakti bog” brands in northern India.

Whereas in traditional food items such as spice vand pickles there were host of local
brands with regional strong-holds such as spice power in east “Bedkar” pickles in
west, MDH-Masala in north east. The food ingredient-nobody though of only
food ingredients that was there tomato purees and paste in cans which in the recent
times godrej introduced in tetra pack.

Edible oil in tin pack and later on in polyester jar and tetra pack were the first major
step in branding grocery item. Today we get Varity of edible oils and Marco are the
leading players in this sector. Amongst MNC’s we have corn oil from COC and “Sun
drop” from ITC agro—a sunflower oil which subsequently has been acquired by
CONAGRA- the fastest growing food company in American.

The next major attempt to market a branded grocery item was done about a decade ago
by Tatas by introducing the first refined iodized salt in poly bag by brand name “Tata
Salt” and that was a success.

The next big brand in this category is “Captain Cook” from DCW chemicals that had
plans in branded grocery items and thus the company introduced other items
including wheat flour under the same brand name. But that was short lived.

During 1997 DCW chemical s suffered a major setback and the company decides to
divest this food business. The acquirer is Corn Product Co. (India) Ltd-a wholly owned
subsidiary of CPC-international a nine billion US dollar American multinational in
food and grocery business. The company recently changed its name to Best Food ltd.
CPC was a sleepy company operating in India for over fifty years and their
performance was lackluster. With their limited range of Rex and brown and Polson
brands of convenience foods globally did not have any commitment in India? In late
seventies and early eighties when I was heading their project department many
investment proposal were send and notably among those were dextrose manufacturing

22
project as CPC has a flavored glucose brand in the portfolio and known soup project.

The third brand of salt is “Kissan Annapurna” which is making a sustained effort to
get market share. This brand which is now in Hindustan level fold through brook
bond acquisition who in turn acquired Kissan in early nineties have reportedly spend
Rs18 Crores in advertising and got 14% market share in a Rs200 Crores branded salt
category in a span of one year. Tata salt still holds 26% market share and Captain Cook
share is about 20% and balance 40% is still with the small players.

With the acquisition of “Captain Cook” in branded salt market MNCs are the
dominant players controlling 60% of the market.

The value addition in branded salt and pepper was really done successful by a
Delhi based local company hi tech Foods belonging to Dharampal Satayapal of
premium “Baba zarda” fame. Hi-tech Foods catch brand of salt and pepper in
dispenser pack is a success story with upper middle class household and restaurant
segments as the main customers. The first MNC to get into the branded spice business
was Brook Bond who introduced the select premium priced spice range by name
“Sona” in late eighties. The products were priced and packaged for higher income
group. They struggled for couple of years to establish “Sona” brand but failed and
were forced to withdraw in later years.

The first MNC to introduce Indian pickles was Nestlé with their Maggie brand. The
products are still in the market. And as mentioned earlier, the MNC to introduce
traditional snacks is Pepsi under the umbrella of “Leher namkins”. It can be
concluded that in traditional Indian foods MNCs cannot add much value through the
involvement of their principle aboard .on the contrary, they will have to learn from the
locals to derive advantage of their brand and resource muscle.

Hindustan Level is expected to enter branded grocery items though Kissan rough in a
big way. The company does significant export of branded rice particular in Middle East
market and therefore expected to introduce the branded rice shortly in domestic market as
well.

Otherwise, in India so far branded package rice is limited to Basmati rice and there
are many brands in this category and leading among them is “KOHINOOR” –
but all are from small manufacturers. The grocery business is basically low margins
and high volume business and thus it required multiple supply sources to be
strategically located to reduce he cost of friend and excellent distribution infrastructure
and logistics management capability.

Price and quality are expected to be the major determinate in the success of grocery
items and basic foods. Consumers in India would not be willing to pay much as the price
of convenience.

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 CONSUMER PERCEPTION

Perception can be describe as “how we see the world around us.” Two individual
may be subject to the same stimuli under apparels the same condition, but how
they recognize them, select them, organize them, and interpret them is a highly
individual process based on each person’s one needs, values and expectations. The
influence that each of these variables has on the perceptual process, and its relevance to
marketing.

Definition:
Customer perception refers to the process by which a customer selects, organizes, and
interprets information/stimuli inputs to create a meaningful picture of the brand or the
product. It is a three stage process that translates raw stimuli into meaningful information.

Each individual interprets the meaning of stimulus in a manner consistent with his/her
own unique biases, needs and expectations.

Three stages of perception are exposure, attention and interpretation

In simpler terms, it is how a customer see's a particular brand with whatever he or she has
been able to understand by watching the products, its promotions, feedback etc. It is the
image of that particular brand in the mind of the customer

Examples
Sensory data emanating from an external environment (e.g., hearing a tune on the radio)
can generate internal sensory experiences; a song might trigger a young man’s first dance
and bring to mind the smell of his date’s perfume and his first kiss.

Hence, this concludes the definition of Customer Perception along with its overview.

PERCEPTUAL SELECT

Consumers subconsciously exercise a great deal of selective as to

which aspect of the environment-which stimuli-they perceive. An individual may look at
some things, ignore others and turn away from still others. In total, people actually
receiver perceive only a small fraction to the stimuli to which they are expose

Nature of stimulus: marketing stimuli include an enormous number of variables

that affect the consumer’s perception such as the nature of the product, its physical
attributes, the packages design, the brand name, the advertisement and commercial, the

24
position of a print ad or the time of a commercial and the editorial
environment.

Contrast: -

contrast is one of the most attention- compelling attributes of a stimulus. Advertiser

often uses extremely attention getting device to achieve maximum, contrast and
thus penetrate the consumer perceptual screen.

Expectations: -

People usually see what they expect to see and what they expect to see is usually
based on familiarity previous experience or preconditioned set in marketing context
people tend to perceive product and product attributes according in their own
expectation.

Motives: -

People tend to perceive thing they need or want the stronger the need the greater
the tendency to ignore unrelated stimuli in the environment. An individual
perceptual process simply attunes itself more closely to those elements of the
environment that are important to that person.

Important selective perception concepts: As the preceding discussion illustrates, the

consumer’s “Selection” of stimuli from the environment is based on the interaction of
expectation and motives wit the stimuli itself. These factors giver rise to a number of
important concepts concerning perceptions.

SELECTIVE EXPOSURE:

Consumers actively seek out messages they find pleasant or with which they
are sympathetic and actively avoid painful threatening ones. Consumers also
selectively expose themselves to advertisement that reassures them of the wisdom of
their purchase decision.

SELECTIVE ATTENTION:

Consumers have a heightened awareness of the stimuli that meet their need or interest and
an owner awareness of stimuli irrelevant to needs.

PERCEPTUAL DEFENSE:

consumers subconsciously screen out stimuli that are important to for them not to

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see even though exposure has already taken place. Thus threatening or
otherwise damaging stimuli are less to be consciously perceived than are neutral
stimuli at the same level of exposure.

PERCEPTUAL BLOCKING:

Consumers protect themselves from being bombarded with stimuli by simply”

tuning out”- blocking such stimuli from conscious awareness. This perceptual
blocking –out is somewhat to the mechanical “zapping” of commercial using
remote controls.

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING AND BUYING PROCESS

Marketing have go beyond the various influences on buyers and develop an

understanding of how consumers actual make their buying decisions. Mainly the
buyer plays these roles in buying decisions:

Initiator: a person who first suggests the idea of buying the product or
services.

Influencer: a person whose view or advice influences the decision.

Decider: a person who decide on any component of a buying decision.

Buyer: the person who makes the actual purchase.

User: a person who consumers or uses the product or service.

26
 Decision Making Process

1. Problem/need recognition

This is often identified as the first and most important step in the customer’s decision
process. A purchase cannot take place without the recognition of the need. The need may
have been triggered by internal stimuli (such as hunger or thirst) or external stimuli (such
as advertising or word of mouth).

Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need. By gathering
information from a number of consumers, marketers can identify the most `frequent
stimuli that spark and interested in a product category. They can develop
marketing strategies that trigger consumer’s interest.

2. Information search

Having recognised a problem or need, the next step a customer may take is the
information search stage, in order to find out what they feel is the best solution. This is
the buyer’s effort to search internal and external business environments, in order to
identify and evaluate information sources related to the central buying decision. Your
customer may rely on print, visual, online media or word of mouth for obtaining
information.

An aroused consumer will be inclined to search for more information. We can

distinguish between two levels of arousal. The milder search state is called heightened
attention. At this level a person simply becomes more receptive to information about a
product.

The person may enter active information search: looking for reading material, phoning
friend and visiting stores to about the product.

Consumer information sources fall into four groups:

Personal Sources: Family,friends,neighbours.

Commercial Sources: advertising,salespersons,dealers,packaging.

Public Sources: mass-media, consumer rating organizations.

Experimental Sources: handling, examining using the product

27
Each information source performs a different function in influencing the buying
decision. Through gathering information, the consumer learns about competing
brands and their features.

3. Evaluation of alternatives

As you might expect, individuals will evaluate different products or brands at this stage
on the basis of alternative product attributes – those which have the ability to deliver the
benefits the customer is seeking. A factor that heavily influences this stage is the
customer’s attitude. Involvement is another factor that influences the evaluation process.
For example, if the customer’s attitude is positive and involvement is high, then they will
evaluate a number of companies or brands; but if it is low, only one company or brand
will be evaluated.

Some basic concepts will help us understand consumer evaluation processes.

First, the consumer is trying to satisfy a need.

Second, the consumer is looking for certain benefits from the product solution.

Third, the consumers see each product as a bundle of attributes with varying abilities of
delivering the benefits sought to satisfy this need.

Consumers vary as to which product attributes they see as most relevant and the
importance they attach to each attribute. They will pay the most attention to attributes
that deliver the sought benefits the market for a product can often be
segmented according to attributes that are silent to different consumer group.

4. Purchase decision

The penultimate stage is where the purchase takes place. Philip Kotler (2009) states that
the final purchase decision may be ‘disrupted’ by two factors: negative feedback from
other customers and the level of motivation to accept the feedback. For example, having
gone through the previous three stages, a customer chooses to buy a new telescope.
However, because his very good friend, a keen astronomer, gives him negative feedback,
he will then be bound to change his preference. Furthermore, the decision may be
disrupted due to unforeseen situations such as a sudden job loss or relocation.

A consumer’s decision to modify, postpone or avoid a purchase decision is heavily

influenced by perceptive risks. The amount of perceived risk varies with amount of
money at stake, the amount attribute uncertainty and amount of consumer self-
confidence.

28
5. Post-purchase behaviour

In brief, customers will compare products with their previous expectations and will be
either satisfied or dissatisfied. Therefore, these stages are critical in retaining customers.
This can greatly affect the decision process for similar purchases from the same company
in the future, having a knock-on effect at the information search stage and evaluation of
alternatives stage. If your customer is satisfied, this will result in brand loyalty, and the
Information search and Evaluation of alternative stages will often be fast-tracked or
skipped altogether.

On the basis of being either satisfied or dissatisfied, it is common for customers to

distribute their positive or negative feedback about the product. This may be through
reviews on website, social media networks or word of mouth. Companies should be very
careful to create positive post-purchase communication, in order to engage customers and
make the process as efficient as possible.

29
 CHAPTER-3

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

30
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION:

Marketing is the process of determining consumer demand for a product or service,

motivation of its sales and distribution of it to ultimate consumer at a profit. Philip Kotler
said “Marketing is specifically concerned with how transactions are created, stimulated,
facilitate and values” (Philip Kotler: 1972). American Marketing Association defines
marketing as the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion
and distribution of ideas, goods and service to create exchanges that satisfied individual
and organizational objectives. (Dr.Rajan Jair. and Sanjith R.Nair.: 2002). The modern
marketing starts and ends with consumer is true in all respects. There was a feeling that
marketing activities are concerned only with, the flow of goods from the producers to the
consumers. This concept however has changed, to include the flow of information from
the consumers to the producers. Definition of the concept will facilitate the researcher to
develop a frame work for further discussion on the area of consumer behaviour. With this
objective in mind, other important definitions and various concepts relevant to the area of
the study are reviewed.

Historically, Indian consumers have preferred raw and fresh foods over processed and
packaged (Goyal and Singh, 2007; Pysarchik et al., 1999; Ling et al., 2004; Shaw et al.,
1993). With the emergence of supermarket and hypermarket culture in India, the
consumer preference of packaged food products has increased significantly in the recent
years (Silayoi and Speece, 2004). Though, the difference between taste of urban and rural
customers is continuously decreasing (Shrivastava and Praveer 2009). In many ways,
rural consumers have quite different consumption as well as shopping pattern than urban
consumers. There are enormous opportunities for the retailers that can be encashed if they
enter rural markets with suitable formats in order to serve the rural consumers. The major
factors such as increased purchasing power of the Indian consumer in a booming
economy, changing lifestyle, greater willingness to experiment with new products and
flavours, desire for convenience in packaged food products and an increase in the number
of working women have led to the strong growth in consumption of packaged food
products (Goyal and Singh, 2007). Besides, urban consumers have been increasingly
responding towards changes in quality food intake and becoming more conscious in terms
of nutritional diet, health and food safety issues. To meet these emerging trends, retailing
in India is undergoing unprecedented transformation with a number of national and
multinational organizations trying to capture the huge and exponentially growing
consumer market. While all of these studies have investigated either how consumers‟
preferences and perception of quality features of fruit and vegetable products impact on
their purchasing behavior or on how socio–economic and behavioral factors affect fruit
and vegetable consumption, only a few studies have examined the influence of
consumers‟ lifestyles on their attitudes towards quality aspects of F&V. The food-related
lifestyle (FRL) approach was first developed by Grunert et al. (1993). Then, it was
applied in different cultural contexts (Wycherley et al. 2008; de Boer et al. 2004; Brunso

31
et al. 1995) and tested for cross-cultural validity. Applications of the FRL model aimed at
describing people according to the role that food plays in their lives (Perez-Cueto et al.
2010), linking generic food-related attitudes to the achievement of desired consequences
(Brunso et al. 2004). With regard to vegetable consumption a first application of this
approach is reported by Nijmeijer et al. (2004), who investigated to what extent the food-
related lifestyle model, adapted to include personal values (Schwartz 1992), predicts
differences in the consumption of 24 vegetables among a sample of 276 South Australian
consumers. Results confirm that vegetable consumption is linked to a number of
contextual and cognitive factors such as personal values, perceived food attributes and
cooking skills. According to Johnson (2004) when defining retailing it is necessary to
recognise its distinct facts and orientation. Retailing involves i) Interpreting the needs of
the consumers ii) Developing a good assortment of merchandise and iii) Presenting them
in an effective manner so that consumers find it easy and attractive to buy. An
investigation by Semeijna et.al (2004) on how store image factors and various categories
of perceived risk associated with product attributes affect consumer evaluations of store-
branded products. A structural model is developed and tested, providing indications of the
likelihood of store brand success in various product categories. They have made an
attempt to distinguish conceptually between explicitly branded and unbranded store labels
or between private labels and store brands could be a first step to further improve
understanding of consumer evaluations of store brands. Ali and Kapoor (2008) analysed
in their study that majority of Indian consumers purchase F&V in fresh and loose form
from local vendors or hawkers. To reap the benefits of changing consumer preferences,
organized retailing in the form of supermarket and 3 hypermarket are witnessing
phenomenal growth across the country. These outlets selling sorted and graded in a very
hygienic environment with own-labelled brands. The level of F&V packaging is at an
infancy stage and is anticipated to rise fast due to increased consumer preference on one
hand and emergence of organized and integrated retail formats on the other. Results of the
study suggest that most of the consumers are concerned with the packaging material and
attributes. The analysis indicates that consumers expect all the packaging to be
environmental friendly and bio-degradable and the packaging should focus more on
safety and quality issues of the product followed by attractiveness & appearance and the
environmental issues. Kuhar and Juvancic (2010) studied consumer purchasing behaviour
of organic and integrated F&V using Probit model. Results show that purchase of
analysed produce is most significantly influenced by their availability in retail outlets,
followed by consumers‟ income, health and environmental considerations, and visual
attractiveness of products. Demand for organically and integrally produced F&V could be
further stimulated by targeted knowledge and awareness raising actions. The current
buying pattern of Indian rural consumer showed that they indeed travel to buy their daily
wares, More than 40 per cent of the villagers buy their groceries from City/Town and
more than 70 per cent travel 5km and buy consumer durables, agri inputs and apparel
from nearest City/Town. He concludes that affordable producer range, customer friendly
layout and innovative marketing programmes like Choupal Mahotsav have made ITC
Choupal Saagar truly a front runner in Rural Retail Business (Sheshu Kumar 2010).
Lima- Filho Do et al. (2009) have evaluated behavior of the FFV produce section, under
the point of view of the consumer, in three types of food retail stores in Campo Grande,

32
Brazilian southeast: a grocery store “quitanda”, a supermarket, and an open-air market. A
quantitative-descriptive survey was conducted with 120 individuals, responsible for
purchasing FFV produce for their homes. To accomplish that, twelve variables were
investigated and adapted from the parameters used in the SERVQUAL model, in which
the attributes of the retail outlet are pointed out, such as store hygiene and cleanliness and
manner by which produce is displayed; employee training traits, such as courtesy and
helpfulness; and quality, price range, and variety of the produce for sale. The results
reveal that shopping for grocery is done weekly; 80% of the shoppers interviewed do their
4 shopping in supermarkets and 94% do theirs in open-air markets. The open-air market
had the best results in the attributes for which they were evaluated when compared with
the grocery store and the supermarket. The study also pointed out that the older the
shopper the more often he/she does grocery shopping. The result of surveying True Food
Co-operation (TFC) customers in United Kingdom by Pearson et al. (2011) which offers a
wide range of organic whole foods, FFV, groceries and eco-friendly household products
found that, vast majority of customers (96 per cent) think there is a good range of
products on sale at its markets. More specifically, locally sourced products were the most
frequently identified reason for shopping there. Other issues mentioned were a preference
for organic products, or eco and environmentally products, or those that are healthier.
Some customers also liked the fact that TFC offers an alternative, or antidote, to
supermarkets. They also like the fact that they were able to buy loose foods and hence
minimise product packaging. Lippe et al., (2010) opine that consumption behaviour is a
crucial prerequisite for local supply chain actors to develop effective strategies to meet
changing demand patterns. Their study fills this research gap by estimating the
disaggregate demand parameters for FFV that have different product- and process-related
attributes. Consumers‟ decision to purchase fresh produce from modern retailers and
minimally processed FFV are significantly influenced by total household expenditure and
educational levels of household heads. The influence of safety and quality indications (i.e.
logos, brands and labels) on purchase decision is significantly related with the educational
levels of household heads; this suggests that higher educated buyers give more attention
to product safety and quality attributes when deciding to buy.

Jorin (1987) examined changes in spending power and buying habits of Swiss
consumers since the beginning of the 20th century and in the more recent past. Current
trends include greater emphasis on health and safety of foodstuffs and less attention to
price, increased demand for low calorie light products and increased demand for
organically grown foods. For young people, more concern with enjoyment and less for
health, with more meals eaten away from home, and generally an increased demand for
convenience foods. The prospects for high quality branded products are seen to be good.

Rees (1992) in his study revealed that factors influencing the consumer’s choice of
food are flavour, texture, appearance, advertising a reduction in traditional cooking,
fragmentation of family means and an increase in ‘snacking’ etc. Demographic and
household role changes and the introduction of microwave ovens have produced changes
in eating habits. Vigorous sale of chilled and other prepared foods is related to the large

33
numbers of working wives and single people, who require and value convenience.
Development in retailing with concentration of 80 percent of food sales in supermarkets
is also considered to be important. Consumers are responding to messages about safety
and healthy eating. They are concerned about the way in which food is produced and
want safe, ‘natural’, high quality food at an appropriate price.

Beharrell and Denison (1995) revealed that consumers are highly involved in
routine shopping and grocery shopping activity. In the event of a stock-out, customers
may search the whole store or even undertake a second shopping trip to obtain it.
The study “Consumer values in product consumption pattern ” A study based on income
group in madras city was undertaken by Saker. S (1995), who examined the consumers
for the purpose of the study. They were classified into higher income, middle income and
lower income group. The result reveals that the product consumption of lower income
group of consumers appears to be more influenced by their “epistemie” value and that of
higher income was more influenced by their social status, Hence, the researcher
concluded that the product consumption patterns of the three income groups (lower,
middle, higher) differed according to their value organization.

Herrmann et al., (2001) aimed at explaining the aspects of pricing, consumer

behaviour and to analyze them with reference to groups of breakfast products and results
indicated that, demand was greatest for products with a long storage life, such as coffee. It
23 appears likely that consumers bought some items only during special offer periods. He
found there was very strong consumer reaction to price changes for jams and breakfast
cereals. An active pricing policy, thus, represents a central marketing instrument in food
retailing. This is consistent with strong consumer reaction to price changes.

Kamenidou et al., (2002) presented the findings on the purchasing and consumption
behaviour of Greek households towards three processed peach products: canned peaches
in syrup, juice and peach jam. The results revealed that 47.5 percent of the households
purchased canned peaches in syrup, 67.4 percent purchased peach juice and 42.6 percent
purchased peach jam. Reasons for such purchase were taste and qualities satisfaction and
households' perception that they are healthy products. The results also indicated that the
consumption quantities were considered low, while households usually purchased the
same brand name, meaning that there is a tendency for brand loyalty.

Sanjaya et al. (2002) reported that, the decision for purchasing branded fine rice was
mostly made by the wives of the family. The retailers were ranked as the prime source of
information about branded fine rice. The monthly purchase is the most preferred
frequency of purchase, which might be due to the fact that most of the respondents were
of monthly salaried class and they would have planned their purchase accordingly along
with other provision items. The quality and the image of the brand were ranked as the
major factors for brand preference in the purchase of branded fine rice.

Rajalakshmi et al., (2004) revealed that, almost all the sample respondents preferred
34
branded products and if their favorite brand is not available in the retail shop, they will go
for another store and their favorite brand. If it is not available in the market, the
respondents are ready to postpone their purchase.

Celile O. Dolekoglua et al., (2009) Store brands play an important role in retail
strategy, but recent research has examined the factors assumed to influence the selection
of store brands in emerging markets of developing nations. This exploratory study
investigates Turkish consumers' perceptions and preferences of store brands of dairy
products. Using personal interviews, data for the study are collected from consumers
shopping in different supermarkets in the capital city of Turkey. The most striking finding
of this study was that Turkish consumers have strong preferences toward national brands
across all factors of purchase reasons investigated. Findings indicate that national brands
were perceived as high in quality, distributed widely, healthy, fresh, and offering more
product choices, whereas store brands were perceived as low-priced alternatives. Also,
habitual buying and brand image played important roles in their purchase decisions. The
results of the study show that there are two distinct store brand preference segments
among Turkish consumers, which were nicknamed “Product Attribute Sensitive” and
“Price Sensitive,” and these segments differed in terms of demographics and
socioeconomic profiles as well as the reasons for purchase. Managerial and research
implications are discussed.

35
 CHAPTER-4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

36
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology is ways to systematically solve the problem. The Research

Methodology includes the various methods and techniques for conducing a
Research.” Marketing Research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and
reporting of data and finding relevant solution to specific marketing situation or
problem”. D.Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the encyclopedia of social sciences define
Research as “the manipulation of things, concept or symbols for the purpose of
generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that aids in construction
of theory or in the practice of an art.”

Research is, thus an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making
for its advancement. The purpose of research is to discover answer to the
question through the application of scientific procedures. Our project has
specified framework for collecting data in an effective manner. Such framework is
called” RESEARCH Methodology”.

The research process followed by me consists of following steps:

Defining the problem and research objective:

It is said, “A problem well defined is half solved”. The step is to define the
problem under study and deciding the research objective. The objective of
my research is to know the consumer perception towards unbranded & branded grocery
items.

Development the research plan:

The second of this study consists of developing the most efficient plan for gathering
data.

Sampling Plan:

A sample plan is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given

population. It refers to the technique or the procedure the researcher would adopt in
selecting sample items for the sample. Sample plan may as well lay down the number of
items to be included in the sample. i.e., the size of the sample. The plan helps in
decision making in the following areas.

Universe:

37
All customers of branded and unbranded grocery items constitute of the universe.

Sample size:
This refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe to constitute a
sample. The size of sample should neither be excessively large, nor too small, it
should be optimum. The sample size for my study is -100.

Sampling procedure:

It is a way through which sampling is done. There are various procedures

like random,systematic etc.
The sampling procedure for my study is Convenience sampling.

Research design:

Descriptive in nature.

Data collection:

Information was collected from both primary and secondary data.

Primary sources: Primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the
first time. I have collected primary data by conducting survey through
Questionnaire, which includes both open ended and close-ended Questions.

Secondary sources: Secondary data are those which already been collected
by someone else and which already had been passed through the statistical process.
I have collected secondary data has been collected through Magazines, Web
sites, and Newspaper.

Analysis of data and interpretations:

After collection of date the analysis of data has been done through various statistical
tools and techniques. The analysis of data required a number of
closely related operations such as establishment of category, the application of
these categories to raw data through coding, tabulation and then drawing
statistical inferences.

38
 Limitation of the Study

1. Due to constraints of time & financial resources, the scope of study is

limited to few customer of Delhi only.

2. Smaller sample may not always give better results. Sample may not be true
representative of the whole population.

3. The possibility of biased responses is ruled out.

4. Lack of availability of full information.

39
 CHAPTER-5

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS

40
 Data Analysis and Interpretations

Q1: - While purchasing grocery items what do you prefer?

Objective: - To know how many people are aware of braded grocery items.

Response No. of Respondents

Branded 19
Unbranded 14
Both 67
Total 100

TABLE NO.1

Consumer purchasing preference

Branded
19%

Unbranded
14%
Both
67%

Graph No-1

Interpretation:

The result show that out of 100 respondents 19% respondents prefer branded items, 14%
unbranded items and 67% respondent are those who buy both branded and unbranded
items.

41
Q2: - What names come to your mind when you think of branded items?

Objective:- To know awareness level of the respondents about the

companies offering branded grocery items.

Table No-2

Grocery Items No. of Respondents

Annapurna Atta 08
Shakti Bhog Atta 10
Annapurna 15
Pillsbury 2
Lalika rice 9
Kohinoor Rice 10
Manawa Sugar 5
Tata tea 7
Taj Mahal 8
Dabur Honey 7
Coco Fruit 4
Mother’s Recipe 5
Tata Salt 10

Graph N0-2

Interpretation:

Every person has their different opinions regarding the companies offering branded
food items. So that only interpretation can be given, therefore the interpretation is
that for Atta or wheat flours the first name strikes to the mind of respondents is
42
Shaktibhog, Annapurna & Pillsbury. For rice Lalkila & Kohinoor, for sugar Manawa,
tea of Tata & tea of Tata a n d Taj Mahal, Honey of Dabur, Dry- fruit of Coco,
pickles of mother’s recipe, salt of Tata & Annapurna, spices of MDH. But there are
many respondents who do not know about the companies offering branded Dry-fruit &
cereals.

Q3) From where do you purchase the grocery items?

Objectives: To know the point of purchase.

Table no-3

Response No. of respondents

Near general store 40
Super market 28
CSD Canteen 12
Any Other 20

Point of Purchase

20%

40% Near general store

super Market
12%
CSD Canteen
any Other

28%

Graph no-3

Interpretation:

The result shows out of 100 respondent 40%respondent buy grocery items from near
general store, 28% go to super market and 12% go to CSD Canteen to buy
grocery because the people only from defense background are allowed to purchase

43
from the Canteen and moreover they allow two time purchase in a month and 20% from
any other grocery wholesaler or other as they like.

Q4) : -Which of the following items you prefer to buy as branded ones?

Objective: To know which of the items respondents mainly preferred mainly to buy as
branded ones.

Table No-4

Response No. of Respondents

Atta or Wheat 12
Rice 07
Sugar 03
Tea 21
Honey 04
Dry-fruits 06
Pickles 06
Salt 24
Spices 11
Cereals 06
Total 100

Graph No-4

44
Interpretation:

From the above, it can be said that 25% of respondents prefer branded salt, followed
by 22.5% for branded Tea, 12.5% branded Atta/wheat flour, 10% branded Spices,
7.5% branded dry-fruit, 6.5% branded Rice, 6% branded Cereals, 5% branded
Pickles, 3.5% branded Honey, 1.5% branded Sugar.

Q5) : - Which of the following factors induce you most to go for branded items?

Objectives: -To knows the importance of each factor that effecting the
purchasing decision of customers.

Factors No. of Respondents

Good Quality 27
Variety 25
Assured Quality 22
Packaging 16
Advertisement 10

Graph No-5

Interpretation:

From above table it is found that good quality is more emphasis by

consumer then Variety, Assured quality, Packaging, Advertisement.

45
Q6) : - Are you satisfied with unbranded items you have used?

Objectives:- To know the satisfaction level of them respondent.

Table No-6

Responds No. of Respondents

Yes 50
No 50

Satisfaction Level of Consumers Regarding

Unbranded Items
60

Yes, 50 No, 50
50

40

30

20

10

0
Yes No

Graph N0-6

Interpretation:

The result for unbranded items show that out of 100 people 50% are satisfied with
unbranded items and 50% of not satisfied.

46
 Q7: - If answer to question 6 is ‘NO’ then what are reason of your
dissatisfaction?

Objectives: - To find out the reason of dissatisfaction.

Table No-7

Response No. of Respondents

Poor Quality 28
Impurity 13
Unavailability 0
PRICE 9

Graph No-7

Interpretation:

The result of question 8 shows that only 40 respondents are dissatisfied from unbranded
items they used. The reasons for dissatisfaction were poor quality, impurity
in the order of importance.

47
 INCOME & PURCHASING RELATIONSHIP

There is great relationship between income & purchasing decision. As well as income
level change their consumer preferences or choice of purchase also changes,
according to my studied consumer with high income level prefer branded things
more than consumers with low income level. The consumer with low or you can
say middle income level prefer only basic thing as branded but high income level
consumer buy every thing branded this is shown in following table.

Table No-8

Income Level Branded Unbranded

10000-15000  Tea  Atta
 Salt  Rice
 Sugar
15001-20000  Atta  Sugar
 Rice  Dry-fruit
 Spices
20001-25000  Spices  Pickles
 Sugar  Honey
 Dry-fruit
25001&above Prefer almost all things
branded

The data shown in table is gathered by matching income level of the

consumer with their buying preference this tables show that as the income increases
demand for branded items also increases. Customer prefers to buy that goods branded
which they buy unbranded former.

48
 CHAPTER-6
FINDINDGS & SUGGESTIONS

49
 FINDINGS

1. Customer is having a sense of freedom and choice.

2. Now the market is said to be customer oriented.

3. The preference of consumer is continuously shifted form unbranded to branded

items.

4. Branded grocery items lie on high price scale and consumers want that price
should be reduced where unbranded items lie on a low price scale but quality is not
good.

5. Branded grocery items have a great impact on the unbranded items because
the sale of branded items is increasing and unbranded is decreasing because of
consciousness of customer regarding quality.

6. According to the study, consumers are more aware of companies offering branded
Atta, Tea, and Salt than companies that are offering other branded grocery items.

7. Purchasing power of consumers is changed due to change in income level.

8. Today’s customer is not loyal to one, they switch to other if they don’t get brand they
want.

50
 SUGGESTIONS:

1. Consummers are not very aware about all branded grocery items
available in the market so companies should adopt good promotional stages to occupy
an appealing space on the mind of consumers.

2. Price should be reduced of branded items, companies should charge reasonable

price from customer for branded items.

3. The retailer or wholesaler dealing with unbranded grocery items should

improve quality of the items because these are major reasons of consumers’
dissatisfaction.

4. Branded items should be easily available.

5. Advertisements have a great impact on buying decision so the ads of item such as
branded dry-fruit, pickles, sugar etc should also be telecast.

51
CHAPTER-7
CONCLUSION

52
 CONCLUSION

1. Customer is having a sense of freedom and choice.

2. Now the market is said to be customer oriented.

3. The preference of consumer is continuously shifted form unbranded to

branded items.

4. Branded grocery items lie on high price scale and consumers want that
price should be reduced where unbranded items lie on a low price scale but
quality is not good.

5. Branded grocery items have a great impact on the unbranded items

because the sale of branded items is increasing and unbranded is decreasing
because of consciousness of customer regarding quality.

6. According to the study, consumers are more aware of companies offering

branded Atta, Tea, and Salt than companies that are offering other branded
grocery items.

7. Purchasing power of consumers is changed due to change in income level.

8. Today’s customer is not loyal to one, they switch to other if they don’t get brand
they want.

53
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kotler Philip: “Marketing Management Analysis, Planning,

Implementation & Control, 6th edition (New Delhi – Prentice- Hall of ltd.1999.

Sharma D.D, marketing research process, Marketing research

principles, Application and cases

http://www.iimadh.ernet.in/-satish/teapaper.pd

www.indianline.com

www.google.com

54
Annexure

55
 QUESTIONNAIRES

Dear Respondent,

I am Akanksha student of Chandigarh Business School of Administration pursuing MBA

and conducting project regarding the “Consumer’s perception regarding branded and
unbranded grocery items in Delhi”. I will be very thankful to you if you provide me the
required information.

Personal detail:-

Name: ------------------------
Gender: ------------------------
Occupation: ------------------------
Address: ------------------------
Contact no: ------------------

Q1: - While purchasing grocery items what do you prefer?

a) Branded Items
b) Unbranded Items
c) Both

Q2: - What names come to your mind when you think of branded items.

1. Atta or wheat flour ------------------------

2. Rice ------------------------

3. Sugar ------------------------

4. Tea ------------------------

5. Honey ------------------------

6. Dry-fruit ------------------------

7. Pickles ------------------------

8. Salt ------------------------

9. Spices ------------------------

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10. Cereals ------------------------

Q3): - From where do you purchase the grocery items?

a) Near General Store

b) Super Market
c) CSD Canteen
d) Any Other

Q4): - Which of the following items you prefer to buy branded ones?

a) Atta or Wheat
b) Rice
c) Sugar
d) Tea
e) Honey
f) Dry-fruit
g) Pickles
h) Salt
i) Spices
j) Cereals

Q5): -Which of the following factors induce you most to go for branded Items?

a) Good quality
b) Varieties
c) Assured quantity
d) Packaging
e) Advertising

Q6): - Are you satisfied with unbranded items you have used?

a) Yes
b) No

Q7): - If answer to question 6 is ‘NO’ then what are reason of your dissatisfaction?”

a) Poor quality
b) Impurity
c) Unavailability
d) Price

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Q8): - What improvements do you recommended for branded items?

________________________________________________________
__
_____________________________________
Q9): -What do you think the future of branded items as well as unbranded items?

________________________________________________________
__
________________________________________________________
__

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Thank You

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