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CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR INTRODUCTION:

As the twentieth century draws to a close, and we

enter into twenty first century, India is a

celebration in diversity. Its people differ not

only in the usual ways- by age and gender, By race

and culture, by education and occupation, by

marital status and living arrangements- but also

in their activities and interests, their

preference and opinions. They differ in the music

they like, the television shows they watch, the

political beliefs they hold, the clothing they

wear.

Our society is a study in diversity. We see

diversity among consumers, among marketers, among

customs, among Nations, even among consumer

behavior theoretical perspectives. However,

despite prevailing diversity in our society, there

also are many similarities. Segmenting target

audiences on the basis of such similarities makes

it possible for marketers to design marketing

strategies with which consumers will identify.

The study of consumer behavior enables marketers

to understand and predict consumer behavior in the

marketplace; it also promotes understanding of the

role that consumption plays in the lives of

individuals. Consumer behavior is defined as the

behavior that consumers display in searching for,

purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of

products, services, and ideas that they expect

will satisfy their needs. The study of consumer

behavior is concerned not only with what consumer

buy, but also with why they buy it, when and where

and how they buy it, and how often they buy it. It

is concerned with learning the specific meanings

that products hold for consumers. Consumer

research takes place at every phase of the

consumption process: before the purchase, during

the purchase, and after the purchase. Consumer

behavior is interdisciplinary; that is, it is

based on concepts and theories about people that

have been developed by scientists in such diverse

disciplines as psychology, sociology, social

psychology, cultural anthropology, and economics.

Consumer research is the methodology used to study

consumer behavior.

STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

The study of consumer behavior is the study of how

individuals make decisions to spend their

available resources (time, money, effort) on

consumption-related items. It includes the study

of what they buy, why they buy, when they buy it,

where they buy it, how often they buy it, and how

often they use it. Take for example, soft-drinks.

Consumer researchers want to know what types of

soft drinks consumers buy (carbonated, flavored,

tetra-packs, tins); what brand (Coca-Cola , Coca-

Cola, Thums Up, Sprite, Mirinda, etc.); why they

buy it (to quench thirst, because of ads, because

of the endorser, style); where they buy it

(restaurants, theatres, bakeries, convenience

stores); how often they use it (in the mornings,

in the nights, before / after meals); how often

they buy it (daily, weekly, bi-weekly,

monthly).What kind of consumers buys soft-drinks?

What features they look for? What benefits do they

seek? How likely are they to replace their brand?

What makes them to buy? The answers to these

questions can be found through consumer research

and can provide marketers with important 'input

for product scheduling, segmentation, and

promotion strategy.

EVOLUTION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

There are a number of reasons why the study of

consumer behavior developed as a separate

marketing discipline. Marketers had long noted

that consumers did not always act or react as

marketing theory suggested they would. The size of

the consumer market in this country is vast and

constantly expanding. Lots of money was being

spent on goods and services by tens of millions of

people. Consumer preferences were changing and

becoming highly diversified. Even in industrial

markets, where needs for goods and services were

always more homogenous than in consumer markets,

buyers were exhibiting diversified preferences and

less predictable purchase behavior.

To better meet the needs of specific groups of

consumers, most marketers adopted a policy of

market segmentation, which called for the division

of their total potential markets into smaller,

homogeneous segments for which they could design

specific products and/or promotional campaigns.

They also used promotional techniques to vary the

image of their products so that they would be

perceived as better fulfilling the specific needs

of certain target segments- a process not known as

positioning. Other reasons for the developing

interest in consumer behavior included the rate of

new product development, growth of the consumer

movement, public policy concerns, environmental

concerns, and the growth of both nonprofit

marketing and international marketing. Indeed, a

major stumbling block too many international

marketing efforts has been the general lack of

familiarity with the needs, preferences, and

consumption habits of consumers in foreign

markets. Marketers now use cross-cultural consumer

research studies as the basis for product

development and promotional strategies to meet the

needs of targeted foreign consumers.

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING CONCEPT

The field of consumer behavior is rooted in the

marketing concept, a marketing strategy that

evolved in the late 1950s, after marketers passed

through a series of marketing approaches referred

to as the production concept, the product concept,

and the selling concept.

When World War II ended, marketers found they

could sell almost any goods they could produce to

consumers who had done without while the nation's

manufacturing facilities were dedicated to the

production of war material. This marketing

approach is called a product orientation: its

implicit marketing objectives are cheap, efficient

production and intensive distribution. A

production orientation is a feasible marketing

strategy when consumers are more interested in

obtaining the product than they are in its

specific features. When demand exceeds supply, a

production orientation can work. Consumers will

buy what's available, rather than wait for what

they really want.

A production orientation should not be confused

with a product orientation, which assumes that

consumers will buy the product that offers them

the highest quality, the best performance, and the

most features. A product orientation leads a

company to strive constantly to improve the

quality of its product, with a result often

referred to as "marketing myopia" - that is, a

focus on the product, rather than on the consumer

needs it presumes to satisfy. A marketer in love

with its product may improve it far beyond its

worth to the consumer, passing the cost of

unneeded quality or special features on to the

public. In highly competitive markets, some

companies keep adding unnecessary features in

hopes of attracting buyers.

A natural evolution from both a production

orientation and a product orientation is selling

orientation, in which a marketer's primary focus

is selling the products that it has unilaterally

decided to produce. The implicit assumption in the

selling orientation is that consumers are unlikely

to buy a product unless they are actively and

aggressively persuaded to do so. The problem with

a selling orientation is that it does not take

consumer satisfaction into account. When consumers

are induced to buy products that they don't want

or need, any resulting unhappiness is likely to be

communicated through negative word-of-mouth that

may dissuade other potential consumers from making

a similar purchase. Furthermore, when the product

does not fulfill a consumer need, it is unlikely

that a repeat purchase will be forthcoming.

In the late 1950's some marketers began to realize

that they could sell more goods, more easily, if

they produced only those goods that they had

predetermined consumers would buy. Instead of

trying to persuade customers to buy what they had

already produced, marketing oriented firms

endeavored to produce only products that they had

first confirmed consumers would buy. Consumer

needs and wants became the firm's primary focus.

This consumer-oriented marketing philosophy came

to be known as the marketing concept. The key

assumption underlying the marketing concept is

based on the premise that a marketer should make

what it can sell, instead of trying to sell what

it has made. While the selling concept focused on

the needs of the seller, the marketing concept

focuses squarely on the needs of the buyer.

The widespread adoption of the marketing concept

by American business provided the impetus for the

study of consumer behavior. To identify

unsatisfied consumer needs, companies had to

engage in extensive marketing research. In so

doing, they discovered that consumers were highly

complex individuals, subject to a variety of

psychological and social needs quite apart from

their survival needs. They discovered that the

needs and priorities of different consumer

segments differed dramatically and that to design

new products and marketing strategies that wold

fulfill consumer needs they had to study consumers

and their consumption behavior in depth. Thus, the

marketing concept laid the ground work for the

application of consumer behavior principles to

marketing strategy.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Effective business managers realize the importance

of marketing to the success of their firm.

Marketing may be defined as:

... The process of planning and executing the

conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution

of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges

that satisfy individual and organizational

objectives. A sound understanding of consumer

behavior is essential to the long-run success of

any marketing program. In fact, it is seen as a

cornerstone of the marketing concept, an important

orientation of philosophy of many marketing

managers. The essence of the marketing concept is

captured in three interrelated orientations.

Consumers' wants and needs :

When the focus is on identifying and satisfying

the wants and needs of consumers, the intention of

the firm is not seen as merely providing goods and

services. Instead, want and need satisfaction is

viewed as the purpose, and providing products and

services is the means to achieve that end.

Company objectives :

Consumers' wants and needs are numerous.

Therefore, a firm that concentrates on satisfying

a small proportion of all desires will most

effectively utilize its resources. Company

objectives and any of the firm's special

advantages are sued as criteria to select the

specific wants and needs to be addressed.

Integrated strategy :

An integrated effort is most effective in

achieving a firm's objective through consumer

satisfaction. For maximum impact their requires

that marketing efforts be closely coordinated and

compatible with each other and with other

activities of the firm.

Every marketer has to study consumer

markets and behavior prior to developing its

marketing plan. This enables marketers to

understand who constitutes the market, what and

why the market buys, who participates in the

buying, and how, when, and where the market buys.

It is important for marketers and future marketers

to recognize why and how individuals make their

consumption decisions, so that they can make

better strategic marketing decisions. If marketers

understand consumer behavior, they are able to

predict how consumers are likely to react to

various informational and environmental cues, and

are able to shape their marketing strategies

accordingly. Without doubt, marketers who

understand consumer behavior have great

competitive advantage in the marketplace.

ANALYZING CONSUMER MARKETS AND BUYER BEHAVIOR

The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy

customers' needs and wants. The field of consumer

behavior studies how individuals, groups and

organizations select, buy, use, dispose of goods,

services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their

needs and desires. Understanding consumer behavior

and "knowing customers" are never simple.

Customers may say one thing but do another. They

may not be in touch with their deeper motivations.

They may respond to influences that change their

mind at the last minute.

Before developing their marketing plans, marketers

need to study consumer markets and consumer

behavior. In analyzing consumer markets, firms

need to research who constitutes the market

(occupants), what the market buys (objects), why

the market buys (objectives), who participates in

the buying (organizations), how the market buys

(operations), when the market buys (occasions),

and where the market buys (outlets).

Consumer behavior is influenced by four factors:

cultural (Culture, subculture, and social class);

social (reference groups, family, and social roles

and statutes); personal (age, stage in the life

cycle, sex, occupation, economic circumstance,

lifestyle, personality, and self-concept); and

psychological (motivation, perception, learning,

beliefs, and attitudes). Research into all these

factors can provide clues as to how to reach and

serve consumers more effectively.

To understand how consumers actually make their

buying decisions, marketers must identify who

makes and has input into the buying decision;

people can be initiators, influencers, deciders,

buyers, or users, and different marketing

campaigns might be targeted to each type of

person. Marketers must also examine buyer's levels

of involvement and the number of brands available

to determine whether consumers are engaging in

complex buying behavior, dissonance-reducing

buying behavior, habitual buying behavior, or

variety-seeking buying behavior.

The typical buying process consists of the

following sequences of events: problem

recognition, information search, evaluation of

alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase

behavior. The marketers' job is to understand the

buyer's behavior at each stage and what influences

are operating. The attitudes of others,

unanticipated situational factors, and perceived

risk may all affect the decision to buy, as will

consumer's level of post purchase satisfaction and

post purchase actions on the part of the company.

Satisfied customers will continue to purchase

dissatisfied customers will stop purchasing the

product and are likely to spread the word among

their friends. For this reason, companies must

work to ensure customer satisfaction at all levels

of the buying process.

The Indian consumer market consists of more than 1

billion people who consume many crore rupees worth

of goods and services each year, making it one of

the most attractive consumer markets in the world.

The world consumer market consists of more than

6.5 billion people. Consumers around the world

vary greatly in age, income, education level, and

tastes. Understanding how these differences affect

consumer buying behavior is one of the biggest

challenges marketers face.

Stages in Buyer Decision Process:

When making a purchase, the buyer goes through a

decision process consisting of need recognition,

information search, and evaluation of

alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase

behavior_. The marketers' job is to understand the

buyer's behavior at each stage and the influences

that are operating. During need recognition, the

consumer recognizes a problem or need that could

be satisfied by a product or service in the

market.

Once the need is recognized, the consumer is

aroused to seek more information and moves into

the information search stage. With information in

hand the consumer proceeds to alternative

evaluation, during which the information is used

to evaluate brands in the choice set. From there,

the consumer makes a purchase decision and

actually buys the product. In the final stage of

the buyer decision process, post-purchase

behavior, the consumer takes action based on

satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

Adaptation and Diffusion Process :

The product adoption process is comprised of five

stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and

adoption. Initially, the consumer must become

aware of the new product. Awareness leads to

interest, and the consumer seeks information about

the new product. Once information has been

gathered, the consumer enters the evaluation stage

and considers buying the new product. Next, in the

trial stage, his or her estimate of its value. If

the consumer is satisfied with the product, he or

she enters the adoption stage, deciding to use the

new product fully and regularly.

With regard to diffusion of new products,

consumers respond at different rates, depending on

the consumers; characteristics and the product's

characteristics. Consumer may be innovators, early

adopters, early majority, late majority, or

laggards. Innovators.

OBJECTIVES OF THE

STUDY

The importance objectives of

the study are:

To know the consumer preference brand among

the Pearl Beverages and the other soft drink

concerns.

To determine the factor influencing consumer

preference towards various soft drinks.

To analyze the customer preference to wards

different promotional sachems

To determine the purchase pattern of soft

drinks.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design

In view of the objectives of the study, an

exploratory design has been adopted. Exploratory

research is one, which largely interprets the

available information on the study, and it lays

emphasis on analysis and interpretation of the

existing and available information. This research

is generally useful when user collect the

information from two sources, viz. study of

secondary sources, interaction and discussion with

individuals and analyzing some specific cases

(primary sources).

Since the researcher has no control over the

respondent variables, he is necessary to narrate

the present and future state through comparative

and correlation methods. Further the researcher

has made an attempt to specify the nature of

functional relationship between two or more

variables of data collection.

Sources of data

The study is based on both primary and

secondary data. The secondary data relating to

confectioneries in general and Pearl Beverages in

Particular have been collected from the published

reports, magazines, company annual reports, etc.,

To Study on Consumer Buying Behaviour about

the marketing strategies. Product promotion and

market promotion methods, pros and cons of the

distribution systems, etc., as well structured

questionnaire as been prepared and administered on

experimental basis among the sample consumers.

Sample frame:

To collect the opinions of the consumer’s

aspects of marketing of soft drinks, convenient

sampling has been adopted. The study has been

covering the Guntur town (as suggested by the

company). But sample size has been restricted to

100 only covering the consumers in the form of

Cool drinks shops, Theatres, Ice-cream parlor and

Bakeries. Many of the respondents have met during

the pilot study, to collect the preliminary

information and good report has been established,

there by obtaining necessary information is very

easy.

Questionnaire:

The survey of the Study on Consumer Buying

Behavior has been made through questionnaire

approach. The questionnaire prepared for the study

covers the following types of questions.

Dichotomous questions: The questions pose a

simple alternative to the respondent. They can

be answered easily ‘yes’ or ‘no’. This is an

excellent technique to situations where the

respondents have clearest alternatives of

responses.

Multiple – choice questions: these questions

suggest several answers to a question. The

respondents can choose and answer those

questions accordingly.

International Scale: These types of questions

are used to know the intention of the

respondents for purchase, in using the product

or service.

Open-ended questions: Such questions do not

pose alternatives or request specific

information. So, the respondent is totally

free to make whatever reply he chooses.

Ranking scale type questions: Under these

questions the respondents can directly compare

two or more objects and give ranking among

them. Apart from the above type of questions,

the other types of question viz., solution

from the above type of questions, the other

types of question viz., solution.

Connective type, alternative response type,

etc. are prioritized. Thus

the questions Are open-ended fragment and

rating type?

Tools of an analysis:

The data collected through survey have been

careful and meaningfully analyzed by using well-

established statistical tools and techniques.

Important statistical techniques like

percentages.

Type of survey:

The survey to be conducted to collect the

information is “experimental design” This is the

best method of survey to get casual information.

Here the questionnaire gets an acquaintance of

the retailer opinion regarding market

competition.

Hypothesis :

Hypothesis is a part of research that

enables the researcher to predict about the future

based on the present trend. It is very much

essential in any research activity to develop the

policies for a better working of system.

Based on the above concept the hypothesis for

the study sought of buy the researcher can be

elucidated as follows:

1.There is no difference in brand awareness

among the retailers of existing.

2.There is no big difference in customer

preference and their satisfaction in view of

the retailers with regard to various soft

drinks.

3.The marketing strategies of all the players

are more or less same.

4.The distribution systems are almost all

similar.

The above hypothesis is an expected result;

equal is the chance of both in achieving the

expected results and also is not getting the

desired progress.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY1.The questionnaire survey can help the

researcher to get the supplementary

opinions and information, which will help

him to write the research report in more

detailed and scientific way.

2.To the best of researcher knowledge, many

customers are not aware of bright image and

brand loyalty, price concessions and

quality of the soft drinks and this report

could be of use to publicize this

information.

3.Creating a future customer base may offer

to improve more brand image, consumerism,

etc.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The selected sample members are

conspicuous and inconspicuous in nature. So,

there is a chance to arise some errors in the

course of survey.

The errors may be as follows:

Respondents may not disclose the right

information, because the researcher is very

stranger to them.

The respondents may give pleasing answers to

the researcher even thought it is not correct

from their perspective.

Since, a sample size is small; a perfect mix

of the respondents may not be available for

the researcher to conduct the opinion survey.

Some respondents may give out vague answers to

the questions and there by restricting us from

including them in the survey.

INDUSTRY PROFILE INTRODUCTION:

Non-alcoholic soft drink beverage market can

be divided into fruit drinks and soft drinks. Soft

drinks can be further divided into carbonated and

non-carbonated drinks. Colas, lemon and oranges

are carbonated drinks while mango drinks come

under non-carbonated category. The soft drinks

market till early 1990s was in hands of domestic

Parle etc but with the opening up of economy and

coming of MNC players Coca-Cola and Coke the

market has come totally under their control. World

wide, Coke is the leader in carbonated drinks

market. In India it is Coca-cola , which scores

over Coke but this difference is fast decreasing.

Coca-cola entered Indian market in 1991. Coke re-

entered (After they were thrown out in 1977, by

the then central government) in 1993.

Coca cola has been targeting the youth and the

sales have been doing well by sticking to this

youth segment. Coca-cola on the other hand

struggled initially in establishing is self in the

market. In a span of 7 years of its operations in

the country is changed its CEO four times but

finally they seem to have started understanding

the pulse of Indian consumers.

Soft drinks are available in glass bottles,

aluminum cans and PET bottles for home

consumption. Fountains also dispense then in

disposable containers.

Segmentation:

The soft drink market can be segmented on the

basis of place of consumption of on the basis of

type of products.

The segmentation on the basis of place of

consumption divides the market into two parts:

1 On-coca cola -80% of the consumption of soft

drinks is on premise i.e. restaurants, railways

stations, cinema halls etc.

2 At-home- the rest 20% of the market compromises

of the soft drink purchased for consumption at

home.

3 The market can also be segmented on the basis of

types of products into cola products and non-cola

products.

4 Cola products account for nearly 62% of the

total soft drinks market. The brands that fall in

this category are Coca-cola , Coca-Cola, Thumps

Up, Diet coke, Diet Coca-cola etc.

5 Non-cola segment, which constitutes 36%, can be

divided into 4 categories based on the type of

flavor available, namely

Orange

Cloudy lime

Clear Lime

Mango

(i) Orange flavor based soft drinks constitute

around 17% of the market. The segment is largely

dominated by national brands like Fanta of Coca

Cola and Miranda Orange of Coca-cola Co. Rest of

the market is in hands of smaller brands like

Crush (earlier of Cadbury Schweppes and now of

Coca Cola), Gold Spot etc.

(ii) Cloudy Lime flavor constitutes 14% of the

market and is largely dominated by Limca of Coca

Cola and Miranda Lemon of Coca-cola Co.

(iii) Clear Lime this segment of the market

witnessed good growth initially with all the

players launching their brands in the segment. But

now the growth in the segment has slowed down. The

brands available in this segment are 7 Up,

mountain dew of Cocacola , Sprite of Coca Cola and

Canada Dry (earlier of Cadbury Schweppes and now

of Coca cola).

(iv) Mango: This flavor segment constitutes 2%

of the total soft drinks market and it directly

competes with mango based fruit drinks like

Frooti. The leading brands in this segment are:

Maaza of Coca Cola and Slice of Cocacola Co.

There is very thin line of difference

between the clear and cloudy lime. The most

obvious feature is that clear lime has to be

bottled in green bottles as sunlight harms the

drink and changes the taste. There are some small

local brands at city or regional levels. Most of

these are either merging with the two big players

(Coca-Cola and Cocacola ) or they command a very

small – less than 3%, of the total market in their

respective areas.

Soft Drink Production area:

The market preference is highly regional

based, while Cola drinks have main markets in

metro cities and northern states of UP, Punjab,

Haryana etc. Orange flavored drinks are popular in

southern states. Sodas too are sold largely in

southern states besides sale through bars. Western

markets have preference towards mango-flavored

drinks.

Growth Promotional activities in soft drink

industry:

The government has adopted liberalized policies

for the soft drink trade to give the industry a

boost and promote the Indian brands

internationally. Although the import and

manufacture of internationally. Although the

import and manufacture of international brands

like Cocacola and Coke is enhanced in India the

local brands are being stabilized by

advertisements, good quality and low cost.

Buying behavior in soft drink industry:

Soft drinks come under the category of products

purchased in impulse. This attitude of impulse

buying is slowly changing to occasion-led buying

and also to some extent to consumption through

home refrigeration particularly in urban areas.

The market is slowly moving from non alcoholic

carbonated drinks to fruit based drinks and also

to plain bottled water due to lower price and

ready availability.

Consumers purchase soft drinks primarily to

quench thirst. Therefore people traveling and not

having access to hygienic water reach out for soft

drink. This accounts for a large part of the

sales.

Brand awareness plays a crucial in purchase

decisions.

Availability in the chilled a crucial role in

purchase decisions. This has made both the

companies to push its sales and to increase its

retail distribution by offering Visi coolers to

retailers.

While there is no aversion to consumption of

soft drinks by any age group, the main consumers

of this market are people in the age group of 30

and below.

Product differentiation is very low, as all the

products taste the same. But brand loyalty is high

in the case of kids and people in the age group of

20-30 yrs.

75% of the PET bottle consumption is in urban

areas the 200ml bottles sales are higher in rural

areas.

According to NCAER survey, 91% of the total

consumption of soft drinks in the country is done

by lower, lower-middle and upper middle class

people.

Major Players in Soft drink industries:

The soft drink market in India is dominated by

the two global majors Coca-cola and Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola, which had winded up its India operation

during the introduction of the FERA regime,

reentered India 16 years later in 1993. Coca-Cola

acquired a major chunk of the soft drink market by

buying out local brands Thumps Up, Limca, Maaza

and Gold Spot from Pearle Beverages, Coca Cola has

also acquired Cadbury Schweppes soft drink brands

Crush, Canada Dry and Sport Cola in early 1999 and

now recently in Oct ’2000 it acquired distribution

rights of these brands from IFB Agro Limited.

Coca-cola started a couple of years before Coca

Cola in 1991. It bought over Mumbai based Duke’s

range of soft drink brands. Both the cola

manufacturers came up with their own market share

figures and claimed to have increased their share.

Survey report on retailers in soft drink industry:

A survey was conducted to study the retailer’s

views of the present market, future trend and the

consumer behavior patterns. The findings of the

survey are as follows:

Retailers stated that the consumers are loyal to

the particular segment of the soft drink i.e.

cola, orange or lemon. But as far the loyalty for

the brands in each segment is concerned, it is not

very significant.

43% of the retailers surveyed told that in the

soft drinks advertising is the key component in

driving sales. While 32% stated promotional

schemes and 20% brand loyalty as the reason.

As consumers are not very brand loyal where the

purchase of soft drinks is concerned, the retailer

push becomes a critical issue. They usually sell

the product in which they get the maximum benefit.

For this, the companies try to offer them higher

margins.

While distributors get margin of Rs. 8-9 per

crate (1 crate = 24 bottles) at 3-4 % of MRP,

retailers are given a margin of 10 – 12% of MRP.

The retailers are not happy with this, as the cost

of refrigeration is very high for soft drinks.

COMPANY PROFILEINTRODUCTION:

The Coca – Cola Company started out as an

insignificant one-man business and over the last

one hundred and ten years it has grown into one of

the largest companies in the world. The first

operator of the company was Dr. John Pemberton and

the current operator is Mr. Atul Joshi. Without

societies help, Coca – Cola could not have become

over a 50 billion dollar business. Its corporate

headquarters are in Atlanta, with local operation

in over 200 Countries around the world.

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s leading

manufacture, market and distribute of non-

alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, used

to produce nearly 400-beverage branch.

The Coca-Cola Company touches the lives of

millions of people each and every day. From

special occasions to exceptional moments in every

day life, Coca-Cola is there. The brand has become

a special part of people’s lives. The Coca-Cola

Company is also committed to offering consumers a

variety of beverages to choose from in a broad mix

of package sizes to suit all occasions and life

styles. Coca – Cola commitment also encompasses

adhering to the right policies in schools and the

market place; encouraging physical activity and

promoting nutrition education; and continuously

meeting changing consumer needs through

innovation.

History:

The Coco-cola Company traces it’s beginning to

1886, when an Atlanta, Georgia pharmacist, Dr.John

Pemberton began to begin to produce Coca-cola

syrup for Sale in the fountain drink. How ever

with the exemption of an independent bottling

operations established in 1894 in Viking,

Mississippi, in the history of large scale

bottling did not begin until 1899 when two

Chattanooga business man, Joseph vs. White head

and Benjamin F. Thomas secured the exclusive

rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola for most of

the United States from the Coca-Cola Company.

The Coco-Cola bottling system continued to

operate as an independent local business until the

late 1970’s and early 1980’s, when for economic

and other reasons, bottling franchise ownership

began to consolidate. In 1986 the Coca-Cola

Company recognized the opportunity to

significantly this consolidates. In 1986 the Coca-

Cola Company recognized the opportunity of

significantly this consolidation by merging some

of this company’s owned operations with two large

ownership groups that were for sale. These

bottling operations were combined into Coca-Cola

enterprise incorporation. The company offered its

stock in the New York stock exchange on Nov 26,

1986, in the largest initial public offering made

up on the date.

Business:

Coca-Cola enterprise is in the business of

marketing producing and distributing liquid non-

alcoholic requirements to customers and the

consumers in their franchise terms. Coca-Cola

enterprise is the largest bottler of the products

of the Coca-Cola Company. Its operations extended

in over 22 countries worldwide. The Coca-Cola

enterprise and the Coca-Cola co. are in the

business partnership. The co. develops the

product; while as a bottler the Coca-Cola

enterprise combines the product concentrates with

other ingredients and packages in bottles, cans

and fountain containers.

Management philosophy:

Corporate area: The major concept of marketing

philosophy is to remain in the beverage Industry

and not to diversify in to other areas. In fact,

the beverage industry requires little capital, and

produces maximum results. The returns from the

foreign market are tapped to the most Management,

as a whole believes in expanding in to the market.

Financial area:

The corporate objects are to increase the

shareowner’s value. . The management believes that

in increasing the shareholder’s value it requires

consistent growth in financial results

complemented by effective use of cash flow.

Marketing area:

The management in Coca-Cola committed to

superior marketing place execution. This is

achieved by decentralized operating structure that

places the responsibilities, authority, and the

accountability as close to the customer and

consumer as possible.

Coca-cola India:

Coca-Cola returned to India after 16 years in

1993. The brand promotion was between 1994-96. The

bottling requisition occurred between 1997-99. Its

quest for profitability started from 2000 onwards.

In India coke has its concentrate plants at Pune

producing 10 brands. Its company owned bottling

operations is at 6 operating regions, 29 operating

areas with 26 plants 10 green fields and 3000

associates. It enjoys a turn over of over Rs3000

corers in India.

The growth soft drinks in India are very high

compared to other countries. The annual growth

rate has been observed as around 10%. So this

attracted the attention of world leading market

players a lot. Before the entry of Coca-Cola into

India the market Share of coca-cola was 80%, but

with the entry of Coca-cola its market share has

decreased by 10%.

Major players in soft drink industry:

Coca-cola Pvt Ltd., it entered into Indian market

by signing an agreement with Parle exports

limited. Its brands are Coca-cola, Fanta, and

Sprite etc on September 25th the Chanmen brothers

signed an agreement with coke selling their best

brands like Thumsup, Limca, Mazza, and Gold spot.

Cadbury Schweppes it is an international giant

to enter Indian soft drink market, it is a Britain

conglomerate and biggest non coca-cola company in

the world. Its brands launched in India are crush,

Canada dry, lemonade and recently Spot Coke.

Coca-cola foods Pvt. Ltd., it came into India

1956 and left country in 1961 due to un-successful

operations. In the year 1990 it re-entered Indian

market in collaboration with Punjab agro

Industries Corporation.

Other players besides these established

manufactures there are more than 200 units of

independent manufactures of soft drink industry.

They constitute very small market share around 44%

of the entire soft drink industry.

The brand:

The Coca-Cola consistently ranks first in the

world’s most valuable brands. The brand value is

about $39 billion. This is the greatest heritage

of the company. As far As the brand management is

concerned, we find that Coca-Cola ranks itself as

the third only Microsoft and Louis Vuitton.

Products:

The carbonated market:

4 Basic Segments:

Refreshment: Carbonated soft drinks (CSDs):

Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Thumps up and Limca.

Rejuvenation: Ready to drink tea and coffee:

Nestea, Georgia Gold.

Health and Nutrition: Juices and Milks: BIBO,

Fruitopia, Minute Maid and Sunfil.

Replenishment: Water and sports drinks: Kinley,

Shock and Power Aid.

Six Operating Groups:

North America group -

30%share

Latin America group -

26%share

Europe and Eurasia group

- 21%share

Asia Pacific group

- 16%share

Africa and Middle East group - 7%share

Our mission:

We exist to create value for our shares owners

on a long-term basis by Building a business that

enhances. The Coca-Cola Company’s trademarks. This

also is our ultimate commitment.

As the world’s largest beverage company, we

refresh the world. We do this by developing

superior soft drinks, both carbonated and non-

carbonated and profitable Non-alcoholic beverage

systems that create value for our company, our

bottling partners and our customers.

In creating value, we succeed or fail based on

our ability to perform as worthy stewards of

several key assets:

Coca-Cola, the world’s most powerful trade marks

and other highly valuable trade marks

The World’s most effective and pervasive

distribution system.

Satisfied customers, who make a good profit

selling our products.

Our people, who are ultimately responsible for

building this enterprise

Our strong global leadership in the beverage

industry in particular and in the business world

in general.

Our Trademarks:

We create demand by continually expanding the

relationship that bonds our trademarks,

principally Coca-Cola, with the 5 billion people

on this planet.

Everything we do must strengthen that bond and we

will utilize every available resource to expand

the value of our trademarks in the hearts and

minds of our consumers.

i.We will continue to make our trademarks and

especially Coca-Cola, the most recognized, most

powerful commercial symbols in any market where

they are present.

ii. We will continually strive to enhance every

aspect of product and package quality.

iii. We will continually expand and brighten

our trademark presence.

iv. We will always communicate advertising

messages that bond with our consumers.

v.We will never hesitate to adjust our product

line to keep The Coco-Cola trademark strong,

pervasive and present, as such adjustments may

become necessary due to changes in the desires

and needs of our consumers. In doing we will

never compromise the integrity of our core

trademark and all for which it stands.

Our Global Distribution System:

We will demand by creating and leading the

production and distribution systems best capable

of delivering systems best capable of delivering

our products to the customers who sell these and

the people who buy them. We will continually

evaluate and enhance we demand on one to reach our

consumers. We will continually evaluate and

enhance we our relationship with every link in our

system, increasing the opportunities to fulfill

consumer needs as effectively as possible.

Our relationship with our bottlers and

distributors will be defined by their desire and

ability to strengthen our relationship with the

people who buy our products. We will always help

our bottlers serve our customers effectively and

efficiently.

Our relationship with suppliers to our system

must involve them as an integral link in the

value-adding process.

Our relationship with the communities we serve

must be of a kind that makes The Coca-Cola system

a stand –out citizen of those communities.

Our customers:

We fulfill demand by assiduously building of

maintaining relationships with our customers that

are mutually beneficial of that ultimately

translate into competitive advantage.

Our relationship with our customers must

continue to evolve, we cannot allow ourselves to

be limited to the role of mere supplier, but must

instead make sure every customer views us as a

partner in the creation of value for them. We will

do this by reinventing us to serve the customer.

Our people:

Every achievement in our history can be traced

directly to the inspiration, skills, courage and

discipline of our people. Our business has

expanded exponentially and accordingly so has the

demands on our people. For our people to live up

to the challenge, they must possess value,

knowledge.

To recognize as the global business leader, we

must labor daily to distinguish ourselves… Our

ultimate challenge is to make all of our assets,

our trademarks, our global distribution system and

our customer relationships distinctive in every

way. That ability is almost entirely dependent on

the skills of our people and the ideas execution

they bring. The most important skills are:

The brand understanding of and focus on, our

obligation protect and enhance the value of the

company trademark which allows us to comprehend

why we do what we do.

The professional and technical competence that

gives us specific expertise in what we do and how

we do it.

The creativity and open mindedness to discover

and develop the ideas that will create new value,

not merely re-create more of the past.

The flexibility and insight to anticipate

changing market conditions and capitalize on those

changes by adapting our business too the needs of

our customers and consumers.

The ability to process information rapidly and

make decisions thoughtfully and quickly.

The capacity to execute assignments to a

successfully conclusion quickly and effectively.

The confidence to develop people into

competitive performance oriented achievers who

never loose sight of integrity and excellence in

the execution of every task at hand.

All of this an additional importance as we

increasingly assert ourselves within our global

system, from the production of our products, to

the service of our customers to the caring for our

consumers.

Our Resources:

Focusing on key values, knowledge and skills

our people will be equipped to be good stewards of

other company’s resources. They will exhibit good

stewardship by wisely strengthening our trademarks

and our people, building our distribution system

and intelligently allocating our resources ion a

manner worthy or the Coca-Cola trademark.

First and foremost we will be vigilant in

protecting and enhancing the company’s character

and the image it projects. We will focus on

allocating our resources in ways that maintain our

company’s first class image to our customers and

consumers.

All of these resources are available to our

customers for creating value, but they must be

jealously guarded and enhanced …never wasted or

diminished in value.

Our leadership:

Our people must not merely manage; they must

understand their leadership role in the context of

executing the company’s mission. To do this, we

must always exemplify the necessary values,

knowledge and skills. We will do this by, Taking

responsibilities for developing ourselves and

those people around us by creating constantly an

aggressive learning environment.

Establishing the accountability and responsibility

that clearly define roles and expectations,

personalize responsibilities, grant appropriate

latitude create a specific sense of stewardship.

Promotions trademark-focused behavior by rewarding

effective work and discouraging mediocrity.

Our industry leadership must be reflected in our

relationship in with our bottlers and customers as

well as in our consumer communication but never is

this stands to be accompanied with the slightest

hint to arrogance.

Our commitment:

In order to create value for our shareowners, we

must also create significant, sustained, long term

value for everyone involved in the production,

distribution and selling of our products. To do

that, we pledge to,

Aggressively focus all we are all we do on

making our trademarks even more powerful and more

appreciated of our customers and consumers around

the world.

Re-configure our global distribution system as

an ongoing necessary process to deliver most

effectively and efficiently our products into the

hands of the people who buy them.

Framework of consumer satisfaction

The key is to build lasting relationship in the

creation of superior consumer value and

satisfaction. Satisfied consumers are more likely

to be loyal consumers, and loyal consumers are

more likely to give the company a larger share of

their business. We now look closely at consumer

satisfaction.

Consumer Satisfaction:

Consumers from expectations about the value of

marketing offers and make buying decisions based

on this expectations Consumer Satisfaction with a

purchase depends on the product’ actual

performance relative to a buyer’s expectations. A

consumer might experience various degree of

Satisfaction. If the product’s performance falls

short of expectations, the consumer is

dissatisfied. If performance matches

expectations, the consumer is satisfied, if

performance exceeds expectations; the consumer is

highly satisfied or delighted.

But how do buyers form their expectations?

Expectations are based on the consumer’s pas

buying experiences, the opinions of friends and

associates, and marketer and competitor

information and promises. Marketer must be

careful to set the right level of expectations.

If they set expectations too low, they may satisfy

those who buy but fail to attract enough buyers.

In contrast, if they raise expectations too high,

buyers are likely to be disappointed, they

consumer. Finally Consumer Satisfaction is

defined as the value received, or perceived by the

purchaser in the purchase and use of a product or

service. It is the feeling that a product has met

or exceeded their expectations. A consumer’s

satisfaction may come from many factors associated

with the product or service. Some of those

positive factors might be:

Performance of the product

The product’s emotional appeal

The packaging of the product

The outlet through which the product is sold

The benefits received from using the product

Performance of the product:

Regarding to performance of the product, the

product can able to perform all the activities,

which are mentioned by the companies. In the case

of soft drinks the company should receive that it

can refresh you. If it is not able to reach that

level it couldn’t able to satisfy the consumer

without good performance of the product can never

able to succeed. If the performance of the

product is good, then consumer can able to reach

their expectations.

The product’s emotional appeal:

While introduction of a product by a company, the

company itself create a emotional appeal to a

product which in a case of soft drinks the company

should pass the statement it can end your

thirstiness and it didn’t respond to the

particular activity the product doesn’t create

emotional and it can’t able to reach the

satisfaction of a consumer.

The packaging of the product:

The company should design its package attractively

by involving designs such that even all people can

easily attract towards its when in the case of

soft drinks the packaging must be different and

attractively such that it can easily attract the

consumer’s mind.

The outlets through which the products is sold:

The company must specially take care of outlets

such that they are the strong basis of the

company, which they can interact with the

consumers where in the case of soft drinks the

company must offer some schemes or provide some

facilities such that they can take part actively

in company’s product selling.

The benefits received from using the product:

While manufacturing the product the company should

revile the benefits such that in case of soft

drinks the benefits received from using the

product must clearly précised.

THEORITICAL FRAME WORK OF

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR Coca-cola Cola, the soft drink giant is known

for its marketing efforts. This is a company. This

is having a heavy competition from its

competitors. In spite of this heavy competition in

the industry, it is one among the top companies.

This shows the efficiency of the company. The

“Coca-cola Cola India marketing company” operates

the marketing of the Coca-cola Cola in India. At

present it is dealing mainly with soft drinks,

Coca-cola , Mirinda etc., it is also gone into the

mineral water business. In its soft drinks, Coca-

cola , we can find a number of packaging sizes

like 200ml, 300ml, 500ml, 1 litre, 1.5 litres, and

2 litre packs. The 1.5 litre pack which is also

knows as the multi server pack is no consumed

much. At present the consumption ratio between the

1.5 litre Cocacola and other. Packages are 30:70.

The company is planning to increase the

consumption of the 1.5 litre pack. This pack and

to give some suggestion the consumption of 1.5

litre pack. This study covers the consumers of the

Bangalore in a random order.

RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA AND ABROAD

The recent development in India and abroad

regarding the soft drink industry are threatening

the existence and the functioning of the soft

drinks manufacturers. In the recent years there

are growth in importance of health and nature.

Hence there is a tremendous growth of the green

movements and health movements. These movements

are opposing the soft drinks companies. The

following are the recent developments in the

world.

1. Banned in certain countries :

Some of the countries has banned this soft

drinks, banned the sales of the soft drinks

because of the health hazards created by the soft

drinks. This can even spread of other countries.

The will be a great problem to the drink companies

in the coming years.

2. Increasing Awareness :

The consumer’s awareness is increasing in the

present days. That is why we are sealing May

health related and nature releated movements in

now days. These movements are telling that the

soft drinks packs are polluting the environment

and it is also not good for health.

3. Growing emphasis on relationship building and

online marketing :

The consumers nowadays are thing that a special

care should be give to them by the co. panes.

Hence the number of online marketing and

telemarketing are increasing in which the consumer

and the manufacturers come in to direct contact.

But this kind of relationship and giving special

care may not be possible in Coca-cola because of

its large number of sales everyday.

4. Growing emphasis on quality and value :

Nowadays there is also growing emphasis on quality

and value for money. This is also one of the

impacts of the consumer awareness. The people are

not worried to pay something more for a good

quality. It should be noted from the ‘A&M magazine

that the consumers are thinking that the Coca-cola

is not providing value for money.

5. Growth emphasis on ethical marketing behaviour

:

The people nowadays are speaking about ethics in

marketing. They are opposing the Cola wars which

are misleading the consumers are taken in this

regard it will effect the advertisements of the

company.

Opportunities and Threats :

Like any other company, Coca-cola is also

having certain opportunities as well as threats

which are concerned with the external environment

of the business. When speaking about Coca-cola ,

the opportunity should be discussed with the

marketing field as it is playing an important role

in the company.

It can re-position it as a health drink, which

can be taken by the people for digestion.

It can market its soft drinks through its

Kentucky fried chicken outlets.

With its good distribution network it can be

penetration into the rural, markets.

Mineral water business can be giving special

importance.

When speaking about threats, the competition

itself is a threat as the competition is

increasing day by day. The following are likely

threats faced by the company.

The issue that the soft drinks are injurious

to healthful is fest spreading nowadays. This

will reduce the consumption of the Coca-cola

as well as competitors product.

The health movements are increasing day to day

and they are warning the people not to make

the soft drinks.

Future Scenario of the company and market :

In India the sox metros accounting for 40% of

sales and the mini metros for 20% of the sales of

soft drinks. Usually in other product categories,

only 20-25% of the market is from metros. This

anomaly is due to fact that no one has attempted

to expand the market. It is this factor (low per

capita consumption and stagnant market) that has

attracted at the cola giants (Coca-cola and Coca

Cola) in marketing in India and have spent a large

amount of money and effort in setting upon their

operations, there is a vast untapped potential for

the soft drink industry especially in the form of

rural markets where the local brands are doing are

doing well. Any company with manages to enter the

rural market will rich rewards in terms of market

share and revenues.

Consumers will have a lot of choice in the

types of packing offered. The soft drinks

manufacturers will have to offer the entire range

of 200ml, 300ml, 350ml, 500ml, 1000ml and 2000ml.

So that they don’t miss out any segment. The

consumer will have a wide variety of choice in

future. The company should bring in their

internationally successful brands in India and

there will be unlimited choice for the consumers.

With the industry greeted for massive growth,

huge amounts will be invested to build

infrastructure to tap the market, more over with

proliferation of brands, there is a danger of a

rice war between the major players.

Coca-cola ’s Future Plans :

To extended distribution to smaller town and

villages

Increase the number of bottling plats

Get the right pack in the right place.

Concentrate on serving the trade better.

Introduce the concepts of door-to door

retailing.

In the coming years, we can see a heavier and

stiff competition between the companies and there

will be many innovations to withstand in the

market.

Consumer:

A consumer is a business enterprise which sales

primarily to the ultimate consumers for non-

business

Consumer outlets:

Consumer outlets are shops from whom the

consumer ultimately buys except where the

manufacturer sells directly to the consumers.

These may be small or giant organizations like the

department stores and the chain stores

organizations.

Functions Consumers:

Consumers are the predominant source from

where the ultimate consumers obtain goods and

services. Consumer is important for business

houses because of its strategic importance in the

marketing field. The functions performed by

consumers are:

They create place utility by transporting

goods to the point of consumption.

They perform an important an important

function of buying goods of such quality,

color and design, which meet the need of the

customers.

Ultimate consumers buy goods in small lots.

Consumer performs the functions of dividing,

sub-dividing and packing the goods.

Consumer perform several marketing functions

such as sales promotion, advertising and point

of purchase display and thus provide a number

of services to customers to induce them to

busy company products.

They provide home delivery of product,

sometimes free of charge, to secure consumers

patronage.

Statement Of The Problem

Every output produce by the manufacturers

should finally reach the customers. So, the

customer is the “sovereign of the market” and his

satisfaction should be given lot of importance.

But in majority of the cases, the manufacturers

are not directly dealing with the customers and

they are delegating this job to the marketing

intermediaries. In other words, the manufacturers

are building distribution mechanism excepting

direct involvement in marketing. The important

intermediansies are distributors, dealers

‘stockiest. Whole sellers and retailers,etc.

though there are good number of members are

involving in the distribution process, only few of

them are having close association and interaction

with the customrs,viz., whole sellers and

retailers. So, the retailers are the people having

very good interaction with the customer and they

are able to assess the customer very easily.

With out maintain the direct contact with the

customer with the customer, understanding the

customer and his plight as well as competitor’s

position in the market is almost all impossible to

the manufacturers. Further it poses many problems

while building and developing the successful

marketing strategies.

Pearl Beverages, which is located at Guntur of

Andhra Pradesh, is also one among the leading

players in beverages marketing. Though it is

successful, it is facing lot of competition from

the leading players. An analysis of its own

position as well as competitor’s position in the

market through conducting a survey among its

retailers will no doubt give a right picture to

develop the innovative marketing strategies. The

present work on “A study on consumer buying

behaviour of consumer towards soft drinks industry

with reference to Psearl Beverages Ltd” is a

modest attempt in this direction, which will

enable the Pearl Beverages to develop the new and

innovative marketing methods.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONTABLE – 1

PLACE OF PURCHASE:

S.NO

.

PLACE OF PURCHASE PERCENTAGE (%)

1 CONVINCES 602 EATERIES 203 THEATRES 104 HOTELS / RESTAURANTS 55 SUPER MARKETS 5

PLACE OF PURCHASE

0102030405060

Convinces Eatiers Theatres H & R SuperM arkets

Series1

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, we come to know that 60%

of the respondents purchase soft Drinks from

convenience, 20% of the respondents purchase soft

drinks from Eateries, 10% of the respondents

purchase soft drinks from Theatres, 5% of the

respondents purchase soft drinks from

Hotels/Restaurants, and the remaining 5% purchase

soft drinks from Super markets.

TABLE - 2

PACKAGE:

S.NO. QUANTITY PERCENTAGE (%)

1 200 M! 80

2 300ML 15

3 500ML 2

4 1 LITRE AND

1.5LITRE

2

5 2 LITRE 1

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, we come to know that 80% of

the respondents meter a 200ml bottle of soft

drink, 15% of the respondents prefer 300ml bottle

of soft drink. 2% of the respondents prefer

500ml bottle of soft drink. 2% of the respondents

prefer 1litre & 1.5, whereas 1% of the respondents

prefer 2 litre bottles of soft drinks.

TABLE-3

CONSUMPTION TIME:

PACKAGE

S.NO |PARTICULARS PERCENTAGE (%)

1 QUENCH THIRST 49

2 LEISURE 5

3 HOT CLIMATE 15

4 PARTIES 20

5 OCCASIONAL 11

CONSUMPTION TIME :

0

10

20

30

40

50

PERCENTAG E

PERCENTAGE

49 5 15 20 11

Q UEN

LEISU

HOT

PARTI

OCCA

INTERPRETATION


the respondents Soft drinks to quench thirst, 5%

of the respondents consume Soft drinks at leisure

timing, 15% of the respondents consume soft drinks

during hot climate, 20% of the respondents consume

soft drinks at parties, and the remaining 11% of

the respondents consume soft drinks occasionally.

TABLE - 4

AWARENESS OF CONSUMER:

S.NO BRAND PERCENTAGE (%)

1COCACOLA VS COKE &

THUMSUP47 & 53

2 7 UP VS SPRITE 49 & 513 SLICE VS MAZZA 47 & 534 MIRINDA VS FANTA 80 & 20

5LEMON MIRINDA VS

LIMCA30 & 70

A WARENESS OF CONSUMER

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, we come to know that 47

& 53% of the respondents using the Cocacola Vs

Coke & Thums up, 49& 51% of the respondents using

the 7 Up Vs Sprite, 47 & 53% of the respondents

using the Slice Vs Mazza, 80 &20% using the

respondents Mirinda Vs Fanta, 30& 70% using of the

respondents Lemon Mirinda Vs Limca.

TABLE-5

EFFECTIVE MEDIA FOR COMMUNICATIVE SOFT DRINKS ADS TOTHE CUSTOMERS

S.NO MEDIA PERCENTAGE (%)1 TELEVISION 612 NEWS PAPER 123 MAGAZINES 44 WALL BOARDS 175 OTHERS 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Effective M edia for Com m unicative Soft Drinks Ads To The Custom ers

Percentage 61 12 4 17 6

Television

Newspaper

M agzine

W alpaper Others

INTERPRETATION:


the source of media comes from Television. 12% of

the source comes from Newspapers, 4% comes from

Magazines. 17% comes from Wall boards, and the

rest 6% comes from the other sources.

TABLE -6CAUSE FOR A CHANGE OF BRAND

CAUSE FOR A CHANGE PERCENTAGEFRIENDS 23

ADS 19PROMOTIONAL SCHEMES 36

FOR A CHANGE 10TASTE 12

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Cause For A Change Of Brand


Friends Ads Prom o

tionChang

e Taste

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, we can state that 23% of

respondents cause for a change with the influence

of friends, 19% of respondents cause for the

change with the influence of ads, 36% of

respondents cause for the change with the

influence of promotional schemes, 10% of

respondents cause for the change with the

influence of for a change, 12% of respondents

cause for the change with the influence of taste.

TABLE-7COMMUNICATE THROUGH ADS

TYPE OF AD PERCENTAGEWITH STARS/CRICKETERS 34

ADVENTUROUS 7HUMOR 25

COUNTER ADS 22FANTASY 12

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Com m unicate Through Ads


Stars Adventurous Hum or Count

er AdsFantac

y

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, we can state that 34% of the

respondents prefer to see the ad with stars /

Cricketers, 7% of the respondents prefer to see

the ad of adventures, 25% of the respondents

prefer to see the ads with humorous, 22% of the

respondents prefer to see the counter ads, 12% of

the respondents prefer to see the ads of fantasy.

TABLE-8

THE PURPOSE OF CONSUMERSUSE THE SOFT DRINKS

ATTRIBUTES PERCENTAGEQUENCH THIRST 26TASTE & ENERGY 22ATTRACTED BY ADS 16

PROMOTIONAL BENEFITS 36

THE PURPOSE OF CONSUMERS USE THE SOFT DRINKS

0

5

1015

20

25

30

35

40

PERCENTAGE 26 22 16 36

QUENCH TASTE ADS PROM O

TIONAL

INTERPRETATION:


the respondents use the soft drinks by the cause

of Quench Thirst, 22% of respondents use the soft

drinks by the cause of Taste & Energy, 16% of

respondents uses the soft drinks by the cause of

attracted by ads and 36% of respondents use the

soft drinks by the cause of Promotion Benefits.

TABLE-9CONSUMPTION FREQUENCY

USAGE PERCENTAGEDAILY 8WEEKLY 38

OCCASIONALLY 54

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

CONSUM PTION FREQUENCY

Percentage 8 38 54

Daily W eekly Occasional

INTERPRETATION:


the respondents drink the soft drink daily, 38% of

the respondents drink the soft drinks weekly and

54 % of the respondents drink the soft drinks

occasionally.

TABLE-10

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH

ATTITUDE NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

YES 260 87

NO 40 13

TOTAL 300 100

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table 87% of the respondent express

their willing to sell new products that are

launched.

TABLE-11

SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE COCACOLA product

FACTORS NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGEFLAVOUR 82 27PRICE 50 17

BOTTLE SHAPE 27 9QUALITY 141 47TOTAL 300 100

SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE COCACOLA PRODUCT

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table 47% of the respondents

suggested to improve the quality of the Cocacola

products, while as 27% suggested Flavour, 17%

suggested price and 9% suggested changing Bottle

shape.

CONSUMER RESEARCH

The marketing concept is built on the premise that

marketers first identify consumer needs and then

develop products and services to satisfy those

needs. Consumer research offers a set of diverse

methods also is used to better understand

consumption behavior. It is used to identify and

locate appropriate target markets and to learn the

target's media habits. It is used to identify both

felt and unfelt (latent) needs, to learn how

consumers perceive products and brands and stores,

what their attitudes are before and after

promotional campaigns, and how and why they make

their consumption decisions. Many of these

applications of consumer research are managerial

in perspective: they are designed to help a

marketer make specific marketing decisions

concerning product, price, promotion and

distribution.

Consumer research provides the basis for the

development of new product and service concepts to

meet targeted consumer needs. It also enables the

marketer to build consumer "meaning" into the

product or service by discovering which attributes

are most important to the target market and

integrating them into the product or service

design.

The field of consumer research developed as an

extension of the field of marketing research to

enable marketers to predict how consumers would

react in the marketplace and to understand the

reasons they made the purchase decisions they did.

Consumer research undertaken from a managerial

perspective to improve strategic marketing

decisions is known as positivism. It is generally

quantitative in approach, and tries to identify

cause-and-effect relationships in buying

situation. It is often supplemented with

qualitative research.

A second research perspective, called

interprevitism, is generally more concerned with

understanding the act of consumption itself rather

than the act of buying. Interpretivists view

consumer behavior as a subset of human behavior

and increased understanding as a key to

eliminating some of the ills associated with

destructive consumer behavior.

Each theoretical perspective is based on its own

specific assumptions and uses its own research

methodologies. Positivists generally use

quantitative studies that can be generalized to

larger populations. Interpretivists often use

subjective studies that view consumption

experiences as unique situation \s that occur at

specific moments in time. The two theoretical

research orientations, used together, provide a

deeper and more insightful understanding of

consumer behavior than either approach used alone.

The consumer research process -whether

quantitative or qualitative in approach-generally

consists of six steps: defining objectives,

collecting secondary data, developing a research

design, collecting primary data, analyzing the

data, and preparing a report of the findings.

Data Analysis and Interpretation:

In qualitative research analysis was received by

the respondents directly and indirectly observing

their behavior patterns to know the truth. In

quantitative researcher supervision of analysis is

done. Open-ended responses are first coded and

quantified; then all of the responses are

tabulated and analyzed.

The data collected was analyzed using statistical

techniques like the percentage method and the

results were displayed in tabular form along with

graphical representation wherever necessary.

Report Preparation :

In both quantitative and qualitative research, a

brief summary of the findings is included. The

body of the report includes a full description of

methodology used and for quantitative research

also includes tables and graphics to support the

findings. A sample questionnaire is included in

the appendix to enable management to evaluate the

objectivity of the findings.

FINDINGS :

62% of the respondents of selling Coca-cola

products.

In summer the sales are more when compared to

other seasons

200ml is the fastest moving quantity with 75%

sales

60% of the respondents are having

refrigerators supplied by Coke, 50% supplied

by Coca-cola , 20% owner own.

Coke is the Fastest moving brand with 55%

30% of the respondents are satisfied with the

margins given by the company.

38% of the respondents are satisfied with the

companies delivery system, while 33% are not

satisfied.

75% of the respondents are getting from the

company.

58% of the respondents feel that

season .is the main factors influencing

their sales.

87% of the respondents are willing to

try the new products launched.

47% of the respondents feel quality of the

Coca-cola products should be changed, while 9%

suggested to change the bottle.

SUGGESTIONS : Advertisement should be intensified to

increase the sales.

The company should maintain on time supply of

the stock.

Retailers should be motivated in order to

increase the sales.

The company should maintain good quality.

Retailer’s margin should be increased.

Gifts to the retailers also increased.

New brand should be introduced to with stand

competition.

The company should make necessary marketing

strategy in order to improve the market

share.

The objective of advertising should be

oriented towards customer and not to nullify

or counter the competitor.

Rural areas are neglected, but they are the

potential markets in the long run.

All the brands are not available in the market

in all the seasons.

Coca-cola should try to increase its brand

image in the market among consumers to make

them customers.

Create awareness among consumers by various

strategies and promotional plans.

To measure product performance through unique

selling propositions from time to time and

evaluate brand equity.

CONCLUSION

Through my research I came to know that the

consumer behavior towards soft drinks is good and

they welcome cool drinks in their daily life’s.

Some are habituated, some are not. Cool drinks are

consumed more to quench thirst in the hot seasons

or when ever they feel thirsty. Some are consuming

because of taste, some because of ad or brand

ambassadors featured in it. The best example is

Coca-cola 's Shah Rukh Khan's ad.

In the all India level according to IMRB

sources starting from 1993 Coca-cola’s market

share is on a sustained growth path.

In 1993 Coca-Cola’s market share was 23%

and coke occupied 65% of the market. In 1994 Coca-

Cola’s market share increased to 33% and coke was

60%. In 1995 again Coca-cola’s market share was

39% and coke's was 58%. In 1996, Coca-cola’s

presence increased to 41% and coke's reduced to

55%.

A STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING HINDUSTAN COCACOLA

BEVERAGES LIMITED, GUNTUR.

CONSUMER QUESTIONNAIRE ON SOFT DRINKS:

1) Name :

2) Age :

3) Sex :

4) Occupation :

5) Do you like Soft drinks?

a) Yes [

]

b) No

[ ]

6) Please name any 5 Cool drinks

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

7) When do you feel the need for a Soft drink?

a) When you are thirsty [ ]

b) When you are in leisure [

]

c) When climate is hot [ ]

d) At party times or get together [

]

e) Occasional [ ]

8) Where do you purchase Soft drinks?

a) Bakery [ ]

b) Supermarkets [ ]

c) Theatres [ ]

d) Restaurants [ ]

e) General stores [ ]

f) Others [ ]

9) How often do you consume soft drinks?

a) Daily [ ]

b) Weekly [ ]

C) Monthly [ ]

d) Occasional [ ]

10). which pack of Soft drinks do you mostly

purchase?

a) 200 ml [ ]

b) 300 ml [ ]

c) 500 ml [ ]

d) 1 liter [ ]

e) 1.5 liters [ ]

f) 2liters [ ]

11) Which package do you prefer for soft drink?

a) Glass bottle [ ]

b) Pet bottle [ ]

c) Tins [ ]

d) Tetra pack [ ]

12) Rank The Brands Of Pearl Beverages?

a) Cocacola [ ]

b) MIrinda (Orange) [ ]

c) Mirinda (Lemon) [ ]

d) Fanta [

]

13) Rank the brands in Soft drink Industry:

a) Thums up [ ]

b) Coco Cola [ ]

c) Mazza [ ]

d) Fanta [ ]

e) Limca

[ ]

f) Sprite [

]

g) Cocacola [ ]

h) Mirinda (Orange) [ ]

I) Mirinda (Lemon) [ ]

14) Rank the Preference for consumption of Soft

drink?

a) Quenching thirst

[ ]

b) For taste and energy [

]

c) Attracted by Advertisement [ ]

d) Promotional benefits [

]

e) Others [

]

15) Do you change soft drink brands frequently?

If yes, why?

a) Because of friends [ ]

b) Because of ads [ ]

c) Promotional activities [ ]

d) Just for a change [ ]

e) Because of taste [ ]

f) Others [ ]

16) Is Soft drink:

a) Necessity [ ]

b) Luxury [ ]

c) Recreational thing [ ]

17)Rate the preference towards the promotional SchemesS.

No

Promotional

schemes

PreferenceV.HIGHLY

PREFERRED

HIGHLY

PREFER

RED

NEUTRAL LESS

PREFERRED

LEAST

PREFERRED

1 ADVERTISE

MENT 2 COUPONS 3 OFFERS4 GIFT

ITEMS5 OTHERS

18)Which is the effective media for communicating

soft drink ads?

a) Television

[ ]

b) News papers

[ ]

c) Magazines [

]

d) Wallboards and display [

]

e) Others

[ ]

19) Which type of Advertisement do you like?

a) With Film Stars/Cricketers [

]

b) Adventurous [

]

c) Humorous [ ]

d) Counter Ads for competitors [

]

e) Fantasy [

]

f) Others [

]

20)Please write 2 soft drink ads that you always

remember?

a) --------------------------

b) --------------------------

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS AUTHORS

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR : LEON G. SCHIFFMAN

LESLIE LAZAR KANUK

PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING : PHILIP

KOTLER GARY ARMSTRONG

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY : KOTHARI C.R

BUSINESS STATISTICS :

SHARMA J.K

INDUSTRIAL MARKETING : KRISH .K.H

WEBSITES:

www.Cocacola co.co

www.google .com

www.softdrinks.com

MAGAZINES:

Business World

Business Today

http://www.softdrinks.com/

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