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Research Report on Lakme (A Product of Hindustan Unilever Ltd)

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION 2. CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 3.2 HYPOTHESIS 3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN 3.4SAMPLE DESIGN 4. INDUSTRY PROFILE 5. DATA,FINDING & ANALYSIS 6. RECOMMENDATION & CONCLUSION 7. BILIOGRAPHY 8. REFRENCES

Executive summary
About the project
Within a short span of the last five-six years, the use of cosmetics by Indian consumers has increased significantly with more and more women and men taking greater interest in personal grooming, increasing disposable incomes, changing life styles, influence of satellite television and greater product choice and availability. This cosmetics and personal care industry has been growing at an average rate of 20 per cent for the last few years. The growing Indian cosmetics market offers promising prospects for international brands. The growth rate in the cosmetics market reflects an increasing demand for beauty care products in India. Perfumes and fragrances, skin care, and hair care products are some of the major segments with promising prospects for U.S. companies. Penetration of most cosmetic and toiletries is very low in India. Current consumption of many products is well below that of many countries in Asia. The low market penetration of many cosmetics and personal care products offers room for growth. The urban population with increasing purchasing power is the major force driving demand for cosmetics and toiletries. India is a very pricesensitive market and mass-market products constitute the major part of the cosmetics and toiletries market. Indias import of cosmetics and toiletries and intermediate raw materials is around US$ 120 million, of which the U.S. has a share of approximately 10 percent.

Plan of the project

Beauty is skin deep and sure enough Lakme understand it like no one does .Today brand lakme stand strong as one of the 100 most powerful brands and right fully so ,for its the brand that lights up the face of million girls ,everyday. Its a brand that inspire, motivate and infuses confidence Colours , shades, brushes and tones to beautify , have been the core attribute of the products. The challenge which the cosmetic industry has to break was the negative connotation of being fashionable.Though the brand missed out on during the past year despite having roped top brand ambassadors is that it scored low on promotional gauge. In the following project we basically seeks to provide experiential marketing solutions to a brand (Lakme) .We also gauge into reasons that why Lakmes position as market leader was threatened when international majors like Revlon and Maybelline entered the fray in the mid-90s.The research process was entailed by visiting lakme outlets in noida ,which includes the response received from target audiences(Min age 19yrs- Max -45yrs) via through questionnaire for deeper insights.

CHAPTER 2- CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1 A STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR ON BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS By G.PRAKASH

(41502631064) Of SRM ENGINEERING COLLEGE A PROJECT REPORT Submitted to the FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the award of the degree Of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ANNA UNIVERSITY CHENNAI- 600 025 JUNE, 20042 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE Certified that this project report titled A STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR ON BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS Mr. G.PRAKASH [41502631064] who carried out the research under my supervision. Certified further, that to the best of my Knowledge the work reported herein does not form part of any other project or dissertation on the basis of which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidates. PROJECT GUIDE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT Mr. T.RAMACHANDRAN.. M C o m, M.Phil M.B.A Dr.JAYASHREE SURESH M.B.A,.Phd ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 ABSTRACT Every organization envisioned at maximizing the productivity and the profit never fails to show immense interest on knowing their customer requirements. Fulfilling the needs and satisfying the customers becomes very much essential, since a satisfied

customer becomes an unpaid advertisement for the company. It is equally important to satisfy the dealers and retailers if the company is in the business of Fast Moving Consumer Goods. This project is a study on consumer buying behavior on Britannia Marie gold biscuits. Through this study work, major brand leaders in the market, the reason for which a particular brand is preferred and the satisfaction level are identified. A questionnaire was set containing appropriate questions and survey was made on 200 respondents belonging to different categories. The statistical tools such as run test, weighted average, Percentage method and confidence interval was used. From the survey it is identified that most of the customers are not changing the brand due to high consumer preference and brand image .They are satisfied services provided by the company. So the company must improve the quality of their products and by making good relationship with the customers to increase its market share. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am very indebted to the Chairman, Thiru.T.R.Pachamuthu, the Principal Dr. Venkatramani, , the Head of the Department Dr. Jayashree Suresh M.B.A, Ph.D, and the staffs of the Department of Management Studies, S.R.M. Institute of management for giving me valuable suggestions in carrying out this project. I wish to thank my lecturer Mr. T.Ramachandran M.com, M.Phil M.B.A, for guiding me to take up the project and for enthusiasm shown towards this project. His effort in establishing a methodical work routing has lead to the successful

completion of the project. I am extremely thankful to Mr.Senthil Ramaswamy Deputy General Manager Sales(Chennai City) KALYANI AGENCIES[AUTHORISED WHOLESALERS FOR : BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD ], for having given me opportunity to associate myself with the Organisation. Last but not least, I would like to thank my friends and parents for just being there whenever I needed their support. (PRAKASH.G)4 LIST OF CONTENT CHAPTER NO TITLE PAGE NO CHAPTER-1 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 PROFILE OF BISCUIT INDUSTRY 3 1.3 COMPANY PROFILE 5 1.4 PRODUCT PROFILE 7 1.5 OBJECTIVES 8 1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 9 1.7 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 10 1.8 LIMITATIONS 18 CHAPTER 2 2.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19 2.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 19 2.3 DATA COLLECTION METHODS 20 2.4 SAMPLING SCHEME 23 2.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN 24 2.6 STATISTICAL TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS 25 2.7 2.8 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION STATISTICAL TEST 26 475 CHAPTER-3 3.1 FINDINGS

52 3.2 SUGGESTION 53 3.3 CONCLUSION 55 3.4 APPENDIX 56 3.5 BIBLIOGRAPHY 586 Table No. Titles Page No. 2.7.1 Classification on the basis of gender 26 2.7.2 Classification on the basis of age 27 2.7.3 Classification of occupation 28 2.7.4 Awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 29 2.7.5 Mode of awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 30 2.7.6 Whether they buy Britannia Marie gold biscuits 31 2.7.7 Reason for buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 32 2.7.8 No of packs do they buy in one month 33 2.7.9 Opinion about the price of the biscuits 34 2.7.10 Whether they are interested to buy with current price 35 2.7.11 Ratings of the opinion that attracts the customers to buy the biscuit 36 2.7.12 Ratings of the factors which influence them the choice of biscuits 37 2.7.13 The frequency of purchase of biscuits 38 2.7.14 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to taste 39 2.7.15 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to price 40

2.7.16 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to quality 41 2.7.17 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to package 42 2.7.18 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to brand image 43 2.7.19 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to others 44 2.7.20 Pack size preferred in buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 45 2.7.21 Whether Britannia Marie gold biscuits are easily available 467 Chart No. Titles Page No. 2.7.1 Classification on the basis of gender 26 2.7.2 Classification on the basis of age 27 2.7.3 Classification of occupation 28 2.7.4 Awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 29 2.7.5 Mode of awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 30 2.7.6 Whether they buy Britannia Marie gold biscuits 31 2.7.7 Reason for buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 32 2.7.8 No of packs do they buy in one month 33 2.7.9 Opinion about the price of the biscuits 34 2.7.10 Whether they are interested to buy with current price 35 2.7.11 Ratings of the opinion that attracts the customers to buy the biscuit 36 2.7.12 Ratings of the factors which influence them the choice of biscuits 37 2.7.13 The frequency of purchase of biscuits 38

2.7.14 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to taste 39 2.7.15 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to price 40 2.7.16 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to quality 41 2.7.17 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to package 42 2.7.18 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to brand image 43 2.7.19 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to others 44 2.7.20 Pack size preferred in buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 45 2.7.21 Whether Britannia Marie gold biscuits are easily available 468 CHAPTER 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION All business concerns conduct market research to improve their business in all aspects. Having the same in view Britannia Industries Limited was into market study on wafer biscuits in Chennai city. Britannia Industries Limited wanted to identify the sales of wafer biscuits at Chennai city with regard to customers, so they decided to conduct market study and

improve the demand for wafer biscuits. To fulfill the purpose of this market study the survey are conducted towards the customers over there. This attempt of market study will surely help BIL to improve their sales at Chennai city buy taking appropriate, decisions and to develop strategies. The producers attempts to find out people who will pay for his product and buy them for his own satisfaction from the products while manufactures make decision of the scope for the products, they satisfy consumer wants and needs. Advertisers try to understand basic forces that cost human behavior with in the market. They get such knowledge from psychology and sociology for their desires. This is called consumer behavior, which is used to construct models by which marketing people plan strategies, later on, these are used in advertising campaign. Consumer behavioral deals with the characteristics of human behavior. Marketing belongs to human behavior as it deals with buying decision; Advertising is a socio psychological art. The advertisement writer like a teacher has to study psychology behind human behavior in respect of satisfaction of his wants. Harlow Gale thought advertising a new field for psychological work and of great and increasing importance. Consumer psychological are interested in the behavior of masses of consumer rather than the behavior patterns of single individuals. There are four principles areas of interest, 1. Decision making in the market place. 2. Changes in attitudes & behavior of consumers. 3. Influence of time & uncertainty.

4. Studies of group belonging.9 Many models have been developed on consumer behavior. Thus here is stimulus response model coming from the behaviorist, Exposure advertising virtually guarantors whether consumer will respond in a manner desired by the advertisers, even if this is against the consumers best interests. Thus the consumer can be manipulated by the will of the seller by this is not the case now if it was even true before 20 years. 1.2 PROFILE OF BISCUIT INDUSTRY In India the biscuit industry started in the middle of the 19 th century. In 1887, the first bakery was set up in India. There were four factories during Second World War. The Second World War helped the industry to prosper with an increase for its products both for military and civilian consumption. After the Second World War the biscuit production in India increased rapidly. Now there are more than 31 units in the organized sectors but also there are maybe smallscale sectors involved in biscuit productions. Biscuit making is made adaptable to small-scale units because of the simple manufacturing process, easy availability of raw materials and the low cost involved in its production. The ingredients that go in its production are wheat flour, sugar, leavening agents, permitted emulsifier, flavor and dough conditioners. A survey conducted by the Institute of Industry and Market Research in New Delhi, indicated that during 1973-1974 there were about 180 units, manufacturing biscuits in the factory sector and about 3000 units in the family sector. By now it should be twice the figure.

The well-known companies which produce biscuits are: AUROFOODS (TRUE) BAKEMANS BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LIMITED KELLOGS KWALITY NUTRINE (SARA LEE) PARLE SMITHKLINE BEECHAM10 EXPORT PERFORMANCE India exports biscuits to the Middle East, African and other neighboring countries. There is stiff competition from European countries. U.K. has been the major competitor as far as India in concerned. IMPORT PERFORMANCE Import of biscuits by general trade has been discontinued since years. However some quantity of biscuits are imported only by military and for other special purpose. The major countries from which these are imported are West Germany, Netherlands and U.S.A. 1.3 COMPANY PROFILE Britannia Industries Limited has deep rooted its name firmly in each and everyones mind and heart, the company deals with producing wide range of biscuits, cakes, dairy products and snacks. The corporate identity Eat Healthy, Think Better proves its quality. A humble beginning was made to manufacture biscuits in a small house in central Calcutta with an investment of Rs. 295. In the year 1918 Gupta Brothers took Mr.C.H.Holmes, an English businessman in Calcutta, as a partner. The Britannia Biscuit

Company Limited (BBCo.) was registered on March 21, 1918 and brand name Britannia was launched. In the year 1979 they changed the company name as Britannia Industries Limited (BIL). In 1968 BIL celebrated Golden Jubilee and in 1992 BIL celebrated its Platinum Jubilee. During the World Cup of Cricket 99, The single biggest promotion ever in Indian marketing history was undertaken by BIL. BIL is given ISO 9002 for its quality production.11 BIL have reduced their exports. They export only biscuits to Russia and other African countries. In 1998, companys sales were Rs.1000 crores. Britannia now produces over 1,00,000 tones of biscuits every year and over 60,000 tones of bread and cake, with 4 production units, over 5800 employees and 21 franchise manufacturers, and of course an excellent distribution network of more than 34 warehouse and more than 2,00,000 retail outlets. BIL produces 28 brands of bakery biscuits, breads, 8 varieties of cakes, 5 brands of dairy products and 8 brands of snacking. In 1977, the Government reserved the industry for small-scale sector, which constrained Britannia's growth. Britannia adopted a strategy of engaging contract packers (CP) in the small-scale sector. This led to several inefficiencies at the operating level. In April 97, the Government de reserved the biscuit sector from small scale. Britannia has expanded captive manufacturing facilities and has modernized and upgraded its facilities in the last five years. It has also forayed into the Dairy Business with the launch of

Cheese, Butter, Ghee, Dairy whitener and flavored milk products. 1.4 PRODUCT PROFILE Bourbon cream Brita Checkers Elaichi cream Orange cream Pineapple cream Fifty Fifty Good day (Butter, Cashew, Pista Badam, Coconut Crunchees) Jacobs thin Jim Jam Little Hearts Mango cream Marigold Milk Bikies12 Milk Bikies Milk Cream Milk Bikies Fun land Nice Time Nutri Choice (Cream Cracker, Digestive, Thinlite) Tiger Tiger Cashew Badam Isabgol Cheezlets Good day - Butter Good day - Cashew Good day - Pista Badam Good day - Coconut Crunchees Good day - Choco Nut 1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1. To find the consumer buyer behaviour of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE The secondary objective of the study is given as follows: To identify the awareness about Britannia Marie Gold biscuits available in the

market. To find the reason for buying the biscuit & their opinion about the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. To identify the satisfaction level of the various factors of Marie Gold biscuits. To know the pack size preferred by the consumers.13 1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study is conducted towards customers at Chennai City. To know their preferable taste in Marie biscuits To know the level of awareness about the various brands of Marie biscuits and also about the choice and frequency of preference of Marie biscuits. To know the satisfaction level of perception regarding the quality of various Marie biscuits. To know the problems in identifying the Marie biscuits in the shop. 1.7 REVIEW OF LITERATURE The purpose of services of literature is to find out similar situational variables and their appropriateness that is situated for present day situation. It also indicates various attitude of dealer with regard to other similar products. In order to make more relevant the review of literatures from both Indian and Foreign Studies been reviewed. 1.7.1 CREATING NEW MARKET SPACE According to Macborgne Renel er-al, in his article entitled Creating New Market Space most companies focus on marketing and beating their rivals. As a result their strategies tend to take on similar dimensions. The authors say innovative company breaks free from competitions by staking out fundamentally new market space that is by creating products services for which there are no competitions.

According to the managers, they must look not only across the conventional boundaries but also the territory that represent real value on innovations.14 1.7.2 CROSS PROMOTION: MARKETING FOR TODAY & TOMORROW According to Kene Anders et-al; in his article states that cross promotion is when two (or) more groups (business, government, non-profit) with shared market and value join forces to reach their kind of customer more memorably, efficiently, frequently and credibly. According to authors it has following benefit, save money, stabilizes cash flow, and builds credibility make news and build right spirit. Cross promotions is not limited to size and typed of company. One examples is United Airlines began serving Starbucks advertised their fact at their outlet and united airline spread the message through in flight magazine. According to them, in todays global competitive area the ability to join hands with like minded people to reach similar customers in cost effective manner could prove to be difference between losing & winning. 1.7.3 STRATEGIC COMPETITION According to Dr. Rajan Das in his article INTO THE FUTURE strategically (1997) states that under standing competition and competitive behaviour in strategic terms is extremely important. Hamel and Prahlad observe that there are three levels of competition viz. Competition for intellectual leadership to get new ideas that may create new advantages or new basis for competition.

 Competition for translating such new ideas into commercial products and services faster than other.15 Competition for market share. According to these two authors the competition for market share cannot to won unless formidable advantages are created at the first two levels. Ability to see customer needs and competition beyond present served market and also assess the capabilities at competition to come up with break through products and services that may alter future competitive is a key requisite for understanding strategic competition. 1.7.4 MARKETING MIX According to Adriyan Payan, The marketing mix concept is a wellestablished tool used as a structured by marketers. It consists of the various elements of a marketing programme which need to be considered in order to successfully implement the marketing strategy and positioning in the companys marketers. Traditionally, most marketers have considered four basic elements of a marketing mix: product, price, promotion and place. But as for as concerned product, price, promotion are taken into consideration, regarding project. 1.7.4.1 PRODUCT According to Harsh V. Verma,, the term the product generally conjures up the vision a car, a pen, a racquet or anything that is tangible. It is very rarely that one thinks of product in a service firm, for service business is an inward-looking, activity-based classification. A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition,

use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, person, places organization and ideas. Product definition has an implicit reference to a market and a need. The physical character of goods is useful in convincing the market that the said product is capable of satisfying a need and is superior to competition. A product generally, has four levels, viz, generic, expected, augmented and potential.16 1. The Generic Product: It refers to the rudimentary substantive thing. It is the product at its basic level. 2. The Expected Product: It refers to the customers minimum set of expectation from an expectations from a product. 3. The Augmented Product: It refers to offerings in addition to what the customer expects. 4. The Potential Product: It refers to doing everything potentially feasible to hold and attract the customer. 1.7.4.2 PRICE Price is the most important thing for the product. Generally for any type of price fixing the manufactures has to aware of his production cost and adds some margin to that production cost they can fire the prices. Price = Cost of the Production + Margin [Equation 1.1] 1.7.4.3 PRICING Pricing plays a pivotal part in the marketing mix because pricing attacks revenues to the business. Pricing decisions are important in determining the value for the customer and play a role in the building of an image for the service. Price also gives apperception

of quality. Pricing decisions are generally taken by adding a percentage mark up on cost. Service firms, at least within deregulated markets, need to use pricing more strategically to help gain competitive advantage. Pricing decisions will affect the channel members including suppliers, sales people, distributors, competitors and customers.17 Pricing has some objectives like, Survival Profit maximization Sales maximization Prestige Return on investment 1.7.4.4 PRICING METHODS Pricing has some methods, they are as fallows. i) Cost-plus pricing: Here, a specific percentage mark up is sought. ii) Rate of return pricing: Here, the firm wants to achieve a given rate of return on investment or assets. This is sometime called target return pricing. iii) Competitive parity pricing: Here, the price is determined considering the Competitive prices in the market. iv) Loss leading pricing: Here, the price is set on a short term basis, to establish a position in the market or to provide an opportunity. v) Value-based pricing: Here, the price is determined on the services perceived Value to a given customer segment. vi) Relationship pricing: Here, the price is determined on consideration of future potential profit streams over the lifetime of customers.18 1.7.4.5 PROMOTION 1.7.4.5.1 IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION The marketing mix activities of product planning, pricing and distribution are

performed mainly with in the organization or between the organization and its marketing partners. However with promotional activities the firm communicates directly with potential customers. Promotion is the element in an organization marketing mix that served to inform persuade and remained the market of the organization and its products. Basically promotion is an attempt to influence whether a particular promotional activity is designed to inform pursued or remained the ultimate objective is to Influence the recipient feelings beliefs or behaviors. In our socio economic system this is not only acceptable. It is essential one of the attributes of a free society is the right of use combination as a tool of influence. 1.7.4.5.2 PROMOTIONAL METHODS The promotional mix is the combination of personal selling advertising, sales, promotion, publicity and public relations that helps an organization achieve its marketing objectives. These five methods of promotion defined as follows. PERSONAL SELLING: Personal selling is the presentation of a product to a prospective customer by a representative of the selling organization. Across all business more money is spent on personal selling than any other form of promotion. ADVERTISING:19 Advertising is any paid form of impersonal mass communication in which the sponsor is clearly identified. The common forms are broad cost and print media using. SALES PROMOTION:

Sales promotion is designed to supplement advertising and co-ordinate personal selling includes sales promotion are screen activities as contents for sales people and consumers trade shows in store displays, samples. Sales promotion is one of the most commonly used in the marketing vocabulary. We define sales promotional activities that are intended to stimulate customers demand and improve the marketing performance of sellers. Sales promotion includes coupons, premiums, displays and samples. Sales promotion activities may be conducted by producers or middlemen. The target for producers sales promoters may be middleman or end usershouse holds. Business or the producers own sales force middleman direct sales promotion at his sales people or prospects further down the channel of distribution. Sales promotion is different form advertising and personal selling. But all these activities often are interacted. In fact a major function of sales promotion is to serve as bridge advertising and personal selling to supplement and co-ordinate efforts on these two areas. Recently sales promotion has been fastest growing method of promotion with rupees being shifted from advertising total annual expenditures for sales promotion are estimated to parallel or even exceed those for advertising. Sales promotion is also being integrated into the total marketing strategy. In many firms, its being introduced at the conception or a promotion campaign.20 Several factors in the marketing environment contribute to the surveying popularity of sales promotion.

Short run orientation: Sales promotions such as campaign and trade allowance produce quicker more asurable sales results. How ever, this strategy agree that these intermediate benefits come at he expense of building a strong brand in case in consumers minds and condition. Buyers to expect incentives. Thus, they feel an over emphasis on sales promotions will under mine a product future. PUBLICITY: Publicity is similar to advertising in that it is a mass communication type of demand stimulations. Publicity usually consists of favorable means presentation publicity for a product organization presented in any media. The unique features of publicity are that it is not paid for and it has the credibility of editorial material. Organizations frequently provide the material for publicity in the form of news, press conferences and photographs. PUBLIC RELATIONS: Public relations are planned effort by an organization to influence the attitudes and opinions of a specific group. The target may be customer, stockholders, a government agency are special interest group. Promotion is a critical ingredient of many marketing strategies. Product differentiation market segmentation, trading up and trading down and branding all enquires effective promotion.21 1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study has the following constraints The sample sizes are restricted to 200 customers, due to time and financial

constraints. Convenience sampling has its own limitations, being biased and unsatisfactory. 200 customers sample cannot be generalized to entire universe. The study is conducted considering the prevailing condition which are subjected to change in future. Also less cooperation from the respondents. CHAPTER 2 2.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A research cannot be conducted abruptly. Researcher has to proceed systematically in the already planned direction with the help of a number of steps in sequence. To make the research systemized the researcher has to adopt certain methods. The methods adopted by the researcher for completing the project are called Research Methodology. In other words, Research Methodology is simply the plan of action for a research which explains in detail how data is to be collected, analyzed and interpreted. Datas becomes information only when a proper methodology is adopted. Thus we can say Methodology is a tool which process the date to a reliable information. The present chapter attempt to highlight the research methodology adopted in this project. 2.2 RESEARCH DESIGN A research design is a arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in22 procedure. Out of the research design said above the research design took for the study was Descriptive Research Design. 2.3 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

In this study the primary data collection method have been used to collect data. Now let us see about the primary data collection method Primary Data Collection Primary data are those which are collected a fresh and for the first time and thus happen to be original in character. Primary data collection is nothing but the data that is directly collected from the people by the researcher himself. Primary data may pertain to demographic / socio economic characteristics or the customers, altitudes and opinions of people, their awareness and knowledge and other similar aspects. In this study Primary Data collection method has helped the researcher to a great extent in arriving at the results. METHODS OF PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION There are three methods of collecting Primary data 1. Survey 2. Observation 3. Experiments Among these, the method adopted for the study was Survey Method Survey Method Survey method is the systematic gathering of data from the respondents survey is the most commonly used method of primary data this is widely used because of its Extreme Flexibility Reliability Easy Understandability23 The main purpose of survey is facilitate understanding or enable prediction of some aspects of the population being surveyed SAMPLING INSTRUMENT The instrument used to collect data for the study was the structured questionnaire.

METHODS OF SAMPLING In this study non probability sampling has been adopted. Under the non probability sampling convenience sampling has been taken for the purpose of study. CONVENIENCE SAMPLING The sampling units are chosen primarily on the basis of convenience to the researcher is known as Convenience Sampling. SAMPLE SIZE [PILOT STUDY] One can say that the sample must be an optimum size that it is should be neither excessively large nor too small. Technically, the sample size should be large enough to give a confidence interval of desired width and as such the size of the sample must be chosen by logical process before sample is taken from the universe. In order to extract much feasible results through the study, a sample size of 200 has been taken for the study.24 2.4 SAMPLING SCHEME : Sampling design of the study consist of two steps a) Selection of the study area. b) Selection of the sample size a) SELECTION OF THE STUDY AREA : The study was full and full in house project, so the study area was complete chennai Lanson Toyota showroom. b) SELECTION OF THE SAMPLE SIZE: Since the population is large, to anlayze the customer perception towards the service quality a sample of 300 is selected. The customer was selected on the basis of convenience sampling technique. 2.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN The required information was collected through a wellstructured questionnaire. The structured questionnaire of this study included the following

a) Closed ended question b) Open ended question a) Closed ended question; In this type both questions and its respective answers are arranged in a structured pattern. This includes. i) Rating Scale ii) Dichotomous Questions b) Rating Scale : These type of question helps to rate the customer perception The no of question in the study are from 1 to 15. Dichotomous Question:25 Dichotomous Question allows for only two possible answers yes and no. These type of question is the study are 16 & 18. 2.6 STATISTICAL TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS i WEIGHTED AVERAGE METHOD In this method the issue price is calculated by dividing the value of materials in hand by the no of units in hand. Average price to be charged to issue will continue to be the same until a new purchase is made which will necessitate computation of a new average. ii CONFIDENCE LEVEL & SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL The confidence level or reliability is the expected percentage of times that the actual value will fall within the stated precision limits. Thus, we take a confidence level of 95%, then we mean that there are 95 chances in 100 (or .95 in 1) that the sample results represent the true condition of the population within a specified precision range against 5 chances in 100 (or .05 in 1) that it does not. Iii ONE SAMPLE RUN TEST TO DETERMINE THE RANDOMNESS OF THE SELECTED SAMPLES H0 : Samples are randomly chosen

H1 : Samples are not randomly chosen26 2.7 ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION TABLE 2.7.1 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF GENDER S.NO GENDER NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. MALE 148 74 2. FEMALE 52 26 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are male in the classification27 TABLE 2.7.2 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF AGE S.N O AGE NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. >20 100 50 2. 21 30 66 33 3. 31 40 34 17 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are in the age group of less than 20 & some of them in the age group of 21 30. CHART 2.2.2 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF AGE 50 33 17 0 10

20 30 40 50 60 >20 21 30 31 40 AGE NO. OF RESPONDENTSTABLE 2.7.3 CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATION S.NO OCCUPATION NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1 STUDENT 80 40 2 EMPLOYEE 40 20 3 BUSINESS 20 10 4 PROFESSIONAL 14 7 5 HOUSEWIFE 46 23 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the consumers are Students and Housewife 80 40 20 14 46 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 NO. OF RESPONDENTS

STUDENT PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATION CHART 2.2.3CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONii TABLE 2.7.4 AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO AWARENESS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 200 100 2. NO - TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: All the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.4 AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS YES 100% NO 0% Y E S N Oiii TABLE 2.7.5 MODE OF AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO MODE NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. SHOPS 15 7.5 2. ADVERTISEMENT 90 45 3. FRIENDS 75 37.5 4. OTHERS 20 10 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE:

From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits through Advertisement & some of them through Friends whereas few of them are aware through other source of awareness. 15 90 75 20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 SHOPS ADVERTISEMENT FRIENDS OTHERS CHART2.2.5 MODE OF AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITSiv TABLE 2.7.6 SHOWING WHETHER THEY BUY BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 160 80 2. NO 40 20 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents buy Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits while few of them dont buy Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.6 WHETHER THEY BUY

BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS 80% 20% Y E S N Ov TABLE 2.7.7 REASON FOR BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO REASON NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. TASTE 110 55 2. QUALITY 44 22 3. LESS PRICE 18 9 4. QUANTITY 12 6 5. PACKAGE 16 8 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: The reason for buying Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits is mostly for its taste & the reason is that Quality while few of them prefer it for its fewer prices. 110 44 18 12 16 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 TASTEQUALITYLESS PRICEQUANTITYPACK AGE CHART 2.2.7 REASON FOR BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITSvi

TABLE 2.7.8 TABLE SHOWING NO OF PACKS DO THEY BUY IN ONE MONTH S.NO NO. OF PACKS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. 1 35 17.5 2. 3 81 40.5 3. 5 47 23.5 4. 7 32 16 5. 10 5 2.5 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the respondents buy Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits around 3 packets, some of them buy around 5 packets, while few of them buy it around 7 packets. CHART 2.2.8 NO OF PACKS DO THEY BUY IN ONE MONTH 35 81 47 32 5 0 20 40 60 80 100 ONE THREE FIVE SEVEN TEN NO OF PACKS NO OF RESPONDENTS TABLE 2.7.9 OPINION ABOUT THE PRICE OF THE BISCUITSvii

S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. REASONABLE 148 74 2. COSTLY 33 16.5 3. CHEAP 19 9.5 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents feel that the price is reasonable, while some of them feel that the price is costly. 148 33 19 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 REASONABLE COSTLY CHEAP CHART 2.2.9 OPINION ABOUT THE PRICE OF THE BISCUITSviii TABLE 2.7.10 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER THEY ARE INTERESTED TO BUY WITH CURRENT PRICE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 108 54 2. NO 92 46 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are interested to buy in the same price while some of them are not interested to buy it in the same price CHART 2. 2.10 WHETHER THEY ARE INTERESTED TO BUY WITH CURRENT PRICE YES 54% NO 46% YES NOix TABLE 2.7.11 RATINGS OF THE OPINION THAT ATTRACTS THE CUSTOMERS TO BUY THE BISCUIT NO OF RESPONDENTS S.NO FACTORS 12345 1. QUALITY 61 34 25 37 43 2. PRICE 49 52 37 46 16 3. PACKAGING 37 49 70 31 13 4. FLAVOUR 25 19 28 58 70 5. AVAILABILITY 22 37 40 52 49 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the respondents have ranked Quality as the first for attracting the customers, Secondly for Price, third comes Packaging, Availability stands fourth & Flavor stands the last 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

35 NO OF RESPON DENTS FACTORS CHART 2.7.11 QUALITY PRICE PACKAGING FLAVOR AVAILABLITY 3-D Column 6x TABLE 2.7.12 RATINGS OF THE FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THEM THE CHOICE OF BISCUITS SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Advertisement stands first for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits whereas Free Gifts stands last. Brand Image stands second for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits. 0 10 20 30 40 50 NO OF RESPONDE NTS FACTORS 2.7.12 ADVERTISEMENT S PACKAGE

BRAND IMAGE FREE GIFTS PRICE QUALITY QUANTITY NO OF RESPONDENTS S.N O FACTORS 1234567 1 ADVERTISEMENTS 72 15 22 22 28 22 19 2 ATTRACTIVE PACKING 12 12 18 92 27 22 17 3 BRAND IMAGE 57 82 22 17 7 8 7 4 FREE GIFTS 17 22 17 27 37 12 68 5 PRICE 12 22 22 38 77 17 12 6 QUALITY 18 17 87 22 12 27 17 7 QUANTITY 12 28 22 17 17 87 17xi TABLE 2.7.13 TABLE SHOWING THE FREQUENCY OF PURCHASE OF BISCUITS S.NO FREQUENCY NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1 DAILY 54 27 2 WEEKLY 66 33 3 FORTNIGHTLY 40 20 4 MONTHLY 28 14 5 OCCASIONALLY 12 6 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the consumers frequency of purchase of biscuits are weekly and next comes

fortnightly. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 REASONABLE COSTLY CHEAP Series1xii TABLE 2.7.14 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO TASTE S.N O OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 74 37 2. SATISFIED 92 46 3. AVERAGE 14 7 4. DISSATISFIED 20 10 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED - TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the taste of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. 0 10 20 30 40

50 NO OF RESPONDENTS RATING BISCUITS RESPECT TO TASTE HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFIED HIGHLY DISSATISFIEDxiii TABLE 2.7.15 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PRICE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 25 12.5 2. SATISFIED 98 49 3. AVERAGE 32 16 4. DISSATISFIED 35 17.5 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED 10 5 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the price of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. 25 98 32 35 10 0

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 HIGHLY SATISFIEDSATISFIEDAVERAGEDISS ATISFIEDHIGHLY DISSATISFIED CHART 2.2.15 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PRICExiv TABLE 2.7.16 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO QUALITY S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAG E (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 35 17.5 2. SATISFIED 108 54 3. AVERAGE 32 16 4. DISSATISFIED 25 12.5 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED -TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the quality of Britannia Marie gold

TABLE 2.7.17 RATIN GS OF THE VARIO US FEATU RES OF 35 108 32 25 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFIED HIGHLY DISSATISFIED CHART 2.2.16 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO QUALITYxv BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PACKAGE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 70 35 2. SATISFIED 92 46 3. AVERAGE 18 9 4. DISSATISFIED 20 10 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED - -

TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the packaging of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.17 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PACKAGE 70 92 18 20 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFI ED HIGHLY DISSATISFI EDxvi TABLE 2.7.18 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO BRAND IMAGE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY

SATISFIED 20 10 2. SATISFIED 78 39 3. AVERAGE 16 8 4. DISSATISFIED 60 30 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED 26 13 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the brand image of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. CHART 2.2.18 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO BRAND IMAGE 20 78 16 60 26 0 20 40 60 80 100 HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFIE D HIGHLY DISSATISFIE

Dxvii TABLE 2.7.19 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO OTHERS S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 6 3 2. SATISFIED 132 66 3. AVERAGE 60 30 4. DISSATISFIED 2 1 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED -TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the other reasons of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.19RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO OTHERS 6 132 60 2 00 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

HIGHLY SATISFIEDSATISFIEDAVERAGEDISS A T I S F I E D H I G H L Y D I S S A T I S F I E Dxviii TABLE 2.7.20 TABLE SHOWING PACK SIZE PREFERRED IN BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.N O PACK SIZE NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. 100 GM 52 26 2. 200 GM 114 57 3. 400 GM 34 17 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents prefer in buying 200gms of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits, next preferable size is 100 gms whereas some of them like 400 gms. CHART 2.2.20 PACK SIZE PREFERRED IN BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS 52 114 34 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 100 GM 200 GM 400 GMxix

TABLE 2.7.21 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS ARE EASILY AVAILABLE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 140 70 2. NO 60 30 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are feel that it is easily available in the market while few of them feel it is not available in the market. CHART 2.2.21 WHETHER BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS ARE EASILY AVAILABLE 70% 30% YES NO 2.8 STATISTICAL TEST 2.8.1 WEIGHTED AVERAGE METHOD RATINGS OF THE OPINION THAT ATTRACTS THE CUSTOMERS TO BUYxx THE BISCUIT NO OF RESPONDENTS S.NO FACTORS 12345 AVERAGE RANK 1. QUALITY 61 34 25 37 43 126.6 III 2. PRICE 49 52 37 46 16 134.4 I 3. PACKAGIN G 37 49 70 31 13 133.2 II 4. FLAVOUR 25 19 28 58 70 94.2 V 5. AVAILABIL ITY 22 37 40 52 49 106.2 IV

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE Most of the respondents have ranked Quality as the first for attracting the customers, Secondly for Price, third comes Packaging, Availability stands fourth & Flavor stands the last. RATINGS OF THE FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THEM THE CHOICE OF BISCUITS FACTORS NO OF RESPONDENTS 1234567 Average Rank ADVERTISEM ENTS 72 15 22 22 28 22 19 134.1 II ATTRACTIVE PACKING 12 12 18 92 27 22 17 108.0 IV BRAND IMAGE 57 82 22 17 7 8 7 159.0 I FREE GIFTS 17 22 17 27 37 12 68 92.4 VII PRICE 12 22 22 38 77 17 12 107.9 V QUALITY 18 17 87 22 12 27 17 122.6 III QUANTITY 12 28 22 17 17 87 17 96.0 VIxxi INFERENCE: Advertisement stands first for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits whereas Free Gifts stands last. Brand Image stands second for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits. 2.8.2 CONFIDENCE LEVEL & SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL The confidence level or reliability is the expected percentage of times that the actual value will fall within the stated precision limits. Thus, we take a confidence

level of 95%, then we mean that there are 95 chances in 100 (or .95 in 1) that the sample results represent the true condition of the population within a specified precision range against 5 chances in 100 (or .05 in 1) that it does not. 2.8.2.1 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS ARE EASILY AVAILABLE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 140 70 2. NO 60 30 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA It is necessary that the above data should be applied to universe that purpose CONDIFENCE INTERVAL TEST is required. For confidence interval, the associated standard error should be calculated. S.E = SQRT [(PQ) / N] (Equation 2.1) Where, P = Percentage showing whether Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits are easily available= 70 Q = Percentage showing Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits are not easily available = 30xxii SE = SQRT [(2100) / 100] = 4.58 Confidence Interval = P (S.E * Z @ 95 %) (Equation 2.2) = 70 (4.58 * 1.64) = 62.49 to 77.51 which means that percentage showing whether Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits are easily available ranges between 62.49 to 77.51 2.8.3 ONE SAMPLE RUN TEST TO DETERMINE THE RANDOMNESS OF THE SELECTED SAMPLES

H0 : Samples are randomly chosen H1 : Samples are not randomly chosen TABLE SHOWING WHETHER THEY BUY BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 160 80 2. NO 40 20 TOTAL 200 100 No of runs r = 50 n1 = 160 n2 = 40 r = ( 2n1n2 / n1 + n2 ) + 1 (Equation 2.3)xxiii = 65 2 = 2n1n2 (2n1n2 n1 n2) / (n1 + n2) 2 (n1 + n2 1) (Equation 2.4) = 20.26 = 20.26 = 4.50 Upper Limit = + 2.58 (Equation 2.5) = 76.61 Lower Limit = - 2.58 (Equation 2.6) = 53.39 Inference: Since the no of runs (=50) is inside the curve, H0 is accepted. i.e. samples are chosen randomly. CHAPTER 3 3.1 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY v Among the outlet surveyed 74% is male and 26% female. v Most of the respondents belongs to male [74%]. v All the surveyed 200 outlets sell biscuits

v Most of the respondents are in the age group of less than & some of them in the age group of 21 30 & 31 40. [ v Most of the respondents are students [40%] and whereas some of them are house wives (23%) and employees (20%) & others (17%) v Out of the 200 outlets surveyed, all the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v Most of the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits through advertisement & some of them through friends.xxiv v 80% of the respondents buy Britannia Marie Gold biscuits and while few of them dont buy Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v The main reason behind the purchase of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits is mostly for its taste & quality & price. v Britannia Marie Gold moves fast when compared to respondents buy biscuits in one month. v Most of the respondents are satisfied with the price of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits and whereas few of them are dissatisfied. v Among the 200 retail outlets surveyed 74% of the respondents had said it is costly, 9.5% said it is cheap. v 54% of the respondents are interested buy in the same price. 46% of them are not interested to buy in the same price. v Most of the consumers frequency of purchase of biscuits are weekly and next comes daily & fortnightly. v 46% of respondents are satisfied the Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v 49% of the respondents are satisfied with the price of the Britannia Marie Gold biscuits.

v Most of the respondents are highly satisfied with the 54% quality & 46% with packaging & 39% with brand image & others 66% of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v Most of the respondents prefer in buying 200 gm of Britannia Marie Gold and next preferable size is 100 gm and some of them like 400 gm. v 70% of the respondents are feel that Britannia Marie Gold biscuits is easily available in the market.xxv 3.2 SUGGESTIONS The company may provide the biscuits at reduced / concessional price for the customer in Chennai provided at round off price say re.1 or re.2. The company may advertise by television, newspaper & hoardings etc. The company may advertise to create awareness regarding the nutrients included in the biscuits. The company may provide samples to the customers. The company may provide some consumer offer to the customer. The company may introduce new products the would help the customers for their taste. Mostly respondents suggested for reduction of prices Give different shapes, which will be new & will be attractive for children Introduce new products, which can be meant for occasions Improving the taste and also giving more flavors can attract attract more customers 3.3 CONCLUSION The market study on biscuits at Chennai city as helped to know the status of biscuits. It has revealed the requirements of the retailers, the profile, characteristics, and taste of

the consumer of biscuits. Britannia biscuits are having a good market share in Chennai city. Carring out relevant sales promotional activities can increase biscuits demand in Chennai city with regard to various brand of biscuits. This study has helped the researcher to gain good experience and more information about the biscuit market.xxvi 3.4 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Name : 2. Sex: Male o Female o 3. Age: <20 o 21 30 o 31 40 o >41 o 4. Occupation: Student o Employee o Business o Professional o Housewife Others 5. Are you aware of Britannia Marie gold biscuits? Yes No 6. How did you come to know about Britannia Marie Gold? Through Shops o Advertisements o Friends o Others o 7. Do you buy Britannia Marie Gold biscuits? Yes o No o 8. What is the reason for buying Britannia Marie Gold biscuits? Taste o Qualityo Less Price o Quantity o Package o 9. How many packs do you buy in one monh? 1 o 3 o 5 o 7 o 10 o 10. What is your opinion about the price of the biscuits? Reasonable o Costly o Cheaper o 11. Are you interested to buy in the current price? Yes o No o 12. Please rate the opinion that attracts you in buying the biscuit? Qualityo Price o Packaging o Flavour o Availability o 13. Rank the factors that influence you in selecting Britannia Marie Gold biscuit?

Advertisement o Attractive Packing o Brand Image o Free Gifts o Price o Qualityo Quantity oxxvii 14. How often do you purchase Britannia Marie Gold biscuits? Daily o Weekly o Fortnightly o Monthly o Occasionally o 15. Indicate your level of satisfaction of the various factors of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits FACTORS Highly Satisfied Satisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Highly Dissatisfied Price Quality Packaging Brand Image Others 16. Which pack size do you prefer in buying Britannia Marie gold Biscuits? 100 gm o 200 gm o 400 gm o 17. Do you find Britannia Marie Gold biscuits easily available in the market? Yes o No o 3.5 BIBLIOGRAPHY TEXT BOOKS Philip Kotler : Marketing Management (Millennium edition), Prentice Hall of India (P) Ltd., New Delhi 2001. Aakar, Day and Kumar, Essentials of Marketing Research, John Wiley & Sons 2001. Richard I.Levin and David S.Rubin, Statistics for Management, 7 th

Edition, S.P.Gupta Statistical Methods Prentice Hall of India Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi 1997 o Joseph F.Hair, Jr, Marketing Research, McGraw Hill, 2000 o G.C.Beri, Marketing Research, McGraw Hill, 2000 WEB SITE : WWW.britannia.comxxviii1 A STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR ON BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS By G.PRAKASH (41502631064) Of SRM ENGINEERING COLLEGE A PROJECT REPORT Submitted to the FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the award of the degree Of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ANNA UNIVERSITY CHENNAI- 600 025 JUNE, 20042 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE Certified that this project report titled A STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR ON BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS Mr. G.PRAKASH [41502631064] who carried out the research under my supervision. Certified further, that to the best of my Knowledge the work reported herein does not form part of any other project or dissertation on the basis of which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidates. PROJECT GUIDE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

Mr. T.RAMACHANDRAN.. M C o m, M.Phil M.B.A Dr.JAYASHREE SURESH M.B.A,.Phd ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 ABSTRACT Every organization envisioned at maximizing the productivity and the profit never fails to show immense interest on knowing their customer requirements. Fulfilling the needs and satisfying the customers becomes very much essential, since a satisfied customer becomes an unpaid advertisement for the company. It is equally important to satisfy the dealers and retailers if the company is in the business of Fast Moving Consumer Goods. This project is a study on consumer buying behavior on Britannia Marie gold biscuits. Through this study work, major brand leaders in the market, the reason for which a particular brand is preferred and the satisfaction level are identified. A questionnaire was set containing appropriate questions and survey was made on 200 respondents belonging to different categories. The statistical tools such as run test, weighted average, Percentage method and confidence interval was used. From the survey it is identified that most of the customers are not changing the brand due to high consumer preference and brand image .They are satisfied services provided by the company. So the company must improve the quality of their products and by making good relationship with the customers to increase its market share. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am very indebted to the Chairman, Thiru.T.R.Pachamuthu, the

Principal Dr. Venkatramani, , the Head of the Department Dr. Jayashree Suresh M.B.A, Ph.D, and the staffs of the Department of Management Studies, S.R.M. Institute of management for giving me valuable suggestions in carrying out this project. I wish to thank my lecturer Mr. T.Ramachandran M.com, M.Phil M.B.A, for guiding me to take up the project and for enthusiasm shown towards this project. His effort in establishing a methodical work routing has lead to the successful completion of the project. I am extremely thankful to Mr.Senthil Ramaswamy Deputy General Manager Sales(Chennai City) KALYANI AGENCIES[AUTHORISED WHOLESALERS FOR : BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD ], for having given me opportunity to associate myself with the Organisation. Last but not least, I would like to thank my friends and parents for just being there whenever I needed their support. (PRAKASH.G)4 LIST OF CONTENT CHAPTER NO TITLE PAGE NO CHAPTER-1 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 PROFILE OF BISCUIT INDUSTRY 3 1.3 COMPANY PROFILE 5 1.4 PRODUCT PROFILE 7 1.5 OBJECTIVES 8 1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 9 1.7 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 10 1.8 LIMITATIONS 18 CHAPTER 2 2.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19 2.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 19 2.3 DATA COLLECTION METHODS 20

2.4 SAMPLING SCHEME 23 2.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN 24 2.6 STATISTICAL TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS 25 2.7 2.8 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION STATISTICAL TEST 26 475 CHAPTER-3 3.1 FINDINGS 52 3.2 SUGGESTION 53 3.3 CONCLUSION 55 3.4 APPENDIX 56 3.5 BIBLIOGRAPHY 586 Table No. Titles Page No. 2.7.1 Classification on the basis of gender 26 2.7.2 Classification on the basis of age 27 2.7.3 Classification of occupation 28 2.7.4 Awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 29 2.7.5 Mode of awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 30 2.7.6 Whether they buy Britannia Marie gold biscuits 31 2.7.7 Reason for buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 32 2.7.8 No of packs do they buy in one month 33 2.7.9 Opinion about the price of the biscuits 34 2.7.10 Whether they are interested to buy with current price 35 2.7.11 Ratings of the opinion that attracts the customers to buy the biscuit 36

2.7.12 Ratings of the factors which influence them the choice of biscuits 37 2.7.13 The frequency of purchase of biscuits 38 2.7.14 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to taste 39 2.7.15 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to price 40 2.7.16 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to quality 41 2.7.17 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to package 42 2.7.18 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to brand image 43 2.7.19 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to others 44 2.7.20 Pack size preferred in buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 45 2.7.21 Whether Britannia Marie gold biscuits are easily available 467 Chart No. Titles Page No. 2.7.1 Classification on the basis of gender 26 2.7.2 Classification on the basis of age 27 2.7.3 Classification of occupation 28 2.7.4 Awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 29

2.7.5 Mode of awareness about Britannia Marie gold biscuits 30 2.7.6 Whether they buy Britannia Marie gold biscuits 31 2.7.7 Reason for buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 32 2.7.8 No of packs do they buy in one month 33 2.7.9 Opinion about the price of the biscuits 34 2.7.10 Whether they are interested to buy with current price 35 2.7.11 Ratings of the opinion that attracts the customers to buy the biscuit 36 2.7.12 Ratings of the factors which influence them the choice of biscuits 37 2.7.13 The frequency of purchase of biscuits 38 2.7.14 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to taste 39 2.7.15 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to price 40 2.7.16 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to quality 41 2.7.17 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to package 42 2.7.18 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to brand image 43 2.7.19 Ratings of the various features of Britannia Marie gold biscuits with respect to others 44 2.7.20 Pack size preferred in buying Britannia Marie gold biscuits 45 2.7.21 Whether Britannia Marie gold biscuits are easily available 468

CHAPTER 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION All business concerns conduct market research to improve their business in all aspects. Having the same in view Britannia Industries Limited was into market study on wafer biscuits in Chennai city. Britannia Industries Limited wanted to identify the sales of wafer biscuits at Chennai city with regard to customers, so they decided to conduct market study and improve the demand for wafer biscuits. To fulfill the purpose of this market study the survey are conducted towards the customers over there. This attempt of market study will surely help BIL to improve their sales at Chennai city buy taking appropriate, decisions and to develop strategies. The producers attempts to find out people who will pay for his product and buy them for his own satisfaction from the products while manufactures make decision of the scope for the products, they satisfy consumer wants and needs. Advertisers try to understand basic forces that cost human behavior with in the market. They get such knowledge from psychology and sociology for their desires. This is called consumer behavior, which is used to construct models by which marketing people plan strategies, later on, these are used in advertising campaign. Consumer behavioral deals with the characteristics of human behavior. Marketing belongs to human behavior as it deals with buying decision; Advertising is a socio psychological art. The advertisement writer like a teacher has to study psychology

behind human behavior in respect of satisfaction of his wants. Harlow Gale thought advertising a new field for psychological work and of great and increasing importance. Consumer psychological are interested in the behavior of masses of consumer rather than the behavior patterns of single individuals. There are four principles areas of interest, 1. Decision making in the market place. 2. Changes in attitudes & behavior of consumers. 3. Influence of time & uncertainty. 4. Studies of group belonging.9 Many models have been developed on consumer behavior. Thus here is stimulus response model coming from the behaviorist, Exposure advertising virtually guarantors whether consumer will respond in a manner desired by the advertisers, even if this is against the consumers best interests. Thus the consumer can be manipulated by the will of the seller by this is not the case now if it was even true before 20 years. 1.2 PROFILE OF BISCUIT INDUSTRY In India the biscuit industry started in the middle of the 19 th century. In 1887, the first bakery was set up in India. There were four factories during Second World War. The Second World War helped the industry to prosper with an increase for its products both for military and civilian consumption. After the Second World War the biscuit production in India increased rapidly. Now there are more than 31 units in the organized sectors but also there are maybe smallscale sectors involved in biscuit productions. Biscuit making is made adaptable to small-scale units because of the simple

manufacturing process, easy availability of raw materials and the low cost involved in its production. The ingredients that go in its production are wheat flour, sugar, leavening agents, permitted emulsifier, flavor and dough conditioners. A survey conducted by the Institute of Industry and Market Research in New Delhi, indicated that during 1973-1974 there were about 180 units, manufacturing biscuits in the factory sector and about 3000 units in the family sector. By now it should be twice the figure. The well-known companies which produce biscuits are: AUROFOODS (TRUE) BAKEMANS BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LIMITED KELLOGS KWALITY NUTRINE (SARA LEE) PARLE SMITHKLINE BEECHAM10 EXPORT PERFORMANCE India exports biscuits to the Middle East, African and other neighboring countries. There is stiff competition from European countries. U.K. has been the major competitor as far as India in concerned. IMPORT PERFORMANCE Import of biscuits by general trade has been discontinued since years. However some quantity of biscuits are imported only by military and for other special purpose. The major countries from which these are imported are West Germany, Netherlands and U.S.A. 1.3 COMPANY PROFILE Britannia Industries Limited has deep rooted its name firmly in each and

everyones mind and heart, the company deals with producing wide range of biscuits, cakes, dairy products and snacks. The corporate identity Eat Healthy, Think Better proves its quality. A humble beginning was made to manufacture biscuits in a small house in central Calcutta with an investment of Rs. 295. In the year 1918 Gupta Brothers took Mr.C.H.Holmes, an English businessman in Calcutta, as a partner. The Britannia Biscuit Company Limited (BBCo.) was registered on March 21, 1918 and brand name Britannia was launched. In the year 1979 they changed the company name as Britannia Industries Limited (BIL). In 1968 BIL celebrated Golden Jubilee and in 1992 BIL celebrated its Platinum Jubilee. During the World Cup of Cricket 99, The single biggest promotion ever in Indian marketing history was undertaken by BIL. BIL is given ISO 9002 for its quality production.11 BIL have reduced their exports. They export only biscuits to Russia and other African countries. In 1998, companys sales were Rs.1000 crores. Britannia now produces over 1,00,000 tones of biscuits every year and over 60,000 tones of bread and cake, with 4 production units, over 5800 employees and 21 franchise manufacturers, and of course an excellent distribution network of more than 34 warehouse and more than 2,00,000 retail outlets. BIL produces 28 brands of bakery biscuits, breads, 8 varieties of cakes, 5 brands of dairy products and 8 brands of snacking.

In 1977, the Government reserved the industry for small-scale sector, which constrained Britannia's growth. Britannia adopted a strategy of engaging contract packers (CP) in the small-scale sector. This led to several inefficiencies at the operating level. In April 97, the Government de reserved the biscuit sector from small scale. Britannia has expanded captive manufacturing facilities and has modernized and upgraded its facilities in the last five years. It has also forayed into the Dairy Business with the launch of Cheese, Butter, Ghee, Dairy whitener and flavored milk products. 1.4 PRODUCT PROFILE Bourbon cream Brita Checkers Elaichi cream Orange cream Pineapple cream Fifty Fifty Good day (Butter, Cashew, Pista Badam, Coconut Crunchees) Jacobs thin Jim Jam Little Hearts Mango cream Marigold Milk Bikies12 Milk Bikies Milk Cream Milk Bikies Fun land Nice Time Nutri Choice (Cream Cracker, Digestive, Thinlite) Tiger Tiger Cashew Badam Isabgol Cheezlets Good day - Butter

 Good day - Cashew Good day - Pista Badam Good day - Coconut Crunchees Good day - Choco Nut 1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY PRIMARY OBJECTIVE 1. To find the consumer buyer behaviour of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE The secondary objective of the study is given as follows: To identify the awareness about Britannia Marie Gold biscuits available in the market. To find the reason for buying the biscuit & their opinion about the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. To identify the satisfaction level of the various factors of Marie Gold biscuits. To know the pack size preferred by the consumers.13 1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study is conducted towards customers at Chennai City. To know their preferable taste in Marie biscuits To know the level of awareness about the various brands of Marie biscuits and also about the choice and frequency of preference of Marie biscuits. To know the satisfaction level of perception regarding the quality of various Marie biscuits. To know the problems in identifying the Marie biscuits in the shop. 1.7 REVIEW OF LITERATURE The purpose of services of literature is to find out similar situational variables and their appropriateness that is situated for present day situation. It also indicates various attitude of dealer with regard to other similar products. In order to make more relevant

the review of literatures from both Indian and Foreign Studies been reviewed. 1.7.1 CREATING NEW MARKET SPACE According to Macborgne Renel er-al, in his article entitled Creating New Market Space most companies focus on marketing and beating their rivals. As a result their strategies tend to take on similar dimensions. The authors say innovative company breaks free from competitions by staking out fundamentally new market space that is by creating products services for which there are no competitions. According to the managers, they must look not only across the conventional boundaries but also the territory that represent real value on innovations.14 1.7.2 CROSS PROMOTION: MARKETING FOR TODAY & TOMORROW According to Kene Anders et-al; in his article states that cross promotion is when two (or) more groups (business, government, non-profit) with shared market and value join forces to reach their kind of customer more memorably, efficiently, frequently and credibly. According to authors it has following benefit, save money, stabilizes cash flow, and builds credibility make news and build right spirit. Cross promotions is not limited to size and typed of company. One examples is United Airlines began serving Starbucks advertised their fact at their outlet and united airline spread the message through in flight magazine. According to them, in todays global competitive area the ability to join hands with

like minded people to reach similar customers in cost effective manner could prove to be difference between losing & winning. 1.7.3 STRATEGIC COMPETITION According to Dr. Rajan Das in his article INTO THE FUTURE strategically (1997) states that under standing competition and competitive behaviour in strategic terms is extremely important. Hamel and Prahlad observe that there are three levels of competition viz. Competition for intellectual leadership to get new ideas that may create new advantages or new basis for competition. Competition for translating such new ideas into commercial products and services faster than other.15 Competition for market share. According to these two authors the competition for market share cannot to won unless formidable advantages are created at the first two levels. Ability to see customer needs and competition beyond present served market and also assess the capabilities at competition to come up with break through products and services that may alter future competitive is a key requisite for understanding strategic competition. 1.7.4 MARKETING MIX According to Adriyan Payan, The marketing mix concept is a wellestablished tool used as a structured by marketers. It consists of the various elements of a marketing programme which need to be considered in order to successfully implement the marketing strategy and positioning in the companys marketers. Traditionally, most marketers have considered four basic elements of a marketing

mix: product, price, promotion and place. But as for as concerned product, price, promotion are taken into consideration, regarding project. 1.7.4.1 PRODUCT According to Harsh V. Verma,, the term the product generally conjures up the vision a car, a pen, a racquet or anything that is tangible. It is very rarely that one thinks of product in a service firm, for service business is an inward-looking, activity-based classification. A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, person, places organization and ideas. Product definition has an implicit reference to a market and a need. The physical character of goods is useful in convincing the market that the said product is capable of satisfying a need and is superior to competition. A product generally, has four levels, viz, generic, expected, augmented and potential.16 1. The Generic Product: It refers to the rudimentary substantive thing. It is the product at its basic level. 2. The Expected Product: It refers to the customers minimum set of expectation from an expectations from a product. 3. The Augmented Product: It refers to offerings in addition to what the customer expects. 4. The Potential Product: It refers to doing everything potentially feasible to hold and attract the customer. 1.7.4.2 PRICE Price is the most important thing for the product. Generally for any type of

price fixing the manufactures has to aware of his production cost and adds some margin to that production cost they can fire the prices. Price = Cost of the Production + Margin [Equation 1.1] 1.7.4.3 PRICING Pricing plays a pivotal part in the marketing mix because pricing attacks revenues to the business. Pricing decisions are important in determining the value for the customer and play a role in the building of an image for the service. Price also gives apperception of quality. Pricing decisions are generally taken by adding a percentage mark up on cost. Service firms, at least within deregulated markets, need to use pricing more strategically to help gain competitive advantage. Pricing decisions will affect the channel members including suppliers, sales people, distributors, competitors and customers.17 Pricing has some objectives like, Survival Profit maximization Sales maximization Prestige Return on investment 1.7.4.4 PRICING METHODS Pricing has some methods, they are as fallows. i) Cost-plus pricing: Here, a specific percentage mark up is sought. ii) Rate of return pricing: Here, the firm wants to achieve a given rate of return on investment or assets. This is sometime called target return pricing. iii) Competitive parity pricing: Here, the price is determined considering the Competitive prices in the market. iv) Loss leading pricing: Here, the price is set on a short term basis, to establish

a position in the market or to provide an opportunity. v) Value-based pricing: Here, the price is determined on the services perceived Value to a given customer segment. vi) Relationship pricing: Here, the price is determined on consideration of future potential profit streams over the lifetime of customers.18 1.7.4.5 PROMOTION 1.7.4.5.1 IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION The marketing mix activities of product planning, pricing and distribution are performed mainly with in the organization or between the organization and its marketing partners. However with promotional activities the firm communicates directly with potential customers. Promotion is the element in an organization marketing mix that served to inform persuade and remained the market of the organization and its products. Basically promotion is an attempt to influence whether a particular promotional activity is designed to inform pursued or remained the ultimate objective is to Influence the recipient feelings beliefs or behaviors. In our socio economic system this is not only acceptable. It is essential one of the attributes of a free society is the right of use combination as a tool of influence. 1.7.4.5.2 PROMOTIONAL METHODS The promotional mix is the combination of personal selling advertising, sales, promotion, publicity and public relations that helps an organization achieve its marketing objectives. These five methods of promotion defined as follows. PERSONAL SELLING:

Personal selling is the presentation of a product to a prospective customer by a representative of the selling organization. Across all business more money is spent on personal selling than any other form of promotion. ADVERTISING:19 Advertising is any paid form of impersonal mass communication in which the sponsor is clearly identified. The common forms are broad cost and print media using. SALES PROMOTION: Sales promotion is designed to supplement advertising and co-ordinate personal selling includes sales promotion are screen activities as contents for sales people and consumers trade shows in store displays, samples. Sales promotion is one of the most commonly used in the marketing vocabulary. We define sales promotional activities that are intended to stimulate customers demand and improve the marketing performance of sellers. Sales promotion includes coupons, premiums, displays and samples. Sales promotion activities may be conducted by producers or middlemen. The target for producers sales promoters may be middleman or end usershouse holds. Business or the producers own sales force middleman direct sales promotion at his sales people or prospects further down the channel of distribution. Sales promotion is different form advertising and personal selling. But all these activities often are interacted. In fact a major function of sales promotion is to serve as bridge advertising and personal selling to supplement and co-ordinate efforts on these two areas.

Recently sales promotion has been fastest growing method of promotion with rupees being shifted from advertising total annual expenditures for sales promotion are estimated to parallel or even exceed those for advertising. Sales promotion is also being integrated into the total marketing strategy. In many firms, its being introduced at the conception or a promotion campaign.20 Several factors in the marketing environment contribute to the surveying popularity of sales promotion. Short run orientation: Sales promotions such as campaign and trade allowance produce quicker more asurable sales results. How ever, this strategy agree that these intermediate benefits come at he expense of building a strong brand in case in consumers minds and condition. Buyers to expect incentives. Thus, they feel an over emphasis on sales promotions will under mine a product future. PUBLICITY: Publicity is similar to advertising in that it is a mass communication type of demand stimulations. Publicity usually consists of favorable means presentation publicity for a product organization presented in any media. The unique features of publicity are that it is not paid for and it has the credibility of editorial material. Organizations frequently provide the material for publicity in the form of news, press conferences and photographs. PUBLIC RELATIONS: Public relations are planned effort by an organization to influence the attitudes and opinions of a specific group.

The target may be customer, stockholders, a government agency are special interest group. Promotion is a critical ingredient of many marketing strategies. Product differentiation market segmentation, trading up and trading down and branding all enquires effective promotion.21 1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study has the following constraints The sample sizes are restricted to 200 customers, due to time and financial constraints. Convenience sampling has its own limitations, being biased and unsatisfactory. 200 customers sample cannot be generalized to entire universe. The study is conducted considering the prevailing condition which are subjected to change in future. Also less cooperation from the respondents. CHAPTER 2 2.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A research cannot be conducted abruptly. Researcher has to proceed systematically in the already planned direction with the help of a number of steps in sequence. To make the research systemized the researcher has to adopt certain methods. The methods adopted by the researcher for completing the project are called Research Methodology. In other words, Research Methodology is simply the plan of action for a research which explains in detail how data is to be collected, analyzed and interpreted. Datas becomes information only when a proper methodology is adopted. Thus we can say Methodology is a tool which process the date to a reliable information. The

present chapter attempt to highlight the research methodology adopted in this project. 2.2 RESEARCH DESIGN A research design is a arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in22 procedure. Out of the research design said above the research design took for the study was Descriptive Research Design. 2.3 DATA COLLECTION METHODS In this study the primary data collection method have been used to collect data. Now let us see about the primary data collection method Primary Data Collection Primary data are those which are collected a fresh and for the first time and thus happen to be original in character. Primary data collection is nothing but the data that is directly collected from the people by the researcher himself. Primary data may pertain to demographic / socio economic characteristics or the customers, altitudes and opinions of people, their awareness and knowledge and other similar aspects. In this study Primary Data collection method has helped the researcher to a great extent in arriving at the results. METHODS OF PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION There are three methods of collecting Primary data 1. Survey 2. Observation 3. Experiments Among these, the method adopted for the study was Survey Method Survey Method Survey method is the systematic gathering of data from the respondents survey is

the most commonly used method of primary data this is widely used because of its Extreme Flexibility Reliability Easy Understandability23 The main purpose of survey is facilitate understanding or enable prediction of some aspects of the population being surveyed SAMPLING INSTRUMENT The instrument used to collect data for the study was the structured questionnaire. METHODS OF SAMPLING In this study non probability sampling has been adopted. Under the non probability sampling convenience sampling has been taken for the purpose of study. CONVENIENCE SAMPLING The sampling units are chosen primarily on the basis of convenience to the researcher is known as Convenience Sampling. SAMPLE SIZE [PILOT STUDY] One can say that the sample must be an optimum size that it is should be neither excessively large nor too small. Technically, the sample size should be large enough to give a confidence interval of desired width and as such the size of the sample must be chosen by logical process before sample is taken from the universe. In order to extract much feasible results through the study, a sample size of 200 has been taken for the study.24 2.4 SAMPLING SCHEME : Sampling design of the study consist of two steps a) Selection of the study area. b) Selection of the sample size a) SELECTION OF THE STUDY AREA : The study was full and full in house project, so the study area was complete chennai Lanson Toyota showroom.

b) SELECTION OF THE SAMPLE SIZE: Since the population is large, to anlayze the customer perception towards the service quality a sample of 300 is selected. The customer was selected on the basis of convenience sampling technique. 2.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN The required information was collected through a wellstructured questionnaire. The structured questionnaire of this study included the following a) Closed ended question b) Open ended question a) Closed ended question; In this type both questions and its respective answers are arranged in a structured pattern. This includes. i) Rating Scale ii) Dichotomous Questions b) Rating Scale : These type of question helps to rate the customer perception The no of question in the study are from 1 to 15. Dichotomous Question:25 Dichotomous Question allows for only two possible answers yes and no. These type of question is the study are 16 & 18. 2.6 STATISTICAL TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS i WEIGHTED AVERAGE METHOD In this method the issue price is calculated by dividing the value of materials in hand by the no of units in hand. Average price to be charged to issue will continue to be the same until a new purchase is made which will necessitate computation of a new average. ii CONFIDENCE LEVEL & SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL The confidence level or reliability is the expected percentage of times that

the actual value will fall within the stated precision limits. Thus, we take a confidence level of 95%, then we mean that there are 95 chances in 100 (or .95 in 1) that the sample results represent the true condition of the population within a specified precision range against 5 chances in 100 (or .05 in 1) that it does not. Iii ONE SAMPLE RUN TEST TO DETERMINE THE RANDOMNESS OF THE SELECTED SAMPLES H0 : Samples are randomly chosen H1 : Samples are not randomly chosen26 2.7 ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION TABLE 2.7.1 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF GENDER S.NO GENDER NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. MALE 148 74 2. FEMALE 52 26 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are male in the classification27 TABLE 2.7.2 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF AGE S.N O AGE NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. >20 100 50 2. 21 30 66 33 3. 31 40 34 17 TOTAL 200 100

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the respondents are in the age group of less than 20 & some of them in the age group of 21 30. CHART 2.2.2 CLASSIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF AGE 50 33 17 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 >20 21 30 31 40 AGE NO. OF RESPONDENTSTABLE 2.7.3 CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATION S.NO OCCUPATION NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1 STUDENT 80 40 2 EMPLOYEE 40 20 3 BUSINESS 20 10 4 PROFESSIONAL 14 7 5 HOUSEWIFE 46 23 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the consumers are Students and Housewife 80 40 20 14

46 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 NO. OF RESPONDENTS STUDENT PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATION CHART 2.2.3CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONii TABLE 2.7.4 AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO AWARENESS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 200 100 2. NO - TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: All the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.4 AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS YES 100% NO 0% Y E S N Oiii TABLE 2.7.5

MODE OF AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO MODE NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. SHOPS 15 7.5 2. ADVERTISEMENT 90 45 3. FRIENDS 75 37.5 4. OTHERS 20 10 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits through Advertisement & some of them through Friends whereas few of them are aware through other source of awareness. 15 90 75 20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 SHOPS ADVERTISEMENT FRIENDS OTHERS CHART2.2.5 MODE OF AWARENESS ABOUT BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITSiv TABLE 2.7.6 SHOWING WHETHER THEY BUY BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS

S.NO OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 160 80 2. NO 40 20 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents buy Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits while few of them dont buy Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.6 WHETHER THEY BUY BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS 80% 20% Y E S N Ov TABLE 2.7.7 REASON FOR BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO REASON NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. TASTE 110 55 2. QUALITY 44 22 3. LESS PRICE 18 9 4. QUANTITY 12 6 5. PACKAGE 16 8 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: The reason for buying Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits is mostly for its taste & the reason is that Quality while few of them prefer it for its fewer prices. 110 44 18 12 16

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 TASTEQUALITYLESS PRICEQUANTITYPACK AGE CHART 2.2.7 REASON FOR BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITSvi TABLE 2.7.8 TABLE SHOWING NO OF PACKS DO THEY BUY IN ONE MONTH S.NO NO. OF PACKS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. 1 35 17.5 2. 3 81 40.5 3. 5 47 23.5 4. 7 32 16 5. 10 5 2.5 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the respondents buy Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits around 3 packets, some of them buy around 5 packets, while few of them buy it around 7 packets. CHART 2.2.8 NO OF PACKS DO THEY BUY IN ONE MONTH 35 81 47 32

5 0 20 40 60 80 100 ONE THREE FIVE SEVEN TEN NO OF PACKS NO OF RESPONDENTS TABLE 2.7.9 OPINION ABOUT THE PRICE OF THE BISCUITSvii S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. REASONABLE 148 74 2. COSTLY 33 16.5 3. CHEAP 19 9.5 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents feel that the price is reasonable, while some of them feel that the price is costly. 148 33 19 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 REASONABLE COSTLY CHEAP

CHART 2.2.9 OPINION ABOUT THE PRICE OF THE BISCUITSviii TABLE 2.7.10 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER THEY ARE INTERESTED TO BUY WITH CURRENT PRICE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 108 54 2. NO 92 46 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are interested to buy in the same price while some of them are not interested to buy it in the same price CHART 2. 2.10 WHETHER THEY ARE INTERESTED TO BUY WITH CURRENT PRICE YES 54% NO 46% YES NOix TABLE 2.7.11 RATINGS OF THE OPINION THAT ATTRACTS THE CUSTOMERS TO BUY THE BISCUIT NO OF RESPONDENTS S.NO FACTORS 12345 1. QUALITY 61 34 25 37 43 2. PRICE 49 52 37 46 16 3. PACKAGING 37 49 70 31 13 4. FLAVOUR 25 19 28 58 70 5. AVAILABILITY 22 37 40 52 49 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE:

Most of the respondents have ranked Quality as the first for attracting the customers, Secondly for Price, third comes Packaging, Availability stands fourth & Flavor stands the last 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 NO OF RESPON DENTS FACTORS CHART 2.7.11 QUALITY PRICE PACKAGING FLAVOR AVAILABLITY 3-D Column 6x TABLE 2.7.12 RATINGS OF THE FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THEM THE CHOICE OF BISCUITS SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Advertisement stands first for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits whereas Free Gifts stands last. Brand Image stands second for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits. 0 10

20 30 40 50 NO OF RESPONDE NTS FACTORS 2.7.12 ADVERTISEMENT S PACKAGE BRAND IMAGE FREE GIFTS PRICE QUALITY QUANTITY NO OF RESPONDENTS S.N O FACTORS 1234567 1 ADVERTISEMENTS 72 15 22 22 28 22 19 2 ATTRACTIVE PACKING 12 12 18 92 27 22 17 3 BRAND IMAGE 57 82 22 17 7 8 7 4 FREE GIFTS 17 22 17 27 37 12 68 5 PRICE 12 22 22 38 77 17 12 6 QUALITY 18 17 87 22 12 27 17 7 QUANTITY 12 28 22 17 17 87 17xi TABLE 2.7.13 TABLE SHOWING THE FREQUENCY OF PURCHASE OF BISCUITS S.NO FREQUENCY NO OF RESPONDENTS

PERCENTAGE (%) 1 DAILY 54 27 2 WEEKLY 66 33 3 FORTNIGHTLY 40 20 4 MONTHLY 28 14 5 OCCASIONALLY 12 6 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: Most of the consumers frequency of purchase of biscuits are weekly and next comes fortnightly. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 REASONABLE COSTLY CHEAP Series1xii TABLE 2.7.14 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO TASTE S.N O OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 74 37 2. SATISFIED 92 46 3. AVERAGE 14 7 4. DISSATISFIED 20 10

5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED - TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the taste of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. 0 10 20 30 40 50 NO OF RESPONDENTS RATING BISCUITS RESPECT TO TASTE HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFIED HIGHLY DISSATISFIEDxiii TABLE 2.7.15 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PRICE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 25 12.5 2. SATISFIED 98 49 3. AVERAGE 32 16 4. DISSATISFIED 35 17.5 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED 10 5

TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the price of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. 25 98 32 35 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 HIGHLY SATISFIEDSATISFIEDAVERAGEDISS ATISFIEDHIGHLY DISSATISFIED CHART 2.2.15 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PRICExiv TABLE 2.7.16 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO QUALITY S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAG E (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 35 17.5

2. SATISFIED 108 54 3. AVERAGE 32 16 4. DISSATISFIED 25 12.5 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED -TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the quality of Britannia Marie gold TABLE 2.7.17 RATIN GS OF THE VARIO US FEATU RES OF 35 108 32 25 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFIED HIGHLY DISSATISFIED CHART 2.2.16 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS

FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO QUALITYxv BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PACKAGE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 70 35 2. SATISFIED 92 46 3. AVERAGE 18 9 4. DISSATISFIED 20 10 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED - TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the packaging of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.17 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO PACKAGE 70 92 18 20 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFI ED

HIGHLY DISSATISFI EDxvi TABLE 2.7.18 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO BRAND IMAGE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 20 10 2. SATISFIED 78 39 3. AVERAGE 16 8 4. DISSATISFIED 60 30 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED 26 13 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the brand image of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits. CHART 2.2.18 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO BRAND IMAGE 20 78 16 60 26 0 20

40 60 80 100 HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED AVERAGE DISSATISFIE D HIGHLY DISSATISFIE Dxvii TABLE 2.7.19 RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO OTHERS S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. HIGHLY SATISFIED 6 3 2. SATISFIED 132 66 3. AVERAGE 60 30 4. DISSATISFIED 2 1 5. HIGHLY DISSATISFIED -TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are satisfied with the other reasons of the Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits CHART 2.2.19RATINGS OF THE VARIOUS FEATURES OF BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS WITH RESPECT TO OTHERS

6 132 60 2 00 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 HIGHLY SATISFIEDSATISFIEDAVERAGEDISS A T I S F I E D H I G H L Y D I S S A T I S F I E Dxviii TABLE 2.7.20 TABLE SHOWING PACK SIZE PREFERRED IN BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.N O PACK SIZE NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. 100 GM 52 26 2. 200 GM 114 57 3. 400 GM 34 17 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents prefer in buying 200gms of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits, next preferable size is 100 gms whereas some of them like 400 gms. CHART 2.2.20 PACK SIZE PREFERRED IN

BUYING BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS 52 114 34 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 100 GM 200 GM 400 GMxix TABLE 2.7.21 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS ARE EASILY AVAILABLE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 140 70 2. NO 60 30 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that most of the respondents are feel that it is easily available in the market while few of them feel it is not available in the market. CHART 2.2.21 WHETHER BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS ARE EASILY AVAILABLE 70% 30% YES NO 2.8 STATISTICAL TEST 2.8.1 WEIGHTED AVERAGE METHOD RATINGS OF THE OPINION THAT ATTRACTS THE CUSTOMERS TO BUYxx THE BISCUIT NO OF RESPONDENTS

S.NO FACTORS 12345 AVERAGE RANK 1. QUALITY 61 34 25 37 43 126.6 III 2. PRICE 49 52 37 46 16 134.4 I 3. PACKAGIN G 37 49 70 31 13 133.2 II 4. FLAVOUR 25 19 28 58 70 94.2 V 5. AVAILABIL ITY 22 37 40 52 49 106.2 IV SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA INFERENCE Most of the respondents have ranked Quality as the first for attracting the customers, Secondly for Price, third comes Packaging, Availability stands fourth & Flavor stands the last. RATINGS OF THE FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THEM THE CHOICE OF BISCUITS FACTORS NO OF RESPONDENTS 1234567 Average Rank ADVERTISEM ENTS 72 15 22 22 28 22 19 134.1 II ATTRACTIVE PACKING 12 12 18 92 27 22 17 108.0 IV BRAND IMAGE 57 82 22 17 7 8 7 159.0 I FREE GIFTS 17 22 17 27 37 12 68 92.4 VII PRICE 12 22 22 38 77 17 12 107.9 V QUALITY 18 17 87 22 12 27 17 122.6 III

QUANTITY 12 28 22 17 17 87 17 96.0 VIxxi INFERENCE: Advertisement stands first for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits whereas Free Gifts stands last. Brand Image stands second for ranking of the factors that influence the choice of biscuits. 2.8.2 CONFIDENCE LEVEL & SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL The confidence level or reliability is the expected percentage of times that the actual value will fall within the stated precision limits. Thus, we take a confidence level of 95%, then we mean that there are 95 chances in 100 (or .95 in 1) that the sample results represent the true condition of the population within a specified precision range against 5 chances in 100 (or .05 in 1) that it does not. 2.8.2.1 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS ARE EASILY AVAILABLE S.NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 140 70 2. NO 60 30 TOTAL 200 100 SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA It is necessary that the above data should be applied to universe that purpose CONDIFENCE INTERVAL TEST is required. For confidence interval, the associated standard error should be calculated. S.E = SQRT [(PQ) / N] (Equation 2.1) Where, P = Percentage showing whether Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits are easily available= 70

Q = Percentage showing Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits are not easily available = 30xxii SE = SQRT [(2100) / 100] = 4.58 Confidence Interval = P (S.E * Z @ 95 %) (Equation 2.2) = 70 (4.58 * 1.64) = 62.49 to 77.51 which means that percentage showing whether Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits are easily available ranges between 62.49 to 77.51 2.8.3 ONE SAMPLE RUN TEST TO DETERMINE THE RANDOMNESS OF THE SELECTED SAMPLES H0 : Samples are randomly chosen H1 : Samples are not randomly chosen TABLE SHOWING WHETHER THEY BUY BRITANNIA MARIE GOLD BISCUITS S.NO OPTIONS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) 1. YES 160 80 2. NO 40 20 TOTAL 200 100 No of runs r = 50 n1 = 160 n2 = 40 r = ( 2n1n2 / n1 + n2 ) + 1 (Equation 2.3)xxiii = 65 2 = 2n1n2 (2n1n2 n1 n2) / (n1 + n2) 2 (n1 + n2 1) (Equation 2.4) = 20.26 = 20.26 = 4.50

Upper Limit = + 2.58 (Equation 2.5) = 76.61 Lower Limit = - 2.58 (Equation 2.6) = 53.39 Inference: Since the no of runs (=50) is inside the curve, H0 is accepted. i.e. samples are chosen randomly. CHAPTER 3 3.1 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY v Among the outlet surveyed 74% is male and 26% female. v Most of the respondents belongs to male [74%]. v All the surveyed 200 outlets sell biscuits v Most of the respondents are in the age group of less than & some of them in the age group of 21 30 & 31 40. [ v Most of the respondents are students [40%] and whereas some of them are house wives (23%) and employees (20%) & others (17%) v Out of the 200 outlets surveyed, all the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v Most of the respondents are aware of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits through advertisement & some of them through friends.xxiv v 80% of the respondents buy Britannia Marie Gold biscuits and while few of them dont buy Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v The main reason behind the purchase of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits is mostly for its taste & quality & price. v Britannia Marie Gold moves fast when compared to respondents buy biscuits in one month. v Most of the respondents are satisfied with the price of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits and whereas few of them are dissatisfied.

v Among the 200 retail outlets surveyed 74% of the respondents had said it is costly, 9.5% said it is cheap. v 54% of the respondents are interested buy in the same price. 46% of them are not interested to buy in the same price. v Most of the consumers frequency of purchase of biscuits are weekly and next comes daily & fortnightly. v 46% of respondents are satisfied the Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v 49% of the respondents are satisfied with the price of the Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v Most of the respondents are highly satisfied with the 54% quality & 46% with packaging & 39% with brand image & others 66% of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits. v Most of the respondents prefer in buying 200 gm of Britannia Marie Gold and next preferable size is 100 gm and some of them like 400 gm. v 70% of the respondents are feel that Britannia Marie Gold biscuits is easily available in the market.xxv 3.2 SUGGESTIONS The company may provide the biscuits at reduced / concessional price for the customer in Chennai provided at round off price say re.1 or re.2. The company may advertise by television, newspaper & hoardings etc. The company may advertise to create awareness regarding the nutrients included in the biscuits. The company may provide samples to the customers. The company may provide some consumer offer to the customer. The company may introduce new products the would help the customers for their taste.

 Mostly respondents suggested for reduction of prices Give different shapes, which will be new & will be attractive for children Introduce new products, which can be meant for occasions Improving the taste and also giving more flavors can attract attract more customers 3.3 CONCLUSION The market study on biscuits at Chennai city as helped to know the status of biscuits. It has revealed the requirements of the retailers, the profile, characteristics, and taste of the consumer of biscuits. Britannia biscuits are having a good market share in Chennai city. Carring out relevant sales promotional activities can increase biscuits demand in Chennai city with regard to various brand of biscuits. This study has helped the researcher to gain good experience and more information about the biscuit market.xxvi 3.4 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Name : 2. Sex: Male o Female o 3. Age: <20 o 21 30 o 31 40 o >41 o 4. Occupation: Student o Employee o Business o Professional o Housewife Others 5. Are you aware of Britannia Marie gold biscuits? Yes No 6. How did you come to know about Britannia Marie Gold? Through Shops o Advertisements o Friends o Others o 7. Do you buy Britannia Marie Gold biscuits? Yes o No o 8. What is the reason for buying Britannia Marie Gold biscuits? Taste o Qualityo Less Price o Quantity o

Package o 9. How many packs do you buy in one monh? 1 o 3 o 5 o 7 o 10 o 10. What is your opinion about the price of the biscuits? Reasonable o Costly o Cheaper o 11. Are you interested to buy in the current price? Yes o No o 12. Please rate the opinion that attracts you in buying the biscuit? Qualityo Price o Packaging o Flavour o Availability o 13. Rank the factors that influence you in selecting Britannia Marie Gold biscuit? Advertisement o Attractive Packing o Brand Image o Free Gifts o Price o Qualityo Quantity oxxvii 14. How often do you purchase Britannia Marie Gold biscuits? Daily o Weekly o Fortnightly o Monthly o Occasionally o 15. Indicate your level of satisfaction of the various factors of Britannia Marie Gold biscuits FACTORS Highly Satisfied Satisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Highly Dissatisfied Price Quality Packaging Brand Image Others 16. Which pack size do you prefer in buying Britannia Marie gold Biscuits? 100 gm o 200 gm o 400 gm o

17. Do you find Britannia Marie Gold biscuits easily available in the market? Yes o No o 3.5 BIBLIOGRAPHY TEXT BOOKS Philip Kotler : Marketing Management (Millennium edition), Prentice Hall of India (P) Ltd., New Delhi 2001. Aakar, Day and Kumar, Essentials of Marketing Research, John Wiley & Sons 2001. Richard I.Levin and David S.Rubin, Statistics for Management, 7 th Edition, S.P.Gupta Statistical Methods Prentice Hall of India Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi 1997 o Joseph F.Hair, Jr, Marketing Research, McGraw Hill, 2000 o G.C.Beri, Marketing Research, McGraw Hill, 2000 WEB SITE : WWW.britannia.comxxviii

Below the line initiatives are extremely important in the cosmetic segment since the buying experience is as important as brand image and advertising. Significant focus is on sales counters, beauty advisors and dealer aids. We constantly integrate a lot of the above the line campaigns like 'Whose watching your lips' with below the line initiatives Anil Chopra, Business Head, Lakme Lever

''Lakm is at the forefront of product-innovation. Almost everyone has a Lakm-something in their (cosmetics) collection,'' said Mumbai-based fashion choreographer Lubna Adams.

The Indian cosmetics industry is in churn. Even as the premium segment is getting crowded, the rural market is turning out to be the stronghold of smaller, regional players. Although stiff competition has emerged for Lakme Lever within the Rs 250-crore colour cosmetics market, it continues to lead. In the skincare market, estimated at Rs 700 crore, Lakme's market share averages 7-8 per cent. Catalyst spoke to Anil Chopra, Lakme Lever's Business Head.

INTRODUCTION

High priestess of sacred Indian temple meets English army officer who's unwittingly strayed into holy ground. They fall in love. Her orthodox father vows vengeance... That's the story of Lakm, a 19th century opera written by Frenchman Leo Delibes, from which Simone Tata borrowed the name Lakm (French for Lakshmi, the name of the priestess). The current size of the Indian cosmetic market is approximately US$ 600 million. Of this, the fastest growing segment is color cosmetics, accounting for around US$ 60 million of the market. Industry sources estimate a rapid growth rate of 20 percent per annum across different segments of the cosmetics industry reflecting an increasing demand for all kinds of beauty and personal care product. Growth has come mainly from the low and medium-priced categories that account for 90 percent of the cosmetics market in terms of volume. Even with a 20 percent average growth rate, the per capita consumption of cosmetics is very low in India. Current per capita expenditure on cosmetics is approximately US$ 0.68 cents as compared to US$ 36.65 in other Asian countries. However, with changing lifestyles, higher disposable incomes, increasing advertising, penetration of satellite television, awareness of the western world and growing importance of beauty pageants, there have been significant changes and use of cosmetics is on the rise. Lakme, a brand originally introduced by the Tata group of India, now bought over by Hindustan Unilever (HUL) of the Unilever group, Tips & Toes, another domestic player, and Revlon dominate the US$ 60 million color cosmetics market. Multinationals, Revlon of the U.S. and L'Oreal's Maybelline has a dominant share of the small premium lipsticks and nail enamels market. Mass-market products account for a major share, while the premium segment accounts only for a mere 9 per cent in lipsticks and 5 per cent in nail enamels. Lipsticks account for nearly a third of the market at US$ 21 million, while the market for nail enamels is estimated at around US$ 23 million. The color cosmetics

segment is very competitive and has a high penetration level of 80 percent. The skin care market in India is estimated at US$ 180 million. Within the last decade, this segment has seen many consumers slowly shift from the mass to the premium end of the market. The penetration rate is high in the skin-care segment as compared to color cosmetics. In the skin-care segment, price and volume played an equal role in value growth. Moisturizing lotions, fairness creams and face cleansers are the popular categories in the skin-care segment and account for approximately 60 percent of the skin-care segment. The major players in this segments are Lakme, Ponds, Fair & Lovely of the HUL group with a 50 percent market share, followed by players such as J.L. Morison that markets the Nivea range of products in India, Godrej and Revlon. Penetration levels of international cosmetics brands in India are still low. Foreign brands currently constitute only 20 percent of the market. A major reason for low penetration of international brands can be attributed to high pricing. These companies initially gained sales on their international brand image, however, repeat purchases were not forthcoming and to retain their sales growth, several foreign companies reformulated price strategies to tap the large Indian middle class. Urban women in the middle and upper income groups in the age range of 23-50 is the target group for international brands, as this group looks for better products and is willing to pay a premium for international quality products. Industry estimates suggest that there are close to 10 million such women in India.

Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research is based on:-

Primary Data 1) Questionnaire Secondary Data Internet Company Reports& Broachers Magazines Newspapers Articles &journals Data is also gathered by talking to the respondents (Target Audience, understanding their beauty needs,what aspire them to go for the (lakme)brand. Also the level of :Brand awareness, Price level, Visibility of brand personality. Expectancy of Communication

All these factors were the prime criterion for selecting (Which brand??), Short listing and ranking (level of trustworthiness? or most favoured ) which had helped us for identifying the winner in cosmetics industry.

Objective

1 Help in building a positive association with people thereby enhancing brand personality 2 How to break the negative connotation of Being fashionable
3

Why has Lakme missed out on promotional gauge despite roping in top brand ambassadors. How can the brand retain its lost spot?

HYPOTHESIS
In the classical tests of significance, two kinds of hypothesis are used the null hypothesis and the alternate hypothesis. Null hypothesis ( Ho) is used for testing. It is the statement that no difference exists between the parameter and the statistic being compared. Second is Alternative hypothesis (HA) is alternative hypothesis is alternative hypothesis which holds that there has been a change. Hypothetical testing can be viewed as a six steps procedure; Establish a null hypothesis Choose the statistical test on the basis of assumption about the population distribution and measurement level select the desired level of significance Parametric and non parametric tests are applicable under various conditions like parametric operates with the interval and ratio data and are preferred when their assumptions can be met. Non parametric tests do not require stringent assumptions about the population distribution and are less useful with less nominal and ordinal values.

In this report our null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis are stated below:

Ho: Respondents are satisfied with the quality of Lakme products. Ha: Respondents are not satisfied with the quality Ho: Respondents are brand Loyal Ha: Respondents are not brand Loyal Ho: Respondents prefer lakme Ha: Respondents do not prefer lakme HO: Respondent are satisfied nor aware of new product range H: Respondent are not aware of new range. HO: Respondent do believe that endorsement by celebrity play any role in the decision making HA: Respondent do not believe that endorsement by celebrity play an important role in the decision making

RESEARCH DESIGN

Our research is based on the Exploratory Study. Research is exploratory when you use no earlier model as a basis of your study. The most usual reason for using this approach is that you have no other choice. Normally you would like to take an earlier theory as a support, but there perhaps is none, or all available models come from wrong contexts. Exploratory research means that hardly anything is known about the matter at the outset of the project. You then have to begin with a rather vague impression of what you should study, and it is also impossible to make a detailed work plan in advance. The gradual process of accumulating intelligence about the object of study means also that it will be impossible to start by defining the concepts of study. You have to start with a preliminary notion of your object of study, and of its context. During the exploratory research project, these provisional concepts then gradually gain precision. We have collected our data by drafting a questionnaire and thereby interpreted or analyzed or result by using the Microsoft excel.

Sample design
The sampling procedure used to produce any type of sample Sample size of 100 customers.
Sample centre = Amity Girls hostel

CHAPTER 4 COMPANY PROFILE

Half a century ago, as India took her steps into freedom, Lakme, India's first beauty brand was born. At a time when the beauty industry in India was at a nascent stage, Lakme tapped into what would grow to be amongst the leading, high consumer interest segments in the Indian Industry - that of skincare and cosmetic products. Armed with a potent combination of foresight, research and constant innovation, Lakme has grown to be the market leader in the cosmetics industry. Lakme today has grown to have a wide variety of products and services that cover all facets of beauty care, and arm the consumer with products to pamper herself from head to toe. These include products for the lips, nails, eyes, face and skin, and services like the Lakme Beauty Salons.

A little bit of Lakm history: In 1995, Lakm Ltd (a Tata Group company) and HLL formed a 50:50 venture Lakm Lever that would market and distribute Lakm's products. In 1998, Lakm sold its brands (and the 50 per cent it owned in the JV) to HLL, renamed itself Trent and entered a different business (retail). Only, the years between 1995 and 2000 saw HLL wrestling with several issues with a bearing on Lakm's future. A brand that has over 5 decades talked of beauty is none other than Lakm. Launched in 1952, it offered a range of cosmetics with nail polishes & lipsticks from the early 80s. Lakm also understands the importance of maintaining and accentuating a womens natural beauty, for this it has introduced a range of skincare products from 1987. These ranges have been constantly innovated to bring specialized beauty care and complete the range for the definitive women. A brand that has over 5 decades talked of beauty is none other than Lakm. Launched in 1952, it offered a range of cosmetics with nail polishes & lipsticks from the early 80s. Lakm also understands the importance of maintaining and accentuating a womens natural beauty, for this it has introduced a range of skincare products from 1987. These

ranges have been constantly innovated to bring specialized beauty care and complete the range for the definitive women.

Chopra accepts that distribution has been the company's Achilles heel for some time: ''The supply-chain hasn't been as robust as it should have been, but that has been the result of our efforts to reposition and reintroduce the brand.'' The positioning bit, although complex, is clear: Ponds is Lever's primary skincare brand; Lakm, its aspirational colour cosmetics brand, which also has a presence in skincare. The 'aspirational' qualification would mean Lakm would compete at what the company terms the 'upper-mass' (premium) end of the colour cosmetics spectrum (products priced between Rs 85 and Rs 250) where a slew of competitors, ranging from Revlon (through Modi Revlon) to Chambor, are already slugging it out. Says Meghna Modi, 26, Executive Director, Modi Revlon: ''The numbers say it all. According to ORGMARG's retail audit, we have an 84 per cent share of the premium end of the colour cosmetics market.'' Chopra is quick to rubbish this claim; he says ORG-MARG does not have a representative sample of the 60,000 outlets through which colour cosmetics are sold in India. Still, it is conceivable that Lakm's new-found aspirational strategy could have been brought about by competitors like Revlon and Maybelline, which targeted this segment. Indeed, the company's nontransfer lip-colour range follows in the wake of Maybelline's launch of a similar range, and its new nail-enamel colours come soon after Maybelline and Revlon launched their nail-enamel range. The company's defense is that it takes at least 15 months from the conceptualization to the actual launch of products. And fashion consultants like Meher Castelino believe the brand commands an edge at the high-end: ''By appropriating the fashion platform for itself, Lakm has entrenched itself at the glamour-end.''

SWOT ANALYSIS Of LAKME Strengths : local brand of specific relevance to India. Strong R&D capability, well linked with business. Integrated supply chain and well spread manufacturing units. Ability to deliver Cost Savings. Access to Unilever global technology capability and sharing of best practices from other Unilever Weaknesses : Price positioning in some categories allows for low price competition. Varying quality range in its products. Falling Quality of Lame salons

Opportunities : Brand growth through increased consumption depth and frequency of usage across all categories. Upgrading consumers through innovation to new levels of quality and performance. Building brand image by collaborating with top designers in Lakme Fashion week Threats : Aggressive price competition from local and multinational players. Spurious/counterfeit products in rural areas and small towns. Non Existence of brand image in long Run

Everything a girl wants Lakm has a wide range of products in color cosmetics that bring visible results. To add to this vast repertoire is a range of specialized skin care products for the discerning women. Keeping skin looking healthy and glowing is also a part of looking great. Lakm provide the complete package with the skin care range and the wide range of colors to spice up the look.

Lakme products Colours From the spicy shades to the flattering look, Lakme offers a range of products in the face, lips, eyes and nail segment for the beauty aficionados. Face Lakm Daily Wear Souffl ,Lakm Perfecting liquid Foundation Lakm Radiance Compact , Lakm Flawless Matte Complexion Compact Lips Lakm Enrich Lipcolor - . Perfecting Definition Lip Pencil - Starshine Lipgloss - Glosses in lustrous shades available in 14 shades.

Eyes From dramatic to natural look- a wide range of products are on offer to create the perfect eyes. 1. Lakm Kajal: 2. Lame Insta Eyeliner eyelids 3. Lakme Lakm Shimmer Eye Cube: Nails True Wear Nail Enamel -Nail Enamel with Lacquer-like finish. Contains resins and silicone with colour lock technology that gives brilliant long lasting shine Skin For radiant skin Lakm is there to pamper your skin with specialized products for the diva in you. Cleansing Strawberry Silk Splash Face Wash , Lakm Fundamental Deep Pore Cleansing Milk Moisturizing 1. Lakm Fundamental Peach Milk Moisturiser skin. 2. Lakm Fundamental Winter Care Lotion Sun Protection The range comprises of lotions to keep your skin healthy and younger looking.

CHAPTER 5 INDUSTRY PROFILE

Hindustan Unilever Limited

Chairman: Harish Manwani CEO and Managing Director: Douglas (Doug) Baillie Director, Finance and IT: D. Sundaram Hindustan Unilever Limited (abbreviated to HUL), formerly Hindustan Lever Limited , is Indias largest consumer products company and was formed in 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited. It is currently headquartered in Mumbai India and its 41,000 employees are headed by Harish Manwani, the non-executive chairman of the board. It is Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry that includes detergents, soap, shampoo deodorant, toothpaste, and other personal care items, and cosmetics HUL's personal care brands include soap brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Liril, Breeze, Dove, Pear's, and Rexona; shampoos and hair coloring brands including Sunsilk Naturals and Clinic; skin care brands Fair & Lovely and Pond's; and oral care brands Pepsodent and Close-Up. The company's cosmetic line is led by the Lakme brand. HUL also produces a line of Ayurvedic personal and healthcare items under the Ayush brand. In addition to the FMCG segment, HUL has developed a line of food items, primarily under the Kissan and Knorr Annapurna brands, as well as the ice cream brand Kwality Wall's.

VISION
To earn the love and respect of India, by making a real difference to every Indian.. HLL follows its parent companys mission to add vitality to life. They strive to meet everyday needs of nutrition, hygiene, and personal care products that help people feel good, look good, and get more out of life.

STRATEGY
Grow ahead of the market by leading market development Activities Leverage positive impact of growing Indian economy on consumer spending Grow a profitable foods and Top end business Grow the bottom-line ahead of top line Strong commitment to sustainable development

DISTRIBUTION
With respect to distribution related activities like sales and marketing, HLL is second to none in pushing the

boundaries of what is possible financially, structurally, and logistically. Beyond its pioneering work FMCG distribution, the company has sought to instill in its customers an elevate sense of brand experience while simultaneously providing greater and more varied access to its products as well as improved clarity to its communications. New initiatives include raising brand visibility through in-store promotions, store-based product facilitators, and self-service. HLL has enabled an even further level of personalization and brand experience in the direct sales arena with its groundbreaking Hindustan UniLever Network, having amassed an army of consultants 250,000 strong with access to 80 % of city dwelling Indians.

Hindustan Unilever Present Scenario

15,000 employees 1,200 managers 2,000 suppliers & associates 75 Manufacturing Locations Total Coverage 6.3 Mln Outlets Direct Coverage 1 Mln outlets

Market Overview The current size of the Indian cosmetic market is approximately US$ 600 million. Of this, the fastest growing segment is color cosmetics, accounting for around US$ 60 million of the market. Industry sources estimate a rapid growth rate of 20 percent per annum across different segments of the cosmetics industry reflecting an increasing demand for all kinds of beauty and personal care product. Growth has come mainly from the low and medium-priced categories that account for 90 percent of the cosmetics market in terms of volume. The Shahnaz and the Biotique brands dominate the premium herbal cosmetics segment in India, estimated at USD 100 million. . Since liberalization, many international brands like Avon, Burberrys, Calvin Klein, Cartier, Christian Dior, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden,

Lancome, Chambor, Coty, L'Oreal, Oriflame, Revlon, L'Oreal, Yardley, Wella, Schwarzkopf, Escada, Nina Ricci, Rochas, Yves St. Laurent and Japanese cosmetics company, Shiseido have entered the Indian market. The prices of most foreign brands have been fairly high, which has deterred average Indian consumers. International brands cater to a segment that can broadly be classified as the urban higher income group. Market Trends Cosmetics and toiletries are not just the domain of women any longer and Indian men too are increasingly taking to the use of more and more body sprays, perfumes and other cosmetics and toiletries. With rising demand from men, the Indian market is getting enlarged and many players are coming out with cosmetic products especially skin care products for men. The market size of men's personal care segment is estimated at approximately US$ 165million, with Gillette having the largest market share. Other major players in this segment include Godrej, J.L. Morison and HLL. The growing demand for men's cosmetics have made many direct selling companies such as Modicare and Amway to launch new products for men. In the last five/six years, there has been a renewed craze for herbal cosmetic and personal care products, especially in the skin care segment with the growing belief that chemical-based cosmetics are harmful. Shehnaz Hussain, Biotique, and Lotus Herbals are the major players in this segment. Many companies also expanded their range to include herbal variants.. The urban population in the major cities with increasing purchasing power is the main force that drives demand for various cosmetic products in India. The advent of satellite television and awareness of the western beauty and fashion world, advertisements and promotions,

increasing number of women joining the work force is changing preferences, customs and cultures in India Import Market Costs for importing products are much higher than producing it in the country. India allows entry of imported cosmetics without any restrictions but the average import tariff on cosmetics products is currently very high at 39.2 percent. This makes imported products very expensive for most consumers. Most foreign cosmetics companies selling premium brands have had a difficult time developing the low volume premium market in India. Many had to re-work price strategies towards the mass segment. Price is not the only reason responsible for their problems. Poor assessment of the size of the upper middle and high-income groups, and price sensitivity even within these groups, had added to their problems. According to estimates of industry experts and trade publications, India's annual imports of cosmetics and toiletries and intermediate raw materials is approximately US$ 120 million. Countries like US, Europe, mainly France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain account for the major share; and Australia, China, and Japan account for rest of the share.

Competition The Indian cosmetic market, which has been traditionally a stronghold of a few major Indian players like Lakme, and Ponds has seen a lot of foreign entrants to the market within the last decade. India is a very price sensitive market and the cosmetics and personal care product companies, especially the new entrants have had to work out new innovative

strategies to suit Indian preferences and budgets to establish a hold on the market and establish a niche market for themselves. Given the price-sensitivity of the Indian consumer who do not normally prefer to fork out a large sum at one time, many cosmetic and toiletries companies launched their products in smaller pack sizes to make them more affordable. HLL and Revlon were the first to introduce small pack sizes. Revlon introduced its small-range of 8 ml nail polishes and lipsticks, and was soon followed it its strategy by major Indian companies as well. Stiff competition in the cosmetics and toiletries market also saw an increase in the range of new products being introduced for newer application concepts in the last few years. In the skin-care segment, from just creams and moisturizers, there has been a upgrade to value-added products such as under-eye wrinkle removing creams, dark circle removing creams toners, sunscreen lotions, fairness creams, and many more. . Beauty counselors or advisors at retails outlets have been very successful in gaining attention, creating product awareness and overcoming consumers lack of familiarity with, and fears about many cosmetics and personal care products such as home hair permanents and color cosmetics. Some companies such as Lakme have even set up exclusive Lakme beauty parlors at major cities in India through the franchisee route . L'Oreal markets its range of specialized hair care products exclusively through salons and beauty parlors. L'Oreal currently is the only company in the market that has a hair color range tailored exclusively for parlors.. A strong brand promotional campaign, good distribution network, constant product innovation and quality improvement, and the

ability to provide a variety of quality products are some of the major reasons for the success of most companies. HLL, is currently India's largest cosmetics and personal care products producer and its brands has the dominant share (more than 50 percent) in segments such as personal wash, skin care, shampoos, lipsticks and nail polish. Sales Prospects The growing Indian cosmetics market offers promising opportunities for international brands. The growth rate in the cosmetics market reflects an increasing demand for beauty care products in India. The most promising segments for international companies to pursue are perfumes and fragrances, and specialized/professional skin care and hair care products. The fastest growing market is however color cosmetics, which account for US$ 60 million of the total market. The rural market in India for cosmetics and toiletries remains is largely untapped. Major domestic players have also not been able to penetrate this market. The urban market itself for specialized cosmetic products remains to be fully exploited. The Indian skin-care market is not yet fully tapped and offers promising prospects as a growth area. Penetration of color cosmetics is lower than the penetration prospects of the skincare segment. To promote the growth of their products, a dominant player like Lakme have embarked upon a business plan to establish their exclusive franchised beauty salons across major metros in the country. Imported cosmetics have had a major impact on the Indian market. Foreign products have enhanced growth of the Indian market by attracting aspirational consumers and increasing acceptance of color cosmetics, previously perceived by many as harmful to skin. Indians generally perceive foreign brands as being of superior quality.

Other key issues regarding sales prospects are product variety and retailing strategies as well. There is a marked shift among consumers from functional common-fits-all products to more specialized formulations. This is one of the reasons why an increasing number of cosmetic companies are dealing with consumers directly through special exclusive counters in major departmental stores and malls featuring their own beauty consultants. L'Oreal India has established a consumer advisory unit and Ponds, as mentioned earlier offers skin care advise through touch-screen kiosks, and telephone help-lines. Market Access Prior to March 31, 1999, India had cosmetics and toiletries on its restricted list of imports and a special import license was required for import of cosmetics and toiletries into the country. This regulation has now been done away with and, India today, permits import of cosmetics and toiletries without any restrictions. This has made the Indian market more attractive to foreign cosmetic companies. Imports have been made easier, but not necessarily cheaper. The total import duty rate on cosmetics and toiletries classified under HS Code 33.03 to 33.07 is 39.20 percent, which even though has been scaled down over the past few years is still very much on the higher side. The high duties cause imports to be price uncompetitive. Certain high - end products just do not sell in India because the final price to bring it into India is too high for consumers to pay.

Chapter 6 Questionnaire

Q) Do lakme provides Quality Products?

Q) Are You Brand Loyal to Lakme?

Q) For what purpose You use lakme products ?

Q)What do you think about the price level of Lakme products ?

Q)If not Lakme then which Other brand ?

Q) Do celebrity endorsements in advertisements attract you towards Lakme products

Q)What inspire you to go for any cosmetic product?

Q)What changes you would like to see in the Lakme products?

CHAPTER 7FINDING & ANALYSIS

Observed(O) Expected(E) (Oi-Ei)2 Satisfaction level Excellent Good Average Poor Neutral/Cant Say 16 20 55 5 4 20 20 20 20 20 16 0 1225 225 256

2 {(Oi2 Ei) / } 0.8 0 61.25 11.25 12.8

Hypothesis Testing using Chi Square Overall Satisfaction

2=86.1 Table value=9.49 Since the table value is less than the 2. So the Ho is rejected.

Loyalty
Satisfaction level Loyal Not a loyal Observed(O) Expected(E) (Oi-Ei)2 18 82 50 50 1024 1024 2 {(OiEi)2 /E } 20.48 20.48

2=40.96 Table value=3.84 Since the table value is less than the 2. So the Ho is rejected.

Advocasy
Satisfaction level Recommend Will Not recommend Observed(O) 40 60 Expected(E) 50 50 (Oi-Ei)2 100 100 2 {(Oi-

Ei)2 /E }
2 2

2=4 Table value=3.84 Since the table value is less than the 2. So the Ho is rejected.

Satisfaction level High Low Optimum

Observed(O) Expected(E) (Oi-Ei)2 30 5 65 33.33 33.33 33.33

Expected(E) 50 50

11.0889 802.5889 1002.9889

(Oi-Ei)2 1089 1089

2 {(Oi2 Ei) /E } 0.333 24.08 30.09

2 {(Oi-Ei)2

Advertising/Communication effect
Communication Observed(O) level Effected 17 Not at all 83

/E }
21.78 21.78

2=43.56 Table value=3.84 Since the table value is less than the 2. So the Ho is rejected.

Price Level

2=54.503 Table value=5.99

Since the table value is less than the 2. So the Ho is rejected.

CHAPTER 8 RECOMMENDATIONS

Promotions beyond fashion week The brand should not lose its focus away from cosmetics. It can proved to very detrimental. For vast reach unlikely, in the short-term. Some sort of an alliance or co-branding with the salons that already exist may, perhaps, have been a better strategy.

 The general perception is that company-owned salons are expensive. Though Lakme beauty salons are reasonably priced, it has not been communicated well enough.

CHAPTER 9 -CONCLUSION

Since the Null hypothesis is rejected therefore it states that the customers are not satisfied well with the lakme products . This would be the major cause of lose of market share in the country. Another reason is the upcoming of Regional brands in the country that is making lakme loose its sheen. Therefore the company should take in strategic steps and planning to revive its brand image accordingly. The local cosmetics and toiletries market is valued at approximately RM3 billion or about US$800 million, with a growth rate of 13% annually. It is estimated that there are more than 60,000 types of cosmetic products in the local market. Imported products from Thailand, the United States, France,

Singapore and Japan dominate the market. The local cosmetics and toiletries industry generally involves mixing and formulation processes, using imported ingredients. Many of these companies are contract manufacturers, mainly for products such as shampoo and conditioners, other hair care products, perfumes, and cosmetics. Advertising and promotion is crucial for cosmetics and toiletries products, in order to create an awareness of new products and build brand loyalty among consumers. Advertisements in TV and the print media such as newspaper and magazines, especially womens magazines, are very common. Samples of toiletries products are distributed to individual households and products in sachet form are attached to magazines. Free gifts are given during promotion periods and are advertised in the local major newspapers and on the web. According to the industry, the market is saturated with many different types of products, and in the long run, established brands that emphasize quality and service will have the edge.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kotler Philip , Keller Lane Kevin marketing , prentice hall of India , 2005

S.P Gupta , Business Statistics, 14th edition , 2005

 Business Statistics , J. K Sharma , edition 2005 Tata Mc graw-Hill Edtion , Business research methods , Donald R.Cooper , Pamela S. Schindler.

References

www.hindubusinessline.com www.lakmeindia.com www.hll.com www.economictimes.com

www.financialexpress.com

Annexure

Questionnnaire
Market Survey For Lakme Products

Name Age Sex Address

: : : :

State/Province : Contact No. :

1. What inspire you to go for Lakme ? o o o o o Colour/Shades Price Packaging Versatility Others

2. Are You Brand Loyal to Lakme or you Switch To others too.? o Yes No 3. Do you Think Lakme provides quality Products to its customers?
o

o Yes

o No o Can,t Say 4. For Which Purpose you usually use Lakme Products ? o Eyes o Lip Colour o Face o Nail Enamel According to you what kind of promotional activities can make Lakme reach customers in a better way which can increase there market share ? o Lucky Draws o Free Bonanza o Free sample Distibutions o Discount Coupons o Others 6. What do you think about the price level Of Lakme products? o High

5.

o Optimum o Low 7. From Where do you purchase your product ? o Departmental store o Cosmetic stores o Drug/Pharmacy o Supermarket o Beauty Salon o Others 8 If not Lakme , then which other brand? o Revlon o Oriflame o Blue Heaven o LOreal o Lissome o Others 9. Are you aware of the new range of Lakme Products?

o Yes o No 10. How would you rate the Lakme products ? o Good o Very Good o Poor o Average o Cant Say

11. Do the Celebrity Endorsements in the Advertisements attract you towards the product ?
o

Yes

o No

12. What changes you would like to see in the Lakme products?

o More product range o More shades o Better packaging o All of the above

13. Will you Recommend Lakme products to Others ? o Yes o No

Case Study Lakme (A Brand of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.)

Half a century ago, as India took her steps into freedom, Lakme, India's first beauty brand was born. At a time when the beauty industry in India was at a nascent stage, Lakme tapped into what would grow to be amongst the leading, high consumer interest segments in the Indian Industry - that of skincare and cosmetic products. Armed with a potent combination of foresight, research and constant innovation, Lakme has grown to be the market leader in the cosmetics industry. Lakme today has grown to have a wide variety of products and services that cover all facets of beauty care, and arm the consumer with products to pamper herself from head to toe. These include products for the lips, nails, eyes, face and skin, and services like the Lakme Beauty Salons.

A little bit of Lakm history:

In 1995, Lakm Ltd (a Tata Group company) and HLL formed a 50:50 venture Lakm Lever that would market and distribute Lakm's products. In 1998, Lakm sold its brands (and the 50 per cent it owned in the JV) to HLL, renamed itself Trent and entered a different business (retail). Only, the years between 1995 and 2000 saw HLL wrestling with several issues with a bearing on Lakm's future. A brand that has over 5 decades talked of beauty is none other than Lakm. Launched in 1952, it offered a range of cosmetics with nail polishes & lipsticks from the early 80s. Lakm also understands the importance of maintaining and accentuating a womens natural beauty, for this it has introduced a range of skincare products from 1987. These ranges have been constantly innovated to bring specialized beauty care and complete the range for the definitive women.

A brand that has over 5 decades talked of beauty is none other than Lakm. Launched in 1952, it offered a range of cosmetics with nail polishes & lipsticks from the early 80s. Lakm also understands the importance of maintaining and accentuating a womens natural beauty,

for this it has introduced a range of skincare products from 1987. These ranges have been constantly innovated to bring specialized beauty care and complete the range for the definitive women. With a unique blend of understanding of women of all ages, today, Lakm is all about setting trends and dominating the fashion arena. Hindustan Levers Lakme Lever Lakme is the brand of Hindustan Unilever Limited (abbreviated to HUL), formerly Hindustan Lever Limited , is Indias largest consumer products company and was formed in 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited. It is currently headquartered in Mumbai India and its 41,000 employees are headed by Harish Manwani, the nonexecutive chairman of the board. It is Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry that includes detergents, soap, shampoo deodorant, toothpaste, and other personal care items, and cosmetics HUL's personal care brands include soap brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Liril, Breeze, Dove, Pear's, and Rexona; shampoos and hair coloring brands including Sunsilk Naturals and Clinic; skin care brands Fair & Lovely and Pond's; and oral care brands Pepsodent and Close-Up. The company's cosmetic line is led by the Lakme brand. HUL also produces a line of Ayurvedic personal and healthcare items under the Ayush brand. In addition to the FMCG segment, HUL has developed a line of food items, primarily under the Kissan and Knorr Annapurna brands, as well as the ice cream brand Kwality Wall's.

Lakme Going Global ? If the company manages to scale up the brand and increase its consumption within India, there are strong indications that Lakme could leverage Unilevers global reach on the back of the Anglo-Dutch majors priorities on personal care and D&E (developing and emerging markets).

Given Lakmes service sector lineage, the business model could benefit from what is perceived to be Unilevers proposed area of interest for the future - services. The company has Unilever Foodsolutions which works with customers including caterers, restaurateurs and major hotel and fast-food chains to create food solutions that help grow their business.

Reviving Of Lakmes Brand Lakme Lever had revived its youth-oriented brand, Elle 18. Having put the brand on `maintenance' mode, this division of HLL was focusing on Lakme. Launched in 1998, Elle 18 targeted the first-time cosmetic user and currently sports two product lines comprising lipsticks and nail enamel. "In the first three years, Elle 18 registered sharp growth rates and the purpose was to create a new segment of consumers," said Mr Chopra. At that point of time, Elle 18's main competitor in the youth-based cosmetics market was Tips & Toes, a brand that is almost non-existent
today.

Pricing
With a pricing that is almost one-third that of Lakme, Elle 18, of late, has also unleashed a campaign based on its products. "There was a change in our strategy in the past. While Lakme has been high on innovation, Elle 18 has been on maintenance mode. The brand has been growing at a lower rate than Lakme. But now we are now relooking at Elle 18 as there is still no brand that is so sharply positioned on the youth platform," said Mr Chopra. There was a conscious price differential between the brands to attract the first generation users of cosmetics. So, while a Lakme Lipstick would have an MRP of Rs 165, an Elle 18 Lipstick was pegged at Rs 55. Meanwhile, Lakme Lever continues to innovate for its existing range of skincare and colour cosmetics under the Lakme brand. It recently relaunched its skincare range under the name of Lakme Fundamentals. "While there is no new product, we will be upgrading the existing skin care range with new formulation and packaging," Mr Chopra said. In colour cosmetics it has roped in designer Sabyasachi Mukerjee to unleash the `Free Spirit' range as part of its winter collection. "The overall beauty market has been growing between 15-20 per cent but we have been growing higher than the market." However, it is the salon business that has been registering the highest growth rates for Lakme Lever. "With a small base, our salon business has been growing the fastest," Mr Chopra said. There are plans to have 100 Lakme salons by the end of the year from the existing 92 salons across the country. Besides, Lakme Lever intends consolidating its hair care portfolio launched last year under the Lakme Hair Next brand.

Problems

Increasing Competition Low Rating of lame Salons (not so good customer services) No new Strategies to look for improvements. May loose its Sheen in a long run.

Recommendations
Promotions beyond fashion week

The brand should not lose its focus away from cosmetics. It can proved to very detrimental. For vast reach unlikely, in the short-term. Some sort of an alliance or cobranding with the salons that already exist may, perhaps, have been a better strategy.

The general perception is that company-owned salons are expensive. Though Lakme beauty salons are reasonably priced, it has not been communicated well enough.