Attitudes of the consumers towards Coke and Pepsi two competitive brands in Bangladesh market

Introduction & Rationale of the study

Coca-Cola history began in 1886 when the curiosity of an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, led him to create a distinctive tasting soft drink that could be sold at soda fountains. He created a flavored syrup, took it to his neighborhood pharmacy, where it was mixed with carbonated water and deemed excellent by those who sampled it. (Lubin, 2012) The Pepsi soft drink was invented way back in 1898, a little over a decade after Coca-Cola came on the scene. But for many years now, the cola soft drink market is led by the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc. Besides the cola market, they have expanded their businesses to the other soft drink markets as well and achieved oligopoly positions with tremendous market shares in all of these markets. Different other brands and new companies have tried to successfully enter the cola, but none of them was able to achieve a good market share and survive in this oligopolistic environment. A recent study proved that when people are concerned about the brand they preferred Coke over Pepsi. But again when they were given with the same bottle of Coke and Pepsi without the label, people preferred Pepsi over Coke. (The Coke Wars: When The Pepsi Challenge Nearly Killed Coca-Cola, 2012) This research paper is basically a comparative study of two well-known competitors in beverage industry of Bangladesh which are Pepsi & Coca Cola. The primary purpose of this paper is to find out the consumers preference and which company is leading the market. This research required us to conduct the consumer research on why they choose the drink. To find out the factors & reasons that influence to choose their preferred drink.

Objectives
Broad objective: Coke is more preferable over Pepsi in Bangladesh soft drink market. Specific objective 1: In terms of taste coke has a greater market share. Specific objective 2: Coke has a strong brand value over Pepsi. Specific objective 3: The packaging & shape of the Coke bottle is more attractive than Pepsi. Specific objective 4: The current pricing strategy of Coke gets the comparative advantage over Pepsi. Specific objective 5: Better distribution network and availability of Coke in urban area.

Hypothesis:
H0: In Bangladesh soft drink market, coke is more preferable than Pepsi with respect to taste, brand value, packaging, pricing, and distribution network. Ha: In Bangladesh soft drink market Coke is not preferable over Pepsi on stated issues.

Methodology:
Research method: We will go for conclusive research as we have a specific hypothesis and we are going to conduct a quantitative research. For knowing the market share, band image, taste preference, distribution network, product using rate and pricing of Coke and Pepsi in Bangladesh context we need to conduct a descriptive research rather than causal research because we are not focusing on the cause and effect relationship.

Data collection: Descriptive data can be collected by using survey and observation method. We are going to use an structured questionnaire survey with close ended questions for easier statistical analysis.
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Sample size: We will collect information from 100 Coke and Pepsi consumer among the entire consumer group who are aged above 18 years.

Sample Selection Process: We will use probability sampling technique with simple random sampling.

Contact method: We will use personal interview and internet interview for our survey data collection.
Scaling techniques: We will use Likert Scale from non-comparative scaling techniques.

Prospective Outcome of the research:

If consumer thinks about the price, distribution network, packaging and brand value most of them prefer Coke over Pepsi. Again when they think about the taste they might prefer Pepsi over Coke.

References:
Lubin, G. (2012, December 12). Here's The Real Difference Between Coke And Pepsi. Retrieved from Business Insiders: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-difference-between-coke-and-pepsi2012-12 The Coke Wars: When The Pepsi Challenge Nearly Killed Coca-Cola. (2012). Sabotage Times.