Consumer Purchasing Pattern and Scopes for ProductInnovationw. r. t. Packaged Dairy Products in Bettiah (WestChamparan)
Study Done Under Guidance of
Dr. D. Ashok, M Sc., MBA, M Phil., Ph DAbhay Prakash Sriwastwa
VIT Business SchoolVIT University, Vellore Tamilnadu (India)
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to explore and assess the usagepattern, consumer preferences and scopes for products innovationwith respect to the packaged (and branded) dairy products in thetown; Bettiah, West Champaran, Bihar.With the opening of “Muzaffarpur” (130 Km away from the studyplace) dairy with a capacity of 25,000 liters per day, this market (i.e.
Bettiah) is not new for packaged dairy products. Several players,including multinationals, are available in the market but market is stilldominated by local dairy producers. This study throws light on usage pattern and the reasons behind lowpenetration of packaged dairy products. This study obtains information concerning consumers' preferencesand knowledge of processed organic/dairy products. It also identifiesthose consumers who are most likely to purchase processedorganic/dairy products.A consumer response (via questionnaire) survey was done to collectdata. Results indicated that 53 % of the respondents use brandeddairy products, while 46 % are still using conventional (local,unprocessed) dairy products, whereas 1 % use neither.Of those who purchase (or would purchase) packaged dairy products,“availability” ranked as the most important reason, followed by the“freshness” of packaged dairy products.When respondents were asked why they prefer packaged dairyproducts over conventional dairy products, we got mixed responses.As 28 % of them said “because of health related benefits” while 26 %said because of packaging and 20 % said it gives them “sense of fulfilment” in daily food. Apart form these, 19 % respondents acceptthat greater shelf life of packaged dairy products was a reason tochoose it.Descriptive frequencies analysis were used to determine consumer orhousehold characteristics that influence the purchase decision relatedto packaged dairy products.It was found that middle aged and older people (above 36 years), withhigh education (graduation, PG or technical) are more concerned withusage degree of packaged dairy products. A healthy 65 % of abovestated consumers purchase, essential items (e.g. packaged milk,ghee, powder milk etc) “daily”. The study shows that, families with less number of family membersgive more importance to packaged dairy products (i.e. the giveutmost importance); a significant 67 % of small families are in thiscategory.Families with higher income (i.e. more than Rs. 12,000 per month) aremore concerned with quality of packaged dairy product. 42 % of higher income group population voted “quality” as the mostattracting feature in packaged dairy product.Study reveals that, majority population living in rural areas still usesthe unprocessed, unbranded local dairy products. Out of 91 rural
respondents, 55 agreed that they still use unprocessed dairyproducts, which are neither hygienic nor enriched with nutrients.Respondents have different reasons to purchase packaged dairyproducts. Almost 45 % of respondents purchase packaged dairyproducts because of nutrition related benefits, where 36 % purchasebecause of health related benefits and around 20 % see otherbenefits in packaged dairy products.It is significant from the weighted average rank table (where“availiability” has got first rank in importance and awarenessadvertisment has got fifth rank), that dariy producres have to work onbetter distribution and reatail network while keeping the “freshness”of the products, which should have greater “shelf life”. Todifferentiate form the competitors, these dairy producres can work ondifferent flavours, and they can offer a range of “tastes” to theconsumers.With the use of non-parametric tests, certain hypotheses were tested.Chi Square tests prove that there is no significant relationshipbetween the age of the head of the family and the type of product(i.e. branded or conventional) he/she uses. The study finds that theage of the head of family and the degree of importance they give todairy products in daily food, have significant relationship, as middleand higher aged respondents admit giving more importance to dairyproducts in daily food.Almost half of the respondents admit that they are not aware off allbenefits of packaged dairy products. The relationship possibilitybetween the awareness level of benefits (from packaged dairyproducts) and purchase frequency of essential dairy items, wastested, but there is no significant relationship among these two.It signifies, other factors, e.g. price, availability, quality and freshnessof the packaged dairy precuts have got greater importance in theeyes of customers, while they make purchase decision.
Introduction:
India ranks first in the world in terms of milk production. At present,the dairy sector has an estimated consumer demand for milk and milkproducts at EUR 26 billion, growing at about 8 percent per annum
.About 35 percent of milk produced in India is processed. Theorganized sector (large scale dairy plants) processes about 13 milliontons annually, while the unorganized sector processes about 22million tons per annum.Chief products manufactured are infant milk food, malted food,condensed milk and cheese. The southern and western regionscollectively contribute for 80 percent of the milk produced in India. The rapid growth of the dairy-processing industry is likely to lead to agreater demand for value-added, milk-based products, such as
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| Upload Date: | 11/24/2009 |
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