SURVEY ANALYSIS REPORT

INTRODUCTION
India has recently woken up to the fad of corporate gifting. Only till some years ago
sweets were the only delicacy gifts. Given the importance that gifting has in Indian
culture especially during seasonal festivities, it is not surprising that chocolate
gifting is a significant market. Indian people usually are seen spending more on
gifting to others than they do on self-consumption in this category. Chocolates is
slowly replacing replacing tradition sweets as option for gifting occasions such as
Diwali, Rakhi, Christmas, Eid, Valentines celebrations etc.
According to leading retailers in India last year, 40-45% of all chocolate sales in
India were during the festive season, up from 30% the previous year. Influx of
International brands selling at affordable ranges especially in Gift packs adding an
Indian touch to the pack has helped this sudden surge.
This report consists of the analysis of the survey undertaken to understand
customer perception of gifting chocolates.
Total No. Of Respondents- 104
Total No. Of Questions- 18

1. Age
Table 1
AGE
Under 21
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
Above 60

RESPONDENTS
9
71
4
16
3
1
Chart 1

Age

Under 21

21-30

16
31-40
4

3 19
41-50

51-60

Above 60

71

DESCRIPTION

The majority of the survey was taken amongst the age group of 21-50. The
different age group denotes difference in purchasing power, lifestyle and

different consumer behavior.

India is set to have the youngest population with 2020 which means the
general

thinking

of

people

is

slowly

changing

and

becoming

more

modernized.
According to Neilsons, the dynamic and spending pattern of the age group
16-25 and 54-65 are very similar, although they might be dependent to
secondary sources of income their purchasing power and level of influence on
other people should not be underestimated.

2. Gender
Table 2
GENDER
Male
Female

RESPONDANTS
54
50
Chart 2

GENDER

50

54

Male
Female

DESCRIPTION

The chart shows the gender distribution of the survey. The gender ratio of the
survey was almost 1:1 thus the survey was well balanced in terms of the
gender ratio.

3. Occupation
Table 3
OCCUPATION
Job
Business
Student
House wife

RESPONDENTS
22
24
45
13
Chart 3

Occupation

13

22

Job
Business
Student
Housewife

45

24

DESCRIPTION

The survey included people across age groups where most of them were
students. The second major group in this survey was people who were self

employed and people in professional jobs.

Students are generally on a dependent on their parents income which means
it limits their purchasing power. Corporate gifting plays a major part in
working professional lives. They generally have a higher disposable income
thus better purchasing power. They are able to afford the higher end gifts
packs. Other thing that needs to be noted is that gifts meant for corporate
gifting is generally ordered in bulk.

4. What type of chocolate is your favorite?

Table 4
TYPE OF CHOCOLATE
Milk
Dark
White truffle
All of the above
Dont mind any

RESPONDENTS
45
36
0
13
10
Chart 4

Type of Chocolate
10
Milk

13

Dark
45

All of the above

Dont mind any

36

DESCRIPTION

The survey results state milk chocolate is the most favored type of chocolate.
43% of people favored milk chocolate whereas only 34% of them favored
dark chocolate. 33% of people were neutral to the type of chocolate.
Although dark chocolate is becoming a premium market in the personal
consumption category by developing a niche for itself with chocolate lovers
and bakers, when it comes to gifting people still prefer to be on a safer side
and gift milk chocolates as it is the most common and most liked type of
chocolate.

5. How often do you choose chocolate as a gift?

Table 5
FREQUENCY
Always
Mostly
Only for occasions
Sometimes
Rarely
Never

COUNT
4
14
24
38
13
3
Chart 5

Choice of Chocolate as a Gift

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

38

24
14

13

DESCRIPTION

According to the survey the highest choice of chocolates as a gift was

sometimes (39%) followed by only for occasion (25%) which clearly states
people still view chocolates as an occasion specific gift.

6. What filling would you prefer in your chocolate?

Table 6
FILLING
Crackle, wafer
Honey
Caramel
Anything Nutty
Coffee
Fruit
Chilli
Truffle
Mint

RESPONDENTS
59
8
34
56
31
10
6
37
21
Chart 6

Filling Preferce
Mint

21

Truffle

37

Chilli

Fruit

10

Coffee

31

Anything Nutty

56

Caramel

34

Honey

Crackle, wafer

59
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

DESCRIPTION

The top choice of filling amongst respondents were crackle which are pralines
or rice crispy and wafers as a fillings (56%), second was Nuts and dry fruits
(53%) and third was truffle (35%). This helps to understand the chocolates
that are most easily acceptable by the people.

7. How often do you buy chocolates?

Table 7
FREQUENCY
Once a year
Every 6 months
Every month
Every week
Never

COUNT
2
22
42
36
2
Chart 7

Frequency of Purchase
45
40

36

35
30
25

22

20
15
10
5

0
Once a year

Every 6 months

Every42
month

Every week

Never

DESCRIPTION

The survey showed that 40% of the people purchased chocolates as gifts
every month and 36% of people purchased chocolates every week. So the
purchases cycle for chocolates for most customers is 7-30 days. 21% people
also said that they purchase chocolates as gifts every 6 months.

8. What is your price range for gifting chocolates?

Table 8
PRICE RANGE
Rs 50- Rs 500
Rs 500-Rs.1000
Rs.1000-Rs.3000
Rs.3000- Rs. 5000
Above Rs. 5000

RESPONDENTS
43
42
13
4
1
Chart 8

Price Range
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

43

42

13
4

DESCRIPTION

The survey showed that the 43% spend between Rs50- Rs500 on chocolates
as gifts and 41% people spend between Rs-500-Rs-1000 as gifts. This can

also be because of the fact that majority of the respondents were students.
16% of the people didnt mind spending above Rs 1000 which is generally on
premium chocolates assortments.

9. What motivates you to buy chocolate of a certain brand?

Table 9
FACTOR
Television Advertisements
Display Advertisements
Salesman
Celebrity Endorsements
Family & Friends

COUNT
21
22
1
4
75
Chart 9

Motivators to buy a brand

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

75

21

22
1

DESCRIPTION

The survey showed that family & friends were biggest influencers on people
to choose a particular brand. It can be because of status quo of people gifting
each other similar brands or maybe because gifting also depends on
preference of the person the gift is being bought for. Where 75% of people
were motivated by peers, about 43% of people were also motivated by
advertisements which mean visual appeal plays an important role in
customers choice of brand.

10.

How many of these brands are you familiar with?

Table 10
BRANDS
Godiva

COUNT
52

Hersheys
Patchi

96
30

Ferrero Rocher
Guylian

102
38

Lindt & Sprungli

Cadburys Celebration

84
100

Nestle
Mars

96
94

Bournville
Schmitten

94
52

Toblerone

97
Chart 10

Brand Awareness
Toblerone

97

Schmitten

52

Bournville

94

Mars

94

Nestle

96

Cadburys Celebration

100

Lindt & Sprungli

84

Guylian

38

Ferrero Rocher

102

Patchi

30

Hersheys

96

Godiva

52
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

DESCRIPTION

Ferrero Rocher has the highest brand awareness with 98%, followed by
Cadbury Celebrations (96%), Toblerone (93%), Nestle and Hersheys (92%).

11.

Which of these is your personal favorite for gifting

purpose?
Table 11
BRANDS
Godiva
Hersheys
Patchi
Ferrero Rocher
Guylian
Lindt & Sprungli
Cadburys Celebration, Glow, Bournville
Nestle
Mars
Schmitten
Toblerone
Chart 11

COUNT
7
3
5
18
1
35
13
7
8
0
4

Favorite Brand
4
0
8
7
13
35
1
18
5
3
7
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

DESCRIPTION

The survey showed 38 % people choose Lindt & Sprungli as a personal

favorite for gifting followed by Ferrero Rocher (18%) and then Cadbury
Celebrations (9.8%).

40

12.

What is the primary factor that you consider while

buying chocolates as gifts?

Table 12
CHARACTERISTIC
Price
Brand
Visual appeal/packaging
Availability
Quality/Taste
Quantity

COUNT
5
15
7
3
74
5
Chart 12

80

74

70
60
50
40
30
15

20
10

DESCRIPTION

The survey showed that the most important factor when it came to choosing
chocolate brands for gifting was taste (71%) followed by brand (14.4%) and
then packaging (6.7%)

13.

On a scale of 1-5 how important is availability of

choice of your brand?

Table 13
SCALE
1
2
3
4
5

COUNT
1
5
23
45
27
Chart 13

50
45

45
40
35
30

27
23

25
20
15
10
5

0
1 (Not Important)

5 (very important)

DESCRIPTION

The survey showed people availability of a brand is very important when

came to peoples choice of gift. This shows that if a brand is not available the
customer doesnt hesitate in choosing the next best options of brand to gift.

14.

In what form do you generally gift chocolates?

Table 14
FORM OF GIFT
Box of Assortments
Bundle of bars
Ready Made Gift Hampers
Personalized/ Customized bundle of

COUNT
46
29
24
33

chocolates

Form of Chocolates as gifts

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

46
29

33
24

DESCRIPTION

According to the survey 44% of people preferred gifting chocolates as a box

of assortments and 33% of people preferred gifting personalized/ customized

bundles as gifts.
The most gifted chocolate is Lindt & Sprungli of which a 200g bar generally

costs around Rs 400 and a box of assortments generally cost around Rs 1400.
Personalized chocolate boxes start from Rs500 and go up to Rs 10000 for
premium chocolates.

15.

How likely are you to choose chocolates over

traditional sweets as gifts?

Table 15
Scal

10

e
Cou

16

10

14

14

10

17

nt
Chart 15

Choice of chocolates over sweets

18

17

16

16

14

14
12

10

10

14

10

8
6
4

2
0

DESCRIPTION

The survey showed that more than 60% of the people are likely to choose

chocolates over traditional sweets for gifting purposes.

This is due to changing thinking and taste of people. Chocolates tend to be a
better liked gift now days across ages from children to adults.

Taste preferences of people are also changing and people are becoming
health conscious to the sugar and ghee level in traditional Indian mithai now
days.

16.

Where do you generally buy chocolates for gifting?

Table 16
LOCATION
Local general Store
Supermarket
Brand Exclusive Store
Duty Free
Online Orders

COUNT
37
69
20
39
4
Chart 16

Place of Purchase
Local general Store
100

37 50
Online Orders

69
4

supermarket

0
20

39

Duty Free

Brand Exclusive Store

DESCRIPTION
According to the survey people mostly buy gifting chocolates from
supermarkets and duty free stores.

17.

On which of the following occasions do you think

chocolates will be the most appropriate gift?

Table 17
OCCASION
Birthdays & Anniversary
Festivals
Special Occasion
House Warming

COUNT
64
53
38
21
Chart 17

Occassion
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

64
53
38
21
Occasion

DESCRIPTION

The most appropriate occasion for gifting chocolates is birthdays &

Anniversary and then festivals.

18.

Would you like to receive chocolates as gifts?

Table 18

YES
90

NO
14
Chart 18

14

Yes
90

No

DESCRIPTION
According to the survey majority of the people didnt mind receiving
chocolates as a gift. This shows that chocolate is becoming a socially
acceptable gift in general and people are

ANALYSIS & CONCLUSION

The survey helped me to understand how the chocolate gifting market works. The
following are the conclusions I was able to derive from the survey.

The top 3 brands which people preferred in gifting are Lindt & Sprungli,
Ferrero Rocher and Cadbury Celebrations. The brands with highest
brand

Awareness

in

chocolates

were

Ferrero

Rocher,

Cadbury

Celebrations and Toblerone.

According to the survey the most preferred brand for gifting chocolates
was Lindt & Sprungli, even though it did not have the highest brand
awareness in comparison brands like Cadbury Celebrations and Ferrero

Rocher.
From store visits it was found that Lindt and Ferrero Rocher is available
across most supermarkets. Form the survey we can see that
availability of a brand is very important to customers. Other premium
chocolates and specially their gift packs like Godiva, Hersheys, Patchi,
Celebrations,

Nestle

assortment

pack

were

hardly

available

in

supermarkets which is where most people purchase chocolates for

gifting purposes. Duty free stores are accessible on while travelling

which makes them a less convenient option to people to buy from.

The trend of gifting chocolates is still catching up in India. There are
various factors in play which are making traditional sweets less and

less attractive in comparison to chocolates.

The major respondent group of survey was people between ages 21
30 and hence the price range for gifting chocolate is limited to Rs

1000.
The two most important factors for people when it comes to gifting
chocolates were TASTE and PACKAGING. Lindt & Sprungli surpasses
many of the brands in terms of this except for a few luxury chocolates.
It has variety of flavors dedicated to fit the pallet of almost every
customer. Ferrero Rocher does not have a variety in its chocolates and

it still relies on its classic chocolates.

People still think of gifting chocolates as appropriate on specific
occasions. A lot of cultures in India still stick to gifting traditional

sweets of festival. People are slowly taking up gifting chocolates

because of various factors like better shelf life, convince, fear of
adulteration in mitai.