“A STUDY OF VARIOUS FACTORS LEADING TO PURCHASE DECISION OF BATHING

SOAP WITH RESPECT TO FIAMA DI WILLS OF ITC LTD.”

Submitted By

ADITYA SHARMA

17010323066

Batch 2017-2022

Division ‘B’

Under the Guidance of

Dr. Rajanikanth Mekala

( Faculty, Marketing Research )

SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, HYDERABAD

(A constituent of Symbiosis International Deemed University, Pune)

1|Page
 CONTENTS

TOPIC PAGE
Introduction 3
Vision of the Company 4
Problem Statement 7
Research Methodology 7-8
Research Objectives 8
Pie Charts 9-23
Inferences 24-25
Conclusion 26
Bibliography 27
Appendix 28-29
 Introduction

“ Fiama or fiama de wills is a subsidiary company of ITC limited Company which deals in the sector
of Personal Grooming which falls under the ambit of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer goods) which
started its operation in the year 2015 ITC LTD.(holder of Fiama de wills) previously called the
.”

Imperial Tobacco Company of India limited is one of India's foremost private sector companies with
a market capitalization US $ 45 billion and a turnover of US $ 7 billion. ITC is India's leading Fast
“

Moving Consumer Goods company, the clear market leader in the Indian Paperboard and Packaging
industry, a globally acknowledged pioneer in farmer empowerment through its wide-reaching Agri
Business and runs the greenest luxury hotel chain in the world 1 ”.

“ ITC’s aspiration to create enduring value for the nation and its stakeholders is manifest in its robust
portfolio of traditional and greenfield businesses encompassing Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG), Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business, and Information
Technology This diversified presence in the businesses of tomorrow is powered by a strategy to
.” “

pursue multiple drivers of growth based on its proven competencies, enterprise strengths and strong
synergies between its businesses ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name Imperial
.”

Tobacco Company of India Limited. As the Company's ownership progressively Indianized, the
name of the Company was changed from Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited to India
Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and then to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. In recognition of the
Company's multibusiness portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses - Cigarettes &
Tobacco, Hotels, Information Technology, Packaging, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Agri-
business, Foods, Lifestyle Retailing, Education & Stationery and Personal Care - the full stops in the
Company's name were removed effective September 18, 2001.2
“Ever since September 2007, Fiama Di Wills has been providing gentle and effective care while
pampering and keeping you refreshed throughout the day. The Fiama Di Wills product portfolio,
consisting of Soaps, bathing Bars, Shower Gels, Shampoos and Facewash, has been developed by
scientists at the ITC R&D Centre, leveraging the expertise of International product formulation
specialists..” Fiama Di Wills products are for modern, aware customers who are confident of
themselves and seek indulgences that make them feel alive, beautiful and young.
There are many national and regional players in the bathing soap segment. The main player is Pears,
“

1
Jones, D. (2013). Investor-State Arbitration in Times of Crisis. National Law School of India Review, 25(1), 27-61.
Retrieved January 22, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/44283620
2
Front Matter. (2013). Economic and Political Weekly, 48(39). Retrieved January 22, 2020, from
www.jstor.org/stable/23528460
having the most of the market share. Then there are some national level brands like Lux, Dove,
Lifebuoy etc. and some local brands that are regional in nature. There are lot of varieties in brands
for the customer to choose .”

VISION, MISSION, CORE VALUES AND GOVERNANCE POLICIES

VISION
“ Sustain ITC's position as one of India's most valuable corporations through world class
performance, creating growing value for the Indian economy and the Company's stakeholders .”

MISSION
“ To enhance the wealth generating capability of the enterprise in a globalising environment,
delivering superior and sustainable stakeholder value .”

ITC'S CORE VALUES

“ ITC's Core Values are aimed at developing a customer-focused, high-performance organisation
which creates values for all its stakeholders .”

“ Trusteeship As professional managers, we are conscious that ITC has been given to us in 'trust' by
all our stakeholders. ITC will actualise stakeholder value and interest on a long term sustainable
basis .”

“ Customer Focus ITC are always customer focused and will deliver what the customer needs in terms
of value, quality and satisfaction .”

“ Respect for People ITC is result oriented, setting high performance standards for the organization as
individuals and teams. ITC will simultaneously respect and value people and uphold humanness and
human dignity. ITC acknowledges that every individual brings different perspectives and
capabilities to the team and that a strong team is founded on a variety of perspectives. ITC wants
individuals to dream, value differences, create and experiment in pursuit of opportunities and achieve
leadership through teamwork .”

“ Excellence- ITC does what is right, do it well and win and strive for excellence in whatever they do.
Innovation- ITC constantly pursues newer and better processes, products, services and management
practices .”

“ Nation Orientation- ITC is aware of its responsibility to generate economic value for the Nation. In
pursuit of its goals, ITC will make no compromise in complying with applicable laws and regulations
at all levels .”
4
Back Matter. (1999). The Iowa Review, 29(1). Retrieved January 22, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/20154717
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

“ India is an evolving market for the bathing soap industry and there is a lot of potential for the
major brands. ITC ltd.’s Fiama Di Wills is not yet the market leader in the bathing soap
segment, since there is competition in the form of regional players and national players. As
India is an evolving market, my study was done to find the factors influencing the purchase
decision of consumers with respect to bathing soap. 5 In this study, I would find the buying
pattern, the influence of offers for bathing soap and the reasons for the consumers to buy a
particular brand of bathing soap. ”

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

“ The aim of the study is to find the factors influencing the purchase decision of consumers
with respect to bathing soap. Is the offers provided by companies a major push factor
inpurchasing of bathing soap is checked upon. The preferences of consumers for bathing soap
is also checked. The data will be analysed to find out the purchase decision of the consumers
and also their perception towards various brands and the offers. ”

RESEARCH DESIGN

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Purchase decision of consumers towards Bathing soap.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

“ The scope of study extends to all the consumers who purchase FMCG goods on a regular
basis. The consumers selected was from the campus of Symbiosis Law School Hyderabad on
a random approach. ”

5
Emerging challenges and prospects of fmcg product development in India by G. Nagarajan & Dr J.
KHAJA SHERIFF
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

TYPE OF RESEARCH

This study is descriptive in nature

TYPE OF DATA

Primary data is used for the purpose-data collected from customers. Secondary data is used to
assist the primary data- information regarding the bathing soap industry

SAMPLING DESIGN

“ The sampling method used is convenience non random sampling

Sample unit: all consumers using bathing soap

For achieving the research objective, I have collected opinions of 140 people .”

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

 Personal interview
 LIMITATION

 Time was a constraint while collecting data

 Respondents were reluctant to take the survey

 I was not able to obtain 100% honest answers

 The sample size I took was less, so I was not able to obtain diverse answers

 Bias of the respondents towards the companies

 Convenience sampling could not represent the true population

 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

“ The study explains the buying behaviour and perception of consumers towards bathing
soap. The research is carried out to find out what the consumers want and what are the
factors that they consider when they make a decision of purchasing bathing soaps. This
research is also done to help ITC ltd. to improve the brand Fiama Di Wills in places
wherever necessary. ”

“ For the purpose of the study the purchase behaviour, attitude, perception of the consumers
towards bathing soap is analysed. Detailed information of interview, survey analysis and
results are explained below. There were total of 140 respondents who completed the
survey. ”

GENDER

GENDER
MALEFEMALE

49%
51%

“Out of the 140 respondents 49% were female and 51% were male. The most number of
people who purchase bathing soaps are male. Males purchase these kinds of products
more than females, as they are the ones who mainly care about which brand of bathing
soap suits them the most.”
AGE

“The respondents were categorized into different age groups for the convenience of the
study. The main motive to classify the respondents into different groups was to classify
them based on the different stages of their life and to interpret the perceptions and
behaviour towards bathing soaps.”

AGE NO. OF REPSONDENTS

Below 20 years 14

21-30 years 94
31-40 years 10
41-50 years 14
Above 51 years 8

AGE GROUP
6% 10%

10%

Below 20 years

7%
21 to 30 years

31 to 40 years

41 to 50 years

Above 51 years

67%

Out of the 140 respondents, 10% were aged between Below 20 years and 41-50 years.
67% of the total respondents were between age 21 and 30. So, in this survey this age
group is the most prominent age group. So their response will be ones having the most
impact, as they are most prominent group in this survey.
BRAND PREFERENCE

“One of the major driving force of any category of PCP (Personal Care Products) are the
brand that they prefer. Consumers being the main decision maker, they are scared to
make sudden shifts from one brand to another. Brands are always the significant factor
who decides upon maintaining their consumers to themselves or not. Even in the segment
of bathing soaps there are many major players that are in the industry for a longer period
and also there are few brands which have recently moved into the bathing soap category
in PCP.”

“Fiama Di Wills is a brand which is a recent player in the bathing soap industry. Some of
the major bathing soap are Pears, Dove, Mysore Sandal, Lux, Santoor, Vivel etc.”

BRAND OF BATHING SOAP

Mysore Sandal Fiama Di Wills Dove

Pears Indulekha Lux Lifebouy Vivel Santoor
Others
18%

4%
1%
4%

BRAND IMAGE

On the basis of the brand preferred by the consumers, they were asked few more
questions based on why they stick on to their brand. They were asked to rate their brand
on the basis of few characteristics. Firstly, being the most important characteristics is
the brand image. Brand image is what stands out with the competitors.

BRAND IMAGE
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

2%
16% 10%

35%

37%
PRICE

The next important factor that decides the purchase decision is the range at which the
products are priced. Price of the products is also a factor that can determine the
direction of the consumers to some extent. Products that are priced at a level which
isaffordable to the consumers in all classes, have more chances of preferences. The
price of the products plays a major role in the purchase decision of bathing soap by
consumers.

PRICE
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

8% 3%
10%

31%

48%
QUALITY

Quality is something that defines the brand and the price for it. Consumers consider
the quality of the product when they make purchase decision. So, it’s important to
consider the quality when making the purchase.

QUALITY
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

2%
6%

29%

22%

41%

INFERENCE

 41% of the respondents considers the quality when making purchase decision.
FRAGRANCE

Being in the Personal Care Product category, it is necessary that the bathing soap
should have some pleasant smell. Since, some consumers preferably look into the
factor whether the bathing soap give some decent smell. Therefore, purchase decision
of bathing soap is made also by considering the fragrance which is given out.

FRAGRANCE
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

5%
17% 6%

29%

43%
QUANTITY

There are consumers who look into the quantity of the product that they purchase.
They want to make sure that they get the quantity for what they paid for. Purchase
decision of bathing soap is determined by also considering the factor of quantity.

QUANTITY
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

5%
5%

26%

26%

38%
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge of a particular brand is a factor by which the purchase decision is made.

There are various methods by which knowledge of a particular product is explained.
Only if the consumers are aware about a product, the purchase will take place. Thus,
all the companies tries to provide maximum information about a product so that it
doesn’t make any confusion in the minds of the consumer. Product knowledge can be
explained well with the help of media and other possible ways.

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

8% 2%
12%

33%

45%
AVAILABILITY

Other important factor is the ready availability of products to the consumers. If the
bathing soap of a particular brand is not available in the nearby store, the consumers
may or may not shift from one brand to another. It is necessary that the producers
must supply enough stock at the right time. Delay in the store may cause the consumer
to shift to another brand or the product.

AVAILABILITY
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

3%
12%

25%

45%
15%
PACKAGING

This analysis helps to find whether packaging have an impact on the buying behaviour
of consumers.

PACKAGING
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

6%

19% 6%

16%

53%
ADVERTISEMENTS

This analysis helps to find whether advertisement have an impact on the buying
behaviour of consumers.

ADVERTISEMENTS
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

6%
16%

14%

21%

43%
OFFERS

Since Offers are the driving factor, it is important to analyse the extent of the offers
offered by different companies to its consumers. The consumers tend to have a
flexible mentality to products with offers.

OFFERS
PoorFairGoodVery GoodExcellent

9%

23%

14%

23%

31%

INFERENCE

 Almost 91% of the consumers are driven by the offers provided by the
companies to them.
 Purchase decision is mainly based on the offers and promotions schemes.
 Consumers tend to purchase more when there is offers.
 Therefore, offers play a significant role in the purchase decision of bathing
soaps.
 “FINDINGS

• The consumers of age group 21-30 years purchases more bathing soap than other age
groups.

• Most of the time they go for brand having higher quality and those brands with good
brand name.

• The respondents considered that the price of the products were acceptable and
reasonable unlike other personal care products.

• Most consumers in the survey use Dove, second come Pears and then other brands
that were not mentioned in the survey questions.

• Most consumers buy bathing soap on a monthly basis, there is regular usage pattern of
the bathing soap.

• Consumers buy mostly from 2SKU’s every month.

• Most of the consumers ask or select a particular brand of bathing soap.

• 88% of the customers who use bathing soap ask for the brand they regularly buy.

• 45% of the consumers prefer foamy type bathing soap over other types.

• The 75% of the respondents said that offers provided by the companies have not
influenced their purchase decision.

• The respondents were aged mostly between 21-30 years.

• 43% of the respondents said that advertisements urge them to try new brands.

• The rest said that advertisements does not impact much in their buying decision i.e.
they will stick to their brand even if they see an advertisement of a new brand.

• Health benefit, quality and quantity are the main reason consumers consider before
buying bathing soap.

• This means that most of the consumers are scared to change their brand that they have
being using.

• Quality, price and brand name plays an important role in the purchasing decision of
bathing soap.
• 100% of the bathing soap consumers prefer quality of the product and brand name
over price of the product.

• This shows that those who buy bathing soap, buy it due to quality and brand image,
not due to price.

• Packaging and consumer offers doesn’t have much impact in the mind of the
consumer when purchasing bathing soap.

• 75% of the consumers agree to the fact that they use bathing soap just because they
were either loyal to a particular brand or by the influence of ads of some brands.

• 88% of the consumers look for bathing soap brands that have good and attractive
packaging.

• 48% of the respondents said that price of the brands they buy are priced at a good range.
• 41% of the respondents considers the quality when making purchase decision.

• 85% of the consumers agree that they stick to the same brand they are using, so it is
likely for those consumers to rebuy the same brand.

• 62% of the consumers are satisfied with the brand of bathing soap they are using, 16%
remains neutral.

• 63% of the consumers disagree to the fact that they change brand if there is a price
rise for the existing brand.

• This shows the brand loyalty of the consumers and also shows that price rise does not
have much impact for those consumers.

• 63% of the consumers agree that they will stick to their existing brand even if there is
a price rise, this also shows the brand loyalty.

• 71% of the consumers disagree to the fact that they always prefer lower priced brand.

• This shows that price doesn't have much impact in the purchasing decision on those
consumers.

• 60% of the consumers will suggest the brand they are using to others, 30% may
suggest the brand and 10% does not suggest their current brand they are using. ”
 “CONCLUSION

• From the study the various aspects of the consumers buying behaviour were found out

• Many reasons for consumers choosing bathing soap was found out and the purchasing
pattern of the consumers were also find out.

• Brand loyalty of the consumers were also checked in the survey.

• The survey shows that Fiama Di Wills should try and achieve a position in the minds
of consumers of bathing soap.

• The main reason for not using Fiama Di Wills is due to consumers are not ready to
shift from their current brand.

• Then the next reason is the shopkeepers, the shopkeepers sometimes give those brands
which have higher margin, to the consumers who doesn’t have much preference for a
particular brand.

• But still Fiama Di Wills has certain value in the mind of the people and that need to be
maintained.

• Some more push can be done in the market to get more market share.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY

 ITC reports and accounts 2015

 Emerging challenges and prospects of fmcg product development in India by G.

Nagarajan & Dr J. KHAJA SHERIFF

 Indian fmcg sector by PwC

 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/itc-ltd/infocompanyhistory/companyid-

13554.cms

 http://business.mapsofindia.com/top-brands-india/top-soap-brands-in-india.html

 http://www.fiamadiwills.com/about-us.aspx

 https://www.scribd.com/doc/60786013/Present-Scenario-of-Indian-Soap-Industry

 http://www.ibef.org/industry/fmcg-presentation

 http://www.nielsen.com/in/en/insights/reports/2014/understanding-indias-fmcg-

shopper.html

 http://www.cii.in/Sectors.aspx?enc=prvePUj2bdMtgTmvPwvisYH+5EnGjyGXO9hL

ECvTuNvwUH5MWzEuAiG8dfH+/Z7F

 http://www.itcportal.com/