MARKETING RESEARCH

INDIAN PRODUCTS LIMITED

Group No. 01
Section C
Ankitha Nayak 19129
Harshitha HS 19141
Monica PM 19150
Naresh Holla 19151
Nishanth N 19153
Syeda Zaiba 19180

SUBMITTED TO
DR. M R SURESH
PROFESSOR – MARKETING RESEARCH
Table of Contents
Case Facts............................................................................................................2
Marketing Research Purpose............................................................................2
Research Objective.............................................................................................2
Research phases..................................................................................................3
Research Boundary............................................................................................3
Population for the Study....................................................................................3
Sampling Plan.....................................................................................................4
Analysis of the Survey Questions......................................................................4
Recommendations.............................................................................................10

1
Case Facts

 IPL is into manufacturing and marketing variety of household products

 IPL, refined groundnut brand, had market share of 40%-45% in SPRO

 The Bulk packs constituted about 4/5th - 5/6th and the balance was in small packs

 Retailers opened huge packs and sold them loose to customers

 Market for cooking oil In India was around lakh tons.
 Most of the packaging was in of bulk form i.e. 16 Kg tins. It constituted around more
than 80% and the remaining was small packs.
 Two trends observed in the SPRO market:
• SPRO was either declining or stagnant. (because of completion in bulk paced
refined oils, Vanaspati, and filtered oils)
• Increased proliferation. (this promised higher price)
 New brands in SPRO were non-groundnut oil brands (contrast to current trend). The
oil categories were:
 Sunflower
 Corn oil
 Soya bean oil
 Coconut oil (already used for cooking in southern part of India)
 The new brands claimed specific consumer benefits and also came up with promotion,
contained higher PUFA, had scientific justification and had lower levels of cholesterol
in blood.

Marketing Research Purpose

To conduct a study to explore the possibility of introducing another brand of refined cooking
oil in small packs of one to four/five kilogram.

Research Objective
The objective of the research is: (i) To assess whether there was an opportunity for a brand in
the SPRO market (ii) And if yes, to determine the best product concept in terms of consumer
appeal/acceptance.

2
Research phases
There are three sequential phases. The first phase is used to identify a concise list of
important product attributes and consumer benefits. The second phase is used to generate a
large number of product concepts on the basis of the important attributes/benefits identified
in phase 1 and then screening the same to arrive at table product concepts. At the end of this
phase four product concepts were selected for further investigation. The third phase were to
achieve the overall objective of the research.
Phase 1: In this phase, first a list of 18 relevant attributes/consumer benefits are generated on
basis of
(i) Review of published literature
(ii) Review of research conducted in the past by the company.

After this step, which consist of study of technical literature of corn and sunflower oil and
discussion with knowledgeable persons. In this step, those attributes/consumer benefits
which could not be provided by the two base oils under consideration were found and
deleted from the list of 18. A list of eight attributes/benefits was abstracted from the
original list of 18. The third step was used to find out the attributes/benefits which were
being offered by current SPRO brands and the extent to which the consumers were
satisfied on the attributes/benefits which were being offered by current SPRO brands and
the extent to which the consumers were satisfied on the attributes/benefits by using their
current brands.
Phase 2: With the benefits/attributes of the two base oils, a total of the two base oils, a total
of 21 concepts were screened. These concepts were screened by the research team through
discussions within the team as well as through discussions with some experts.
Phase 3: This is the main phase which consists of a personally administered structured
questionnaire survey. Appropriate aids were used (cards, instructions etc.) for effectively
administering the questionnaires.

Research Boundary
Research was done within the city limits of Ahmedabad.

Population for the Study

The population for the study is health conscious customers or segment.

3
Sampling Plan
A total of 50 responses have been received.

Analysis of the Survey Questions

Q.1 What cooking medium(s) do you use?
(If answer to Q.1 does not include ‘’Refined Oil- Packed Tin” then go to Q.2, else proceed to

1   Pure Ghee
2   Butter
3   Vanaspati
4   Flavoured Oil
5   Refined oil - Loose
6   Refined oil - Packed Tin

Q2) Have you used “Packed Refined” Oil in the past?

(If answer to Q.2 is ‘yes’ proceed to Q.3, else thank the respondent and terminate the
interview)

1   Yes
2   No

It is a Nominal Scale.
Q3) (a) Which brand of refined oil are you using at present?
1   Postman
2   Dalda Refined Oil
3   Goldnut
4   Saffola
5   Godrej
6   Any Other (Please Specify)
It is a Nominal scale and this is a relevant question as it would help the company to strategize
their new brand against their competitors.

(b) Which brand of refined oil were you using in the past?
1   Postman
2   Dalda Refined Oil
3   Goldnut

4
4   Saffola
5   Godrej
6   Any Other (Please Specify)

It is a Nominal scale, and this was not necessary as it was of no use to the research purpose.
(c) What pack sizes of refined oil were you using in the past?
1   16 KG
2   4 KG
3   2 KG
4   1 KG
It Is a Nominal Scale and this question is important because it is one of the objectives.

Q4) Some housewives have indicated that while buying refined oil they consider the
following features. Could you kindly indicate how important each of these features are to
you? (Give Rank 1 to most important feature. Rank 2 to next most important feature and so
on)
1   Taste
2   Good for health
3   Energy and nutrition
4   Digestibility
5   Purity
6   Color
7   Odour
8   Capability of food
It Is a Rank Order Scale.

Q5) We would like to know your views about ____ (mention current brand indicate in Q.3a)
• (Explain the scale: For each feature, there are two extreme opposite responses. If you
agree very strongly with the responses on the left side give a rating of 5.
• If you agree strongly with the response on the left side give a rating of 4.
• If you are neutral, between the two extremes, give a rating of 3.
• If you agree strongly with the responses on the right side give the rating of 2.
• If you agree very strongly with the responses on the right side give the rating of 1.

Overall Good Oil 5 4 3 2 1 Overall Bad Oil

Very Tasty Bad Taste
Good for Health Bad for Health
5
 Nutritious Not Nutritious
Easily Digestible Difficult to digest
Pure Not Pure
Nice Colour Undesirable Colour
Pleasant Odour Unpleasant Odour
Food Stays Long Food does not stay long
It is a Semantic Differential scale.

Q6) Would you like to mention any other likes/dislikes____ (Mention current brand as
indicated in Q.3a)?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q7) Why do you use the current brand? Please indicate the most appropriate statement from
this card.

4   This is exactly the product I always wanted to use.

3   This is the best available brand.
2   It is a force of habit
1   There is really no choice

It is a Nominal Scale.
Q8) If your favorite brand is not available with the store where you usually make your
purchase, most probably what will be your response? Please indicate the most appropriate
statement on this card.

4   I will look at other stores until I find the brand.

3   I will wait till this brand comes to my store.

I will look at one or two other stores and buy the available one.
2  
1   I will buy another brand from the same store
It is a Nominal Scale and this question will help the company to target its distribution
channel.

Q9) (a) Now we would like to know your views about some other brands of refined oil
(Ascertain views about the three brands that not used in Q.5)

6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(b) A leading refined oil company is planning to introduce some new types of refined oil we
would like you to get your views regarding these different types of refined oils.
It is
a Overall rating
B1 B2 B3 B4 P1 P2 P3 P4
Taste              
Health              
Energy and Nutrition              
Digestibility              
Purity              
Colour              
Odour              
Food Stays long              
Multidimensional Scale and the question is too complex to understand.

Q10) What do you think are the main advantages/disadvantages or features of these new
product concepts?
Concepts Remarks
P1
P2
P3
P4
It is an Open-Ended Scale.

Q11) Which statements on this card comes closest to your opinion of this products compared
to other brands of refined oils you have used or heard about and also the new products we
have just talked about?
  P1 P2 P3 P4
There are other refined oils which are the same as this product        

There are other refined oils which are almost like this one        
There are other refined oils which are somewhat similar but
       
rarely that same as this one

7
This refined oil is quite different from current refined oils        

It is a Comparative Scale.

Q12) Here are some statement listed in this card. Which is the statement which come closest

P1 P2 P3 P4
This product is impossible        
May be its possible but does not sound very real        
It should be possible for a good company to manufacture        
this product
This product is possible        
Such a product already exists        

P1 P2 P3 P4
This product is impossible        
May be its possible but does not sound very real        
It should be possible for a good company to manufacture        
this product
This product is possible        
Such a product already exists        

Q13) Please tell which of the statement listed in this card closest to describing how you feel
about buying this product if it were available at your nearest store.

  P1 P2 P3 P4
I would not buy it        
I most probably would not buy it        
I might or might not buy it        
I would most probably buy it        
I would buy it        

Q.14 Mark accordingly:

a. Age b. Occupation c. Community d. Education
Below 25 years Social Work North High School &

8
 Below
26-35 Family Business South Graduation
36-45 Working Outside East Post-Graduation &
above
46-55 House wife West Refuse to answer
Above 55 years
Refuse to answer

Recommendations
 Population specification error should be taken care by choosing the appropriate
population.
 Questionnaire should have been clear and simple and not lengthy.
 Avoid redundancy in the questionnaire (regarding question 9(a) and question 5, also 9(b)
and 10th question).
 As it is an FMCG product, it was necessary to obtain data relating to monthly purchases
i.e. data regarding consumption.
 Questionnaire lacked to extract data regarding the price the customers are willing to pay
for the product.