INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT ANAND

MARKETING MANAGEMENT (MMT)

PRM-41 | Term - II

Project Report on
Consumer Behaviour and Markets of Detergents

December 03,2020

Submitted to:
Prof. Aashish Argade

Submitted by:

Group B4
Jyotiprakash Giri (P41082)
Kanak Mishra (P41083)
Nidhi Tulsyan (P41088)
Nishant Tripathi (P41089)
Nitish Khade (P41090)
Vyakhya Khatri (P41125)
 BRAND Surf Excel

PRODUCT Laundry care

CATEGORY

PRODUCT Detergent

COMPANY Hindustan Unilever

Limited

Introduction

The market for laundry care products in India has been growing with the expansion of the
population and awareness about personal hygiene and health. Also, expected to grow more
post-COVID-19. Rapid urbanization, technological advancement, and changing lifestyle of
people is a major driving factor for these product demands. India’s market value for laundry
care is ₹297020 million in 2019 and is projected to reach ₹410.9 billion at a CAGR of 7%

Fig. Sales of laundry care products over the tears and its predictions
(https://irmaelibrary.informaticsglobal.com:2147/portal/analysis/tab)
 1. INDUSTRY RESEARCH

1.1 Market Size and Growth

Detergents industry market capital is ₹278770.2 million and is expected to grow at 4.9%
CAGR for the Organized sector. The main products sold in these markets are Detergent Bars,
Detergent powder and Liquid Detergent, Fabric Softeners, and washing machine powder and
liquid for a specific segment of the market.
Premiumization of these products is observed especially in liquid detergent parts which are
double in price and are considered to be of superior quality. Premiumization is divided into
two stages First, shifting consumers from local to branded Products and then moving the
second stage, using premium detergents. This is being done assuming that local brands are
harsh on the skin due to high soda ash content and shifting people from rural areas to branded
products.

Fig. Channel distribution of Laundry care products

(https://irmaelibrary.informaticsglobal.com:2147/portal/analysis/tab)

Competitive landscape: This is one of those industries in which Indian players compete with
International players head to head. These local brands can gain a customer base and trust as
their products are affordable and easily available in towns and villages. For example, Surf
excel by H.U.L. (20.1% market share) major competitor is Ghadi (17.1% market share)
forcing H.U.L. to launch wheel in the same price range and also keeping surf excel price low
to hold its position. Also, other brands like RSPL ltd, Nirma Ltd. are key domestic players in
Laundry care.
 (a) Company share (%) 2019 (b) Brand Share (%) 2019

1.2 Industry Concentration

Industry concentration is considered high when total production in the market is influenced
by top industry whereas Industry concentration is low when small firms or companies also
contribute to the overall production of the market indicating the level of competition in
that industry.
The industry concentration ratio: sum of the market share percentage held by the largest
specified number of firms in an industry. The concentration ranges from 0% to 100%.

In the Laundry Care industry Laundry detergents constitute most of the sales. The laundry
care industry is highly concentrated as there are some of the top players in the industry such
as HUL, RSPL Ltd, Procter & Gamble Home Products Ltd, Nirma Ltd. These companies
influence the market share of the industry. Hindustan Unilever Limited has a market share of
39.1% worth Rs 29,959 crore in India’s Laundry care market. In which Surf excel constitutes
20.1% of the share.
1.3 Knowing the Brand
Surf excel is a 110+year-old global Unilever brand that exists in various countries under the
manufacturer names of OMO, Rinso, Skip, and surf excel. The surf excel was the first
detergent powder introduced in Pakistan in 1948. It used to be known as “Surf”. The mission
of this brand is to leverage global strength as one competitive company to delight and reward
moms by using delivering proper first-class cleansing on hard stains and building the
awesome philosophy of child development. Surf Excel's tagline "Daag ache hote hain" (Dirt
is Good) signifies the trust of the manufacturer and consists of the central philosophy that the
manufacturer lives by, with the passion to ensure child improvement through tactile learning.

1.4 Unique Selling Point

Surf excel is a better option from a product point of view due to the fact its formula consists
of the best possible degree of enzymes which is potential best stain elimination and cleansing
functionality as well as perfect ranges of active detergency which capacity fulfilling the
customers to the Fullest with its “Jhaag” perspective.

2. Consumer Behaviour

Our team members conducted Customer Behaviour Research in various parts of the
country by visiting supermarkets, malls, medium and small Kirana stores to observe the
buying behaviour of consumers about the detergents. We also interviewed several buyers,
shop managers, and owners to understand the factors influencing consumer behaviour..

Number of
Time spent in
Sr. No. Name Place Type of Shop Customers
the shop
Observed
Malls 7 1.2 hours
1 Jyotiprakash Giri Jamshedpur, Jharkhand Super Markets 9 45 minutes
Kirana Stores 2 15 minutes
Super Markets 11 2 hours
2 Kanak Mishra Chhatarpur,Madhya Pradesh
Kirana Stores 7 20 minutes
Super Markets 6 1.5 hours
3 Nidhi Tulsyan Gorakhpur,Uttar Pradesh
Kirana Stores 3 30 mins
Malls 3 45 minutes
4 Nishant Tripathi Nagpur, Maharashtra Super Markets 5 60 minutes
Kirana Stores 3 20 minutes
Malls 2 25 minutes
5 Nitish Khade Nagpur, Maharashtra Super Markets 5 45 minutes
Kirana Stores 8 1.5 hours
Super Markets 10 25 minutes
6 Vyakhya Khatri Raipur, Chattisgarh
Kirana Stores 5 20 minutes
2.1 Observations
We observed consumer behaviour at 3 different buying environments Malls, supermarkets,
and General Kirana stores. People visit these places with a different mindset like people visit
malls thinking it is a place where they get all types of products and it is also a place where a
group of people can hang out, the supermarket is an environment where people visit thinking
that they will get low cost, low margin, the high volume of products. General Kirana is a
place where nearby people of a locality buy to tend to their daily needs.

Malls: Distinct malls positioned different products at different shelves and focused on a
different brand of washing powders and soaps, like one store in a mall had Surf excel at the
centre containing all the products of the brand like Easy wash, Matic top load powder, detergent
bar, etc; in another mall, the store focused on Tide positioning it near the entrance. Despite
having a plethora of different washing powders most of the customers were fully prepared to
which product they wanted to buy and their positioning of the product did not matter for them.
Few customers were enticed by offers on the products like one customer that I observed was
going to buy Tide powder but seeing Rs.25 discount bought Surf Excel when I asked her what
changed her choice she said all detergents wash clothes and this was cheaper. The packaging
of a new variant of Tide - “ Natural Lemon and Chandan” was eye-catching to many customers
and they gave a thought over the chosen/decided product. Most of the customers bought
detergents on a monthly basis with other monthly essentials and the time taken for the prepared
(loyal) customers was almost none(30-45 seconds), the customers who checked out different
products took around 2-3 minutes to buy a detergent and they also bought it for the whole
month. The quantity of detergent bought depended on the size of the family-like 1kg, 1.5kg,
4kg. The age group of the customers was diverse ranging from 25-50 years old.

Supermarket: Supermarkets are pretty similar to Malls in terms of possessing stocks of

diversified products of different brands of washing powder. The majority of customers buying
detergents were from here were buying other household essentials and only a small part of
them just bought detergent for monthly use. Supermarkets had brands such as Surf Excel, Tide,
Ariel, Mr. White, Henko, etc with all the variants available. We interviewed a few of the
customers and the buying of detergent was influenced by tv-advertisement, use of washing
machines or by hand to wash clothes, trying new products to compare, and basic perception of
the brand by the individuals. Payments were done majorly by card and sometimes by cash. The
buyers were women typically aged between 20-40. When we interviewed a few of the managers
of supermarkets we got to know that in about 30% of them Surf excel is the most popular brand.
The customers were generally prepared and had prior knowledge as to which detergent they
wanted to buy and bought instantly. The buyers were generally from the middle-class stratum.
The managers also talked about this precarious Covid-19 situation, that many of their
customers switched to online platforms in the start but few of them returned to buying in person
after the ease of lockdown saying that the feeling that one gets by holding the product while
buying can't be compared with the feeling buying on digital platforms

Kirana Store: A Kirana shopkeeper provides their customers with personalized attention,
concerns about them, and ultimately establishes a good relationship with them. After analyzing
the consumer behaviour from 5 different cities, we found out certain similarities in the buying
patterns of the consumers. The people buying from Kirana stores are from nearby areas. The
availability of the products is very less as compared to Malls and Supermarkets. The washing
machine variants of detergents were not available at these stores. The buyers are Lower and
Middle-class consumers. The major products available in this store are Wheel, Ghadi, Tide,
and Surf Excel Easy wash. Most of the customers were price-sensitive and preferred Tide over
Surf Excel Easy wash. The payment mechanisms used in such shops are mostly cash and UPI.
The consumers were sure about the product and they were mostly Females. One of our team
members visited the Small Kirana store near the slums. The products available at this shop
were very limited. The detergents available were Wheel, Ghadi, Nirma, and Tide. The
maximum quantity available was 1 Kg. After interviewing the Shop owner, We got to know
that most of the transactions happening were on credit and cash. The consumers from nearby
areas prefer Ghadi detergent. Maximum consumers were buying 250-gram packets or small
sachets.
After observing the behaviour of 87 consumers in 5 different cities and analysing them we
noticed that Surf Excel was the most popular brand of detergent among them constituting
more than 50% of total purchase; Tide was second most popular brand among them; the
minority portion of the observation included Ghadi, Ariel, Wheel constituting around 25% of
the observations.

2.2 Brand Loyalty Behaviour

We observed 2 patterns of “Brand Loyalty Behaviour”
1. Hard-core loyals - These consumers buy Surf Excel or Tide all the time.
2. Split loyals - These consumers are loyal to Surf Excel, Tide, and Ghadi.

2.3 Buying Decision:

Perceived Difference between Brands

Complex Variety
Buying Seeking
Behaviour Behaviour

Dissonance
Habitual
Reducing
Buying Detergents
Buying
Behaviour
Behaviour

Involvement in Buying Decision

Out of the four main types of Consumer Buying Behaviour, Detergents come under Habitual
Buying Behaviour. In this situation, consumers typically do not develop a strong brand
perception, but prefer it because it is familiar.

2.4 Segmentation
Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market of potential customers into groups,
or segments, based on diverse characteristics like Smell fresh, Colour, and Price. The powder
is likely to hold a prominent share in the market. This makes it simpler for marketers to
personalize and increase the reach of marketing campaigns.
 i) Economic Segmentation

Laundry detergents have introduced different packet sizes ranging from 12g to 3Kg to cater
to the Economic needs and wants of different customer requirements and in accordance, local
Kirana stores keep mostly laundry detergent weighing 12g and 65g for easy and quick use
regularly to the Shopping malls and wholesalers who mostly keep 500g, 3Kg to 4.5 Kg
packet Sizes targeting for different Households buying under monthly grocery expenditure.

ii) Behavioural segmentation

Based on wash nature different product categories like Surf Excel Quick Wash, Tide have
penetrated the market based on their Quality, Speed, and white-wash properties. Also, The
use of Brand Communication by Surf Excel to stand for what is Right through the “Dirt is
Good” or “Daag Ache Hain” campaign began with the famous puddle war commercial,
where a brother was shown taking revenge on a mud pool for spoiling his sister’s clothes
which leaves a social impact on the buyers.

2.5 Targeting
Based on different Market Segmentation and Observation, different potential groups are
targeted by different companies like HUL, P&G, etc.
• All income Age-groups
• Females, Homemakers, or anyone who does budget allocation for groceries.

2.6 Positioning:
Laundry detergent projects an image in the market to influence the customer buying
behaviour abiding by different customer needs and wants and also by providing
customers with National value of the product and evoking emotions of the customers to
purchase the product.

DETERGENT TYPE COMMUNICATION DIALOGUE (Brand Campaign) MARKET POSITIONING

SURF EXCEL Daag Acche Hain Stain Remover
TIDE Collar Up With TIDE Whiter Clothes
Want to get men to show solidarity via action in laundary
ARIEL Share The Load
chores
NIRMA Sabki Pasand NIRMA Catchy Jingles and low budget
WHEEL Mehangi Wali Dhulai Budget Mein Samai Low budget
 References

1) NASDAQ OMX's News Release Distribution Channel; New York [New

York]30 July 2020
2) https://irmaelibrary.informaticsglobal.com:2147/portal/analysis/tab
3) https://www.hul.co.in/brands/home-care/surf-excel.html
4) Kotler, P. and Keller, K., 2016. Marketing Management. 15th ed. Harlow:
Pearson