resmi 4th sem tfyuguyguygyugyttftfyrctchg fuytytffy uft jjkkkkkkkknhn

7/28/2019 Resmi 4th Sem tfyuguyguygyugyttftfyrctchg fuytytffy uft jjkkkkkkkknhn

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DESIGN OF THE STUDY FOR MBA MAJOR PROJECT WORK

CUSTOMER PREFERENCE TOWARDS

THANIMA COCONUT OIL

A STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERNCE TO MAJOR

SUPERMARKETS IN THRISSUR CITY

SUBMITTED BY

RESMI MOHAN

MBA 4th SEMESTER

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

DR. J.NIRUBARANI, MBA.,M.Phil.,Ph.D

Head of the Department of Management studies

RVS Institution of Management Studies

Coimbatore 641402


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CHAPTER 1

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Introduction

Marketing is the process used by an organization to develop an overall product

market strategy. Modern marketing concept lies in the fact that the business should be

directed towards the satisfaction of the consumers. Now the consumer has become the

key factor that determines the success or failure of any organization. A satisfied

customer is the biggest asset of the organization. The success or failure of the product

in the market often depends on the ability of the markets to correctly perceive and

predict the dynamic nature of the consumers. So modern marketing requires a

thorough understanding of consumer behavior and buying motivations.

Consumer behavior reflects the totality of consumer decision with respect to

acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, time and ideas by

decision -making units. It also include whether, why, when, were, how, how much

and how often and how long consumer will use or dispose of an offering. To

understand the consumers are not early jobs as his behavior is mostly unique and

unpredictable. This has made the terms to step in to the shoes of the consumers and

understand from the point of view selection and purchase of products and services.

Marketers need to identify the end-users of the product, services and frame marketing

plans than considering the wholesalers and retailers who actually are the

intermediaries in the process of purchase. Marketers therefore should consider the

consumers and then develop their plans of action. Here lies the essence of marketing.

Consumer is the king and all actions should start with this notion in mind.

Sterling Coconut Oils & Cakes (P) Ltd. Thrissur, popularly known as

Thanima is a private enterprise. Thanima was established with an objective to

produce, supply and export fresh and pure coconut oil. The company strictly follows

the quality standards prescribed by AGMARK and ISO 9001:2000 Certification to

take on the challenges of globalization and international quality standards. Thanima

focused on a stable and reasonable return to their produce by integrating the activities

of production, processing and marketing. They converted coconut, into value added


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products like copra and coconut oil and marketed it. There is better satisfaction

emphasis is that better the marketing, better the return to the company to consumers.

Coconut oil is extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconut harvested

from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). It has various applications in food, medicine,

and industry. What make coconut oil different from most of other dietary oils are the

basic building blocks or fatty acids making up the oil.Being one of the healthiest oils

on earth, it is used to treat a wide variety of health problems. Coconut oil improves

immune system and energy level, stabilize blood sugar, improve thyroid function and

it tastes great, too.

Statement of the problem

In todays competitive environment companies are realizing that marketing is

not only the voice of the company but also tool with which information feedback can

be collected from the consumers for the marketers. It is important to recognize why

and how individuals make their consumption decisions, Thanima is facing stiff

competition from other major brands such as KPL Shudhi oil, Kera etc. Hence in

order to adopt new marketing techniques for increasing sale it is desirable to study the

preference of customers towards coconut oil.

The changing food habits and consumer preference of Keralities have opened

a new opportunity for the marketing of coconut oil in the Kerala state. People may not

think much about branded coconut oil vs. unbranded one as they are not aware of it or

they feel that its of high price. But once they experience the quality of the branded

product, they will be converted. There are many advantages the branded coconut oil

have over unbranded one good quality, better packing, healthier, avoiding refined

carbohydrates, increased keeping quality and consuming whole foods etc.

The household consumers of Kerala are not only health conscious but also

price sensitive. The propensity among the consumers to shift from the consumption of

coconut oil to other edible oils is high when coconut oil price rise above the price of

other edible oils. Being a product of Kerala itself, Sterling Coconut Oil Cakes & Mills

(P) Ltd., have the responsibility to take adequate measures to sustain and promote the


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household consumption of coconut oil. The study explored the product related

attributes (fragrance, flavor, durability etc) and market related attributes (price, size,

package, availability, etc) of coconut oil in order to provide adequate insight for

taking future decisions by Thanima.

However the marketing of coconut oil in the state still remains less studied.

Some case studies are mentioned here.

Price behavior of major edible oils consumed in the households of Kerala

and promotional strategies of Coconut Development Board. The study found that

there are fluctuations in the prices of coconut oil, palm oil, and sunflower oil. Due to

various external factors like changes in the world production and demand of these

oils, changes in the climatic conditions in the producing countries and internal

factors namely import duty charged by the government, production of oil seeds etc.

Consumers preference towards branded coconut oil. The study has

identified that the consumers give more importance to the quality of coconut oil,

which is the main reason why they prefer branded one. Brand awareness among the

consumer were also found fairly high, but limited to the geographical availability

level.

Objectives

To study the customer preference towards Thanima coconut oil

To examine the factors influencing customer preference

Methodology

Sample design

The supermarkets in Thrissur City area can be grouped as:

(i). Small and medium Super Markets having floor area of less than 2000

square feet; and


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(ii) Large Super Markets having floor area of more than 3000 square feet.

There are total 60 super markets in Thrissur District (Source

http://www.thrissurkerala.com/). Out of this, 10 supermarkets are coming in the group

of large/major supermarkets. This study was carried out in all these 10 major

supermarkets in the Thrissur City area.

Data collection

Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study.

Primary data

Primary data for the study was collected through interview with the help of

prestructued schedule. Data on family details, income, education status, coconut oil

consumption, purchase pattern of oil, etc. were collected.

Observations made

Socioeconomic profile of respondents

Expenditure pattern

Brand awareness

Impact of Thanimas promotional efforts on consumers demand.

Quality, Price of coconut oil

Brand loyalty and switching

Product attributes.

Currently used brand

Reference groups like, friends, peers, relatives, etc.

Segmentation of consumers into each income group

Purpose wise use of the coconut oil

Study area and sampling procedure


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For the purpose of study, all major supermarkets (10 numbers) were identified from

Thrissur City area. The service time of the supermarkets was divided into four time

zones as follows:

i. 9.00am to 12 noon

ii. 12 noon to 3.00pm

iii. 3.00pm to 6.00pm

iv. 6.00pm to 9.00pm

Five customers from each time zone, that is, total 20 customers, were identified from

each super market and collected data. The sample size comprised of 20 respondents

each from the 10 supermarkets constituting a total of 200 respondents.

Secondary data

The secondary data was collected from the published sources such as reports,

journals, periodicals, Internet and other Medias.

resmi 4th sem tfyuguyguygyugyttftfyrctchg fuytytffy uft jjkkkkkkkknhn

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