amrp report

APPLIED MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT

Submitted By

Pooja Gupta

Roll No – 11BM60105

Vinod Gupta School of Management

IIT Kharagpur

Consumer Usage and

Attitudes for Shower Gels

ITC LTD.

AMRP PROJECT ITC

V i n o d G u p t a S c h o o l o f M a n a g e m e n t , I I T K h a r a g p u r

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The completion of this project would be incomplete without the mention of the people

whose constant support and guidance have helped me to complete this project successfully.

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Mr. Kushal (Brand Manager), ITC Ltd., for

his words of encouragement and extending all help from his department, necessary for the

project. I am thankful to him for giving his valuable time and for providing a systematic way

for completing the project in time.

I would like to specially thank my Project Mentor, Prof. Sujoy Bhattacharya ,Vinod Gupta

School of Management, IIT Kharagpur, for his great help. He provided me necessary

guidance and support until the completion of my project.

Last, but not the least, I would like to thank my esteemed Institute and my Faculty, for the

learning given to me so that I could complete my Project.

Pooja Gupta

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Table of Contents

Page No.

1. Executive Summary 4

2. Goals 5

3. Methodology 6

4. Results 13

5. References 28

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Executive Summary

The project requires me to perform qualitative market research and customer data analysis

using SPSS on the factors that affect the consumer usage patterns and consumer behaviour

towards shower gels. I am required to analyze the findings and make recommendations for

the marketing and brand positioning strategy of shower gels.

At the start of the project, business analysis was done. It involved secondary research,

understanding the consumer behaviour by one to one interaction at the point of purchase. I

interacted with 50 consumers of different age groups, gender and a healthy mix of users,

trailers and non users. With the help of this customer understanding, questionnaire was

prepared including all the data parameters necessary to conduct this project. Primary

research was done on 90 respondents. Two focus group interviews were conducted, each

group having 8-9 participants. The first group consisted of a healthy mix of men and women,

users, trailers and non users. This group discussion was focussed to get an overall idea of

consumer behaviour targeting at different segments at the same time. The second focus

group consisted of either trailers or non users. The discussion was focussed mainly on

barriers to trial of shower gel.

Analysis was done on the consumer patterns and behaviour towards shower gel. I plan to

extend the project by expanding my primary research, visiting distributors if required,

detailed analysis of the final collected data using SPSS and recommending marketing

strategy to ITC on the basis of the findings.

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Goals

The project requires me to find out and understand the factors that affect the consumer usage patterns with respect to the shower gels in general, what impacts the buying behaviour and consumer attitude towards the shower gels present in the market and what makes them go for the shower gel they choose. I have conducted a qualitative research on consumers to fulfil the above mentioned factors. The consumers consist of a healthy mix of regular users( users who have been using shower gels regularly), trialists(users who have been using shower gels/ want to use shower gels on a trial basis), lapsers(users who have used the shower gels but have decided not to use them any further). The consumers also consist of a healthy mix of consumers buying from different point of purchase (general trade & modern trade). PROJECT OBJECTIVES The project requires me to perform qualitative market research and customer data analysis

using SPSS on the factors that affect the consumer usage patterns and consumer behaviour

towards shower gels. I am required to analyze the findings and make recommendations for

the marketing and brand positioning strategy of shower gels.

• Qualitative Market Research • Key value drivers (Factors that affect the consumer usage patterns, buying behavior) • Analysis of consumer behavior • Attitudes towards shower gels • Formulate marketing strategy

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Methodology

Data parameters:

The data is collected from the consumers keeping the following factors in mind:

Gender Age group of the consumer Understand who is the influencer and the decision maker in the purchase decision

process Buying frequency Perceived end benefits of the product for the consumer Customer’s price perception in terms of the value proposition Preferred point of purchase for the consumer Factors affecting choice:

o Ingredients o Fragrance o Effect on skin (eg moisturising effect on skin) o Lather o Consistency o Packaging o Price o Brand Name o Promotional scheme of the product o Seasonal effects (e.g. people might prefer a moisturising shower gel in

winter) o Any other

Whether the consumer uses loofah with shower gel or not What the customer prefers: shower gel or soap? And why? Awareness about the shower gel benefits Switching behaviour Does the consumer exhibit switching behaviour, if yes then why? How specific marketing programs affect the consumer buying behaviour for shower

gels. Is the customer satisfied with the shower gel he/she is currently using? If yes, why? If

no, why not? Would the consumer like to buy a fairness shower gel if such a product is made

available

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Methods followed for data collection:

For collecting the data for qualitative research, three different methodologies were followed. Method 1: Personal interviews were conducted at the point of purchases.

To understand the profiles of people - products are made for aspirational urban consumer:

o middle class o aspirational middle class o upper middle class o upper class

To study the consumer reaction towards shower gels For competitor analysis To understanding the profit margin of distributors for different kinds of shower gels What are the different promotional schemes for shower gels To understanding the switching behaviour - people might buy different shower gel

everytime or remain loyal to same shower gel everytime they buy. To understanding if it’s a high or low involvement product Pre usage, in use & post usage behaviour analysis

Method 2: Focus group interviews. It would help to give insights on consumer behaviour towards shower gels.

Method 3:

Primary research is collected by floating questionnaire among various people.

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Activity-Timelines followed:

Method 1: Personal Interviews at point of purchase

Understanding of the Consumer market

For a basic understanding of consumer mindset with respect to shower gel, we visited point

of purchase and interacted with customers. Consumers of different age group, gender were

targeted and data was collected for the same.

There was a large difference in thought process of men and women. Most women prefer

shower gel because they like the fragrance and the feel on the skin. On the other hand, men

prefer shower gel because it takes lesser time to take bath- it is easier to use and it is faster.

Some prefer brands like Dove(moisturising effect), Lifebuoy/Dettol(germ kill effect), Fiama

Di Wills(fragrance), etc. Factors affecting choice of shower gel (till now) have been

fragrance, brand name, feel on skin, cleansing or germ kill. Almost all the customers use

loofah irrespective of their usage of shower gel or soap.

4th-15th Oct • Method 1 : Personal interviews at point of purchase

16th- 22nd Oct

• Preparing the Questionnaire

23rd Oct-10th Nov

• Method 2 : Focus Group Interviews

11th-20th Nov

• Method 3 : Primary Research

21st-28th Nov

• Analysis and Conclusion

AMRP PROJECT ITC


There were two categories amongst non users of shower gel. Some of them were ready to

use shower gel in future if given a chance. Some others were strictly against using shower

gel as they are very much used to using bar soaps and do not want to change their habit at

any cost. Few others do not bother what they use for bathing purpose. Also some exhibit

switching behaviour between shower gel-soap and varieties of shower gels.

The major barriers to trial were the following factors: no awareness at all, habit of using

soap, people do not understand the need of switching from soap to shower gel. There were

some lapsers as well; the reason being the belief that shower gel do not wash off easily from

the body, do not suit the skin resulting in allergic effects on skin and price factor mainly.

Also the gender factor comes into play here. It was observed that for men, soap is a low

involvement product and when it comes to shower gel, most of them are non users either

due to lack of awareness or due to the low importance attached to such products.

Brand preference of shower gels were seen among the consumers. Most of them preferred

Fiama di Wills due to its fragrance, packaging and freshness feel. Dove was preferred mostly

due to its moisturising effect on skin. Palmolive was again preferred due to fragrance. Some

preferred Fiama di Wills and Lux because of the current promotional schemes- free loofah

with the pack.

Also, influencer and decision maker vary according to various age groups. For teenagers,

decision makers are usually their parents. For people in age group between 20 and 40,

influencer and decision makers are usually they themselves or influenced by their social

circles. For people with age group greater than 40, many a times the children especially

daughters are the influencers and decision makers. Most of them in this age group prefer to

use soap, but still use shower gels regularly or on frequent basis since their children are the

decision makers.

Competitor Analysis at point of purchase:

Fiama Di Wills, Dove, Palmolive and Lux shower gels were available in the local retail

outlets. Other than Lux, all are priced at MRP of Rs 125 for 200ml of quantity. Lux is priced

at lesser MRP for more quantity volume. Even then, the retailers reported that sales

quantity of Lux is less than others. According to most of the retail outlets, Fiama Di Wills and

Palmolive sell more than Dove. The retail shops have a profit margin of 10-15%(depending

on schemes), though some retailers sell the products at a price less than the MRP and have

margins of 7-12%. Lux has also come out with packaging same as Fiama Di Wills(free loofah).

Only Fiama Di Wills for men does not have a free loofah with it, when all the other 3

varieties have it in their packaging.

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Method 2: Focus Group Discussion

Effective ways to conduct focus group discussion:

• Prepare in advance

• Greet the participants

• Make a relaxed environment

• Sit with the group in a circle

• Note their age, gender, etc

• Define the purpose of the meeting at the start

• Either show advertisements of different brands/ put samples/ questionnaire at the

start

• Thumbs up and thumbs down strategy

• Ensure good participation from all

• Ensure discussion is relevant to the purpose

• Comparison of brands

• Preference of product attributes without brand name

• Remind participants that there are no right/ wrong answers

AMRP PROJECT ITC


• Participants can write down their points/ summarize

• Someone should be taking notes/video of the discussion

• Summarize. Results

Two focus group discussions were conducted. First group had a mixed group of users,

trailers and non users. The second group consisted of all non users and it focussed on

understanding the barriers to trial of shower gel. The videos of both the focus group were

taken

Method 3: Primary Research

Primary research was done by floating questionnaire among various people. There were 90

responses collected consisting of a healthy mix of men-women and users-non users.

Preparing Questionnaire

The questionnaire was prepared keeping in mind the required data parameters for analysis.

Link to questionnaire:

http://kwiksurveys.com/app/rendersurvey.asp?sid=qkj1d9smzqo8nj619136&refer=

The questionnaire was floated on various portals to collect responses creating an exhaustive sample

space for analysis purpose. Responses were collected for different age group and genders.

http://kwiksurveys.com/app/rendersurvey.asp?sid=qkj1d9smzqo8nj619136&refer=

AMRP PROJECT ITC


AMRP PROJECT ITC


Results

Focus Group Discussion Results

Some men like to buy shower gels which have sporty feel associated to it

Some like to stick to the brand they are using

Some don’t find shower gels worth going for

One(male) tried shower gel sometime back but didn’t find it worth switching

Many think using soap is an easy task rather than shower gel

Some are of the opinion that shower gels are more hygienic

Few think that Loofah reduced the hygiene quotient for shower gels

Many (primarily men) are not aware what Loofah is

Few exhibit switching pattern between soap and shower gels even though they have

been long term users of shower gels

Soap is also used for hand wash and other purpose as well. Another deterrent is the

cost

Packaging and promotions help lure new customers who haven’t used shower gel

before

You can carry a shower gel anywhere you want

A smaller pack for shower gels could be quite useful, many are deterred because of

the high cost of a bottle and they don’t know whether they would like it or not.

Freshness is the most important criteria

The packaging for men’s shower gels should be quite differentiated from the others

A shower gel for oily skin possibly? Categorization of shower gels on the basis of skin

type.

Friends are one of the biggest influencers for students/people in the age group of

20-30

Word of mouth is the most important medium

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Responses from questionnaire

Following are some charts to represent the findings.

Figure: Users and Non-users of shower gel in different income slabs

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Men Women

Non-users of shower gel

Users of shower gel

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

<3 lakhs per annum 3-6 lakhs per annum

6-10 lakhs per annum

>10 lakhs per annum

Non-users

Users

AMRP PROJECT ITC


AMRP PROJECT ITC


Factor Analysis Reports

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .767

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

Approx. Chi-Square 394.654

Df 66

Sig. .000

Communalities

Initial Extraction

VAR00001 1.000 .544

VAR00002 1.000 .566

VAR00003 1.000 .866

VAR00004 1.000 .808

VAR00005 1.000 .642

VAR00006 1.000 .735

VAR00007 1.000 .625

VAR00008 1.000 .628

VAR00009 1.000 .723

VAR00010 1.000 .861

VAR00011 1.000 .727

VAR00012 1.000 .643

Extraction Method: Principal

Component Analysis.

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Total Variance Explained

Compone

nt

Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared

Loadings

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total % of

Variance

Cumulative

%

Total % of

Variance

Cumulative

%

Total % of

Variance

Cumulative

%

1 4.407 36.721 36.721 4.407 36.721 36.721 2.893 24.107 24.107

2 1.740 14.503 51.224 1.740 14.503 51.224 2.086 17.384 41.491

3 1.170 9.750 60.974 1.170 9.750 60.974 1.793 14.945 56.435

4 1.051 8.762 69.736 1.051 8.762 69.736 1.596 13.301 69.736

5 .867 7.228 76.963

6 .646 5.386 82.349

7 .551 4.594 86.943

8 .501 4.175 91.118

9 .382 3.183 94.301

10 .351 2.921 97.222

11 .219 1.829 99.051

12 .114 .949 100.000

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Component Matrixa

Component

1 2 3 4

VAR00001 .540 -.028 .502 .001

VAR00002 .609 -.162 -.240 .334

VAR00003 .866 -.330 -.070 .040

VAR00004 .766 -.438 -.138 -.101

VAR00005 .495 .137 .588 .181

VAR00006 .511 -.174 -.135 .652

VAR00007 .424 .543 .345 .176

VAR00008 .635 .433 -.186 -.056

VAR00009 .623 .160 .214 -.514

VAR00010 .775 -.389 -.062 -.323

VAR00011 .471 .488 -.470 -.215

VAR00012 .329 .682 -.218 .148


a. 4 components extracted.

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Reproduced Correlations

VAR00001 VAR00002 VAR00003 VAR00004

Reproduced Correlation

VAR00001 .544a .213 .442 .356

VAR00002 .213 .566a .611 .537

VAR00003 .442 .611 .866a .814

VAR00004 .356 .537 .814 .808a

VAR00005 .559 .198 .349 .219

VAR00006 .214 .590 .536 .421

VAR00007 .387 .146 .170 .021

VAR00008 .237 .342 .418 .328

VAR00009 .439 .131 .452 .429

VAR00010 .398 .442 .792 .805

VAR00011 .004 .249 .271 .234

VAR00012 .049 .192 .081 -.032

Residualb

VAR00001 .141 -.073 -.057

VAR00002 .141 -.062 -.089

VAR00003 -.073 -.062 -.036

VAR00004 -.057 -.089 -.036

VAR00005 -.216 -.060 .029 .075

VAR00006 -.082 -.227 -.031 -.015

VAR00007 -.120 -.039 .027 .002

VAR00008 .024 -.085 -.016 .010

VAR00009 -.098 .042 -.036 -.046

VAR00010 -.018 -.036 .013 -.064

AMRP PROJECT ITC


VAR00011 .019 -.046 -.014 .005

VAR00012 .082 .063 .025 .026


VAR00005 VAR00006 VAR00007 VAR00008


VAR00001 .559a .214 .387 .237

VAR00002 .198 .590a .146 .342

VAR00003 .349 .536 .170a .418

VAR00004 .219 .421 .021 .328a

VAR00005 .642 .267 .519 .254

VAR00006 .267 .735 .190 .238

VAR00007 .519 .190 .625 .430

VAR00008 .254 .238 .430 .628

VAR00009 .363 -.073 .334 .453

VAR00010 .235 .262 .039 .353

VAR00011 -.015 .079 .264 .609

VAR00012 .155 .175 .461 .536

Residualb

VAR00001 -.216 -.082 -.120 .024

VAR00002 -.060 -.227 -.039 -.085

VAR00003 .029 -.031 .027 -.016

VAR00004 .075 -.015 .002 .010

VAR00005 -.040 -.156 -.029

VAR00006 -.040 .026 .030

VAR00007 -.156 .026 -.059

AMRP PROJECT ITC


VAR00008 -.029 .030 -.059

VAR00009 -.045 .140 -.040 -.045

VAR00010 -.037 .008 .096 -.052

VAR00011 .108 .024 .039 -.121

VAR00012 .012 -.091 -.186 -.128


VAR00009 VAR00010 VAR00011 VAR00012


VAR00001 .439a .398 .004 .049

VAR00002 .131 .442a .249 .192

VAR00003 .452 .792 .271a .081

VAR00004 .429 .805 .234 -.032a

VAR00005 .363 .235 -.015 .155

VAR00006 -.073 .262 .079 .175

VAR00007 .334 .039 .264 .461

VAR00008 .453 .353 .609 .536

VAR00009 .723 .574 .381 .191

VAR00010 .574 .861 .274 -.045

VAR00011 .381 .274 .727 .558

VAR00012 .191 -.045 .558 .643

Residualb

VAR00001 -.098 -.018 .019 .082

VAR00002 .042 -.036 -.046 .063

VAR00003 -.036 .013 -.014 .025

VAR00004 -.046 -.064 .005 .026

AMRP PROJECT ITC


VAR00005 -.045 -.037 .108 .012

VAR00006 .140 .008 .024 -.091

VAR00007 -.040 .096 .039 -.186

VAR00008 -.045 -.052 -.121 -.128

VAR00009 -.062 -.100 .036

VAR00010 -.062 .007 .010

VAR00011 -.100 .007 -.152

VAR00012 .036 .010 -.152


a. Reproduced communalities

b. Residuals are computed between observed and reproduced correlations. There are 29 (43.0%)

nonredundant residuals with absolute values greater than 0.05.

Rotated Component Matrixa

Component

1 2 3 4

VAR00001 .343 -.018 .648 .078

VAR00002 .368 .199 .065 .622

VAR00003 .762 .128 .226 .467

VAR00004 .821 .044 .074 .355

VAR00005 .131 .037 .776 .148

VAR00006 .137 .071 .160 .828

VAR00007 -.092 .436 .648 .082

VAR00008 .282 .693 .220 .139

VAR00009 .595 .343 .407 -.294

VAR00010 .906 .076 .120 .137

VAR00011 .247 .809 -.102 .006

VAR00012 -.156 .757 .162 .142


Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

a. Rotation converged in 6 iterations.

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Component Transformation Matrix

Component 1 2 3 4

1 .706 .417 .425 .383

2 -.493 .789 .270 -.249

3 -.103 -.441 .849 -.273

4 -.498 -.099 .160 .847



Component Score Coefficient Matrix

Component

1 2 3 4

VAR00001 .050 -.151 .412 -.065

VAR00002 .006 .043 -.090 .401

VAR00003 .220 -.045 -.012 .171

VAR00004 .307 -.065 -.110 .080

VAR00005 -.097 -.130 .523 .032

VAR00006 -.165 -.041 .024 .626

VAR00007 -.200 .140 .402 .021

VAR00008 .022 .332 -.015 -.008

VAR00009 .279 .099 .162 -.432

VAR00010 .393 -.049 -.080 -.123

VAR00011 .080 .463 -.253 -.092

VAR00012 -.192 .409 .002 .102



Component Score Covariance Matrix

Component 1 2 3 4

1 1.000 .000 .000 .000

2 .000 1.000 .000 .000

3 .000 .000 1.000 .000

4 .000 .000 .000 1.000



AMRP PROJECT ITC


Interpretation

The null hypothesis that the population correlation matrix is an identity matrix is rejected by

Barlett’s test of sphericity. The approximate chi-square statistic is 394.654 with 66 degrees of

freedom, which is significant at the 0.05 level. The value of the KMO statistic (0.767) is also large

(>0.5). Thus factor analysis can be considered an appropriate technique for analysing the correlation

matrix.

The eigen values for the factors are, as expected, in decreasing order of magnitude as we go down

from factor 1 to factor 12. The first four factors account for 69.736 percent of the variance. Hence

we consider the number of factors equal to four.

Interpretation of factors by rotated factor matrix gives us the following four factors -

Factor 1:

Feel on the skin

Good cleansing

Brand name

Suitability to skin type being the most important

Factor 2:

Price

Promotional scheme-most imp

Influence of friend-most imp

Factor 3:

Fragrance

Lather

Packaging

Factor 4:

Ingredient

Consistency

AMRP PROJECT ITC


Way Ahead

• Meeting distributors

• Increasing the scope of primary research

• Customer data analysis

• Recommendations for the marketing strategy

I plan to increase the primary research getting more responses on the questionnaire which

would help me give better and true picture of the results for analysis. Also, I could meet

some distributors to gain better insights into the market scenario. On the basis of these

analyses done, I would be able to recommend marketing strategy to ITC for shower gels.

AMRP PROJECT ITC


References

• N.Pag. The 2011-2016 Outlook for Body Wash and shower gels in India. Country

Outlook Reports. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/P9mvAD

• Gihan Wijesundera, Ruwan Abeysekera. Factors influencing the demand of beauty

soap among female consumers in the greater Colombo region. Retrieved from

http://bit.ly/RSwp63

• Mason, S. (2006). Shower Power. Global Cosmetic Industry, 174(11), 47-49.

Retrieved from http://bit.ly/Qqx0dj

http://bit.ly/P9mvAD

http://bit.ly/RSwp63

http://bit.ly/Qqx0dj

amrp report

Documents

consumer factors

consumer patterns

shower gels present

project mentor

project objectives

consumer usage patterns

consumer attitude

amrp project itcgoals