EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Toothpaste industry has grown immensely in the Indian scenario. There is a

lot of competition in the industry mainly between two major players Colgate
and HLL .The companies are coming up with new schemes as well as
products to lure the customers. The usage of toothpaste has grown because
of the lifestyle and the way the individuals are living i.e. more awareness
about health. Colgate is going ahead with almost 60% of the market share in
the industry.

The title of the project was study on consumer buying behavior in the
toothpaste industry.

The objectives of the study were to Study the consumer buying habit and
and to study the toothpaste brands to identify important parameters for
customer.

The questionnaire methodology was adopted and the consumers and the
sales officer in companies were contacted in order to have their view on
toothpaste. The area of the study was restricted to Delhi. 100 respondents
were contacted .The sales managers in two companies were contacted and

their views were known in terms of how they were going in the toothpaste
segment.

It was found that many firms are in the toothpaste segment. So it is a highly
competitive segment. It was found that focus as well as cost leadership was
being followed by the firms when they were going in the toothpaste
segment.

The firms are more and more focusing on the promotion and they are
spending a lot of money on this front. Customers are also becoming
demanding now-a-days and it is seen that many attributes are important for
the success of a particular brand. The firms are going in for new launches.

It is found that the discounts are important factor. Another important factor
is brand image or brand name.

The project provided an opportunity to know about a competitive segment

and how consumers behave in that segment. It also provided an insight into
the toothpaste industry and the attitude and perception of the consumer in
that segment.

CONTENTS
Executive summary
Chapter 1- Objectives
Chapter 2- Research Methodology
Chapter 3- Theoretical background
Chapter 4- Toothpaste industry-An overview
Chapter 5- Finding and Analysis
Chapter 6- Conclusion
Chapter 7- Suggestion
Chapter 8- Limitations
Chapter 9- Bibliography

Objective Of The Study :

To study the Consumer Buying habits in Toothpastes.

o To study the various to identify important parameters for customer
acceptance.
o To study consumer buying behaviour for toothpaste and their habits.
o To plot popular Toothpastes Brands on the perceptual maps.

Scope Of The Study : (1) Identification of gaps in positioning stances.

(2) Identification of consumer perceptions and
attitudes regarding Oral hygiene.
INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

The 1990s have borne witness to dramatic shifts in the marketplace triggered
by sharp changes in the lifestyle patterns of the past and present and the
radical revolution in the telecommunication technology. Time tested
concepts on Brand loyalty and Mass Marketing, are being turned on their
heads as they fail to gauge the Behaviour of new generation customers. The
behaviour is characterised by the uniqueness of individual expectations, the
preference for multiple options, propensity to abandon Brand loyalty and
switch to competition Brands that give higher (perceived) value. The new
breed is even willing to import to satisfy specific requirement. It is difficult

to classify this generation by conventional Demographic factors and unless

their thought process and buying behaviour are fully understood, decisions
on product designs and packaging, Branding and Distribution channels are
likely to be misplaced. With the inevitability of change looming large over
the horizon, Indian companies must learn from their western counterparts;
not only to identify the sources, timing and direction of the changes likely to
affect India, but also the new competencies and perspective that will enable
them to respond to these changes, comprehensively and effectively.
Companies offering Product or Services will need to understand this new
face of the customers. The changing Demographic profile of the population
in terms of education, income, size of family and so on, are important by
what will be more substantive in days to come will be the Psychographics of
customers that is how they feel, think or behave. Markers will have to
constantly monitor and understand the underlying Psychographics to map
their respective industries are moving and decide what needs to be done, by
way of adding value that motivates customers to buy the companys
products and influence the future industry structure

LITERATURE REVIEW
AWARENESS : This means to know about the existence of the product in
the market. It is the first stage of the adoption process. The consumers are
exposed to the product innovation. The consumer at this stage are not
interested in more information about the product.
PERCEPTION : It is defined as the process by which an individual selects,
organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent of the world.
It is how we see the world around us. Two persons subject to the same
stimulus under the same conditions will react differently. A stimulus is any
unit of input to any of the senses. The study of perception is largely the
study of what we subconsciously add to or subtract from raw sensory to
produce our own private picture of the world.
ATTITUDE : In simple dictionary meaning attitude; means a way of
thinking is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or
unfavorable way with respect to a given object. Attitudes are learned may be
because of a previous experience with the product, information acquired
from others, and exposure to mass media. Attitudes are not permanent, they
do change over a period of time.

Consumer Behavior
The study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their
marketing strategies by understanding issues such as how consumers think,

feel, reason, and select between different alternatives (e.g., brands,

products);
The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her
environment (e.g., culture, family, signs, media);
The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing
decisions;
Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities
influence decisions and marketing outcome;
How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products
that differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the
consumer; and how marketers can adapt and improve their marketing
campaigns and marketing strategies to more effectively reach the consumer.
Understanding these issues helps in adapting strategies by taking the
consumer into consideration. For example, by understanding that a number
of different messages compete for our potential customers attention, one
learns that to be effective, advertisements must usually be repeated
extensively. It is also learnt that consumers will sometimes be persuaded
more by logical arguments, but at other times will be persuaded more by
emotional or symbolic appeals. By understanding the consumer, the
company will be able to make a more informed decision as to which strategy
to employ.

The "official" definition of consumer behavior given in the text is "The

study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to
select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to
satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and
society.

Behavior occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a group (e.g.,
friends influence what kinds of clothes a person wears) or an organization
(people on the job make decisions as to which products the firm should use).
Consumer behavior involves the use and disposal of products as well as the
study of how they are purchased. Product use is often of great interest to the
marketer, because this may influence how a product is best positioned or
how we can encourage increased consumption. Since many environmental
problems result from product disposal (e.g., motor oil being sent into sewage
systems to save the recycling fee, or garbage piling up at landfills) this is
also an area of interest.

Consumer behavior involves services and ideas as well as tangible products.

The impact of consumer behavior on society is also of relevance. For
example, aggressive marketing of high fat foods, or aggressive marketing of
easy credit, may have serious repercussions for the national health and
economy.

There are four main applications of consumer behavior:

The most obvious is for marketing strategyi.e., for making better
marketing campaigns. For example, by understanding that consumers are
more receptive to food advertising when they are hungry, we learn to
schedule snack advertisements late in the afternoon. By understanding that
new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only
spread later, and then only gradually, to the rest of the population, we learn
that (1) companies that introduce new products must be well financed so that
they can stay afloat until their products become a commercial success and
(2) it is important to please initial customers, since they will in turn
influence many subsequent customers brand choices.
As a final benefit, studying consumer behavior should make us better
consumers. Common sense suggests, for example, that if you buy a 64 liquid
ounce bottle of laundry detergent, you should pay less per ounce than if you
bought two 32 ounce bottles. In practice, however, you often pay a size
premium by buying the larger quantity. In other words, in this case, knowing
this fact will sensitize you to the need to check the unit cost labels to
determine if you are really getting a bargain. There are several units in the
market that can be analyzed.

Research Methods

There are two main categories of research methods. Secondary research uses
research that has already been done by someone else. For example,
marketers often find information compiled by the U.S. Census very useful.
However, in some cases, information specific enough to satisfy a firms
needs is not publicly available. Original research that a firm does for itself is
known as primary research.

There is no one perfect primary research method. Each has strengths and
weaknesses, and thus the appropriate method must be selected based on
research needs.

Surveys are useful for getting a great deal of specific information. Surveys
can contain open-ended questions or closed-ended, where the respondent is
asked to select answers from a brief list. Open ended questions have the
advantage that the respondent is not limited to the options listed, and that the
respondent is not being influenced by seeing a list of responses. However,
open-ended questions are often skipped by respondents, and coding them
can be quite a challenge. In general, for surveys to yield meaningful
responses, sample sizes of over 100 are usually required because precision is
essential.
Surveys come in several different forms. Mail surveys are relatively
inexpensive, but response rates are typically quite lowtypically from 5-

20%. Phone-surveys get somewhat higher response rates, but not many
questions can be asked because many answer options have to be repeated
and few people are willing to stay on the phone for more than five minutes.
Mall intercepts are a convenient way to reach consumers, but respondents
may be reluctant to discuss anything sensitive face-to-face with an
interviewer.

Focus groups involve getting a group of 6-12 consumers together to discuss

product usage. Focus groups are especially useful if we do not have specific
questions to ask yet, since we dont know what consumers concerns might
be. Drawbacks of focus groups include high costs and the fact that
generalization toward the entire population is difficult for such small sample
sizes. The fact that focus groups involve social interaction also means that
participants may say what they think will make themselves look good rather
than what they really believe (the social desirability bias).

Personal interviews involve in-depth questioning of an individual about his

or her interest in or experiences with a product. The benefit here is that one
can get really into depth . but this method of research is costly and can be
extremely vulnerable to interviewer bias.

Projective techniques are used when a consumer may feel embarrassed to

admit to certain opinions, feelings, or preferences. The main problem with
this method is that it is difficult to analyze responses.
Observation of consumers is often a powerful tool. Looking at how
consumers select products may yield insights into how they make decisions
and what they look for. Observation may help in determining how much
time consumers spend comparing prices, or whether nutritional labels are
being consulted.
Physiological measures are occasionally used to examine consumer
response. For example, advertisers may want to measure a consumers level
of arousal during various parts of an advertisement.

Segmentation
Segmentation basically involves dividing consumers into groups such that
members of a group (1) are as similar as possible to members of that same
group but (2) differ as much as possible from members other segments. This
enables us then to "treat" each segment differentlye.g., by:
Providing different products (e.g., some consumers like cola taste, while
others prefer lime) . Offering different prices (some consumers will take the
cheapest product available, while others will pay for desired features).
Distributing the products where they are likely to be bought by the targeted
segment.

In order for a segment structure to be useful:

Each segment must have an identityi.e., it must contain members
that can be described in some way (e.g., price sensitive) that behave
differently from another segment.
Each segment must engage in systematic behaviors (e.g., a price
sensitive segment should consistently prefer the low price item rather
than randomly switching between high and low priced brands).
Each segment must offer marketing mix efficiency potentiali.e., it
must be profitable to serve. For example, A smaller segment may be
profitable if, for example, it is price insensitive or can be targeted
efficiently . Some segments are not cost effective.

There are three "levels" of segmentation. Levels here refer to the tradeoff
between the difficulty of implementing a segmentation scheme and the
benefits that result.
The first level of segmentation involves personal characteristics
e.g., demographics. The trouble with this method of segmentation,
however, is that there is often not a good correlation between personal
characteristics of consumers and what they want to buy.
Psychographics includes a bit more information about the consumer
than his or her mere descriptive characteristics.
The second level is benefit desiredthat is, segmenting on what
someone wants rather than who he or she is. Implementing

segmentation on benefit desired is more difficult. The benefit,

however, is that one can now make product that matches more closely
a particular segments specific desires, and one can promote, price,
and distribute it according to the desires of the segment. This method,
then, lends itself extremely well to strong product positioningone
make a product that offers specific benefits, and we aggressively
promote this fact to interested consumers. A drawback, however, is
some efficiency is lost in marketing communication.
The third level is segmentation based on behavior. Behavior here
refers to a persons response (or lack of response) to a given
treatment. The rewards are often great, because one can tailor the
kind of deal we give a consumer to the minimum concession needed
to get that consumer to buy our (as opposed to a competing) product.
Direct marketing offers exceptional opportunities for segmentation because
marketers can buy lists of consumer names, addresses, and phone-numbers
that indicate their specific interests.

Culture

Culture is part of the external influences that impact the consumer. That is,
culture represents influences that are imposed on the consumer by other
individuals.

The definition of culture offered in the text is "That complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other capabilities
and habits acquired by man person as a member of society." From this
definition, one can make the following observations:
Culture, as a "complex whole," is a system of interdependent components.
Knowledge and beliefs are important parts. Other issues are relevant. Art, for
example, may be reflected in the rather arbitrary practice of wearing ties in
some countries and wearing turbans in others.

Culture has several important characteristics: (1) Culture is comprehensive.

This means that all parts must fit together in some logical fashion. (2)
Culture is learned rather than being something we are born with. (3) Culture
is manifested within boundaries of acceptable behavior.. (4) Conscious
awareness of cultural standards is limited. (5) Cultures fall somewhere on a
continuum between static and dynamic depending on how quickly they
accept change.
Cultural rules can be categorized into three types. Formal rules carry
relatively explicit standards as to how one should behave, and violations
often carry severe sanctions. Informal rules, on the other hand, are less
explicit and may not carry sanctions for violation. Finally, technical cultural
rules involve implicit standards as to what constitutes a good product.
Language is an important element of culture. It should be realized that
regional differences may be subtle.

Subculture is often categorized on the basis of demographics. While part of

the overall culture, these groups often have distinguishing characteristics. An
important consequence is that a person who is part of two subcultures may
experience some conflict.
Values are often greatly associated with age groups because people within an
age-group have shared experiences. Regional influence, both in the United
States and other areas, is significant.

Family Decision Making

The Family Life Cycle. Individuals and families tend to go through a "life
cycle." The simple life cycle goes from
child/teenager ---> young single ---> young couple* ---> full nest
---> empty nest ---> widow(er).
A "couple" may either be married or merely involve living together. The
breakup of a non-marital relationship involving cohabitation is similarly
considered equivalent to a divorce.
full nest ---> single parent
This situation can result either from divorce or from the death of one parent.
Divorce usually entails a significant change in the relative wealth of spouses.
In some cases, the non-custodial parent (usually the father) will not pay the
required child support, and even if he or she does, that still may not leave the

custodial parent and children as well off as they were during the marriage.
On the other hand, in some cases, some non-custodial parents will be called
on to pay a large part of their income in child support. This is particularly a
problem when the non-custodial parent remarries and has additional children
in the second (or subsequent marriages).
Divorced parents frequently remarry, or become involved in other nonmarital relationships; thus, we may see
full nest ---> single parent ---> blended family
Another variation involves
young single ---> single parent
Generally, there are two main themes in the Family Life Cycle, subject to
significant exceptions:
As a person gets older, he or she tends to advance in his or her career and
tends to get greater income (exceptions: maternity leave, divorce,
retirement).
Unfortunately, obligations also tend to increase with time (at least until ones
mortgage has been paid off). Children and paying for ones house are two of
the greatest expenses.
Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a married
couple, the single may be able to buy more discretionary items.

Family Decision Making: Individual members of families often serve

different roles in decisions that ultimately draw on shared family resources.

Some individuals are information gatherers/holders, who seek out

information about products of relevance. These individuals often have a
great deal of power because they may selectively pass on information that
favors their chosen alternatives. Influencers do not ultimately have the
power decide between alternatives, but they may make their wishes known
by asking for specific products or causing embarrassing situations if their
demands are not met. The decision maker(s) have the power to determine
issues such as:
whether to buy;
which product to buy (pick-up or passenger car?);
which brand to buy;
where to buy it; and
when to buy.
.
One is bargainingone member will give up something in return for
someone else. strategy is reasoningtrying to get the other person(s) to
accept ones view through logical argumentation.

Group Influences

Humans are inherently social animals, and individuals greatly influence each
other. A useful framework of analysis of group influence on the individual is
the so called reference groupthe term comes about because an individual

uses a relevant group as a standard of reference against which oneself is

compared. Reference groups come in several different forms. The
aspirational reference group refers to those others against whom one would
like to compare oneself. Associative reference groups include people who
more realistically represent the individuals current equals or near-equals
e.g., coworkers, neighbors, or members of churches, clubs, and
organizations. Finally, the dissociative reference group includes people that
the individual would not like to be like.
Reference groups come with various degrees of influence. Primary reference
groups come with a great deal of influencee.g., members of a
fraternity/sorority. Secondary reference groups tend to have somewhat less
influencee.g., members of a boating club that one encounters only during
week-ends are likely to have their influence limited to consumption during
that time period.

Another typology divides reference groups into the informational kind

(influence is based almost entirely on members knowledge), normative
(members influence what is perceived to be "right," "proper," "responsible,"
or "cool"), or identification. The difference between the latter two categories
involves the individuals motivation for compliance. In case of the
normative reference group, the individual tends to comply largely for
utilitarian reasonsdressing according to company standards is likely to
help your career, but there is no real motivation to dress that way outside the

job. In contrast, people comply with identification groups standards for the
sake of belongingfor example, a member of a religious group may wear a
symbol even outside the house of worship because the religion is a part of
the persons identity.

Diffusion of Innovation

The diffusion of innovation refers to the tendency of new products,

practices, or ideas to spread among people. Usually, when new products or
ideas come about, they are only adopted by a small group of people initially;
later, many innovations spread to other peopleThe saturation point is the
maximum proportion of consumers likely to adopt .
Several forces often work against innovation. One is risk, which can be
either social or financial. Another risk is being perceived by others as being
weird for trying a "fringe" product or idea. Other sources of resistance
include the initial effort needed to learn to use new products (e.g., it takes
time to learn to meditate or to learn how to use a computer) and concerns
about compatibility with the existing culture or technology. Innovations
come in different degrees. A continuous innovation includes slight
improvements over time. A dynamically continuous innovation involves
some change in technology, although the product is used much the same way
that its predecessors were usede.g., jet vs. propeller aircraft. A

discontinous innovation involves a product that fundamentally changes the

way that things are donee.g., the fax and photocopiers.

Some cultures tend to adopt new products more quickly than others, based
on several factors:
Modernity: The extent to which the culture is receptive to new things.
In some countries, such as Britain and Saudi Arabia, tradition is
greatly valuedthus, new products often dont fare too well. The
United States, in contrast, tends to value progress.
Homophily: The more similar to each other that members of a culture
are, the more likely an innovation is to spreadpeople are more
likely to imitate similar than different models. The two most rapidly
adopting countries in the World are the U.S. and Japan. While the
U.S. interestingly scores very low, Japan scores high.
Physical distance: The greater the distance between people, the less
likely innovation is to spread.
Opinion leadership: The more opinion leaders are valued and
respected, the more likely an innovation is to spread. The style of
opinion leaders moderates this influence, however. In less innovative
countries, opinion leaders tend to be more conservative, i.e., to reflect
the local norms of resistance.

Perception

Background. Our perception is an approximation of reality. Our brain

attempts to make sense out of the stimuli to which we are exposed.

Factors in percpetion. Several sequential factors influence our perception.

Exposure involves the extent to which we encounter a stimulus. Most of this
exposure is randomwe dont plan to seek it out. Exposure is not enough to
significantly impact the individualat least not based on a single trial In
order for stimuli to be consciously processed, attention is needed.
Interpretation involves making sense out of the stimulus. Webers Law
suggests that consumers ability to detect changes in stimulus intensity
appear to be strongly related to the intensity of that stimulus to begin with.

Several factors influence the extent to which stimuli will be noticed. One
obvious issue is relevance. Consumers, when they have a choice, are also
more likely to attend to pleasant stimuli (but when the consumer cant
escape, very unpleasant stimuli are also likely to get attentionthus, many
very irritating advertisements are remarkably effective). Surprising stimuli
are likely to get more attentionsurvival instinct requires us to give more
attention to something unknown that may require action. A greater contrast
(difference between the stimulus and its surroundings) as well as greater
prominence (e.g., greater size, center placement) also tend to increase
likelihood of processing.

Learning and Memory

Background. Learning involves "a change in the content or organization of

long term memory and/or behavior." The first part of the definition focuses
on what we know (and can thus put to use) while the second focuses on
concrete behavior.
Classical conditioning. Pavlovs early work on dogs was known as classical
conditioning. Pavlov discovered that when dogs were fed meat powder they
salivated. Pavlov then discovered that if a bell were rung before the dogs
were fed, the dogs would begin salivating in anticipation of being fed (this
was efficient, since they could then begin digesting the meat powder
immediately). Pavlov then found that after the meat had been "paired" with
the meat powder enough times, Pavlov could ring the bell without feeding
the dogs and they would still salivate.

In the jargon of classical conditioning, the meat powder was an

unconditioned stimulus (US) and the By pairing the bell with the
unconditioned stimulus, the bell became a conditioned stimulus (CS) and
salivation in response to the bell (with no meat powder) became a
conditioned response (CR).

Operant conditioning. Instrumental, or operant, conditioning, involves a

different series of events, and this what we usually think of as learning. The
general pattern is:
Behavior ---> consequences ---> behavior is more or less likely to be
repeated
There are three major forms of operant learning. In positive reinforcement,
an individual does something and is rewarded. He or she is then more likely
to repeat the behavior.

Punishment is the opposite. It should be noted that negative reinforcement is

very different from punishment.
In general, marketers usually have relatively little power to use punishment
or negative reinforcement.
Several factors influence the effectiveness of operant learning. In general,
the closer in time the consequences are to the behavior, the more effective
the learning. However, it is not necessary to reward a behavior every time
for learning to occur. Even if a behavior is only rewarded some of the time,
the behavior may be learned.

Memory. There are two kinds of memory. When you see an ad on TV for a
mail order product you might like to buy, you only keep the phone number
in memory until you have dialed it. This is known as short term memory. In
order for something to enter into long term memory, which is more

permanent, you must usually "rehearse" it several times. A special issue in

memory are so called "scripts," or procedures we remember for doing things.
Scripts involve a series of steps for doing various things (e.g., how to send a
package).

Motivation, Personality, and Emotion

Perspectives on Consumer Behavior and Motivation: People considered

several perspectives on behavior as a way to understand what motivates the
consumer. Each of these perspectives suggests different things as to what the
marketer should do and what can (and cannot) be controlled.

The Hard Core Behavioral perspective is based on learning theories such as

operant and classical conditioning. These theories suggest that consumers
must learn from their own experiences rather than merely observing other
people who overeat and get sick.

The Social Learning Perspective, in contrast, allows for vicarious learning-i.e., learning obtained by watching others getting good or bad consequences
for behavior. The models that may be observed and imitated include peers
and family members as well as relevant others that may be observed in
advertising. Certain people are more likely to be imitated than
othersGenerally, observations are made of overt behavior, but some room is

made for individual reasoning in learning from others. This perspective is

clearly more realistic than that of the "Hard Core" view.

The Cognitive approach emphasizes consumer thinking rather than mere

behavior.Here, the emphasis is on how people reason themselves to the
consequences of their behavior. It is often somewhat more difficult to
attempt to "get into" a consumers head than it is to merely observe his or
her behavior, and what we "observe" is somewhat more subjective.

The Biological approach suggests that most behavior is determined by

genetics or other biological bases. By this perspective, it is suggested that
consumers eat the foods they eat in large part because the body craves these
foods. The main implication of biological determinism is that the marketer
must adapt--for example, food advertisements are more likely to be effective
when people are hungry, and thus they might better be run in the late
afternoon rather than in the late morning.

The Rational Expectations perspective is based on an economic way of

looking at the World. The Psychoanalytic perspective is based on the work
of historical psychologists such as Sigmund Freud who suggest that (1)
much behavior has a biological basis which is (2) often sexual in nature, and
(3) that early experiences in childhood will have a profound, but
unconscious effect on later life. Although modern psychologists certainly

recognize that early experiences may influence later psychological well

being, the psychoanalytic view has largely been discredited today as being
much too centered on the issue of sex.
Properties of motivation: Motivation is described through several properties:
Motivation is composed of energy and direction. A person may or
may not have enough motivation to engage in a given activity.
Motives may be overt, hidden, and multiple. Some motivations are
publicly expressed (e.g., the desire to buy an energy efficient house),
while others (e.g., the desire to look wealthy by buying a fancy car)
are not.
Many motivations are driven by the desire for tension reduction (e.g.,
eliminate thirst or hunger).
Motivations can be driven by both internal and external factors.
Motivations may have either a positive or negative valence--people
may either be motivated to achieve something (e.g., get a promotion
at work) or avoid something (e.g., being hospitalized without having
adequate insurance).
Consumers are motivated to achieve goals. Achieving these goals
may require sustained activity over time (e.g., exercising every day
for months or years) as opposed to just taking some action once.
Consumers maintain a balance between the desires for stability and
variety. M

 Motivation reflects individual differences. Different consumers are

motivated to achieve different things, and it may be difficult to infer
motivations from looking at actual behavior without understanding
these differences in desired outcomes.

Personality and consumer behavior: Traditional research in marketing has

not been particularly successful in finding a link between personality and
consumer behavior. Emotion. Emotion impacts marketing efforts in several
ways. One purpose is to get attention to a stimulus (since emotionally
charged individuals tend to be less predictable than calmer ones, there has
been an evolutionary advantage in paying attention to emotion). Secondly,
emotion influences information processing.

Attitudes

Definition. Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers (1) beliefs

about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some object
within the context of marketing, usually a brand or retail store. These
components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and
together represent forces that influence how the consumer will react to the
object.

Beliefs. The first component is beliefs. A consumer may hold both positive
beliefs toward an object (e.g., coffee tastes good) as well as negative beliefs
(e.g., coffee is easily spilled and stains papers). In addition, some beliefs
may be neutral.

Affect. Consumers also hold certain feelings toward brands or other objects.
Sometimes these feelings are based on the beliefs (e.g., a person feels
nauseated when thinking about a hamburger because of the tremendous
amount of fat it contains), but there may also be feelings which are relatively
independent of beliefs.

Behavioral intention. The behavioral intention is what the consumer plans to

do with respect to the object (e.g., buy or not buy the brand). As with affect,
this is sometimes a logical consequence of beliefs (or affect), but may
sometimes reflect other circumstances.
Attitude-Behavior Consistency. Consumers often do not behave consistently
with their attitudes for several reasons:
Ability. He or she may be unable to do so.
Competing demands for resources.
Social influence.
Measurement problems. Measuring attitudes is difficult. In many
situations, consumers do not consciously set out to enumerate how
positively or negatively they feel about mopeds.


Attitude Change Strategies. Changing attitudes is generally very difficult,
particularly when consumers suspect that the marketer has a self-serving
agenda in bringing about this change (e.g., to get the consumer to buy more
or to switch brands).

Changing affect. One approach is to try to change affect, which may or may
not involve getting consumers to change their beliefs. One strategy uses the
approach of classical conditioning try to "pair" the product with a liked
stimulus. Finally, products which are better known, through the mere
exposure effect, tend to be better liked--that is, the more a product is
advertised and seen in stores, the more it will generally be liked, even if
consumers to do not develop any specific beliefs about the product.

Changing behavior. People like to believe that their behavior is rational;

thus, once they use our products, chances are that they will continue unless
someone is able to get them to switch. ----One way to get people to switch to
one brand is to use temporary price discounts and coupons; however, when
consumers buy a product on deal, they may justify the purchase based on
that deal (i.e., the low price) and may then switch to other brands on deal
later. A better way to get people to switch to our brand is to at least
temporarily obtain better shelf space so that the product is more convenient.
Consumers are less likely to use this availability as a rationale for their

purchase and may continue to buy the product even when the product is less
conveniently located. (Notice, by the way, that this represents a case of
shaping).

Changing beliefs. Although attempting to change beliefs is the obvious way

to attempt attitude change, particularly when consumers hold unfavorable or
inaccurate ones, this is often difficult to achieve because consumers tend to
resist. Several approaches to belief change exist:
Change currently held beliefs. It is generally very difficult to attempt
to change beliefs that people hold, particularly those that are strongly
held, even if they are inaccurate.
Change the importance of beliefs.
Add beliefs. Consumers are less likely to resist the addition of beliefs
so long as they do not conflict with existing beliefs.
Change ideal. It usually difficult, and very risky, to attempt to change
ideals, and only few firms succeed.

One-sided vs. two-sided appeals. Attitude research has shown that

consumers often tend to react more favorably to advertisements which either
(1) admit something negative about the sponsoring brand or (2) admits
something positive about a competing brand Two-sided appeals must,
contain overriding arguments why the sponsoring brand is ultimately
superior.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Celebrity Endorsements. The

ELM suggests that consumers will scrutinize claims more in important
situations than in unimportant ones.
The ELM suggests that for "unimportant" products, elaboration will be low.
However, for products which are either expensive or important for some
other reason elaboration is likely to be more extensive, and the endorser is
expected to be "congruent," or compatible, with the product.

Appeal approaches. Several approaches to appeal may be used. The use of

affect to induce empathy with advertising characters may increase attraction
to a product, but may backfire if consumers believe that peoples feelings are
being exploited. Fear appeals appear to work only if (1) an optimal level of
fear is evoked--not so much that people tune it out, but enough to scare
people into action and (2) a way to avoid the feared stimulus is explicitly
indicated. Humor appears to be effective in gaining attention, but does not
appear to increase persuasion in practice. In addition, a more favorable
attitude toward the advertisement may be created by humorous advertising,
which may in turn result in increased sales. Comparative advertising, which
is illegal in many countries, often increases sales for the sponsoring brand,
but may backfire in certain cultures.

Self-Concept, Situational Influences, and Lifestyle

The self-concept. The consumer faces several possible selves. The actual
self reflects how the individual actually is, although the consumer may not
be aware of that reality In contrast, the ideal self reflects a self that a person
would like to have, but does not in fact have. The private self is one that is
not intentionally exposed to others. The key here is to keep in mind which
kind of self one is trying to reach in promotional messages.
Individuals will often seek to augment and enhance their self concepts, and
it may be possible to market products that help achieve this goal.

Lifestyles. Self-concept often translates into a persons lifestyle, or the way

that he or she lives his or her life. Attempts have been made to classify
consumers into various segments based on their lifestyles. For example, both
"Achievers" and "Strivers" want public recognition, but only the Achievers
have the resources to bring this about. A global analogue is the Global Scan.
Situational influences. Specific circumstances often influence consumer
behavior. Consumers whose attention is demanded elsewhere are likely to
disregard commercial messages.

Consumer Decision Making

Definitions. Consumer decision making comes about as an attempt to solve

consumer problems. A problem refers to "a discrepancy between a desired

state and an ideal state which is sufficient to arouse and activate a decision
process."

Consumer Problem Recognition. Consumers often note problems by

comparing their current, or actual, situation, explicitly or implicitly, to some
desired situation. In terms of the "big picture," what is compared may be the
totality of ones lifestyle.

Problems come in several different types. A problem may be an active one

(e.g., you have a headache and would like as quick a solution as possible) or
inactive-- you are not aware that your situation is a problem (e.g., a
consumer is not aware that he or she could have more energy with a new
vitamin). Problems may be acknowledged (e.g., a consumer is aware that his
or her car does not accelerate well enough or unacknowledged (e.g., a
consumer will not acknowledge that he or she consumes too much alcohol).
Finally, needs can be relatively specific (generic), as in the need for
enjoyment (which can be satisfied many different ways), or specific, as in
the need for professional attire to wear at a new job.

Creating problems for consumers is a way to increase sales, albeit a

questionably ethical one. One way to create new problems, and resultant
needs, is to create a new ideal state.

There are two main approaches to search. Internal searches are based on
what consumers already know. Thus, it may be important for certain firms to
advertise to consumers before they actually need the product. A problem is
that some excellent ones which are not remembered, or have never been
heard of, are not considered. External searches get people to either speak to
others (getting information by word of mouth) or use other sources (such as
advertisements now sought out or yellow page listings). Consumers often do
not consider all alternatives. Some are not known (the "unawareness" set),
some were once known but are not readily accessible in memory (the "inert"
set), others are ruled out as unsatisfactory (the "inept" set--e.g., Glad bags
attempts to get "bargain bags" into that set), and those that are considered
represent the "evoked" set, from which one alternative is likely to be
purchased.

The amount of effort a consumer puts into searching depends on a number of

factors such as the market (how many competitors are there, and how great
are differences between brands expected to be?), product characteristics
(how important is this product? How complex is the product? How obvious
are indications of quality?), consumer characteristics (how interested is a
consumer, generally, in analyzing product characteristics and making the
best possible deal?), and situational characteristics (as previously discussed).
Two interesting issues in decisions are variety seeking (where consumers
seek to try new brands not because these brands are expected to be "better"

in any way, but rather because the consumer wants a "change of pace," and
"impulse" purchases. Impulse purchases are, generally speaking, unplanned,
but represent a somewhat fuzzy group.

Public Policy Issues

There are certain marketing practices which may harm consumers. Two
main issues are (1) deceptive marketing practices (such as misleading
advertising) and (2) the marketing of dangerous or otherwise harmful
products (e.g., tobacco). The following are some ethical problems that occur
in marketing, and the question arises as to which, if any, kind of government
intervention is appropriate.

Marketing efforts may encourage excess consumption (e.g., products

that consumers cannot afford and do not really need). However there
are many gray areas--e.g., cosmetics, video games, and even
something as politically correct as a gourmet coffee houses. A special
case involves marketing to children, whose parents may be coerced,
often out of guilt, to buy questionable items aimed at children.
Resource depletion and waste disposal issues associated with the
above consumption. Some European countries have mandated that
manufacturers be required to take back packaging materials for their
products.

 Deceptive marketing practices: Products claim benefits which really

do not result from use of the product (as is done by numerous
manufacturers of nutritional supplements); advertising may be
misleading (may not indicate the true cost of a product up front or
may contain "fine print" that the consumer is unlikely to see or
understand)
Products are unhealthy (e.g., many childrens foods contain excessive
fat).

Government action is often considered, although it may not always be

effective. For example, although the government requires the use of warning
labels on some products, manufacturers will often try to "water down" the
warnings as much as possible. Further, the prevalence of warning labels
today may desensitize consumers since reading all of them carefully would
provide the consumer with information overload.

Another issue is anti-competitive behavior. Antitrust laws are generally

aimed at prohibiting firms from conspiring to "fix" prices or collectively
drop service levels. Antitrust law is, however, a "thorny" area. Consumers
may benefit, for example, as some less efficient firms are driven out of
business, and may benefit from the efficiencies which may or may not
materialize when large firms "gobble up" smaller ones--a defense used in the
Microsoft trial.

---------------------

TOOTHPASTE INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW

The toothpaste history in India can be tracked back from 1975 with 1200
tonnes of toothpaste produced by the toothpaste industry. Prior to the
toothpastes Oral Hygiene was the domain of local home made powders and
ayurvedh practitioners. With the entry of Colgate in Indian marketplace the
awareness about Oral care and the importance of oral care. In recent years
the Industry has shown impressive growth rate of 18.6% (this growth is
calculated in terms of value growth in Rs.).
The growth in the Urban market has been largely by the Gel Segment.
Presently, a large chunk of the Market is still held by Colgate. The major
players in the toothpaste Industry being Colgate Palmolive and Hindustan
Lever Limited and several minor players like Balsara hygiene, Dabur etc.
Presently Colgate Dental Cream holds 52% of market share. HILLs Close
up lies far behind with 23% of the existing market share. The third player in
the marketplace in terms of market share is Colgate Gel with 10.5% of the
marketshare. That leaves 14.5% marketshare for other Brands like
Pepsodent, Pepsodent G, Promise, Babool, Sensofoam, Forhans, Cibaca,
Neem, Vicco etc. The toothpaste market is presently valued at Rs. 750
croresout of which the Gel segment has already bagged 1/3rd portion of it.
The Gel segment presently stands at Rs. 248 crores and is growing at a rate

much faster than Cream. In India toothpaste usage as compared to other

countries is very low which signifies about the potential of the market. In
Urban India the usage of toothpaste per person per year is just 190gms.
Where as it is 200gms of toothpaste per person per year in developing
countries as Indonesia and Thailand. In developed countries as USA and
other European countries the toothpaste usage is 375 gms per person year. In
India the toothpastes companies are going in for advertising on a heavy note,
on an average the companies managing this FMCG category are spending
6.15% of their sales on development. Colgate Palmolive had shelled out
15% of their sales on ads in the year 1994. Dabur had an ad expenditure of
5.07% for the year 1993. whereas balsara Hygiene spend a huge 10.17% of
their sales.

TOOTHPASTE COMPANIES AND TOOTHPASTE BRANDS

(1) Company

Shri Niranjan Aurvedh Bhawan, Tumsur

(Mah)

Product Range

Niranjan

(a) 200 gm Tube

Rs 32

(b) 100 gm Tube

Rs 19

(c) 50 gm Tube

Rs 11

Segmenting Factor

Veg. / Non-veg. Population

Target

20%

educate

customers

that

all

toothpastes have di-calcium phosphate

or bone ash which is animal based.
Whereas they use calcium rich PIPAL
insted.
Availability

Maharastra

Distributors

107 (newly appointed)

Positioning Stance

Yoga For Teeth.

Direct Competitor

Vicco Vajradanti, but they feel that will

beat them in the price game as VICCOs
200 gm tube for Rs 44.

(2) Company

Hindustan Lever Limited

Brand Name

Close Up

Marketed By

Hindustan Lever limited (HLL)

Product Range

Close Up (Red, Green, Blue)

50 gm Rs 18
100 gm Rs 35
150 gm Rs 50

Pepsodent

50 GM Rs 18
100 GM Rs 30
200 GM Rs 54

Pepsodent G

50 gm Rs 15.50
150 gm Rs 48

Segmenting Factor

Age

Targeted At

Young people. The target market being

Multi

Brand

Households

where

young does not use what their parents.

This

particular

significant when

targeting

was

Close Up was

launched because Colgate positioning

was a sort of Flip flop between Tooth
decay and Bad Breath and Colgate was
going for a Broad market constituting
of all the age groups.

--------- Sought to be perceived by the customers was Fresh Breath. The

physical appearance by the users, the Bright Red Gel synerized well with the
Fresh breath Benefit. The advertising account was handled by LINTAS
which focussed on Fresh Breath that brought teenagers closer. The launch
commercial showed the then Model, Salman khan being joined by a young
girl at a Crossword Puzzle with a background jingle come a little closer
baby, smile for me
By 1980 Close Up had 3% of the 16,000 tonnes toothpaste market. The
production capacity was doubled through a deal with third party
manufacturer and the Brand was taken National over the next year and a
half, the Premium slashed by 30%. In 1983 Colgate started fearing after
witnessing a downfall in marketshare and started airing its campaign by
inviting customers into its Dental ring of confidence, by stressing more on
breath and posing as a complete toothpaste. Close Up countered this move
by sharpening product benefits, while urging the customers to do the HA test
by blowing air on the palm, the message was that Close Up feels a lot cooler
which reiterated the basic benefit of a fresh breath.
1987 was a Probe into Problem year for HALL as Close Up was much
below expectations with only 4.5% of the 32,000 tonnes toothpaste market.
They identified two basic problems:
(1) Appearance of Toothpastes detracts prospects from its serious buyers.

(2) Commercials displayed too much of proximity between couples which

was too much for a mother, who actually purchased the Toiletries.
1998 Lever reworked 3 Ps in its Marketing mix in Tamil Nadu where people
have a strong sense of Oral Hygiene and the area has a cost effective media
Reach. The three reworked Ps are as follows:

(1) Product :
Blue mint flavour introduced.
Tangerines of Read reduced. (for serious buyers.)
Soft Squeeze lamitubes for toohpastes introduced for the first time in the
country.
(2) Communication
Advertisement focus moved from spotlight to Gregarious couples. This
group orientation was more acceptable to the Mother.
(3) Distribution
Took Brand to Sub Urban and Rural areas.

 Posters and Mobile Vans arrived in areas where Urban lifestyle was a
matter of aspiration. This was a purposeful move as the company did not
want the Brand to be saddled with a restrictive.
Upmarket image.
In the year 1990, Colgate followed Close Up by launch of its Blue Colgate
Gel. It was targeted at the youngsters within its Brand fold who were
seeking Freshness. It was priced at par with Close Up gel. The Colgate ad
showed a fluorescent Blue spiral round the users body and it talked of Fresh
Breath Energy. By this time Gel became the Battleground in order to become
the leader because:
There is rapid expansion in gel segment.
Youngsters thought white paste to be outdated.
In 1991, Close Up launched Zing Green and simultaneously Lever
sponsored Close Up Sangeet Muquabala targeted at the rural youth. In
1991 Close Ups market share increased to 16% of Rs 377 crores per year
market. 1991 witnessed a few problems for Close Up Blue, which was
faltering on repeat purchases as customers did not perceive much freshness
value in it. In 1992, HLL launched AQUA BLUE with added attributes
like increased Mouthwash contents and a more Minter flavour, so that
customers perceived benefit is Freshness which is Levers Positioning
stance. In response Colgate introduced Red Actirinse and then Colgate

Blue. People at HLL thought to counter Colgates growth by cashing in on

Medicianal appeal and came out with Pepsodent with Germicheck snf
Mentadent G now renamed as Pepsodent G for Gum problems. Colgate
countered this move by launching Colgate Total as an advanced paste to
fight.
Tartar, Gingivitis, and other Dental ailments. 1993 was the year when HLL
tried to woo the customers by innovative packaging. Firstly it introduced
Stand Up Pump dispensers for metros but it bombed in the market because
of High price perception as compared to benefits. Sachets formula was used
by lever to break into Colgates fort. The Close Up sachets was priced at Rs.
3 per unit and it offered 20 usess, which means that a family of five could
use it four times each. The year it sponsored zee Close Up Antaksharee.
HLL also went in for Close Up Toothbrushes under the Brand name
Confident and launched it in Tamil Nadu.
The confident toothbrushes were taken National and most importantly HLL
advertisement account shifted from LINTAS to FTA due to
Global alignment move by Levers parent Unilever. The brief given to the
new agency was to Strengthen the Audiences perception of Brands
functional values.
Close Ups formulation was reworked and the new Close Up was enriched
with Microwhiteners so that the perceived benefit by the customer be that
he will have Shining Teeth. As the ad account was handed over to HTA, the

ad moved closer to the Indian Culture, they also took note of the cultural
changes which showed in their ads like Females were now more than equal
participants in Boy Girl activity as in Salim Anarkali ad which showed her
confidence by joining the Boy on the stage and saving the day.
1996 witnessed introduction of Close Up Liquifresh a liquid in a carry
along squeeze can in two sizes :
30 gm Rs. 10
100 gms Rs. 32
HLL gave it a dual positioning platform of a Mouthrinse and a toothpaste,
like squeeze the Gel directly into Mouth. Close Up is pushing hard for semi
Urban and Rural areas were disposable incomes are rising rapidly and in
order to tap these markets it is going for Vernacular Advertising in Eight
languages. In Bengal as the communication did not work all that work
initially, HTA has contracted Anjan Dutta a signer popular with both Young
and old alike in Bengal.
.
3) Company : Colgate Palmolive (India) Limited
Brand : Colgate
Product Range :
1. Colgate dental Cream

 50 gm

Rs. 12

100 gm

Rs. 17.90

150 gm

Rs. 23.50

200 gm

Rs. 32.50

250 gm
2. Colgate Gel (Blue and Red)
50 gm

Rs. 18

100 gm

Rs. 35

150 gm

Rs. 48

200 gm

Rs. 54

250 gm

Rs. -59

3. Colgate Total
50 gm

Rs. -

100 gm

Rs. 27

150 gm

Rs. -

200 gm

Rs. -

4. Colgate Calciguard
50 gm

Rs. -

100 gm

Rs. -

150 gm

Rs. -

200 gm

Rs. -

5. Colgate Sensitive
Segmenting Factor : Family
Target Audience : The Brand Colgate and its extentions are targeted at
Indian families taking booth economical and premium stances.
Availability : All over India.
Positioning Stance : on Health care through Duality of benefits, talks about
Stops bad breath and fights tooth decay. This positioning stance has
worked well in Indian probably because Oral. Now also the company is
constantly following the fresh breath route which proved successful for the
company.
Care is not taken in a sensitised manner and hence the custom looks for
multibenefits.
History of Calgate :

For people in Colgate volume is the key. This is the Mantra for India a.
Today the Indian arm is one of the top 10 subsidiaries of the global giant ;
one of the top three volume drivers in toolthpastes. In India, the
Multinational is first and foremost identified with Toothpaste (Dental care)
are currently there is a lot of curiosity on how C-P is responding to the
challenges that HLL is throwing its way. On toothpastes, where C-P claims
an overall 62.3 percent marketshare a clear cut strategy is evident i.e.
maintaining leadership in Oral care and expand the oral care market size.
Consistency of communication is of strategic importance. More so in an
increasingly cluttered environment. Vice President of C-P (India) limited
dualy complies We have not changed the platform - Duality of Benefits for the last 15 years.
The main growth in the Urban toothpaste market for C-P has for sometime
been coming from the Gel segment. Colgate gel has been performing well
with its marektshare standing at 11 percent and a growth faster than Close
Ups marketshare, which has declined by the end of 96.
In an effort to capitalise in the growth, C-P recently introduced its latest
extentions, Fresh Stripes, with Stripes of Benefit. this latest launch brings
C-Ps toothpastes to a total of six, with mega Brand Colgate Dental Cream
(CDC), the category volume driver; Colgate Gel-Positioned as giving long
lasting fresh breath; Calciguard with an anti cavity therapeutic positioning
marketed in the Metros; Colgate Total with its therapeutic positioning and

multi benefits and Colgate Sensitive being Marketed through Dental

Profession.
To expand the category, C-P has an on going Rural Van programme, rather
similar to the HLL idea of expanding the market and also not being confused
as a premium consumers. An intensive investment this Video van develops
the market by teaching people to use a brush or seen a finger properly to
clean their teeth with the Big Red CDC. In addition there is also a school
programme which covered 1.5 million children last year. According to
Rechard Usuquen VP C-P (India) Ltd. C-Ps action will center around finely
balancing the Urban market - where it claims a 59.5 percent market share with the Rural where it claims a 68 per cent share. So while the company has
introduced such premium packaging as stand-up toothpaste tubes with Flip
up caps in the Urban market, it is also selling sachets of CDC at low prices.
In 2001, the company has come up with a lot of schemes such as 25% extra
in 100gm pack. In 50% gm pack there is an off of Rs 5.5. In 200gm pack the
company is providing 2 toy planes for kids. They are also providing a lot of
discount and incentives to its stockiest and retailers. They have also come up
with transparent packaging in gel segment to attract the customers.

DATA FOR THE TOOTHPASTE INDUSTRY :

(A) ZONE WISE SEGMENTATION :

ZONE PERCENTAGE
EAST 21%
NORTH 25%
WEST 21%
SOUTH 33%

(B) SEGMENTATION AS RURAL AND URBAN MARKETS :

RURAL MARKET 40%

URBAN MARKET 60%

The above segmentation details gives us an overall scenario of the

toothpaste industry. As seen from the zone wise segmentation table, the
distribution is fairly even in all the zones. Also the rural to urban markets
ratio is 40:60 which is expected and thus no surprises are seen from this data
or rather no unusual variation is observed.

(C) MARKET SHARE OF MAJOR PLAYERS OF THE INDUSTRY :

NAME

% SHARE

COLGATE DENTAL

46

COLGATE GEL

10

CIBACA

CLOSE UP

18

PEPSODENT

09

PROMISE

9.5

BABOOL

0.5

The data tabulated above clearly supports the fact that Colgate and HLL
products are way ahead as far as market share goes. These brands have
earned a place in customers minds or speaking in a technical term they have
been positioned in the customer's minds.

Secondly, the brands like Promise and Babool are catering to a very specific
segment of customers which is the Herbal toothpaste user segment. Thus,
they also have positioned themselves as Herbal toothpastes and hence they
always target the same segment. This can be termed as a 'niche market'
which they are catering to these segments.

FINDING AND ANALYSIS

1) In which group do you belong:

58

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Series1

22
10
a

6
b

4
e

In the analysis it is found that 10% of the respondents are in the age group of
12-18. In the age group of 19-27 the percentage of respondent is 58%. This
age group is covered extensively because the most of the toothpaste industry
players are targeting this age group extensively as it is found in a recent
survey that people in this age group are the highest in India. 22% of the
respondents are in the age group of 28-40. In the 41-55 and above 56 groups
the percentages are 6% and 4% respectively.

2) Sex

24%
Male
Female
76%

In the analysis it is tried to cover both man and female. In the final analysis
it is found that 76% of the respondent are male and 24% of the respondent
are female.
So the ratio of the male and female is more than 3:1.

3) your family income:

more than
20,000
58%

less than
10,000
6%
10,00120,000
36%

less than
10,000
10,001-20,000
more than
20,000

It is found that most of the respondents are in the higher income group that
is above Rs. 20,000 per month. The percentage in this income group is 58%.
In the income group of Rs 10001-20, 000, the percentage of respondent is
36%. In the Rs 5,000-10,000 group the percentage of the respondents is 6%.
The reason for high percentage of higher income group is because most of
the respondent are from South Delhi.

5) you are

Housewife
15%
Student
40%

Service
10%
Businessman
11%
Profesional
24%

Student
Profesional
Businessman
Service
Housewife

The profile of the respondent is quite diverse. But as the aim is to cover the
people in the age group of 19-27 so it is also reflected in the profile of the
respondent also. Here highest place is occupied by the student, which is
40%. The next spot is followed by professional, which is 24%. Percentages
of Businessman, Serviceman and Housewife are 11%, 10% and 15%
respectively. So it is tried to cover people in every profile group.

6) Write the names of the three brands that come to youyr mind when you
hear the word toothpaste.

120
100
100
83

percentage

80
62
60

Series1

40
22

18

20
8

10

es
h

or

qu
af
r
A

nc
h
A

Ne
em

Fo
rh
an
ce

Ci
ba
ca

Pr
om
is
e

Up
Cl
os
e

ak
M
es
w

Pe
ps
od
en
t

Co
lg
at
e

This question is asked in order to know the toothpaste brands fresh in the
minds of consumer (choice set). In the analysis it is seen that Colgate is
leading. All the respondents remember Colgate. But Pepsodent is also
following Colgate with 83%. Another brand that has score above 50% is
Close-Up with 62%. Other toothpaste brands dont have a strong presence in
the mind of consumer as seen in the above bar diagram. So the analysis
clearly shows why Colgate is the number one toothpaste brand. The reason
is the high recall value it has in the mind of consumer. But Pepsodent is

trying to catch up. Even in the real market scenario also the same thing is
found.

7) You most often buy toothpaste from:

70%
63%
60%

50%

40%
Series1
30%

29%

20%
12%
10%

0%
Departmental store

Grochery store

Chemist

After analyzing the answers to this question, it is found that the highest
number of respondent buys their toothpaste from departmental store that is
63% of the respondent. It is found that people generally dont prefer to buy

toothpaste from departmental store. Only 29% of the respondents buy from
departmental store. Chemist is the lowest with only 12%. 10% of the
respondents also choose both departmental and general store.

So we can say that the toothpaste manufacturing company should give their
marketing focus more towards local grocery shop. They will more benefited
if they will be able to acquire the self-space of these local grocery shops.

8) Do you apply toothpaste on:

56%

60%
50%
40%

34%

30%
20%
10%

Series1
10%

0%
1/4th
length

1/2th
length

full length

This question was asked only to know the habits of the toothpaste users.
This question will help in knowing consumption pattern in terms of usage. It
is seen that 56% of the respondent apply toothpaste on full length of
toothbrush bristle as compared to 34% in case of 1/2th length. It will help
the company to find out total consumption of toothpaste if number of user is
know to the company.

9) Do you buy toothpaste:

53%
52%
51%
50%
49%
48%
47%
46%

52%

48%

Buy in advance

Series1

Buy when
empty tube

It is found that it is almost the same way the consumer behaves while
making a buying decision by a consumer in case of toothpaste. It is found
that 52% of the consumers buy toothpaste in advance in comparison to 48%
who buys toothpaste while it is empty. So various schemes may affect the
buying decision of the former section of the consumer as they buy well in
advance. So they may buy toothpaste when there is some kind of incentive
given by the company for future.

10) Which size of toothpaste do you normally buy:

50%

40%

40%

34%
26%

30%

Series1

20%
10%
0%

0%
50gm

100gm 150gm 200gm

Amongst the respondents covered in this project there is no one to buy 50

gm pack. So it can be inferred from this that package of this side may be
more famous in rural area than urban area. The highest used package is
found to be 200gm that is 40%. It is followed by 100gm package that has
share of 34%. So the company should focus more on 200 gm as it has more
demand in the urban area. So if the company comes up with various schemes
in this packaging section will create a demand for the company.

11) Please give points in the scale of 1-5( 1 for least importance and 5 for
most important):

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

4.04

4.05

4.34

4.23
3.64

3.59

3.58
Series1

a) It gives me confidence
b) It leaves a tinge of freshness in me
c) It is a hygienic activity.
d) Necessary otherwise I will have a bad breath
e) It removes stains
f) It prevents tooth decay
g) It gives stronger gums

So it is found that hygiene (4.34) and fresh breath (4.23) are the most
important reasons why generally consumers brash their teeth. A large
number of people also give one of the highest points to confidence factor.
Other important factors like preventing tooth decay and stronger gums are

not that important for consumer. It shows that consumers dont give much
importance to ingredients that help in preventing tooth decay etc. So the
companies should focus on fresh breath while promoting its product as
already done by companies like Colgate for Colgate Gel brand

12). Which toothpaste do you use most often.

43%

13%

O
th
er
s

10%

es
wa
k
M

16%

C
lo
s

Pe
ps
o

de
nt

21%

C
ol
ga
te

50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Series1

This question is asked to judge the loyalty of the consumers. It will help us
to know which is the brand most preferred by the consumers. Here also
Colgate is marching ahead with 43%. Its closest competitor i.e. Pepsodent is
having only 21% of the share. Close Up has only 16% of the respondent.
This question coupled with the next question will give a better idea. So we
can see that HLL has to go along way to catch Colgate. So HLL has to do a
lot of things to earn consumers loyalty which is becoming important in the
toothpaste industry as new competitors are also coming up.

13) For how long have you been using the above mentioned toothpaste:

47%
27%

22%

Series1

more than
1 year

4%
less than
6 months

50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

It is found that 47% of the respondent is using it for more than 1 year. Only
27% is using it for less then 6 months and 22% using it since childhood. So
the company should focus on these less than 0.6 months and between 0.6-1
year category people because these people have the tendency towards trying
out new brands. But as a whole in the industry the percentage of people
using a brand for longer period is 69%( 47%+ 22%). So there is less chances
that these people will move from its brand until a very new product is
introduced in the market.

14) Can you name the Manufacture?

No
41%

Yes
59%

Yes
No

After the analysis of this question it is found that 59% of the respondent is
aware of the toothpaste manufacturer of the toothpaste they are using. In
comparison to that only 41% of the respondent aware of the manufacturer.
So we can say that the manufacturer of the toothpaste is not important for
many consumers. Here in this industry brand name is more important for the
use of toothpaste by consumer. People are more aware of brands than

manufacturers. So in toothpaste industry having a good brand name can be a

big advantage for a company.

15) During the last 1 year which other brands of toothpaste have you used
and bought:

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

54%

26%

less than three

brands

30%

more than three

brands

never bought any

other brand

It is found that 54% of the respondent is using the same brand over the one
year period. So it is seen that most of the respondents are hard-core brand
loyal for last one year. So it will be difficult for the companies to increase it
market size dramatically. 26% of the respondent is using more than three
brands. So it is found that almost one third of the consumer is split loyal. So
the companies can target this 30% of the consumers.

16) Comment on the following statements:

a)The doctor is the right person to testify for a toothpaste.

51%
34%
Series1
0%
strongly
disagree

neutral

agree

disagree

9%

6%
strongly
agree

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

b) Schemes offering more toothpaste for less price influences the customer
to buy a brand

57%

17%

8%

18%

strongly
disagree

disagree

neutral

0%
agree

strongly
agree

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

c) People choose their brands depending on what their friends use

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

51%

24%
14%

9%

2%
strongly
agree

agree

neutral

disagree

strongly
disagree

d) Advertising has an effect on deciding a toothpaste brand

80%

67%

60%
40%
20%

18%

10%

2%

3%

disagree

strongly
disagree

0%
strongly
agree

agree

neutral

a) In the analysis of this question it is found that most of the people i.e.
51% are neutral regarding whether the doctor is the right person or
not. Only 34% see doctor as an important person to testify for
toothpaste.

b) Most of the people are in favour of schemes like less price i.e. 57%.
So it can be inferred from it that various schemes that give some kind
of monetary benefits can be a success in the toothpaste industry.

c) In this question about influences by friends, most of the respondents

say that they dont agree with that. According to 51% of the
respondent, they dont get influenced by their friends. Only 26% of
the respondent say that they will be influenced by their friends.

d) So this question clearly tells us the importance of advertising. 77% of

the respondent says that they agree that advertising has an effect on
deciding a toothpaste brand. So the companies should go for
advertising that can have an effect on the minds of the consumers. We
have already seen a lot of advertising war going on between Colgate
and Pepsodent.

17) How important are the following for a toothpaste:

5
4.43

4.5
4.05

4.04

3.91

4.12

4.04

3.64

3.62
3.5

3.21

3
2.5
Series1
2
1.5
1
0.5

e
pr
ic

pr
ot
ec
tio
n

pr
op
er
ty

gu
m

an
ti
c

av
ity

in
gr
ed
ie
nt
as
h

fo
am
m
ou
th
w

fo
am
in
g

tu
be

so

ft

sq

ue
ez
e

re
pu
ta
tio
n

br
ea
th

co
m
pa
ny

es
h
fr

at
tra
ct
iv
e

pa
ck
ag
in
g

It is found that the most important factor for a consumer while choosing
toothpaste is fresh breath (4.43). So it is similar to why people brush teeth. It
is also seen that price also plays an important role as it is seen that price got
4.12 out of 5. Other three factors attractive packaging, anti cavity and gum
protection are also very important and they scored the same. But there is a

difference seen i.e. though soft squeeze was one of the most important
reasons for buying toothpaste. But today it has become a common thing and
no importance is given to soft squeeze tube.

18) Reasons one buy a toothpaste brand for:

In this question respondents are asked to rate five brands on various
parameters such as fresh breath, brand image, anti cavity and gum
protection. 1 for least important and 10 for most important. The final out
come was as follows:

Fresh

Close Up
7.75

Colgate
8.12

Pepsodent Colgate Gel Pepsodent G

7.23
7.32
6.36

breath
Brand

6.75

7.23

6.40

6.53

6.62

image
Anti

5.32

5.79

5.23

5.26

4.51

cavity
Gum

4.17

5.82

5.12

4.68

4.04

protection

Here the difference between highest and lowest in case of fresh breath is
1.76 and that of gum protection is 1.78.
So with the help of these two attributes the perceptual mapping is drawn.
It is found that there are a lot of gaps amongst the varios brand. Here it is
seen that Colgate is way ahead of other brands. But Colgate can come up
with a new product which can be in the higher side of both gum protection
and fresh breath. This area can give an advantage to the company. The rival
HLL can also launch a product in the same area and get the advantage over
Colgate and may able to gain a market share from Colgate and have better
image in the mind of the consumer. So there are potential in the market for
both Colgate and HLL. Colgate can also launch a product in the lower end
and eat the share of Close Up as it has better brand image in the mind of the
consumer.

max

gum protection
9
8

7
6
max
1
2
9
10
fresh breath

4
3
2
1
min

19) If a new product came in the market, using which you are not required to
brush yours teeth. Would you buy it?

Yes
36%
No
64%

Yes
No

It is found that 64% of the respondent is against the use of any other
alternative to toothpaste. So one can safely say that there is less threat of
substitutes to the toothpaste. People are using toothpaste for ages and they
are used to it that is found out in the course of interaction with the
respondents. But one cant out rightly say that toothpaste is going to be
there always. We have already 36% of the people who would like to go
for alternatives but main problem seems to be nonavailability of good
substitutes. So if a good substitute is there then this 36% may increase
further. 64% of the respondents say that they purchase toothpaste well in
advance, that means that toothpaste is a commodity that people plan while
buying, because its a product that is used early in the morning and if

purchase planning is not done than, with an empty tube, it will be a

irritable morning.

20) Which is your favorite TV channel?

40%
35%
35%
30%
25%
20%

18%

18%

Series1

15%
10%

8%
6%

5%

6%
2%

5%

2%

0%
Sony

Zee

Star Plus

HBO

Star
Movies

M TV.

ESPN

Star
Sports

Others

Here it is seen that highest number of respondents are viewing Star Plus that
is 35%. The other two closely followed channels are Sony and Zee TV,
which are 18% each. So if the companies would like to give advertisement

than they should go for channel like Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony etc. So this
analysis will help the companies to be more effective in targeting the
consumers through advertisement.

21) At what time do you usually watch TV:

40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%

34%

38%

18%
10%
4%
7-9 a.m. 11 a.m.1 p.m.

4%
1-4
p.m.

6-8
p.m.

9-10
p.m.

10-12
p.m.

So from the analysis of this question it is found that the most effective and
profitable time for a company to advertise on TV will be between 9-12 p.m.
During this period the average viewership is around 36% i.e. 34% during
9-10 p.m. and 38% during 10-12 p.m. During this time the company will get
the most attention in terms of viewership. So while advertising the
companies should keep this aspect in the mind.

CONCLUSION

The toothpaste industry is going to be more competitive in the near future.

The profit margin is going down over the year and going to be continuing
for the future also. So the main mantra for the companies to be successful is

to satisfy the consumers and develop brand image and brand loyalty
amongst them.

So it has become very necessary for the consumers to understand the Indian
consumers very well. So in the future the companies who come up with new
products at competitive prices and with good quality are going to the
successful one. Promotional activities are also going to play an important
role that should to be for both retailers and consumers.

So we are going to see a market which is going to heat up in the near future
where mainly two major players Colgate and HLL will fight the war.

SUGGESTIONS

The companies should give more emphasis on advertising and sales

promotion as the competition is becoming tougher and tougher. So
they need to make some brand image amongst the consumers.

 The customers are becoming king as they have a whole lot of choices.
So the companies should try to be cost effective and pass on the saved
amount to the customer.

Retailers are still the place to buy toothpaste. So the companies

should focus on retailers also who is also a customer for their
products.

The companies should try to launch new products after through

research of the consumers as they are becoming more dynamic day by
day.

LIMITATIONS

 The responses can be biased, as some of the respondents may not

have revealed the true pictures.

The company officials also too tend to give biased answers, as

they always want to give a rosy picture of their company.

The managers were reluctant to give information about the

product.

The sample was restricted to the Delhi region only.

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

1. In which age group do you belong: (tick one)

a) 12-18 Yrs [ ]

b) 19-27 Yrs

d) 41-55 Yrs [ ]

e) above 56 Yrs [ ]

2. Sex :

Male [ ]

3. Your Family income : (Rs per month)

[ ]

c) 28-40 Yrs [ ]

Female [ ]

a) 5000-10000 [ ]

b) 10001-20000 [ ]

c) above 20000 [ ]

4. Ho many members are there in your Family : - __________________

5. You are a:
a) Student

[ ]

d) Serviceman [ ]

b) Professional [ ]
e) Housewife

c) Businessman [ ]

[ ]

6. Write the names of three Bands that come to your mind when you hear
the word Toothpaste.
a)______________

b) ________________

c) ________________

7. You most often buy your toothpaste from:

a) Departmental stores [ ] b) b) Local grocery shop [ ]
c) Chemist [ ]
8. Do you apply Toothpaste on :
a) 1/4th length of toothbrush Bristles.

b) 1/2th length of toothbrush Bristles.

c) Full length of Toothbrush Bristles.

9. Do you:
a) Buy toothpaste well in advance.
b) You buy as and when you have an empty tube.
10. Which size of toothpaste do you normally Buy:

[ ]
[ ]

a) 50 gms

[ ]

b) 100gms

[ ]

c)150 gms

[ ]

d) 200 gms

[ ]

11. Why do you brush your teeth:

Please give points in the scale of 1-5(1 for least important and 5 for most
important).
a) It gives me Confidence.

[ ]

b) It leaves a Tinge of Freshness in me.

[ ]

c) It is a Hygienic activity.

[ ]

d) Necessary otherwise I will have Bad Breath.

[ ]

e) It removes stains from by Teeth.

[ ]

f) Necessary as it Prevents Tooth Decay.

[ ]

g) It gives me stronger Gums.

[ ]

12. Which toothpaste do you use most often : _______________________

13. For how long have you been using the above mentioned toothpaste :
a) Less than 6 months

[ ]

c) More than one Year [ ]

b) 6 months to one year [ ]

d) since my childhood

14. Can you name the Manufacturer?

Yes [ ]

No [ ]

15. During the last 1 year which other brand of toothpaste have you
used/bought:
1)
2)
3)
4) More than three brands
5) Not bought any other brand.
16. Comment on the following statements: (Please rank as follow)
1= Strongly Agree

4= Disagree

2= Agree

5= Strongly disagree

3= Neutrral
a) The Doctor is the right person to testify for a toothpaste.

[ ]

b) Schemes offering more toothpaste for less price influences the customer
to buy a Brand

[ ]

c) People choose their brands depending on what their friends use

[ ]

d) Advertising has an effect on deciding a toothpaste brand

[ ]

17. How important are the following for a Toothpaste :

(Please tick 1 for least important and 5 for most important)
a) Attractive Packaging

b) Longer lasting fresh breath

c) Company reputation

d) Soft squeeze tube

e) Foaming nature

f) Mouthwash ingredient

g) Anti cavity property

h) Gum protection property

i)

Price

18. Reasons one buy a Toothpaste Brand for :

(Please rank the brands relative to each other.)
(Please give 10 for most appealing and 1 for least appealing for different
Brands.)
Close Up Colgate Pepsodent Colgategel Pepsodent G
a) Fresh Breath

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

c) Brand image

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

h) Anti cavity

( )

I) Gum protection

( )
( )

( )
( )

( )
( )

( )
( )

( )

19. If a new product came in the market, using which you are not required to
brush yours teeth. Would you buy it?
Yes [ ]

No [ ]

20. Which is your favorite TV channel? --------------21. At what time do you usually watch TV:
a) 7-9 a.m.

[ ]

b) 11a.m.-1p.m [ ]

d) 6-8 p.m.

[ ]

e) 9-10

p.m.

c) 1-4 p.m.
[ ]

f) 10-12 p.m.

Thank you for your precious time.

Name:

Bibliography
1. Hawkins, Del I., Roger J. Best, and Kenneth A. Coney (2002),
Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy, 7th ed., Boston:
McGraw Hill.

2. Kotler Philip (2003), Marketing Management, Millennium edition,

prentice hall of India private limited.
3. L. G. Shiffman & L. L. Kajum(2004,fifth edition), Consumer
Behaviour, prentice hall of India private limited.
4. Subroto Sengupt(2004), brand positioning - strategies for competitive
advantage, eighth reprint TATA MC Graw-hall publishing co. ltd.
5. Tull & Hawkings(1999,sixth edition), Marketing Research, prentice
hall of India private limited.
6. www.aandm.com
7. www.colgate.com
8. www.projecsthub.com
9. www.psychology.com
10. www.indiainfoline.com

A PROJECT REPORT

ON

STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING

BEHAVIOUR IN TOOTHPASTE
INDUSTRY

Submitted to:
Prof. M.S. VERMA