MARKETING RESEARCH

PROJECT REPORT

SUBMITTED TO:
PROF. RAJENDRA NARGUNDKAR

SUBMITTED BY:
GROUP 10 SEC- EF

KANDAGATLA THRILOK KUMAR

KALLURI BHARAT ADARSH
HARDEV SINGH
ROSHANI
S SWETHA
YASHI YADAV
JUSTIN GEORGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY-

The objective of the study was to determine if there is a shift

towards herbal shampoos in the market and find out the buying
behavior of the consumers and the perception of the Himalaya
herbal shampoo. The primary research method was used to
arrive at the conclusions which were- there is no significant
difference in the satisfaction levels of the users of normal
shampoos and herbal shampoos, buying decisions were
influenced by advertisements, pricing and doctors’
recommendations, majority of the customers were satisfied
with the brand, found Himalaya to be adequately priced and
believed that it provided certain benefits.

TABLE OF CONTENTS-

 Introduction
 Research Objectives
 Research Methodology
 Sample Design
 Field Work
 Questionnaire
 Analysis
  T-test
 Cluster Analysis
 Factor Analysis
 Discriminant Analysis
 Findings
 Limitations

INTRODUCTION-

Shampoos are among the most commonly used goods in cities.

With the growing popularity of herbal products and ingredients
there has been a rise in demand for herbal shampoos in the
market. Consumers in India are more aware of the harmful
effects of chemicals and are willing to spend more on products
that they perceive to be made of natural, herbal or Ayurvedic
ingredients, which they consider to be better for their hair.

The study is being done keeping in mind this emerging trend in

the recent years. This trend gained traction over the review
period and increasingly led to brands launching new variants on
natural, herbal and Ayurvedic themes to tap into this interest.
This trend was supported by promotional activities carried out
by brands such as Parachute, Dabur, Himani Navratna, Ayush,
Nihar, Patanjali, Indulekha and Ayur. Himalaya herbal shampoo
is one of the leading brands in this segment and therefore they
have been chosen for our study. The herbal shampoo segment
is slated to touch a value of nearly US$ 11,200 Mn in the year
2022. Keeping in mind the potential of the natural products’
market in India, it is anticipated that Indian exports as well as
domestic demand for such products will increase in the coming
years.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES-

The research objectives for our study were threefold-

1. To find out if there is a shift towards herbal shampoos and

why is this shift happening
2. Buying behavior of current customers and the relationship
with their current brand
3. Find the consumer perception about Himalaya as a herbal
shampoo and measure the satisfaction levels with the
brand
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY-

SAMPLE DESIGN-

The sample size that we arrived using the formula was as

follows-

(Zs/e)^2, Taking a confidence level of 95% , error of 10% and s=

Range/6= (5-1)/6= 0.67 we get-

N= (1.96*0.67/0.1)^2= 172

FIELD WORK-

To gather data, we went to popular malls and supermarkets in

Indore. Our target segment was 16-50 year old adults (both
males and females) using shampoos and living in the urban
areas. We employed the convenience based sampling method
and collected data from 91 respondents. The questionnaire was
a printed document and all the responses were filled through
face-to-face interviews.

QUESTIONNAIRE-

We designed a questionnaire with 20 questions (excluding the

demographics) for our study. The questions were a mix of
multiple choice and open-ended questions. The questions
covered different areas like the basic use patterns of the
products, the current brand they use, their knowledge about
Himalaya and also the effectiveness of the promotional
activities undertaken by these firms.

ANALYSIS-

T-TEST ANALYSIS-

The t-test analysis was done to learn about the first objective of
assessing the shift towards herbal shampoos. We did the
analysis using Q9. And Q10.
H0 = There is no significant difference in the satisfaction level of
users of herbal and users of non-herbal shampoos.
H1 = There is significant difference in the satisfaction level of
users of herbal and users of non-herbal shampoos.

UsingHerbal * Satisfaction Crosstabulation

Count
Satisfaction
Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Highly Satisfied Total
UsingHerbal Uses Herbal 1 4 12 1 18
Does not use herbal 2 18 40 14 74
Total 3 22 52 15 92

Group Statistics
UsingHerbal N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Satisfaction Uses Herbal 18 3.7222 .66911 .15771
Does not use herbal 74 3.8919 .73219 .08512

Independent Samples t-Test

Levene's Test for
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error Difference
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
Satisfaction Equal .036 .851 -.896 90 .373 -.16967 .18941 -.54596 .20662
variances
assumed
 Equal -.947 27.796 .352 -.16967 .17921 -.53689 .19755
variances not
assumed

P value = 0.373
Confidence level taken = 95%
α=0.05
P> α
Therefore, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. This implies
that there is no significant difference in the satisfaction level of
users of herbal and users of non-herbal shampoos.

CLUSTER ANALYSIS-

This technique was used to segment the customers of Himalaya

into different clusters. This analysis was done using the
responses to Q20.
Since, all the variables have significance value lower than 0.05,
it indicates that all the variables are significant. 8% of the
respondents formed cluster 1, 21% cluster 2 and majority part
i.e. 29% is by cluster 3.
Cluster 1 respondents’ willingness to pay was low while it is
high for cluster 2 respondents who prefer Himalaya as their
first choice and have been loyal towards its products. Also, they
are highly likely to recommend it to their friends and family
members. And cluster 3 respondents are okay with paying
mediocre price for Himalaya products which is also their
current product.

FACTOR ANALYSIS-

Factor analysis was done to study our second objective of

assessing the buying behavior of customers. This analysis was
done to find out the dominant factors influencing the
customers while buying shampoos and it was done based on
the responses of Q4.

Communalities
Initial Extraction
Brand 1.000 .343
price 1.000 .679
volume 1.000 .714
packaging 1.000 .539
advertisement 1.000 .622
features 1.000 .590
friends 1.000 .371
doctor 1.000 .689
Extraction Method: Principal Component
Analysis.
 Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared

Initial Eigenvalues Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
% of
% of Cumul % of Cumulati Tota Varianc
Component Total Variance ative % Total Variance ve % l e Cumulative %
1 1.800 22.501 22.501 1.800 22.501 22.501 1.73 21.669 21.669
4
2 1.581 19.766 42.267 1.581 19.766 42.267 1.45 18.158 39.827
3
3 1.165 14.559 56.826 1.165 14.559 56.826 1.36 16.999 56.826
0
4 .863 10.787 67.613
5 .847 10.586 78.199
6 .649 8.108 86.307
7 .629 7.862 94.168
8 .467 5.832 100.00
0
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

From the output, we can see in the above table that the three
factors extracted account for 56.826% of the information. We
further move onto the rotated component matrix to find out
what are the factors which are clubbed into the 3 factors.
 Component Matrixa
Component
1 2 3
brand .152 -.554 .111
price .251 .609 -.495
volume .502 .137 -.666
packaging .592 -.416 .124
advertisement .734 -.283 -.049
features .448 .470 .410
friends .572 -.050 .205
doctor .212 .639 .485
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
a. 3 components extracted.

Rotated Component Matrix

Component
1 2 3
brand .426 -.277 -.291
price -.158 .220 .778
volume .276 -.135 .787
packaging .732 -.019 -.060
advertisement .764 .019 .196
features .192 .739 .080
friends .537 .284 .043
doctor -.087 .825 .008
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 5 iterations.

From the matrix, we can see that packaging, advertisement

form factor 1.

Quality features and doctor form factor 2.

Price and volume together form factor 3.

DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS-

This analysis has been done to study the third objective of

measuring the satisfaction levels after listing out what drives it.
The analysis has been done using the responses to Q19. We
have assumed satisfaction to be driven by Price, Value for
money, Features and Quality.

Eigenvalues

Canonical
Function Eigenvalue % of Variance Cumulative % Correlation

1 .339a 82.0 82.0 .503

2 .074a 18.0 100.0 .263

Functions at Group Centroids

Function

Satisfaction 1 2

0 -1.139 .332

5 .116 -.124

10 1.415 .855
 Classification Resultsa

Predicted Group Membership

Satisfaction 0 5 10 Total

Original Count 0 6 1 1 8

5 9 22 11 42

10 0 0 3 3

% 0 75.0 12.5 12.5 100.0

5 21.4 52.4 26.2 100.0

10 .0 .0 100.0 100.0

58.5% of the people were correctly classified into the 2 groups.

We see that the majority of the people are reasonably satisfied

with Himalaya as a herbal shampoo option (38 people from 53
were classified into groups 5 and 10).
FINDINGS-

1. The t-test shows that there is no significant difference

between the satisfaction levels of the users of normal
shampoos and herbal shampoos. Hence, we conclude that
as of this moment there is no major shift that is happening
towards the herbal shampoos.
2. The factor analysis shows us that some of the key factors
influencing the buying decisions are as follows- price and
volume of the shampoo containers, the advertisement
campaigns and the attractive packaging. The unique
features of shampoos and doctors’ recommendations also
significantly influence the purchasing decisions of the
consumers.
3. The cluster analysis shows us the different types of
customers who are currently using Himalaya. Taking their
pricing attitudes, we find that 29% of the users believe
that despite the benefits of Himalaya herbal shampoo they
would be willing to pay only a certain premium, 21% felt it
was reasonably priced, were satisfied with the product to
an extent that they would be willing to spread positive
word-of-mouth for Himalaya. 8% felt that Himalaya
products were priced too high.
 4. The majority of the respondents perceive Himalaya to be
an adequately priced, value for money product which
provides quality features. The satisfaction levels with the
brand as an option for herbal shampoos was also high.

LIMITATIONS-

1. The major limitation of the study is the fact that the

sample size studied was a very small one and therefore,
extrapolation is not possible.
2. The sampling method used was convenience based
sampling method which means that sample might not
have been adequately representative of the whole
population.