TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page No.

Introduction
Industry Profile
Company Profile
Product Profile
Objective
Research methodology
Research Design
Recommendation and Findings
Annexure 1: Survey Questionnaire
Annexure 2: Focus Group specifications
Annexure 3: Coding and thematic analysis
Bibliography
Declaration
This is to certify that Project report entitled “Market research project report” which is
submitted by the team to Prof. Vaibhav Chawla comprises only our original work and
due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used.

Date: 22 March 2020

Team Members

Karandeep Singh MS19A016

Kriti Garg MS19A021

Navneet Kaur MS19A033

Pranav R MS19A041
Acknowledgement
We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Vaibhav Chawla for providing us the
direction and motivation to carry out the assignment. We extend our thanks to Praveen
Kumar Varma, VP- Marketing at Unibic Cookies Pvt Ltd who gave us the golden
opportunity to carry out the assignment about their organization. The report would not
have been completed without the help of Mr Jaspinder Vohra (Industry expert, FMCG)
and all the participants of the Focus group who enabled us to understand the subject in
such depth.
Introduction
Consumer behavior is the study of individuals and organizations and how they select
and use products and services. It is mainly concerned with psychology, motivations, and
behavior. Consumer is the king of any business activity. It is very important for any
marketing person to know how the consumer perceives different things and how he
behaves accordingly. So consumer research is imperative for the success of any
marketing effort

First of all perception is defined as the process of receiving, selecting organizing,

interpreting, checking and reacting to sensory stimuli or data. As marketer, it is
important to recognize why and how individuals make their consumption decision, so
that we make better strategic marketing decision. If marketer understand consumer
behavior they are able to predict how consumer are likely to react to various
information and environmental cues and are able to shape their marketing strategies
accordingly. Without doubt, marketers who understand consumer behavior will have
great competitive edge in the market.

Consumer preferences are ever changing and have become highly diversified. Even in
industrial markets, where need for goods and services are always more homogeneous
than in consumer markets, buyers exhibit diversified preference and less predictable
purchase behavior.

To successfully market to different segments the marketing manager needs appropriate

marketing strategies which he can design only when he can understand the factors
which account for these differences in consumers behavior and faster. The ultimate goal
of consumer research is to serve as the voice of the consumer. This type of research
focuses on understanding the consumer as a person by learning more about his or her
attitudes, needs, motivations, and behavior as they relate to a product or service. More
broadly, consumer research helps provide a company with relevant, reliable, valid, and
current information about their target buyer.
Industry Profile
The Indian biscuits Industry came into the limelight and started gaining a sound status in
the bakery industry in the latter part of the 20th century, when the urbanised society
called for readymade food products at a tenable cost.

India biscuit market stood at $3.9 billion in 2016, and is projected to grow at a
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.27 per cent, in value terms, between 2017
and 2022, to reach $7.25 billion by 2022.

States that have the larger intake of biscuits are Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra and West Bengal, the most
industrially-developed states, hold the maximum amount of consumption of biscuits.
The western region is the largest regional market for biscuits in India, as it is home to
millions of consumers with higher personal disposable incomes than the rest of India.

In terms of volume, biscuit production by the organised segment is estimated to be 1.30

million tonne. In the organised sector, the industry is dominated by Britannia and Parle,
which account for 70 per cent of the industry’s volumes. Britannia’s market share stands
at Rs 27 billion. Parle derives a large portion of its revenues from low-priced biscuits.
Parle-G and Britannia derive a fairly large share of their revenues from the medium- and
premium varieties. In fact, Britannia’s market share in the medium and premium
varieties is significantly higher. Other organised players include domestic players like
Bakeman’s, Champion, Kwality, Priya and multinational corporations (MNCs) like
SmithKline Consumer, Kellogg’s, Sara, Heinz, Excelsia (Nestle) and United Biscuits.

In 2015-2016, the cookie segment, which includes brands such as Bournvita Biscuits and
Britannia Good Day, witnessed a rising number of health-conscious consumers, an
expanding working population and increasing urbanisation. These are boosting the
country’s biscuit market.

Moreover, augmented disposable incomes, along with changing lifestyles, increasing

awareness regarding healthy diets and changes in food consumption patterns, are some
of the other factors expected to propel demand for biscuits over the course of the next
five years.

Biscuits can be broadly categorised into the following segments:

 • Glucose (44 per cent)

• Marie (13 per cent)

• Cream (10 per cent)

• Crackers (13 per cent)

• Milk (12 per cent)

• Others (8 per cent)

According to 6Wresearch, the Indian biscuit market is projected to reach $8.2 billion by
2023. The plain biscuit segment captured majority of the market share in 2016.
However, cookies and sandwich biscuits are expected to exhibit a high growth rate
during the forecast period.

Higher disposable incomes and the willingness of consumers to try new brands have
attracted a number of players to the biscuits industry, both, at the national & local level
and generated intense activity in the marketplace. The branded market grew around 15-
16 per cent last year. Commodity inflation continues to have a significant impact on
input cost and this inflationary pressure has put industry profits under pressure. Today,
there is a greater consumer choice both at the local and national level, together with a
diversity of tastes & benefits ranging from health & nutrition to pure indulgence.
However, most players are facing extremely high and unprecedented cost scenario and
some irrational competition too. The result is a huge pricing pressure with limitations on
price hikes for the entire industry and a shrinking profit pool of the industry. Wheat and
oil prices are already showing an increase of more than 20 per cent. In addition, the
steep increase in crude oil prices and hike in petrol & diesel prices announced by the
government have led to a significant increase in the price of packaging materials, freight
and also production costs

Increasing tax incidence and rising input costs are the main challenges that the biscuit
and cookie industry is currently facing.
Company Profile
Unibic, came to India in 2004 with the iconic Anzac and Bradman cookies. It is a joint
venture of cookie maker Unibic Australia and Dhruv Deepak Saxena who is a
Melbourne-based serial entrepreneur. Hence it is a subsidiary of Unibic Australia Pvt.
Ltd. Initially, they set up their business by importing cookies from Australia and by the
end of 2005 they set up their manufacturing unit in India. A five-year deal with
Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Co. to ensure its supply to the Cafe Coffee Day
outlets was the first step towards its branding. In addition to it, an investment of 7.5
crores for advertisement in the media also played a significant role.

Powered by a team of over 800 motivated individuals, Unibic is proud to have top
management that comprises industry veterans who bring domain knowledge and the
acumen of investors from Peepul Capital.

EXPANDING GEOGRAPHIES AND CLIENT BASE

Unibic exports to over 15 countries across North America, Australia, New Zealand, UAE,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Mauritius, Maldives,
Singapore and China - and is present in large format retail / supermarket chains in these
regions. Unibic also manufactures for over 6 private label retailers across the world.
Unibic is also available on leading online platforms including Amazon and Big Basket,
and is setting up their own online retail platform. In India, it is more famous in southern
part of India. However, they have other branches in various parts of India like northern
east region and other states like W.B and Delhi and Maharastra. Most of the consumers
in India go for biscuits pricing between 10 to 100. So Unibic set its strategy to acquire
the position in between so that it can touch every Indian heart. It has the eligibility
certificate for exporting cookies to outside India. This access is granted by British Retail
Consortium.

EXPANDING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY

What began as a distribution setup with 10 autorickshaws servicing Modern Trade in

Bangalore and Chennai has grown to a 300,000 outlet strong distribution network
across the country. The network spans traditional trade and modern trade that is
building on established strength in the South and West and is growing at a faster-than-
average rate in the North and East. Some of the retail chains where Unibic is on the
shelves include Walmart, Reliance Retail, Big Bazaar, Tesco, ABRL, Metro, Max Hyper,
Spencers, DMART and Lulu, among others.

LEADING INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS

Unibic has also made significant inroads with the institutional channels and has tied up
with the Indian Railways, the hospitality industry, educational institutions, financial
institutions, leading food caterers and corporates. And when it comes to our men and
women in uniform, Unibic is there to provide the real cookie for them as well with a
nation-wide presence in the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) of the Armed and the
Central Police Canteen.
Product Profile
Over the years, Unibic has grown its range to over 30 variants and has been regularly
introducing fresh & unique flavours to cookie connoisseurs around the world.
Headquartered in Bangalore, Unibic is known for its rich and flavor some cookies that
take a bite of the premium cookie market.

There are a wide variety of cookies ranging from the sense of chocolate to the dry fruit
embedded crunchy and delighted cookies to sugar-free cookies to oatmeal cookies.
They have developed over 20 varieties to give a blast to your taste buds. At first, they
started with two flavors Anzac Oatmeal Cookies and Bradman Chocochip Cookies. Now
they are touching every taste of India as per the need.

Today, Unibic offers a wide portfolio of products that can be broadly categorised as
chocolate, butter, milk, savoury & health. But that tells only a part of the story. Even in a
category like butter, the choice ranges from the classics like Butter Cookies and Cashew
to the unique Doosra Chilli Butter Cookies.

Unibic’s promise of more is amply demonstrated in every product. For example, Choco
Chip has 21% chocolate, one of the highest in the market while Butter Cookies contain
9.4% real butter, almost double the nearest competitor.
Objective
Management Decision Problem
How to increase the sales of Unibic Cookies?

Market Research Problem

Determine the brand image of Unibic Cookies and buying behavior of consumers

Components of the market research problem for Unibic Cookies are:

 Understanding the components of the consumer perception about a brand with

reference to cookie market
 Determining brand preference and its components amongst the surveyed
consumers
 Understanding how the consumers see Unibic cookies as a brand as compared to
other brands providing similar range of cookies in the market
 What are the factors that help build brand image
 Understanding the components of buying behavior of surveyed consumers
 Understanding what helps develop positive buyer behavior towards Unibic
cookies
Research Methodology
Research Methodology
Problem Definition
Discussion with the decision maker
The research problem was defined after detailed discussion with the decision
makers representing Unibic Cookies Pvt Ltd. The reducing sales were apparent
from the Sales Dump Data obtained for the three months of July, August and
September 2019 for the Chennai region obtained from the decision makers.
Upon statistical analysis of the primary data, the following key notes were
observed that proved crucial to determining the final market research problem.
 One major insight received from sales dump data is that supermarkets and
wholesalers which contribute majorly to the modern trade system, have the
highest amount of sales value. 
 However, the quantities bought by the Supermarkets and Canteens has
decreased substantially. This could be attributed to the new entrants or
increased competition from existing rivals. 

 The SKUs or Store keeping Units (packaging) taken in consideration are

15g, 35g, 40, 60g, 75g, 100g, 120g, 150g, 200g, 500g and 600g. Post a
thorough analysis it was concluded that 75g SKUs are demanded the most
by sellers and it could be because of the ideal size or space required by it. 

Expert Interview
The expert interview aided us in understanding the current industry trend across
the cookie and biscuit segment in Indian market. Larger insight was gained into the
challenges faced and the growth drivers of cookie industry with special focus on
the Unibic cookies with respect to its major competitors.
The detailed interview of the Industry expert hailing from the FMCG background
yielded the following key points which were instrumental in drafting the final
market research problem:

Qualitative Analysis : Coding and Thematic Analysis

We sampled 10 reviews for several Unibic products off of Amazon, and analysed
them.
We have found that people have certain expectations from UNIBIC. They expect a
certain standard, a certain quality from it. So, when they don’t get that quality, they
are disappointed and might consider switching.
Quality control has to be on point. Some reviews are about taste, smell, etc. So,
proper checks have to be carried out to ensure the quality is on par with customer
expectations.
Buying biscuits and cookies online has several challenges. There are transportation
challenges – cookies and biscuits get broken, crushed. The packages get opened;
some packets are taken out/ lost in transit as well. Despite this, there are several
reviews on Amazon alone, showing there have been extensive purchases online.
Thus the major problems can be attributed to the perception of the brand as well as
the expectations the consumers have prior to buying Unibic cookies.

Hypothesis
 The consumers are aware of the superior butter content and differentiated
taste of the Unibic Cookies
 The consumers perceive Unibic cookies to be of good quality vis a vis the
competitor brands available in the market
 The consumers prefer Unibic cookies due to its easy availability in the
modern and traditional trade
 Price does not have an impact on the buying behavior of the consumers
 The Consumers do not switch brands vey frequently and are loyal

Research Design
Nature of Study
Exploratory: The basic aim of the exploratory research study is to gain familiarity
with a phenomenon or to achieve new insight into it. In this particular study an
attempt made to comprehend and gain insights into the buying behaviour of
consumer with reference to the cookie market as well as to understand the
components of the perception that the consumers have of the brand.

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study was restricted to the location of Chennai . The time of
study was a significant constraint as being restricted to less than a month. The
study is also restricted in terms of population to younger generation mostly
pursuing post graduation in the Chennai region. Efforts have been made to put the
picture as clear and candid as possible.

Primary Research: Survey of Consumers

Key insights of the responses received:

Buyer behaviour

1) Why do you prefer eating biscuits?-This question was mainly aimed to map
the buyer’s psychology to the product biscuits. Out of the 24 responses we
received, it was noted that more or less biscuits are an extremely low-
involvement product which are purchased by people for taking care of their
hunger and just as a general munching item.
2) The above questions helped us understand the regularity of consumption and
purchase of the product. As it was noticed, mostly the number of individuals
consuming biscuits per household is 3-4 and the number of times people buy
the biscuits is once a month to 1-3 times a week. Household usually prefer to
buy it along with their grocery needs.
3) Taste and Quality rank the highest when the respondents were asked to rate the
attribute of the product they value the most.

Understanding the market and competitors

4) It was found that among the competitors Britannia and Oreo have captured the
maximum market due their taste superiority which had been rated the highest by
the respondents.

5) One interesting insight that we received was that, most of the consumers (in the
given age group) though value brand are not brand-loyal. They prefer to change
their taste regularly and so are extremely volatile and unpredictable. As biscuits are
a low-involvement product, it makes sense to interpret that the consumers prefer
taste and also availability of the product while making a purchase.

Favourable product attributes

6) As mentioned earlier, in the current scenario, Biscuits are more considered a
product of snacking and so taste and quality is of utmost importance. There is some
segment of health-conscious consumers that prefer to buy high-fibre low calories
biscuits, the respondent’s pool chosen by us which was of the age group 17-26,
goes for “richer” cookies.

Brand awareness of Unibic

7) Though most (almost all) of the respondents had tasted the product, most of
them were not influenced by TV advertisements or celebrity endorsements.
Instead, word of mouth played a major role in making the product successful.
Product availability of Unibic

8) Through our research we found that though the sales of Unibic are declining in
modern trade, consumers are not facing much difficulty with the availability of the
product. Most consumers are buying the product through retail trade only and
according to their responses, the product variant they want is available at the time
of purchase.

Analysis of sales tactics adopted by Unibic

9) FMCG products usually apply a lot of sales promotion tactics to implement a

pull startergy towards their variant. Offers like ‘buy one get one’, free accessory
are some examples of it.

We suggest that the company should engage in such offers by clubbing the
desirable variant and product package with a variant which is not so popular. This
will enable the company to make consumers try their less-appealing product and
create a demand for it in return.

Focus Groups
The main objective of this FGD was to understand how the customers of Unibic
cookies perceive them as a brand. This report summarizes the key findings of the
focus group discussion conducted with 12 students from Department of
Management Studies, IIT Madras who witnessed Unibic Cookies as a prime
sponsor in their annual business fest- SAMANVAY 2019. The discussions
revealed a general agreement by the students that Unibic cookies does not rank
high in consumer preference due to their lack of advertisement and brand image.
As a by-product, the discussion gave valuable insight to the underlying needs,
wishes and hopes of the respondents with regards to the cookies, giving impetus to
adjust the marketing plans and communication strategy accordingly. It was
undertaken to consult the students on (1) the brand image of Unibic Cookies; (2)
the experience with cookies; and (3) to identify possible support mechanisms in the
framework of marketing Unibic cookies better. The student population at DoMS
comprised of some 60% of women and 40% Research Scholars.it also consist of
EMBA students but due to their unavailability in campus, they couldn’t join the
FGD. However, it was seen important to incorporate persons of all these categories
into the consultations. The key findings from the discussion was that Unibic does
not enjoy a high preference rank amongst consumers. Consumers feel that its effort
to break the walls created by other biscuit brands are not enough and they should
revamp the marketing strategies. Also, the brand has a huge variety of cookies to
offer but not all is easily available in modern trades. The cookies are at times
creates a hole in the pocket and cannot be bought at all times. The image of the
brand confuses the consumers as Indian market are used to biscuits and not
cookies. Towards the end of the discussion, we asked the respondents about what
they feel that Unibic cookies can do to improve their brand image and we came to
the following recommendations-

 Create relevant advertisements.

 Sampling and give away
 Collaboration with food bloggers
 Efficient supply chain to make the cookies available at the remotest of
locations.
 Increase Internet presence.
Recommendations and Findings
Annexure 1: Survey Questionnaire
Annexure 2: Focus Group Specifications
1. Executive Summary

The main objective of this discussion was to understand how the customers of Unibic cookies perceive
them as a brand. This report summarizes the key findings of the focus group discussion conducted with
12 students from Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras who witnessed Unibic Cookies as a
prime sponsor in their annual business fest- SAMANVAY 2019. The discussions revealed a general
agreement by the students that Unibic cookies does not rank high in consumer preference due to their
lack of advertisement and brand image. As a by-product, the discussion gave valuable insight to the
underlying needs, wishes and hopes of the respondents with regards to the cookies, giving impetus to
adjust the marketing plans and communication strategy accordingly.

2. Objective

Focus group discussions (FDG) were undertaken to consult the students on (1) the brand image of Unibic
Cookies; (2) the experience with cookies; and (3) to identify possible support mechanisms in the
framework of marketing Unibic cookies better. The student population at DoMS comprised of some 60%
of women and 40% Research Scholars.it also consist of EMBA students but due to their unavailability in
campus, they couldn’t join the FGD. However, it was seen important to incorporate persons of all these
categories into the consultations.

3. Methodology & Participant Profile

3.1. Instrument Development

After analyzing the sales dump data, we saw that there was a decline in the sales of Unibic cookies in
modern trade and we thought it would trace back to the brand image and awareness of the same. Thus,
we decided to conduct a focus group discussion to get insights about the customer experience about the
cookies and findings were really of use. We also got an understanding of what consumers want from the
brand and what the brand can do to bridge the gap.

3.2. Site Selection

The FGD was conducted at DoMS 101 as it’s the 1st year MBA classroom and everyone has access to it.
Moreover, it is spacious and has seating good enough to conduct such discussions.

3.3. Participant Selection

The process of selecting the respondents was simple. We had in mind that whoever was part of
SAMANVAY 19 was eligible to be a part of the discussion as Unibic Cookies was SAMANVAY’s official
refreshment partner. We provided refreshments as incentives to the students to be part of the
discussion and we finally had 12 respondents ready to be part of FGD.
4. Demographics

1. Number of Participants- 12

2. Age Range(s)- 22-28

3. Gender- 7 male, 5 female

4. Education- All are students at DoMS, IIT Madras

5. Discussion

1. PREAMBLE (10 mins)

• We thanked and welcomed all the participants.

• Talked about the nature of the focus group. We conveyed that this is discussion is to understand
the experience regarding Unibic cookies.

• There is no right or wrong answer.

• We provided refreshments like Juice and Unibic cookies.

• Lastly, we asked them about their concerns or whether they had any question regarding the
discussion.

2. INTRODUCTION & WARM-UP (5 mins)

• The moderator began the opening lines of the discussion after which each of the participant was
asked to introduce themselves (name, background etc)

• They were asked about their likes and dislikes towards Unibic Cookies.

3. USAGE (15 mins)

• How often do you consume Unibic Cookies?

• Why do you prefer Unibic cookies over other brands?

4. EXPERIENCE (20 mins)

• We asked participants about their good experience regarding the Unibic cookies (why do they
buy it, which flavor do they like, why they like it)
• We also discussed the bad experience relating to the cookies (any bad flavor etc)

5. SUGGESTIONS (20 mins)

• What made the experience bad?

• What could be done to improve it

• Additional features that can be added to make the experience better.

6. CLOSING EXPERIENCE (20 mins)

• Describe the discussion in one word

• What can the manufacturers do?

• Explore and refine

• Thank the respondents and close the session.

6. Conclusion

The key findings from the discussion was that Unibic does not enjoy a high preference rank amongst
consumers. Consumers feel that its effort to break the walls created by other biscuit brands are not
enough and they should revamp the marketing strategies. Also, the brand has a huge variety of cookies
to offer but not all is easily available in modern trades. The cookies are at times creates a hole in the
pocket and cannot be bought at all times. The image of the brand confuses the consumers as Indian
market are used to biscuits and not cookies.

7. Recommendations

Towards the end of the discussion, we asked the respondents about what they feel that Unibic cookies
can do to improve their brand image and we came to the following recommendations-

• Create relevant advertisements.

• Sampling and give away

• Collaboration with food bloggers

• Efficient supply chain to make the cookies available at the remotest of locations.

• Increase Internet presence.

Annexure 3: Coding and Thematic
Analysis
References
 Sales Dump data UNIBIC- Jul,Aug,Sep
 https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/how-understand-influence-consumer-
behavior/
 http://www.fnbnews.com/Bakery-Biscuits/indian-biscuit-market-projected-
to-reach-725-billionin-next-four-years-42107