A CONJOINT ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR FAIRNESS CREAMS AMONG SMALL TOWNS LOCATED NEAR AHMEDABAD CITY

Transcription

1 A CONJOINT ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR FAIRNESS CREAMS AMONG SMALL TOWNS LOCATED NEAR AHMEDABAD CITY DR. RITESH K. PATEL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, PG RESEARCH CENTRE FOR GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS (CGS), GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY (GTU), AHMEDABAD. ABSTRACT India s FMCG market is evolving at rapid speed, fuelled by growth of Indian economy, increased disposable income of consumers, and rapidly changing lifestyles. This market has seen a significant growth in the cosmetic market in last two decades and fairness cream accounts for the major part of the cosmetic market with an average growth rate of 20% per annum. In addition to the analysis of consumer survey, conjoint analysis was done on different attributes with specific attribute levels to get the utility values of different attribute levels within an attribute. This was done to analyze overall utility of a product with certain attributes, which can be further used to launch and position any new or existing product. Conclusions were derived from the analysis - Fair & Lovely was ranked as the best brand on specific factors attributed to Fair & Lovely like awareness, promotion and advertisements. However, on the utility factor of a brand Olay was ranked the highest. There seemed to be a perceptual bias in Indian consumers. Friends seemed to influence the Indian fairness cream consumers the most based on the survey. Quality of a new brand and the current fashion motivates the consumers to switch to a new brand of fairness cream. There were other conclusions as well as certain limitations identified for the conducted analysis and survey. Addressing these limitations would help in further improving the analysis and results. KEY WORDS: Rural Marketing, Indian Fairness Cream Market, Consumer Preferences, Conjoint Analysis, etc. Introduction Fairness creams constitute a consistent proportion of income for the FMCG companies in India. The fairness creams enjoy very good market growth rate when compared with other related product categories. Fairness creams have become a vital product for the Indian FMCG companies in increasing their overall sales due to the importance given by Indian consumers towards fairness. Penetration of most fairness creams is still quite low in India. Current consumption of many products is well below that of many countries in Asia. The low market penetration of the fairness cream products offers room for growth. The urban population with increasing purchasing power is the major force driving demand for fairness cream. India is a very pricesensitive market and mass-market products constitute the major part of the fairness cream products. 12

2 Consumption of fairness creams centres on young women, with the age group years accounting for about 70% of the market. Consumption begins in the teens and tapers off after 45, and declines substantially after 55 (refer Table 1). Table 1 Consumption of Fairness Creams among Women in India, Source: Extrapolated from assorted secondary sources Age Group Share of Population % Share of Make-up Product Sales Under 15 years 33% 10% years 34% 50% years 12% 20% years 11% 15% Over 55 years 10% 5% Garnier, 7 % CavinKare, 10% Others, 13 % Market Share HUL CavinKare Garnier HUL, 70% Figure 1 Market Share of Fairness Cream Brands The market size for fairness cream in India is estimated to be Rs.800 crore. The market growth rate ranges between 15 20% on a year-to-year basis. The leading players in the market include Hindustan Lever Ltd., (HLL's) 'Fair & Lovely' with 76 percent of the market share and CavinKare's 'Fairever' with 15 percent of the market share. Other important players like Godrej's 'Fairglow', Emami's 'Fair and Handsome', Vicco and Himalaya share the rest of the market share. It has been estimated that males constitute 20 percent of the total sales for fairness creams in India. The existing players are focusing upon improving the quality and ingredients and new players are invading the Indian market. The sector is highly dispersed, as a result of extensive monitoring and licensing restrictions imposed by the government over thirty years: there are close to 100 organized players, including several multinational players, besides hundreds of small-scale units that are exempt from formally reporting their details. Types of Companies There are three principal types of companies in the organized sector: Foreign-owned/International companies: Unilever, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive, L Oreal, Revlon, Oriflame, Avon, Amway, Gillette, Wella AG, Shisaido, Schwarzkopf, and several Italian companies. Large indigenous companies: Ayur herbal, Dabur, Marico, Godrej, CavinKare, Emami, Biotique, and Paras. 13

3 Small/medium companies: About 100 players. In addition to the organized sector, there is a very large unorganized sector comprising of hundreds of micro/cottage scale enterprises, spread across the country, thriving on products based on traditional and local recipes. Fairness Cream - Principal Market Segment The fairness cream products form a part of the skin & body care segment of the cosmetic products portfolio. Skin-care, a crowded market, estimated at Rs 21 billion, has been growing at a 16%. Besides Lakme, Ponds and L Oreal, others significant players in this category include VLCC, Biotique, Revlon, Amway, Avon and Marico s Kaya. Procter & Gamble is the latest entrant to the category, having launched its Olay brand in July The skin care market is hotly contested, with more than 170 companies and 350brands in close to 1500 SKUs reported to be on the market shelves. The market size of the skin-care segment is estimated at Rs 21 billion. Fairness creams, with a market of around Rs billion, account for around 56 per cent by value. Table 2 Market Segmentation of Skin Care Products by Volume & Value Category % Volume % Value Antiseptic Creams Astringents 1 1 Calamines/Foundations 2 6 Cold Creams 13 8 Fairness Creams Moisturizing Creams Snows 1 0 Vanishing Creams 4 5 The premium skin care products have a market size worth Rs. 4.5 billion - approx. 22% of the total skin care market. The market for premium cosmetics products in general and skin care products in particular has been growing faster than the overall market, driven by the changing lifestyles and increasing disposable incomes. Fairness creams are the popular categories in the skin-care segment and account for approximately 60 percent of the skin-care segment. However, the distribution of premium skin-care products is still restricted to metro and mini-metro cities - about 30 cities all over India. Over 90 per cent of women in India cite skin lightening as a high-need area. Indeed fairness, by itself, stands for a bundle of skincare benefits (like oil-control, blemish reduction, sun protection, etc.). Also, most women in India tend to use only one cream (usually fairness cream) for all these benefits as an economical alternative. As a result, India is a huge market for fairness creams. In 2006, fairness products accounted for nearly Rs. 12 billion, and annual growth rate ranging from 10 to 15 per cent in the past five years. Media blitz, especially on TV, has added to the light skin mania. An interesting new trend is that men account for about 25 per cent of fairness cream use across the country and the figure is growing. This has seen launch of nine new fairness products in the market since

4 Growth Drivers for Fairness Cream Market The sector has seen impressive growth since the 1990s, following a series of economic reforms reduced import tariffs and lower excise duties, principally- resulting in lower manufacturing costs and improved affordability by the consuming class that has also seen a rise in disposable incomes in recent times. Driven by rising penetration, the sector has grown by an average of 7-8% per annum since 1992, and more than 15% per annum in the last 3-5 years. Meanwhile, several new sub categories and niches are emerging in each segment. The industry foresees a steady 15% growth rate for the next five years, driven by increased product usage intensity and wider market coverage, with increasing penetration in rural areas. The market for fairness creams has been growing and will continue to grow in the coming years. Some of the key factors driving the market growth in the sector are: Higher disposable incomes per household in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. The consumer confidence index is high, which is converting the traditional savings oriented mindset to greater consumption and spending on leisure, lifestyle and even luxury - experiment, try new things, spending more on feeling and looking good -entertainment, durables, apparels, appliances, home improvement products, lifestyle accessories, beauty products etc. India is a young nation, with majority of its population in the age group that is most likely to use fairness creams and other personal care products. The present low per capita consumption leaves tremendous potential for increase in consumption in the coming years. Indian consumers, particularly in the metros and tier I cities (young, wealthy, increasingly internationally exposed and well educated) are demanding products and services of international standard and quality. Availability of specialty products addressing specific consumer needs are further driving the demand for niche products, thereby expanding the market. The rapid demographic transition, burgeoning demand, rising affluence and more workingwomen force are key drivers for rapid growth in the fairness cream segment in India. With per capita cosmetics spend of $0.68 per year, the Indian market offers a huge opportunity to international beauty cosmetics companies, for whom markets around the world are saturating. Sampling Plan Target Population: The survey was floated through the internet through various media, by the researcher or through friends and social networking channels. The targeted number was around , and a number of 51 were reached (of which 20 were incomplete response). The target area was small towns (Vehelal, Adalaj, Jetalput, Satej, Uwarsad, Dabhoda, Kanij, Sasandra, Sanand, Dehgam, Badarpur, Ghodasar, etc.) located near Ahmedabad city of Gujarat state in India. Looking at nature of research, Non probability based convenience sampling method was employed to collect samples from targeted population Survey Population: Sampling population included female college students and working class of age groups less than

5 Sampling Design: For sample design, data was transferred from Qualtrics survey software directly in the form of SPSS datasets for analysis. Data was refined through consistency checks and manual removal of imperfect responses. Eligibility Criteria: Both users and non-users of fairness cream were eligible for sampling. Proposed Sample Size: 31 (Usable responses) Response Rate: The response rate was total number of completed responses of the total responses recorded. Hence it was 62% (=31/50). Response Bias: The survey questions were objective enough so as to not provide any leading opinion. This was intended to reduce response bias. Data Preparation A codebook was created containing an exhaustive list of all variables that are expected to be used in the quantitative analysis. The questions which generated these variables and the scale type for each of these variables are also mentioned in the Code Book (Table 3). Table 3 Code Book for Survey Variable Number Description Question No. Scale Type 1 User of Fairness Cream 1.1 Nominal 2 Frequency of Usage 2.1 Nominal 3-7 Influencing Factors in Purchase Decision 2.2, 3.1 Ordinal 8-12 Brand Ranking on basis of Awareness 2.3, 3.2 Ordinal Brand Ranking on basis of Promotional 2.4, 3.3 Ordinal Offers Brand Ranking on basis of Advertisements 2.5, 3.4 Ordinal Brand Ranking on basis of Range/Variety 2.6, 3.5 Ordinal 28 Intention to switch to New Brand 2.7 Nominal Factors Considered while Looking for New 2.8, 3.6 Ordinal Brand Important Features for Purchase of Brand 2.9, 3.7 Ordinal Evaluation Factors for Brand 2.10, 3.8 Nominal Similarity in Brand Used by family, friends, 2.11 Nominal peers 47 Age 4.1 Interval 48 Income 4.2 Interval 49 Marital Status 4.3 Nominal 50 Occupation 4.4 Nominal Reliability Test for the Survey The survey questionnaire was tested for reliability and internal consistency using Cronbach s alpha. Cronbach alpha is a statistic used when the survey/questionnaire consists of a lot of questions that form a scale. 16

6 Table 4 gives the output of SPSS. A value of for Cronbach s alpha in Reliability statistics shows that the internal consistency of the survey is good, and thus the survey was not changed any further. Table 4 SPSS Output: Cronbach s Alpha Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items Data Analysis & Interpretation The survey was aimed at collecting responses to questions that would help in identification of the consumer buying behaviour characteristics and preferences for fairness cream. The questions in the survey were designed to provide answers to the following: The popular brand of fairness cream among the major existing brands The reason of choosing a particular brand of fairness cream The factors influencing choice of a particular brand of fairness cream The value for a brand of fairness cream The attractive features of a fairness cream 1) Brand Preference There were four factors that were identified to be the determinants in individual s preference for a brand. The factors - Brand awareness, promotion, advertisements and range, were decided on the basis of exploratory analysis literature survey and interviews with users. The 5 major brands in the Indian fairness market - Fair ever, Fair & lovely, Pond s, Lakme and Olay, were considered for this analysis. Rank-Based Analysis The analysis required the respondents to rank the 5 brands against each of the four factors identified to understand the consumer s preference for any of the existing brands. Table 5 was obtained on the basis of the responses gathered from the respondents giving the preference for the brands on the basis of the four factors. Table 5 Brand Preferences Brand Fairever Fair & Lovely Ponds Lakme Olay Company CavinKare HUL HUL HUL P&G Factors Rank Awareness Promotion Advertisement Range/Variety In order to understand if the consumers perceive any relation between the different factors, pair-wise Pearson s correlation coefficient was calculated. The same is shown in Table 6. 17

7 Promotion GALAXY International Interdisciplinary Research Journal ISSN Table 6 Correlation between Factors for Brand Preference Factors Awareness Promotion Advertisement Range/Variety Awareness Promotion Advertisement Range/Variety Perceptual Mapping Based Analysis Perceptual mapping is a diagrammatic technique that is used to visually display the perceptions of consumers or potential consumers of the product. Typically the position of a product, product line, brand, or company is displayed relative to their competition against different dimensions/factors. The number of dimensions most commonly used for perceptual mapping is two. The perceptual map was made for each of the 6 pairs possible from the four factors. Each of the five brands was positioned on the map based on the ranks given by the respondents. The 6 perceptual maps obtained are shown below (Fig.:2-7) Promotion vs. Awareness Olay Fairever Lakme Ponds Awareness Fair&Lovely Figure 2 Perceptual Map Between Promotion & Awareness 18

8 Advertisement Range GALAXY International Interdisciplinary Research Journal ISSN Range vs. Advertisement Ponds Fair&Lovely Lakme Olay Fairever Advertisement Figure 3 Perceptual Map Between Range & Advertisement Advertisement vs. Promotion Ponds Olay Lakme Fair&Lovely Fairever Promotion Figure 4 Perceptual Map between Advertisement & Promotion 19

9 Range Advertisement GALAXY International Interdisciplinary Research Journal ISSN Advertisement vs. Awareness Ponds 1.20 Olay Lakme 0.40 Fair&Lovely Fairever Awareness Figure 5 Perceptual Map for Advertisement & Awareness 1.80 Range vs. Awareness Fair&Lovely Ponds Lakme Olay 0.20 Fairever Awareness Figure 6 Perceptual Map for Range & Awareness 20

10 Range GALAXY International Interdisciplinary Research Journal ISSN Range vs. Promotion Ponds Fair&Lovely Lakme Olay 0.20 Fairever Promotion Figure 7 Perceptual Map for Range & Promotion Interpretation From the rank-based analysis as well as perceptual map, it is observed that Fair & Lovely is ranked as the best brand with respect to all the four factors considered, followed by Pond s. The analysis shows that Fair & Lovely and Pond s have built an excellent brand image in the Indian market. Fairever is the least preferred brand across all the factors. The pair-wise correlation coefficients from Table 6 do not show a very high value. This means that the identified factors are not highly correlated. However, a correlation value in the range of 0.50 to 0.70seems to indicate that all the factors are perceived similarly by the consumers, and do not influence consumers independently. Fair & Lovely which is ranked the highest in brand awareness by the consumers is also the highest preferred in terms of range of products, promotions and advertisements. The same hold true for Pond s which is ranked second. The analysis suggests a potential perceptual bias among the consumers towards a brand irrespective of the criteria for comparison. 2) Reason for Looking for a Different Brand One of the reasons for increase in market share of a brand could be the switching of an existing consumer from a different brand to the concerned brand. Thus, it becomes imperative to consider not only the buying behaviour of a new customer, but also the reasons that may influence a consumer to shift to a new brand. From the exploratory analysis through secondary research, the reasons for looking for a new brand of fairness cream were found to be highly dependent on the quality of new brand, price, current fashion and new brand in the market. The analysis is aimed at finding if the identified variables are significant in predicting the intent for purchase of a different brand. Linear regression was performed on the factors mentioned as independent variables with the intent to purchase as a dependent variable. The regression was done using the software, Minitab. 21

11 The dependent as well as the independent variable could take only discrete values, integers from 1 to 5 (Likert Scale). The response variable was taken as percentage looking for a brand (Y). Independent variables used for regression were as follows: New_in_market (New brand in market) Current fashion (Current fashion) Price Quality new (Quality of new brand) Regression was done using Minitab, and the regression output & equation is as follows: Y = New_in_market Current_fashion Price Quality_new Predictor Coef. SE Coef. T P VIF Constant New_in_market Current_fashion Price Quality_new S = R-Sq = 70.7% R-Sq(adj) = 60.0% For a variable to be significant, p-value needs to be less than Since p-value for New_in_market is more than this critical value, the variable is not significant and is dropped to obtain the following linear regression with the remaining three factors affecting ranking of brands. The new regression equation, thus obtained, is: Y = Current fashion Price Quality_new Predictor Coef. SE Coef. Standardized Beta T P VIF Constant Current_fashion Price Quality_new S = R-Sq = 67.5% R-Sq(adj) = 59.4% Interpretation The three factors considered are able to explain almost 60% of the consumer s decision to look for a new brand. These are Current fashion, price and Quality new. The square root of the variance inflation factor, VIF tells how much larger the standard error is, compared with what it would be if that variable were uncorrelated with the other predictor variables in the model. Since VIF for all factors is below 4, the standard error of the coefficient of the variable is acceptable. 22

12 The standardized beta indicates the contribution of each of the significant variables to the regression model. The decision to look for new brand fairness cream is influenced mostly by quality of a new brand in the market, which contributes more than 40% to the model. 3) Factors influencing Purchase of a Brand Exploratory analysis had yielded insights that the purchase of fairness cream is often influenced by the peer group, family, friends and advertisements. However, the influence of each of these factors is different due to the different roles played by each of the factors for an individual. Secondary research has provided the basis for this analysis, and suggests that advice, opinion, and the values of reference group are an effective determinant of an individual s behavior.table-7 shows the ranks for the factors based on the information collected from the survey respondents. Table 7 Ranking of Factors Influential Factors Rank Rank Sum (SR) Rank Sum (SR) ^ 2 Family Friends Word of Mouth Neighbours Advertisements The ranks to the different factors were assigned on relative comparison of sum of ranks given by each individual respondent for the different brands. However, there is a possibility that the responses by individuals may not converge to the overall rank assigned based on total sum. Hypothesis test was performed to check whether the different respondents are in agreement or not. Ho: Respondents have disagreement in ranking H1: Respondents do not have disagreement in ranking Test Statistic: For the hypothesis test, Kendall s coefficient of concordance was taken as test statistic (referred from a paper). S W = 1 12 k2 n 3 n n = No. of attributes ranked = 5, k = No. of respondents = 31 Where, S = SR 2 n SR 2 From Kendall s coefficient, χ 2 can be derived as χ 2 = k n 1 W with (n-1) degrees of freedom, χ 2 (cal) = 38 >χ 2 (from distribution table, 4 degrees of freedom & at 5% level of significance) = From the above calculations, H0 is rejected and H1 is accepted. Thus, we can conclude that the respondents do not have disagreement over ranking. Interpretation Friends are the most influential factor when it comes to purchasing a brand of fairness cream. Advertisements and word of mouth occupy the 2 nd and 3 rd places respectively, with family and neighbours being the least influential factors. Family was expected to play an influential role in the purchase decision of an individual. However, as determined from the exploratory analysis (interviews with individuals) the young users of fairness cream (who form major chunk of our sample survey) often discuss 23

13 about the skincare products etc. with their peer group and friends rather than family, the analysis of rankings obtained in Table 7 also indicates the same. The hypothesis test using Kendall s coefficient reinforced the fact that the respondents individual rankings converge to the same ranking as indicated by the overall ranking of the influential factors. 4) Value of the Brand As all of us understand, brand plays an important role in the purchase decision of a consumer. And, the brand is created in the minds of the people if, as a consumer of the product, they are able to derive value from the brand s product. This helps in creating brand image in the minds of the consumer while purchasing the product. The value, as found from secondary research, may be derived in terms of social acceptability, value for money and selfsatisfaction. The respondents were required to indicate their preference as Yes or No, for the 3 factors as being the means of deriving value from the brand. The same factors would also be important for customers to make the purchase decision. Table 8 Value of the brand Value of Brand Value for Social Self- Total Money Acceptability Satisfaction Response Yes No Total Value of Brand Like the Hypothesis test performed in Sub-Section (2), a similar hypothesis test was performed a chi-square test to check the association between the value of the brand and the purchase decision. Null Hypothesis, Ho: Value of the brand is not associated with the purchase decision making process. Using the process as mentioned in Sub-Section (2), χ 2 (cal) = 16.27<χ 2 (distribution table, 3 degrees of freedom & at 5% level of significance) = Asχ 2 (cal) >χ 2 (table) => Ho is rejected, that is, value of the brand is associated with the purchase decision making process for a fairness cream. Interpretation As found from the χ 2 test, the value of brand is associated with the purchase decision making process. It is also observed that the value of the branded fairness cream for the people is mostly self-satisfaction and the value for money. Respondents have given the least preference to social acceptability for the value of the brand. 5) Basis of Selecting the Brand Brands have both tangible and non-tangible features which may be considered significant by consumers while purchasing fairness cream. Most of the associations for fairness cream are derived from current trend, popularity and recommendation. The perceived quality in terms of fragrance, sunscreen, fairness and packaging are considered to be important for a fairness cream product. The following table collates the responses of individuals and provide an overall score and ranking to the attributes in order of their importance. 24

14 Table 9 Features of the Brand Features Popularity Trend Availability Fairness Recognition Additional Packaging features like Fragrance Total Score Rank Interpretation The individual scores (on a scale of 5) were totalled to obtain the score of different features like popularity, packaging etc. Accordingly these features were then ranked with least score being the one with minimum score. Thus, brand attribute fairness is ranked highest, meaning it is viewed as the most important attribute of a fairness cream, followed by recognition second. Packaging and trend are on the lower ranks and hence are not put into much consideration while selecting a brand. 6) Quantitative Analysis - Conjoint Analysis In view of the current study, conjoint analysis was done to identify and attach utility value to the attribute levels of each attribute. This would indicate consumer s preference for a particular attribute level within an attribute independent of any other factor/attribute. The factors assumed to be important for a consumer while making a purchasing decision for fairness cream were listed and the attribute levels were identified by looking through the product range available in the Indian market for fairness cream. The attributes and the attribute levels were fed into Qualtrics online survey which has an inbuilt feature for designing survey questions for Conjoint Analysis and providing the utility values from the responses collected for each attribute level within an attribute. Based on the responses received for each of the questions, utility values were generated. The withinattribute utility values are depicted in Fig Average Utility Values Brand 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Fairever Fair & Lovely Ponds Lakme Olay Figure 8 Conjoint Analysis Brand 25

15 Average Utility Values Additional Features 40% 20% 0% Fairness Sunscreen Fragrance Composition - Herbal, Vitamins, Natural Figure 9 Conjoint Analysis - Additional Features Average Utility Values Price (Rs/100 gm) 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Figure 10 Conjoint Analysis Price 26

16 Average Utility Values Packaging 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Plastic Squeeze-Out Tube Plastic Bottle Sachet Figure 11 Conjoint Analysis - Packaging Average Utility Values SKUs 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 25 gm 50 gm 80 gm 100 gm Figure 12 Conjoint Analysis SKUs Interpretation The average utility values for each of the attribute levels of an attribute were understood. For brand, Olay was the highest on utility of consumers whereas Fairever was identified as the brand with least utility. All the other 3 brands that have been considered had almost similar utilities. 27

17 For additional features in a product, fairness and composition (herbal, natural, and vitamins) were the highest on utility. Fragrance was considered to be of least utility among the additional features considered. For packaging, as could be seen in the market and is possibly evident, the highest utility packaging was from the plastic squeeze-out tube. Sachets with an 8% utility compared to 41% of plastic tube seemed to have negligible utility for the consumers. For pricing, Rs. 150/100gm and Rs. 250/100gm priced products held equal utility. This showed that the consumers are not very price-sensitive at lower prices. However, the utility decreased from 25% to 6% as the price increased to Rs From the utility values, it may be inferred that consumers would be less interested in buying a cream with higher price. For SKU size, all 50gm, 80gm and 100gm held similar utility values. It indicated that consumers do not perceive much difference when it comes to SKU sizes and are willing to purchase fairness creams irrespective of the size they come in. However, very small size SKUs like 25gms showed lower utility values. Based on these utility values, product attributes combination can be decided that would lead to maximum utilization. Findings & Conclusions The growth in India has led to an increase in Indian consumerism. The gradual increase in the purchasing power has opened up new opportunities for Indian retail to expand. The Indian market is a great potential market for fairness cream with a growing young population, looking to change lifestyles. In context of this, it becomes extremely important for industries to understand the consumer buying behaviour. The study was an attempt to understand consumer purchase decision process for fairness cream. The following conclusions can be made from the analysis carried out: 1. Fair & Lovely is ranked as the best brand. 2. Potential perceptual bias among the consumers: Brands which are ranked the highest for one factor are also the highest preferred in terms of other factors. 3. The choice of a new brand gives maximum weightage to quality of new brand and current fashion and lesser importance to current price. 4. Friends are the most influential factor when it comes to purchasing a brand of fairness cream. Advertisements and word of mouth occupy the 2nd and 3rd places respectively, with family and neighbors being the least influential factors. 5. Value of the branded fairness cream for the people is mostly social acceptability and the value for money. Respondents have given the least preference to satisfaction for the value of the brand. 6. Fairness and recognition are the most important attributes for a fairness cream, the least attractive being packaging and trend. 7. The best fairness cream to be in the market on the basis of utility: Olay snatural Fairness cream at a price of Rs. 250, packaged in a plastic tube of 100 gm. 28

18 Limitations Time constraint: Due to the limited time available, in-depth end-to-end process was not efficient. Data gathering and plan could not be well implemented, and most of the data gathered was through convenient sampling. Low response and sample population: Low response rate was observed when the survey was floated. The limited sample responses collected may not present a fair representation of the population at large. Limited Segments of Population: As the females with less than 35 years of age were easily accessible, who are also consumers of the fairness cream, the population never included male population (that was initially intended), nor the older female population. Due to this, the results of this report cannot be generalized for the entire customer base. Bias: There is generally a bias in an individual s response; however the same is neutralized if the sample population is large. As the survey was conducted on a limited population, the bias may not be neutralized. Due to limited number of samples, validation was not possible. And, hence the accuracy of the interpretations may not be accurate. References Consumer Behavior on Fairness Cream - RM Fairness Cream - Product Market Analysis of Fairness Creams - Fair war: A case study on fairness cream, By Dr. SangeetaMohanty, International Journal of Contemporary Business Studies Vol: 3, No: 1. January, 2012 ISSN All s Fair in India s Cosmetics Market, Written by Lovejeet Alexander, Special Correspondent. The Cosmetic & Personal Care Sector in India Market Research 2008 Italian Trade Commission. 29