BRAND USERSHIP OF TOOTHPASTE BUYERS: A STUDY ON BERHAMPUR CITY

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1 Volume 4, Issue 4 (April, ) Online ISSN Published by: Abhinav Publication Abhinav National Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in BRAND USERSHIP OF TOOTHPASTE BUYERS: A STUDY ON BERHAMPUR CITY Anita Kumari Panigrahi Research Scholar, Berhampur University, Berhampur, India panigrahi.anita@gmail.com ABSTRACT Consumer is treated as the king of market, because products are made, designed and allowed to come in market according to the need and preferences of the consumers. Thus, success of any organisation always depends on being able to attract, satisfy and retain customers. This requires an understanding of what factors affect consumers satisfaction with a product or service and what determines their decision to purchase a product. Based on the various analysis of scientific literature, brand is a key factor and it generates customer satisfaction. For attracting and retaining customers, branding is one of the important factors which influence on consumer buying behavior. This paper analyses upon awareness and user ship of different toothpaste brand Buyers. It also focuses on understanding the demographic factors of consumers which ultimately impacts on buying toothpaste. Besides that the study has conducted by the researcher to find out various reasons which are influenced by factors of brand choice towards toothpaste. Keywords: Consumer Satisfaction; Consumer Behavior; Toothpaste Awareness; Brand User Ship INTRODUCTION The concept of marketing has undergone tremendous change with the advance in science and technology, with the vast and fast communication networks, the awareness of the consumer about anything now is at higher state. The consumers now-a-days are quite aware of the distinguishing characteristics among the different brands of a particular product i.e. the brand characteristics. The marketers are also making efforts to incline and to stimulate the buyer's motives through advertisements to corner a good share in the market. Traditionally the concept of marketing was limited to the sales function only without any regard to the consumer needs and satisfactions. But with the increase in competition it becomes very difficult to achieve the sales target without much emphasis upon the actual consumer needs and means to satisfy the need. In this regard peter drucker has rightly observed that "customer is the purpose of business and keeps it in existence". If the purpose of business is to create and keep customers, it is imperative and to must be the focal point of all the business activities. Thus for attracting and retaining customers, many factors like brand name, physical appearance, price promotional aspects all are playing a very important role. Out of that factor, Brand plays an important role of creating identification and differentiation within products and services for consumers (Hem and Iversen, 03). It means that brand is reference that consumers recognize considers in their purchase decisions; and it also provides a medium for marketers to target and engage with their customers. The toothpaste history in India can be tracked back from In the last few decades the toothpaste industry in India has shown impressive growth. Now it becomes one of the country s largest consumer markets. Day by day it is becoming very competitive. Also day by day the user of toothpaste is growing at a very rapid pace. Advertising is the only and most important promotional method followed Available online on 46

2 by all toothpaste companies in India. The individual toothpaste company appeals individually in their advertising, either with any special features like better cleaning action ability, good flavor or any special medicinal factor present in their brand etc. It is amazingly revealed that Indian toothpaste industries are being segmented not only on the basis of prices and benefits but also it is characterized by heterogeneity in consumers response to the marketing mix into more homo-geneous submarkets. All brands of toothpastes available in the market offer a tremendous to study the concept of brand positioning in the market. In the context of market segmentation of toothpaste (R.I. Haley, 1968) has developed a market segment description. According to him, the toothpaste market has four major identifiable segments namely; one particularly concerned with "tooth decay preservation", one with "brightness of teeth", one with flavor and one with price Besides these some toothpaste companies give importance only upon the hygienic value such as Vicco- Vajordanti, Dabur and Neem and thus try to attract the more health sensitive people. On the other hand, toothpastes like Close-up, Colgate and Pepsodent gives emphasis upon the higher class people as well as self esteemed people. So, people using these brands feel higher in status and their performance is more psychological. To raise the awareness of the importance of preventing dental disease and dental pain, increased knowledge of prevention and for promoting the product consumption government has taken initiative like dental health camps. Manufactures have used advertising campaigns to promote higher consumption of toothpaste. The private, non-profit organization is known for such iconic advertising campaigns as Smokey Bear s Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires and McGruff the Crime Dog s Take A Bite Out Of Crime. But the simple messages have been proven to motivate the public to take action. OBJECTIVES 1. To know the consumers test and preference towards different brand of toothpastes. 2. Consumer s awareness of various brands in the toothpaste market. 3. How much impact does a brand has on their purchase decision? 4. To know the Reasons influencing on the choice of various brand of toothpaste. SAMPLING DESIGN Area of Study: The study was conducted to ascertain the perception of customers of Berhampur town, towards the different brands of toothpaste. Sample Size: The determination of sample was 0; it was decided arbitrarily from different areas of Berhampur town. Sources of data collection: Research data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected by administering questionnaire to the respondents. Secondary data sources were also used to collect the data for this research study which include journals, industry reports and other publications. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION The data has been collected with the help of questionnaire. It has been analyzed and interpreted with the help of tables along with relevant Interpretations. It has been interpreted in two sections. In the first section the analysis has mainly concerned with the awareness and usership of different toothpaste brand and also outlined brand usership relates with demographic variables of consumers. In the second section it has concerned on the various reasons influencing on the usership of different brands. Data has been analyzed and interpreted with the help of tables along with relevant explanations. VOL. 4, ISSUE 4 (April ) 47

3 Awareness: Abhinav National Monthly Refereed Journal of Research In Brand awareness can also effect decisions about brands at the time of buying a product. It helps to bring the product to the forefront of consumers minds when it s time to make a decision to purchase. Consumers do not always spend a great deal of time making purchase decisions in a study of pre purchase search on (laundry, Hoyer 1984) or before a selection made. So the manufacturing companies and government both are responsible for creating awareness through advertising campaign. Based on this study the awareness level of toothpaste brand was less in Berhampur city, People knows only the popular brands like Colgate, Pepsodent and Close-up. So they purchase only known brand then regional players like Anchor, Vicco - Vajordanti, Neem etc. This is supported by the following review. Table 1. Awareness of Brands Sl. No. Brand Name Number of Users Percentage 1 Colgate Close-up Pepsodent 4 Anchor 5 Vicco- Vajordanti Neem Dabur 7 7 Total 0 0 With a view to find the awareness of toothpaste brand, the data presented in table 1. The table reveals that most of the people aware of Colgate, Close-up, Pepsodent, Anchor and Dabur. Before some time Colgate was the generic name for toothpaste, this is the main reason, most of the respondents (32%) aware of Colgate. (22%) respondents aware of Close-up, Pepsodent have awareness level is % and Anchor, Vicco-vajradanti, Neem and Dabur have awareness levels are %, 5%, 4%, 7%. Usership: The research performed by (Wansink, 1996) demonstrated that larger package sizes influence the volume of usage of variant products, partially because larger packages are perceived to be less expensive to use (lower perceived unit costs). Based on this study, it has been noticed in the Table. 2, that about 32 percent of the respondents are using the Colgate brand. So Colgate paste has the largest market share. After Colgate next comes Close-up and Pepsodent brands of toothpaste which occupy second and third place in the market. Table 2. Brand Usership of Toothpaste Sl. No. Brand Name Number of Users Percentage 1 Colgate Close-up Pepsodent 4 Anchor 5 Vicco-vajradanti Neem Dabur 7 7 Total 0 0 Brand usership relates with Demographic Variable: Based on the study of demographic factors like age, gender, education, status, and income influence for people indirectly decision making. This is supported by following evidence. VOL. 4, ISSUE 4 (April ) 48

4 Table 3. Toothpaste Usership Pattern - Gender-wise Analysis Sl. No. Brand Name Males (%) Females (%) Total 1 Colgate Close-up Pepsodent Anchor Vico-vajradanti Neem Dabur Total 60 0 But the facts revealed in this above Table that, Colgate and Close-up occupies the first and second positions respectively in case of male population. After Colgate the male respondents choose Close-up and the female consumers prefer Close-up as their second choice. One important thing marked here, that the users of the medicated toothpastes such as Vicco-Vajradanti, Neem and Dabur is very low. Again they are all from the female section. So though a few people have a choice for the medicated toothpastes they are mainly females. In the brand usership analysis one unique response was found. One of the respondents has replied that he was using toothpastes on rotation basis. And the cause given for his answer is that the resistance power of the bacterias may develop after using a particular paste for a long time. So the use of tooth pastes on an orderly rotation basis can kill all types of bacteria and so helps in strengthening the teeth. Table 4. Toothpaste Usership Pattern- Age-wise Analysis Sl. No. Brand Name - Yrs. 31- Yrs Yrs. Total 1 Colgate Close-up Pepsodent Anchor Vicco-Vajradanti Neem Dabur Total Age wise analysis of the brand usership shows that the percentage of the respondents using Colgate paste goes on rising as the as the age goes on. For example, it was % in the age group of - years, 11% in the age group of 31- years and 11% in the years category. It was found that Close-up occupies the second place 9% in the younger population (- years), and Pepsodent occupies third place. It was only Close-up which comes the second choice in the middle age group (31- years). After Colgate, Close-up (6%) comes in the second place in case of the older population (41-60 years). Again it has been noticed that Pepsodent occupies third place in the younger group and Anchor has no least preference in the older population age groups. The users of the medicated (or Herbal) pastes such as Vicco- Vajradanti, Neem and Dabur are mainly concentrated in the middle and older age groups. The younger population has no choice for such pastes. Table 5. Toothpaste Usership Pattern -Qualification-wise Analysis Sl. No. Brand Name Graduates (%) P.G. (%) Total 1 Colgate Close-up Pepsodent 4 Anchor Vicco - Vajradanti VOL. 4, ISSUE 4 (April ) 49

5 Table 5. Toothpaste Usership Pattern -Qualification-wise Analysis (Contd.) Sl. No. Brand Name Graduates (%) P.G. (%) Total 6 Neem Dabur Total Qualification-wise analysis, Table 5 displayed that the percentage of choice in case of Post-Graduates for Colgate paste carries 21% which was more than that of the Graduates only 11%. Although in both the cases Colgate comes in the first position. But after Colgate, Close-up and Pepsodent occupies the second place among the Graduates whereas among the Post-Graduates Close-up comes as the second choice and Pepsodent as the third one. Pastes of Anchor have more choice among the graduates than post-graduates. The users of the medicated pastes such as Vicco- Vajradanti, Neem and Dabur are mainly concentrated among Post-graduate group. The Graduates has least choice for such pastes. Table 6. Toothpaste Usership Pattern -Occupation-wise Analysis Sl. No. Brand Name Students Teachers Others Total 1 Colgate Close-up Pepsodent Anchor Vicco-Vajradanti Neem Dabur Total Occupation-wise analysis in Table 6 of the brand usership gives the following results. While Colgate occupies the first position among the students and Close-up in the second place and Pepsodent in the third position the difference among them is very marginal. But in case of teachers the second choice is mainly Close-up and Pepsodent is in the third place. The users of the medicated pastes seen only among the teachers and others but not among students. Table 7. Income-wise Analysis Sl. No. Brand Name Income Total Lower Middle Higher 1 Colgate Close-up Pepsodent Anchor Vicco- Vajradanti Neem Dabur Total Income-wise analysis Table 7 indicates the brand usership gives a different picture. The percentage of people using the Colgate paste among the lower income group 8% than the Middle income group % and Higher income group 14% respectively. Middle income group and lower income group people use Colgate, Close-up and Pepsodent less than the higher income group due to expensive. But lower income groups prefer Anchor paste more as compared to middle and higher income group due to economical. All herbal pastes are using more among higher income group than middle income group. The lower income group has no choice for such pastes due to high price. VOL. 4, ISSUE 4 (April ) 50

6 Reasons influencing the choice of Different brand of toothpaste: Table 8. Reasons/Factors influencing choice of toothpaste. Dentist s advice Using toothpaste with fluoride in it. Medicinal value Calcium Content Cavity Protection Cleansing Power Product attributes Healthy tooth & gums Long lasting freshness Prevention of tooth decay Whiteness Good foam Use of natural herbs Brand image Brand name Quality Flavor Others Advertising Television Press Advertisement Celebrity endorsement Banner Others Sales promotion Gift Discount Extra Quantity Price off Others Reference group Friends Kids Parents Spouse Self Misllaneous factors Price Availability Packaging Others Number of respondents Percentage Based upon this survey most of the respondents accepted the advice of dentist to avoid dental problem. Some respondents changed their brand also due to dental problem and few respondents are also following strict dentist advice. Now the Government and Toothpaste companies are creating awareness through dental campaign to avoid dental problem and increase the consumption of toothpaste in India. The above table reveals that % of the respondents are influenced by Medicinal value, % VOL. 4, ISSUE 4 (April )

7 respondents preferred toothpaste having fluoride, % respondents preferred calcium content toothpaste, % respondents preferred the toothpaste having cavity protection and % respondents preferred the toothpaste having cleansing power. With a view to find the reasons to buy toothpaste based on product attribute, the data presented in table 8. The table reveals that, most of the consumers preferred healthy tooth & gums, prevention of decay, natural herbs, whiteness, freshness, and foam. The above table clearly shows that % of the respondents are influenced by Healthy tooth & gums, % respondents preferred prevention of tooth decay, % respondents preferred for both Whiteness and Use of natural herbs, % preferred long lasting freshness and Good foam. Preference for selecting toothpaste is mainly based on brand. Brand image influencing the consumer mind and consumer feel the quality of the product. Zinkhan & Martin (1978) found that the consumer has a more positive attitude toward the product with a brand image than toward the product with no brand image. The above table 8 reveals that, most of the consumers preferred brand, quality and flavor. In the above table % of the respondents preferred brand name, % of the respondents preferred quality, % of the respondents preferred flavor, and % of the respondents preferred other factors. Based on the above study now majority of the respondents influenced by advertisement for buying toothpaste. In recent circumstances technology plays an important role in decision making; especially in advertising field, the technology role is very high. Television advertisement inducing the consumer mind for decision making, especially kid s advertisement for toothpaste influencing the kids to influence the parents to buy a particular brand. Other kind of advertisement in magazine, newspaper also influencing the people. Celebrity endorsement also influencing the consumer for decision making; attractive banner in road side attracts the consumer to select a particular brand. A successful nation economy depends on advertising promoting sales so that factory production is maintained, people are employed and have spending power, and the money goes round and round. The data pertaining to this is presented in Table 8, reveals that, most of the consumers preferred Television Advertisement (32%), 27% respondents preferred Celebrity endorsement, % preferred Press Advertisement, 14% preferred Banners and 12% preferred other mode of promotion. Advertisement creates attention and stimulates the consumer to buy a particular brand. Based on this study most of the respondents are also influenced by Sales promotion Techniques such as free gift, extra quantity and discount. The power of promotional product rests with reciprocation. If the right gift is presented properly the recipient will want to give something back. So the free gift is an essential tool in promoting the product. Normally human being is attracted by any kind of promotional attributes. An examination of the above data reveals that, gift attracted more respondents (28%), % of the respondents preferred extra quantity, % preferred discounts, % preferred price off and 12% preferred other tools. With a view to find out the persons who influenced consumer to purchase toothpaste, the data pertaining to this is presented in the table 8. The table reveals that the person who influenced more are parents, friends, spouse, kids and self decision. Based on the above data, % kids are influencing the parents for buying particular brand, parents are the main deciding authority for buying toothpaste (%), spouse and friends are equally influencing (%) and 5% decide them self. So reference group also influencing the consumer in decision making. With a view to find the various reasons or various factors to buy toothpaste, the data pertaining to this is presented in table 8. The table reveals that, consumers are influenced by the price, availability and packaging. Of the total respondents % of them influenced by the price, % influenced by the availability, % influenced by the packaging and % influenced by the other factors. When the respondents were asked to mention the factors which motivate them to buy a particular brand of toothpaste, their replies are mostly price and availability. For increasing the price of a product the VOL. 4, ISSUE 4 (April ) 52

8 company should consider the views of consumer otherwise the consumer switch over to competitor product. Consumers face brands with varying prices and perceived quality levels, and make a choice consistent with the relative importance attached to both attributes (Campo, Gijsbrechts and Nisol, 00). Similarly, the customer will come to expect the availability of the product at the time and place where he wants and not when and where the supplier wants to deliver. In other words just in time delivery will be a basic factor, and hence will not create any sustainable edge for any organization. CONCLUSION In the present study, the effect of advertisement upon consumer s brand choice of toothpaste certain important thing has explored. In case of toothpaste industry the role of advertising is creating brand loyalty, brand awareness and brand image. The toothpaste advisers must lay emphasis on research. They must endeavor to study the psychology of the consumers. There are some important factors considered by the consumer for decision making while buying toothpaste. Brand image, advertising, and offer play an important role in purchasing toothpaste. Sometimes based on the offer the consumer compares with competitor product and select the best one. Product attribute also analyzed by the consumer for deciding a brand. Switching of one product to other company product is mainly based on advertisement, brand name, packaging availability, and price rise, etc. So the companies analyze all these factors and find out the best suitable tools for promoting their toothpastes in India. Toothpaste advertisers should lay emphasis not only on establishing a stronger brand preference but also on persuading the millions to become users of the product for the first time to make advertising economically and socially justified. REFERENCES 1. Aaker, D.A. (1996). Building Strong Brands (New York: The Free Press). 2. Assunçao, J.L., & Meyer, J.R., (1993): The Rational Effect of Price Promotions on sales and Consumption, Management Science, 39(5): Campo, K., Gijsbrechts, E., & Nisol, P. (00). Towards understanding consumer response to stockouts, Journal of Retailing, 76 (2), Daly & Ellen. (1993). Advertising impact: Using the power of promotional gifts, The American Salesman, 38 (): Gobe, M. (01). Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People, New York: Allworth Press. 6. Gupta, S. (1988). Impact of sales promotions on when, what and how much to buy. Journal of Marketing Research, (4): Harish, K. S. (09): Consumer Motivation Perception. Marketing Mastermind, 9(12): Haley, R.I. (1968). Benefit Segmentation: A Decision-Oriented Research Tool. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 32, pp Hem, L.E.; De Chernatony L. & Iversen, N.M. (03),"Transfer of Brand Equity in Brand Extensions: the Importance of Brand Loyalty", Advances in Consumer Research, Volume, Pages: Hoyer, WD. & Brown, SP. (1990). Effects of brand awareness on choice for a common, repeat purchase product. Journal of Consumer Research, 17, Hoyer, Wayne D. (1984), "An Examination of Consumer Decision Making for a Common Repeat Purchase Product," Journal of Consumer Research, 11 (December), Jacoby, J. & Chestnut, R. (1978). Brand Loyalty, Measurement and Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons. VOL. 4, ISSUE 4 (April ) 53

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