CONSUMER RESEARCH – Perceptions and BehaviorsThe consumer research was conducted via an online questionnaire made using Google forms. The questionnaire consists of 22 questions. Questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first part consists of questions related to general perceptions about toothpaste and toothpaste consumption behavior. The next part consist of brand specific questions in which certain attributes of some brands were focused, whereas the last part consist of demographical questions. The questions were multiple choice type and a few consist of check boxes type. Majority of multiple choice questions were based on ranking according to 7 point Likert Scale (e.g. from strongly agree to strongly disagree) to have a more clear and detailed perspective of consumer behavior regarding toothpaste consumption. The most part of the questionnaire focuses on Sensodyne and Colgate since Sensodyne was the topic of research and Colgate is the top toothpaste brand of Pakistani market. The questionnaire was distributed via social networks, and around 100 consumers were approached for responses of which response was received from 71.

GENERAL ATTRIBUTES & CONSUMPTION BEHAVIORAs mentioned earlier, the first part consists of general questions. The most favorable attributes for which majority of consumers look for in a toothpaste are strong teeth (77%), whitening (79%), prevention of plaque (68%), prevention of cavities (74%), cure for sensitivity (73%) and freshness in breath (65%) which a brand provides. Whereas other attributes like taste, price, sales offer, brand reputation, packaging design and size, and advertisement had mixed responses, but none of them was on higher side. Majority people (67%) people brush their teeth twice a day followed by only a few (28%) brushing once a day. Majority people (67%) purchase toothpaste every month followed by a few (24%) purchasing it twice a month, but more than half of the consumers (58%) did not purchase their toothpaste by themselves. And in such cases (83%), the toothpaste was purchased by their either of their parents or anyone who is responsible for monthly groceries and household items.

BRAND PREFERENCESOf all the responses collected, the brand of majority consumers was Colgate (57%) which confirms that the Colgate is the leading toothpaste brand in Pakistan followed by Sensodyne (23%) and then Close-Up (10%). Single responses for AIM, Sparkle, Crest, and Medicam were also received. Consumers were found loyal to their respective brands, and brands were used mostly because either they were the preferred by the family, as mentioned earlier that parents were the one who were purchasing the brands, or the brand is delivering its promise.

ANALYSIS OF ATTRIBUTES OF BRANDS Four brands were selected and their eight attributes were analyzed. These eight attributes were taste, advertisement, brand reputation, packaging, whitening, strong teeth, prevention of activities and cure for sensitivity. These brands were Colgate, Sensodyne, Close-Up and Crest. We will be focusing on Colgate, Close-Up and Sensodyne only since these were brand preferences of most of the responders.

In terms of taste, Colgate was rated excellent (7 on the scale of 7 where 7 being excellent) whereas taste of Close-Up was rated good (6 on scale of 7). In terms of taste, major responses for Sensodyne were received as bad (3 on the scale of 7 where 3 being not good).

In terms of advertisement, Colgate was rated good (6 on scale of 7) whereas Close-Up was rated excellent (7 on scale of 7). In terms of advertisement, Sensodyne was rated average (4 on Scale of 7).

In terms of brand reputation, Colgate was rated excellent (7 on scale of 7), whereas Close-Up was also rated excellent (7 on scale of 7). In terms of brand reputation, Sensodyne was rated excellent (7 on scale of 7). On the number of responses, brand reputation can be ranked as Colgate being the no. 1 brand, followed by Sensodyne as the no. 2 brand and Close-Up on no. 3.

In terms of packaging, both Colgate and Close-Up were rated excellent whereas Sensodyne was rated good.

In terms of whitening, both Colgate and Sensodyne were rated good whereas Close-Up was rated satisfactory (5 on scale of 7).

In terms of strong teeth and prevention of cavities, both Colgate and Sensodyne were rated excellent but responses of Sensodyne were on higher side whereas Close-Up was rated not good.

In terms of cure for sensitivity, Colgate was rated good, Close-Up was rated average whereas Sensodyne was rated excellent.

In a nut shell, Sensodyne is excellent in sensitivity, packaging, strong teeth, prevention of cavities and brand reputation. We have already discussed that some of these are highly favorable attributes that can make a brand the choice of consumer. Advertisements of other brands were rated better than Sensodyne, and this is general perception that Sensodyne ads are not very attractive. They have never made creative advertisements, rather advertisements containing endorsements.

BRANDS CHARACTERISITCSOnly two brands, Colgate and Sensodyne were focused in this section. The questions were made to understand some traits of both of the brands. The traits we selected were strong, clean, pain reliever, quality, innovation, trust, daily toothpaste, and medicine. The results are as follows:

For Colgate, highest responses were received for strong, trust worthy, quality and daily tooth paste. Whereas, according to consumer, Colgate is not a pain reliever and cure for sensitivity which is a desirable attribute, and lacks innovativeness.

For Sensodyne, highest responses were received for Strong, pain reliever, cure for anti-sensitivity, quality, trust worthy and medicine. Sensodyne is not innovative and is not a daily tooth paste.

As positioned by the manufacturer, Sensodyne has made a reputation as a cure for sensitivity issues but the problem is that it is not considered as a daily tooth paste, rather a medicine. This concludes that though trying hard to make its image as daily toothpaste, Sensodyne has not been successful yet in this category and this is because majority consumers perceive it as a medicine. To successfully position itself as daily toothpaste, it’s necessary for Sensodyne to correct its perception as a medicine.

MEASURING BRAND INNOVATIVENESSIn case of Colgate, the consumers of Colgate were willing to try any other variation launched by Colgate as well as other brands whereas in case of Sensodyne, consumers were not ready to try any variation launched by Sensodyne and other brands. This means that consumers of Sensodyne lack brand innovativeness and dogmatism, since they want to stick to their preferred brand as well as its variation. On the other hand, Colgate consumers are highly innovative since they are ready to try new variations. This innovation is instilled in its consumers by the brand, as analyzed before that comparatively, users rated Colgate as innovative than others.

DEMOGRAPHICS Majority of consumers (66%) from whom responses were collected are middle aged i.e. 21-25. 70% of the respondents were female whereas remaining 30% were male. Most of the respondents belong to income set range of Rs. 50,000 – Rs. 75,000 classifying them

in the social economic class of Upper Middle Class & Lower Middle Class. The responses were received from all areas of Karachi, including N. Karachi, FB Area,

Nazimabad, Gulistan-e-Johar, North Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Malir, Korangi, Defence, P.E.C.H.S, Shah Faisal, Gulshan-e-Maymar, and P.I.B Colony.