INDIAN PRODUCTS LIMITEDSubmitted to : Prof M R Suresh

GROUP 5

CASE FACTSIndustry BackgroundMarket for cooking oil In India was around 50 lakh tons.Most of the packaging was in of bulk form i.e. 16 Kg tins. It constituted around more than 80% and the remaining was small packs.

12%

16%

72%

Market Share

Ghee and Butter Vanaspati Oils

CASE FACTSCompany BackgroundIndian products limited (IPL) was a multi-division company

manufacturing and marketing a variety of products for household use.Its refined groundnut oil brand had a market share of 40% to 45 % in

small pack refined oil market (SPRO).In the year 1984, it conducted market research study. It observed two trends :• SPRO Market was on decline or stagnant.• There was an increased brand proliferation in SPRO Market.

CASE FACTSContinued..So they thought of offering more brands, according to them it would : • Help them capture a substantial share of health conscious segment.• Increase there overall share of IPL in SPRO market.

After the final research the R&D of the company came up with two base oil options :• Corn oil • Sunflower oil

CASE FACTSPhases of Research• List of important attributes.

• Product concepts based on attributes• Achieving overall objective.

Sunflower Oil Corn Oil

Easy Digestibility Color

Energy and Nutrition Taste/Flavor

General Fitness Energy and Nutrition

Economical in Usage General Fitness

Reasons for the Research• Decreasing trend in groundnut oil market.• Increase in non-groundnut oil market.

Objective• To assess whether there was an opportunity for a new brand in the

SPRO market.• To determine the best product concept in terms of consumer

appeal/acceptance.• To know the feasibility of introducing cooking oils in 1-5 Kg packs.

Research Users• Company

Research Boundary• Sample size achieved was 55 out of which 5 were discarded.• Research was done on only three convenient localities in Ahmedabad.

• Q.1 What cooking medium(s) do you use? (Hard card A obtain response)• Pure Ghee • Butter• Vanaspati• Flavored Oil• Refined Oil – Loose• Refined Oil – Packed TinThis is a multi-item nominal scale. The questionnaire must have the choice of types of refined oil instead of ghee, butter, Vanaspati etc., This is creating a surrogate error

•Q.2 Have you used “Packed Refined” Oil in the past?• Yes• No

This is a nominal scale

•Q.3 Which brand of refined oil are you using at present? (Show Card B)• Postman• Dalda refined oil• Goldnut• Saffola• Godrej• Any Other (Please specify)Yes, this is a relevant question as it would help the company to strategize their new brand against their competitors.

Q.3b, Which brand of refined oil have you used in the past? (Refer Card B)• Postman• Dalda refined oil• Goldnut• Saffola• Godrej• Any Other (Please specify)

This was not necessary as it was of no use to the research purpose.

• Q.3c, Which brand of refined oil have you used in the past? (Show Card C)• 16 KG• 4 KG• 2 KG• 1 KG

This question was important because it was one of the objectives.

Q.4 Some housewives have indicated that while buying refined oil they considered the following features. Could you kindly indicate how important each of these features are to you?(Give Rank 1 to most important feature. Rank 2 to next most important feature and so on)• Taste• Good for health • Energy and Nutrition• Digestibility• Purity • Color• Odor• Capability of food

Rank Order Scale

• Q.5 We would like to know your views about (mention current brand indicated in Q.3a)

• (Explain the scale: For each feature, there are two extreme opposite responses. If you agree very strongly with the responses on the left side give a rating of 5.

• If you agree strongly with the response on the left side give a rating of 4.

• If you are neutral, between the two extremes, give a rating of 3.

• If you agree strongly with the responses on the right side give the rating of 2.

• If you agree very strongly with the responses on the right side give the rating of 1.

Semantic Differential Scale

In exhibit 1 we find that certain attributes are not suitable. These include: • Easy digestibility: We cannot measure digestibility• Colour: Since it is an edible product, colour additive will make the

product adulterated. So this should not be a choice. Oil in its natural form will be best suited.

• Q.7 Why do you use the current brand? Please indicate the most appropriate statement from this card (Show Card)• This is exactly the product I always

wanted to use.• This is the best available brand.• It is a force of habit • There is really no choice

This is a nominal scale question

Q.8 If your favorite brand is not available with the store where you usually, make your purchase, most probably what will be your response? Please indicate the most appropriate statement on this card. (Show Card G) • I will look at other stores until I

find the brand.• I will wait till this brand comes to

my store.• I will look at one or two other

stores and buy the available one.• I will buy another brand from the

same storeThis question will help the company to target its distribution channel

Q.9 (A) Now we would like to know your views about some other brands of refined oil (Ascertain views about the three brands that not used in Q.5. Present card B1, B2, B3, B4, for brands one by one for this, and card E for the scale, if respondents not aware of these brands present appropriate cards containing the brand sales story. Using this information, please fill up the table below)

Q9 (b) A leading refined oil company is planning to introduce some new types of refined oil. We would like you to get your views regarding these different types of refined oils.

Q.10 what do you think are the main advantages/disadvantages or features of these new product concepts? (Show card P1, P2, P3, P4 again and record the response, prompt if necessary)

Question is too complex to understand

Q.11 which statements on this card comes closest to your opinion of this products compared to other brands of refined oils you have used or heard about and also the new products we have just talked about? (Present Cards) and P1 Similarly present cards P2,P3,P4 one after the other

• There are other refined oils which are exactly the same as this products

• There are other refined oils which are almost similar to this one

• There are other refined oils which are somewhat similar but rarely that same as this one

• This refined oil is quite different from current refined oils

This is very complex to analyse

Q.12 Here are some statement listed in this card. Which is the statement which come sclosest to your idea of this product? (Present Card1 and also P1) Present P2, P3,P4 also one after the other)

• This product is impossible• May be its possible but does not sound very

real• It should be possible for a good company to

manufacture this product• This product is definitely possible• Such a product already exists

This is not relevant to the customers

Q. 13 Please tell me which of the statement listed in this card is closest to describing how you feel about buying this product if it were available at your nearest store? ( show card K and card P1 also show cards P2,P3,P4 one after the another)

Q 14

The options are not clearThis question is unnecessary

Recommendations• Population specification error, should be taken care by choosing the

appropriate population.• Questionnaire ,would have been clear and simple.• Avoid redundancy in the questionnaire(regarding question 9(a) and

question 5, also 9(b) and 10th question)• As it is an FMCG product, it was necessary to obtain data relating to

monthly purchases.• Questionnaire lacked ,to extract data regarding the price the customers

are willing to pay for the product(elite class was an exception, whereas upper middle class was also there target ,they quite price sensitive)