PREFERENCE FOR TEA AMONG CONSUMERS AND RETAILERS FM - 216

THE TOPIC PREFERENCE - USED IN SOCIAL SCIENCES - “CHOICE” BETWEEN ALTERNATIVES - RANK ORDERING OF ALTERNATIVES REASONS TO CHOOSE THE TOPIC - VAST TEA MARKET IN INDIA - LARGE NUMBER OF COMPETITORS

COMPANY PROFILE EVEREADY INDUSTRIES INDIA LIMITED ESTABLISHED IN 1905 SUPERIOR PRODUCT QUALITY AND WORLD – CLASS PERFORMANCE No. 1 BRAND OF BATTERIES AND TORCHES TAGLINE – ‘GIVE ME RED’ – PROMISES EMPOWERMENT TO YOUNG CONSUMERS PRODUCTS i) DRY CELL BATTERIES ii) FLASHLIGHTS iii) PACKET TEA iv) MOSQUITO REPELLENT

PRODUCT PROFILE A BEVERAGE PACKET TEA – ‘GREENDALE’ TWO KINDS – i) DUST ii) LEAF 4 VARIANTS – i) TEZ ii) PREMIUM GOLD iii) JAAGO iv) CLASSIC

OBJECTIVES TO DETERMINE THE PREFERRED BRAND OF TEA - CONSUMERS AND RETAILERS TO DETERMINE THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE PREFERENCES TO ANALYSE THE FACTORS AND FIND OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR

METHODOLOGY DISCRIPTIVE STUDY SAMPLE SIZE – i) CONSUMERS – 100 ii) RETAILERS – 30 POPULATION i) CONSUMERS – INFINITE ii) RETAILERS – FINITE SAMPLING TECHNIQUE – i) CONVENIENT SAMPLING ii) RANDOM SAMPLING

DATA COLLECTION TOOL TOOLS – i) PRIMARY DATA ii) SECONDARY DATA PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION TOOL - QUESTIONNAIRE - FOR CONSUMERS AND RETAILERS - CONSUMER – 20 QUESTIONS - RETAILERS – 23 QUESTIONS SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION TOOLS - COMPANY REPORTS - INTERNET

LIMITATIONS TIME CONSTRAINT COST CONSTRAINT RELUCTANCE OF RESPONDENTS RETAILERS – TIME CONSUMING

ANALYSIS CONSUMERS AGEKIND OF TEA AGE (in years)No: of respondents Total100 Kind of teaNo: of respondents powder87 leaf13 Total100

CONTD…. TYPE OF TEABRAND PREFERRED Brand preferred to buy No: of respondents Kannan Devan50 AVT22 Brooke Bond24 Others4 Total100 Type of teaNo: of respondents packet99 loose1 Total100

CONTD…….. PLACEPRICE Place you buy tea from No: of respondents discount stores24 shopping malls50 neighbourhood retail stores25 Market1 Total100 Price No: of respondents Never21 Sometimes34 Always45 Total100

CONTD…….. QUALITYBRAND NAME Quality No: of respondents never3 sometimes5 always92 Total100 Brand Name No: of respondents never8 sometimes49 always43 Total100

CONTD…….. ADVERTISEMENTSOFFERS Advertisements No: of respondents never60 sometimes36 always4 Total100 Offers No: of respondents never61 sometimes30 always9 Total100

Type of shop No. of respondents retail16 wholesale3 retail and wholesale11 Total30 Type of tea you sell No. of respondents packet17 loose8 packet and loose5 Total30 CONTD….. RETAILERS TYPE OF SHOP TYPE OF TEA SOLD

CONTD….. BRAND PREFERRED INFLUENCING FACTORS Preferred brand No. of respondentsPercent Kannan Devan avt Brooke bond13.33 Total30100 Factors influencing No. of respondentsPercent brand name26.67 quality620 demand for the product1550 profitability Total30100

FINDINGS CONSUMERS – KANNAN DEVAN FACTORS – i) PRICE ii) QUALITY iii) BRAND NAME iv) ADVERTISEMENTS v) OFFERS IMPORTANT FACTOR – QUALITY LEAST CONSIDERED FACTOR – OFFERS

CONTD…. RETAILERS – KANNAN DEVAN FACTORS – i) BRAND NAME ii) QUALITY iii) DEMAND FOR THE BRAND iv) PROFITABILITY IMPORTANT FACTOR – DEMAND FOR THE BRAND LEAST CONSIDERED FACTOR – BRAND NAME

SUGGESTIONS CONSUMERS QUALITY MORE IMPORTANT INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISEMENTS AND OFFERS – LOW POLY-POUCH – LOW PRICED EASY REACH PLACING THE PRODUCT – SHOPPING MALLS RETAILERS TRADE PROMOTION OFFERS – CASH DISCOUNTS

CONCLUSION THERE IS A VAST MARKET FOR TEA INDIA AND THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF COMPANIES CATERING TO THIS MARKET. OVERALL KANNAN DEVAN TEA IS THE MARKET LEADER IN ERNAKULAM. OTHER ESTABLISHED COMPETITORS HAVE TO DO MUCH MORE IN TERMS OF MARKETING STRATEGIES AND QUALITY TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THEM AND THE MARKET LEADER.