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Introduction

Consumer Behaviour Research is the method of identifying the psychological behaviour of

consumers; how they think, reason, react to different brands and select a particular brand to

satisfy their needs while shopping. The various factors affecting consumers by his or her

behaviour, attitude with the environmental forces are culture, society and family, external

forces of advertisement, media and references. Consumer behaviour involves the utility and

disposal of products as well as the study of how they are purchased because this may

influence how a product is best segmented, targeted and positioned in the market.

This study is based on the consumer behaviour of customers towards chocolates in the 20 ±

50 age groups. Conducted survey of 41 questionnaires from working professionals and

students as to know the consumer buying process and decisions.

¦
ISION MAKING PRO
SS

The consumers for chocolates have a blind thought and the decision process is very minimal

and low. In this case need recognition, evaluation search, evaluation of alternatives and pre

purchase search is totally very less. The decision process may be based only on

personal/family preferences. The motivation to buy chocolates may be due to customer

addicted more towards the sweet and sometime it may be purely impulse.

PROBL M R
OGNITION

In the survey, respondents were directly interviewed which most of them don¶t have any

suggestion or complaints in Cadbury Dairy Milk due to its variety, availability and quality.

The consumers have a good opinion and trust towards the brand than any other branded

chocolates. Some are not consuming Dairy Milk thinking that the quality made in

international are different from Indian quality, due to this reason such kind of consumers are
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hesitant to buy and end up purchasing chocolates like Galaxy, Ferrero Rocher and Snickers

for its quality and taste, also planned purchased and sometimes impulse purchased when

consumers visit the store. The satisfaction level is high for the consumers who are consuming

Dairy Milk. The pricing factor of Dairy Milk is very high in the consumers mind and when

questioned about to think a chocolate, the consumers immediately think Dairy Milk due to its

brand , advertisements, taste, quality and the most important is availability in almost every 9

out of 10 outlets in an area.

S AR
 AN¦ ALUATION

The factors that influence consumers in search and evaluation are packaging, availability,

quality, variety and taste. The consumers have no such problems in the search and evaluation

category due to availability of the product and the process is nil to get adequate information

and evaluate it, in which Dairy Milk is preferred at 68%, KITKAT - 14%, Snickers - 14%,

Bar One ± 1% and other chocolates ± 3%. As we can see in the chart below, the consumer

preference is very high in Dairy Milk than any other chocolate brand.

PUR
ASING PRO
SS

Consumers in the chocolate questionnaire have answered saying that they buy chocolate for

self and family in most of the cases and only sometimes for gifts for some occasion. The

process is when visiting a retail outlet they tend to buy seeing the package because it¶s

attractive and feel like to have a chocolate for feel good reasons. The consumers don¶t buy

much chocolate for any other occasions more than gifts. Individuals when visiting the store

they buy it for self and when they have family they buy it for wife and children for happiness.

The consumers have variety when seeing the pack of Dairy Milk and options to choose, in

case if one variety is not there, intend to buy another one or sometimes if a bigger pack is

available they purchase it. As in the chart below.

CUSTOMER PREFERENCES






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Figure 1: Consumer Preference for Chocolate Brand

POST PUR
AS B AIOUR

The purchasing behaviour after consuming the chocolates are different in all brands taking

various factors into consideration like price, quality, taste, packaging, availability and variety.

The consumers have smartly rated the category on basis of consumption of chocolates and

satisfaction as we can see in the chart (Figure 2) below on the basis of rating from 1-5 where

1 is poor and 5 is best.

PRI
 The price factor on the basis of rating is very high in Dairy Milk and KITKAT and

equal, than any other chocolate brand, means that consumers are very highly satisfied with

the price. It doesn¶t mean that other brands are very costly; it may be factored due to trust,

packaging and taste. Snickers, Bar-one, Galaxy, Ferrero Rocher, 5 star which customers have
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only taken the urge to write good opinion and left aside Dairy Milk may be consumers are

finding the price is cheap. Where as other chocolates in the pricing category are very near for

competition. The reason may the brand factor as Cadbury and Nestle.

QUALITY The quality of Dairy Milk and KITKAT is almost similar according to the

perception in the consumers mind, may be both being a competitor and have aggressive

marketing distribution. The qualities of other chocolates are also better, the reason behind is

when surveyed to consumers who preferred Dairy Milk and KITKAT said they were more

loyal to the brand, it tastes better than other chocolates, availability was the main reason, it

had lot of variety and also these 2 brands are available in India for many years. In case any

complaints regarding the chocolate quality they can approach the consumer care of these 2

brands, whereas for other brands consumers are hesitant to buy.

TAST : Dairy Milk is the most satisfied and valued the best in taste from the consumers

than any other chocolates; here KITKAT has lost its taste category and Snickers has over

took the taste segment. When interviewed with customers they said that Dairy Milk has the

smooth texture effect and gives more satisfaction and aroma when consuming, which other

chocolates are hard and crunchy to eat also doesn¶t give the feel of smooth chocolate. Some

customers say eating Dairy Milk gives them relaxation in mind and to control when they are

angry. They are customers who buy Dairy milk more than thrice a week or everyday and if

they don¶t eat one day they are mentally disturbed. The other brands are almost equally same

for the taste.

PA
KAGING The consumers are more attracted by the packaging of Dairy Milk which

has an appealing factor, than any other brands. When surveyed some consumers say it has

fresh look when seeing the package of Dairy Milk and easily placed in most of the retail

outlets so they buy without any plan or knowledge. However Dairy Milk has given almost

similar packaging for different varieties like Fruit and Nut, Crackle, Silk etc. The consumers

think the colour of these packs displayed at any far place or away from the visibility to read

the brand can acknowledge Dairy Milk by seeing the package colour. Some customers also

say that removing the Dairy Milk chocolate package is hard than removing a chocolate

package of Snickers or KITKAT.

AAILABILTY Customers are very satisfied when they want to buy a Dairy Milk

chocolate, due to its availability each and every corner of the area as surveyed it is available

in every 9 out of 10 retail outlets. The consumers say when a particular variety of Dairy Milk

is not available in a store they can immediately access to other stores and purchase the

product, however in case of other brands they have to search and evaluate the availability of

the brand. Due to this reason dairy Milk has scored higher in availability category. By this we

can understand the marketing distribution network is high in Dairy Milk due to this the

response is higher.

ARI TY The final and last category which once again Dairy Milk is scored on top of

the table for its variety which has many variations like Dairy Milk Crackle, Dairy Milk Fruit

and Nut, Dairy Milk Silk, Dairy Milk Roasted Almonds and Dairy Milk Desserts, for these

varieties consumers have wide range to choose and select according to their tastes and

preference when needed. The other brands have only one variety like Snickers, Bar-one and

KITKAT, so the choices are limited and purchase behaviour will change and switching of

brands will effect immediately.






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Figure 2: Consumer Post Purchase Behaviour

Role of Impulse Purchase in ¦ecision Making

In the FMCG sector, particularly for products like chocolates the percentage of impulse

purchases is high. In the survey, participants were asked if they bought chocolates on impulse

and all 41 respondents indicated that impulse purchase does happen with chocolates. It can

also be noted that consumers may buy chocolates on pure impulse, by reminder impulse or

suggested impulse. Majority of the consumers who buy for them selves pick up the chocolate

when they see it in the retail shop, usually when they notice their favourite brand. Impulse

purchase also occurs when a consumer is buying a new brand as he/she may have been

attracted by the packaging or company. Consumers who buy for their families as well are

often motivated by reminder impulse. It is usually the sight of the chocolate that reminds

them that there is a need for it.

Consumers who buy Dairy Milk as gifts make that choice because of taste and quality and

also the attractive packaging. This may be planned impulse or suggested impulse buying
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behaviour. In some cases chocolates like Dairy Milk are given as gifts to young children to

celebrate any achievement, which is communicated in one of the Dairy Milk advertisements.

Apart from the fact that children love chocolates, it is the impressive packaging of Dairy Milk

that makes it ideal as a gift and motivates customers to pick it up.

Understanding the Target Audience

Marketers have designed the strategies and brand positioning for Dairy Milk to make it

appealing to all ages. Recognising that chocolates do not have to be limited to young kids,

Dairy Milk has been successfully imprinted in the consumer mind as a brand which stands for

all occasions. The chocolate is available in a variety of sizes and is available from Rs. 5

onwards. A number of varieties have been introduced to suit the tastes of different customers.

An innovative product the launched in the Indian market is Dairy Milk Desserts, available in

the traditional µKalkand¶ and exotic µTiramisu¶ flavours.

Purple is the signature colour of the brand and the colour by itself reminds customers of

Dairy Milk. It is an appealing colour and attracts all segments of consumers and is a part of

its brand identity.

The brand has a wide distribution network which ensures that it is readily available to

consumers without any disruptions in supply. They have very good customer care support

team, to handle any kind of complaints or suggestions from the consumers. This was

particularly evident in the way the company handles the worm infestation issue some years

back, which had very bad implications for its brand value, the trust factor and the revenue.

Dairy Milk immediately designed new protective packaging, which is one of the best today

and also, launched an ad campaign with Amitabh Bacchan as brand ambassador to regain

trust from the consumers

ON
LUSION

The survey shows that consumers are highly satisfied to the brand of Dairy Milk than other

chocolate brands. Dairy Milk has very high rating for its Taste, Quality, Packaging and also a

wide distribution channel to meet the customer needs. Dairy Milk is the chocolate which is

penetrated in all areas and suitable for most of the occasions stating an example for other

chocolate brands to enter Indian market, a lesson to use the strategy and market segmentation

which is now common to Dairy milk for positioning the brand and adding value to its cap.

BIBLOGRAPY

Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk book on Consumer Behaviour

http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer behaviour