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ResearchArticle

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ConsumerpreferencetohealthdrinksinTiruvarurtown
Prakash.C Researchscholar,GovernmentArtsCollege,Karur aarurvathana@gmail.com

ABSTRACT Consumer behaviourable changes make Yesterdays luxuries are todays necessaries. Thepresentstudyattemptstoknowthebuyerbehaviourofhealthdrinkusers.Sevenbrands of health drinks are available in the study area. Horlicks, Complan, Bournvita, Boost, Maltova, Viva and Milo. This study would bring to light which brand of health drink is mostlypreferredbytheconsumersandwhythey chooseaparticularhealthdrink.Adopting convenience sampling technique, 120 respondents were chosen among the population of healthdrinksusersinTiruvarurTown.34percentoftherespondentspreferHorlicks.20per centoftherespondentspreferComplanand16percentoftherespondentspreferBoost.12 percentoftherespondentspreferBournvitaand7percentoftherespondentspreferMaltova andmilo.RemainingrespondentspreferViva.Majorityoftherespondentsaresatisfiedwith all other factors except Advertisement namely Price, Quality, Flavour, Taste, Energy. The studyimpliesthatthereisanimperativenecessityonthepartofthemanufacturerstosupply tastierdrinksatcompetitivepricesbutatthesametimeshouldseethatthequalityorstandard isnotdeteriorated. Keywords:Consumerpreference,healthdrinks,Behaviorchange. 1.Introduction Consumeristhekinginmodernmarketingworld.Consumerbehaviourandattitudehelpsto determineeffectivetechniqueandstrategiesbythemarketersforattaininggreatcompetition advantage inthe market.Consumer behaviourablechanges make Yesterdays luxuriesare todaysnecessaries.Inthemodernandcompetitiveworldpeoplemustdoheavyworkboth mentally and physically to survive successfully. So that they required more energy and staminaforthattheywantnutritiousandhealthdrinks.Healthismanspreciouspossession. Itinfluencesallhisactivitiesandshapeshisdestiny.Anunderstandingofhealthisthebasis ofallhealthcare.Healthiswealth.Thisindicatestheimportanceofhealth.Health,infactis a key to education, success, good citizenship and happy life. Without good health an individualcannotperformefficiently.Ahealthyindividualislikeapillarofasociety.The healthofanindividualbykeepinghimselffreefromdiseasehelpsinstoppingthespreadof diseaseinonesowncommunityandthesocietyatlarge. 2.ProblemoftheStudy Goods are produced for the purpose of consumption. The future of marketing organization dependsonthefoundationoftheconsumerpreference.Theaimofmarketingistomeetand satisfytargetconsumersneedsandwants,perceptions,preferencesandshoppingandbuying behaviour. But knowing consumer is never simple. Consumer may state their needs and ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH Volume2Issue1,2011 420

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wants but act otherwise. Consumer preference varies from brand to brand on the basis of quality,priceadvertisementetc.,Consumerpreferencealsovarieswiththeirincome,age,sex or other characteristics. Seven brands of health drinks are available in the study area. Horlicks, Complan, Bournvita, Boost, Maltova,Viva and Milo. The study covers all these brandsof healthdrinks.Thisresearchworkhas beencarriedouttoknowwhythesehealth drinksareneededandwhatnutritional valuesareincluded.Thisstudywouldbringtolight which brand of health drink is mostly preferred by the consumers and why they choose a particularhealthdrink. 3.Importanceofthestudy The study of consumer behaviour becomes indispensable as the success or failure of a product depends upon the consumer. The present study attempts to know the buyer behaviour of health drink users. The investigation throws light on the preference of health drinkusers.Anattempthasbeenmadebytheresearchertoknowtheconsumerpreference, awareness regarding brand, price, quality, quantity, advertisement and satisfaction etc., The findings of the study will ultimately reveal why certain brands are preferred by various consumers. 4.ObjectivesoftheStudy Thestudyaimsat 1. Tofindoutthereasonforpreferringaparticularbrandofhealthdrink. 2. Toanalysethetasteandpreferenceofhealthdrinkusers. 3. To discuss the reasons for brand preferences like company reputation price, quality,friendsanddoctorsadvice,availabilityetc.,andtoknowthemarketshare ofvariousbrands. 4. Todeterminethesatisfactionlevelofdifferentbrands. 4.1ResearchMethodology AnintensivestudyhasbeenmadeontheconsumerpreferencetoHealthDrinksinTiruvarur Town. The methodology adopted in the collection and analysis of data has been detailed below. 4.2SourcesofData Toanalysetheconsumerspreferencesonhealthdrinksbothprimaryandsecondarydatawere used. Primary data were collected from the respondents through questionnaire schedules after a detailed discussion with them. Secondary data were collected from various books, journalsandwebsites. 4.3Selectionofsamplerespondents The population of the study covers the health drink users in the study area. Adopting convenience sampling technique, 120 respondents were chosen among the population of healthdrinksusersinTiruvarurTown.

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4.4DataCollectiontool Awellstructuredquestionnaireschedulewaspreparedforthepurposeofcollectionofdata. The questionnaire includes personal background information of the consumers, preferences ofconsumerstowardstheparticularbrand,consumptionlevel,purchasingpattern,usagelevel, reasons for consumption, place of purchase made, media influence of the respondents, opinionsaboutfreegiftsandsatisfactionleveletc., 4.5Limitationsofthestudy The study is limited Tiruvarur Town only. The findings of the study cannot be generalized due to demographical differences. Even though number health drinks are available in the market,onlysevenOTCproductsaretakenupforthestudy. 4.6Findings Theresultsofthestudyaregivenbelow Table1:BrandOpted
Male 18 13 4 7 3 2 1 48 No.ofRespondents % Female 37.5 27.5 7.5 15.0 6.0 4.0 2.5 100 23 11 11 12 5 6 4 72 Total % 31.94 15.28 15.28 16.67 6.94 8.33 5.56 100 41 24 15 19 8 8 5 120 34 20 12 16 7 7 4 100 Percentage

Brand Horlicks Complan Bournvita Boost Maltova Milo Viva Total

Source:PrimaryData Table 1 shows that 34 per cent of the respondents prefer Horlicks. 20 per cent of the respondentspreferComplanand16percentoftherespondentspreferBoost.12percentof therespondentspreferBournvitaand7percentoftherespondentspreferMaltovaandmilo. RemainingrespondentspreferViva. Table2:PackageOpted
Package RefillPack Bottle PetJar Total No.ofRespondents 50 46 24 120 Percentage 42 38 20 100

Source:PrimaryData

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As shown in Table 2 majority of the respondents (42%) opted for refill pack. 38% of the respondentspurchase bottlesand20%oftherespondentspurchasepetjar.The majorityof therespondentsoptedonlyrefillpackbecauseitischeaperthanbottleandpetjar. Table3:LevelofsatisfactionDerivedbyConsumersofHorlicksFactorwise
Factor Price Quality Flavour Taste Advertisement Energy LevelofsatisfactionofHorlicksusers Highly No Dissatisfied Highly Total Satisfied Satisfied Opinion Dissatisfied 8 23 7 3 41 10 26 5 41 10 20 10 1 41 14 18 9 41 12 14 7 8 41 11 19 8 3 41

Source:Primarydata ThenumberofrespondentsofHorlicksconsumers fordifferent levelofsatisfaction,factor wise is given in Table 3. It is clear from the table that the factor quality among 41 respondents26expressedsatisfiedand8expressedHighlySatisfied.Forthefactortaste &qualitynoneofthemexpresseddissatisfaction.Ontheotherhandforadvertisementthe numbersofdissatisfiedrespondentsaremore. Table4:LevelofsatisfactionDerivedbyconsumersofComplanFactorwise
LevelofsatisfactionofComplanusers Highly Satisfied Satisfied 8 6 12 11 6 10 11 7 5 11 8 14 No Dissatisfied Opinion 8 2 1 7 1 5 1 6 2 1 1 Highly Total Dissatisfied 24 24 24 24 24 24

Factor Price Quality Flavour Taste Advertisement Energy

Source:Primarydata Complanconsumersfordifferentlevelsofsatisfaction,factorwiseisgiveninTable4.Itis clearlyevidentthatthefactorenergyamongthe24respondents14expressedsatisfied,8 expressedHighlySatisfiedandonlyone isdissatisfied.Forthefactoradvertisementthe numberofdissatisfiedrespondentsaretwo. Table5:LevelofsatisfactionDerivedbyConsumersofBournvitaFactorwise

Factor Price Quality Flavour Taste LevelofsatisfactionofBournvitausers Highly No Highly Dissatisfied Satisfied Satisfied Opinion Dissatisfied 5 9 1 9 6 2 8 5 7 3 5

Total 15 15 15 15

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Advertisement Energy

6 9

5 4

15 15

Source:Primarydata Table 5 explains the different level of satisfaction of consumers of Bournvita. Forthe factor price among the 15 respondents 9 expressed satisfied and 5 expressed Highly Satisfied. Exceptadvertisementalltheotherfactorsnoneoftherespondentsexpresseddissatisfaction. Table6:LevelofsatisfactionDerivedbyconsumersofBoostFactorwise
Factor Price Quality Flavour Taste Advertisement Energy LevelofsatisfactionofBoostusers Highly No Highly Dissatisfied Satisfied Satisfied Opinion Dissatisfied 1 11 7 8 10 1 2 9 7 1 6 9 4 2 7 3 7 6 7 6

Total 19 19 19 19 19 19

Source:Primarydata It could be seen from the table 6 thatthe factor quality of the 19 respondents 10 expressed satisfied, 8 expressed Highly Satisfied and none of them expressed dissatisfaction. Likewise for the factors price, taste, energy none of them expressed dissatisfaction. On the otherhandforthefactoradvertisementthenumberofdissatisfiedrespondentsaremore. Table7:LevelofSatisfactionDerivedbyConsumersofMaltovafactorwise
Factor Price Quality Flavour Taste Advertisement Energy LevelofsatisfactionofMaltovausers Highly No Highly Dissatisfied Total Satisfied Satisfied Opinion Dissatisfied 4 2 2 8 2 3 2 1 8 2 3 1 2 8 3 2 3 8 1 3 1 2 1 8 1 3 1 2 1 8

Source:Primarydata Fromthetable7,itisobservedthatthefactortasteofthe8respondents3expressedHighly Satisfiedand2respondentsexpressedsatisfied.Forthefactortastenoneoftherespondents expressed dissatisfaction. For the factors flavour and advertisement the number of dissatisfiedrespondentsaretwo. ThenumberofrespondentsofMiloconsumersfordifferentlevelsofsatisfaction,factorwiseis giveninTable8.Itcouldbeseenfromthetablethatthefactorqualityofthe8respondents5 expressedHighlySatisfied3expressed satisfied.Forthefactorsprice,qualityandenergy noneoftherespondentsexpresseddissatisfaction.

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Table8:LevelofsatisfactionDerivedbyConsumersofMilofactorwise
Factor Price Quality Flavour Taste Advertisement Energy LevelofsatisfactionofMilousers Highly No Highly Dissatisfied Satisfied Satisfied Opinion Dissatisfied 1 5 1 1 5 3 1 2 4 1 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 5 2

Total 8 8 8 8 8 8

Source:Primarydata Table9:LevelofsatisfactionDerivedbyConsumerofVivaFactorwise
Factor Price Quality Flavour Taste Advertisement Energy LevelofsatisfactionofVivausers Highly No Highly Dissatisfied Satisfied Satisfied Opinion Dissatisfied 1 3 1 1 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 Total 5 5 5 5 5 5

Source:Primarydata Table9envisagesthatthefactorenergyofthe5respondents2expressedHighlySatisfiedand 2 expressed satisfied. For the factor energy, only one respondent expressed dissatisfaction. Thefactoradvertisementonlyonerespondentexpresseddissatisfaction. 5.Conclusion All people, whether young or old, like health drinks. They take health drinks for relaxation, refreshmentandtogetenergy.Thushealthdrinkshavebecomepartandparceloftheirlives. As regardsmanufacturers,theyshouldrealizethattheconsumersarethefocalpointofanybusiness enterprises.Theyshouldbeconsciousofthefactthattheconsumerisaprimedeterminingfactor ordecisiveforceinthemarket.Sotheproducershouldunderstandwhattheconsumerswhoare highlysensitiveandreactiveexactlyexpectofhim.Theabovepropositionimpliesthatthereisan imperative necessity on the part of the manufacturers to supply tastier drinks at competitive pricesbutatthesametimeshouldseethatthequalityorstandardisnotdeteriorated.Thus,the consumer isthe mostimportantaspectin his business.Heshoulddeliverqualityproductatan acceptableprice. Acknowledgement Authors wish to acknowledge their respective supervisors and all those who had supported this work, authors had taken accountof everydetailto provide information properly tothe reader.All the data obtained and produced in this research is of original work done by the concernedauthorsandtheyareresponsibleforthedatacollected,interpretedandpublished. if readers of this article found any data, details to be misguiding, misinterpreted, wrongly judgedthesamemaybebroughttothenoticeoftheauthors.Properandnecessaryreference

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