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A STUDY ON CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCE TOWARDS HEALTH DRINK PRODUCTS

NTRODUCTION

onsumer is the king in modern marketing world. Consumer behavior and attitude
helps to determine effective technique and strategies by the marketers for attaining
great competition advantage in the market. In the modern competitive world people
must do heavy work both mentally and physically to survive successfully. So that
they required more energy and stamina for that they want nutritious and health
drinks. Health is mans precious possession. It influences all his activities and
shapes his destiny. An understanding of health is the basis of all health care. Health
is wealth. This indicates the importance of health. In fact, health is a key to
education, success, good citizenship and happy life. Without good health an
individual cannot perform efficiently. A healthy individual is like a pillar of a society.
The health of an individual by keeping himself free from disease helps in stopping
the spread of disease in ones own community and the society at large.

BRAND PREFERENCE

The word brand owes its origin to the Norwegian word brandr meaning to burn.
According to American Marketing Association, a brand is a name, term, sign,
symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and
services of one seller or a group of sellers and differentiate them from those of
competitors. Today, brands function as valuable marks of trust, superior quality,
positive equity associations and differentiating values. Brands have been building
customer loyalty, competitive advantage and positive benefit perceptions for their
corporate owners. Corporate owners brand strategy and tactics are typically based
on an understanding of how consumer brand choice behavior is influenced by
marketing factors, such as quality, price, innovation, creativity, design, packaging
and advertisements. A brand preference is a measure of brand loyalty in which a
consumer will choose a particular brand in presence of competing, but will accept
substitutes if that brand is not available. Brand preference is the stage of brand
loyalty at which a buyer will select a particular brand but will choose a competitors
brand if the preferred brand is unavailable.

HEALTH DRINK PRODUCTS

India, the worlds largest malt-based drinks market, accounts for 22% of the worlds
retail volume sales. These drinks are traditionally consumed as milk substitutes and
marketed as a nutritious drink, mainly consumed by the old, the young and the sick.
The Health Food Drinks category consists of white drinks and brown drinks. South
and East India are large markets for these drinks, accounting for the largest
proportion of all India sales. The total market is placed at about 90,000 ton and is
estimated to be growing at about 4%. These Malt beverages, though, are still an
urban phenomenon. White drinks account for almost two-thirds of the market. GSK
Consumer Healthcare is the market leader in the white malt beverages category
with a 60.7% overall market share. Heinzs Complan comes in second with a
zmarket share of 12-13%. Market leader GSK also owns other brands such as Boost,
Maltova and Viva. Currently, brown drinks (which are cocoa-based) continue to grow
at the expense of white drinks like Horlicks and Complan. The share of the brown
drinks has increased from about 32% to 35% over the last five years. Cadburys
Bournvita is the leader in the brown drink segment with a market share of around
17%. Other significant players are Nestles Milo and GCMMFs Nutramul.

BJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.

To study the factors which are influencing brand preference for different brands. 2.
To study the influence of gender on consumer preference for health drinks. 3. To
study the influence of income on consumer preference for health drinks

YPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

The paper tested the following hypothesis: 1. There is no significant difference


between the income of the respondents and brand preference. 2. There is no
significant difference between the gender and brand preference.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The research design for the study is descriptive. Consumers of various age groups
have been interviewed for the research surv Questionnaire. SAMPLING DESIGN AND
SAMPLE SIZE Sampling technique used for the study was convenience sampling and
the sample size was 110. The research instrument used was comprised of both open
and close-ended questions. Personal interview was conducted among the target
responde TOOLS USED FOR THE STUDY Percentage analysis and Chi-Square test
were used to analyze the data.

CONCLUSION

All people, whether young or old, they take health drinks for relaxation, refreshment
and to get energy. Thus health drinks have become part and parcel of their lives.
Marketing strategy may give special emphasis on a few elements of marketing mix.
Certain key elements having superior selling edge will have special emphasis e.g.,
personalized selling and serving, fine product quality, best value for money,
economy, lowest price, wide distribution network, etc. so the company needs to be
very vigilant in monitoring to determine the type of marketing strategies based on
the taste and preference of the consumers. Advertisement and taste have major
influence on consumers preference for Horlicks. Concerning the advertising media,
the study revealed that Television is the most effective media used for advertising
the brand. Horlicks can employ integrated advertising of their products.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Chances of the respondents bias are involved in the research. As the research is
restricted to Tiruvarur town of Tamil Nadu, the results are not applicable to other
parts of the District or State or Country.

HEALTH DRINK ADVANTAGES

Health drinks are one of the most diuretic beverages. Its carbohydrates are largely
broken down and are thus easy to digest for humans. It is perfectly suited as a
dietary supplement in a lowprotein diet. It also contains more than 30 essential
minerals and elements. All the important vitamins including vitamins A, D and E are
found nowadays in most of the health drinks. One important vitamin found in Malt is
folic acid, which is particularly essential for pregnant women as its deficiency can
cause spinal defects in the unborn child.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.

The study has been considered only with working class people and economy class
people. It covers a sample size of 200 and this study would be much more likely to
produce findings generalizable to larger classifications of people. The study was
limited only to Tirupur city alone.

FINDINGS 1. The majority of the respondents buying health drinks belong to the
age group of 21-30 years. 2. The majority of the respondents are having an annual
income of below Rs. 50,000. 3. The majority of the respondents are from nuclear
family. 4. Majority of the respondents agree for their quality. 5. Majority of the
respondents strongly agree with the brand image.

CONCLUSIONS.

A success of a market is based mainly on the consumers taste and preference. It is


the satisfaction of the consumers which decide the existence of the product in the
market. For a consumer to be satisfied, he must be provided with the product that
meets his expectations and requirements. In the busy and fast revolving world, the
consumer wants each and every product to be in his hands wherever and whenever
he needs. So the marketer has to decide and design the various aspects of the
product and supply in such a way that it meets the demand of the consumers. It is
concluded that the market players have to see that their products possess the
required attributes so as to make consumers highly loyal.
79
Volume 5 Issue 1
(July 2012)
Literature Review
Nutrition In India
After 4 years of age,
a child's energy
needs per
kilogramof
bodyweight are
decreasing but the
actual amount
of energy (calories)
required increases,
as the child
getsolder. From 5
years to
adolescence, there is
a period of slow
but steady growth.
Dietary intakes of
somechildren may
be less than
recommended for
iron,calcium,
vitamins A and D
and vitamin C,
although inmost
cases -as long as the
energy and protein
intakesare adequate
and a variety of
foods, including
fruit andvegetables,
are eaten-
deficiencies are
unlikely.Regular
meals and
healthy snacks
that
includecarbohydrat
e -rich foods, fruits
and vegetables,
dairyproducts, lean
meats, fish, poultry,
eggs, legumes
andnuts should
contribute to
proper growth
anddevelopment
without supplying
energy to the
diet.Children need
to drink plenty of
fluids, especially
if it ishot or they are
physically active.
Water is obviously
agood source of
liquid and supplies
fluid without
calories.Variety
is important in
children's diets
and other sourcesof
fluid such as milk
and milk drinks,
fruit juices canalso
be chosen to
provide needed
fluids.In India, each
State is practically
equivalent to a
countrywith its
specific socio-
economic level,
different
ethnicgroups, food
habits, health
infrastructures
andcommunication
facilities. Thus, the
nutritional status
of the population
shows significant
variation
betweenstates since
it results from a
varying
combination
of factors.In the last
20 years, there has
been an
improvement inthe
nutritional status of
the Indian
population.
Thisimprovement
results from not
only changes in
foodintake but also
socio-economic
factors,
increasedavailabili
ty of potable water,
lower morbidity
andimprovement of
health facilities. In
children under
fiveyears of age, the
marked
improvement in
nutritionalstatus is
shown by the
reduction of the
prevalence
of underweight
from 63%, in the
1975-79 period to
53%in the 1988-90
period. The under-
five mortality
rate(U5MR), an
important indicator
of the socio-
economicdevelopm
ent, and health and
nutritional status of
asociety, declined
from 282% in 1962
to 115 in
1994.However, a
multitude of
infectious diseases
such asrespiratory
and intestinal
infections as well as
malariaremain the
main cause of death
in children under
five,with
malnutrition being
an aggravating
factor.
Measles,tetanus,
typhoid and
hepatitis are also
frequent causesof
death during
infancy and
childhood.In the
last 20 years, there
have been no
significantchanges
in patterns of
dietary
intake.Adolescents
who are undergoing
rapid growth
anddevelopment
are one of the
nutritionally
vulnerablegroups
who have not
received the
attention
theydeserve. In
under-nourished
children rapid
growthduring
adolescence may
increase the severity
of under-nutrition.
Early marriage and
pregnancy will
perpetuateboth
maternal and child
under-nutrition. At
the otherend of
spectrum among
the affluent
segment
of population, adole
scent obesity is
increasingly
becominga
problem.Pre-school
children constitute
the most
nutritionallyvulnera
ble segment of the
population and their
nutritionalstatus is
considered to be a
sensitive indicator
of community
health and
nutrition. Over the
last twodecades
there has been some
improvement in
energyintake and
substantial
reduction in
moderate and
severeunder-
nutrition in pre-
school children.
India has
enormous under-
nutrition and
over-nutrition
problems
Asia has the largest
number of
malnourished
childrenin the
world. The Double
Burden of
Malnutrition in

80
Pacific Business
Review Internatio
nal
Asia was inspired
by the massive
challenge that
thissituation
currently poses
for Asia. It
describes the
maindriving forces
behind the
groundswell of
under-
nutrition,while
shedding light
on the emerging
double burden
of co-existing
underweight and
overweight, and
thelinkages
between these
two different
forms
of malnutrition.Ther
e are two types of
nutritional problems
- one isunder-
nutrition and
another is over-
nutrition.
Manydeveloping
countries have
under-nutrition and
those inEurope and
North America
have over-
nutritionproblems.
There is this in-
between category
withcountries like
India that still have
an enormous
amountof under-
nutrition and
significant over-
nutritionproblems.
In India, for
instance, around 50
per cent of its
children under the
age of five are
undernourished
ormalnourished. But
in urban areas, the
over-
nutritionproblem is
shooting up, thanks
to the change in
lifestyleand food
habits. As a result,
health systems are
underhuge stress.
Brand Loyalty
Selling to brand
loyal customers is
far less costly
thanconverting new
customers
(Reichheld 1996,
Rosenbergand
Czepiel 1983). In
addition, brand
loyalty
providesfirms with
tremendous competi
tive weapons. Bran
dloyal consumers
are less price
sensitive
(Krishnamurthiand
Raj 1991) A strong
consumer
franchise
givesmanufacturers
leverage with
retailers (Aaker
1991).And, loyalty
reduces the
sensitivity of
consumers
tomarketplace
offerings, which
gives the firm time
torespond to
competitive
moves (Aaker
1991). Ingeneral,
brand loyalty is a
reflection of brand
equity,which for
many businesses is
the largest single
asset.Perhaps the
most cited
conceptual
definition of
brandloyalty comes
from Jacoby and
Chestnut (1978, p.
80):"The biased,
behavioral response,
expressed over
time,by some
decision-making
unit, with respect to
one ormore
alternative brands
out of a set of such
brands,and is a
function of
psychological
(decision-
making,evaluative)
processes." Consiste
nt with this
definitionare two
broad categories of
operational
definitions. Thefirst
stresses the
"behavioral
response, expressed
overtime"-typically
a series of
purchases. As Day
(1979)observed,
however, the major
limitation of
behavioralmeasures
is the failure to
identify motive
and theresulting
confusion between
brand loyalty and
otherforms of
repeat buying.
The major
alternativeoperatio
nal definition is
based on consumer
attitudes,preferences
,
and purchase intenti
ons. These measure
sstress the
cognitive "bias,"
and the
"psychological(dec
ision-making
evaluative)
processes"
underlyingloyalty.
Health Related
Expenses
KSA
TECHNOPAK has
conceived an
innovativeproduct
called Health
Outlook 2003,
which
providesstrategic
insights to
consumer shopping
and
buyingbehavior.
Apart from the
consumer insights,
completehealth
profiling is also done
for providing
derived
diseaseincidence
and prevalence in
the country.

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