Maggi noodle consumer behaviour

8/11/2019 Maggi noodle consumer behaviour

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ACADEMICIA Volume 2, Issue 1 (January, 2012) ISSN 2249-7137

South Asian Academic Research Journals

http://www.saarj.com

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Publ ished by: South Asian Academic Research Journals

ACADEMICIA:A n I n t e r n a t i o n a l

M u l t i d i s c i p l i n a r yR e s e a r c h J o u r n a l

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND BRAND PREFERENCE OF NESTLE

MAGGI NOODLESAN EMPIRICAL STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO

TRICHY, TAMIL NADU

DR.S.GANESAN*,R.RAJANBABU**, T.MALLIKA***

*Assistant Professor, **Research Scholar, ***Research Scholar

Department of Economics,Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli - 620023, Tamil Nadu, India.

ABSTRACT

Consumer behaviour refers to the behaviour that consumers display in searching forpurchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they

expect, will satisfy their need. Consumers are highly complex individuals subject to a

variety of psychological and sociological needs apart from their survival needs.Needs and priorities of different consumer segments differ drastically. This study

analyses the brand preference of Nestle maggi noodles by consumers. The study

evaluates the quality of nestle maggi noodles availed by consumers, the mediainfluences in consumption, the effect of the pricing policy in customer satisfaction.This study attempts to measure customer satisfaction as well as contributing to the

commercial efficiency by the way of suggestions to improve its profitability in a long

term business.

______________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

Quick food styles are catching up fast because of more number of working couples, domestic

fuel crisis, non-availability of reliable domestic servants and breaking up of joint family system.

Neither time nor patience to prepare the ingredients and wholesome food in the house itself, thehigh price of ingredients and ready mix are also a significant factor responsible for the

spectacular increase in the demand for maggi noodles products.

BACKGROUND


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Nestle India Limited (NIL) introduced the maggi brand to Indian consumers when it

launched maggi 2 minute noodles, an instant food product in 1982. At that time, Indian

consumers were rather conservative in their food habits, preferring to eat traditional Indiandishes rather than canned or packaged food. In fact, NIL was trying to create entirely new food

category instant noodles in India. Initially, the company targeted working women on the premise

that maggi noodles were fast to cook and hence offered convenience.

However, this approach failed as was evident from the fact that the sales of maggi

noodles were not picking up despite heavy media advertising. To get to the root of the problem,NIL conducted a research, which revealed that it was children who liked the taste of maggi

noodles and who were the largest consumers of the product. After this, NIL shifted its focus from

working women and targeted children and their mothers through its marketing. NIL's promotionspositioned the noodles as a 'convenience product', for mothers and as a 'fun' product for children.

The noodles tagline, Fast to Cook Good to Eat was also in keeping with this positioning. NIL

aggressively promoted maggi noodles through several schemes like distributing free samples,

giving gifts on the return of empty packs, etc. NIL's advertising too played a great role incommunicating the benefits of the product to target consumers.

MAGGI NOODLES IN INDIAN MARKET

It is a far cry from the initial launch days when maggi was distributed free in schools topromote trial; in 1980s during the launch period. The company made an attempt in the mid-90s

to change the formulation of the product, which was outright rejected by the consumers and the

company had to go back to it old formulation and the company had to do a massive

communication campaign. Today India is the largest market for maggi noodles. But the brandhas turned profitable just recently, so it has been a long haul for the company in the Indian

market. The journey and success of maggi noodles is something worth noticing for a marketer, as

one can learn a lot, the ignored reality that brand building is a long term business.

NEED FOR THE STUDY

The term consumer behaviour refers to the behaviour that consumers display in searching

for purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect, willsatisfy their need. Consumers are highly complex individuals subject to a variety of

psychological and sociological needs apart from their survival needs. Needs and priorities of

different consumer segments differ drastically. In this competitive era, a large number of noodlesbrands are available to consumers and the study examines how they prefer to buy from the

quantum.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To study the brand preference of nestle maggi noodles by consumers.

2. To evaluate the quality of nestle maggi noodles availed by consumers.

3. To analyse out the media influences in consumption.


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4. To evaluate the effect of the pricing policy in customer satisfaction.

5. To identify the reasons for purchasing various brands by consumers.

HYPOTHESES

1.

There is no significant relationship between the impact of media and purchase decision.

2. There is no significant relationship between influencers and purchase decision.

3. There is no significant relationship between preference for more new varieties and

purchase decision.

4. There is no significant relationship between quality of noodles and purchase decision.

METHODOLOGY

The study is based on primary data. The data were collected through interview method by

using a structured questionnaire. For the purpose of the study the data have been collected in

different places of the market especially in retail shops. One hundred and twenty five nestlemaggi noodles customers were randomly selected for the study as sample. Necessary data have

also been collected from sources like books, magazines and internet. Chi-square test has been

applied for testing the hypotheses.

PREFERENCES IN NESTLES MAGGI NOODLES

TABLE-1

CONSUMER PREFERENCES IN NESTLE MAGGI NOODLES

Brands No. of Respondents Percentage

Maggi vegetable multigrain noodles 35 28

Maggai 2- minute noodles 40 32

Maggi vegetable atta noodles 20 16

Maggai cuppa mania 30 24

Total 125 100

The Table-1 reveals that 28 percent of the respondents prefer maggi vegetable multigrain

noodles, 32 percent of the respondents prefer maggi 2- minute noodles, 16 percent of the

respondents prefer maggi vegetable atta noodles and 24 percent of the respondents prefer maggicuppa mania noodles.


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DIGRAM-1

CONSUMER PREFERENCES IN NESTLE MAGGI NOODLES

CONSUMPTION OF ALL BRANDS

TABLE-2

CONSUMPTION OF ALL BRANDS

Response No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 106 85

No 19 15

Total 125 100

The Table-2 envisages that most of the respondents (85 percent) have tasted all brands ofmaggi noodles in nestle and 15 percent of the respondents have not tasted all brands of maggi

noodles in nestle.

REASONS FOR PURCHASE

Consumer Preferences in Nestle Maggi Noodles

Maggi vegetable multigrain

noodles

Maggai 2- minute noodles

Maggi vegetable atta noodles

Maggai cuppa mania

Total


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Out of the 125 respondents, 66 respondents (53 percent) are purchasing the maggi

noodles for quality, the same level of respondents (24) maintained to purchase this particular

noodle for reasons of its low price and availability. The few respondents are consuming themaggi noodles for brand image (7 percent) and for other reasons (2 percent).

TABLE -3

REASONS FOR PURCHASE OF NESTLE MAGGI NOODLES


Brand image 9 7

Quality 66 53

Low price 24 19

Availability 24 19

Others 2 2

Total 125 100

DIGRAM-2

REASONS FOR PURCHASE OF NESTLE MAGGI NOODLES


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FREQUENCY OF PURCHASE

TABLE-4

FREQUENCY OF PURCHASE

Frequency No. of Respondents Percentage

Daily 4 3

Weekly 46 37

Whenever needed 75 60

Total 125 100

The details of frequency of purchase of nestle maggi noodles is presented in Table-4. It is

evident from the analysis that the majority of respondents (60 percent) are purchasing the magginoodles whenever needed.

INFLUENCES OF MEDIA IN PURCHASE DECISION

TABLE-5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Brand image Quality Low price Availability Others

Reasons for Purchase of Nestle Maggi Noodles

Percentage


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Media No. of Respondents Percentage

Television 109 87

News paper 3 2

Magazines 9 7

Wall advertisement 4 3

Total 125 100

Degrees of Freedom = 6 Table value at 5% level = 12.59

Calculated value of = 15.36

It is evident from Table-5 that for huge of the respondents i.e., 87 percent of the

respondents (109) came to know about the product through television, 7 percent of the

respondents (9) came to know the product through magazines and merely 3 percent and 2 percentof the respondents came to know about the product through the wall advertisements and the

newspaper respectively.

Since the calculated value of Chi-square is higher than the table value the null hypothesis

is rejected and it is concluded that there is a significant relationship between media and purchase

decision.

DIGRAM-3



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INFLUENCERS OF PURCHASE DECISION

TABLE-6


Influencers No. of Respondents Percentage

Parents 13 10

Children 84 67

Friends 25 20

Neighbours 3 2

Total 125 100



It is observed from the Tables-6 that 10 percent of the respondents (13) are influenced by

parents to make purchase decision, 67 percent of the respondents (84) are influenced by children

to purchase, 20 percent of the respondents (25) are influenced by friends and only 2 percent ofthe respondents (3) are influenced by neighbours. The foremost of the respondents are influenced

by children to purchase because the advertising strategies focused on young children.

87%

2%7% 3%

Percentage

Television

News paper

Magazines

Wall advertisement


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The formulated hypothesis is accepted, since the calculated value of Chi-square is less

than the table value. Hence it is confirmed that there is no significant relationship between the

influencers and purchase decision.

DIAGRAM-4


PREFERENCES FOR MORE NEW VARIETIES

TABLE -7

RESPONDENTS PREFERENCES FOR MORE NEW VARIETIES


Yes 80 64

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Parents Children Friends Neighbours

Influencers of Purchase Decision

Percentage


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No 45 36

Total 125 100



As per the above table, majority (64 percent) of the respondents (80) were expecting newvarieties and 36 percent of the respondents (45) did not need new varieties i.e., they were

satisfied from the existing product line of maggi noodles. Maggai 2- minute noodles and maggi

vegetable atta noodles are new product innovation according to the need of customers.

The result of the Chi-square test proves that there is no significant relationship between

the preferences for more new varieties and purchase decision.

NEEDS CHANGES IN PRESENT BRANDS

TABLE-8

OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS NEEDS CHANGES IN PRESENT BRANDS

Needs Changes No. of Respondents Percentage

Prices 15 12

Quantity 48 38

Taste 28 22

Shape 34 27

Total 125 100

According to Table-8, a majority of the respondents i.e. 38 percent of the respondents

(48) expect change in quantity, 27 percent of the respondents (34) want changes in shape, 22percent of the respondents (28) need changes in taste and 12 percent of the respondents (15)

require changes in price.

ABOUT THE ADVERTISEMENT

TABLE-9

OPINION OF RESPONDENTS ABOUT THE ADVERTISEMENT


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Alternatives No. of Respondents Percentage

Very good 42 34

Good 62 50

Average 13 10

Not effective 8 6

Total 125 100

It is clear from Table-9 that for vast majority (84 percent) of the respondents (104) are

having positive opinioned that the advertisements of the company, while 10 percent of the

respondents (13) feel that advertisements are at an average level. Only 6 percent of the

respondents (8) have shown the negative response regarding the advertisement.

ABOUT PRICES

TABLE-10

OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS ABOUT PRICES


Cheep 55 44

Moderate 32 26

High 34 27

Very high 4 3

Total 125 100

It is obvious from Table-10, majority (44 percent) of the respondents (55) feel that prices

are cheap, while 30 percent of the respondents (38) expressed that prices of nestle maggi noodlesare high.

DIAGRAM-5

OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS ABOUT PRICES


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ABOUT QUALITY

The Table-11 indicates that 30 percent of the respondents (37) are highly satisfied with

the quality of nestle maggi noodles. Nearly 50 percent of the respondents (61) are moderatelysatisfied with the quality of nestle maggi noodles and 21 percent of respondents (27) are lowly

satisfied with the quality of nestle maggi noodles. Among the highly satisfied group; majority

(57 percent) of the respondents are highly satisfied with the quality of maggai 2- minute noodles.

40 percent of the respondents lowly satisfied with the quality of maggai vegetable atta noodlesfor the reason that not purely vegetarian and the price is little more than the regular noodles.

Since the calculated value of the Chi-square test is higher than the table value, the

hypothesis is rejected. Hence it is inferred that there is a significant relationship between quality

and purchase decision.

TABLE-11

OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS ABOUT QUALITY

BrandOpinion on Quality

Highly%

Moderately%

Lowly% Total %

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Cheep Moderate High Very high

Opinion of the Respondents about Prices

Percentage


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Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied

Maggai vegetablemultigrain noodles

1 3 26 74 8 23 35 100

Maggai 2- minute

noodles 23 57 14 35 3 8 40 100

Maggai vegetable

atta noodles4 20 8 40 8 40 20 100

Maggai cuppa mania 9 30 13 43 8 27 30 100

Total 37 30 61 49 27 21 125 100



DIAGRAM-6

OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS ABOUT QUALITY

ABOUT PACKAGING

Table-12 envisages that most (68 percent) of the respondents (85) consider its attractive,

16 percent of the respondents (20) have the opinion that packaging is highly attractive, 10

percent of the respondents (13) opined indifferent. Only 6 percent of the respondents (7) have the

opinion that packaging is unattractive.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Highly

Satisfied (%)

Moderately

Satisfied (%)

Lowly

Satisfied (%)

Opinion on Quality

Maggai vegetable multigrain

noodles

Maggai 2- minute noodles

Maggai vegetable atta noodles

Maggai cuppa mania


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TABLE -12

OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS ABOUT PACKAGING


Highly attractive 20 16

Attractive 85 68

Not attractive 7 6

Indifferent 13 10

Total 125 100

DIAGRAM-7

OPINION OF THE RESPONDENTS ABOUT PACKAGING

AWARENESS ABOUT INGREDIENTS

TABLE-13

AWARENESS ABOUT INGREDIENTS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Highly attractive Attractive Not attractive Indifferent

Opinion of the Respondents about Packaging

Percentage


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Aware No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 75 60

No 50 40

Total 125 100

Table-13 reveals that a maximum (60 percent) of the respondents (75) are awareness oncontents/ ingredients and remaining 40 percent of the respondents (50) are not awareness on

contents/ingredients of nestle maggi noodles.

AWARENESS ABOUT EXPIRY DATE

TABLE14

AWARENESS ABOUT EXPIRY DATE

Aware No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 105 84

No 20 16

Total 125 100

It is clear from Table-14 that for enormous majority (84 percent) of the respondents (105)

have awareness on expiry date and rest of the respondents (16 percent) have not awareness aboutexpiry date. It is evident that the consumers are giving importance to item health aspect.

ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS

TABLE15

OBSERVED ANY SIDE EFFECTS ON YOUR HEALTH


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Observe No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 12 10

No 113 90

Total 125 100

From Table-15, it can be observed that 90 percent of the respondents (113) have notobserved any single side effects by using nestle maggi noodles and only 10 percent of the

respondents (12) have observed side effects. It is identified from the analysis that the NIC is

providing good food items and they are taking care of consumers health.

FINDINGS

1.

32 percent of the respondents prefer maggi 2- minute noodles.

2. Vast majority (85 percent) of the respondents have tasted all brands of nestle maggi

noodles.

3. 72 percent of the respondents purchase nestle maggi noodles for its quality with low

price.

4. 60 percent of the respondents purchase nestle maggi noodles whenever needed.

5. Television advertisements are a major factor in purchase decision compared to other

Medias.

6. The foremost influencer in purchase decision of the respondents is children.

7. 60 percent of the respondents were expecting new varieties of maggi noodles from

nestle.

8. 38 percent of the respondents wanted a change in the quantity of present brands. The

respondents want small quantity packets.

9. 50 percent of the respondents feel that the advertisements are good.

10. 44 percent of the respondents feel that prices are cheap.

11.49 percent of the respondents are moderately satisfied with the quality of nestle maggi

noodles.

12.Majority (68 percent) of the respondents consider that the packing is attractive.

13.Higher percentage (60) of the respondents is awareness on contents/ ingredients.


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14.Enormous majority (84 percent) of the respondents are awareness on expiry date of this

product.

15.90 percent of the respondents have not observed any side effects by using nestle maggi

noodles

SUGGESTIONS

The following are the suggestions made on the finding of the analysis and informations

are collected from respondents.

1. Some of the respondents felt that manufacture may improve the quality of maggi noodles.

2. Some of the respondents suggested that the product may be better taster by adding rich

flavuor.

3. Some of the respondents feel not to add chemicals.

4. Most of the respondents are expecting introduced some new varieties in maggi noodles.

5. Introduction of new product line by utilizing the existing brand image may help to satisfy

the expectations of new variety seekers.

6. Introduction of new variety of tastes in maggai 2- minute noodles would be profitable

because that particular brand has a stable market demand, which may be attracting new

consumers without damaging the existing potential.

7. Conducting various competitions among children particularly in rural areas because rural

areas are an untapped potential.

8. Young children play the part of the major in purchase decision of maggi noodles. Forattracting those advertisements may be focused on the want, needs and pleasure of

children.

9. Manufacture should focus on distribution channels and use of the distribution channel to

expand its market to rural India with products targeted to the market. It is the way it could

increase its volume of sales.

10.Manufacture should launch health awareness campaign to educate consumers about thebenefits of health food. It could sponsors health camps, publish health information.

11.To enlarge its domain, manufacture should enlarge its product segment. It would spreadeconomies of scale to customers in the form of price.

CONCLUSION

In the modern world, consumer taste and preferences are changing day-by-day because ofrapid changing technology in the food production. A satisfied consumer will soon change to


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other product but a loyal consumer will not. The success of manufacturing depends on creation

of new customers and retaining the existing customers. Several factors are influencing the

customers while they purchase a particular product. Hence manufactures should identify thetarget group and provide products to satisfy all types of consumers. The firm has to be constant

innovative and understand the consumers needs and desires.

Maggi though has been able to differentiate itself from other noodles; maggi being taken

as generic to noodles is hampering other extended product category. Competitors have high

grounds to capture the market differentiating then from being maggi. It makes others possibleproduct category vulnerable if lunched under maggi. As Indian market is brand conscious, other

competitors are coming up with more Indianized brand of products, and as Indian being more

aware of their culture and large segment being typical and conservative about their culture, thereare more chances that manufacture would be successful if it creates a brand close to Indian

culture in wording to positioning. As India is growing, old Indian brands are also regaining

momentum worldwide; manufacture could catch the trend of market.

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3. Ganesan.S & Rajanbabu.R (2010), Diversification Patterns and Consumer Satisfactionin Masala Products, Innovations in Management Science, Global Research Publications,

New Delhi, 1stEdition, pp.18-34.

4. Hasnelly Sriyono (2010), The Analysis of Resources and Market Based on the Customer

Satisfaction and its Implications on Customer Loyalty of Green Food Product, DSM

Business Review, December 2010, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp.151-165.

5. John A. Quelch & Stephen B. Ash (1980), Consumer Satisfaction with Food Products,

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6. Kathirvel.N & Chandrasekaran.N (2009), Consumer Behaviour and Brand Preferencetowards Onida TelevisionAn Empirical Study with Reference to Karur, Tamil Nadu,

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Maruthamuthu.K et.al, (2006), Consumer Behaviour and Brand Preference of BritanniaBiscuitsAn empirical study with reference to Salam, Tamil Nadu, Indian Journal of

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Maggi noodle consumer behaviour