AN ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BRAND SWITCHING BEHAVIOURS IN SOFT DRINK MARKET
- Department: Marketing
- Project ID: MKT0059
- Access Fee: ₦5,000
- Pages: 103 Pages
- Chapters: 5 Chapters
- Methodology: chi saqure
- Reference: YES
- Format: Microsoft Word
- Views: 3,196
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AN ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BRAND SWITCHING BEHAVIOURS IN SOFT DRINK MARKET
(A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU METROPOLIS)
ABSTRACT
This project work is based on “the analysis of consumer brand switching behaviours in soft drink market. “A case study of Enugu metropolis” The following are the objectives which the researcher set to accomplish and these are:
i. To determine the impact of marketing mix on the consumer brand switching behaviours in soft drink market;
ii. To determine the factors that promote consumer brand switching behaviours in soft drink market: and
iii. To discover the relative strengths of the various soft brands short listed for this study, primary and secondary data were used. The primary data was sourced through specific research instrument (i.e questionnaire) which is distributed and administered to the consumers and dealers of soft drink brands in Enugu metropolis. Secondary data on the other land, was sourced through authoritative textbooks, articles , newspaper and journals, computerized source, library and past research work. The date collected from the respondents through the requestionnaire were analyzed using tables, frequencies and percentages.
Based on the objective on the objective of this study , the bourley’s formular and chi- square (x2) - test tool are been used to determine the sample size and in testing the stated hypothesis stipulated for this study . based on the data analysis, the following findings were made and they are:
i. The amount of soft drinks consumed per zonal areas in Enugu, metropolis
ii. The highest brand if soft drink consumed in Enugu
iii. The reason’s for consumer brand switching, which include the change of price, taste, availability or unavailability of product brand, packaging, quality, introduction of new brand of soft drink, habit and image.
iv. The reason why consumer preferred a particular brand of soft drink .
Based on the finding’s so far highlighted above, the researcher made the following recommendations to manufactures and they are:
i. The is the need for comprehensive review of the pricing method, strategies and policies employed by manufacturers with a view to develop and sustain attractive pricing levels for brands to ensure continuous consumer patronage and also attract new ones.
ii. Manufacturers should also employ all the marketing strategies available to the such as packaging sizes, contents, bottle design, taste, quality, pricing, persuasive advertising, promotion campaign, new brand introduction and line extension to exploit and build the target latend demand and potential market which characterize the Enugu market with a view to increase consumption levels as well as to diminute consumer brand switching and gain brand loyalty. Finally, the research wishes to con that the Enugu soft drink market is highly undeveloped and unsophisticated having one of the lowest per sub zonal consumption levels and currently having high consumer brand switching and cannot sustain high brand loyalty has significant marketing and economic implications for this country marketing and economic implications for this premise that the following recommendation were made above and must be adhere with or else the reasons for brand switching in soft drink market will step up while the benefits of brand loyalty from consumer will drastically fall. And so, manufacturers should be very conscious of recommendations made so far.
TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objective of the Study
1.4 Research questions/ hypothesis
1.5 Significance of the Study
1.6 Scope of the study
1.7 Definition of Major Terms
CHAPTER TWO
Review of Related Literature
Meaning of Consumer Behaviour
2.1 An overview of branding
2.2 Consumer responses to branding
2.3 Nature of brand switching
2.4 Soft drinks brand switching in Nigeria
2.5 Definition of consumer behaviour
2.6 Factors influencing consumer behaviour
2.7 A perception model
2.8 Maslow’s hievachy of needs
CHAPTER THREE
Research Methodology
3.1 Sources of Data
3.2 Primary data
3.3 Secondary data
3.4 Population of the study
3.5 Sample Size Determination and sample techniques
3.6 Sampling Technique
3.7 Research Instrument
3.8 Validity/Reliability of responses
3.9 Questionnaire
3.10 Method of data Analysis
3.11 Limitation of the study
CHAPTER FOUR
Data Presentation Analysis and Interpretation
4.1 Presentation, Analysis and interpretation data
4.2 Testing of Hypothesis
CHAPTER FIVE
Discussion of Findings, Recommendation and Conclusion
5.1 Summary of findings
5.2 Recommendations
5.3 Conclusion
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The chartered institute of marketing (1984) in England defines marketing as “ the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirement profitable.
American marketing association (1960:1) also defined marketing as “the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services to the consumers or users. In other words, all activities that are undertaken to facilitate the flow of goods and services come under marketing. According to Nwaizuggo (2004:8) modern marketing concept is built on three foundation namely:
(i) Consumer satisfaction
(ii) Profitable sales volume
(iii) Integrated marketing
This means that consumers satisfaction must be at the centre of any business motive.
The central aim of modern marketing is all about ensuring the consumer satisfaction and also to ensure that consumers always continue to patronize the marketer’s brnad.
The American marketing association defines branding as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods or a services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Oxford Advanced learner’s Dictionary
(2006: 170) defined branding as the activity of giving a particular name and image to goods and services so that people will be attracted to them a tool of marketing used for the purpose of product identification among other uses.
Branding is also to win consumers brand loyalty.
Brand name is the name given to a product by the company that produces it and this enable the consumers to easily identify the products.
Modern marketing is facing a lot of challenges which includes growing affluence and change in the tast of consumers coupled with the drift of market from a monopolistic structure to that of a near perfect competition consumer now have lots of products alternative to choose from. The result is a gradual elimination of the “concept called “Brand Loyalty” and the emergency of a new idea called “Brand Switching”.
Brand switching is the act of discontinuing the purchases of a product brand in favour of another brand. The marketing concept and Nigerian market structure (perfect competition or rather monopolistic) brought about product multiplicity in Nigeria. Lots of product close substitutes now exist and consumers are now dangling like pendulum from one product brand to another.
Recently, brand switching has taken its toll on the soft drink market in Nigeria. For instance, we have soft drinks brands such as coke, fauta, sprite, mountain dew, pepsi, 7 up, fayrouz, clubsoda mirinda, shewpse, mirinda apple, kiest and many more. A further study shows also that consumers but switch from one brand to another.
This simply implies that the soft drinks marketers, have been battling seriously on how to over come this trend . Given the above, the aim of the research is to carryout a research into the causative favours of soft drinks.
This will quide marketers against being vulnerable to brand switching behavioiur of consumers.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
kotler and keller (2006:193) define consumer behaviour as the study of how individuals, groups and organization select, buy, use and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants.
Schiffman and Kanuk (2007: 3) Defined consumer behaviour as the behaviour that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs their behaiour are focused on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items.
That includes what they buy, buy they buy it where they buy it, how often they buy, how they evaluate it after the purchase, the impact of such evaluations on future purchases and how they dispose of it. To major psychological disciples come into play when observing and trying to explain consumer behaviour . the first is cognitive psychology . cognitive psychology is the study of all knowledge related (mental)behaviors and they are as follow: Attention, perception, memory, comprehension and decision making and they play an important role in consumer behaviour .
The second psychological discipline that has theories to explain certain phenomenon is “the study of the manner in which the personality, attitudes, motivation, behaviour of individuals influence and influences by social groups (Britaininca online).
The affect and social influence and reference groups links are two important topics studied in social psychology that have an important impact on consumer behavior.
However, limited problems solving is that behavior exhibited by a consumer, who is deciding to try a new brand, responds to emotional or environment appeal such as the point of purchase display and this situation gives impetus to consumer exhibition of brand switching behaviour.
Emotional appeal has not been the only stimuli responsible for brand switching. The response of consumers to other marketing mix stimuli such as the pricing of the various brands distributional strategy, product design availability of product and quality may also give rise to brand switch hehaviour.
Given the afore mentioned facts, the main problem of this study is to
i. Make an inquest or determine the factors or variables that give rise to brand switching among consumers of soft drinks.
ii. To ascertain the implications of brand switching behaviour of consumers on marketing strategies employed by manufactures of soft drinks
iii. To inquire into how the marketing mix such as price, production design and quality, distribution and promotion influences consumer of soft drinks to switch into another brand.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
It is quiet unfortunate no marketer can afford to stay relaxed when its products is loosing its market share to other competitors especially in a free market economy like ours. Given this, the prime objective of this study therefore is to:
1. To establish the impact of the marketing mix on the brand switching behaviour of soft drinks consumers.
2. To determine the factors that promote brand switching among soft drinks consumers
3. To discover the relative strengths of the various brands enumerated for this study within a specified market.
4. To ascertain the effect of brand switching by consumers on the rate of consumption of different brands within the market under survey.
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
For the purpose of a clear result, the following hypothesis have been drawn and will be tested
H01¬: Consumers switching of soft drink brand is not significantly influenced by price differences
H1: Consumers switching of soft drink brand is significantly influenced by price differences
H02: Availability of soft drink distributional efficiency does not constitute a major factor in consumer soft drink brand switching.
H1: Availability of soft drinks distributional efficiency constitutes a major factor in consumer soft drink brand switching.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of the study:
- It will enable producers (marketers) to identify brand switching causative factor among consumers
- It will go further to buttress the inevitable role of consumers and general market research in the new business era.
- It will help brand owners to develop marketing strategies which will enable them reduce the impact of brand switching on their product line.
Also the researcher hopes that the study would be relevant to other consumer goods marketers engaged in competition with producers of close substitute such as cosmetics and beverages.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The research work concentrated on the analysis of consumer brand switching behaviour of soft drinks. The scope of this study will cover the selected company and house hold within Enugu. Metropolis , but for maximum precision to be attained in this study, the employer’s of Nigerian bottling company and consumers which are made up of all house hold in Enugu Metropolis would be studied.
However, the findings of this study could be applied in the marketing of soft drinks and services in Nigeria.
1.7 DEFINITION OF MAJOR TERMS
To ease the complexity in the use of some terms in this study, some major terms have been defined
(1) Branding:- This is the process of establishing product identify (Nwaizugbo 2004:113)
(2) Brand Name:- This consist of words, letters, and / or numbers that can be vocalized. (Nwaizugbo 2004:113)
(3) Brand Switching: This is the act of discontinuing the purchasing of a product brand in favour of another brand. (The chartered institute of marketing 1984) in England.
(4) Consumer :- Consumer is an individual or a person who identifies a need or desire, make a purchase, and then disposes of the product during the three stages in the consumption process (pre purchase issues, purchase issues and post purchase issues. (SOLOMON 2008: 34)
(5) CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: John Mowen defined consumer behaviour as the study of the decision - making units and the processes involved in acquiring consuming and disposing off goods and services, experience on ideas (Zita U.M. and Anyionu S.C 200: 2).
- Department: Marketing
- Project ID: MKT0059
- Access Fee: ₦5,000
- Pages: 103 Pages
- Chapters: 5 Chapters
- Methodology: chi saqure
- Reference: YES
- Format: Microsoft Word
- Views: 3,196
Get this Project Materials