Chick-n-Gravy Dinner Line Essay

I. Executive summary Ann, the assistant manager, is going to investigate customers’ complaints of the supermarket regarding the frozen dinner. The majority of complaints centered on five defects: under-filled packages, a missing label, spills/mixed items, unacceptable taste, and improperly sealed packages. She collected data from inspecting approximately 800 frozen dinners and will analyze this information. II. Problem There are two problems 1. How will the defects be measured and what quality tools will be used? 2. What should Ana recommend to the manager after knowing the results? III. Objectives To determine the most numbered defect and the most defective product line with the use of quality tools. To address the solution to the manager. IV. SWOT Strengths Weaknesses Quickly handling customers’ complaints and analyze the problem. Frozen dinner is produced to give the customers quicker healthy meal for their busy life. Easy to focus the main problems in the production area. Many defective products have reached customers, affect to reputation Wasting resources such as time, money to produce a product not as expected Problems were found only from the customers, has no information causes the problem from the manufactory, machines, facilities†¦ Opportunities Threats Gain experienced the problem and improve it New processing method for higher quality Product Engineers or Quality department will be trained for better performance. Better planning and proper scheduling. Getting more customer’s satisfaction Other competitors would take advantages of that defect and introduce their products with higher quality. The company might need to eliminate that product and produce a new product if the customers don’t satisfy anymore V. Analyzing Data can be organized in Histograms (totals, morning/afternoon, and Line #1/Line #2) Defect The Pareto Chart There are 69 defects were found 22 occurrences unacceptable taste: the most frequent problem. The next is missing item with 18, and then spill/mixed, with 14 occurrences. The 14 of the 22 unacceptable taste were accounted for by Line #1 in the morning, and the remainder were Line #2, also in the morning. Line #1 exhibited a similar morning problem: all 11 occurrences were in the morning. Line #2 had all 7 of its occurrences in the afternoon. 10 of 14 occurrences of spill/mixed defects occurred in the afternoon. In the improper seal category, 10 out of 11 occurrences were for Line #2. VI. Recommendation The Pareto Chart shown Unacceptable Taste has the most number of defects. Ann should give the priority to investigate what problem caused Unacceptable Taste. These should be on the Product Engineers or Quality Control Center which must be put in investigation. For a proper inspection must be done every now and then. The Scatter Diagram above shows there is no relationship between the time the defects were observed and the number of defects. However, the occurrences were mostly in the morning with 42 occurrences (61%), so Ann also should to find out what might be causing taste problems in the morning on both lines. Step by step, after successfully reducing the Unacceptable Taste defect the Missing Item defect can be investigated. After the Missing Item defect is reduced, the Spill/Mixed defect can be investigated. And so on until all the 5 defects are reduced or completely removed. The company will need to train their employee overtime or hire new skilled employees. A Quality Control Engineer must be put in the position. Consider to upgrade the new machine to get higher quality of the product. Conduct another test to detect the source of the problem, the workers, equipment’s/machines or the facilities.

Pepsi vs Coke

ABSTRACT Soft drinks are playing the vital role in the market and the companies are also getting the good profits on these products. The soft drinks industry has originated in 1772. Now these drinks spread all over the world and the millions of bottles is consumed every day. Now this business is a global one and the companies are facing high competition in this business and they are changing their strategies according to the situations. Pearl Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Takes a great care to maintain quality control of products in their factory. The bottles are visually examined for impurities continuously, as the bottles move out.Samples are checked every ten minutes of production time by the chemist for its quality and hygienic condition. The chemical analysis is also flavours, gas contain and sugar percentage. The appearance, smell and taste of the production are suspended and the correcting measures are taken also as to sent right the bottling process. The main objective of the study is to find out the strength and weakness of the Pepsi in visakhapatnam zone when compared to the Coca-cola, that is mainly in the three places in Srikakulam district i. e. Srikakulam, Narasannapeta, and Amadalavalasa .Consulting almost all the outlets in these three areas, which are selling the soft drinks with a structured questionnaire, has done the study. The data has been collected and analyzed and interpreted by the help of the graphical representation technique. The analysis revels the various strengths and weaknesses of Pepsi in these areas along with the position of competitors. The most of the consumers preferred soft drinks because of better taste and to quench out their thrust. But now days, due to the changing food habits consumers have started adding the soft drinks in their food habits.The total sales of the soft drinks the Pepsi’s share is more but when compared with the Cock the number of outlets are less than Cock. Finally it can be concluded that the industry n eeds lot of channel management activities to do along with various promotional strategies for the customers. I wish the company got its objectives achieved CONTENTS Chapter NoTitle Page No 1. INTRODUCTION & DESIGN OF THE STUDY 1. 1 About the Marketing topic 1. 2 Need of the Study 1. 3 Hypothesis 1. Objective of the Study 1. 5 Research Methodology 1. 6 Limitations of the Study 1. 7 Chapter Plan of the Study 2. ORGANIZATION PROFILE 2. 1 Genesis and Growth 2. 2 Organization Structure 2. 3 Production Function 2. 4 HR Function 2. 5 Finance Function 2. 6 Marketing Function 2. 7 Future Plans 3. THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK 3. 1 Introduction 3. 2 Topic Coverage 3. 3 How it relates to Marketing Management 3. 4 Measuring Performance 4.DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION 5. SUMMARY & SUGGESTIONS 5. 1 Summary 5. 2 Major findings 5. 3 Suggestions 5. 4 Implications for Owners / Managers 5. 5 conclusions 5. 6 Scope for the Future research 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY & QUESTIONNAIRE 6. 1 Bibliography 6. 2 Questionnaire CH APTER-1 Introduction & Design of the Study 1. 1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter various accepts of study are going to be discussed. To which area of management that study belongs to and various concepts that are related the area of study.The present outcomes under marketing and deals in the specific with the distribution network and its management. PEPSI COLA was in India from 1956-61 and left the country, as its products were not acceptable by the Indian customers. But recently in 1990 it re-entered the Indian market, where by PEPSI FOODS LIMITED was entered into a joint venture with PEPSI INTERNATIONAL, TATA and VOLTAS. PEPSI Bottlers and Producers of soft drinks buy concentrate and sell at fixed price and add a margin rationally for its products. 1. 2 NEED OF THE STUDY In modern days, market plays a vital role in rapidly changing industrial scenario.The marketing decline is under going reappraisal in the light of vast goals, technological, economic and social changes being faced by the today companies. The order to known the changes in the field of marketing it are necessary to conduct market survey. Study is conducted considering the following accepts: Firstly, visage is a representative of soft drink market which is highly promoting with a lot of potential which is at to be tapped. Secondly the behavior of the retailer is very much influenced by the additional benefits he is getting for selling the products having.Thirdly to understand the market condition of the soft drinks in the present scenario and the competition level in the market. Considered the key role of the retailer in present day market as an attempt was made to study the impact of company’s schemes of offering coolers to the retailers. 1. 3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY There is lot of scope for the further study in the project. Further study can be done in the following ways. ? We can make a study on Pepsi and Cock companies’ efficiency in their promotion activities. ? The same study can be conducted in other areas under bottling unit to generalize the finding for entire area under it. There is chance to know whether the Pepsi and Cock are doing the right thing regarding the sales promotion, product quality, discounts and advertising. ? A study on impact of visit coolers sales of Pepsi also be taken up. 1. 4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY In view of intensifying competition in soft drink market, it is imperative that a brand keeps a constant, which on them market and response properly and promptly to the dynamics of the market. It is in view of this fact has the present study has been taken up for â€Å"PEPSI†. ? To know and compare the merchandising of Pepsi and Cock in retail outlets. To know the promotional activities of sales promotion, advertising and public relations. ? To know the strategy of Pepsi and its competitors regarding the Marketing Mix. ? To know the problems of retailers regarding the trade schemes and consumer offers. ? To identify the retailers opin ion towards Pepsi products. ? To know the problems of retailers and to offer the suggestion for improving in sales. 1. 5 METHODOLOGY Introduction: In this chapter, basically the methodology, by which the report has been prepared, is explained. The exact need for conducting the study and total design of framework of the report prepared is discussed.The limitations of the study are also discussed here. According to the survey beverages can be classified into two segments. The first segment can be done basing on the milk content, like milk based products like tea, coffee, flavoured milk, and health drinks (milk, malt and coco) and the second segment can be done on non-milk products such as soft drinks and mineral water. According to the survey conducted on the consumption of beverages, Tea comprises 90%, filtered coffee 4%, beverages 2%, instant coffee 2% and carbonated soft drinks just above 1% of total consumption. Soft drinks industry is a well known consumer product industry.It ori ginated in the year 1772. In the USA first bottled soda was manufactured, by inventing a machine in 1809, the manufacturing of carbonated soft drink was recorded in the history of soft drink industry. Now a days soft drink industry is growing very extensively and millions of people are consuming soft drinks everyday. Age, income, and climate are not at all a barrier for the consuming soft drinks by the people. This is the reason for the tremendous growth in soft drink market. Data which is required for the analysis and fulfillment of our objectives has been collected from two sources.They are 1. Primary sources 2. Secondary sources PRIMARY DATA: Primary data is collected from the retailers through a structured questionnaire. It includes the first hand information from the outlets. It can view as a survey. The questionnaire was especially designed to find out the market share of the soft drinks and problems and weakness of Pepsi in that particular area. The chapter deals with main an alysis part of the study and the dealer outlets covered in the study is ? Srikakulam ? Narasannapeta ? Amadalavalasa SECONDARY DATASecondary sources include the information collected from the annual reports, published and unpublished records of the company . various books and journals and internet also being used for collecting the relevant data After gathering the data from those two sources the data was analyzed, tabulated and interpreted and finally suggestions were offered for the betterment of the company. DATA ANALYZING TOOLS: After gathering the data from the Primary and secondary sources the data was analyzed ,tabulated and interpretations were written down with the help of graphs and charts , with the help of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. . 6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The present study is subject to the following limitations: ? The sample size is not universal , some part of other cities remained uncovered ? Unavailability of some information due of lack of awareness o f retailers ? Time and expenses were major constraints ? The study of the soft drink industry which is known to be seasonally fluctuating on e percent study does not take into account seasonal fluctuations. The results may not suit for all the seasons ? Personal basis may be existing as the dealer of varied nature elicits the information Chapter-2 Company overview 2. INTRODUCTION In this chapter, an over of all the major accepts related to the study is discussed. The total industry profiles the soft drinks industry globally and in our country. The profile of the company with respect to its operation number of franchises, market share of the company and many other factors would be discussed here. 2. 2 INDUSTRY PROFILE Non alcoholic soft drink beverage market can be divided into fruit drink and soft drink. Soft drinks can be further divided into carbonated and non carbonated drinks. Colas, lemon and oranges are carbonated drinks while mango drinks come under non-carbonated drinks.Cola , lemon and oranges are carbonated drinks while mango dinks comes under non-carbonated category. The soft drinks market till early 1990’s was in hands of domestic players like Coke, Thumps Up, Limca etc. but with the opening up of economy and coming of MNC players Pepsi and Cock the market has totally under their control. Worldwide, Cock is the leader in carbonated drinks market. In India it is Pepsi, which scores over cock but this difference is fast decreasing. Pepsi entered Indian market in 1991. Cock re-entered (after they were thrown out in 1977, by then central government) in 1993.Pepsi has been targeting the youth and the sales have been doing well by sticking to this youth segment. Cock on the other hand struggled initially in establishing itself in the market. In a span of 7 years of its operations in the country it changed its CEO four times they seem to have started understanding the pulse of Indian consumers. Soft drinks are available in glass bottles, aluminum ca ns and PET bottles for home consumption. Fountains also dispense thin in disposable containers. SEGMENTATION: The soft drink market can be segmented on the basis of place of consumption and on the basis of type of products.The segmentation on the basis of place of consumption divides the market into three parts: 1. on-permise-80% of the consumption of soft drinks is on premise i. e. restaurants, railway stations, cinemas etc, 2. At-home the rest 20% of the market compromise of the soft drink purchased for consumption at home. The market can also be segmented on the basis of types of products into Cola products and non-cola products. 1. cola products account nearly 62% of the total soft drinks market. The brands that fall in this category are Pepsi, cola, Thumps Up, Diet Pepsi etc. 2. on-cola segment, which constitutes 36%, cam be divide into 4 categories based on the type of flavour available, namely ? Orange ? Cloudy lime ? Clear lime ? Mango I. Orange flavour based soft drinks con stitutes around 17% of the market. The segment is largely dominated by national brands like Fanta of Coca-cola Co. and Mirinda Orange of Pepsi Co. rest of the market is in hands of smaller brands like Crush (earlier Cadbury Schweppes and now of Coca Cola), Gold Spot etc. II. Cloudy Lime flavour constitutes 14% of the market and is largely dominated by Limca of Coca Cola and Miranda Lemon of Pepsi Co. III.Clear Lime this segment of the market witnessed good growth initially with all; the players launching their brands in the segment. But now the growth in the segment has slowed down. The brands available in this segment are 7 Up , Mountain dew of Pepsi, Sprite of Coca-Cola and Canada Dry( earlier of Cadbury Schweppes and now of Coca Cola). The segment constitutes 3% of the total soft drinks market. IV. Mango flavour segment constitutes 2% of the total soft drinks market and it directly competes with mango based fruit drinks like Fruity. The leading brands in this segment are: Maaza o f Coca Cola and Slice of Pepsi.There is very thin line of difference between the clear and cloudy lime. The most obvious feature is that clear lime has to be bottled in green bottles as sunlight harms the drink and changes the taste. There are some small local brands at city or regional levels. Most of these are either merging with two big players (Coca Cola and Pepsi) or they command a very small –less than 3% of the total market in their respective areas. Soft Drink Production Area: The market preference is highly regional based, while Cola drinks have main market in metro cities and northern states of U. P, Punjab, Haryana, etc†¦Orange flavoured drinks are popular in southern states. Sodas too are sold largely in southern states besides the Bars. Western markets have preference towards mango-flavoured drinks. Growth Promotional Activities in Soft Drink Industry: The government has adopted liberalized for the soft drinks trade to give the industry a boost and promote t he Indian brand internationally. Although the import and manufacture of international brands like Pepsi and Cock is enhanced in India the local brands being stabilized by advertisements, good quality and low cost. Buying Behavior in Soft Drink Industry: Soft drinks come under the category of products on impulse. This attitude of impulse buying is slowly changing to occasion-led buying and also to some extent consumption through home refrigeration particularly in urban areas. ? The market is slowly moving from non alcoholic carbonated drinks to fruit based drinks and also to plain bottled water due to lower price and ready availability. ? Consumers purchase soft drinks primarily quench thirst therefore people traveling and not having access to hygienic water reach out for soft drink. This accounts for a large part of the sales. Brand awareness plays a crucial rule in purchase decisions. ? Availability in the chilled from also plays a crucial role in purchase decisions. This has made both the companies to push its sales and to increase its retail distribution by offering Visi cooler to retailers. ? Why there is no aversion to consumption of soft drinks buys any age group, the main consumer of this market are people in the age group of 30 and below. ? Product differentiation is very low, as all the products taste the same. But brand loyalty is high in the case of kids and people in the age group of 20-30 years. According to NCAER survey, lower, lower-middle, upper-middle class people do 91% of the total consumption of soft drinks in the country. Growth promotional activities in soft drink industry: The government has adopted liberalization for the soft drink trade to give industry a boost and promote the Indian Brand internationally. Although the import and manufacture of international brands like Pepsi and Coke is enhanced in India . The local brands are being stabilized by advertisements, good quality and low cost. Buying Behavior of soft drink industry: †¢ Soft drinks come under the category of products on impulse.This attitude of impulse buying is slowly changing to occasion-led buying and also to some extent consumption through home refrigeration particularly in urban areas. †¢ The market is slowly moving from alcoholic carbonated drinks to fruit based drinks and also plain bottled water due to lower price and ready availability. †¢ Consumers purchase soft drinks particularly to quench thirst and therefore on travel not having access to hygienic water reaches out for soft drinks. †¢ Brand awareness plays a vital role in purchase decisions. †¢ Availability in the chilled form also plays a crucial role in purchase decisions.This has made both the companies to push its sales and to increase its retail distribution by offering Visi coolers to retailers †¢ Why is there no aversion to consumption of soft drinks to any age group, the main consumers of this market are people in the age group of 30 and below. †¢ Product differentiation is very low, as all the products taste the same. But brand loyalty is high in the case of kids and people in the age group of 20-30 years †¢ According to NCAER survey, lower, lower-middle ands upper-middle class people do 91% of the total consumption of soft drinks in the country.Major Players in Soft drinks Industries The two global majors Pepsi and Coca Cola dominate the soft drink market in India. Coca Coal, which would up its operations during the introduction of the FERA regime, reentered India 16 years later in 1993. Coca Cola acquired a major chunk of soft drink market by buying out local brands Thumps up, Limca, Maaza and Gold spot from Pearl beverages, Coca Cola has also acquired Cadbury Schweppes soft drink brands Crush, Canada Dry and Sport Cola in early 1999 and now recently in Oct. 2008 . It acquires distribution rights of these brands from IFB Agro Ltd .Pepsi stated a couple of years before Coca Cola manufactures came up with their own m arket share figures and claimed to have increased their share. Shares Reports On Retailers In Soft Dink Industry: A Survey was conducted to study the retailer’s view of the present market, future trend and the consumer behavior patterns. The findings of the survey are as follows. †¢ Retailers started that the consumers are loyal to the particular segment of the soft drink i. e. Coca Cola, Orange or Lemon. But as for the loyalty for the brands in each segment is concerned, it is not very significant. 43% of the retailers surveyed told that in the soft drink industry advertising is the key component, it drives sales. While 32% stated promotional schemes and 20%brand loyalty as the reason. †¢ As consumers are not very brand loyal where the purchase of the soft drink purchase is concerned, the retailer purchase becomes a critical issue. They usually sell the product in which they get maximum benefit. For this, the companies try to offer them higher margins. While distri butors get the margin of Rs 8-9 per crate (1 crate is equal to 24 bottles) at 3-4% of MRP, retailers are given margin of 10-12 % of MRP.The retailers are not happy with this, as the cost of refrigeration very high for soft drinks to overcome this problem the companies are offering Visi coolers schemes to their main retailers 2. 3 ORGANIZATION PROFILE PEPSI COMPANY MISSION STATEMENT: Pepsi Company’s over all missions is to increase the value of their share holder’s investment. they believe that their commercial success depends up on offering quality and value to their consumers and providing products that are safe, whole some and economically efficient and environmentally sound. Providing a fair return to their investors, while adhering to the highest standards of integrity.HISTORY OF PEPSI AND COCA COLA COMPANY: Pepsi Co Inc. was founded by Donald M. Kendall, President and chief executive officer of Pepsi –Cola and Herman W. Lay, Chairman& Chief executive of FRI TO-LAY through the merger of two companies in the year 1965. MAJOR PRODUCTS OF THE NEW COMPANIES ARE: †¢ Pepsi-Cola company Pepsi-Cola(formulate in 1898) †¢ Diet Pepsi(1964) †¢ Mountain Dew (introduced by T. P corporation 1984) †¢ Frito-Lay Inc brand chips Lays brand potato chips †¢ Cheetos brand chew flavoured snacks †¢ Ruffles brand potato chips & Rold Gold brand pretzels Pepsi Company Inc. s among the most successful consumer products company in the world with: 1998 revenues of over $22 billion &1, 51,000 employees. Pepsi company’s brand names are among the best known & most respected in the world . Some of the Pepsi Company’s brand names are 100 years old. FRITO-LAY Company is the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of snack chip and Tropicana products Inc. is the world’s largest marketer and producer of branded juices. Pepsi Company’s success is the result of †¢ Superior Products. †¢ High Stands of Performances †¢ Distinctive Competitive strategies. †¢ High integrity of its work force PEPSI-COLA COMPANY:Calets Bradham, New Beru and Mc. Druggist who first formulated Pepsi coal founded Pepsi Company’s beverage business at the turn of the century. Brand Pepsi and other Pepsi-cola products including Diet Pepsi one, Mountain Dew, Slice and mug brands account for nearly 1/3 rd of the total soft drink in United States. Outside U. S Pepsi Cola Company’s soft operations include the business of 7up international. Pepsi-cola beverages are available in about 170 countries. Key Pepsi-cola international market includes Argentina, Brazil, china, India, Mexico, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.Pepsi-cola provides advertising, marketing sales and promotion support to the Pepsi-cola bottles. New advertising and existing promotions keep Pepsi-cola young. The company manufacture and sales of the soft drinks are concentrated to the Peps i-cola bottles. †¢ In 1996, Pepsi entered Japan and Eastern Europe. †¢ In 1967, PepsiCo. Stock splits two-for one. In 1986, North America van lines (NAVL), a premier transportation company Pepsi co, and renamed a strong contribution to the Pepsi unit it has divided in 1984. In 1969 in bold modern Pepsi cola packing which was using red, white and blue were introduced.FRITO-LAY introduced fungus brand onion flavoured snacks. In 1970 Pepsi introduces the industry’s first two litter bottles. Pepsi is the first company to respond to consumer preference with light weight, recyclable, plastic bottles. In 1971 Andral E. Pearson was appointed as president of PepsiCo, a position he held until his retirement in 1984. in 1972 don Kendall announced agreement making Pepsi cola the first foreign product sold in U. S. S. R. Pepsi co is given exclusive rights to import Stolichnaya Russian vodka in the U. S.In 1973 and 1974 Pepsi-cola became the first American consumer product to pro duce made and sold in former Soviet Union. In 1975 Pepsi Lite, with destructive lemon taste, is introduced as an alternative to traditional diet colas. In 1976 PepsiCo adopts code of worldwide business conduct. Pepsi-cola became the single largest selling soft drink brands sold in U. S super markets. In 1977 PepsiCo shares spilt up three for one. In 1987 and 1979 the opening of PepsiCo research and technological center in Vallah N. Y PepsiCo reached 85 billion marks in sales. Pepsi was formed to focus on the overseas development of restaurants.In 1981 PepsiCo fitness center was completed, making PepsiCo, one of the most advanced companies in the area of employee’s health and fitness. In 1982 Pepsi free and diet Pepsi free, the first major brands caffeine free colas were introduced. Inauguration of the first Pepsi cola operations in china: In 1983 The Bottler Hall of Fame was established to recognize the achievement and dedication of international bottlers. In 1984 diet Pepsi is reformulated with 100% neutral sweet, slice and diet slice. The first major soft drinks sirucsare added in Mexico.The cola were takes â€Å"one giant spilt for mankind† when a Pepsi â€Å"space can† is successfully tested a brand the span shuttle. 1986 Pepsi company board of directors visit the peoples public of china to make the opening the Pepsi second plant in china. In 1989, Pepsi Company introduce share power stock option program for all employees becoming the first large corporation tool award stock options through virtually all full time employees. In the 1900, Pepsi company was recognized as one of the most admired corporation by the fortune magazine’s top 10 for the two successive years.Pepsi signs the largest commercial trade agreement in history with the Soviet Union expecting sales in the USSR to double by the end of the century. Pepsi re-entered the Indian market in collaboration with Punjab Agro industries Corporation (PAIC). In 1991 Pepsi compa ny named one of the fortune magazine’s top most admired corporations, for the third year in also. Pepsi co. purchased an equity position in the carts of Coloreds Inc. the leading manufacturer and marketer of mobile merchandising equipment. It was sold in 1955. 1993 Pepsi Cola began the distribution of Lipton’s line of ready to drinks teas nationwide. n 1996 Pepsi started its website WWW. Pepsi. com SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF PEPSICOLA COMPANY: As a consumer products company, Pepsi Company does not have the major environmental problems of heavy industry. Their biggest environment challenge is packaging generated by their products. Packaging is important to public and a critical component of the distribution system is to deliver products to consumers and commercial establishment. To meet both consumer demand and safe guard the environment, they recycle, re-use and reduce packaging wherever possible.Each business is also committed to responsible use of resources required in manufacturing their products. LOGOS OF THE COMPANY [pic] 2. 4 ABOUT PEPSI INDIA COMPANY Franchise (pearl Bottling Pvt. Ltd. ,) Often new flavours are to be added to the product line of cool drinks to prevent a competitor. To establish a relation with retailers it is desirable to sell more than one flavor of cool drinks. To decrease the security seasonal products are added to the resources available so as to lessen its risks. Pepsi has given the franchise of Visakhapatnam region to Pearl Beverages which belongs to Pearl Group with Head quarters at Delhi and Mr.C. K. Jaipuria as the chairman and the Managing Director of the group. Pepsi Foods Ltd. , declared Krishna Mohan Beverages and Constructions as franchise, in 1992. Last year it was changed to Pearl Beverages was taken by the Pearl Group. Campa-cola Soft Drinks has originally owned the premises since 1980 at Madhurawada. After the insolvency of campa-cola, KMBC purchased the premises in1990 in the auction by APSFC. Initially, i t used to produce Mc. Dowell’s soda and Bagpiper soda. It produced these drinks under franchise agreements but company could not exist in the market due to stiff competition from pearl products.Description and Launch of products |Brand name |Flavour |Date | |Pepsi |Cola |April-1992 | |Mirinda |Orange |April-1992 | |7 Up |Clear Lemon |April-1992 | |Mirinda Lime |Cloudy Lemon |April-1992 | |Soda |Soda |April-1992 | Pepsi |Pepsi Dite |7 Up |Mirinda(o) |Mirinda(L) |Slice |Evervess soda | |Coca-cola |Cock Dite |Sprite |Fanta |Limca |Maaza |Kinleys | Pepsi market share: Pepsi : 47% Coca-cola : 53% Pepsi foods (Pvt. ) Ltd. Pepsi cola was in India from 1956 to 1961. it left this country, as its products were not found acceptable to the Indian market. Pepsi foods Ltd. Joint venture between Pepsi Co. nternational of US(which is holding 40% of the equity)and Tata concerns Voltas and the Punjab Ago industries Corporation (each of which have as round 25% of the equity),has 25%of its outpu t reserved for beverages with a 50% export commitment fo9r fruit and vegetable products. According to Pepsi officials the project guarantees that for every American dollar the company takes out of India, it will bring five back. They started concentrated factory in Punjab. This company named as Pepsi Foods Ltd. Pepsi Co. international’s direct investments in India so far amounts to Rs. 65 corer. Two thirds of this however has gone into food processing. Pepsi foods are exporting fruits and vegetables to UK etc. The Pepsi’s foods processing unit directly supervised 1,200 hectors under tomato cultivation covering 183 villages and 319 farmers. The company’s technical inputs enabled the farmer to achieve a yield of 35 to 50 tones a hector against the average of was after discontinuing teems. KMBC Pvt. Ltd. Has was the bottle for five districts Vizag, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, and East Godavari & West Godavari.It receives the stock from Cuttack. PRODUCT PROFILE The Pe psi Co. is known for the development and introduction of world-class brands & products. Their portfolio is organized into three core business, which consists of snacks, Beverages and Restaurants. Pepsi products are constantly changing themselves to develop new products. They encourage consumer to explore their wide range of brands. Main objectives: The objectives of the company set out in memorandum of association and franchise agreements are as follows: ?To manufacturing soft drinks by concentrating supplied by Pepsi Foods. ? To market and advertise within specified areas for Pepsi products. ? To sell soft drinks at fixed prices. financial structure: To start and operate business, any company has to invest its capital in fixed assets and floating assets and also in meeting the daily requirements of the company. However, depending on the nature of business and product being offered by the company, the ratio of investment of capital in fixed and floating assets differ. Working Capita l:It means capital required for daily management of the company eg. Wages, salaries, canteen expenses and transportation expenses etc Plant layout: the machine and equipment have been imported from Germany, which are arranged in the plant according to the sequence of operation. All the operations are carried on a continuous movement. The reasons for choosing the product layout are: 1. There is continuous supply of material. 2. The brands are all standardized products. 3. The demand for the product brands is reasonable stable. 4.The volume of production is adequate for the reasonable utilization of equipment. Since the company follows continuous operation movement, the cost of material handling goes low. The total floor space required by the machine is less than other types of plant layouts. Plant Capacity: The company installed latest up to date automatic plant conforming to plant layout. The installed production capacity is 400 bottles per minutes i. e. 24,000 bottles per day. The plant also is having 100 bottles per 1-leter line. During off-season the plant runs one shift.The company has to produce enough bottles of soft drinks at a speed to keep in space with the disappearance of soft drinks form shelves of the retailer. Production Schedule: The production schedule is fixed by taking into consideration. ? The present or current market demand. ? The availability of empty bottles. ? The inventory position filled bottles of different flavors. The production schedule for each brand is fixed daily, filling the bottles of each branded flavors. This has an advantage in manufacturing the branded product is one at a time. Quality control Pearl Beverages Pvt.Ltd. takes great care to maintain the quality control of the products in their factory. The Bottles are visually examined for impurities continuously, as the bottles move out. Samples are checked every ten minutes of production time by the chemist for its quality and hygiene condition. The chemical analysis is al so made for flavors, gas content and sugar percentages. The appearance, smell and taste of the products are also checked. If any defects are noticed, the production is suspended and the correcting measures are taken so as to set right the bottling process irregularities.Further, samples from each batch are dispatched to the affiliated parent agency company in each week for quality checkup. Moreover, agency of the company also lifts sample form the market at the random for quality checkup at any time to make sure that the quality is maintained to the exact standard of the parent company. At the end of the production schedule, daily all the equipment floor and wet patches are cleaned with bleaching powder or some other solution. The standards of hygiene maintained inside the production shops are commendable. Organization Structure and management:The word organization has two common meanings. The meaning signifies an institution or function as group and the second meaning refers to the process of organizing the way of work which is arranged and allocated among members often organization so that the goal of the organization can be achieved efficiently. The organizing involves balancing the companies. Needs both for stability on one hand and change on the other hand, an organization structure means adopting a change or it can be a source of resistance to change. There are mainly five elements of organization structure. ? Specialization of activities. Standardization of activities. ? Coordination of activities. ? Centralization and decentralization of deviation making. ? Size of the work unit. The M. D, Mr. Ruchirans Jaipuria is athe head of the organization and administration. The company is managed by able director, and is assisted by a team of well-qualified & experience senior management personnel. LIST OF THE EMPLOYEES IN PEARL BOTTELIGN COMPANY The following table shows the description of employees along with designation & no. of employees: |S. No |Description |No. f employees | |1 |GENERAL MANAGER (FINANCE) |1 | |2 |COMMERCIAL MANAGER |1 | |3 |MARKETING DEVELOPMENT MANAGER |1 | |4 |VICE PRESIDENT |1 | |5 |TERRITORY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER |4 | |6 |ACCOUNTS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER |1 | |7 |TRAINING MANAGER |1 | |8 |ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER |1 | |9 |MARKET EQUIPMENT MANAGER |1 | |10 |PRODUCTION MANAGER |1 | |11 |ASST.PERSONAL MANAGER |1 | |12 |STORE EXECUTIVES |3 | |13 |CUSTOMER CENTRAL EXECUTIVE |25 | |14 |TERRITORY C0-ORDINATOR |1 | |15 |ROUTE AGENT |50 | |16 |SALES TRAINEE |1 | |17 |CHEMIST |3 |18 |ACCOUNTANTS |5 | |19 |SUPERVISOR |8 | |20 |CLERKS |8 | |21 |OPERATORS |10 | |22 |ELECTRICIANS |10 | |23 |FITTERS |3 | |24 |COMPUTER CUM TELEPHONE OPERATORS |12 | |25 |SECURITY OFFICER |1 | |26 |SECURITY GUARDS |6 | |27 |OFFICE BOYS |13 | |28 |SWEEPERS & HELPERS |3 | CHAPTER-3 Theoretical Framework 3. 1 INTRODUCTION The main part of the report i. e. Analysis part is covered in this chapter. I did survey in 300 outlets in 3 various areas. After conducting the survey I interpreted the total collected information using a structured questionnaire. The required information is derived from that interpretation and analysis. This analysis part contains tables and pie charts. We can come to a conclusion from the final information from this chapter. Because of that reason this chapter is very important in the entire study of the project. Without this interpretation we can conclude the total survey and also can not understand the position of any company and the opinion of the customers regarding the company. 3. 2 DETAILS OF THE AREA SURVEY CONDUCTED Details of the survey conducted: The total data collected in three areas in Srikakulam district of total of 300 retail outlets.They are given below: |CLUSTER |SAMPLE SIZE |AREA | |Cluster-1 |130 |Srikakulam | |Cluster-2 |90 |Amadalavalasa | |Cluster-3 |80 |Narasannapeta | I started my survey first at Srikakulam on 4/02/09 and my study completed on 18/02/09 with Amadalavalasa. I pe rsonally went to every outlet and asked the total details of which are in the questionnaire and filled those things. Some of the retailers denied giving the details and I waited there with patience and collected all the data. In my survey I learned a lot and collected the useful information and also got good experience in the market field and came to know many things which are not in our books through this survey.I almost covered all the retail outlets which are situated in these areas and collected the correct information. 3. 3 INTERPRETATION OF THE SURVEY [TABLES AND GRAPHS] 1. Pepsi & Cock Brands Available In Various Markets: |S. No |Market |Pepsi |Cock | |1. |Srikakulam |5 |6 | |2. |Amadalavalasa |5 |5 | |3. |Narasannapeta |5 |7 | [pic] Average Pepsi & Cock brands Available in the market: Brands |No of Types | |Pepsi |5 | |Coca-Cola |6 | INTERPRETATION: In my survey of 300 retail outlets in 3 areas, I found 5 brands of Pepsi out of its 10 brands and 6 Brands of Coke is availa ble out of its 10 Brands on average. So the brand availability of Coke is more when compared to Pepsi.Top brands Available in Srikakulam Market: |S. No |Brands |Percentage | |1. |Slice |46 | |2. |Mirinda |24 | |3. |Sprite |20 | |4. |Limca |10 | [pic] Top Four Brands Available In Amadalavalasa Market: |S.No |Brands |Percentage | |1 |Mirinda |46 | |2 |7 Up |24 | |3 |Sprite |17 | |4 |Thumps Up |13 | [pic] Top Four Brands Available In Narasannapeta Market: |S.No |Brands |Percentage | |1 |Mirinda |42 | |2 |Sprite |26 | |3 |7 Up |18 | |4 |Slice |14 | 2. No of Bottles Sold Per Day in Various Markets: | |Srikakulam |Amadalavalasa |Narasannapeta | |Pepsi |52 |45 |42 | |Coke |44 |35 |50 | pic] 3. No of Bottles sold per Day: |Brands |No of Types | |Pepsi |45 | |Coke |55 | INTERPRETATION: In my survey of 300 outlets in three areas I found Pepsi is occupying 55% and the Coke is occupying 44% in the total market in average.From this we can understand that the Pepsi sales are more when co mpared to Coke. 4. Service required to the retail outlets: |S. No |Market |Daily |Alternative Days |Weekly Twice | |1 |Srikakulam |63 |25 |12 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |49 |27 |24 | |3 |Narasannapeta |55 |36 |9 | Service Required in Average: Types of Services |Average Service Required from the Companies | |Daily |55 | |Alternative Days |30 | |Weekly Twice |15 | [pic] INTERPRETATION: In my observation of 300 outlets in three areas I found that 55% of the retailers want the daily service, 30% retailers want Alternative Days and the remaining 15% of the retailers want the service weekly twice. 5.Satisfaction of Pepsi Service |S. No |Market |Good |Satisfactory |Bad | |1 |Srikakulam |60 |40 |0 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |65 |30 |5 | |3 |Narasannapeta |70 |28 |2 | Satisfaction of Coke Service |S.N0 |Market |Good |Satisfaction |Bad | |1 |Srikakulam |45 |50 |5 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |40 |55 |5 | |3 |Narasannapeta |45 |50 |5 | Service Satisfaction of Pepsi and Coke in Average: |Brand |Good Satisfaction |Ba d | |Pepsi |65 |33 |2 | |Coke |43 |52 |5 | INTERPRETATION: INTERPRETATION: In my survey of 300 outlets I found that 65% of the retailers expressed good in case of Pepsi and 43% incase of Coke. 33% in the case of Pepsi and 52% in case of Coke expressed satisfactory and finally remaining retailers expressed bad to the service of the companies. 6. Trade Schemes by Both Companies in Various Markets |S.No |Market |Pepsi |Coke | |1 |Srikakulam |41 |59 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |49 |51 | |3 |Narasannapeta |41 |59 | Trade Schemes by Both Companies in Average Brands |Trade Schemes | |Pepsi |44 | |Coke |56 | INTERPRETATION: By observing the above pie chart we can understand that 56% of the traders expressed their happiness towards the schemes of the Coca-Cola and the remaining 44% traders expressed their happiness towards Pepsi company in case of their trade schemes. 7.Consumer Promotions offered by both Companies |S. No |Market |Pepsi |Coke | |1 |Srikakulam |61 |39 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |57 |43 | |3 |Narasannapeta |60 |40 | Consumer Promotions offered in Average Brand |Consumer Promotion | |Pepsi |59 | |Coke |41 | INTERPRETATION: In providing consumer promotion by way of giving the prizes to the consumers and other ways to promote the sales, Pepsi was able to attracted 59% of the retailers with its promotional schemes. In case of Coke it attracted the remaining 41% of the retailers by their consumer promotional schemes and activities. 8. Is T. V Adds help to increase the sale of Soft Drinks |S.No |Market |Yes |No | |1 |Srikakulam |74 |26 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |51 |49 | |3 |Narasannapeta |60 |40 | Amount of people saying T. V ads help increase in Sale, in Average | |T.V Add helps the increase in sales | |Yes |62 | |N0 |38 | INTERPRETATION: The above chart shows the opinions of the retailers that weather T. V ads will help to increase the sale of the soft drinks. In this 62% of the retailers expressed positively and the remaining 38% retailers expressed negatively to this question. 9. Comparison of 2007-2008 sales S. No |Market |Good |Less |Same | |1 |Srikakulam |55 |40 |5 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |30 |63 |7 | |3 |Narasannapeta |40 |48 |12 | Comparison of 2007-2008 sales in average Opinion |Good |Less |Same | |No of outlets in average |42 |50 |8 | INTERPRETATION: In the above chart the opinions of the retailers were given. From that 42% of the retailers expressed the view of good increase in the sale by2008 when compared to 2007. 50%of the retailers expressed the view of less increase in the sale and the remaining 8% of the retailers expressed the view of the same sales and there is no increase in the sales. 10. The Percentage Of Juice Based Soft Drinks In Total Sales |S.No |Market Area |30% |20% |10% | |1 |Srikakulam |30 |33 |37 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |29 |34 |37 | |3 |Narasannapeta |34 |32 |34 | Juice Based Soft Drinks In Average | |30% |20% |10% | |Result |31 |33 |36 | INTERPRETATION: By observing the above chart we can understand that the demand for the juice based soft drinks is increasing rapidly. For that the companies better to concentrate on the juice based soft drinks introducing and their sales. 11.Pepsi Visi coolers and other coolers available in the Market |S. No |Market |Pepsi cooler |Cock+ other coolers | |1 |Srikakulam |32 |68 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |21 |79 | |3 |Narasannapeta |31 |69 |Pepsi & Coke Visi Coolers Available in Average | |Pepsi Visi Coolers |Cock Visi cooler+ Own cooler | |Average of Outlets |28 |72 | INTERPRETATION: In the areas where I did my survey I found 28% of the retailers are using the Pepsi Visi Coolers and the remaining 72% of the retailers are using the Coke and Other coolers. From this we can suggest that Pepsi have to increase their Visi Coolers supply. 12. Why retailers keep other products in Pepsi Visi Coolers |S.No |Market Area |Electricity Bill |No Own Cooler | |1 |Srikakulam |35 |65 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |58 |42 | |3 |Narasannapeta |56 |44 | Why other products in Pepsi Visi Coolers in Average |S.No |Electricity Bill |No own cooler | |1 |49 |51 | INTERPRETATION: When I did the survey I observed that many of the retailers are keeping the other products in Pepsi Visi Coolers and they gave some sort of explanation for that. In those reasons 49% of the retailers said Electricity bill is the problem and the remaining 51% of the retailers said that they don’t have their own coolers. They should be restricted. 13.Most Soft Drinks Consuming Category In Various Markets |S. no |Market |Male |Female |All People |Youth | |1 |Srikakulam |18 |10 |59 |13 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |12 |11 |56 |21 | |3 |Narasannapeta |19 |18 |39 |24 | Most Soft Drinks Consuming Category In Average Opinion |Male |Female |All People |Youth | |Avg % of outlets |16 |13 |51 |20 | INTERPRETATION: In the above pie chart the consumption of soft drinks mostly by four categories. 51% of the total consumption is by All People, 20% by the Youth, 15% by the Male and the remaining 13% is consumed by the Female. We c an say that the consumption of soft drinks by the youth is increasing. 14. Soft Dinks Supply To The Retail Outlets [Cash Or Credit] |S.No |Market |Pepsi Cash |Pepsi Credit |Coke Cash |Coke Credit | |1 |Srikakulam |100 |0 |100 |0 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |100 |0 |100 |0 | |3 |Narasannapeta |100 |0 |100 |0 | INTERPRETATION: From the above pie cart we can understand that both the Pepsi and Coke companies are not providing any credit to the retailers. All the retailers are purchasing the soft drinks on cash only. 15. Consumption of Soft Drinks at Home and at Shop |S. No |Market |At Shop |At Home | |1 |Srikakulam 80 |20 | |2 |Amadalavalasa |70 |30 | |3 |Narasannapeta |75 |25 | Consumption of Soft Drinks at Home & at Shop In Avg. |S. No |At Shop |At Home | |1 |75 |25 | INTERPRETATION:From the above pie chart we can understand that in the areas I did the survey 75% of the Soft Drinks are consumed at the Shops and the remaining 25% of the Soft Drinks are consumed at Home. Chapter-4 SUMMARY, FIND INGS & SUGGESTIONS 4. 1 INTRODUCTION The chapter contains Findings, Suggestions and Conclusions. Basing on the results of the survey Suggestions are given to improve the potentials and the market share of the company in the soft drinks field. The total findings are prepared by the survey information collected in the various places in Srikakulam district. I did the comparative study between the top two brands in the field of soft drinks sector those are Pepsi and Coke.The information is base on the two brand comparison and in my view these are useful to the company to improve its performance and can get good sales as well as good market share in the field of Soft Drinks. These are all my sincere findings and suggestions to the company. FINDINGS 1) The company is maintaining the quality of the products and it has good quality control Dept. 2) Now a day because of changing the food habits the soft drinks are added to their food habits. 3) Pepsi soft drinks are occupying more than half of the soft drinks market. 4) The demand for the fruit based soft drinks is go on increasing and they occupied the top selling drinks position. ) Sales promotion activities taken by the Pepsi Company is good as per the retailer’s opinion when compared to coke. 6) The Pepsi Company’s supply of drinks is good but they are not providing the sufficient drinks to the outlets. 7) The No. of Visi coolers in the market is less when compared to the Coke Company. 8) Some of the retailers are placing the other products also in the company c

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No topic Discussion Question Mgt 380 - Dissertation Example There are times when the wrong decisions are made and the question of accountability comes into the equation. This is when leaders have to explain how and why they were made, and what recourse has to be made to recuperate losses as well as corporate images. Circumstances that pose immediate danger to life, property, sales revenues however, may lead to other leaders arising from lower level in the ranks to take charge. A building on fire or a company vehicle tied up in an accident traffic accidents and workers are indecisive as top what to do, are also typical examples of situations where participants will be require to make quick decisions. However, in the design of a product, choosing the most economical distribution routes, the location of the best manufacturing sites, as well as who to employ to fill certain positions, require considering alternatives, as well as others, and has to be done by trained and experienced executives. Leaders may also from time reject suggestions that do not conform to their expectations, but may suffer from a lack of cooperation when time comes for execution of the strategic decision that was un-democratically made. Decision making according to Drucker, should rest always with executives or leaders who should strive to maximize the inputs of their respective teams as much as possible. During such process they should make it known that the final responsibility for the decision rests with them, but they value the contribution of every participant, and will consider all options before deciding (Drucker 1974). Question Q 2 Power according to Etzioni, can be either coercive, utilitarian or normative (Tichy & Candwell 2002). The first type of leader uses force to get the job done, while the second uses incentives, especially in a working environment to achieve the same objective. Normative Power occurs when values are employed to appeal to the inner constitution of people to generate commitment and a sense of purpose. The kind of power that I can identify is the normative one, where people are treated with respect, and their opinions valued in any business or social operation. By constantly communicating those attributes people who are so treated, will feel a part of my team and will go the extra mile to help achieve the mutually established goals and objectives. In addition, at times I will employ the utilitarian source of power along with the normative to help my teams motivated. This is because although they will feel important, at times rewards will serve to reinforce those values that have been communicated to them. Having these two sources at my disposal will always lead to people become loyal, committed, disciplined and very flexible in a knowledge base economy that is subjected to changing conditions at times. These are the values that I may be able upon in times of crisis, when team support and innovations becomes extremely important to the maintenance of competitive edge. Discussion Q 3 My favorite and l east favorite bosses were on opposite ends of a continuum, due to the leadership traits that they portrayed. The relationship between my most favored boss and me was an excellent one, and it made the work flow easy, even though at time some of the tasks were challenging. The fact that he was approachable, had an open door policy and

The Big Race Essay Example for Free

The Big Race Essay The character I like best is Mrs. Wakefield because she always support her children . Sheteaches them the good things to do . She gives them a tender loving care everyday . She assure thattheir children have a good health and keep away from illness. Conflict or Problem: The conflict or problem in the story is to find a wheels for their soap-box derby cars. Another one is the strategy that they will use in the contest to beat the other contestants so that theywill win. Most Interesting Part of Story: The most interesting part of story is when the race was started. The distance betweeneach cars are too near . Ken is first while Jessica is third during the race . Todd second during therace has a problem,one of his wheel rolled off . Jessica overtake with Todd’s car . A few secondslater Jessica overtake with Ken’s car . At last Jessica won in the race. Summary: One morning in class,the twins’ teacher ,Mrs. Otis ,made a special announcement . TheSweet Valley Elem. School has decided to sponsor a soap-box derby . It’s kind of race . Each person who enters builds his or her own car . Soap-box cars don’t have engines,though, so races arealways downhill . It was after school that day . The Wakefields were in the lumber store buyingwoods and other materials for their soap-box cars . After dinner Mr. Wakefields helped the twinsclear out a space in the garage and got out tools to start building. It was Sunday and the twins were still trying to find wheels for their cars . The twinsask their mom where can they find wheels . The next day after school,Mrs. Wakefield,the twins,andsteven went to junkyard . Elizabeth and Jessica found a wheels for their cars . After they boughtwheels,they hurry up to go home,to attach wheels to the poles and put it into the soap-box cars. OneThursday morning ,Mrs. Otis announce the route for the derby . It’s marked in red on this map of Secca Lake . That afternoon ,Mrs. wakefield and the twins loaded both cars into the van . They will go at Secca Lake for practice runs . Everyone’s taking turns on the hill. When it was her turn, Jessica was flying down the hill . Then suddenly –BANG! One side of her car fell off . Then the other side . Jessica’s car was broken into many pieces. On Saturday morning,the day of big race . The cars are lined up . the first race was begun . Jessica came in sixth while Ken came in first . The final race was begun . Jessica got off to agreat start ,but Ken and Todd still were ahead of her . Then about half away down the hill ,one of the Todd’s wheels rolled off . Jessica steered around todd’s car and missed him by an inch . Asecond later Jessica and Ken were lined up . Seconds later Jessica zipped across the finished line infirst place. Moral Lesson: Don’t loose hope in a contest or race ,it is just only a challenge of God . Alwaysthink positive that you can beat all the contestants and you will be the winner.

Semantic Change Of The Word Gay

Semantic Change Of The Word Gay Language investigation into the ongoing semantic change of the word gay Introduction The meaning of the word â€Å"gay† has changed over time with its current; most commonly accepted use being to describe someone’s sexual orientation. This wasn’t always the case and at the moment is already changing to define something as being â€Å"rubbish or â€Å"unimpressive†. Such a big change as of this has led to me being interested into investigating the word and how over time specifically it has changed. The word gay also interests me language wise because of its importance in referring to someone’s sexuality, it provides a personal connection to some people’s lives as it describes them and who they are, so however the definition changes so will the effect to anyone who is gay. To investigate the semantic change I wanted to get the widest range of results for my investigation on the word gay. I went about choosing a wide range of people to give me the greatest range of views and opinions on the word and its definitions. To get this I asked elderly people who come from a generation where the word was completely different. I also asked people such as my parents who have come from another different generation and then finally today’s generation. I would aim to find a large difference between definitions between the elderly who would have grown up around the 1960s and any teenager I ask today who is currently in a completely different generation. Methodology Data collection: Going about my Investigation I decided the best way to get the most and best results was to produce a number of definitions and let the people who fill out the questionnaire pick one or two. I then would produce some follow up questions around the word ‘gay’ in a questionnaire style layout. I decided that a questionnaire style layout would best suit this investigation because it would be familiar with all the ages I am planning to ask to fill. Anything to complicated could potentially confuse an older person so the results wouldn’t be as reliable. For the first most important question I decided on using the four definitions used by the British Oxford Dictionary and found that gay has four meanings: (A) ‘light-hearted and carefree’ (B) ‘brightly coloured, showy’ (C) ‘homosexual, especially a man’ (D) ‘foolish, stupid or unimpressive’ Giving each of these definitions a letter I would ask the people I was giving my questionnaire to, to choose the letter they thought gay meant. I’d do this in the aim of testing one of the hypothesis that only older people will use gay with the first and second meanings, and only younger people will use gay with the fourth and fifth, most recent meanings. The earliest meaning is letter (B). Dictionaries usually give letter (D) as the most recent meaning. Analysis First Analysis As I expected the results from my questionnaires matched my hypothesis, that the older generation would answer giving the definition of the word gay as light-hearted or colourful where as the generation of today (15-21) defining it as something being rubbish or a homosexual man. Even with this result that the homosexual man definition is still in common use, more 15-21 year olds answered that it meant something being rubbish rather than a homosexual man. The new definition is starting to over shadow the older one. Surprisingly in my results some even went to say they used the word gay not even thinking about the older definition of a homosexual man. Therefore showing the semantic change of the word has changed so greatly that it’s other definitions are starting to be forgotten about and people are using the new definition almost unconsciously as this new definition becomes more common. Though my hypothesis was correct there were some abnormalities with two elderly people who f illed in my questionnaire saying they had picked up on the change of the word gay through their grandchildren and had stopped using it because of the possibilities that the word could offend someone. I also found that the elderly people who were grandparents that had completed my questionnaire talked about experiences where they had use the word to describe something and had been laughed at because of the different meanings that the Grandparents and Grandkids shared. When being asked if they commonly used the word gay, the younger generation used it extremely more with it almost being a day to day phase. The older generation were not the same with all but one of the people I asked not using it at all. Semantic Change Through back up questions I learnt that such semantic change was becoming more popular through the school; people see that if homosexuality has become more accepted into today’s society they have no need to put a label on homosexuality. Therefore the word gay is losing its original meaning and connection to the word homosexuality. School also plays another part in this because it is teenagers (school pupils) who have changed the meaning of the word gay, it was first seen as an insult. But the word has been so overused that it has lost its original meaning. In the majority of schools where pupils aged 15-18 and possibly even younger call each other gay it was here that the word gay was popularised with students first using it as an insult. Being gay was seen as being bad, so it picked up this derogative term but as time processed and the semantic change also, it transformed into having an overall meaning that something is stupid. An example of this would be that in my questionn aire I was given â€Å"school† as something which is gay. If we used the definition of a homosexual man this would make no sense but because of the semantic change this definition has completely changed meaning anything this person didn’t like could be gay. It is not just in school that the word gay had been used. Radio and television shows although rarely are using the word gay to define something which is lame or rubbish. One example is Chris Moyles, a former DJ on BBC Radio 1, he received complaints from listeners after he used the word gay to describe a ringtone that he didn‘t like. The BBC released a statement after the incident saying that the word gay may now mean rubbish.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬- The BBC said that the DJ was just keeping up with developments in English usage. Chris Moyles show was one the most popular at the time, his and the BBC statement about the incident would have given many people a new way to define the word gay and the fact a DJ such as Chris Moyles could use it in this way would have led to many people using it also While finding out that gay meant something as being stupid through the eyes of 15-18 year olds, I asked these people whether or not they saw gay meaning this because of the fact that being gay has been seen as a bad thing for many years and is only now being understood and more regularly accepted. I wanted to see if at the beginning of ‘gay’ starting to change semantically, it took on a negative connotation since many opposed homosexuality especially in schools and whether or not this had an effect on the semantic change, almost trying to understand that if being gay was never seen as being bad would the word gay had even changed semantically at all? In conclusion into this secondary research I found that many people in the 15-18 year old category were honest and admitted that at the start the semantic change could have been put down to the fact it carried a derogatory meaning. But now is seen more as ‘play ground speak’ and the increase with this new meanin g is led by the youth culture with many 15-18 year olds using the word because others do and may not even have a bad view on gay people. This semantic change In which I questioned was also being devolved through media and social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook where some of the 15-18 year olds would commonly use the word gay to describe something being stupid, as with schools people copy what everyone else does and this is maximised with the huge number of young people who have social networking sites. Along with this my research found that films such as ‘The Hangover’ where the term gay is used as a joke by an actor. In this film it is used as an insult, this could promote the semantic change. As that film was hugely popular a lot of people saw the scene and saw the new definition in which this word was used. The scene and the words the actor used in this joke have been copied many times and just show how films have an effect on semantic change because of the huge influential value on society. Patterns in the Language The word gay like all words are not set elements of language and are changing all the time. The word gay has been put as starting from the 14th century, when the definition was â€Å"stately and beautiful splendid and showily dressed. Through the late 14thcentury, it changed to define â€Å"full of joy, merry, light-hearted, carefree† this meaning was one of the definitions I gave in my questionnaire and the one I found was mostly used by the older people who answered my questionnaire. During the 19th century the word gay came to describe a woman who was a prostitute or a man who slept with prostitutes. This definition is obviously not used at all today and shows how one word can change so much based whether or not people use it. In the 1920’s the first use of it for referring to a man who slept with another man came about and this use has stuck till today. Although the definition started then, it was not used commonly until the 1980’s when this definition over shadowed all others. Until 2006, the word gay was still defined as a homosexual male until the definition changed meaning something is stupid. As with my research, the new definition describes having nothing to do with the previous definition and perhaps no offence is intended when using it to describe something as rubbish. This trait in changing words is also seen in the word â€Å"sick† which is changing from defining as being ill to something being cool. These words that are changing are most commonly used by the youth culture, this shows the great power that the younger generations have over the English language and what a word means. It seems to be very rare that an older generation define what a word is defined as. Alongside my research I read into Emily Jelsomeno’s â€Å"Bitch,Nigger and Gay: Exclusive Language? The semantic shift of Pejorative Words and Reclamation† and this gave me the view that the pattern in which the word ‘gay’ changes grammatical category and is used seems to go from â€Å"positive to negative† and is now currently negative. With its newest meaning, something being stupid, it gives me the idea that this is a negative. With being able to see this shift, it enables me to make the assumption that there are at least three kinds of semantic change ‘gay’ has gone through. These being degeneration, elevation and taboo. With the degeneration I refer to gay becoming a word to describe something as being stupid, the most recent definition. It means gay is known as being negative. With elevation I refer to the improvement of the meaning. This improvement came from it meaning ‘men who had sex with other men’ to ‘homos exual males’. The second meaning is more favourable because it removes the element of sex from the definition. Sex between two males for some people is wrong and looked down upon strongly, whether it is for religious reasons or personal views. Removing the sex from the definition evaluates the word gay because it makes it more acceptable in some people’s eyes. It makes being homosexual not necessarily about having sex with someone of the same gender, but someone who is different from the norms of what being a male is. Lastly with the word gay I’d refer it to being a taboo for the term ‘homosexual male’ as the word ‘homosexual’ can still be considered a offensive term when referring to a gay man. Changes in Grammatical category Using my research and some background reading, I can come to the conclusion that gay has changed in grammatical categories. The first definition of the word â€Å"stately and beautiful splendid and showily dressed† would define gay as an adjective. During the 19th century, it shifted categories and became a noun; â€Å"a women who was a prostitute† and then acted at the same time as a verb. The phrase gay meant â€Å"to have sex†. Up to the 21st century gay was both an adjective (e.g. gay marriage) and a noun (i.e. gay being connected to being a homosexual). The most recent and latest category change makes gay an adjective once again by using it to insult something or someone, an example of this most recent category change from my investigation would be someone saying â€Å"you’re gay†. Conclusion Finishing up my investigation and concluding it I can see a quite clear semantic change of the word gay which answers my initial investigation question. Though I set out almost knowing what the answer was going to be, I was still surprised along the way with some of the information I gained from my investigation. I was not expecting the amount to which people use the word gay daily and how common it now is. Through my investigation I was pleasantly surprised how most (if not all the people I asked) actually used the word gay unconsciously with no thought in mind of offending anyone who is actually homosexual. With my evidence from the investigation I can make the conclusion that the amount that the word ‘gay’ is actually used has helped steer it away from being used to cause offence and this is obviously a positive sign. The only thing I would change about my investigation is that I would have given more open questions. This would mean the questionnaire would get into mo re depth about the people who were filling it in opinions, giving me more detailed results. Apart from that I feel my investigation was a success.  Ã‚   By taking part in this questionnaire you agree to this information being used for research purposes (Please tick if you agree) Please fill in this questionnaire: How old are you? 15-24 24-34 34-4444-54 54+ What does the word Gay mean to you? (A) ‘light-hearted and carefree’ (B) ‘brightly coloured, showy’ (C) ‘homosexual, especially a man’ (D) ‘foolish, stupid or unimpressive How would use ‘Gay’ in a sentence? Any other comments? Thank you for taking part Thank you for taking part Bibliography http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/words-literally-changed-meaning-through-2173079 17/04/2014 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100246515/gay-now-means-rubbish-get-over-it/ 17/04/2014 http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/02/how-gay-came-to-mean-homosexual/ 20/01/2014 Bitch, Nigger and Gay: Exclusive language? The semantic shift of pejorative words and reclamation -20/01/2014 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7289390.stm -21/01/2014

Consumer Behaviour in Organic Food

Consumer Behaviour in Organic Food A RESEARCH STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR WITH REGARD TO ORGANIC FOOD IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND INDIA Executive Summary Consumer Behaviour is an aspect that is being very vital in the globe of marketing. Food is a basic requirement for all the livelihoods and consumers require maximum satisfaction on the products they choose. Now consumers are more conscious about their health and choose nutritious food though they are expensive. Todays consumers are increasingly displeased with GM (Genetically Modified) and conventional food and are therefore stirring up to organic food. Many consumers are going organic not only towards food even towards clothing, beauty products, skin care and also paper. Organic food is not only healthier due to its ethical ways of production which do not use man-made chemicals and redundant preservatives as opposed to conventional food. It is also eco-friendly due to environment cognizant methods which are used for the production of organic food. The benefits of organic food are more whereas the disadvantages (such as price premium) are negligible when compared to its betterment. Regular buyers of organic food are willing to overlook this minor disadvantage when compared to its other disadvantages which affect their health. In spite of the debates, consumers prefer organic food to conventional food because it removes the question of eating food that is unnatural or food that is not eco-friendly. In this research work the consumer behaviour towards organic food in United Kingdom is studied and compared with that in India. The factors (such as consumer expectations, beliefs, criteria, concerns, quality, awareness etc) that affect marketing of organic food in UK and India are also studied with relevance to consumer behaviour. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT To successfully complete this dissertation was the most significant challenges I ever had. I would like to thank God and my parents who believed in me gave me full encouragement and support. Simon Speller, my supervisor who was very kind enough to help me out despite his academic and other commitments. I wish to express my warm and sincere thanks to him who encouraged me and guided me throughout my research study. His wisdom, immense knowledge and commitment to the high standard motivated and inspired me. He was always accessible and enthusiastic to help his students. Without his patience and directions I would have found it hard to complete my dissertation. I would like to thank specially my Module leader Yi Zhu, who encouraged me and never hesitated to help me out during my study. I immensely thank my friends and employees of the stores who were always there to lend me their hand. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background This research work revolves around the consumer behaviour and attitude towards organic food in United Kingdom and in India. A concise introduction will be given on consumer behaviour and how vital it is in the field of marketing. Secondly, an intense understanding of the term organic will be known. Many theories and phases associated with organic food will be emphasized and assessed in this dissertation. A various number of consumers of organic and conventional food are approached and consulted to get their views and estimation towards organic food. Not all the consumers approach towards organic food seems to be alike; consequently the application of certain statistical method helps us in further understanding the relation and the patterns in the consumer behaviour styles and trends in organic food in the two countries. This also helps us to identify how the consumers in UK and in India differ from each other and also we could recognize the ways they are similar in. On the whole, the similarities and differences between the consumers of organic food in UK and in India are deliberated. To obtain this information many respondents were requested to answer questionnaire concerning this topic and later on these answers were analysed using statistics. In the end these are discussed and limitations and conclusions are given and suggested. 1.2 Introduction to organic food Organic food is grown and produced using some production standards. The conventional pesticides, chemicals, fertilizers used for the production of conventional food are not used for organic farming. The organic farms are also free from human and industrial wastes. No artificial food additives and ionization process is used. Previously, organic food were grown only in private gardens and small farms thus making it only available in farmer markets or family run small stores. Nowadays, organic food is widely available. But there are a lot of standard and certifications that the sellers should possess to market the fruit and vegetables. There are heavy regulations in the organic fruit and vegetable industry. The organic food sales are expected to grow by a large percentage in the near future. 1.3 General Aim The aim of the study is to find out the consumer behaviour and approach towards the consumption of organic food in UK and in India. The elements and factors (health factors, eco-friendliness, production methods, ethics, taste, quality, safety standards etc) influencing the consumers decision making are also studied. 1.4 Research Questions How does the consumer behaviour towards organic food vary between India and UK? In what ways do consumers in the two countries expect the food to be different from convenience foods? What are the popular beliefs among consumers about organic food? When will India accept organic food widely, the way UK has? What makes organic food to be preferred more than convenience food? Why is there a variance between the preference rate and sales of organic food in both India and UK? What are the factors owing to this? How do the attitudes of Indian consumers differ from that of the British with respect to organic food? The above given question is the main aim and the biggest question for this study and research work. There are of course many sub questions as well which will also be researched in the course of this study. The question speaks about finding out the attitude differences in both the countrys consumer behaviour but the study might also prove the similarities in both the countrys consumer behaviour patterns towards organic food. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction In the literature review, the studies of previous research work by other researchers are conducted. This helps us to recognize what other research works have arrived at with relevance to consumer behaviour and organic food. It is of big help because it has allowed the perception of consumer behaviour in regard with organic food especially in the United Kingdom and India because research work is proposed to be more specific rather than being more generalized. Theories and patterns are analyzed from previous research work which helps us to comprehend the topic better. Its a framework which basically positions down the strategy for the research work. The concepts, theories, cases, models etc used for the presentation of the research are basically elucidated for understanding the study being carried out. In this dissertation, a few theories and models will be analyzed and discussed. 2.2 The effect of organic food on the environment The production of organic food is not harmful to the soil, water, air or even the flora and fauna in the sense that they do not release any toxins or harmful substances into the environment or the ecology as a whole. The energy consumed for organic farming is much lesser than the level of energy needed for conventional farming methods thereby helping energy conservation process. The usage of pesticides for farming of conventional food contains a great percentage of harmful toxic chemicals which have a negative impact on the health of the farmers, those living in the locality of the farms and the people who consume them. The aquatic animals in the water bodies near the farms and the birds which feed on the produce of these farms suffer various genetic problems and disorders which are mostly fatal. 2.3 Level of nutrients The content of nutrients in organic food are around 40% to 60% greater than that of the contents in conventional food. The level of antioxidants in organic food is up to 40% greater than in conventional food. These anti-oxidants are necessary for the normal well being of a person and helps in reducing the risks of various diseases and disorders. A large number of organic food consumers say it is much sweeter, tastier, better textures and firm than conventional food. 2.4 Cost: Organic food are anywhere between 5% and 40% more expensive than conventional food. This is due to the use of the standards and processes applied for its farming. It is more labour intensive because it is more difficult to farm organic food because they are prone to getting rotten easily if the standards and physical conditions are not met with. It uses more natural farming methods and is more often produced on a small scale level. Most countries import organic food and therefore it is more expensive than similar fruits which are produced conventionally. 2.5 Organic certificate: Most consumers of organic food think it is healthier for them. But to be sure what is being consumed is organic; one has to look for the certificate of organic food. To be certified as organic, a minimum of 95% of it must be organic. The rest 5% has stringent rules and standards. Synthetic chemicals or other processing standards are not acceptable. The food from a particular farm can be certified organic only if the farmer of that particular farm has been producing organic food for a minimum of 3 years. 2.6 Pleasure of going organic: Whether it is a psychological factor or not, it is not clear yet, but majority of organic food consumers on the whole feel it is tastier than conventional food. They also have the content feeling because they feel they are doing the environment better by opting to go organic. In todays mechanical times, most people are busy and hardly have time to prepare a proper meal with all the ‘good, healthy contents that are necessary for a healthy, balanced diet thereby opting for food that is convenient to get and make in most ways. Many old timers find the taste of food constantly decreasing. For instance, watermelons used to taste as sweet as sugar in India about 30 years ago, but now sugar needs to be added to make it sweet enough to drink its juice or make a fruit salad out of it. A survey conducted by the Soil Association in 2005 included a representative sample of 1000 people who were questioned about what they considered important while buying organic food. 95% said it was the ta ste and quality that mattered, 57% said price was considered while making a purchase. (Simon Wright, 2008) 2.7 Ethical factors and responsibility affecting choice: An average shopper for food in the supermarket is faced with so many dilemmas and attractive offers and discounts such as super savers etc. Many shoppers also succumb to these attractive offers on convenience food, but there are also a considerable percentage of shoppers who overcome these dilemmas and go in for organic food. Some of the shoppers are so loyal and inclined towards organic food that the thought of buying convenience foods never even crosses their minds. Most of them are considered about whether the farmers are given fair treatment and paid what they deserve (fair trade) and also concerned about the ecological friendly measures taken up while farming of these food which are better for the environment as well. Most of the non shoppers of organic food who prefer the convenience farmed foods do so mainly because of the price factor; some of the shoppers of organic food too think so. More shoppers prefer buying their organic food from the local farmer markets and small time local suppliers rather than the super markets because they feel the ‘stuff there is fresher and also the farmers will be getting a better deal off it. Those who prefer buying it from the supermarkets do so mainly because of accessibility constraints. 2.8 History of organic food in India: The concept of organic food is not new to India. At the beginning of the 19th century, Sir Albert Howard, one of the most important pioneers of organic farming, worked in India for many years studying soil plant interactions and developing composting methods. In doing so he capitalized on Indias highly sophisticated traditional agricultural systems which had long applied many of the principles of organic farming (for instance mixed cropping, crop rotation with legumes and botanical pesticides and so on) Through the introduction of the Green revolution, agricultural technology in the 1960s reached the main production areas of the country, there were still certain areas (especially the mountainous regions), and communities( especially certain tribes) that did not adopt the use of agro chemicals. Therefore, some areas can be classified as organic by default, though their significance and extent has been over emphasized in recent statements made by the government officials and NGO representatives. However, an increasing number of farmers have started consciously abandoning the use of agro chemicals and now produce organically. In the olden times in India, organic food farming was the main source of income for most of the people inhabiting the rural areas of India and it was also the major exporter to the world. In the 1960s, due to famines, droughts and extreme food shortage, the Indian Government started the idea of Green Revolution which made the farmers switch over to harsh chemicals for fertilizers, pesticides etc to multiply and increase the food production by a great level. This led to the sidelining of the usual organic farming methods of using natural fertilizers and pesticides which was obtained from plants and animals. Slowly in course of time, the Green revolution started decreasing the soil fertility, and the crops started getting immune to the harsh chemical fertilizers and this also started affecting nature as a whole and the environment as such. Therefore, a large number of farmers are moving back to the organic ways of farming and thus helping the surroundings as well apart from the consume rs. Genetically modified foods which were acceptable during the Green revolution period are now totally detested by most people and has a lot of negative aspects. Most of the big supermarkets in India have a separate section allotted for organic foods which are gaining a lot of demand and attention by the domestic market. (http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/organic-farming/15397-organic-farming-exports-food-consumption-india.html) According to a small recent survey taken in Mumbai, India, awareness about the presence of organic food is quite low. 25% of the respondents were aware of the availability of organic food and 36% out of them actually used them. The main reason for the use of organic food attributed towards the benefits it had on the consumers health. When compared to consumers of organic food in the United Kingdom, the Indian consumers did not mention the benefits it had regarding the environmental factors. It generally had a minor relevance to the Indian consumers of organic food. Most of the organic consumers had a purchase frequency of buying the food on an average of once a month. The purchase rate of organic food to conventional food was a ratio of 1:10 respectively. Most people in India do not consume organic food and organic food in general due to the fact that they are not aware that such a thing exists at all. When posed with the question if they would buy organic food because it was healthi er for them, all the non consumers and non buyers of organic food answered they would buy it solely because of the reason that it was better for their health. The domestic market for organic food is nowhere near as great as the export market for it. Indian domestic consumption of organic food is only a meager 7.5% of the entire organic fruit and vegetable production, the rest of which is directed towards the export market which is very great as Indian organic farming techniques are one among the best in the world and the resources are natural and pure in India. Most of the domestic consumption of organic food in India is seen in the big urban cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkota, Delhi, Hyderabad to name a few. These cities are noted to be inhabited by the upper income groups of the country, thereby showing that the upper income groups are obviously the predominant consumers of organic food in India. 2.9 Growth in the domestic market in India for organic food: There has been a considerable increase in the growth of demand and consumption of organic food in India. Many NGOs are aiding and assisting farmers to do better in their area of organic fruit and vegetable faming. Increase in demand by the local market in India for organic food are mainly because of health conscious factors, being aware about the product and its benefits, appealing marketing strategies and the ease of availability. These are the main factors considered according to some NGOs in India. It is a myth that most of the organic produce is exported to foreign countries. Today market for organic food in India is on the rise. More than 50% of the produce is consumed by the domestic market. The rest is aimed for the export market. Most of the domestic market consumers in India prefer organic food especially in families with growing children due to the beneficial factors in them. 06-07-2008 S.Annadana Senior Member Business Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Organic Agri Business Organic farming, exports Food Consumption in India (http://www.agricultureinformation.com/forums/organic-farming/15397-organic-farming-exports-food-consumption-india.html) 2.10 Committed Organic Consumers HDRA participating members completed a questionnaire on background information about the participant and their household. They answered precise questions about their behaviour as organic consumers focusing on organic vegetables. Questions included weekly spend on vegetables, percentage of organic vegetables bought, factors to encourage purchasing and where and how regularly they bought organic vegetables. This information was analysed and combined with a brief literature review of research into committed organic consumers in the wider UK population. Committed buyers tended to be older and more affluent than the UK population average, over two thirds were in social classes A, B or C1, compared to fewer than 50 per cent in the population at large and most lived in London and the South East (TNS, 2003; Padel and Foster, 2005). The majority of committed organic consumers spend was from the two groups of empty nesters whose children have left home and families with children under 5 years (TNS, 2003). TNS (2003) found fruit and vegetables were the main entry point to organic purchasing as 55 per cent tried them before any other category. Padel and Foster, (2005) identified that committed organic consumers took on a greater number of issues and motives, which varied depending on the product category. The two most important motivations were taste and health. TNS (2003) reported there was a â€Å"direct correlation between the extent to which consumers believe in the health and taste benefits of organic food and the number of categories they buy into†. Padel and Foster (2005) found personal health was a particularly strong driver among UK consumers and related it to an absence of residues and food safety although Zanoli (2004) identifies that across Europe health seemed to be the central motive for buying organic produce. Environment and animal welfare were growing in importance as drivers (Padel and Foster, 2005). Food origin was particularly important as 60 per cent of organic consumers were more likely to buy organic food if it originated from the UK compared to 38 per cent for whom it didnt really matter (TNS, 2003). Price was often found as a barrier to purchasing although committed buyers had a higher willingness to pay (TNS, 2003). This is common across Europe (Zanoli, 2004). Organic consumers bought organic food an average of 12.8 times a year and average spend per shopping trip was  £2.53 (TNS, 2003). Committed buyers spend more on average and buy more frequently than less committed buyers. The ma jority bought organic produce in Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose. It is usually seen that most people who are regular buyers of organic food are either families with young children or old people. This in a way shows that organic food are preferred by those who want to maintain their health and stay fit. As for the more affluent people being regular buyers of organic food, the price premium for it justifies this behaviour. 2.11 Consumer Behaviour: Consumer Behaviour is extensively studied in the field of marketing. Without consumers it is rigid for any sort of trade to run efficiently. Consumers are the raison-d-etre for a business mere existence. A business maybe a profit organization or even a non-profit organization. â€Å"The field of consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use and dispose of products, services, experiences or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society†( Belch and Belch, 2007)). From the marketing point of view, it is a significant factor to understand the consumer skillfully and to aid to their needs, wants and demands to be successful. A consumer is the centre of attention in case of most marketing techniques; after all, it is the consumers a business needs to move forward. In the case of organic food, a consumer might decide to buy it for its benefits on health or the environment or maybe because of the advertising for it is attractive. There are diverse factors that affect the consumer decision making process which is also discussed further. 2.12 Models of Consumer Choice: 2.12.1 The Cognitive Model: Initially when consumers make a significant purchase, they may reflect on substitutes and discuss pros and cons with others with an intention of securing benefits and avoiding costs. This model is sometimes called the extended-problem solving model. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008). 2.12.2 The Reinforcement Model: Choice is controlled by the factors in the environment that reward and aid some alternatives more than others. Managerial control is attained by altering the consumers circumstances. Nevertheless what is pleasing to one person may not seem so to others and this limits persuasion. (East, Wright and Vanhuele, 2008). 2.12.3 The Habit Model: The choice of consumers towards the product is sometimes controlled by managing stimuli (brand name, logo, pack features, colour attraction, etc) that have become allied with a product as a result of past purchases. Sometimes this is called stimulus control. (East, Wright and Vanhuele , 2008). 2.12.4 Consumer Behaviour Models: The objective of consumer behaviour models is to provide description, explanation and prediction of purchase behaviour. On the identical side the models provide a conceptual framework and so help researchers to locate and to examine new ideas so as to enhance better enlightenment and predictions of behaviour. On the constructive side these models aid to organize research results and to demonstrate the density of decision processes involved in even a simple purchase, such as a can of soup in the local supermarket. On the unconstructive side most of the models can be criticized as providing no more than a description of a range of influencing variables. There are four main clusters of factors that have an outcome on purchase behaviour. They are political, economic and technical; cultural and social; psychological; and marketing influences. (Bareham, 1995) Theories make it smoother to comprehend a concept as they sketch the causes and effects that are possible and what to anticipate provided the input (the happening circumstance) is given. In most circumstances, it is easy to analyze whether practical situations are normal and satisfactory with the help of proven time tested theories. 2.13. Marketing Segmentation: The market is divided into diverse segments based on their needs, tastes, income, and a lot of other criteria. Marketing segmentation is based on a lot of research and important factors to suit the requirements and purposes. Some of the marketing segmentation is as follows: 2.13.1. Geographic Segmentation: This involves segmenting the market by location on the assumption that people living in one location will have similar needs, wants and preferences and these will differ significantly from people living in other locations. There are some obvious limits to this assumption. People all over the world drink Coca-cola and buy Japanese electronic goods for instance. When you think about it from the viewpoint of the consumer, most buying behaviour is actually local. Localized consumer behaviour is often expressed through the presence of a significantly large cultural or sub cultural group that is different from the main stream. There are also geographically based differences between consumers for reasons that are more complex or obscure. It is not immediately obvious why some sections of consumers have different behaviour than the other sections. But knowing that, they will do it can be important to the marketing strategy. 2.13.2. Demographic segmentation: Demographic segmentation deals with the many ways if statistically categorizing all the people in a national population. For example, a national population can be divided into subgroups based on age, sex, income, education, occupation, social class, family size, race and religion. In a sense, there are also different ways of looking at the same individual consumer, because of course we belong to each of these groups. Different aspects of our identity will be relevant to different products at different times. Baby foods can only be marketed to parents of young children, for example and a middle-class, middle aged, middle income, middle manager is more likely to be in the market for an exercise bike than a motor bike. Some of the important specifics of demographic segmentation are Age: Age is perhaps the most frequently used demographic variable in marketing segmentation. One reason for this is that the lifecycle has been divided up by society into what seem to be easily recognizable groups that are clearly differentiated from one another- infants, children, teenagers, young adults food. Sex: Dividing the market into male and female segments is another frequently used strategy. But even here, the old marketing certainties are breaking down. It used to be a safe bet for marketers to target do-it-yourself products exclusively at men and supermarket shopping at women. But with the larger increase in single occupant hose-holds and one parent families (most of them female), many more women are buying things that men would do if they were in a family. In addition, more women than men buy for other consumers. Socio-economic status: A persons socio economic status is determined by education, income and occupation. Though there are many exceptions of course, these are three factors often in alignment. More highly educated people tend to do managerial and professional jobs that bring a relatively high income, and vice-versa. For obvious reasons most marketers are more interested in people with high socio economic status rather than low. Income is often considered the most important variable in this case because it is so easy to quantify and because it dictates entry to certain markets. But income by itself can be very misleading. Psychological segmentation: The attempt to come up with a practical form of consumer profile has concentrated on three areas of behaviour: activities, interests, and opinions. Segmentation by usage: This form of segmentation is based on information about volume and frequency of purchase for a given product. It is a popular way of segmentation of markets because there is a lot of readily available information about patterns of usage for most goods and services. In fact, with so many transactions now electronically recorded, a great deal more of data is available than is actually used. Perhaps the most familiar usage data is provided by the electronic point of sale (EPOS) used by supermarket checkouts. Not only are all the purchased items listed, together with their prices, but so is the date and exact time of purchase and the method of payment used. Segmentation by benefit: This form of market segmentation is based on knowledge of the benefits that consumers seek from that particular product. The task of the marketer is to include the appropriate characteristics- or the impression of them in the design of particular goods or services. In a sense this kind of segmentation is at the entire marketing concept find out what people want and provide it for them. (David a Statt) Segmentation is very important for a firm or an industry to market its products strategically and for it to be a success. In the case of organic food, it comes under the category of food which is a basic necessity and therefore would appeal to and include a lot many segments in the markets. In this research study we are considering only the United Kingdom and India. So geographically these two countries are covered. Demographically the middle aged and the older people will be targeted age wise, both sexes, and the middle class and upper class levels will be targeted according to the socio economic status segmentation. Since the middle aged and older people usually are the ones who go shopping for food, they are targeted age wise, both men and women shop for it, and when it comes to socio economic status, the middle and the upper income groups are targeted as organic food are more expensive than conventional food. Many shoppers especially in India will give up the idea of buying food when it comes to the price factor that is not acceptable for them. That is the reason why the middle and upper income groups are aimed at here. Most people both in India and United Kingdom consume food every day. In India, no meal is complete without fruits or vegetables and in the United Kingdom, people are encouraged to consume food everyday with the healthy 5 a day concept though it is already a staple portion of a healthy meal. These segments are most suitable for being aimed at for marketing of organic food and therefore they are the target segments. 2.14. Decision making process Decision makingcan be regarded as an outcome of mental processes leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a finalchoice.The output can be an action or an opinion of choice. There are many factors which are discussed below: 2.14.1 Communication Situation The situation in which the consumer receives information about a product or service influences the buying decision of the consumer. For example, in the case of organic food, an advertisement speaking about the bad impacts of the chemicals used in conventional foods right when the buyer is suffering from food poisoning might influence the consumer to buy food that is healthier and does not involve the usage of chemicals responsible for food poisoning and therefore influence the consumer to go in for purchase of organic food in future. 2.14.2. Purchase Situation: The sit