European Journal of Social Sciences ISSN 1450-2267 Vol.29 No.2 (2012), pp. 233-243 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc.

. 2012 http://www.europeanjournalofsocialsciences.com

Impact of Media on Consumers Brand Preference A Study on Carbonated Beverage Market with Reference to Coca-Cola
Thomas Michael Department of Management Studies, Dr. N.G.P. Institute of Technology Kalapatty Road, Coimbatore 641048, India E-mail: thomasparael@sify.com Tel: 09443441979 V. R. Nedunchezhian Department of Management Studies, Kumaraguru College of Technology Chinnavedampatti P.O. Coimbatore 641047, India E-mail: dirvrn@yahoo.co.in Tel: 09865117177 Abstract When the rapid growth of various brands in India has led to a tight competition and consumers are faced with brand choice in the market, it becomes necessary for manufacturers to understand the major factors attracting buyers to his own brand. The survey of 538 randomly selected consumers of Coimbatore in India examined the role played by media on consumer brand choice of Coca-Cola (carbonated beverage brand). Results revealed that the age group of consumers does not have significant effect on reception of advertising by Coco-Cola. It also showed that 37.7% of the consumers preferred Coca-Cola more than other brands of carbonated beverages. The major reason for brand preference is advertisement (52.6%). TV advertising was most preferred by78.8% of the respondents of all the media used. High preference for advertisement is highlighted for companies that want not only to retain their market but also to increase their market share.

Keywords: Brand choice, Media, Industry, Coca Cola

1. Introduction
Indian consumers are seemly more and more doctored and enlightened about products.Consumers are getting richer, leading to competition in the market place for consumer products. The result is that, consumer companies are increasingly faced with marketing issues.Today companies do not have any other option except advertise. The biggest challenges in the front of companies are to recognise consumer insights and hit the target. 1.1. Carbonated Beverage Market in India India has proved to be perhaps the toughest battle ground for the Cola giants. Coca-Cola was the 1st international soft drinks brand to enter India in early 1970s. Indian market was dominated by domestic brands, with Limca being the largest selling brand. Cola was the largest selling flavor with market

European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume.29, Number.2 (2012) share of 40%, Lemon drinks 31% and orange drinks only 19%.Up to 1977, Coca-cola was the leading soft drink brand in India. But due to norms set by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), Coca-Cola left India and did not return till 1993 after a 16 year absence from the Indian beverage market. Pure drinks, Delhi launched Campa-Cola, to take advantage of Cokes exit and by the end of 70s, were the only Cola drink in the Indian market. In 1980, Parle, another major Indian player launched ThumsUp, the drink is a very popular soft-drink in India. Pure Drinks strongly objected to ThumsUp being called a soft drink as it felt its taste is too strong. For over a decade, Parle led the Indian soft-drinks market, with its reaching a peak of 70% in1990. In late 80s and early 90s it was PepsiCos struggle to enter Indian market. Pepsi saw the exit of Coke as a God send opportunity to capture then estimated 900 crore market of India. India was then a highly regulated market with International trade constituting only 6% of GDP in 1985. Foreign trade was subject to import tariffs, export tariffs and quantitative restrictions. Foreign direct investment (FDI) was restricted by barriers like upper limit equity participation, restrictions on technology transfer, export obligations and government approvals. Any foreign investment had a lot of political sensitivity to it. By the time PepsiCo began its negotiations, the upper cap for equity holding in Indian companies was 40%. PepsiCo realised itll have to be creative to enter the Indian markets and by 1991 it entered the Indian market as Lehar Pepsi. Carbonated beverage market in India is extremely competitive, dominated by PepsiCo and Coke The global soft drinks market is valued at $494.5 billion Coca Cola cornered 50% of the Indian beverage market by the end of millennium In 2010 company achieved an excellent growth rate of 32% The per-capita consumption of soft drinks in India remains very low, approximately at 5.2 liters against the world average of nearly 85.22 liters. Coca-Cola remains the market leader in the carbonated category with a market share of more than 60% in the Indian market, followed by Pepsi with around 35%. The Indian food processing industry is slated to grow by 20% till 2014 Health beverages and juices market is estimated at around Rs.5 billion currently (out of Rs.35 billion for the beverage industry as a hole) While carbonated drinks are consumed by consumers from almost all economic segments and ages in India, segments such as energy drinks and sports drinks are mainly consumed in the age group of around 24 years who are on the higher side in terms of economic status. With improving literacy rates, consumers have become increasingly aware of health and fitness related issues. Additionally, due to greater disposable incomes, particularly in urban areas, consumers are seeking healthier beverages even if they are relatively more expensive. Increased health consciousness making fruit juices, Malt Based Drinks (MBDs) on a growth path It is estimated that the juice segment will grow by 14% compared to 5.6% for Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSDs) in 2011 In the US, the CSD category fell by 0.5% by volume in 2010 Pesticide controversies affected CSDs sale significantly in India
Table 1: Category-Wise Off-Trade Sales of Carbonated Drinks In India Between 2005-10 (In Rs. Million)
2005 17022 16720 302 2006 15780 15491 289 2007 16105 15802 304 2008 16814 16492 321 2009 20828 20433 395 2010 23699 23254 445

Category Cola Carbonates Regular Low-calorie

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Table 1: Category-Wise Off-Trade Sales of Carbonated Drinks In India Between 2005-10 (In Rs. Million) continued
24283 10787 3726 7690 2081 40389 25701 11658 3811 8034 2198 42514 29731 14312 3915 8717 2787 50559 33614 16879 4145 9152 2438 57313

Non-cola Carbonates 22897 23240 Lemonade/Lime 10045 10183 Mixers 3552 3629 Orange Carbonates 7361 7435 Others 1940 1993 Total 39919 39020 Source: 4Ps Business & Marketing May 2011

Soft drink players such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were the leaders in overall soft drinks offtrade value sales in 2010. According to Nielsens data, Colas such as ThumsUp, Pepsi and Coca-Cola grew by around 11% and juice flavored drinks like Fanta and Minute Maid grew by 14% during the summers of 2010. PepsiCo claims that its lime-based Mountain Dew has been the fastest growing aerated drink in the country for the past three years. Packaged lemon juice too is catching up fast. According to industry estimates, packaged lemon juice sales doubled in 2010 and it is extrapolated that the annual sales could reach at least a billion cases by 2013. 1.2. Consumer Trends Raising awareness levels with regard to obesity and other weight related health issues in the last decade, especially amongst teenagers and young adults, has helped push sales of non-carbonates. The harmful effects of artificial ingredients in food and beverages have fueled the demand for natural or free from products over the last few years. According to Datamonitors consumer survey, 62% of respondents globally are influenced by the claims of no artificial additives including colors, flavorings and preservatives when making food and beverage choices. The survey further reveals that the natural/organicclaim influences the major proportion of consumers in developing countries like Brazil and China, and a significant proportion in developed economies like the US and the UK.
Table 2: Sales Volume of Non-Alcoholic Drinks In India (In Million Litres)
2011 4515 1536 623 2012 5169 1639 709 2013 5825 1738 796 Annual growth 2009-13 14.5% 6.7% 14.9%

Products 2009 2010 3290 3885 Bottled Water 1323 1430 Carbonated Soft Drinks 456 538 Juice Source: 4Ps Business & Marketing May 2011

Sales of non carbonated drinks got a boost from the pesticide controversy which led some consumers to switch loyalties from carbonates to juices, functional drinks etc. Products such as Juice are now fast becoming as an essential part of breakfast table with urban families. Leading beverage corporations such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have identified this trend and are adopting strategies to benefit from this development. Previously, product strategy of these large corporations was largely Cola based; given that a large part of their product volumes would come from the carbonate segment. However, in the last few years, with the strong growth in the non-carbonate sector and tapering of growth within the Cola segment, companies such as PepsiCo have announced plans of moving towards a well diversified portfolio by increasing the volume share of other soft drink segments including juices, functional drinks and other products with health benefits etc. This is evident from the strong marketing campaigns which preceded the launch of brands such as Tropicana, Minute Maid and Nimbooz, Nimbu Fresh.These recent entrants have used the natural claim to market their product with consumers, with products being modeled on traditional Indian drinks. For instance, Nimbooz is based on the traditional lemon drink consumed in homes and the ads reflect the natural flavors and the home made like taste of the product. 235

European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume.29, Number.2 (2012) 1.3. Media and Advertisement Media In general, refers to various means of communication. For example, television, radio, and the newspaper are different types of media. Advertising, sales promotion and public relations are masscommunication tools available to marketers. As its name suggests, mass communication uses the same message for everyone in an audience. The mass communication tools trade off the advantage of personal selling and the opportunity to tailor a message to each prospect, for the advantage of reaching many people at a lower cost per person (Etzel et al., 1997). Dunn et al. (1987) viewed advertising from its functional perspective, hence they define it as a paid, non-personal communication through various media by business firms, non-profit organization, and individuals who hope to inform or persuade members of a particular audience. Morden (1991) is of the opinion that advertising is used to establish a basic awareness of the product or service in the mind of the potential customer and to build up knowledge about it. Kotler (1988) sees advertising as one of the four major tools companies use to direct persuasive communications to target buyers and public noting that it consists of non-personal forms of communication conducted through paid media under clear sponsorship. According to him, the purpose of advertising is to enhance potential buyers responses to the organization and its offering, emphasizing that it seeks to do this providing information, by channeling desire, and by supplying reasons for preferring a particular organisations offer. It could be concluded that the purpose of advertising is to create awareness of the advertised product and provide information that will assist the consumer to make purchase decision, and eventually develop-brand loyalty. Consequently, many organisations spend a huge amount of money on advertising and brand management. 1.4. Media and Consumer Behaviour Advertisers primary mission is to reach prospective customers and influence their awareness, attitudes and buying behaviour. They spend a lot of money to keep individuals (markets) interested in their products. To succeed, they need to understand what makes potential customers behave the way they do. The advertisers goal is to get enough relevant market data to develop accurate profiles of buyersto-find the common group for communications. This involves the study of consumers behaviour: the mental and emotional processes and the physical activities of people who purchase and use goods and services to satisfy particular needs and wants (Arens,1996).Consumer behaviour analysis views the consumer as another variable in the marketing sequence.Consumer behaviour analysis is conducted to assess the complexities of marketing operations. Today, in India, there exists stiff competition in carbonated beverage market. It is, therefore, imperative for the brands to employ brilliant advertising and branding strategies to influence consumers behaviors in order to continue to enjoy and maintain market leadership. This paper examines the role of Media on a leading company in carbonated beverage category as a case study.

2. Literature Review
Many researchers including Brassington and Pettitt (2003), Erdogan and Baker (2000) have found that brands are sensitive to the communication and anchors which catalyze consumer behavior.Ekelund and Gramm (1969) analyzed the relationship between advertising and aggregate consumption and they could not establish the positive relationship between advertising and consumption. While, Tylor and Weiserbs (1972) found that there is a positive relationship between aggregate demand and aggregate consumption.Baldinger and Robinson (1996) have observed that, brand managers are supplementing their mass-media advertising with more direct communications, through direct and interactive methods to build and maintain consumer loyalty.McConnell et.al (1968) tried to find out the correlation between advertising spending and GNP, industrial production. They could not establish the link between these variable. Chowdhury (1994), a more closely related study considered the relationship between 236

European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume.29, Number.2 (2012) advertising and several macro economic factors during the period of 1960-91 in U.K. He could not able to find the relation between advertising and consumption, while he could able to find relation between advertising and employment. Verdon and McConnell (1968) studies the relationship between advertising and aggregate demand, they found that advertising have a positive relation with aggregate demand.

3. Objectives
The purpose of this study is to examine following specific objectives. 1. To study the media effectiveness in the advertisement for Coca-Cola 2. To find out the influence of age on reception of advertising efforts by Coca-Cola 3. To study the influence of gender on consumer preference for carbonated beverage 4. To study the influence of income on consumer preference for carbonated beverage

4. Hypotheses Development
The paper tested the following hypothesis: 1. The age groups of consumers have no significant effect on reception of advertising efforts by Coca-Cola. 2. There is no significant difference between income of the respondents and brand preference 3. There is no significant difference between gender and brand preference

5. Research Methodology
A descriptive research was carried out by applying a survey method. Data for the study were collected by using the random sampling method among 600 urban respondents in Coimbatore city of India, by means of structured questionnaire. Out of 600 distributed questionnaires, 538 were responded, out of that 280 (52% ) were male and 258 (48%) were female and the age range between 15 to 65 years old consumers who consume carbonated beverages at least once in a month.

6. Limitations of the Study

The present study is confined to Coimbatore city alone and the findings may not be applicable to other cities of the country because of socio-cultural differences. Chances of respondents' bias are involved in the research. Limited number of respondents has been chosen or the study, this could affect the accuracy of the result to certain extent.

7. Analysis and Interpretation

Consumers age ranges between 15 and 65 years. The result shows over 61% of the respondents are within the age range group of 15-35 years old. The obvious implication of this finding is the dominance of youths in the market for marketers products.

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Figure 1: Consumers Brand Preference for Carbonated Beverages

According to Figure 1, out of eight most preferred brands (Coca Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Thums Up, Limca, Pepsi, Mirinda and 7-Up), three brands (Coca-Cola 37.7%, Fanta 17.7% and Sprite 16.2%) made up about 72% of the brand preference of consumers. It also reveals that Coca-Cola is the most preferred brand.
Figure 2: Factors Responsible for Brand Preference of Coca-Cola

According to Figure 2, the importance of advertising in retaining and increasing the companys (Coca-Cola) market is obvious from the result and instructive to the management of the company; various reasons for brand preferences were asked and the responses (Advertisement 52.6%, Taste 24%, Availability 17.7%, Sales promotion 3.2%, Quality 1% and Packaging 0.9%) show the high impact of advertisement and taste on brand preference for Coca-Cola.

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Figure 3: How Long Consumers Are Known To Coca-Cola

Figure 3 shows the number of years consumers have been aware of Coca-Cola . It is evident that 21.6% of the respondents have known the brand for over 20 years, 37.7% over 15 years, 19.9% over 10 years and 20.8% of them have known it over 5 years. It is very clear that majority of the respondents have long association with Coca-Cola brand
Figure 4: Consumers Opinion towards Media Effectiveness in The Advertisement of Coca-Cola

Consumers opinion towards effectiveness of five different media used for advertising CocaCola was examined. According to Figure 4, the results showed that most consumers (78.8%) perceive Television advertising is the most effective media for advertisement of Coca-Cola, 10.6% Radio, 5.4% Out door, 3.5% Newspaper and 1.7% Magazine; the powerful combination of sound and vision in the TV advertisements might be reason behind the consumer perception for this media.

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Figure 5: Age Groups Opinion towards Influence of Media on Sale of Coca-Cola

Figure 5 shows 67.5% in the age group 15-25 years, 63.7% in the age group 26-35 years, 71.4% in age group 36-45 years, 67.1% in age group 46-55 and 68% in age group 56-65 years agreed to the fact that media advertising has influence on the sales of Coca-Cola.
Table 3: Chi-Square Test: Age Group of Consumers on Reception of Advertising Efforts by Coca-Cola
Opinion Yes 81 (80.52) 121 (127.49) 95 (89.24) 47 (46.97) 17 (16.78) 361 No 39 (39.48) 69 (62.51) 38 (43.76) 23 (23.03) 8 (8.22) 177 Total 120 190 133 70 25 538

Age Group 15-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 Total Source: Data Analysis

Calculated Chi-Square value = 2.15 Table value of X2 for 4 degree of freedom at 5% level of significance = 9.488 Age groups of consumers on reception of advertising efforts by Coca-Cola was tested in an attempt to test the formulated hypothesis (The age group of consumers have no significant effect on reception of advertising efforts by Coca- Cola). As chi-square test statistic showed in Table 3, for 4 DF (Degree of Freedom) at 5% significance level, calculated value of X2 is lower than the table value, so the data support the hypothesis. Hence we conclude that, the age groups of consumers have no significant effect on reception of advertising efforts by Coca-Cola.

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Table 4: Chi-Square Test: Brand Preference of Carbonated Beverage Brand Based on Consumers Income
Brand Preference Pepsi Mirinda 11 8 (10.09) (7.77) 13 7 (9.81) (7.57) 15 9 (14.36) (11.07) 5 7 (8.03) (6.19) 4 6 (5.71) (4.40) 48 37 Total 7-Up 5 (6.30) 9 (6.13) 7 (8.98) 8 (5.02) 1 (3.57) 30 Limca 3 (5.67) 6 (5.52) 9 (8.08) 6 (4.52) 3 (3.21) 27 Thums Up 4 (2.31) 3 (2.25) 1 (3.29) 2 (1.84) 1 (1.31) 11 113 110 161 90 64 538

Coca Cola 58 Less than 15000 (42.64) 43 15000-30000 (41.51) 56 30000-45000 (60.75) 31 45000-60000 (33.95) 15 Above 60000 (24.15) Total 203 Source: Data Analysis

Income Group

Fanta 10 (19.95) 17 (19.42) 38 (28.43) 12 (15.90) 18 (11.30) 95

Sprite 14 (18.27) 12 (17.79) 26 (26.04) 19 (14.55) 16 (10.35) 87

Calculated Chi-Square value = 80.76 Table value of X2 for 28 degrees of freedom at 5% level of significance = 41.337 Brand preference of carbonated beverage brands on consumers income was tested in an attempt to test the formulated hypothesis (There is no significant difference between income of the respondents and brand preference). As chi-square test statistic showed in Table 4, for 28 DF (Degree of Freedom) at 5% significance level, calculated value of X2 is much higher than the table value, so the data does not support the hypothesis. Hence we conclude that, there is significant relationship between income of the respondents and brand preference
Table 5:
Gender

Chi-Square Test: Brand preference for Carbonated Beverage Brands Based on Gender
Brand Preference Pepsi Mirinda 7-Up 40 18 13 (24.98) (19.26) (15.61) 8 19 17 (23.02) (17.74) (14.39) 48 37 30

Coca Cola 86 Male (105.65) 117 Female (97.35) Total 203 Source: Data Analysis

Fanta 71 (49.44) 24 (45.56) 95

Sprite 32 (45.28) 55 (41.72) 87

Limca 12 (14.05) 15 (12.95) 27

Thums Up 8 (5.72) 3 (5.28) 11

Total 280 258 538

Calculated Chi-Square value = 57.78 Table value of X2 for 7 degrees of freedom at 5% level of significance = 14.067 Brand preference for carbonated beverage brands on gender was tested in an attempt to test the formulated hypothesis (There is no significant difference between gender and brand preference). As chi-square test statistic showed in Table 5, for seven DF (Degree of Freedom) at 5% significance level, calculated value of X2 is much higher than the table value, so the data does not support the hypothesis. Hence we conclude that, there is significant relationship between gender of the respondents and brand preference

8. Results and Discussion

The collected data from the survey shows that brand preference exists in the carbonated beverage market and the media efforts affects consumer preferences and their brand choice. Out of 8 different carbonated beverage brands which featured in this study, Coca-Cola topped the brand preference table in carbonated beverage industry. Hence it is clear that Coca-Cola is the favorite carbonated beverage among consumers. 241

European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume.29, Number.2 (2012) Based on this study, advertisement and taste are the major factors responsible for the success of Coca Cola. The implication of this is that, other variables does not influence much when brand is supported by heavy advertisements and appeals to consumers taste buds which persuades them to continue buying. Majority of the respondents claimed to have known Coca-Cola over 15 years and Coca-Cola having been in existence for more than 20 years still remain the delight of many consumers of carbonated beverage. It is evident that the brand has enjoyed a relatively prolonged life cycle. The study also showed that advertisement is the major source of awareness of Coca-Cola and Television is the most effective medium as cited by most of the respondents. In the analysis, according to Table 3, the chi-square test shows that the age group of consumers does not have significant effect on reception of advertising efforts by Coca-Cola. As per the analysis in Table 4, it is clear that there is a relationship between income of the respondents and brand preference. In Table 5, the chi-square test shows a significant relationship between gender of the respondents and brand preference

9. Conclusion
Advertising and taste have major influence on consumers preference for Coca-Cola. Having been known for more than 15 years by majority of the respondents and still remain their favorite drink, the brand has definitely enjoyed a prolonged life cycle apparently being regenerated by advertising. Company needs to be very vigilant in monitoring the product life cycle stage as it is important for the marketer to determine the type of marketing strategies to be embarked upon based on the taste and preferences of the customers. Concerning the advertising media, the study revealed that Television is the most effective media used for advertising the brand. In view of this, more attention shall be given to Television as a medium of advertisement because of its versatile feature and better geographic coverage. Coca-Cola can employ integrated advertising of their products and allocate more budgets for Television advertisements due to its great impact in influencing consumer choice.

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