DISSERTATION PROGRESS

REPORT- I

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON HEDONIC

BRANDS IN INDIA
(Time Period: 12th 30th August, 2010)
In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the
course for MBA FT- I

Submitted by:
Shradha Mantri (091145)
 An Empirical Study on Hedonic brands
in India

Researchers continually seek a richer understanding of consumer

attitudes. Investigation of the hedonic and utilitarian components of
attitude has been suggested in such diverse disciplines as sociology,
psychology, and economics. This multidisciplinary recognition of the
hedonic and utilitarian elements of consumption mirrors parallel
theoretical development in marketing.

Batra and Ahtola (1990, p. 159, emphasis added) state, consumers

purchase goods and services and perform consumption behaviours
for two basic reasons:

(1) Consummatory affective (hedonic) gratification (from sensory

attributes)

(2) Instrumental and utilitarian reasons.

We adopt this two-dimensional conceptualization of consumer

attitudes: The first dimension is a hedonic dimension resulting from
sensations derived from the experience of using products, and the
second is a utilitarian dimension derived from functions performed
by products.

Measurement of these attitudinal dimensions can provide

researchers and managers with fresh approaches to modelling
marketing problems. Measures of attitudinal dimensions provide
building blocks for researchers attempting to develop models that
explain a greater proportion of the variance in consumer behaviour.

Measures of the hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of attitude

enable marketers to test the effectiveness of advertising campaigns
that stress experiential or functional positioning strategies. Then,
too, these measures can reveal brand differences/positions that may
not be apparent when a single dimension attitude measure is used.
Previous research has suggested that products/brands that are
highly valued on the hedonic dimension rather than the utilitarian
dimension are better able to charge a price premium or engage in
sales promotions. Thus, measures of these two dimensions may
serve as input into pricing and sales promotion decisions. Since
owners of hedonic items keep them for longer periods and because
ownership is a recommended segmentation criterion, measuring
attitude dimensions is a basis for segmenting markets.

A major impediment to such research is the difficulty of capturing

both dimensions with a reliable and valid measurement instrument.

This research project contributes to the integration of the

experiential view of consumption in marketing research by testing
and using a reliable, valid, and generalizable scale to measure the
hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of consumer attitudes and to
establish reliable, valid, generalizable, and useful measures of the
hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of overall brand/product
attitudes.
 Rationale for Selection

This project will contribute to my learning and understanding of the

effect of hedonic brands in consumer behaviour. There are several
reasons to explain why I have selected this project:

This project has special focus on 3 core subjects: Marketing

Research, Consumer Behaviour and Retail Marketing. Since I am
majoring in Marketing and have each of these subjects as part of
my curriculum, a project report based on these courses will be
extremely beneficial in practical application of the concepts and
frameworks taught to us in these subjects.

My Summer Internship at Siyarams Pvt ltd was a Feasibility Study

for a new product. It was a research project and involved
qualitative, exploratory, secondary and primary research.
Therefore, I have experience in this field of study, which will
further help me in understanding the requirements and
challenges that are associated with this project.

I hope to work in the field of Market Research once I have

completed this course and I hope this project will bring some
clarity to this field of study and throw some light on the skills,
competencies and attitude necessary for performing this kind of
role.
 References

1. Bagozzi and Burnkrant 1979; Olney, Holbrook, and Batra 1991

2. Halfill, 1996; Barlow et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2007
3. (Dillon et al. 2001; Machleit, Allen, and Madden 1993)
4. EBSCO database