HEAD & SHOULDERS SHAMPOO

Introduction:

In 1949, John Parran Jr, a chemical engineer and bacteriologist from

the University of Tennessee, joined Procter & Gamble (‘P&G’). His task
was simple – free the world from dandruff. Back then the solutions to
remove dandruff, like coal-tar and egg-oil, were unpleasant and even if
they worked, they would damage the hair.

In 1961, after ten years of clinical trials, Dr Parran and his team of
scientists singled out a potent compound that proved successful in
removing dandruff. Their product, codenamed Head & Shoulders, was
finally ready to test in the market. It proved so successful that it was
launched across America the following year.

By 1975, P&G crafted a shampoo clinically -proven to remove

dandruff with a pleasant fragrance. In fact, it was so effective and
enjoyable to use that it soon became the world’s number one shampoo –
and it still is today.

Objective:

To analyse factors such as awareness, competition, demand and elasticity

of Head & Shoulders.
The following is a survey with a sample size of 67, from where some of the
inferences have been drawn to make this report:

1. Age?
From the above pie-chart we understand that the maximum respondents of
the survey belong to the age group of 15 -25 years.

2. Gender?

Among the respondents 52% are male and 48% are female.

3. Preference?
From the above, we can understand that most of the respondents prefer
anti-dandruff shampoo followed by the one which repairs the damaged
hair.

4. Usage?

Maximum number of respondents shampoo their hair twice a week, while

there is a concurrence in the percentage of respondents who use it once
and thrice a week.
5. Purchase?
The retails shops are given the first preference for purchasing the hair
product, followed by making an online purchase and a very few of the
respondents consider other sources of purchase.

6. Quantity?

Almost 39% of the people who participated in the survey consider

purchasing the bigger packs of shampoo over the sachets and the family
packs that are equally available.

7. Buy?
From the above diagram we can infer that, rather than buying shampoo
along with conditioner, the most of the respondents wish to purchase only
the shampoo.

8. Affecting factors?

The effectiveness of a particular shampoo is the for most deciding factor

in purchasing the same and the price of the product is the least factor
affecting its purchase.

9. Change?
In accordance with the above pie-chart, we understand that half of the
respondents never like to change their brand of shampoo and some
consider it changing in accordance of the price.

10. Head & Shoulders?

From the above percentage, we can understand that most of the

respondent population use Head & Shoulders.

11. Using Since?

Statistically we can see that most of the respondents use Head &
Shoulders since many years and one-third of the population have been
using it for months.

12. If not Head & Shoulders?

Amongst the non-users of Head & Shoulders, the brand Sunsilk is most
widely used and that is followed by Clinic Plus and the least being the
Himalaya.
13. Awareness?
 (Amongst users)

(Amongst non-users)

As awareness plays an important role in determining demand, statistically

it can be seen that majority of the respondent population are aware of
Head & Shoulders through different sources, major being the TV
advertisement followed by word of mouth.

14. About pricing?

 (current price: small sachet for Rs. 3)

From the above two questions we understand that, maximum percentage

of respondents do not find Head & Shoulders expensive and majority of
them will continue to buy the same even if its price increases by 10%. So
we can infer that, Head & Shoulders have an elastic demand, as its
demand does not vary much with the change in price.

Ep = % change in the quantity demanded / % change in price

Where Ep = Price elasticity of demand

Ep = 80.5-61.2/61.2*100
3.3-3/3*100
= 31.54/10 = 3.15

Therefore, as the price elasticity of demand is greater than 1, the demand

is considered to be as relatively elastic. In relatively elastic, the quantity
demanded respond strongly to change in price.
Conclusion:
 The effectiveness of a brand of shampoo pla ys a major role, since it
determines the demand for that particular shampoo brand over other
substitutes.

 Shampoo brands like Sunsilk and Clinic Plus are potential competitors
for Head & Shoulders and there are number of reasons that the
respondent are bound to purchase that particular brand available in
the market.

 According to the result of the survey, we found that 61% of the

respondents use Head & Shoulders and the remaining of the use other
brands.

 As price is a major determinant of demand, here the demand for Head

& Shoulders was found to be elastic.

 TV Advertisement is the major means through which awareness about

the presence of Head & Shoulders has been done.