MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECT

On

A STUDY OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON PATANJALI

PRODUCTS IN INDORE

For partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of

Master of Business Administration (Full-Time)

Batch 2014-16

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Prof. Gagan Bhati Ajit rawat

MBA 4th sem
IPS ACADEMY
Rajendra nagar, A.B. Road, Indore- 452012 (MP)
1
PREFACE

The bookish knowledge of any program, which we get from educational institutions, is
not enough to be used in our day-to-day life. The more practical knowledge we have, the
more beneficial it is for our learning.

To make the students aware of the working of the business world every student of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (4 thSem) has to undergo a major research
project where he/she experiences many aspects of business under the supervision of
Professional Managers.

I strongly believe that the knowledge gained from this experience is more than the
knowledge gained from the theories in the book.

PLACE: INDORE

Student Name

DATE: Ajit Rawat

2
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Ajit rawat Student of Institute of Business Management and
Research, IPS Academy, Indore of MBA (Full time) program has prepared Major
research Project report on topic To study of consumer perception on” A STUDY OF
CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON THE PATANJALI PRODUCTS IN INDORE ”
under my guidance.

Internal Examiner (Guide) External Examiner

Director
IBMR, IPS Academy

3
STUDENT DECLARATION

I Ajit rawat Student of Institute of Business Management and Research, IPS Academy,
Indore of MBA (Full time) program has prepared Major research Project report on the
topic “A STUDY OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON THE PATANJALI
PRODUCTS IN INDORE”.

The Research as per my knowledge is original and genuine and not published in any
research Journal previously.

AJIT RAWAT

MBA (4thsem)

2014-16

4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I often wondered why the project reports always began with acknowledgement. Now,
when I have undertaken project myself, did I realize that project report involves not just
the researcher but so many people that help in making the research possible. Therefore, I
take pleasure in beginning the most beautiful part of the report.

I fall short of words to express my gratitude to my guide Prof. Gagan Bhati

and who despite their busy schedule were able to find some time to guide me through
trouble and solve my problems to the best of abilities. Without their unfailing guidance,
encouragement and patience this project would not have been possible. It has been a
learning experience under him/her.
I am thankful to my faculty guide Prof. Gagan Bhati
who gave me detailed instructions during my MRP.

5
 INDEX

Particulars Page No.

7
Introduction
15
History of Company
20
Literature Review
20
Rationale of Study
21
Objectives of the Study
22
Research Methodology
23
Data Analysis & Interpretation
24
Summary of Findings
25
Suggestions
26
Conclusion
27
Bibliography / Webliography
28
Questionnaire

6
INTRODUCTION

Patañjali (पतञ्जलल) is a proper Indian name. Several important Sanskrit works are
ascribed to one or more authors of this name, and a great deal of scholarship has been
devoted over the last century or so to the issue of disambiguation.

Amongst the more important authors called Patañjali are:

 The author of the Mahābhās ṣya, an advanced treatise on Sanskrit grammar and
linguistics framed as a commentary on Kātyāyana'svārttikas (short comments) on
Pān ṣini'sAṣ ṣtādhyāyī.
ṣ This Patañjali's life is the only one which can be securely
dated (as one of the grammatical examples he uses makes reference to the siege of
the town of Sāketā by the Greeks, an event known from other sources to have
taken place around 120 BC).

 The compiler of the Yoga Sūtras , an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga

practice, who, according to some historians, was a notable person of Samkhya.

 contemporaneous with Ishvarakrishna's Samkhya-karika around AD 400 . He was

native to Kashmir.

 Patanjali is one of the 18 siddhars in the Tamil siddha (Shaiva) tradition.

 The author of an unspecified work of medicine (āyurveda).

In some Sanskrit grammatical works, Patañjali is called "the man from Gonarda".
Gonarda is the ancient name of Gonda - a district of Uttar Pradesh, about 50 km north of
Ayodhya. Greek chronicles mention about Patanjali, when they laid their siege on Saket
i.e. Ayodhya in 2nd century BC. This implies that Patañjali most probably was from
Gonda, a district of immense importance where Buddha and Mahavira resided. In fact
Shravasti, just off Gonda, further to north, was a center of power during that millennium
and was the capital of the said Janapad. Beside, this was an area of traditional Sanskrit
learning. Some hold the view that he was born at the "Gonarda" situated at Thiru Kona
Malai, Sri Lanka. This tradition is corroborated in Tirumular's seventh-century Tamil
Tirumandhiram, which describes him as hailing from Then Kailasam (Koneswaram
temple Trincomalee), and tradition has him visiting the Thillai Nataraja Temple,
Chidambaram, where he wrote the CharanaShrungarahitaStotram on Nataraja.
7
The compound name Patañjali has been explained by Sanskrit commentators in two
ways. The first explanation of the word is añjalaupatanitipatañjali (Patañjali is one
falling into folded hands), which is a mayūravyaṁṣakādi compound with
śakandhvādiSandhi. The name comes from a legend about his birth which says that Śes ṣa,
the divine serpent-king, incarnated as a snakelet and fell into the folded hands (Anjali
Mudra) of a Brahmin.[9] The second explanation parses the word as a Bahuvrihi
compound patantonamaṣkāryatvenajanānāmañjalayoyaṣminviṣayeṣa ṣ (He for whom the
folded hands of people are falling is Patañjali). The compound name Patanjali: "Patan" is
'bank' and That the Patañjalis who wrote on Yoga and on grammar were two different
scholars was compellingly argued by the great scholar of Sanskrit literature, Louis
Renou. Many outstanding scholars since then have re-examined the question and come to
the same conclusion.[12]

The tradition that one Patañjali wrote treatises on grammar, medicine and yoga is
memorialised in a verse by Bhoja at the start of his commentary on the Yogasutras. This
tradition is discussed by Meulenbeld.who traces this "relatively late" idea back to Bhoja
(11th century), who was perhaps influenced by a verse by Bhartr ṣhari (ca. 5th century)
that speaks of an expert in yoga, medicine and grammar who, however, is not named.

n the grammatical tradition, Patañjali is believed – for the reason given above – to have
lived in the second century BCE . Some say that he lectured on Paninian grammar at a
place called Nāgakūpa, which is identified with modern day Nagakuan (Hindi: ननागकक आआ)]
He lectured for 85 days, which resulted in the 85 Āhnikas or "daily lessons" of the
Mahābhāṣ ṣya. Many writers in the grammar tradition, including Bhat ṣt ṣojīDīks ṣita ,
HariDīks ṣita, NāgeśaBhat ṣt ṣa, and Kaunda Bhat ṣt ṣa, held Patañjali to be an incarnation of
the mythical serpent Śes ṣa.

In the Yoga tradition, Patañjali is a revered name and has been deified by many groups,
especially in the Shaivitebhakti tradition. It is claimed by some that Patañjali is an
incarnation of the mythical serpent Ananta. This Patañjali's oeuvre comprises the sutras
about Yoga (Yogaṣūtra) and the commentary integral to the sutras, called the Bhāṣya.
ṣ In
the past, the sutras and the Bhas ṣya have been considered by some to have had different
authors, the commentary being ascribed to "an editor" (Skt. "vyāsa"). However, a recent
comprehensive re-examination of all the evidence has confirmed the view of many older
Sanskrit authors in the period before 1000 that one and the same person composed the
sutras and the Bhāṣyaṣ commentary. The same study also confirms the date of composition
of this work as falling in approximately 400 BC.

8
In one popular legend, Patañjali was born to Atri and his wife Anasuya (this would make
him go back to the time of the creation by Brahma). According to this tradition, Anasuya
had to go through a stern test of her chastity when the Trimurti themselves came as
Bhikshuks and asked her for Bhiksha. She passed their test by accepting them as her
children and fed them. She got the boon where all the three Murtis will be born to them.
They were Soma Skandan or Patañjali, Dattatreya, and Durvasa.

The Yoga tradition is much older, there are references in the Mahābhārata, and the Gitā
identifies three kinds of yoga. The Yoga Sūtras codifies the royal or best (rāja) yoga
practices, presenting these as an eight-limbed system (aṣhtānga). The philosophic
tradition is related to the Sankhya school. The focus is on the mind; the second sutra
defines Yoga – it is the cessation of all mental fluctuations, all wandering thoughts cease
and the mind is focused on a single thought.

In contrast to the focus on the mind in the Yoga sutras, later traditions of Yoga such as the
Hatha yoga focus on more complex asanas or body postures.

Relevance of his contribution to yogic traditions

Patañjali defended in his yoga-treatise several ideas that are not mainstream of either
Sankhya or Yoga. He, according to the Iyengar adept, biographer and scholar Kofi Busia,
acknowledges the ego not as a separate entity. The subtle body lingasarira he would not
regard as permanent and he would deny it a direct control over external matters. This is
not in accord with classical Sankhya and Yoga.

Although much of the aphorisms in the Yoga Sutra possibly pre-dates Patanjali, it is clear
that much is original and it is more than a mere compilation. The clarity and unity he
brought to divergent views prevalent till then has inspired a long line of teachers and
practitioners up to the present day in which B.K.S. Iyengar is a known defender. With
some translators he seems to be a dry and technical propounder of the philosophy, but
with others he is an empathic and humorous witty friend and spiritual guide.

Mahābhāṣya

The Mahābhās ṣya ("great commentary") of Patañjali on the As ṣt ṣādhyāyīof Pān ṣini is a
major early exposition on Pān ṣini, along with the somewhat earlier Varttika by Katyayana.
Here he raises the issue of whether meaning ascribes to a specific instance or to a
category:

9
 Now what is 'meaning' (artha) [of a word]? Is it a particular instance (dravya) or a
general shape (Akriti)?

This discussion arises in Patanjali in connection with a sutra that states that a plural form
may be used in the sense of the singular when designating a species.

Another aspect dealt with by Patanjali relates to how words and meanings are associated
– Patanjali claims ṣhabdapramâNaH – that the evidentiary value of words is inherent in
them, and not derived externally – the word-meaning association is natural. The argument
he gives is that people do not make an effort to manufacture words. When we need a pot,
we ask the potter to make a pot for us. The same is not true of words – we do not usually
approach grammarians and ask them to manufacture words for our use. This is similar to
the argument in the early part of Plato's Cratylus, where morphemes are described as
natural, e.g. the sound 'l' is associated with softness.

These issues in the word-meaning relation (symbol) would elaborated in the Sanskrit
linguistic tradition, in debates between the Mimamsa, Nyaya and Buddhist schools over
the next fifteen centuries.

Sphota
Patanjali also defines an early notion of sphota, which would be elaborated considerably
by later Sanskrit linguists like Bhartrihari. In Patanjali, a ṣphoTa (from ṣphuT,
spurt/burst) is the invariant quality of speech. The noisy element (dhvani, audible part)
can be long or short, but the sphoTa remains unaffected by individual speaker differences.
Thus, a single letter or 'sound' (varNa) such as k, p or a is an abstraction, distinct from
variants produced in actual enunciation. This concept has been linked to the modern
notion of phoneme, the minimum distinction that defines semantically distinct sounds.
Thus a phoneme is an abstraction for a range of sounds. However, in later writings,
especially in Bhartrihari (6th century CE), the notion of ṣphoTa changes to become more
of a mental state, preceding the actual utterance, akin to the lemma.

Patañjali's writings also elaborate some principles of morphology (prakriyā). In the

context of elaborating on Pān ṣini's aphorisms, he also discusses Kātyāyana's commentary,
which are also aphoristic and ṣūtra-like; in the later tradition, these were transmitted as
embedded in Patañjali's discussion. In general, he defends many positions of Pān ṣini
which were interpreted somewhat differently in Katyayana.

10
Metaphysics as grammatical motivation
Unlike Pān ṣini's objectives in the Ashtyadhyayi, which is to distinguish correct forms and
meanings from incorrect ones (ṣhabdaunuṣhaṣana), Patanjali's objectives are more
metaphysical. These include the correct recitations of the scriptures (Agama), maintaining
the purity of texts (rakṣha), clarifying ambiguity (aṣamdeha), and also the pedagogic goal
of providing an easier learning mechanism (laghu). This stronger metaphysical bent has
also been indicated by some as one of the unifying themes between the Yoga Sutras and
the Mahābhās ṣya, although a close examination of actual Sanskrit usage by Woods
showed no similarities in language or terminology.

The text of the Mahābhāṣ ṣya was first critically edited by the 19th-century orientalist
Franz Kielhorn, who also developed philological criteria for distinguishing Kātyāyana's
"voice" from Patañjali's. Subsequently a number of other editions have come out, the
1968 text and translation by S.D. Joshi and J.H.F. Roodbergen often being considered
definitive. Regrettably, the latter work is incomplete.

Patanjali also writes with a light touch. For example, his comment on the conflicts
between the orthodox Brahminic (Aṣtika) groups, versus the heterodox, nAṣtika groups
(Buddhism, Jainism, and atheists) seems relevant for religious conflict even today: the
hostility between these groups was like that between a mongoose and a snake. He also
sheds light on contemporary events, commenting on the recent Greek incursion, and also
on several tribes that lived in the Northwest regions of the subcontinent.

We will begin with a story, the greatest and most effective way of conveying knowledge.
Once upon a time, long ago, all the munis and rishis approached Lord Vishnu to tell him
that even though He (incarnated as Lord Dhanvanthari) had given them the means to cure
illnesses through Ayurveda, people still fell ill. They also wanted to know what to do
when people got sick.

Sometimes it is not just physical illness, but mental and emotional illness too that needs
to be dealt with. Anger, lust, greed, jealousy etc. How does one get rid of all these
impurities? What is the formula?

Vishnu was lying on the bed of snakes — the serpent Adishésha with a 1,000 heads.
When the Rishis approached Him, he gave them Adishésha, the symbol of awareness,
who took birth in the world as Maharishi Patanjali.

So Patanjali came to this earth to give this knowledge of yoga which came to be known
as the yoga sutras. Patanjali said he was not going to discuss the yoga sutras unless 1,000
11
people got together. So 1,000 people gathered south of Vindhya Mountains to listen to
him.

Patanjali had another condition — he would put a screen between him and his students
and told them that nobody was to lift the screen or leave. Everybody had to stay in the
hall till he finished. So Patanjali stayed behind the curtain and he transmitted his
knowledge to the 1,000 gathered. Each of them absorbed this knowledge. It was an
amazing phenomenon and even amongst the students, they could not believe how they
were getting this knowledge, how the master was making each of them understand
without uttering words from behind the curtain.

Everybody was amazed. Each one of them experienced such a blast of energy, such a
blast of enthusiasm, that they could not even contain it. But they still had to maintain the
discipline.

It is believed that Maharishi Patanjali was the avatar of AdiShesha - the Infinite Cosmic
Serpent upon whom Lord Vishnu rests. He is considered to be the compiler of the Yoga
Sutras, along with being the author of a commentary on Panini's Ashtadhyayi, known as
Mahabhasya. He is also supposed to be the writer of a work on the ancient Indian
medicine system, Ayurveda. Read on this biography further to know more about
Maharishi Patanjali and his philosophy. His Life The life history of Patanjali is full of
legends and contradictions. There are no authentic records regarding his birth. As per one
legend, he fell (pata) into the hands (anjali) of a woman, thus giving him the name
Patanjali. Patanjali Yoga Sutras It is said that once, while watching a dance by Lord
Shiva, AdiShesha found it unbearable to support the weight of Lord Vishnu. Amazed at
this, he asked Lord Vishnu the reason for the same. Lord Vishnu said that this was
because of his harmony with Lord Shiva's energy state, owing to the practice of Yoga.
Realizing the value and benefits of Yoga, AdiShesha decided to be born amongst humans
as 'Patanjali', to teach them the great art. Yoga Sutras are considered to serve as the basis
of the yogic techniques. Maharishi Patanjali, "The Father of Yoga", compiled 195 sutras,
which serve as a framework for integrating Yoga into the daily routine and leading an
ethical life. The exact date of the compilation of the Yoga Sutras is not known. However,
it is believed that they were written somewhere around 200 BC. The core of Patanjali's
teachings lies in the eightfold path of yoga. The path shows the way to live a better life
through yoga.
The sutras, being an important foundation of temporary yoga, are described in four
chapters called Samadhi-pada, Sadhana-pada, Vibhuti-pada and Kaivalya-pada. The
journey starts with an introduction. (Thiṣ iṣ the firṣt poṣt of a brief overview of the Yoga
Sutra’ṣ of Patanjali.)

12
The Yoga Sutras are ascribed to Patanjali but virtually nothing is known about him, at
least not with any historical certainty. He is most likely not identical with Patanjali the
Sanskrit grammarian, who lived around the 2nd century BCE, and is identified with the
serpent king Ananta, himself an incarnation of Vishnu. For us westerners it is hard to
comprehend the absence of a detailed biography of the author of such a work. Though,
such anonymity is rule rather than exception in India. In addition to this, it is with
uncertainty that the sutra’s are the work of a single author.

The Origins of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (YS) were compiled somewhere between 50 BCE and 300
CE (though some portions are likely to be written down earlier) and, as a collection,
reflects some of the dominant views of yoga preceding and during that period. These
Yoga Sutras also functioned as a foundation for some later developments in yoga. It is,
therefore, not a conclusive theoretical account of yoga in that period but rather reflects
yogic practice: a manual of yoga as it was experienced and practiced by yogis in that era.

Patañjali (Devanāgarī पतञ्जलल; second - third century B.C.E.) is the compiler of the Yoga
Sutra, a major work containing aphorisms on the philosophical aspects of mind and
consciousness, and also the author of a major commentary on Panini's
Aṣhtadhyayi,Mahābhāshya, although many scholars do not consider these two texts to
have been written by the same individual. The Yoga Sūtra serves as the basis of the yoga-
system known as Raja Yoga, one of the six schools or darshanas of Hindu Philosophy,
which emphasizes the attainment of wisdom which lies beyond intellect, through
meditation.

Little is known about Patañjali’s life, and he is the subject of numerous myths and
legends. Patañjali is believed to be an incarnation of ĀdiS'esha, Vishnu’s serpent, who is
the first ego-expansion of Vishnu, and he is the patron saint of Hindu dancers. During the
twentieth century the Yoga Sutra became popular around the world, as the practice of
Raja Yoga, as a means to improve physical health and harmonize the mind and body,
spread. "Yoga" in traditional Hinduism involves inner contemplation, a rigorous system
of meditation practice, ethics, metaphysics, and devotion to the one common soul, God,
or Brahman.

13
An individual named Patañjali, who was born in Gonarda and lived, for at least some
period, in Kashmir around 140 B.C.E., wrote Mahābhās ṣya, or Great Commentary, on the
As ṣt ṣādhyāyīof the early Sanskrit grammarian Pān ṣini. Many scholars do not consider these
two texts to have been written by the same individual, although a comparative study of
the two works produces no conclusive evidence. Two eighteenth-century Indian
commentators, RhāmabadraDiksita (author of Patanjalicarita) and Sivrama, and two
eleventh-century commentators, King Bhoja of Dhār and Cakrapānidatta, identified the
authors of the two works as being the same person. [1]Modern scholarship suggests that the
two works may have been written several centuries apart. [2]

The name of Patañjali is also associated with many texts on ayurvedic medicine; topics
such as the diagnosis of disease, the structure and function of the human body, the
problem of keeping the body healthy and attractive, and the curative properties of drugs
are all mentioned in the Yoga Sutras. Tradition insists that the Patañjali who wrote the
ayurvedic text is the same Patañjali who wrote the Yoga Sutraṣ, but scholars do not
accept this as an established fact. [3]

Patañjali is also believed to have been a great dancer, and is worshiped by the dancers of
India as their patron saint. It is debatable whether all four of these Patañjalis could have
been the same person, but the tradition conflating them has existed for more than two
thouPatañjali is considered to be an incarnation of the serpent Ananta, whose name means
'the endless one,' and who is another form of Adisesa. The Lord Vishnu sat upon Adisesa
before the beginning of creation. Patañjali himself is usually depicted as half human and
half serpent, with the human torso emerging from the coils of the all-powerful serpent
who is awakening in the moment of creation. Patañjali's hands are in the traditional
Indian greeting of 'namaste,' sometimes called an 'añjali' or offering. He is generally
depicted in a meditative trance. Patañjali has four hands. The two folded hands in front of
him are both blessing and greeting those who have approached him seeking yoga and its
truths. The other two are raised, one holding ṣankha, the conch that embodies the energy
of sound. It both calls students to practice and announces the imminent ending of the
world as they have so far known it. The other uplifted hand holds the cakra, or discus,
that embodies both the turning wheel of time and its associated law cause and effect of
sand year.

14
History

History- Divya Yoga Mandir (Trust), PatanjaliYogpeeth

15
Old Building Situated In KripaluBagh Ashram
The KripaluBagh Ashram on the blessed land next to the holy Ganges , was built in 1932
by the scholarly erudite and God realized ParamPujya Swami Kripalu Dev JiMaharaj.

Concomitant with this noble struggle, Swami Kripalu DevJi along with another great
spiritualist Swami Shraddhanand, who was the founder of the pure and chaste Hindus
traditions of the “GURUKUL KANGRI”, organized a movement of rejuvenation of
pristine Indian ancient traditions and renaissance of its glorious and hoary past whereby
the country, its religion and all related aspects, covered by the gathering dust of centuries
neglect, were rediscovered and extolled. It was the place where the great patriots like Sh.
Rash Bihari Bose had taken shelter during their operations for freedom movements.

Saint Shri Kripalu Dev JiMaharaj was succeeded by his illustrious disciple Pujya Swami
Shri Shankar Dev JiMaharaj, well conversant with Vedic knowledge and an ardent
advocate of noble human values. Swami ji founded the Trust in 1995 along with his
group of disciples; yet another Philanthropist Pujya Swami Ram Dev JiMaharaj who has
dedicated his presence to augment the haloed traditions of the trust based on selfless
service and dedicated quest for excellence in education, vedic learning and promotion of
nationalism; he is joined by an energetic soul with an intense spirit of service, Acharya
BalkrishnaJiMaharaj, also a great spiritualist & great scholar of Ayurveda and an
established name in Vedic philosophy Swami MuktanandjiMaharaj Science Graduate,
Vyakaranacharya along with other disciples continue to exalt the traditions and enrich the
future with what the trust had enshrined and achieved in its glorious preceding years.

The truth is that nobody really knows much—not even exactly when the sage lived. Some
practitioners believe he lived around the second century BCE and also wrote significant
works on Ayurveda (the ancient Indian system of medicine) and Sanskrit grammar,
making him something of a Renaissance man. But based on their analyses of the
language and the teaching of the sutras, modern scholars place Patanjali in the second or
third century CE and ascribe the medical essays and grammar to various other
“Patanjalis.

The Myths
Like many tales about the world’s spiritual heroes, the story of Patanjali’s birth has
assumed mythic dimensions. One version relates that in order to teach yoga on earth, he
fell from heaven in the form of a little snake, into the upturned plans (a gesture known as
anjali) of his virgin mother, Gonika, herself a powerful yogini. Here he’s regarded as an

16
incarnation of the thousand-headed serpent-king named Remainder (Shesha) or Endless
(Ananta), whose coils are said to support the god Vishnu.

The Times
It seems odd to us, in this time of superstar teachers with their eponymous schools of So-
and-So Yoga,that so little is known about Patanjali. But anonymity is typical of the great
sages of ancient India. They recognized that their teaching was the outcome of a
cooperative group effort that spanned several generations, and they refused to take credit
for themselves often attributing theire work to some other older teacher.

The ancient Kali Kautuvam also describes how Patañjali and Vyagrapada gathered along
with the gods in Thillai near Chidambaram to watch Shiva and Kali dance and perform
the 108 mystic Karanas, which formed the foundation for the system of Natya Yoga. He
has also written CharanaShrungarahitaStotram on Nataraja.

This Tamil tradition also gives his birthplace in South Kailash – Koneswaram temple,
Trincomalee. Some other traditions feel that his being born in Bharatavarsha – the part of
the ancient world corresponding to South Asia – is beneath his godlike status, and that he
must have been born in the Jambudvipa, the mythical center of the universe.

Patañjali as Siddha is also mentioned by the goldsmith-sage Bogar:

It was why my Grandfather who said, "Climb and see."

But it was KalangicNathar who gave me birth.
Patañjali,Viyagiramar,andSivayogi Muni all so rightly said,
"Look! This is the path!" – Bhogar 7000 (translation by Layne Little)

This tradition also holds that Patañjali was a master of dance.

Review of Literature

17
Vishal Kumar Laheri, Research Scholar FMS, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
Anupam, Research Scholar, FMS, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
Marketing as a discipline has evolved over a period of time where the traditional concept
imparts that goods were produced to be sold to the customers and the modern marketing
states that goods are produced according to the needs and demand of the customers. The
current marketing management emphasises on satisfying the needs of the customers
without any environmental degradation. The present study selected organic food and
cosmetic product categories for assessing the decision of the consumers towards such
products. A total of six manufacturers, three each from organic food and organic cosmetic
products were interviewed to gain insights about the organic industry in India. In the
second phase, 45 respondents were interviewed to examine their purchase decision with
respect to organic food and cosmetic products. The results indicate that consumers are not
so much aware about the organic products. The study identified certain enablers and
barriers of organic food purchase which will offer guidelines to the marketers so as to
understand the attitude and preferences of consumers towards organic food and cosmetic
products.

Eva Muller(1954) reported a study where only one-fourth of the consumers in her
sample bought with any substantial degree of deliberation. The Marshallian
model ignores the fundamental question of how product and brand preferences are
formed.

Lee (2005), carried out study to learn the five stages of consumer decision making
process in the example of China. The researcher focuses on the facts that affect the
consumer decision making process on purchasing imported health food products, in
particular demographic effects such as gender, education, income and marital status. The
author employed questionnaire method in order to reach the objectives of the research.

18
Analysis of five stages of consumer decision making process indicate that impact of
family members on the consumer decision making process of purchasing imported health
food products was significant.

Blackwell et al (2006) Five Stages Model of consumer decision making process has also
been studied by a number of other researchers. Although different researchers offer
various tendencies towards the definitions of five stages, all of them have common views
as they describe the stages in similar ways. One of the common models of consumer
decision making process has been offered.

P. Guru Ragavendran et al (2009) emphasized in their research that the survey helped
them in understanding the consumer perception on brand awareness and position of
product in the market. It was observed that consumer’s expectations were quality,
benefits offered and packaging of shampoos. Based on the results obtained, integrated
marketing communication was suggested; as a result an improvement of 8% to 12.6%
was observed in target population.

[Samojlik, 2013] Herbal Medicines are used in the modern day for health maintenance,
the treatment or prevention of minor ailments and some chronic diseases, and they are
often taken in addition to conventional medicine in the more serious and/or chronic
conditions.

[Brower; 1998] The Indian herbal drug market is about $ one billion and the export of
herbal crude extracts is about $ 80 million. The sales of these drugs account for almost
50% of the herbal medicine market.

(Sharma, Shanker, Tyagi, Singh, & Rao, 2008) A WHO (World Health Organization)
study estimates that about 80 percent of world population depends on natural products for

19
their health care instead of modern medicines primarily because of side effects and high
cost of modern medicine.

(WHO & Kumar &Janagam, 2011) The worldwide herbal market products are
around $6.2 billion and estimated to reach $5 trillion by the year 2050

(Kotler, Keller, Koshy, & Jha,2014) marketing, perceptions are more important than
reality because perceptions affect consumers‟ actual behaviour.

According to Kurtz and Boone, (2006) different people have different perceptions of
objects or events based on theinteractions of two types of factors that are stimulus factors
and individual factors.

RATIONALE OF STUDY

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Each company makes its own strategies for its products and brand. These strategies are
made keeping in to consideration all the internal (employees, stake holders, financial
conditions) and external (customers, competitors) factors. These strategies directly help
the company to increase the demand for its customer product which then helps increase
the sales. These strategies could be promotional strategies, pricing strategies distribution
strategies etc.

Since nowadays, people are moving towards healthier lifestyle, thus trough this study I
want to know consumers perception towards herbal products and strategies used by the
company to distribute its products on the basis of customers buying behaviour in Indore
region.

OBJECTIVES

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The study in hand is conducted keeping in view the following objectives:

• To study the brand perception of ‘PATANJALI’ in minds of Consumers.

• To know the attributes that a customer keeps in mind while buying ‘PATANJALI’
Products.
• To study the satisfaction level of consumers after using ‘PATANJALI’ Products.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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This research is based on primary data collected through questionnaires from 100 users of
Patanjali Products within Punjab. The questionnaire design is built up to know the type of
products people use, the reason for their buying such product and their post buying
satisfaction level from that product. Secondary sources have been used to collect
information about ‘Patanjali’ brands. Journals, articles, research reports and government
documents were reviewed to get the insight of the previous interventions that the
stakeholders and policy makers have already in place. Also websites of natural products
manufacturing company and online document were investigated to conduct this research.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS

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The above response shows that the 32% strongly agree, 44% agree, 18% are disagree, 6%
strongly disagree to the statement of consumer perception of Patanjali Products.
Out of 100 users, dominant portion i.e. nearly 2/3 rd of the users age between 20-40 years.
Looking at the gender distribution, 70% of the users taken under study are females who
can perceive to be more interested in buying herbal cosmetics.

1. 44% of people strongly agreed that Patanjali provide large variety of products with
good quality and fair prices. They also believe that Patanjali products have
appealing packaging and have good brand image.

2. 32% of people agreed that Patanjali products are excellent and satisfied with the
product. And they also agree that Patanjali products are herbal and chemical-free.

3. 18% of people disagree because they are not aware of the products of Patanjali.

4. 6% of people are strongly disagree.

FINDINGS

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The data collected through 100 questionnaires is analyzed. Out of 100 users, dominant
portion i.e. nearly 2/3rd of the users age between 20-40 years. Looking at the gender
distribution, 70% of the users taken under study are females who can perceive to be more
interested in buying herbal cosmetics. In Occupation frequency, nearly half of the users
are students who are pursuing studies followed by35% of service class users.

1. Some people think that patanjali product is a god brand and they are satisfied with
their variety of product.
2. 57% of people agreed that Patanjali products are excellent and satisfied with the
product.
3. Before buying patanjali product people keep in mind that the product is good in
variety or chemical free.

SUGGESTIONS

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1) To make a successful product, Patañjali’s marketing strategy should
attract long term consumers.

2) They can increase their distribution channels.

3) They have to focus back on product efficacy. Rising above the noise
of advertising.

4) They can increase their outlet and stores.

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CONCLUSION

The Findings in the paper show that there are many significant factors that together make
up the buying decision of the product. Customers’ perception towards a brand is built
largely on the satisfactory value the user receives after paying for the product and the
benefits the user looks for. In the above study, a large portion of the user is satisfied from
Patanjali products. It may be because of reasonable price of the product. It may be due to
ability of the product to cure the problem. The satisfaction brings in the retention of
customer. Patanjali is enjoying the advantageous position in market through spirituality
element involved in its products. However, it should not ignore the competitors like
Naturals, pure roots, Vindhya herbals. Patanjali in order to retain more customers and
satisfy them, must fulfil the claims made by the company before any other brand may
mushroom up and take away the benefits of marketing through spirituality.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books- Marketing Management, Philip Kotler

Refrences- Vishal Kumar Laheri, Research Scholar FMS, University of Delhi, Delhi,

India.

Anupam, Research Scholar, FMS, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.

WEBSITES-

www.acdemia.edu

www.patanjaliayurved.net

www.himalayaninstitute.org

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QUESTIONNAIRE

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

1. Name: _____________________________________

2. Age:

a). Below 25 years [ ] b). 25-50 years [ ]c). Above 50 years [ ]

3. Gender:

a). Male _____ b). Female _____

4. Qualifications

a). Upto HSC b). Upto Graduate c).Upto Post Graduate & others d). Illiterate

5. Marital Status:

a). Married [ ] b). Unmarried [ ]

6. Are you aware of the Patanjali products?

a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ]

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7. Do you agree Patanjali offers a large variety of products?

a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) Strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Strongly agree Agree neutral disagree Strongly

disagree
25% 52% 6% 8% 9%

Stongly disagree; 9%

25%
52%

6%
8%

 77% people strongly agree that patanjali offers large variety of product while 17%
people think that patanjali has not offers large variety of product.

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8. Do you agree that Patanjali products are of high quality?

a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) Strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Strongly agree agree neutral Disagree Strongly

disagree
29% 57% 2% 8% 4%

Column1
Agree Disagree Neutral
Strongly agree Strongly disagree

4%

29%

57%
2%
8%

 86% people believe that patanjali offers good quality of product but 14%
customers are not satisfy with the quality of product.

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9. Do you agree the prices of the Patanjali products are fair?

a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Strongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly

disagree
44% 31% 5% 10% 10%

Agree Disagree Neutral

Strongly agree Strongly disagree

10%
31%

44%
10%
5%

 75% customer thinks that the price of patanjali products are fair but 25% customer
thinks that the price of the product are not fair.

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10. Do you agree that the Patanjali products have appealing packaging?

a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Strongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly

disagree
29% 42% 4% 17% 8%

Column1
Agree Disagree Neutral
Strongly agree Strongly disagree

8%

29% 42%

4%
17%

 71% customer believes that patanjali product is good packaging while 29%
customers is not satisfied with the packaging.

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11. Do you agree that Patanjali products have natural ingredients?

a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Strongly agree agree Neutral disagree Strongly

disagree
29% 71% 0 0 0

Column1
Agree Strongly Disagree

29%

71%

 71% customer agree that patanjali products have natural ingredients and 29%
customer fully agreed that patanjali have natural ingredients.

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12. Do you agree that you are satisfied with the patanjali product?

a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Srongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly

disagree
22% 45% 0 19% 14%

Column1
Agree disagree strongly agree strongly disagree

15%

45%
22%

19%

 67% customers are satisfy with patanjali product while 33% customer are not
satisfy with patanjali product.

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13. Have you faced any problem while using the product?

a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ]

yes N0
78% 22%

no; 22%

yes; 78%

 78% customer are happy and they do not face any problem while 22% customer
are facing problem with patanjali product.

14. Do you agree that Patanjali products are chemical-free?

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a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Strongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly

disagee
18% 49% 10% 5% 18%

Column1
agree disagree neutral
strongly agree strongly disagree

18%

49%
18%

10%
5%

 67% customer believe that patanjali is a chemical free product while 33% people
thinks tha patanjali is not chemical free product.

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15. Do you agree that Patanjali products have made a good brand image?

a) Agree [ ] b) Disagree [ ] c) Neutral [ ]

d) strongly agree [ ] e) strongly disagree [ ]

Strongly agree agree neutral disagree Strongly

disagree
84% 11% 0 3% 3%

strongly disagree; 2% agree; 11%

disagree; 3%

strongly agree; 84%

 95% people thinks that patanjali product have made a good brand image while few
peoples are not agree with that.

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16. please indicate the reason why you prefer patanjali product?

a) convenient [ ] b) affordable [ ] c) clean [ ]

d) others [ ]

39