Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Index of Contents Phase 1
Index of Contents Phase 1
Phase 1
a) Problem to be studied
b) Background of the problem
c) Research Gap identified
d) Relevance of the study
e) Limitations of the study
f) Methodology Used
g) Sampling Plan
h) Hypothesis Drawn
Phase 2
a) Plan of Analysis
b) Actual Sample
c) Hypothesis 1and Analysis
d) Hypothesis 2and Analysis
e) Hypothesis 3and Analysis
f) Hypothesis 4and Analysis
g) Hypothesis 5and Analysis
h) Hypothesis 6and Analysis
i) Conclusions and Findings
j) Shortcomings of the research
PROBLEM OR OPPORTUNITY TO BE STUDIED:
The problem or in the sense opportunity to be studied is the Consumer Perception: The
decision making process in a consumer’s mind regarding decorative paints. The various
stages that a typical consumer goes through while selecting paints or specifically decorative
paints for painting his house. Detailed, granular studies of the key parameters responsible for
the ultimate decision are explored in this research. Few of the aspects of the study are shown
as an example below -
In India the organised sector controls 70 percent of the total market with the remaining 30
percent being in the hands of nearly 2000 small-scale units. The paint industry in India is
fragmented into over 80 players in the organized market alone. The number of unorganised
units is very large, close to 4000. The major players in the decorative segment are Asian
Paints, Kansai Nerolac (earlier Goodlass Nerolac), Berger Paints, ICI, Jenson & Nicholson,
Shalimar Paints and Garware paints. Each company has its relative strength in one or the
other types of paints: Asian Paints has the widest range; Kansai Nerolac is strong in
distempers; Berger Paints and ICI focus on emulsions; and Jenson & Nicholson in enamel
paints.
Asian Paints is the market leader with a 40% market share, followed by Kansai Nerolac at
around 20%, Berger at 19% and ICI at 12%. Other with significant share includes Jenson &
Nicholson, Shalimar Paints.
As past research data related to our research objectives was not available freely (or
inexpensively), we are unable to identify research gaps, if any. But we would be using the
secondary data available about the industry and some key players as a basis of our research.
As stated earlier, the per capita consumption of paints in India is very low compared to the
rest of the world. An understanding of what influences the decision of a household to paint
their house, can help the paint industry develop products and strategies that would increase
the frequency of getting the house painted (not all houses are painted regularly!), thereby
increasing the per capita consumption of paints in the country. Such an increase in the per
capita consumption of paints presents an immense opportunity for the paint companies to
increase their sales and thus profits, in absolute terms.
Non Extrapolation
As Nagpur is a tier II city, the data collected cannot be used for tier I cities. Nor would this
data be useful for understanding rural markets.
Also, due to supply chain constraints, some brands may be available more easily in Nagpur,
but may not be as readily available in other parts of the country, thereby creating a bias
towards it in our survey.
Depth interviews – These interviews were conducted with dealers who sell
decorative paints.
It was done to search through the various facets of problem of decision making, and
identify the attributes which come into play while making a decision.
After obtaining this list of possible attributes, further research will be carried out to
find out the relative importance of each of these.
Sample Size: 10 dealers across Nagpur city which represents about 8.5% of the
population
2) Descriptive Research
Objective:
Methodology:
Questionnaire
A detailed questionnaire would provide us with enough data points to carry out
various quantitative analyses like Factor analysis, Cluster analysis, etc.
Sampling Plan
Measurement Scales
1) Nominal Scale –
These will be used to indicate demographic features of the sample population like
income brackets.
This will help us in classifying our sample population into different categories,
and thus helping us identify the characteristics of each demographic.
2) Ordinal Scale
These scales would be used to indicate customer preferences among various
brands of paints available in the market.
This will be good indicator of customer preferences, brand recall of the
company/product.
3) Interval Scale –
These scales will be used when determining the time gap between two successive
paintings of the house.
With this we can then estimate the average time gap for getting the house painted,
or the average frequency of getting the house painted.
4) Ratio Scale –
Ratio scales will be used when the respondents will be asked to assign weights to
different characteristics of paints in terms of importance for them as a customer.
Ratio scales would also be used while getting data about the income and painting
expenditure of the household
This would give a comparative correlation of the two variables:
Example:
A certain household has an income of 2.0-3.0lacks and the painting expense per
year is 20,000 while another household has an income of 4.0Lacs and expenditure
of 40,000 then it would help us make certain conclusions about the similarity or
the difference between the income and expense ratio
Scaling:
We intend to use the Likert scale as much as possible due to its ease of use for
the respondents and the ease of data analysis that it provides
Apart from this we would also consider using Constant Sum Scaling however
other techniques might also be used
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:
INITIAL EXPLORATORY
RESEARCH
IN DEPTH INTERVIEWS
WITH THE DEALERS TO
UNCOVER THE
INDUSTRY DYNAMICS
Our Exploratory research has given us the following facts and dynamics about the paint
consumption patterns:
In the paint industry, the customer and consumer are different namely the interior
decorator and household
The above trend is changing as consumers become more value conscious and select
their own products
In case of Emulsion and Plastic paint this time gap is 5-6 years
The important factors that consumers look for in paints is affordability and durability
In the Nagpur market, Asian paints has the leadership in every sense
It has the highest Brand loyalty and the brand has become synonymous to the word
paint much like Xerox has to photo copying
Also, there is normally a seasonal demand during Diwali and during summer holidays
Based on the above analysis, possible hypothesis that we would draw are:
a) Affordability and Durability are the two most important characteristics while
choosing paint products
b) Consumers themselves prefer to select and buy the paint from the dealer
f) There is a seasonal demand for paint during Diwali and Summer holidays
g) There are certain internal and external factors that determine the household’s
decision to get the house painted. If yes, determine those factors
ANALYSIS
Sample Taken
Plan of Analysis
We have done the analysis based on the hypothesis drawn and the findings received during
the survey
Hypothesis 1
Affordability and Durability are the most important characteristics which consumers
take into account while selecting the paint
Analysis
Respondents were asked why they selected a particular brand and type of paint and then we
analysed the data using descriptives
Y Ths Pnt
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Total 69 100.0
The analysis shows that Durability was the second most important factor after Quality for the
consumer decision making process
Hypothesis 2
The respondents were asked what brand of paint do they prefer and what brand did the
contracter refer to them
Descriptive Statistics
N 63 46
N 46 47
It can be seen that the Corelation is significant since the desired significance level is 0.05 and
the achieved significance level is .026
However the Corelation coefficient is only .328 or 32.8% which shows that the correlation is
weak
This means that most of the consumers prefer top choose the type and brand of paint
themselves over the contractor’s recommendation
Hypothesis 3
Distemper has a repaint cycle of 2years and Emulsion has a repaint cycle of 5-6years
Respondents were asked the question that ”How long back did they get the house painted”?
However this data does not provide a significant idea about the repaint cycle
Also respondents were not asked any question regarding when they plan to get the house
painted next since it was found in the Exploratory research that Consumers normally don’t
have a plan for the same
To understand this decision better, however, consumers were asked “Reasons for getting the
House painted” and this has been analysed using Descriptives
Y Pntd
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Total 69 100.0
The analysis shows that 40% respondents get the house painted as and when they feel the
paint has worn out and 27% respondents get the house painted because of a special occasion
while 22% because of a festival
Hypothesis 4
Asian Paints is the Prefered brand of paint
Respondents were asked their brand preference and the brand the contractor recommended
This would give an idea about the Brand preferences of customers as well as consumers
incase both are different and otherwise
Hypothesis 5
Income level determines the amount of money to be spent on the painting work
Respondents were asked the income level of the household and the amount spent on the
painting work
Correlations
N 64 63
N 63 65
The analysis clearly shows that the two variables are linearly correlated with a corelation
coefficient of 43.5% at a significance level of .000 which is 100% confidence level
Ur Brnd Prfrn
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Total 69 100.0
Cntrctr's Prfrnc
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Total 69 100.0
The Analysis clearly shows that Asian Paints is the preferred brand amongst the Consumers
and the Contractors with 68.1% preference amongst Contractors and 61.9% Consumers
preferring Asain Paints
Hypothesis 6
There are certain internal and external factors that effect the consumer decision making
process and if yes determine those factors
Df 21
Sig. .000
The KMO test of adequacy is validated since the value is .621 which is more than the desired value of
.6
Correlation Matrix
Imp Price Imp Populrt Imp Quality Imp Recco Imp Exp Imp Color Imp Wash
Correlation Imp Price 1.000 .197 -.214 -.008 -.138 -.202 -.289
Sig. (1-tailed) Imp Price .061 .046 .474 .140 .056 .011
Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loa
% of % of
Component Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total Variance Cumulative % Total Variance Cumulativ
Component
1 2 3
a. 3 components extracted.
Component
1 2 3
Factor 1
These four variables combined could be clubbed in to a factor of overall paint experience
Factor 2
These two variables together in a factor show that consumers prefer a popular paint brand at
reasonable prices and thus the factor can be named as Value for Money
Factor 3
This indicated that even in a low involvement category like paints, consumers are conscious
of the brand they purchase and have a perception “better the brand, better the quality”
CONCLUSION
The research gives a fair idea about the consumer decision making process in the paint industry
a) Paint although is a Low involvement category, still consumers are Brand conscious and the
Brand image makes a difference in the buying decision
b) Consumers prefer value for money in the product they choose
c) Asian Paints is the preferred brand of paint amongst the consumers and contractors alike
d) Quality and Durability are more important than price in the decision making
e) The household income and the money spent on the painting work are linearly corelated