A STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF MASKS

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THANE DISTRICT.

Sapna Gupta1, Prof. Dhananjay Kulkarni2, Dr. Binod Sinha3

1
Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Sri Balaji University Pune, Maharashtra
2
Senior Assistant Professor, Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Sri Balaji University Pune,
Maharashtra
3
Professor, Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Sri Balaji University Pune, Maharashtra

ABSTRACT

The Coronavirus disease has been rapidly spread since 2019. To prevent oneself from this
disease an equipment called face mask is used for protection. This Research paper is basically
focused on the consumer behavior while purchasing a face mask. There are different types of
masks available in the market so which one the consumers prefers is seen in this paper.

The research is done by giving questionnaire to the respondents and recording their responses.
There were 300 respondents initially but they were filtered to 194 according to the location I had
chosen for this paper. The data analysis is carried out by using Excel and SPSS. The research
concluded that majority of consumers preferred to buy inexpensive face masks The research also
concluded that when a customer purchase a mask nose bridge and price are the factors which
affect the most. The companies should also focus on manufacturing customized masks as
respondents said that they will prefer customized masks on special occasions.

Keywords: Masks, Coronavirus, Consumer Buying Behavior, Customized Masks

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 INTRODUCTION

The Coronavirus spread has caused the people to wear face masks. Initially, masks were only
preferred by the doctors and the medical staff. Therefore, it was sold in lower quantities. But
Today, it has become a necessity of every individual to protect itself from the disease and
therefore the demand for the same has been increased. Due to this increasing demand, it is very
necessary to study the behavior of the consumers as what factors do they prefer while buying it.

RESEARCH PROBLEM

The risk associated with COVID 19 has forced consumers to change their perception towards
masks. With this sudden outbreak of pandemic, many different brands emerged in the market
which offer masks of different quality and in various price segments. Because of this immediate
change in the market, the buying behavior of masks gets affected with various attributes which
include Price, Quality, Availability, Risk etc. There are many options available with the
consumers, so it is difficult for them to decide which one to choose. The Market offerings of
masks is highly diversified which has multiple options for every strata of the society. Thane
district is selected for the research because it is a perfect mix of higher as well as lower income
segment with different product knowledge.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

Primary Objective: -

 To study the impact of COVID 19 that influences the consumer’s buying behavior of
masks.

Secondary Objective: -

 To access the scope of customized masks.

 To explore the fashion trend of the masks.
 To examine the material preferences of the consumers while buying masks.
 To identify the willingness of the person to spend for a mask.

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 HYPOTHESIS

Ho: There is no significant association between the Frequency of changing masks and the
willingness to spend for a mask.

H1: There is a significant association between the Frequency of changing masks and the
willingness to spend for a mask.

Ho: Gender plays no role in the type of face mask that the consumers wear regularly.

H1: Gender plays a major role in the type of face mask that the consumers wear regularly.

Ho: There is no significant difference between awareness and purchase motive for face masks.

H1: There is a significant difference between awareness and purchase motive for face masks.

Ho: There is no significant relationship effectiveness of mask and symbol of fashion.

H1: There is a significant relationship effectiveness of mask and symbol of fashion.

Ho: There is no significant difference Preference for customized masks on special occasions and
perception of mask as icon of fashion.

H1: There is a significant difference Preference for customized masks on special occasions and
perception of mask as icon of fashion.

LITERATURE REVIEW

(Journal et al., 2021)[1], published a paper The research paper focused on how buying face masks
by the women of Surabaya has become part of their lifestyle during the pandemic. It used two
data collection techniques namely: questionnaire and in-depth interviews. This research found

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out that a mask is not just a medical accessory but also a fashion statement. It also reported that
women preferred cloth masks instead of surgical ones as that more fashion designs in them.
Motifs and Colour were the main fashion elements that influence the purchase decision process
of the women in Subaraya. Price and brand of the masks played an important role as well in the
purchase decision process.

Research Gap

I. The sample size of just 50 is too less to make a meaningful and reliable conclusion.
II. Data Collection was not in person and hence the result of the data is not full proof.

(Nurkhasanah & Santoso, 2020)[2], published a paper. This study dealt with analyzing the effect
of product quality, price, perception and promotion on the purchase decision of the consumer.
Based on this study it became evident that price perception has a positive and significant
influence on purchasing decisions. So lower the price the higher the chance of consumers buying
the product. It also became evident that promotion has a direct relationship with the purchase
decision. It was also observed that product quality variables have a positive effect on a purchase
decision. It has also been suggested in this study that product quality is also a factor that plays a
very important role in the purchase decision due to fierce competition.

Research Gap

I. The Conclusion is a very general and obvious one of direct relationship of quality and
purchase decision and inverse relationship between Price and Purchase decision.

(Shazzat Hossain et al., 2021) [3], published a paper. This research paper focuses on investigating
the different attributes of purchasing a mask during a pandemic. It has thrown light on
consumer’s decision-making behavior for selecting a cloth face mask. It came out with an insight
that customers prefer light face masks instead of thick one. Air circulation is another attribute
apart of cloth quality that customers gave importance when purchasing the mask However price
is the first and most important determinant in the purchase decision of the face mask Colour of
the mask was an attribute that the customer gave no importance in the purchase decision process.

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Research Gap

I. The researcher has failed to include an important determinant of Availability and its
serious impact on the consumer behavior.

(P. Kurian et al., 2021)[4], published a paper. The main aim of this study is to describe various
kinds of masks available straight from history to the present date. This study has also signified
the importance of the various face masks and their use in different kinds of environments. A very
important issue which made the fight of covid more difficult has been the shortage of surgical
and masks and how it has been tackled by using cloth masks as recommended by W.H.O. Use
disposal and sterilization of face masks is something that is often overlooked upon however in
the times of pandemic it is very essential that care is taken as bio-waste can prove to because of
an outbreak if care is not taken by the public at large.

Research Gap

I. The information is incomplete as it does not contain newer types of mask such as
electronic filter masks and also face shields which can also be termed as face mask by
many.

(Yuan et al., 2020) )[5], published a paper This study dealt with the time when the panic buying of
face masks caused the shortage of the masks and how various open various applications made it
possible to ensure the availability of the masks. This study found out that 60.9% of the
applications were deployed on the websites and second in the position was 19% on the social
networking platforms. Open data strategy ensured information dissemination to the public during
a pandemic. The transparency ensured the panic was kept under control as people felt relieved
with the awareness of the situation. The making of various apps by the developers providing the
latest information also proved to be a very helpful measure.

Research Gap

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 I. The study has failed to record the effect of the community efforts via calls and help
forums and hence it has missed out on the effects such initiatives that had to reduce the
Panic.

(Goel, 2021) [6], published a paper. This research paper finds that health capacities within and
across the countries are missing which poses a serious threat as an outbreak in one region can
spread like a wildfire. So this calls for holistic healthcare support for all the regions by the
policymakers. It is found that the price elasticity of demand for masks changes as per the
demand. As the demand becomes more inelastic the power of the supplier's increase. It also
suggested that countries with higher income equality should subsidize the masks. The ranking of
customer surplus is different under different scenarios.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH PLAN

Research Design Descriptive

Sampling Area Thane District

Sample Size 194 Respondents

Sampling Unit Individual

Survey Form Questionnaire

Sampling Type Simple Random Sampling

Tools used Excel & SPSS

DATA ANALYSIS

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's N of Items
Alpha

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 .834 22
The Cronbach’s Alpha of the data is 0.834 which tells us that the internal reliability of the data is
Good and we can proceed with our sample size for analysis.

HYPOTHESIS TESTING

HO: There is no significant association between the Frequency of changing masks and the
willingness to spend for a mask.
H1: There is a significant association between the Frequency of changing masks and the
willingness to spend for a mask.
Chi-Square Test

Significant value = 0.241 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis. It shows that
“There is no significant association between the Frequency of changing masks and the
willingness to spend for a mask.”

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HO: Gender plays no role in the type of face mask that the consumers wear regularly.
H2: Gender plays a major role in the type of face mask that the consumers wear regularly.
Chi-Square Test
CLOTH MASK

Significant value = 0.772 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference between Gender and cloth mask they wear
regularly.”

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SURGICAL MASK

Significant value = 0.274 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference between Gender and surgical mask they wear
regularly.”

N95 MASK

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Significant value = 0.317 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference between Gender and N95 mask they wear
regularly.”

FACE SHIELD

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Significant value = 0.709 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference between Gender and Face Shield they wear
regularly.”

ELECTRIC FACE MASK

Significant value = 0.985 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference between Gender and Electric Face Mask they
wear regularly.”

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LED FACE MASK

Significant value = 0.539 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference between Gender and LED Face Mask they wear
regularly.”

HO: There is no significant difference between awareness and purchase motive for face masks.
H3: There is a significant difference between awareness and purchase motive for face masks.
Anova Test

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Significant value = 0.385 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference between awareness and purchase motive for face
masks”.

HO: There is no significant relationship effectiveness of mask and symbol of fashion.

H4: There is a significant relationship effectiveness of mask and symbol of fashion.
Correlation Test

Significant value = 0.065 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant relationship effectiveness of mask and symbol of fashion.”

HO: There is no significant difference Preference for customized masks on special occasions
and perception of mask as icon of fashion.
H5: There is a significant difference Preference for customized masks on special occasions and
perception of mask as icon of fashion.
Anova Test

Significant value = 0.209 > 0.05, So, there is a Failure to Reject Null Hypothesis.
It shows that “There is no significant difference Preference for customized masks on special
occasions and perception of mask as icon of fashion.”

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 FINDINGS

1. Out of 194 Respondents, 183 people believed that COVID-19 has changed their lifestyle.
The major things they believed had changed in their life was wearing face masks,
working from home, washing your hands, shopping for groceries and using public
transportation.

2. To prevent themselves from the coronavirus the people are mostly maintaining social
distancing, wearing a face mask and avoiding travel.

3. Out of 194 Respondents, 60 people strongly agree that wearing masks helps in reducing
the spread of coronavirus. There are 58 people who agree with the statement whereas
there are 29 people who disagree and 18 people who strongly disagree with the
statement.

4. People are mostly not aware about a particular type of mask because of the unavailability
of the same in their area.

5. They are mostly aware of the N95 mask, Cloth mask, Surgical mask and the Face Shield.
The LED face mask and the Electric Face Mask is still not known by many of them.

6. Out of 194 Respondents, 83 people change their mask 1-2 times a week, whereas 70
people change mask every day.

7. There are 83 respondents who are willing to spend between Rs.50 to Rs.100 on a single
mask whereas there are 66 people who say that they are willing to spend less than Rs.50
on a single mask.

8. Nose Bridge, Elastic ear hang, design, quality and brand are the attributes people prefer
while buying the mask.

9. Mostly the people face problems such as suffocation, fog in the spectacles and Breathing
Problem while wearing a mask.

10. 70 respondents Agree on the statement that Masks have become an icon of Fashion.

11. 60.82% People said that they would prefer customized masks for special occasions.

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 12. Out of 194 Respondents, 94 People said that they would buy mask for Air Pollution
other than Covid-19 Protection and Compliance.

13. Self-Safety is the most important factor which has driven the people to wear Face Masks.

CONCLUSION

The research concluded that majority of consumers preferred to buy inexpensive face masks Rs
50-100 on changing mask 1-2 times a week and they favored quality above price. It was received
from research that gender doesn’t affect the type of mask respondents wearing as mostly male
use cloth mask on regular basis and majority of female prefer wearing surgical mask regularly. It
was found out that majority of consumers doesn’t perceive customized mask on special occasion
and doesn’t wear as icon of fashion. The research also concluded that when a customer purchase
a mask nose bridge and price are the factors which affect the most. Interestingly, the next
important factor that affects his decision was found out to be Self-safety which has driven the
respondents to wear a face mask. Awareness of covid19 doesn’t affect the purchasing motive for
face masks as it is found that respondents will mostly buy a mask for Air Pollution other than
COVID-19 protection and compliance.

RECOMMENDATION

The manufacturing companies should do the pricing of the mask between Rs.50 to Rs.100 as
most people are likely to spend the same amount to purchase a single mask. The companies
should also focus on manufacturing customized masks as respondents said that they will prefer
customized masks on special occasions.

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Trend of Buying Mask as A New Lifestyle for Women in The City of Surabaya During
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https://doi.org/10.26740/jsm.v5n1.p199-217
Nurkhasanah, L., & Santoso, A. (2020). Determinants of Masks Purchasing Decisions. Jurnal
Studi Manajemen Dan Bisnis, 7(1), Inpress. https://doi.org/10.21107/jsmb.v7i1.7048
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