Introduction

Marketing is the process used by an organization to develop an overall product market strategy. Modern marketing concept lies in the fact that the business should be directed towards the satisfaction of the consumers. Now the consumer has become the key factor that determines the success or failure of any organization. A satisfied customer is the biggest asset of the organization. The success or failure of the product in the market often depends on the ability of the markets to correctly perceive and predict the dynamic nature of the consumers. So modern marketing requires a thorough understanding of consumer behavior and buying motivations. Consumer behavior reflects the totality of consumer decision with respect to acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, time and ideas by decision -making units. It also include whether, why, when, were, how, how much and how often and how long consumer will use or dispose of an offering. To understand the consumers are not early jobs as his behavior is mostly unique and unpredictable. This has made the terms to step in to the shoes of the consumers and understand from the point of view selection and purchase of products and services. Marketers need to identify the end-users of the product, services and frame marketing plans than considering the wholesalers and retailers who actually are the intermediaries in the process of purchase. Marketers therefore should consider the consumers and then develop their plans of action. Here lies the essence of marketing. Consumer is the king and all actions should start with this notion in mind. Sterling Coconut Oils & Cakes (P) Ltd. Thrissur, popularly known as Thanima is a private enterprise. Thanima was established with an objective to produce, supply and export fresh and pure coconut oil. The company strictly follows the quality standards prescribed by AGMARK and ISO 9001:2000 Certification to take on the challenges of globalization and international quality standards. Thanima focused on a stable and reasonable return to their produce by integrating the activities of production, processing and marketing. They converted coconut, into value added products like copra and coconut oil and marketed it. There is better satisfaction emphasis is that better the marketing, better the return to the company to consumers.

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Coconut oil is extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconut harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry. What make coconut oil different from most of other dietary oils are the basic building blocks or fatty acids making up the oil. Being one of the healthiest oils on earth, it is used to treat a wide variety of health problems. Coconut oil improves immune system and energy level, stabilize blood sugar, improve thyroid function and it tastes great, too.

Statement of the problem

In todays competitive environment companies are realizing that marketing is not only the voice of the company but also tool with which information feedback can be collected from the consumers for the marketers. It is important to recognize why and how individuals make their consumption decisions, Thanima is facing stiff competition from other major brands such as KPL Shudhi oil, Kera etc. Hence in order to adopt new marketing techniques for increasing sale it is desirable to study the preference of customers towards coconut oil. The changing food habits and consumer preference of Keralities have opened a new opportunity for the marketing of coconut oil in the Kerala state. People may not think much about branded coconut oil vs. unbranded one as they are not aware of it or they feel that its of high price. But once they experience the quality of the branded product, they will be converted. There are many advantages the branded coconut oil have over unbranded one good quality, better packing, healthier, avoiding refined carbohydrates, increased keeping quality and consuming whole foods etc. The household consumers of Kerala are not only health conscious but also price sensitive. The propensity among the consumers to shift from the consumption of coconut oil to other edible oils is high when coconut oil price rise above the price of other edible oils. Being a product of Kerala itself, Sterling Coconut Oil Cakes & Mills (P) Ltd., have the responsibility to take adequate measures to sustain and promote the household consumption of coconut oil. The study explored the product related attributes (fragrance, flavor, durability etc) and market related attributes (price, size, package, availability, etc) of coconut oil in order to provide adequate insight for taking future decisions by Thanima.

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However the marketing of coconut oil in the state still remains less studied. Some case studies are mentioned here. Price behavior of major edible oils consumed in the households of Kerala and promotional strategies of Coconut Development Board. The study found that there are fluctuations in the prices of coconut oil, palm oil, and sunflower oil. Due to various external factors like changes in the world production and demand of these oils, changes in the climatic conditions in the producing countries and internal factors namely import duty charged by the government, production of oil seeds etc. Consumers preference towards branded coconut oil. The study has identified that the consumers give more importance to the quality of coconut oil, which is the main reason why they prefer branded one. Brand awareness among the consumer were also found fairly high, but limited to the geographical availability level.

Objectives

To study the customer preference towards Thanima coconut oil To examine the factors influencing customer preference

Methodology
Sample design The supermarkets in Thrissur City area can be grouped as: (i). Small and medium Super Markets having floor area of less than 2000 square feet; and (ii) Large Super Markets having floor area of more than 3000 square feet. There are total 60 super markets in Thrissur District (Source http://www.thrissurkerala.com/). Out of this, 10 supermarkets are coming in the group of large/major supermarkets. This study was carried out in all these 10 major supermarkets in the Thrissur City area.

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Data collection Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Primary data Primary data for the study was collected through interview with the help of prestructued schedule. Data on family details, income, education status, coconut oil consumption, purchase pattern of oil, etc. were collected. Observations made

Socioeconomic profile of respondents Expenditure pattern Brand awareness Impact of Thanimas promotional efforts on consumers demand. Quality, Price of coconut oil Brand loyalty and switching Product attributes. Currently used brand Reference groups like, friends, peers, relatives, etc. Segmentation of consumers into each income group Purpose wise use of the coconut oil

Study period The study is based on primary data collected from sample respondents using a prestructured schedule. The study was carried out during the period of October to December 2010. Study area and sampling procedure For the purpose of study, all major supermarkets (10 numbers) were identified from Thrissur City area. The service time of the supermarkets was divided into four time zones as follows:
1. 2.

9.00am to 12 noon 12 noon to 3.00pm Page 4

3. 4.

3.00pm to 6.00pm 6.00pm to 9.00pm

Five customers from each time zone, that is, total 20 customers, were identified from each super market and collected data. The sample size comprised of 20 respondents each from the 10 supermarkets constituting a total of 200 respondents. Secondary data The secondary data was collected from the published sources such as reports, journals, periodicals, Internet and other Medias. Analysis of data The collected data were tabulated and analysed with the help of statistical tools such as averages, scores, percentages, etc. To analyse the costumer preference towards Thanima coconut oil and the factors influencing customers preference, questions were graded on a five point scale. Response choices were given weightage in the following manner. Response score Response Choice Strongly Agree Agree No opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree Scoring Weight 5 4 3 2 1

The formula used for calculating the index (Kerlinger, 1970) is given below: Total score of the statement Index = Max. Score of the statement Each respondent was asked to indicate the description that most suited feeling towards the statements. The individuals total attitude score is represented by the algebraic summation of scores assigned to each statement. The objective was to make a comparative evaluation of Page 5 x 100

responses of different statements and to find out for which all attributes the respondents have favorable opinion and for which all attributes the respondents had unfavorable opinion.

Scope of the study

The findings of the study will help M/s Sterling Coconut Oils, Cakes and Mills (P) Ltd. as well as its dealers to develop and expand their operational problems and to take appropriate steps to improve their marketing activities by considering customer tastes and preferences. This study will also help the organization to improve their profit position. It is relevant to examine the consumption pattern of coconut oil in a distinctive market to evaluate the present market activities of Thanima and the essential measures to be taken to penetrate these markets. Hence the subject of study brings out a key to forward planning for the next operating period. The marketers can use the result of the study for improving the brand awareness as well as brand image among customers. Based on that, they can adopt better marketing strategies for making themselves competitive. The study of customer preference is important for its marketing developments. The findings of the study can be used to improve the oil sales of the company by adopting appropriate marketing measures either by penetrating the existing market of its branded sales or by exploiting new markets. In addition, helps to identify the market potential of coconut oil over the other brands. The customer preference towards branded oils, buying motives, their loyalty towards a particular brand and switching from one brand to another would be taken into account. The analysis based on the needs and wants will help to add value to existing products and also to measure customer satisfaction. Thus marketers can utilize the results of the study by positioning the attributes according to the consumers as well as customers preference.

Limitations of the study

The following limitations have happened in the study:

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1.

The time constraint stands as a barrier to cover a much larger sample, hence the result of the study cannot be generalized Unavailability of accurate information from the customers The study included only major supermarkets in Thrissur city and so customers of minor and medium supermarkets could not be included in the study. The findings of the study are only indicative and hence cannot be generalized for the district or state as a whole.

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CHAPTER 2

Review of Literature
1.

Amit P. Pratab argued that coconut oil is primarily used for edible purpose and also for hair oil. It is an important source of intermediates like fatty acids. Glycerol and fatty acids, which are used for the manufacture of wide range of chemicals such as surfactants, emulsifiers, foam booster etc. These intermediates are used in the formulation of several finished products like soaps, detergents, and shampoos. Glycerol is used in lot of cosmetics formulations. Palm kernel oil is also has a similar fatty acid profile. It could be used for the manufacture of all the coco based chemicals. However, the coco based products are preferred due to their characteristic odour and mind set of people (Pratab, 2009).

2.

Bhattacharya in their study on Putting the customer trust observed that given the rising demand of customer as well as increasing competition, the need of the hour is to gear itself positively to the needs of its customers. This would mean vendering the service in an efficient and effective manner. (Bhattacharya, 1991).

3.

According to Balachandran, S in his study on Customer driven services and management, for the same level of service rendered, some customers may be very satisfied depending upon perception of experience and expectations. Expectations are based on what one has heared from others, seen in advertisements, its external appearance or what one has been made to believe by the sales man. (Balachandran, 1999)

4.

Bal Subramanian and Sathyanarayanan explained in their study that the success of any business lies in maintaining a strong base of loyal costumer. The organization exists for the customers and the customers are the deciding forces behind the success or failure of a business organization. (Bal Subramanian and Sathyanarayanan, 2008)

5.

Carlo Lovatelli, in his study on Good potential for using vegetable oils as bio fuels stated that the potential for using vegetable oils such as Palm oil, and soya oil as biofuels is increasing considerably as the petroleum crude price will continue to rule high. Petroleum price increase tendency is a strong indication that biodiesel should become more competitive over the next few years said Lovatelli in his presentation on Vision 2020 - Soya. Various countries such as Malaysia, USA and Brazil are investing heavily Page 8

in research to gradually make this bio fuel as an alternative to crude oils. (Lovatelli, 2005).
6.

Davish Janin argued that, in a short span of 30 years, India has emerged as the worlds fourth largest oil seeds economy next only to USA, Brazil and China. The note is that the Indian oil seeds ad edible oil sector performed well last year. The seed processors of soya been, sunflower, cotton seed etc have had reasonably good margins .The oil processor also had good processing margins as price went up (Janin, 2000).

7.

Devendra Arora and Loveleon Gavr stated that customer relationship management is a business strategy to acquire and retain the most valuable customer relationship. It is estimated that the cost of acquiring a new customer is four times the cost of retaining the existing one. The core concept behind marketing is the role of exchange. Exchange can take place between buyer and seller and also not limited to money. (Devendra Arora and Loveleon Gavr 2006)

8.

Dipak Kr Ghosh and Arpitha Ghosh suggested that coconut oil is more beneficial to human body as a dietary fat than the natural or hydrogenated form of unsaturated vegetable oil. The incidence of coronary heart disease could be better linked with the consumption of cholesterol rich food of animal origin and the sedentary habits associated with a tension ridden mechanical society. (Dipak Kr Ghosh,and Arpitha Ghosh, 2008)

9.

Elumalai pointed out that Brand strategy is an intimate aspect of product

planning. A

marketer has to decide which products to be branded, how to brand them and how to manage the Brands. In developing a brand the manufacturer has to establish the Brands quality levels and other attributes that will support the brands together position in the market place. (Elumalai, 2003)
10.

Windisch opined that the last two decades have seen a substantial increase in the use of aromatic herbs and essential oils as feed additives in animal nutrition. One of the main reasons for this trend is to substitute antibiotic growth promoters, which have been completely banned as feed additives in the European Union since 2006 because they are suspected of contributing substantially to increasing resistance among human pathogens. Recent investigations have shown significant antimicrobial effects of several essential oils and essential oil compounds against enter pathogenic organisms in farm animals. Porcine proliferative enteropathy caused by specific Escherichia coli strains could be controlled by in-feed application of carvacrol-rich essential oils, and the effect of some essential oil components against Clostridium perfringens and necrotic enteritis was confirmed in Page 9

poultry. In ruminants, an improvement of the digestion was observed, resulting in reduced methanogenesis and nitrogen excretion. In addition, the anti oxidative activity of aromatic plants and essential oil compounds contributes to the stability and palatability of animal feed and has, moreover, resulted in an improved shelf-life and quality of animal products, due to reduced oxidation. The 'growth-promoting effect' of essential oils (feed conversion rate, daily weight gain, etc.) is not as evident, since a large number of publications are (commercial) product-driven, lacking data on the starting material. (Windisch, 2010).
11. According

to Singh and Singhal a well designed packing, act as a main identifying

feature for quality and quantity and makes the consumers more informative and choosy. It further informs the consumers as to what quality, quantity and price, the package is worth off. (Singh and Singhal,1980)
12. Sing

Prabhakar stated that one of the basis of consumer perception, a customer would

take the purchase decision and a particular brand was getting priority over other brands. They also observed that the marketers realized the importance of consumer perception and attempted to create a unique image for their products, which enable to achieve an advantage over their competitors products. (Sing Prabhakar ,1989)
13.

Thampan has observed that the demand for coconut oil in both the edible and non edible and user has suffered erosion as a result of technical and economic substitutuions, which have been taken place over a period of time. He has also suggested measure to b be taken to regulate and maintain stability in the supplies of coconut oil and to control its prices within a range, which will be beneficial to both the producers and consumers. This objective could be achieved by operating a supply management scheme for coconut oil in Kerala state which would, in the long run, strengthen the existing market demands and develop new markets for coconut oil to take care of the possible future increase in production.(Thampan ,1995)

14. Manoj

Kumar Ambashta stated that customer orientation comprises two mutely related

factors such as customer satisfaction and the efforts to fulfill those needs up to the levels of their satisfaction. To put it in the modern technologies,custumor satisfaction in the present era may be complicated mix of hardware (Technology (Attitude ,Product,Price,Quandity)and software

,responsiveness,deleverness,andcommemorations).(ManojkumarAmbastha,1997)

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15. Sanjiv

Phansalkar argued that the misconception is that high edible oil prices was the only

technique of demand management. Eliminating imports and creating demand for conventional minor oils, allowing blending and mass and large-scale availability of pure oil, conveniently packed were all part of the policy. The earlier reliance on canalization and the directed use of imported oils had let to massive vested interests particularly in the vanaspathi industry and the public distribution system. (Sanjiv Phansalkar,1998)
16. Subramanian

identified that for the development of coconut industry strengthening of

marketing promotion and market intelligence is necessary. He opined that market promotion programme intends to create market and capture market information. Market intelligence services gather information of the market arrivals, wholesale prices for analysing the market trends for various coconut products inside and out side the country. (Subramanian ,1998)

17. Maheswarappa.Hp

opined in his study that a field experiment was conducted to study

the response of agronomic practices on galangal grown as intercrop in coconut garden during 1995-1998.Growth,yield characters and yield were superior when mother rhizome was used as planting material, where as quality characters like oil and oleoresin contents did not differ. Significantly among mother rhizome treatment. Plant population level of 500000 per hectare (20*10cm) recorded significantly superior rhizome yield as compared to 333000 population levels. The percent reduction in the yield due to lower density population was 6-7 percent. Growth, yield characters and yield were superior with farm yard manure TNPK combination followed by farm yard manures vermicomposts applied alone. Oil and oleoresin contents were significantly higher with farmyard manure TNPK, framyardmanure and vermicompost applied alone compared to composted coir pith application and control. (Maheswarappa,2000)

18. Markose

and Thomas categorically stated that in spite of the interference of the

Government machineries for the procurement of copra under the price support scheme. The market price off copra and coconut oil ruled below the minimum support price (MSP).Therefore announcement of MSP and procurement of coconut industry in the country. (Markose and Thomas ,2000) Page 11

19. D.PS

Varma and Heama Israneny conducted a study to find the consumer attitude

towards advertisement messages. Most of the consumers (52%) used the information from advertisements to make their purchase decisions. As much as 70 % of the consumers believed that some advertisements actually mislead them by presenting false and exaggerated feature of the product. The vast majority of 80 percent of consumers agreed that the cost of advertisements increased the total cost of products. Only a slim majority of consumers (58%) have a favorable attitude towards advertisemenrts.38 % of consumers reported unfavorable attitude towards advertisements. (D.PS Varma, and Heama Israneny, 2000)
20. Wilson

stated that information behavior is a broad term encompassing the ways articulate their information,needs,seeek,evaluate,select and use

individuals

information.Inotherwords information seeking behavior is purposive in nature is a consequence of a need in to satisfy some goal. In the course of seeking the individuals may interact with people, manual information system with computer oriented information system. (Wilson,2000)

1.1 ABOUT THE INDUSTRY

The coconut palm is one of the most valuable plants to man. In Sanskrit the coconut palm is called kalpa vriksha, which roughly translated means Tree of Life. In India , it provides livelihood to about 10 million people through various activities from its cultivation to processing of its products. All the parts of the coconut tree can be put to useful purposes- the roots, the trunk, the wood, leaves, the blossom and all parts of the nut. Two major classes of coconut palm are typically recognized on the basis of stature: tall and dwarf. The ones most commonly planted for commercial purposes are the tall varieties, which are slow to mature and first flower six to ten years after planting. They produce medium-to-large size nuts and have a life span of sixty to seventy years. The dwarf varieties may have originated as a mutation of tall types. The dwarf variety may grow to a height of twenty-five to thirty feet and begin flower after three years, when they are only about three feet tall. Their life span is only about thirty years.

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COCONUT INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Coconut palms are grown widely in the coastal tracts of the country. The coconut economy of India is in a convenient status. India accounts for 22.34 per cent of the worlds coconut production and is one of the major players in the worlds coconut trade. Currently the crop is grown in 1.91 million hectares with an annual production of nearly 13000 million nuts. Copra processing, coconut oil extraction and coir manufacturing are the traditional coconut based industries in the country. The price of the coconut in the country is dependent on the prevailing price of coconut oil which is characterized by recurring violent fluctuations. The behavior of coconut oil price is relatively dependent on overall supply of oils and fats in the country. The fluctuation in the price of the coconut oil simultaneously reflects on the price of coconut. The volatile price situation often ends in the negligence of the coconut gardens, leading to attack of pests and diseases and low productivity. Of the range of ways, promoting cost effective coconut based farming system, product diversification and value addition play a crucial role in the stabilization of the coconut oil driven domestic market and is essential for reorienting and engineering the Indian Coconut Industry cost effective and globally competitive. The Coconut Development Board has been playing pivotal role in promoting viable coconut based farming system, on-farm processing and products development. The production and marketing of value added products have started attracting commercial interest and the situation brought rejuvenation in the sector. The market promotional measures undertaken in pursuit of the popularization of health benefits of coconut oil and tender coconut water have attributed a stimulating effect on the less dependency of coconut oil driven coconut economy.

1.2 ABOUT THE COMPANY

Keramitra Pvt.Ltd, virgin Coconut oil Manufacturing Company is a consortium of four independent Virgin Coconut Oil manufacturing units assisted by Coconut Development Board Cochin(Government of Kerala).. The manufacturing units are located at the central districts of Kerala. Keramitra was formed and incorporated with the objective of marketing the value added coconut product Virgin Coconut Oil under a common Brand name.

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The consortium members commenced commercial production in the year 2006.Keramitra Private Limited Company inaugurated on 17th August 2008 with the support extended by Coconut Development Board Chairman Smt: Mini Mathew IAS. Under whose guidance and direction Keramitra was officially inaugurated by the Honorable Revenue Minister of Kerala Sri: K P Rajendran and the first sale of Virgin Plus was done by the C.D.B chair person. Keramitra is specialists in producing Virgin coconut oil. Virgin coconut oil also called white coconut oil is extracted from freshly shredded and first pressed coconut meat of choice and mature coconuts. Keramitra offers both virgin and roasted coconut oil in a wide range of packing (Our packing of small quantities is in pet bottles of 1000ml, 500ml, 200ml, 75ml and 35ml and large quantity packing is in 2 litre and 5 litre Plastic cans. We are recognized worldwide, as masters in manufacturing high quality coconut based products like Virgin Coconut Oil, Roasted Coconut Oil. A wide area of farmland is used for cultivation of coconuts, using modern growing methods & techniques. Our impressive range of coconut based products and customer friendly services has made us a popular brand in both domestic & international market. Our endeavor is to maintain a long-lasting relationship with our customers.

U S P OF KERAMITRA Technology, Manufacturing process and Marketing:

Keramitra availed the Indian technology of C.F.T.R.I i.e. Centrifugal and DME Technology of Dr. Dan of Australia.

Indian Technology
Under the Indian Technology Coconut has been de-husked, parted, water is removed and put into disintegrator for crushing. The kernel is then put into the squeezing machine. The milk thus obtained is kept in a cool room for twelve hours by adding an enzyme. Coconut milk will be taken into a centrifugal machine by rotating under high RPM. Oil, water and protein are separated. The Oil is then bottled, Labeled and made ready for marketing.

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DME System
Under DME technology the kernel passes through a thermal drier for twenty minutes and filled into cylindrical equipment which has hundreds of micro holes. The cylinder is filled and then with a hand press the Oil is separated. The oil will be filtered, bottled and labeled and made it ready for marketing. The entire process will take only thirty minutes.

Marketing Strategy
Keramitra has a network of marketing team consisting of a General Manager, Sales Manager, and a Sales Executive almost all district of Kerala. Outside Kerala also we do have a network.

Export
Keramitra have exported Virgin Plus to U.K, U.S.A Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Qatar, Kingdom of Bahrain, Newzealand, Singapore etc

Keramitra supports the farmers

The small and medium coconut farmers are helped by Keramitra. We purchase coconut from the yard always at a higher price of 10 to 15 % and also at ready cash .So that farmers need not wait for weeks to get their money from the middle man and copra merchants. Keramitra generates employment opportunities in the rural areas particularly uneducated woman We also focus on the economic development and self sufficiency of the poor people in and around local area.

PRODUCT PROFILE

VIRGIN COCONUT OIL

"VIRGIN PLUS" Brand of white coconut oil is produced by KERAMITRA from coconut of the finest quality, directly procured from coconut growers in Kerala the land of coconuts. The coconut thus procured is processed using the most modern technology. In the selection and processing of coconut, KERAMITRA employs strict quality control measures to ensure product superiority and purity. A unique two stage filtering process is Page 15

employed by KERAMITRA to retain the original aroma and flavour of coconut oil for a long period. "VIRGIN PLUS" Brand of coconut oil is known for its quality, purity, longer shelf life and reasonable price. Its quality is conformity with the grade specifications.

ROASTED COCONUT OIL

1st quality Copra is cut into small pieces. They are dried to desired moisture level using hot air. This copra is roasted on a steam jacketed vessel. A bit of steam is sprayed for cooking. This conditioned copra is crushed on expellers for oil extraction. Crude Oil extracted is filtered In 4 stages to get Pure Coconut Oil. Due to heating of copra during drying and roasting and friction during oil extraction, the oil attains higher temperature i.e. 100C. Coconut Oil consists of mostly (92%)) saturated fatty acids that are stable even at high temperature. So they dont change forms during processing. Cold Press is the traditional method of oil extraction. Roasting is an improved form of copra processing. The following are the benefits of Roasted Coconut Oil 1. Better taste and aroma 2. Longer shelf life due to moisture control 3. Copra is sterilized by heating and hence no chance of contamination due to bacteria, Fungus and viruses.

PRODUCT CATALOGUE
KERAMITRAS packing of small quantities : 1. 1000ml 2. 3. 4. 500ml 200ml 75ml

5. 35ml

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Large quantity packing : 1. 2 litre can 2. 5 litre Plastic cans

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