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Table of Contents................................................................................................... 2 Conce t!al"s"n# Resea$c% P$oble&........................................................................' Inte$est of b"# la(e$s......................................................................................... ' Cons!&e$ e$ce t"on......................................................................................... ' Re#!lato$( en)"$on&ent..................................................................................... ' Reac%.................................................................................................................. ' Co& et"t")e $o*!cts ........................................................................................ + R,D.................................................................................................................... + A $o $"ate -!al"tat")e Tec%n".!es fo$ obta"n"n# *ata.........................................+ S!$)e(................................................................................................................ + /oc!se* G$o! D"sc!ss"ons................................................................................0 In-*e t% Inte$)"e1.............................................................................................. 0 P$of"l"n# of t%e $es on*ents...................................................................................0 Rele)ant .!est"ons to fac"l"tate *ata collect"on.....................................................2 /o$ s!$)e(........................................................................................................... 2 /o$ /GD............................................................................................................... 3 /o$ In-*e t% "nte$)"e1......................................................................................... 3 Data Anal(s"s......................................................................................................... 4 P%eno&enolo#"cal Anal(s"s................................................................................. 4 Na$$at")e anal(s"s............................................................................................... 4 5e$&ene!t"c 6 Inte$ $et")e Anal(s"s...................................................................4 E7 ectat"ons f$o& t%e st!*(..................................................................................4
Consumer perception
Currently the organic products market is a niche segment and has a cult following. In order to increase the market si#e of this segment, it is necessary to know what the current consumer perception about the products is and what factors influence the consumer perception.
Regulatory environment
The organic products are on a fine line between medical products and F C! products. $o, the regulatory requirements for these products might be more stringent as compared to the competing cosmetic products. This might constrain the potential market si#e of organic products
Reach
%ike any other product, the reach or penetration of the organic products has an obvious impact on the market si#e the organic products can grow to. &ut the reach can have a flipside of decreasing the charisma of these products if they are made available ubiquitously. Hence a delicate balance has to be struck in terms of the reach of the product
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Competitive products
The e'tent to which the competing cosmetic products are able to successfully stand their ground in the presence of new found competition from organic products can influence the e'tent to which the organic products market can grow
R&D
The success of organic products and hence an increased market si#e will have better prospects if there are India specific products made through rigorous ()* +ut of all these factors, consumer perception is one factor that can be aptly studied through ,ualitative arket (esearch Hence the following is the research problemWhat factors influence consumer perceptions about organic products among consumers who are upper middle class and above in India?
Appropriate
The following are the possible qualitative techniques that can be used to carry out the qualitative research $urvey Focused !roup *iscussions In.depth interview
#urvey
In order to determine the factors that influence the consumer perceptions, it is necessary to first determine what the consumer perception is. &ased on this, the factors influencing each of the consumer perceptions can be found through in.depth interviews and focused group discussions. The consumer perceptions are fairly surface level details and don/t need much probing. Hence it would be a waste of resources to employ researcher/s time in individually questioning each respondent in person. 0 well.designed questionnaire with open ended questions would suffice. In case the researcher comes across some pre.defined categories into which consumer perceptions can be grouped, then there can be a few questions included in the questionnaire asking pointed questions about each of these categories. 0 survey questionnaire would give the respondent the time to read through the categories, comprehend what each of them means and then respond. Hence a survey containing open ended questions would be a good starting point for the research.
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In&depth Interview
From the survey responses, pick out those people who seem to hold a very strong perception of organic products. Including these people in focused group discussions has the danger of the discussion becoming biased because this person holds a very strong opinion and might bulldo#e others. Instead, it would help to conduct an in.depth interview with such people. 0nother advantage of conducting an in.depth interview with these people is that it would give an insight into what it takes to form very strong 2positive or negative3 perceptions in the minds of the consumers about organic products. 0n 4interview guide approach5 is to be followed. This is because the perceptions being probed through each of the interviewee might be different and hence a standardi#ed set of questions may not be relevant to all the interviewees. 6evertheless, having an informal conversational interview can make data compilation very difficult.
+ut of these consumers, the following sample set of respondents is designed for the research-
$or survey
The following is the data to be collected through the survey *oes the respondent use organic products If yeso In what all categories does the respondent use organic products o Is there a medical reason for using the product o ;hich brand does the respondent use o $ince how many years is the respondent using organic products o ;ho introduced organic products to the respondent o ;hat did the respondent think the first time he<she saw the product o How would the respondent describe the product if it were a person o ;hat kind of impact does the product have on his<her personality o ;hat was the respondent/s opinion about organic products before he<she started using the product o How did this opinion change after using it o Is there a particular category of people the respondent would recommend the product to
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o Is there a particular category of people the respondent specifically feels shouldn/t be using the product If noo ;hy is the respondent not using organic products o ;hat is the respondent/s opinion about organic products o How would the respondent describe the product if it were a person o Has the respondent ever tried any organic product. If yes, why did he<she discontinue it o *oes the respondent use any cosmetic substitutes for each of the categories in which organic products are present 2this question should be accompanied by a list of product categories where organic products are present3
$or $%D
From F!*s the following data needs to be collected for each consumer perception that has been distilled out of the survey response ;hat could be the reasons for holding that particular perception of organic products ;hat initiated that perception ;hat reiterated that perception to the respondent 0ny situations where they saw evidence that contradicted their perception If yes, how did they react to that evidence ;hat would it take for them to revert their perception 2what would make them change their perception3 *id the perception impact their decision of whether or not to use organic products
*id the perception impact their decision of whether or not to use organic products
Data Analysis
The data analysis techniques to be adopted are as follows-
Phenomenological Analysis
In general the entire information provided by the respondent by and large needs =henomenological 0nalysis. &ut there are certain questions that need to be looked at separately and analysed accordingly.
'arrative analysis
The e'periences narrated by the respondents in the course of answering questions like the following need to be sub"ected to narrative analysis Any situations where they saw evidence that contradicted their perception What would it take for them to revert their perception (what would make them change their perception)
Identifying the factors that impact consumer perceptions about organic products
This can be taken forward to analyse how organisations can impact each of these factors and hence would help in evolving a comprehensive marketing strategy that would help in increasing the market share of the particular company in particular and the market si#e of organic products in general