CHAPTER II

AN OVERVIEW OF CONCEPTUAL
- FRAMEWORK AND REVIEW OF
LITERATURE

CHAPTER - II
AN OVERVIEW OF CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter deals with the review of related literatures of this
research topic. This chapter also deals with the various studies of different
authors related to the topic of the research. It will be very useful to have an
insight on the research topic, and to identify the gaps in the previous
researches.

2.2 BASIC MODEL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

The Researcher had identified the following factors that would be
most important in influencing the consumption pattern and buying
behavior which inturn determine the brand preference of consumers
among various milk brands available in the fluid milk market.
Firm's Marketing Mix offers
Socio-Cultural Factors
Psychological factors
Decision Making Process
Consumption Pattern
27

A SIMPLE MODEL OF MILK CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

/IP
Firm's Marketing Mix
offers
1. Product
2.

Price

3.

Place

4.

Promotion

Socio Cultural Inputs

'111111.1M7
Decision Making
Process
1. Need
Recognition
Information
Search
Alternatives

Psychological Field
1.

Motivation

2. Sub-Culturc

2.

Perception

3.

Learning

4.

Personality

5.

Attitude

4. Family

INPUT

BRAND
PREFERENC

3. Evaluation of

1. Culture

3. Social class

410111111

PROCESS

28

OUTPUT

The model presented in the figure has three major components :

Input, Process, and Output. The input component draws on external
influences that serve as sources of information about various milk products
and brands. External stimuli are caused by marketing offer by the dairy
marketers or by environment with which the milk consumer is living.
2.2.1 Marketing Stimuli 4 PS
Marketing mix activities of the dairy industries attempt to
communicate the benefits of their milk and services to potential milk
consumers. The marketing stimuli consist of four Ps: Product, Price,
Promotion and Place.

Product
Product is anything that satisfies the consumer needs. The milk is
becoming essential commodity to the consumers. It is being perceived as
an essential nutritious drink. Hence, the marketers draw suitable product
strategies to cater the needs of the consumers. Milk products are sold in a
number of varieties based on types/degrees of
Fat content

(e.g., Skimmed, Toned),

Fermentation

(e.g., buttermilk),

(e.g., chocolate),

Flavoring

29

 Homogenization

(e.g., raw milk),

Packaging

(e.g., tetra pack, bottle),

Sterilization

(e.g., pasteurization),

Price
Price is the cost that the customer is willing to bear for the prOduct
and the way it is made available to him. As for as the milk consumers are
concerned, price plays a crucial factor. Milk, being the regular drink for
the household, captures a permanent place in the budget of the consumers.
Therefore, even a slight price variation in the price of the milk
significantly affects the budget of the consumers.

Place
Place involves decisions concerning distribution channels to be
used, the location of the outlets, methods of transportation, behavior of
channels members etc. Milk should be available in required quantities, at
right time and at right place. Being the product which is needed widely,
the distribution channels play a crucial role in satisfying the milk
consumer needs. Milk is made available through various channels like
company outlets, agents, shops, supermarkets, Automatic Vending
Machines and door delivery system.

30

Promotion
Decisions have to be made with respect to Promotional mix are
Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotions, Exhibition, Sponsorship,
Contests, Awareness Programmes, Gift Vouchers, Coupons and Public
Relations. By these means, the milk consumers are made aware of the
existence of the product/brand and the benefits that it confers to customers.

2.2.2 Environmental Factors

The stimuli from environment may come from one or more of the
factors or events in social, cultural, technological, economic and political
environment. These factors induce a consumer to think about purchasing a
product. Particularly in dairy market, these factors play a major role.

Culture
In a diversified country like India, cultural factors exert the
broadest and deepest influence on consumer behavior. Milk buying
decisions are highly influenced by social customs, traditions and beliefs.
People are habited to consume milk in the form of hot milk, tea or coffee
twice in a day. It is the habit of many people to wake up with 'Bed Coffee'
and sleep with 'Bed Milk'. Further various cultural habits like worshiping

31

god or goddess by performing Milk bath -

'Pal Abishekam', which

requires considerable quantity of milk and preparation of milk products

like Curd, Butter milk, Ghee and Butter are quite common among the
people. The people have a great belief that goddess for wealth
`Mahalakshmi' is in the form of milk. This belief brings value of holiness
to the milk.

Subculture
Each culture contain smaller group of subcultures that provide more
specific identification and socialization for its members. In milk
consumption also the level is differing based on the subculture. North
Indians level of consumption of milk is significantly larger than the South
Indians. In states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Maharashtra, the milk and milk made products are part and parcel of the
peoples' life.

Social Class
Virtually all human societies exhibit social stratification. Social
classes have several characteristics. First, person within each social class
tends to behave more alike than persons from two different social classes.
Second, persons are perceived as occupying inferior or superior positions

32

according to their social class. Third, a person's social class is indicated by

a number of variables such as occupation, income, wealth, education, and
value orientation, rather than by any single variable. Fourth, individuals
are able to move from one social class to another up or down during their
lifetime. The level of milk consumption by the consumers depends upon
the social class they belong to.

Family
Members of the milk buyer's family can exercise a strong influence on
the buyer's milk buying behavior. In countries like India, where parents
continue to live with their children, their influence can be substantial. As
for as the milk is concerned the meal maker, normally the wife has more
influence in the milk buying decision. Further the size of the family,
preferences and needs of the family members also affect the milk
consumption and preference level.

Personality
Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics that
lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to one's own
environment. Milk consumption pattern and brand preference are largely
depend on the personality of the individuals. Modern dairy marketers are
33

increasingly concerned about matching products to the perceived self

personality of the individual.

Perception
Perception is the process by which people select, organize and
interpret information to form meaningful picture of the object. Three
perceptual processes, for example, selective attention, selective distortion
and selective retention of milk buyers make effective communication a
challenge to marketers. Selective attention refers to the milk consumers'
attention to attributes of milk that they consider value; selective distortion
refers to consumers' interpretation of information about milk to support
what they already believe; Selective retention refers to milk buyers'
remembrance of factors that are supportive to their beliefs and attitudes.

Cognition
The information gathering and processing styles of milk consumers
are simple since the nature of the product is very familiar to them. With
the aid of aggressive awareness campaign of both government and private
bodies and also the wide reach of communication media, the milk
consumers cognition level is ever increasing.

34

Beliefs and attitudes

A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about anything.
Beliefs may be based on knowledge, opinion, faith or emotion. A milk
consumer holds the belief: "Milk is a nutritious drink which keeps the
body hale and healthy".
Attitude describes a person's relatively consistent evaluations,
feelings and tendencies towards an object or idea. Milk consumers have a
set of attitudes which influence their milk purchases. A few of them are:
'Nutrition value is more important than the price'; the difference between
branded milks and unbranded milk is not worthy consideration'. These
inputs help the marketers to design product and positioning strategies
effectively and carefully.
Motivation
Motivation is the driving force within individuals that impels them
to action. Motivation to purchase milk becomes positive when the product
corresponds to the need or motive, which is to be satisfied. The motivation
becomes stronger when such satisfaction is very important to the
consumers.

35

2.2.3 Buying Decision Making

The milk buying decision making process is divided into various
stages - Need recognition, information search and evaluation of
alternatives.

Need Recognition
An individual will not look for a product unless or otherwise he
feels the need for the product. Sometimes the problem may be perceived,
but if the difference between the current and desired situation is small, the
consumer may not seek a solution for the problem. Therefore the
marketers will have to communicate the new attributes or the benefits of
the product to the consumers so that the customer feels at a disadvantage
owning the current product and recognize the need for owning the new
product.

Information Search
The consumer after recognizing the need for a product, searches for
alternatives that may fulfill his needs. The consumer first conducts an
internal search. Internal search refers to searching relevant information
about similar purchase decisions made earlier by the consumer, or
information about the product received from personal or non-personal
36

sources that was stored in the memory for future usage. In case, the
internal search for information is found to be insufficient, the consumer
goes in for external search. External sources involve information
collection from personal sources such as family, friends, and non-personal
or commercial sources such as advertisements, retailers and other media
sources.

Evaluation of Alternatives
After searching for the alternatives and identifying them, the
consumers evaluate these alternatives on the basis of various choice
criteria. Consumers use various types of rules while arriving at the set of
possible brands that can be considered for purchase. Milk purchase is a
low involvement purchase. In low involvement purchase, attempting to
gain top of the mind awareness through advertising and providing positive
reinforcement like sales promotions to gain trial may be more important
than providing information. As for as the milk consumer concerned the
consumer will not actively seek the information. Rather, the consumer will
be a passive receiver. Hence, the medium like television will be a better
choice to the marketers, since it allows passive reception of messages.

37

2.2.4 Purchase
Once the customer has finalized his right choice of the
product/brand, he purchases the brand. The product can be purchased from
the company's outlets, stores, parlors, booths, supermarkets or even
through door delivery system. The purchase process itself involves several
more decisions. It involves decisions about the place and mode of
purchase, payment terms and conditions etc.
2.2.5 Post-Purchase Behaviour
The purchase leads to a specific post-purchase behavior. The
consumer may not be sure about the product he had purchased. Consumer
may feel that other brand would have been the better choice. Here the
consumer will try to reassure his brand choice, or will deliberately avoid
the positive messages of the other brands. The consumption of the product
also strengthens his attitude towards the brand/ product he purchased.

38

2.3 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Kaul (1977)1 in his article entitled "Are you adding value through
rural selling", revealed that integrating the product message into song and
dance events, film based skits, puppet shows and magic shows are
becoming increasingly popular. He further observed that more than the
medium, the consumer wants a product with a quality assurance. He
concludes that customers are more particular about quality.
Prabaharan and Patel (1980)2 conducted a study on consumer
awareness and preferences for milk in Madras city with random sample of
300 households, selected based on the probability proportion to the
number of consumers in each zone. The study aimed to analyse the
awareness of the consumers relating to dairy processing services;
preferences for cow and buffalo milk; preferences for fat contents among
toned and standardized milk and also the preferences for the size of the
package of milk. The study revealed that majority of the respondents never
heard about the pastuerisation process and preference for the cow milk was
more than the buffalo milk. It was due to the reason that cow milk was

Pummy Kaul, "Are you adding value through rural selling", Business Today, Vol.6,
No.1, January 7-21, 1997, pp.98-102.
Prabaharan, R. and Patel, R.K, "Consumer awareness and preferences for milk in
Madras city", Indian Journal of Marketing, 1980,December, Vol. 40(4): pp.13-15.
39

with less fat content preventing digestable disorders. More percentage of

households was buying standardized milk. About a percentage of
households expressed their desire for toned milk with less fat content than
what was available. This type of preference was mainly expressed in
relatively lower income groups because of a feeling that reduction in fat
percentage would further result in a lower price for toned milk.

Ganguly and Gopal (1981)3 in their study on Metropolitan milk

markets of India revealed that in Bombay and Calcutta 75 percent of milk
was bought by households with low or moderate income but in Delhi and
Madras almost half of the milk was purchased by high-income households.
In Delhi and Bombay the average household devoted 17 percent of it's
expenditure to milk products. It appeared that milk and milk products are
more important to the people of Delhi and Bombay, as 95 percent of all the
households interviewed in these cities bought milk regularly. The modern
dairies share in the liquid milk market had increased presumably because
the modern dairies charged 40 percent less than the traditional sector for
their milk.

Ganguly, B.K. and Gopal, S., "Metropolitan milk market for India", World
Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, 1981, Vol. 23 (4): p.304.
40

Ackermann and Cattier (1982)4 in their consumer survey of the

milk market in OAE revealed that Belgians are the lowest milk consumers
in Europe except for the West Germans. Milk being an important food
item for most consumers, it was as well as an important economic element
in most Belgium farms. The study examined why milk consumption
percapita in Belgium was so low and likely to decline further. Trends in
demand and milk consumption by type of packaging and type of products
were considered. A profile of typical Belgium consumers was developed
which showed variables in attitude towards products according to various
criteria (Age, Religion, Degree of Urbanisation, Occupation, Social Group,
Distribution Channel). The Belgium consumers were inadequately
informed about the product and hence regarded its purchase as routine
rather than involving a choice. Many consumers thus probably bought a
type of milk, which did not answer their particular felt or unfelt needs.
Marketing policy should thus seek to inform the consumer so as to
breakdown their present negative attitudes and increase their interest while
seeking to improve the product's brand image.

Ackermann, L. and Callier, K., "Consumer survey of the milk market", World
Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, 1982, Vol. 24(3): p.137.
41

Drews (1984) sin his study on the market for pasteurized milk and
factors affecting consumption trends in German Federal Republic (GFR)
revealed that of about 3.5 million tons of liquid milk produced by the
dairies in the GFR in 1982, approximately 52 percent was pasteurized. The
increase in the market share of UHT (Ultra High Temperature) Milk at the
expense of pasteurized milk had become less marked in last few years,
although the major part (53.4 percent) of milk sold in packaged form is
now UHT milk. Factors influencing the pattern of milk sales were flavour,
Price, Health consideration and convenience etc.

Brucks (1985)6 in his study entitled "The effects of product class

knowledge on information search behavior", attempted to clarify the
meaning and measurement of consumer product class knowledge and to
examine the effect of product class knowledge on information search
behaviour. The measures of consumer product class knowledge can be an
individual's perception of how much he knows or the amount of
purchasing or usage experience with the product.

Drews, M. "The Market for pasteurized milk and factors affecting consumption trends,
German Federal Republic" World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, 1984,
Vol. 26(7): p.513.
Merrie Brucks, "The effects of product class knowledge on information search
behaviour", Journal of consumer research, Vol. 12, June 1985, pp 1-6.
42

Singh and Patel (1986)7 studied the effect of socio-economic

parameters on the consumption pattern of milk and milk products. A
survey of 100 rural and 60 urban households in Murzthan Nagar district of
Western Utterpradesh showed that adult males generally accounted for the
largest share in the consumption of milk products than on liquid milk.
Consumption of milk and milk products were higher in households with
agricultural occupations, keeping dairy animals. It was also higher in rainy
season and lowest in summer.

Prakash Singh and Raghbir Singh (1986)8 investigated the

relationship between income and consumption of milk products in
Chandigarh area. It was found that the average monthly consumption
increased with income for all milk products. Milk products produced by all
the sectors organised, unorgansied and home made showed a dominance of
the organized sector in all income groups.

Singh, B. and Patel, R.K, "Effect of socio-economic parameters on consumption

pattern of milk and milk products", Asian Journal of Dairy Review, September 1986,
Vol. 28(5); p.172.
Satya Prakash Singh and Raghbir Singh, "Consumption of milk products and income",
Margin, October 1986, Vol. 19(1): pp.50-57.
43

Raghbir Singh (1986)9 in his study on consumers' perception on

organized sector dairy products was to examine how consumers perceive
dairy products manufactured by organized sector in comparison with those
produced by unorganized sector and examine whether there was any
divergence, disagreement among the opinion of household belonging to
different income and educational categories regarding their perception of
dairy products manufactured by organized sector as against those produced
by other sectors. The null hypothesis had been tested. The major
conclusion of the study was that as for as flavour, Nutritional value,
moisture content and digestibility were concerned consumers did not view
much difference between the unorganized and organized sector dairy
products.
Termorshwizen (1986)" in his study entitled "Consumer behaviour
in respect of milk in the Netherlands" used Engel, Kollat and Blackwell
(EKB) Model an Integrated model of Consumer Behaviour and
established that liquid milk was perceived as a neutral drink ; not ordinary
or luxury, as a food not a drink for pleasure and not as being refreshing.
The most important socio economic variables explaining individual
9

lo

Raghbir Singh, "Consumer perception of the organized sector dairy products", Indian
Dairyman, Vol. 38 (3), 1986, pp.89-95.
Termorshwizen, J.G., "Consumer behaviour in respect of milk in Netherlands",
European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 13 (1)1986, pp.1-22
44

difference in consumer beliefs regarding milk are age, level of education

and residential area. The results suggested that empirical model of EKB
type could contribute to the understanding of the consumer behaviour with
respect to generic food products.
Shanthi (1987)11 studied consumer preference for `Aavin' milk and
its products in Royapettah and Mylapore. It was found that good quality
coupled with the price was the main reason for consumer preference for
milk and milk products. Correct weight and convenience found the second
place and third place with hygiene coming next. The quantity of milk
purchase increased with the increase in the size of the family. It was also
found that consumption of Aavin milk did not increase with increase in
income.
Burmann (1987)12 in his study on consumer attitudes and
behaviours with respect to liquid milk in the German Federal Republic
revealed that households consumed milk frequently, an equal percentage
of the consumers were using pasteurized milk and UHT milk and milk was
used more for drinking than for cooking. The dominant features in the
11

12

Shanthi.S, "A study on consumer preferences for Aavin milk and its products in
Royapettah and Mylapore", Margin, July 1987, Vol. 22(2): pp.35-44.
Burmann, W. "Consumer attitudes and behaviours with regard to liquid milk in the
German Federal Republic", World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
Abstracts, Vol. 12(2), 1987, pp. 23-26.
45

image of pasteurized milk were freshness and nice taste whereas the image
of UHT milk was dominated by convenience and was better among
immigrant workers than among Germans.
Arya and Ram (1988)13 in their survey on factors affecting
consumption pattern of milk and milk products in rural and urban areas of
the Kamal district of Haryana state with the sample of 240 households post
stratified the sample households into occupational groups, per capita
expenditure class, type of consumers and vegetarian and non-vegetarian
groups. The log-linear multiple regression analysis was employed to
measure the contribution of various factors affecting expenditure on milk
and milk products. The major findings of the study revealed that the
average per capita total expenditure was almost double in the urban areas
as compared to rural areas. The food habits of the consumers did not have
any significant impact over the capital expenditure on milk and milk
products. The study concluded that the independent variable namely
percapita monthly total expenditure, family size, education status of the
family members and food habit of the households largely influence
percapita expenditure on milk and milk products.

13

Swamalatha Arya and Kuber Ram, "Factors affection consumption pattern of milk and
milk products in Rural and Urban areas" Indian Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 41 (I),
1988, pp.46-52.
46

Bruner II and Pomazal (1988)" in their study entitled "Problem

Recognition: The Crucial First Stage Of The Consumer Decision Process",
stated that since 1910, when John Dewey first introduced the five-stage
decision process, it has been a widely accepted concept and still serves as
the central pillar of a popular consumer behavior model. These stages are
Problem Recognition, Information Search, Alternative Evaluation, Choice,
and Outcomes. The importance of these stages is attested by the
considerable attention devoted to most of them in numerous textbooks and
journal articles. Such attention, however, has not come to the Problem
Recognition stage. While some texts provide hypothetical descriptions of
this "trigger" of the decision process, theoretical discussion and empirical
support are surprisingly lacking. Journal literature fares even worse, with
articles on the topic almost non-existent. Lack of information on the topic
is even more ironic when one considers that a purchase cannot occur
unless a problem is recognized
Singh (1989)15 studied consumer's perception of the organized
sector dairy products, by collecting data from 394 households in

14

15

Gordon C. Bruner II, Richard J. Pomazal , "Problem recognition: the crucial first stage
of the consumer decision process", Journal of Consumer Marketing Year: 1988 Vol.5
Issue: 1 pp. 53- 63.
Singh, R., "Consumer perception of the organized sector dairy products", Indian
Dairyman, 1989, Vol. 41(2), pp. 89-95.
47

Chandigarh about the consumer perception of milk products manufactured

by unorganized sectors in India. The organized sector comprises of
Industrial-scale manufacturers and products manufactured by state
corporations, co-operatives and joint stock companies. The unorganized
sector comprised of small-scale manufacturers and home made products.
The milk products from organized sector were perceived to be more
'reliable in quality', 'hygienically prepared', 'cleanly-packaged',
'delicious in taste' and 'effecting good value for money' compared with
milk products from unorgansied sector. Perception of moisture content,
digestibility, Nutritional value and flavour were rated similarly for
organized and unorganized sectors. Difference in income and education
did not influence perception.
Barnard and Ehrenberg (1990)16 in their study entitled "Robust
measures of consumers brand beliefs", revealed that consumers selected
brand name more frequently than any other information. Many people tend
to associate a positive attribute with larger brands than associate it with
smaller brands. The explanation is that a larger brand has more claimed
users than a smaller brand, and that the users of a brand are more likely
than the nonusers to give a positive-attribute-response.
16

Neil R. Barnard and Andrew S.C. Ehrenberg, "Robust measures of consumers brand
beliefs", Journal of Marketing Research, Vol.27, November 1990, p.477.

48

Goswami (1994)17 examined the consumption pattern of milk and

milk products of five district income groups in Shillong town of
Meghalaya state with a sample of 200 households drawn from 20 wards.
It was observed that with the increase in income, the expenditure on milk
and milk products had also increased. Among the various milk items, per
capita expenditure was maximum on fluid milk for all the income groups.
Linear, Semi-Log and Log-Linear forms of Engel function were found to
be best fit for explaining the consumer behaviour of various income
groups with respect to milk and milk products consumption. It was found
that a wide variation was dissemble in the consumption pattern of milk and
milk products across different income groups. The demand for various
milk items was observed to be expenditure elastic for all the income
groups. All respondents expressed that butter and ghee and other milk
products as luxury items.
Singh and Singh (1994)18 in their study on the pattern of milk
consumption in urban and rural areas of Ludhiana district in Punjab, found
that the direct consumption of milk was more in rural than in urban areas.

17

18

Goswami, S.N., "Difference in the consumption pattern of milk and milk products
among different income groups", Indian Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 47 (11), 1994,
pp. 62-64.
Singh, A.J and Singh, R.P., "Economic aspects of milk consumption in urban and rural
areas of Ludhiana district in Punjab", Indian Dairyman, Vol. 46(7), 1994, pp. 403-410.
49

The percentage share of domestic consumption was higher in summer

seasons as compared to winter season both in urban and rural areas.
Patel, Kumar and Khera (1994)19 in their study entitled "A study
on consumption pattern of milk and milk products", based on the cross
sectional data of 352 households studied the occupation wise consumption
pattern of milk and milk products in Kamal city. The Engel equation of
double log form was fitted for estimating the expenditure elasticities. The
concentration curve technique was used to study the inequalities in the
consumption of milk and milk products for different occupational groups.
They observed that the growth in demand for milk increased rapidly as per
capita income increased. The expenditure elasticities were higher for
service families as compared to the business families and there were
greater inequalities in the milk consumption for service families as
opposed to business families.
ilSayulu (1994)20 in his study entitled "Rural Marketing in India",
analysed that retailers should develop strategy based on their own
circumstances and understanding of the needs of the rural consumers. He
19

20

Patel, R.K, Kumar P, and Khera, J.K, "A study on consumption pattern of milk and
milk products", Indian Dairyman, Vol. 46(7), 1994, pp. 350-356.
Kuchi Sayulu, "Rural Marketing in India", Advertising and Marketing Journal,
November 1994, pp. 61-64.
50

also emphasizes that low price product will be more successful in rural
areas because of low per capita income of majority of rural consumers.
Moreover manufacturer should take a lead in opening up channels of
communication with rural outlets as an extension of their promotional
activity and sales representative should visit the stores regularly.
Maheswaran (1994)21 in his study titled "Country of origin as a
stereotype: effects of consumer expertise and attribute strength on product
evaluations", revealed that consumers have well-developed stereotypical
beliefs about products that originate from other countries. Country-of origin based categories represent a knowledge structure that is based on a
criterion that is less accurate, context dependent, and is likely to vary
across situations.
Mela (1994)22 in his study entitled "The intake and acceptance of
Fat in the Diet Journal: Nutrition & Food", reviewed some of the possible
reasons why fat intake is at this high level, and why consumers find it
difficult to reduce intakes. First, there may be psycho-biological effects of
fats which serve to maintain liking for fat-associated sensory
21

22

Maheswaran, "Country of origin as a stereotype: effects of consumer expertise and

attribute strength on product evaluations", Journal of Consumer Research, Vol.21
September 1994, pp. 354-55.
Mela, D.J., "The Intake and Acceptance of Fat in the Diet Journal: Nutrition & Food",
Science Year: 1994 Vol. 94, Issue: 3, pp. 19 21.
51

characteristics. Second, consumers often have a poor conception of their

own fat intake and the relative contributions of different food sources.
Lastly, there is little known about the factors influencing long-term dietary
change. These are issues which research in nutrition and food science can
and should address.
Mitsostergios and Skiadas (1994)23 in their study , revealed that

food purchasing behaviour is influenced by economic factors such as price

and income, as well as by non-economic factors such as concern about diet
and health, growth of vegetarianism, convenience, household's life cycle
and advertising. The concern about health of consumer's strong
advertising campaigns, as well as the age and economic status of
respondents, influence consumer choice towards fresh pasteurized milk.
Muthukrishnan (1994)24 in his study on "Decision Ambiguity and
incumbent brand advantage" revealed that the term incumbent refers to the
brand that a consumer first chooses in a product category. A brand may
achieve incumbent status by being the first brand chosen by consumers
entering a mature product class or by being a pioneer in a new product
23

24

Mitsostergios, K.T. C.H. Skiadas, "Attitudes and Perceptions of Fresh Pasteurized

Milk Consumers: A Qualitative and Quantitative Survey", British Food Journal; Year:
1994 Vol. 96, Issue: 7, pp.4-10.
Muthulcrishnan, A.V, "Decision ambiguity and incumbent brand advantage", Journal
of Consumer Research, Vol. 21, September 1994, pp.354-55.
52

class. An incumbency advantage occurs when consumers prefer the

incumbent to an objectively superior but later-encountered competitor.
Richardson et al., (1994)25 in his study titled "Extrinsic and
Intrinsic cue effects on perceptions of store brand quality", revealed that
Cues are evoked according to their predictive and confidence values. The
predictive value of a cue is the degree to which consumers associate a
given cue with product quality. The confidence value of'a cue is the degree
to which consumers have confidence in their ability to use and judge the
cue accurately. Cues characterized by high confidence value and high
predictive value assume the greatest weight in the quality assessment
process.
Rani (1995)26 examined the consumption pattern for the selected
livestock products (Milk, Meat and Eggs) among different income groups
in Madras city by selecting random sample of 300 households from 12
divisions of Madras city. It was observed that the quantity of milk utilized
per consumption unit per day increased as income increased. The
awareness of consumers about various milk products like standardized
25

26

Paul Richardson, et al., "Extrinsic and Intrinsic cue effects on perceptions of store
brand quality", Journal of Marketing, Vol.58, October 1994, pp. 28-36.
Daisy Rani, M.S, "Consumption pattern, consumer awareness and preference of
selected live stock products", Dissertation, Department of Animal Husbandry
Economics, Tamilnadu Veterinary University, 1995, Chennai
53

milk, toned milk and double toned milk, yoghurt and skim milk powder
increased as the income increased. The preferences of the households were
more for toned milk in all income groups. Semi Log functional analysis
revealed that family size, monthly income and educational level of the
head of the households significantly influenced the milk consumption. The
vegetarian habit also significantly influenced the milk consumption levels.
Naghapani (1996)27 conducted a study on the marketing aspects
with special reference to Coimbatore district co-operative milk producers
union Limited. The study revealed that the reason for low procurement in
the areas of Shanmughapuram and Sultanpet chilling centers was due to
the competition in procurement from private dairies. The sale of milk in
500 ml sachet was found to be high. Revenue from sale of liquid milk was
more than the sale of milk products.
Borah and Saikia (1996)28 studied the consumer's preference to
milk and milk products in greater Guwahati. The study revealed that the
private sector served as the biggest supplier of milk. A minimum

27

28

Naghapani, L. "A study on the marketing aspects with special reference to Coimbatore
District Co-operative Milk producers' Union Limited", Project Report Madurai
Kamaraj University, 1998.
Borah, D.K and Saikia, P.K., "Consumer's preference to milk and milk products in
Greater Guwhati", Dairy Science, Vol. 61(10) : 12, 1996.
54

percentage of consumers never purchased milk for consumption.

Preference for morning milk was higher than that for evening milk.
Gopalsamy (1997)29 in his study recommends that the concerted
effort on the part of manufacturers and marketing men to sell products
specifically designed for rural market were successful. The brand
awareness created by these products had given rise to number of imitation
products sold at cheaper price. In addition regional branded and local
unbranded products also thrive in the rural market. The policy with regard
to distribution varies widely from company to company. Several
innovative measures were taken by various companies in rural areas
Grewal et al, (1998)3 in his study titled "The effect of store name,
brand name and price discounts on consumers' evaluation and purchase
intentions" revealed that an increasing number of companies are basing
their price on the products perceived value. They see the buyer's
perception of value, not the sellers cost, as the key to pricing. They use the
non-price perceived value in the buyers' mind. Price is set to capture the

29

30

Gopalsamy T.P., "Rural Marketing, Environment problems and strategies", Economic

and political weekly, December 1997, pp.85-86.
Dhruv Grewal, et al., "The effect of store name, brand name and price discounts on
consumers' evaluation and purchase intentions", Journal of Retailing, Vol.74, No.3
1998, pp.337
55

perceived value. In nutshell, perceived value is an evaluation that balances

what consumers receive, in an exchange, versus what they give up.
Thiagarajan (1999)31 in his study on marketing of Aavin milk in
Madurai revealed that `Aavin' was playing a monopoly role by capturing a
lion's share with 90 percent of the market by maintaining a standard
quality and a comparatively low price. However, in recent times Aavin's
market share had come down from 90 percent to 66 percent due to
multiplicity of causes both internal and external. Internal causes from
consumer's point of view were limited quantities for a limited time in a
day, dual pricing for regular users and for special orders, low sales
commission for depot concessionaries, cumbersome procedure involved in
the distribution and refund of money for unpurchased milk. External
causes were introduction of competitors in the market like `seva' and
`arokya' and natural factors leading to a short supply of milk. Hence the
Co-operative, which was once a monopoly institution had to rethink its
strategies and launch itself on a full fledged marketing campaign.

31

Thiagarajan, S. "Marketing of Aavin milk in Madurai", Indian Journal of Agricultural

Marketing, Vol. 13 (2), 1999, pp37.
56

Jain and Sharma (1999)32 conducted a study on consumer opinion

for purchase of milk and milk products by collecting data from 300 sample
households in Chandigarh city, 150 in a town of Rohtak district and 100 in
two villages of Rohtak district (Northern India) and similar data from city,
town and village households in Bangalore and Mandya district (Southern
district). Sources of Purchase for milk and milk products, consumers
preference for different sources, factors influencing purchase choice and
reasons for not consuming milk of the organized sector and its preference
by consumers in the southern region than in the northern one, especially in
urban area were examined. Price was an important factor influencing
purchases in the southern region but was less important in the northern
region. However, consumers in both regions did not purchase expensive
products.
Bhasin (1999)33 in his study titled "Quest for the rural rest"
examined and revealed that in rural India, products sell more via a mix of
distributor and dealer push, as opposed to focused campaign aimed at the
village folk. He also opined in his study that advertising mix for rural India
had many pitfalls. Television and radio fare better than the print media.
32

33

Jain, D.K. and Sharma, A.K. "Consumer opinion for purchases of Milk and Milk
products", Dairy Science Abstract, Vol. 61(10): 1999, pp13-18.
Ashish Bhasin, "Quest for the rural Rest", Advertising and Marketing Journal, Vol.X,
Issue XXIV, 31st March 1999, p.103.
57

/ Eastman, Ronald et.al., (1999)34 in their study titled "Status

consumption in consumer behavior; Scale development and validation"
found that, many consumer researchers feel confident that they are
achieving more valid insights into consumers motivations than they would
by using any one technique alone. They are convinced that qualitative
studies are more revealing than quantitative studies.
Krishnamurthy (1999)35 in his article has pointed out that
semiotics primarily works best for products that have low involvement at
the time of purchase, and had very frequent usage. The shelf life of the
FMCG Fast Moving Consumer Goods was short enough for most to
remember those products by their symbols, colours and names, or a
combination of those elements.
Joseph (1999)36 in her article entitled "Growing Brand Awareness"
pointed out that the urban market is getting increasingly competitive and
saturated. There is less scope for growth in the urban markets, especially,
for the already established categories. Today, the rural market is blooming,
34

35

36

Jacqueline K.Eastman, Ronald E.Goldsmith, and Lisa Reinecke Flynn, "Status

consumption in consumer behavior: Scale Development and validation," Journal of
Marketing theory and Practice, Summer 1999, pp.41-52.
Narayan Krishnamurthy, "Signs speak louder", Advertising and Marketing Journal,
Vol.XI, Issue.XVI, 30th Nov 1999, p.121.
Sophie Joseph, "Growing Brand Awareness", The Hindu Survey of Indian Industry,
1999, pp.384-386.
58

due to the increase in the disposable income of the house holds. She
further added that the rural market, however, is not restricted to mass
consumption products. Even premium brands are gaining wide acceptance
among the rural consumers. She concluded with the changing dynamics of
the Indian marketing situation and now it is the turn of the rural consumer
to dictate terms.
Maithli Ganjoo (2000)37 examines in his analysis that, the size of
the pack helps the consumers pick the product at a price that they can
afford, Certain products like detergent and tooth paste were bought in
larger quantities, where as shampoos, toilet soaps, eatables were bought in
smaller pack sizes. The reason described by Ganjoo was, the products
were common to family members who bought in large pack sizes, whereas
individuals preferred in smaller packs. The storage life of a product also
has a bearing on the decision. The affordability, storability and availability
along with the usage are reasons for rural consumers to look towards
smaller pack sizes.

37

Maithli Ganjoo, "Its all about size", Advertising and Marketing Journal, Vol. XI,
Issue. XXIII, 15th March 2000, p.138.
59

Kashyap (2000)38 in his study entitled "Rural People look upto

urbanities" examined and revealed that urban buyer behaviour is
Individual-driven where as in rural areas, decision making was a collective
process. Rural buying process may start from the village headman who
represents the pinnacle of the collective decision makers. He also observes
that rural buyers take a long time to decide on a particular brand, but once
they were convinced, their brand loyalty was more than their urban
counterparts. It is an urban myth that rural people don't buy quality goods.
Rural buyers were equally quality conscious, but value for money was
paramount importance and functionality of the product, rather than the
frills attached to the product.
Murthi (2001)39 in his article on milk marketing strategies had
listed some basic components of marketing strategies such as adherence to
regulatory standards of quality; supply of hygienic and unadulterated milk.
It was suggested that cooperatives should form business alliance with
other cooperatives and private companies so as to leverage operational
synergy and fair and equitable competition among dairy industry to create
competitive advantage.
38

39

Pradeep Kashyap, "Rural people look upto urbanities", Advertising and Marketing
Journal, Vol.XI, Issue, XIX, 15th Jan 2000, p.81.
Suriya Murthi S, "Milk Marketing Strategies", Indian Journal of Marketing, May
June 2001, Vol. 31(5-6):pp.24-25.
60

Mookerjee (2001)4 in his study entitled "Study of the influence of

source characteristics and product importance on consumer word of mouth
based on personal sources" revealed that in mature markets, the
information search mechanism of the consumer for purchase decisions
includes personal sources, where word of mouth communication is an
important influence on decisions, judged by the diffusion process. At that
stage, the information available to the consumer is through both
commercial media as well as personal sources. When they further transmit
recommendations, it is likely to be based on personal sources also. Opinion
leadership is well understood in terms of the effects of mass media, but
there is much less known about the impact of personal sources on this
phenomenon. Further he states that both source characteristics have a
significant effect on recommendations based on information from personal
sources. Further, there was no significant difference in the
recommendation tendency across product importance types, where
recommendations were based on personal sources.

40

Amit Mooketjee, "Study of the Influence of Source Characteristics and Product

Importance on Consumer Word of Mouth Based on Personal Sources", Global
Business Review, Vol. 2, Marketing at the Management Development Institute,
Haryana, India,2001.
61

Pirouznia (2001)41 his study on "The influence of nutrition

knowledge on eating behavior the role of grade level" results indicated
that the relationship between nutrition knowledge and eating behavior was
insignificant for sixth grade students, but significant for seventh and eighth
grade students. The students were not able to identify the food sources of
nutrients or nutrient functions, and they did not use a daily food guide to
choose foods, although they were aware of the importance of milk and
vegetable consumption. The findings in this study will add to the limited
research data currently defining the relationship between nutrition
knowledge and the eating behaviors of middle school students
Viswanathan (2001)42 in his study entitled "Structural breaks in
consumption patterns: India 1952-1991" indicated that there is a shift in
the consumption pattern during the mid-1980s in both the rural and the
urban sectors. For the lowest expenditure class the shift is away from food
items with the rural sector showing a change in the price response and the
urban sector showing a change in the total expenditure coefficient. For the
middle and the upper expenditure classes the shifts are not only from the

41

42

Mahshid Pirouznia, "The influence of nutrition knowledge on eating behavior the

role of grade level", Journal of Nutrition & Food Science, Year: 2001, Vol. 31
Issue: 2, pp.62 67.
Viswanathan B "Structural breaks in consumption patterns: India 1952-1991", Applied
Economics, Vol. 33, Number 9, 20 July 2001, pp. 1187-1200(14).

62

food items towards non-food items but also from the 'food' group that
includes items like cereals, milk and milk products towards the 'other food'
group which includes items like vegetables and fruits. Its causes are found
to be changes in preferences as well as the income effect.
Bhaskaran and Hardley (2002)43 in their study entitled "Buyer
beliefs, attitudes and behaviour: foods with therapeutic claims" concludes
that issues regarding personal and national health are extremely important
because of the financial costs and human suffering that could be involved;
and that functional goods, as a relatively new phenomenon, still need to be
examined further with regard to their influence on trust and legitimacy in
buyer behaviour.
Sharma and Joglekar (2002)44 in their study on "Marketing of
Milk- an opinion survey of consumers perception in Rajamundry, Andhra
Pradesh" included a cross section of consumers covering the area of the
Godhavari Co-operative dairy with the sample size of 400 households. The
study found that the majority of the families were purchasing milk from

43

44

Suku Bhaskaran, Felicity Hardley, "Buyer beliefs, attitudes and behaviour: foods with
therapeutic claims", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Year: 2002 Vol. 19 Issue: 7,
pp.591 606.
Prabhakar Sharma and Joglekar P.V.N, "Marketing of Milk - an opinion Survey of
consumer perception, Rajamundry, Andhra Pradesh", Indian Journal of Marketing,
March April 2002, Vol. 32 (3-4): pp.10-13.
63

private vendors. The location of the milk booths was close to residence or
located with in a reasonable distance. The supply of milk through
polyethylene sachets by home delivery was advantageous. The quality of
the milk was primarily judged on the basis of level of fat content in milk.
Families belonging to lower income groups strongly expressed their
preference to private vendors due to non-availability of milk in small
packing less than half a litre.
Sengupta and Srivastava (2003)45 in their study on "Big, bad and
parallel world of counterfeits and look-alikes" observed that ignorance of
the consumers was the primary reason for flood of fakes. It also adds that
fakes and look-alikes are sold cheaper. This may be helpful in alluring
buyers particularly from urban analogues, rural belts and outskirts. They
further observed the entire fakes and look-alikes are patronized by the
intermediaries, who are allured by the exorbitant profit margin offered by
fakers and counterfeiters. The related laws of Government towards fakers
are not enforced properly and hence, are of little consequence.

45

Anand Sengupta and Srivastava, "Big, Bad and parallel world of counterfeits and lookalikes", Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. XXXIII, No.8, August 2003, pp.14-18.
64

f Kumar (2003)46 in his study titled "A study of the Consumer

Behaviour with reference to selected products" observed that the marketers
should take efforts to supply quality goods at reasonable prices and
maintain good relations with their retailers, because consumers trust more
on retailer's advice. Moreover marketing distribution system should also
be well established.

Prasanna (2003)47 carried out a study on customer satisfaction rate

towards Aavin milk in Coimbatore. The non-probability convenience
sampling was adopted to draw a sample of 150 respondents. The study
focused on ascertaining consumer preference in purchase of Aavin brand
of milk and analyzing the perceived differences of various brands of milk
on key attributes and also on identifying measures for improving customer
satisfaction. Purity, taste, thickness, availability, price, service of agents
and place of purchase were the criteria used in the study. It was found that
Aavin brand was rated high for purity, taste and thickness. Attributes like
availability, price and service of agents were also rated good. Other milk
brands like Arokya and Amirtha rated the best for the purity and taste

46

47

Sampath Kumar. R, "A Study of the Consumer Behaviour with reference to selected
products", Finance India, Vol.XVII, No.4, Dec 2003, pp 1478 1483.
Naveen Venkata Prasanna.S " A study on customer satisfaction rate towards Aavin
milk in Coimbatore", Project report, Master of Business Administration, GRD Institute
of Management, Coimbatore, 2003.
65

respectively. For all the brands price and service of the agents were rated
best.
Riyaz Mohammed (2003) 48 conducted a study on comparison of
Aavin, Arokya and Sakthi Milk with special reference to Coimbatore city
with a sample size of 150 respondents drawn on convenience sampling
method. The study aimed to understand the consumer preference of
branded milk; expectation of consumers regarding the features of the
branded milk; effective media for branded milk and impact of packing of
the branded milk. The findings of the study revealed that the Aavin brand
of milk was preferred for its purity, quality and price but the advertisement
campaign, home delivery, non availability in retail outlets were the points
of dissatisfaction when compared to the milk brands Arokya and Sakthi.
Even though these brands claimed that package of milk in polythene packs
were safe, it was still found to be unhealthy.
Srivastava and Sengupta (2004)49 in their study aimed to know the
influences operating in the process of decision making in respect of the

48

49

Riyaz Mohammed, "A study on comparison of Aavin, Arokya and Sakthi Milk with
special reference to Coimbatore city", Project Report, Bachelor of Business
Management, GRD Institute of Management, Coimbatore, 2003.
Srivastava and Sengupta. A, "A peep into the mindset of the consumer: A study of
Men's Personal care products", Indian journal of Marketing, Vol. XXXIV, June 2004,
pp.13-15.
66

personal care products for men. The study concludes that habit and own
choice of consumers dominate their decision-making advertisement's role
was not that significant in the process. Role of advertising therefore
becomes secondary; instead other promotional techniques should be
adopted so that the consumers gives a trial purchase to the product and on
being satisfied, develops a preference for it.
Deepak (2004)5 in his article entitled "Cleaning consumers insights
from subcultures" revealed that one key to understand consumer behaviour
is to assess the consumers underlying culture, sales culture based on age,
religion, geography and language, ethnic edge, beliefs, attitudes and
values, customs, symbols and rituals. The final outcome of the study states
that MNCs manage to entice a few Indians away from their culture, but
they can never make all Indians completely strangers to their own culture.
Society as group is a stronger entity than any brand or product.
Shukla (2004)51 in her article entitled "Rural or Urban? The Chik
dilemma" revealed that regional brands were making serious inroads into
the territories once held by the national brands. There was a caveat: no
50

51

Deepak, "Cleaning consumer insights from subcultures", Indian Management, Vol.43,

Issue.7, July 2004, pp.68-74.
Gowni Shukla, "Rural or Urban? The Chik dilemma", Indian Management, Vol.43,
March 2004, pp.60-62.
67

one's yet completely dislodged existing national champs the way Nirma
did in the 1980s. The way the regional brands appear to be doing so was
by focusing away from the metropolitan markets. No brand illustrates the
idea better than Chik, a regional brand from the house of the Chennai
based Rs. 236 crore Cavinkare.
Rajendran, Mohanty and Samarendu (2004)52 their study on
"Dairy Co-operatives and Milk Marketing in India: Constraints and
Opportunities" indicated that, 80 percent of the milk produced by the rural
producer is handled by an unorganized sector and the remaining 20 percent
is handled by an organized sector. It is found that the dairy co-operatives
play a vital role in alleviating rural poverty by augmenting rural milk
production and marketing. Involvement of intermediaries; lack of
bargaining power by the producers; and lack of infrastructure facilities for
collection, storage, transportation and processing are the major constraints
which affect the prices received by producers in milk marketing. Milk
quality, product development, infrastructure support development, and
global marketing are found to be future challenges of India's milk
marketing.
52

Rajendran, K.Mohanty, Samarendu, "Dairy Co-operatives and Milk Marketing in

India: Constraints and Opportunities", Journal of Food Distribution Research,
Vol. 35, Number 02, July 2004, pp.34-41.
68

Sridhar (2004)53 in his study entitled "Opportunism in Distribution

Channels" found that distribution function satisfies the utilities like place,
form, time and cost. In order to maximize these utilities, functioning of the
channels of distribution should be effective and intermediaries like
wholesalers, distributors and retailers should work collectively and
unidirectional. Organizations have to be built with little or no gaps in the
distribution system. Gaps would possibly lead to intermediaries becoming
opportunistic and thus shirk or free ride. In order to check the
opportunistic behaviour, understanding intermediaries on behavioral front
in addition to the systems and structures in control would be a logical step.
Researchers and industry are continuously undertaking numerous studies
in order to read the opportunistic behaviour of the intermediaries, its
causes and consequences.
Sharma and Kasthuri (2004)54 in their study on "An application of
attribution in consumer decision making and defense against post purchase
dissonance A study of rural cunsumer behaviour' examined the
relationship between quality attributions and rational buyer behaviour. The
53

54

Sridhar, G., Fellow Student, Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat,

"Opportunism in Distribution Channels", Indian Journal of Marketing", Vol. XXXIV,
Number 4, April 2004
Subrahamanya Sharma and Ramesh Kasthuri, "An application of attribution in
consumer decision making and defense against post purchase dissonance A study of
rural consumer behavior", Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. )0(XVI, May 2004,
pp.29-34.
69

study revealed that the difference between perceived quality and actual
possessed quality give rise to dissonance. Persisted dissonance leads to
attribution of reasons to overcome the ill effects of dissonance. Vendors
either maintain silence or suppress the features, which they feel were
detrimental to sale. Inadequate information leads to inadequate cognitive
support and the corresponding dissonance. There was no uniformity of
opinions of consumers concerning the usage of information while judging
the quality of the product. Consumers have ranked durability as an
important factor for judging quality of clothes, cosmetics and
pharmaceutical products and brand name in respect of fertilizers and
pesticides
Alessandro and Rigoberto (2005)55 in their article on "Private
Label Expansion and Supermarket Milk Prices," investigated the impacts
of private labels (PLs) on fluid milk prices and price differentials using
2,759 supermarket-level observations from 10 cities. Non-parametric
results reveal that although PL milk prices decrease as PL milk shares
expand, eventually the effect is to increase the prices of manufacturers'
brands as well as the price gap between private labels and manufacturers'
55

Bonanno, Alessandro and Lopez, Rigoberto A. "Private Label Expansion and

Supermarket Milk Prices," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization:
Vol. 3 : Issue 1, Article 2, 2005.
70

brands. Econometric results further reveal that supermarkets exert some

degree of price discrimination through controlling the brands of milk sold.

Duffy (2005)56 in his study on "The evolution of customer loyalty

strategy" revealed that many of the past efforts used by marketers to
develop customer loyalty have been ineffective because they have been
based on tactics used in the airline industry. These shortcomings will
become greater in the future unless marketers change their ways.
Corporate scandals have eroded the trust that customers have in marketers
and, therefore, marketing efforts must be more genuine and easily
understood or customers will react skeptically. Concerns about privacy
and identity theft have heightened concerns among customers and made
them more wary and, therefore, less willing to openly share information
and engage in a relationship with a brand unless there appear to be genuine
value and behavior by the company that engender trust and faith

Armstrong et al., (2005)57 in their study on "Marketing healthenhancing foods: implications from the dairy sector" found that, there is
potential for the agri-food industry to expand further, particularly in the
56

57

Dennis L. Duffy, "The evolution of customer loyalty strategy", Journal of Consumer

Marketing, Year: 2005 Vol. 22 Issue: 5, pp.284 286.
Gillian Armstrong, Heather Farley, Jennifer Gray, Mark Durkin, "Marketing healthenhancing foods: implications from the dairy sector" , Journal: Marketing Intelligence
& Planning Year: 2005 Vol. 23 Issue: 7 pp. 705 - 719
71

case of added-value food products, among which health-enhancing foods

should be treated as an important subset. However, a pre-requisite is
development of enhanced consumer segmentation and product positioning
strategies.
Kubendran and Vanniarajan (2005)58in their study on
"Comparative analysis of Rural and Urban Consumers on Milk
Consumption" revealed that with a constant increase in disposable
incomes among the strong middle-income class, the scope of marketing of
milk is wider. It could be noted that the demand for milk and milk
products depends on consumer's willingness and capacity to buy. Since
the consumers are not homogeneous, the consumption pattern of milk like
quantum of purchase, mode of purchase, source of purchase, brand
preference etc., are changing from consumer to consumer. The socioeconomic profile of the consumers namely income status, occupational
position, educational level, sex, age and region are the major determinants
of the consumption pattern of milk.

58

Kubendran, V and Dr. T.Vanniarajan, "Comparative analysis of Rural and Urban

Consumers on Milk Consumption". Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. XXXV,
Number 12, December 2005.
72

Sakkthivel and Mishra (2005)59 in their study on "Effectiveness of

Sachets in Modifying Rural Consumers' Buying Behavior and their
Consumption Pattern- A Researcher's View", revealed that, in recent days,
rural India has been witnessing a sea change in all aspects. Needless to
say, the increase in standard of living is catching up with new life styles.
Thanks to private satellite channels, they bring the world courtyards of
many village houses. This created a tremendous modification in the
behavior of rural consumers. Also, many rural youth usually go out of
their places for higher education, which proves to be a leverage to face
new life styles in semi-urban and metros. Not only FMCG's but many
consumer durable companies found rural markets very potential and made
inroads into this lucrative market. This vividly shows the potential of rural
markets that were long neglected which now came into limelight with a
force to reckon with. Hence, rural marketing finds a prominent place in
every company's marketing map and everyone wants to have a
competitive edge in this arena.

59

Salckthivel. A.M. and Dr. Bishnupriya Mishra, "Effectiveness of Sachets in Modifying

Rural Consumers' Buying Behavior and their Consumption Pattern- A Researcher's
View", Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol.XXXV, No. 2, 2005.
73

Balakrishna (2006)60 in his study on "Consumerism and its

Manifestations on Consumer Behavior" revealed that Consumerism has
evolved from the tendency to procure more, which has resulted in many
positive and negative effects. It is posing new challenges to governments
across the world in protecting the environment. MNCs equipped with new
marketing strategies are targeting their campaigns towards youth and
influencing them to consume more. This excessive consumption coupled
with the need to sustain the environment across the globe gives rise to new
concepts like anti-consumerism and ethical consumerism.
Jane Lu Hsu and Yu-Tso Lin (2006)61 in their study they found
that consumers who purchase larger quantities of fluid milk are those who
have relatively higher household incomes. The taste and flavour of fluid
milk products are the attributes that consumers value. Consumers who
purchase more fresh milk products pay more attention to the fat content,
calcium content, and whether the products have the certified labels.
Consumers who consume large quantities of yoghurt drinks value overall
beneficial bacterium attributes of the products and opined as good.

60

61

Balakrishna, "Consumerism and its Manifestations on Consumer Behavior" The ICFAI

Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 26-33, December 2006
Jane Lu Hsu, Yu-Tso Lin, Consumption and attribute perception of fluid milk in
Taiwan; Nutrition & Food Science; 2006, Vol. 36, issue 3, pp.177-182, Emerald
Group Publishing Limited.
74

Sangu, Gupta and Kumar (2006)62 in their study entitled "Milk

disposal and consumption pattern by milk producers in Western Uttar
Pradesh" revealed that much stock size, productivity of animals, milk
production, milk flow towards milk vendors, total consumption and
conversion of retained milk into products was positively associated with
land holding size, while the share of milk used in fluid form was
negatively associated with landholding size.
Gil, Andres and Salinas (2007)63 their study on "Family as a
source of consumer-based brand equity" results proved that positive brand
information provided by the family has effects on the formation of brand
awareness-associations and perceived quality, and this may lead in turn, to
brand loyalty and overall brand equity. The effects of the information
provided by the family are higher than those of the marketing variables
studied. Results also show that brand loyalty is much closer to the concept
of overall brand equity than brand awareness-associations and perceived
quality.

62

63

Sangu, K P S , Gupta, A K, Manoj Kumar ;"Milk disposal and consumption pattern by

milk producers in Western Uttar Pradesh", Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 2006
Vol.59(No.2) TS252.
Bravo Gil, R,E. Fraj Andres, E. Martinez Salinas, "Family as a source of consumerbased brand equity", Journal of Product & Brand Management ,Year: 2007 Vol. 16
Issue: 3, pp.188 199.
75

Sarathy (2007)64 carried out a study on "A comparative study on

brand preference of selected fast moving consumer goods among rural
consumers in Erode and Salem Districts". The study revealed that there is a
strong brand preference among rural consumers for the FMCG products.
So companies aiming at rural market should invest more money and time
to build their brand preference, keeping in mind, low penetration pricing,
appropriate promotional strategy, value for money product and to build
extensive distribution network.
Shiralashetti and Hugar (2007)65 in his article titled "Consumer
Satisfaction with Special Reference to Milk Consumers in Gadag City"
points out that more number of unpasteurized milk consumers' satisfaction
level is high compared to pasteurized milk consumers towards quality,
price and taste whereas it is the reverse towards supply of milk in the study
area. The effectiveness of marketing management depends on the
effectiveness in consumer satisfaction, as the consumer satisfaction is the
main objective of marketing management. Therefore, the marketing
management of pasteurized milk suppliers must go for regular consumer
64

65

Sarathy, T., "A comparative study on brand preference of selected fast moving
consumer goods among rural consumers in Erode and Salem Districts", Project report,
Doctor of Philosophy, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 2007.
Shiralashetti, A. S. and Hugar, S. S "Consumer Satisfaction with Special Reference to
Milk Consumers in Gadag City". ICFAI Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. II, No. 2,
June 2007 pp. 47-56.
76

satisfaction survey to adopt appropriate marketing strategy at right time to

enhance their effectiveness in satisfying the consumers of milk.
Bai, Junfei, McCluskey, Jill and Wahl (2008)66 in their study
titled "Fluid Milk Consumption in Urban Qingdao, China" revealed that,
the effect of increased income on milk consumption is positive, as
expected. The expansion of modern food retailers also appears to play a
positive role by facilitating consumers fluid milk consumption and
influencing their food shopping patterns. The young and old consume
significantly more fluid milk than the middle-aged. Health consciousness
of the elderly and the openness of youth to new foods appear to be fueling
these consumption patterns. If the findings of this study apply to other
urban regions in China, then as urbanization continues so also will the
trend of increasing fluid milk consumption in china.
Akbay and Tiryaki (2008)67 in their study entitled "Unpacked and
packed fluid milk consumption patterns" suggest that unpacked fluid milk
preference is related positively to household size, income and age of the
household head, and negatively to education level of the household head
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67

Bai, Junfei, McCluskey, Jill J. and Wahl Thomas 1., "Fluid Milk Consumption in
Urban Qingdao, China". Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics,
Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 133-147, June 2008.
Cuma Akbay and Gulgun (Yildiz) Tiryaki. "Unpacked and packed fluid milk
consumption patterns" Agricultural Economics, Vol. 38, 2008: pp.9-20.
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and status of the household wife. Similarly, pasteurized and sterilized fluid
milk preferences are related positively to income and the education level
of the household head, and negatively to household size and age of the
household head. Results from these analyses are used to suggest
techniques for marketing fluid milk products to specific segments of the
consumer population
Bower and Mateer (2008)68 revealed in their study titled "The
white stuff? - An investigation into consumer evaluation of the Scottish
celebrity milk marketing campaign" that, there was a high recognition and
a positive attitude portrayed towards the campaign, and the celebrities used
to endorse it. Milk appeared to be viewed as a commodity and although
health benefits were recognised they did not appear to be instrumental in
raising consumption levels. There were few differences in perception
according to gender, age, socio-economic grouping and on comparison
with a small group who had not seen the advertisements, except in
perception of some non-nutritional views.

68

John A. Bower, Nicola Mateer, "The white stuff? - An investigation into consumer
evaluation of the Scottish celebrity milk marketing campaign", The Nutrition & Food
Science Journal, Year: 2008 Vol. 38, Issue: 2, pp.164 174.

78

Feroze, Verma and Sawhney (2008)69 in their study on "Economic

Analysis and Milk Utilization Pattern: A Case Study of a Cooperative
Milk Plant in Haryana", found that, the milk plants channelize the milk
produced in rural areas towards the 'consumption pocket' to maintain the
demand supply equilibrium and act as incentive for enhanced milk
production. Milk being perishable commodity, its processing is the best
alternative to enhance its quality and also increase the value of the product
at each stage. There is need for proper planning to decide the product-mix
and level of production for various products to become profitable and
viable.
Reddy and Muniraju (2009)7 in their article titled "Building
brands by helping others win" revealed that brand in means of
differentiating a company's products or services from those of its
competitors. A good brand helps a company charge premium price for
their products or services, since customers prefer to by good branded
product and they will be loyal customers. Brand building plays a key role
in the era of globalization. There are few companies that think about how
69

70

Sheikh Mohammad Feroze, N. K. Verma and I. K. Sawhney,, "Economic Analysis and

Milk Utilization Pattern: A Case Study of a Cooperative Milk Plant in Haryana";
Indian Journal of Economics No. 353 October 2008 Vol. LXXXIX ISSN 0019-5170.
Sundarsana Reddy. G and Muniraju. M., "Building brands by helping others win",
Indian Journal of Marketing, July 2009, pp.21-23.
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their business model can help others win too, in the process of brand
building. In near future, almost all the business firms must try to build
brands by helping others win.

2.4 GAP ANALYSIS

Most of the studies conducted in dairy industry have focused mostly
on the procurement, logistics and pricing problems. Only few studies on
consumption pattern of fluid milk consumers have been conducted.
Similarly, though much research has been done into the product attributes
and benefits, only few studies deal with the elements of consumer
behavior in formulation of marketing mix strategies. Hence, the researcher
has taken this research titled "A study on consumption pattern and buying
behavior of fluid milk consumers in Salem district" to make an attempt to
fill the identified research gap.

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