Consumer behaviour and brand preference towards Anand brand edible oil in Tier 2 and Tier 3 City
Abstract
Consumer behaviour changes as the time changes. These changes are due to advancement in technology and new innovations. Groundnut, mustard/rapeseed, sesame, safflower, linseed, niger seed, castor seed, soybean, and sunflower are the nine major oilseeds farmed in India. According to estimates, the top six participants in the branded oil market (Adani Wilmar, Ruchi Soya, Emami, Cargill, Bunge, and Marico) together account for 40% of the market in FY20. It is estimated that there would be around 2,000 such brands out of which ~top 100 brands would be contributing almost 50% (Adani Wilmar Limited, May 16, 2022). Choice of People regarding purchase of goods and services varies greatly, and more complicated decisions typically involve more participants and consideration on the part of the buyer. Marketers need to understand consumer purchasing behaviour based on the level of consumer involvement and the degree of brand differences in order to comprehend how consumers choose products. A smaller company like Anand Oil finds it challenging to compete with this market. where leaders given the greater variety of products in the market, yet the company nonetheless managed to gain market share from Ahmedabad to the southern region of Gujarat.
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Introduction
The edible oil and seeds market is being driven by the growing agricultural sector and the introduction of numerous efforts to increase the nation's production of oilseeds. The Indian government also makes constant efforts to increase domestic edible oil supply while reducing its dependency on imports. In order to satisfy the country's consumption demand for edible oils such as sesame oil, groundnut oil, safflower oil, palm oil, etc., the government has launched the National Mission on Edible Oil (NMEO). India is fortunate in having a wide range of oilseeds crops grown in its different agro climatic zones. The major traditionally grown oilseeds in India are groundnut, mustard, castor, nigerseed, linseed, sesame and rapeseed. In recent years, soybean oil and sunflower oil have also grown in prominence. The most prominent plantation crop is coconut. In addition to the state of Kerala and the Union territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the government is making efforts to cultivate oil palm in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the North-Eastern region of the nation. The most significant 'non-conventional' oils include cottonseed oil and rice bran oil. Additionally, a large source of oils comes from oilseeds with tree and forest origins, which primarily grow in tribal areas. The following statistics relate to the output of the main cultivated oilseeds, the availability of edible oils from all domestic sources (from domestic and import sources), and total availability during the period of year 2010-11 to 2020-21. [1] .
Consumer behaviour with respect to different types of edible oil used by respondents
The ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research survey revealed distinct regional preferences in edible oil consumption across India. Mustard oil reigned supreme in India's north (61%) and east (35%) zones, followed by sunflower oil. In the west zone, soybean oil held a slight edge (28%) over mustard (25%) and sunflower (25%) oils.
The south zone presented a different picture, with sunflower oil (44%) dominating, followed by groundnut oil (29%). These variations likely reflect traditional culinary practices and locally available oilseeds. Additionally, the survey emphasizes the influence of dietary choices (ICAR-IIOR Annual Report 2022) [12] . The types of edible oil preferred by the respondents were classified as sunflower oil, sesame oil, groundnut oil, cottonseed oil, olive oil, mustard oil, rice bran oil, corn oil, and palm oil. An attempt has been made to find out the types of edible oil used by the customers and the data have been collected from the customers. 1 that there were consumers who buy more than one type of oil so that the response for type of oil was received in which 46.6 percent of respondents consumed cottonseed oil.
Consumer behaviour with respect to factors affecting the selection of type of edible oil
The survey indicates that half of the respondents selected a particular oil type because they were habituated to a particular oil because of its taste. The majority of respondents selected the type of oil according to their health impact.
Consumer behaviour with respect to their perception about adverse health effect of edible oil
People were paying more attention to their health as a result of rising levels of literacy, awareness and digitalization. So the majority of respondents considered health considerations before buying edible oil. The Table 2 shows that around 75 percent of respondents believe that cooking oil has a direct impact on health. Healthy edible oils were prioritised over any other attribute when choosing a brand of edible oil (Prasad. K, 2016) [2] .
Consumer behaviour with respect to point of purchase of edible oil
Customers can buy edible oil in a variety of locations, including retail stores, malls, neighbourhood kirana shops, online vendors and D-marts. The location of buying edible oil is shown in the following table. According to Table 5, around 52.7 per cent of respondents bought edible oil from the wholesale Kirana store because they buy other kitchen items from that Kirana store only, and their family has been buying edible oil from that Kirana store for many years. Around 49.9 per cent of respondents preferred to shop at a mall, such as a D-Mart superstore, because they offer special discounts for bulk purchases. The other 21.6 per cent of respondents purchased from the neighbourhood Kirana store at their convenience. The remaining 11.6 per cent of respondents made purchases from retailers (Ganj Market) because they trusted them and were loyal to them.
Brand preference with respect to different types of edible oil
In the previous ten years, India's marketing landscape has seen shown significant shift. Some of the crucial factors that have compelled Indian marketers to adopt branding strategies include globalisation in terms of multinational corporation (MNC) brands entering Indian markets, the rise of young professionals in urban areas, the opening up of luxury and leisure markets, the impact of mass media, and the influence of Westernisation. In the edible oil market, day by day competition is increasing, which creates intense competition between organisations. The choice and preference of edible oil is completely up to the consumer, so in the table below, brands like Saffola, Fortune, Tirupati, Anand, Rani, Vimal, and Ankur, along with their variations of cottonseed oil, groundnut oil, and sunflower oil, are compared to determine which brand of edible oil was most popular and which variation of that particular brand was most favoured by consumers.
Conclusion
Today, the organized sector in Indian edible oil business has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors in recent times creating branded oil sales, though branded oils marked currently low in India, both in terms of volumes and share, they were expected to grow due to improved thrust by major players like Marico Limited, Cargill India Private Limited, Adani Wilmar Limited, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, Con Agro Foods, ITC AgroTech, Godrej Foods, Vippy Industries, Prestige Foods, S M Dyechem, Vijaya Oils and a few mid-sized, regional edible oil companies such as Mantora Oil Products Ltd, Modi Naturals, Amrit Banaspati, Tara Health Foods, Priya Foods, Healthy Heart Foods, Gemini Oils, KS Oils etc. A smaller company like Anand Oil finds it challenging to compete with this market leader given the greater variety of products available, yet the company nonetheless managed to gain market share from Ahmedabad to the southern region of Gujarat. They also have a market presence in states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Therefore, it was important to comprehend their presence and the elements that contribute to their ability to create a powerful brand image. The consumption of vegetable oils for food purposes is expected to account for 57% of the total globally, driven by a growing population and rising per capita consumption in lower and middle-income countries due to higher incomes and in emerging markets, the consumption of vegetable oil for food is set to reach levels comparable to those of wealthier economies (NITI Aayog).
References
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