Assignment onFactor influencing consumers buying pattern towards

soft drinks in Bangladesh: A study on COCA-COLA

Marketing management (mkt 201)

Submitted toMahmud Zubayer

Assistant professor

Department of Business Administration

Submited by:

Name: ID:

Biplab kar 2010-2-10-228

Tanmoy Basak 2013-1-10-064

Amit Dey 2013-1-10-074

Md. Rakik Ur Reza 2013-1-13-081

Submission date: 20th July 2014.

Table of Content

Introduction, 05

Objective of the study 05Methodology 05-06Strengths & weakness of the brand from image perspective 06-07SWOT analysis 08-09Factor influencing consumers buying pattern 09-11Marketing Mix 11-14Data analysis and interpretation 14-17Recommendation 18-20Conclusion 20Source 21

Acknowledgement

First of all, we would like to thank our lecturer Mr.Mahmud Zubayer; we are grateful to him

for his cooperation in preparing this report. His proper guidance & helpful attitude help us to

make this report.

We like to give thanks especially to our friends and many individuals for their enthusiastic

encouragement and helps during preparation of this report.

Last but not the least, we are proud and feeling lucky enough to have such nice members in

our group. We have a strong bonding of understanding which has made our effort successful

and remarkable.

Executive Summary

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines

throughout the world. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is

often referred to simply as Coke (a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company in the

United States since March 27, 1944). Originally intended as a patent medicine when it was

invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by

businessman As a Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the

world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.. This marketing research paper aims at

exploring the factors used in selecting the default consumer of Coca-cola. A survey was

conducted among the different aged and professional people who drink Coca-cola. Such as

college students, university students, and others. A total of 54 respondents were interviewed.

In analyzing data, descriptive statistics were used. To identify the factors related to the

selection of different consumers, factors analysis was conducted. Coca-cola targets young

generation, additional youth consumers enter the market every year, which provides adequate

consumer base. For these decades, changing societal concerns, attitudes, and lifestyles become

important trends that force the soft drink industry’s business environment to change. As it

targets the young generation try to satisfy the customers by improving its products.

Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

Coca cola is the oldest brand in Bangladesh. From the last 50 year Coca cola has been

marketing its products through local representatives of Bangladesh. However, now it is

marketed by Abdul Monem Limited it marketed coca cola under the authority of the Coca-

Cola Company, USA (trademark owner). Abdul Monem Limited is the distributor of Coca-

Cola, Sprite and Fanta in Bangladesh. Soft drinks brand Coca Cola last year announced plans

to start its own sales and distribution operations in Bangladesh.

1.2 Scope of the study

This report is written based upon the soft drink industry COKE. But basically and more

specifically it is based upon coca-cola. From this, we studied on customer satisfaction towards

coca-cola. Through the survey we just try to find out the attitude towards coca-cola in the

soft drink industry of Bangladesh

Objectives of the study

Primary objective

The broad objective of the study is to measure the customer’s satisfaction towards Coca-cola.

Secondary objective

A. Measure the level of customer satisfaction with the different kind of soft drink and Coca-cola.

B. Find out customer choice pattern.C. Customer desire and satisfaction level.D. To find out the customer preference for this brand

Methodology of the study

The present study is to measure the customer satisfaction level towards Coca-cola. This study

examines the satisfaction level to a variety of factors.

Sources of data

This study is based on both primary and secondary data.

Primary data: Structured questionnaire has been used to get data to understand customer’s attitudes & behavior towards soft drinks on Coca-cola. The respondents were chosen randomly in respect of different soft drinks they prefer to use.

Secondary data: To collect information we search internet, read news paper, and utilize personal observations.

Limitation

The study caused some difficulty. During the survey our surveyors faces some constrains. The

limitations are:

1. Lack of practical knowledge of both interviewer and customers (respondents).

2. Lack of understanding between customers and interviewers.

3. Customer’s unwillingness to response.

4. Convenience costs.

5. No previous research report was available on Coca-cola and that was the limitation on

our literature review.

6. Lack of sufficient time

Strengths & Weakness Of The Brand From An Image Perspective

Strength

Coca-cola main competitor is Pepsi they know systems, networks, connectivity, programming

and also data management. Youth and vitality is the main idea that the Pepsi brand tries to

express, and the bottle design helps the brand associate with young. Pepsi restyles its cans with

a series of 35 new designs. On Pepsi website, each theme has its own video clips which can be

downloaded for free and other features to attract consumers with the purpose of representing

the fun, optimistic and youthful spirit “of Pepsi. Pepsi also use music. There direct sales force

maintains relationship customers one by one.

Weakness

Pepsi is now sold in more than 160 countries around the globe, but it still has a weakness in

the international beverage market because it entered later into this arena than Coke. Pepsi has

tried to enter this market by trying to do in three years what took Coke 50 years to do.

Nevertheless, Pepsi has to spend years “to mature simply due to Coke’s dominance in the

international market and the strong ties that Coke has developed with these markets and their

governments.” when marketing its products, Pepsi utilize celebrity endorsement mostly which

bored some consumers due to lack of novelty. Conversely, the success of fresh and creative

advertise has consistently helped Coco-Cola attract and retain customers.

Market share

Being the biggest company in the soft drink industry, Coca Cola enjoys the largest market

share. This company controls about 59% of the world market.

Market Share By Area

Coca Cola is the world-renowned soft drink and the company is currently operating

throughout the world. The world wide total is about 17.8 billion.

The operation review according to the segments is as follows.

Operation Review

(2002 worldwide unit case volume by operating segment)

NORTH

AMERICA

LATIN

AMERICA

EUROPE &

MIDDLE EAST

ASIA AFRICA

30% 25% 22% 17% 6%

SWOT Matrix

Strengths

1. International brand image of Coca Cola

2. Technical expertise and R&D provided by international authority of Coca Cola

3. Nationwide distributorship driven by highly motivated workforce

4. Value chain integration through the efficient use of the other business entities of the group, such as the products of IGLOO Sugar is used as a base ingredient in Coca Cola.

Weakness

1. Over dependency on the international Coca Cola authority.

2. No room for crafting brand level strategies concerning the beverage Coca Cola

Opportunities

1. At present, AML only bottles and distributes only three brands of beverages – Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta. It is always possible to introduce other world famous Coca Cola brands like Bislery (Drinking Water), Maaza (Mango Drink) and others.

2. AML currently can distribute its beverages only in Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet and Barishal Division. The acquisition of the distributorship of the whole Bangladesh will be a great opportunity for AML.

Threats

1. The ever rising number of new entrants in the business.

2. Narrow band of beverage product line compared to the competitors.

3. Dominance of substitute beverage products like fruit juice.

Factor influencing consumers buying pattern

Definition of Buying Behaviour:

Buying Behaviour is the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using

products. Consumer Buying Behaviour refers to the buying behaviour of the ultimate

consumer.

These factors cause consumers to develop product and brand preferences. Although many of

these factors cannot be directly controlled by marketers, understanding of their impact is

essential as marketing mix strategies can be developed to appeal to the preferences of the

target market

A consumer’s buyer behaviour is influenced by four major factors: 

1) Cultural,

2) Social

3) Personal

4) Psychological.

Consumer’s buyer behaviour and the resulting purchase decision are strongly influenced by

cultural, social, personal and psychological characteristics. An understanding of the influence

of these factors is essential for marketers in order to develop suitable marketing mixes to

appeal to the target customer.

CULTURAL: factors include a consumer’s culture, subculture and social class. These factors

are often inherent in our values and decision processes.

SOCIAL: factors include groups (reference groups, aspirational groups and member groups),

family, roles and status. This explains the outside influences of others on our purchase

decisions either directly or indirectly.

PERSONAL: factors include such variables as age and lifecycle stage, occupation, economic

circumstances, lifestyle (activities, interests, opinions and demographics), personality and self

concept. These may explain why our preferences often change as our `situation' changes.

PSCHOLOGICAL: factors affecting our purchase decision include motivation (Maslow's

hierarchy of needs), perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes.

Buying decision process:When purchasing any product, a consumer goes through a

decision process. This process consists of up to five stages:

- Stage 1: problem recognition,

- Stage 2: information search,

- Stage 3: evaluation of alternatives,

- Stage 4: purchase decision

- Stage 5: post purchase behaviour.

The length of this decision process will vary. A consumer may not act in isolation in the

purchase, but rather may be influenced by any of several people in various roles. The number

of people involved in the buying decision increases with the level of involvement and

complexity of the buying decision behaviour.

Figure 1: Soft Drinks purchaser decision-making process and major influence factors

Reference Group: NewestFate

Price AvailabilityPropositionInfluences Flavor

Post-purchaseNeed Recognitio Information Searc Alternative Decision MakingEvaluation Behavior

Inter Persona

Influence

Marketing Mix of Coca-Cola in Bangladesh

Coca-Cola has a competitive marketing mix like other soft drinks beverages has in

Bangladesh. This marketing mix is listed below:

Product

Coca-cola selected product is Coca-Cola have different sizes. They have now bottle as well pet

bottle. Coca-Cola also has 600 and 1000 ml pet bottles. In addition, they also have 1.5 And

1.25 liter of pet bottle and in the recent past they introduced into the market 2 liter pet bottle. It

has also 250ml of can Coca-Cola.

What in Coca-Cola

Carbonated Water ,High Fructose Corn Syrup ,Caramel Color ,Phosphoric Acid ,Natural

Flavors, Caffeine

Price

Abdul Momen Limited always tries to keep a standard price of Coca Cola bottles it also offers

promotional discounts, allowances, credit terms and payment period for the stores and

Restaurants. Coca Cola, furthermore, offers discounts in a family size bottle frequently.

The retail price of the beverage products are given below:

Product Item Quantity per pack Price

Coca-Cola

400 ml

600 ml

1000 ml.

1250 ml

2000 ml

20tk

32.00 Tk

55.00 Tk

60.00 Tk

90.00 Tk

Pepsi

600 ml

1000 ml.

12500 ml.

2000ml.

32.00 Tk

55.00 Tk

60.00 Tk

95.00 Tk

Place

Distribution Channel:

Figure: Distribution Channel

The company will establish an extensive distribution channel for all brand of coca-cola

company to make it available throughout the country. It will build six distribution centers

(Agent) in the seven divisions of Bangladesh: Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna,

and Barishal and Rangpur From these distribution centers, they will supply the coca-cola &

other brands to different districts dealers. From dealers, the sales representatives will supply

retail shops (small and mega) on the basis of their demand. The small traders will purchase

Coca-Cola directly from the dealers.

Promotion

Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target

customers to buy it. According to Coca-Cola promotion is one of the major tools of marketing.

A good way of promoting a product not only helps to influence and motivate people to buy it

but also give a good impression about a company and it products.

Sales Promotion

Manufactue Agent Dealers Retailer

Consumer

Sales promotion includes marketing activities-other than personal selling, advertising, and

public relations- that stimulates consumers, trade and dealer effectiveness. Sales promotion

can be aimed at end consumers, trade customers, or company’s employees. Coca-Cola offers

all of these sales promotions every year for various purposes. Coca-Cola s sales promotion

tools include free samples.

Sales promotion is generally a short run tool used to stimulate immediate increase in demand.

Frequently Coca-Cola uses sales promotion to improve the effectiveness of their promotion

mix ingredients, especially advertising. Research shows that sales promotion complements

advertising by yielding faster sales responses.

CSR program

In 22 March 2012, volunteer for Bangladesh, the volunteer wing of JAAGO Foundation

stepped in to clean up the Banani Lake in its annual World Water Day campaign. This year the

challenge lasted for three days and two nights, and was sponsored by Coca-Cola Bangladesh

and Robi Axiata Limited. This year the challenge lasted for three days and two nights, and was

sponsored by Coca-Cola Bangladesh and Robi Axiata Limited. One participating team was

selected from 11 districts across Bangladesh, namely Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Feni,

Gazipur, Jhalukathi, Khulna, Narayanganj, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

For this part of the report, we conduct a survey on the soft Drinks consumers who lived in

Dhaka. The Questions are divided into four sections for an effective analysis; one is

concerning about Quality, Flavor and Taste, second one is about Brand, and third one is

about Price and last one is about Product Availability. After finishing the survey, we found the

following findings:

1. Gender

Findings: from the table it is seen that out of 54

respondents, 79.6% male and 20.4% female. So it can be said that the user ratio of male is

greater than female user ratio.

2. Age range?

Findings: the most soft drink consumer age range is 20-25 years. These age ranges consume at least 59.3% soft drinks.

Sex

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Valid Male 43 79.6 79.6 79.6

Female 11 20.4 20.4 100.0

Total 54 100.0 100.0

Age

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Valid 15-20years 17 31.5 31.5 31.5

20-25years 32 59.3 59.3 90.7

25-30years 5 9.3 9.3 100.0

Total 54 100.0 100.0

3. Which soft drink

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid 7up 12 22.2 22.2 22.2

Mojo 4 7.4 7.4 29.6

Mountain dew 13 24.1 24.1 53.7

Coca-cola 21 38.9 38.9 92.6

Pepsi 4 7.4 7.4 100.0

Total 54 100.0 100.0

Findings: from the table we get the information that people drink coca-cola 38.9%. This table shows the high position of mountain dew.

[Fig:1] Most of all soft drinks in Bangladesh is good according to the quality and taste

34% Strongly Disagree

14% Disagree

23% Neutral

17% Agree

14% Strongly Agree

From the fig: 1 it’s found that

people do not satisfy about the

taste of the soft drinks. Which is a

34% person do not satisfy about

the quality and taste. And only

average people can agree in this

question.

From the fig: 2 it’s found that

people are satisfy about the

taste of coca-cola. Which is a

26% person agree and

strongly agree.

And only few portion people

do not like the coca-cola

[Fig:2]coca-cola is the best drink of all other dinks

7% Strongly Disagree

23% Disagree

17% Neutral

26% Agree

26% Strongly Agree

So, from the above information it is clear that most of the consumers are here to think

positive about Coca-cola and they think the others most of the soft drinks tastes are not

in the satisfactory level. People are happy about the quality taste and flavor of the Coca-

cola.

Fig: 3 shows people are

happy about the coca-

cola branding which is

34% strongly agree,

16% agree and 26%

don’t know about it.

And very few amount

of people they disagree.

So it’s positive feedback

from consumer about

[Fig:3] The branding of coca-cola is best among all other soft drinks.

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

07% Strongly 18% 26% Neutral 16% Agree 34%

Disagree Disagree StronglyAgree

[Fig: 4] The brand coca-cola can fulfill my most of the expectation

40

30

20

10

017% 10% 4% 30% 40%

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree StronglyDisagree Agree

Fig: 4 shows above

average, people are happy

about the coca-cola brand.

And very few amounts of

people think coca-cola

cannot fulfill their

expectation.

But in overall it’s a

positive reaction of people

about the coca-cola brand.

So, from the above information it is positive that most of the consumers think coca-cola is the

best brand above all the others soft drink brands. And they also think that is brand can fulfill

what they really want from a clear soft drink.

[Fig: 5] I like to have it whenever I have food and snacks.

60

50

40

30

20

10

04% 20% 26% 14% 57%

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree StronglyDisagree Agree

Fig: 5 shows people like to

have coca-cola when they

take food/snacks. More

than half portions of people

strongly agree with it which

is 57% and 14% agreed

with it. Small percent of

people keeps neutral and

disagree.

Fig: 6 shows, 34%

people remain neutral of

having coca-cola as in

alternative of water. But

here most people

disagree. But very small

percent agrees.

[Fig: 6] I drink coca-cola as an alternative of water.

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

026% 26% 34% 10% 4%

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree StronglyDisagree Agree

Fig: 7 show about 37%

people find coca-cola

everywhere. And 14%

strongly agree with this.

But almost 26% and 10%

disagree and 34% remain

neutral which is huge.

[fig: 7] I can find coca-cola in all the retail store / shops

14% Strongly Agree

37% Agree

34% Neutral

26% Disagree

10% Strongly Disagree

0 20 40

From the above information, it is state that coca-cola is found almost everywhere in the

market, and people like to have it when they take food or snacks. But they do not take coca-

cola as an alternative of water.

[Fig: 8] This carbonated soft drink (coca-cola) is expensive.

10% Strongly Disagree

4% Disagree

67% Neutral

17% Agree

4% Strongly Agree

From the above chart, we found most of the people remain neutral about the price of the coca-cola.

But about 17% people think it’s expensive on the basis of large quantity. And 10% people strongly disagree that coca-cola is not expensive

Recommendation

A few things that can be done to make the retailing more efficient, applied into comes

to sales incentives systems it can be beneficial:

Simplicity:

Do not make incentives for the individual shops to sell or track. It is de-motivating to

have to puzzle over incentive systems, and salespeople will simply not bother to

decipher complex rules.

Publicity:

Psychologically, a reward becomes more excitement when it is within reach.

Publicize gift for consumer by advertisement and conversations so that salespeople

and consumer know not only that these are exist but also that they are attainable.

The Big Picture:

Remember that consumer programs aren't the end-all of sales management. Sales

motivation is holistic, encompassing proper recruitment, training and direction as well

as incentives. Motivation comes not simply from the lure of tangible rewards but from

being treated well. Paying attention to the whole process is the best thing you can do

for salespeople. So the salespeople will happy to get the coca-cola on their shop. So it

increases the availability of product.

Advertise More –

Just when you may think it's time to cut back the marketing dollars, it should probably

be advertising more. It is wise to increase marketing efforts during slower sales periods

because there is more competition and fewer consumer dollars. Consider newspaper

ads, magazines, specialty publications and other forms of marketing.

Generate a Buzz –

Whenever anything noteworthy happens within the business, send a press release to

the media. The idea is to grab any free coverage possible. Get involved with

community events. Consider hosting classes, meetings or other networking events in

the retail store. Use a unique promotional event to generate a buzz about on the

business.

Examine Your Pricing Strategy –

When purchasing and pricing products, be sure it is considered the cost of goods and

that the retail outlets is able to make a profit at that price point. The product price

should be competitive, but still profitable. Ultimately, the right price is the price the

customer is willing to pay for the product.

Connect With the Customer –

Excellent customer service is the key to increasing sales. Listen to the customer to

understand their needs and wants. Then educate him/her about the products. Finally,

offer value-added services and products. Create a mailing list by asking for contact

information from each customer.

CONCLUSION

Coca-Cola no doubt come the heart beat of Bangladesh. Coca-Cola is one of the leaders in

sponsoring the most important, thrilling events. E.g. Cricket matches, concerts and many other

social occasions. Coca-cola will definitely try harder to fulfill their plan to increase sales and

get more profit. With advertising campaigns, marketing strategies, promotional strategies and

price strategies, Coca-Cola has come up with an effective and efficient budget planning to

carry out the activities and Coca-Cola determines to achieve the objectives in terms of profit,

sales and market share.

Sources

Data collection

We used to methods to collect the data:

Secondary data: We have collected the data from catalog and brochure of the coca-cola

company. External data that we have collected from Internet are given on the net.

Primary data: Primary data are directly collected from the face-to-face interview. And also

these sources..

Reference Book Kotler, Philip., Keller, Kevin Lane., Koshy, Abraham & Jha,

Mithileshwar, Marketing Management, 13th edition,

Websites http:// Coca-cola.com/ www.wikipedia.com/ www.google.com

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