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GALAXY International Interdisciplinary Research Journal_______________________ ISSN 2347-6915 GIIRJ, Vol.2 (3), MARCH (2014)

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A CONJOINT ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR

FAIRNESS CREAMS AMONG SMALL TOWNS LOCATED NEAR

AHMEDABAD CITY

DR. RITESH K. PATEL

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,

PG RESEARCH CENTRE FOR GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS (CGS), GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY (GTU),

AHMEDABAD.

ABSTRACT

India‟s FMCG market is evolving at rapid speed, fuelled by growth of Indian economy,

increased disposable income of consumers, and rapidly changing lifestyles. This market has

seen a significant growth in the cosmetic market in last two decades and fairness cream

accounts for the major part of the cosmetic market with an average growth rate of 20% per

annum.

In addition to the analysis of consumer survey, conjoint analysis was done on different

attributes with specific attribute levels to get the utility values of different attribute levels

within an attribute. This was done to analyze overall utility of a product with certain

attributes, which can be further used to launch and position any new or existing product.

Conclusions were derived from the analysis - Fair & Lovely was ranked as the best brand on

specific factors attributed to Fair & Lovely like awareness, promotion and advertisements.

However, on the utility factor of a brand Olay was ranked the highest. There seemed to be a

perceptual bias in Indian consumers. Friends seemed to influence the Indian fairness cream

consumers the most based on the survey. Quality of a new brand and the current fashion

motivates the consumers to switch to a new brand of fairness cream.

There were other conclusions as well as certain limitations identified for the conducted

analysis and survey. Addressing these limitations would help in further improving the

analysis and results.

KEY WORDS: Rural Marketing, Indian Fairness Cream Market, Consumer Preferences,

Conjoint Analysis, etc.

Introduction

Fairness creams constitute a consistent proportion of income for the FMCG companies in

India. The fairness creams enjoy very good market growth rate when compared with other

related product categories. Fairness creams have become a vital product for the Indian FMCG

companies in increasing their overall sales due to the importance given by Indian consumers

towards fairness.

Penetration of most fairness creams is still quite low in India. Current consumption of many

products is well below that of many countries in Asia. The low market penetration of the

fairness cream products offers room for growth. The urban population with increasing

purchasing power is the major force driving demand for fairness cream. India is a very price-

sensitive market and mass-market products constitute the major part of the fairness cream

products.


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HUL, 70%

CavinKare,10%

Garnier, 7%

Others, 13%

Market Share

HUL CavinKare Garnier

Consumption of fairness creams centres on young women, with the age group 15-44 years

accounting for about 70% of the market. Consumption begins in the teens and tapers off after

45, and declines substantially after 55 (refer Table 1).

Table 1 Consumption of Fairness Creams among Women in India, Source:

Extrapolated from assorted secondary sources

Age Group Share of Population % Share of Make-up Product Sales

Under 15 years 33% 10%

15 – 34 years 34% 50%

35 – 44 years 12% 20%

45 – 54 years 11% 15%

Over 55 years 10% 5%

The market size for fairness cream in India

is estimated to be Rs.800 crore. The

market growth rate ranges between 15 –

20% on a year-to-year basis. The leading

players in the market include Hindustan

Lever Ltd., (HLL's) 'Fair & Lovely' with 76

percent of the market share and

CavinKare's 'Fairever' with 15 percent of

the market share. Other important players

like Godrej's 'Fairglow', Emami's 'Fair and

Handsome', Vicco and Himalaya share the

rest of the market share. It has been

estimated that males constitute 20 percent

of the total sales for fairness creams in

India. The existing players are focusing

upon improving the quality and ingredients

and new players are invading the Indian

market.

The sector is highly dispersed, as a result of

extensive monitoring and licensing

restrictions imposed by the government

over thirty years: there are close to 100

organized players, including several

multinational players, besides hundreds of small-scale units that are exempt from formally

reporting their details.

Types of Companies

There are three principal types of companies in the organized sector:

• Foreign-owned/International companies: Unilever, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive, L‟Oreal,

Revlon, Oriflame, Avon, Amway, Gillette, Wella AG, Shisaido, Schwarzkopf, and several

Italian companies.

• Large indigenous companies: Ayur herbal, Dabur, Marico, Godrej, CavinKare, Emami,

Biotique, and Paras.

Figure 1 Market Share of Fairness Cream Brands


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• Small/medium companies: About 100 players. In addition to the organized sector, there is

a very large unorganized sector comprising of hundreds of micro/cottage scale enterprises,

spread across the country, thriving on products based on traditional and local recipes.

Fairness Cream - Principal Market Segment

The fairness cream products form a part of the skin & body care segment of the cosmetic

products portfolio. Skin-care, a crowded market, estimated at Rs 21 billion, has been growing

at a 16%. Besides Lakme, Ponds and L‟Oreal, others significant players in this category

include VLCC, Biotique, Revlon, Amway, Avon and Marico‟s Kaya. Procter & Gamble is

the latest entrant to the category, having launched its Olay brand in July 2007.

The skin care market is hotly contested, with more than 170 companies and 350brands in

close to 1500 SKUs reported to be on the market shelves. The market size of the skin-care

segment is estimated at Rs 21 billion. Fairness creams, with a market of around Rs 11.75

billion, account for around 56 per cent by value.

Table 2 Market Segmentation of Skin Care Products by Volume & Value

Category % Volume % Value

Antiseptic Creams 14 13

Astringents 1 1

Calamines/Foundations 2 6

Cold Creams 13 8

Fairness Creams 48 56

Moisturizing Creams 17 11

Snows 1 0

Vanishing Creams 4 5

The premium skin care products have a market size worth Rs. 4.5 billion - approx. 22% of the

total skin care market. The market for premium cosmetics products in general and skin care

products in particular has been growing faster than the overall market, driven by the changing

lifestyles and increasing disposable incomes.

Fairness creams are the popular categories in the skin-care segment and account for

approximately 60 percent of the skin-care segment. However, the distribution of premium

skin-care products is still restricted to metro and mini-metro cities - about 30 cities all over

India.

Over 90 per cent of women in India cite skin lightening as a high-need area. Indeed fairness,

by itself, stands for a bundle of skincare benefits (like oil-control, blemish reduction, sun

protection, etc.). Also, most women in India tend to use only one cream (usually fairness

cream) for all these benefits as an economical alternative. As a result, India is a huge market

for fairness creams.

In 2006, fairness products accounted for nearly Rs. 12 billion, and annual growth rate ranging

from 10 to 15 per cent in the past five years. Media blitz, especially on TV, has added to the

light skin mania. An interesting new trend is that men account for about 25 per cent of

fairness cream use across the country and the figure is growing. This has seen launch of nine

new fairness products in the market since 2005.


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Growth Drivers for Fairness Cream Market

The sector has seen impressive growth since the 1990s, following a series of economic

reforms reduced import tariffs and lower excise duties, principally- resulting in lower

manufacturing costs and improved affordability by the consuming class that has also seen a

rise in disposable incomes in recent times.

Driven by rising penetration, the sector has grown by an average of 7-8% per annum since

1992, and more than 15% per annum in the last 3-5 years. Meanwhile, several new sub

categories and niches are emerging in each segment. The industry foresees a steady 15%

growth rate for the next five years, driven by increased product usage intensity and wider

market coverage, with increasing penetration in rural areas.

The market for fairness creams has been growing and will continue to grow in the coming

years. Some of the key factors driving the market growth in the sector are:

• Higher disposable incomes per household in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.

• The consumer confidence index is high, which is converting the traditional

savings oriented mindset to greater consumption and spending on leisure, lifestyle

and even luxury - experiment, try new things, spending more on “feeling and

looking good”-entertainment, durables, apparels, appliances, home improvement

products, lifestyle accessories, beauty products etc.

• India is a young nation, with majority of its population in the age group that is

most likely to use fairness creams and other personal care products.

• The present low per capita consumption leaves tremendous potential for increase

in consumption in the coming years.

• Indian consumers, particularly in the metros and tier I cities (young, wealthy,

increasingly internationally exposed and well educated) are demanding products

and services of international standard and quality.

• Availability of specialty products addressing specific consumer needs are further

driving the demand for niche products, thereby expanding the market.

• The rapid demographic transition, burgeoning demand, rising affluence and more

workingwomen force are key drivers for rapid growth in the fairness cream

segment in India. With per capita cosmetics spend of $0.68 per year, the Indian

market offers a huge opportunity to international beauty cosmetics companies, for

whom markets around the world are saturating.

Sampling Plan

Target Population: The survey was floated through the internet through various media, by

the researcher or through friends and social networking channels. The targeted number was

around 100-120, and a number of 51 were reached (of which 20 were incomplete response).

The target area was small towns (Vehelal, Adalaj, Jetalput, Satej, Uwarsad, Dabhoda, Kanij,

Sasandra, Sanand, Dehgam, Badarpur, Ghodasar, etc.) located near Ahmedabad city of

Gujarat state in India. Looking at nature of research, Non probability based convenience

sampling method was employed to collect samples from targeted population

Survey Population: Sampling population included female college students and working

class of age groups less than 35.


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Sampling Design: For sample design, data was transferred from Qualtrics survey software

directly in the form of SPSS datasets for analysis. Data was refined through consistency

checks and manual removal of imperfect responses.

Eligibility Criteria: Both users and non-users of fairness cream were eligible for sampling.

Proposed Sample Size: 31 (Usable responses)

Response Rate: The response rate was total number of completed responses of the total

responses recorded. Hence it was 62% (=31/50).

Response Bias: The survey questions were objective enough so as to not provide any leading

opinion. This was intended to reduce response bias.

Data Preparation

A codebook was created containing an exhaustive list of all variables that are expected to be

used in the quantitative analysis. The questions which generated these variables and the scale

type for each of these variables are also mentioned in the Code Book (Table 3).

Table 3 Code Book for Survey Variable Number Description Question No. Scale Type

1 User of Fairness Cream 1.1 Nominal

2 Frequency of Usage 2.1 Nominal

3-7 Influencing Factors in Purchase Decision 2.2, 3.1 Ordinal

8-12 Brand Ranking on basis of Awareness 2.3, 3.2 Ordinal

13-17 Brand Ranking on basis of Promotional

Offers

2.4, 3.3 Ordinal

18-22 Brand Ranking on basis of Advertisements 2.5, 3.4 Ordinal

23-27 Brand Ranking on basis of Range/Variety 2.6, 3.5 Ordinal

28 Intention to switch to New Brand 2.7 Nominal

29-33 Factors Considered while Looking for New

Brand

2.8, 3.6 Ordinal

34-40 Important Features for Purchase of Brand 2.9, 3.7 Ordinal

41-43 Evaluation Factors for Brand 2.10, 3.8 Nominal

44-46 Similarity in Brand Used by family, friends,

peers

2.11 Nominal

47 Age 4.1 Interval

48 Income 4.2 Interval

49 Marital Status 4.3 Nominal

50 Occupation 4.4 Nominal

Reliability Test for the Survey

The survey questionnaire was tested for reliability and internal consistency using Cronbach‟s

alpha. Cronbach alpha is a statistic used when the survey/questionnaire consists of a lot of

questions that form a scale.


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Table 4 gives the output of SPSS. A value of 0.899 for Cronbach’s alpha in Reliability

statistics shows that the internal consistency of the survey is good, and thus the survey was

not changed any further.

Table 4 SPSS Output: Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items

.833 .899 48

Data Analysis & Interpretation

The survey was aimed at collecting responses to questions that would help in identification of

the consumer buying behaviour characteristics and preferences for fairness cream. The

questions in the survey were designed to provide answers to the following:

The popular brand of fairness cream among the major existing brands

The reason of choosing a particular brand of fairness cream

The factors influencing choice of a particular brand of fairness cream

The value for a brand of fairness cream

The attractive features of a fairness cream

1) Brand Preference

There were four factors that were identified to be the determinants in individual‟s preference

for a brand. The factors - Brand awareness, promotion, advertisements and range, were

decided on the basis of exploratory analysis – literature survey and interviews with users. The

5 major brands in the Indian fairness market - Fair ever, Fair & lovely, Pond‟s, Lakme and

Olay, were considered for this analysis.

Rank-Based Analysis

The analysis required the respondents to rank the 5 brands against each of the four factors

identified to understand the consumer‟s preference for any of the existing brands.

Table 5 was obtained on the basis of the responses gathered from the respondents giving the

preference for the brands on the basis of the four factors.

Table 5 Brand Preferences

Brand Fairever Fair & Lovely Ponds Lakme Olay

Company CavinKare HUL HUL HUL P&G

Factors Rank

Awareness 5 1 2 4 3

Promotion 4 1 2 5 3

Advertisement 5 1 2 5 3

Range/Variety 5 1 2 3 4

In order to understand if the consumers perceive any relation between the different factors,

pair-wise Pearson‟s correlation coefficient was calculated. The same is shown in Table 6.


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Table 6 Correlation between Factors for Brand Preference

Factors Awareness Promotion Advertisement Range/Variety

Awareness - 0.54 0.66 0.53

Promotion 0.54 - 0.53 0.55

Advertisement 0.66 0.53 - 0.60

Range/Variety 0.53 0.55 0.60 -

Perceptual Mapping Based Analysis

Perceptual mapping is a diagrammatic technique that is used to visually display the

perceptions of consumers or potential consumers of the product. Typically the position of a

product, product line, brand, or company is displayed relative to their competition against

different dimensions/factors. The number of dimensions most commonly used for perceptual

mapping is two.

The perceptual map was made for each of the 6 pairs possible from the four factors. Each of

the five brands was positioned on the map based on the ranks given by the respondents. The 6

perceptual maps obtained are shown below (Fig.:2-7).

Figure 2 Perceptual Map Between Promotion & Awareness

-0.20

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

-0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

Pro

mo

tio

n

Awareness

Promotion vs. Awareness

Ponds

Fairever

Lakme

Fair&Lovely

Olay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagram

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positioning_%28marketing%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_%28business%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_line

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand


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Figure 3 Perceptual Map Between Range & Advertisement

Figure 4 Perceptual Map between Advertisement & Promotion

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0.00

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0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

-0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00

Ran

ge

Advertisement

Range vs. Advertisement

Ponds

OlayLakme

Fairever

Fair&Lovely

-0.20

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

-0.20 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40

Ad

vert

isem

ent

Promotion

Advertisement vs. Promotion

Ponds

Lakme

Fair&Lovely

Olay

Fairever


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Figure 5 Perceptual Map for Advertisement & Awareness

Figure 6 Perceptual Map for Range & Awareness

-0.20

0.00

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0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

-0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

Ad

vert

ise

me

nt

Awareness

Advertisement vs. Awareness Fair&Lovely

Ponds

Lakme

Olay

Fairever

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0.00

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0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

-0.50 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

Ran

ge

Awareness

Range vs. AwarenessFair&Lovely

Ponds

OlayLakme

Fairever


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Figure 7 Perceptual Map for Range & Promotion

Interpretation

From the rank-based analysis as well as perceptual map, it is observed that Fair & Lovely is

ranked as the best brand with respect to all the four factors considered, followed by Pond‟s.

The analysis shows that Fair & Lovely and Pond‟s have built an excellent brand image in the

Indian market. Fairever is the least preferred brand across all the factors.

The pair-wise correlation coefficients from Table 6 do not show a very high value. This

means that the identified factors are not highly correlated. However, a correlation value in the

range of 0.50 to 0.70seems to indicate that all the factors are perceived similarly by the

consumers, and do not influence consumers independently. Fair & Lovely which is ranked

the highest in brand awareness by the consumers is also the highest preferred in terms of

range of products, promotions and advertisements. The same hold true for Pond‟s which is

ranked second. The analysis suggests a potential perceptual bias among the consumers

towards a brand irrespective of the criteria for comparison.

2) Reason for Looking for a Different Brand

One of the reasons for increase in market share of a brand could be the switching of an

existing consumer from a different brand to the concerned brand. Thus, it becomes

imperative to consider not only the buying behaviour of a new customer, but also the reasons

that may influence a consumer to shift to a new brand.

From the exploratory analysis through secondary research, the reasons for looking for a new

brand of fairness cream were found to be highly dependent on the quality of new brand, price,

current fashion and new brand in the market. The analysis is aimed at finding if the identified

variables are significant in predicting the intent for purchase of a different brand. Linear

regression was performed on the factors mentioned as independent variables with the intent

to purchase as a dependent variable. The regression was done using the software, Minitab.

-0.20

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

-0.20 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40

Ran

ge

Promotion

Range vs. PromotionFair&Lovely

Ponds

OlayLakme

Fairever


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The dependent as well as the independent variable could take only discrete values, integers

from 1 to 5 (Likert Scale).

The response variable was taken as percentage looking for a brand (Y). Independent variables

used for regression were as follows:

New_in_market (New brand in market)

Current fashion (Current fashion)

Price

Quality new (Quality of new brand)

Regression was done using Minitab, and the regression output & equation is as follows:

Y = - 1.45 + 0.158 New_in_market + 0.504 Current_fashion + 0.659 Price + 1.003

Quality_new

Predictor Coef. SE

Coef.

T P VIF

Constant -1.4460 1.3150 -1.1000 0.2950

New_in_market 0.1580 0.1448 1.0900 0.2980 1.5360

Current_fashion 0.5040 0.1678 3.0000 0.0120 1.3910

Price 0.6591 0.1654 3.9900 0.0020 1.8470

Quality_new 1.0030 0.2315 4.3300 0.0010 1.2640

S = 0.501708 R-Sq = 70.7% R-Sq(adj) = 60.0%

For a variable to be significant, p-value needs to be less than 0.01. Since p-value for

New_in_market is more than this critical value, the variable is not significant and is dropped

to obtain the following linear regression with the remaining three factors affecting ranking of

brands.

The new regression equation, thus obtained, is:

Y = - 0.366 + 0.430 Current fashion + 0.562 Price + 0.987 Quality_new

Predictor Coef. SE

Coef.

Standardized

Beta

T P VIF

Constant -0.3661 0.8724 -0.4200 0.6820

Current_fashion 0.4295 0.1545 0.405 2.7800 0.0170 1.1610

Price 0.5625 0.1408 0.356 4.0000 0.0020 1.3170

Quality_new 0.9870 0.2329 0.540 4.2400 0.0010 1.2590

S = 0.505681 R-Sq = 67.5% R-Sq(adj) = 59.4%

Interpretation

The three factors considered are able to explain almost 60% of the consumer‟s decision to

look for a new brand. These are Current fashion, price and Quality new.

The square root of the variance inflation factor, VIF tells how much larger the standard error

is, compared with what it would be if that variable were uncorrelated with the other predictor

variables in the model. Since VIF for all factors is below 4, the standard error of the

coefficient of the variable is acceptable.


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The standardized beta indicates the contribution of each of the significant variables to the

regression model. The decision to look for new brand fairness cream is influenced mostly by

quality of a new brand in the market, which contributes more than 40% to the model.

3) Factors influencing Purchase of a Brand

Exploratory analysis had yielded insights that the purchase of fairness cream is often

influenced by the peer group, family, friends and advertisements. However, the influence of

each of these factors is different due to the different roles played by each of the factors for an

individual.

Secondary research has provided the basis for this analysis, and suggests that advice, opinion,

and the values of reference group are an effective determinant of an individual‟s

behavior.Table-7 shows the ranks for the factors based on the information collected from the

survey respondents.

Table 7 Ranking of Factors Influential Factors Rank Rank Sum (SR) Rank Sum (SR) ^ 2

Family 4 82 6724

Friends 1 52 2704

Word of Mouth 3 77 5929

Neighbours 5 117 13689

Advertisements 2 62 3844

The ranks to the different factors were assigned on relative comparison of sum of ranks given

by each individual respondent for the different brands. However, there is a possibility that the

responses by individuals may not converge to the overall rank assigned based on total sum.

Hypothesis test was performed to check whether the different respondents are in agreement

or not.

Ho: Respondents have disagreement in ranking

H1: Respondents do not have disagreement in ranking

Test Statistic: For the hypothesis test, Kendall‟s coefficient of concordance was taken as test

statistic (referred from a paper).

𝑊 =𝑆

112

𝑘2 𝑛3 − 𝑛

n = No. of attributes ranked = 5, k = No. of respondents = 31

Where, 𝑆 = 𝑆𝑅 2 − 𝑛 𝑆𝑅 2

From Kendall‟s coefficient, 𝜒2 can be derived as 𝜒2 = 𝑘 𝑛 − 1 𝑊 with (n-1) degrees of

freedom,

𝝌𝟐(cal) = 38 >𝝌𝟐 (from distribution table, 4 degrees of freedom & at 5% level of

significance) = 9.48733

From the above calculations, H0 is rejected and H1 is accepted. Thus, we can conclude that

the respondents do not have disagreement over ranking.

Interpretation

Friends are the most influential factor when it comes to purchasing a brand of fairness cream.

Advertisements and word of mouth occupy the 2nd

and 3rd

places respectively, with family

and neighbours being the least influential factors.

Family was expected to play an influential role in the purchase decision of an individual.

However, as determined from the exploratory analysis (interviews with individuals) the

young users of fairness cream (who form major chunk of our sample survey) often discuss


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about the skincare products etc. with their peer group and friends rather than family, the

analysis of rankings obtained in Table 7 also indicates the same.

The hypothesis test using Kendall‟s coefficient reinforced the fact that the respondents‟

individual rankings converge to the same ranking as indicated by the overall ranking of the

influential factors.

4) Value of the Brand

As all of us understand, brand plays an important role in the purchase decision of a consumer.

And, the brand is created in the minds of the people if, as a consumer of the product, they are

able to derive value from the brand‟s product. This helps in creating brand image in the

minds of the consumer while purchasing the product. The value, as found from secondary

research, may be derived in terms of social acceptability, value for money and self-

satisfaction.

The respondents were required to indicate their preference as Yes or No, for the 3 factors as

being the means of deriving value from the brand. The same factors would also be important

for customers to make the purchase decision.

Table 8 Value of the brand

Value of Brand

Value for

Money

Social

Acceptability

Self-

Satisfaction Total

Response Yes 28 17 28 73

No 2 13 2 17

Total 30 30 30 90

Value of Brand

Like the Hypothesis test performed in Sub-Section (2), a similar hypothesis test was

performed – a chi-square test to check the association between the value of the brand and the

purchase decision.

Null Hypothesis, Ho: Value of the brand is not associated with the purchase decision making

process.

Using the process as mentioned in Sub-Section (2),

𝝌𝟐(cal) = 16.27<𝝌𝟐 (distribution table, 3 degrees of freedom & at 5% level of

significance) = 4.541

As𝜒2(cal) >𝜒2(table) => Ho is rejected, that is, value of the brand is associated with the

purchase decision making process for a fairness cream.

Interpretation

As found from the 𝜒2test, the value of brand is associated with the purchase decision making

process. It is also observed that the value of the branded fairness cream for the people is

mostly „self-satisfaction‟ and the „value for money‟. Respondents have given the least

preference to „social acceptability‟ for the value of the brand.

5) Basis of Selecting the Brand

Brands have both tangible and non-tangible features which may be considered significant by

consumers while purchasing fairness cream. Most of the associations for fairness cream are

derived from current trend, popularity and recommendation. The perceived quality in terms

of fragrance, sunscreen, fairness and packaging are considered to be important for a fairness

cream product. The following table collates the responses of individuals and provide an

overall score and ranking to the attributes in order of their importance.


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Table 9 Features of the Brand Features

Popularity Trend Availability Fairness Recognition Additional

features

like

Fragrance

Packaging

Total Score 36 48 40 25 31 35 44

Rank 4 7 5 1 2 3 6

Interpretation

The individual scores (on a scale of 5) were totalled to obtain the score of different features

like popularity, packaging etc. Accordingly these features were then ranked with least score

being the one with minimum score. Thus, brand attribute fairness is ranked highest, meaning

it is viewed as the most important attribute of a fairness cream, followed by recognition

second. Packaging and trend are on the lower ranks and hence are not put into much

consideration while selecting a brand.

6) Quantitative Analysis - Conjoint Analysis

In view of the current study, conjoint analysis was done to identify and attach utility value to

the attribute levels of each attribute. This would indicate consumer‟s preference for a

particular attribute level within an attribute independent of any other factor/attribute. The

factors assumed to be important for a consumer while making a purchasing decision for

fairness cream were listed and the attribute levels were identified by looking through the

product range available in the Indian market for fairness cream.

The attributes and the attribute levels were fed into Qualtrics online survey which has an

inbuilt feature for designing survey questions for Conjoint Analysis and providing the utility

values from the responses collected for each attribute level within an attribute. Based on the

responses received for each of the questions, utility values were generated. The within-

attribute utility values are depicted in Fig. 08-12.

Average Utility Values – Brand

Figure 8 Conjoint Analysis – Brand

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

FaireverFair & Lovely

PondsLakme

Olay


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Average Utility Values – Additional Features

Figure 9 Conjoint Analysis - Additional Features

Average Utility Values – Price (Rs/100 gm)

Figure 10 Conjoint Analysis– Price

0%

20%

40%

FairnessSunscreen

Fragrance

Composition - Herbal, Vitamins, Natural

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

150250

300350

600


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Average Utility Values – Packaging

Figure 11 Conjoint Analysis - Packaging

Average Utility Values – SKUs

Figure 12 Conjoint Analysis– SKUs

Interpretation

The average utility values for each of the attribute levels of an attribute were understood.

For brand, Olay was the highest on utility of consumers whereas Fairever was identified as

the brand with least utility. All the other 3 brands that have been considered had almost

similar utilities.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Plastic Squeeze-Out Tube Plastic Bottle

Sachet

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

25 gm50 gm

80 gm100 gm


28

For additional features in a product, fairness and composition (herbal, natural, and

vitamins) were the highest on utility. Fragrance was considered to be of least utility among

the additional features considered.

For packaging, as could be seen in the market and is possibly evident, the highest utility

packaging was from the plastic squeeze-out tube. Sachets with an 8% utility compared to

41% of plastic tube seemed to have negligible utility for the consumers.

For pricing, Rs. 150/100gm and Rs. 250/100gm priced products held equal utility. This

showed that the consumers are not very price-sensitive at lower prices. However, the utility

decreased from 25% to 6% as the price increased to Rs. 600. From the utility values, it may

be inferred that consumers would be less interested in buying a cream with higher price.

For SKU size, all 50gm, 80gm and 100gm held similar utility values. It indicated that

consumers do not perceive much difference when it comes to SKU sizes and are willing to

purchase fairness creams irrespective of the size they come in. However, very small size

SKUs like 25gms showed lower utility values.

Based on these utility values, product attributes‟ combination can be decided that would lead

to maximum utilization.

Findings & Conclusions

The growth in India has led to an increase in Indian consumerism. The gradual increase in the

purchasing power has opened up new opportunities for Indian retail to expand. The Indian

market is a great potential market for fairness cream with a growing young population,

looking to change lifestyles.

In context of this, it becomes extremely important for industries to understand the consumer

buying behaviour. The study was an attempt to understand consumer purchase decision

process for fairness cream. The following conclusions can be made from the analysis carried

out:

1. Fair & Lovely is ranked as the best brand.

2. Potential perceptual bias among the consumers: Brands which are ranked the highest for

one factor are also the highest preferred in terms of other factors.

3. The choice of a new brand gives maximum weightage to quality of new brand and current

fashion and lesser importance to current price.

4. Friends are the most influential factor when it comes to purchasing a brand of fairness

cream. Advertisements and word of mouth occupy the 2nd and 3rd places respectively,

with family and neighbors being the least influential factors.

5. Value of the branded fairness cream for the people is mostly „social acceptability‟ and the

„value for money‟. Respondents have given the least preference to „satisfaction‟ for the

value of the brand.

6. Fairness and recognition are the most important attributes for a fairness cream, the least

attractive being “packaging‟ and “trend”.

7. The best fairness cream to be in the market on the basis of utility: Olay‟sNatural Fairness

cream at a price of Rs. 250, packaged in a plastic tube of 100 gm.


29

Limitations

Time constraint: Due to the limited time available, in-depth end-to-end process was not

efficient. Data gathering and plan could not be well implemented, and most of the data

gathered was through convenient sampling.

Low response and sample population: Low response rate was observed when the survey

was floated. The limited sample responses collected may not present a fair representation of

the population at large.

Limited Segments of Population: As the females with less than 35 years of age were easily

accessible, who are also consumers of the fairness cream, the population never included male

population (that was initially intended), nor the older female population. Due to this, the

results of this report cannot be generalized for the entire customer base.

Bias: There is generally a bias in an individual‟s response; however the same is neutralized if

the sample population is large. As the survey was conducted on a limited population, the bias

may not be neutralized. Due to limited number of samples, validation was not possible. And,

hence the accuracy of the interpretations may not be accurate.

References

Consumer Behavior on Fairness Cream -

http://www.slideshare.net/soorajdms/consumer-behaviour-on-fairness-creams

RM Fairness Cream - http://www.scribd.com/doc/27599586/RM-Fairness-Cream

Product Market Analysis of Fairness Creams -

http://www.scribd.com/doc/34999913/Fairness-Cream

Fair war: A case study on fairness cream, By Dr. SangeetaMohanty, International

Journal of Contemporary Business Studies Vol: 3, No: 1. January, 2012 ISSN 2156-

7506

All‟s Fair in India‟s Cosmetics Market, Written by Lovejeet Alexander, Special

Correspondent.

The Cosmetic & Personal Care Sector in India Market Research 2008 – Italian Trade

Commission.

http://www.slideshare.net/soorajdms/consumer-behaviour-on-fairness-creams

http://www.scribd.com/doc/27599586/RM-Fairness-Cream

http://www.scribd.com/doc/34999913/Fairness-Cream

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