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ABSTRACT In this paper an attempt has been made to understand the consumer behavior in relation to Malted Food Drinks (MFD) in India. Health drinks are the latest fad in the food business worldwide and this trend is fast catching up in the Indian market as well. The research focus was to study the changes in consumer behavior towards MFD across regions (Northern India and Southern India). To conduct this research primary data was collected through a questionnaire. Frequency graphs have been prepared to evaluate milk consumption pattern across the age groups, reasons for discontinuing a particular MFD brand and trigger for trying a new MFD brand. Data analysis has been done using SPSS Cross Tab.
The research concludes that when compared across regions, Northern region tends to show a discontinuing pattern towards MFD brand due to the taste Saturation however Southern region do not show such a discontinuing pattern. So it has been recommended that taste with health should trigger the consumer to change a MFD Brand. The research study also concludes that malted food drinks play important role in providing nutrition and health to the consumer. Malted food drink being the important part of daily nutrition in consumer diet product development and marketing should focus not only on the taste and flavor acceptance but also on nutrition. To drive consumption of new brands not only the taste and flavor is important but particular health benefit delivered is also very important.
1. Introduction
As per Maslow's Theory in a hierarchy an employee moves up with time, the same concept can be extended to understand consumer behaviour just by reversing the logic. A consumer is attached with a brand or new innovate product for self actualization (top level) as the time passes and the product moves towards its generic behavior the needs of consumer shiftto basic requirement (lowest level).
The level at which a brand starts in the hierarchy depends upon the level of consumer need for the respective product. To state an example, In 1980s branded milk was a symbol of esteem. Now in 2007 majority of households in cities depend upon the Mother Dairy or Amul etc. for their daily milk supply. The point here is that as the need of...