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1. Introduction
India is the world's largest producer, importer and consumer of a wide variety of pulses ( Business Line , 2010a). Pulses have remained as an unbranded product till recently. But, as many of the commodities, for example salt, sugar, etc. got branded, pulses also followed suit. Branding of a commodity creates more value to the product and also enhances the value chain from producer to end user. While there are only a few strong regional players in branded pulses but none are present at national level. Increased awareness about the branded pulses have come into the fore due to consumers' improved cautiousness about the quality, safety, hygiene, nutritive value and content of food products. These factors along with affordability offer a perfect launch pad for the introduction of branded pulses in India at national level which is evident with the advent of House of Tata's, LT Foods, Adani Wilmar ( Business Line , 2010a, b) and also MNC's like Columbia Grain's ( Business Line , 2010c) entry into the category. Profit margins may also be reasonably healthy, given that the branded pulses market currently does not feature any national players (unlike branded wheat flour) ( Business Line , 2010d).
Product experience but not the provision of relevant information in the context influences brand - attribute relationship (Mason et al. , 2001). When companies introduce new product in category where consumers have prior experience its role in purchase intent and behavior should be considered. Hence attributes of branded offering should align with the existing attributes. In this case, Indian consumers have long been using wide variety of pulses and hence their attribute expectation from a new brand should align with their existing belief. As a result, there is a need to study the attributes that are preferred by consumers for branded pulses when it is to be launched at national level.
Structure of grocery retailing in India is changing rapidly (Srivastava, 2008). Distributions of pulses were largely through traditional retail outlets in unpacked and in modern retail outlets in packed form. Given the rapid transformation happening in Indian retail sector, the choice faced by consumers with retail formats are myriad. Indian retail is unique as it is characterized by both modern and traditional...