Customer's Perception Regarding Water Purifier

Hindustan Unilever Limited

1.1.

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC:

Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. In short, perception is described as a person’s view of reality. Every person perceives the world and approaches the life problem differently. The opinion about and the evaluation of a particular event differ from person to person. Reactions of people, to different situations, are also different. The reason is that people behave on the basis on what they perceive reality to be and not necessarily as what reality is. Perception is one of the most important psychological factors affecting the human behavior, because perception is the way an individual experiences the situation. In simple word it can say that perception is the act of seeing what is there to be seen. But what is seen is influenced by the perceiver, the object and its environment. People’s perception is influenced by their needs. Therefore Perception is very much important in understanding the human behavior as well as their different needs. In a competitive marketplace where business competes for customers, customer’s perception is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. Customers’ perception with a company’s product is often seen as the key to a company’s success and long term competitiveness. With study of customers' perceptions, companies can determine the actions required to meet the customers' needs. They can identify their own strengths and weaknesses, where they stand in comparison to their competitors, chart out path future progress and improvement. Therefore the study is conducted, to know the customer’s perception in water purifier i.e. Pure-it by Hindustan Unilever Limited, in the households, schools and various place of the region of Lake Town, Dumdum park, Baguiati, Rajarhat and Narayanpur.

1.2.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

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Every research has certain objectives. This study also has done reminding certain objectives. The objectives behind this study are discussed below – 1. To find out customer’s awareness about water born diseases i.e. how much they aware about water born diseases which is a biggest problem in India. 2. To find out customer’s existing usage pattern of drinking water i.e. from where they get there drinking water as well as how they purify their drinking water. 3. To find out customer’s perception regarding water purifier. 4. To find out factor’s that offering satisfaction to the customers. 5. To bring out customer’s suggestions regarding after sales service.

1.1.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

a. Research Design: A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve marketing research problems. A research design lays the foundation for conducting the project. A good research design ensures that the marketing research project is conducted effectively and efficiently. There are several methods of research design such as Descriptive research, Casual research and exploratory research. Among those the descriptive research design has been followed mostly which asks for knowing the characteristic of certain groups such as age, sex, education level, occupation or income. This research has been done for knowing customer’s awareness about water born diseases, process of using drinking water, and interest level in pure-it. Therefore Descriptive research design is used to research the above attributes.

b. Data Collection Method:

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Data, which are the important part of conducting research, are divided into two parts, one is Primary data and another one is Secondary data. The Primary data is the first hand data or raw data that is collected by the researcher or someone else depending on the purpose of study. In this study primary data is collected by setting up a questionnaire that includes customer’s name, sex, source of water, usage pattern, awareness of diseases, awareness of boiling, awareness of candle filtration and their interest level in pure-it. The data is collected from 70 people from the area of Lake Town, Dumdum park, Baguiati, Narayanpur and Rajarhat by visiting 45 households and rest from visiting doctors’ chambers and giving demonstration in schools. The Secondary data is the second hand data which has been gathered for some other purpose but currently using for research purpose. In this study secondary data is collected from company websites and other websites, which helped in understanding about company’s product and related research about the product. c. Sampling Technique: Sampling technique is the technique of designing the collected data into small samples. The technique may be broadly classified as non-probability and probability. Non-probability sampling relies on the personal judgment of the researcher rather than chance to select sample elements. Non-probability samples may yield good estimates of the population characteristics. Commonly used non-probability sample techniques include convenience sampling, quota sampling and snowball sampling. In Probability sampling units are selected by chance. It is possible to pre specify every potential sample of a given size that could be drawn from the population, as well as the probability of selecting each sample. Every potential sample needs to have the same probability of selecting particular sample of given size.

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In this study probability of attributes such as customer’s awareness level in water born diseases, awareness level in candle filtration process, awareness level in boiling with their interests in pure-it, is drawn from 70 samples. Therefore it is said that Probability sampling technique is used for designing the collected samples. d. Data Analysis: Data analysis is the method of verification and analysis of collected data to make an interpretation for bringing out correct decision. In this study collected data is analyzed using statistical methods such as Probability, Chi-square test and finding out the Contingency. Data is also presented in Bar graph. Probability is the chance that particular events will occur. Now a day the theory of probability has become the basis of inferential statistics as well as for many other fields such as quality control and management decision analysis where quantitative analysis of chance occurrence is required. In this study the chances of attributes such as customer’s awareness level in water born diseases, awareness level in candle filtration process, awareness level in boiling with their interests in pure-it, is drawn from 70 samples. Chi-square test is a non-parametric method of hypothesis testing to test the associations of two or more attributes. In case of this study, among several methods of testing hypothesis, Chi-square test is done as the collected data is bivariate type. Formula of Chi-square, χ2=∑(O – E)²E

1.2.

LIMITATION OF METHODOLOGY:

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There are so many limitations of this research methodology, these are follows – •

The design or format of questionnaire has some questions that had no use to measure customer’s perception, for that the questionnaire became lengthy. So the format of the questionnaire was a limitation.

•

The sample size was seventy, which may not be a representative of the population.

•

The survey was conducted in a small area, which does not represent the perception of total population of the country or the state.

•

Most of the respondents could not devote time at a stretch to fill the questionnaires.

•

Respondents were hesitant to express their views clearly. However, on convincing about the confidentiality of the filled in questionnaires, they opened up to respond.

•

Some time the information given by the respondents not properly administered by the interviewer.

•

The handwriting of the respondents many time created problem to understand the information.

Literature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and unpublished work from secondary sources data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher. It is necessary to discuss about previous studies on consumer behavior, consumer awareness,

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purchase intentions & usage pattern either by traditional means or by virtual stores. This will help us to assess the factors influencing consumer behavior and promote changes in their purchase intentions.

2.1. CONSUMER’S AWARENESS OF USING DRINKING WATER: Water is in many senses unique among consumer products and it has a number of features that mark it out as different from other consumer goods or services. First, access to clean drinking water is now a human right. When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was first drafted water and air were omitted as they were regarded as necessary preconditions for all other human rights and so were not explicitly mentioned. In November 2002 the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights finally affirmed that access to clean water was indeed a fundamental human right. Second, safe water supplies are a prerequisite for stable healthy societies. Though adequate supply of fresh and clean drinking water is a basic requirement for all human beings on the earth, it has been observed that millions of people worldwide are deprived of this. Rapid industrial growth, urbanization and the increasing use of synthetic organic substances have very serious and adverse impacts on fresh water bodies. When toxic substances enter rivers, lakes, oceans, streams or other water bodies, they get dissolved or lie suspended in water or get deposited on the bed. This results in the pollution of water whereby the quality of the water deteriorates, affecting aquatic ecosystems. Pollutants can also seep down and affect the groundwater deposits. Water borne diseases and water caused health problems are mostly due to inadequate and incompetent planning and management of water resources. In the urban areas water gets contaminated in different ways, some of the most common reasons being leaky water pipe joints in areas where the water pipe and sewage line pass close together. Sometimes the water also gets polluted at source due to various reasons and mainly due to inflow of sewage and other industrial and animal wastes into the source. In India, several schemes for the supply of clean drinking water to people were implemented by various agencies including Government. Even though the local bodies and other authorities are supplying tap water collecting hefty sums towards water charges from the consumers, the

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consumers have no means to ensure whether the water they consume is clean and safe. Different studies reveal that several tap water samples tested were contaminated. The tap water may contain both chemical and biological contaminants which may result in dreaded diseases like hepatitis, jaundice, diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera, etc. It will not be possible for the consumers to check the quality of water every time they consume it. Considering the general situation prevailing in India, the possibility of the consumer's complaints in this regard getting resolved by the Government or other authorities is very limited. In view of the above mentioned facts several consumers are now shifting to bottled drinking water. Here again the consumers are in the dark about the quality of the product, i.e., whether it is clean and safe drinking water. Many studies show that there is no guarantee as to what is in that bottle. In many cases contaminants were found on testing. Given the multiple causes of contamination, experts agree that the most efficient way of ensuring safe drinking water is to purify water at the point of use.

2.2. CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND WATER PURIFIER MARKET: Research carried out by the UK’s Drinking Water Inspectorate also explored consumer preferences and issues of concern about drinking water. They found that consumers prioritized safe clean drinking water before reliability. Inspectorate’s study (DWI, 2000), concerns were firstly related to the physical properties of water - such as taste and odor, appearance, hardness, freshness and temperature, and secondly in relation to the composition and/or the provenance of the water. In the age of science and technology several companies are making water purifier to give consumer cent percent safe drinking water. Therefore several brands of water purifiers are now available in the market in India. Major brands available in India include Hindustan Unilever, Eureka Forbes, Philips, Whirlpool, Kent, etc. Different companies are using various technologies such as UV purification, reverse osmosis, activated carbon filtering, distillation, ion exchange, electro deionization, etc. for purification of water. It is seen from the study that among all brands of water purifier customer prefers Aqua guard most then Pure-it, because people perceive that Aqua guard is much better than any other

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purifier. It is also seen from the study that though people are much aware of water born diseases they prefers boiled water and also uses candle filter than any technological purifier.

2.3. LITERATURE REVIEW: Water-related diseases continue to be one of the major health problems globally. An estimated 4 billion cases of diarrhoea annually represented 5.7% of the global disease burden in the year 2000 (WHO 2002). One of the major strategies for tackling this problem is creating awareness to the people about using technological water purifier to provide water of better quality. Therefore people’s perception should be changed in using water purifier rather than using normal drinking water. Every purifier company especially HUL should take initiative to make the country as well as the world diseases free.

3.1. COMPANY PROFILE: a. Company History:

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In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937. In the year 1931, Lever Brothers set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form ‘Hindustan Lever Limited’ in November 1956. In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to ‘Hindustan Unilever Limited’ after receiving the approval of share holders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions. Hindustan Unilever set up its subsidiary in Nepal named ‘Unilever Nepal Ltd’.

b. Acquisitions: Hindustan Unilever enlarged its body by acquiring various multinational companies from 20th century to till now. It acquired foreign multinational companies like Chesebrough Pond’s USA; Brook bond Lipton India Ltd, and USA based Kimberly Clark Corporation. It also acquired India based multinational companies like Lakme Ltd, government undertaking company Modern Food etc. On 17th October 2008, Hindustan Unilever completed 75 years of its corporate journey in India. c. Brands: Unilever is the company of leading multinational brands. It has divided its brands in three categories i.e. Food brands that includes Annapurna, Kissan, Knorr, Red label tea, Kwality wall’s etc. Home-care brands that includes Rin, Wheel, Sunlight, Vim, Comfort and so on.

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Personal-care brands that includes Axe, Clinic plus, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lakme, Pepsodent and so on.

3.2. PRODUCT PROFILE:

Pure-it is the world’s most advanced in-home water purifier. Pure-it, a breakthrough offering of Hindustan Unilever since 2004, provides complete protection from all water-borne diseases, unmatched convenience and affordability. Pure-it has been developed using the technology named Sustained Chlorine Release Technology, by a team of hundred Indian and international experts from Hindustan Unilever and Unilever Research Center. Pure-it as a water purifier removes visible and invisible dirts, and using chlorine release technology kills all harmful viruses and bacteria and removes parasites and pesticide impurities from water and gives as safe as boiled water. It assures cent percent protection of a family from all water born diseases such as jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. Pure-it not only renders water micro-biologically safe, but also makes the water clear, odorless and good tasting. a. Stages of purification: Pure-it in-home purification system uses a four stage purification process to deliver “as safe as boiled water” without the use of electricity and pressurized tap water. The stages that pure-it uses are –

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1. Micro-fiber Mesh – Removes visible dirt. 2. Compact Carbon Trap – Removes remaining dirt, harmful parasites & pesticide

impurities. 3. Germ-kill Processor – Using 'Chlorine release technology' kills harmful virus and

bacteria. 4. Polisher – Removes residual chlorine and all disinfectant by-products, giving clear

odorless and great tasting water. b. Features: It has some advanced features that make it as unique water purifier brand in India, these are – a. Battery Life Indicator - Ensures total safety because when the germ kill power is

exhausted, the indicator turns red, warning to replace the battery. b. Advanced Auto-Switch off - In case, the battery is not changed when it turns fully red, as

an additional assurance of safety, the advanced Auto-Switch off will automatically switch-off the flow of water. c. No electricity – It doesn’t need any electricity. d. No maintenance – No day by day maintenance is required. e. Hassles free – It is absolutely hassles free as well as saves both time and money.

The output water from pure-it meets stringent criteria for micro-biologically safe drinking water, from one of the toughest regulatory agencies in the USA, Environment Protection Agency (EPA). The performance of pure-it has also been tested by leading scientific and medical institutions in India and abroad. c. Achievements: Pure-it has achieved many recognitions and awards as an innovative product as well as in its performance. Some of them are UNESCO Water Digest Award, prestigious Golden Peacock award and UK Trade and Investment India Business Award. d. Types of the product: In present pure-it is found in four various types in the market naming Pure-it Compact, Pure-it Classic, Pure-it Auto-fill and recently launched Pure-it Marvella, in two attractive colors i.e. blue and burgundy.

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e. Competitors: Among various brands of water purifier in the market Eureke Forbes, Kent, Philips, Usha are the key competitors of Hindustan Unilever in water purifier category.

4. SWOT ANALYSIS: A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). Such an analysis of the strategic environment is referred to as a SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into an environmental scan: HUL enjoys a formidable distribution network covering over 3400 distributors and 16 million outlets. The new sales organization named 'One HUL' brings "Household and Personal Care" and foods distribution networks together, thereby aligning all the units towards the common goal of achieving success. HUL has been continuously able to grow at a rate more than growth rate for FMCG Sector, thereby reaffirming its future stronghold in Indian market. Pure it is a important product of HUL under water division. This product has different strength, weakness, opportunities as well as threat in the existing market. These are as follows – Strength •

Prime strength of this product in the market is it’s price. It’s price worth Rs 2000 per device which is believed to be low listed price than any other purifier in existing market.

•

It provides 4.2 liter against only one rupee which is also cheaper than any other water purifier.

•

It’s not required any electricity, gas, fuel to running on which incur cost in other way.

•

This product has relatively low maintenance cost as it can be handled manually.

•

It is very user friendly with is no running flow of water.

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Weakness •

It conceived less amount of water which may not suitable for the big families.

•

Price is to some extend is responsible as its weaknesses as it is general tendency of human being is to think that lower price lead to a lower quality product.

•

It introduced in the market at letter phase where others renown brands were already existed in the market.

•

It’s after sales service is not up to the mark.

Opportunities •

Owing to the low price its probability of market penetration is relatively high.

•

In India the portion of middle class family is high. They can be turned into an effective target customer.

Threats •

As new product are launching day by a day that causes hardship for pure-it for growing.

•

People are still not aware about water born diseases which many time create problem. People are still not aware about water born diseases which many time create

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5.1. ANALYSIS OF THE OBSERVATIONS: a. Analysis of consumer’s awareness level in water-born diseases and interests in pure-it: The survey, on consumer’s perception in water purifier i.e. Pure-it, was conducted in the area of Lake Town, Dumdum Park, Baguiati, Narayanpur and Rajarhat. It is observed that the quality of drinking water is not well in these localities. Households in these regions are well aware of waterborne diseases and they believe that purification of water is necessary in their locality. Most of them depend on candle filtration. However, it is also true that some of them are using purifier and boiling water. There are also many people who use bore well water and do nothing to purify it because they perceive nothing is better than bore well water. In order to prove the idea that the awareness level of people in water born diseases influences them to use water purifier, a Chi-square test and contingency analysis has been done between awareness level of people and their interests in pure-it. If H0 is assumed that the attributes, Awareness level and Interest level, are independent then chisquare (χ2) becomes 0.35 (Appendix) which is lower than the tabulated value and contingency(C) is 0.071 (Appendix) which shows feeble associations between two attributes. Probability Estimation Table – 1 Aware about the water born Not Aware about the water born Interested in pure-it

diseases 0.60

Not Interested in 0.40 pure-it

Diagrammatical Presentation

diseases 0.50 0.50

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It is seen from Probability Estimation Table-1 that the chance is 60% of the respondents having aware in the water born diseases are interested in pure-it, where as the chance is 40% of the respondents having aware are not interested in pure-it. The cause of their interest in pure-it is that they are so much aware about water born diseases as well as they are influenced by our mass communication programme. But the chance of their interest is not up to the mark, there is little chance that they are not interested. The cause of not interest may be their believe in the traditional method of using boil water or candle filter, may they are already using purifier or may not economically well at that moment. Thus giving exchange offer of the product with other purifier, selling the product through retail market are the challenges that company should take to convert the chances of not interest into interest in pure-it. It is also seen from the table that the chance is 50% of the respondents having not aware in the water born diseases are interested in pure-it, where as the chance is 50% of the respondents having not aware are not interested in pure-it. The cause of their interest is that they are so much influenced by our mass communication and they assume the device as a container of water and also by its attractive colors. But there is half of the chance that they are not interested. The main reason behind it is that they are not so much aware about water born diseases and they want to remain in their traditional method of consuming drinking water without purify it. Thus increase awareness about the harmful effects of water born diseases in people’s mind through mass awareness campaign is the main challenge of the company in this case. b. Analysis of consumer’s awareness level in boiling and interests in pure-it: Again it is observed that people in the locality of Lake Town, Dumdum Park consume drinking water by buying the canned water and the locality of Narayanpur and Rajarhat people consume water of bore well, and they do boiling in time of monsoon and they also believe in boiling. Many of them think boiling is more hassles-full and it also takes much time and money. In order to represent the idea that the awareness level of people in hassles-full of boiling influences them

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to use water purifier, a Chi-square test and contingency analysis have been done between awareness level of people in boiling and their interests in pure-it. If H0 is assumed that the attributes, Awareness level in boiling and Interest level, are independent then chi-square (χ2) becomes 1.47(Appendix) which is lower than the tabulated value and contingency(C) is 0.14 (Appendix) which shows moderate associations between two attributes. Probability Estimation Table – 2 Aware in boiling

Not Aware in boiling

Interested in pure-it 0.51

0.66

Not Interested in 0.49

0.34

pure-it Diagrammatical Presentation

It is seen from Probability Estimation Table-2 that the chance is 51% of the respondents having aware in boiling are interested in pure-it, where as the chance is 49% of the respondents having aware are not interested in pure-it. The cause of their interest in pure-it is that they perceive the product as both time and money savers as well as they are influenced by our mass communication programme. But the chance of their interest is not up to the mark, there is a little chance that they are not interested. The main cause of not interest is people’s perception in boiling, i.e. boiling is much better to remove harmful virus and bacteria than any purifier and also they are not aware in taking new technology. Thus increase the perception of people through advertisement and mass communication towards the product technology, which kills harmful virus and bacteria and saves both time and money, is the challenge of the company to convert the chances of not interest into interest in pure-it. It is also seen from the table that the chance is 66% of the respondents having not aware in boiling are interested in pure-it, where as the chance is 34% of the respondents having not aware in boiling are not interested in pure-it. The main reason of their interest is that they do not believe in boiling as it takes much time and money and also influenced by our mass communication. But

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there is small chance that they are not interested. The main reason behind it is that they want to remain in their traditional method of consuming drinking water without purify it or may using other purifier or may not be economically well at that moment. Thus increase mass communication about the product’s function and selling the product through retail market are the main challenges of the company in this case. c. Analysis of consumer’s awareness level in candle filtration process and interests in pure-it: Again it is observed from the survey that people in locality of Dumdum Park, Baguiati and some areas of Rajarhat and Narayanpur consume drinking water by using candle filter as they believe on candle filtration process. But some of them believe that consumption of water through candle filtration process is so much risky as candle itself is a home for germs. In order to prove the idea that the awareness level of people in risky candle filtration process influences them to use water purifier, a Chi-square test and contingency analysis have been done between awareness level of people in filtration process and their interests in pure-it. If H0 is assumed that the attributes, Awareness level in candle filtration system and Interest level in pure-it, are independent then chi-square (χ2) becomes 1.92(Appendix) which is lower than the tabulated value and contingency(C) is 0.16(Appendix) which shows moderate associations between two attributes. Probability Estimation Table – 3 Aware in candle filter

Not Aware in candle filter

0.51

0.68

Not Interested in 0.49

0.32

Interested in pure-it

pure-it Diagrammatical Presentation

It is seen from Probability Estimation Table-3 that the chance is 51% of the respondents having aware in candle filtration system are interested in pure-it, where as the chance is 49% of the respondents having aware are not interested in pure-it. The cause of their interest in pure-it is that

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they perceive the product as both time and money savers as well as they are influenced by our mass communication programme. But the chance of their interest is not up to the mark, there is a little chance that they are not interested. The main cause of not interest is that they perceive that the cost of candle filter is much lower than this product and also they are not aware in taking new technology. Thus increase the perception of people through advertisement and mass communication towards the product technology, which kills harmful virus and bacteria and saves both time and money, is the challenge of the company to convert the chances of not interest into interest in pure-it. It is also seen from the table that the chance is 68% of the respondents having not aware in candle filtration system are interested in pure-it, where as the chance is 32% of the respondents having not aware in candle filtration system are not interested in pure-it. The main reason of their interest is that they do not believe in candle filtration perceiving that candle filter does not give cent percent impurities free water which pure-it, may influenced by our mass communication and also for its affordable cost and valuable services. But there is small chance that they are not interested. The main reason behind it is that they want to remain in their traditional method of consuming drinking water without purify it or may using other purifier or may not be economically well at that moment. Thus increase mass communication about the product’s function, selling the product through retail market, and giving any discount offer for promotional activity are the main challenges of the company in this case.

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5.2. LIMITATIONS OF THE ANALYSIS: There are lots of limitations of this report as this is just a primary focus on the basic sales and consumer perception and there is a lot of scope of improvement and further enhance the research keeping this report as a base. The basic short comings of this report is mentioned as under – 1. Time constraints – There was a time constraints and this research is done only within a

time limit of 2 months. So it is just a brief study as vivid study is not possible. 2. Single city survey – Due to lack of time the research is done considering only a very

limited area (some busy places in Kolkata and North 24parganas). 3. Small sample size – This research is done considering the response of 70 sample

respondents which is considered to be very less to predict the consumer’s perception in a large population. 4. Methodology – This is just a descriptive research and exploratory research could be done

on it which will prove to be more fruitful.

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6.1. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Awareness – Company should look forward to the product awareness and give

advertisement as there is lack of awareness of HUL pure-it, people know basically as a company of food brands, personal care brands and home care brands. 2. Retail booming – Retail market is booming now a day. So company should distribute

more of its purifier product to the retail markets which will not only increase product sales but also enhance product awareness. 3. Market segmentation – It has been found that market of pure-it is not segmented well.

Therefore company should segment the market of its product well. 4. Call centre – As per selling and research on the product we found that there are few call

centers and helpline. So company should increase its help lines to give better services and information to its customers. 5. Service centre – While survey it is found that customers are not satisfied with the after

sales service. According to their complaint no proper service is delivered to them after sales of the product. It is recommended that company should look forward to open a separate section of service centre for the product as it has a wide range of variations. 6. Providing offers – Provide discounts and promotional offers.

6.2. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore it is observed from the study that many people are using boiling water as well as candle filtration system. Though some are using water purifier but the amount is not up to the mark. Even in this time where there is a huge crisis of water as well as people are getting unsafe drinking water, they are not interested in water purifier. It is also observed that in the market very well known water purifier is Aqua guard and Kent. Very few people know about Pure-it. Therefore it is concluded from the study that Hindustan Unilever, which has a brand image in the world, should increase relationship with customers through mass communication, advertisement and setting up help lines and also make people aware of the product as well as make them aware of water born diseases to achieve the top rank position in the competitive market of water purifier

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APPENDIX – 1 Questionnaire for Survey Name Age Address Number of family members Children Existing drinking water source

Municipal water Bore well Canned water Don’t know

How do you treat your drinking water

Do nothing Boiled water Use candle filtered water Use water purifier

What type of purifier do you use

Electrical Non electrical

Do you know that 80% of diseases in our country is water bound Do you know boiled water is not necessarily safe water Do you know that candle filtration of water can’t decontaminate the water Will you be interested to know about Pure-it

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APPENDIX – 2 1. Testing of Chi-square and Contingency based on the following data: Observed frequency (O) – Aware of diseases

Not aware of diseases

Total


36

5

41

Not interested in pure-it

24

5

29

Total

60

10

70

Expected frequency (E) = (row total x column total)/group total Aware of diseases


Total


35.14

5.86

41


24.86

4.14

29

60

10

70

Total

H0 (null hypo): the attributes are independent to each other H1 (alternative hypo): the attributes are not independent to each other χ2=∑(O – E)²E =(36-35.14)235.14+(24-24.86)224.86+(5-5.86)25.86+(5-4.14)24.14

= 0.355 Therefore at 5% level of significance the calculated value (0.355) is lower than the tabulated value. Hence we accept the null hypo and may conclude that the attributes are independent. C

= √ χ2(χ2+n) = 0.071

Therefore it is concluded from contingency test that the associations are feeble association.

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2. Testing of Chi-square and Contingency based on the following data: Observed frequency (O) – Aware in boiling

Not aware in boiling

Total


18

23

41


17

12

29

Total

35

35

70

Expected frequency (E) = (row total x column total)/group total Aware in boiling

Not aware in boiling

Total


20.50

20.50

41


14.50

14.50

29

35

35

70

Total

H0 (null hypo): The attributes are independent to each other H1 (alternative hypo): The attributes are not independent to each other χ2=∑(O – E)²E =(18-20.50)220.50+(17-14.50)214.50+(23-20.50)220.50+(12-14.50)214.50


= √ χ2(χ2+n) = 0.144

Therefore it is concluded from contingency test that the associations are moderate association.

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3. Testing of Chi-square and Contingency based on the following data: Observed frequency (O) – Aware in candle filter

Not aware in candle filter

Total


20

21

41


19

10

29

Total

39

31

70

Expected frequency (E) = (row total x column total)/group total Aware of diseases


Total


22.84

18.16

41


16.16

12.84

29

39

31

70

Total

H0 (null hypo): the attributes are independent to each other H1 (alternative hypo): the attributes are not independent to each other χ2=∑(O – E)²E =(20-22.84)222.84+(19-16.16)216.16+(21-18.16)218.16+(10-12.84)212.84


= √ χ2(χ2+n) = 0.164

Therefore it is concluded from contingency test that the associations are moderate association.


8.1. REFERNCE BOOKS: 1. Philip Kotler, Kevien Lane Keller, Abraham Koshy, Mithileshwar Jha

Marketing Management – A South Asian Perspective PEARSON Prentice Hall Publication, ISBN 2. G.C.Beri Marketing Research Tata McGraw-Hill, ISBN 3. Naresh K. Malhotra

Markeitng Research – An Applied Orientation PEARSON Prentice Hall Publication, ISBN

8.2. REFERNCE WEBSITES: 1. www.google.com 2. www.hul.com 3. www.customercomplaint.in 4. www.pureit.in 5. www.golakindia.com

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Customer's Perception Regarding Water Purifier

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