STUDY OF ORAL HEALTH CARE AND BRAND ASSOCIATIONS

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1 STUDY OF ORAL HEALTH CARE AND BRAND ASSOCIATIONS Authors: Parekh Jigar, Shah Ruchi ABSTRACT The survey was conducted to study preferences of the respondents considering various factors related to oral health care and brands. We have categorized respondents based on the age, gender, income level, brand associations, occupation. In this survey the information collection is related to attributes of a toothpaste brand used by respondents. On the basis of these responses, the data is quantified and various Hypotheses are prepared which include: Proportion Test and Anova without replication. The analysis from these tools helped gather useful insights upon what type of respondents are there, what attributes the consumers consider while making the purchase decision, how the consumers perceive the various brands to be. INTRODUCTION Oral hygiene is sought to be one of the most necessary aspects to maintain good health since the pre-modern era where natural products like neem sticks were used to maintain good teeth. With the advancement of technology in the modern era, products like toothpastes, mouth washes, dental floss, and teeth whiteners have been introduced. Realizing the importance of these products in consumers daily lives especially toothpastes, many companies like P & G, Hindustan Unilever etc. are planning to launch products to fight for the share of the existing market giants. Before launching a new product in the market, the companies need to realize the factors affecting the buying behavior so as to design their marketing strategies to cater to the correct consumer segment. Now the awareness regarding oral hygiene in Indian society has increased with the different brands of toothpaste. Oral care in India has been greatly driven by innovation, retail availability, packaging and promotion. In India, Oral healthcare is an important aspect of the overall health of an individual. Diseases such as dental caries and oral cancers are major public health issues in India. Water fluoridation, fluoride toothpaste and a growing awareness of dental hygiene have led to improvements in the dental health of Indians over the past 25 years further 1

2 leading to greater demand for restorative dental treatment. The Indian oral care market has traditionally been a strong hold of three FMCG majors, namely Colgate-Palmolive, Hindustan Unilever Limited and Dabur, as the big three have jointly held more than 85% of the market share, both by volume and value, in the past decade. OBJECTIVES To determine the impact of the effectiveness of the brand attributes on respondents To determine how well they perceive the attributes of the brand To determine the difference in the factors for toothpaste used by respondents MARKET SEGMENTATION In India, oral care market offers huge potential as penetration and per capita consumption of oral care products is very low. However, rising per capita income and increasing awareness is driving demand of oral care products. Consumers have started switching to value-added toothpastes like gels, mouth washes, and teeth whitening products. In rural areas, consumers are switching from toothpowders to toothpastes. A key industry trend is the move towards natural products comprising of herbs, vitamins and minerals In India, oral care segment holds a substantial share in the overall cosmetic market. On back of increasing awareness about oral hygiene, improving income, and high advertising expenditure by players, the Indian oral care market has shown stupendous growth. Accordingly, tooth paste and tooth powders hold the majority share of the market, and this is expected to remain the major sub-segment in future. It is estimated that the Indian oral care market will register a strong CAGR of around 14% during Currently nearly 97% of the population in developed countries uses at least one variety of toothpaste and 87% of this population, brushes twice daily. This gives marketers virtually no space to expand the market with new users in this region. The Indian oral care market is presently estimated at Rs crores annually, of which toothpaste contributes the largest chunk, accounting for approximately 60% that is Rs. 3,240 crores, tooth powder 23% which is 1,242 crores and tooth brushes 17% which is Rs. 918 crores. Currently, toothpaste enjoys a country wide penetration level of 55 %, with only 15 % of them brush twice a day. The per capita consumption in India for toothpaste stands at 127gms per year; one of the lowest in the world. The toothpaste segment in India is largely a two player industry, Colgate & Hindustan Unilever (HUL) which account for 76 % of the entire market. For years, Colgate has dominated the toothpaste market in India with % market share. The Company is India's biggest oral care products company with more than 95 % of its sales coming from this product category. With the rising awareness among consumers, sensitive toothpaste segment has also become a highly attractive segment to operate in. The segment has been growing at 50 % year on year and will be proved as a highly demanded toothpaste segment in the next three to five years. In the view of this, Glaxo Smith Kline Consumer (GSK) launched Sensodyne, 2

3 toothpaste for sensitive teeth. Sensodyne is competing with the market leader Colgate - Palmolive (Colgate), which already has a product in this segment Colgate Sensitive. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Sample Size: Our research is based on 50 respondents which represents the entire population. Selection of sample: Selection of the sample units is based on easy availability and accessibility. The research contains responses from different age groups, gender and occupation and place of residents. Data sources: The data for the hypotheses was collected on a primary basis through online survey. The questionnaire was designed to question respondents about their preference of brands and attributes of toothpaste, also they were asked for Oral health care products. The questionnaire was sent through mail to 50 people including friends, relatives. The questionnaire is a mixed bag of open ended and closed ended questions. The questionnaires were filled by the respondents themselves. Responses of 21 women and 29 men were recorded to carry out our analysis. Analysis Tools: The various analysis tools used for this research are: Proportion test and Annova without replication. DATA ANALYSIS: Proposed Hypothesis HYPOTHESES 1 Ho: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with healthy tooth and gums is less than or equal to 40% Ha: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with healthy tooth and gums is greater than 40% 3

4 HYPOTHESES 2 Ho: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with whiteness is less than 68% Ha: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with whiteness is greater than 68% HYPOTHESES 3 Ho: whiteness is perceived to be same across all income groups Ha: whiteness is perceived to be different across all income groups Ho: whiteness is perceived to be equal across all income groups Ha: whiteness is perceived to be different across all income groups HYPOTHESES TESTING: HYPOTHESES 1: Ho: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with healthy tooth and gums is less than or equal to 40% Ha: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with healthy tooth and gums is greater than 40% N x' P P' q q' Alpha Alpha/2 Confidence % Z p'-p sqrt(p'q'/n) Z Probability critical Observed 5% Z observed = p'-p sqrt(p'q'/n) 4

5 Acceptance Region Z critical (1.64) Z observed 3.46 Z critical < Z observed (1.64 ) < 3.46 P Value is greater than alpha 1 > 0.05 Accept the Null Hypothesis Left tailed test P value is 1.00 HYPOTHESES 2: Ho: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with whiteness is less than 68% Ha: proportion of respondent that associate colgate with whiteness is greater than 68% N x' P P' q q' Alpha Alpha/2 Confidence % 5

6 Probability Z critical p'-p Sqrt(p'q'/n) Z Observed 95% Z observed = p'-p sqrt(p'q'/n) Acceptance Region Z observed 1.32 Z critical 1.64 Z critical > Z observed 1.64 < 1.32 P value is greater than alpha 0.91 > 0.05 Accept the Null Hypothesis P value is

7 HYPOTHESES 3: Ho: whiteness is perceived to be same across all income groups Ha: whiteness is perceived to be different across all income groups Ho: whiteness is perceived to be equal across all income groups Ha: whiteness is perceived to be different across all income groups Sum of count Total Colgate Oral B Pepsodent Anova: Two-Factor Without Replication SUMMARY Count Sum Average Variance ANOVA Source of Variation SS df MS Rows Columns Error Total F P-value F crit

8 Since P value is > Alpha, Accepting the null hypotheses P value 0.39 > alpha 0.05 Whiteness is perceived to be same across all income groups Whiteness is perceived to be equal across all income groups CONCLUSION It has been observed that respondents consider various attributes while purchasing the toothpaste. Respondents consider factors like long lasting freshness, prevention of tooth decay, whiteness, and use of natural herb, taste, medical benefits, packaging, also form of toothpaste whether in gel or paste, etc. It has been found that respondents consider toothpaste attributes same irrespective of the family income. LIMITATIONS The sample size is limited as forms were filled online only and personal interviews were not possible. Data was collected and is based on the age groups between 20 years to 30 years, wherein majority of the respondents are students. So majority of responses depend on the perception and thinking of students only. REFERENCES ces_in_india 8