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Table of Contents
Table of Contents...................................................................................................................2 Conceptualising Research Problem........................................................................................3 Interest of big players.......................................................................................................... 3 Consumer perception..........................................................................................................3 Regulatory environment......................................................................................................3 Reach................................................................................................................................. 3 Competitive products ......................................................................................................... 4 R& .................................................................................................................................... 4 !ppropriate "ualitative Techni#ues for obtaining data...........................................................4 $urvey................................................................................................................................. 4 %ocused &roup iscussions...............................................................................................' In(depth Intervie)...............................................................................................................' Profiling of the respondents....................................................................................................' Relevant #uestions to facilitate data collection.......................................................................* %or survey........................................................................................................................... * %or %& .............................................................................................................................. + %or In(depth intervie)......................................................................................................... + ata !nalysis......................................................................................................................... , Phenomenological !nalysis................................................................................................, -arrative analysis............................................................................................................... , .ermeneutic / Interpretive !nalysis....................................................................................., 01pectations from the study...................................................................................................,
Consumer perception
Currently the organic products market is a niche segment and has a cult following. In order to increase the market si#e of this segment, it is necessary to know what the current consumer perception about the products is and what factors influence the consumer perception.
Regulatory environment
The organic products are on a fine line between medical products and F C! products. $o, the regulatory requirements for these products might be more stringent as compared to the competing cosmetic products. This might constrain the potential market si#e of organic products. %lso there is lack of clarity in terms of regulation of these products, at least at the source &producer' level. (ot needs to be done on that front.
Reach
(ike any other product, the reach or penetration of the organic products has an obvious impact on the market si#e the organic products can grow to. )ut the reach can have a flipside of decreasing the charisma of these products if they are made available ubiquitously. Hence a
delicate balance has to be struck in terms of the reach of the product. *hat is the reach or si#e of market in India+
Competitive products
The e,tent to which the competing cosmetic products are able to successfully stand their ground in the presence of new found competition from organic products can influence the e,tent to which the organic products market can grow
R&D
The success of organic products and hence an increased market si#e will have better prospects if there are India specific products made through rigorous -./ 0ut of all these factors, consumer perception is one factor that can be aptly studied through 1ualitative arket -esearch Hence the following is the research problem2 What factors influence consumer perceptions about organic products among consumers who are upper middle class and above in India?
Appropriate
The following are the possible qualitative techniques that can be used to carry out the qualitative research2 $urvey Focused !roup /iscussions In3depth interview
#urvey
In order to determine the factors that influence the consumer perceptions, it is necessary to first determine what the consumer perception is. )ased on this, the factors influencing each of the consumer perceptions can be found through in3depth interviews and focused group discussions. The consumer perceptions are fairly surface level details and don4t need much probing. Hence it would be a waste of resources to employ researcher4s time in individually questioning each respondent in person. % well3designed questionnaire with open ended questions would suffice. In case the researcher comes across some pre3defined categories into which consumer perceptions can be grouped, then there can be a few questions included in the questionnaire asking pointed questions about each of these categories. % survey questionnaire would give the respondent the time to read through the categories, comprehend what each of them means and then respond.
4
Hence a survey containing open ended questions would be a good starting point for the research.
In&depth Interview
From the survey responses, pick out those people who seem to hold a very strong perception of organic products. Including these people in focused group discussions has the danger of the discussion becoming biased because this person holds a very strong opinion and might bulldo#e others. Instead, it would help to conduct an in3depth interview with such people. %nother advantage of conducting an in3depth interview with these people is that it would give an insight into what it takes to form very strong &positive or negative' perceptions in the minds of the consumers about organic products. %n 6interview guide approach7 is to be followed. This is because the perceptions being probed through each of the interviewee might be different and hence a standardi#ed set of questions may not be relevant to all the interviewees. 8evertheless, having an informal conversational interview can make data compilation very difficult.
0ut of these consumers, the following sample set of respondents is designed for the research2
$or survey
The following is the data to be collected through the survey2 /oes the respondent use organic products If yes2 o In what all categories does the respondent use organic products o Is there a medical reason for using the product o *hich brand does the respondent use o $ince how many years is the respondent using organic products o *ho introduced organic products to the respondent o *hat did the respondent think the first time he:she saw the product o How would the respondent describe the product if it were a person o *hat kind of impact does the product have on his:her personality
o *hat was the respondent4s opinion about organic products before he:she started using the product o How did this opinion change after using it o Is there a particular category of people the respondent would recommend the product to o Is there a particular category of people the respondent specifically feels shouldn4t be using the product If no2 o *hy is the respondent not using organic products o *hat is the respondent4s opinion about organic products o How would the respondent describe the product if it were a person o Has the respondent ever tried any organic product. If yes, why did he:she discontinue it o /oes the respondent use any cosmetic substitutes for each of the categories in which organic products are present &this question should be accompanied by a list of product categories where organic products are present'
$or $%D
From F!/s the following data needs to be collected for each consumer perception that has been distilled out of the survey response2 *hat could be the reasons for holding that particular perception of organic products *hat initiated that perception *hat reiterated that perception to the respondent %ny situations where they saw evidence that contradicted their perception If yes, how did they react to that evidence *hat would it take for them to revert their perception &what would make them change their perception' /id the perception impact their decision of whether or not to use organic products
%ny situations where they saw evidence that contradicted their perception If yes, how did they react to that evidence *hat would it take for them to revert their perception &what would make them change their perception' /id the perception impact their decision of whether or not to use organic products
0nce you understand the perceptions of consumers it is better to conduct further enquiry based on marketing mi, elements so that you can fine tune your marketing efforts accordingly.
Data Analysis
The data analysis techniques to be adopted are as follows2
Phenomenological Analysis
In general the entire information provided by the respondent by and large needs ?henomenological %nalysis. )ut there are certain questions that need to be looked at separately and analysed accordingly.
'arrative analysis
The e,periences narrated by the respondents in the course of answering questions like the following need to be sub"ected to narrative analysis Any situations where they saw evidence that contradicted their perception What would it take for them to revert their perception (what would make them change their perception)
The e,pectations from this study are as follows2 %n understanding of e,isting consumer perceptions of organic products
Identifying the factors that impact consumer perceptions about organic products
This can be taken forward to analyse how organisations can impact each of these factors and hence would help in evolving a comprehensive marketing strategy that would help in increasing the market share of the particular company in particular and the market si#e of organic products in general