Buying behavior and brand loyalty of biscuit consumers in India

Abstract

In this research article author tries to identify the customer brand loyalty and buying behavior of consumers for fast moving consumer goods, especially biscuits. Two parameters gender and age are considered to verify health and brand consciousness of consumers while buying biscuits. The researcher collected the data by using observation method and questionnaire method. In the observation method researcher collect the data of actual timing taken by the consumer for buying biscuits. The sample size covered for this survey was 319 customers. Retail outlets covered in the survey are Reliance fresh, Dorabjees, Big Bazaar, and D-mart. It was found out that customers are health conscious irrespective of gender while purchasing the product especially biscuits. Gender of customer and time taken to buy plays an important role while buying biscuits. Also age of customer and their brand consciousness plays an important role while buying biscuits. Consumer decisions, in contrast, often involve many alternatives that are provided by the purchase environment, any of which may provide information useful for evaluating one's purchase. This is especially true in the case of purchase-timing decisions. Suppose that you have been monitoring the price of airline fares waiting for a good time to buy tickets. Keeping in mind the fact that a substantial percentage of Indian population stays in rural and semi-urban areas, biscuits, because of their economic pricing, become the most affordable snacks for this segment. For the high-end segment also, the affordability factor and the hygiene and convenience that biscuits offer, become a driving force. It was observed that age group of 31–40 are more brand conscious than any other age group, while age group of 21–30 are least brand conscious than any other age. It was also observed that there is significant association between age and brand consciousness while buying biscuits. Hence researcher concludes that consumers are brand conscious where age plays an important role while buying biscuits.