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Supplier Impact allows companies to rank suppliers like never before.  According to TraceGains’ CEO Gary Nowacki, “Supplier Impact rewrites the rules for evaluating your vendor relationships by alerting you which suppliers are improving your business, and which are pulling you down. For the first time, good and bad product outcomes—e.g., yield, waste, shelf life, or customer satisfaction—can be connected back to individual raw materials and their suppliers. This changes everything, as you rank-order your suppliers on business-critical KPIs, not just price or on-time delivery.”

 

Automatic Warning: Spot Risky Suppliers Early

Supplier Impact gives companies the power to continuously track each supplier’s trend over time, so that firms can evaluate which suppliers are beginning to make quality improvements, and which suppliers are continuing to slip. The system’s Supplier Risk Indicator constantly scorecards each supplier on numerous critical risk factors, including in-spec trends, audit scores, variations to spot lab tests internally or third parties, and many other factors that existing systems simply cannot track. The early warning system catches problems before customers report them and clients pay for them.

 

Measure the Impact Each Supplier Makes on a Business

All companies are interested in reducing cost of goods manufactured (COGM) by 1-4%.  All companies want to lower the cost of poor quality (COPQ). With Supplier Impact TraceGains’ allows clients to connect product outcomes back to individual suppliers raw materials, and receipts. Knowing how an individual ingredient lot impacts yield, manufacturing set-up, on-the-fly reformulations, and other cost drivers provides important insight into raw material selection, purchasing preferences, and long-term vendor relationships.

 

The Next Big Win-Win: Continuous Feedback to Suppliers

Rejects and charge-backs due to out-of-compliance raw materials are a Lose-Lose for both clients and suppliers. In the short-term suppliers are burdened with the cost of rejects, but at contract renewal the cost may be passed back to the client. Material shortages cost in both the short- and long-term.

 

By selectively sharing with suppliers their rankings on performance to specifications against their anonymous peers, companies expand the dialog beyond price and delivery. Supplier Impact lets suppliers know how they rank and trend against their own claims as well as against their competition, without revealing other purchasing relationships.

 

Turn the Dust in the COA File Cabinets into Gold

Whether supplier COAs are received as electronic files (Excel, PDF, Word, etc.) or on paper, firms end up storing them versus leveraging them for continuous business improvement. Supplier Impact turns static COAs into actionable intelligence for continuous business improvement. The fog begins to lift for both clients and suppliers as patterns begin to emerge. Impact on quality, cost, customer, and consumer satisfaction are all tied back to suppliers, raw materials, and even specific lots.

 

The mission at TraceGains (www.TraceGains.com) is to protect the brand of food and beverage clients by eliminating problems before product is shipped to the customer.  This mission is in now way mutually exclusive from identifying new profit opportunities.  TraceGains, Inc. is the SaaS (software as a service) leader in helping companies reduce costs and improve product quality-automatically. Food & Beverage, Quick Service Restaurant Chains, Life Sciences, Chemicals, and related industries can leverage the Supplier Compliance and Supplier Impact applications to eliminate manual certificate of analysis (CoA) review, automatically reject shipments that are not compliant with critical business rules, and rank-order suppliers based on yield, quality, finished-good profitability, customer feedback, or any other downstream outcome. The company is headquartered near Denver, CO, USA, with direct and partner offices throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

 

 

TraceGains Inc.

www.tracegains.com

Marc Simony

 Director of Marketing

mms@tracegains.com

303-682-9898

 

Glass is a material that has been used in the food and drinks industry as a form of packaging and is often used for premium purposes. The material also has a number of ethical benefits such as being recyclable and reusable and is one of the only materials that can be easily recycled as part of a simple process. Furthermore, the structure of the material will not deteriorate when reprocessed.

The global glass packaging market for food and drinks was valued at about $26bn in the year ended December 2009. In Western Europe and the US, the market is fairly mature. However, growth in the industry will primarily come from the key emerging markets such as China, India and Russia. Ethical concerns relating to sustainable packaging will drive innovation and demand for glass packaging.

The report contains a summary of innovative and novel products in glass packaging launched between May 2006 and April 2009 as reported by Product Launch Analytics, an in-house database of new product launches. Innovation and NPD are analyzed by region and end-user industry and emerging market trends are illustrated in the report.

Key Features

• Key trends, market drivers and resistors to the growth of global glass packaging market.

• Role of the key sustainability factors associated with glass that positions it as a preferred packaging material across food and drinks sectors.

• Analysis of food and drinks launched in innovative glass packaging between 2006 and 2009 from the data sourced from Product Launch Analytics.

• NPD and innovation trends in glass packaging across various geographies and food and drinks categories.

• An investigation into the role played by NPD and innovations in glass packaging for product differentiation among food and drinks manufacturers.

Key Benefits

• Predict future growth areas in glass packaging based on this report’s findings on packaging innovations and NPD by food and drinks categories primarily in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.

• Identify key trends that are shaping the glass packaging market and examine the key market drivers over the next five years detailing trends in packaging innovation.

• Improve the targeting and effectiveness of your NPD strategy using this report’s analysis of products launch data of over 22,000 product launched between 2006–09.

• Learn from the NPD and innovations in glass packaging by major players in the global market for packaging materials to effectively replicate their successes in the future growth markets.

• Discover the impact of consumer and sustainability/regulatory drivers on glass packaging market and examine the most innovative products launched and areas of opportunity for the manufacturers.

Key findings



The FDA in the US designates glass as a ‘Generally Recognized as Safe’ (GRAS) packaging material. The safety of glass is primarily attributed to its two features: inertness and impermeability. Glass containers offer better protection for sensitive food and drugs due to its impermeable nature.

The global glass packaging market for food and drinks was valued at about $26bn in the year ended December 2009. Asia-Pacific is the largest glass packaging market with 35.7% share by value while Europe registered a 30.7% share in this market in 2009.

Europe is the largest market with 47.3% share of all new food and drinks launched in glass packages in 2009. Asia-Pacific ranked second in order after Europe, recording 20.0% share of all NPD in food and drinks in glass packaging in 2009, an increase of 3.3 percentage points over 2006.

Among all new food and drinks launched in 2009, 15.5% were packaged in glass, a decline of 0.7 percentage points over 2006. Food products accounted for the largest share, 49.6% of all new launches made in glass packaging in 2009, an increase of 6.7 percentage points over 2006. Increasing use of glass packaging in sauces, dressings and condiments, and sweet and savory spreads contributed to the growth in share of foods with glass packaging through 2006–09.

To know more about this report & to buy a copy please visit :

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Visionshopsters

Ph : 91-22-40583020

Email: marketing@visionshopsters.com

Website : www.visionshopsters.com

Introduction

The global economic downturn has impacted BRIC consumers differently than elsewhere, and must be acknowledged to effectively meet consumers’ financial needs.

Scope

*Detailed analysis documenting BRIC consumers’ ‘recessionary mindset’ and how this influences perceptions about current and future prospects

*Insights highlight how the economic downturn has affected emotional wellbeing and financial security in the BRIC bloc compared to the global average

*Detailed discussion of what the downturn means for saving and investment products and what must be done to once again engage consumers

Highlights

Stress and happiness indictors are important to note, as they reveal the state of mind and likely future intentions of BRIC consumers. Faced with the uncertainty of the economic and financial landscape, there exists an opportunity for financial service providers to supply products that provide peace of mind.

BRIC consumers have learnt the lessons of the economic crisis and are looking to build a savings buffer to help mitigate further problems and reduce their stress levels. This buffer is the driver of short-term savings behavior, but there are also incentives for BRIC consumers to consider saving further into the future.

BRIC countries have not suffered the same levels of banking collapse as seen elsewhere and as such, there has been less extensive negative media coverage. In contrast, BRIC consumers are more likely to have had their trust damaged by a personal incident than global consumers.

Table of Contents :

Overview 1

Catalyst 1

Summary 1

The Future Decoded 2

INTRODUCTION: Understanding how recessionary mindsets influence attitudes towards and actual consumption is vital 2

Despite being more sheltered from the economic crisis than the rest of the world, the BRIC economies have still been hit hard 2

The BRIC countries were all affected by global economic crisis, although they now look to be back on track 3

Brazil’s industrial demand was hit as both foreign investment money and domestic demand diminished 3

Russia’s dependency on oil led to the deepest recession among the BRIC countries 3

India’s export model led to dampened economic growth in 2009 3

China suffered from a collapse in export demand and shortfalls in foreign investment 3

Consumer attitudes reflect a less damaging BRIC experience 4

The decline in economic conditions is not as badly reflected in the state of household finances 7

BRIC consumers’ stress levels have worsened alongside the global average, perhaps driven by different factors than the global community 13

BRIC consumers are much more positive than global consumers across all predictions 15

BRIC consumers show higher levels of concern than global consumers 17

BRIC consumers are particularly concerned about the value of their savings before the economic downturn 17

KEY TAKEOUT: BRIC consumers are more concerned with every aspect of their finances than global consumers 19

Since the downturn, long-term concerns have increased while short-term concerns remain unchanged or diminished 21

ACTION POINT: FS providers must address the anxiety of BRIC consumers with products and advice geared to alleviate this concern 22

Increased concerns have translated into action within the BRIC bloc, though these remain dampened by consumer uncertainty 24

BRIC consumers intend to increase their saving activity and look for long-term investment opportunities 24

BRIC consumers are looking to invest more in the long run, driven by a number of factors 24

BRIC consumers are more likely to reduce their debt over the next six months compared to the global average 27

BRIC consumers are more proactive in their financial dealings than their global peers 27

BRIC consumers are showing greater eagerness to explore new options for their finances 28

BRIC consumers are more likely to utilize the services offered at their primary bank, but may still explore new opportunities available elsewhere 28

Mounting competition could lead to a make or break situation for primary banks 28

BRIC consumers are more likely to seek out financial advice 29

BRIC consumers have a slightly more positive outlook on financial advice than their global peers 31

Brazilians support their primary bank, but need the services to be affordable 31

Russian consumers are strongly against paying upfront for financial advice 32

Indian consumers are willing and able to pay for financial advice 33

Chinese consumers look to online resources for financial services, and are resistant to the idea of paying for advice upfront 34

Financial security tops price for BRIC consumers 35

BRIC consumers are concerned with the ethical/green credentials that accompany their financial products 35

ACTION POINT: FS providers must construct a well-rounded value proposition to entice the more selective BRIC consumer 36

Brazilian consumers are equally focused on the stability and the return/price of the product offering 37

Compared to the rest of the BRIC bloc, Russian consumers are much less interested in the green/ethical credentials offered by their financial products 38

Indian consumers are especially interested in ethical and green credentials 39

Chinese consumers are influenced by a number of factors when making product decisions 40

BRIC consumers appear to have a higher and more resilient level of trust in their primary bank, and in the banking industry as a whole 41

BRIC consumers have been more influenced by a personal incident than global consumers 43

BRIC consumers are much more at ease with the actions of their bank than global consumers 44

BRIC consumers’ lower product holdings in certain areas reveal potential for the future 46

BRIC consumers have high holdings of basic savings accounts and credit cards, but fail to embrace more sophisticated products 46

ACTION POINT: FS providers need to guide BRIC consumers’ enthusiasm for saving into more sophisticated products that still provide peace of mind 46

Current accounts and certain insurance products are not as common among BRIC consumers 46

Appendix 50

Methodology 50

Ask the analyst 51

Datamonitor consulting 51

Disclaimer 51

For more information, please visit :

www.aarkstore.com/reports/The-Global-Economic-Crisis-The-Impact-on-BRIC-Consumer-Attitudes-Towards-Financial-Services-38020.html

Color schemes are intriguing for the artist, essential to the house decorator, and vital for the website designer and builder. Color schemes are also engrossing to examine—in terms of effectiveness, appeal, and psychological impact. Further, in the commercial environment, color and color schemes are key.

Many experts and professionals have studied the effects of color in particular (and color schemes in general) as it relates to dieting and appetite, moods, desires, and the sense of well-being. And, of course, the same experts have studied color schemes and dynamics in advertising, in branding (identity), and in product and service creation, all of which have a common goal—to determine the impact on consumers.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS of COLOR That ‘SELLS’

As the superb color.com, colormatters.com, and firelily.com experts will tell us, colors have got to

-send the appropriate message, taking into consideration who the receiver of that message is, what his/her age, ethnicity, income level, social and other inclinations, and personal preferences are, for example.

-be complimentary, or work in conjunction with other colors to establish desirable, rather than off-putting results, to be alluring.

be accessible to the greater community of viewers (or users), the advertisers taking into consideration how plenty consumers have sight or color-impaired issues (color deficiencies), how many have browsers and laptop systems that are not as capable to ‘read’ color schemes and other image attributes.

-represent (literally, figuratively, directly, indirectly) the intended results, appealing to a need, warning, supporting, informing, pleasing, etc..

-work toward the intended goal, which is to create a psychological result that is positive.

PSYCHOLOGY of COLOR SCHEMES

Be they used in a living room, a therapist’s office, or a set of web pages, color schemes will have particular emotional/intellectual impact:

YELLOW

Yellow is (or can be) loud, warm, or repellant. At 24-hour stores, for instance, you may see the outside lights are an nasty yellow, used to discourage loitering. However the right yellow, used in the appropriate amounts, suggests, for sure, sunshine and all that is delightful.

RED

You may have heard that red cars get hit often, or that of all colored cars, red ones have pulled over most often by law enforcement officers. Yes, in some cultures, red is fast, hot, passionate. In others it is lucky, used in warning, indicates power, or is used as a stimulant.

ORANGE

Orange is warm, energetic, happy. Orange is also stimulating, often used in fast food restaurant color schemes (to invigorate hunger) and in places where conversation is invited. Last I read, orange was a new hot color for website design (2000s), however only in certain amounts and used in combination with the ever-popular blue (which is a number one color for American sites, for sure).

BLUE

Blue is the least likely color in nature, with extremely few edible foods occurring naturally, that is. So blue has been discovered to be an appetite suppressant. At the same time, blue is also a tranquilizing color, one you might find in libraries, therapist’s offices, and the like. For sure, as one of the three colors of the USA, blue is one of the most-often-used colors on American web sites, more, blue is the most often used color on all web sites collectively’across all cultural divides.

GREEN

The first color in nature, green is growth. Green can be used for warmth or for calm and cooling effects at the same time, depending upon the shade and the complimentary colors used with it. It is positive. It is forward-pointing. It also, in particular cultures, is money.

VIOLET

If you have heard of Prince, you would know that purple is symbolic of royalty. Also, like green, violet is found in great abundance in the natural environment and also like green, is a combination of cool and warm hues, being for a well-rounded and positive appearance.

Paying attention to preferences of cultures, ages, color-viewing abilities, and genders (with men preferring lucent and light colors and women opting for pastel and subdued colors, as an example), designing with colors and schemes in mind is no small task, but is possible, after some on to the studies and results.

In an economic context, healthcare consumption is no different from other consumer services. Where there is a demand, the market will attempt to meet it through supply. Where supply outweighs demand, prices may fall as the market becomes competitive and vice versa in reverse circumstances. With physicians and the provision of healthcare services, supply and demand do not fluctuate with price as much as other services.

This is for a number of reasons. The main one being that demand for healthcare comes more as a necessity so demand cannot increase and likewise cannot decrease for the same reasons. However; on a different level, the relationships between health care service providers and medical professionals can indeed be impacted by pricing especially in a global marketplace.

Many foreign countries, such as the UK, provide healthcare through the state and also have legislation in place which means that private medical care can only be provided by Physicians that are working out of hours. This makes private healthcare more of a luxury than a necessity and places salaries firmly in the hands of the UK government – a similar structure is also implemented in France. As a result, salaries are only used as an incentive to induce young academics to enter the profession rather than being a bi-product of any consumer-side market forces.

The salary of medical professionals in the US is similar to the UK and France and will act as a factor as young students choose their career path. When students go onto choose a medical subject, the market as a whole becomes far less relevant and healthcare providers are left in a position where they must compete to secure the services of physicians. On the other hand, during times of higher amounts of available physicians the tables will turn and prices will become lower for service providers as hiring staff becomes less competitive.

At this point in time, the break-down in international trade between service providers and physicians has had a profound effect and a much expected one at that. Although healthcare consumers are left in a position where by they may not migrate as easily between providers, actual healthcare professionals may do so with relative ease. This has created a situation where by a shortage of supply causes foreign doctors to migrate and for foreign healthcare service providers to raise their prices in an attempt to keep their talent. According to years of authoritative economic theory, this should indeed result in a shift towards international equilibrium where by all service providers will move towards a middle ground in pricing. Despite this, the higher levels of demand for nationals will always play a role in the formation of the market that is formed.

Consumer behavior is shifting and dictating change in the consumer products market through a new set of preferences. This, combined with the impact of technology on the way people buy, is creating a huge opportunity for companies able to identify and meet the needs of these new “Conscientious Consumers.”

This article will outline a few of the factors driving this shift and summarize the overall impact of changing consumer behavior on the consumer products market. We will take a closer look at these “Conscientious Consumers” and at what gets them to the point where they make a commitment, open their wallets, and spend money.

Emerging Cultural Codes – The Foundations of Change

In our culture, consumers are becoming more conscientious on many levels. Even the way in which consumers are making decisions and expressing preferences is undergoing a fundamental change. The business community is overflowing with articles, books, and conference workshops about this topic. Who are these Conscientious Consumers, and how will companies that provide consumer products connect with them?

The shift in consumer behavior is being attributed to technology, the desire for engagement enhanced by the surrounding context of the brand itself, self-determination and identity, and sustainability of our environment, to name just a few factors. All of this is most certainly in play, but is merely the surface expression of a much deeper groundswell of change.

A new set of cultural codes are emerging that define the way people behave in all areas of their lives. How consumers behave is one of the most visible aspects of this change, and probably the most studied, because it is the basis of profitability for so many companies. As such, consumer behavior provides an interesting insight into the dominant and emerging codes that define the very nature of the culture that we live in. These codes can be seen as the foundation on which all trends, fashions, and fads are built and will be the starting point for our look at today’s consumers.

The Context of Cultural Change

Cultural evolution and its impact on social, and hence, consumer behavior is a continuum that can be traced back to the beginnings of commerce and trade. History provides interesting insights into consumers of the past, and also highlights the dominant codes that determine consumer behavior today, allowing us to make reasonable predictions about how that behavior will change going forward.

Looking Back

Consumerism as we know it began to emerge at the end of the Second World War. The manufacturing capability established to support the war effort was redirected towards the production of affordable consumer products for the emerging middle class. At that time, the dominant cultural code was conformity, stability, and normalcy, an understandable response to the upheaval and social trauma caused by the war, and the basis of the white-picket-fence mentality, leading everyone to look alike and behave alike.

Brands that appealed to this core cultural need prospered, which meant a huge demand for mass manufacturing and standardized products. This consumption drove incredible growth and prosperity. The 1960s marked some return to the notion of individuality, but not enough to become the dominant cultural code. Recession in the 1970s slowed things down significantly; conversely, the 1980s and 1990s were all about “bigger and better.” Everyone was very status-oriented, as evidenced by the wholesaling of previously “luxury” brands, supersized cars, affordable diamonds, ubiquitous designer labels, and so on.

What Consumer Behavior Means

What is interesting about this perspective on consumer behavior is that consumers have not really changed at all. They continue to consume in a way that expresses the dominant cultural themes defining the era in which they live. They consistently seek to represent the values and display the status markers that garner approval and represent success, as defined by their culture. So it is the times that have changed. To understand the Conscientious Consumer, we need to understand the social context in which they consume, and how that impacts their preferences and influences their interpretation of value.

What Do Consumers Want?

So what cultural environment is the backdrop to this Conscientious Consumer? A few cultural codes stand out as far as driving the way people consume. Consumers are looking for engagement with the brands they purchase. Consumers want a sense of self-determination and the opportunity to establish an individual identity. A growing distrust of large corporations means that people are replacing corporate reliance with self-reliance. The unprecedented new access to information through technology makes consumers significantly more informed and sophisticated than they were even five years ago. Finally, awareness, responsibility, and sustainability via purchases of “green” products are the new status markers, and consumers are looking to take these cultural values into account in their spending.

The Conscientious Consumer

So why the term Conscientious Consumer? Conscientious means several things in this context. Because consumers are smarter and better informed, their purchasing is either price-savvy, as in a bargain, or reflects the social values named above. Consumers rely on peer-to-peer formats such as social networking to gather information; ads and corporate product representations are not taken at face value. Consumers rely heavily on word-of-mouth to guide and then reinforce their choices, and spend often considerable time researching options on-line before they buy. Consumers focus as much on the experience of purchasing as on the attributes of the product they buy, and are prepared to spend even more if the product has the new status markers. Consumers are looking for more control in their purchasing process and want the opportunity to differentiate themselves and emphasize their individuality. Consumers have a new interpretation of value: what does the product say about who they are and what is important to them? Consumers are well-informed, well-connected with other consumers, and the basis of their decision making is well-thought-out, as it pertains to cultural codes and values.

Summary – Have a Conscientious Consumer-Friendly Product

The Conscientious Consumer is shaping the consumer landscape and should be the subject of a great deal of attention for any company wishing to sell products into this market. Learning how to reach out to Conscientious Consumers by being a presence in popular on-line sites is critical. Designing a distribution strategy that optimizes the opportunity for engagement with the Conscientious Consumer will give your brand “legs” that will enable it to participate in any future marathon. In brief – be a Conscientious Consumer-friendly product and move in tune with the shifting landscape so that you can create a vibrant connection with your best customers.

To create a favorable image of your company in the minds of the consumer it is important that you employ a good consumer pr strategy. You can approach any advertising or public relations company to help you achieve your goal. There is not much difference between public relations and advertising, as both advertising and PR is used to create an impact in the minds of consumer. The main difference between advertising and public relations is that advertising is done to sell products whereas public relations are done to create an image in the mind of the consumer and the public.

Both public relations and advertising are used by companies to create awareness about their products and services. Advertising services is a complex business with emphasis on ideas, innovations, trends and changing lifestyles of people. However, public relations rely on popularity and through planning. Your expanses on both public relations and advertising are likely to be the same as both have their own significance. Most people are of the view that advertising is better when compared to public relations as advertisements can carried out on radio, television, newspapers and internet. Even though public relations can be done in all these mediums, it lacks the required punch.

It is therefore important that your advertisements have a lasting impression in the minds of the consumer. Advertisements are more than just creating funny punch lines to attract the customer. It requires detailed planning, an understanding of the product and service and a perfect execution of the advertising strategy. Therefore, if you have created a funny advertisement it is important that you tell the joke in a manner which makes people laugh else you will become a joke. So find out ways how you can create fun with the brands that you are working on. You must realize that not everyone is able to tell a good joke which will make people laugh. This does not mean that you can make each and everyone laugh by telling a good joke. There are many people in the world who are unable to understand a joke unless you explain the joke. However, if you make an explanatory advertisement it is no longer funny.

Here are a few funny advertisements which have created a lasting impression in the minds of the consumers.

a) Mercedes Benz – E class driving in the snow advertisement.

b) National Geographic – “take a bite out of life” commercial

c) The Axe Effect Advertisement: It has axe effect displayed on the bus which supposedly carries Las Vegas strip girls

d) Dr. Best Toothbrushes: Bus advertisement

e) NZDating.com: Advertisement which displays two buses

f) Blaupunkt Audio: A commercial about speaker system which has bunnies jumping when music is played

g) Super bowl Commercial: Wedding reception commercial where a guy pays for completing the wedding quickly to watch super bowl.

h) MINI’s Jump Game: There is a fantastic twist at the end of the commercial

i) Hummer “Like Nothing Else Commercial”: Displaying a bear having elephant teeth

j) Anti Bored Campaign by Antenna: The old lady taking a spare steering wheel.

Therefore it is important that when funny advertisements are created your brand identity is not lost. The ads created should reinforce brand identity in the minds of consumer. Advertising should be simple as consumers know what they want and if commercial are too flowery they get suspicious. So create an advertisement which creates a smile on the face of the consumer who intends to buy your product.

Summary

Indian Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry (FMCG)





Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), are products that have a quick turnover, and relatively low cost. Consumers generally put less thought into the purchase of FMCG than they do for other products. Though the absolute profit made on FMCG products is relatively small, they generally sell in large numbers and so the cumulative profit on such products can be large.

The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of US$ 13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC presence and is characterized by a well-established distribution network, intense competition between the organized and unorganized segments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw materials, cheaper labor costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a competitive advantage.

Objectives

Consumer awareness regarding the diseases caused due to contaminated drinking water The Consumer buying behavior regarding water purifier The Consumers decision of making a choice among various available water purifiers. The consumer’s expectations from the companies about their product. Factors affecting the consumer’s preference about a specific brand of water purifier. The efforts made by companies to aware the customers about the pros and cons of water purification and the benefits provided by the different available products. Factors affecting the customer satisfaction like after sales services, product stability , price sensitivity of the product, add-ons provided by the companies along with their product.

Pureit is a consumer durable that requires after sales support. When even specialist consumer durable companies are blamed for offering poor after sales support, can an FMCG company deliver efficient customer service?

Another issue is the replacement battery. Will HUL be able to offer this spare without delay?

At the consumer side, the problem is with the battery. It is crucial that the consumer replace the battery at the right time and use this product. A delay in the supply of battery can cause non-usage for Pureit at households thus causing bad word of mouth. May be it is because of this fear that HUL in its website tells the consumers to buy an additional spare battery.

The brand has more chance of long term survival if it is promoted through the direct marketing venture (Hindustan Unilever Network) of HUL.

Pureit is a product that is a boon to Indian consumers. It’s a boon because it has helped making a category more affordable. More than that, the quality of potable water in our country is deteriorating day by day creating health hazards especially for kids. By making a product at an affordable cost, HUL has made another positive impact in its consumer’s quality of life.

Millions of people use checks as a convenient form of payment everyday. According to D & B Company, in 1997 (the last year for which statistics are available) it is estimated that American consumers and businesses wrote approximately 66 billion checks. This figure amounts to roughly 250 checks per capita annually, or one check per business day per U.S. resident. D&B Company continues that despite the rapidly expanding use of electronic payment such as debit, the market share of checks remains quite high at 73 percent, measured as a percentage of non-cash retail transaction volume.

Checks provide a person access to their money without the hassle of carrying large sums of cash. Big ticket items such as appliances and furniture can be easily tracked and documented by checks in case problems arise, whereas cash cannot. It is good practice to write checks based upon a positive checking account balance to avoid a check being returned. Businesses as well as individuals suffer from being issued a check that has been dishonored by a bank due to non-sufficient funds, a bad check.

Bad check writing can be costly to issuers as they incur fees from their bank and from the person who received the check, plus the cost of the goods or services they accepted in exchange for the check. Signs that declare “We no longer accept checks” are the result of businesses receiving several bad checks over time, and opting not to accept checks as a form of payment at all.

Financial institutions offer overdraft protection to consumers as a way to avoid bouncing checks. If an account falls short of the amount a check is written for, your bank will simply draft the shortfall from a savings account, credit card or line of credit. Maintaining a higher checking account balance coupled with a disciplined checks and balancing system can help a person avoid bad checks. ChexSystems warns consumers to avoid relying on the “float” period (the time between the deposit of a check and its clearance at a bank). People are also advised to only write a check based upon what they truly have in a checking account.

Based upon individual state laws, businesses as well as individuals have the right to recover bad checks through civil or criminal action that can result in fines and imprisonment for the issuer.  Bad checks can prevent a person from writing checks and opening a checking account. Businesses rely on risk reporting provided by verification companies like TeleCheck and ChexSystems, which alerts them to not accept a check written based upon a negative check writing history. Overdrafts, unsatisfied balances, fraudulent deposits and account irregularities overall are tracked and reported. According to Telecheck, “We provide the TeleCheck Electronic Check Acceptance service so that businesses have the opportunity for increased efficiency, reduced risk and higher productivity, all of which eventually benefit you—the consumer”.

According to CheckSystems, they are similar to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. In fact, ChexSystems is regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act just like credit reporting companies. Bad checks can affect your credit score negatively. Credit bureaus will eventually receive reports of checks that are in collections and remain unpaid. Overall, bad checks should be avoided by consumers. Overdraft protection services and check book balancing can combat bad check writing. As mentioned bad check writing is costly for everyone involved in a transaction that can result in hefty fees and imprisonment.

There are many important distinctions between consumer market research and B2B market research studies.  In general, a business-to-business market research survey conducted online is more difficult and expensive to complete then is a consumer research survey.   This article describes some of the main reasons for these differences.

Consumer research surveys often target a balanced sampling of a survey population (such as the U.S. population in a nationwide survey or a designated market area for a geographic selection) or select demographics such as household income, age, education level, or gender.  Low incidence consumer studies can frequently reach respondents based on profiles that are not pre-identified in the vendor’s database through the distribution of large numbers of email invitations.   In comparison, B2B market research often targets respondents based on job title / job function, size of employer, input on purchases, and other selective items.  For example, a business-to-business market research survey might target small business owners with 25 to 100 employees who are final decision makers on purchases of accounting software.

As a general rule, survey panelists who are business professionals or small business owners require a much higher incentive for participation in an online survey than general consumers.  A simple rule to follow – - the higher the respondent’s income level and/or job title, the larger the award needed to entice survey participation.  This discrepancy in award amounts is magnified as the length of the survey increases beyond 10 minutes.  For example, a 20-minute online survey might require a $5.00 award for participation by a stay-at-home parent but a $15.00 award or higher might be needed for a senior executive at a large company.

Also entering into the cost equation (and level of difficulty) is the limited number of survey panelists and market research panels with pre-identified business information about their sign-ups.   Put differently, almost all market research panels have extensive profiles of consumer sign-ups, but very few have business profiles of these same individuals and/or have a limited number of consumer panelists who are also high-level business professionals.  

Another concern is that business profiles can frequently change whereas many consumer profiles remain constant or rarely change.  For example, demographics such as gender, date of birth, and ethnicity are static profiles.  And such profiles as geographic location, number of children, education, home ownership, and marital status change infrequently.  In the case of business profiles, type of occupation can remain fairly constant, but such items as job title, decision-making authority, size of employer, and number of persons who report to a business professional can change quite frequently.   The impact of frequently changing profiles is a lower incidence rate (and higher cost) for a market research project.

For example, many B2B market research projects require a mix of different employer sizes or the targeting of specific employer size – - often defined by company revenues or the number of employees, or both.   Not only do employees frequently change jobs, but also the size of employers can change significantly in the current economic environment.  An analogy would be a consumer market research project that targets high net worth participants.  In the past, net worth profiles have been quite reliable and rarely change.  However, in today’s economic climate, many individuals have experienced significant declines in net worth.

In summary, B2B market research studies are generally far more difficult and expensive to conduct when compared to consumer research studies.  The reasons for this are the need for higher incentives to entice participation by business professionals, the lack of available sample for business-to-business market research, and the frequently changing profiles of business professionals as compared to participants in consumer market research panels.