International Journal of Sales & Marketing

Management Research and Development (IJSMMRD)

ISSN 2249-6939
Vol.3, Issue 2 Jun 2013, 47-54
TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR IN RELATION TO CONSUMPTION OF TEA A

STUDY OF PUNE CITY
MUNMUN GHOSH1 & ARINDAM GHOSH2
1

Assistant Professor, Indira School of Business Studies, Pune, India

2

Assistant Professor, MIT- COE, Pune, India

ABSTRACT
Tea is a part and parcel of Indian social, economic and cultural life. Indians cannot think of a day without their
favorite cup of tea. It is the most popular non-intoxicating beverage in the world enjoyed by the rich and poor alike. Being
most popular consumed beverage, in many cultures tea is consumed at elevated social events. But regardless of its wide
consumption consumer behavioral pattern changes from time and this behavior change is influenced by many factors like
popularity of a brand, loyalty, aroma, colour, price and many more. The present paper focuses on issues that influence the
behavior of various tea consumers. Samples were gathered across Pune city of state Maharashtra to understand and pacify
the actual need and behaviour of the consumer towards tea. Firstly the attributes were analyzed with Chi-square test of
independence (2) to validate the relation of the attributes with the consumer tea consuming behaviour. Further to find out
the most suitable attribute that dominates the decision making of the consumer while selecting particular tea brand
parametric method of estimation is used to study the trend analysis using SPSS considering different brands and the
attributes that affects the purchase of the brands. Model is primed for studying the predictive ability of the attributes like
popularity, loyalty, colour and price. Thus the analysis establishes a strong platform where we can validate association of
consumer behaviour with consumption pattern undergoing diverse statistical test and focus on the area and aspects of
different behavior of consumer in relation to consumption of tea.

KEYWORDS: Consumer Behaviour, Attributes

INTRODUCTION
Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct
roles of user, payer and buyer. Research has shown that consumer behaviour is difficult to predict, even for experts in the
field. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the rediscovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. Buying
pattern of consumer varies accordingly based on type of products. There are different factors that directly or indirectly
affect consumer buying behaviour.

Information from Variety of Sources It includes information through advertisement in news paper and
television that attracts the consumer in a lucrative way through their offers and presentations and provides the
consumer with an option to select a particular brand.

Group Influence Affecting the Consumer Buying Behaviour Buying behaviour of a consumer is affected
through group as in of friends, neighbours family members etc.

Region Buying and consumption of consumer varies across the region.

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Munmun Ghosh & Arindam Ghosh

The present paper focuses on consumer behaviour regarding consumption of tea. Tea is indigenous to India and is
an area where the country can take a lot of pride. This is mainly because of its pre-eminence as a foreign exchange earner
and its contributions to the countrys GNP it is considered for our study. In all aspects of tea production, consumption and
export, India has emerged to be the world leader, mainly because it accounts for 31% of global production. It is perhaps the
only industry where India has retained its leadership over the last 150 years. Tea production in India has a very
interesting history to it. The range of tea offered by India - from the original Orthodox to CTC and Green Tea, from the
aroma and flavour of Darjeeling Tea to the strong Assam and Nilgiri Tea- remains unparalleled in the world. Since
independence tea production has grown over 250% .There has been a considerable increase in export too in the past few
years. Total net foreign exchange earned per annum is around Rs. 1847 crores. The total turnover of the tea industry is
around Rs. 10,000 crores. The labour intensive tea industry directly employs over 1.1 million workers and generates
income for another 10 million people approximately. Women constitute 50% of the workforce. India is the worlds largest
producer of tea producing about 950 million Kgs. per annum. Domestic consumption of India grows @ 3.3% and per
capita consumption comes to about 750 grams Thus a lot of room is available for the growth in consumption of tea in the
domestic market. Due to large variation and wider adaptability of tea all across the country an effort is made to relate
consumer behaviour with tea consumption which is reflected in the study. The present research is a sincere effort to
establish relation between consumer behaviour and consumption pattern and to statistically establish the interrelation
between consumer behaviour and consumption pattern with respect to tea.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The Indian Tea industry was founded in the first half of the 19 th century with the discovery of wild tea plants
in Assam. Gradually, tea was cultivated, local tea markets came up and tea companies were formed. Tea is
finally packed into wooden chests or jute bags for delivery to warehouses before being auctioned. Tea from the gardens is
also packed into consumer packs and sent to distributors. Being one of the world's largest producers of tea,
India acquires a large network of tea producers, retailers, distributors, auctioneers, exporters and packers. The tea
industry of India acts as one of the largest workforces in the country. Tea is one of the most refreshing and popular
beverages of the world. India is one the largest tea producer in the world. Indian tea is the finest quality in the world. Tea is
being cultivated in the high ranges of Northern and Southern India.
Tea report (2006) discussed briefly about the consumption pattern of tea in the country and consumers insight
towards the consumption of the beverage. It focused on the aspect of brand loyalty and individual perception while buying
and consuming tea. It also emphasized on impact of advertisement on consumer and retailer and the availability of different
brands in the market.
Ramanuj Majumder (2010) discussed in detail about the importance of understanding the consumer for the benefit
of marketers and cited many live examples of the cities how marketers in India have utilized the knowledge of consumer
behaviour to evolve it marketing strategies. He also focused on issues of decision making and the theoretical foundations of
consumer behaviour and offered many practical insights of Indian Market.
Ronald A. Fullerton (1994) examined one episode on the consumer behaviour research and particular attention is
paid to their study, "Tea and the Viennese". The research combined quantitative and qualitative analyses and evinced an
unusually high skill in interpreting consumer experience.
Market Analysis report (2010) was prepared based on multiple sources of information. Its main purpose is to
provide information on Peruvian consumer behaviour and attitudes and their perception toward food products. This

Consumer Buying Behaviour in Relation to Consumption of Tea A Study of Pune City

49

information may be useful in supporting Canadian companies in their export strategies and helping build competitive
advantage in Peruvian markets.
Moonesha Pachauri (2002) developed a framework for the study of consumer behaviour and it is helpful to begin
by considering the evolution of the field of consumer research and the different paradigms of thought that have influenced
the discipline. Overall, it is argued that the study of consumer behaviour is rapidly evolving as researchers recognize and
implement new techniques and trans-disciplinary perspectives to understand the nature of purchase and consumption
behaviour. This wider view attempts to study consumer behaviour in the light of rapidly evolving lifestyles, values,
priorities, and social contexts.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To conclude behavioral factors are accountable for making a choice of a tea brand and consumer buying
behaviour is closely associated with the behavioural traits.

To trace out the most acceptable attribute that governs the decision making of the consumer while selecting
particular tea brand.

METHODOLOGY
A survey is conducted at Pune city to find out different behavioral pattern of tea consumers considering the
following trait in mind like popularity of a brand, consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty, taste, aroma, colour, price and
availability of a specific brand. The entire study aims to relate these behavioral traits with tea consumption and to
statistically conclude that all these behavioral factors are truly responsible for making a decision while selecting a tea
brand. The survey process is divided into two parts

Consumer view point.

Retailer view point.
Both consumer & retailer are considered in our survey to understand the consumer behaviour pattern while

choosing a specific tea brands for their consumption also retailers view point to understand consumers need and ensures
availability of that particular brand in the market.
From consumer view point the selection and consumption of tea depends on several parameters

Number of people aware of tea brands available in the market.

People using branded tea.
Most popular used tea.
Bases on which people buy tea like Quality, Price, taste, aroma etc.
From retailer view point a hypothetical study is performed concerning the selection and sale of tea. The retailer

mainly focuses on the sale of tea as per demand its in the market. Extensive mixtures of branded as well as unbranded tea
are available with the retailers. From the survey it can be concluded that nearly 65% of the consumer select branded as well
as unbranded tea and 35% of the consumer specifically prefers branded tea. The tea brands that are mostly available in
retail shops are Tata Gold, Tata Agni, Tata tea Premium, Tetley, Taj Mahal, Brooke Bond Red Label, Brooke Bond Red
Label Nature Care, Society tea, Wagh Bakri Chai, Surya Tea and Loose tea. The survey and interaction with the retailers

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Munmun Ghosh & Arindam Ghosh

also validate that 80% of the retailer keeps Society tea as the demand for the particular tea is very high and 65% of them
includes Tata Tea. The various brands of Tata tea are also dominating the market which covers 31% of the market share as
per consumer preference while the leader is Society tea with a demand of 57% despite of the reason that the price of the tea
is little high.
It is found while doing the survey that brand loyalty is also an important aspect of Consumer Behavioural Study.
Attractive advertisements and lucrative offers even fail to attract some population as 25% of the consumers when given a
chance to change their tea are not willing to change their most preferable tea. The reason is that they are too used to their
favourite tea and are not convinced with the idea of switching over to any other brand. While 21% of consumers are ready
to replace their preferred tea with fresh tea brand. Loose tea is also preferred by consumer but the fraction is low.
As a whole 750 samples were gathered covering almost all the directions for our study and tested for establishing
an association between behaviour and consumption pattern. Statistical test such as Chi test of Independence (2) is applied
to authenticate our findings.
To begin with our study we have prioritized the behavioural attributes that may influence tea consumption pattern
of the consumer.
The attributes considered are

Popularity of the Brand

Brand Loyalty
Colour
Price.
The observations are classified simultaneously according to two attributes and the frequencies are shown in a two

way table (known as contingency table). On the basis of cell frequencies it is required to test whether the two attributes are
associated or not. Under the null hypothesis H0 (Attributes are Independent).
If the calculated value of 2 exceeds the tabulated value for the given d.f and at a specified level, the null
hypothesis is rejected and we conclude that the attributes are not independent but associated.
The contingency table below demonstrates behaviourial response of the consumers towards the different tea brands.

Popularity of a brand
Brand loyalty
Colour
Price
TOTAL

Society Tea
80
75
60
70
285

Tata Tea
62
50
50
54
216

Brooke Bond
55
34
25
22
136

Loose Tea
50
23
20
20
113

TOTAL
247
182
155
166
750

To test whether the two attributes i.e. behavioural traits are associated while choosing tea brands or not. Let us
formulate the null hypothesis that the attributes are independent.
After calculation 2 calculated is 17.56. For 9 d.f the tabulated value of 2 at 5% significane level is 16.92.
Since the observed value of Chi square exceeds the 5% tabulated value, it is significant. We reject the null hypothesis and
conclude that all the behavioural traits that we considered for the study are not independent; i.e. they are associated. It can

Consumer Buying Behaviour in Relation to Consumption of Tea A Study of Pune City

51

further be concluded that while choosing any tea brands from retailer outlets all these attributes plays an imperative role in
taking a decision for selection of any brands.
Since all these attributes are closely associated while choosing any particular tea brand the degree of correlation
among the attributes and particular tea brand is also very high. From the above analysis it can be easily predicted that
consumer buying behaviour positively depends on various related behavioural traits.
Graphical representation of attributes and the different tea brands is shown below.

Further study is done to find out the most suitable attribute that dominates the decision making of the consumer
while selecting particular tea brand. Parametric method of estimation is used to study the trend analysis using SPSS
considering different brands and the attributes that affects the purchase of the brands.
Model is primed for studying the predictive ability of the attributes like popularity, loyalty, colour and price.
Exponential model is applied for the study and the summary for all the attributes is listed in the table below and
represented in graphs.
Exponential Model uses an increasing or decreasing curve rather than a straight line. An exponential model is
useful when it is known that there is, or has been , increasing growth or decline over per unit time and its equation is given
as Yt = abt.
Though this is a non linear form which can linearized by taking logarithmic transformation log (Yt) = log (a) +t
log (b) or Yt = A+ Bt [where A = log (a) and B= log (b)] which is a linear form and parameters A, B can be estimated by
using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique.
Model Summary
Model
Exponential

Attributes
Popularity of a brand
Loyalty
Colour
Price

R2
0.944
1.00
0.943
0.907

Adjusted R2
0.916
1.00
0.914
0.861

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Munmun Ghosh & Arindam Ghosh

The graphical representation above shows the observed value (the dots) and the fitted value. Exponential trend
model is considered for the analysis. From the graphical representation as well as from the value of R 2 and adjusted
R2shown in the table it can be clearly predicted that out all these four attributes the most dominating attribute that governs
the consumer buying behaviour is the brand loyalty followed by popularity of the brand, colour and lastly the price. It
indicates that while purchasing tea the consumer will firstly prefer the brand which he/she is consuming from long time.
The popularity of the brand, price etc will not influence his preference or his/ her loyalty towards that brand.
The present paper evidently describe the close association of behavioural attributes with consumer buying
behaviour and also establishes the fact that brand loyalty is the dominating attribute that governs the decision making of the
consumer while selecting particular tea brand. Despite of many popular brands available in the market, lucrative offers and
attractive advertisement consumers remains loyal to their preferred brand and interestingly factor like price in addition
didnt affect their preference.

CONCLUSIONS
Tea is a popular beverage and due to its extensive consumption worldwide consumer becomes very fussy or
particular about the brand and quality of the tea. The consciousness about the beverage quality adds to many factors like
popularity of the tea brand, colour, aroma, price etc. The entire study is made to find out whether all these factors like

Consumer Buying Behaviour in Relation to Consumption of Tea A Study of Pune City

53

popularity of particular tea brand, colour, aroma, price and brand loyalty really influences tea consumption behaviour of a
consumer. All these attributes/traits are highly responsible with tea consumption. Our study proves that while considering a
particular tea brand things like popularity of a particular tea brand, loyalty towards specific brand and other qualitative
factors like colour, aroma etc are associated while choosing that particular brand. A consumer depends totally on these
entire factors for choosing a specific brand of his/her need. The extensive study is done different regions of Pune city and a
clear conclusion can be drawn from the statistical analysis that all the behavioural traits highly influence consumers tea
consumption behaviour. This study also justifies a close association of consumer behaviour with consumption pattern. The
primary survey portrays significantly how attributes like brand loyalty exists supremely in consumer and the study also
depicts brand loyalty as the dominating attributes amongst all. Overall the study illustrates a clear insight in the area of
consumer buying behaviour.

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