SARASWATI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,

Department of Master of Management Studies

Research Methodology Project

Title: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE OF PARLE-G

Guided By: Priyadarshani Poddar
Date: 22-02-2010 Mohd. Farhan Ansari – 02

Abstract: Parle-G or Parle Glucose biscuits are one of the most popular confectionary biscuits in
India. For decades, the product was instantly recognized by its iconic white and yellow wax paper
wrapper with the depiction of a young girl covering the front. The Objective of the Research is to find
out the preference of people in Glucose biscuit also to know “Why the Parle-G is no. 1 in glucose
biscuits segments”. Our Research goal is to study about the attributes which make Parle-G no.1
biscuits in glucose biscuits segment, for which we have made a questionnaire and selected a sample
size of 30 people that is a sampling base technique for which we have set a questionnaire of 16
questions which is done on the basis of structured (closed ended) interview and also to find out which
factors affect the growth of Parle-G. The Probable out come is that the three major attributes which
influence the position of the biscuit in the market were Quality, Price and Distribution of the biscuit.

Key Words: SPSS Software;

Introduction

In our research we targeted to study the problem i.e. – “Why the Parle-G is no. 1 in glucose
biscuits segments” which formulation is related to relationship between variables like Why people
buy Parle-G, Do ads impact in consumption of consumer. Various people have various reasons
to consume it, some consume it for the value it offers while others consume it for sheer taste, and for
some it is a meal substitute for others it is a tasty healthy nourishing snack. Campaign that was
launched by Parle for Parle-G was - ’G’ means “GENIUS”. For this a series of ads were shown in
which a little kid eats Parle G and tricks the wise and experienced people. Just a few months back a
reminder TV commercial was launched for Parle-G where the product is being called ‘Hindustan ki
takat’

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Background Information:

About Parle

Parle Products has been India's largest manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery, for almost
80 years. Makers of the world's largest selling biscuit, Parle-G, and a host of other very popular
brands, the Parle name symbolizes quality, nutrition and great taste. With a reach spanning even the
remotest villages of India, the company has definitely come a very long way since its inception.

Many of the Parle products - biscuits or confectioneries, are market leaders in their category and have
won acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971. With a 40% share of the total biscuit market and a
15% share of the total confectionary market in India, Parle has grown to become a multi-million dollar
company. While to consumers it's a beacon of faith and trust, competitors look upon Parle as an
example of marketing brilliance.

About Parle-G

Parle-G or Parle Glucose biscuits are one of the most popular confectionary biscuits in India.
Parle-G is one of the oldest brand names in India and is the largest selling brand of biscuits in India.
For decades, the product was instantly recognized by its iconic white and yellow wax paper wrapper
with the depiction of a young girl covering the front. Many counterfeit companies have attempted to
recreate and sell lower quality products of similar names and virtually identical package design.

There was a time when Parle-G’s dominance was threatened by rival brands, especially the Tiger
brand from Britannia.

The company's slogan is popular among the Indian consumer population, reading G means Genius.
The name, "Parle-G", is derived from the name of the Indian rail station, Vile Parle, where the Parle
production factory is based.

The biggest concern is that the brand shouldn’t become outdated as it is a historic brand. The brand
has managed to retain its leadership position because it has evolved its campaign with every
consumption trend.

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Research Goal:

Our Research goal is to study about the attributes which make Parle-G no.1 biscuits in glucose
biscuits segment, for which we have made a questionnaire and selected a sample size of 30 people
that is a sampling base technique for which we have set a questionnaire of 16 questions which is
done on the basis of structured (closed ended) interview and also to find out which factors affect the
growth of Parle-G that can be seen in the following PLC below:

Maturity
Decline
Growth
Introduction Sales

Profits

We also studied the consumer behavior

In India it is a habit to have biscuits along with chai or tea - Parle G is referred to as "biskut" in rural
areas - thus when asked for biskut to a shopkeeper it simply means Parle-G biscuit in rural areas.

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Understanding consumer behavior is tedious. The study of consumer behavior includes the knowledge
about the consumer, his buying motives & buying habits. Keeping all this in mind, the factors
influencing the buying behaviour of consumers are:

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 Preliminary Details

Unstructured and Structured interview:

A major decision area in question design is the degree and the form of structure imposed on the
respondent. The various strategic offer options that includes unstructured response (or open-ended
response, the free choice of words) and structured response (or closed response, specified
alternatives provided). Close responses typically are categorized as multiple- choice, checklist, rating,
or ranking response strategies.

We have selected the structured interview for our questionnaire because that gives the choice to the
respondent and it is convenient for them to reply.

We have categorized our questionnaire as:

Multiple Choices: Multiple-choice questions are appropriate where there are more than two
alternatives or where we seek gradation of preference, interest, or agreement.

Rating question: Rating questions ask the respondent to position each factor on a companion scale,
verbal, numeric, or graphic.

Likert Scale is the most frequently used variation of the Summarized rating scale. Summarized
scale consists of statements that express either a favorable or unfavorable attitude towards the object
of interest. We had asked the respondent to give their opinion about various attributes of Parle-G

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Literature survey:

The literature review or survey section examines recent (or historically significant) research
studies, company data, or industry reports that act as a basis for the proposed study. Research
related literature and related secondary data from a comprehensive perspective, moving to more
specific studies that are associated with our study.

The literature review helps us to understand the need for the proposed work to appraise the
shortcomings and/or informational gap in secondary data sources. This analysis may go beyond
scrutinizing the availability or conclusion of past studies and their data, to examine the accuracy of
secondary sources, the credibility of these sources, and the appropriateness of earlier studies.

The literature review is basically a secondary data that we have gathered from the web site of
Parle-G, mouthshut.com and various other sources which specified that the Parle-G is Number 1 in
glucose biscuits Segment. On the basis of this secondary data we began our research. The opinion
given by the people on mouth shut .com was totally favoring our study.

Hypothesis Formulated:

Once a researcher knows what his problem is, he can make a guess or number of guesses.
The guess which researcher makes is the hypotheses which either solve the problem or guide him in
further investigation or research.

If the hypothesis is proved, the solution can be found. If it is not proved, alternative hypotheses
need to be formulated and tested. In our situation that as per the secondary data it is shows that
Parle-G is no. 1in glucose biscuits segment is our problem which we need to study. The hypothesis
for our survey have been formulated as follows:

H0: There is no reason for Parle-G being number one in the glucose biscuit segment.
H1: There is a reason for Parle-G being number one in the glucose biscuit segment and we
need to find out the reason for it.

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 Research Design

Type and Nature of the Study:

The hypothesis that we want to study wants to find why is Parle-G number one glucose biscuit.
This has made the research base to be cause and effect oriented. The problem was taken in to
consideration looking at the data available on the consumption pattern of glucose biscuit. The data
showed 65% of glucose biscuit market share is owned by Parle-G.

The consumption trends were also observed among the population surrounding us and online
portals. The cause for this affection towards biscuit was not known hence the study stresses on the
causes of why is this biscuit number one. The question designing was mostly kept closed ended with
question targeting at the performance, conformance, aesthetics and reliability of the product. The
product under consideration has no segment and is targeted at population in general without
differentiating its consumers.

Sample Design:

The sample to be chosen was people who have consumed Parle-G biscuits and there was no
other criterion. The sampling technique used in this case was convenient sampling. The chances of
errors were less, for the data, due to commonality of the product and positive response of each of the
respondent. Also the data to be collected was of type which could be answered by anyone who eats
biscuit. The sample contained male and females both, across all ages. There was no duplication of
the sample as all the samples were from different areas which were in the proximity of the interviewer.

The sample was up to date and the study was conducted recently and hence the data was
relevant for the current timing. The method of sampling was random and hence probabilistic. The
sample size also is not true representation of the population under consideration but an experimental
sample of population. The numbers of samples were minimum 30 due to limitation on time bases and
cost of research.

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Data Collection Method:

The data was collected from different sources and of different types. The initial study of the
product was done online and the data collected for it was from the companies website
“www.parle.com“. Some secondary data was collected from web site “www.mouthshut.com”. This site
gave opinions from different people.

The data collected from this source was passive and it just gave a small insight in to the
products favoritism among the people. The primary data was collected by questionnaire method
where the questions were closed ended as the sample size was greater and analysis of the study
would become easier owing to the definite replies for the questions.

Data Analytic Techniques Used:

For the analysis of the replies the primary data was uploaded on the SPSS software and then
with the help of it graphs and plots were plotted for univariate, bivariate and tirvariate analysis. The
data collected was non-parametric in nature and involved no question which was of the parametric
form and hence mean could not be tested for the sample size.

Analysis Of Data

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Age Group:
The there was no particular age group for consideration and the population studied contained
individuals from all ages. Children belong to age from 5 to 12 years, Teenagers belonged to age from
13 to 22 years, Young working Class included individuals from age 23 to 40 and 40 onwards were
included in experienced working class. The pie chart above shows that the sample size was a good
representative of the actual population which has almost the same demographics.

Hunger satisfaction:
The question was intended to check whether the size of the packaging is according to the
demand for it. It can be seen that
majority of the people belong to
the group who feel that Parle-G can
take care of hunger of a person

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Which attribute is stronger?
Three attributes were tested as to why the biscuit was liked by the individuals. The response
from the survey shows that approximately equal amount of people belonged to each category and it
could be suggested that different individuals liked it for different reasons.

Quality of biscuit:
The survey conducted shows that the respondents were happy with the current quality of the
biscuits. The plot above shows that most of the population falls under the good and Ok category. The
product meets the expectation of the customers

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Quality/ Price/ Availability improvements:

The question targeted was asked to understand what a respondent would do if given a chance
to improve various attributes of the biscuit. It could be seen that 3 attributes were major for success of
the biscuit the quality, price and its distribution channel. The graph above shows that there is a major
concentration in the people who accepted that these attributes were excellent for the product and only
some changes if required should be done. This shows that the biscuit has a superior reach in terms of
the cumulative effect of all these attributes.

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Brand Loyalty:
The question checked out how brand loyal were the respondent in terms of having the biscuit. It
was seen that about 60% of the respondents were not brand loyal and were ready to take any biscuit
if Parle-G was not available to them. This should be the main reason why Parle-g should have a good
distribution channel so that there is no chance given for a competitor to enter into the market. The plot
also shows that not many people are so much specific with what kind of biscuit they eat.

Brand loyalty and Attribute:

A study was done to check whether there was any relation between the attributes and the
brand loyalty for the biscuits. The graph above shows that people who buy the biscuit for taste
majority of them would switch to some other biscuit if the particular biscuit is not available. In case of
the people who buy it for it being cheap it can be seen that more number of people would try going to
some other shop. It shows that people are price cautious in case of buying and also do not want to
invest time in searching for the needed product.

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 Advertisement

Add impact and kind of channel:

The question asked was to check whether the advertisements of the product affect the buying
decision of the people and what kind of add would they prefer. It was seen that most of the people say
that they would prefer T.V. commercials out of the given Medias of advertisements but at the same
time they say that advertisements do not have impact on their buying decision. The company can
hence try to decrease its cost buy reducing the cost on commercials and get the benefits by reducing
the price on the product and increasing reach.

Deviation

Quality and Deviation:

The majority of the people said that the current quality was at par with their expectation. This
was checked whether they have faced any deviation in the quality of the biscuits. It was seen that the
changes observed by the people were very rarely. This must have been due to the cost cutting in the
process, automation or changes in the original recipe with out prior notice but still the number of
people who faced this was minimal.

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 Preference

Preference:
The preference has been checked out between Parle-g and any other biscuit as their first
choice. It can be seen that majority of the people preferred Parle-g as their first choice in selecting the
biscuit. This means that the product has been successfully placed in the minds of the people as their
first choice.

Preference

Preference and Age group:

The study was done to check whether the age group has any effect on the consumption pattern
of the biscuit. It can be seen from the cross tab above that no such relation could be built or found out
from the data collected. The numbers of individuals are distributed evenly on both the sides of
preference the graph for the same is shown below

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 Results of Data Analysis

Hypothesis Substantiated/ Unsubstantiated:

After the analysis of our data we had to reject our null hypothesis. So there was a reason for
the success of Parle-G which helped it to become number one in glucose biscuit segment.

Conclusion:

The three major attributes which influence the position of the biscuit in the market were Quality,
Price and Distribution of the biscuit. Parle-G also enjoys the market share as it is in the market for
more than 60 years hence it has a follow up from different generation. The distribution channels takes
into consideration and see to it that there is no lag in the supply of the biscuits in the market, there
have been lag in supply of competitors biscuit.

The competitors for the biscuit are very recent and have been proved to be no threat till this
point of time. Other companies have come up with glucose biscuits too but they have not been able to
capture the market that successfully. The Quality of the competitor is not up to the mark as compared
to Parle-G. The price is highly competitive in the market and it is the cheapest among all the biscuits
in the glucose biscuit segment. The value for money that people get from Parle-G is much better as
compared to any other biscuit.

Recommendation:
During the study it was seen that people are not influenced by commercials of Parle-G hence
the company can save the cost on promotion and the funds could be used at some other needed
place. This cost reduction can be conveyed to the customer or the profits of the company.

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Limitation of study:

1. The time duration, for which the study was conducted, was less hence the sample size
was restricted to about 30 individuals
2. The cost factor also limited our reach to our vicinity.

References

Bibliography:
1. Research Methodology by N. Thanulingom
2. Research Methodology by C. R. Kothari
3. Methodology of Research in Social Science by Dr. O. R. Krishnaswami

Webliography:
4. www.google.com
5. www.mouthshut.com
6. www.parleproducts.com
7. www.indiainfoline.com
8. www.wikipedia.org

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 Annexure

A
Project Report On
Why Parle – G is No1 in Glucose Biscuts

I am the student of Sarawati College of Engineering Dept.of MMS doing survey for above topic
in the area of Research Methodology under the guidance of Prof. Priyadarshani Poddar.

We request you please answer all the questions up to best of your faith and integrity.

Questionnaire:

1) What is your age?

2) You are (please tick)?

□ Male □ Female

3) You Own
□ 4 wheeler □ 2 wheeler

4) Until now; have you once tested Parle-G

□ Yes □ No

5) How often do you have Parle-G

Very bad Very good

1 2 3 4 5

6) Most of the time you prefer

□ Parle-G □ any other brand

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7) Is one packet of Parle-G (Rs 4-100gm) sufficient to fill your hunger?

Not at all Completely

1 2 3 4 5

8) How do you rate the quality of Parle-G

Very bad Very good

1 2 3 4 5

9) Have you ever faced deviation in quality of biscuits?

Never Often
1 2 3 4 5

10) If yes have you made a complain

□ Yes □ No

11) Why do you prefer Parle-G?

□ Taste □ Glucose □ Cheap

12) Does Advertisement make you feel that you should buy Parle-G?
□ Yes □ No

13) If Parle-G is not available

□ than you buy some other biscuit.

□ try if it is available in other shop

14) Do you think company should change the packaging & color of the cover?
□ Yes □No

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15) What further improvement do you want in Parle-G?

• Quality Lower Higher

1 2 3 4 5

• Price
Lower Higher
1 2 3 4 5

• Availability Lower
1 2 3 4 5
Higher

• Packaging Lower Higher

1 2 3 4 5

• Freshness Lower
1 2 3 4 5
Higher

• Taste Lower Higher

1 2 3 4 5

16) What kind of advertisement you prefer?

□ TV □ Newspaper □ Magazine □ Bill board (outdoors)

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