Identification of Secondary Factors

that Influence Consumers Buying

Behavior for Soaps and Chocolates
Manoj Patwardhan*, Preeti Flora**
and Amit Gupta***
Consumer behavior analysis is based on consumers buying behavior. It aims at improving
business performance through an understanding of customers preferences and desires.
In todays world of growing competition where there are numerous brands selling the
same products, consumers have an abundant number of choices and many diverse factors
influence their buying behavior. In such a scenario, this analysis can help in structuring
and formulating different strategies for maximizing profit. This study made an attempt
to find the factors affecting consumers buying behavior, with the focus on two commonly
used products (soaps and chocolates). These factors are based on certain variables used
in the survey. These variables were aimed at identifying the secondary factors that
influenced the choice of soaps/chocolates at the point of purchase or due to other contextual
reasons. The variables include packaging, cost, availability, ingredients, product
popularity, etc., that influence the choice of a brand from among those in the consideration
list, but may not be the most important and primary determinants for shortlisting
brands. The study is useful to the marketers as they can create various marketing
programs that they believe will be of interest to the consumers. It can also boost their
marketing strategy.

Introduction
Consumer is a person who buys or uses
things (goods) or services. Marketers are the
persons who provide these services. The
most challenging questions for marketers are
why buyers do what they do (or dont do).
Such knowledge is critical for marketers,
since having a strong understanding of

buyers behavior will shed light on what is

important for the consumer and also suggest
the important influences on consumer
decision-making. Factors affecting
consumers buying decisions are extremely
complex. It is deeply rooted in psychology
with dashes of sociology thrown in just to
make things more interesting. It explains

About the Authors

*

Assistant Professor, ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, 18, Geeta
Colony, Dal Bazar, Lashkar, Gwalior 474009, Madhya Pradesh, India. E-mail: [email protected]

* * Student, ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, 36/3, Type V, Defence
Colony, Gandhinagar, Gwalior 474001, Madhya Pradesh, India; and is the corresponding author.
E-mail: [email protected]
***Student, ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Sector 7,
Quarter No. 891, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi 110017, India. E-mail: [email protected]
Identification
of Rights
Secondary
Factors that Influence Consumers Buying Behavior
2010 IUP. All
Reserved.
for Soaps and Chocolates

55

the influences on the consumer from groups

such as family, friends and society in
general. Consumers buying behavior result
from deeply held values and attitudes, their
perception of the world, their place in it,
from common sense, from impulse or just
plain take. Consumers mainly face two
types of purchase decisions: New Purchase
these purchases are very difficult to be
made by consumer due to lack of confidence
in decision-making; and Repurchase
consumer feels confident in making these
decisions since they have previous
experience in purchasing the product. Lets
examine the process of how a consumer
takes buying decision (Figure 1).

(i.e., brands). The purchase decision may

provide three possibilities to a consumer:
from whom to buy, when to buy and also
not to buy. In many cases the solution
chosen by the consumer is the same as the
product whose evaluation is the highest.
A favorable post-purchase evaluation of the
product leads to consumer satisfaction.
If the product performs below the
consumers expectation, then he/she will
reevaluate satisfaction with the decision,
which at its extreme may result in the
consumer returning the product. When the
consumer is satisfied with the products
performance, repeat purchase is more likely
(Szymanski and Hernard, 2001).

Figure 1: Processes of a Consumers Buying Decision

Need
Recognition

Search for
Information

Evaluation
of
Alternatives

The importance of each step might vary

depending on the circumstances
surrounding the purchase. Consumers
decision-making process begins when buyer
realizes his/her unsatisfied need, want or
desire. Needs may be functional or
psychological in nature, and retailers are
often trying to satisfy psychological needs
as much as functional ones (Babin et al.,
1994). Consumers are motivated to satisfy
their needs, they will next undertake a
search for information on possible
solutions. Consumers search efforts may
result in a set of options from which a
choice can be made. There might be two
levels to this stage. At level one, the
consumer may create a set of possible
solutions to their needs (i.e., product types)
while at second level the consumer may be
evaluating
particular
products
56

Purchase
Action

PostPurchase
Evaluation

Factors Influencing Consumer

Decision-Making Process
Consumers decision-making process is
influenced by many factors such as cultural,
social, personal and psychological.
Cultural factors exert the broadest and
deepest influence on consumer behavior.
It represents beliefs and, in many cases, we
learn to act by interacting or observing
other members of society. Consumer buying
process offers two useful perspectives: the
decision-making process associated with
consumer buying and the factors which
affect the buying process (Rowley, 1997).
The author further stated that the
consumers buying process can be divided
into personal, psychological and social and
cultural factors. The social factors, such
as consumers small groups, family,
reference group, social roles and status can

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

affect consumer responses and influence

their buying behavior. Personal factors
such as age, lifecycle stage, occupation,
education and economic situation, and
Psychological factors such as, motivation,
perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes
and personality, also play major roles in
consumer decision-making process. The
marketing programs often have a
considerable amount of influence on
consumers buying decision. It sometimes
becomes irrelevant for consumers to think
about the quality of the product when they
are so influenced by its marketing:
Customer satisfaction is the major aim of
the marketing concept (Dibb et al., 1994).
Consumers buying behavior can be broadly
classified into four main categories.
Consumers engage in Complex Buying
Behavior when they are highly involved
in a purchase and are aware of significant
differences among brands. This is usually
the case when the product is expensive,
bought infrequently, risky and highly
self-expressive. Dissonance-Reducing
Buyer Behavior is observed when the
consumer is highly involved in a purchase
but sees little difference in brands. In this
case, the buyer will shop around to learn
what is available but will buy fairly quickly,
perhaps responding primarily to a good
price or to purchase convenience. After the
purchase, the consumer might experience
dissonance that stems from noticing certain
disquieting features or hearing favorable
things about other brands. In Habitual
Buying Behavior products are brought
under the conditions of low involvement
and the absence of significant brand
differences, e.g., salt. Consumers have little
involvement in this product categor y.
Variety Seeking Buying Behavior involves

buying situations, characterized by low

involvement but significant brand
differences. Here consumers often do a lot
of brand switching for the sake of variety
rather than dissatisfaction.

Objectives of the Study

The Objectives of the Study are as follows:
To study the existing literature on
factors affecting consumers buying
behavior.
To find out various factors that
affect consumers decision-making
process, and
To find out the association among
the various factors.

Review of Literature
The consumer decision-making process is
important in determining purchase
behavior. In order to offer an effective
service, it is important to identify consumer
segments, taking into account the benefits
which the consumer seeks. Consumers seek
benefits or solutions, not products (Rowley,
1997). When they buy a product, whether
it is a good or a service, they buy a cluster
of product features, but may want only one
or two of these features. The main reason
behind consumers search is uncertainty.
Consumer information search has been the
focus of many articles studying consumer
behavior during the last 30 years (Bettman,
1979). Various studies have provided
information about the measures of
compulsivity, which helps in analyzing
compulsive buying tendencies of
consumers. Faber and OGuinn T C (1992)
reported a seven-items scale and assessed
its reliability and validity. An earlier version

Identification of Secondary Factors that Influence Consumers Buying Behavior

for Soaps and Chocolates

57

of this scale used a subset of three items

(Faber and OGuinn, 1989b) while, Faber
and OGuinn (1989a) used a superset of
15 items to operational compulsivity. The
second approach (Youn and Faber, 2000)
mainly used a nine-item scale, earlier
developed by Rook and Fisher (1995).
Thus compulsive buying is a ver y
important aspect in consumers behavior
research. It has been defined as chronic,
repetitive purchasing, that becomes a
primary response to negative events or
feeling (Faber and OGuinn, 1992).
Previous studies in this area have
highlighted the fact that compulsive buyers
tend to have a lower self-esteem, a higher
level of tendency to fantasize, and a higher
level of depression anxiety, and obsession,
as compared to other consumers (Faber and
OGuinn, 1989b). Furst et al. (1996)
reported human food choice as one of the
basic and common components among
consumers but is also one of the most
complex function having multitude of
influences. Consumers appear to have
much more pragmatic considerations in
mind when making their food choice
decisions. These considerations include
sensory aspects of food (e.g., taste and
quality) (Powell et al., 2003) along with
the influence of non-food effects (e.g.,
cognitive information, the physical
environment, social factors) (Rozin and
Tuorila, 1993; and Bell and Meiselman,
1995). Quality and safety are thus two very
important elements in consumers food
perception and decision-making associated
with food choice (Grunert, 2005).
Consumers purchasing decisions are
normally based on their own perception
and representations of quality and safety.
However, quality and safety are the
concepts that cannot be easily defined,
58

because they are classified as credence

attributes (i.e., product attributes that
cannot be verified by the consumer).
Consumers are most likely to derive quality
or safety perceptions from other product
cues, either intrinsic (e.g., appearance of
the product) or extrinsic cues (e.g.,
a quality label) (Nelson, 1970). Hence, it
is quite difficult to analyze and discuss all
the potential determinants of food choice,
because food choice is a very complex issue
in which many factors play a role, including
biological, psychological and cultural
(Frewer and van Trijp, 2007; and Rozin,
2007). In fact, perceptions of food quality
and safety are likely to be influenced by
such psychological and cultural factors
rather than physiological product
experiences alone. Many quantitative and
qualitative researches have addressed
issues
associated
with
cultural
determinants of food choice (Shepherd and
Raats, 2007). It is quite evident from such
studies that while analyzing factors that
influence food choice, it is important to
consider consumers cultural background
(Overby et al., 2004; and Hoogland et al.,
2005). It is believed that people from
different cultural backgrounds have
different perceptions and experiences
related to food (Lennernas et al., 1997).
Hence it can be noticed that some
consumers are more oriented towards food
quality, whereas for others food safety is a
primary concern.
Consumer behavior is also affected by the
socioeconomic conditions of the markets
namely, income, mobility, media access
(Tse et al., 1989). It has been observed that
per capita income and disposable income
indicates the amount of resources consumers
allocate to consumer goods (Johansson and

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

Moinpour, 1977). As more resources

become available, consumers may desire
more emotional image attributes in
products or brand (Kim et al., 2002).
Personal values have been found to be the
underlying determinants of various aspects
of consumer attitude and behavior (Homer
and Kahle, 1988). Thus, values are one of
the most important influential factors that
affect the type of needs consumer tries to
satisfy through purchase and consumption
behaviors (Tse et al., 1989). Brand of a
particular product plays a fundamental
function in consumers perception of a
product. It helps in developing a market
position, prestige and image of the product
and for these reasons the brand constitutes
a mechanism of risk reduction (Aaker,
1996). Hence, selection of brand is another
major constituent of consumer behavior. In
the complex brand selection environment,
which exists today, there has been a widely
reported research work which discusses and
reports that consumers defer product/
brand selection on a variety of factors
(Tversky and Shafir, 1992; and Dhar,
1997). In situations when consumers are
unable to defer the product choice decision,
consumers may experience overload and
anxiety at worst or develop simplifying
decision heuristics to help them make
product choices (Swait and Adamowicz,
2001) at best. Observing the purchase
behavior of unknown or known consumers
(Park and Lessig, 1977) is one such readily
apparent heuristic. This helps in simplifying
consumers decision-making process by
providing information that provides a
source for consumers evaluations,
aspirations, and behavior (Park and
Lessig, 1977). They have explained that
consumers are influenced by others
mainly because of three reasons

informational, utilitarian and value

expressiveness. The source of information
is accepted by the consumer if it enhances
his/her knowledge of the environment or
ability to cope up with some aspects of this
environment e.g., purchasing of product
(Park and Lessig, 1977). This tendency, of
consumers to observe the purchase behavior
of other consumers and to incorporate these
observations while making their own
purchase decisions, is called as the
consumers propensity to observe. It consists
of the direct observation of other consumers,
the indirect observation of other consumers
or both. Direct observation occurs by
watching the actual purchase behavior of
other consumers (Price et al., 1989; and
McGrath and Otnes, 1995) and indirect
observation involves the analysis of trace
evidence of shopping behavior. An
organization which embraces the marketing
concept tries to provide products that
satisfy
consumer
needs
through
co-ordinated sets of activities that also
allow the organization to achieve its goals.

Research Methodology
The investigation used both qualitative
and quantitative research methods. The
initial
quantitative
study
(116
respondents;
58
for
chocolate
questionnaire, and 58 for soap
questionnaire) aimed at identifying the
important variables that drive purchase
behavior across two product categories of
chocolate and soap.
The main research instrument used was a
well structured questionnaire that was
administrated among the respondents
mainly through personal contacts.
Sampling population included the general
public, people from all age groups and

Identification of Secondary Factors that Influence Consumers Buying Behavior

for Soaps and Chocolates

59

different financial backgrounds. It was

found in our study that 70% of the
responses were obtained from people of
moderate family and 30% from elite family
with respect to the per capita income. The
sample frame consisted of people from
different fields. Individual respondents
were the sampling element.
Two different questionnaires were designed,
one for chocolate and one for soap. A total
of 12 statements regarding selection of a
product based on various factors were rated
by respondents according to likert type
scale anchored at each end with,
maximum agreement (valued at 5), and
minimum agreement (valued at 1). The
questionnaire also included two questions
that were used to study the buying style
and the most popular form of media that
affects consumers buying. Some of the
respondents were also interviewed in order
to have an in-depth analysis and find out
the main reasons behind their preferences.
It was assumed that at the point of
purchase, there are a number of secondary
factors which might be in consumers mind
and might prompt the consumer to make
the final choice from among the brands
under consideration. Likewise, the
contents/composition highlighted on the
package may swing the decision in favor of
a particular brand.
The statements used in the questionnaire
and the different variables taken in
accordance to the statements were:
Common statements
questionnaires:

60

in

both

the

My choice of a soap/chocolate is affected

by the advertisements and marketing of
that product. (Advertisement)

Attractive packaging styles of a soap/

chocolate affects = my decision to
buy a particular soap/chocolate.
(Packaging)
My choice of a brand is largely based
on the price of that product.
(Cost Effective)
My choice of a soap/chocolate is
affected by the promotional schemes.
(Schemes)
The popularity of a soap/chocolate
affects my buying decision. (Popularity)
I prefer to choose a product (soap/
chocolate) that I have been using for a
considerable amount of time and do not
prefer to go for new brands or products.
(Usage Period)
My choice of a product is based on the
availability of that particular soap/
chocolate in the market. (Availability)
The ingredients of a soap/chocolate play
a very important role when I choose a
particular soap/chocolate. (Ingredients)
Different statements in soap questionnaire:
I always buy soap according to my skin
type. (Skin Type)
My choice of soap is based on
the demographic considerations.
(Demography)
The fragrance of soap is very important
when I buy a particular brand.
(Fragrance)
I choose a soap according to the seasonal
variation, e.g., preference of a soap with
high moisturizer content in winters.
(Season)
Different statements
questionnaire:

in

chocolate

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

 I get attracted towards the stylish

shapes and designs of the chocolate and
this affects my decision of buying a
particular chocolate. (Shape)

5.5:4.5 (Male:Female). It was also observed

that most of the respondents that were
surveyed belonged to the age group of
19-29 years (Figure 1).

I eat chocolate for energy and

refreshment. (Purpose)

Reliability test was carried out by applying

Cronbachs Alpha method using SPSS
software. The reliability of the chocolate
questionnaire and soap questionnaire was
found to be 0.628 and 0.506, respectively
and numbers of items taken were 12. The
reliability of both the questionnaires was
a bit low that was mainly due to the small
sample size considered in both the
questionnaires and hence was not a major
limitation in carr ying for ward our
research.

I prefer having more chocolates in

winters than in summers. (Season)
My choice of a particular chocolate is
mainly due to the unique taste that it
provides compared to other chocolates
available. (Taste)
In order to conduct the data analysis
Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) was used and the main tools used
for analysis were:
Reliability Test to check the reliability of
questionnaire.
Factor Analysis to know the dominant
factors that emerge during the study.
Correlation Test in order to analyze the
association among different factors.

Chocolate Questionnaire
Findings
It was found in our research that majority
of the customers try new chocolates and

Figure 2: Buying StyleChocolate

Research Findings
Out of the total respondents it was found
that the gender ratio in our research was

1
2
3

Figure 1: Age Group of the Sample

Population

4
5

Above 50

29-39

Under
19

1. Pick up the same product habitually,

2. Choose an advertised brand,

39-49

3. Keep trying new products,

4. Attracted to a brand name, packaging
styles, etc., and
19-29

5. Pay attention to advertisements and

pre-decide about a product before
buying.

Identification of Secondary Factors that Influence Consumers Buying Behavior

for Soaps and Chocolates

61

also get attracted towards brand name,

packaging style, etc. (Figure 2). Whereas
mixed responses were observed in
customers buying style in case of the soap,
most of the customers pick up the same soap
brand habitually and mostly use advertised
brand (Figure 4). Figures 3 and 5 suggest
that consumers buying chocolate and soap
are mostly influenced by advertisements on
television compared to advertisements in
other forms of media.
Hence these above findings clearly indicate
that in both the products, customers mostly
pay attention to advertisements on
television, and thus the marketing of a

Figure 4: Buying StyleSoap

1
2
3
4
5

1. Pick up the same product

habitually,
2. Choose an advertised brand,
3. Keep trying new products,

Figure 3: Response to
advertisementChocolate

4. Attracted to a brand name,

packaging styles, etc., and

1
2
3
4

5. Pay
attention
to
advertisements
and
pre-decide about a product
before buying.

Figure 5: Response to
AdvertisementSoap

5
6
7

1
2
3
4

1. Newspaper

2. Hoardings and Pamphlets

3. Radio
4. Magazine

1. Newspaper
2. Hordings and Pamphlets

5. Internet

3. Radio

6. Television

4. Magazine

7. Cant Say

6. Television

5. Internet
7. Cant Say

62

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

product through television commercials is

ver y important and should be well
structured since it conveys all the
important points about the product.
Factor analysis using principal component
method was applied on the raw score of
data of both the questionnaires separately.
In principal component method all 12
variables were measured on likert scale.
Each respondent scores different sum total
for all 12 variables, the score is averaged
over some common pair of values which
result in linear combination, these values
correspond to the resultant factors. This
method is used to find the corresponding
factors which show the linear combination

contributing towards affecting consumers

buying behavior. Two components in soap
were neglected because of low loading
an d cumulat ive fre que ncy va lue s.
Simil arl y in case of chocolat e one
component was neglected and three
factors were considered. The variables
with significant contribution towards
buying behavior a nd having mut ual
correlation were taken.

Factor Analysis (Soap)

Description
The factor analysis (Soap) (Table 1) suggests
three main factors that influence consumers
buying behavior. They are described below:

Table 1: Factor Analysis (Soap)

Eigenvalue

Factors

Total
1. Attractive Packaging

1.59

% of
Variance
13.17

and Schemes
2. Soaps Composition

3. Seasonal Availability of

3.05

2.075

a Popular Brand

with different variables, single factor

corresponds to unique variables which are
not considered in other factor.
The 12 variables taken were grouped and
four factors were extracted for chocolate
and five for soap through SPSS. There were
five components that emerged in the factor
analysis of soap and out of these five
components, variables with high loading
values and cumulative frequency were
taken in order to find the major factors

25.416

17.301

Variable
Convergence

Loading
Value

Packaging

0.761

Schemes

0.592

Fragrance

0.511

Ingredients

0.480

Skin Type

0.400

Season

0.500

Availability

0.608

Popularity

0.482

Attractive Packaging and Schemes

The packaging of soap seems to play a critical
and significant role in attracting customers.
Also, various kinds of schemes and offers
available with soaps like, buy one get one
free, or any additional products given with
the soap, also influence the customers in
buying a particular soap brand.
Soaps Composition
Composition of soap includes the
ingredients needed in the preparation

Identification of Secondary Factors that Influence Consumers Buying Behavior

for Soaps and Chocolates

63

of soap. It has been observed in our study

that people prefer soap keeping in mind
the nature of their skin, i.e., soft skin,
sensitivity of the skin, oily skin, dry skin,
etc. Customers also look for the ingredients
that are non-toxic and herbal. Customers
like soap with good fragrance and this is
also related to the ingredients required in
the soaps preparation.

Stylish Shape and Composition

Seasonal Availability of Popular Soap Brand

Seasonal Popularity

This factor combines three variables

seasonal change, availability and products
popularity. It has been found in our research
that consumers are more inclined towards
buying popular brands. Seasonal change is
an important factor when an individual
buys soap. In winters people usually prefer
soap with moisturizers while in summer they
look for mild soaps. Availability of soap is
also an important factor in analyzing
consumers buying behavior.

This factor points to the fact that

consumption of chocolate varies according
to the season and popularity of a particular
chocolate brand.

Factor Analysis (Chocolate)

Description
The factor analysis (Chocolate) (Table 2)
gives three main factors that has an impact
on consumers buying behavior. They are
described below:

Chocolate is a product that is often

consumed by people, especially kids.
Hence, customers are ver y particular
about the ingredients of the chocolate,
for instance, dry fruits, cream, wine, etc.
It has been observed in our research that
different shapes and designs of chocolate
influence customers.

Chocolate Affinity
Consumers reach to the product decides
the product affinity. This also includes
product price which should be within
consumer budget and products effect on
consumer health after consumption.
Chocolate is an instant energy supplier,
hence the preference of many sportspersons.
In order to find out the common association
among Independent Variables (IV) and
Dependent Variables (DV), the data was
subjected to Pearson Correlation Analysis
using SPSS. Here Buying Behavior was

Table 2: Factor Analysis (Chocolate)

Eigenvalue
Factors
1. Stylish Shape and

Total
2.041

% of
Variance
17.006

Composition
2. Seasonal Popularity
3. Chocolate Affinity

64

1.605
1.426

13.373
11.882

Variable
Convergence

Loading
Value

Ingredients

0.601

Taste

0.391

Shape

0.490

Season

0.571

Popularity

0.541

Cost

0.468

Purpose

0.455

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

Identification of Secondary Factors that Influence Consumers Buying Behavior

for Soaps and Chocolates

65

0.158

0.007
0.209
0.059
0.099

0.276*
0.212
0.243

0.332*
0.118

PP (PC)

SC (PC)

CT (PC)

PA (PC)

CE (PC)

CI (PC)

PBC (PC)

PS (PC)

BP (PC)

CS (PC)
0.113

0.196

0.219

0.137

0.218

0.114

0.118

0.102

0.004

0.166

0.220

0.276*

0.029

0.113

0.164

0.245

0.082

0.004

0.160

0.077

0.166

0.158

PP

0.232

0.052

0.113

0.124

0.106

0.216

0.079

0.155

0.077

0.004

0.007

SC

0.256

0.111

0.180

0.232

0.074

0.235

0.166

0.155

0.160

0.102

0.209

CT

0.057

0.122

0.048

0.032

0.224

0.020

0.166

0.079

0.004

0.118

0.059

PA

0.179

0.000

0.140

0.044

0.007

0.020

0.235

0.216

0.082

0.114

0.099

CE

0.050

0.278*

0.107

0.044

0.032

0.232

0.124

0.164

0.137

0.212

PBC

0.119 0.340**

0.486**

0.144

0.107

0.007

0.224

0.074

0.106

0.245

0.218

0.276*

CI

0.000

0.122

0.111

0.052

0.029

0.196

0.332*

BP

0.012

0.396**

0.278*

0.119

0.179

0.057

0.256

0.232

0.276*

0.113

0.118

CS

0.165

0.396**

0.165

0.012

0.050 0.340**

0.144 0.486**

0.140

0.048

0.180

0.113

0.113

0.219

0.243

PS

BB

0.311*

0.292*

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Note: Where, CP = Consumption Period, PP = Product Packaging, PBC = Purpose of Buying Chocolates, BP = Brand Popularity, A = Advertisement,
PA = Product Availability, SC = Seasonal Change, PS = Promotional Schemes, CS = Chocolate Shape, CE = Cost Effective, CT = Chocolate
Taste, CI = Chocolate Ingredients, BB = Buying Behavior, are the different variables used; PC = Pearsons Correlation.

0.112 0.450**

0.226 0.455**

0.101 0.446**

0.196 0.519**

0.242 0.514**

0.108

0.196 0.348**

0.257 0.555**

0.001

0.177 0.456**

0.096 0.411**

0.002 0.521**

PR

0.521** 0.411** 0.456** 0.311* 0.555** 0.348** 0.292* 0.514** 0.519** 0.446** 0.455** 0.450** 0.373**

0.220

A (PC)

BB (PC)

CP (PC)

CP

Table 3: Correlation Table for Chocolate Variables

66

Table 4: Correlation Table for Soap Variables

CP

ST

0.041

0.242

0.045

0.290* 0.096

A (PC)

0.041

0.046

0.320*

ST (PC)

0.242

0.046

P (PC)

0.045

0.320*

F (PC)

0.290* 0.079

CP (PC)

SC

PA

CE

SI

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

PS

BP

PR

BB

0.038 0.373** 0.122

0.223

0.084

0.151

0.069

0.228

0.079 0.001

0.135 0.134

0.271*

0.043

0.222

0.134

0.244 0.351**

0.245

0.184 0.069

0.045 0.221

0.159

0.065

0.180

0.012 0.346**

0.245

0.284* 0.069

0.033 0.043

0.252 0.362** 0.334* 0.375**

0.058

0.184

0.284*

0.017

0.047

0.147

0.171

0.136

0.219

0.247

0.276* 0.404**

0.224
0.547**

SC (PC)

0.096

0.001

0.069

0.069

0.017

0.041

0.072

0.183

0.224

0.036

0.225

0.174

0.439**

PA (PC)

0.038

0.135

0.045

0.033

0.047

0.041

0.085

0.166

0.080

0.113

0.006

0.047

0.306*

CE (PC)

0.373** 0.134

0.221

0.043

0.147

0.072

0.085

0.039

0.139

0.157

0.110

0.117

0.338**

SI (PC)

0.122

0.271*

0.159

0.252

0.171

0.183

0.166 0.039

0.020

0.028

0.049

0.121

0.456**

D (PC)

0.223

0.043

0.065 0.362**

0.136

0.224

0.080

0.139

0.020

0.188

0.210

0.027 0.514**

PS (PC)

0.084

0.222

0.180

0.334*

0.219

0.036

0.113 0.157

0.028

0.188

0.211

0.178 0.374**

BP (PC)

0.151

0.134

0.012 0.375**

0.247

0.225

0.006 0.110

0.049

0.210

0.211

0.270* 0.483**

BB (PC)

0.228

0.351**

0.224

0.547** 0.404** 0.439**

.306* 0.338** 0.456** 0.514** 0.374** 0.483** 0.316*

Note: Where, CPF = Consumption Period or Frequency, P = Packaging, BP = Brand Popularity, A = Advertisement, PA = Product Availability,
ST = Skin Type, F = Fragrance, SC = Seasonal Change, PS = Promotional Schemes, CE = Cost Effective, SI = Soap Ingredients,
D = Demography, BB = Buying Behavior, are the different variables used; PC = Pearsons Correlation.
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

taken as the DV and all other variables

were IV. Buying behavior was the variable
taken by considering all the responses of
the respondents in case of both soap and
chocolate. Hence this variable was taken
as the DV.
It was observed in case of Chocolate
Variables Correlation Analysis (Table 3)
that Packaging (0.456), Taste (0.555),
Ingredients (0.514), Purpose (0.519),
Consumption Period (0.521) have shown
a high significance with Consumers Buying
Behavior. A considerable amount of
significance was also observed between
Popularity (0.455), Ingredients (0.486)
and Schemes (0.396) of the product.
In Soap Variables Correlation Analysis
(Table 4) a high correlation was observed
between
Packaging
(0.547)
and
Demography (0.514) with Buying
Behavior. Correlation was also significant
between Fragrance (0.404), Season
(0.439), Ingredients (0.456) and
Popularity (0.483) with Buying Behavior.

Discussion
The world loves chocolate and UK market
alone constitutes approximately 3.6 bn
of chocolate consumption per year. There
is thus some truth in a popular remark like,
Nine out of 10 people like chocolate. The
tenth person always lies, or Chocolate
makes ever yone smileeven bankers
(Doherty and Tranchell, 2007). Chocolate
affinity factor combines the cost and
purpose due to which consumers buy a
particular chocolate; it has emerged out to
be one of the important factors that affect
consumers buying behavior. This is well
supported by the research work conducted
in 2007 by Doherty and Tranchell that
suggests chocolate affinity to be absolute

in UK. The study conducted by Vreeland

(2000) points to the fact that chocolate
prices also influence consumer behavior.
Consumer price behavior also appears to
be affected by different degrees of purchase
involvement (Richins and Bloch, 1986).
These research reports support our research
work where product cost in the factor
chocolate affinity was found to be a major
contributing factor for influencing
consumer towards a product.
Doherty and Tranchell (2007) study also
concludes that chocolate popularity leads
to 3.6 bn of chocolate consumption per
year, which is quite significant as compared
to any other FMCG product consumption
in UK. A research done by Vrontis and
Vignali (2001) shows that there is a
considerable seasonal variation in the
consumption of chocolate. This is in
accordance with our observation that
consumption of chocolate is high in a
particular season (like consumption of
chocolates is more in winters than in
summers).
Another major factor that affects
consumers buying behavior according to
our study is the attractive look of the
product which particularly attracts
children, and the ingredient of chocolate.
In many research findings product quality
has been portrayed in terms of product
design or shape of the product and
customer requirements (Flynn et al., 1994).
It has been found in our study that shape
and design of chocolate attract consumer.
Composition of a chocolate includes the
various ingredients that are used in the
preparation of a chocolate and are a major
contributing factor towards the taste of the
chocolate. In our study this is an important
factor, as different customers have different

Identification of Secondary Factors that Influence Consumers Buying Behavior

for Soaps and Chocolates

67

likings and preferences. Some people might

prefer dark chocolates with high cocoa
content, whereas others go for chocolates
with more milk and nuts. Children are
mostly fascinated by the different shapes
and sizes of chocolates. Vrontis and Vignali
(2001) reported a very interesting study
related to Cadbury Dairy Milk, UK which
revealed that based on the report, analysis
and market analysis of PEST (Political,
Economical, Social, and Technological), it
has been established that chocolate
ingredients and chocolate cost are among
the major consideration factors for
consumer, before buying chocolate. Our
research also supports these conclusions and
suggests that chocolate ingredients and
chocolate cost are correlated with the
study reported by Vrontis and Vignali
(2001). In the correlation analysis also
chocolate ingredients have shown a very
high correlation with buying behavior.
Soaps ingredients are also another
consideration in analyzing consumers
buying behavior, and it has been regarded
as the key strategic component of
competitive advantage and, therefore, the
enhancement of product quality is of
prime concern to various firms and the
management according to literature (Daniel
et al., 1995 and Flynn et al., 1995). The
improvement in the quality of a product is
directly related to the changes made in the
ingredients of the product in order to refine
it. Ingredients of both soap and chocolate
have also shown a correlation with buying
behavior in the correlation analysis.
In a research conducted by Shukla (2004),
it was found that only 4.32% of the
customers are not satisfied with their
present soap brand. These findings point
that most of the customers buy popular
68

soap brand and does not try out new

brands as the satisfaction level with the
present brand is quite high. These results
support our work where availability of a
popular soap brand emerged out to be one
of the important factors affecting consumer
buying behavior.
The finding of Wood (2007) suggests that
soap purchase is based on several influences
like choosing a scent in soap or a particular
fragrance, additionally, needs in terms of
moisturizing (or protecting from allergic
reactions), for example, can be highly
individual. These results support our
research findings as soaps fragrance, and
ingredients have an influence on customers
mind when he/she buys a particular soap
and these points are also evident in our
factor analysis results. Ingredients of soap
are thus very important as it affects the
fragrance of soap and also make it suitable
to be used by customers with different
requirements according to their skin type.
Consumers also get attracted towards good
packaging and its attractive style. Thus,
packaging has become one of the important
factors in our research which attracts a
consumer towards a particular brand of
soap. In correlation analysis also a high
correlation is observed between buying
behavior and packaging of a product in case
of both soap and chocolate. Previous
studies suggest that advantages can be
gained through the use of visual imagery
and celebrity endorsement on packaging
(Underwood et al., 2001). These works
support our findings that product schemes
like buy one get one free and packaging
affect consumers buying behavior. Also the
designing packages with product images are
found to gain attention for brands, increase
the likelihood of entering the consumers

The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 2010

consideration set, to create more enjoyable

aesthetic experiences for the consumer and
thus create more positive overall
impressions of the product ( Underwood et
al., 2001; and Underwood and Klein,
2002).

Implication and Limitations

The present study was conducted in
Gwalior City, India, where average family
expenditure is moderate. The study suggests
that consumer buying characteristics are
governed by a number of diverse factors
which include both internal and external
factors. The observations from the study
are ubiquitous in nature with similar
inference being drawn by others. Few
common characteristics include availability
of products to consumer, caution and
concern shown by the consumer for product
ingredients, budget compatibility of
consumer like cost of product, fragrance,
shape and seasonal variation and
advertisement.
The study also has some limitations like,
city doesnt have a very high standard of
living, products are not much advertised,
and above all consumer has very limited
choice for making comparison as it takes
time for the new products to reach this
city. It can also be concluded from the
study that most of the consumers in this
city lack proper understanding of the
product an d decision-m aking sk ill s.
An other major lim ita tion in t he
questionnaire survey includes low sample
size (n = 58).

product past history, ingredients, cost,

availability, packaging, fragrance and its
popularity, etc., there are few which are
significantly more critical like composition
of the product, attractive packaging style
and overall look of the product. We assume
that these factors may be the secondary
determinant factors which may influence
the choice of a brand from among those in
the consideration list in consumers mind,
but may not be the most important and
primar y determinants for shortlisting
brands. It can also be suggested that media
publicity, particularly in the electronic
media, plays a significant role in
influencing consumers mind. J

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