Marketing Research A&U Study Dr. Humberto Valencia Done by: Rand Amin Shaikha Al Falasi Bisma Omer
The purpose of this project is to find out how Coca Cola Life is doing in Q4 in regards to the level of awareness, trial and purchase intent. Based on these three aspects, we have profiled those who are aware and unaware, those who have tried and have not tried and finally those who are interested in purchasing or not purchasing the product. By doing so, we can see how CC Life has appealed to different people and whether it was successful in terms of awareness, trial and purchase intent. This paper also compares how CC Life is performing in the market compare to Q2. The main findings of this study are that the awareness level among AUS students is 37%, the trial level is 11% and the purchase intent among those aware is 17% and those unaware is 24%. The main insights from this study is that although these levels have increased compared to Q2 they are still significantly low and show a poor market performance. We have also found that taste is one of the major downsides of this product, as majority of students who have tried it did not like it and would not recommend it to their friends. Lastly, there is a negative price effect as students are less likely to purchase the product after finding out the price. Research Methodology We decided that the sample of the survey will only consist of undergraduate students of American University of Sharjah. Since we could not gather the entire undergraduate student’s database, we chose to conduct a non-probability convenience sample. We chose to conduct a quantitative survey research method to gather accurate data. The process started by distributing the survey during different class time. The survey took five days to be conducted. The survey was conducted in all buildings including SBA, library, EB, NAB, CAAD, LAN and ARTS building. We chose to sample students in all buildings and not in dorms to avoid the error of
sampling only on campus students. After collecting the responses, the data was entered into a coding sheet and verified first by the students themselves. Then the survey was validated through the research assistant calling the respondents to check whether the survey was conducted correctly. The sampling errors we took into consideration are graduate students. The population for the survey were 5,500 AUS undergraduate students. The sample was conducted for 1060 undergraduate students. The margin of error we chose is 2.5% since it would be ideal to minimize the risk of errors. The confidence level of 90% was chosen to conduct our survey and for our results to appear on a specific range of values. For data analysis, firstly, descriptive statistics was carried out to summarize responses from large numbers of respondents Such as, average, median, mode, range and standard deviations. These help us understand the entire population of interest. Secondly, cross tabulations were carried out based on the type of variable one of the either two tests were performed chi square test or the t-Test. All of these analyses helped
us answer major questions like; how is Coca Cola Life doing in the market since its launch and its awareness level. Research limitation There were many limitations in our study, some of the major ones will be focused on. Firstly, we had to rely on convenience non-probability sampling instead of probability sampling; due to the fact that we could not acquire the contact details of the 5,500 undergraduate students currently enrolled in the university. Also, another factor is time
and cost, as we cannot include a larger sample because it is costly as well as time consuming to survey 5,500 students in one week. The sample was not good enough because it underrepresented males; females outnumbered males in the study. According to the school’s website male and female ratio is almost 50% (American University of Sharjah, 2017). Furthermore, the class ranks were not balanced. We had more juniors and seniors than freshman and sophomores in our study. We could have avoided it by having more surveys done at the Student Center where most of the freshman and sophomores tend to be at. As having more juniors and seniors in our study is a disadvantage, because they could have caused the experimentation effect. Some of those interviewed might have been also interviewed previously in the spring semester. Therefore, they were already aware of Coca Cola Life through previous interviews done.
Awareness General findings: Awareness level among AUS students is 37% The level of unawareness is 63% 88% of those aware were able to identify the Coca Cola Life can as green and 12% of those aware stated a different color
Aware vs Unaware
Green can recognition 12.00%
37.02% 62.98% 88.00% Awa re
Unawa re
Recogni ze
Not recogni ze
Insights: There is a low awareness rate in AUS therefore promotional campaigns and advertising is needed in order to raise awareness of the product. Majority of those aware were able to recognize the green color, but there was still a percentage that although aware, did not recall the color of the can- this implies that the color is not highly distinctive and not enough to set apart the can from other products.
Profile: Lifestyle: There was a significant relationship between awareness and the following lifestyle variables where p<0.10: 1)Interest in healthy lifestyle: Those who are not aware of Coca Cola Life are more interested in a healthy lifestyle than those who are aware of Coca Cola Life 30% of those aware are interested in a healthy lifestyle 53% of those not aware are interested in a healthy lifestyle 2)Prefer water: Those who are unaware prefer water more than those who are aware of Coca Cola Life 3)Like soft drinks: Those who are aware like soft drinks more than those who are not aware
Awareness Vs. Type of Drink 400
Number of Students
350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
regul a r
zero awa re
ei ther
don’t l i ke
unaware
4) Their opinion on whether Light, Zero or Light soft drinks contain artificial sweeteners:
Those who are aware think that diet products contain artificial sweeteners, whereas those who are not aware have a more neutral opinion to it Insights: Those who are unaware are interested in a healthy lifestyle and this can be explained by the fact that Coca Cola generally has a negative perception when it comes to health, therefore those who are interested in a healthy lifestyle do not familiarize themselves with Coca Cola products to begin with. Nevertheless, CC Life is a relatively healthy product and they should definitely capture that market and make them aware. This means that CC Life should make it clear that they are a healthy alternative. This can be done by promoting the product as a healthy option in advertisements or the packaging can make the fact that it is healthy the most prominent aspect. For instance, on the can, it should be clear that it uses natural sweeteners, or the name itself could be changed to imply that even faster. The product and its’ advertisements could also be placed in areas that healthy people visit like organic stores and gyms. Those who are unaware prefer water over soft drinks and because of this preference it is more likely that their chances of hearing about a soft drink or seeing one is less likely than those who are aware. For instance, they would not go to the soft drink section aisle to see what is available or will not look at the soft drink sections in the menu. Coca Cola Life can make them aware by placing the product near water bottles in stores, or place advertisements near water fridges or vending machines. Those who are aware and like soft drinks has a low average and this portrays the fact that CC Life is failing to make even those who like soft drinks aware of their product. This requires promotions and campaigns because it is very important for CC Life to capture that market. They could place advertisements next to soft drink vending machines and soft drink aisles. Those who are aware think that Cola products contain artificial sweeteners more than those who are unaware and this can be explained by the fact by those who are aware now know that CC Life does not contain artificial sweeteners, therefore concluding that the rest of the Cola products contains. This can give a small idea of where CC Life sales will take a market share from. Those who are unaware are rather neutral about other products containing artificial sweeteners we can make two of the following conclusions o Either those who are unaware do not really care about artificial sweeteners- thus it will be useless to appeal to them with the fact that CC Life does not contain artificial sweeteners o Or their lack of knowledge can be used as an advantage for Coca Cola to educate them and present their competitive advantage o Further research will be needed to accurately determine which conclusion is more accurate Consumption: There was a significant relationship between awareness and the following consumption variable where p<0.10:
1)Type of drink Students were asked which product they consume: Whether it was regular, zero, either or don’t like soft drinks 38% of Regular drinkers are aware 43% of Zero drinkers are aware 39% of either are aware 31% of do not like are aware Out of those aware: o 53% are Regular drinkers o 21% are Zero drinkers o 8% don’t mind either o 17% do not like soft drinkers
Awareness vs Type of Drink Preferred 17 8 53 21
Regul ar
Zero
Ei ther
Don’t l i ke
Number of Students
Awareness Vs. Type of Drink 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
regul ar
zero awa re
ei ther
don’t l i ke
unaware
Insights: The majority of Zero drinkers are aware because they are interested in consuming less calories- this means that CC Life should make it very clear by advertisements and packaging that it does have less calories than other soft drinks. This is a very important selling point that should be emphasized on the packaging and mentioned in promotions.
There are very few “either” drinkers showing how loyal consumers are to their type of drink, proving that it might be difficult for CC Life to switch consumers’ preference, but if they do, then they have locked them down and have created loyal customers.
Demographics: There was a significant relationship between awareness and the following demographic variables where p<0.10: 1)Academic standing 23% of freshmen are aware 30% of sophomores are aware 42% of juniors are aware 46% of seniors are aware Out of those aware o 14% are freshmen o 16% are sophomores o 33% are juniors o 38% are seniors
Awareness vs Academic Standing 13.9
37.5
15.7
32.9 Fres hmen
s ophomore
juni or
2)College 38% of CAAS are aware 36% of CAAD are aware 48% of SBA are aware 27% of CEN are aware From those aware: o 17% are CAAS students o 7% are CAAD students o 45% are SBA students o 30% are CEN students
s eni or
Awareness vs College 17.9 29.6 7.1
45.4 CAAS
CAAD
SBA
CEN
3)Age Those aware are older than those who are unaware Insights: More seniors and juniors are aware of CC Life and this can be explained by the experimentation effect: the fact that they or their friends may have been interviewed before in regard to the Q2 study carried out earlier. It can also be explained by word of mouth, as CC Life is mentioned in upper level courses as business cases. Very few freshmen and sophomores are aware of CC Life and in order to make these students aware, they could place advertisements or sponsor events for freshmen such as orientation events and trips. Majority of SBA students are aware of CC Life and this can also be explained by WOM- as CC Life has been studied in business and business students are more likely to be interested in cases like these- and the experimentation effect. CAAD and CAS have a very low awareness rate and CC Life can spread awareness by hosting competitions for these colleges. For instance, they could host a design competition for their packaging for CAAD students, and host an advertisement or journalism competition for CAS students. Trial General findings: 11% of those who are aware of CC Life have tried it 89% of those who are aware have not tried CC Life 10.6% of the overall sample have tried it 25% of those who tried it liked it 78% of those who tried did not like it The average of those who tried it and would refer it to a friend is 2.36
The average of those who did not try it and would refer it to a friend is 2.82
Tried Vs. Not Tried 11.00%
89.00% tri ed
not tri ed
Tried Vs. Not Tried 11.00%
89.00% tri ed
not tri ed
Insights: The trial rate within those who are aware is low, meaning that although people are aware of the product they have not been inclined to try it. This suggests that CC Life does not provide consumers with an incentive to pick it up and try it. Because there are no advertisements or campaigns, it is fair to say that the majority are aware of it because they have seen it in stores, therefore we can conclude that the packaging of the product does not incentivize consumers to try it. Some factors to take into consideration is the color of the can and whether the name or the can hint anything about the product that makes users want to try it. The most visible things are the name and the color- “Life” and “Green” do not say much to the consumer and are not enough to make them want to try the product. The majority of those who tried the product, did not like it and from that we can conclude that the flavor and taste of CC Life is not doing it any favors and cannot be a selling point unless it is changed. The average of those who are not aware and would recommend it to a friend is higher than the average of those who did try it- this says a lot about the taste of the CC Life as people who aren’t aware are more willing to recommend it to a friend, because they have not tasted it yet. The taste has put off people from recommending it to friends. But, when interviewing those who were unaware, they were given a brief description about how CC Life has less calories and uses natural sweeteners- showing that these are good selling points and are good enough to convince consumers to recommend it to friends.
Profile: Lifestyle: There was a significant relationship between awareness and the following lifestyle variables where p<0.10: 1)Likes soft drinks: Those who have tried CC Life like soft drinks more than those who have not tried it. 2) Their opinion on whether Light, Zero or Light soft drinks contain artificial sweeteners: Those who have tried CC Life think that diet drinks contain artificial sweeteners more than those who have not tried it. Insights: Those who have tried like soft drinks more because they are more likely to try different soft drink products and when shopping they look through the soft drink options. Nevertheless, it is still a low average for trial. This suggests that CC Life needs to stock in more supermarkets and be available on menus at restaurants and cafes, so that those who like soft drinks have a higher chance of seeing and trying the product. CC Life could have free taste tests at supermarkets for everyone to try. They could also provide vouchers for CC Life when purchasing a Cola drink. For instance, when you buy a Regular Cola, you get a free CC Life with it or a voucher. This will motivate those who like soft drinks to try it. Demographics: 1)Age: Those who have tried CC Life are older than those who have not tried it 2)Academic standing: 26% of freshmen tried it 21% of sophomores tried it 23% of juniors tried it 38% of seniors tried it Out of those who tried it: o 13% are freshmen o 12% are sophomores o 26% are juniors o 50% are seniors
Trial Vs. Academic Standing Number of Students
120 100 80 60 40 20 0
fres h
s ophomore tri ed
juni or
s eni or
di dn’t try
3)College: 27% of CAAS tried it 11% of CAAD tried it 37% of SBA tried it 21% of CEN tried it Out of those who tried it: o 17% are CAAS students o 3% are CAAD students o 58% are SBA students o 22% are CEN students
Trial Vs. Academic Standing Number of Students
120 100 80 60 40 20 0
fres h
s ophomore tri ed
o 4)On or off campus: 34% of on campus students tried it 25% of off campus students tried it Out of those who tried it: o 42% are on campus students o 58% are off campus students
di dn’t try
juni or
s eni or
Trial Vs. Academic Standing 120
Number of Students
100 80 60 40 20 0
o
fres h
s ophomore tri ed
juni or
s eni or
di dn’t try
Insights:
The majority of those who tried are seniors. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors have very low trial rates and CC life needs to motivate them to try it. They can do this by having taste tests during orientation for freshmen or serving it as a free beverage in the orientation events. They can also place it in vending machines of buildings that freshmen and sophomores go to for their basic and foundation classes, such as the Sciences, Math and English- such as NAB and LAN. They can place it in a vending machine in the basement of CAAD as that is where freshmen stay in the first year. The lowest trial rates are for CEN and CAAD and CC Life can get them to try by placing it in vending machines in these buildings or having taste tests in these buildings. They can also have free CC life for the events. For instance, CAAD reviews always have drinks and food available, so CC Life could be one of the drinks available. They could also have their drink available in some of the CEN competitions, such as the NGN competition hosted every year. More students on campus have tried it and this can be explained by the fact that CC Life is available in the Student Centre mini mart and the Girls Dorms mini mart. This suggests that CC Life should stock their products in more supermarkets for those who live off campus, and include both large scale stores such as Carrefour and Spinneys and also small-scale supermarkets that are visited frequently by those who live off campus.
Purchase Intent General findings: Aware: o 17% of those aware intend to purchase CC Life o 83% of those aware do not intend to purchase CC Life o The average of purchase intent before knowing the price is 2.06 o The average of purchase intent after knowing the price is 2.05
ď&#x201A;ˇ
Not aware: o 24% of those not aware intend to purchase CC Life o 76% of those not aware do not intend to purchase CC Life o The average of purchase intent before knowing the price is 2.5 o The average of purchase intent after knowing the price is 2.37
Purchase Intent 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%
aware
unware
Price Effect on Purchase Intent 2.8 2.6 2.4 2.2 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0
Aware Before Knowi ng the pri ce
Not awa re After Knowi ng the pri ce
Insights: ď&#x201A;ˇ The purchase intent for those who are unaware of the product is higher than those who are aware, which suggests that when unaware students were given a brief description of CC Life, it gave them a higher motive to buy the product in contrast to those who are aware of it because they have seen it in stores. This means that CC Life should emphasize on the fact that it has fewer calories and uses an organic sweetener. It also suggests that the those who have tried it did not like the taste thus do not plan on purchasing or trying it again. ď&#x201A;ˇ The purchase intent is still low for both aware and not aware meaning that CC Life needs to create motives for people to buy their product, such as discounts, vouchers and promotions for buying in bulk.
The average of the purchase intent decreases after students are told of the price, meaning that there is a negative price effect, for both the aware and not aware. This suggests that CC Life should consider decreasing the price, or promote the product to give it a premium look- for instance, change the material or color of the can to make it look more expensive or fancy. This would add value to the product and allow users to justify the price of the product.
Aware 1) Academic standing
3% of freshmen are interested 10% of sophomore are interested 16.5% of juniors are interested 9% of seniors are interested out of those who are interested o 4.7% are freshmen o 14% are sophomore o 53.5% are juniors o 28% are seniors 2) College 21.4% of CAS are interested 3.4% of CAAD are interested 7.8% of SBA are interested 12.1% of CEN are interested out of those who are interested o 30% are CAS o 2.3% are CAAD o 30.2% are SBA o 39.5% are CEN 3) On and off campus 16.6% of on campus are interested 7.5% of off campus are interested out of those who are interested o 58% are on campus o 42.2% are off campus 4) Gender 6.3% of males are interested 15.4% of females are interested out of those who are interested o 28% are males. o 72% are females. Not aware
1) Academic standing 28% of freshmen are interested 34% of sophomore are interested 21% of juniors are interested 18% of seniors are interested out of those who are interested o 21% are freshmen o 27.5% are sophomore o 28% are juniors o 24% are seniors 2) College 37% of CAS are interested 7.5% of CAAD are interested 30% of SBA are interested 14% of CEN are interested Out of those who are interested o 26% are CAS o 1.9% are CAAD o 51.6% are SBA o 20.5% are CEN 3) On and off campus 17% of on campus are interested 74% of off campus are interested out of those who are interested o 26% are on campus o 74.4% are off campus consumption: 1) Type of the drink 19% of regular drinkers are interested 32% of zero drinkers are interested 18% of either drinkers are interested 30% of do not like are interested out of those interested o 43% are regular drinkers o 25% are zero drinkers o 6% are either drinkers o 26.2% are do not like drinkers
Insights: ď&#x201A;ˇ The most interested drinker is the Zero drinker and that is because they are interested in fewer calories, therefore when the unaware were told that this drink contains less calories than others, they were more inclined to buy the product. CC Life could motivate Zero drinkers to switch to Life by providing offers when buying Zero, such as a free CC Life or a voucher for a free or a discounted CC Life. ď&#x201A;ˇ Off Campus students are more interested in purchasing the product, therefore CC Life needs to focus on motivating those who are on campus. They can have offers or discounts at the supermarkets on campus, such as the mini mart in the girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dorms. Q2 and Q4 comparison The Q2 Study took place in spring 2017 and after 6 months Q4 Study was done in fall 2017. Q2 sample consisted of 1249 surveys while Q4 had 1061 surveys in total. In both the studies done, females outnumbered males. For Q2 study 45% of 1249 samples were male and 55% were females. Similarly, Q4 study had 47% male and 53% females from 1061 samples that were surveyed. The most common or the mode of academic standing for Q2 study was juniors while more seniors were surveyed for the Q4 study. The average age of the Q2 sample population was 20.02 and the sample for Q4 had an average age of 19.9. In both of the Q2 and Q4 study most people preferred to drink Regular instead of the Zero Calorie soft drinks. Fig 1.1 below compares the averages of both the studies done; for those interested in a healthy lifestyle and prefer to drink water over soft drinks did not have much of a difference. But Fig.1.1 bar chart (check appendix) shows that there has been a drop in those who like soft drinks. The key findings between the two studies about Awareness, Trail and Purchase Intent will be analyzed further Fig.1.1 Q2
Q4
Healthy
4.12
4.16
lifestyle Prefer
3.93
4.00
Average
water Like soft
3.39
3.17
drinks
Comparison of Q4 study to Q2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Awareness The awareness level of Q4 in comparison to Q2 has increased even though it is by a small number but it is significant for our comparison. The percentage of awareness for Q2 study was 29.14% last semester, while for Q4 study it increased by 7.9 points and is 37.02%. Thus, this shows a positive growth rate increase of 27% (Growth Rate = 7.9/29.14). This is an advantage for Coca Cola Life as the awareness level of their product has increased since the last test was done. It tells us that more people are now aware of this product than they were in the past 6 months. The awareness level by academic standing for both the Q2 and Q4 study is shown on the line chart below (Fig 2.1). For the Q4 study the awareness level of Coca Cola Life and academic standing show a positive correlation. Meaning that as the academic standing increases so does the awareness level of those who were interviewed for the survey. As a result, it shows a positive growth rate and tells us that seniors and juniors are more aware of Coca Cola Life as compared to freshman and sophomores that were surveyed. We also see that for the freshman and sophomores that were interviewed for both Q2 and Q4 study had no significant change both are almost at the same level as seen on the graph. Hence, this could be because of the experimentation effect (most juniors and seniors are aware of Coca Cola Life because they were interviewed before for Q2 study).
Q2
Q4
P-value
Index
Aware
29%
37%
.000052
1.27
Trial
10.5%
11%
.29 (not significant)
1.04
PI (Aware)
2.325
2.06
.001703
0.88
PI (Not Aware)
2.432
2.37
.073799
0.97