-Anjana Madhulika (Class of 2022, IBS Hyderabad)
INTRODUCTION
Demographics, desires, emotions, ethics, personality and group influences are considered to be some of the key factors responsible for buying purchase behaviour. Just a few years ago, women were confined to their homes and had a definite role as a homemaker but with the changing times they started to venture out in search of jobs and now the number of working women in India has increased exponentially. Over the past two decades there have been a lot of changes in Indian lifestyle as there is an increase in the number of working women, which lead to rise in income level, shortage of time, change in lifestyle and tremendous increase in the Middle income group. These all reasons change the purchasing behaviour of working women and turn them towards ready-to-eat food products and the products which make their cooking an easy job.
These ready-to-eat products which cover the main portion of shelf space in stores and supermarkets have changed the lifestyle of the population of India. Other than work, having children is itself a damper to cooking, as the mothers are busy transporting the children to school and other classes after school on weekdays and during the weekend. Ready availability of instant cooking products like noodles, pasta, popcorn etc. makes the work relaxing for women. When they cook, women try to meet the varying food preferences of their family members by rotating the favourite dishes of individual family members across meals. The easy and immediate availability of affordable and ready to use food products provides a convenient way for women to meet the diverse food preferences of all family members.
This increased demand for convenience food products leads to more competition for companies which manufacture these products. The Main aim of marketers should be to attract customers towards their product by providing a wide range of ready-to-eat products at lower price than their competitors. But the main problem faced by any marketer is to understand the buying behaviour of their customers. Marketers should try to adopt innovative ways to attract customers who prefer convenience products. It can be done by bringing new flavours to the product according to the needs of the customers. The aspects that are considered in the purchase process are:
1. Convenience: Less time and effort in preparation, easy clean up and consumption are the food products that are mainly demanded by working women due to their increasing participation in the labour force and their work timings which do not provide them sufficient time to do all the activities that fall in the process of cooking. Hence, they often search for an option through which they can reduce their cooking time, be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
2. Sensory Variables: Sensory attributes such as appearance of food, its texture, taste, flavour and smell, are critical to the consumer and influence not only the choice but also moderate the consumption of these food products. Senses are regarded as a very important factor in the selection of convenience food products for consumption.
3. Mood: It is also one of the important factors that influence the attitude of working women. In today’s scenario where the number of working women has been rising and life becomes so hectic and tiring, convenience foods help to reduce the stress and provide time for leisure.
4. Health issues: Working women are not only influenced by convenience and sensory variables, but health attributes are also important for them. Health claims appearing on most of the products are valued more than ever before as consumers nowadays demand foods that are not only convenient but are healthier as well.
5. Price: Working women consider that buying ready-to-eat products are cheaper than buying all the ingredients and preparing a meal from scratch.
Conclusions
The convenience food market in India is currently in the emerging stage where demand for these products is increasing drastically. Need for convenience and ease, increase in the number of working women, health consciousness, rise in the number of organized retailers, advancement in the advancement in the food production technology and entry of international players are key factors that influence the attitudes towards convenience food products and result in significant growth. By understanding the attitude and behaviour of working women, food manufacturers can better estimate the successful entry in new markets.
Suggestions
1. Many women still don’t consider convenience products because of high calories and the other additives. Marketers should create awareness by increasing the nutritional level which would result in a positive attitude towards considering the product.
2. These products could be helpful for sick and old people who cannot cook their own food. Targeting the new customer segment consisting of old people, travellers and the working professionals would drive volumes.
3. Marketers should provide high quality which is approved by the food safety and standards. A proper market survey on the needs and tastes of the consumers of various age groups should be done in order to focus on the product development and marketing.
References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-and-nutrition-trends#_noHeaderPrefixedContent
https://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/infographic/changingworldofwork/en/index.html
http://ijamtes.org/gallery/685.%20dec%20ijmte%20-1426.pdf
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1031.338&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Nadeem
Well written
aakashsamanta96
Great thoughts 😊👍