A Comparative Study on Orange Flavoured Soft Drinks with Special Reference to Mirinda, Fanta and Torino in Ramanathapuram District

Abstract

Soft drinks market in India has been grown in size with the entry of the Multi National Corporations. At present soft drink market is one of the most competitive markets in India which spends crores of rupees in advertisement and other promotionary activities. A bottle drink consumers have a wide range of brands at their disposal. It is difficult for a consumer to stick on to a particular brand of flavour unless the consumer satisfaction level is very high.

Orange flavoured soft drink is one of the popular segments in soft drink. In India Mirinda and Fanta are the major orange flavoured soft drinks. But in this area under study (Ramanathapuram District) Torino is a local brand is having very good presence and influences. So, researcher wanted to know their present market share of Mirinda, Fanta and Torino.

The objectives of the Study are:

1. To estimate the market share of major orange flavoured soft drink brands under the area of study.
2. To study the Socio-economic profile by using orange flavoured drinks.
3. To find the most preferred orange flavour soft drink in the market.
4. To determine the reason for preferring a particular brand of orange flavoured soft drink.
5. To make suggestions based on the findings of the study.

Descriptive method of research design was used in this study. The sample size was 120 and the sampling method used was convenience sampling. Chi-square is the tool used.

The major findings are:

1. Torino, the local popular brand in southern Tamil Nadu has maximum top of mind recall rate. Mirinda the orange flavour drink that spend maximum on advertising has the second best unaided recall rate.
2. Torino is the most preferred brand of orange flavoured drinks among the customers of this area. Mirinda comes only a close second.
3. The paired comparison test provides that in tast, and Sweetness people prefer Torino over Mirinda.
4. In Brand image and Advertising effectiveness Mirinda comes first over the market leader Torino.
5. Torino is adjudged as the most widely distributed drink in this market.

The major limitations are

1. This study is confined to Ramanathapuram District only.
2. The variables to compare the brands are assigned by the consumers and the variables selected are Taste, Sweetness, Widely available, Advertisement, and the Brand Image only. Other variables also may be relevant.
3. Convenience sampling method used in this study has its own limitations.
4. Soft drink is a seasonal product. The consumption of the soft drinks is a seasonal product.

The consumption of the soft drinks is highly influenced by the season. So, the data regarding soft drinks may not hold well at all times.