International Journal of Current Research and Modern Education (IJCRME)

Impact Factor: 6.725, ISSN (Online): 2455 - 5428

(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017
A STUDY ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS BOTTLED
DRINKING WATER WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
COIMBATORE CITY
M. Sangeetha* & Dr. K. Brindha**
* Research Scholar, LRG College, Tirupur & Assistant Professor, VLB Jankiammal
College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu
** Assistant Professor, LRG College, Tirupur, Tamilnadu
Cite This Article: M. Sangeetha & Dr. K. Brindha, “A Study on Consumer Behaviour towards Bottled
Drinking Water with Special Reference to Coimbatore City”, International Journal of Current Research and
Modern Education, Volume 2, Issue 2, Page Number 252-255, 2017.
Copy Right: © IJCRME, 2017 (All Rights Reserved). This is an Open Access Article distributed under the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract:
Packaged drinking water means water derived from any source of portable water, which is, subjected to
treatments namely decantation filtration, combination of filtration, accretions, filtration with membrane filter,
depth filter, cartridge filter activated carbon filtration, demineralization, re-mineralization reverse osmosis
packed. In marketing, consumers and their behaviour are viewed more carefully because of their importance.
The individual consumer can change the entire market with his/her buying activities. Hence this study focuses
the consumer behaviour towards bottled drinking water, to explain it the researchers have collected primary data
through questionnaire and finally recommendations are provided in this study. The study concludes that quality
is the most important factor influencing the consumers to go for a particular brand of bottled water. They believe
that compared to the tap water, consuming Bottled Drinking water is a hygienic one. Therefore it is suggested to
the manufacturers to give due consideration for the hygienic aspect while manufacturing Bottled Drinking water.
Introduction:
„Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink‟ from the rhyme of the ancient mariner is perhaps a
fitting description of the attitude of many consumers living in urban areas today who are increasingly looking
towards bottled water as a means of meeting some or all of their daily requirements.
Water is a scarce commodity today and an UN International Children‟s Education Fund document says
that in India by 2017 there would be an acute shortage of not only ground water but of drinking water too
particularly in summer months. As of now, 44 million people suffer the consequences of contaminated water,
thereby seriously affecting the health of future generations who would be vulnerable to serious water borne
diseases.
Objectives of the Study:
 To analyze the factors that influences the consumers in the purchase of bottled drinking water.
 To study the consumer satisfaction towards the consumptions of bottled drinking water.
 To know the consumer‟s preferences about the braded bottled drinking water.
Methodology of the Study:
Area of the Study: The area of the study refers to Coimbatore.
Sources of data: The study uses both primary data and secondary data. For the purpose of collection of data, a
detailed Questionnaire has been prepared and data were collected from the consumers.
Sample Design: For the purpose of the study, 300 questionnaires were collected from the consumers of bottled
drinking water. Convenient random sampling method is administered in this study.
Tools for Analysis:
 Percentage Analysis.
 Two-Way Anova
 Chi – Square Analysis.
 Correlation Analysis.
 Garrett Ranking Analysis.
 Loyalty Matrix
The entire tests were carried out at 5% level of significance.
Review of Literature:
Margaret (2006) has conducted a study to detail the convergent findings of two separate researches in
which purchase behaviour in a controlled consumer advertising environment was focused. The findings indicate
that advertising works more often for new brands than for established one.
Lynn Berry (2008) in this article „The True Cost of Drinking Bottled Water‟ found that growing at a
rate of 10% a year. A report by the Earth Policy Institute (in Washington) reports that in 2004, people were
drinking 154 billion litres compared to the 98 billion litres in 1999.

252
 International Journal of Current Research and Modern Education (IJCRME)
Impact Factor: 6.725, ISSN (Online): 2455 - 5428
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017
Carlos Greene (2011) in his study „Drink water from safe containers‟ states that water constitutes
roughly sixty percent of the human body. The maintenance of water levels is necessary to avoid dehydration and
critical for the survival of human life.
Bhadran (2004) in his study stated that the Government lab analyses the samples of only 1-litre, 1.5
litre and 2 litres bottles bulk containers of drinking water are never subjected to lab analyses due to the
inconvenience of transporting them. Hence the quality of such bulk containers cannot be assured or analysed.
Findings:
Two-Way Anova:
 There is a variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing with
Age Group.
 There is no variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing with
Gender.
 There is no variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing with
Educational Level.
 There is a variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing with
Frequency of Consuming.
 There is a variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing with
Brand Used.
Chi-Square Analysis:
 There is an association between the Occupational Status and Satisfaction in different aspects of bottled
drinking water.
 There is an association between the Monthly Income and Satisfaction in different aspects of bottled
drinking water.
 There is no association between the Quantity of Bottled drinking Water preferred to buy and
Satisfaction in different aspects of bottled drinking water.
 There is an association between the Buying Place of Bottled drinking Water and Satisfaction in
different aspects of bottled drinking water.
Garrett Ranking Analysis:
 Quality‟ is the most important factor influencing the consumers to go for a particular brand of bottled
water.
Loyalty Matrix:
 Respondents who are using Bisleri are loyal to their brand followed by Kingfisher and Kinley
Recommendations:
 Awareness: The respondents are aware of Bottled Drinking water through advertisements and
particularly through T.V. advertisements. This indicated clearly that the advertisement create
awareness of the consumers among the available media, TV. Played a significant role when compared
to any other media and hence the manufacturers have to pay attention on media choice with due care.
 Price: As the majority of the respondents feel that the price of the Bottled Drinking Water is moderate,
the companies takes steps to offer at a lower price, so that the product will attract more consumers.
 Hygienic: Consumers generally go for Bottled Drinking water for its hygienic aspect. They believe that
compared to the tap water, consuming Bottled Drinking water is a hygienic one. Therefore it is
suggested to the manufacturers to give due consideration for the hygienic aspect while manufacturing
Bottled Drinking water.
 Availability: The Bottled Drinking water companies shall try to increase production and enhance the
dealers‟ chain so as to have a good reach to the consumers. Through this, an effective sale of Bottled
Drinking water can be made.
 Consumer Satisfaction: The study reveals that the consumers are just satisfied with the brand of
Bottled Drinking water they use. Again it is observed that the satisfactory level of consumer is not at
the higher side. Therefore it is suggested to the manufacturers to take appropriate steps to ensure that
the customers are highly satisfied.
 Quantity Preferred: Majority of the consumers prefer to buy 1 litre bottle. Therefore it is suggested
that the manufacturers should take steps to offer 1 litter bottle without any shortage.
 Expiry Date: Majority of the respondents verify the date of manufacturing. Hence, the companies
should take necessary steps to deliver the water bottles to the sales outlets in time.
Data Analysis and Interpretation:
1. Two-Way Anova:
H0 - Null Hypothesis: There is no relationship between personal factor of the consumer and satisfaction level.
H1 - Alternative Hypothesis: There is relationship between relationship between personal factor of the consumer
and satisfaction level.

253
 International Journal of Current Research and Modern Education (IJCRME)
Impact Factor: 6.725, ISSN (Online): 2455 - 5428
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017
Table 1.1: Satisfaction of Bottled Drinking Water Based On Personal Factor
Computed
Value Table Hypothesis
S.No Parameter Result
Value Acceptance
B.R. B.C.
Satisfaction on Bottled Drinking
Alternative
1 Water while comparing with Age 6.67 3.56 3.01 Significant
Hypothesis
group
Satisfaction on Bottled Drinking
Not
2 Water while comparing with 5.47 4.92 6.39 Null Hypothesis
Significant
gender
Satisfaction on Bottled Drinking
Not
3 Water while comparing with 2.46 4.21 3.26 Null Hypothesis
Significant
education level
Satisfaction on Bottled Drinking
Alternative
4 Water while comparing with 4.75 2.35 3.01 Significant
Hypothesis
Frequency of Consuming
Satisfaction on Bottled Drinking
Alternative
5 Water while comparing with Brand 5.16 5.71 2.78 Significant
Hypothesis
Used
Note: Level of signification are 5%.
There is a variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing with
Age Group. There is no variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing
with Gender. There is no variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while comparing
with Educational Level. There is a variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled drinking water while
comparing with Frequency of Consuming. There is a variance in Satisfaction on different aspects of bottled
drinking water while comparing with Brand Used.
2. Chi-Square Analysis:
H0 - Null Hypothesis: There is no relationship between personal factor of the consumer and satisfaction level.
H1 - Alternative Hypothesis: There is relationship between relationship between personal factor of the consumer
and satisfaction level.
Table 2.1: Satisfaction of Bottled Drinking Water Based On Personal Factor
Table Value

Acceptance
Hypothesis
Computed

Result
Value

S.No Parameters

Satisfaction of Bottled Drinking Alternative

1 62.92 26.30 Significant
Water with Occupation Hypothesis
Satisfaction of Bottled Drinking Alternative
2 40.47 26.30 Significant
Water with Monthly Income Hypothesis
Satisfaction of Bottled Drinking Not Null
3 25.03 26.30
Water with Quantity water Significant Hypothesis
Satisfaction of Bottled Drinking Alternative
4 45.74 26.30 Significant
Water with buying place Hypothesis
Note: Level of signification are 5%.
There is an association between the Occupational Status and Satisfaction in different aspects of bottled
drinking water. There is an association between the Monthly Income and Satisfaction in different aspects of
bottled drinking water. There is no association between the Quantity of Bottled drinking Water preferred to buy
and Satisfaction in different aspects of bottled drinking water. There is an association between the Buying Place
of Bottled drinking Water and Satisfaction in different aspects of bottled drinking water.
3. Brand Loyalty Matrix:
Table 3.1: Brand Loyalty of the respondents towards existing brand
Brand Consuming Changed Not Changed Total
Kinley 20(68.97) 9(31.03) 29
Bisleri 42(55.26) 34(44.74) 76
Aquafina 92(70.77) 38(29.23) 130

254
 International Journal of Current Research and Modern Education (IJCRME)
Impact Factor: 6.725, ISSN (Online): 2455 - 5428
(www.rdmodernresearch.com) Volume 2, Issue 2, 2017
Sabols 7(77.78) 2(22.22) 9
Siruvani 14(77.78) 4(22.22) 18
Kingfisher 24(68.57) 11(31.43) 35
Others 3(100.00) 0(0.00) 3
Total 202(67.33) 98(32.67) 300
From the above table that more number of (44.74 %) of the respondents who are using Bisleri are not
interested to change their brand followed by (31.43 %) of Kingfisher, (31.03%) of Kinley are loyal to their
existing brand. The remaining respondents are in favour of shifting the loyalty to other brands.
4. Henry Garrett Ranking Technique:
Table 4.1: Brand Loyalty of the respondents towards existing brand
Factors Garrett Score Garrett Mean Garrett Rank
Quality 17858 59.53 I
Quantity 15264 50.88 IV
Utility 16054 53.51 III
Price 14771 49.24 V
Availability 16443 54.81 II
Package 13541 45.14 VI
Others 10352 34.51 VII
From the above table that the factor „Quality‟ is ranked first with the Garrett score of 17858 points.
This is followed by the factor „Availability‟ with the Garrett score of 16443 points. The factor „Utility‟ stands in
the third and the factor „Quantity‟ in the fourth with the respective scores of 16054 and 15264. On the other
hand the factors „Price‟ , „Package‟ and „Others‟ ranked in the fifth, sixth and seventh place with the respective
scores of 14771, 13541and 10352.
Conclusion:
Bottled Drinking water is a product, which people buy not only when they undertake travelling or stay
out of their own place but also during the stay in their own places. The reason is that people are becoming health
conscious in the present day environment. However the cost aspect of Bottled Drinking water cannot be
overlooked in this process because for some people, it is difficult for them to make up their mind to pay for
water in small quantity. But it has become the order of the day if not for all, at least for people who are living in
the city to use Bottled Drinking water due to larger pollution problems. The consumption of Bottled Drinking
water is also based on the reliability that the consumers will have in terms of quality and hygienic aspect
because Bottled Drinking water is a product on which these aspects are expected. Hence it becomes evident that
those brands that shows importance to these aspects will sell more in the market and capture more number of
consumers.
References:
1. Doria, M. F. (2006). Bottled water versus tap water: understanding consumers' preferences. Journal of
water and health, 4(2), 271-276.
2. De França Doria, M., Pidgeon, N., & Hunter, P. R. (2009). Perceptions of drinking water quality and
risk and its effect on behaviour: A cross-national study. Science of the Total Environment, 407(21),
5455-5464.
3. K.Veerakumar (2016) article titled “A Research on Quality Factors Influencing Online Shopping”
International Journal of Engineering Research and Modern Education, Vol-I, Issue-II, July – 2016.
P.No.1-5.
4. Marget Journal of advertising research vol.No.33 [5] pp.11-25.
5. http://www.naturalnews.com/022661_water_bottled_drinking.html#ixzz1q0cNAoUh
6. http://www.naturalnews.com/031270_water_bottles.html#ixzz1q0aQiteR
7. Vasanthi.k. “Customer care towards mineral water”, 2004
8. www.bigbottle.com
9. www.naturalnews.com
10. Marketing Management-Philip Kotlar
11. Research Methodology-C.R.Kothari

255