AN ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BRAND SWITCHING BEHAVIOURS IN SOFT DRINK MARKET
(A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU METROPOLIS)
ABSTRACT
This project work is based  on  “the  analysis  of  consumer  brand  switching  behaviours  in  soft  drink  market. “A case  study  of  Enugu  metropolis”  The  following  are  the  objectives  which  the  researcher set  to  accomplish  and  these  are:  
i.   To  determine  the  impact  of  marketing  mix  on the  consumer  brand  switching  behaviours  in  soft  drink  market;  
ii.  To  determine  the  factors  that  promote  consumer  brand  switching   behaviours  in  soft  drink  market:  and  
iii.  To  discover  the  relative  strengths of the  various  soft  brands short listed for this  study,  primary  and  secondary  data  were  used. The  primary  data  was  sourced  through  specific  research  instrument  (i.e questionnaire) which  is  distributed and  administered  to the  consumers  and  dealers  of  soft  drink  brands  in  Enugu  metropolis.  Secondary   data  on the  other   land, was  sourced through  authoritative  textbooks,  articles , newspaper  and  journals,  computerized  source, library  and  past  research   work. The  date  collected  from  the  respondents  through  the  requestionnaire were  analyzed  using  tables,  frequencies and  percentages.  
Based  on the  objective  on the  objective  of this  study , the  bourley’s  formular  and  chi-  square  (x2)  -  test   tool are  been  used  to determine   the  sample  size  and  in  testing   the  stated   hypothesis   stipulated  for this  study . based on   the  data  analysis, the  following  findings  were  made  and  they  are:  
i.             The amount of soft drinks consumed per zonal  areas  in Enugu, metropolis
ii.           The  highest  brand  if soft drink  consumed   in  Enugu
iii.          The reason’s for consumer  brand  switching,  which  include  the  change of  price,  taste,  availability  or  unavailability  of  product   brand,  packaging,  quality,  introduction of  new brand of soft drink,  habit  and  image.   
iv.          The  reason  why  consumer   preferred  a particular  brand  of  soft  drink .
Based  on the finding’s  so  far  highlighted  above, the  researcher  made  the  following  recommendations  to  manufactures  and  they are:
i.  The is the  need  for  comprehensive  review  of the  pricing   method,  strategies  and  policies  employed by  manufacturers  with a view  to  develop and  sustain  attractive  pricing  levels for  brands  to ensure continuous   consumer patronage  and  also  attract  new  ones.  
ii.  Manufacturers  should  also  employ  all the  marketing  strategies available  to the  such  as  packaging sizes,  contents, bottle  design,  taste,  quality, pricing,  persuasive  advertising, promotion  campaign,  new  brand  introduction  and  line  extension  to  exploit  and  build   the  target  latend demand  and potential  market which  characterize the  Enugu  market  with  a view to increase   consumption  levels as well  as to  diminute consumer brand  switching   and  gain  brand loyalty.  Finally, the  research   wishes  to  con  that  the  Enugu  soft drink market  is  highly  undeveloped  and  unsophisticated having  one of the  lowest per  sub zonal   consumption  levels  and  currently   having  high  consumer  brand  switching  and cannot  sustain  high  brand  loyalty  has  significant marketing  and  economic  implications for this  country  marketing  and  economic  implications  for  this   premise  that the  following   recommendation  were   made  above  and  must  be  adhere  with  or  else  the  reasons  for  brand  switching  in soft  drink  market  will  step  up  while  the  benefits of  brand  loyalty  from  consumer  will  drastically fall.  And  so,  manufacturers  should  be  very conscious of  recommendations  made  so far.        
TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER ONE
1.0     Introduction
1.1        Background to the Study
1.2        Statement of the Problem
1.3        Objective of the Study
1.4        Research  questions/  hypothesis  
1.5        Significance of the Study
1.6        Scope  of the  study
1.7        Definition of Major Terms
CHAPTER TWO
Review of Related Literature
Meaning of Consumer Behaviour
2.1        An  overview  of branding  
2.2        Consumer responses  to  branding
2.3        Nature  of brand switching  
2.4        Soft  drinks  brand  switching   in Nigeria  
2.5        Definition  of  consumer  behaviour
2.6        Factors influencing  consumer  behaviour  
2.7        A  perception  model
2.8        Maslow’s  hievachy  of needs  
CHAPTER THREE
Research Methodology
3.1        Sources of Data
3.2        Primary  data  
3.3        Secondary  data
3.4        Population  of  the study  
3.5        Sample Size Determination and  sample  techniques
3.6        Sampling Technique
3.7        Research Instrument
3.8        Validity/Reliability of responses  
3.9        Questionnaire  
3.10     Method of  data Analysis
3.11     Limitation  of the study
CHAPTER FOUR
Data Presentation Analysis and Interpretation
4.1        Presentation,  Analysis and  interpretation data
4.2        Testing of Hypothesis
CHAPTER FIVE
Discussion  of Findings, Recommendation and Conclusion
5.1        Summary  of  findings
5.2        Recommendations
5.3        Conclusion
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
          The chartered institute of marketing  (1984)  in England defines marketing as “ the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirement profitable.
American marketing association (1960:1) also defined marketing as “the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services to the consumers or users. In other words, all activities that are undertaken to facilitate the flow of goods and services come under marketing. According to Nwaizuggo (2004:8) modern marketing concept is built on three foundation namely:
(i)           Consumer satisfaction
(ii)          Profitable sales volume
(iii)        Integrated marketing
This means that consumers satisfaction must be at the centre of any business motive.
The central aim of  modern  marketing   is  all  about  ensuring the  consumer satisfaction  and  also  to ensure  that  consumers  always  continue  to  patronize  the  marketer’s   brnad.  
The  American   marketing   association  defines  branding as  a name,  term,  sign, symbol, or  design, or a combination  of them  intended   to  identify  the  goods  or  a services of  one  seller   or group  of  sellers  and  to differentiate  them from  those  of  competitors.   Oxford  Advanced  learner’s  Dictionary  
(2006:  170) defined  branding  as the  activity  of giving  a particular  name  and  image  to goods  and services  so that  people  will be  attracted to them a  tool  of  marketing  used  for  the  purpose  of  product  identification   among  other  uses.  
          Branding  is  also  to  win  consumers  brand  loyalty.
Brand  name  is the  name  given  to  a product by the  company  that  produces  it  and  this  enable  the  consumers to  easily   identify  the  products.
          Modern  marketing  is  facing a lot of challenges  which  includes  growing  affluence  and  change  in the  tast  of  consumers  coupled  with the  drift  of  market  from  a monopolistic  structure  to that    of  a near  perfect competition   consumer now  have  lots  of  products  alternative to  choose  from. The  result  is  a gradual  elimination  of the  “concept  called  “Brand  Loyalty”  and  the  emergency  of  a new  idea  called  “Brand  Switching”.  
          Brand  switching  is the act  of  discontinuing  the  purchases  of a  product  brand  in  favour  of  another brand.  The   marketing   concept  and  Nigerian  market structure  (perfect competition or rather monopolistic)  brought  about  product  multiplicity in  Nigeria.  Lots  of  product  close   substitutes  now  exist and   consumers  are now  dangling  like  pendulum  from one  product brand  to another.
          Recently,  brand switching has  taken its  toll  on the soft  drink  market  in  Nigeria. For  instance,  we   have  soft  drinks  brands such  as  coke, fauta,  sprite,  mountain dew, pepsi, 7 up, fayrouz, clubsoda  mirinda,  shewpse,  mirinda apple, kiest and  many  more.  A  further  study  shows  also  that  consumers  but  switch from  one  brand  to  another.  
          This  simply  implies that  the  soft  drinks  marketers, have  been  battling   seriously  on how  to  over  come  this  trend . Given the  above,  the  aim  of the  research  is to  carryout  a research  into  the causative favours of  soft  drinks.  
          This  will  quide  marketers  against  being  vulnerable  to  brand  switching  behavioiur  of  consumers.  
1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
          kotler and keller (2006:193)   define  consumer  behaviour as the  study  of  how individuals,  groups  and organization  select,  buy, use  and  dispose  of goods,  services,  ideas, or  experiences  to   satisfy  their  needs  and  wants.  
Schiffman  and  Kanuk (2007: 3)  Defined  consumer   behaviour  as the  behaviour  that  consumers  display  in  searching  for,  purchasing,  using,  evaluating  and  disposing  of  products  and  services that  they expect will  satisfy  their  needs  their  behaiour  are focused  on  how  individuals  make decisions to  spend  their   available  resources  (time,  money,  effort)  on  consumption  related  items.
          That  includes  what  they  buy,  buy  they  buy  it   where  they  buy  it,  how  often  they  buy,  how  they  evaluate it  after  the  purchase,  the impact  of   such  evaluations  on  future  purchases  and  how  they  dispose  of it.  To  major  psychological  disciples  come  into  play  when  observing and  trying  to  explain  consumer  behaviour . the  first  is  cognitive  psychology .  cognitive   psychology  is the  study   of all  knowledge   related (mental)behaviors  and they are  as  follow:  Attention,  perception,  memory,  comprehension  and  decision  making  and they  play   an  important  role  in  consumer   behaviour .
          The  second psychological  discipline  that  has  theories  to  explain  certain  phenomenon  is “the  study  of the  manner  in  which  the  personality,  attitudes, motivation,  behaviour  of  individuals  influence and  influences  by  social  groups (Britaininca  online).  
          The  affect  and  social  influence  and  reference groups  links  are  two  important  topics  studied  in social  psychology  that  have  an  important  impact  on  consumer  behavior.
          However, limited problems  solving  is  that  behavior  exhibited  by  a  consumer,  who  is  deciding  to  try  a new  brand,  responds  to  emotional  or  environment appeal  such  as the  point  of  purchase  display and  this situation gives impetus to consumer exhibition of brand switching behaviour.
Emotional appeal has not been the only stimuli responsible for brand switching.  The response of consumers to other marketing mix stimuli such as the pricing of the various brands distributional strategy, product design   availability  of  product and quality may  also give rise  to  brand  switch   hehaviour.
          Given the afore mentioned facts, the main problem of this study is to
i.       Make an inquest or determine the factors or variables that give rise to brand switching among consumers of soft drinks.
ii.    To ascertain  the implications  of  brand  switching  behaviour  of  consumers on  marketing  strategies  employed by  manufactures  of  soft  drinks   
iii.  To  inquire  into  how  the marketing  mix  such  as price,  production  design  and  quality,  distribution and promotion  influences consumer of  soft  drinks   to switch  into another  brand.    
1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
             It is quiet  unfortunate no marketer can afford to stay relaxed when its products is loosing its market share to other  competitors especially in a free market economy like ours.  Given this, the prime objective of this study therefore is to:
1.            To establish the impact of the marketing mix on the brand switching behaviour of soft drinks consumers.
2.           To determine the factors that promote brand switching among soft drinks consumers
3.           To discover the relative strengths of the various brands enumerated for this study within a specified market.
4.           To ascertain the effect of brand switching by consumers on the rate of consumption of different brands within the market under survey.
   1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
          For the purpose of a clear result, the following hypothesis have been drawn and will be tested
H01¬:   Consumers switching of soft drink brand is not significantly influenced by price differences
H1:    Consumers switching of soft drink brand is significantly influenced by price differences
H02:   Availability of soft drink distributional efficiency does not constitute a major factor in consumer soft drink brand switching.
H1:    Availability of soft drinks distributional efficiency constitutes a major factor in consumer soft drink brand switching.
   1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of the study:
- It will enable producers (marketers) to identify brand switching causative factor among consumers
- It will go further to buttress the inevitable role of consumers and general market research in the new business era.
- It will help brand owners to develop marketing strategies which will enable them reduce the impact of brand switching on their product line.
Also the researcher hopes that the study would be relevant to other consumer goods marketers engaged in competition with producers of close substitute such as cosmetics and beverages.
 1.6       SCOPE  OF THE STUDY
The  research  work  concentrated on  the  analysis  of  consumer  brand  switching  behaviour  of soft  drinks. The  scope  of this study  will  cover the selected  company and  house  hold  within  Enugu. Metropolis ,  but   for  maximum  precision   to be  attained  in this  study, the  employer’s  of  Nigerian   bottling  company  and  consumers which  are  made  up  of all  house hold  in Enugu Metropolis  would  be  studied.  
          However, the  findings   of this  study could be  applied  in the  marketing  of  soft drinks and  services  in  Nigeria.
1.7       DEFINITION OF MAJOR TERMS
          To ease the complexity in the use of some terms in this study, some major terms have been defined
(1) Branding:-  This  is  the  process  of  establishing product  identify  (Nwaizugbo 2004:113)
(2) Brand Name:-  This  consist  of words,  letters, and  / or  numbers  that  can  be  vocalized. (Nwaizugbo 2004:113)
(3) Brand  Switching:  This is  the  act  of  discontinuing the  purchasing of  a product brand  in  favour  of  another  brand. (The  chartered  institute  of marketing  1984) in England.
(4) Consumer  :-   Consumer  is an individual  or a person  who  identifies  a need  or  desire, make  a purchase,  and  then  disposes of the product  during  the  three stages  in the consumption  process (pre purchase  issues,  purchase  issues and  post  purchase  issues. (SOLOMON 2008: 34)
(5) CONSUMER  BEHAVIOR:  John  Mowen   defined  consumer  behaviour  as the study  of the  decision -  making  units  and the  processes  involved  in acquiring  consuming  and  disposing  off  goods  and services,  experience   on ideas (Zita U.M. and  Anyionu S.C 200: 2).