1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Origin

Mr. Sudhir Kafle Lecturer of Bachelor of Business Administration, Purbanchal

University has assigned the researcher to conduct a report, which will follow the

formalities, rules and regulations of formal report preparation. He had attested

proposal on and gave the researcher useful direction to prepare the report, which

would be followed by a formal oral presentation session. The researcher has chosen

the topic ‘CONSUMER SATISFACTION ON CLOSE-UP TOOTHPASTE: of

biratnagar.

1.2 Mission of the report

The primary mission of the report is to find out the consumer level of satisfaction of

the '"Close-up" toothpaste. The secondary objectives of the report are to figure out the

features that make the consumers satisfied, features that make the consumers

dissatisfied, reaction of the consumers about the current advertising campaign, the

factors that the consumers consider at the time of buying, the consumers expectations

to satisfy their needs and wants more effectively and efficiency.

1.3 Scope

The report covers only those areas, which are related to determine the satisfaction

level of the consumers of "close up" tooth paste. The factors that most of the

consumers keep in mind in the time of buying "Close Up" tooth paste, the satisfiers

and the dissatisfies of the tooth paste; etc are covered in this report. The information,

that were gathered through conducting the survey were interpreted and analyzed and

this analysis shows the level of consumer satisfaction of "Close Up" toothpaste.

Moreover a set of recommendations has also been included in this report, which may

help the company to satisfy the needs and wants of the intended market. The report

does not cover in depth the psychological and mental dimension of the consumer,

which could have an affect on the satisfaction provided by a particular product to

some extent. This report also does not cover external environmental factors such

Political, Economical, Social and Technological, which should affect on the consumer

buying behavior.

1.4 Limitations

The limitations for conducting such a survey and also preparing in-depth report or

such an interesting and challenging task can best be summarized as follows:

a) The major limitations for conducting the survey as well as preparation of final

research report are the very limited time period. The researcher has got less than three

weeks to accomplish the whole process. If the researcher could get more time, he

could be able to perform or conduct the research activities covering a wider

geographical range.

b) Although the researcher has employed his earnest effort behind the survey and the

preparation of the final report, he think the subject matter of the study is very much

higher then his level of experience, knowledge and skill for managing such a task.

c) The resources (both human and artificial) were very limited for conducting the

overall steps and procedures of the research activities. More over it was very difficult

to managing such limited resources within the specified scheduling activities.

1.5 Report preview

The report starts with the letter of transmittal. Then the table of contents, list of tables

and graphs or diagrams is added to the report. The next section of the report is the

executive summery, that summarize the over all findings of the research activity. The

introduction section has been introduced, which would help to know the source,

objectives, limitations, etc of the report. The problem of the report has been defined in

the next section, which includes the background of the problem and the statement of

the problem. Research design followed the approach to the problem. The next section

depicts the data analysis methodology and the plane of analysis, which will help to

know the methods, which have been followed to find out the satisfaction level of the

consumers of the "Close Up" toothpaste. The research findings are included in the

section next to the data analysis. Research findings show all the results of the analysis

and the interpretations. A set of recommendations have been included the section next

to the research findings. Finally the appendix section includes a format of the

questionnaire, the project proposal and the statistical analysis, that was followed to

analyze the raw data.

2.0 PROBLEM DEFINITION

The problem definition for the research activities in order to reveal the level of

satisfaction of consumers of the “Close-up” has been divided into two categories;

2.1 Background of the problem and

2.2 Statement of the problem

2.1 Background of the problem:

Today any organization whether it is profit making or non-profit making, tries to

enhance their reputation and goodwill by providing greater value towards the intended

section of the overall population. In the case of the profit making organization like

UNILEVER BANGLADESH, this hand task of achieving the goodwill can best be

earned by satisfying the needs and wants of the target market more effectively and

efficiency then that of the competitors. Moreover, now these days the needs and wants

of the target market are changing rapidly. If an organization needs to keep good

relationship with its intended market, it has to always trace out these changing needs

and wants and thus satisfy them by providing grater value. For this reason, it has to

continuously survey the level of satisfaction that its product/s create among the

intended market. Without tracing down the satisfiers and dissatisfiers of a particular

product, a organization can not produce and hold loyal customers in the long run. That

is why to know the level of satisfaction of the “Close-up” toothpaste among its target

market and trace out the satisfiers and dissatisfies of it (Close-up), a survey was

warranted for the UNILEVER BANGLADESH.

2.2 Statement of the problem:

The statement of the problem is further divided into two categories. They are;

a) Broad statement of the problem,

b) Specific components of the problem.

a) Broad statement of the problem: The broad statement of the problem is identifying

the problem from an appropriate perspective. The appropriate perspective of the

problem is originated from the vastly growing competition. To exist in such a

competitive environment, UNILEVER needs to know the level of satisfaction of the

consumer of the “Close-up” toothpaste.

b) Specific components of the problem: The key or specific component of the

problem is to identify the level of satisfaction of the consumers of the “Close-up”

toothpaste. The level of satisfaction is identified by conducting a survey among the

potential consumer of the toothpaste through questioning them a specified number of

questions. Finally, analysis and interpretation of the gathered data was made to reach

a well-reasoned conclusion that will show the level of satisfaction among the

consumers of the “Close-up” toothpaste.

3.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS

The gathered data from the respondents was analyzed by using different but simple,

easy to understand techniques. As the correct and accurate analysis and interpretation

of these data is vital to the UNILEVER to know the satisfaction level of the consumer

of the product “Close-up”, the highest level of intensity and integrity was employed at

the time of analysis.

The overall research findings can be divided into two categories. They are as follows;

General research findings,

Specific research findings.

3.1 Respondent Profile

The respondent profile includes mainly the age, gender and occupation based

information’s about the respondents.

a) Age: From the collected data of the survey, it is found that the total respondents

(25) fall in the age category as the following table;

Table –1: Age category of the respondents

Age Category No. of respondents

15-20 6

20-25 8

25-30 2

30-35 5

35-40 4

Source: Primary data

So, from the above table, we can see that most of the respondents are from the age

group of 20-25.

b) Gender: Among the 25 respondents, 14 were male while the other 11 respondents

were female. The following table shows the male- female percentage of the total

respondents;

Table-2: Gender based proportion of the respondents

Gender No. Of Respondents Percentage

Male 14 56

Female 11 44

Source: primary data

Now, the above findings are shown graphically below in the pie chart format;

Chart-1: Gender basis categorization

Male56%

Female44% Male

Female

So, 56 percent respondents are male and the rest of the 44 percent respondents are

female.

c) Occupation: The survey was conducted among the consumers of the “Close-up”

toothpaste, who are at different occupations. These different occupation categories

include student, government service, private service, business, housewife and others

(physician, engineer; etc). The finding based on occupation wise demographic

information is given below in the table:

Table-3: Occupation basis categorization

Source: Primary data

The above findings regarding the occupation wise categorization are shown below in

the chart format;

Occupation No. Of respondents

Student 12

Govt. Service 2

Private service 3

Business 2

Housewife 4

Others 2

From the above table and chart, we can conclude that 42 percent respondents are the

students of different educational institutions while 23 percent are housewife.

Moreover, 16 percent respondents are from Government service while 8 percent from

private service.

3.2 General Expectations

Throughout the research, the level of satisfaction has been the primary factor. The

level is determined through the expectations that people have and the level to which

the producer is doing to satisfy those expectations. Most of the surveyed individuals

agreed to the fact that the first and foremost expectation is freshness. The basic need

of using toothpastes is keeping the teeth free from decay and keeps the mouth fresh.

Keeping the teeth white is also a major concern for the consumers. The following

graph displays the percentage:

Chart 2: Representation of Expectations

Fight Decay36%

Whiteness33%

Freshness31% Fight Decay

Whiteness

Freshness

The following table shows the factors that people consider at the time of buying

toothpaste:

Table-4: Factors considered by consumers

Factors No. Of Responses

Price 2

Convenience 1

Quality 14

Availability 5

Others 3

3.3 Attitude towards Close-Up

Close-Up being one of the leading toothpaste companies in Bangladesh has lots of

users. The expectation of the consumers is increasing day by day because of the high

competition of the others toothpaste companies. Among the 25 respondents, 19 were

found to use Close-Up toothpaste. No doubt the demand of this product is high. Thus

the expectation is high too. Again the consumers expect fight decay, whiteness and

freshness of mouth through the use of Close-Up. Among the 19 consumers, 14 were

fully satisfied with the quality of Close-Up. The other 5 were not satisfied. They

expect improvement for freshness of mouth.

3.4 Attitude towards other brands

The fact that the consumers consider while buying toothpaste is the brand name and

the quality of the product. Out of the 25 respondents, 6 are the ones who don’t use

Close-Up toothpaste. They use other brands like White Plus, Pepsodent etc. The

reason behind their not using Close-Up as stated by them is its advertisings. They say

that the advertisements don’t attract them to buy the product. The users of Close-Up

out of the 25 respondents have the same complains towards the other brands. Thus

Close-Up should create advertisements much more attractive to capture more

consumers. The following table shows the reasons as stated by the respondents for

using of other toothpastes and not Close-Up:

Table-5: Causes behind not to prefer “Close-up”

CausesNo. Of Respondents

No. Of male Percent* No. Of female Percent*

Product

Similarity3 30 -- --

Price 4 40 4 50

Flavor 3 30 3 38

Availability -- -- -- --

Quality 3 30 3 38

Others 1 10 1 13

3.5 Acceptance to changes by Close-Up users

Close-Up mainly changes the price to keep pace with the changing market condition.

The users of Close-Up tend to react to this change uncomfortably. Amongst the

surveyed, almost 94 percent doesn’t take the changes in price normally. They have

complains about this act of Close-Up. In case of quality, the consumers are very

satisfied with the changes. The introduction of different flavors has put a big impact

on the consumers. It has become an influence for buying Close-Up.

3.6 Level of Satisfaction of Close-Up users

The primary reason for conducting the research is to find out the level to which the

consumers are satisfied. Among the respondents, there exists a variety of satisfaction

level. The level has been set as Extremely Satisfied, Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Less

Satisfied and Not Satisfied at all. There hasn’t been anyone in the Not Satisfied at all

group. The following table represents the survey results:

Table-6: Level of satisfaction among the user

The data is represented in the following graph:

Satisfaction level No. Of respondents Percent

Extremely satisfied 2 8

Very much satisfied 3 12

Satisfied 15 60

Less Satisfied 5 20

Not Satisfied at all 0 0

Chart 3: The level of satisfaction among the users of Close-Up

No. Of respondents

8%12%

60%

20%0%

Extremelysatisfied

Very muchsatisfied

Satisfied

Less Satisfied

Not Satisfied at all

4.0 CONCLUSION

From the above mentioned research findings and analysis, the researcher has arrived

at a number of conclusions along with the major conclusion. The level of satisfaction

varies from consumer to consumer. The male user of the “Close-up” toothpaste

prefers some attributes or features to that of the female user. On the other hand,

female user indicated to the features that satisfy their needs and wants a bit differently

than that of the male user. The consumers also indicated some factors that the

company may consider to get more competitive advantages such as the needs for

more innovative and comprehensive advertising campaign, the reduction of the

existing price, the improvement of quality; etc. The major conclusion that I have

arrived from the research activities in regard to the addressed problem is that the

satisfaction level of the consumer of the “Close-up” toothpaste is the good and it

(level of satisfaction) lies between very much satisfied and satisfied level of

satisfaction.

5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations can be drawn from the analysis and research

findings, which could help UNILEVER to enhance the market share within the same

industry and to hold their current potential to their target market.

1) The company can reduce the price of the “Close-up” toothpaste. A 70gm tube of

“Close-up” toothpaste cost 32 Tk., whereas “Colgate” sells the same amount of

toothpaste that cost 28 Tk. Though the quality level of “Close-up” is much better than

that of the “Colgate”, but still the company should focus on their pricing strategy

more carefully. Price reduction with the contrast of the other competing brand can

help the company further to enhance and grab more market share through the

consumer satisfaction.

2) The packaging strategy can be developed in such a way, which would focus more

on the environmental factors and well-being of the society. Moreover, the packaging

should be more smart and good-looking to attract the consumer.

3) The company needs to intensify its techniques and methods behind the advertising

and promotional campaign for the “Close-up” toothpaste. It (company) can introduce

different but innovative advertising methods to grab the market attractiveness in the

industry. Budget behind advertising and promotional activities can be increased, so

that the company can easily attract and hold its intended market in the long run.

4) The company can introduce varieties of flavor maintaining the same brand name.

Different features can be added, which can satisfy the different and diversified needs

of the consumers.

5) As we know that the consumers’ needs and wants are very much changing, the

company should continuously improve the quality of the toothpaste with respect to the

needs and wants of the consumer.

6) The labeling methods of the “Close-up” toothpaste should be more precise and

reality-oriented. Labeling should mention the contents of the toothpaste and other

necessary information regarding the product attributes and quality.

7) It is found that the concentration of the toothpaste varies significantly in different

toothpaste. As a result, the image to the consumers regarding quality varies one to

another. So the company should focus on maintaining unique concentration level in

each and every tube of the “Close-up” toothpaste.

8) To get better competitive advantages the company can invite the consumers of

“Close-up” to seat for a discussion session to generate ideas and also to know their

satisfaction level from different perspective.

6.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Reymond V. Lesikar, Marey E. Flatley, “Business Communication”, Mc Graw

Hill, 10th editition

2) Courtland L. Bovée, John V. Thill, Barbara E. Schatzman, “ Busines

Communication Today”, Pearson Education, 7th edition

3) www. Unilver.com

4) www. Google. Com

7.0 APPENDICES

7.1 Appendix

Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Respondent:

I am a student of BBA Program of …………….. of Business Administration,

…………….. University. I am conducting a research on the level of customer

satisfaction on Close-up toothpaste.

Your cooperation will help me to fulfill my research.

_____________________________________________________________________

Please put (√) mark on your choice

_____________________________________________________________________

Age

Sex

Occupation

1) Do you use toothpaste?

¨ Yes ¨ No

2) If, yes, which of following brand you choose most of the time?

¨ Close-up ¨ White-Plus

¨ Freshgel ¨ Colgate

¨ English ¨ Other (please specify) ___________________

3) If you choose “Close-Up”, what are the factors you consider at the time of buying

it?

¨ Price ¨ Convenience

¨ Quality ¨ Availability

¨ Others (please specify) _____________________

4) If you do not prefer "close-up", what are the cause/s not to prefer it?

¨ Product Similarity ¨ Price

¨ Flavor ¨ Availability

¨ Quality ¨ Others (Please Specify) __________________

Profile of the Respondent

5) What are the features or attributes of “Close-Up” that you admire most?

¨ Economy ¨ High Quality

¨ Hygiene ¨ Fragrance

¨ Others (please specify) _____________________

6) What feature/s of the “Close-Up” makes you dissatisfied?

¨ Price-Quantity proportion ¨ Flavor

¨ Quality ¨ Overall getup

¨ Others (please specify) _________________________

7) ______________________ feature/s should be given up from the existing “Close-

UP”.

8) Are you satisfied with the advertising campaign of the “Close-Up” toothpaste?

¨ Yes ¨ No

9) Do you find any sort of discrepancy between the advertising and the performance

of “Close-Up” in reality?

¨ Yes ¨ No

10) If, Yes, please specify below.

__________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

___

11) “The bigger the size of the toothpaste, the higher the satisfaction it provides”-

Please specify your view.

¨ Strongly disagree

¨ Disagree

¨ Neither agree nor disagree

¨ Agree

¨ Strongly agree

12) Are you satisfied with the ongoing performance of the “Close-Up” toothpaste?

¨ Extremely satisfied ¨ Very much satisfied

¨ Satisfied ¨ Less satisfied

¨ Not satisfied at all

13) Do you have any suggestion, which may satisfy your need more effectively?

¨ Yes ¨ No

14) If, Yes, please specify below

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(THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION)