2. Case Facts
Objective - Launch instant noodles
in a cluttered market.
Methodology - Undertake choice
based conjoint analysis (discrete
choice) to determine preferences in
the instant noodles category so that
a what - if analysis can be done to
simulate market conditions
Tools - Sawtooth software & MS
Excel
3. Steps Undertaken
Analysis and reporting of the final results, to be
recommended to Tolaram Group based on the reports
1. Determine attributes & levels
using survey & dipstick
survey
Create concepts/ cards with
relevant prohibitions
2. Launch CBC Research
Questionnaire using Sawtooth.
Retrieve utilities data from the
software
3. Estimate consolidated preference
share with scaled part - worth.
4. Use percentage of preference
share to conduct What - If
analysis
4. Approach of the study
● Considering the client wants to launch a
new product we aim at providing the
detailed information about current market
trend analysis based on the four attributes-
Brand, Price, Flavour and variant.
● By obtaining information about preference
of people in reference to defined attributes
our client can devise a product accordingly.
5. Assumptions
➢ Top 4 attributes determined on
basis of survey responses
(circulated outside mica).
➢In base ingredients, regular is used
. to describe the noodles instead of
. maida so as to not skew consumer
. perception
➢ Soup based noodles and ready - to
- eat noodles were considered as
separate categories & not
considered.
➢ None option wasn’t used for
computation as part - worth was
adjusted for the same in Sawtooth
➢ Not considering Tolaram as a Brand
as the brand is not yet launched in
India.The purpose of the study is to
analyze the current competitors of the
new brand and develop a product n
➢ Quantity asked at the beginning to
estimate market share.
➢ Constant sum allocation not used due
to software limitations
➢ Questionnaire was shared outside
MICA to ensure differentiated
responses
6. Sample population of the survey
● First survey (For determining the four attributes out of
9)was conducted with 30 respondents.
● Second detailed survey was conducted with 82
respondents which was circulated with the respondents
who belonged to different locations like Maharashtra,
Gujarat, South India, Delhi NCR and other regions.
7. Determining Attributes & Levels ( 30 responses)
Survey floated to
decide the
attributes and
levels.
Also, dipstick
responses
showed that there
was a large
number of Maggi
loyalists and
though they were
aware of health
hazards, they ate
noodles out of
craving and for
taste.
9. Choice Based Conjoint Analysis (82 responses) using Sawtooth
tool
Questionnaire floated
with 15 cards
10. Efficiency of Conjoint
Using the thumb rule of (N*C*O) / T, our survey had the
following parameters:
N = Number of respondents = 82
C = Concepts shown in each card = 4
O = Number of cards shown to a respondent = 15
T = Maximum levels in any attribute = 5
984 was the efficiency of our conjoint, greater than the
standard of 500.
11. Analysis: Extracting responses
Post, collecting
responses,
following sets
of data was
thrown up by
Sawtooth.
Data with
respect to
utilities was
taken for
further
calculation
17. Steps to calculate preference share simulator
● Average of utilities values- We calculated the average of each levels
within each attribute thus achieving partworth of each.
● Accordingly a simulator was produced.
● Scaling- Minimum negative value within each levels of every attribute
was taken as a reference point and scaled to 0 and this value was taken
as a reference point for other values. Thus a positive scaled value was
achieved for all.
19. What-if simulator for market share
Market share was
calculated after
considering the
preferred level within
one attribute. This
was first coded as
one and then was
multiplied to the utility
value and the quantity
of the noodles as
mentioned by the
individual
respondents.
20. Insights and recommendations
Flavour-As per our research, Masala is the
most preferred flavour
Following is the order of preference:
Masala > Vegetables > Chilli > Chinese >
Chicken
variant -Most preferred variant is
Regular
Following is the order of preference:
Regular>Maida >Atta > oats.
21. Price
Our sample population was price sensitive
as they preferred Rs15 followed by Rs20
and lastly Rs 25.
BRAND
The strongest competitor is Maggi followed
by Nissin-Top Ramen, Wai Wai and Yippee.
Insight over here is Patanjali which is
comparatively a new entrant is growing in the
market.
Insights and recommendationsc
22. From survey data of the respondents we noticed that out of all the attributes Brand has
the highest weightage i.e. 35.9% followed by Flavour which is next to brand level with
30.1%, followed by Variant with 21.9% and lastly the Price with 12.1%
Insights and recommendations
23. Our research suggests that to successfully appeal to Indian audiences, Tolaram Group
should follow the footsteps of the market leader Nestle (Maggi) and introduce a Masala
based regular variant to appeal to Indian taste buds.
The respondents also showed price sensitivity and hence the lower the price (Rs. 15 for a 70
gram in this case), the better.
Also since indian consumers of instant noodles category exhibit variety seeking behaviour we
propose that once Tolaram launches Indian flavored noodles they can look for extending it to
different flavored noodles.
Along with Maggi, there should be an effective communication strategy to fight with emerging
competitors such as Patanjali.
Way Forward
