Analysis of Consumer Perception of Fairness Cream in Delhi and NCR

INTRODUCTION

The word cosmetics is derives from the Greek, meaning "technique of dress and ornament". Cosmetics (colloquially known as makeup or make-up) are care substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. They are generally mixtures of chemical compounds, some being derived from natural sources, many being synthetic. According to science, our skin gets darkened because of production of melanin cells secreted by the pineal gland. The gland becomes active when our skin gets exposed to the sun. In order to prevent our skin from sunburn, melanin gets produced which protects our skin from harmful rays of sun. Due to these melanin cells' production, our skin gets tanned and thus, darkened. That is why people living in snowy and less sunny regions have a fairer complexion than those living in hot and sunny regions. Thus, by applying fairness cream on our faces, the cream acts as a shield. Since it acts as a barrier between sunrays and our skin, the melanin need not be produced and hence, our skin does not get tanned and darkened. Time and again it has been proved in scientific journals that fairness creams do not make one fair. But nowadays, there are creams that actually make your skin fairer. Such creams contain tropical salts. They remove the layer of melanin that gets deposited on our skin due to tanning due to sunrays. So, they react with melanin & remove it from our face and thus our skin looks fairer than before. The major markets for fairness creams are: (i) India and Sri Lanka (largest market) (ii) Saudi Arabia (iii) Gulf (iv) Africa (v) Malaysia (vi) Thailand (vii) Far East (viii) Bangladesh According to most dermatologists, achieving fairness up to 20% is possible, but not more than that. The fairness cream block sun rays and prevents secretion of melanin, which gives the dark colour to the skin. So, in effect fairness cream reduces tan, prevents the skin from getting darker by preventing melanin secretion; but they cannot change a person's natural skin colour.

are focusing on what they consider to be the more important things in life. Consuming for the sake of consumption is no longer a way of life. Cosmetic consumers are demanding more quality products with multiple benefits, and what is inside the package will soon become more important than the package itself. Although packaging and presentation will always be very important, it will not be enough to hold a client, and it will not be the foundation upon which to build a business.

Das S (2013) identified the importance of fairness creams among Indian youths which helps the FMCG companies to increase their sales according to the importance given by people to the beauty products especially fairness creams. Watson et al (2010) elaborated that the society has identified three skin tones and relates the caste system in accordance to these skin tones. Burger et al. (2016) stated that the advertisements do not influence for the product purchase. The advertisements only creates feelings which through emotions helps a customer to buy the product. So, the feelings and emotions can be used interchangeably as an important signifiers. Jha (2016) emphasized that the social pressure for good looking skin is one of the prominent factors to purchase beauty products. The latest and updated technology in beauty products plays a critical role in advertisements of the products. With this, companies are able to relate beauty products with confidence, empowerment and Desirability of the customers. Sindhushree M T (2018) analysed through their primary research that the confidence level and belief system of a customer is directly linked with the type of skin tone the customer possessess. The advertisements of fairness creams and beauty products creates a discrimination in the society about skin tones. These advertisements have also tried relating personality of an invidual with the types of skin tone. And which apparently have increased the consumption of beauty products and fairness creams. Sarkar & Gosh (2017) elaborated that buying a product not only gives us physical possession of the product but also tries to link the sentiments for which it is bought. Values are created by the marketers and the customers buy these values from the marketers. Thus, the advertisements fous on the values created and try to create needs so as to trap various prospective customers. Jha (2016) justifies that the Indian consumers have a great fascination towards fair skin tone. The advertisements effect of fairness creams is great and limited period of time. The advertisement of fairness creams encourages the obsession for the fairness creams and fair complexion.

The basic and foremost objectives of the study are: (a) To study the consumer perception regarding their preferences towards Fairness Creams (b) To understand the various factors influencing the brand preference of the customers

In this report, basically the perception of customers towards Fairness Cream in India with respect to Fair & Lovely, Olay, Garnier and Ponds is studied. In order to carry on the study, a structured questionnaire was drafted which deals with various questions regarding the preferences of the fairness cream, and the factors influencing the customer‘s decision. The study was carried out in various regions of Delhi, i.e, West Delhi, East Delhi, North Delhi ,South Delhi and NCR (National Capital Region ) Noida and Gurugram respectively. The study is done both on males and females. While conducting the survey, the demographical outlook was considered, i.e, educated and uneducated respondents were approached, and people within various age groups and income groups were considered. The functional area which is emphasized in this report is marketing.

Research Methodology is a way to systematically carry out the research. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done systematically. In order to study the customer perception towards fairness cream, a field survey was conducted. The survey was carried out in various regions of Delhi. Males and females, educated and uneducated people, and people within various age groups and income groups were approached .Random Sampling method has been adopted in the survey. The samples were drawn from 125 respondents. Questionnaires have been designed and distributed to the respondents to extract primary data. Research Design is the basic frame work which provides guidelines for the rest of the research process. It is a map or a blue print according to which the research is to be conducted. The research design specifies the methods of data collection and data analysis. The research design perception. Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. Although the data description is factual, accurate and systematic, descriptive research cannot be used to create a causal relationship, where one variable affects another. In other words, descriptive research can be said to have a low requirement for internal validity. The description is used for frequencies, averages and other statistical calculations

In order to extract meaningful information from the data collected, the data analysis and interpretation is carried out. The data is first edited, coded and then tabulated for the purpose of Analysing. The analysis is basically aimed at giving inferences of associations or difference between various variables. The collected data may be analysed by using diagrams, graphs, charts, picture etc. Finally the meaning of data may be extracted from the analysis. The data collected in this report is based on primary data and is collected with the help of a questionnaire in which 125 people were surveyed regarding their preferences towards Fairness Creams with reference to Fair & Lovely, Olay, Garnier and Ponds. The data is therefore, presented in the form of pie diagrams by taking the sample size as 125.

It is clear from the table and pie chart that 75% of the respondents are Female respondents, while the remaining 25% of the respondents are Male respondents

It is clear from the table and pie chart that 55% of the respondents are in the age group of 20-40 years, whereas 25% and 20% of the respondents are in the age group of 10- 20 years and 40 years- above respectively.

It is evident from the table and pie chart that 45% of the respondents prefer using Fair & Lovely/ Fair & Handsome, 30% of the respondents prefer using Olay, 15% prefer using Ponds and only 8% of the respondents prefer using Garnier (Men/ Women).

It is clear from the table and pie chart that 40% of the respondents prefer Fairness Creams because the company offers Discounts, whereas 25% of the respondents prefer because of Combo Offers and Buy 1 Get 1 offers each, and only 10% of the respondents prefer cream because of Incentive Gifts.

It is clear from the table and charts that for maximum number of respondents it is difficult to choose which brand to buy. They usually choose the brand which has lower price, gives UV protection and are the best-selling brands. And once chosen, they prefer sticking to it. They do not switch brands on the basis of availability, or celebrity endorsements.

(i) According to the survey, out of 125 respondents, 80% of the respondents are found to be users of Fairness Cream. (ii) Taking these 100 respondents as users of fairness cream, it is found that most of them are females. (iii) Majority of them are in the age group of 20-40 years with a monthly income of Rs.10,000-Rs.20,000. (iv) They are using fairness cream since 2 years or more. (v) Most of the respondents use fairness creams for the purpose of sunscreen and then for make-up. They hardly use it for the fragrance purposes. (vi) The market leaders of Fairness Cream according to the survey conducted is ―Fair & Lovely‖. Olay is the close competitor of it. Garnier is the least preferred brand. (vii) The respondents came to know about their preferred brands majorly through television commercials, and then from friends and relatives. Only a small percentage of them got aware through newspapers, retailers, or any other means. Also, the users prefer buying fairness cream usually when they get discounts on it. (viii) They prefer using brands which give them protection against UV rays, and also nonoily look. (ix) It is found that for users it is difficult to choose which brand to buy. They usually they prefer sticking to it. They do not switch brands on the basis of availability, or celebrity endorsements.

Fairness creams contribute a considerable portion of revenue for FMCG companies in India. As majority of Indians are concerned about their skin tones and complexion , the fairness creams enjoys a good market growth. Change in lifestyle and rise of consumerisms has also led to the surge demand for fairness creams in India. Another factor attributing growth is awareness of fairness creams in rural area and increase male spending on such products. Indian markets are experiencing huge demand in fairness cream due to high media exposure and celebrity endorsements. In the country where fair is considered to be lovely it will take time to change the perception that brown is also beautiful.

1. http://www.ponds.in/article/detail/ 1040309/our-philosophy accessed on 15/3/2019 2. http://iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/ncibppte-volume-4/31.pdf accessed on 10/3/2019 3. Burger P. (2016). ―Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners‖ cosmetics 3(30) 4. Das S. (2013). ―Consumer‘s Perception on Fairness Cream in India‖, Journal of Research, Extension and Development, 1(11) pp. 64-66. 5. Jha B. (2016). ―Representation of fair-skin beauty and the female consumer‖ IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Scienc, 21(2) pp. 01-12. 6. Karnani, Aneel (2007). Case Study: ‗Fair & Lovely‘ Whitening Cream. The University of Michigan. 7. Manivannan, L., K.V. Kannan, and Natrayan (2006). Brand Preference For Fairness Creams. Retrieved from:http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC399/fc399.html. 8. Raja, Anand S., and Mahesh Kumar (2014). "A Study OnMens Preference Towards Fairness Cream And Factors Influencing The 9. Sarkar & Gosh (2017). ―Ethical Norms In Fairness Cream Advertisement‖, Global Media Journal – Indian Edition, 7(2) 10. Saumendra Das (2013). ―Consumer‘s Perception on Fairness Cream in India‖, Journal of Research, Extension and Development, Volume-1, No.11, July 2013, ISSN: 2319- 1899, pp. 64-66. 11. Sethi, Madhvi, Jasmeet Kaur, and Kamalpreet (N.d.). Market Research on Fairness Creams. Punjabi University. 12. Sindhushree M T (2018). ―A Study on The Influence Of Fairness Cream Advertisements On The Purchase Behavior And Belief System Of Youth In Mysore‖ in International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Volume 9, Issue 7, July 2018, pp. 496–504 13. Taksin Mohsin Uddin, 2016, Analysis of Consumer Perception of Fairness Creams of Youth in Dhaka, BRAC University 14. Watson S, Thornton, C. G. & Engelland, B. T. (2010). ―Skin color shades in advertising to ethnic audiences‖, the case of African Americans. Journal of Marketing Communications, 16 (4), pp. 185-201.

Assistant Professor, Amity School of Business, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida