PROJECT REPORT

ON
CUSTOMER SATISFATION TOWARDS LAKME PRODUCT

Submitted in the Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for the

reward of the Degree of Masters in Commerce

Session(2020-2021)

Submitted By Submitted To:

Manpreet Kaur Mrs.Nivedita Sharma
Uni. Roll no: Assistant Professor
45016 P.G. deptt. Of

Guru Nanak Girls College,

Model Town, Ludhiana 1
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many people have bestowed

upon me their blessings and the heart pledged support, this time I am utilizing to
thank all the people who have been concerned with this project.

Primarily I would thank god for being able to complete this project with success.
Then I would like to thank my Head of Department Dr. Rakhi Malhotra and
mainly to my Project report Guide Mrs. Nivedita Sharma, whose valuable
guidance has been the ones that helped me patch this project and make it full proof
success in working. Her suggestions and instructions have served as the major
contributor towards the completion of the project. Then I would like to thank my
parents and friends who have helped me with their valuable suggestions and
guidance has been very helpful in various phases of the project.

Last but not least I would thank to my classmates for helping to sort topics
throughout this project.

Manpreet Kaur

2
 INDEX
CHAPTE PARTICULARS PAGE
R NO.
1. INTRODUCTION
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
B. DATA COLLECTION
C. TIME PERIOD OF STUDY
D. ANALYTICAL TOOLS OF STUDY.
3. ANALYSIS OF DATA
4. FINDINGS & LIMITATIONS
5. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
6. RESULTS
7. CONCLUSION
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chapter 1: Customer Satisfaction
a) Introduction of topic
b) Factors which influence consumer satisfaction
c) Black box
d) Consumer satisfaction model
Chapter 2: Introduction of Cosmetic industry in India
Chapter 3: Introduction of Hindustan Unliver private
limited
a) History of the company
b) Competitors
c) Lakme positioning in term of personality
d) Key facts and vision
e) Purpose and principle
Chapter 4: Profile of the organization
Chapter 5: Research Methodology
a) Objective of study
b) Sources of data collection
c) Research design
d) Limitation of study
Chapter 6: How Lakme influence its customer?
a) By the concept of ego
b) By the concept of personality
c) Concept of perceptual selection
d) Business strategies
Chapter 7: Data Analysis
a) Questionnaire (customer survey analysis online)
Chapter 8: Suggestion and recommendation
o Result
Chapter 9: Conclusion
Chapter 10: Bibliography
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The consumers are the largest economic group in any country and the present-day
activities are because of consumers only. Thus, consumers are the pillars of the
economy. The consumers are not only the heart of marketing system, but also the
controller of marketing functions. But it the modern marketing system consumers
sovereignty has become a myth on account of the variety of problems in the
process of merchandising. The study of consumer behavior enables marketers to
understand and predict consumer behavior in the market place; It also promote
understanding of the role that consumption plays in the lives of individual.
This gives me an opportunity to work on with this endeavor focusing on the
Consumer behavior and perception of women towards cosmetics with special
reference to the Lakme’ s cosmetics products. The primary objective of the study
is to understand the consumer behavior and perception of women by studying the
awareness of the financial products within the consumers and the number of
consumers who take the products from Lakme.
Lakme became India's first significant beauty brand in 1952. It has taken over 50
years to be the Indian Beauty expert. Lakme is moving very quickly to attain its
company goals and ambitions. Lakme uses the knowledge and takes into account
the present trend in the cosmetic globe to drive the cosmetic sector to a better
future. The associated works of cosmetics under multiple subjects were conducted
by many researchers while going through the literature from other associated
works. Some of the scholarly papers published in cosmetic industry are listed in the
table 1 with area of study, focus of the research along with the references.
The introductory chapter gives and insight to the cosmetic industry. It briefly
explains about the history of cosmetic sector. It also contain the organizational
profile of Lakme, stating about its mile stones, vision, products, protection
solutions, advertising effectiveness and finally about its marketing strategies and
challenges.
The second chapter gives a glimpses idea about the area of dissertation i.e.
theoretical background of the study. This part clearly explains the theoretical part
of consumer behavior in general. It also includes statement of the problem, need
and impotent of the present study and focal objectives of the
dissertation undertaken.
third chapter explains about literature review. It briefly describes what all are the
information source for the present study and what benefits has derived from the
reference of those literatures.
Next part explains about the research methodology. With the basic
understanding of the study research design was formulated. To collect the data,
questionnaires was prepared.
The last but one chapter contains the analysis and interpretation of data collected.
The collected data was coded through tally bars and presented in percentage wise
and depicted in the form of graphical representation. It also includes the hypothesis
test about the overall result of the present study.
The last chapter is entirely the exploration of the research study giving all
respondents opinion in nutshell as findings i.e. stating that around percentage of
customers behave positively towards the Lakme’s products. The dissertation ends
up with the suggestions in order to modify the current system for a higher growth
and progress.

«
 CHAPTER 1:

CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION

A. INTRODUCTION

It is the global leader in cosmetics with 25 brands. They have 4 key areas of
Expertise- Hair Care, Skin Care, Makeup and Fragrances. There is a huge motive
behind the study of Lakmè. The study will help us to understand the operation
which are carried out by L'Oréal the operation such as business marketing,
strategies, business plans of company at a glance, business structure,
management and operation structure, competitors position as per there company ,
business development, discussion of business strategies, SWOT analysis to
understand the different pros and cons of the company so as to report properly to
operate effectively and deal smartly.
The Lakmè group is the world’s largest cosmetic and beauty
company. Lake is an Indian brand of cosmetics, owned by UNILEVER and
run by CEO ANIL CHOPRA. Lakmè started as a 100% subsidiary of Tata oil
mills part of the Tata groups.

It was named after the French Opera Lakmè, which itself is the French
form of Lakshmi. Within a short last six year, the use of cosmetic by Indian
consumers have increased significantly with more women and men taking greater
interest in personal grooming increasing disposable income, changing life style,
influence of
satellite television and greater product choice and availability. This cosmetic and
personal care industry has been growing at an average rate of 20% for the last few
years.
The growing rate in the cosmetics market reflects an increasing demand for beauty
care products in India. perfumes and fragrances, skin care and hair care products
are some of the major segments with promising prospect for U.S companies.
Half a century ago, as Lakmè took her steps into freedom, its first beauty brand
was born at a time when the beauty industry was at a nascent stage Lakmè
tapped into what would grow to be amongst the leading, high consumer interest
segment in the industry that of skin care and cosmetic products.
On the basis of above-mentioned positioning strategies Lakmè can have the
following characteristics that determine its personality:
• Someone who takes care of your beauty needs.
• A long-lasting beautification product range.
• Something that is not harsh on your body or harmful for your beauty.
• A product that provides you with an option of getting beautiful hair.
• A product that helps you get a beautiful skin.
• A cosmetic product that you can wear for the entire day and not a special
occasion.
• Someone who tells you right things about looking good.
• It's an Indian cosmetic brand.
• It covers all facets of beauty care for women.

The following factors of Lakme’ s personality help in differentiation of its products

from the competition:
• It covers all facets of beauty car.
• It helps arm the consumer with products to pamper her from head to i.e.
a complete product range.
• The quality of its products which can be only gauged by the consumer perception
of the brand.
• India's first beauty brand and is there for a long time in the market (since
independence). However, most of the other foreign brands have come only lately.
Beauty is skin deep and sure enough Lakmè understand it like no one does. Today
brand Lakmè stand strong as one of the 100 most powerful brands and right fully
so, for its ‘the’ brand that lights up the face of million girls, every day. It’s a brand
that inspire, motivate and infuses confidence Colors, shades, brushes and tones to
beautify, have been the core attribute of the products. The challenge which the
cosmetic industry has to break was the negative connotation of “being fashionable’
’Though the brand missed out on during the past year despite having roped top
brand ambassadors is that it scored low.

On promotional gauge. In the following project we basically seek to provide

experiential marketing solutions to a brand (Lakmè) .We also gauge into reasons
that why Lakmè’ s position as market leader was threatened when international
majors like Revlon and Maybelline entered the fray in the mid-90s.The research
process was entailed by victim like outlets in Noida ,which includes the response
received from target audiences (Min age 19yrs- Max -45yrs) via through
questionnaire for deeper insight.

High priestess of sacred Indian temple meets English army officer who's
unwittingly strayed into holy ground. They fall in love. Her orthodox father vows
vengeance... That's the story of Lakmé, a 19th century opera written by Frenchman
Leo Delibes, from which Simone Tata borrowed the name Lakmé (French for
Lakshmi, the name of the priestess).

The current size of the Indian cosmetic market is approximately US$ 600 million.
Of this, the fastest growing segment is color cosmetics, accounting for around US$
60 million of the market. Industry sources estimate a rapid growth rate of 20
percent per annum across different segments of the cosmetics industry reflecting
an increasing demand for all kinds of beauty and personal care product. Growth
has come mainly from the low and medium- priced categories that account for 90
percent of the cosmetics market in terms of volume. Even with a 20 percent
average growth rate, the per capita consumption of cosmetics is very low in India.
 Current per capita expenditure on cosmetics is approximately US$ 0.68 cents
as compared to US$ 36.65 in other Asian countries. However, with changing
lifestyles, higher disposable incomes, increasing advertising, penetration of
satellite television, awareness of the western world and growing importance of
beauty pageants, there have been significant changes and use of cosmetics is on
the
rise. The skin care market in India is estimated at US$ 180 million. Within the last
decade, this segment has seen many consumers slowly shift from the mass to the
premium end of the market. The penetration rate is high in the skin-care
segment as compared to color cosmetics.
In the skin-care segment, price and volume played an equal role in value growth.
Moisturizing lotions, fairness creams and face cleansers are the popular categories
in the skin-care segment and account for approximately 60 percent of the skin-care
segment. The major players in this segment are Lakme, Ponds, Fair & Lovely of
the HUL group with a 50 percent market share, followed by players such as J.L.
Morison that markets the Nivea range of products in India, Godrej and Revlon.
Penetration levels of international cosmetics brands in India are still low. Foreign
brands currently constitute only 20 percent of the market.
 B. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CONSUMER
SATISFACTION

Internal influences
Consumer behaviour is influenced by: demographics, psychographics (lifestyle),
personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. consumer
behaviour concern with consumer need consumer actions in the direction of
satisfying needs leads to his behaviour of every individual depend on thinking.
External influences
Consumer behaviour is influenced by: culture, sub-culture, locality, royalty,
ethnicity, family, social class, reference groups, lifestyle, and market mix
factors Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by or there are four factors.
The following are the certain factors which influence the consumer behavior:
1. Cultural Factor: -
Cultural factor divided into three sub factors (i) Culture (ii) Sub Culture (iii) Social
Class
À. Culture: - The set of basic values perceptions, wants, and behaviors learned by a
member of society from family and other important institutions. Culture is the
most basic cause of a person’s wants and behavior. Every group or society has a
culture, and cultural influences on buying behavior may vary greatly from country
to country.
B. Sub Culture: - A group of people with shared value systems based on common
life experiences and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub cultures a group
of people with shared value system based on common life experiences and
situations. Sub culture includes nationalities, religions, racial group and
geographic regions. Many sub culture make up important market segments and
marketers often design products.

13
C. Social Class: - Almost every society has some form of social structure, social
classes are society’s relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose
members share similar values, interests and behaviour.
2. Social Factors: -
A consumer’s behaviour also is influenced by social factors, such as the
(i) Groups (ii) Family (iii) Roles and status
À. Groups: - Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or
mutual goals. A person’s behavior is influenced by many small groups. Groups
that have a direct influence and to which a person belongs are called membership
groups.
Some are primary groups includes family, friends, neighbors and coworkers.
Some are secondary groups, which are more formal and have less regular
interaction.
These includes organizations like religious groups, professional association and
trade unions.
B. Family: - Family members can strongly influence buyer behaviour. The family
is the most important consumer buying organization society and it has been
researched extensively. Marketers are interested in the roles, and influence of the
husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and services.
C. Roles and Status: - A person belongs to many groups, family, clubs,
organizations. The persons position in each group can be defined in terms of both
role and status.
3. Personal Factors:
It includes: (i) Age life cycle stage (ii) Occupation (iii) Economic situation (iv)
Life Style (v) Personality and self-concept.
À. Age and Life cycle Stage: - People changes the goods and services they buy
over their lifetimes. Tastes in food, clothes, furniture, and recreation are often age
related. Buying is also shaped by the stage of the family life cycle.
B. Occupation: - A person’s occupation affects the goods and services bought.
Blue collar workers tend to buy more rugged work clothes, whereas white-collar
workers buy more business suits. A Co. can even specialize in making products
needed by a given occupational group. Thus, computer software companies will
design different products for brand managers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, and
doctors.
C. Economic situation: - A person’s economic situation will affect product choice.
D. Life Style: - Life Style is a person’s Pattern of living, understanding these
forces involves measuring consumer’s major AIO dimensions. i.e. activities
(Work, hobbies, shopping, support etc.) interest (Food, fashion, family
recreation) and opinions (about themselves, Business, Products)
E. Personality and Self-concept: - Each person’s distinct personality influence his
or her buying behaviour. Personality refers to the unique psychological
characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to one’s
own environment.
03: Psychological Factors:
It includes these Factors: (i) Motivation (ii) Perception (iii) Learning (iv) Beliefs
and attitudes

A.Motivation: - Motive (drive) a need that is sufficiently pressing to direct

the person to seek satisfaction of the need
B. Perception: - The process by which people select, Organize, and
interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.
C. Learning: - Changes in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience.
D. Beliefs and attitudes: - Belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds
about something Attitude, a Person’s consistently favorable or unfavorable
evaluations, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea.
 C.BLACK BOX
MODEL

The black box model shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics,
decision process and consumer responses. It can be distinguished between
interpersonal stimuli (between people) or intrapersonal stimuli (within people).
The black box model is related to the black box theory of behaviorism, where the
focus is not set on the processes inside a consumer, but the relation between the
stimuli and the response of the consumer. The marketing stimuli are planned and
processed by the companies, whereas the environmental stimulus is given by
social factors, based on the economic, political and cultural circumstances of a
society.
The buyers black box contains the buyer characteristics and the decision process,
which determines the buyer’s response.
The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious,
rational decision process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the
problem. However, in reality many decisions are not made in awareness of a
determined problem by the consumer.

Marketing Stimuli EnvironmentalBuyer Decision Buyer response

Product Product choice
Stimuli characteristicsproblem
Economic

Attitude Problem
recognition
PriceTechnologicalMotivation Brand choice
PoliticalPerception Information Dealer choice purchase timing
culturalPersonality research Alternative evaluation

Promotion Demographical Lifestyle Purchase decisionPurchase amount

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 D.CONSUMER SATISFACTION
MODELS

The Customer Satisfaction Model is a set of causal equations that link perceived
quality, perceived value and customer expectations to customer satisfaction.
The customer satisfaction model is linked, in turn, to its consequences in terms of
customer complaints and customer loyalty.

PERCEIVED QUALITY: Perceived quality is the first determinant of

customer satisfaction, which is the served market’s evaluation of recent
consumption experience, and is expected to have a direct and positive
effect on customer satisfaction.

PERCEIVED VALUE: It is the second determinant of customer satisfaction,

or the perceived level of product quality relative to the price paid. Perceived
value is a measure of quality relative to price paid. Although price is often
very important to the customer’s first purchase, it usually has a somewhat
smaller impact on customer satisfaction for repeat purchases.

CUSTOMER EXPECTATION: The third determinant of customer

satisfaction, which measures the customer’s anticipation of the quality of a
company’s products or services. Expectations represent both prior
consumption experience, which includes some no experiential information
like advertising and word-of mouth, and a forecast of the company’s
ability to deliver quality in the future

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 CHAPTER 2:

INTRDUCTION OF COSMETIC INDUSTRY IN

INDIA

India, with a population of nearly a billion people, is a country of contrasts.

India's urban population is the main engine that fuels the demand for various
cosmetic products. The µmorphing of India is subtle and the changes are not
visible for the first-time visitor. However, the market liberalization process that
began in R99R, along with the crowning of three Indians as Miss World and Miss
Universe during the preceding four years, have made Indian women conscious of
their appearance. Consequently, the cosmetic consumption patterns of Indian
women have changed, and this trend is growth in the cosmetic sector. The Indian
cosmetics and toiletries market grew by 8.7% in current value terms in 200R, with
value sales amounting to RsR26 billion.
The market for cosmetics and toiletries in India is characterized by high volume
of low-end toiletry products, while at the same time the legendary emerging
middle- class has generally been fueling demand for cosmetics and upper-mass
toiletries. Products that are too specialized have yet to be successful on the Indian
market.
Examples include toners, hand care and other value-added skin care products, bath
& shower products and aftershave balm. Only the richest consumers can afford
these; indeed, the average consumer may be unaware of their purpose or even
existence. This also explains the relatively poor showing of perfumes, especially
the premium variety.
This cosmetics and personal care industry has been growing at an average rate of
20 per cent for the last few years. The growing Indian cosmetics market offers
promising prospects for international brands. The growth rate in the cosmetics
market reflects an increasing demand for beauty care products in India. Perfumes
and fragrances, skin care, and hair care products are some of the major segments
with promising prospects for U.S. companies. Penetration of most cosmetic and
toiletries is very low in India. Current consumption of many products is well
below that of many countries in Asia. The low market penetration of many
cosmetics and personal care products offers room for growth.

19
Market overview

The current size of the Indian cosmetic market is approximately US$ 600 million.
Of this, the fastest growing segment is color cosmetics, accounting for around US$
60 million of the market. Industry sources estimate a rapid growth rate of 20
percent per annum across different segments of the cosmetics industry reflecting
an increasing demand for all kinds of beauty and personal care product. Growth
has come mainly from the low and medium-priced categories that account for 90
percent of the cosmetics market in terms of volume. Nail enamels and lipsticks
account for around 6 percent of total color cosmetic sales in India. Lakme, a brand
originally introduced by the Tata group of India, now bought over by Hindustan
Lever (HLL) of the Unilever group, Tips & Toes, another domestic player, and
Revlon dominate the US$ 60 million color cosmetics market. Multinationals,
Revlon of the U.S. and L’Oréal’s Maybelline has a dominant share of the small
premium lipsticks and nail enamels market. Mass-market products account for a
major share; while the premium segment accounts only for a mere 9 per cent in
lipsticks and per cent in nail enamels. The skin care market in India is estimated at
US$ R80 million.
Within the last decade, this segment has seen many consumers slowly shift from
the mass to the premium end of the market. In the skin-care segment, price and
volume played an equal role in value growth. From a very basic level of most
consumers using only face cream and moisturizers, the market for more
specialized skin care products such as sun screens, toners, cleansers, and
astringents, dark circle removing creams, anti-wrinkle creams and day and night
creams seems to have grown steadily in recent years.
Moisturizing lotions, fairness creams and face cleansers are the popular categories
in the skin-care segment and account for approximately 60 percent of the skin-care
segment. The major players in this segment are Lakme, Ponds, Fair & Lovely of
the HLL group with a 40 percent market share, followed by players such as J.L.
Morison that markets the Nivea range of products in India, Godrej and Revlon.
The size of the hair care market in India is estimated at more than US$ 200
million, 40 percent of which interestingly comes from sales of shampoo.

20
International

21
companies like Unilever through its subsidiary, Hindustan Lever (Sun silk,
Organics, Clinic, and Lux); and Procter & Gamble (with brands such as Pantene,
Head & Shoulders) dominate the shampoo market in India with approximately
8 and 20 percent market share respectively.

The market for hair creams, mainly used for hair grooming by men is also very
small. Hair oiling, an age-old tradition of Indians and mainly used as a pre-wash
nourishment is a major segment in this sector and has giants like HLL and local
Dabur and Marico fighting for market share in the hair oil segment. More and
more shelves in shops and boutiques are stocked with cosmetics from around the
world. Since liberalization, many international brands like Avon, Burberrys,
Calvin Klein, Cartier, Christian Dior, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Lancome,
Chambor, Coty, L’Oréal, Oriflame, Revlon, L’Oréal, Yardley, Wella,
Schwarzkopf, Escada, Nina Ricci, Rochas, Yes St. Laurent and Japanese cosmetics
company, Shiseido have entered the Indian market.
The prices of most foreign brands have been fairly high, which has deterred
average Indian consumers. International brands cater to a segment that can broadly
be classified as the urban higher income group. Penetration levels of international
cosmetics brands in India are still low. Foreign brands currently constitute only 20
percent of the market. A major reason for low penetration of international brands
can be attributed to high pricing
Market Trends
Cosmetics and toiletries are not just the domain of women any longer and Indian
men too are increasingly taking to the use of more and more body sprays,
perfumes and other cosmetics and toiletries. With rising demand from men, the
Indian market is getting enlarged and many players are coming out with cosmetic
products especially skin care products for men. In the last five/six years, there has
been a renewed craze for herbal cosmetic and personal care products, especially in
the skin care segment with the growing belief that chemical-based cosmetics are
harmful. Shehnaz Hussain, Boutique, and Lotus Herbals are the major players in
this segment. Many companies also expanded their range to include herbal
variants. The growing popularity for natural products also attracted many
primarily health-care companies such as Himalaya Drugs (with its Ayurvedic
Concepts range), and Dabur to launch natural-based cosmetic products.
Import Market
Costs for importing products are much higher than producing it in the country.
India allows entry of imported cosmetics without any restrictions but the average
import tariff on cosmetics products is currently very high at 39.2 percent. This
makes imported products very expensive for most consumers. Most foreign
cosmetics companies selling premium brands have had a difficult time developing
the low volume premium market in India.

Competition
The Indian cosmetic market, which has been traditionally a stronghold of a few
major Indian players like Lakme, and Ponds has seen a lot of foreign entrants to
the market within the last decade. India is a very price sensitive market and the
cosmetics and personal care product companies, especially the new entrants have
had to work out new innovative strategies to suit Indian preferences and budgets
to establish a hold on the market and establish a niche market for themselves. HLL
and Revlon were the first to introduce small pack sizes. Revlon introduced its
small-range of 8 ml nail polishes and lipsticks, and was soon followed it its
strategy by major Indian companies as well. Small pack sizes have proved to be
very popular in the Indian market as it offers a consumer lower purchase cost and
the opportunity to try new products.
In the skin-care segment, from just creams and moisturizers, there has been a
upgrade to value-added products such as under-eye wrinkle removing creams,
dark circle removing creams toners, sunscreen lotions, fairness creams, and many
more. The color cosmetics market saw new products such as smudge-proof
lipsticks and mascaras, liquid lip color, and long-stay lipsticks being introduced.
These specialized applications led to growth in volumes and also enabled
companies to price the products at a premium, driving up value growth. L’Oréal
markets its range of specialized hair care products exclusively through salons and
beauty parlors. L’Oréal currently is the only company in the market that has a
hair color range tailored exclusively for parlors. The company was also the first to
introduce modern hair color and shampoos for colored hair in the Indian market.
A strong brand promotional campaign, good distribution network, constant
product innovation and quality improvement, and the ability to provide a variety
of quality products are some of the major reasons for the success of most
companies. HUL,
is currently India's largest cosmetics and personal care products producer and its
brands has the dominant share (more than 0 percent) in segments such as
personal wash, skin care, shampoos, lipsticks and nail polish.

Sales Prospects
The growing Indian cosmetics market offers promising opportunities for
international brands. The growth rate in the cosmetics market reflects an increasing
demand for beauty care products in India. The most promising segments for
international companies to pursue are perfumes and fragrances, and
specialized/professional skin care and hair care products. The fastest growing
market is however color cosmetics, which account for US$ 60 million of the total
market.
The rural market in India for cosmetics and toiletries remains is largely untapped.
Major domestic players have also not been able to penetrate this market. The urban
market itself for specialized cosmetic products remains to be fully exploited. The
Indian skin-care market is not yet fully tapped and offers promising prospects as a
growth area. Penetration of color cosmetics is lower than the penetration prospects
of the skin-care segment.
To promote the growth of their products, a dominant player like Lakme have
embarked upon a business plan to establish their exclusive franchised beauty
salons across major metros in the country. Imported cosmetics have had a major
impact on the Indian market.
L’Oréal India has established a consumer advisory unit and Ponds, as mentioned
earlier offers skin care advise through touch-screen kiosks, and telephone help-
lines. Boutique - an exclusive one-stop shop for only imported cosmetic brands set
up recently in New Delhi has qualified beauty consultants to provide free advice
and make overs to consumers.
Market Access
Prior to March 3R, R999, India had cosmetics and toiletries on its restricted list of
imports and a special import license was required for import of cosmetics and
toiletries into the country. This regulation has now been done away with and, India
today, permits import of cosmetics and toiletries without any restrictions. This has
made the Indian market more attractive to foreign cosmetic companies. Imports
have been made easier, but not necessarily cheaper.
 CHAPTER 3:

INTRODUCTION TO HINDUSTAN UNILIVER

PRIVATE LIMITED

HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

Half a century ago, as lakme took her step into freedom, its first beauty brand
was born.
At a time when the beauty industry was at a stage, lakme tapped into what
would grow to be amongst the leading, high consumer interest segments in the
industry that of skin care and cosmetics products.
Armed with a potent combination of foreside, research and
constant innovation.
Lakme has grown to be the market leader in the cosmetic industry.
Lamke today has grown to have a wide variety of products and services
that cover all the facts of beauty care and consumer with products.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest fast-moving consumer
goods company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20
distinct categories in home & personal care products and food & beverages. They
endow the company with a scale of combined volume of about 4 million tones
and sales of over Rs. R3,000 crores. HUL is also one of the country's largest
exporters; it has been recognized as a Golden Super Star Trading House by the
Government of India. HUL was formed in R933 as Lever Brothers India Limited
and came into being in R9336 as Hindustan Lever Limited through a merger of
Lever Brothers, Hindustan Vanaspati Mfg. Co. Ltd. and United Traders Ltd. It is
headquartered in Mumbai, India and has an employee strength of over Rs 15,000
employees and contributes for indirect employment of over 2,000 people. The
company was renamed in June 2007 to Hindustan Unilever Limited´. In 2007,
Hindustan Unilever was rated as the most respected company in India for the past
2 years by Business world, one of India’s leading business magazines.
The rating was based on a compilation of the magazine annual survey of India’s
Most Reputed Companies over the past 2 years. HUL is the market leader in Indian
consumer products with presence in over 20 consumer categories such as soaps,
tea, detergents and shampoos amongst others with over 700 million Indian
consumers using its products. It has over 3 brands. Sixteen of HUL’s brands
featured in the ACNielsen Brand Equity list of 100 Most Trusted Brands Annual
Survey (2008). According to Brand Equity, HUL has the largest number of brands
in the Most Trusted Brands List. It’s a company that has consistently had the
largest number of brands in the Top 10 and in the Top 10 (with brands).
Hindustan Unilever's distribution covers over 1 million retails outlets across India
directly and its products are available in over 6.3 million outlets in India, i.e.,
nearly 80% of the retail outlets in India. It has 39 factories in the country. Two
out of three Indians use the company’s products and HUL products have the
largest consumer reach being available in over 80 per cent of consumer homes
across India.
The Anglo-Dutch company Unilever owns a majority stake (2%) in Hindustan
Unilever Limited. HUL was one of the eight Indian companies to be featured on
the Forbes list of world’s most reputed companies in 2007.

COMPITITORS
Lakme, which produces, markets and sells beauty and cosmetic products around
the globe, and is India's number one selling brand. In the beauty care industry,
there are a large sum of Lakme rivals competing among themselves to boost their
profitability. Table shows the lists of the competitors of Lakme on the basis of top
performed companies, year established, founded and annual turnover.

S. No Name of the Established Founder Turnover

Company on Annual
1 Lakme 1952 Simone Tata $49.9 M
J.R.D Tata
(owned by
Unilever)

2 Lotus 1993 Kamal Passi $1.7 M

3 Boutique 1984 Vinita Jain $ 3.3 M

 4 L’Oréal 1909 Jean-Paul Agon $31.1 B
5 Shahnaz Husain 1970 Shahnaz Husain $37.7 M

6 Revlon India 1995 Charles Revson, $2.5 B

Charles
Larchman,
Joseph Revson

7 Maybelline 1915 Thomas Lyle $95 M

Williams
8 Himalaya 1930 M. Manal $25 B
9 Color Bar 2004 Samir Modi $2.5 M
10 Elle 18 1998 Owned by $14.4 M
Unilever

LAKME POSITIONING IN TERMS OF PERSONALITY

Lakme is a product range that caters to the beautification needs of not only women
in their adult age but in today's context teenagers also. It has a brand personality of
someone who takes care of you and your beauty needs. It tries to position itself
amongst its consumers as a product range that will help them look beautiful as is
evident from its catchphrases:
1. On top of the world!
2. Source of radiant beauty1!
Lakme has a range of beauty products to offer to its consumers. Some of the ways
in which it tries to position itself:
1. Lakme Hair Color: magic of colors (collage)
2. Lakme (versatile eye shadow collection): rich, long lasting and healthy make up.
3. Lakme fair perfect: For flawlessly fair skin!
4. Lakme face magic: daily wear soufflé.
5. Lakme (skin vitalizer): radiant skin, now and forever.
6. Lakme (moisturizer): radiant skin, now and forever.
7. Lakme nail polish and lipstick: electric brilliance/sensual brilliance.
8. Lakme sun expert (sunscreen): sun safe hamesha! (face the sun with a smile)
9. Lakme pure defense: anti-pollution system.
10. Lakme Tropical Island (cosmetics): defining the future of fashion.
11.Lakme hair care (international): natural hair care.
12. Lakme hair next: exclusive range of hairstyle products that give you that salon
look instantly.

On the basis of above-mentioned positioning strategies Lakme can have the

following
characteristics that determine its personality:
· Someone who takes care of your beauty needs.
· A long-lasting beautification product range.
· Something that is not harsh on your body or harmful for your beauty.
· A product that provides you with an option of getting beautiful hair.
· A product that helps you get a beautiful skin.
· A cosmetic product that you can wear for the entire day and not a
special occasion.
· Someone who tells you right things about looking good.
· It's an Indian cosmetic brand.
· It covers all facets of beauty care for women.

The following factors of Lakme’ s personality help in differentiation of its products

from the competition:
· It covers all facets of beauty care.
· It helps arm the consumer with products to pamper her from head to toe i.e.
a complete product range.

29
KEY FACTS
Lakme was the first major beauty brand in India and takes pride in being the expert
on Indian Beauty for over 50 years. It is complete beauty brand spanning color
cosmetics, skin care & hair styling products and extending to beauty services
through the network of Lakme Beauty Salons. Its bond with beauty and fashion is
manifested through the Lakme Fashion Week, which is now the largest fashion
event of its kind in the country. Lakme has a foot print of over R200 assisted sales
outlets, which is the largest span of outlets with ³Beauty Advisors´ in the country.

PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES:

Our corporate purpose states that to succeed requires "the highest standards of
corporate behavior towards everyone we work with, the communities we touch,
and the environment on which we have an impact."
Always working with integrity:

30
Conducting our operations with integrity and with respect for the many
people, organizations and environments our business touches has
always been at the heart of our corporate responsibility.

Positive impact:
We aim to make a positive impact in many ways: through our brands, our
commercial operations and relationships, through voluntary
contributions, and through the various other ways in which we engage
with society.

Continuous commitment:
We're also committed to continuously improving the way we manage
our environmental impacts and are working towards our longer-term
goal of developing a sustainable business.

Setting out our aspirations:

Our corporate purpose sets out our aspirations in running our business. It's
underpinned by our code of business Principles which describes the
operational standards that everyone at Unilever follows, wherever they
are in the world. The code also supports our approach to governance and
corporate responsibility.

Working with others:

We want to work with suppliers who have values similar to our own and
work to the same standards we do. Our Business partner code, aligned
to our own Code of business principles, comprises ten principles
covering business integrity and responsibilities relating to employees,
consumers and the environment.
 CHAPTER 4

PROFLE THE ORGANISATION

Lakmé

Type Private
Founded: 1952; 68 years ago,
Founder: J.R.D Tata Simone Tata
Headquarters: India
Area served: India
Nepal
Key people: Pushkaraj Shenai (CEO
Lakmé Salon)
Email order@lakmeindia.com
Us: http://lakmeindia.com
Website:
Call Us: 1800-102-0348
Product Lakme Nail Polish
range: Lakme Lipstick
L
a
k
m
e
E
y
e
l
i
n
e
r
Lakme Kajal
Lakme Strawberry Face
Wash
Lakme Radiant Rose
Powder
Lakme Nail Enamel
Remover
Lakme Strawberry Silk
Cream
Lakme Deep Pore
Cleansing Milk
 CHAPTER 5

RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is a careful investigation for inquiring in a systematic
method and finding solution of problem. It comprises the defining and redefining
of problem formulating hypothesis, collection and evaluating data, making
detection and reaching conclusion. This research consists of following element.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
SOURCES OF DATA
RESEARCH DESIGN
LIMITATION OF STUDY

OBÌECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To understand the attitudes and perception of respondents towards
cosmetics products.
2. To understand the growth of cosmetics sector in today’s scenario.
3. To study the respondent’s awareness towards lakme.
4. To know people perception towards lakme products available in the market.
5. To understand peoples consumer behavior with reference to cosmetics.
6. To know market share of lakme.
7. To study the marketing strategies of lakme cosmetics.
8. To know and analysis the level of satisfaction of customer with regards to
lakme as one of the major players in cosmetic industry.

SOURCES OF DATA
Secondary Source of Data
Secondary data are those, which have already been collected by some other
persons for their purpose and published. Secondary data are usually in the shape
of finished products. External Data, was generated from magazines, research
books and internet (websites).
RESEARCH DESIGN
The study was conducted as an exploratory sampling online survey method i.e.
Questionnaire to collect secondary data.

SAMPLING DESIGN: A sample is a representative part of the population.

In sampling technique, information is collected only from a representative
part of the universe and the conclusions are drawn on that basis for the
entire universe. A random sampling technique was used to collect data from
the respondents. A random sample is a sample selected from a population in
such a way that every member of the population has an equal chance of
being selected and the selection of any individual does not influence the
selection of any other. The selection is purely depending on chance. So,
while conducting the survey, 100 respondents were selected at random.

SAMPLE SIZE: Sample size denotes the number of elements selected for
the study. For the present study, 100 respondents were selected at random.
All the 100 respondents were the customers of one or another cosmetic
industry. Out of these 100 respondents 60 were specifically Lakme
customers.
SAMPLE DESCRIPTION: The respondents of this dissertation was 100
cosmetics users of different cosmetics companies in general, out of which 60
respondents were the users of Lakme in particular; as the dissertation was
focused on the consumer behavior and perception of users towards the
cosmetic products with special reference to Lakme. The respondents were
 personally contacted for the purpose of the study. A questionnaire was
used for survey and was answered by the customers of employed women.
Different life insurance companies. Most of the respondents were in age
group of 18-20; which was having a frequency of 68, 14 respondents were
in the age group of 21-24, 10 respondents were in the age group of 24-29
and 8 respondents were more than 30 years. According to gender wise, all
were female respondents. Nearly half of the respondents were students.

LIMITATION OF STUDY
1. An underlying assumption for the entire project is that the details and
the feedback received from the population is true.
2. It was difficult to find respondents as they were busy in their schedule, and
collection of data was very difficult. Therefore, the study had to be carried
out based on the availability of respondents.
3. Some of the respondents were not ready to fill the questionnaires and some
of them were not ready to come out openly.
 CHAPTER 6

HOW LAKME INFLUENCE ITS CUSTOMER

o THE CONCEPT OF EGO:

· According to Freudian Psychoanalytic theory Lakme tries to position itself
on the basis of its appeal to the consumers which have an ego. This means that
the consumers of Lakme have an impulsive drive for which they seek
immediate satisfaction without concern for means of satisfaction. · Women all
over the world are always expected to look good and Indian women are no
exception; More so because of the fact that Indian women in general do not
have a fair skin like that of their western counterparts. Thus, it becomes but
nature for Indian women to try and look good and use beauty products that
help enhance their looks and style. With globalization and liberalization of
Indian economy and the changing demographics and income levels there is
more and more concern to look good as today's Indian woman is no longer
confined to her but is a big contributor to the growth of Indian economy.

o THE CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY GROUPS:

· Lakme tries to woo the compliant consumers according to Karen Horney's
classification of personality groups i.e. people who move towards others.
Those who have desire to be loved, wanted and appreciated. As are earlier
stated women are supposed to look good not only in western countries but also
in India. Women always appreciate if someone calls them beautiful and it has
become the custom of the society to see women in such a context. So, it would
be prudent to say that according to the societal norms a woman has to look
good at all times and which has a bearing on the psychology of female
consumers towards cosmetic products which help them achieve that desired
look. Needless to say, that Lakme plays on the concept of women wanting
themselves to be appreciated for their beauty and being loved for that.
 o CONCEPT OF PERCEPTUAL SELECTION:
On the basis of perceptual selection Lakme has tried to position itself among
its consumers in the following ways: Lakme has tried to gain the attention of its
consumers by line extension and having more and more product depth,
packaging and attractive print advertisements. If we look at the line
extensions of Lakme than we would observe that it is in almost all the segments
of cosmetic care ranging from hair care to skin care to beauty salons! Looking
at the product depth it is pretty evident that Lakme has actually tried to fill in
all areas that it can, particularly the nail paint and the lip color segment is a big
hit among Indian women as it offers them a wide variety of products in terms
of colors as well as various styles that they can choose from.

Lakme influence its customer by various business strategies:

Business strategies are aimed at creating value for clients and taking advantage of
competitiveness by exploiting core competencies in particular product or service
markets. A company's core competency must be taken care of and attempted to
meet customer requirements in order to achieve excellent yields. This is achieved
through strategies at the business level. The Business strategy is concerned with
the situation of a company in sector with respect to rivals and the various
competitive forces. Knowing the customers is very crucial in order to obtain and
maintain a competitive advantage:
1 PRODUCTION STRATEGY:
In the organized makeup industry, Lakme continues the dominant player. With
cosmetics being used in India and more women move to work in urban areas,
specialists are saying there is increasing pressure to come up with the chic product.
With a range of products and fresh additions, the firm has reacted to numerous
difficulties and seeks to reinforce its strategy within the manufacturing
department. The packaging has also been refurbished and segmented to make
working women exciting. The one size fits all strategy will not work in which
Lakme has to formulate separate sections and place their products for the masses
of people and classes accordingly. Under which output is classified as
segmentation of demographic, demographics and psychographic.
 1. Demographic: Lakme targeted women from the age group 24-42 in this
section and are now targeting young women.
2. Geographic: It focuses primarily on the production of urban products.
3. Psychographic: Lakme has almost targeted all of India and produces goods
based on distinct segmentation kinds because Indian females generally do not
have a fair skin like the Western counterparts. The Indian economy’s globalization
and liberalization and altering demographics, the business is high on producing
products for the Indian economy's growth.

2. MARKETING STRATEGIES:
The internal industrial analysis can be carried out using various analytical
methods, including SWOC Analysis, PEST analysis, ABCD analysis etc.
Generally qualitative in nature, these analysis techniques are used to identify
market issues, market status, product/service demands, and other facts related to
the sector / organization / problem being considered. The SWOC analysis in
this report reveals the internal state of the industry. Lakme has an extraordinary
marketing strategy in order to attract the customers all over the world. The
marketing strategy enforces the marketing mix of Lakme which analyses the
brand and company that covers 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) of
marketing mix.
1. Product: Lakme focus on how to design, develop and manufacture its
products in an attractive way to satisfy the particular needs of society at large.
The product range that Lakme Skin has to introduce are Sunscreen Lotion,
Lakme Matte Effect Purifying Face Wash, Lakme intense body milk, Lakme
Pure Defense detoxifying facial wash. Also, Lakme has a wide range of color
cosmetics products that offer visible results to this vast range to glam up the
look.
2. Price: This is the second component of the marketing mix and the company
can determine it based on different economic factors and production and
marketing costs. Price is what customers actually pay in the marketing mix for the
product. Lakme has fairly priced its products to Indian customers in the country.
Indian females are price conscious and want value for money and also spend
wisely. They avoid experimenting and therefore take into account the above.
Lakme
42
always ensures that it delivers right product at the highest quality at the lowest
possible price, leaving its rivals behind.
3. Place: Customers always prefers to buy the required product from the nearest
place where it is located. It is believed that Place in marketing mix is viewed as
distribution channel and cover physical store as well as internet virtual store.
Lakme promoted two categories of distribution channels. They are: Prestige-
Department stores, which include specialty stores and chain department stores.
Broad-Food stores, which include cosmetic discounter, warehouse clubs, and mass
merchandisers. Lakme has realized that it has to promote a product range that
addresses the beautification needs of not only adult women, but also teenagers in
today's context. It has someone's product personality that takes care of customers
and their need for beauty.
4. Promotion: The fourth element of the marketing mix includes the way
marketers communicate to express brand message in a market place. There
are different methods of promoting product through word of mouth, sampling,
advertising, and point of purchase.

PEST ANALYSIS:
PEST analyzes have always been part of the external macro-environment in which
the company operates in terms of the following factors:
1.Political Factors:
a) Tax Pressure: Lakme Company must bear a 30 percent tax rate, which is the
highest among all the tax rates, as a corporate tax rate. This reduces the
company's profits.
b) Environmental Regulations: The green business norms of the government
enforce the company to convert 30% of land in its possession into green land to
make the environment ecofriendly. Even though it is an important contribution
to maintain clean environment, the company incurring extra cost.
c) Tariff and Trade Restrictions: Lakme Company has to bear the expenditure
for paying the state tax for crossing borders (before implementation of GST) for
the purchase of raw material and the delivery of finished product.
2. Economic Factors:

43
 a) Inflation Rate: During the inflationary period of year 2013, the company
was adversely affected by the purchase of raw materials, machinery, etc. at a
higher price.
b) Interest Rates: The Company pays interest rate of 12% on its corporate loans.
3. Social Factors:
a) Health Concern: Keeping the safety of the customers and corporate social
responsibility in mind the company has used the quality and safe chemicals that
are not harmful for the skin even though they are a bit costly than the other
chemicals.
b) Environment Norms: Keeping the environment norms in mind, the company
has converted 30% of its land into the green area and also used eco-friendly paper
for the purpose of packaging.
c) Emphasis on Safety: The company has emphasized on employee safety and
has offered employees insurance policy of Rs.1 crore with an annual premium of
Rs.50,000/-
4. Technological Factors:
a) Research and Development: In the coming years, the company has a plan to
spend a considerable amount on consumer research and development of its green
product range as the company has the advantage of being a leader over
introducing such products on the Indian market and to ensure its brand will be
easily copied by the competitors. In order to maintain a tight hold on the market,
Lakme has decided to continue investing to research and development activities.
b) Technology’s Effect on firms offering: The increase in the Research and
Development cost will affect the firms offering as product costs will rise as
R&D costs increase.
SWOC ANALYSIS:
Lakme's SWOC analysis identifies its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
challenges. The strengths and weaknesses in Lakme SWOC Analysis are the
internal constructs, whereas the external constructs are the opportunities and
challenges. SWOC Analysis is a demonstrated framework that allows a brand like
Lakme to benchmark their company to compete against rivals in its industry.
Lakme is one of the FMCG sector's leading products manufacturers.
Table lists Lakme strengths, weakness, opportunities, and challenges.

Strengths of cosmetic Local brand of particular Indian

products relevance
Strong capacity for R&D, well
of Lakme connected to company.
Integrated supply chain and well
distributed production
units.
Cost savings potential.
Access to the global technology
resources of Unilever
and discuss best practices with
others
Weakness of cosmetic The price of Lakme product is very
products high for Indian
customers.
of Lakme The range of quality of its
products varies.
Dropping lame salon quality.
Opportunities for Brand growth by increasing
cosmetic products usage depth and frequency
across all categories.
of Lakme Improving customers to fresh levels
of quality and
efficiency through innovation.
Brand image building through
collaboration with top
Lakme fashion designers
Challenges for cosmetic Aggressive local and multi-national
products of Lakme cut-throat
competition.
Falsified perception products in
rural and small town
limits.

45
Long-term non-existence of brand image.

46
 CHAPTER 7

DATA

ANALYSIS

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. What is your gender?

o Male
o Female

male

femalemale

47
2.What is your age group?

48
 o 15-20
o 20-25
o 25-30
o 30-35

age group
30-35
13%

20-25
20%

15-2020-2525-3030-35

3.What is your occupation?

o Self-employed
o Professional
o Government employ
o Private job
o Student

49
 student

private job

government employe

professional

self-emplyed

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5

government
self-emplyed professional private job student
employe
occupation 2 1.9 1.6 2.9 4.2

occupation Linear (occupation)

4.Do you use Lakme products(brand) for cosmetics?

o Yes
o No

Sales

35%

male
65% female

50
 5. For which purpose you usually use Lakme products?
o Eyes
o Face
o Lip color
o Nail-enamel

PRODUCTS

1.2

6.2
eyes
face
lip color

3 nail enamel

5. For how long you have been using the Lakme brand?
o Less than 1 year
o 2 year
o 1year
o Less than 5 year
o More than 5 year

51
 long usage of brand

1.2, 8%
1.2, 8%

1.4, 9%

8.2, 54%

less than 1 year 2 year 1 year less than 5 year more than 5 year

6. Do you think Lakme provides quality products to its customers?

o Yes
o No
o Can’t say

provide quality products

yes no can't say 4th Qtr

52
7. What do you think, what is the main reason for your use of
Lakme products?
o Price
o Varity
o Quality
o Promotion
o Availability

respondent prefernce

availability

promotion

quality

varity

price

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

respondent prefernce

8. Any problem you face while using it?

o Yes
o No

53
 facing problms while using product
7 6.5

4 3.5

0
yes no

facing problms while using product

10.What changes you would like to see in Lakme products in

future?
o More product ranges
o More shades
o Batter packaging
o All of the above

further changes
5

0
more product more shades metter packaging all of the above
ranges

54
11. Do you prefer Lakme products to others?
o Yes
o No
o Maybe

prefer products to others

may be
11%

yes no may be

12.Are you Lakme’s regular customer?

o Yes
o No

55
 regular user

yes no

13.Are you satisfied with the Lakme products?

o Satisfied
o Very satisfied
o Dissatisfied
o Neither satisfied
o Not satisfied

56
 satisfaction level

satisfied very satisfied neither satisfied not satisfied

14.Would you continue to buy Lakme products even if there is

increase to say up-to 10-15% in price?
o Yes
o No

contine puchase of product

28%

yes no

57
 CHAPTER 8

SUGESSTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the above assessment, we propose further viable

enhancement suggestions:
1. The distribution channel should be efficient to enhance the demand pattern of
cosmetics. Lakme vendors should see that their salesmen are well trained and
should be inculcated if special training is needed to market cosmetics.
Customer’s complaints about salesmen's discourteous therapy must be addressed
instantly.
2. Improve online sales the customer’s time limit in the image and to make
consumers aware of all products other than flagship products such as
lipsticks, foundations, napkins and so on.
3. Lakme must introduce natural beauty product lines as individuals are
increasingly inclined towards herbal goods nowadays. As products should
also concentrate on health-conscious individuals and target them.
4. Cosmetic stores should decrease their advertising spending, particularly
in urban regions, and focus on online advertisements to reach new generation
customers.
5. The masculine industry is also becoming aware nowadays so that the
male beauty section can be a focus zone.
6. Consumers have powerful brand loyalty to global brand cosmetics.
Although customers have the right to purchase a specific cosmetics brand, they
must purchase their own country brand and promote it because Lakme was the
first Indian brand.
7. Developing new, effective, and durable cosmetics using the latest emerging
technology like nanotechnology give product differentiation advantage to create
a monopoly at least for some time to the company.

58
 8. Proper study should be carried out based on new research to generate quality
cosmetics, to understand consumer behavior and to evaluate the brand loyalty
that will definitely improve cosmetics demand patterns covering all fields.

RESULT
It is clearly evident from this research the Lakme is the clear market leader in
cosmetics Industry of India as per the consumer perception across all age
groups and income levels out of which 70% respondents out of total 100
respondents are using Lakme products but only 10% are using L’Oréal and 10%
consumers are using Garnier and only 10% are using Lotus cosmetics. It
was found that during the investigation the consumers are using some products
like mascara, eyeliner, foundation, face-powder, blushers etc. However, 58
consumers felt that their brand of cosmetics are healthy and 20 consumers are
perceiving these cosmetics are harmful to health. It is interesting to note that 35
consumers are using these cosmetics as theory are economical. 40% people
appreciate the facial and massage services provided by their favorite cosmetic but
20 consumers out of 60 users who use only Lakme products, while 18 out of 60
uses it because Lakme is very economical in nature and 34 consumers out of 60
users of Lakme products use the sunscreen lotion the maximum times, the next
product being lip gloss.
The consumer awareness about Lakme is good among 28 consumers and 20
consumers out of 60 use Lakeme makeup products, while 17 of them use Lakme
products of skin protection. It is nice to note that 28 consumers are rated Lakme as
good while 18 found rated it as excellent and 14 of them rated it as moderate.
Finally, was found that the 48 consumers of Lakme are satisfied by the services
provided by the company and 53 are fully satisfied with the products of the
company.

59
 CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSIO

A cosmetic is implemented primarily to change or enhance skin, hair, nails, lips,

and eyes beauty. Each appearance is subject to the appeal of cosmetics. So, from
ancient times to contemporary times cosmetics were used. It is used not only by
women but also by men from cradle to grave it becomes vital for human beings. A
testimony to the significance of cosmetics is the development of beauty industries
in and around the globe. India's ever-increasing population significantly multiplies
the use of cosmetics. Lakme Company has in one manner or another occupied an
important position in human lives for Indians. Thus, the marketing of cosmetics
becomes competitive. This paper was conducted to analyze the company's
strategy, rivals and results. If all the suggestions and findings of this study are
listened to and carried out, the analysis pattern of cosmetics will undoubtedly be
beneficial not only in India but also outside. With many players coming up with
innovative products in the beauty care sector, Lakme aimed to penetrate mainly
untapped markets, and have a stand in the market and is continuing to expand
globally. The analysis, therefore, offered in-depth data on Lakme's business
strategies and how these strategies affected its general growth.

This research study thus, given insight into various intricacies of consumer
perception and consumer behavior related to the usage of cosmetic products in
India with particular reference to Lakme of Hindustan Unilever Limited
(HUL). It is interesting to note that along with women in India men also using
large quantities of cosmetics for their personal grooming. Naturally, a person
grooms himself or herself perceives that their level of confidence and happiness
would increase. Also, this study helps the research to understand the factors that
affect the buying behavior of consumers and to know how can perception have a
positive and a negative impact on the consumer behavior. Finally, the researcher
has found out that in India, the usage of is increased as the population also
60
increasing day by day and they are more concerned about their grooming. In this
research the researcher finally able to find out the Intricacies of Consumer

61
Perception and Behavior of Consumers of Cosmetics in India. The cosmetic
industry has good competition and all the marketers in this field are devising
distinctive strategies to grab the appropriate market share in Indian cosmetics
market. The future researchers could focus on wider areas to assess the consumer
perception of cosmetics market of India.

62
 CHAPTER 10

BIBLOGRAPHY

List of journals and magazine’s:

https://fdocuments.in/document/31201418-consumer-beahviour-and-
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Historyofcosmetics.com. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cosmetics. Retrieved on 19 June
2019.
Cosmetics | Encyclopedia.com. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports-and-everyday-life/fashion-and-
clothing/clothingjewellery-and-personal-adornment/cosmetics. Retrieved on
19 June 2019.
https://www.lakmesalon.in/about.html.Retrieved on 22 June 2019.
https://www.scribd.com/document/282868534/A-STUDY-OF-
CONSUMER-BEHAVIOUR-TOWARDS-LAKME-IM-PROJECT-docx
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288989435_The_Intricacies_of_C
onsumer_Perception_and_Behaviour_of_Consumers_of_Cosmetics_in_Indi
a
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakm%C3%A9_Cosmetics

63
64