CONSUMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS BRAND EQUITY OF PAVIZHAM RICE IN

KERALA
Shahana K S*1 Dr.Ushadevi K N2
1
Ph.D Scholar, 2Major Advisor, Professor and Head
Department of Rural Marketing Management, College of Co-operation, Banking and Management,
Vellanikkara
Thrissur-680 656
*Corresponding author e-mail id:aleemakkutty@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
India stands second in rice production in the world. Rice is a staple food of Kerala and as per the
information from Kalady Rice Millers’ Consortium, 40 per cent of the consumers in Kerala prefer
branded rice and out of this Kerala absorbs 16 per cent, the rest of the branded rice is from outside states
like Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and West Bengal. Pavizham Healthier Diet Pvt. Ltd is one of the
popular rice producing company situated in Eranakulam district and marketed their rice under the brand
name Pavizham. The closure of one of the Pavizham rice mill at Koovappady village due to loss in the
year 2021 has raised concerns about the brand equity of Pavizham rice in the market. In this context this
research is conducted to study the consumer perception towards brand equity of Pavizham rice in
Kerala. For the purpose of the primary data collection, a total of 60 (using branded rice) consumers
were selected from Thrissur municipal corporation area. Out of these 30 Pavizham brand users selected
purposively and rest of them were other brand users. 20 each from a hyper market, co-operative
supermarket, and from a private retail store based on convenient sampling. The survey was conducted
during the month of July 2023 by using structured questionnaire. The data analysed by using percentage
analysis, average, index method, ranking method, Cronbach’s alpha and regression analysis. The
independent variables such as brand association and brand loyalty were significantly affecting the
dependent variable customer satisfaction. The brand awareness, brand image and perceived quality
shows a result of insignificant towards customer satisfaction.
Key words: Pavizham brand, Brand equity, brand awareness, brand image, brand association, perceived
quality, regression, Cronbach’s alpha

INTRODUCTION
Rice is a staple food of Kerala. Nowadays consumer has various alternative choices to select
the brand so the marketers are facing very tough competition to sell their products. The rice consumers
from southern region of Kerala are more preferring Jaya and Surekha rice which were mainly traded
from Andhra Pradesh. Cherumani, Kuruva and Bhodhana which is coming from Bengal have more
preference by the consumers from northern part of Kerala (Financial Express, 2017). Ernakulam district
stands first with maximum number of modern rice mills in the state, which are producing branded rice.
Pavizham Healthier Diet Pvt. Ltd is one of the popular rice producing company situated in Eranakulam
district and marketed their rice under the brand name Pavizham. The closure of one of the Pavizham
rice mill at Koovappady village due to loss in the year 2021 has raised concerns about the brand equity
of Pavizham rice in the market. Consumer perception on brand equity is a major factor that influencing
the consumer choices and loyalty in the food industry. Therefore, the present study titled consumer
perception towards brand equity of Pavizham rice in Thrissur district was undertaken with the
objectives namely, examining the consumption pattern and preference of consumers towards rice brands
in Thrissur district and evaluating the consumer perception towards brand equity of Pavizham rice
brand.

METHODOLOGY
For the purpose of the primary data collection, a total of 60 (using branded rice) consumers
were selected from Thrissur municipal corporation area. Out of these 30 Pavizham brand users selected
purposively and rest of them were other brand users. 20 each from a hyper market, co-operative
supermarket, and from a private retail store based on convenient sampling. The survey was conducted
during the month of July 2023 by using structured questionnaire. The data analysed by using percentage
analysis, average, index method, ranking method, Cronbach’s alpha and regression analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

An examination of the consumption pattern and preference of consumers towards rice brands
revealed that half of the respondents were purchasing branded rice only and rest of them preferring
loose, unbranded rice along with branded rice. Majority of the consumers were purchasing branded rice
on monthly basis. Half of the respondents preferred the rice packet size of 10 Kg. 48 percent of the
respondents preferred the popular rice variety called “Jaya” followed by Matta vadi rice. Among the
currently using rice varieties, most of them were using branded Matta vadi rice followed by Jaya rice.
Majority of the households were consuming 10 to 20 Kg branded rice in a month. The consumers were
spending 46 percent of their monthly income as their food expenditure, and it includes an average of
eight percent for purchase of branded rice. Majority of the respondents were aware of the rice brands
from the family. Majority of the consumers (87 percent) could recall the brand name Pavizham followed
by the brand Double horse. 3/4th of the respondents commented that the purchase decision of branded
rice was taken by both husband and wife in the family. Half of the respondents using branded rice
because of its superior quality followed by convenience. Hyper market was the most preferred store to
the respondents to purchase the Pavizham rice followed by margin free super market.
Table 1 shows the overall evaluation on the consumer perception towards brand equity of
Pavizham rice brand and it results a resigned response except the variable brand image.
Table 1 Consumer satisfaction
Dimensions Composite Score Interpretation
Score index
Brand awareness 563 75 Resigned
Brand image Moderately
1089 81
agree
Brand loyalty 587 65 Resigned
Perceived
563 75 Resigned
quality
Brand
787 75 Resigned
association

For the further evaluation the consumer satisfaction was denoted as dependent variable and the
dimensions of brand equity were kept as independent variable.

Cronbach's alpha coefficient measures the internal consistency, or reliability, of the survey items. It
was used to determine whether a collection of items consistently measures the same characteristic.
Cronbach's alpha quantifies the level of agreement on a standardized 0 to 1 scale.
Table 2 Cronbach’s alpha (α) reliability analysis.
Sl.n Variables Cronbach’s Alpha (α)
o
1 Customer satisfaction 0.935
2 Brand awareness 0.841
3 Brand image 0.937
4 Brand loyalty 0.882
5 Brand association 0.918
6 Perceived quality 0.929
*by using R programming language
Table 2 predicts that the survey items were satisfied with the internal consistency. That is, how
closely related a set of items are as a group. Hence the measure of scale is reliable.
 Table 3 Omnibus Testa
Likelihood Ratio Chi- df Sig.
Square
29.179 5 .000

Table 4 Pseudo R-Square

Cox and Snell .698
Nagelkerke .804
McFadden .592
*Link function: Logit. **by using
SPSS
Table 5 Parameter Estimates
95% Wald
Hypothesis
Confidence 95% Wald Confidence Interval for Exp(B)
Test
Std. Interval Exp(B)/
Parameter B
Error Wald Odds ratio
Lower Upper Chi- df Sig. Lower Upper
Square
[csat=3]23.1757.70488.074 38.2769.048 1 .003 11611830688.799 3210.570 41997099878133824.000
Threshold
[csat=4]28.2808.739311.15245.40910.472 1 .001 1914312171893.20869678.933 52592525977689710000.000
Brand
3.232 1.4443.402 6.063 5.009 1 .025 25.341 1.494 429.768
association
Brand loyal 1.665 .8190 .059 3.270 4.131 1 .042 5.284 1.061 26.310
Brand awareness -1.216 1.0129-3.201 .769 1.441 1 .230 .296 .041 2.158
Brand image 1.247 .8866 -.491 2.985 1.978 1 .160 3.479 .612 19.778
Perceived quality 1.919 1.0032-.048 3.885 3.658 1 .056 6.812 .953 48.661
a
(Scale) 1
Table 3 shows the result Omnibus test is applied for checking the level of significance. It was carried
out by using the statistical program SPSS. For conducting the regression analysis the Omnibus test
was carried out to identifying the level of significance. Though the level is satisfied as the test value
was 0.000 at 5 percent level of significance, the ordinal logistic regression was followed for the
research.

The result from McFadden ordinal logistic regression analysis (Table 4) was showed a 59.2 percent
influence of brand equity and their variables on the consumer satisfaction.
 Table 5 shows that the independent variables such as brand association and brand loyalty were
significantly affecting the dependent variable customer satisfaction. The brand association shows a
positive relationship with consumer satisfaction, and its odds ratio is greater than one, which means
that its 1 unit change is more likely to increase the consumer satisfaction with 25.341 units. Likewise,
one unit change in the brand loyalty will affect with 5.284 unit change in the consumer satisfaction.
About the perceived quality, it was also positively related to the consumer satisfaction. One unit
change in the perceived quality will be resulted 6.812-unit changes in the consumer satisfaction. The
remaining independent variables like brand awareness and perceived quality was insignificant with
respect to consumer satisfaction.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that the results on the dimensions of brand equity driven by the Pavizham
rice consumers was resigned except brand image. The superior quality expectation formed by the
promotional strategies of the rice brand leads to the consumer dissatisfaction after their actual
consumption. Thus the promotional strategies should be updated and should meet the consumer’s
demand. Majority of the consumers were brand switchers, the company should project the USP of the
brand, and then only they can earn loyalty of the consumers. As rice is an FMCG, the consumers are
changing their taste and preferences on time to time. So, the company need to come up with new
strategies to create a mental connection with the consumers and need to act according to the pulse of
them.

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Websites
https://www.pavizhamrice.com