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ISSN: 2394 - 6636

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

VOL : 19, July 2016

A STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS SELECTED HERBAL

COSMETIC PRODUCTS
MRS. GURMEET KAUR
Faculty of Commerce, Guru Nanak Girls College, Yamuna Nagar.

ABSTRACT

Customer satisfaction is a measure of how an organizations total product performs in relation to a set of
customer requirements. Organizations have invested heavily in improving performance in areas that
make a strong contribution to customer satisfaction, such as quality and customer service. A highly
satisfied customer generally stays loyal longer, buys more as the company introduces new products and
upgrades existing products. From last 10-15 years, the use of herbal cosmetics by Indian consumers has
increased significantly. Herbal cosmetics contain herbs and natural ingredients and they are free from
harmful effects. The objective of the study is to examine the customer satisfaction towards selected
herbal cosmetic products. The present study is based on primary data collected through questionnaire
administered on 100 female respondents using herbal cosmetic products. The study depicts that majority
of the respondents are satisfied with quality and price of herbal cosmetic products. First use experience,
repeat purchase experience and usages experience also satisfy the respondents.
Keywords: Customer satisfactions, herbal products, repeat purchase experience
INTRODUCTION
Over the last decade organization of all types and sizes have increasingly come to understand the
importance of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction has become the key operational goal for
every organization. The thing that counts today is customer satisfaction. If the customers are not
satisfied, they will stop doing business with that organization. All the things that an organization does to
achieve quality and provide excellent service are not important at all if it does not result into customer
satisfaction. A successful business is the one that fully satisfy its customers profitably. Business
succeeds by getting, keeping and growing customers. Customers are the only reason for which an
organization builds factories, hire employees, schedule meetings, or engage in any business activity.
Without customers they don't have a business. Therefore, an organization's main goal should be to
produce a satisfied and loyal customer who will stay with it over time. In general, satisfaction is a
person's feelings of pleasure or disappointment that result from comparing a product's perceived
performance to their expectations. If the performance is lower than expectations, the customer is
dissatisfied, but if the performance matches the expectations, the customer is satisfied. If the
performance exceeds the expectations, the customer is highly satisfied. So it can be stated that when a
product or service meet or exceeds a customer's expectations, the customer is usually satisfied.
The key to customer retention is customer satisfaction. A highly satisfied customer generally stays loyal
longer, buys more as the company introduces new products and upgrades existing products. A satisfied
customer talks favorably to others about the company and its products, pays less attention to competing
brands and is less sensitive to price. Customer satisfaction is highly based on the concept of customer
value. Companies have to, in one way or the other, deliver value to the customer; either by expanding
the amount of product attributes, or by fulfilling other customer needs.
HERBAL COSMETIC INDUSTRY- A BRIEF PROFILE
The herbal cosmetics and personal care industry has been growing at a very fast rate. The growth orate
in the herbal cosmetic market reflects an increasing demand for herbal and natural beauty care products
in India. There has been a shift from synthetic cosmetics to herbal cosmetics. The demand for natural
and organic personal care products is increasing at a breakneck speed, as consumer are becoming more
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VOL : 19, July 2016
aware of skin care and health care products. From last 10-15 years, customers have become aware about
the harmful effects of chemical based products. The growing popularity for natural products also
attracted many primarily health care companies such as Dabur and Himalaya etc. to launch naturalbased cosmetic products.
Ayur has already established itself as a well known brand in Indian cosmetic industry by quality of its
products. From a humble beginning of Rs. 100 million turn over in the year 1996, it has been able to
achieve a group turn over of over 2600 million during the last year.
A 80 years old company Himalaya manufactures herbal, Pharmaceutical and personal care products
through rigorous research and clinic traits. Shahnaz Hussain dominates the premium herbal cosmetic
segment in India. The average growth rate in the initial years(Late 1970s to early 1980s) was 15-20%,
in the 1990s the average growth rate was 19.4% and today , her company, shahnaz Hussain herbals is
one of the largest manufactures of herbal products in the world.
Herbal hair care products are also very much popular among the customers. Ayur, Dabur, and Vatika are
major players in this segment. Patajali herbal products are also very popular in all over India. The
demand for herbal cosmetics will increase forever. There is a good scope for new investment in this
segment. A strong promotional campaign, god distribution network, constant product innovation, quality
improvement and the ability to provide a variety of quality products are some of the major reasons for
the success in the market. Understanding the attitudes, preferences and aspirations of the different
segments of Indias consumers is crucial to achieve success in the Indian market.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To study the demographic profile of the customers using selected herbal cosmetic products.
To study the usage frequency and satisfaction level of customers regarding herbal cosmetics.
To determine how well the company and its competitors are satisfying the customers
expectations and requirements.
To give some suggestions to the marketers to improve the level of customer satisfaction.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Ms.Yasmin Singaporewala (2008) observed that with the increasing globalization, the young Indian
women have realized the importance of always looking good. Both the skin care and color cosmetics
have seen steady growth throughout the past 5 years. According to the Euro monitor report on the Indian
cosmetics and toiletries market, the color cosmetics market stands at $113.4 million and skin care at
$346.9 million.
Jai Singh Parmar (2007) conducted a study on understanding the demographic factors that influence
the use of cosmetics namely age, occupation and income in the town. It was also found that brand
switching was common among cosmetic users, especially when their regular brand was not available.
The study also showed that users preferred either home made or herbal cosmetics rather than synthetic
cosmetics.
Bhawna Garg (2007) studied rural consumers and observed that TV advertising had a deep impact on
the mind of consumers. Fragrance was found to be an important factor in influencing the purchasing
decision for hair oil, followed by attractive packing, small packs and low price. It was also found that
the favorite brand of hair oil is Vatika, followed by Keo Karpin nd Dabur Amla.
Urvashi Makkar et al. (2007) observed that the increasing size of the middle class population in India,
representing a growth of disposable income, has led to an increase in the demand for cosmetics. The
customers have a strong positive attitude towards herbal cosmetics and these consumers are more
inclined to purchase higher-priced products.
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

VOL : 19, July 2016
Vinith Kumar Nair et al (2007) observed that male consumers generally prefer to purchase and select
the brand of cosmetics individually. Quality is the major factor influencing the purchase decision of the
male consumers. The study also observed that the female consumers prefer to purchase cosmetics from
any convenient shop rather than any particular shop.
Tarang Vaish(2006) observed that most of the customers are brand loyal. There is an emerging trend
towards the purchase of herbal products, which are perceived to be less harmful, as compared to
chemical-based cosmetics. It is fast caching up among the youth (18-24years).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is descriptive in nature. This study describes the customer retention and satisfaction level
towards selected herbal cosmetic products. The present study is based on primary data collected through
questionnaire administered on 100 female respondents using herbal cosmetic products in Yamuna Nagar
only. All the relevant information was obtained by conducting the interview of customers with the help
of pre tested and structured questionnaire. To achieve the objective of the study, collected data has been
analyzed by percentage method.

TABLE-1 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Respondents

profile

No. of respondents

Percentage

Age Group

Below 30

42

42

30-40

50

50

Above-40
Female

08
100

08
100

Under Graduate

15

15

Graduate

52

52

Post Graduate

33

33

Professional
Service

25
17

25
17

Business
Housewife

0
28

0
28

Students
Below 2,00,000

30
18

30
18

2,00,000 to
4,00,000

12

12

Gender
Education
Qualification

Occupation

Family Income

4,00,000 to
56
56
6,00,000
Above 6,00,000
14
14
The analysis of table-1 shows that majority of the respondents belong to the age group of 30-40 and
more than 80% respondents are highly qualified. It is found that herbal cosmetic products are mostly

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

VOL : 19, July 2016
used by students and housewives. As regards to the annual family income, more than 50% respondents
have income between 4, 00,000 to 6,00,000.

ANALYSIS OF SAMPLING DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONDENTS USING HERBAL

COSMETIC PRODUCTS ON THE BASIS OF DURATION OF USE
TABLE- 2: Sampling Distribution of the respondents using Herbal Face Cream, herbal oil, herbal
shampoo on the basis of duration of use
Duration of use
Percentage of
percentage of
percentage
of
respondents using respondents using
respondents using herbal
herbal cream
herbal hair oil
shampoo
Less than 6
13
06
11
months
More than 6
27
13
32
months but less
than 1 year
1-3 years
36
27
44
Over 3 years
24
54
13
Never used
Total
100
100
100
Table-2 reveals that more than 50% of the respondents are using herbal cream, herbal hair oil and herbal
shampoo from more than 3 years.
TABLE-3: Satisfaction level of the respondents regarding herbal face cream, herbal hair oil and
herbal shampoo
Satisfaction level
Percentage of
Percentage of
percentage of
respondents using respondents using respondents using herbal
herbal cream
herbal hair oil
shampoo
Very Satisfied
54
83
54
Some what
27
14
25
satisfied
Neither satisfied
19
03
21
nor dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Total
100
100
100
Table-3 depicts that more than half of the respondents are very satisfied from the herbal products and
none of the respondent feel dissatisfaction from the herbal cosmetic products.
ANALYSIS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF HERBAL
COSMETIC PRODUCTS
TABLE-4: Importance of selected characteristics of the herbal cosmetic products for the
respondents
Importance Quality
Price
Purchase
First use
Usage
Repeat
(%age)
(%age)
Exp.
exp.
Exp.
Purchase
(%age)
(%age)
(%age)
Exp.
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

VOL : 19, July 2016
(%age)
100

Extremely 100
83
92
100
imp.
Very imp.
23
17
08
Somewhat 37
imp.
Not very
40
imp.
Not
extremely
imp.
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
Table -4 clearly reveals that 100% of the selected respondents feel that quality of the product is
extremely important for them. As regards to price, 23% of the respondents feel that price is very
important whereas for 40% of the respondents price is not very important. Majority of the respondents
feel that purchase experience and first use experience is extremely important for them. As regards to
usage experience and repeat purchase experience, 100% respondents feel that these two are extremely
important characteristics of the herbal cosmetic products.
TABLE -5: SATISFACTION LEVEL OF THE RESPONDENTS REGARDING SELECTED
CHARACTERISTICS OF HERBAL COSMETIC PRODUCTS
Satisfaction Quality
Price
Purchase
First use
Usage
Repeat
level
(%age)
(%age)
Exp.
exp.
Exp.
Purchase
(%age)
(%age)
(%age)
Exp.
(%age)
Very
67
19
24
56
62
65
satisfied
Somewhat 21
57
46
28
24
28
satisfied
Neither
12
24
30
16
14
07
satisfied
nor
dissatisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very
dissatisfied
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
Table-5 reveals that as regards to quality, 67% of the respondents are very satisfied with the quality of
the herbal cosmetic products whereas there are 21% and 12% respondents who are neutral and
somewhat satisfied. As regards to price, more than 50% respondents are satisfied from the price. As
regards to first use experience, usage experience and repeat purchase experience majority of the
respondents are satisfied.
TABLE-6: RESPONDENTS EXPERIENCE REGARDING HERBAL COSMETIC PRODUCTS
Response
Product
Product does Product does Product is
Product is
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

VOL : 19, July 2016
worths the
purchase
price
(%age)
32

what it
claims
(%age)

what I need
(%age)

easy to use
(%age)

competitively
priced
(%age)

Strongly
28
18
86
70
agree
Somewhat
46
39
24
14
26
agree
Neither
22
27
58
04
agree nor
disagree
Somewhat
06
disagree
Strongly
disagree
Total
100
100
100
100
100
Table-6 depicts that 32% respondents are highly agree with the statement that the product worths its
purchase price while 46% are somewhat agree and 2% respondents are neutral towards this statement.
28% respondents are highly agreed that product does according to its claims. There are 6% respondents
who are somewhat disagree with the companys and products claims. Majority of the respondents are
neutral towards the statement that products performance is according to the customers needs while
18% are strongly agree with it. More than 70% respondents are strongly agree that the product is easy to
use and competitively priced.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

The present study depicts that majority of the respondents are satisfied with quality and price of herbal
cosmetic products. First use experience, repeat purchase experience and usages experience also satisfy
the respondents. There is no one who feels dissatisfaction from the herbal cosmetic products. The most
of the respondents are agreed with the statement that product worths its price; it is easy to use and
competitively priced. It shows that the respondents are highly satisfied from herbal cosmetic products.

CONCLUSION
It is found that the respondents of all the age group and income group are using personal care products.
Herbal cosmetic products are preferred by the respondents as compared to non herbal cosmetic products
due to awareness of harmful effects of non herbal cosmetic products. It is found that the respondents are
very much conscious about the quality rather than the price of the cosmetic products. Majority of the
customers are willing to repurchase the herbal cosmetic products; it shows that the respondents are
highly satisfied from herbal cosmetic products.

SUGGESTIONS

Quality and previous usage are two major reasons for buying the herbal cosmetic products by
customers. So, it is suggested that companies should consistently improve the quality of the
product.
It has been emerged from the study that a few customers take pricing factor into consideration,
hence company can add new customers by reducing the price.
It is suggested that products claims should match the products performance.

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VOL : 19, July 2016

It is also suggested that the companies need to have an effective complain management, so that a
dissatisfied customer can be turned into a satisfied one.

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