Online Tutoring on Marketing Soft Drinks
INTRODUCTION
Today, the market of soft drink makers are dominated by few of the well-known established brands i.e. Pepsi and Coca Cola. However, the human nature and basic economics rule the consumer’s preferences while making choice amongst different products to consume. In order to understand and analyze the market of soft drinks at La Trobe University, the questionnaire based on closed ended questions was being distributed amongst both international and local students. The responses of the last semester students of BUS1BAN which were posted through online survey, was recorded and analyzed to carry out the results.
DATA ANALYSIS
Section A
The survey is based on responses from 100 students chosen randomly. The questionnaire was based on four questions which are analyzed in this part of the report.
Out of 100 students, 17 students were international while rest of the 83 students chosen were local residents of Melbourne, Australia.
Figure 1: Proportion of Local and International Students
The study reveals that there is a negative relation between quantity demanded and prices of 375ml soft drink cans. The analysis is based on the total number of 175ml cans demanded at each price of $0.50, $1.00, $1.50, $2.00, $2.50, $3.00, $3.50, $4.00, $4.50 and $5.00. The total number of responses were added and the graph (figure 2) was obtained which shows as the price of 175ml can increases from $0.50 to $5.00, the quantity demanded for soft drinks cans falls from 719.5 cans to 22 cans only.
Figure 2: Total Demand for Soft Drinks at Each Price Level
Upon further analysis of the responses obtained it was analyzed that the most popular drink amongst students (both local and international) was Coca Cola as most of the students chose it as first preference (44%) for consumption (assuming it has same price as all).
| Preference | Pepsi | Coca Cola | Energy Drinks | Other Soft drinks |
| 1st | 19% | 44% | 22% | 23% |
| 4th | 33% | 4% | 34% | 30% |
Table 1: Proportion of the Most and Least Preferred Drinks
Other soft drinks were chosen by 23% as first preference followed up by energy drinks as first preference by 22% of the students and Pepsi as first preference by 19% of the students. The table above is shown for each preference percentage. While the figure below is showing the proportion of students that chose Pepsi, Coca Cola, Energy Drinks and other soft drinks as most preferred.
Figure 3: Proportion of Students for Most Preferred Drink
The least popular soft drink was found out to be Energy Drinks as 34% of the students chose it as fourth choice. While Coca Cola was chosen as fourth preference by only 4% of the respondents.
Furthermore the brand loyalty of the customer was also tested by offering the other brand at lower price. This was to test whether the consumers prefer taste, quality, brand or price of the soft drinks. The loyalty was tested by offering 25%, 40% and 60% lower prices for least preferred soft drinks and results were coded as yes or no. The table below summarizes the responses of the students as yes or no.
| Responses | 25% Price Reduction | 40% Price Reduction | 60% Price Reduction |
| Yes | 15% | 35% | 61% |
| No | 85% | 65% | 39% |
Table 2: Change in Price and Responses
The results showed that most of the consumers chose to change their preferences if the least preferred drink was offered at a lower price. As the price was reduced by more percentage, more respondents showed their intentions of changing their choice to their least preferred soft drinks.
SUMMARY
The results indicate that Coca Cola is first preference of both local and international students. International students have been analyzed to be less loyal towards their brand and local students are more brand loyal when it comes to consuming soft drinks. The whole data supports the demand theory of economics indicating that with rise in prices, the demand of products fall (Mankiw, 2014).
