Abstract:
This study was carried out to determine the benefits of consumers seek from toothpaste and impact of key purchasing determinants on brand equity of the toothpaste market in Sri Lanka. The tooth paste industry in Sri Lanka is highly competitive. Marketing mix and many factors frequently create meaningful differences in a brand’s performance. This study analyzed the factors that affecting to develop new products and proper advertisement campaign. Survey was conducted with a random sample size of 200 customers from the selected three key supermarkets in Colombo district during March in 2014. The sampling method was purposive random sampling. The data collected through a structured questionnaire were analyzed using factor analysis and 2-way frequency tables. Reliability of data were confirmed by Cronbach’s Alpha test. Results found that three factors: (i) health conscious or health beneficiary, (ii) social beneficiary and (iii) specialized beneficiary impact the purchase of toothpaste. Furthermore, it was found that key purchasing determinants: prevent cavity, shiny teeth, strengthen gum, freshness of breath, strengthen of enamel and attractive teeth significantly influence (p<0.05) the brand equity of products. Furthermore, it was found that company image and price do not significantly influence the brand equity of products. The findings in this study has practical implications, especially for the decision makers of new product development and advertisement campaign development for toothpaste industry to maximize benefits from investments. The study also revealed that when introducing new products to toothpaste industry it needs to be more focused on oral hygiene habits of people.
