TETANUS TOXOID SINGLE DOSE COMBO PACK –

MARKET POTENTIAL, CUSTOMER PERCEPTION AND

PRICE SENSITIVITY

Submitted By

S. Manikandan Sanjive (30037)

Organisation Traineeship Segment

PRM 2009-11

Submitted to

Mr.N.Anand

General Manager Marketing

Human Health

Indian Immunologicals Limited

Faculty Guide

Prof. Himadri Roy Chaudhry

INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT, ANAND

2010

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Organisation Traineeship segment at Indian Immunologicals Ltd was a great learning

experience for me. I am thankful to all those people who have helped me in completing this

project successfully.

First of all I would like to acknowledge the support, motivation and guidance provided by

Mr.N.Anand, General Manager (Human Health Marketing), Indian Immunologicals. It is his

guidance and motivation that kept me going all through the project.

I would like to thank Mr. Narendhra Agarwal (Manager, Human Health Marketing) and

Ms. Aditi (Product Management Team, Human Health Marketing) for all the help and support

they provided us all through the project.

I must express my sincere gratitude to my faculty guide Prof. Pratik Modi who gave me a

lot of ideas to apply in this project and was always there all through the project.

I would like to acknowledge the OTS coordinator Prof S.R. Asokan. His efforts in

managing this segment have lead to me getting this project which has been a very good learning

experience for me.

S. Manikandan Sanjive (30037)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Project Title – Tetanus Toxoid Single Dose Combo Pack – Market Potential, Customer

Perception and Price Sensitivity

Project Guide: Prof. Himadri Roy Chaudhry

Reporting Officer: Mr. N. Anand

Student’s Name: S. Manikandan Sanjive (30037)

Project Objectives:

To analyze TT combo pack vaccine market in one metro of India.

To estimate the market size of TT vaccine combo packs in India.

To establish factors customers look out in TT combo packs.

To map the customer perception about TT combo packs.

To understand the price sensitivity for TT combo packs.

To determine the demand curve for TT combo packs.

Scope of the study: Tetanus Toxoid Single Dose Combo Pack is the product handled. The area

covered for the study is Bangalore. A total of 55 doctors were interviewed which included

general practioners, gynaecologists and Orthopaedists.

Methodology: A pilot study was conducted in Hyderabad to test the questionnaire that was

prepared for the doctors. The improved questionnaire so obtained was administered to doctors in

Bangalore. The list of doctors in major localities in the city of Bangalore was obtained from

asklaila.com, sulekha.com and list given by the organisation. As the list given by the

organisation is not clear, help was taken from these websites. The doctors were randomly

selected from the list and surveyed. Data analysis was done using tools such as Microsoft excel

and SPSS.

Summary of findings: For Tetanus Toxoid vaccine, Serum is the market leader and it can be

interpreted that Serum has done extensive brand building exercise. Doctors perceive combo

packs to be convenient but sceptical about economy. The three main factors customers look out

for in TT combo packs are easy availability, convenience, brand and price. But HBI is

concerned only on institutional marketing. So it has to concentrate on the other side of business,

also, to expand its horizon in TT market. Again, the price of Rs.22 is perceived to be very costly

to doctors. The ideal MRP that can be charged Rs.12.90 and the acceptable price can extend till

Rs.17.60. To capture the market fast, a predatory price of Rs. 10.20 can be set backed up by good

brand building and rapport building. It is also found that doctors prefer vaccines stored in

ampoules.

Suggestions: HBI has to concentrate on three aspects: (1) Availability (2) Brand and rapport

building and (3) Price correction. The visibility of AbhayTox in markets is low and it has to be

increased. Also the pharmacists must be persuaded to stock the product. This can be done by

good rapport building with the pharmacists and stockists through medical representatives. As

such HBI was associated only with AbhayRab and hence, brand building with respect to

AbhayTox has to be taken up. Medical Representatives‟ role in brand building and rapport

building should not be ignored. The price revision of HBI product is also recommended.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................. ii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... 8

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 9

2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................... 10

3. RESEARCH PROBLEM .......................................................................................................... 10

4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................... 10

5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................................... 10

6. METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................... 13

6.1. Research Design ................................................................................................................. 13

6.1.1. Descriptive Research ................................................................................................... 13

6.1.2. Field Survey ................................................................................................................. 13

6.2. Sampling Plan ................................................................................................................. 13

6.3. Questionnaire .................................................................................................................. 13

7. MARKET ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................. 14

7.1. Brand Consciousness .......................................................................................................... 14

7.2. Price Consciousness ........................................................................................................... 14

7.3. Awareness of Combo Packs ............................................................................................... 15

7.4. Economy and Convenience of Combo packs ..................................................................... 16

7.5. Package Preference ............................................................................................................ 16

7.6. Titre Recall ......................................................................................................................... 17

7. Willingness to Shift to Combo Packs .................................................................................... 18

7.8. Brand recall......................................................................................................................... 19

7.9. Vaccines Given by Doctors ................................................................................................ 20

7.10. Market Potential ............................................................................................................... 20

8. CUSTOMER PERCEPTION .................................................................................................... 22

8.1. Factor Analysis ................................................................................................................... 22

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8.2. Perception Map .................................................................................................................. 24

8.2.1. Multi dimensional scaling ........................................................................................... 24

8.2.2. Execution ..................................................................................................................... 24

8.2.3. Implementation ............................................................................................................ 24

9. PRICE SENSITIVITY .............................................................................................................. 26

9.1. Execution of PSM .............................................................................................................. 26

10. DEMAND CURVE................................................................................................................. 30

11. CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................................................... 31

12. RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................ 32

13. REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 32

ANNEXURES ................................................................................................................................. i

ANNEXURE -1:Questionnaire .................................................................................................... i

ANNEXURE-2: Factor Analysis .................................................................................................. iii

ANNEXURE -3:Multi-Dimension Scaling Results ................................................................... ix

ANNEXURE-4: List of Doctors Sampled and Surveyed .......................................................... xi

vi

LIST OF TABLES

Title of the Table Page number

Table 1: List of Major Players in TT vaccine segment 12

Table 2: Market Potential Calculations 21

Table 3: TT Combo Pack Factor Calculations 21

Table 4: Factor Analysis Results 22

Table 5: Price Sensitivity Meter (PSM) Explanation 27

Table 6: PSM Graph Interpretation Results 28

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LIST OF FIGURES

Title of the Figure Page no.

Figure 1: Profile of Doctors Surveyed (Classification by Profession) 11

Figure 2: Profile of Doctors Surveyed (Classification by Experience) 12

Figure 3: Brand Consciousness Results 14

Figure 4: Price Consciousness Results 14

Figure 5: Combo Pack Awareness Results 15

Figure 6: Combo Packs Economy and Convenience Results 16

Figure 7: Package Preference Results 16

Figure 8: Titre Recall Results 17

Figure 9: Willingness to Shift to Combo Packs Results 18

Figure 10: Brand Recall Results 19

Figure 11: Average Vaccines given by Doctors 20

Figure 12: Mental Map of Doctors 25

Figure 13: Price Sensitivity Meter Results 28

Figure 14: Competitive Pricing Results 29

Figure 15: Demand Curve of TT Single Dose Combo Pack 30

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

DT- Diptheria Tetanus

DTP – Diptheria Tetanus Pertussis

GMP- Good Manufacturing Practices

GP – General Practioner

HBI – Human Biological Institute, Human Vaccination Wing of IIL

IIL – Indian Immunologicals

IPP – Indifference Price Point

OPP – Optimal Price Point

MDS – Multi Dimension Scaling

PMC – Point of Marginal Cheapness

PME – Point of Marginal Expensiveness

PSM – Price Sensitivity Meter

TT – Tetanus Toxoid

UTP – Unique Target Point

WHO – World Health Organisation

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1. INTRODUCTION

Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged

contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a

neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani.

Infection generally occurs through wound contamination and often involves a cut or deep

puncture wound. As the infection progresses, muscle spasms develop in the jaw (thus the name

"lockjaw") and elsewhere in the body. Infection can be prevented by proper immunization and by

post-exposure prophylaxis (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetanus).

People of all ages can get tetanus. But the disease is particularly common and serious in

new born babies. This is called neonatal tetanus. It is particularly common in rural areas where

most deliveries are at home without adequate sterile procedures. Tetanus is not transmitted from

person to person. A person usually becomes infected with tetanus when dirt enters a wound or

cut. Tetanus germs are likely to grow in deep puncture wounds caused by dirty nails, knives,

tools, wood splinters and animal bites1.

Since lockjaw can happen even with a single small wound, it is imperative to get the

pregnant ladies vaccinated and other individuals vaccinated even he gets a small cut. The vaccine

is Tetanus Toxoid which is available as a single shot or in combination with Diptheria vaccine

alone as (DT) or along with pertussis vaccine also (as DTP). All these vaccines are given as an

injection intramuscularly. WHO also recommends booster tetanus shot every 10 years. Also, if

someone experiences a deep wound, an additional booster dose must be taken if the last dose was

more than five years.

Tetanus Toxoid is available in four forms in the market – Single dose vials (one person

one shot of 0.5 ml), Single dose ampoules (one person one shot of 0.5 ml), Multi dose vials (ten

shots possible of 0.5 ml each) and Single dose combo packs (one single dose vial with syringe

and cotton swab). But major players in TT vaccine segment come up with vaccines packed in

single dose ampoules. This work concentrates only on single dose combo packs.

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2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The study is focused on TT vaccine single dose combo pack. The market for TT

vaccine segment consists of many players like Serum, Dano, B.E etc. Serum is the market

leader in TT vaccines. Almost all organisations market TT vaccines in single dose ampoules

and multi dose vials. HBI is the only organisation that comes up with TT vaccines in combo

packs and the pack generally contains a single dose vial, syringe, cotton swab and an

information chit. HBI focuses mainly on institutional marketing and hence the organisation is

not so prevalent in trade market. Also, HBI is the only organisation that comes up with TT

vaccines combo pack.

3. RESEARCH PROBLEM

Analyzing TT Market segment, measuring customer perception and price sensitivity for

Tetanus Toxoid single dose combo pack.

4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

o To analyze TT combo pack vaccine market in one metro of India.

o To estimate the market size of TT vaccine combo packs in India.

o To establish factors customers look out in TT combo packs.

o To map the customer perception about TT combo packs.

o To understand the price sensitivity for TT combo packs.

o To determine the demand curve for TT combo packs.

5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY Product: Tetanus Toxoid single dose combo pack

Area of Study: The study was conducted in one metro which represents India. Hence,

Bangalore was chosen for the study. Localities covered in Bangalore include Jayanagar, KR

Puram, Shanti Nagar, Rajaji Nagar, Peenya, Yeshwantpur, Malleshwaram, Koramangala,

Indira Nagar, Basveshwara Nagar and Hanumanth Nagar.

11

Target Population: The target population is General Practioners, Gynaecologists and Ortho

specialists. Sample size covered is 55. The split up is as follows:

Classification by Profession

12

Major players: As mentioned in the table-1, players in TT vaccine segment are as follows:

S.NO Organisation name Package MRP

1. Serum Institute of India

Ltd

Ampoule Rs. 9.60

2. Dano Ampoule Rs.9.50

3. B.E. Ampoule Rs.10.40

4. Human Biological

Institute

Combo pack and Multi dose 5 ml Pack

Rs.22 and Rs.30

respectively

Source: Market Survey

Table -1: List of Major Players

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6. METHODOLOGY

6.1. Research Design

6.1.1. Descriptive Research

Before leaving for the actual field survey, it was important to understand all

the parameters based on which doctors prescribe a vaccine such as price, availability,

brand name etc. Hence to get a better understanding of TT vaccine market before leaving

for field, a pilot study was conducted in Hyderabad and questionnaires were prepared and

pre-tested on these doctors.

6.1.2. Field Survey

The final study was carried out in the city of Bangalore and localities

covered in Bangalore were already mentioned. No help was taken either from the Regional

In charge officer or Medical officers. Also, I introduced myself as a student from IRMA

and did not reveal my liaison with IIL. A total of 55 doctors were surveyed.

6.2. Sampling Plan

The list of doctors in major localities in the city of Bangalore was obtained

from asklaila.com, sulekha.com and list given by the organisation. As the list given

by the organisation is not clear, help was taken from these websites. The doctors were

randomly selected from the list and surveyed.

6.3. Questionnaire

Questionnaire was developed for TT vaccine combo pack and it has been attached in

the Annexure.

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7. MARKET ANALYSIS

7.1. Brand Consciousness

The doctors were posed with the question whether they prescribe a particular brand of

TT or just „TT‟ in their prescriptions. Only 45% of doctors surveyed were brand conscious.

7.2. Price Consciousness

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When doctors were asked to recall the MRP of TT vaccines they keep or patients

get from pharmacy, 34% of them could say the right MRP and 48% could put the price

superficially.

7.3. Awareness of Combo Packs

Of all the doctors interviewed, only 10% knew that TT vaccines are available in

combo packs and 4% actually use a combo pack. 90% of doctors don‟t even know that TT

vaccines are available in combo packs.

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7.4. Economy and Convenience of Combo packs

The doctors were asked whether they feel combo packs are economical and convenient.

25% of them said its yes and 54% could not take a take a stance.

7.5. Package Preference

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Doctors prefer the single dose TT vaccines to come in ampoules rather than vials.

Reason given by the doctors include convenience in breaking open the neck of the ampoule

and ease with which the vaccine can be completely sucked out of the pack.

7.6. Titre Recall

The recall of Antigen Titre level for TT vaccines is very low among the doctors (9%) and

34% of them could recall superficially.

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7. Willingness to Shift to Combo Packs

Most of the doctors, in fact, could not say whether they will shift to combo packs

if available in the market. The reason being, as already mentioned, the price that will be

charged.

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7.8. Brand recall

Figure -10: Average Vaccines given by Doctors

In this exercise, the doctors were asked to recall the brands of TT vaccines in the local

markets. It can be easily spotted from the graph, Serum is the most recalled brand and it‟s the

most prevalent brand in terms of both usage and availability in the market. Serum (72%) tops the

list followed by Dano (21%), B.E.T.T(21%), HBI (9%), Karnataka Biotech (8%) and GSK (2%).

15% of the doctors surveyed could not recall any brand of TT vaccine.

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7.9. Vaccines Given by Doctors

Figure -

11: Average Vaccines given by Doctors

Of the doctors surveyed, a General Practioner gives 6.2 single doses per day, a

Gynaecologist gives 6.5 single doses per day and an Ortho specialist gives 3.33 single doses per

day.

7.10. Market Potential

Physicians

Gynecologists

Ortho specialists

Remarks

Ratio 0.76 0.18 0.06 Survey profile

Number

6,75,825

1,60,064

53,355

WHO figures 2009

2

Average prescriptions (per day) 6.2 6.5 3.33

Total Prescriptions 41,90,115 10,40,416 1,77,672 Discounting factor

0.6

0.6

0.6

Survey in a metro, so discounting for All

India

Net Prescriptions 25,14,069 6,24,250 1,06,603

TT Market potential (per day) 3.2 million

TT combo pack factor

0.49

Calculation shown in table – 3.

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TT combo pack market potential (per day)

1.6 million

TT Market potential (per annum)

960 million

TT combo pack market potential (per

annum)

470.4 million

Table -2: Market Potential Calculations

Yes No Might

Willingness to Shift 0.16 0.18 0.66

Weight 1 0 0.5

Cumulative Shift Proposition 0.49

Table -3: TT Combo Pack Factor Calculations

Table -3 gives all the market potential calculations in detail. The figure for Physicians is

obtained from WHO website and the figure for Gynaecologists and Ortho specialists were

extrapolated using the ratio from the survey profile. A discounting factor of 0.6 has been taken

since all the data collected were from a metro city. In Table-4, TT combo pack factor is

calculated from the market survey results. A weight of 1 is assigned when doctors are willing to

shift, 0 for not willing to shift and 0.5 for might plan to shift.

Finally, the TT market potential is calculated as 3.2 million doses per day and for TT

combo pack, market potential is found to be 1.6 million doses per day.

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8. CUSTOMER PERCEPTION

8.1. Factor Analysis

Table -4: Factor Analysis Results

The main attributes that doctors look out for TT combo pack is found by Questionnaire

and data were analysed by Factor Analysis in SPSS (version 17). The main factors were found to

be Availability, Convenience, Brand and Price consciousness.

Availability

Availability of TT vaccines is one of the prime factors for prescribing TT vaccines. TT

vaccines will have to get replenished with the doctors in 2 or 3 hours, if they stock, once the

request is made to the stockists. Almost 50% of the doctors stock the vaccines with them in their

cold chain. Doctors generally write „TT‟ vaccine on their prescription and the patient gets it from

the pharmacy shop. Here the main role played, for availability, is by the pharmacists and hence

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the brand used by the doctors depends on the vaccines pharmacists stock. So, to capture

sufficient market for TT combo packs, pharmacists have to be made to stock HBI product.

Hence, promotions undertaken by the organisation towards doctors and stockists and the

stockists reputation and efficiency affect the factor of availability.

Convenience

From the market survey, it‟s found that HBI is the only organisation that offers TT

vaccines in combo packs. Doctors perceive combo packs to be convenient and prefer vaccines

stored in ampoules rather than vials. Doctors feel ampoules are better than vials since they are

easy to break them open and can completely suck out the vaccines from the glass bottle. And

54% of doctors are sceptical about combo packs. Also most of the doctors are not aware of TT

combo packs in the market. When they were informed about its presence in the market, they

were surprised and felt they‟ll be useful. But some doctors prefer not to store combo packs with

them since they require more storage space. When posed with the question of whether they are

ready to shift to combo packs, they said their decision mainly „depends‟ on the price quoted. On

the whole it can be said that, given at a competitive price, the doctors will be ready to shift to

combo packs. Again, the conversion rate will be higher with the doctors who have their own

clinics or work in poly clinics than the doctors who work in hospitals.

Brand & Price consciousness

The third and last factor, doctors look out for in TT vaccine combo packs is the brand and

the price. Doctors while prescribing TT vaccines write either „TT‟ or „Tetvac‟ to patients.

Tetvac refers to the Tetanus Toxoid vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India Ltd.,

Pune. This necessarily means that Serum is the only brand that has doctors‟ credibility. This

would have been due to the sincere brand building exercise by Serum. 45% of doctors could

actually recall the brand they give it to patients.

In lines with the brand, doctors also give importance to price. They feel combo packs are

economical only if they are priced lesser than the single dose ampoule and syringe combined, if

bought separately. Serum is the most commonly used brand and it charges Rs.9.50 (MRP) for a

single dose ampoule. Hence the doctors feel that the ideal price of a combo pack should not

24

exceed Rs.14 (MRP).But the combo product offered by HBI is priced at Rs. 22 (MRP) which the

doctors feel that it is so costly and money minting. Hence, better brand building exercise and

reducing the cost of production or reducing the profit margin for the product can improve the

sales of HBI combo packs. Medical representatives who are the face of the organisation for the

doctors play an important role in brand building and product promotion.

8.2. Perception Map

A perceptual map is a visual representation of how target customers view the competing

alternatives in a Euclidean space which represents the market.

8.2.1. Multi dimensional scaling

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is a mathematical technique that helps implement this

analysis of similarity perceptions with minimum information loss.

8.2.2. Execution

Discussions with respect to TT vaccines presented in Single dose vials, Multi dose vials,

Ampoules and Combo packs were initiated with the doctors. The doctors‟ general views on these

packing methods, their pros and cons were discussed. After the discussions, similarity ranking is

given to each pair generated out of these four packing methods. Since there are four packing

methods, it will generate 4C2 combinations which will be six in number. The pairs are given the

similarity ranking starting from 1 (most similar pair) to 6 (most dissimilar pair).

8.2.3. Implementation

Software implementation is done in entered in SPSS (version 17) and Multi-dimensional

PROSCAL algorithm for generating perceptual map is adopted. The map is generated in

common space which represents the mind of doctors.

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Note 1: Dimension 1: Prevalence in Market; Dimension 2: In convenience

Note 2: S.Vial – Single Dose Vials; M.Vials – Multi Dose Vials; Kits – Combo Packs

Figure -12: Mental Map of Doctors (MDS) Dimension 1: Market Prevalence

As can be spotted from the mind map, Ampoules score the most followed by multi

dose vials, single dose vials and combo packs (Kit). Single doses are available in ampoules

and vials. But doctors are acquainted only with single dose ampoules and not single dose vials.

Some of the doctors are not even aware about single dose vials. This is because the major

26

players, like Serum and Dano, in TT vaccine segment come up with single dose ampoules

which are prescribed by doctors and stocked by pharmacists.

Doctors relate vials to only multi dose vials and hence it scores after ampoules. HBI is

the only organisation that comes up with TT vaccines in combo packs. Most of the doctors are

not aware of the organisation called HBI that exists in the market. Hence, by obvious

reasoning, combo packs have to score the least in this dimension.

Dimension 2: Inconvenience

Single dose vials are the most inconvenient followed by multi dose vials, ampoules and

combo packs. Vaccines stored in single dose vials are not so prevalent in the market and even

if used by the doctors, they find it inconvenient in sucking out the entire vaccine to the syringe.

Volume wise, single dose vials occupy more storage space when compared to the ampoules.

Multi dose vials are also not preferred much by doctors since if it‟s opened for drug

administration once, problems of storing it without loss of efficacy becomes a problem.

Ampoules are preferred since doctors find it easy to break it open for administration. Ampoules

are the most prevalent in the market for single dose. Doctors find combo packs to be very

convenient since syringes, ampoules and cotton swabs are available in a single space.

9. PRICE SENSITIVITY

Price sensitivity for TT combo packs is done by means of Van Westendorp Price

Sensitivity Meter (PSM). It is based on the logic that there is a range of prices bounded by a

maximum that a consumer is prepared to spend and a minimum below which credibility is in

doubt. The Price Sensitivity Meter (sometimes called the Price Sensitivity Measurement) is

based on respondents‟ answers to four price-related questions. PSM can be used as a tool for

selecting the “optimal price point” for a product. PSM also provides a picture of price

perceptions of consumers in the market.

9.1. Execution of PSM

To execute the PSM, the doctors were asked the four related questions –

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1. At what price would you begin to think product is too expensive to consider?

2. At what price would you begin to think product is so inexpensive that you would

question the quality and not consider it?

3. At what price would you begin to think product is getting expensive, but you still

might consider it?

4. At what price would you think product is a bargain – a great buy for the money?

From responses to these questions, cumulative frequency distributions were derived for

and plotted. In all we get four curves, one curve for each question. The key intersections on the

curves can be tabulated as follows.

Table -5: PSM Results

28

Figure -13: Price Sensitivity Meter Results

From the graphs it is interpreted that

Table -6: PSM Graph Interpretation Results

29

The range of acceptable prices starts from the point of marginal cheapness and ends at the

point of marginal expensiveness. From the table, it can be made out that the range starts at

Rs.12.40 and ends at Rs.17.60. This means that if the TT combo pack can be priced a minimum

of Rs.12.40 and a maximum of Rs. 17.60. But the HBI product is priced at Rs.22 which is 25%

higher than the maximum permissible limit and doctors also find it very expensive. Optimal

price point is the price which gives more sales and if the combo pack is priced at Rs.12.90 sales

can be expected to go up. The indifference price point is Rs.15.20 beyond which the doctors will

start thinking that the product is going costly.

Figure -14: Extension of PSM to find Competitive Prices

The range of competitive prices can be found by plotting Inexpensive, too expensive,

no bargain (inverse of bargain) and not expensive (inverse of expensive) curves. The

intersection of cheap and no bargain curve gives the lower limit for competitive price and the

intersection of too expensive and not expensive curve gives the higher limit for competitive

price. When plotted, the lower limit is found out to be Rs.10.20 and upper limit is at Rs.19.20.

30

If HBI wants its combo pack to capture a good market share in terms of sales quickly, then the

product must be priced at Rs. 10.20 and this is known as “predatory pricing”. Predatory pricing

is keeping the price low so as to wipe out the competitors from the market. At Rs.19.20, the

price can be considered competitive if perfect market conditions exist but for TT combo

packs, the awareness level of doctors itself is very low and this price is irrelevant in the current

context.

10. DEMAND CURVE

The demand curve is an extension of Van Westendorp‟s Price Sensitivity Meter. The

curve is obtained by plotting cumulative frequency distributions in abscissa and Unique Target

Point (UTP) in ordinates. UTP for an individual is calculated by

UTP = (Bargain price + Expensive price)/2

Figure -15: Demand Curve

31

As can be seen from the graph, it can be said when price decreases from Rs. 14 to Rs. 12,

% of respondents who would prescribe or probably prescribe the product increases by 34%.

Again, when prices decreases from Rs.18 to Rs.15, it can be said that % of respondents who

would prescribe or probably prescribe increases by 30%.

The demand curve equation can be obtained by regression with UTP as

independent variable and cumulative frequency distribution (% of demand change) as

dependent variable.

The demand equation is found to be

Change in % demand = 140.9 – (5.83 x Price) with R2

= 0.925

11. CONCLUSIONS

For Tetanus Toxoid vaccine, Serum is the market leader and it can be interpreted

that Serum has done extensive brand building exercise. Doctors perceive combo packs to be

convenient but skeptical about economy. The three main factors customers look out for in

TT combo packs are easy availability, convenience, brand and price. But HBI is concerned

only on institutional marketing. So it has to concentrate on the other side of business, also, to

expand its horizon in TT market. Again, the price of Rs.22 is perceived to be very costly to

doctors. The ideal MRP that can be charged Rs.12.90 and the acceptable price can extend

till Rs.17.60. To capture the market fast, a predatory price of Rs. 10.20 can be set backed

up by good brand building and rapport building. It is also found that doctors prefer

vaccines stored in ampoules. Hence, Abhay Tox (product of HBI) can be made available in

TT vaccines stored in ampoules in the combo pack and corrections can be made in their

current pricing.

32

12. RECOMMENDATIONS

HBI has to concentrate on three aspects: (1) Availability (2) Brand and rapport

building and (3) Price correction. The visibility of AbhayTox in markets is low and it has to

be increased. Also the pharmacists must be persuaded to stock the product. This can be done

by good rapport building with the pharmacists and stockists through medical representatives.

As such HBI was associated only with AbhayRab and hence, brand building with respect to

AbhayTox has to be taken up. Medical Representatives are the face of the organisations and

at the field level, their role in brand building and rapport building should not be ignored. The

price of HBI is perceived to be high among the doctors and so the price of the TT

combo pack has to be revised downwards.

13. REFERENCES

1. Training Manual for Medical Officers (courtesy: IIL)

2. http://apps.who.int/globalatlas/dataQuery/reportData.asp?rptType=1

3. www.statisticshell.com/factor.pdf

4. http://crowanscat.sunderland.ac.uk/~harryerw/mirror/CIS302%20Lectures/background/te

chnology/mds_pca_survival/mds.doc

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Westendorp's_Price_Sensitivity_Meter

6. http://www.5circles.com/wordpress/blog/2009/05/van-westendorp-pricing-the-price-

sensitivity-meter/mike-pritchard/

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ANNEXURES

ANNEXURE-1:Questionnaire

Doctor‟s Name & Qualifications:

Contact Number:

1. No. of TT prescriptions given per day

2. I‟m particular about the brand of TT vaccine I use

3. I‟m aware of the price of the TT vaccine I prescribe

4. I prefer prescribing TT vaccine based on the

Economic conditions of the patients

5. I feel TT kits are economical and convenient

6. I prefer TT vaccines stored in ampoules

7. I prescribe TT vaccines whose stockists are always on call

8. Medical Representatives‟ regular visit, promotions,

feedback taking tendency influence my choice of TT prescription

9. Can I recall the titre level of the TT vaccine I give?

10. The vaccine I give produces local tissue reaction

11. What are the TT vaccine brands that you know/ recall?

Can‟t Say NO YES

Superficial NO YES

Sometimes NO YES

Can‟t say NO YES

Can‟t Say NO YES

No mind NO YES

Can‟t Say NO YES

Superficial NO YES

Might NO YES

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12. Pairwise comparison of the brands (Single & multi dose vials, Ampoules, Kits)

13. Are you ready to shift to combo packs?

14. At what price would you think product is a bargain – a great buy for the money?

15. At what price would you begin to think product is too expensive to consider?

16. At what price would you begin to think product is so inexpensive that you would question

the quality and not consider it?

17. At what price would you begin to think product is getting expensive, but you still might

consider it?

Can‟t Say NO YES

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ANNEXURE-2: Factor Analysis

Output Created 19-Jul-2010 16:13:56

Comments

Input Active Dataset DataSet1

Filter<none> Weight

<none>

Split File <none>

N of Rows in Working

Data File

iv

Missing Value Definition of Missing

Handling

Cases Used Syntax Resources Processor Time

Elapsed Time

MISSING=EXCLUDE: User-

defined missing values are

treated as missing.

MEAN SUBSTITUTION: For

each variable used, missing

values are replaced with the

variable mean.

FACTOR

/VARIABLES Brand1 Price1

Package1 Package2 Shift1

Service1

/MISSING MEANSUB

/ANALYSIS Brand1 Price1

Package1 Package2 Shift1

Service1

/PRINT INITIAL DET

KMO AIC ROTATION

/PLOT EIGEN

/CRITERIA

FACTORS(3)

ITERATE(25)

/EXTRACTION PC

/CRITERIA ITERATE(25)

/ROTATION VARIMAX

/METHOD=CORRELATION.

00:00:00.26

6

v

Maximum Memory

Required

00:00:00.296

5544 (5.414K)

bytes

Correlation Matrixa

a. Determinant = .377

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling

Adequacy.

Bartlett's Test of Approx. Chi-Square

Sphericity df

Sig.

.523

49.931

15

.000

vi

Communalities

Initial

Brand1

Price1

Package1

Package2

Shift1

Service1

1.000

1.000

1.000

1.000

1.000

1.000

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Total Variance Explained

Component Initial Eigenvalues Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %

1

2

3

4

5 6

1.684 28.073 28.073 1.510 25.173 25.173

1.468 24.468 52.541 1.495 24.909 50.081

1.297

21.625

74.166

1.445

24.085

74.166

.713

11.882

86.048

.521

8.678

94.726

.316

5.274

100.000

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

vii

Component Matrixa

a. 3 components extracted.

viii

Rotated Component Matrixa

Component

1 2 3

Brand1

Price1

Package1

Package2

Shift1

Service1

.173

-.502

-.141

.313

-.574

.835

.028

-.041

-.800

.724

.496

-.066

.831

.695

-.114

.316

-.276

-.050

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

a. Rotation converged in 9 iterations.

Component Transformation Matrix

Component 1 2 3

1

2

3

-.732 -.384 .563

-.181 .906 .383

.657 -.179 .732

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Component Transformation Matrix

Component 1 2 3

1

2 3

-.732 -.384 .563

-.181 .906 .383

.657 -.179 .732

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

ANNEXURE -3:Multi-Dimension Scaling Results

Proscal Notes

Case Processing Summary

Cases

Source

Objects

Proximities Total Proximities

Missing Proximities

Active Proximitiesb

216

54

4

324a

6

318

a. Sum over sources of all strictly upper-triangular proximities.

b. Active proximities include all non-missing proximities.

x

Final Coordinates

Dimension

1 2

S.Vial

Ampoule

M.Vial

Kit

-.514

1.618

-.048

-1.057

1.615

-.543

-.025

-1.047

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Distances

S.Vial Ampoule M.Vial Kit

S.Vial

Ampoule

M.Vial

Kit

.000

3.033

1.705

2.717

.000

1.744

2.722

.000

1.436

.000

Annexure-4: List of Doctors Sampled and Surveyed

Name

Profile

Yrs of

experience

Contact no.

Locality

Dr.Mohan GP 9 9845762145 Hanumanth Nagar

Dr.Prakash GP 14 9900263603 Malleshwaram

Dr.V.Prabakar GP 25 28360292/9448050292 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.Shridhar GP 30 9845192834 Basaweshwara nagar

Dr.Vittal GP 2 9739548896 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.Kalavathi

Dr.Indhu Mohan GP 8 Basaweshwara nagar

Dr.Vijayalatchumi GP 1

0

42516699 Koramangala

Dr.Ashok GP 25-

27

23224052 Koramangala

Dr.Ramesh ORT >2

5

23376446 Yeshwantpur

Dr.Ravi ORT 1

0

9480701778 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.SheejaKrishna RMP 1

3

8123543236 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.Viswanath GP 8 23449325 Malleshwaram

Dr.Govindraj GP 1

0

23601102 Mathiker

e Dr.Vijayalakshmi GYN 2

5

9980544255 Basaweshwara nagar

Dr.Shreen GP >1

0

64514516 Jayanagar 2nd block

Dr.Dilip Kumar GP 3

0

9341223709 Malleshwaram

Dr.Padma A. GYN 3

5

23464580 Malleshwaram

Dr.Nafees GP 2

2

Jayanagar 2nd block

Dr.Narendhran GP 15-

16

Jayanagar 2nd block

Dr.Raju GP 3

0

9845666099 Rajaji nagar

Dr.Padmakshi GYN 1

5

9901926919 Indira nagar

Dr.Sashi kumar GP 1

2

Rajaji nagar

Dr.Jeyamma GP 2

3

Jaya nagar 4th block GH

Dr.Shirdi Tekur GP 3

3

22453655/944807979

0

Jaya nagar 3rd block

Dr.Dinesh GP 2

8

9845133191 Jayanagar 4th block

Dr.Raju GP 2

3

Jayanagar 6th block

Medicur

GP

20

23376446

Kalavathi hospitals,Yeshwantpur

Dr.Kumar GP 18 Hanumanth Nagar

Dr.Masood GP 30 22243908 Shanti nagar

Dr.Jothi GP 6 25615682 K.R.puram

Dr.Pratap Kumar ORT 9 23372856 Yeshwantpur

Dr.Dheena ganesh GYN >12 Shanti nagar

Dr.Paras GP 13 2237183 Shanti nagar

Dr.Prabhakar

GP

7

9900261534

Shreyas hospitals,Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.D.K.Clinic GP 17-18 Hanumanth Nagar

Dr.Jeeyamma Toravi

GP

12

Basaweshwara nagar

Dr.Radhakrishnan GP 9 9844454253 Malleshwaram

xii

Dr.Vijaykumar GP 25 23422913 Rajaji nagar

Dr.Kishore GP 5 Yeshwantpur

Dr.Prakash GP 10 23362414 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.Padma GYN >30 23597770 Rajaji nagar

Dr.Vimala Balal GP 8 55316758 Basaweshwara nagar

Dr.Mohan Kumar GP 12 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.Indhu Mohan GP 8 Basaweshwara nagar

Dr.Vijayalatchumi GP 10 42516699 Koramangala

Dr.Ashok GP 25-27 23224052 Koramangala

Dr.Ramesh ORT >25 23376446 Yeshwantpur

Dr.Ravi ORT 10 9480701778 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.SheejaKrishna RMP 13 8123543236 Peenya 2nd stage

Dr.Viswanath GP 8 23449325 Malleshwaram

Dr.Govindraj GP 10 23601102 Mathike

re Dr.Vijayalakshmi GYN 25 9980544255 Basaweshwara nagar

Dr.Shreen GP >10 64514516 Jayanagar 2nd block

Dr.Dilip Kumar GP 30 9341223709 Malleshwaram

Dr.Padma A. GYN 35 23464580 Malleshwaram

Dr.Nafees GP 22 Jayanagar 2nd block

Dr.Narendhran GP 15-16 Jayanagar 2nd block

Dr.Raju GP 30 9845666099 Rajaji nagar

Dr.Padmakshi GYN 15 9901926919 Indira nagar

Dr.Sashi kumar GP 12 Rajaji nagar

Dr.Jeyamma GP 23 Jaya nagar 4th block GH

Dr.Shirdi Tekur GP 33 22453655/9448079790 Jaya nagar 3rd block

Dr.Dinesh GP 28 9845133191 Jayanagar 4th block

Dr.Raju GP 23 Jayanagar 6th block

Dr.Rajalakshmi

Rao

GYN

26

9844125142

Medicure

hospitals,Jayanagar

6th block Dr.Ramesh Raheja

GP

15-17

41137940

Malleshwaram

Dr.Seema

GYN

3

9880318066

Medicure

hospitals,Jayanagar

6th block Dr.Ananda Rao GP 17 K.R.puram

xiii

Dr.K.Y.Prabhakar GP 12 23365841 Malleshwaram

Dr.V.C.Kulkarni GP 28 Rajaji nagar

Dr.Leela GYN 17 23420908 Rajaji nagar

Dr.Bhanuprakash GP 21 2470594 Hanumanth Nagar

Dr.D.K.Prasad GP 28 26612717 Hanumanth Nagar

Dr.Gayatri GP 5 3463452 Malleshwaram

Dr.Mulumathi GP 25 23345226 Malleshwaram

Note: GP – General Practioner; GYN – Gynaecologist; ORT – Ortho Specialist