Indian consumer ’ s buying behaviour and perception to herbal drugs : a report

The demand for plant based medicines, health products, pharmaceuticals, food supplement, cosmetics etc. are increasing in both developing and developed countries, due to the growing recognition that the natural products are non-toxic, have less side effects and easily available at affordable prices. Consumer behavior is a dynamic field and understanding consumer behavior and customer is never simple. Several factors can influence our perception, causing it to change in certain ways. Self perception, Price perception, Brand perception, Benefit perception and buying strategy are keys of behavioral study of consumers. A survey based study was carried out among the adult in rural /urban population of India to assess the consumer’s buying behaviour and perception to herbal product for health care, in Kanpur region (U.P.). Exactly Two hundred people were randomly selected from different age and occupation as well as different gender (male and female) and questioned about the issue. The population’s frequency of purchasing the herbal products found as 17% occasionally, 28% rarely, 28% depends and 27% on offers. On the question that “Are Herbal products effective as other forms of medications/therapies?” 52% said yes, 18% no, 22% depends and 8% had no idea. 26% population was influenced by doctors, 25% by advertisements on TV/media, 18% by advice of family and friends, 8% by retailers and 23% were self interested in Herbal Products. The criteria before making a purchase decision was found as company image(20%), brand name(46%), conventional packaging(5%), free gifts/coupons(22%), price(3%) and easy availability(4%). It was concluded that most of the people are using herbal products and also had strong belief in herbal medication. The Doctors, print/electronic media and advertisements are more frequently influencing the people to purchase herbal products, though people have lots of self interest too.