Marketing research and brand management in the margarine market

Abstract

Shifts in the Russian margarine market have produced changes in consumer behaviour patterns and caused a decline in sales of a number of brands. The study aims to reveal new trends in the fats and oils market and tests the hypotheses that end consumers tend to buy less margarine due to the rising popularity of a healthy lifestyle, the fast-growing demand for ready-made foods and baked goods, and customers’ high price sensitivity. The theories of brand management and marketing constitute the theoretical basis of the study. The research uses desk and field marketing research methods, survey, and statistical analysis. Calculations were carried out in statistical software SPSS and JASP. To assess brand management at the companies under review, we apply the brand loyalty index and the brand awareness indicator in Yandex Wordstat. The empirical evidence covers Nielsen panel data on retail audits in consumer goods markets for 2021–2023; data sourced from the QlickView analytical platform; OOO Profi Issledovania’s report based on the results of a field study of margarine brands in November 2023; and data from a survey conducted by the authors in November–December, 2023. The findings show that the share of margarines in total production volumes and solid fats sales is in decline. We confirmed the hypotheses that margarines consumption is decreasing due to a healthy lifestyle culture and the need to follow doctor’s recommendations. Price is found to be the key factor in choosing margarine brands.