Customer Satisfaction, Profitability, and Unilever's Global Success

This report examines the critical relationship between customer satisfaction and the profitability of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, using Unilever as a primary case study. The research explores the significance of customer satisfaction, defining it as the extent to which companies meet or exceed consumer expectations. It highlights the competitive nature of the FMCG market and the direct impact of customer satisfaction on revenue generation, customer retention, and ultimately, profit margins. The study analyzes Unilever's financial performance, noting declines in certain product segments and linking these to potentially lower levels of customer satisfaction. The research delves into relevant theories, including the disconfirmation paradigm and the expectancy value theory, to explain how customer satisfaction is formed and how it influences consumer behavior. Additionally, the report incorporates the stakeholder theory, emphasizing the importance of considering customer needs to ensure business success. The methodology involves mixed methods, incorporating both primary data from consumer surveys and secondary data from financial reports and online reviews. The report aims to identify customer satisfaction issues faced by Unilever and provide strategic recommendations to address them, contributing to the broader understanding of customer satisfaction's role in the FMCG industry.

Running head: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Impact of Customer Satisfaction on the Profitability of FMCG Companies
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

1Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Research proposal:
Chapter 1. Introduction:
Chapter 1.1. Background (problem):
Nainaar and Masson (2018) mentioned that ‘Customer satisfaction is considered as the
number one priority for organisations in an extremely competitive environment.’ The term
customer satisfaction can be defined as the levels to which companies meet or surpass
expectations of consumers with their products. Banumathi and Rani (2018) upholding the
significance of customer satisfaction opine, ‘The development of business is depends on
consumer satisfaction when consumer satisfies the growth of the business in terms of sales
would gradually increase fmcg’s goods.’ Thus, customer satisfaction plays an immense role in
generation of profits in the fast moving consumer goods firms. The FMCG companies in order to
ensure steady generation of funds have to ensure that they are able to retain their existing
customers and acquire new customers. Creation of customer satisfaction by offering superior
quality products at legitimate prices enables FMCG firms to retain customers which in turn
ensures them steady profit generation. FMCG companies by retaining customers by creating
customer satisfaction, are able to prevent their competitors from largely poaching their
customers. Thus, customer satisfaction is directly related to competitive strengths of the FMCG
companies which secures steady generation of profits both in the short term and long terms.
Thus, reduction of profits earned by FMCG companies can signal reduction in the levels of
customer satisfaction secured by them. Fall in the revenue generation leads to fall in generation
of net profits these firms earn. This impacts the ROI they give to their investors which in turn
leads to fall in capital generation (Trainer, 2018). Thus, customer satisfaction levels which

2Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
companies achieve have profound impacts on their operations. The FMCG market is extremely
competitive with immense number of companies competing to strengthen and retain their
positions. Thus, it has become empirical for companies to ensure high levels of customer
satisfaction in order to generate high revenue and retain their positions. An analysis of the
financial statements of Unilever, the second largest player in the fast moving consumer goods
market shows that the company suffered a fall in sales turnover in several product segments. For
example, the company generated a turnover of EU 20.6 million in the beauty and personal care
segment in 2018 compared to EU 20.7 mn in 2017. The company suffered turnover decrease of
9.9% and 4.2% in food & refreshments and home care segments respectively in 2018
(Unilever.com, 2020) (Appendix 1). This means that the company is creating low levels of the
customer satisfaction in these product segments which is evident from fall in profits. In other
words, the lowering levels of customer satisfaction would impact the other important operations
of the company namely, Unilever like capital generation ultimately leading to toppling the
company from its global position (O'Connell, 2018). The problem with which the researcher
would be the impact of customer satisfaction on the profitability of the FMCG companies.
Chapter 1.2. Relevance of the study:
The research holds strong relevance to the market sustenance of FMCG companies like
Unilever. The first importance of the research lies in the fact that it studies the relationship
between two important variables namely, customer satisfaction and profitability of the FMCG.
The former being the independent variable while the latter is the dependent variable. King,
Dhameeth and Kim (2017) mentions that ensuring customer satisfaction results in customer
retention which ultimately goes on to revenue generation. Thus, it can be established that the
importance of customer satisfaction lies in gaining customer retention and revenue generation in

3Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
the long run in companies like Unilever. O’Connell (2018) can be iterated to point out that
second relevance of customer satisfaction namely, capital generation and covering the cost of
capital. One can point out that Unilever and its main competitors like P&G are listed companies
(Bloomberg.com, 2020) (Appendix 2). Thus, the company has to compete with its main
competitors not only in the product market but also in the capital market. Thus, lowering level of
customer satisfaction and consequent lower revenue generation would affect the capital
generation in the long run. This is because the company would gradually become incapable of
giving high ROI to investors owing to lowering profit generation. The lowering of revenue and
capital generation would ultimately impact all the other operations of the company like product
marketing, ultimately weakening its position in the global market. The incapability of Unilever
to market superior products would impact the consumers. Moreover, the company would not be
able to pay timely dues to its suppliers, thus impacting the revenue generation of the latter. Thus,
it can be established on the strength of the discussion above that significance of research lies in
the fact that it would establish the tremendous role which customer satisfaction plays in ensuring
not only profitability in the FMCG firms but also in ensuring smooth executions of operations as
important as capital generations.
Chapter 1.3. Research question:
Main question:
Does customer satisfaction impact profitability in the fast moving consumer goods companies?
Secondary questions:
What are the factors on which customer satisfaction depends?
What are the main customer satisfaction issues facing the FMCG companies like Unilever?

4Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
How can the issues be overcome?
Chapter 1.4. Research hypothesis:
H0- Customer satisfaction has no effect on the profitability of the FMCG companies.
H1- Customer satisfaction has effects on the profitability of the FMCG companies.
Chapter 2. Theory:
Chapter 2.1. Customer satisfaction theory:
Chapter 2.1.1. Disconfirmation paradigm:
The disconfirmation theory is the theory of customer satisfaction which considers that
customer satisfaction levels which customers experience depends on their predetermined
expectations about the products. The customers take into account their expectations, purpose of
purchase and attitude they have towards the products in question. The actual utility which
customers derive from consuming products leads to perception of performance of the products.
When the actual performance perceived surpasses or equals the predetermined standards of
performance, customers experience customer satisfaction. If the former fails to surpass the latter,
the customers experience negative customer satisfaction (Siu et al., 2017). Huang (2017)
mentions that the disconfirmation theory of customer satisfaction depends on four factors
namely, expectations of the customers, performance levels of the products which the
customers perceive, disconfirmation and satisfaction. Ghotbabadi, Feiz and Baharun (2016)
stress on the importance of customer satisfaction describing it as one of the ‘factors of
determining the corporate financial performance’. Thus, it transpires upon analysis that
consumer goods firms should aim to align their products with the predetermined perceptions of
the consumers in order to generate high profits.

5Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Chapter 2.1.2. Expectancy value theory:
The expectancy value theory mentions that consumers while purchasing products take
into account the likely benefits which they would derive by using the products. In other words,
customers judge the benefit they derive by consuming products based on their present
experiences (Paul, Sankaranarayanan & Mekoth, 2016). In other words, the level of customer
satisfaction which consumers experience as per the expectancy theory is dependent on the
present experience in contrast to the disconfirmation theory in which the customer satisfaction
levels are dependent on predetermined expectations (Siu et al., 2017). Pandey, Moffett and
McAdam (2019) strengthens the discussion by opining that as per the expectancy value theory,
the customer expectations are not under the influences of predetermined expectations, firms
should ensure that they deliver products which cause value or benefits to the customers. This
would lead to creation of a stronger perceptions about the products among the customers which
would lead to customers consume the products on repeat basis and lead to generation of steady
revenue (King, Dhameeth & Kim, 2017). Thus, it can be established on the basis of analysis of
the two theories that consumer goods companies should aim to achieve customer satisfaction
with every sale of goods to ensure steady revenue inflow.
Chapter 2.2. Stakeholders’ theory:
Jones, Harrison and Felps (2018) mention that stakeholder theory is one of the central
theories applicable to the business world. The theory is extremely applicable for the research
since customers are one the key stakeholders protecting whose interests directly impacts the
profitability of the consumer goods firms. Mascena, Fischmann and Boaventura (2018) mention
that, ‘The stakeholder theory presents concepts and models that consider the interests and
demands of the various stakeholders of the organization in the formulation and strategic

6Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
implementation.’ The FMCG companies impact a wide range of stakeholders by their business
strategies. Thom (2018) defines that term stakeholder as ‘any group or individual who is
affected by or can affect the achievement of organisations’ objectives’. Heidhues, Kőszegi
and Murooka (2016) contradict the pervious authors to point out that customers, if dissatisfied
with products of companies, can discontinue to purchase products from them, resulting in
discontinuation of revenue generation in these firms. In other words, customers can also impact
the profitability of the firms by changing their purchase decisions. King, Dhameeth and Kim
(2017) support the argument of the previous authors pointing out that customer demand directly
affects profits. Similarly, suppliers, another important external stakeholder groups can change
customer demand by altering aspects of products like packaging, thus impacting the very profit
generation of consumer goods companies. Thus, it transpires from the analysis that both
consumer goods companies and stakeholders can impact each other. FMCG companies should
protect their interests of the stakeholder groups like customers in order to gain their support.
Chapter 4. Research methology:
The research methodology section would shed light on the processes and approaches used
to acquire as well as analyse the bodies of information to conduct the research. The research
under execution would take into account analysis of both secondary and primary data or in other
words, mixed method. The primary sources of data which the researcher would consider would
be surveys of consumers. The target sample size of customers which would be surveyed would
be around 100. The method which would be used to analyse the responses gained statistically
would be SPSS. The researcher would conduct customer surveys and analyse the findings of
the surveys to test the hypothesis. Similarly, the term customer satisfaction achieved by a
company can be studied from secondary sources of data like financial reports, newspapers and

7Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
online customer reviews. The researcher would also conduct a rough cost benefit analyses of the
financial performances of company obtained from financial statements of the company. The
researcher would also analyse the pros and cons of the different types of business practices like
product innovation and niche marketing in order to ensure customer satisfaction. The research
would also present a case study in form of a report which would once again revolve around the
hypothesis.
Chapter 5. Potential sources:
The expected findings from the bodies of data acquired would be the present customer
satisfaction issues Unilever faces. This would lead to recommending strategies which the
company could adopt in order to deal with the issue to the feasible extent. The potential sources
of data would include articles, books, journals and newspaper articles. Websites like the official
website of Unilever and stock exchanges would also form potential sources of reliable data
which would go into conducting the research.

8Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Research report:
Chapter 1. Introduction:
Fast moving consumer goods market is one the most stable markets in the world. The
global fast moving consumer goods market is expected to reach a value of $ 15361.8 billion in
2025 from around $ 10000 billion in 2017. The FMCG refer to several types of goods like
skincare products, food products, homecare products and even certain medical products. Many of
these products like dairy products are consumed in everyday life in virtually every household
(Prnewswire.com, 2019). This factor has enable the FMCG goods companies generate steady
demand from the market and generate revenue. The FMCG market however, did expericne fall in
revenue generation and sales volume mid 2018 (Bhushan, 2019). The industry is projected to
grow at an annual rate of 9 to 10% in 2020 (Ambwani, 2020). The fast moving consumer goods
industry is dominated by global companies like Unilever Group which market a wide range of
products right from food to skincare products. The sector owing to its overall stable growth rate
has attracted several firms varying from global scale firms to SMEs from different countries.
This entry of large numbers of firms aiming to take advantage of its profitability, the market
extremely competitive. The FMCG market is not only important because of its revenue
generation capability but also due to its capability of giving stable returns on investments to the
investors. The fast moving consumer goods firms, especially the leading ones like Unilever
market vast portfolio of goods which enable them to generate high revenue. The companies
operating in the FMCG market are capable of bringing about innovations in their respective line
of products to make them more aligned to the needs of the consumers. (Danziger, 2019). The
leading firms in the market are capable of generating revenue by marketing innovative products
at far lower prices compared to other industries like automobile. The leading companies

9Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
operating in the sector, most of which are listed on stock exchanges are able to give more stable
returns to investors, even in face of economic downturn (Leach, 2019). Thus, it is clear from this
analysis that it has become extremely important for FMCG firms to generate high profits in order
to give high returns to stakeholders in order to attract more investments. Customer satisfaction is
one of the key parameters which business organisations need to achieve in order to generate
higher profits. Customer satisfaction leads to creation of customer loyalty which enable firms to
retain customers and generate steady revenue by marketing goods to these loyal customers
(Sudari et al., 2019). Consumers who are loyal to certain brands of products keep on consuming
the products. This customer loyalty prevents competitors from poaching customers of particular
FMCG companies to a great extent, thus maintaining the competitive position of the companies
concerned in the market (Song, Wang & Han, 2019). Thus, it is clear that customer satisfaction
directly affects profitability of FMCG companies. The aim of the report would be analysing
the impact of customer satisfaction on profit generations of FMCG firms. The company
which would lend the base of the research would be none other than Unilever Group
(Unilever.com, 2020). The report would contain mentions about competitors of Unilever
whenever deemed necessary.
Chapter 2. About Unilever:
The following section would explore the different aspects of the business of Unilever
Group to bring about the impact of customer satisfaction on its profitability:
Company brief and leadership:
Unilever Group consists of Unilever Plc, which is headquartered in London and Unilever
N.V. which is headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The company was formed in 1929 by
merging of Dutch Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers. The company today operates in more

10Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
than 100 countries in the world. The group operates under the leadership of Mr. Alan Jope who
functions in the position of the chief executive officer. Graeme Pitkethly is the chief financial
officer. Unilever Group operates in the global market using different business models right from,
export models to wholly owned subsidiary models. The latter is mostly adopted in markets which
are extremely competitive yet hold extremely high share in the revenue generation of the
company.
Financial performance:
Revenue generation:
Unilever generated a revenue of EUR 50982 million in 2018 compared to EUR 53715
million in 2017. This fall in revenue could be attributed to revenue generation decrease in as
many as three of the product segments marketed by the company. The company generated a
turnover of EUR 20624 million in 2018 against EUR 20697 million in 2017 in beauty and
personal care segment. The revenue generation in the home care segment earned by Unilever
tanked to EUR 10131 million in 2018 from EUR 10574 million in 2017 in the home care
segment. The downward trend continued in food and refreshments segment as well. The
company earned a revenue of EUR 20227 million in 2018 compared to 22444 million in 2017.
Thus, one can point out that the revenue generated by Unilever in 2018 fell owing to fall in
revenue generation in the three product categories the company markets.

11Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Figure 1. Except showing the turnover of Unilever in 2018
(Source: Unilever.com, 2020)
Capital generation:
The position of Unilever in the share market is stronger compared to most of its
competitors like P&G, Nestle, L’Oreal and Reckit Benckiser. The share price of the company
rose in 2019 but shows a downward trend in 2020. However, its position is far better than that of
iots main competitors like P&G and Nestle. The only competitor under analysis which has come
closer to Unilever is L’Oreal (Bloomberg.com, 2020).
The analysis of the financial performance of Unilever brings into light several facts
regarding the market operations of the company and its power of ensure customer satisfaction.
First of all, the revenue generation of the company in the significant segments like homecare and
beauty segments means that it is failing to ensure customer satisfaction to the expected level.
Secondly, the falling revenue generation has already started impacting the share prices of the
company. The company is weakening financially which is repelling investors from investing in
the shares of the company. This clearly points out to the fact that management of Unilever
should take steps to ensure that products of the company are able to create value to the customers
and ensure high level of customer satisfaction. This would enable the company achieve higher
levels of customer satisfaction.

12Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Products and brands:
The product umbrella of Unilever can be divided into four main divisions. They are
beauty and personal care, food and refreshment, home care and water purifier. Unilever owns
several medium range and expensive brands under each of these segments. The brand portfolio
owned by Unilever include several top brands in the FMCG market like Axe, Dove, Magnum
and Hellmann’s. These brands are in fact responsible for attributing the company strong position
in the global FMCG market even after competition from some of top brands owned by its
competitors. For example, Domex enables Unilever compete with Harpic range of homecare
products owned by Reckitt Benckiser. Similarly, Bru competes with Nescaffe owned by Nestle
while Surf or Omo competes with Ariel owned by P&G. Thus, it can be construed that the
products which the company enables it to compete against its competitors like P&G and generate
high revenue.
Markets and competitors:
The main markets of Unilever Group are Europe, Asia, Middle, Australia and Africa. The
company shares most of these markets like the US and India with its stiff international
competitors like Nestle, P&G and Reckitt Benckiser. This presence of strong competitors
necessitate Unilever to acquire different types of business models. For example, in smaller
markets like African nations, Unilever adopts a subsidiary model. However, in large and
competitive markets like the US and India, Unilever adopts the model of wholly owned
subsidiary model.

13Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Unilever is successful in the global FMCG market owing to various attributes which it
possesses. These attributes enable the company compete with its strong competitors like P&G
and sustain in the global market:
Strong financial base:
The first attribute which is responsible for the global success of the company is its
financial strength. As already pointed out, the company is a listed company. Unilever Plc is
primarily listed on the LSE while Unilever NV is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam. This
enables the company to acquire immense amount of capital from these two share markets
namely, the United Kingdom and Netherlands respectively. The company has adopted a unique
business model to ensure that its host market operations in large and extremely competitive
markets like the US and India are largely sustainable in terms of capital generation. The
subsidiaries of Unilever located in these markets are listed companies listed on the top stock
exchanges in these markets. Unilever is listed in the USA on the NYSE and NASDAQ.
Similarly, the company is listed on the NSEIL and the BSE in India. Thus, the subsidiaries of the
company in the countries like India and the USA are able to sustain their own respective capital
requirements by raising capital from the respective markets. Moreover, the company is operates
in more than 100 nations which enables it to generate immense revenue.
Product umbrella.
The product umbrella of Unilever is the second factor which attributes the company its
coveted competitive position in the market. The product umbrella of the company consists of
five segments namely, beauty and skincare, food and refreshments, homecare and water purifier.
One can point out that while the first three segments belong to three different segments of the

14Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
FMCG market, the fourth segment belongs to the electronics market. Thus, the company
operates mainly in the FMCG market but has a small share in the electronics market as well.
Thus, it is virtually impossible for companies operating in any one market segment of the FMCG
market like food and refreshments to compete with Unilever in entirety. For example, L’Oreal,
the world’s largest beauty company is able to compete with Unilever in terms of beauty products
like shampoo and high-end cosmetic products. However, it cannot compete with Unilever in
terms of food, homecare and water purifier products. Similarly, P&G can compete with Unilever
in terms of homecare products like washing powder and skincare products like shampoo. It
cannot compete with Unilever in terms of food products. Nestle in the same way can compete
with Unilever in terms of food products like tea, coffee and ice cream but not in skincare and
homecare products. This presence in multiple FMCG markets enables Unilever to compete with
even more powerful companies like L’Oreal in terms of skincare and beauty.
Products aligned with needs and expectations of consumers:
The third factor which is responsible for the success of Unilever in the global market is
its competence of the company to align its products with the needs and expectations of the
consumers. The company markets products in different sizes of packages to suit the needs of
different types of customers. For example, the small sized containers of shampoo are suitable for
the usage by domestic consumers. The large sized bottles are suitable the use of business
customers like salons and spas. Similarly, the company markets products serving similar
purposes under different pricing ranges to suit the purchasing power to different customers. For
example, Surf is the middle range laundry detergent marketed while Surf Excel is its up market
stretch counterpart. This means that by offering a single brand of product like, Surf, Unilever is
able to cater to the needs of the two different economic segments of customers like the lower

15Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
middle income group and the upper middle income group. The company in the same way is able
to cater to the needs of customers by using the technique of niche marketing. It markets similar
products by bringing about minor modifications in terms of looks and fragrances to suit the
preferences of customers more specifically. For example, Axe, the male grooming product range
marketed by Unilever, comes in different variants like chocolate, musk and citrus to suit the
preferences of the users in terms of preferences.
Chapter 4. The concept of customer satisfaction:
Chapter 5. Importance of customer satisfaction on profitability of Unilever:
Chapter 6. Customer satisfaction issues faced by Unilever:
Chapter 7. Analysis of the findings:
Chapter 8. Conclusion:
Chapter 9 Recommendations:

16Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
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20Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Appendices:
Appendix 1. Statement showing financial performance of Unilever in 2018, 2017 and 2016:

21Chapter 3. Why is Unilever successful in the global FMCG market?
Appendix 2. Share price graph of Unilever compared with its competitors: