Competitive advantange of Coca Cola zero sugar

In 2005 the Coca Cola Company introduced Coca Cola Zero Sugar to the market, this product was featured as innovated for being sugar and calories free (Coke Zero Original, n. d. ). In this case study, we tried to explore if “the fact that Coca Cola Zero sugar is sugar-free and calorie-free generates a competitive advantage over other soft drinks in the perception of the end consumer”, to answer this interrogation we conducted an online survey where 17 people participated. Our initial question had the purpose to find out how many of the interviewed were soft drink consumers. In that case the survey showed that of the total number of people interviewed, 76. 5 % answered that they consume soft drinks, on the other hand 23. 5 % answered that they do not consume soft drinks, this shows that the majority of our respondents are soft drink consumers. When asked about the type of soft drinks respondents would choose, 58. 8% prefer classic soft drinks, 35. 3% prefer Zero Sugar soft drinks and 5. 9% indicate that they would choose Diet soft drinks. This response gives us an idea that people still prefer the classic flavour over the other options on the market. Similarly, when the same people were asked if they would pay a higher price for a sugar-free and calorie-free soft drink, we found that 41. 2% responded with a “yes”, this result coincides with the percentage of people who prefer zero sugar and diet drinks. However, although a high percentage of people answered that they would be willing to pay for a sugar-free or diet drink, when asked what they look for in a soft drink 58. 8% responded: “flavour”, 23. 5% responded: “price” and only 17. 6% responded: “ingredients”. This is contradicted by the responses to the question in a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being not likely and 10 being extremely likely) of whether the ingredients of a soft drink influence their purchasing decision, where more than 50% said “yes” on the scale of moderate to extremely likely. In our survey's neuralgic question about how much people value a soft drink being sugar and calorie free in a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being not important and 10 being very important), we discovered that costumers perceived value varies, with a majority of 47. 1% participants think it is very important (scale 8-10), some of the participants gives it a moderate importance (scale 5-7), and a minority of participants value as not important (scale 1-4). From the information provided by the survey it is clear that the majority of respondents agree that the fact that Coca Cola Zero Sugar does not contain sugar or calories gives it an advantage over its competitors because they perceive it as a healthier drink than the classic ones. In this order of ideas, we can conclude that the general perception of the respondents is that Coca Cola Zero Sugar has a competitive advantage in the market, not only because Coca Cola brand has a strong market positioning but because it clearly generates in the final consumer a perception of being a healthier product compared to other soft drinks, highlighting the importance that people nowadays give to a healthy lifestyle.