Literature review help analysis on: Research help on water drinks
Introduction
Literature review is an important section of the research study as it helps in justifying the research topic and the questions that are chosen for the research. In addition to this, it provides relevant information related to the study in the form of collection and analysis of previously done research and studies by scholars and researchers. The present literature review takes into account authentic information available on internet, journal articles, books, empirical studies, etc. in order to provide theoretical base to the research study in concern and helps in attaining aim and objectives of the research in an effective manner.
Industry of flavoured and non-flavoured mineral water drinks
Healthy diet is considered important for healthy life. It is recommended that people eat adequate amount of water so as to cater to the water requirement of the body. In relation to this, bottled water industry has seen boom in past ten years all over the world. The industry is very profitable and key players in the industry make huge profits on bottled water. There are many countries that have become oriented towards bottled mineral water, both flavoured and non-flavoured. According to the World Wildlife Fund Survey (2001), there is consumption of approximately 89 billion litres of bottled water yearly. Specifically, in Europe and North America, consumption of mineral water drinks is high, in comparison to other parts of the world (Dege 2011).
On the global front, almost every nation is accepting the culture of bottled water, and it has essentially become a part of the culture today. People all over the world prefer to drink healthy bottled water rather than tap water so as to remain healthy and get rid of tasteless plain water. Dege (2011) mentions the reasons for popularity of mineral drinking water over tap water. There is growing recognition of the significance and benefits of bottled mineral drinking water all over the world. It is recognized both as a commodity and as an effective alternative to plain tap water. There is also an increased trend among bottlers to develop the markets for beverages that are functional i.e. they bring with them the added value to the customer in terms of providing benefits by presence of herbal extracts, vitamins and added minerals in the beverage (Dege 2011).
Ward et al (2009) mentions in his research the health benefits related to bottled mineral water. The author has stated that mineral water has some health benefits and they are supported by scientific proofs to the levels of varying degrees. Bottled mineral water is the fastest growing section of the overall non-alcoholic beverage market all over the world. The main reasons due to which consumers prefer mineral drinking water over tap water are health, odour, taste and sight. Health beliefs are the driving force for choosing mineral drinking water over tap water. These health beliefs have contribution in making bottled drinking water popular, thus, leading to profound increase in the growth of the market concerned (Ward et al 2009).
Other than health beliefs, other factors that play a critical role in framing positive opinions about bottled drinking water among consumers are taste, convenience and cost. Therefore, if cost is adequate, taste and good and the product is conveniently available, people prefer to buy mineral drinking water.
Copes et al (2009) states that the in comparison to tap water, mineral water does not contain chlorine residual, therefore, it is necessary to transport it properly, use and store appropriately in order to maintain the microbiological integrity of the water. Although, bottled water is at higher risk of contamination, but consumers prefer it due to cost, taste and convenience along-with their health benefits.
Current trends in mineral drinking water
Salazer (2012) states that the current trends in the market of packaged mineral drinking water involve development of new product, huge marketing and efforts on packaging. All these trends are positive for bottled water industry and new industries are emerging in order to tap the bottled water market. There is development of an array of products for bottled water, such as, purified water, bottled mineral water, hyper-caffeinated water, vitamin infused water, flavoured water, such as mint and fruits, fluoridated water, etc.
Although, innovation is tapping the bottled water industry, but still the major portion of revenues of the industry come from unflavoured sector. Other innovative products in the category are at initial stage and there is potential for huge growth of flavoured sector (Salazer 2012). Sizer and Whitney (2012) mention the growing popularity of innovative bottled water products, such as, water containing herbal extracts, caffeine, flavours, colours, sweeteners, minerals, vitamins, etc. Caffeine water is the bottled water that has added caffeine. Given the importance of water in the body, there is increasing trend and acceptance of bottled water with its varieties due to the health concerns of people regarding the consumption of tap water.
On the use of caffeine, Institute of Medicine Committee on military nutrition research (2001) sheds light on use of caffeine in the world. According to the Institute, the use of caffeine is in the form of food additive and is also used as a drug as well as a component of various pharmaceutical products. It acts as a central nervous system stimulant. Bottled water with a hint of caffeine is a food additive and is at growing stage in the bottled water industry.
Important minerals that are added in bottled water are fluoride and calcium. They are essential for body growth and development. Small amounts of fluoride when added in bottled water can lead to oral health care. Although there are benefits of bottled drinking water, there are some disadvantages concerned with this kind of water. These disadvantages include pollution and risk of contamination during transport and storage. Plain bottled water contain no calories and is a perfect diet drink for those who want to lose weight, while flavoured drinking water contains flavours, such as caffeine, herbal extracts, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients. There is presence of market for these bottled products as well but nutrients in these products are not in enough quantity so as to make any big difference in the nutrition diet of those who consume these flavoured bottled water products (Institute of Medicine Committee on military nutrition research 2001).
Critical analysis
Bottled water has seen an unprecedented growth in last decade and people prefer drinking bottled water as they do not consider tap water to be quite safe to drink. There are certain health beliefs that people have regarding bottled drinking water, although, most of the popularity of the bottled drinking water is due to the cost, convenience and taste of these products. As mentioned by Dege (2011), there is significant increase in number of bottled water drinkers specifically in Europe and North America. Due to increased awareness of people all over the world regarding the healthy diet and considering the importance of water content in the human body, people are giving preferences to bottled drinking water and its certain variants, such as mineral water, vitamin containing water, food additives in the form of caffeine and fruit containing bottled water products, etc. (Copes et al 2009).
However, it has been mentioned in the study by Ward et al (2009) that most of the consumers who prefer bottled drinking water due to health benefits do not know whether such water is helping them and caring for their health. Such water is preferred over normal tap water due to its convenience, cost and taste. It is considered as a commodity and not an absolute alternative of tap water. There are no calories in bottled drinking water and certain nutrients can be specifically added in the form of flavours for attracting consumers. Although, the amount of nutrients in the bottled water is small but it can be used to cater to those people who prefer taste in drinking water along-with some benefit of nutrient intake (Institute of Medicine Committee on military nutrition research 2001).
Major revenues for the bottled water industry come from unflavoured products and variants, but flavoured [products and its varieties are also carving out niche in the market. Flavoured segment has still to attain growth, which is a positive sign for development of new products in this segment. Potential to attain market share makes flavoured drinking water a current trend in eyes of players of the whole industry. The boom in the industry during the past decade creates ample opportunities for big companies as well as small players to find their market share in developing markets as well as developed markets by bringing in innovation and creativity in context of development of new products and diverse varieties (Copes et al 2009). Appropriate packaging and advertising has helped the industry to gain huge popularity for its products all over the world.
It can be inferred from the section of literature review that the product under research study that contain caffeine is appropriate to launch in the market. Advertising and packaging are an important concern. They should be appropriate while the cost should be low as cost is one of the major criteria for consumers to prefer to bottled water products.
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