Is your home truly clean?
Sensory first,
loyalty split.
Fragrance and skin-feel now beat grease-cutting 2-to-1 in dishwashing, while Vim leads women by 12.8 points and Domex and Cif struggle to turn satisfaction into advocacy.
Explore the findingsTwo-thirds buy on feel and smell.
No brand owns the feeling yet.
Prioritise pleasant lemon fragrance (36.0%) or gentleness on hands (30.3%) over tough grease removal (24.4%). Base all respondents, n=442.
Report pp. 2, 10Vim preference is 44.4% among female decision-makers but 31.6% among males — a 12.8-point deficit. Gender bases not stated; directional.
Report pp. 2-3, 5Of floor moppers, 87.7% also hand-wash dishes — the anchor for floor plus dishwash bundling. Base about 122 floor moppers within n=442.
Report pp. 2-3, 13All figures are stated preferences and intent, not observed purchases. Gender and format cuts lack printed bases and read as directional; residuals are marked on charts.
Two-thirds of Indian buyers choose dishwash on smell and feel, not cleaning power
Brands like Vim, Domex and Cif had a practical question: what actually drives cleaning choices in Indian kitchens and bathrooms, and which of them owns the category? This study surveyed 442 primary household decision-makers in India on 17 July 2026, combining a usage and attitude study with brand health tracking across 14 questions evaluated. The sample fell 55.8% short of the 1,000 planned, so the total-sample picture carries the findings and subgroup cuts are treated as directional rather than settled.
The headline number is deliberately plain: 66.3% pick a sensory feature as most important in dishwashing, 36.0% pleasant lemon fragrance and 30.3% gentle on hands, against 24.4% for tough grease removal. The report scores attitudes on a 1-5 scale, and top-two-box (the share picking one of the top two options) is the standard read: Cif earns 67.4% top-two-box recommendation while only 21.9% rate its surface performance 5, Excellent. Note that these are stated preferences, not observed purchases.
For a brand, the reading is that nobody owns the feeling yet. Vim is strong with women at 44.4% but slips to 31.6% among men, Domex converts only 92 of 237 high performance raters (38.8%) into top-box (just the highest option) recommenders, and 87.7% of floor moppers also hand-wash dishes, a ready-made bundle. To repeat this work, survey primary decision-makers with an identical functional-versus-sensory question, pair performance ratings with likelihood to recommend on the same base, and map task routines with association rules before designing any entry or bundling plan.
Feeling beats function, but no brand owns the feeling.
Six total-sample findings define the category shift; gender, age and format cuts underneath are directional where bases are small or unstated.
Household care in India has shifted from function to feeling — and no brand has claimed the feeling yet, while Vim leaks men, Domex stalls at pretty-good, and Cif is loved beyond its ratings.
Sensory beats grease
Base n=442: 36.0% lemon fragrance plus 30.3% gentle-on-hands vs 24.4% tough grease removal; grease-cutting is table stakes, fragrance and skin-feel differentiate.
Vim male deficit
Vim at 44.4% among women but 31.6% among men — a 12.8-point gap where Pril Liquid (18.9% of males) and Patanjali Bar (15.6%) gain. Directional; overall Vim leads at 37.3% of n=442.
Domex advocacy deficit
Only 92 of 237 high performance raters (4-5, base n=442) give top-box recommendation vs Harpic — 38.8%, reported as 39%. Efficacy alone does not break Harpic equity.
The bundleable routine
Base about 122 floor moppers within n=442: 87.7% also hand-wash dishes and clean kitchen slabs; floor mopping is the behavioural anchor for cross-category bundles.
Bathroom stands alone
Base n=442: 132 do bathroom floors and toilets as a standalone task — about 3x standalone dishwashing (11.3%) and slab cleaning (9.0%).
Cif premium paradox
Base n=442: only 21.9% (n=97) rate Cif surface performance Excellent while 67.4% give top-two-box recommendation; positioning drives advocacy ahead of perceived efficacy.
Defend Vim among men, premiumise dishwashing around fragrance and skin-care for the 66.3%, and convert Domex passives and Cif 4s with emotional equity — not more functional proof. Bundle floor plus dish along the 87.7% routine and enter via standalone bathroom care (29.9%).
Vim leads women, leaks men.
Stated daily dishwashing brand-format preference; the clearest portfolio signal, but gender bases are missing.
Vim preference overall vs by gender
Stated daily dishwashing brand-format preference
| Response | Share preferring Vim |
|---|---|
| Overall (n=442) | 37.3% |
| Female | 44.4% |
| Male | 31.6% |
Male alternatives
Where male buyers go instead
| Response | Share of male buyers |
|---|---|
| Vim | 31.6% |
| Pril (Liquid) | 18.9% |
| Patanjali (Bar) | 15.6% |
| Other / residual | 31.9% |
Only one in five calls Cif excellent.
Specialised-brand surface performance rating for Cif; the middle is large and fragile.
Cif surface rating
Specialised-brand performance, n=442
| Response | Respondents |
|---|---|
| 5, Excellent | 21.9% |
| 4 | 33% |
| 3 | 29.6% |
| 2 | 10.9% |
| 1, Poor | 4.5% |
Excellent by age
Top-box rating by age cohort
| Response | Rated 5 Excellent |
|---|---|
| 36-45 (n=105) | 24.8% |
| 18-24 (n=23) | 8.7% |
18-24 also rates 2 at 21.7% (n=5 of 23, illustrative); 25-35 sits in the middle with 33.3% rating 3 (n=79 of 237).
Satisfaction is not recommendation.
Likelihood to recommend Domex vs Harpic and Cif vs generics, plus the Domex conversion gap.
Recommend Domex vs Harpic
Likelihood to recommend, n=442
| Response | Respondents |
|---|---|
| 5 | 28.7% |
| 4 | 44.3% |
| 1-3 / residual | 27% |
Recommend Cif vs generics
Likelihood to recommend, n=442
| Response | Respondents |
|---|---|
| 5 | 30.3% |
| 4 | 37.1% |
| 3 / residual | 24.9% |
| 1-2 | 7.7% |
Domex performance versus recommendation
n=442| Performance | Recommendation | n |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 83 |
| 3 | 4 | 57 |
| 3 | 3 | 50 |
| 5 | 5 | 50 |
| 4 | 5 | 42 |
| 5 | 4 | 31 |
| 3 | 5 | 21 |
| 2 | 4 | 21 |
| 4 | 3 | 16 |
| 5 | 3 | 12 |
Listed combos sum to 383; remaining 59 fall in unlisted combos. High performers (4-5) are 237; top-box recommenders among them are 92 (38.8%). Source: p. 12.
Two-thirds buy on smell and feel.
Most-important dishwashing feature and how Vim own users lag the shift.
Most important dishwashing feature
What matters most in dishwash, n=442
| Response | Respondents |
|---|---|
| Pleasant lemon fragrance | 36% |
| Gentle on hands | 30.3% |
| Tough grease removal | 24.4% |
| Other / unnamed | 9.3% |
Vim rating by preferred brand cohort
cohort bases unstated, directional| Preferred cohort | Mean (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Vim | 3.657 |
| Xpert | 3.571 |
| Exo | 3.418 |
| Patanjali | 3.375 |
| Nip | 3.333 |
| Pril (Liquid) | 3.273 |
| Other | 3.0 |
Cohort bases not stated — treat every mean as directional. Pril liquid users most critical of Vim. Source: p. 14.
Mop, slab, dish — one trip.
Which tasks travel together and which stand alone; the bundling and entry map.
Association rules
n=442, min support 0.1%| Task A | Task B | Both | A to B | B to A | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen slabs | Floor mopping | 24.21% | 48.0% | 87.7% | 1.74 |
| Floor mopping | Hand dishwash | 24.21% | 87.7% | 46.9% | 1.70 |
| Kitchen slabs | Hand dishwash | 34.39% | 68.2% | 66.7% | 1.32 |
| Bathroom | Floor mopping | 24.66% | 33.1% | 89.3% | 1.20 |
Base: 442. Floor-mopper base implied about 122. Identical 87.7% implies the same group does all three. Source: p. 13.
Standalone tasks
Tasks done alone, n=442
| Response | Standalone share |
|---|---|
| Bathroom | 29.9% |
| Hand dishwash | 11.3% |
| Kitchen slabs | 9% |
| Floor mopping | 1.6% |
What to do next.
Four priorities weighted to the tensions the data exposes.
Win back men
Vim at 31.6% among men vs 44.4% among women; test format-led liquid and value-framed creative against the 34.5% male share of Pril plus Patanjali.
Premiumise dish around sensory
66.3% prioritise fragrance and skin-feel vs 24.4% grease; test fragrance and skin-care claims as primary, grease as proof.
Convert passives, not triallists
Domex 44.3% at 4 and Cif 33.0% at 4 (bases n=442); test emotional and distinctiveness creative to move 4s to 5s.
Bundle floor plus dish, enter via bathroom
87.7% floor-to-dish co-occurrence for bundles; 29.9% standalone bathroom for specialised entry.
Recommendations synthesised from report pp. 2-3, 5-16.
