BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS - A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO HOUSEHOLD DURABLE PRODUCTS IN VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT INTERVIEW SCHEDULE

Transcription

1 BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS - A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO HOUSEHOLD DURABLE PRODUCTS IN VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT I. GENERAL PROFILE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 1. Name of the Respondent : 2. Age : 3. Sex : Male / Female 4. Marital Status : Married/Unmarried 5. Education : 6. Religion : Hindu/Muslim/Christian 7. Community : FC / BC / MBC / SC and ST 8. Occupation : 9. Nature of the Family : Joint / Nuclear 10. Respondent s Position in the Family a) Grand Parent b) Father c) Mother d) Uncle/Aunt e) Grand Children f) any other (Please specify) Family Size Sex Adult Child (less than 15 years) Male Female i

2 12. Monthly Income of the Respondents : Rs 13. Monthly Total Family Income : Rs 14. Number of Earning/ Non-Earning Members in your family Sex Male Earning Members Non Earning Members Female 15. Facilities at home : a) Electricity b) Radio c) Telephone d) Mobile phone e) TV without cable f) TV with cable g) Gas (LPG) h) Bi-cycle i) Motor Cycle j) Four wheeler k) Washing Machine l) Refrigerator m) Computer n) Air Conditioner 16. What is the mode of payment? a) Cash b) Credit 17. If credit, what is the repayment period? a) Weekly once b) Monthly once c) Once in two months d) Random ii

3 II. SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR PRE PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR 18. When you think of the products given below, what brands come to your mind immediately? Television Washing Machine Brands Refrigerator Air - Conditioner How did you come to know about the features of the products? Sl. No. Source of Information Television Washing Machine Refrigerator Air Conditioner i. ii. iii. Personal Sources Past experience Friends & Relatives Personal Observation Commercial Sources Press Media Telecomm Retail Outlet Sources Salesman Shop visit Retail outlet iii

4 20. Mention the most important sources before buying Sl.No. Products Sources Personal Commercial Retail Outlet i.. ii. iii. Television Washing Machine Refrigerator iv. Air- Conditioner v. Grinder 21. How much of time did you require to plan and buy them? (Approximately mention as days) Sl. No. Products No. of days Taken i. Television ii. iii. iv. Washing Machine Refrigerator Air Conditioner iv

5 22. How did you use the time gap-deciding to get the product and actual purchase? Sl. No. Use the intervening time TV Washing machine Refrigerator AC i. Planned very carefully by collecting information Consulting etc. to make the best possible selection. ii. iii. iv. Did nothing in particular but thought one day and bought after a few days. Just thought one day and bought on the same day. Did nothing in particular but waited to arrange for finance. 23. How many shops did you visit before taking decision? Sl. NO. Products No. of Shops visited i. Television ii. iii. iv. Washing Machine Refrigerator Air Conditioner v

6 24. Please tick the brands of the following products that you are aware of and specify the name of producer if you know. Sl. No. Products Brands Tick Name of producer a. Television 1. Sony 2. ONIDA 3. LG 4. Samsung 5. Panasonic 6. Videocon 7. BPL 8. Sansui 9. ONIDA 10. Any other b. Washing Machine 1. IFB 2. LG 3. Samsung 4. Whirl Pool 5. Godrej 6. BPL 7. ONIDA 9. Any other c. Refrigerator 1. Whirl Pool 2. ONIDA 3. Godrej 4. Samsung 5. Videocon 6. Kelvinator 7. BPL d. Air - Conditioner 1. Voltaz 2. Videocon 3. Samsung 4. O-General 5. ONIDA 6. LG 7. Blue Star 8. Panasonic vi

7 25. Which of the following you consider to be more effective in getting information about the Products? Sl. No Source Highly effective Somewhat effective Little effective Ineffective No idea 1. News paper 2. Wall painting 3. Television 4. Radio 5. Retail shop (pop display) 6. Friends & neighbors 7. Shop keeper 8. Magazines / books 9. Cinema 10. Internet 11. Hoarding vii

8 26. What are the factors to be considered before purchasing a particular brand? Sl.No Factors TV Washing Machine 1. Price influence 2. Appearance & Style 3. Brand popularity 4. Availability of spares 5. Technical features 6. Special discount 7. Easy installment 8. Immediate availability 9. Dealers location 10. Dealers reputation 11. Warranty 12. Prize contest 13. Easy operation 14. Special gift Refrigerator AC III BRAND PREFERENCE 27. Which brands do you buy in your family? Brands Television Washing Machine Refrigerator Air - Conditioner viii

9 28. Given are some statements related to your attitude towards your preferred Brand. Please rate them from always to never. Sl. No. Statement Product Always Usually Occasionally Rarely Never A I buy my Television favorite brand Washing Machine Refrigerator Air- Conditioner B If my favorite brand is not Television Washing available, I Machine will search Refrigerator for the same Airin another Conditioner shop. C If my favorite brand is not Television Washing available, I Machine will purchase Refrigerator the brand Airsuggested by Conditioner the retailer d If my favorite brand is not Television Washing available, I Machine will delay my purchase Refrigerator Airuntil the Conditioner brand is available 29. If you are not using the same brand consistently, please state the reasons for switching over to another brand. 1. Television 2. Washing Machine 3. Refrigerator 4. Air - Conditioner ix

10 30.In choosing a brand for purchase, to what extent you consider the following attributes as important, please rate them from a to c. (a to a great extent, b to some extent and c not at all). Sl. Rating No Factors Television Washing Machine Refrigerator AC 1. Price 2. Company image 3. Technical features 4. Post sales service 5. Special discount 6. Easy instalment 7. Immediate availability 8. Dealer reputation 9. Prize contest 10. Appearance & style 11. Warranty 12. Brand popularity x

11 31. FAMILY INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION MAKING The decision on the purchase of above products regarding the brand,, pack size, time of purchase, quantity, shop and the budget (amount to be spent on) may be taken by different members of your family. Please specify the level of involvement of each of the family members from a to e ( a- always, b usually, c occasionally, d rarely and e never). Particulars Family Member 1. Brand Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband and wife Whole family 2.Time of purchase 3. Store / retailer shop 4. Budget allotment Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband and wife Whole family Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband and wife Whole family Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband wife Whole family and TV Product Washing Refrigerator Machine AC xi

12 33. ROLE OF FAMILY MEMBERS IN BUYING Who in your family does the following? (If more than one person, please rank as per the degree of dominance from 1 to 4 ). Sl. No. 1. Who initiates the idea for buying the product? 2. Who in your family influences the purchase? 3. Who takes the decision to buy? 4. Who does the shopping? 5. Who uses the products? Role Family members TV Washing Machine Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband Wife Children Grand parents Husband Wife Children Grand parents 34. Are you aware of promotional scheme followed by dealers? If yes tick the scheme against the product. Refrigerator AC Sl. No Type of Scheme TV Washing Machine 1. Exchange offer 2. Price offer 3. Price gift 4. Special gift 5. Sweepstake gift Refrigerator AC xii

13 35. BELIEF TOWARDS SALES PROMOTION Given below are some of the statements related to sales promotion. Please indicate your degree of agreement ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree ). Sl. No. Statement 1. Promotional techniques lure people to buy things which otherwise are not affordable. 2. Sales promotional techniques persuade people to buy things they need not buy. 3. Promotional offers make people buy unaffordable products. 4. Promotional offers increase the rate of consumption 5. The promotional offers cheat the customers by inviting them to various contests. 6. In general promotional offers are eyewash. 7. The promotion offers are initiated by lesser known companies. 8. The promotion offers are made to lesser known brands. Strongly Agree Agree In different Dis agree Strongly Disagree 9. The gifts given during the offers are of poor quality. xiii

14 10. The premium/gifts received through offers are worthless. 11. The products sold during offer are of poor quality. 12. The quality of the products during the offer will not be the same as that during normal time. 13. During the promotional offers, the price of the product is increased and then the discount is made in order to attract people. xiv

15 BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO HOUSEHOLD DURABLE PRODUCTS IN VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT SYNOPSIS Submitted to Madurai Kamaraj University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Commerce By R. JAYARAM (Registration No. P8529) Under the Guidance of Dr. R. MANOHAR POST GRADUATE AND RESEARCH DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AYYA NADAR JANAKI AMMAL COLLEGE (Autonomous, Reaccredited with A + Grade by NAAC & College with Potential for Excellence by UGC) (Affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University) SIVAKASI INDIA NOVEMBER 2011

16 BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS - A STUDY WITH REFERENCE TO HOUSEHOLD DURABLE PRODUCTS IN VIRUDHUNAGAR DISTRICT INTRODUCTION SYNOPSIS With Indian economy increasingly witnessing structural transformation from a rural agricultural one to more urban industrialized one, consumer durable goods sector is fast emerging as an important segment of the economy. Consumption of manufactured consumer durable goods is recognized as one of most widely accepted measures of standards of living and quality of life. Consumer durable goods manufacturing industry provides the driving force for stimulating rapid economic growth. The growth rate of manufacturing and consumer durable goods industry normally surpasses that of agriculture and service sectors. It is for this reason that the manufacturing and consumer goods durable industry is considered as the backbone of economy. DURABLE GOODS In economics, durable goods or hard goods are the goods that do not quickly wear out or more specifically, one that yields utility over time rather than being completely consumed in one use. Items like bricks or jewels could be considered perfectly durable goods, because they should theoretically never wear out. Highly durable goods such as refrigerator, washing machine, air-conditioner and television usually continue to be useful for three or more years of use. So, 1

17 durable goods are typically characterized by long periods between successive purchases. Examples of consumer durable goods include cars, household goods (home appliances, consumer electronics and furniture) and so on. CONSUMER DURABLE INDUSTRY In India, during , in the top 5 million households, 96 per cent of households have colour televisions, 82 per cent own refrigerators and 44 per cent own washing machines. In the next 7 million households, penetration of colour Televisions is 69 per cent, 58 per cent for refrigerators and 19 per cent for washing machines. In the next 12 million households, 50 per cent own colour Televisions, 35 per cent own refrigerators and 8 per cent own washing machines. Rural India too is set to see an increase in the number of high income households. An additional 4.6 million high income households and 13 million middle income households by 2010 to 2011 will take the number of rural households from million to 139 million. This constitutes a huge opportunity for marketers, 60 million households or 300 million consumers with the capacity to buy consumer appliances and other products is an attractive market for any global player. And it seems that global appliance players who have established brands in the Indian market are likely to benefit from this great big push towards consumerism. 2

18 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Consumer behaviour is the process whereby individuals decide whether what, when, where, how and from whom to purchase goods and services. At present large number of household durable products with distinguished features are available in the market. The study is confined to consumer s preference towards durable products that are available in the market and how does a customer select a product among alternatives. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Today, business around the world recognizes that the consumer is the king. Knowing why and how people consume products helps marketers to improve their existing products, to know what type of products is needed in the market place and how to attract consumers to buy their products. The era of liberalization, privatization and Globalization has brought changes in society and life style of people. The study of consumer behaviour focuses on how individuals make decision to spend their available resources (time, money and effort) on consumption related items. In the wake of liberalisation, media explosion and societal changes in India, roles of different members in a family are changing. The voice of women has become stronger in the affairs of the family particularly in purchase decision. Presently not only women but also other family members are actively participating in the family purchase decisions with regard to all high value items particularly consumer durable goods. A whole range of consumer 3

19 durables started flooding the markets. Television, washing machines, Refrigerator and Air Conditioner and other durable products, which were the preserve of upper class during the seventies, have suddenly started thronging the middle-income group households. The focus of everyone's attention has shifted to owning these gadgets and the very social status of the family has come to be assessed by the possession of these assets. A note worthy development of the eighties is that even the low income groups have started acquiring a wide range of consumer durables. The understanding of how the consumer forms a purchasing decision and the product attributes, will help the marketers to predict what the consumer may choose and if there exists homogeneous groups, marketers can also segment the market, either on the basis of the psychological characteristics or product attributes in order to better reach the target market. It is also important on the part of the seller to retain their customers for a very long period as the competition level has been soaring. Therefore, supply of quality products, popular brand, reasonable cost and supply in time are considered as very important for regular customers. So, it is necessary to study whether pre-purchase decision helps the consumers to choose a better product and whether he is satisfied with the product. Hence, the researcher endeavours to study the consumer behaviour with respect to consumer household durable Products in Virudhunagar District. 4

20 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The standard of living of the people in the towns and urban centers are a fast change. It is evident that the sample respondents in the study area owned more number of durable products for their day-to-day requirements. So, for this study, only four household durable products, namely, Television, Washing machine, Refrigerator and Air-conditioner in seven municipalities of virudhunagar district are taken. It also covers the analysis of sources of information for prepurchase behavior of urban consumers and their brand preferences of consumer durable household products in the study area. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The specific objectives of the study are: 1. To know the important Consumer behavioural models which are related to buying decisions of the consumers 2. To examine the relative importance of the information sources used by the consumers in the purchase of house hold durable products 3. To study the extent of consultation by the consumers with their family members. 4. To find out the role of influencers in the purchasing decision of the consumers 5

21 5. To identify the relationship between brand preferences and profile variables of the consumers. 6. To analyze the attitude of the consumers towards sales promotional schemes of the consumer durable goods. HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY The following are the hypotheses framed for the present study keeping in mind the specific objectives of the study: 1. There is no significant association between the sources of information and time taken to buy the household durable products. 2. There is no significant association between the sources of information and the level of planning to buy the household durable products. 3. There is no significant association between the sources of information and the number of shops visited to buy the household durable products. 4. There is no significant relationship between influencers and the purchase of household durable products. 5. There is no significant relationship between the demographic variables, namely, age, sex, education, occupation, income and size of the family of the consumers and the extent of consideration of influencer s suggestion. 6

22 6. There is no significant association between product categories and types of promotional schemes. 7. There is no significant relationship between the demographic variables, namely, age, sex, education, occupation and income of the consumers and the brand preference of Television. 8. There is no significant relationship between the demographic variables, namely, age, sex, education, occupation and income of the consumers and the brand preference of Washing machine. 9. There is no significant relationship between the demographic variables, namely, age, sex, education, occupation and income of the consumers and the brand preference of Refrigerator. 10. There is no significant relationship between the demographic variables, namely, age, sex, education, occupation and income of the consumers and the brand preference of Air-Conditioner. METHODOLOGY This section attempts to discuss the methodology adopted for the present study. Designing suitable methodology and selection of analytical tools are important for a meaningful analysis of any research problem. This section is devoted to a description of the methodology which includes sample design, collection of data and period of study and tools of analysis. 7

23 Sample design Multi-stage stratified random sampling method was adopted in the present study, with Virudhunagar District as the universe, Municipalities as the strata, dealers of consumer durable goods in Municipalities as the primary unit and the consumers as the ultimate unit of the study. Virdhunagar District comprises of seven Municipalities, namely, Virudhunagar, Rajapalayam, Srivilliputur, Sattur, Sivakasi, Thiruthangal and Aruppukottai. There are 35 authorized dealers in 7 municipalities of Virudhunagar District. A list of consumers,those who had purchased the selected four consumer durable products, namely, Television, Washing Machine, Refrigerator and Air Conditioner during the period from April, 2009 to March, 2010, was obtained from each dealer. The proportionate simple random sampling technique had been used to select 300 consumers from the list obtained from the dealers. The total number of dealers, consumers from each municipality and the number of selected sample consumers are furnished in table 1. 8

24 TABLE 1 DEALERS AND SAMPLE RESPONDENTS Sl. No. Name of the Municipalities No. of dealers No. of Consumers Sample Respondents (9.18%) 1. Virudhunagar Rajapalayam Srivillipudur Sattur Sivakasi Thiruthangal Aruppukottai Total Source: Survey data. According to Table 1.1, out of 3267 consumers, 300 consumers (9.18 per cent) were proportionately selected from seven municipalities in Virudhunagar district for primary data collection. Collection of data A reconnaissance survey of the study area was undertaken to understand the buying behaviour of urban consumers in Virudhunagar district. Based on the information gathered, a detailed schedule was drafted pre-tested and used in the 9

25 field survey. Direct personal interview method had been adopted to collect primary data regarding the characteristics of the sample respondents, family profile and extent of consultation, influencers and other aspects to the overall objectives of the study. The secondary data relating to marketing practices and the like were obtained from the journals, books and websites. Period of Study The primary data were collected during the period from April, 2010 to March, The survey period covers one year i.e Tools of Analysis In order to examine the relationship between degree of consultation and Consumer profile variables, Chi-square test formula was applied. In order to find out the determinants of consultations, multiple log liner Regression Model was used. The Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the difference of means across various product categories. The Factors analysis was used to extract the important factors of belief structure of consumers towards sales promotion dimensions. 10

26 Garratt s ranking technique was adopted to identify the factors which influence the purchase of consumer durable goods The Chi-square test was also applied to examine the brand preferences of the consumers and their profile variables. CHAPTERIZATION The report of the present study Buying Behaviour of Consumers- A Study with Reference to Household Durable Products in Virudhunagar District has been organized and presented in seven chapters. Chapter I deals with the production and market analysis of consumer durables, Indian consumer durable industry, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, hypotheses, methodological design, limitations and chapterization. Chapter II discusses the review of past literature relating to the present studies. Chapter III describes profile of the virudhunagar district and also the consumer behvaiour. Chapter IV analyses the pre-purchase behaviour of the consumers in the study area. Chapter V examines the role of influencers in taking the buying decision of the respondents. 11

27 Chapter VI analyses the brand preference of consumers in the study area. Chapter VII presents the summary of findings, suggestions and conclusion. ***** 12