INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT (IJM)

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1 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT (IJM) International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN (Print), ISSN 976 ISSN (Print) ISSN (Online) Volume 3, Issue 1, January- April (12), pp IAEME: Journal Impact Factor (11): 1.53 (Calculated by GISI) IJM I A E M E A STUDY ON THE VOICE OF CUSTOMERS WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO BATH SOAP USERS IN CHENNAI, TAMILNADU P.Saravanan 1, Dr.V.M.Shenbagaraman *, Dr.K.Mohan** and Dr. R.Wranton Perez *** 1 Asst. Professor(Senior Grade), School of Management, Faculty of Engg. & Tech., SRM University, Kattankulathur 3 3. Kancheepuram Dt., Tamil Nadu, India. saravanan.pa@ktr.srmuniv.ac.in * Prof. & Head of Systems,School of Management,Faculty of Engg.&Tech., SRM University, Kattankulathur 3 3. Kancheepuram Dt., Tamil Nadu. India. shenbagaraman.v@ktr.srmuniv.ac.in **Professor and Head, Department of International Business, School of Management Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, drmohankpillai@yahoo.com *** Asst.Prof. / Dean, School of Information Tech., St.Joseph s College of Engg.&Tech.,Post Box No.117, DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA. wranton@gmail.com ABSTRACT The Study is focused on measuring the awareness level of voice of customers, level of understanding about the concept of voice of customer and also to identify the importance of various parameters that influences the customer s voice of bath soap users. The study is carried out in Chennai city. Exploratory and Descriptive research designs are used. Non-probability method of convenience sampling is used. A sample of Questionnaire survey is conducted with the customers in South Chennai, North Chennai and Central Chennai. The hypothesis are framed based on the objectives of the study and are analyzed by using percentage methods and chi-square tests. It is found that more number of male customers are interested to express their view than the 214

2 female customers. Most of the customers of bath soap users understand the term voice of customer as feedback about the product from the customers. According to the customers of bath soap users, few companies only have collected voice of customers. Majority of the customers are of the opinion that voice of the customers shall be obtained from the customers on a continuous basis. It is suggested that the Bath Soap manufacturing company should create more awareness and should make the customers to understand exactly what do you mean by voice of customer. The customer s voice will definitely make the company to incorporate the suggestions given by the customers which in turn will improve the product sales and also to sustain in the market. Key Words: Voice of customer, Feedback and Business Intelligence. INTRODUCTION The customer s tastes and preferences are dynamic in nature in the real world. Hence it becomes necessary to find out the voice of customers for product sustainability, to provide better quality and also to do better service to the potential customers. The "voice of the customer" is a process used to capture the feedback from the customer to provide the customers with the best in class service / product quality. This process is all about being proactive and constantly innovative to capture the changing requirements of the customers with time. Actively pursuing Voice of the Customer feedback generates genuine business intelligence that improves an organization s products or services and increases customer base. OBJECTIVES 1) To measure the awareness level of voice of customer concept among the Bath Soap customers. 2) To study the level of understanding about the voice of customer concept by Bath Soap customers. 3) To identify the importance of various parameters that influences the Bath Soap customer s voice. 4) To identify and suggest the importance of Bath soap customer s voice for Bath soap industry. 5) To measure the importance of measuring customer satisfaction continuously, profiling and their needs and expectations. Research Methodology Research Design: Exploratory and Descriptive research designs are used. Sampling method: Non-probability method of convenience sampling is used. Population of the study: Undetermined Sample size: Total of customers from South Chennai, North Chennai and Central Chennai. Area of Research: Chennai city. 215

3 Period of Study: 2 months. Method of Data Collection: Primary data is collected by conducting the Questionnaire survey in South Chennai, North Chennai and Central Chennai Secondary data are collected from various text books, Magazines and Internet. Statistical Tools used: Percentage methods and Chi-square Test. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Table 1: Table Showing the Respondents distribution of Age Groups. Figure 1: Figure Showing the Respondents Distribution of Age Groups Age Group S.No Age Group Total Percentage 1 Up to Yrs Yrs Yrs Yrs and Above Inference: Out of respondents, Majority of the customers are in the age group of 21-4 yrs. (51% ) Number of Respondents Up to years 21-4 years 41- years 61 years and above 48 Category of Age Group 13 Table 2: Table Showing the Respondents distribution of Gender. S.No Gender Total Percentage 1 Male Female Inference: Out of respondents, 56 % are Male and 44 % are female. Table 3: Table Showing the Respondents distribution of Marital Status. S.N o Marital Status Total Percenta ge 1 Married Bachelor/Spinster Inference: Out of respondents, 53% are married and. 47 % are Bachelor/spinster 216

4 Table 4: Table Showing the Respondents Distribution of Educational Qualification. S. N o. Educational Qualification To tal Percentage 1 Up to School Degree 18 9 (UG, PG, Phd) 3 Others 4 8 Total 1 Figure 2: Figure Showing the Respondents Distribution of Educational Qualification. Number 18 of respondents Educational Qualification 18 School Degree (UG, PG, Phd) Others Category of Educational Qualification 8 Inference: Out of respondents, 9 % belongs to degree ( UG,PG & Ph.D.s) holder qualification segment, 6 % have studied only up to school and 4 % belongs to other segment. Table 5: Table Showing the Respondents Distribution of Occupation. Figure 3: Figure Showing the Respondents Distribution of Occupation. S.No Occupation Total Percentage 1 Govt & Public 2 Private Others Inference: Out of respondents, 42.5% are in Private organization, 24% are in Govt. & Public sector and 33.5% are in other jobs. Number of respondents Occupation Govt & Public Private Others Category of Occupation 217

5 Table 6: Table Showing the Respondents distribution of Annual Income. S. Annual Income Total No (Rs) % 1 Up to 1 Lakh Lh 3 Lakhs Lks & above Inference: Out of respondents are in the category above 3 Lakhs. Figure 4: Figure Showing the Respondents distribution of Annual Income. No. of Persons Annual Income Up to 1 Lakh 1 Lakh - 3 Lakhs 3 Lakhs and Above Category of Income Table 7: Table Showing the respondents Distribution of Bath Soaps customers S.No Bath Soaps Total Percentage 1 Dove Hamam Old Cinthol New Cinthol New Lifeboy Margo Palmolive Powershop 9 Chandrika Lux Medimix Dettol Mysore Sandal 14 Pears Others Figure 5: Figure Showing the respondents distribution of Bath Soaps customers. 19, 9% 9, 5% 15, 8% 9, 5% 21, 1% 17, 8% 12, 6% 16, 8% 6, 3% 7, 4%, 4, % 2%9, 5% 37, 18% 19, 9% Dove Haman Old Cinthol New Cinthol New Lifeboy Margo Palmolive Pow ershop Chandrika Lux Medimix Dettol Mysore Sandal Pears Others Inference : More than one fourth of the respondents ie., 18.5 % of the customers are using Hamam Soap, 9.5% of the customers are using Old Cinthol and another 9.5% of the customers are using Pears and so on. No one is using Power Soap. 218

6 Table 8: Table Showing the respondents awareness about Voice of Customer: S. No. Respondents Awareness Total Percentag e 1 Yes No Inference: Most of the respondents ie.,63% of the customers are aware of Voice of Customer and 37% are not aware of Voice of Customer. Figure 6: Figure Showing the respondents Awareness about Voice of Customer: No, 74, 37% Awareness about Voice of Customer Yes, 126, 63% Yes No Table 9: Table Showing the respondents distribution of Level of Customer Understanding. Figure 7: Figure Showing the respondents distribution of Level of Customer Understanding. S. No Respondents Awareness Tot al Per. 1 Customer Level of 3 15 Satisfaction 2 Capturing the Customer s Changing Requirement 3 Customer s Feedback Customer s Opinion 3 Regarding Product/Service Number of Respondents Customer's Level of Satisfaction Voice of Customer Capturing the customer's changing requirement 78 Customer's Feedback Level of Understanding Customer's opinion regarding product/service Inference:.39 % of the customers understood that Voice of customer refers to Customer s Feedback,3% understood that it is Customer s opinion regarding Product/Service,.16 % understood that it is Capturing the Customer s changing requirements and.15% understood that it is Customer Level of Satisfaction. 219

7 Table 1: Table Showing the Distribution of Factors Influencing the Voice of Customer: S.No. Factors Influencing the Voice of Customer Total % 1 Doesn t meet the Expected Quality 3 2 Side Effects No Reasonable Price Good Quality Product not available in expected quantity 1 Inference: 3% of the respondents voice are influenced when the product doesn t meet the expected quality, 26.5% are influenced when there is Side effects,23% are influenced when no reasonable Price,1.5% are influenced when product possess Good quality and.1% are influenced when product is not available in expected quantity. Table 11: Table Showing the number of Respondents with whom the soap manufacturing company conducted voice of customer survey earlier. S.No No. of respondents with whom that survey was conducted earlier. Total Percentage 1 Yes No Inference:.97 % of the respondents have not been contacted by any of the soap manufacturer to collect voice of their customers. Only.3% of the respondents were contacted by the companies to collect voice of customers about their soaps. Table 12: Table Showing the Respondents distribution of insisting the requirement of Voice of Customer. S.No Respondents insisting Requirement of Total % Voice of Customer 1 Yes No Inference: 82.5% of the customers are insisting that the manufacturers have to collect the Voice of the customers from their users and only 17.5.% of the customers are thinking that it is not necessary. 2

8 Table 13: Table Showing the Respondents distribution of insisting the importance of continuous Feedback from the Customers: S.No Respondents insisting the important of continuous Feedback Total % From The Customers 1 Yes No 3 15 Inference: 85 % of the respondents are insisting that it is important to take continuous feed back from the customers and only 15% are thinking that it is not necessary. CHI SQUARE TESTS: (i) To find the relationship between gender and the preference of bath soap Ho: There is no significant relationship between gender and the preference of Bath Soap among customers. By Applying the Chi Square Test, the following Result is obtained; Calculated Value = Table Value = Degrees of Freedom = 14 Significance Level = 5% Inference: Since calculated value is less than table value, Null Hypothesis is accepted. Hence there exists no significant relationship between gender and the preference of bath soap among customers. (ii) To find the relationship between marital status and the preference of bath soap users Ho: There is no significant relationship between Marital Status and the preference of Bath Soap among customers. By Applying the Chi Square Test, the following Result is obtained; Calculated Value = Table Value = Degrees of Freedom = 14 Significance Level = 5% Inference:Since calculated value is less than table value, Null Hypothesis is accepted Hence there exists no significant relationship between Marital Status and the preference of bath soap among customers. (iii) To find the relationship between educational qualification and preference of bath soap users Ho: There is no significant relationship between Educational Qualification and the preference of Bath Soap among customers. By Applying the Chi Square Test, the following Result is obtained; Calculated Value = 32.5 Table Value = Degrees of Freedom = 28 Significance Level = 5% 221

9 Inference: Since calculated value is less than table value, Null Hypothesis is accepted. Hence there exists no significant relationship between Educational Qualification and the preference of bath soap among customers. (iv)to find the relationship between occupation and preference of bath soap users Ho: There is no significant relationship between Occupation and the preference of Bath Soap among customers. By Applying the Chi Square Test, the following Result is obtained; Calculated Value = Table Value = Degrees of Freedom = 28 Significance Level = 5% Inference:Since calculated value is greater than table value, Null Hypothesis is rejected. Hence there exists a significant relationship between Occupation and the preference of bath soap among customers. (v)to find the relationship between income and preference of bath soap users Ho: There is no significant relationship between Income and the preference of Bath Soap among customers. By Applying the Chi Square Test, the following Result is obtained; Calculated Value = Table Value = Degrees of Freedom = 28 Significance Level = 5% Inference: Since calculated value is greater than table value, Null Hypothesis is rejected. Hence there exists a significant relationship between Income and the preference of bath soap among customers. Findings 1. 51% of the respondents are in the age group of 21-4, 24% of the respondents are in the age group of 41- and so on % of the respondents are male and the remaining 44% respondents are female. It shows that more number of males are interested to answer the questionnaire than females % of the respondents are married and 47 % are Bachelor/spinster. More number of married people are interested to express their view on voice of customer as compared to bachelor/spinster. 4. Most of the respondents (9%) are well educated with UG/PG/ Ph.D. qualification. 6% of the respondents only have completed schooling % of the respondents are from Private organization, 24% are from Govt. & Public sector and 33.5% are from other jobs. Hence it is found that private company employees are more interested to express their voice on Bath soap and this may influence the voice of customer. 6. Those who are earning Rs.3akhs and above are very much interested to express their view on voice of customer and hence income level will influence the preference and voice. 7. Most of the bath soap users are satisfied with the product and continue to use the same and also they recommend to other people % of the respondents are aware of Voice of Customer concept and 37% are not aware of Voice of Customer concept. 222

10 9. 39 % of the respondents understood the term Voice of customer as Customer s Feedback, 3% as Customer s Opinion Regarding Product/Service,16 % as Capturing the Customer s Changing Requirement and 15% as Customer Level of Satisfaction. 1. 3% of the respondents voice are influenced when the product doesn t meet the expected quality, 26.5% are influenced when there is Side effects, 23% are influenced when no reasonable Price, 1.5% are influenced when product possess Good quality and 1% are influenced when product is not available in expected quantity % of the respondents were not contacted by any of the soap manufacturer to collect voice of their customers. Only 3% of the respondents were contacted by the soap manufacturers (the companies are Pears, Dettol, Mysore Sandal and Midimix ) to collect voice of customers about their soaps. It shows that most of the companies are not bothered about the customer s voice. The companies are just manufacture the product and sell it in the market % of the respondents are insisting that the manufacturers are required to collect the Voice of the customers from their users and only 17.5.% are thinking that it is not necessary % of the respondents are insisting that it is important to take continuous feedback from the customers and 15% are thinking that it is not necessary. 14. There exists no significant relationship between gender and the preference of the bath soap among customers. 15. There exists no significant relationship between Marital Status and the preference of the bath soap among customers. 16. There exists no significant relationship between Educational Qualification and the preference of the bath soap among customers. 17. There exists a significant relationship between Occupation and the preference of the bath soap among customers. 18. There exists a significant relationship between Income and the preference of the bath soap among customers. Suggestions 1. Most of the respondents know the term voice of customer but they did not understand it properly. So the Bath Soap manufacturing company should create more awareness and should make the customers to understand exactly what do you mean by voice of customer. 2.The customers voice are influenced when the product doesn t meet the expected requirement. Hence, the companies should collect the changing requirements of the customer in order to design and develop the product as per their voice. 3. The voice of customer obtained is useful for the soap manufacturers to produce the expected product quantity with sufficient quality. 4.If the companies keep on producing and selling the product in market without collecting and incorporating the voice of customer, it leads into huge promotional expenses for the company. It becomes difficult to withstand in stiff competition. 223

11 5.It becomes necessary to collect the voice of customer of bath soap users continuously and also to incorporate in the design and development of the product and also to do better service. Practical Significance The results of voice of customer can be used by marketers to formulate the marketing strategy by understanding the Opportunity available to their product, the competition in the market and the market to be targeted. Voice of customer will also reflect the behavior of the customer towards a particular brand of a product. When the company incorporates the taste and preferences of the customer, it will have major impact towards purchase buying behavior. They will be Loyal to the particular brand and they may act as a ambassador for the product. CONCLUSION The Study identified the stated and unstated needs, the awareness level of voice of customer concept among the Bath soap customers, the quality attributes and the relationship of various attributes which influences the Bath Soap customers voice.the study suggested the importance of creating awareness and making the customers to understand the concept of voice of customer and hence to increase the profitability of the firm. REFERENCES 1.Donald R Cooper, Pamela S Schindler (6), Business Study Methods, 9 th Edition by Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi. 2.George E.Belch and Michael A.Belch (6), Advertising and Promotion An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective,6 th Edition by Tata McGraw- Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi. 3.Kothari.C.K.(5), Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques,2 nd Edition by New Age Inter national (P) Ltd. 4.Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (6), Marketing Management, 12 th Edition by Pearson Prentice Hall. 5.Richard.I. Levin, David S.Rubin (1997), Statistics For Management,7 th Edition by Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited. 6.Uma Sekaran (6), Study Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach, 4 th Edition by John Wiley & Sons, Inc