BRAND IMAGE, SERVICE QUALITY AND HOUSEHOLDER S SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY TOWARDS THE CONSTRUCTION BUILDERS IN COIMBATORE

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1 International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 9, Issue 12, December 2018, pp , Article ID: IJCIET_09_12_027 Available online at ISSN Print: and ISSN Online: IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed BRAND IMAGE, SERVICE QUALITY AND HOUSEHOLDER S SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY TOWARDS THE CONSTRUCTION BUILDERS IN COIMBATORE Dr. P.S. Venkateswaran Professor, Department of Management Studies, PSNA College of Engineering & Technology, Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India Dr. G. Sivakumar Librarian, PSNA College of Engineering & Technology, Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India Dr. K. Subramani Associate Professor, Department of Physics, PSNA College of Engineering & Technology, Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India R. Sivakumar Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, PSNA College of Engineering & Technology, Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India Dr. M. Selvaraj Professor and Joint Director, SONA College of Technology, Salem, Dindigul, Tamilnadu, India ABSTRACT The aim of the study is to analyse the brand image, service quality and householder s satisfaction and service loyalty towards the construction builders in Coimbatore. The research design for the study is descriptive. A sample of 215 householders was responded for the survey. Advertisement plays a vital role in selling apartments. The role of celebrity and the advertisement messages are the two leading factors to be considered when construction companies are launching their advertisement. Brand image, service quality and householder s satisfaction are the major factors for service loyalty. Key words: Brand image, service quality and householder s satisfaction, Service loyalty, Coimbatore editor@iaeme.com

2 Brand Image, Service Quality and Householder s Satisfaction and Loyalty Towards the Construction Builders in Coimbatore Cite this Article: Dr. P.S. Venkateswaran, Dr. G. Sivakumar, Dr. K. Subramani, R. Sivakumar, Dr. M. Selvaraj, Brand Image, Service Quality and Householder s Satisfaction and Loyalty Towards the Construction Builders in Coimbatore, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) 9(12), 2018, pp INTRODUCTION Brand image, Service quality and householders satisfaction are important factors in the construction industries and maintain development & relationship. Today construction industries facing tough competition among themselves and try to compete with each other. To satisfy the householders construction industries are providing vary good indoor environment, safety and security, parking facility, lift, 24 X 7 services etc,. To provide these services, builders designing the houses in such a way that implementing the standards and specifications established by governments, professionals and experts. In this paper, researchers try to identify the householder s opinion about the brand image, service quality and satisfaction about their houses in the various apartments in Coimbatore. JAIN housing and Constructions ltd, Poorvangara housing and Constructions ltd, Arima Constructions ltd, Green wall Constructions ltd are the leading construction companies in Coimbatore. To sustain in the market, they have to create goodwill among the customers and have to provide very good services to their customers. Satisfied customers are going to be loyal and they support the builders by recommending them (word of mouth) to their relatives, Colleagues and friends. Hence, this study tries to find out the important role of brand image, Service quality and householders satisfaction in Coimbatore District for the construction companies. 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Venkateswaran at el (2015) suggested that brand name attracts the customers to purchase. The highly viewed variable in service quality is services of the sales person and his friendly and courteous approach to the customers. Venkateswaran at el (2015) stated in their research paper that how much a satisfied customer reacts to brand, either loyalty or switching. Consumers perceived quality can be considered as an important factor that cannot be neglected by the marketers. Singh et al (2013) studied the salaried employees living in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. They found that certain factors are considered by the customers to buy residential apartments. The most important factor while selecting an apartment by the customers are Builder reputation (brand image) Materials & method used in construction Location of the building Aesthetic appearance of the building Security provisions Fire safety and protection Size and space of rooms Drawing or living room Bathroom editor@iaeme.com

3 Dr. P.S. Venkateswaran, Dr. G. Sivakumar, Dr. K. Subramani, R. Sivakumar, Dr. M. Selvaraj Area calculation Ventilation Water supply Parking Recreational facilities Interiors of building Zadkarim et al (2011) said that satisfied customer spreads the positive word of mouth. In contrary, in high income householder s, satisfaction influenced more by product quality and service quality than other constructs. Yim et al (2010) evaluated householder s satisfaction and found that quality is the main aspect in all the parts of the expectation by householders. Mishra (2009) suggested that satisfaction level of customer residing in various townships found that purchasing residential property depends upon the quality, brand name of developer, and their brand image and brand reputation. Age and education of the householders are the good predictors to identify the suitable builders (Tsiotsou and Vasioti, 2006). Hinks et al (2001) identified householder s satisfaction in new housing is the technical quality of the constituent components of a house. Superior Brand image can be achieved by developing a set of product specifications and service standards that more closely meet customer need. (Buzzell and Gale 1987). 3. METHODOLOGY The research design for the study is descriptive. The methodology of the study is based on the primary data as well as secondary data. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire to obtain the opinions of the householders from Coimbatore city. Convenient Sampling Method was used. A total of 250 questionnaires have been distributed and out of which 227 were received. After the scrutiny of these questionnaires, 12 questionnaires were rejected. Finally, 215 completed questionnaires were used for the current study. The study was conducted in the period of October 2018 to November 2018 at Coimbatore city. The statistical tools used for the studies are descriptive, ANOVA, Multiple correlation analysis. 4. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: Table 4.1 Socio economic variables of the respondents S.No Variables Factors Frequency Percent 1 Age (in years) Below and above Sex Male Female Marital status Single Married Education Below SSLC UG PG Diploma/Certificate Others Occupation Business editor@iaeme.com

4 Brand Image, Service Quality and Householder s Satisfaction and Loyalty Towards the Construction Builders in Coimbatore Agriculture Govt.Job Private Job holder Others Annual Income (in Rupees) Below 5lakhs lakhs lakhs above 9 lakhs Number of Persons in the family Below and above Source: Primary data The above table 4.1 shows the customers socio economic details in Coimbatore. Table 4.2 Influences of advertisement to select a builder Categories Frequency Percent Yes No Total Source: Primary data The above table 4.2 shows that 61.8 percent of the respondents said advertisement influences them to select the particular builder to buy their apartment/house from them percent of the respondents said advertisement is not influences them. Table 4.3 Attributes you like most in advertisement to select a builder Attributes Frequency Percent Theme Celebrity Jingle Message Creativity Promotional offer others Total Source: Primary data From table 4.3, 34.4 percent of the respondents were influenced by Celebrity in the advertisement to select a builder percent of the respondents were influenced by Message in the advertisement percent of the respondents were influenced by Promotional offer in the advertisement. Attributes like Creativity (14.8%), Theme (7.9%), jingle (4.65%) and others (2.8%) are also the influencing factors to select a builder. Table 4.4 Which media creates awareness to go for a specific builder Media Frequency Percent TV Radio Print Point of Display Wall paint/poster Others Total Source: Primary data editor@iaeme.com

5 Dr. P.S. Venkateswaran, Dr. G. Sivakumar, Dr. K. Subramani, R. Sivakumar, Dr. M. Selvaraj From table 4.4, 41.9 % of the respondents come to know about a builder through TV media. 27.4% of the respondents come to know about a builder through Point of Display. Medias like Print (13.5%), Wall paint/poster (10.7%) and radio (4.7%) are also creating awareness to the consumers to select a suitable builder. Others (6.5%) such as online advertising, word of mouth, local cable network and pamphlets are creating awareness to select a suitable builder. Hypothesis Testing H1: When Brand image is high then it leads to a service loyalty. H2: When service quality is high then it leads to a service loyalty. H3: When householder s satisfactions are high then it leads to service loyalty. H4: When Brand image and service quality are high then it leads to service loyalty. H5: When Brand image and householder s satisfactions are high then it leads to service loyalty. H6: When service quality and householder s satisfactions are high then it leads to service loyalty. H7: When Brand image, service quality and householder s satisfactions are high then it leads to service loyalty. Table 4.5 Tests of Between-Subjects Effects Type III Sum Mean Result H0 :(P<0.05) Source of Squares df Square F Sig. Corrected Model Intercept Brand image (A) Rejected Service quality (B) Rejected Householder s satisfaction(c) Rejected A*B Rejected A*C Rejected B*C Rejected A*B*C Rejected Error Total Corrected Total Dependent Variable: Service loyalty; a. R Squared =.872 From the above table 4.5, householder s perception towards the quality of the service is questionable then they are not satisfied with the builder and it affects the service loyalty. For all the variables, null hypothesis is rejected separately as well as at interaction level. When householder s satisfactions are low and service quality is low towards a specific builder then it leads to poor service loyalty. This study reveals that brand image, service quality and householder s satisfaction is significant for all the cases editor@iaeme.com

6 Brand Image, Service Quality and Householder s Satisfaction and Loyalty Towards the Construction Builders in Coimbatore Table 4.6 Pearson Correlation Null hypothesis (H0): There is no relationship between brand image, service quality, householder s satisfaction and service loyalty. BI SQ HS SL BI Pearson Correlation 1.517(**).624(**) 0.761(**) Sig. (2-tailed) N SQ Pearson Correlation 0.517(**) (**) Sig. (2-tailed) N HS Pearson Correlation 0.624(**) 0.402(**) Sig. (2-tailed) N SL Pearson Correlation 0.761(**) Sig. (2-tailed) N ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). A multiple correlation was conducted to explore the relationship between variables. The bivariate correlation procedure was subject to a two tailed of statistical significance with significant (p<0.001). Correlations were done among brand image, service quality, householder s satisfaction with service loyalty and it is showing a strong positive correlation between these variables. So null hypothesis is rejected. Hence each variable is influencing the service loyalty by its own merit. Table 4.7 Model Summary (b) Adjusted R Std. Error of the Model R R Square Square Estimate Durbin-Watson (a) a. Predictors: (Constant), BI, SQ.HS b. Dependent Variable: Service Loyalty The above table 4.7 indicates a strong relationship (0.7708) between these variables indicating that brand image, Service quality, householder s satisfaction are strong predictors of service loyalty. From the analysis, R indicates that the model explains 77 percent variability in service loyalty. Durbin Watson results indicate that the errors are positively correlated. Table 4.8 ANOVA (b) Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression (a) Residual Total a. Predictors: (Constant), BI, SQ.HS b. Dependent Variable: Service Loyalty This table summarizes the results of an analysis of variance. The ANOVA test result is shown in Table 4.8. It shows that F = is significant at 0.05 level. This indicated that the combination of the predictors significantly predict service loyalty of the house holders editor@iaeme.com

7 Dr. P.S. Venkateswaran, Dr. G. Sivakumar, Dr. K. Subramani, R. Sivakumar, Dr. M. Selvaraj Table 4.9 Coefficients (a) Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig. 1 (Constant) * BI * SQ * HS * a. Dependent Variable: Service loyalty High Beta values under Standardized Coefficients indicate the significant level of the variables at 5 percent level. Beta value of of service quality indicates its importance in the service loyalty. The next important factor is brand image (1.178) followed by householder s satisfaction. 5. FINDINGS and percent of the respondents are in the age group of and 51 and above years respectively percent of the respondents are male percent of the respondents are married percent of the respondents are studied up to UG percent of the respondents are doing Business percent of the respondents are in Government job percent of the respondents are having an annual income of 5-7 lakhs percent of the respondents are having 4-7 family members. Brand image, service quality and householder s satisfaction are the major factors for service loyalty (77 percent to predict) and the three variables are strongly associated with each other percent of the respondents said advertisement influences them to select the particular builder to buy their apartment/house from them percent of the respondents were influenced by Celebrity in the advertisement to select a builder percent of the respondents were influenced by message in the advertisement % of the respondents come to know about a builder through TV media. 27.4% of the respondents come to know about a builder through Point of Display. 6. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION The current study finds that service loyalty has a positive correlation with brand image and service loyalty in Coimbatore. That means that if the customers are satisfied then they will become loyal. Jones and Sasser (1995) pointed out that there is a huge difference between merely satisfied and completely satisfied customers. Therefore construction companies should pay attention on the complete satisfaction of the customers through their quality of services. 7. CONCLUSIONS The purposes of the study are to explore the brand image, service quality and householder s satisfaction and service loyalty towards the construction builders in Coimbatore. The findings of this study have indicated that advertisement plays a vital role in selling apartments. The role of celebrity and the advertisement messages are the two leading factors to be considered when construction companies are launching their advertisement editor@iaeme.com

8 Brand Image, Service Quality and Householder s Satisfaction and Loyalty Towards the Construction Builders in Coimbatore REFERENCES [1] Alok Mishra, a study of householder s satisfaction of residential properties in selected areas in pune, International journal for administration in management, commerce and economics. [2] Buzzell, R. and B. Gale. (1987). The PIMS Principles, Free Press, New York. [3] Dr. Tejinderpal Singh (2013), Identifying key factors affecting purchase decision of residential apartments: An exploratory study in peripheries of Chandigarh, International Journal of Applied Services Marketing Perspectives, Volume 2, Number 3, [4] Hae Lee Yim, Byeong Hun Lee, Ju Hyung Kim, and Jae Jun Kim, The Effect Of The Quality Of Apartment Houses On The residential Satisfaction And Corporation Performance, [5] Tony Auchterlounie, Dr. John Hinks, The measurement of householder s satisfactionin the private house building sector, Inclusive and Sustainable Environments: Conference Papers [6] Siamak Zadkarim, Hossien Emari, Determinants of Satisfaction in Apartment Industry: Offering a Model, Journal of Civil Engineering and Urbanism, Volume 1, Issue 1: 15-24, [7] Venkateswaran.P.S., Sabarirajan. A, Mohammed Imrankhan S.and Elangovan K.E.(2015), A study on brand loyalty behaviour among the customers towards branded shirts, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, Vol. 10 No.28. [8] P.S.Venkateswaran, B.Arun, S.Sakthivel and Earnest Paul(2015), A study on the influence of perceived quality, purchase intention and customer satisfaction towards brand loyalty for branded coffee powders (instant) in Madurai, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, Vol. 10 No editor@iaeme.com