CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION

Transcription

1 CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION Marketers develop and sell products. However, in the marketing world a "product" can be almost any commodity that can be marketed, publicly represented or advertised. A product can be a good, service, idea, event or even a person. The marketing process can include attempts to persuade to buy the product or service, to adopt an idea or to look at a company or person in a favorable light. Explaining the value of the product to the potential consumer is key. First, marketers must determine who the potential customers are, and how to reach them. Marketing is an important socio-economic activity with history of many centuries. It is an essential activity for the satisfaction of human wants and for also raising social welfare. Production is the base of marketing. It supplements production activities by distributing goods and services. Marketing links producers and consumers together for mutual benefits. It facilitates transfer of ownership of goods and services to consumers. Production will be meaningless if goods produced are not supplied to consumers through appropriate marketing mechanism. Marketing activities are conducted through the medium of money. They are conducted regularly throughout the world. Modern marketing is global in character. Everyone participates in marketing activities for the satisfaction of needs / wants. Customer is the most important person in the whole marketing process. He is the cause and purpose of all marketing activities. According to Prof. Drucker, the first function of marketing is to create a customer or market. All marketing activities are for meeting the needs of customers and for raising social welfare. Marketing itself is a "need-satisfying process". It facilitates physical distribution and creates four types of utilities viz., Form Place, Time and Possession. 14

2 Marketing of Home Appliances Consumers purchase Home Appliances by looking at the brand, pricing, and discount schemes available at the time of buying. So, for the consumer durables industry following are important growth drivers: Availability of new and innovative products A company that upgrades its technology and comes out with new and innovative products catches the attention of consumers. Especially in the consumer electronics segment, manufacturers have to make sure they are updated with the latest technology that has entered the market. For the higher income groups the brand, technology and the product features play an important role. Pricing of the products - For the lower and middle income groups, price is the deciding factor especially in a price-sensitive industry like consumer durables. Festive discount schemes The sales of many consumer durables goods are driven by festive discounts. For example people consider it auspicious to purchase goods like LCDs, Televisions, Washing Machines, etc during festivals like Diwali, Gudi Padwa, etc. The Indian market is fast moving towards high-end products and the importance of media and entertainment is growing among the young market. The consumer durables industry needs to constantly focus on innovation and needs to come out with product variations across categories to meet the different expectations of a varied class of customers. Manufacturer / Supplier must be sure that they have done extensive consumer research on their new releases before they can take them to market. They need to ensure that the home appliances are useful, convenient, cost effective, and belong in everyone's household. There are several forms of research, such as product testing, limited release sale, and personal interviews. They may 15

3 even let several people use the home appliance free of charge for several months to see if it will fit the need of the average consumer. Home appliance distributors on the other hand, must also rely on the supplier to put together an effective advertising, and marketing program to ensure that the consumers know that the home appliance is on the market, and where to find it. An effective home appliance marketing program will convey all the benefits of the new product to the consumer, and create the impression that they can't live without it. A good program will use several types of advertising which may include TV, radio, internet, direct mail, and much more. Statement of the problem Home Appliances are one of the common products used by the public. There are various manufacturers producing home appliances such as washing machine, television set, air conditioners, microwave oven and refrigerators in India and they playing an important role in fulfilling the needs of the consumers. Manufacturers want to popularize their brand image in the minds of public through their quality and durability. For this purpose, manufacturers and distributors spend huge amounts of money with a hope that the consumers will accept and recognize the brands. Many new companies which have an established name in the field of business also engage in manufacturer of new brands of home appliance. At present, the consumers are dynamic and their taste and preference are ever changing. Considering this it is necessary to pay due attention to consumer s expectations, plenty of home appliances with different brands are now made available. Each one is having its own features and consumers have wide choice to select. Under these circumstances, it is felt that it is worth to conduct a study to know the real preference of customers. 16

4 Objectives of the study The following are the objectives of the study: 1. To study the awareness level of customers about select brands of Home Appliances. 2. To study the factors that influences the customers in the selection of brand. 3. To study the customers opinion and preference towards various brands of Home Appliances. 4. To study the customer satisfaction towards the use of Home Appliances. 5. To study the dealers perception towards marketing of the select brand of Home Appliances. 6. To offer suggestions on the basis of the results of the study. Methodology used in this study i) Area of the study This study is confined to Coimbatore city. It is the third largest city of the state and has Coimbatore as the headquarters of a district of the same name. It is one of the most industrialized cities in Tamil Nadu known as the textile capital of South India or the Manchester of the South, the city is situated on the banks of the river Noyyal. Coimbatore existed even prior to the 2nd century AD as a small tribal village capital called Kongunad until it was brought under Chola control in the 2nd or 3rd century AD by Karikalan, the first of the early Cholas. Among its other great rulers were the Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas, Pandyas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara kings. When Kongunad fell to the British along with the rest of the state, its name was changed to Coimbatore and it is by this name that it is known today, except in Tamil, in which it is called Kovai. Located in the shadow of the Western ghats, Coimbatore enjoys a very pleasant climate the year round, aided by the fresh breeze that flows in through the 25 kms long Palakkad gap. The rich black soil of the region has contributed to Coimbatore's flourishing agriculture 17

5 industry and, it is in fact that the successful growth of cotton that served as a foundation for the establishment of its famous textile industry. The first textile mills came up as far back as 1888 but there are now over a hundred mills. Coimbatore serves as an entry and exit point to neighboring Kerala and the ever popular hill station of Udagamandalam (Ooty). ii) Source of data The study involves primary data which were collected from 500 customers who are all using home appliances and 50 retailers who are all selling home appliance in the city. Two interview schedules have been prepared one for customers and another for retailers in a simple manner so as to enable the respondents to understand easily and to provide required data. iii) Sampling Design For the purpose of the study, convenience random sampling method has been administered. iv) Tools for Analysis The following statistical tools were used in this study: Descriptive Analysis Chi-Square Analysis Average Rank Analysis Average Score Analysis Analysis of Variance(ANOVA) Factor Analysis Gap Analysis All the tests were carried out at 5% level of significance 18

6 Limitations of the study The scope of the study is confined to Coimbatore City only and the data were collected from 500 customers who are using home appliances. Chapter Scheme The thesis is arranged into the following five chapters. Chapter-I: Introduction This chapter presents introduction, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, methodology used and limitations of the study. Chapter -II: Review of literature This chapter reviews the various studies made in the area of the study. Chapter-III: Home appliances: An overview This chapter provides a theoretical aspect on home appliances. Chapter IV: Analysis and Discussion In this chapter, data collected from the respondents were tabulated and analyzed in detail with suitable interpretations supplemented with statistical analysis. Chapter V: Results and Conclusion This chapter presents the summary of the findings of the study relating to various objectives selected for the study with brief recommendations and conclusions. 19