A STUDY ON DIRECT SELLING DISTRIBUTORS-A PROFILE ANALYSIS

Transcription

1 ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO: A STUDY ON DIRECT SELLING DISTRIBUTORS-A PROFILE ANALYSIS Dr.M.DEEPALAKSHMI Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, PSGR krishnammal College for Women Peelamedu, Coimbatore- ABSTRACT India stands as one of the most attractive foreign investment destinations in the world with the progressive liberalization and globalisation of the Indian economy.this coupled with strong economic fundamentals, rising per capita income, inclination towards better quality of life, has made the Indian consumer market grow up by leaps and bounds. In this process several organizations have tried to reach out to this ever expanding market through different channels of distribution. Direct selling is one such alternate distribution channel which is rapidly picking up pace in the country. INTRODUCTION The direct selling industry is a growing force in the global economy. The Indian market has attracted a large number of local and foreign direct selling companies. Though direct selling is relatively a new industry in India, in less than two decades it has provided self-employment opportunities to more than five million people, out of which nearly per cent are women. Besides providing additional income opportunities to direct sellers, the industry also generates indirect employment. Majority of the direct selling companies outsource production, packaging and distribution of their products, thus generating indirect employment across the value chain and enabling the development of the SME sector. The industry has contributed significantly to women s empowerment, skill development, technology percolation and the growth of the SME sector. In India, in the year - the direct selling industry generated INR billion by the way of taxes. Many direct selling companies have been in the forefront by actively contributing towards social activities. With growth in consumer market and increase in its penetration to globally comparable level, the industry has the potential to reach a size of INR billion by With the current volatile global as well as domestic background, emerging fraudulent activities and lack of regulatory framework pose threats to the direct selling sector. These factors have impacted the industry and are the biggest challenges to its growth. In order to revisit existing laws and bring about regulatory clarity to build an environment of trust and to reap multiple benefits that the industry has to offer, Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) has been established 8. As on there are 8 direct selling companies registered under IDSA. The IDSA provides members with number of benefits and services to assist them to develop the industry and to improve their own business performance. The Association strives to create an environment conducive to the growth of direct selling industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative activities.. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY. To study the personal and business profile of the direct selling distributors.. To know their awareness about other direct selling companies. To analyse the factors that motivated them to join the business. 8 icmrrjournal@gmail.com

2 ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO:. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.. Sampling Design: A sample of direct selling distributors in Coimbatore District working for four selected direct selling companies registered under IDSA namely Amway, Tupperware, Herbalife and Oriflame have been chosen for the study... Source of Data Both primary and secondary data have been used for the study. A structured questionnaire has been designed for the direct selling distributors to express their opinion... Period of study The study has been undertaken during three years starting from October to September... Area of study The study has been undertaken in Coimbatore district... Framework of Analysis The following statistical tools have been applied to analyse the primary data collected from direct selling distributors using the questionnaire. Percentage Analysis Descriptive Statstics Chi-Square test. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study has been conducted in Coimbatore district which may not represent the entire population. The sample size is restricted to direct selling distributors in Coimbatore District working for four selected direct selling companies registered under IDSA namely Amway, Tupperware, Herbalife and Oriflame, as a result of which the opinion of other direct selling distributors is not known. PERSONAL PROFILE OF DIRECT SELLING DISTRIBUTORS Personal profiles of the direct selling distributors facilitate the understanding of their socioeconomic background. The variables namely age, educational qualification, marital status, occupational status, family monthly income, kind of family structure, size of the family, number of earning members in the family and residential area of the respondents have been shown in the table. and the interpretation of the same has been presented below. Table - Personal Profile of Direct Selling Distributors Personal Profile No.of respondents Per cent Gender Age Male. Female.8 Yrs or less. - yrs. - yrs. - yrs 8. icmrrjournal@gmail.com

3 ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO: Educational qualification Marital status Occupational Status Family monthly income Family structure Size of the family Number of earning members in the family Residential area (source: computed) No formal education 8. School level 88. Graduate 8. Diploma.8 Post graduate. Professional. Married 8 8. Single. Student. Employed. Professional 8. Business. Housewife 8. Full time Direct selling Distributor.8 Up to Rs..8 Rs.-. Rs.-. Rs.-8. Rs.8-. Above Rs.. Nuclear family 8. Joint family. 8. to. to. Above. to 8. to 8.8 Urban.8 Semi-urban.8 Rural 8. Total. It has been found that more than three fourth of the respondents are female.. per cent of the respondents belong to the age group - years.. per cent of the respondents are graduates. 8 per cent of the respondents are married. Most of the respondents are housewives (8. per cent). icmrrjournal@gmail.com

4 per cent of their monthly family income ranges between Rs., andrs.,. per cent of the respondents are from nuclear family. Majority of them (. per cent) have - members. 8. per cent of the families have only - earning members. out of respondents live in urban areas. Using chi-square analysis, association between demographic variables and the respondents holding distributorship in select direct selling companies have been tested with the following null hypothesis: H : The demographic factors of the respondents viz., gender,age,educational qualification, marital status, occupational status, monthly family income and residential area of the respondents have no significant association with their holding distributorship in select direct selling companies. The null hypothesis has been tested for each of the demographic factors seperately and the analysis has been presented in the table Table - Demographic factors Vs.Holding distributorship in the select direct selling companies. Demograp hic factors Gender Age Education al qualificati on INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO: Direct selling companies Total Tabl Tupperw Oriflam Herbali N per e Amway are e fe o cen Valu No per N pe N pe N pe t e cen o r o r o r t ce ce ce nt nt nt Male Female yrs or less - yrs - yrs - yrs No formal educatio n School level Graduate Diploma Post graduate Chi- Squa re Si g. ** * N S icmrrjournal@gmail.com

5 ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO: Professio nal Marital.... Married 8. status 8.. **.... Single Student 8 Occuption Employe..... al d.. * Status Professio nal..... Business Housewi fe Full time Direct... selling Distribut or Up to..... Rs. 8 8 Family Rs monthly - income Rs N Rs S. -8 Rs Above... Rs... 8 Residentia..... Urban 8 l area 8 Semiurban ** Rural 8. 8 (Source :Computed NS-Not Significant **-Significant at per cent level, *-Significant at per cent level) The chi square value reveals that gender, age, marital status, occupational status and residential area of the respondents have a significant association with their holding distributorship in select direct selling companies. Hence, the null hypothesis has been rejected leading to the conclusion icmrrjournal@gmail.com

6 ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO: that these factors have a significant relationship with the dealership taken by the respondents in the select direct selling companies. The chi-square value suggests that the educational qualification and monthly family income of the respondents have no significant association with the respondents taking distributorship with the select direct selling companies. Hence, the null hypothesis has been accepted. AWARENESS ABOUT DIRECT SELLING COMPANIES Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) has set the code of practice with which its member companies shall comply in the conduct of their business. At present there are 8 member companies who have registered themselves with IDSA. Table reveals the awareness of the respondents about the other direct selling companies among the respondents. Table -Awareness of respondents about DSCs-(Multiple Response) Direct selling Companies No of respondents. Per cent Tupperware India P.Ltd. TIENS. Oriflame 8. Modicare 8.8 Max life insurance.8 Hindustan lever.8 K Link health care pvt. Ltd.. JafraRuchi cosmetics pvt. Ltd.. Daehsan trading (india) P.ltd. Herbalife international India P. ltd 8. Elken International India P. Ltd.. Amway India enterprises 88. CNI enterprise P. Ltd..8 Avon Beauty Products India P. Ltd.. Life trading India ltd..8 AMC cookware India ltd.. Altos enterprises ltd..8 Glaze Trading India P. ltd.. (source: computed) Hence, it is noted that the direct selling companies namely Tupperware India p ltd., Amway India enterprises. Hindustan Lever Ltd., Oriflame and Herbalife International India Pvt Ltd., are known to majority of the respondents. Motivating factors to become s Direct Selling Distributor icmrrjournal@gmail.com

7 ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO: Descriptive Statistics namely mean and standard deviation have been applied to find out the level of importance on the motivational factors which the distributors consider in conducting the direct selling business. Table - Motivating factors to become a direct selling distributor Factors N Minimum Maximum Mean S.D To make a lot of money To get rich quickly.... To be free to name my own hour.... To be free to work wherever I want-including from home To have influence over and create a positive impact upon my community To be able to have lavish lifestyle....8 To have financial security.... To be known as a successful entrepreneur or a business person. (Source: Compute.... SUGGESTIONS Conclusion Majority of the respondents have joined the direct selling business in order to have a business of their own. The factors that are considered to be important by the respondents to become the direct selling distributors are: To make a lot of money To have financial security To be known as a successful entrepreneur or a business person To be free to work wherever they want including from home. Based on the findings of the study the following suggestions have been given toenhance the growth of direct selling distributors in the country: To be a successful direct seller, a person has to be persistent, consistent and attend seminars to be motivated about the business. At present direct selling is penetrating into the middle age group of population. Direct Selling Companies should take some steps to attract young people to this business especially in the context of wide spread unemployment. Direct selling have become so popular in India because it offers everyone the chance of becoming a successful self employed with the freedom to win. The growth prospects of the industry have been witnessed in the light of the growth perceptions of the direct selling distributors. Eventhough the direct selling industry is currently running in slow gear, growth prospects of the industry are bright,driven by strong consumer base and expanding markets. Direct selling distributors are positive about the revival of growth of the industry in the coming years and is icmrrjournal@gmail.com

8 estimated to leap- frog by, scaling up to INR billion from the present level of INR billion in -. However, positive policy interventions in the forth coming year can accelerate the estimated growth pattern to even higher trajectories. References INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH REVIEW ISSN:- - ONLINE ISSN:- - PRINT -IMPACT FACTOR :. VOLUME, ISSUE, JULY UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO: http: // icmrrjournal@gmail.com