CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction:
It gives me an immense pleasure to present you this entire internship. The topic
is “A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN TVS MOTORS COMPANY” the study is
undergone at SUN TVS with Special Reference.

The project report focuses on customer satisfaction and post-sale services, of

Sun Marketing (TVS motors). A two-wheeler showroom in Chennai city.

Customer satisfaction has become one of many important objectives set for
product services. The satisfaction survey is becoming the primary tool of
assessing this aspect of customer care. Customer satisfaction surveys provide a
snapshot of customers opinions of one’s product. One of the major goals of
organizations is that customers and families will be highly satisfied with their
entire experience in their customer visit. An organization’s purpose is to
measure, analyze, and report the degree to which they are meeting this goal
within their organization.

Measuring customers' experiences is coming to be seen as much more useful

than measuring just the level of customer satisfaction. In our survey we have
considered the customer satisfaction level towards TVS MOTORS Bikes.

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Customer satisfaction surveys can help identify ways of improving one’s
product. Since customers actively evaluate what is happening to them during the
experience of care, customer satisfaction is two things: “an indicator of quality
of product, and a component of quality product.”

The customer’s judgment is a very personal one; it is based on perceptions of

care being responsive to customers' "individual needs," rather than to any
universal code of standards. When customers perceive motives,
communication, empathy, and judgment positively, they will respond more
positively to product.

A customer satisfaction survey may be able to demonstrate that a practice is

focused on quality and on improving their current service. In the end with
customer satisfaction surveys, they help lead to better quality product and
happier customers.

1.2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

It was a very educating and learning experience while doing the internship for
Sun Marketing (TVS motors). As per my view it is working efficiently. I had
done research study on “Satisfaction Level of customers for service provided by
Sun Marketing (TVS motors) and preference and criteria for buying and
Servicing TVS company’s two-wheeler.”

The study of internship that we do is to get an experience of how the corporate

world functions and how the theory is different from the practical aspects of the
industry.
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For the same purpose I got an opportunity for my training at TVS Motors in the
Sales promotion and Sales department. TVS has been at the forefront in
bringing a revolution in the way personal commutation was happening, way
back in the 1980s.

Beginning with launching a simple, easy-to-use scooters for the middle class in
India in the 1980s to launching 7 new bikes in a single day (first time in the
history of the automotive industry in the world), TVS has often taken the
unbeaten path to innovation. With the customer being their focus of all the
activities my projects were majorly concerned with the sales promotion and
sales.

1.3 Need for study:

To understand the satisfaction level of the customer regarding the service
provided by Sun Marketing (TVS motors), to understand what are the customer
requirement and improvement required by them in service.

1.4 Objective of the study:

 To know the customer satisfaction level towards services of TVS Motors.

 . To know the problems presently faced by the customers at TVS Motors.

 To study the post sales service performance.

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1.5 Out-come and Benefits of the study:
 The outcomes of this internship would give the Organization a clear
understanding about the customer feedback as well as their satisfaction
level and to understand what the problems faced at the time of service.
With the help of this study report the organization come to know the
customer feedback and make improvements in the required area.

1.6 Auto Mobile Industry:

 Indian automobile industry has grown leaps and bounds since 1898, a
time when a car had touched the Indian streets for the first time. At
present it holds a promising tenth position in the entire world with being
number two in two wheelers and fourth in commercial vehicles.

 With standing a growth rate of 18% per annum and an annual production
of more than 2million units, it may not be an exaggeration to say that this
industry in the coming years will soon touch a figure of 10million units
per year.

 Besides a steady growth in India's fiscal system, the expansion of Indian

middle class has also played a major role in drawing the attention of
international auto manufacturers towards the Indian Automobile Market.

 Forever, India is one nation which provides skilled workforce at cut-

throat prices making itself a preferable manufacturing centre. The
magnetism of the Indian markets and the decline of global auto industries

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 such as Japan, Europe and US have triggered the influx of new
conglomerates along with huge capital investments in the sector.
Two-Wheeler Manufacturers in India:
The major players in the two-wheeler industry are:

1. BAJAJ

2. HERO

3. T V S

4. YAMAHA

5. HONDA

1.7 CURRENT MARKET SCENARIO:

Two-wheeler industry has witnessed healthy growth scenario primarily driven

by strong demand India is the 2nd largest two-wheeler market in the world.
Over the past few years, the from urban as well as rural areas owing to healthy
economic scenario. Growing population in urban areas also created the need for
public transport infrastructure for regular commuting and thereby pushing the
demand for low cost and fuel efficient two wheelers.

Although the industry has grown last fiscal, it is still lower than the 16-million-
unit mark achieved in 2014-15 and a long way off from the industry high of
21.2 million in 2018-19. Compared to the industry growth of 15.5 per cent, TVS
recorded a 22.8 per cent growth in 2022-23 compared to FY22.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
METHODOLOGY OF STUDY:
Statement of research study:
Conducting a study on the customer satisfaction of the SUN MARKETING
(TVSMOTORS) Bikes. Research Methodology refers to the systematic
approach and techniques used by research to conduct a study or investigation.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design undertaken for the study was Descriptive one. The reason
for using a descriptive research method was to obtain qualitative data and since
the nature of study is as such that it required the exploration of various aspects
within and outside the company.

1.8 SOURCE OF DATA:

 PRIMARY DATA

 SECONDRY DATA

Primary Data:

Primary data is that kind of data that is collected by the investigator himself for
the purpose of the specific study. The data such collected is original in
character. The advantage of this method of collection is the authentic. A Set Of
Questions were put together in the form of questionnaires. The method of
sampling was the Random.

Secondary Data:

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When an investigator uses the data that has been already collected by others is
called secondary data. The secondary data could be collected from Journals,
Reports, and various publications. The advantages of the secondary data can be
It is economical, both in terms of money and time spent. The researcher of the
report also did the same and collected secondary data from various internet sites
like Google.com, altavista.com and many more. The researcher of the report
also visited various libraries for collection of the introduction part.

1.9 SAMPLING:
Sampling refers to the process of selecting a subset of items or individuals from
a larger population or dataset to make inferences or draw conclusions about the
entire population. It is a fundamental technique used in statistics, research, and
data analysis. The goal of sampling is to gather relevant information from a
smaller, manageable sample that can represent the characteristics and properties
of the larger population accurately, without the need to examine every single
item or individual in that population. Different sampling methods exist, such as
random sampling, stratified sampling, and convenience sampling, each with its
own advantages and limitations. The choice of sampling method depends on the
research objectives and the nature of the population being studied.

SAMPLING DESIGN:
A sampling design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given
population. It refers to the technique or the procedure the researcher would
adopt in selecting items for the sample. Sample design may as well lay down
the number of items to be included in the sample i.e., the size of the sample.

Sample Size:

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The sample size consists of 100 respondents for knowing the consumer attitude
towards social media marketing. The sample of 100 respondents was taken to
know the consumer attitude towards social media marketing.

 Sampling unit-consumer of TVS BIKES

 Sample size-100.

Sampling Method:
At first stage of sampling methods, I have used random sampling technique to
the places from where I must select customers from local region because it was
not possible to select every customer at a time of board area. At Second stage, I
used convenience sampling technique to take response from the respondents.

 Sampling Method-Random sampling Method.

 Nature of participation-Direct.

1.10 TOOLS FOR DATA ANALYSIS:

The statistical tools used by the research for the study is as follows:

 Percentage analysis
 Chi-square
 Rank correlation

Simple Percentage Analysis:

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The percentage method is used for comparing certain feature. The collected
data are presented in the form of table and graphs to give effective
visualization made.

No. of Respondents
Simple Percentage Analysis = ---------------------------X100
Total no. of Respondents

Chi –Square Analysis:

It is to determine the sign cannot relationship between the two variables.

The formula is used for chi-square tests is:

O= Observed frequency
E= expected frequency

Rank Correlation:

Rank correlation is any of several statistics that measure an ordinal

association the relationship between ranking of different ordinal variables or
different rankings of the same variable, where a “ranking” is the

9
assignments of the ordering labels “first; “second; third” etc., to different
observations of a particular variance.

Formula:

HYPOTHESIS:

Calculated Test statistics value is < table value H O accepted, H1 rejected

Calculated Test statistics value is > table value H O rejected, H1 accepted

CHAPTER - 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

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DhananjoyDatta (2010). There are many factors on which the buying behavior
of the customers depends and these factors motivate them to purchase a two-
wheeler. These factors include advertisement, word of mouth, references from
family, friends, own experience, features, price, etc. The results of the survey
done was that around 51% of the customers having two-wheelers fall in the age
group of 20-30 years, while their income is below Rs. 5000. 64% people are
unmarried and use Bajaj two wheelers. In most of the cases, the motivation
comes from friends (44%) and family (31%). People also search for installment
plans and finance schemes before purchasing a two-wheeler.

Prof. S. Saaravanan and Prof. N. Panchanatham (2009), they discussed the

essentials for Promotion of a product. The result shows that a customer
considers all factors at the time of purchasing a two-wheeler, although majority
of customers give importance to the brand image. This study also describes the
socio-economic factors which satisfy two wheelers’ customers and that the
employees and students crave for show room services.

Murphy John and Bellman Eric (2008). It has been discussed that in 1948, the
Bajaj Auto Ltd came with importing and selling of Vespa scooters. The scope
of the scooters had decreased since the boom in the motorcycle market segment.
The customers’ preferences changed the automotive strategies adopted by the
Hero Honda Motor Co. in India.

Lisa R. Klein and Gary T. Ford (2003). It has been stated by the authors that
the customers can do a cost benefit analysis to choose a search strategy, i.e.
what, when, how much and where to search, but the customers do not search
much, which may be due to customers’ perception that the search costs are quite

11
high or that the value of the search is quite low. As a part of pre-purchase search
for perfect automobile as per their requirement, the customers in this digital age
take the help of internet, websites as well as social networking sites to do a
comparative study of the different models of different brands available in the
market. Hence their opinion is also influenced by the reviews of the people
already possessing the motorcycles and using it.

Snelders and Schoormans (2000). Different techniques are suggested in the

literature to find out which attributes consumers use to judge products.

Simonson and Tversky (1992) making a product different from its competitors
by adding even a meaningless attribute can increase consumers’ quality
perception or can decrease perceived risk.

Aaker andJacobson (1994) perceived quality is defined as the consumer’s

judgment about a product’s overall excellence or superiority.

Wallendorf (1979) Purchase decisions are based almost solely upon the attitude
existing at the time of purchase.

CHAPTER – 3
COMPANY PROFILE

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3.1 TVS GROUP:

TVS Group was established in 1911 by Shri. T.V. Sundaram Iyenger. As one of
India’s largest industrial entities it epitomizes Trust, Value and Service.

TVS Motor Company Limited, the third largest two-wheeler manufacture. In

India and among the top ten in the world, with an annual turnover of over USD
650 million.

The year 1980 is one to be remembered for the Indian two-wheeler industry,
with the roll out of TVS 50, India’s first two-seater moped that ushered in an era
of affordable personal transportation. For the Indian Automobile sector, it was a
break through to be etched in history.

TVS Motor Company is the first two-wheeler manufacture in the world to be

honored with the hallmark of Japanese Quality –The Deming Prize for Total
Quality Management.

TVS Motor Company Limited is one of the largest two-wheeler manufactures

and also among the fastest growing companies in the country. It is the largest

13
manufacturer of sub 100cc (50cc, 60cc & 70cc category) 2-wheeler in the
world.

It has the unique distinction of having sold nearly 4 million the highest ever in
India. It exports its range of products to 17 countries worldwide. Its unrelenting
pursuit of customer satisfaction in all aspects if manufacturing of 2-wheeler is
reflected in over 6 million satisfied owners of mopeds, motorcycles and
scooters. Its 4000 highly motivated employees manufacture high quality
vehicles from two manufacturing plants in Hosur and Mysore, with a wide
dealer network of around 410.

TVS Motor Company Limited, part of the TVS Group, is one of India's leading
two-wheeler manufacturers. With a turnover of over Rs.2700 crores, the
Company manufactures a wide range of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and
scooterettes. Little wonder, it boasts of more than 7 million happy customers.

The chapter called two wheelers in India begins. The year was 1980. And it is a
year to remember for the Indian two-wheeler industry. For it was this year that
saw India's first two-seater moped, TVS 50, rolling out on the Indian roads. For
some it was freedom to move. For some, shorter distances to span. For the
Indian Automobile sector, a breakthrough to be etched in history.

With the joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation in 1983, TVS-Suzuki
became the first Indian company to introduce 100 cc Indo-Japanese motorcycles
in September 1984. Through an amicable agreement the two companies parted
ways in September 2001.

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 Quick Stats about TVS Company

Founder T.V Sundaram

Year Founded 1978

Origin Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

No. of Employees 7,136

Company Type Public

Market Cap 725.46 Billion

Annual Revenue 263.78 Billion(2022-23)

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VISION:
TVS Motor - Driven by the customer.
TVS Motor will be responsive to customer requirements consonant with its core
competence and profitability. TVS Motor will provide total customer
satisfaction by giving the customer the right product, at the right price, at the
right time.

TVS Motor - The Industry Leader.

TVS Motor will be one among the top two two-wheeler manufacturers in India
and one among the top five two-wheeler manufacturers in Asia.

TVS Motor - Global overview.

TVS Motor will have profitable operations overseas especially in Asian
markets, capitalizing on the expertise developed in the areas of manufacturing,
technology and marketing. The thrust will be to achieve a significant share for
international business in the total turnover.

TVS Motor - At the cutting edge.

TVS Motor will hone and sustain its cutting edge of technology by constant
benchmarking against international leaders.

TVS Motor - Committed to Total Quality.

TVS Motor is committed to achieving a self-reviewing organization in
perpetuity by adopting TQM as a way of life. TVS Motor believes in the
16
importance of the process. People and projects will be evaluated both by their
end results and the process adopted.

TVS Motor - The Human Factor.

TVS Motor believes that people make an organization and that its well-being is
dependent on the commitment and growth of its people. There will be a
sustained effort through systematic training and planning career growth to
develop employees' talents and enhance job satisfaction. TVS Motor will create
an enabling ambience where the maximum self-actualization of every employee
is achieved. TVS Motor will support and encourage the process of self-renewal
in all its employees and nurture their sense of self-worth.

TVS Motor - Responsible Corporate Citizen

TVS Motor firmly believes in the integration of Safety, Health and
Environmental aspects with all business activities and ensures protection of
employees and environment including development of surrounding
communities. TVS Motor strives for long-term relationships of mutual trust and
inter- dependence with its customers, employees, dealers and suppliers.

Eco-Friendly
TVS is committed to protecting the environment. The company's manufacturing
facilities at Mysore &Hosur have state-of-the-art facilities & air pollution
control measures. Even the suppliers are encouraged to ensure that their
products meet eco-friendly norms.

Technology
TVS Motor Company's R&D division has an imposing pool of talent and one of
the most contemporary labs, capable of developing innovative designs.
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Committed to achieving total customer satisfaction through Total Quality
Control (TQC), the Company continuously strives to give the customer, the best
value for money.

3.2 GROUP COMPANIES:

With steady growth, expansion and diversification, today TVS commands a
strong presence in various fields-two-wheelers, automotive components,
automotive spares, computer peripherals and finance.

 TVS Motor Company.

 Sundaram Fasteners.

 Sundaram Clayton LTD.

 TVS Srichakra.

 Wheels India.

 India Motor Parts & Accessories.

 India Nippon.

 Electricals. TVS Electronics.

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3.3 ACHIVEMENTS:
 India’s first 2 seater 50cc Moped TVS 50, launched in August 1980.
 First Indian Company to introduce 100cc Indo-Japanese motorcycles in
September 1984.
 Launched India's first indigenous Scooterette (sub-100 cc variomatic
scooters), TVS Scooty in June 1994.

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  Introduced India's first catalytic converter enabled motorcycle, the 110cc
Shogun in December 1996.
 Launched India's first 5-speed motorcycle, the Shaolin in October 1997.
 Launched TVS Fiero, India’s first 150 cc, 4 stroke motorcycle in April
2000
 Launched TVS Victor, 4-stroke 110 cc motorcycle, in August 2001,
India’s first fully indigenously designed and manufactured motorcycle.
 Launched TVS Centra in January 2004, a world-class 4-stroke 100 cc
motorcycle with the revolutionary VT-i Engines for best-in-class mileage.
 Launched TVS Star in September 2004, a 100 cc motorcycle which is
ideal for rough terrain.

3.4 ORGANISATION PROFILE:

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Name of the Organization :SUN MARKETING (TVS MOTORS)

Address of the company : No 34, New No 1/10, ThambuSamy Nagar ·

Thiruverkadu, Tiruvallur - 600077
Landmark Near Bus Depot. ·

Year of Establishment : 2017

Services : On-site Repair.

Locked / Lost Keys.

Flat Tyre Support.

24x7 Customer Support.

Breakdown Support over Phone.

ORGANIZATION CHART

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CHAPTER – 4
22
 FRAME WORK OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

4.1 INTRODUCTION
Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or
do not buy product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social
anthropology, and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision
making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of
individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an
attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the
consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in
general.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the

customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship
marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen
interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-
affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is
also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management,
personalization, customization, and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can
be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. Each method for vote
counting is assumed as a social function but if arr3+ow’s possibility theorem is
used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved.

Some specifications of the social functions are decisiveness, neutrality,

anonymity, monotonicity, unanimity, homogeneity, and weak and strong Pareto
optimality. No social choice function meets these requirements in an ordinal
23
scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social function is
identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical
relation 49 with the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy
customers. With that in mind, the productive system is considered from its
beginning at the production level, to the end of the cycle, the consumer.

In modern times, the consumer is the central theme of every marketing system.
For a product to sell, with or without advertising, it must appeal to and satisfy
some needs for consumers at least. These needs dominate the behaviour of the
modern customers. The field of consumer behaviour covers a lot of ground. It is
the study of the process involved when individuals or groups select, purchase,
use or dispose of products, services, ideas, experiences to satisfy their needs and
desires. The study of consumer behaviour provides an insight into how
consumers arrive at the purchase decision and the variables influencing their
decision.

In today’s global culture, the company’s image is built and made known by its
customers. The success of the firm will be determined by how effective it has
been in meeting the diverse consumer needs and wants by treating each
customer as unique and offering products and services to suit their needs.
Profits from customer relationships are the major aspects of all business. So, the
basic objective of any business is profiting maximization through customer
satisfaction. The emergence of marketing concept in respect of services is a
recent phenomenon.

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“The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer.” It implies that the
purpose of a business organization is to achieve the objectives set out by its
stake holders, its shareholders, its employees, and others. But among the most
important players in this game are the customers of the business. No business
can be successful if it ignores the needs of its customers. If a business is to be
successful, it must understand consumers and this does not mean talking to stray
consumers on a random basis. This is where a 50 understanding of consumer
behaviour typologies becomes important. The process must start with
understanding the profile of the average consumer and how the consumer
relates with the product category and the brand in question.

The perspective of role theory takes the view that much of consumer behaviour
resembles actions in a play. As in a play, each consumer has lines, props and
costumes necessary to put on a good performance, people act out many different
roles, hence sometimes alter their decisions depending in the particular “play”
there are in at the time.

A consumer is generally thought of a person who identifies a need or desire,

makes a purchase, and then disposes of the product during the consumption
process. Consumers show wide variations in the size and potential of the
various consumer market segments. The consumer buying process is influenced
by the consumer financial position, personality, tastes, preferences, reference
group, social standing and even economic sentiment that is dictated by the
status of the economy.

25
Knowing the impact of these concepts on buying behaviour will help marketers
in the generation of new product ideas and adopt customization for – the core
product, some additional features and offering additional services all done with
the intention to delight the customers. In this age of information explosion and
internet marketing becoming a reality, it is all the more necessary that marketers
go for the creating of appropriate data base which can help them to go for
„tailor made‟ products to suit individual tastes, preferences and buying
behaviour.

More than a century ago, the father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi, had made a
visionary and deep meaningful statement at Johannesburg, South Africa in
1890. “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not
dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption on our 51
work.

He is the purpose of it and not an outsider on our premises. He is a part of it.

We are not doing a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us
the opportunity to do so.” Though this statement was not made in the marketing
concept, there is lot of wisdom and insight into Mahatmas words.

For decades together, marketers have regarded customer as the king and this
concept is gaining more momentum and importance today. All the firms are
now engaged in a process of creating a life time value and relationship with
their customers. As it is for sure that a company image is built and made known
by its customers. The marketers are engaged in gauging the behaviour of the
customers by trying to identify the sources, timing, and direction of the changes
26
in consumer behaviour and also the emerging new competencies and
perspectives all to enable them to respond to the changes in the most effective
manner.

Thus, the priority will be to develop a new paradigm to tackle the emerging
challenges at the market place. To quote George S. Day “Every dimension of
market orientation emphasizes the ability of the firm to learn about customers,
competitors and channel members in order to continuously sense and act on
events and trends in prospective market”

4.2 MEANING AND DEFINITION OF CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR
Traditionally the word ‘customer’ was used to define people whom the
organization dealt with externally. The term customer refers to “the purchaser of
a product or service. They may or may not be the ultimate consumer. Whereas
the term consumer refers to the end user of a product or services.” They may or
may not be the customers. Consumer behaviour is defined variedly. The
Dictionary of Marketing and Advertising defines consumer behaviour as
“observable activities chosen to maximize satisfaction through the attainment of
economic goods and services such as choice of retail outlet, preference for
particular brands and so on.”

According to Ostrow and Smith’s Dictionary of Marketing, the term consumer

behaviour refers to “the actions of consumers in the market place and the
underlying motives for those actions. Marketers expect that by understanding
what causes consumers to buy particular goods and services they will be able to

27
determine which products are needed in the market place, which are obsolete,
and how best to present the goods to the consumer”. According to Loudon and
Della Bitta, Consumer behaviour is “the decision process and physical activity
individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of goods
and services.”

For Schiffman and Kanuck, the term “consumer behaviour ‟refers to” the
behaviour that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using,
evaluating, and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy
their needs,” and the study of consumer behaviour is the study of how
individuals make decisions to spend their available resources – like time,
money, effort – on consumption related items.”

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 CHART – 4.1

INTEGRATED BEHAVIOUR MODEL

4.3 IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

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The importance of consumer behaviour in marketing has been beautifully
described in a journal titled Modern Management, Calcutta January “99 in the
following words: consumer behaviour is a rapidly growing field of research and
teaching which, in addition to considerable value of marketing managers and
others who are professionally concerned with buying activity”.

The essence of modern marketing concept is that all elements of business

should be geared for the satisfaction of consumers. It is believed that consumers
make purchase decisions on the receipt of a small number of selectively chosen
pieces of information. Thus, it will be very important to understand what and
how much of information is required by the customer to help them to evaluate
the goods and services offerings.

Today consumer behaviour even includes the post purchase satisfaction or

dissatisfaction behaviour, in addition to the changes occurring in the personal,
social and cultural influences, with the leaps and bounds made in the fields of
science and technology making the consumer more realistic, conscious or
choosy.

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4.4 DETERMINANTS OF MODERN CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
Consumer behaviour results from individual and environmental influences. It is
determined by the individual’s psychological make-up. In this context, there are
four basic determinants of consumer behaviour.

 Individual needs
 Motives
 Perception
 Attitudes

4.4.1 INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OF CONSUMER

The starting point in the buying decision process is the recognition of a felt
need. A need may be defined as the lack of something useful to the consumer.
An individual consumer always has innumerable unsatisfied needs. These needs
become motives later because every consumer is motivated by his needs.
Psychological studies indicate that buying behaviour of consumers is directed
towards satisfying certain basic needs. There is no unanimity regarding the list
of basic needs of consumers among the psychologists. Maslow has classified
basic needs in the hierarchical order as under. Psychological needs, safety
needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, self-actualization needs,
desire to know and understand and Aesthetic needs. According to Maslow, an
individual consumer normally tries to satisfy his needs strictly in the order given
in his list. Thus, buying behaviour of consumers may be determined based on
the stage of his needs. Some of the needs are natural and some others are
acquired during the lifetime of consumers.

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4.4.2 MOTIVE OF CONSUMER

Drive or motive is a state of tension where an individual consumer tries to find

ways to satisfy the drive. Drives are, in effect, the reasons underlying certain
behaviour patterns. A drive is a strong stimulus that motivates the individual
consumer. Depending on the cues-products, signs, advertisements, and other
stimuli relevant to the situation existing in the environment, the individual
consumer chooses some specific response in an effort to satisfy the drive. The
specific response to be chosen depends upon the cues and the previous
experiences of consumers. Thus, a motive can be defined as an urge for which
an individual consumer seeks satisfaction through the purchase of something. It
is, thus, an inner urge that moves or prompts a consumer to some action.

4.4.3 PERCEPTION OF CONSUMER

Perception is the image or the formalised impressions residing in the minds of

the individual consumers about different products on, producers and retailers
and of themselves. Patterns of buying behaviour are greatly influenced 56 by
these perceptions. As perception affects the buying behaviour of the consumer.
There are two types of images in the minds of modern consumers. These are,

i. Self-Image
ii. Brand Image

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Self-image is a picture of himself in the mind of the individual consumer.
Different consumers have different kinds of self-image that give rise to market
segmentation along psychological lines. A basic level of motivation is that in
many buying situations, an individual consumer prefers to buy those products or
services whose images appear consistent with his self-image.

Brand image is the impression of a particular band in the minds of the modern
consumers. Through long continued use of particular advertising and selling
appeals many brands have acquired definite image in the minds of the consumer
such as surf, Pepsodent etc. Modern management should also take advantage of
the brand image. Thus, perception of incoming stimuli is greatly influenced by
the attitudes to these stimuli.

4.4.4 ATTITUDES OF CONSUMERS

Attitudes of consumer govern the response to a stimulus and leads to behaviour,

usually to action. An attitude of the consumer cannot be neutral. To have
attitude means some involvement in being ready for action. Attitude
immediately defines the position of consumers for or against a thing.

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4.5 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AS A FIELD OF STUDY
Consumer behaviour as a separate field of study has only gained attention from
the 1960‟s. This new discipline draws concept from other scientific disciplines
such as psychology, sociology, socio-psychology, cultural, anthropology and
economics. Initially, the study of consumer research was emphasising from a
managerial perspective. In that, if the marketing manager could obtain
consumption related behaviour, then they could influence it. This type of
consumer behaviour approach came to be known positivism.

But there are a group of academicians, who are interested in the study of
consumer behaviour, so as the understand it better. This approach is of interest
to the academicians because they are more interested in knowing consumption
behaviour going by the influence of the various disciplines of the consumer
behaviour. This approach of studying the consumer behaviour with a view of
understanding consumption and the interpretations of such behaviour is known
as „interpretivism or post-modernism‟. These interpreuists have also treated
each purchase experience as unique because of the many variables which
influence the behaviour at that particular moment of time. On account of its
focus on the consumption experience, the interpretive approach is also referred
to as experimentalism.

While conducting consumer researches, it was realised that despite easy

acceptance of fashion and fads, consumers also preferred differentiated
products, to match their special needs, personalities, and life styles. Thus, came
into existence the importance of market segmentation. Thus, the field of
consumer behaviour will be helpful for adopting the process of market
segmentation. Similarly, the study of consumer behaviour will also help in the
process of product positioning.

34
Today with most of the firms going global, there is an increasing importance
being given to consumer behaviour across borders to have more information
about cross cultural consumer needs and preferences and consumption habits.
This information can help marketers devise the necessary promotional strategies
to be adopted to meet the needs of the foreign consumers.

4.6 FACTORS INFLUENCING BUYING BEHAVIOUR

It is widely acclaimed that India is one of the largest consumer markets in the
world. But the consumers in India show wide variations in the size and potential
of the various consumer market segments. These differences can be 58 seen in
terms of the geographical differences, urban-rural consumers (their style of
living, consumption pattern etc.), age and family life cycle, income level,
education levels, linguistic and religion diversity, food habits, festivals etc.
Hence, knowing the impact of these concepts on buying behaviour will help
marketers in the generation of new product ideas and adopt customization for
the core product, some additional features and by offering of additional
services, all done with the intention to add to customer delight.

There are various factors influencing the buying behaviour internally and
externally.

 Cultural factors

 Social factors

 Personal factors

 Psychological factors

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4.6.1 Cultural factors

Exert the broadest and deepest influence on consumer behaviour. Culture,

subculture, and social class are particularly important in buying behaviour.
Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behaviour.
Culture, especially in a very old civilisation like India, is in everything that
touches life. There are pre-designed ways in which we are supposed to behave.

 Subculture – Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide

more specific identification and socialisation for its members. Subculture
includes nationalities, religions, social groups and geographical regions.
Many subcultures make up important market segments, and marketers
often design products and marketing programs tailored to their needs.
 Social class - Social classes are relatively homogeneous and enduring
divisions in a society, which are hierarchically ordered and whose
members share similar values, interests and behaviour. Social class does
not reflect income but also other indicators such as occupation, education
and area of 59 residence. Social classes differ in their speech, dress,
patterns, recreational preferences and show distinct product and brand
preferences in many areas, including clothing, home furnishings, leisure
activities and automobiles.

36
4.6.2 Social factors
A customer’s behaviour is influenced by the social factors such as reference
groups, family, roles and status.

 Family - As the fundamental social unit, the family’s influence on

consumer behaviour is most important and fundamental. Family act as a
purchasing unit and may be supplying needs of perhaps two or more
generations. One’s view about religion, politics etc., is influenced by the
family. One’s attitude towards materials possession and thrift are shaped
by the family. The family makes the children adopt form of purchasing
behaviour. In many cases, children initiate the elders. For example, if you
ask a young person why you opened your account in this bank, you may
get an answer “my dad had it here”. The bank is perceived as the
desirable because of the person’s family influence.

 Reference group - A group that serves as a reference point and influences

individuals’ affective responses, cognitions and behaviour, influences a
person’s thoughts and actions. Most people rely on several reference
groups for information on a particular decision and on different reference
groups for different decisions. Knowing the reference and using those
reference groups, play an important role in designing marketing
strategies. In reference group, role of the opinion leader is crucial.
Opinion leader is perceived as the role model. It can be sports person for
a product related to health and fitness or, a film star for a product related
to beauty. For example, BPL uses Amitabh Bachan, Visa has used Sachin
Tendulkar or Daewoo used Shahrukh Khan as the opinion leaders.

37
  Roles and Status – Roles are the patterns of needs, goals, beliefs,
attitudes, values and behaviour that are expected of an individual
occupying a particular position in the society. Every individual has a
specific role or position within 60 each group to which an individual
belongs. In a family individual may act as husband or father, wife or
mother, son or brother or daughter or sister. Each role can affect how the
individual behaves when purchasing the tools related to the role. Status is
the positioning of an individual within a group, organization or society.
The desire to achieve higher status within the given role also affects the
buying behaviour of an individual.

4.6.3 Personal factors

A buyer’s decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics. These

include the buyers‟ age and stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic
circumstances, lifestyle, personality and self-concept.

 Age and Stage in the Life Cycle

Consumption is shaped by the family life cycle. People buy different
goods and services over a lifetime. Marketers choose these life-cycle
groups as their target markets and pay close attention on their
consumption.

 Occupation and Economic Circumstances

Occupation also influences consumption patterns, „marketers try to
identify the occupational groups that have above average interest in their
products and services and likewise tailor the products and services for
certain occupational groups.

38
 Products choice is greatly affected by economic circumstances; spendable
income (level, stability and time pattern), savings and assets, debts,
attitudes toward spending and savings. Marketers of income sensitive
goods continuously monitor trends in personal income, savings and
interest rates.

 Lifestyle
A lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in
activities, interests and opinions. Lifestyle portrays the “whole person”
interacting with the environment. Marketers thus search for relationships
between their products and lifestyle groups.

 Personality and self-concept

Personality is often described in terms of self-confidence, autonomy,
dominance and adaptability. By personality is meant a set of
distinguishing 61 human psychological traits that lead to relatively
consistent and enduring responses to environmental stimuli, Consumers
make brand choices based on personalities that match their own. Hence
brand personality is a specific mix of human traits that may attribute to a
particular brand. Marketers attempt to develop brand personalities that
will attract consumers with the same self-concept.

39
4.6.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

A person’s buying decision is influenced by four major psychological factors,

motivation, perception, learning, beliefs, and attitudes.

 Motivation
A motive is a need that is sufficiently pressing to drive the person to act.
A need becomes a motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of
intensity.

 Perception
Perception is the process by which an individual selects organizes,
interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world.
Perceptions can vary among individuals exposed to the same reality. In
marketing, people’s perceptions are more important than the reality.

 Learning
When people act, they learn. Learning involves changes in an individual’s
behaviour arising from experience. Learning theorists believe that
learning is produced through the interplay of driver, stimuli, cues,
responses and reinforcement. Learning theory teaches marketers that they
can build up demand for a product by associating it with strong drives,
using motivating cues and providing positive reinforcement.

 Beliefs and attitudes

A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something.
People’s belief about a product or brand influences their buying
decisions.

40
  An attitude is a person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations,
emotional feelings, and action tendencies toward some object or idea.
Attitudes economize on energy and thought and are very difficult to
change. Thus, a company would be well-advised to fit its product into
existing attitudes rather than to try to change people’s attitudes.

Global marketers know that buyers hold distinct beliefs about brands or
products from different countries. Several studies have found that the impact of
the country of origin varies with the type of product, like consumers want to
know where a car was made but not the lubricating oil. Certain countries enjoy
a reputation for certain goods‟ Japan for automobiles and consumer electronics.
The more favorable a country’s image, the more prominently the “Made in”
label is displayed. Attitudes toward country of origin can change over time;
before World War II, Japan had a poor-quality image.

4.7 CONSUMER BUYER BEHAVIOUR

If a marketer can identify consumer buyer behavior, he or she will be in a better

position to target products and services at them. Buyer behaviour is ‟focused
upon the needs of individuals, groups, and organizations. It is important to
understand the relevance of human needs to buyer behaviour (remember),
marketing is about satisfying needs.

41
Human motivations are introduced by Abraham Maslow by his hierarchy of
needs: The hierarchy is triangular. This is because as people move up it, fewer
and fewer people satisfy higher level needs. People begin at the bottom level.
Physiological needs such as food, air, water, heat, and the basic necessities of
survival need to be satisfied. At the level of safety, man has a place to live that
protects him from the elements and predators. At the level of safety, man has a
place to live that protects him from the elements and predators. At the third
level we meet our social and belongingness needs i.e. we marry, or join groups
of friends, etc. The final two levels are esteem and self-actualization. Fewer
people satisfy the higher, level needs. Esteem means that you achieve
something that makes people recognised and given personal satisfaction.

CHART - 4.2 BUYING DECISION PROCESS

42
To understand consumer buyer behaviour is to understand how the person
interacts with the marketing mix. As described by Cohen (1991), the marketing
mix inputs (or the four P‟s of price, place, promotion, and product), are adapted
and focused upon the consumer. The psychology of each individual considers
the product or service on offer in relation to their own culture, attitude, previous
learning, and personal perception. The consumer then decides whether or not to
purchase, where to purchase, the brand that he or she prefers, and other choices.

Consumers these are the people or organizations that use the products you
produce and they may or may not be the ones who actually pay for them. For
example the consumer of a toy is a child but the purchaser is usually an adult;
the consumer of medical supplies is a patient but the purchaser is often a
hospital or GP‟s surgery. Purchasers are the people or organizations who
actually pay for your products or services. They could be members of the
general public or other businesses. Purchasers can also include distributors or
dealers who make your products and services available to final customers.
These are sometimes called “intermediate customers.”

Internal customers are the people or teams within the organization who process
work on the way to serving intermediate or final customers. Most people inside
an organization pass their work on to others after they have finished with it. In
manufacturing, people on an assembly line suppliers and customers to each
other; in a managerial context, a manager’s internal customers may be team
members, colleagues, administrative staff and managers further up the
organizational hierarchy.

43
Suppliers to gear up business to deliver satisfaction for customers, it is vital to
create close alliances with your suppliers. These are the people or organizations
who supply with the resources and raw materials that are processed into the
product that is delivered to final customer.

These different groups of customers link up in what is known as the „customer-

supplier chain‟ or “supply chain”, every aspect of which must work efficiently
to retain customers. Although it is important to identify internal customers and
their needs, these individuals and group are not customers in quite the same
sense and end users. The essential difference is that end users can go elsewhere
if they choose to do so, whereas internal customers have no such choice.

External and internal customers are similar, however, in that both have
requirements which must be identified and met. Failing to meet the needs of
internal customer’s leads to inefficiencies in the process, this in turn ultimately
results in failing to provide satisfaction for end users.

44
CONSUMER DECISION MODEL

45
4.8 SOME INDIAN CULTURAL VALUES AND CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR

 Tolerance

India is a secular democratic nation today, very much because of this

cultural value. In fact, tolerance has been a hallmark of the Indian way of
life.

 Individuality

The value of individualism is quite well enshrined in our traditional

concept of the “self.”

 Equality

The concept of equality is strongly ingrained in the Indian Constitution

and, in many ways, pervades and influences all marketing and
consumption activities.

 Activity

This is an Indian cultural value deeply rooted in the Indian philosophy of

“KARMA.” It is taken from what Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, the
proverbial seeker of knowledge in the Gita.

46
4.9 CONSUMER BUYING PROCESS
This is an important process which has a vital role in consumer behavior study.
This is the first essential step to understand consumer behavior. The objective of
study of consumer buying process is to know how a consumer makes his
decision regarding buying or not buying any commodity.

In most cases, a decision involves the selection of an option from two or more
attractive choices. The buying process is the process of decision-making leading
to a purchase function. It represents a problem-solving approach.

The mechanism is the same as in any processing activity in which we supply

some input followed by the processing activity and finally the output comes
before us. Input is a stimulus. It is provided by two sets of stimulus variables,
namely, the firm’s marketing efforts and the social environment.

The firm’s marketing efforts are designed to positively expose, inform and
influence consumers. These efforts include product or service itself, advertising,
price strategies, distribution network, and in fact all marketing functions.

BUYER DECISION PROCESS

47
4.10 STAGES OF BUYING PROCESS
The buying process is composed of several stages and is influenced by an
individual’s psychological framework composed of the individual’s personally,
motivations, perception and attitudes. The buyer or consumer takes his buying
decision for some commodities immediately without much consideration such
as items of daily use while for some other commodities mainly luxury or
durable items, he thinks much before taking a decision to purchase it.
Sometimes, he consults others. Generally, the purchaser passes through five
distinct stages in taking a decision for purchasing a particular commodity.

These stages are:

i. need arousal
48
 ii. information search
iii. evaluation behaviour
iv. purchase decision, and
v. post-purchase feelings.

4.10.1 Need Recognition

A buying process starts with need arousal. A need can be activated through
internal or external stimuli. The basic needs of a common man arise to a
particular level and become a drive and he knows from his previous experience
how to satisfy these needs like hunger, thirst, sex, etc. This is a case of internal
stimulus. A need can also be aroused by an external stimulus such as the sight
of new product in a shop while purchasing other usual products.

There is a twofold significance of need arousal stage to a marketing man: The

marketer must identify the drive that might actually or potentially connect to the
product class or brand and make the buyer feel that the product can satisfy his
needs. It also recognizes that the need levels for the product fluctuate over time
and are triggered by different cues. The marketer can arrange cues to conform
better to the natural rhythms and timing of need arousal.

49
4.10.2 Product Awareness or Information Search

After need arousal, the consumer tries to solve it and gathers the sources and
information about the product. Depending upon the intensity of need, it
produces two states of an individual. The first state if called heightened
attention when the consumer becomes more receptive to the information
regarding the item he needs. He becomes more receptive to the information
regarding the item he needs.

He becomes alert to information bearing on the need and its gratification. If a

consumer needs to purchase a television, he will pay more attention to TV
advertisements. He keeps remembering the remarks made by friends and
associates about TVs. If need is more intense, the individual enters a stage of
active information search and he tries to collect more information about the
product, its key attributes, qualities of various brands and about the outlets
where they are available. There are four consumer information sources.

 Personal sources (family, friends, neighbours, etc.,)

 Commercial sources (advertisements, salesman, dealers)
 Public sources (mass media, consumer-rating organizations)
 Experiential sources (handling, examining, using the product)

The marketer will find it worthwhile to study the consumer information sources
whenever (a) a substantial percentage of the target market engages in search,
and (b) the target market shows some stable patterns of using the respective
roles and importance calls for interviewing consumers about the sources of
information.

50
4.10.3 Motivation

The modern consumers do not get guided by his instincts, but have an active
mind in selecting their goals, evaluate their relative usefulness in terms of
products they buy, hence, consciously controlling his behavior in selecting these
products. In the motivational process, unfulfilled needs create tension, which
firms up the driving strength and develops a behavior towards goal fulfilment.
The behaviour is not only based on need based drive strength, but, gets shaped
up by the person’s learning process and thinking (or cognitive) process.
Marketers, who understand this, will try to influence the consumer’s cognitive
processes. Behaviour towards goal fulfilment will be deeply influenced by
personal and cultural factors.

4.10.4 Interest

Interest may be viewed as a state of mind that exists when a consumer perceives
a need and or is aware of alternative products capable of satisfying that need.
Consumer interest is indicated in the consumer’s willingness to seek further
information about a product. At this stage the consumer is actively involved in
the buying process and pays attention to the product. However, if he loses
interest during this involvement, his or her attention will be diverted and the
buying decision process will break down. In our example of a housewife
requiring a washing-aid, she may look for further information about these
machines once she becomes aware of such machines. The kind of information
she may look for is about the alternative washing machines available in the
marketplace, their relative prices, operational efficiency, and warranty and
service facilities

4.10.5 Evaluation and Intention

51
Once interest in a product(s) is aroused, a consumer enters the subsequent stage
of evaluation and intention. The evaluation stage represents the stage of mental
trial of the product. During this stage, the consumer assigns relative value-
weights to different products or brands based on accumulated stock of product
information and draws conclusions about their relative satisfaction giving
potential value. After this evaluation, the consumer develops the intention either
to purchase or reject the product or brand. The final purchase will, however,
depend on the strength of the positive-intention that is the intention to buy.
Based on the evaluation behaviour of consumers, the marketer can improve or
develop the product and segment the market based on product attributes.

4.10.6 Purchase Decision

There are three more important considerations for taking the buying decision:
(a) attitude of others such as wife, relatives, and friends, but it depends upon the
intensity of their negative attitude and the consumer’s motivation to comply
with the other persons‟ wishes; (b) anticipated situational factors as expected
family income, expected total cost of the product and the expected benefits of
the product; and (c) unanticipated situational factors.

4.10.7 Post-purchase Feelings

If the product matches his expectations, the consumer is satisfied; it if exceeds,

he is dissatisfied.

52
4.11 PARTICIPANTS IN THE BUYING PROCESS
These are the following five different roles that persons can play in a buying
decision:

 Initiator - The initiator is a person who first suggests or thinks of the idea
of buying the particular product.

 Influencer - Influencer is a person who explicitly or implicitly has some

influence on the final buying decision of others.

 Decider - The decider is a person who ultimately determines any part or

whole of the buying decision, i.e., whether to buy, what to buy, how to
buy, when to buy or where to buy.

 Buyer - The buyer is the person who actually purchases.

 User - User is the person who actually uses or consumer the services or
products.

The marketer’s task is to study the buying process and the role of the main
participants in the buying process. He should initiate all of them to make
purchases of his product at different stages and through different strategies.

4.12 CONSUMER PERCEPTION

In philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science, perception is the process of
attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. The word
"perception" comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means
"receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind
or senses". Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology.

53
The oldest quantitative law in psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which
quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical stimuli and their
perceptual effects. The study of perception gave rise to the Gestalt school of
psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approach. What one perceives is a
result of interplays between past experiences, including one’s culture, and the
interpretation of the perceived. If the percept does not have support in any of
these perceptual bases it is unlikely to rise above perceptual threshold.

MEANING AND DEFINITION

Meaning

Perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information

inputs to produce a meaning. A person receives information through, senses
sight, taste, hearing, smell and touch. How and, what consumer perceive
strongly affect their behavior towards products, prices, package designs,
salespeople, stores, advertisements and manufacture. Perceptions vary from
person to person. Different people perceive different things about the same
situation. But more than that, we assign different meanings to what we perceive.
And the meanings might change for a certain person. One might change one's
perspective or simply make things mean something else. Definition "To
perceive means to immobilize... we seize, in the act of perception, something
which outruns perception itself." - Henri L. Bergson. "If the doors of perception
were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has
closed himself up, till he sees all things thru chinks of his cavern". - William
Blake. "Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making
something exist by observing it. And his hope for other people is that they will
also make it exist by observing it. I call it creative observation, creative
viewing". - William S. Burroughs.
54
APPLICATIONS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

By determining the behaviour of the consumer, you are more able to determine
when, what, and where a consumer is more likely to buy. There are four main
applications of consumer behaviour:

 The most obvious is for marketing strategy-i.e., for making better

marketing campaigns.
 A second application is public policy.
 Social marketing involves getting ideas across to consumers rather than
selling something.
 As a final benefit, studying consumer behaviour should make us better
consumers.

4.13 CONSUMER SATISFACTION

Satisfied consumer led to word-of-mouth publicity, In fact, it can spread faster

than advertising. Besides, for high value products, people may like to go by the
experience of owners of brands. Hence, existing customers, if satisfied, can be
important ambassadors of positive brand image. So also feedback from the
existing customers can be very rewarding. A company may not always be right
in whatever it does. Feedback from customers can help the company restructure
the various components of its marketing mix.

Happy and satisfied customers behave in a positive manner. They will buy a lot
and will give a large share of their income. Customer satisfaction is derived
largely from the quality and reliability of products and services. Recent research
results have demonstrated that customers who are only just satisfied are likely to
walk away for a slightly more attractive proposition from competitor. The major
goal of any customer satisfaction program should be to achieve “preferred

55
supplier” status with as many customer as possible. “Preferred supplier” status
means that a customer formally or implicitly makes the policy known within the
organization that, whenever possible, any purchases of goods and services in
category will be supplied.

It is necessary for the marketers to go beyond the various influences on buyers

and develop on understanding of how consumers make their buying decisions.
Specifically, they must identify who makes the buying decision, the types of
buying decisions, and the steps in the buying process. People play different
roles in a buying decision like initiator, influencer, decider, buyer and the user.
Consumer decision making varies also with the type of buying decision. Henry
Assael distinguished four types of consumers buying behaviour based on the
degree of buyer involvement and the degree of differences among brands as
complex, variety seeking, dissonance-reducing and habitual buying behaviour.

Consumers do not search extensively for information, evaluate characteristics,

and make a decision. Instead, they are passive recipients of information in
television or print ads. Television advertising is more effective than print
because it is a low involvement medium that is suitable for passive learning.
Marketers use four techniques to try to convert a low involvement product into
one of higher involvement. First, they can link the product to some involving
issue, second, they can link the product to some involving personal situation.
Third, they might design advertising to trigger strong emotions related to
personal values or ego defence. Fourth, they might add an important feature.

Lan C. Macmillan and Rita Gunther McGrath argue that if companies examine
customer’s entire experience with a product service the consumption chain, they

56
can uncover opportunities to position their offerings in ways that neither they
nor their competitors thought possible.

Trying to understand the customers behaviour in connection with a product has

been called mapping the customers consumption system, customer activity
cycle or customer scenario. Marketing scholars have developed a “stage model”
of the buying decision process. With regard, the consumer passes through five
stages: Problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives,
purchases decision and post purchases behaviour. Clearly the buying process
starts before the actual purchase and has consequences long afterward. Of key
interest to the marketer are the major information sources to which the
consumer will turn and the relative influence each will have on the subsequent
purchase decision, consumer information sources fall into four groups.

 Personal sources : Family, friends neighbours, acquaintances

 Commercial sources : Advertising, sales persons, dealers, packaging,

displays.
 Public sources : Mass Media, consumer rating organizations.

 Experiential sources : Handling, examining is using the product.

The relative amount and influence of these information sources vary with the
product category and the buyers characteristics. Generally speaking, the
consumer receives the most information about a product from commercial
sources – that is marketer dominated sources. However the most effective

57
information comes from personal sources. Through gathering information, the
consumer learns about competing brands and their choice set of these
acceptable brands. The purchase intention and purchase decision of a consumer
can be intervened by two factors – attitudes of others and the unanticipated
situational factors.

The extent to which another person’s attitude reduces one’s preferred alternative
depends on two things – intensity of the other person’s negative attitude toward
the consumers preferred alternative. The consumers’ motivation to comply with
the other person’s wishes. A consumer’s decision to modify, postpone or avoid
a purchase decision is heavily influenced by perceived risk. The amount of
perceived risk varies with the amount of money at stake, the amount of attribute
uncertainty, and the amount of consumers self-confidence. Marketers must
understand the actors that provoke a feeling of risk in consumers and provide
information and support to reduce the perceived risk.

Satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the product will influence a consumer’s

subsequent behaviour. The buyer satisfaction is a function of the closeness
between the buyers‟ expectation and the products perceived performance. If the
performance falls short of expectations, the customer is disappointed, if it meets
to expectations, the customer is satisfied; if it exceeds expectations, and the
customer is delighted. If the customer is satisfied, he will exhibit a high
probability of purchasing the product again. Marketers say “our best
advertisement is a satisfied customer.” Dissatisfied consumer may abandon or
return the product. They can make even decisions to stop buying the product or
warning friends. In all these cases, the seller has done a poor job of satisfying
the customer.
58
Marketers must thus, monitor the post purchase satisfaction, actions and product
uses. Post purchase communications to buyers have been shown to result in
fewer product returns and order cancellations. 29 Computer companies for
example, can send a letter to new owners, solicit customer suggestions for
improvements and list the location of available services, write intelligible
instruction booklets. Above all they can provide good channels for speedy
redress of customer grievances. Thus, marketers can in all way make the
consumer truly delighted.

To conclude, knowledge of consumer behaviour is very much helpful to the

marketing manager in understanding the needs of his different consumer
segments and developing appropriate marketing strategies for each. The study
of consumer behaviour also provides in-depth insight into how consumer arrives
at the purchase decision and the variable which influences their decision. A
consumer’s decision to purchase a product is influenced by a number of
variables which can be classified into four categories – psychological, personal,
social and cultural. Consumers differ from one another in terms of age, sex,
education, income, family life cycle, personality and life style. The needs of
elderly consumers are different from those of young consumers. Hence to
successfully market to consumers with different personal characteristics, the
marketer must accordingly modify his marketing strategies.

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 POWER

75cc 4stroke engine to pep up your ride. A bigger, more comfortable

seat for two and strong hydraulic shock absorbers for a smoother ride.

 TECHNOLOGY
A unique power/economy mode for extra mileage. An auto reserve
fuel tap. No more turning knob from main to reserve. Auto chokes for
instant starts. Every time.
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 SAFETY
Puncture Resistant Tyres that come with a special sealant inside,
minimizing chances of a flat. A side stand alarm that beeps if you
forget to take off the stand. Multi focal reflector headlamp and side
reflectors for enhanced visibility. Now all you need is an equally
funky helmet and you” re all set to pep.

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.
CHAPTER – 5
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

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5.1 Survey Analysis of Data:
Table5.1: Gender Group of the Respondents

S. No Gender No. of Respondents Percentage

1. Male 88 88%
2. Female 12 12%
Total 100 100%

Gender Group of the Respondents

12%

88%

MALE FEMALE

INTERPRETATION:
From the table 1, it is known that out of 100 respondents 88% of the
respondents are male and 12% of the respondents are female.

Table5.2AgeGroupofRespondent

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 S.No Age Group No. of Percentage
Respondents
1. 18-25 35 35%
2. 26-35 30 30%
3. 39-50 23 23%
4. Above50 12 12%
Total 100 100%

Age Group of respondent

0.12, 18-25
26-35
0.35,
39-50
0.23, Above50

0.3,

INTERPRETATION:

From the table 2, it is understood that out of 100 respondents 35% of the
respondent fall under age group of 18-25, 30% of the respondents fall under
the age group of 26-35, 23% of the respondents fall under the age group of 39-
50 and 12% of the respondents fall under the age group of Above 50.

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Table 5.3Will you prefer which following model of TVS Model?

S.No Response No. of customers

1. TVSXL 40
2. SCOOTYSERIES 16
3. VICTORSERIES 15
4. SATRCITYSERIES 12
5. APACHISERIES 17
Total 100

Will you prefer which following model

of TVS Model
45
40
40

35

30
No.of customers

25

20 17
16 15
15 12
10

0
TVS XL SCOOTY VICTOR SATR CITY APACHI
SERIES SERIES SERIES SERIES

bikes

INTERPRATION:

From above graph it showing that 40 customers like TVS XL bikes in

TVS 16 customer scooty 15 customer victor and star city 12 Apache 17.

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Table 5.4 Did the sale person spend sufficient time with you and
explain everything about the vehicle?

No. of Respondents Respondents in %

YES 72 72%
NO 28 28%
Total 100 100

Service

NO
28%

YES
72%

YES NO

INTERPRETATION:

Generally, 72% of respondents were happy with the sales rep's

organizations and essentially 28% of respondents were dissatisfied.

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Table 5.5 Was the vehicle delivered on promised time?

No. of Respondents Respondents in %

YES 85 85%
NO 15 15%
Total 100 100

INTERPERTATION:

Generalrespondents85%ofenginesexperiencedbeenadded on schedule as
assured. Just a little couple
ofrespondents15%ofvehicleswerecurrentlynotwelcomed as scheduled.

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Table 5.6 How do you feel about TVS two-wheeler vehicles?

No. of Respondents Respondents in %

Excellent 22 22%

Good 30 30%

Moderate 18 18%

Satisfactory 24 24%

Un 6 6%
Satisfactory
Total 100 100

INTERPERTATION:

Because per the research 30% of participants feel top and 24% of participants
sense fulfilled and 22% of participants feel excellent 18% of respondents minor
and 6%ofrespondentsexperience less glad
Table 5.7 State the level of satisfaction for the service provided by SUN
MARKETING TVS showroom?
No. of Respondents Respondents in %

Completely 26 26%
satisfied
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Satisfied 34 34%
Dissatisfied 18 18%
Not at all 14 14%
satisfied
Neither 8 8%
satisfied or
dissatisfied
Total 100 100

Level of satisfaction in SUN

Marketing(TVS)
8%
26%
14%

18%

34%

Completely satisfied Dissatisfied

Not at all Neither

INTERPRETATION:

Generally, 34% of the respondents were satisfied and26% of the respondents are
completely satisfied and 18%oftherespondentshave been likewise disrupted14%
of the respondents were as of now not every happyand8%were all pleased for
Neither satisfied or dissatisfied.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF TVS MOTORS

74
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool. With the help of this tool, managers
can do a situational analysis of the company. It is an important and beneficial
technique to evaluate the present strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats
a company is facing in its current business environment.

1. Strengths of TVS:

 Innovative Products: TVS Motors has numerous innovative collections

of products with its unique design arrangement, quality, style as well as
the production of fuel-efficient automobiles, winning the hearts and trust
of a tremendous amount of audience not merely in one country or areas
but in several cities and occasions of India. These customers are in love
with these products from teenagers, mid-age to full-grown adults.
 Indian Customer Retention: The brand has won over the trust of
thousands of Indian consumers connecting emotionally with their hearts.
No matter the product it may be motorcycles, rickshaws, or mopeds.

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 These customers are satisfied and happy to refer back to TVS Motor for
such future purchases. They are more likely to even recommend
these products to their friends, families and relatives.

 Powerful R&D Team: TVS Motors has a powerful R&D department

that always comes up with splendid innovative designs regarding their
product features and technology. This has proven to be playing a great
part in the TVS motors success story. This has given them a competitive
advantage that still keeps TVS Motors ahead of many brands, positioning
in the top 10 recommendations in the Indian automotive market.

 Massive Range of Collection: TVS Motors has a vast range of products

to offer to make it more than enough for its customers to choose from
designs to efficiency such as Star City motorcycle to Xl100 moped.

2. Weaknesses of TVS:
.
 Less Profitable: Even though the company is excellent in operating
criteria, customer service and research. Unfortunately, the profitability
level is ₹53 crore that is on the low side in comparison with ₹367
crores to Hero MotoCorp which is extremely less for a company in this
highly competitive industry to survive in the long run.

 Delayed New Innovations: It has been reported that TVS Motors takes
longer to come up with an introduction to new products regarding
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 designs, models and innovation that may cause a disinterest among the
consumers especially in youngsters as this age factor will prefer luxurious
products in every aspect which could be a reason for driven away traffic
from TVS Motor to one of its competitors.

 Less Creativity in Advertisements: TVS Motors has not put a

tremendous amount of effort when it comes to advertisements that may
appear less appealing to investors and a few customers. This is a minus
point for them as markets are converting day by day along with
advancements in the technological factor. TVS Motors can lose many
opportunities for brand awareness as well as attract investors.

3. Opportunities of TVS:
 Indian Market Capacity: Statistics have shown that the Indian market is
going to be massive in the coming future causing a dramatic increase in
the demand for vehicles such as motorcycles, rickshaws and mopeds. The
domestic market size is estimated to be 49,000 which can be an excellent
opportunity for TVS Motors.

 Road Improvement: The Indian government has a magnificent plan

regarding road structure and road repairing as more people may feel
satisfied as well as enjoy a great ride; consequently, increase buying of
such products. An increase is probable in the demand for two-wheelers
along with three-wheelers, especially in rural areas.
 Increasing Demand Internationally: The demand for motorcycle
products is rapidly rising in foreign countries. Consumers are showing
great interest in purchasing such types of products. Other competitors of

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 TVS Motors are already strategically planning to take advantage of this
opportunity. There is an expected growth rate of 6.4% CAGR in the
motorcycle industry internationally.

4. Threats of TVS:
 Developing Technology: As days pass by technology aspects of
automobiles are completely converting and rapidly evolving such as
products like robot-driven cars with advancements in safety features,
interconnected traffic safety features. As technology is developing,
consumers’ choices and preferences are changing.

 Highly Competitive Market: Despite product innovation TVS Motors

has been unsuccessful when it comes to automotive market competition.
Since the initial stage TVS Motors has been struggling to beat the
competition.

 Advancement in Public Transport: Public transportation is improving

continuously. People will prefer traveling from secure transportation
rather than insecure ones, so this may decrease the demand for two and
three-wheelers.

 Rapid Rise in Petrol Prices: In past years, there has been a great
increase noted in the price of petrol. There is a chance customers find it
less affordable in the rural areas causing a drastic shift in the demand
curve resulting in a great loss.
CHAPTER – 6
FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION
78
6.1FINDINGS:
 According to the overview it was found that generally the respondents

have scooty48%and vector 38% and a few of respondents have fiero.

The town of stars and concentrates.

 Most respondents, 72% have already been happy with the transporter

of individuals who have been advancing and finest respondents are

not fulfilled28%.

 For standard respondents 85% of vehicles were adopted through on

routine as guaranteed. Simply a modest couple of respondents 15% of

engines have already been presently not offered on schedule.

 60% of respondents have been provided check pressing factor and

40% of respondents have been not provided investigate power

 Based on the overview 30% of respondents sense fulfilled and 24% of

respondents feel fulfilled and 22% of respondents feel reasonable

18% of respondents are not all happy and 8% of respondents are

totally glad.

 Generally, 60% of respondents sense brand name is basic 40% of

respondents sense brand call is not essential

 Generally, respondents feel value mileage is 80% & 75% and

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 conservation is considerably less 60% and 30% respondents feel

logical dispensable 20% respondents experience that wild kind of

respondentias

 38% of respondents offered a vehicle before 3years 32% of

respondents sold sooner than 1-2years 18% of respondents offered

sooner than a fifty percent year and 12% of respondents offered

sooner than three-five years

 Generally, respondents deal with the issue of transporter put off 39%

and costly extra parts 36% a couple of respondents face the problem

of not easy accessibility of extra components 17% and moderate extra

parts 7%.

 Awareness level of TVS company is very high out of 100 respondents

95 respondents are aware about TVS company.

6.2 SUGGESTIONS:

 The company should concentrate on after sale service.

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  To improve the sales, some more advertisement is necessary.

 The company will have to give better education about TVS to

customers who purchase the vehicle.

 To increase the sale of TVS bike, some more price reduction to be

offered to the customers.

6.3 CONCLUSION:

To conclude the final report on “CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND

SERVICE ANALYSIS TOWARDS OF SUN MARKETING (TVS
MOTORS)”. I have received both favorable &un-favorable response from the
respondents. I have met a customers of different places and accommodated at
SUN MARKETING (TVS Motors) and finding were enlightened to me. The
Internship work has helped in studying and understanding the practicalities of
organization. The study of “CUSTOMER SATISFACTION” Towards on SUN
MARKETING (TVS Motors) the data was collected from various source and
also through the tools like Questionnaire and relevant interaction with
concerned persons. By seeing the performance of TVS Two wheeler vehicle
service provide by TVS motors can conclude that. It has wide market place
and incredible hope for it sales. Also in the current market it is one of the
leading vehicle. The supply and availability of the vehicle in Chennai locality is
very best. As per showroom was troubled is have excellent prospect in close to
aspect it is given that good service majority of the people are satisfied with SUN
MARKETING (TVS Motors) company vehicles.

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