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    A study on Consumer Behaviour with special reference to

    Docomo offered by Tata Teleservices, in Amravati city

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    For my final project I selected the topic, A Study on Consumer

    Behaviour with Special Reference to Docomo Offered by Tata

    Teleservices, in Amravati City. I got an opportunity to work on

    this project at M/S PAWAN COMMUNICATION, Amravati. The entire

    project work is based on a market survey also it is done in a very

    professional way fulfilling the requirements of a genuine market

    survey. Professionalism is the most important part of Marketing. I

    experienced it at every step of my field work. I had been

    continuously guided by the M/S Pawan communication personnel

    and my college guide at every step, through daily meetings and

    follow ups.

    It is essential to throw light on certain points:

    Reasons for selecting the topic:

    Today the market is very much customer centric, so it is

    important to know consumer behaviour to maximise sales and

    profit. This project is strongly associated with changing nature of

    market conditions. This is an attempt to analyse latest wants,

    desires, expectations of the consumers.

    As well the market competitions is very intense and high so it is

    important for a marketer to know the actual activities on market

    field, this kind of market surveys play very important role in this

    regards too.

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    Earlier mobile was a thing of prestige and the monopoly of

    wealthy people, but later on it becomes the need of life and

    became popular among the all people belong to all strata of

    society. So the telecom market is rapidly growing. To capture

    more market share this study will be proved important.

    Study of consumer behaviour is a key of success. Because

    behaviour is based on psychology and once psychology of a

    person is studied it becomes easier to guess the behaviour. On

    the big extent market runs on the psychology of customer.

    Tata Docomo is pioneer of Second Billing system, it is also a

    motive of this survey to analyse the impact of this Second Billing

    system on consumer behaviour.

    For me the, one more important reason to select this topic is: I

    got an opportunity to interact with the consumer and get a

    chance to know the tendencies of them. It is a starting step of

    me on the actual field of marketing, so this project teaches me a

    lot of practical things which cant be learnt in classroom of four

    walls.

    Overview of the Survey:

    This Survey is conducted on the interview method. I had

    interviewed the consumer across the limited area of Amravati.

    Further details are provided in Research Methodology Chapter. It

    was fantastic experience to interact with different people. People

    from different professions were participant of this survey. Generally

    during the survey I used to meet:

    Existing Customer

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    Potential Customer

    Existing Customer:

    Existing customer is one who already using our services, if I

    met to an existing customer, for me it was a chance to get feedback

    about our services from him / her. As we know Tata group is the

    most trusted group in our country, Tata Tele Services Ltd. always

    look forward to provide its best services to the customer, such

    survey became the splice between customer and company, and

    company can work out over the findings extracted from such

    surveys. Many respondents respond the survey with keen interest

    and as we observed customer get pleased to see their serviceprovider at their door step.

    Potential Customer:

    For us, every non Docomo user is a potential customer,

    because we find the possibility to become our customer in every

    person. Those who are not using a mobile or those who are using

    our competitors service are our potential customers. Our company

    has designed several good tariff plans for customer according to

    their requirements. I gave an in depth information about our

    products to interested customer, also tried to convert interested

    customer into our customer. There are many Mobile Service

    Providers have their presence in the market. Through the survey we

    also get to know the ground facts of competition. Competition

    analysis is our one of the motives of Market Research. Converting a

    prospectus into customer is quite practical approach to observeconsumer behaviour.

    As mentioned in project title, the main motive behind this

    Market Research was to study the Consumer Behaviour with the

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    Special reference to find out Potential customer as well as try to

    understand the needs ofExisting customers of Tata Docomo. For me

    the outcome of my field work is to get an opportunity to work as a

    marketing professional, to know the marketing techniques

    practically, and to understand the buyer behaviour of customer. I

    learned by experience, while conducting a survey you must be

    polite, assertive and knowledgeable about your product. This

    experience of my project will be proved useful in my future

    professional life.

    Review of earlier studies:-

    I think, it is better to analyse past works before starting a new oneso I tried to take a review of earlier studies on similar topic.

    I find a study on similar topic had been conducted earlier by Mr

    Shailender Kumar Bharadwaj of 2007-2009 MBA batch from U.P

    Technical University. His project was done for Bharti Airtel.

    That project was an extensive report on how the Airtel Company

    markets its strategies and how the company has been able in

    tackling the tough competition and how it is cooping up by the

    allegations of the quality of its products. The report began with the

    history of the products and the introduction of the Airtel Company.

    This report also contained the basic marketing strategies that are

    used by the Airtel Company of manufacturing process, technology,

    production policy, advertising, collaboration, export scenario, future

    prospect and government policies. The report included some of the

    key salient features of market trend issues. In todays world ofcutthroat fierce competition, it is very essential to not only exist but

    also to excel in the market. Todays market is enormously more

    complex. Hence forth, to survive in the market, the company not

    only needs to maximize its profit but also needs to satisfy its

    customers and should try to build upon from there.

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    Another study was conducted by Mr. Gurpreet Singh of Graphic Era

    Institute of Technology, Dehradun for Aircel.

    This project was based on the study of consumer behaviour

    trends, behaviour and level of satisfaction of customers.

    The facts collected in the project were based on a survey

    conducted by Mr. Gurpreet Singh. The project report is a

    reflection of customers opinion about Aircel services. It

    also contains a chapter on SWOT analysis of Aircel. The

    observations made in the project are really useful for

    company.

    Prospective benefit:-

    Every constructive work has several benefits. This project too has

    the same. This project has three fold benefits,

    1 Benefits to the customer,

    2 Benefits to the Company

    3 Benefits to Myself.

    Such kinds of projects build a bridge between Customer and

    Company. Generally it is found that the customers voice cant be

    reached to the Company, it results into customer dissatisfaction and

    leads to changing the service providers. Because of this project

    customers give- direct feedback, express- expectation, Suggest-

    suggestion, in this way both, Customers and Company can have the

    benefits. In short, Company can provide best service and Customer

    can avail best service.

    For me it is one of my baby steps in the glamorous world of

    Marketing. This a great experience of field work. It will be beneficial

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    for me in my future professional life as I get a chance to learn

    practical things which cant be learnt within the four walls of a

    classroom.

    Also this project gets me a chance to become familiar with Tata

    Group, Tata Tele Services and M/S Pawan Communication.

    I experienced one more thing during my project work that it is

    always better to have theoretical knowledge about the field you are

    working. Whatever the theory I refer for betterment of my project

    has been discussed in the chapter Theoretical Framework.

    This project report contains all the related statistic and figures.

    Graphical representation of data will make it more convenient and

    easy to understand. Attached appendices are very informative about

    project, the same make this project report more practical oriented.

    COMPANY PROFILE

    TATA TELESERVICES LIMITED

    Tata Teleservices Limited spearheads the Tata Groups presence in

    the telecom sector. The Tata Group includes over 90 companies,

    over 350,000 employees worldwide and more than 3.5 million Share

    holders. Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices is the pioneer of

    the CDMA 1x technology platform in India. It has embarked on a

    growth path since the acquisition of Hughes Tele.com (India) Ltd

    renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] by the Tata

    Group in 2002. It launched mobile operations

    in January 2005 under the brand name Tata Indicom and today

    enjoys a pan-India presence through existing operations in all of

    Indias 22 telecom Circles. The company is also the market leader in

    the fixed wireless telephony market. The companys network has

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    been rated as the Least Congested in India for six consecutive

    quarters by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India through

    independent surveys.

    Tata Teleservices Limited has also become the first Indian private

    telecom operator to launch 3G services in India under the

    brand name Tata DOCOMO, with its recent launch in all the nine

    telecom Circles where it bagged the 3G license. In association with

    its partner NTT DOCOMO, the company finds itself favourably

    positioned to leverage this first-mover advantage. With 3G, Tata

    DOCOMO stands to redefine the very face of telecoms in India.

    Tokyo-based NTT DOCOMO is one of the worlds leading mobile

    operatorsin Japan, the company is the clear market leader, usedby nearly 55 per cent of the countrys mobile phone users. Tata

    Teleservices Limited also has a sign ificant presence in the GSM

    space, through its joint venture with NTT DOCOMO of Japan, and

    offers differentiated products and services under the Tata

    DOCOMO brand name. Tata DOCOMO arises out of the Tata Groups

    strategic alliance with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO in

    November 2008. Tata DOCOMO has received a pan-India license to

    operate GSM telecom servicesand has also been allotted spectrum

    in18 telecom Circles. The company has rolled out GSM services in all

    of these 18 telecom Circles in the quick span of just over a year.

    Tata DOCOMO marks a significant milestone in the Indian telecom

    landscape, and has already redefined the very face of telecoms in

    India, being the first to pioneer the per-second tariff optionpart of

    its Pay for What You Use pricing paradigm. Tokyo-based NTT

    DOCOMO is one of the worlds leading mobile operatorsin the

    Japanese market, the company is the clear market leader, used by

    over 50 per cent of the countrys mobile phone users.

    The Tata Teleservices Limited bouquet comprises four other brands

    as wellVirgin Mobile, Walky (which is the brand for fixed

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    wireless phones), the Photon family (the companys brand that

    provides a variety of options for wireless mobile broadband access,

    and T24. TTSL recently entered into a strategic partnership

    agreement with Indian retail giant Future Group to offer mobile

    telephony services under a new brand nameT24on the GSM

    platform. The exciting new brand was unveiled in February and the

    company announced the commercial launch of GSM operations

    under the brand name T24 in June, starting with the city of

    Hyderabad. It has now launched T24

    GSM services in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar as well. Today, Tata

    Teleservices Ltd, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd,

    serves over 84 million customers in more than 450,000 towns andvillages across the country, with a bouquet of

    Telephony services encompassing Mobile Services, Wireless Desktop

    Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wire line Services. In December

    2008, Tata Teleservices announced a unique reverse equity swap

    strategic agreement between its telecom tower subsidiary, Wireless

    TT Info-Services Limited, and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure

    Limitedwith the combined entity kicking off operations with 18,000

    towers, thereby becoming the largest independent entity in this

    spaceand with the highest tenancy ratios in the industry. Today,

    the combined entitywhich has been re-christened as VIOM

    Networkshas a portfolio of nearly 45,000 towers. TTSLs bouquet

    of telephony services includes mobile services, wireless desktop

    phones, public booth telephony, wire line services and enterprise

    solutions

    TATA DOCOMO

    Tata DOCOMO is Tata Teleservices Limited's telecom service on the

    GSM platform-arising out of the Tata Group's strategic alliance with

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    Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO in November 2008. Tata

    Teleservices has received a license to operate GSM telecom services

    in 19 of India's 22 telecom Circles-and has also been allotted

    spectrum in 18 telecom circles. Of these, it has already rolled out

    services in all the 18 Circles that it received spectrum in from the

    Government of India-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra

    Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh,

    Haryana-Punjab, Kolkata, Rest of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, UP

    (East), UP (West), Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

    Tata DOCOMO has also become the first Indian private operator to

    launch 3G services in India, with its recent launch in all the nine

    telecom Circles where it bagged the 3G license. In association with

    its partner NTT DOCOMO, the Company finds itself suitably

    positioned to leverage this first-mover advantage. With 3G, Tata

    DOCOMO stands to redefine the very face of telecoms in India.

    Tokyo-based NTT DOCOMO is one of the world's leading mobile

    operators-in Japan, the company is the clear market leader, used by

    nearly 55 per cent of the country's mobile phone users.

    NTT DOCOMO has played a major role in the evolution of mobile

    telecommunications through its development of cutting-edge

    technologies and services. Over the years, technologists at DOCOMO

    have defined industry benchmarks like 3G technology, as also

    products and services like i-Mode, e-wallet and a plethora of

    lifestyle-enhancing applications. Last year itself, while most of the

    rest of the industry was only beginning to talk of 4G technology and

    its possible applications, DOCOMO had already concluded conducting

    4G trials in physical geographies, not just inside laboratories!

    DOCOMO is a global leader in the VAS space, both in terms of

    services and handset designs, particularly integrating services at the

    platform stage. The Tata Group-NTT DOCOMO partnership will see

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    offerings such as these being introduced in the Indian market

    through the Tata DOCOMO brand.

    Tata DOCOMO has also set up a Business and Technology

    Coordination Council', comprising of senior personnel from both

    companies. The council is responsible for the identification of key

    areas where the two companies will work together. DOCOMO, the

    world's leading mobile operator, will work closely with the Tata

    Teleservices Limited management and provide know-how to help the

    company develop its GSM business.

    On the CDMA platform, despite being the latest entrant, Tata

    Indicom has already established its presence and is the fastest -

    growing pan-India operator. Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices

    is the pioneer of the CDMA 1x technology platform in India. Today,

    Tata Teleservices Ltd, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)

    Ltd, serves over 84 million customers in more than 450,000 towns

    and villages across the country, with a bouquet of telephony

    services encompassing Mobile Services, Wireless Desktop Phones,

    Public Booth Telephony and Wire line Services.

    THE TATA GROUPPROFILE

    Tata is a rapidly growing business group based in India with

    significant international operations. Revenues in 2007-08 are

    estimated at $70.8 billion USD, of which 61 per cent is from

    business outside India. The Group employs around 350,000 people

    worldwide. The Tata name has been respected in India for 140 years

    for its adherence to strong values and business ethics.

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    The business operations of the Tata Group currently encompass

    seven business sectors: communications and information

    technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer

    products and chemicals. The Group's 27 publicly listed enterprises

    have a combined market capitalisation of some $60 billion, among

    the highest among Indian business houses, and a shareholder base

    of 3.2 million. The major companies in the Group include Tata Steel,

    Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata

    Chemicals, Tata Tea, Indian Hotels and Tata Communications.

    The Group's major companies are beginning to be counted

    globally. Tata Steel became the sixth largest steel maker in the

    world after it acquired Corus. Tata Motors is among the top five

    commercial vehicle manufacturers in the world and has recently

    acquired Jaguar and Land Rover. TCS is a leading global software

    company, with delivery centres in the US, UK, Hungary, Brazil,

    Uruguay and China, besides India. Tata Tea is the second largest

    branded tea company in the world, through its UK-based subsidiary

    Tetley. Tata Chemicals is the world's second largest manufacturer of

    soda ash. Tata Communications is one of the world's largest

    wholesale voice carriers.

    In tandem with the increasing international footprint of its

    companies, the Group is also gaining international recognition.

    Brand Finance, a UK-based consultancy firm, recently valued the

    Tata brand at $11.4 billion and ranked it 57th amongst the Top 100

    brands in the world. Business week ranked the Group sixth amongst

    the "World's Most Innovative Companies" and the Reputation

    Institute, USA, recently rated it as the "World's Sixth Most Reputed

    Firm."

    Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata Group's early years

    were inspired by the spirit of nationalism. The Group pioneered

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    several industries of national importance in India: steel, power,

    hospitality and airlines. In more recent times, the Tata Group's

    pioneering spirit has been showcased by companies like Tata

    Consultancy Services, India's first software company, which

    pioneered the international delivery model, and Tata Motors, which

    made India's first indigenously developed car, the Indica, in 1998

    and recently unveiled the world's lowest-cost car, the Tata Nano, for

    commercial launch by end of 2008.

    The Tata Group has always believed in returning wealth to the

    society it serves. Two-thirds of the equity of Tata Sons, the Tata

    Group's promoter company, is held by philanthropic trusts which

    have created national institutions in science and technology, medical

    research, social studies and the performing arts. The trusts also

    provide aid and assistance to NGOs in the areas of education,

    healthcare and livelihoods. Tata companies also extend social

    welfare activities to communities around their industrial units. The

    combined development-related expenditure of the Trusts and the

    companies amounts to around 4 per cent of the Group's net profits.

    Going forward, the Group is focusing on new technologies and

    innovation to drive its business in India and internationally. The

    Nano car is one example, as is the Eka supercomputer (developed

    by another Tata company), which in 2008 is ranked the world's

    fourth fastest. The Group aims to build a series of world class, world

    scale businesses in select sectors. Anchored in India and wedded to

    its traditional values and strong ethics, the Group is building a

    multinational business which will achieve growth through excellence

    and innovation, while balancing the interests of its shareholders, its

    employees and wider society.

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    Tata Group Commitment

    From customer to community, the Tata Group invests in

    resources for the various markets and communities it serves. The

    Tata Group's philanthropic trusts and global community initiatives

    develop and sustain services that promote health and education,

    leadership and technical training, and arts and sports programs.

    INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION

    UNDER STUDY:

    M/S PAWANCOMMUNICATION

    M/S PAWAN COMMUNICATION is one of the channel partners of

    TTSL, Situated at Old Cotton Market, Amravati Bearing Code No-

    ROMTSMHF 1109. This outlet of TTSL was incepted in 2005. For that

    time they were the only channel partner in and for Amravati District.

    Now this outlet is known as the TVS (True Value Shoppe) as they

    provide all the services related to TTSL exclusively. Now they have

    two outlets and a CSC (Customer Service Centre).

    TATA TELESERVICES is a well known TELECOM INDUSTRY in

    INDIA. It is operated in india since 2003 ie since last 7 years. It is

    the 2nd CDMA operator across INDIA and it is the 6th TELECOM

    operator across INDIA. One of the channel partners of TTSL, M/S

    PAWAN COMMUNICATION Situated at Old Cotton Market, Amravati

    Bearing Code No-ROMTSMHF 1109. This outlet of TTSL was incepted

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    in 2005. For that time they were the only channel partner in and for

    Amravati District. Now this outlet is known as the TVS (True Value

    Shoppe) as they provide all the services related to TTSLexclusively. Now they have two outlets and a CSC (Customer

    Service Centre).

    When we mate owner of M/S PAWAN COMMUNICATION that time we

    didnt thought that working under a firm of TTSL having its turn over

    not more than 6,00,000/- per month grossly ie 70,00,000/- p.a.

    grossly would be that much exciting and tedious. When we mate &

    spoke to owner of this firm Mr. Chetan P. Soni that time only saidnot to consider it a kidding job , you will come to know how difficult

    it is to sell and market rather than buying.

    M/S PAWAN COMMUNICATION is a TTSL channel partner bearing

    many awards for their

    Target Achievement Neatness, Cleanliness, Hygiene Long Term Association Customer Satisfaction Family One Golden Club Member.

    It sounds nice to hear all these Achievement but it takes hard ships

    to grab. M/S PAWAN COMMUNICATION multi service outlet of TTSL

    for Amravati providing all the things required for betterment of

    company. Their services will be discussed in next pages.

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    INDUSTRY PROFILE

    With a subscriber base of more than 680 million, the Mobile

    telecommunications system in India is the second largest in the

    world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. The

    country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along

    state boundaries). Government and several private players run local

    and long distance telephone services. Competition has caused prices

    to drop and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the

    world.[34] The rates are supposed to go down further with new

    measures to be taken by the Information Ministry. [35] In September

    2004, the number of mobile phone connections crossed the numberof fixed-line connections and presently dwarfs the wire line segment

    by a ratio of around 20:1.[5] The mobile subscriber base has grown

    by a factor of over a hundred and thirty, from 5 million subscribers

    in 2001 to over 680 million subscribers as of Sep 2010 [5] (a period

    of less than 9 years) . India primarily follows the GSM mobile

    system, in the 900 MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the

    1800 MHz band. The dominant players are Airtel, Reliance

    Infocomm, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL. There are many

    smaller players, with operations in only a few states. International

    roaming agreements exist between most operators and many

    foreign carriers.

    India is divided into 23 telecom circles. They are listed below.

    y Assamy Andhra Pradeshy Bihar & Jharkhandy Chennaiy Delhi & NCRy Gujarat & Daman & Diu

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    y Haryanay Himachal Pradeshy Jammu and Kashmiry Karnatakay Kerala & Lakshadweepy Kolkatay Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarhy Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) & Goay Mumbaiy North Eastern States (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya,

    Mizoram, Nagaland, & Tripura)

    y Orissay Punjaby Rajasthany Tamil Nadu excluding Chennai & Puducherryy Eastern Uttar Pradeshy Western Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhandy West Bengal (excluding Kolkata), Andaman & Nicobar Islands

    & Sikkim

    The following table gives details regarding the subscriber base of

    each Mobile Service Provider in India as of 31 December 2010

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    Operator Subscriber base. Market Share

    Bharti Airtel 152,495,219 20.27%

    Reliance Communications 125,652,127 16.7%

    Vodafone 124,255,120 16.52%

    BSNL 86,709,537 11.53%

    Tata Teleservices 84,233,398 11.20%

    Idea 81,778,655 10.87%

    Aircel 50,168,811 6.67%

    Unitech 18,510,049 2.46%

    Sistema

    8,433,667 1.12%

    Videocon

    7,319,603 0.97%

    MTNL 5,342,039 0.71%

    Loop 3,044,579 0.40%

    S_Tel 2,315,524 0.31%

    HFCL Infotel 1,611,723 0.21%

    Etisalat 264,899 0.04%

    All India 752,190,678 100%

    A list of ten states (including the metros Mumbai, Kolkata and

    Chennai in their respective states) with the largest subscriber base

    as of Oct 31st 2010 is given below

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    StateSubscriber

    base

    Population

    (01/08/2010)

    Mobile phones

    per 1000

    population

    Uttar

    Pradesh 92,867,835 199,415,992 427

    Maharashtra 84,543,727 110,351,688 707

    Tamil Nadu

    63,671,528 67,773,611 881

    Andhra

    Pradesh 54,000,379 84,241,069 600

    West Bengal

    51,901,967 90,524,849 520

    Bihar 46,311,291 97,560,027 430

    Karnataka 43,802,688 58,969,294 709

    Gujarat 40,158,662 58,388,625 618

    Rajasthan

    38,649,784 67,449,102 535

    Madhya

    Pradesh 38,295,896 72,362,313 489

    India 706,691,164 1,188,783,351 580

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    THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

    IMPORTANCE OF THEORY IN PRACTICAL

    CONTEXT:

    Theory plays an important role in practical life; I experienced

    it during my Project. Sometime it is said that theory is different from

    practical and less useful also, but my experience proved it contrary.

    While working on the field you must know the theoretical

    background of your work. As far as marketing is concerned, it is

    important to have familiarity with Marketing Management Theory.

    Theory is like a sharp weapon and without it one cannot go on

    the battle field. Marketing Management has several terms and

    concepts so sound theoretical knowledge is essential. So in this

    chapter theoretical background is being discussed.

    Marketing Management

    Marketing Management: Importance

    Marketing is indeed an ancient art; it has been practiced in

    one form or other, since the days of Adam & Eve. Today, it has

    become the most vital function in the world of business.

    Marketing is a social process by which individuals and groups

    obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and

    freely exchanging products & services of value with others.

    Marketing has often been described as the art of selling

    products, but people are surprised to hear that the most

    important part of marketing is not selling! Selling is the only tip

    of the marketing iceberg.

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    A) Marketing Management: Definition

    American Marketing Association

    Marketing is the process of planning & executing the

    conception, pricing, promotion, and distributing of ideas, goods,

    and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and

    organizational goals.

    Peter Drucker

    The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim

    of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that

    the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing

    should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should

    be needed then is to make the product or service available.

    Thus, coping with exchange process calls for a considerable

    amount of work and skill. Marketing management takes place

    when at least one party to a potential exchange thinks about the

    means of achieving desired responses from other parties.

    Marketing management is seen as the art and science of choosingtarget markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers

    through creating, delivering, and communicating superior

    customer value.

    B) Marketing Management: Scope

    Marketing is typically seen as the task of creating, promoting,

    and delivering goods and services to customers and business.

    Marketers are skilled in stimulating demand for a companys

    products, but this is too limited a view of the tasks marketers

    performs. Just as production and logistics professionals are

    responsible for supply management; marketers are responsible

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    demand management. Marketing managers seek to influence the

    level, timing, and composition of demand to meet the

    organizations objectives.

    Marketing people are involved in marketing 10 types of entities:goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties,

    organizations, information and ideas.

    Goods

    Physical goods constitute the bulk of most countries

    production and marketing effort. Each year US companies alone

    market billions of canned and frozen food products, millions of

    tons of steel, millions of hair dryers, cars, television sets,

    machines, and various other mainstays of a modern economy.

    Services

    Services include the work of airlines, hotels, car rental firms,

    barbers, and beauticians, maintenance and repairs people, dog

    kennels as well as professionals working within or for companies,

    such as accountants, lawyers, engineers, doctors, softwareprogrammers, and management consultants. Many market

    offerings consist of a variable mix of goods and services.

    Experiences

    By orchestrating several services and goods, a firm can create,

    stage, and market experiences. Walt Disney Worlds Magic

    Kingdom represents experimental marketing: customers visit a

    fairy kingdom, a pirate ship, or a haunted house. There is also a

    market for customized experiences, such as spending a week at a

    baseball camp playing with some retired baseball greats, paying

    to conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for five minutes.

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    Events

    Marketers promote time-based events, such as the Olympics,

    company anniversaries, major trade shows, sports events, and

    artistic performances. There is a whole profession of meetingplanners who work out the details of an event and make sure it

    comes off perfectly.

    Persons

    Celebrity marketing is a major business. Today every major

    film star has an agent, a personal manager, and ties to a public

    relations agency. Artists, CEOs, musicians, physicians, lawyers

    and other professionals are also getting help from celebrity

    marketers.

    Places

    Places like cities, states, regions, and whole nations compete

    actively to attract tourists, factories, company headquarters, and

    new residents. Place marketers include economic development

    specialists, real estate agents, commercial banks, local businessassociations, and advertising and public relations agencies.

    Properties

    Properties are intangible rights of ownership of either real

    property (real estate) or financial property (stocks & bonds).

    Properties are bought & sold, and this requires marketing. Real

    estate agents work for property owners or sellers or buy

    residential or commercial real estate. Investment companies and

    banks are involved in marketing securities to both institutional &

    individual investors.

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    Organizations

    Organizations actively work to build a strong, favourable

    image in the minds of their target publics. Companies spend

    money on corporate identity ads. Universities, museums, andperforming arts organizations all use marketing to boost their

    public images and to compete for audiences and funds.

    Information

    Information can be produced and marketed as a product. This

    is essentially what schools and universities produce and distribute

    at a price to parents, students and communities. Encyclopaedia

    and most of the notification books market information. We buy

    software and CDs and we visit the internet for information. The

    production, packaging and distribution of information are one of

    our societys major industries.

    Ideas

    Every market offering includes a basic idea. In the Factory,

    we make cosmetics; in the stores we sell the hope Products andservices are the platforms for delivering some ideas or benefits.

    Social marketers are busy promoting such ideas as Say no to

    drugs, Save the rain forest, Avoid Plastics, etc.

    C) Marketing Management: Concepts

    Different organizations to business give rise to different concepts

    of marketing. Firms vary in their perceptions about business, and

    their orientations to the marketplace. This has led to the

    emergence of many different concepts of marketing which are

    enumerated as given below:

    1. The exchange concept

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    2. The production concept

    3. The product concept

    4. The sales concept

    5. The marketing concept

    1.The Exchange Concept:

    The Exchange concept of marketing holds that the exchange of

    a product between the seller and the buyer is the central idea of

    marketing. While exchange does form a significant part of the

    marketing, to view marketing as mere exchange, will result in

    missing out the essence of the marketing. Marketing is much

    broader than exchange. Exchange, at the best, covers the

    distribution aspect and the price mechanism. The other important

    aspects of marketing, such as, concern for customers, generation

    of value satisfactions, creative selli ng, and integrated action for

    serving the customer, are completely overshadowed in the

    exchange concept.

    2.The Production ConceptAccording to the production concept, marketing is a mere

    appendage to production. In the organizations that practice thisconcept, production dominates the thinking process. It is believed

    that marketing can be managed by managing the production. The

    concept holds that consumers would, as a rule, support those

    products that are produced in a great volume at a low unit cost.

    Naturally, all the efforts are focused on the production only. It is

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    assumed that lower cost will automatically bring all the customers

    at the doors for buying purpose. In actual practice, however, this

    does not happen in most of the cases. The organizations do not

    get the assumed customer patronage. Customers, after all, are

    motivated by a variety of considerations in their purchases,

    besides price. As a result, the production concept fails to serve as

    the right marketing philosophy for an enterprise.

    3. The Product Concept

    The product concept is different from production concept.

    Whereas the production concept seeks to win markets and profits

    via high volume of production and low unit cost, the productconcept seeks to achieve the same results by product excellence,

    improved products, and new products and ideally designed and

    engineered products. Organisations that subscribe to the product

    concept assume that consumers would automatically vote for

    products of high quality. They concentrate on the product

    excellence; they spend their time & money on research and

    development, and bring out many new products.

    4. The Sales Concept

    The sales concept maintains that the company has to

    aggressively promote and push its products; it cannot expect its

    products to get picked up automatically by the customers. Heavy

    advertising, high-power personal selling, large-scale sales

    promotion, heavy price discounts, and strong publicity are the

    normal tools use by organizations that rely on this concept.Companies practicing the sales concept assume that selling is

    synonymous with the marketing. In reality, there is a great deal

    of difference between selling and marketing.

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    y Product - A tangible object or an intangible service that ismass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a

    specific volume of units. Intangible products are service based

    like the tourism industry & the hotel industry or codes-based

    products like cell phone load and credits. Typical examples of

    a mass produced tangible object are the motor car and the

    disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced

    service is a computer operating system. Packaging also needs

    to be taken into consideration.

    y Price The price is the amount a customer pays for theproduct. It is determined by a number of factors including

    market share, competition, material costs, product identity

    and the customer's perceived value of the product. The

    business may increase or decrease the price of product if other

    stores have the same product.

    y Place Place represents the location where a product can bepurchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It

    can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the

    Internet. Place is not exactly a physical store where it is

    available Place is nothing but how the product takes place or

    create image in the mind of customers. It depends upon the

    perceptions of customers.

    y Promotion- represents all of the communications that amarketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four

    distinct elements: advertising, public relations, personal selling

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    and sales promotion. A certain amount of crossover occurs

    when promotion uses the four principal elements together,

    which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers any

    communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials,

    radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards.

    Public relations are where the communication is not directly

    paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals,

    exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events.

    Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication

    about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers

    or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth

    momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in wordof mouth and Public Relations.

    Consumer Behaviour:

    Consumer behaviour involves the psychological processes that

    consumers go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve

    these needs, making purchase decisions (e.g., whether or not to

    purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where), interpret

    information, make plans, and implement these plans (e.g., by

    engaging in comparison shopping or actually purchasing a product).

    Sources of influence on the consumer. The consumer faces

    numerous sources of influence.

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    Often, we take cultural influences for granted, but they are

    significant. An American will usually not bargain with a store

    owner. This, however, is a common practice in much of the World.

    Physical factors also influence our behaviour. We are more likely to

    buy a soft drink when we are thirsty, for example, and food

    manufacturers have found that it is more effective to advertise their

    products on the radio in the late afternoon when people are gettinghungry. A persons self-image will also tend to influence what he or

    she will buyan upwardly mobile manager may buy a flashy car to

    project an image of success. Social factors also influence what the

    consumers buyoften, consumers seek to imitate others whom they

    admire, and may buy the same brands. The social environment can

    include both the mainstream culture (e.g., Americans are more

    likely to have corn flakes or ham and eggs for breakfast than to

    have rice, which is preferred in many Asian countries) and a

    subculture (e.g., rap music often appeals to a segment within the

    population that seeks to distinguish itself from the mainstream

    population). Thus, sneaker manufacturers are eager to have their

    products worn by admired athletes. Finally, consumer behaviour is

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    influenced by learningyou try a hamburger and learn that it

    satisfies your hunger and tastes good, and the next time you are

    hungry, you may consider another hamburger.

    Consumer Choice and Decision Making: Problem Recognition. One

    model of consumer decision making involves several steps. The first

    one is problem recognitionyou realize that something is not as it

    should be. Perhaps, for example, your car is getting more difficult

    to start and is not accelerating well. The second step is

    information searchwhat are some alternative ways of solving the

    problem? You might buy a new car, buy a used car, take your car in

    for repair, ride the bus, ride a taxi, or ride a skateboard to work.

    The third step involves evaluation of alternatives. A skateboard is

    inexpensive, but may be ill-suited for long distances and for rainy

    days. Finally, we have the purchase stage, and sometimes a post-

    purchase stage (e.g., you return a product to the store because you

    did not find it satisfactory). In reality, people may go back and forth

    between the stages. For example, a person may resume alternative

    identification during while evaluating already known alternatives.

    Consumer involvement will tend to vary dramatically depending on

    the type of product. In general, consumer involvement will be

    higher for products that are very expensive (e.g., a home, a car) or

    are highly significant in the consumers life in some other way (e.g.,

    a word processing program or acne medication).

    It is important to consider the consumers motivation for buying

    products. To achieve this goal, we can use the Means -End chain,

    wherein we consider a logical progression of consequences of

    product use that eventually lead to desired end benefit. Thus, for

    example, a consumer may see that a car has a large engine, leading

    to fast acceleration, leading to a feeling of performance, leading to a

    feeling of power, which ultimately improves the consumers self -

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    esteem. A handgun may aim bullets with precision, which enables

    the user to kill an intruder, which means that the intruder will not be

    able to harm the consumers family, which achieves the desired end-

    state of security. In advertising, it is important to portray the

    desired end-states. Focusing on the large motor will do less good

    than portraying a successful person driving the car.

    Information search and decision making. Consumers engage in both

    internal and external information search. Internal search involves

    the consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory. For

    certain low involvement products, it is very important that

    marketing programs achieve top of mind awareness. For example,

    few people will search the Yellow Pages for fast food restaurants;

    thus, the consumer must be able to retrieve ones restaurant from

    memory before it will be considered. For high involvement products,

    consumers are more likely to use an external search. Before buying

    a car, for example, the consumer may ask friends opinions, read

    reviews in Consumer Reports, consult several web sites, and visit

    several dealerships. Thus, firms that make products that are

    selected predominantly through external search must invest in

    having information available to the consumer in neede.g., through

    brochures, web sites, or news coverage.

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    y Variety seeking (where consumers seek to try new brands notbecause these brands are expected to be better in any way,

    but rather because the consumer wants a change of pace,

    and

    y Impulse purchasesunplanned buys. This represents asomewhat fuzzy group. For example, a shopper may plan to

    buy vegetables but only decide in the store to actually buy

    broccoli and corn. Alternatively, a person may buy an item

    which is currently on sale, or one that he or she remembers

    that is needed only once inside the store.

    A number of factors involve consumer choices. In some cases,

    consumers will be more motivated. For example, one may be more

    careful choosing a gift for an in-law than when buying the same

    thing for one self. Some consumers are also more motivated to

    comparison shop for the best prices, while others are more

    convenience oriented. Personality impacts decisions. Some like

    variety more than others, and some are more receptive to

    stimulation and excitement in trying new stores. Perception

    influences decisions. Some people, for example, can taste the

    difference between generic and name brand foods while many

    cannot. Selective perception occurs when a person is paying

    attention only to information of interest. For example, when looking

    for a new car, the consumer may pay more attention to car ads than

    when this is not in the horizon. Some consumers are put off by

    perceived risk. Thus, many marketers offer a money back

    guarantee. Consumers will tend to change their behaviour through

    learninge.g., they will avoid restaurants they have found to be

    crowded and will settle on brands that best meet their tastes.

    Consumers differ in the values they hold (e.g., some people are

    more committed to recycling than others who will not want to go

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    through the hassle). We will consider the issue of lifestyle under

    segmentation.

    The Family Life Cycle: Individuals and families tend to go through

    a "life cycle:" The simple life cycle goes from

    For purposes of this discussion, a "couple" may either be married or

    merely involve living together. The breakup of a non-marital

    relationship involving cohabitation is similarly considered equivalent

    to a divorce.

    In real life, this situation is, of course, a bit more complicated. For

    example, many couples undergo divorce. Then we have one of thescenarios:

    Single parenthood can result either from divorce or from the death

    of one parent. Divorce usually entails a significant change in the

    relative wealth of spouses. In some cases, the non-custodial parent

    (usually the father) will not pay the required child support, and even

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    if he or she does, that still may not leave the custodial parent and

    children as well off as they were during the marriage. On the other

    hand, in some cases, some non-custodial parents will be called on to

    pay a large part of their income in child support. This is particularly

    a problem when the non-custodial parent remarries and has

    additional children in the second (or subsequent marriages). In any

    event, divorce often results in a large demand for:

    y Low cost furniture and household itemsy Time-saving goods and services

    Divorced parents frequently remarry, or become involved in other

    non-marital relationships; thus, we may see

    Another variation involves

    Here, the single parent who assumes responsibility for one or more

    children may not form a relationship with the other parent of the

    child.

    Integrating all the possibilities discussed, we get the following

    depiction of the Family Life Cycle:

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    Generally, there are two main themes in the Family Life Cycle,

    subject to significant exceptions:

    y As a person gets older, he or she tends to advance in his orher career and tends to get greater income (exceptions:

    maternity leave, divorce, retirement).

    y Unfortunately, obligations also tend to increase with time (atleast until ones mortgage has been paid off). Children and

    paying for ones house are two of the greatest expenses.

    Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a

    married couple, the single may be able to buy more discretionary

    items.

    Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a

    married couple, the single may be able to buy more discretionary

    items.

    Family Decision Making: Individual members of families often serve

    different roles in decisions that ultimately draw on shared family

    resources. Some individuals are information gatherers/holders, whoseek out information about products of relevance. These individuals

    often have a great deal of power because they may selectively pass

    on information that favours their chosen alternatives. Influencers do

    not ultimately have the power decide between alternatives, but they

    may make their wishes known by asking for specific products or

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    causing embarrassing situations if their demands are not met. The

    decision maker(s) have the power to determine issues such as:

    y Whether to buy;y Which product to buy (pick-up or passenger car?);y Which brand to buy;y Where to buy it; andy When to buy.

    Note, however, that the role of the decision maker is separate from

    that of the purchaser. From the point of view of the marketer, this

    introduces some problems since the purchaser can be targeted by

    point-of-purchase (POP) marketing efforts that cannot be aimed at

    the decision maker. Also note that the distinction between the

    purchaser and decision maker may be somewhat blurred:

    y The decision maker may specify what kind of product tobuy, but not which brand;

    y The purchaser may have to make a substitution if thedesired brand is not in stock;

    y The purchaser may disregard instructions (by error ordeliberately).

    It should be noted that family decisions are often subject to a great

    deal of conflict. The reality is that few families are wealthy enough

    to avoid a strong tension between demands on the familys

    resources. Conflicting pressures are especially likely in families with

    children and/or when only one spouse works outside the home. Note

    that many decisions inherently come down to values, and that there

    is frequently no "objective" way to arbitrate differences. One spouse

    may believe that it is important to save for the childrens future; the

    other may value spending now (on private schools and computer

    equipment) to help prepare the children for the future. Who is right?

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    There is no clear answer here. The situation becomes even more

    complex when more partiessuch as children or other relativesare

    involved.

    Some family members may resort to various strategies to get their

    way. One is bargainingone member will give up something in

    return for someone else. For example, the wife says that her

    husband can take an expensive course in gourmet cooking if she can

    buy a new pickup truck. Alternatively, a child may promise to walk it

    every day if he or she can have a hippopotamus. Another strategy is

    reasoningtrying to get the other person(s) to accept ones view

    through logical argumentation. Note that even when this is done

    with a sincere intent, its potential is limited by legitimate differencesin values illustrated above. Also note that individuals may simply try

    to "wear down" the other party by endless talking in the guise of

    reasoning (this is a case of negative reinforcement as we will see

    subsequently). Various manipulative strategies may also be used.

    One is impression management, where one tries to make ones side

    look good (e.g., argue that a new TV will help the children see

    educational TV when it is really mostly wanted to see sports

    programming, or argue that all "decent families make a contribution

    to the church"). Authority involves asserting ones "right" to make a

    decision (as the "man of the house," the mother of the children, or

    the one who makes the most money). Emotion involves making an

    emotional display to get ones way (e.g., a man cries if his wife will

    not let him buy a new rap album).

    The Means-End Chain: Consumers often buy products not

    because of their attributes per se but rather because of the ultimate

    benefits that these attributes provide, in turn leading to the

    satisfaction of ultimate values. For example, a consumer may not be

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    particularly interested in the chemistry of plastic roses, but might

    reason as follows:

    The important thing in a means-end chain is to start with an

    attribute, a concrete characteristic of the product, and then logically

    progress to a series of consequences (which tend to become

    progressively more abstract) that end with a value being satisfied.

    Thus, each chain must start with an attribute and end with a value.

    An important implication of means-end chains is that it is usually

    most effective in advertising to focus on higher level items. For

    example, in the flower example above, an individual giving the

    flowers to the significant other might better be portrayed than the

    flowers alone.

    Attitudes: Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers (1)

    beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioural intentions

    toward some objectwithin the context of marketing, usually a

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    brand, product category, or retail store. These components are

    viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together

    represent forces that influence how the consumer will react to the

    object.

    Beliefs: The first component is beliefs. A consumer may hold both

    positive beliefs toward an object (e.g., coffee tastes good) as well as

    negative beliefs (e.g., coffee is easily spilled and stains papers). In

    addition, some beliefs may be neutral (coffee is black), and some

    may be differ in valance depending on the person or the situat ion

    (e.g., coffee is hot and stimulates--good on a cold morning, but not

    well on a hot summer evening when one wants to sleep). Note also

    that the beliefs that consumers hold need not be accurate (e.g., that

    pork contains little fat), and some beliefs may, upon closer

    examination, be contradictory.

    Affect: Consumers also hold certain feelings toward brands or

    other objects. Sometimes these feelings are based on the beliefs

    (e.g., a person feels nauseated when thinking about a hamburger

    because of the tremendous amount of fat it contains), but there may

    also be feelings which are relatively independent of beliefs. For

    example, an extreme environmentalist may believe that cutting

    down trees is morally wrong, but may have positive affect toward

    Christmas trees because he or she unconsciously associates these

    trees with the experience that he or she had at Christmas as a child.

    Behavioural intention: The behavioural intention is what the

    consumer plans to do with respect to the object (e.g., buy or not

    buy the brand). As with affect, this is sometimes a logical

    consequence of beliefs (or affect), but may sometimes reflect other

    circumstances--e.g., although a consumer does not really like a

    restaurant, he or she will go there because it is a hangout for his or

    her friends.

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    Changing attitudes is generally very difficult, particularly when

    consumers suspect that the marketer has a self-serving agenda in

    bringing about this change (e.g., to get the consumer to buy more

    or to switch brands). Here are some possible methods:

    y Changing affect: One approach is to try to change affect,which may or may not involve getting consumers to change

    their beliefs. One strategy uses the approach of classical

    conditioning try to pair the product with a liked stimulus.

    For example, we pair a car with a beautiful woman.

    Alternatively, we can try to get people to like the

    advertisement and hope that this liking will spill over into the

    purchase of a product. For example, the Pillsbury Doughboy

    does not really emphasize the conveyance of much

    information to the consumer; instead, it attempts to create a

    warm, fuzzy image. Although Energizer Bunny ads try to get

    people to believe that their batteries last longer, the main

    emphasis is on the likeable bunny. Finally, products which are

    better known, through the mere exposure effect, tend to be

    better likedthat is, the more a product is advertised and

    seen in stores, the more it will generally be liked, even if

    consumers to do not develop any specific beliefs about the

    product.

    y Changing behaviour: People like to believe that theirbehaviour is rational; thus, once they use our products,

    chances are that they will continue unless someone is able to

    get them to switch. One way to get people to switch to our

    brand is to use temporary price discounts and coupons;

    however, when consumers buy a product on deal, they may

    justify the purchase based on that deal (i.e., the low price)

    and may then switch to other brands on deal later. A better

    way to get people to switch to our brand is to at least

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    temporarily obtain better shelf space so that the product is

    more convenient. Consumers are less likely to use this

    availability as a rationale for their purchase and may continue

    to buy the product even when the product is less conveniently

    located.

    y Changing beliefs: Although attempting to change beliefs isthe obvious way to attempt attitude change, particularly when

    consumers hold unfavourable or inaccurate ones, this is often

    difficult to achieve because consumers tend to resist. Several

    approaches to belief change exist:

    y Change currently held beliefs: It is generally very difficultto attempt to change beliefs that people hold, particularlythose that are strongly held, even if they are inaccurate. For

    example, the petroleum industry advertised for a long time

    that its profits were lower than were commonly believed, and

    provided extensive factual evidence in its advertising to

    support this reality. Consumers were suspicious and rejected

    this information, however.

    y Change the importance of beliefs: Although the sugarmanufacturers would undoubtedly like to decrease the

    importance of healthy teeth, it is usually not feasible to make

    beliefs less important--consumers are likely to reason, why,

    then, would you bother bringing them up in the first place?

    However, it may be possible to strengthen beliefs that favour

    us--e.g., a vitamin supplement manufacturer may advertise

    that it is extremely important for women to replace iron lost

    through menstruation. Most consumers already agree with

    this, but the belief can be made stronger.

    y Add beliefs: Consumers are less likely to resist the additionof beliefs so long as they do not conflict with existing beliefs.

    Thus, the beef industry has added beliefs that beef (1) is

    convenient and (2) can be used to make a number of creative

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    dishes. Vitamin manufacturers attempt to add the belief that

    stress causes vitamin depletion, which sounds quite plausible

    to most people.

    y Change ideal: It usually difficult, and very risky, to attemptto change ideals, and only few firms succeed. For example,

    Hard Candy may have attempted to change the ideal away

    from traditional beauty toward more unique self expression.

    One-sided vs. two-sided appeals: Attitude research has shown

    that consumers often tend to react more favourably to

    advertisements which either (1) admit something negative about the

    sponsoring brand (e.g., the Volvo is a clumsy car, but very safe) or

    (2) admits something positive about a competing brand (e.g., a

    competing supermarket has slightly lower prices, but offers less

    service and selection). Two-sided appeals must, contain overriding

    arguments why the sponsoring brand is ultimately superiorthat is,

    in the above examples, the but part must be emphasized.

    Perception: Our perception is an approximation of reality. Our

    brain attempts to make sense out of the stimuli to which we are

    exposed. This works well, for example, when we see a friend

    three hundred feet away at his or her correct height; however, our

    perception is sometimes offfor example, certain shapes of ice

    cream containers look like they contain more than rectangular ones

    with the same volume.

    Subliminal stimuli: Back in the 1960s, it was reported that on

    selected evenings, movie goers in a theatre had been exposed to

    isolated frames with the words Drink Coca Cola and Eat Popcorn

    imbedded into the movie. These frames went by so fast that people

    did not consciously notice them, but it was reported that on nights

    with frames present, Coke and popcorn sales were significantly

    higher than on days they were left off. This led Congress to ban the

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    use of subliminal advertising. First of all, there is a question as to

    whether this experiment ever took place or whether this information

    was simply made up. Secondly, no one has been able to replicate

    these findings. There is research to show that people will start to

    giggle with embarrassment when they are briefly exposed to dirty

    words in an experimental machine. Here, again, the exposure is so

    brief that the subjects are not aware of the actual words they saw,

    but it is evident that something has been recognized by the

    embarrassment displayed.

    Organizational Buyer: A large portion of the market for goods

    and services is attributable to organizational, as opposed to

    individual, buyers. In general, organizational buyers, who make

    buying decisions for their companies for a living, tend to be

    somewhat more sophisticated than ordinary consumers. However,

    these organizational buyers are also often more risk averse. There

    is a risk in going with a new, possibly better (lower price or higher

    quality) supplier whose product is unproven and may turn out to be

    problematic. Often the fear of running this risk is greater than the

    potential rewards for getting a better deal. In the old days, it used

    to be said that You cant get fired for buying IBM. This attitude is

    beginning to soften a bit today as firms face increasing pressures to

    cut costs.

    Organizational buyers come in several forms. Resellers involve

    either wholesalers or retailers that buy from one organization and

    resell to some other entity. For example, large grocery chains

    sometimes buy products directly from the manufacturer and resell

    them to end-consumers. Wholesalers may sell to retailers who in

    turn sell to consumers. Producers also buy products from sub-

    manufacturers to create a finished product. For example, rather

    than manufacturing the parts themselves, computer manufacturers

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    often buy hard drives, motherboards, cases, monitors, keyboards,

    and other components from manufacturers and put them together to

    create a finished product. Governments buy a great deal of things.

    For example, the military needs an incredible amount of supplies to

    feed and equip troops. Finally, large institutions buy products in

    huge quantities. For example, UCR probably buys thousands of

    reams of paper every month.

    Organizational buying usually involves more people than individual

    buying. Often, many people are involved in making decisions as to

    (a) whether to buy, (b) what to buy, (c) at what quantity, and (d)

    from whom. An engineer may make a specification as to what is

    needed, which may be approved by a manager, with the final

    purchase being made by a purchase specialist who spends all his or

    her time finding the best deal on the goods that the organization

    needs. Often, such long purchase processes can cause long delays.

    In the government, rules are often especially stringente.g.,

    vendors of fruit cake have to meet fourteen pages of specifications

    put out by the General Services Administration. In many cases,

    government buyers are also heavily bound to go with the lowest

    price. Even if it is obvious that a higher priced vendor will offer a

    superior product, it may be difficult to accept that bid.

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    OBJECTIVES & SCOPE OF PROJECT

    Project work cannot be done without objectives. For any

    organization it is very important to know the ground facts about its

    product(s)/service(s). This particular project has specific objectives

    of analysis of facts for designing of future marketing strategies. This

    project has a wide scope , because it covers many aspects at the

    same time for example, Consumer behaviour, Consumer

    Satisfaction, Competition Analysis etc. The data collected in this

    project is very important for the organization. It is not just a

    theoretical submission but it has collection of facts and figures.

    As mentioned in Executive Summary the project is a splice

    between Company and Customer, so for the both sides the project is

    important. For example, through the survey, customer gets a

    chance to know the latest plans and products of company, as well in

    the survey customer reflects their views regarding to service of Tata

    Docomo. The survey reflects the customers attitude towards the

    Tata Docomo.

    The role and utility of market information is immense for any

    firm. Often a marketer/firm will need specific market information for

    solving a particular marketing problem.

    The Management Thesis study helps me to check whether the theory

    and practice actually matches. Organizational exposure helps me to

    know how effectively they performed in the market.

    As this project has objectives beneficial to Company and Customer,

    it is also important for me as a Management Trainee. Because

    through this project I get a chance to work on Marketing Field.

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    OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

    Primary Objective:-

    y To Study Consumer Behaviour.y To Analyse overall market environment .Secondary Objectives:-

    yTo understand the marketing strategies used by thecompetitors

    y To get the feedback from existing customers.y To get suggestions from the customers.y To know the customers opinion about the competitors of Tata

    Docomo

    y To find out the attributes that affects the buying behaviour ofthe TATA Docomo services.

    y To find the customers attitude towards TATA Docomoservices.

    SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

    This project is a kind of research work, several benefits flow to

    the firm from such study. In fact, no area/aspect of marketing that

    does not benefit from it . As discussed above, collected data is

    important for company. Render the services according to customers

    need is key of success to todays customer centric market. The

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    consumer behaviour study can solve many issues, and help to retain

    customer for long time or forever.

    In todays cutthroat competition negligence for market

    competition is not an affordable thing for any organization, as thisproject deals with competition analysis it will be proved useful to

    company.

    Today, for any organization or firm to survive in this

    competitive world depends on its ability to be dynamic and be

    different from the competition to be unique in the industry.

    Customer Satisfaction helps every organization to keep the existing

    customer and to build new customer. This research is aimed atprofiling the standard customer with an aim to increase the network

    and improve company-customer relations. The information gathered

    through this research can be used by the company to improve its

    services and became more customers friendly. This can increase the

    goodwill of the company and its overall performance.

    Thus this study is aimed to provide the management with some

    knowledge about its status in market both in terms of sales andcustomer awareness. The research also aims to provide some ideas

    to improve the companys present condition. The following can be

    the scope for the study:

    1. To understand the consumer thinking process for TataDocomo services.

    2. To gain knowledge about pre and post purchase behaviour ofconsumer.

    3. To understand the influence of sales promotion of thecompany and does this has any association in their buying

    pattern incurred through this.

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    Thus, such study may also be described as the systematic

    and objective identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of

    information for the purpose of assisting management in decisionmaking related to the identification and solution of problems and

    opportunities in marketing.

    The scope of the project is wide because of its multi aspects

    approach.

    RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

    The success of the analysis mostly depends on the

    methodology on which it is carried out. The appropriate

    methodology will improve the validity of the findings. It is very

    important to have a suitable research methodology. For my

    Management thesis entitled A Study on Consumer Behaviour

    with Special Reference to Docomo Offered by Tata

    Teleservices, in Amravati City., I collected primary and

    secondary data to analyze and identify the impact of the

    promotional strategies and sales volume and customer satisfaction

    in the Organization.

    Area of the study:

    The study was mainly concentrated in limited area of Amravati

    city.

    Research Design:

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    Descriptive Research: Descriptive research includes survey

    and fact-findings enquire of different kinds involving a detailed

    survey by a questionnaire issuing to respondents/customers of

    Tata Docomo Services.

    y Data Collection:The study is based on the data collected through primary and

    secondary sources.

    Primary Data:

    An interview schedule was designed to collect primary data

    from various mobile users i.e. customers by a questionnaire

    survey.

    Secondary Data:

    Secondary data was collected from journals, magazines, web

    sites and from other relevant publications.

    Sampling Design:

    The sampling design mainly consists of the sample taken for

    the study along with the sample size, sample frame and

    sampling method.

    Sample Universe:

    All customers using mobile connection in Amravati was taken

    as the sample universe.

    People residing in Amravati: Salaried, businessmen,

    professionals, households, students and others.

    Sample Size:

    From the universe, sample sizes of 100 customers were selected for

    the purpose of the study.

    Sample Unit:

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    The customer in the age group of 18 to 60 years is taken as

    the sample unit.

    Sample Frame:

    The customers were selected on a random basis fro m whichthe respondents were selected based on convenience.

    Sampling Method:

    Convenience sampling was used, based on the willingness and

    availability of the respondents. The study was conducted in

    residential areas.

    Research period

    The time for the project is approximately 1 month in which the

    collection of data, interpretation, analysis, conclusion and the

    objectives of the study should be justified.

    STATISTICAL TOOLS

    The aim is to present a clear idea of research procedure that will be

    followed in the study. The study is causal in nature as it studiesConsumer Behaviour with Special Reference to Docomo Offered by

    Tata Teleservices, in Amravati City.

    Hypothetical testing and correlation are the statistical tools helpful

    to study Consumer Behaviour with Special Reference to Docomo

    Offered by Tata Teleservices, in Amravati City.

    Hypothetical testing begins by making assumption about the

    population parameter. Then we gather sample data and determine

    sample statistic. To test the validity of our hypothesis the difference

    the hypothesized population parameters is calculated. If the a ctual

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    value is large, we reject our hypothesis. If the value is small we

    accept it. And Chi-Square test is undertaken to test the hypothesis.

    Correlation is a statistical tool that helps to measure and analyze the

    degree or extent to which two or more variables fluctuate with

    reference to one another.

    In other words, if the change in one variable affects a change in the

    other variable, the variables are said to be correlated.

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    DATA ANALYSSIS AND INTERPRETATION

    1. Do you use Mobile?

    PERCENTAGE

    YES 97 97 %

    NO 3 3%

    TOTAL 100 100%

    Analysis:

    97% consumer use mobile, where 3% dont use the same.

    Interpretation:

    Above analysis shows that majority of people use mobile.

    Yes

    97%

    No

    3%

    Mobil

    r

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    2.Which service do you use?Name of Service

    Provider

    N0. OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

    Tata Docomo 20 20%Airtel 23 23%

    BSNL 14 14%

    Reliance 19 19%

    Vodafone 14 14%

    Idea 10 10%

    TOTAL 100 100%

    Analysis:

    20% customer use Tata Docomo where remaining 80% use other

    services.

    Interpretation:

    Above analysis shows that there is intense competition existed in

    market.

    Tata Docomo

    20%

    Airtel

    23%

    BSNL

    14%

    Reliance

    19%

    Vodafone

    14%

    Idea

    10%

    Available Servies

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    If Tata Docomo

    3.Which is your age group?AGE GROUP NO. OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

    16-26 9 45%

    27-37 6 30%

    38-48 3 15%

    49 AND ABOVE 2 10%

    TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 45 % Tata Docomo user belong to 16-26 years age

    group and 27-37 years age group customer are 30% as well

    remaining 25% customer belong to 38 years to above age group.

    Interpretation: Above analysis shows that Tata Docomo is most

    popular among youngsters where it is less preferable among aged

    class.

    16-26

    45%

    27-3730%

    38-48

    15%

    49 AND

    A O

    E

    10%

    Customers' Age Group

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    4.What is your profession?

    PROFESSION NO. OF

    RESPONDENTS

    PERCENTAGE

    STUDENT 9 45%

    SELF EMLOYED 5 25%

    EMPLOYESS 4 20%

    OTHERS 2 10%

    TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 45% percent of customers are Student , while remaining

    65% are Self employed and employees.

    Interpretation: Tata Docomo Services are popular among

    students.

    Student

    45%

    Sele Emloyed

    25%

    Employess

    20%

    Other

    10%

    Prof

    ionof

    tomer

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    5.What make you think to use Tata Docomo?REASON TO USE

    TATA DOCOMO

    NO. OF

    RESPONDENTS

    PERCENTAGE

    Second Billing 9 45%

    Prompt service 6 30%

    Schemes 4 20%

    Advertising 1 5%

    Total 20 100%

    Analysis: 45% consumer prefers Tata Docomo because of Second

    Billing system, where 55% use it because of Prompt Service,

    Schemes, and Advertising.

    Interpretation: Above analysis shows that Second Billing system is

    most popular feature to make Tata Docomo popular, as well Tata

    Docomos prompt service is another most popular reason to use.

    Secon ill ing

    45%

    Prompt Service

    30%

    Schemes

    20%

    dvertising

    5%

    Reason to se

    ata ocomo

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    6.What do you do if you have a problem?ACTIVITY NO. OF

    RESPONDENT

    PERCENTAGE

    CALL CUSTOMER CAR

    E12 60%

    EMAIL TO HELP DESK 1 5%

    CONTACT TATA

    DOCOMO TRUE VALUE

    SHOPPE

    6 30%

    OTHER 1 5%

    TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 60% customer prefer to call the customer care to solve

    the problem, where 30% customer like to contact to Tata Docomo

    True Value Shoppe and 5% customer lodge their complaint via Email

    and 5% customer solve their problem by other ways.

    Interpretation: Above analysis shows that calling to customer care

    is a easiest way to make complaints, also con tacting to the Tata

    CALL CUSTOME

    CA E

    60%

    EMAIL TO HEL

    ESK

    5%

    CONTACTTATA

    OCOMO TRUE

    ALUE SHO E

    30%

    OTHER

    5%

    Way To Approach Tata Docomo

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    Docomo True Value Shoppe is a preferable method of lodging

    complaint, making a email is comparatively less popular way to

    make complaint.

    7.Do you get satisfied after approaching to Docomo?RESULT NO. OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

    YES 18 90%

    NO 2 10%

    TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 90% customers get satisfied with Tata Docomo customer

    support and 10% are not satisfied with it.

    Interpretation: Majority of customers are satisfied with Tata

    Docomo customer support, still there is a wide scope for

    improvement.

    YES

    90%

    NO

    10%

    Satisfaction after Approaching Tata

    Docomo

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    8.How do you rank customer service of Docomo?RANK NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

    EXCELLENT 6 30%GOOD 12 60%

    AVERAGE 1 5%

    POOR 1 5%

    TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 30% of customers feel that the services are excellent and

    60% of customers feel that the services are good & 5% customer

    think that the services average and poor.

    Interpretation: On the good extent customer rank Tata docomo

    services are excellent; at a big quantity customer feels that services

    are good while there are a few customers are less happy with Tata

    Docomo services.

    EXCELLENT

    30%

    G ! ! "

    60%

    A#

    ERAGE

    5%

    P $ $ R

    5%

    Ranking of Tata Docomo Services

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    9.What recharge method do you use?RECHARGE METHOD NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

    PAPER RECHARGE 10 50%

    EASY R

    ECHARG

    E8 40%

    ONLINE RECHARGE 2 10%

    TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 50% customer prefers paper recharge method while 40%

    &10% customer prefer easy and online recharge method

    respectively.

    Interpretation:

    Paper Recharge is most popular recharging method among all the

    methods.

    PAPERRECHARGE

    50%EASYRECHARGE

    40%

    ONLINE

    RECHARGE

    10%

    Recharging Method

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    10. What is your overall opinion about Tata DocomoServices?

    OPINION NO. OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

    EXCELLENT 6 30%

    GOOD 11 55%

    AVERAGE 2 10%

    POOR 1 5%

    TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 30% customers over all opinion about Tata Docomo

    Services is Excellent, where 55% thing that Good services provided

    by Tata Docomo, with 10% and 5% percent customer think that

    services are Average and poor.

    Interpretation: Most of the people think that services provided by

    Tata Docomo are good and excellent.

    EXCELLENT

    30%

    GOOD

    55%

    A%

    ERAGE

    10%

    POOR

    5%

    Overall Opinion

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    11. Will you recommend Tata Docomo Services?RECOMMENDATION NO. OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

    YES 13 65%

    NO 7 35%TOTAL 20 100%

    Analysis: 65% customer say Yes to recommend Tata Docomo

    Services while 35% said No to recommend.

    Interpretation: Majority of existing customer agreed to

    recommend Tata Docomo Services, a very few quantity deny to

    recommendation.

    YES

    65%

    NO35%

    Recommendation of Tata Docomo

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    Questions for customer of other than Docomo:

    12. Why dont you use Tata Docomo?REASON NO. OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

    SATISFIED WITH

    PRESENT SERVICE

    8 10%

    USING OTHER

    SERVICE FROM A

    LONG TIME

    20 25%

    DONT WANT TO

    CHANGE NO.

    28 35%

    NOT AWARE ABOUTTATADOCOMOS

    TARIFF PLANS

    24 30%

    TOTAL 80 100%

    Analysis: Only 10% customer are satisfied with current services

    where 25% customer are use it because they are using present

    service from long time, 35 % customer dont want to change their

    S&

    TISFIE ' WITH

    ( RESENT SERVICE

    10%

    USINGOTHER

    SERVICE FROM)

    LONGTIME

    25%

    DONT W)

    NTTO

    CH)

    NGE NO.

    35%

    NOT)

    W)

    RE&

    0 OUT

    TATADOCOMOS

    TARIFF ( LANS

    30%

    Reason for not using Tata Docomo

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    number, while 30% people are unaware about Tata Docomo tariff

    plans.

    Interpretation: Above analysis shows that there is very less

    quantity of customer satisfied with current services, Aboveinformation shows that Tata Docomo Services can Capture above

    market with application of a special marketing plan.

    13. If Mobile Portability get Started would you like tobe ported into Tata Docomo?

    POSSIBILITY OF

    PORTABILITY

    NO. OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

    YES 52 65%

    NO 28 35%

    TOTAL 80 100%

    Analysis: 65% of customers want to get ported in Tata Docomo,

    while 35% want to stay with current service provider.

    Yes

    65%

    No

    35%

    Possibility ofPortability

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    Interpretation: If the portability get started there will be a good

    quantity of competitors customer to be ported into Tata Docomo.

    FINDINGS

    1. 97 out of 100 respondents are mobile user.2. On the big extent customers are happy with Tata Docomo

    Services.

    3. Among youngsters Tata Docomo Services are more popular.4. Market is quite competent with presence of many major players.5. There is a wide scope for improvement in services as market is

    quite competent, strong need to understand needs of unhappy

    customers.

    Hypothesis:

    1. Selection of Tata Teleservices is affected by the age of thecustomer.

    The youth is more attracted towards Tata Docomo as it has

    many attractive plans and scheme for this segment.

    2. Selection of Tata Teleservices is affected by Gender.Gender bias is not a big issue in the selection of TTSL.

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    3. There exists a positive relationship between Docomo PurchaseIntention & Various schemes available.

    4. There exi