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SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT REPORT

ON
A study of CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR for “RAMAPLY PVT. LTD.”
with special reference to Satna district in M.P.

Submitted for the partial fulfillment towards the awards of the degree in Master of Business
Administration of Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Technical University,
Lucknow

Submitted by:

PRANJAL SINGH

Roll No.-1713370032

(Batch: 2017-2019)

Under the supervision of

Ms. POOJA TYAGI

DEPARTMENT OF MBA
Noida Institute Of Engineering and
Technology(NIET), 19 Knowledge Park II
Greater Noida,G.B.Nagar (UP),India-201306

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that, the project entitled “A study of CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR for
“RAMAPLY PVT. LTD.” with special reference to Satna district in M.P.” assigned to me for the
partial fulfillment of MBA degree from Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow. The
work is originally completed by me and the information provided in this study is authentic to the best of
my knowledge. This study has not been submitted to any other institution or university for the award of
any other degree.

Pranjal Singh

Date:……………….

Place:………………

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am grateful for the assistance of several people who have contributed their ideas and valuable suggestion
for the fulfillment of this report. In this context, I would like to thanks Mrs. ReshamM (HOD) and Ms.
Pooja Tyagi (Supervisor) Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology, Greater Noida, for helping me
to give a final structure of this report.

It was a great opportunity for me to work on the topic “A study of CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR for
“RAMAPLY PVT. LTD.” with special reference to Satna district in M.P.

I would once again offer my sincere thanks to all members those who have shared their expertise and
knowledge with me and without whom the completion of this case study would have been virtually
impossible.

(Pranjal Singh)

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CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

CERTIFICATE

DECLARATION
AKNOWLEDGEMENT

CHAPTER- 1 INTODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Objective of the study
1.3 Need of the study
1.4 Limitation of the study
CHAPTER-2 PROFILE OF ORGANIZATION
2. Rama Group at a glance
2.1 Company profile
2.2 Products
2.3 Our team
2.4 Vision & Mission
2.5 Supporting life through infrastructure
CHAPTER-3 RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY
3.1 Research
3.2 Research design
3.3 Sources and Methods of data collection
CHAPTER-4 LITRATURE REVIEW
4.1 LITRATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER-5 DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRATATION
FINDINGS
SUGGESTION
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ANNEXURE

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CHAPTER -1

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INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Consumer behaviour is the study of how individual customers, groups or organizations select, buy, use,
and dispose ideas, goods, and services to satisfy their needs and wants. It refers to the actions of the
consumers in the marketplace and the underlying motives for those actions.

Marketers expect that by understanding what causes the consumers to buy particular goods and services,
they will be able to determine—which products are needed in the marketplace, which are obsolete, and
how best to present the goods to the consumers.

The study of consumer behaviour assumes that the consumers are actors in the marketplace. The
perspective of role theory assumes that consumers play various roles in the marketplace. Starting from the
information provider, from the user to the payer and to the disposer, consumers play these roles in the
decision process.

The roles also vary in different consumption situations; for example, a mother plays the role of an
influencer in a child’s purchase process, whereas she plays the role of a disposer for the products
consumed by the family.

Some selected definitions of consumer behaviour are as follows:


1. According to Engel, Blackwell, and Mansard, ‘consumer behaviour is the actions and decision
processes of people who purchase goods and services for personal consumption’.

2. According to Louden and Bitta, ‘consumer behaviour is the decision process and physical activity,
which individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of goods and services’.

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Nature of Consumer Behaviour:
1. Influenced by various factors:
The various factors that influence the consumer behaviour are as follows:
a. Marketing factors such as product design, price, promotion, packaging, positioning and distribution.

b. Personal factors such as age, gender, education and income level.

c. Psychological factors such as buying motives, perception of the product and attitudes towards the
product.

d. Situational factors such as physical surroundings at the time of purchase, social surroundings and time
factor.

e. Social factors such as social status, reference groups and family.

f. Cultural factors, such as religion, social class—caste and sub-castes.

2. Undergoes a constant change:


Consumer behaviour is not static. It undergoes a change over a period of time depending on the nature of
products. For example, kids prefer colourful and fancy footwear, but as they grow up as teenagers and
young adults, they prefer trendy footwear, and as middle-aged and senior citizens they prefer more sober
footwear. The change in buying behaviour may take place due to several other factors such as increase in
income level, education level and marketing factors.

3. Varies from consumer to consumer:


All consumers do not behave in the same manner. Different consumers behave differently. The
differences in consumer behaviour are due to individual factors such as the nature of the consumers,
lifestyle and culture. For example, some consumers are technoholics. They go on a shopping and spend
beyond their means.

They borrow money from friends, relatives, banks, and at times even adopt unethical means to spend on
shopping of advance technologies. But there are other consumers who, despite having surplus money, do
not go even for the regular purchases and avoid use and purchase of advance technologies.

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4. Varies from region to region and country to county:
The consumer behaviour varies across states, regions and countries. For example, the behaviour of the
urban consumers is different from that of the rural consumers. A good number of rural consumers are
conservative in their buying behaviours.

The rich rural consumers may think twice to spend on luxuries despite having sufficient funds, whereas
the urban consumers may even take bank loans to buy luxury items such as cars and household
appliances. The consumer behaviour may also varies across the states, regions and countries. It may differ
depending on the upbringing, lifestyles and level of development.

5. Information on consumer behaviour is important to the marketers:


Marketers need to have a good knowledge of the consumer behaviour. They need to study the various
factors that influence the consumer behaviour of their target customers.

The knowledge of consumer behaviour enables them to take appropriate marketing decisions in
respect of the following factors:
a. Product design/model

b. Pricing of the product

c. Promotion of the product

d. Packaging

e. Positioning

f. Place of distribution

6. Leads to purchase decision:


A positive consumer behaviour leads to a purchase decision. A consumer may take the decision of buying
a product on the basis of different buying motives. The purchase decision leads to higher demand, and the
sales of the marketers increase. Therefore, marketers need to influence consumer behaviour to increase
their purchases.

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7. Varies from product to product:
Consumer behaviour is different for different products. There are some consumers who may buy more
quantity of certain items and very low or no quantity of other items. For example, teenagers may spend
heavily on products such as cell phones and branded wears for snob appeal, but may not spend on general
and academic reading. A middle- aged person may spend less on clothing, but may invest money in
savings, insurance schemes, pension schemes, and so on.

8. Improves standard of living:


The buying behaviour of the consumers may lead to higher standard of living. The more a person buys the
goods and services, the higher is the standard of living. But if a person spends less on goods and services,
despite having a good income, they deprives themselves of higher standard of living.

9. Reflects status:
The consumer behaviour is not only influenced by the status of a consumer, but it also reflects it. The
consumers who own luxury cars, watches and other items are considered belonging to a higher status. The
luxury items also give a sense of pride to the owners.

Who is a consumer?

An individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale. A
consumer is someone who can make the decision whether or not to purchase an item at the store, and
someone who can be influenced by marketing and advertisements. Any time someone goes to a store
and purchases a toy, shirt, beverage, or anything else, they are making that decision as a consumer.

Factor Affecting Consumer Behaviour

The consumer behaviour or buyer behaviour is influenced by several factors or forces. They are: 1.
Internal or Psychological factors 2. Social factors 3. Cultural factors 4. Economic factors 5. Personal
factors:

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1. Internal or psychological factors:
The buying behaviour of consumers is influenced by a number of internal or psychological factors. The
most important ones Motivation and Perception.

a) Motivation:
A need becomes a motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of intensity. A motive is a need that is
sufficiently pressing to drive the person to act. There can be of types of needs:

1. Biogenic needs:
They arise from physiological states of tension such as thirst, hunger

2. Psychogenic needs:
They arise from psychological states of tension such as needs for recognition, esteem

In the words of William J Stanton, “A motive can be defined as a drive or an urge for which an individual
seeks satisfaction. It becomes a buying motive when the individual seeks satisfaction through the purchase
of something”. A motive is an inner urge (or need) that moves a person to take purchase action to satisfy
two kinds of wants viz. core wants and secondary wants.

b) Perception:
Human beings have considerably more than five senses. Apart from the basic five (touch, taste, smell,
sight, hearing) there are senses of direction, the sense of balance, a clear knowledge of which way is
down, and so forth. Each sense is feeding information to the brain constantly, and the amount of
information being collected would seriously overload the system if one took it all in. The brain therefore
selects from the environment around the individual and cuts out the extraneous noise.

In effect, the brain makes automatic decisions as to what is relevant and what is not. Even though there
may be many things happening around you, you are unaware of most of them; in fact, experiments have
shown that some information is filtered out by the optic nerve even before it gets to the brain. People
quickly learn to ignore extraneous noises: for example, as a visitor to someone else’s home you may be
sharply aware of a loudly ticking clock, whereas your host may be entirely used to it, and unaware of it
except when making a conscious effort to check that the clock is still running.
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Therefore the information entering the brain does not provide a complete view of the world around you.
When the individual constructs a world-view, she then assembles the remaining information to map what
is happening in the outside world. Any gaps (and there will, of course, be plenty of these) will be filled in
with imagination and experience. The cognitive map is therefore not a ‘photograph’; it is a construct of
the imagination. This mapping will be affected by the following factors:

1. Subjectivity:
This is the existing world-view within the individual, and is unique to that individual.

2. Categorization:
This is the ‘pigeonholing’ of information, and the pre-judging of events and products. This can happen
through a process known as chunking, whereby the individual organizes information into chunks of
related items. For example, a picture seen while a particular piece of music is playing might be chunked
as one item in the memory, so that sight of the picture evokes the music and vice versa.

3. Selectivity:
This is the degree to which the brain is selecting from the environment. It is a function of how much is
going on around the individual, and also of how selective (concentrated) the individual is on the current
task. Selectivity is also subjective: some people are a great deal more selective than others.

4. Expectation:
These lead individuals to interpret later information in a specific way. For example, look at this series of
numbers and letters:

In fact, the number 13 appears in both series, but in the first series it would be interpreted as a В because
that is what the brain is being led to expect, (The В in Matura Ml Script looks like this. B)

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5. Past experience:
This leads us to interpret later experience in the light of what we already know. Psychologists call this the
law of primacy, Sometimes sights, smells or sounds from our past will trigger off inappropriate responses:
the smell of bread baking may recall a village bakery from twenty years ago, but in fact the smell could
have been artificially generated by an aerosol spray near the supermarket bread counter.

An example of cognitive mapping as applied to perception of product quality might run as follows.

The consumer uses the input selector to select clues and assign values to them. For quality, the cues are
typically price, brand name and retailer name. There are strong positive relationships between price and
quality in most consumers’ perceptions, and brand name and quality; although the retailer name is less
significant, it still carries some weight.

2. Social factors:
Man is a social animal. Hence, our behaviour patterns, likes and dislikes are influenced by the people
around us to a great extent. We always seek confirmation from the people around us and seldom do things
that are not socially acceptable. The social factors influencing consumer behaviour are a) Family, b)
Reference Groups, c) Roles and status.

a) Family:
There are two types of families in the buyer’s life viz. nuclear family and Joint family. Nuclear family is
that where the family size is small and individuals have higher liberty to take decisions whereas in joint
families, the family size is large and group decision-making gets more preference than individual. Family
members can strongly influence the buyer behaviour, particularly in the Indian contest. The tastes, likes,
dislikes, life styles etc. of the members are rooted in the family buying behaviour.

The family influence on the buying behaviour of a member may be found in two ways

i) The family influence on the individual personality, characteristics, attitudes and evaluation criteria and

ii) The influence on the decision-making process involved in the purchase of goods and services. In India,
the head of the family may alone or jointly with his wife decides the purchase. So marketers should study
the role and the relative influence of the husband, wife and children in the purchase of goods and services.

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An individual normally lives through two families:

Family of orientation:
This is the family in which a person takes birth. The influences of parents and individual’s upbringing
have a strong effect on the buying habits. For instance, an individual coming form an orthodox Tamil or
Gujarati vegetarian family may not consume meat or egg even though she may appreciate its nutritional
values.

Family of procreation:
This is the family formed by an individual with his or her spouse and children. Normally, after marriage,
an individual’s purchasing habits and priorities change under the influence of spouse. As the marriage
gets older, the people usually settle in certain roles. For instance, a father normally takes decisions on
investment whereas the mother takes decision on health of children.

From a marketing viewpoint, the level of demand for many products is dictated more by the number of
households than by the number of families. The relevance of families to marketing is therefore much more
about consumer behaviour than about consumer demand levels .In terms of its function as a reference
group, the family is distinguished by the following characteristics:

i. Face-to-face contact:
Family members see each other every day and interact as advisers, information providers and sometimes
deciders. Other reference groups rarely have this level of contact.

ii. Shared consumption:


Durables such as refrigerators, washing machines, televisions and furniture are shared, and food is
collectively purchased and cooked. Purchase of these items is often collective; children even participate in
decision making on such major purchases as cars and houses.

iii. Subordination of individual nee:


Because consumption is shared, some family members will find that the solution chosen is not one that
fully meets their needs.
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iv. Purchasing agent:
Because of the shared consumption, most families will have one member who does most, or all of the
shopping. Traditionally, this has been the mother of the family, but increasingly the purchasing agents are
the older children of the family and even pre-teens are sometimes taking over this role.

The reason for this is the increase in the number of working mothers who have less time for shopping.
This has major implications for marketers, since pre-teens and young teens generally watch more TV than
adults and are therefore more open to marketing communications.

Role specialisation is critical in family decision making because of the sheer number of different products
that must be bought each year in order to keep the family supplied. What this means in practice is that, for
example, the family member responsible for doing the cooking is also likely to take the main
responsibility for shopping for food. The family member who does the most driving is likely to make the
main decision about the car and its accessories, servicing, fuelling and so forth; the family gardener buys
the gardening products, and so on.

Culture has a marked effect on family decision-making styles. Religion and nationality will often affect
the way decisions are made. Indian cultures tend to be male dominated in decision-making, whereas
European and North American cultures show a more egalitarian pattern of decision-making.

There are two issues here for the marketer: first, what is the effect on the marketing mix of the multiethnic
society like in India; and secondly, what is the effect when dealing internationally? This is a somewhat
sensitive area and the marketers are still getting to grips with.

Social class creates patterns of decision-making. Among very wealthy families, there appears to be a
greater tendency for the husbands to make the decisions, but at the same time the norms of purchase tend
to be well established and therefore discussion is unnecessary.

Lower-class families, with low incomes, tend to be more matriarchal, with the wives often handling the
financial decisions about rent, insurance, grocery and food bills without reference to the husbands.
Middle-class families tend to show greater democratic involvement in decision-making. These social class
distinctions are gradually breaking down, however, as a result of increasing wealth and mass education.

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The family may well adopt different roles according to the decision-making stage. At the problem
recognition stage of, for example, the need for new shoes for the children, the children themselves may be
the main contributors. The mother may then decide what type of shoes should be bought, and the father
may be the one who takes the children to buy the shoes. It is reasonable to suppose that the main user of
the product might be important in the initial stages, with perhaps joint decision making at the final
purchase.

Other determinants might include such factors as whether both parents are earning. The double income
families generally take decisions jointly because each has a financial stake in the outcome. Gender role
orientation is clearly crucial to decision making. Husbands (and wives) with conservative views about
gender roles will tend towards the assumption that most decisions about expenditure will be made by the
husband. Even within this type of decision-making system, however, husbands will usually adjust their
own views to take account of their wife’s attitudes and needs.

Influence of children on buying decisions:


First-born children generate more economic impact than higher-order babies. First-born and only children
have a higher achievement rate than their siblings, and since the birth rate is falling, there are more of
them proportionally. More and more couples are choosing to have only one child and families larger than
two children are becoming a rarity. Childlessness is also more common now than it was 30 years ago.

Children also have a role in applying pressure to their parents to make particular purchasing decisions.
The level of ‘pester power’ generated can be overwhelming, and parents will frequently give in to the
child’s demands. This is substantiated by the spurt of cartoon channels like Cartoon Network, Pogo, Nick,
Animax, Hungama or Splash, all of which depend on the advertisements of all possible products in which
children have their influence over their parents. Although the number of children is steadily declining,
their importance as consumers is not. Apart from the direct purchases of things that children need, they
influence decision making to a marked extent. Children’s development as consumers goes through five
stages:

1. Observing

2. Making requests

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3. Making selections

4. Making assisted purchases

5. Making independent purchases

Recent research has shown that pre-teens and young teens have a greater influence on family shopping
choices than do the parents themselves, for these reasons:

i. Often they do the shopping anyway, because both parents are working and the children have the
available time to go to the shops.

ii. They watch more TV, so are more influenced by advertising and more knowledgeable about products.

iii. They tend to be more attuned to consumer issues, and have the time to shop around tor.

b) Reference group:
A group is two or more persons who share a set of norms and whose relationship makes their behaviour
interdependent. A reference group is a group of people with whom an individual associates. It is a group
of people who strongly influence a person’s attitudes values and behaviour directly or indirectly.
Reference groups fall into many possible grouping, which are not necessarily to be exhaustive (i.e. non
over-lapping). The various reference groups are:

i) Membership or contractual groups:


They are those groups to which the person belongs, and interacts. These groups have a direct influence on
their member’s behaviour.

ii) Primary or normative groups:


They refer to groups of friends, family members, neighbours co-workers etc whom we see most often. In
this case, there is fairly continuous or regular, but informal interaction with cohesiveness and mutual
participation, which result in similar beliefs and behaviour within the group.

iii) Secondary groups:

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They include religious groups, professional groups etc, which are composed of people whom we see
occasionally. These groups are less influential in shaping attitudes and controlling behaviour but can exert
influence on behaviour within the purview of the subject of mutual interest. For example, you can be
member of a philately or literary club where you can discuss on mutually interesting subjects.

iv) Aspiration group:


These are group to which a person would like to join as member. These groups can be very powerful in
influencing behaviour because the individual will often adopt the behaviour of the aspirational group in
the hopes of being accepted as a member. Sometimes the aspirational groups are better off financially, or
will be more powerful; the desire join such groups is usually classed as ambition.

For example, a humble office worker may dream of one day having the designation to be present in the
company boardroom. Advertising commonly uses images of aspirational groups, implying that the use of
a particular product will move the individual a little closer to being a member of an aspirational group.
Just consider Nokia 6230 ad campaign where an young man with Nokia mobile is shown to be capable to
go the top position in the company, thus instigating you to use the same model in order to join the same
aspirational group.

v) Dissociative or avoidance groups:


These are groups whose value an individual rejects and the individual does not want to be associated with.
For example, a senior corporate executive does not want to be taken as a teenager. Hence, the individual
will try to avoid certain products or behaviours rather than be taken for somebody from the dissociative
group. In the just given example, the executive may not use cigarette, perfume or car, which are very
much teenager-oriented. Like aspirational groups, the definition of a group as dissociative is purely
subjective and it varies from one individual to the next.

vi) Formal groups:


These groups have a known list of members, very often recorded somewhere. An example might be a
professional association, or a club. Usually the rules and structure of the group are laid down in writing.
There are rules for membership and members’ behaviour is constrained while they remain part of the
group.

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However, the constraints usually apply only to fairly limited areas of behaviour; for example, the
association of Chartered Accountants (CA) or the Cost Accountants have laid down the codes of practice
for their members in their professional dealings, but has no interest in what its members do as private
citizens. Membership of such groups may confer special privileges, such as job advancement or use of
club facilities, or may only lead to responsibilities in the furtherance of the group’s aims.

vii) Informal groups:


These are less structured, and are typically based on friendship. An example would be an individual’s
circle of friends, which only exists for mutual moral support, company and sharing experiences. Although
there can be even greater pressure to conform than would be the case to a formal group, there is nothing in
writing.

Often informal groups expect a more rigorous standard of behaviour across a wider range of activities that
would a formal group; such circles of friends are likely to develop rules of behaviour and traditions that
are more binding than written rules.

viii) Automatic groups:


These are those groups, to which one belongs by virtue of age, gender, culture or education. These are
sometimes also called category groups. Although at first sight it would appear that these groups would not
exert much influence on the members’ behaviour, because they are groups, which have not been joined
voluntarily, it seems that people are influenced by group pressure to conform. For example, when buying
clothes, older people are reluctant to look like a teenager and hence they normally do not buy jeans.

ix) Indirect groups:


In this case, the customers are not in direct contact with the influencers. For example, a film star like Shah
Rukh Khan pitches for Santro car, it obviously has a deep influence over the blind fans.

x) Comparative groups:
The members of this group are those with whom you compare yourself. For example, you may compare
yourself with your brother or sister (sibling rivalry) or the colleagues and try to emulate by possessing
some unique products or brands like Modava watch or Christian Dior perfume.

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xi) Contactual group:
The group with which we are in regular contacts like college friends, office colleagues.

c) Roles and status:


A person participates in many groups like family, clubs, and organisations. The person’s position in each
group can be defined in tern of role and status. A role consists of the activities that a person is expected to
perform. Each role carries a status. People choose products that communicate their role and status in
society. Marketers must be aware of the status symbol potential of products and brands.

3. Cultural factors:
Kotler observed that human behaviour is largely the result of a learning process and as such individuals
grow up learning a set of values, perceptions, preferences and behaviour patterns as the result of
socialisation both within the family and a series of other key institutions. From this we develop a set of
values, which determine and drive behavioural patterns to a very large extent.

According to Schiffman and Kanuk, values include achievement, success, efficiency, progress, material
comfort, practicality, individualism, freedom, humanitarianism, youthfulness and practicality. This broad
set of values is then influenced by the subcultures like nationality groups, religious groups, racial groups
and geographical areas, all of which exhibit degrees of difference in ethnic taste, cultural preferences,
taboos, attitudes and lifestyle.

The influence of subcultures is subsequently affected by social stratification or social class, which acts as
a determinant of behaviour. Social class is determined by a series of variables such as occupation, income,
education and values rather than by a single variable. People within a particular social class are more
similar than those from different social classes, but they can move from one social class to other in due
time and circumstances.

Cultural factors consist of a) Culture, b) Sub culture and c) Social class.

a) Culture:
Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s want and behaviour. The growing child
acquires a set of values, perception preferences and behaviours through his or her family and other key
institutions. Culture influences considerably the pattern of consumption and the pattern of decision-

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making. Marketers have to explore the cultural forces and have to frame marketing strategies for each
category of culture separately to push up the sales of their products or services. But culture is not
permanent and changes gradually and such changes are progressively assimilated within society.

Culture is a set of beliefs and values that are shared by most people within a group. The groupings
considered under culture are usually relatively large, but at least in theory a culture can be shared by a few
people. Culture is passed on from one group member to another, and in particular is usually passed down
from one generation to the next; it is learned, and is therefore both subjective and arbitrary.

For example, food is strongly linked to culture. While fish is regarded as a delicacy in Bengal, and the
Bengalis boast of several hundred different varieties, in Gujarat. Rajastan or Tamil Naru, fish is regarded
as mostly unacceptable food item. These differences in tastes are explained by the culture rather than by
some random differences in taste between individuals; the behaviours are shared by people from a
particular cultural background.

Language is also particularly culturally based. Even when a language is shared across cultures, there will
be differences according to the local culture; differences between Hindi accents and choice of words of
various places like Mumbai, Delhi or Bihar are clearly understandable.

While cultural generalities such as these are interesting and useful, it would be dangerous to make
assumptions about individuals from other countries based on the kind of general findings in Hofstede’s
work. Individuals from within a culture differ more than do the cultures from each other: in other words,
the most individualistic Indian is a great deal more individualistic than the most conformist American.
Having said that, such generalisations are useful when approaching mass markets and are widely used
when planning mass advertising campaigns such as TV commercials.

Culture can change over a period of time, although such changes tend to be slow, since culture is deeply
built into people’s behaviour. From a marketing viewpoint, therefore, it is probably much easier to work
within a given culture than to try to change it.

b) Sub-Culture:
Each culture consists of smaller sub-cultures that provide more specific identification and socialisation for
their members. Sub-culture refers to a set of beliefs shared by a subgroup of the main culture, which

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include nationalities, religions, racial groups and geographic regions. Many sub-Cultures make up
important market segments and marketers have to design products and marketing programs tailored to
their needs.

Although this subgroup will share most of the beliefs of the main culture, they share among themselves
another set of beliefs, which may be at odds with those held by the main group. For example, Indians are
normally seen as orthodox, conservative people, but rich, up-market youths do not hesitate to enjoy night
parties with liquor and women. Another example is that, the urban educated or upper class exhibits more
trace of individualism although Indian culture is mostly collective in nature.

c) Social class:
Consumer behaviour is determined by the social class to which they belong. The classification of
socioeconomic groups is known as Socio-Economic Classification (SEC). Social class is relatively a
permanent and ordered division in a society whose members share similar value, interest and behaviour.
Social class is not determined by a single factor, such as income but it is measured as a combination of
various factors, such as income, occupation, education, authority, power, property, ownership, life styles,
consumption, pattern etc.

There are three different social classes in our society. They are upper class, middle class and lower class.
These three social classes differ in their buying behaviour. Upper class consumers want high-class goods
to maintain their status in the society. Middle class consumers purchase carefully and collect information
to compare different producers in the same line and lower class consumers buy on impulse.

Again there could be education considerations. A rich but not so educated people will not normally buy a
computer. We should consider another factor of social mobility where a person gets up in the social ladder
(for example, poor can become middle class and middle class become rich or the children of uneducated
family can attain higher education) or down in the social ladder (for example, rich can become poor or the
children of a highly educated family may not continue study).

Therefore marketing managers are required to study carefully the relationship between social classes and
their consumption pattern and take appropriate measures to appeal to the people of those social classes for
whom their products are meant.

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4. Economic Factors:
Consumer behaviour is influenced largely by economic factors. Economic factors that influence consumer
behaviour are

a) Personal Income,

b) Family income,

c) Income expectations,

d) Savings,

e) Liquid assets of the Consumer,

f) Consumer credit,

g) Other economic factors.

a) Personal Income:
The personal income of a person is determinant of his buying behaviour. The gross personal income of a
person consists of disposable income and discretionary income. The disposable personal income refers to
the actual income (i.e. money balance) remaining at the disposal of a person after deducting taxes and
compulsorily deductible items from the gross income. An increase in the disposable income leads to an
increase in the expenditure on various items. A fall in the disposable income, on the other hand, leads to a
fall in the expenditure on various items.

The discretionary personal income refers to the balance remaining after meeting basic necessaries of life.
This income is available for the purchase of shopping goods, durable goods and luxuries. An increase in
the discretionary income leads to an increase in the expenditure on shopping goods, luxuries etc. which
improves the standard of living of a person.

b) Family income:
Family income refers to the aggregate income of all the members of a family.

22
Family income influences the buying behaviour of the family. The surplus family income, remaining after
the expenditure on the basic needs of the family, is made available for buying shopping goods, durables
and luxuries.

c) Income Expectations:
Income expectations are one of the important determinants of the buying behaviour of an individual. If he
expects any increase in his income, he is tempted to spend more on shopping goods, durable goods and
luxuries. On the other hand, if he expects any fall in his future income, he will curtail his expenditure on
comforts and luxuries and restrict his expenditure to bare necessities.

d) Savings:
Savings also influence the buying behaviour of an individual. A change in the amount of savings leads to
a change in the expenditure of an individual. If a person decides to save more out of his present income,
he will spend less on comforts and luxuries.

e) Liquid assets:
Liquid assets refer to those assets, which can be converted into cash quickly without any loss. Liquid
assets include cash in hand, bank balance, marketable securities etc If an individual has more liquid assets,
he goes in for buying comforts and luxuries. On the other hand, if he has less liquid assets, he cannot
spend more on buying comforts and luxuries.

f) Consumer credit:
Consumer credit refers to the credit facility available to the consumers desirous of purchasing durable
comforts and luxuries. It is made available by the sellers, either directly or indirect у through banks and
other financial institutions. Hire purchase, installment purchase, direct bank loans etc are the ways by
which credit is made available to the consumers.

Consumer credit influences consumer behaviour. If more consumer credit is available on liberal terms,
expenditure on comforts and luxuries increases, as it induces consumers to purchase these goods, and
raise their living standard.

g) Other economic factor:


Other economic factors like business cycles, inflation, etc. also influence the consumer behaviour.

23
5. Personal factor:
Personal factors also influence buyer behaviour. The important personal factors, which influence buyer
behaviour, are a) Age, b) Occupation, c) Income and d) Life Style

a) Age:
Age of a person is one of the important personal factors influencing buyer behaviour. People buy different
products at their different stages of cycle. Their taste, preference, etc also change with change in life
cycle.

b) Occupation:
Occupation or profession of a person influences his buying behaviour. The life styles and buying
considerations and decisions differ widely according to the nature of the occupation. For instance, the
buying of a doctor can be easily differentiated from that of a lawyer, teacher, clerk businessman, landlord,
etc. So, the marketing managers have to design different marketing strategies suit the buying motives of
different occupational groups.

c) Income:
Income level of people is another factor which can exert influence in shaping the consumption pattern.
Income is an important source of purchasing power. So, buying pattern of people differs with different
levels of income.

d) Life Style:
Life style to a person’s pattern or way of living as expressed in his activity, interests and opinions that
portrays the “whole person” interacting with the environment. Marketing managers have to design
different marketing strategies to suit the life styles of the consumers.

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1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
 To analyze the consumer satisfaction for Ramaply Wood products
 To analyze the key factor, play an important role in consumer buying behaviour
 To study whether customers are satisfied with staff and services or not
 Identifying possible area of improvement
 To know the status of different offers

25
1.3Need of the study

1. Modern Philosophy:
It concerns with modern marketing philosophy – identify consumers’ needs and satisfy them more
effectively than competitors. It makes marketing consumer-oriented. It is the key to succeed.

2. Achievement of Goals:
The key to a company’s survival, profitability, and growth in a highly competitive marketing environment
is its ability to identify and satisfy unfulfilled consumer needs better and sooner than the competitors.
Thus, consumer behaviour helps in achieving marketing goals.

3. Useful for Dealers and Salesmen:


The study of consumer behaviour is not useful for the company alone. Knowledge of consumer behaviour
is equally useful for middlemen and salesmen to perform their tasks effectively in meeting consumers
needs and wants successfully. Consumer behaviour, thus, improves performance of the entire distribution
system.

4. More Relevant Marketing Program:


Marketing program, consisting of product, price, promotion, and distribution decisions, can be prepared
more objectively. The program can be more relevant if it is based on the study of consumer behaviour.
Meaningful marketing program is instrumental in realizing marketing goals.

5. Adjusting Marketing Program over Time:


Consumer behaviour studies the consumer response pattern on a continuous basis. So, a marketer can
easily come to know the changes taking place in the market. Based on the current market trend, the
marketer can make necessary changes in marketing program to adjust with the market.

6. Predicting Market Trend:


Consumer behaviour can also aid in projecting the future market trends. Marketer finds enough time to
prepare for exploiting the emerging opportunities, and/or facing challenges and threats.

7. Consumer Differentiation:

26
Market exhibits considerable differentiations. Each segment needs and wants different products. For every
segment, a separate marketing program is needed. Knowledge of consumer differentiation is a key to fit
marking offers with different groups of buyers. Consumer behaviour study supplies the details about
consumer differentiations.

8. Creation and Retention of Consumers:


Marketers who base their offerings on recognition of consumer needs find a ready market for their
products. Company finds it easy to sell its products. In the same way, the company, due to continuous
study of consumer behaviour and attempts to meet changing expectations of the buyers, can retain its
consumers for a long period.

9. Competition:
Consumer behaviour study assists in facing competition, too. Based on consumers’ expectations, more
competitive advantages can be offered. It is useful in improving competitive strengths of the company.

10. Developing New Products:


New product is developed in respect of needs and wants of the target market. In order to develop the best-
fit product, a marketer must know adequately about the market. Thus, the study of consumer behaviour is
the base for developing a new product successfully.

11. Dynamic Nature of Market:


Consumer behaviour focuses on dynamic nature of the market. It helps the manager to be dynamic, alert,
and active in satisfying consumers better and sooner than competitors. Consumer behaviour is
indispensable to watch movements of the markets.

12. Effective Use of Productive Resources:


The study of consumer behaviour assists the manager to make the organizational efforts consumer-
oriented. It ensures an exact use of resources for achieving maximum efficiency. Each unit of resources
can contribute maximum to objectives.

It is to be mentioned that the study of consumer behaviour is not only important for the current sales, but
also helps in capturing the future market. Consumer behaviour assumes: Take care of consumer needs, the
consumers, in return, will take care of your needs. Most of problems can be reasonably solved by the

27
study of consumer behaviour. Modern marketing practice is almost impossible without the study of
consumer behaviour.

1.4 Limitations Of Study

 Sample size: the number of the units of analysis you use in your study is dictated by the type of research
problem you are investigating. Note that, if your sample size is too small, it will be difficult to find
significant relationships from the data, as statistical tests normally require a larger sample size to ensure a
representative distribution of the population and to be considered representative of groups of people to
whom results will be generalized or transferred. Note that sample size is less relevant in qualitative
research.
 Lack of available and/or reliable data: a lack of data or of reliable data will likely require you to limit
the scope of your analysis, the size of your sample, or it can be a significant obstacle in finding a trend
and a meaningful relationship. You need to not only describe these limitations but to offer reasons why
you believe data is missing or is unreliable. However, don’t just throw up your hands in frustration; use
this as an opportunity to describe the need for future research.
 Lack of prior research studies on the topic: citing prior research studies forms the basis of your
literature review and helps lay a foundation for understanding the research problem you are investigating.
Depending on the currency or scope of your research topic, there may be little, if any, prior research on
your topic.
 Measure used to collect the data: sometimes it is the case that, after completing your interpretation of
the findings, you discover that the way in which you gathered data inhibited your ability to conduct a
thorough analysis of the results. For example, you regret not including a specific question in a survey that,
in retrospect, could have helped address a particular issue that emerged later in the study. Acknowledge
the deficiency by stating a need for future researchers to revise the specific method for gathering data.
 Self-reported data: whether you are relying on pre-existing data or you are conducting a qualitative
research study and gathering the data yourself, self-reported data is limited by the fact that it rarely can be
independently verified. In other words, you have to take what people say, whether in interviews, focus
groups, or on questionnaires, at face value. However, self-reported data can contain several potential
sources of bias that you should be alert to and note as limitations. These biases become apparent if they
are incongruent with data from other sources. These are: (1) selective memory [remembering or not
remembering experiences or events that occurred at some point in the past]; (2) telescoping [recalling

28
events that occurred at one time as if they occurred at another time]; (3) attribution [the act of attributing
positive events and outcomes to one's own agency but attributing negative events and outcomes to
external forces]; and, (4) exaggeration [the act of representing outcomes or embellishing events as more
significant than is actually suggested from other data].

29
CHAPTER -2

30
PROFILE OF ORGANIZATION

2. RAMA GROUP AT A GLANCE

The Rama group was established in year 1973 and has carved out a remarkable place amongst customers
throughout the nation with their sincere tenacious and arduous efforts to provide an excellent quality
product and service to their customers ranging from the field of Timber, Plywood to Steel. The diversified
Rama Group comprises of the following:

Rama Panels Pvt Ltd:

Situated at Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) is a Leading manufacturer of Film Face Plywood, Block Board & all
kind of Flush door etc.

Ramaply Ltd:

A Plywood unit situated in Satna (M.P.) is a manufacturers of Film Face Plywood, Block Board & all
kind of Flush door.

Jagdamba Saw Mill:

Dealing in all kinds of Timber viz. Hardwood, Salwood, Pinewood, Teak wood, Bamboo, Ballies and
Door frames etc.

Ramkumar Sureshkumar:

"Trading division of Rama Group" an authorized dealer of M/s Steel Authority of India Ltd. and also Re-
Rollable Reinforcement and Structural Steel manufactured by 'A' class Rolling Mills/Conversion Agents
of 'SAIL/TATA'

RKSK Steel India Ltd:

Deals in Reinforcement and Structural Steel manufactured by "A" class steel plants, Rolling mills,
conversion agent of SAIL/TATA.

31
Rama Power & Steel Pvt. Ltd.

Rama Power & Steel Pvt. Ltd. produces and supplies excellent quality of it's own products and related
services throughout the nation. The group of company has been serving its customers. Rama Power &
Steel Pvt. Ltd. has always taken best and utmost care of our customer’s satisfaction rather than taking care
of our profits.

2.1 COMPANY PROFILE (SINCE 1996)

Rama Wood Craft

Rama Wood Craft is an ISO 9001:2000 certified company that has stood by its mission of serving society
through industry. We are based in Satna, Madhya Pradesh and produce different products, having a wide
range consisting of different grades of plywood, block boards, flush doors and particle board.

Rama Panels Private Limited

Rama Panels is a company that has a new modern plant in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand and enjoys advantages
such as highly modernized machinery, expansive infrastructure and proximity to raw materials. The unit
is ISO 9001:2000 certified and is well reputed in the industry for its efficiency.

2.2 PRODUCTS

 1. BWP Marine Plywood IS :710


 2. BWP Fire Retardant Marine Plywood IS:710 & 15061/5509
 3. BWR & MR Plywood IS :303
 4. Teak Plywood IS :1328
 5. BWP & MR block board IS: 1659
 6. Shuttering Plywood IS : 4990
 7. Automotive Grade Plywood (Transport sector)

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2.3 OUR TEAM

‘Hard work beats talent, when talent does not work hard’
We at Ramaply believe in this. That is why our team consists of:-
-Highly qualified professionalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
-Well experiencedlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
-Average tenure with Ramaply of more than 10 years

2.4 VISION & MISSION

We have a strong belief in integrity ad hard word. Our vision is to be global player in the interior
infrastructure industry by producing an incredible range of world-class products, while supporting every
life we touch from within. Our dynamic organization is constantly committed to our mission of creating
an organization where innovation who take pride in being a leader. We are continuously fuelling the spirit
of producing best quality products at affordable prices which will help in winning the trust of our
customers.

2.5 Supporting Life through Infrastructure

Touching lives is not a simple task. It needs infrastructure of the highest order to produce plywood that
will support life through and through.
We are the proud owners of two well establish state-of-the-art factories in Satna and Rudrapur. Spread
across acres of land, our facility is equipped with most modern machinery in order to sustain the quality
standards.

33
Our units use machinery of international standards. Some of them are:

1. In-house Intermediate products manufacturing facilities:

 Fully fledged veneering unit.


 Impregnation plant for phenolic film
 Saw Mills units.
 Complete block board unit
 Glue kettle and glue mixture.
 Auto block board core composer

2. Finishingv & Marking:

 Auto controlled chain D.D.Saw.


 Auto controlled segmented wide belt sanding machine.
 Auto controlled wide belt calibrator.
 Domino printing machine.

3. Seasoning Treatment Processing Facilities:

 Mechanical roller jet driers.


 Computerized and auto controlled seasoning chambers.
 Vacuum Pressure Impregnation plant.
 Tender sing machines.

4. State of art, well equipped, most-modern lab and all testing facilities.

 Handing Facilities:
 Auto loader and unloader in all machines.
 Many other latest handing equipments like fork lift, scissor lift, cranes etc.
34
5 .Pressing & Assemble:

 Heavy cold presses (pre-presses)


 Many types of most modern hot presses.
 Glues spreaders
 Auto core-composer.

6. Utilities:

 Latestand auto controlled steam boilers and thermic fluid heaters.


 Cooling Towers.
 Compress or etc

35
CHAPTER -3

36
RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY

3.1 RESEARCH
Research is a scientific and systematic search for various information about a specific topic. It is just like
a search for truth and knowledge. The English Dictionary meaning of Research is “a careful investigation
or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.” information about a
subject can be collected by deliberate effort and it is presented in a new form after analyzing thoroughly
in research work.

Research is an academic activity. It is a movement from the known to the unknown, which may be called
a discovery. Different definitions of research are given by the expert

Marketing Research:
Marketing research serves the purpose of ‘intelligence wing of the marketing management. Its scope is
very broad as compared to market- research. It is concerned with collection of market information
systematically and impartially, analysis and evaluation of relevant data and use such data for the benefit of
the organization.

It is a careful and objective study of various areas of marketing activities. What, when, where and how to
sell the end product and the services are four questions to which the marketing research wing provides an
answer.

Thus, market research and marketing research are different from each other. Market research is a narrow
concept whereas marketing research is a broad one and its scope is much wider.

Marketing research tries to find out what the consumers, (the men and women who constitute the market)
think and want. It keeps us in touch with the consumers, minds and to study their likes and dislikes.

37
Marketing research also aims at knowing the quantum of competition prevalent in the market about the
product in question. The company may need reliable information about competitor’s moves and strategies
which are of immense significance for further planning.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is a broad plan that states objectives of research project and provides the guidelines
what is to be done to realize those objectives. It is, in other words, a master plan for executing a research
project.

Research design used in this project

Descriptive research design is typically concerned with describing problem and its solution. It is more
specific and purposive study. Before rigorous attempts are made for descriptive study, the well-defined
problem must be on hand. Descriptive study rests on one or more hypotheses.

For example, “our brand is not much familiar,” “sales volume is stable,” etc. It is more precise and
specific. Unlike exploratory research, it is not flexible. Descriptive research requires clear specification of
who, why, what, when, where, and how of the research. Descriptive design is directed to answer these
problems.

3.3 SOURCES & METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

Sources of data collection state the various sources of data from where we collect the information’s for the
comparative analysis.

The sources of data can be categorized in two parts:

1. Internal sources of Data – Such as the information generated by the organization itself.
2. External Sources of Data – Such as the information generated by outside the organization. It can be
further divided into :
a. Primary Data
b. Secondary Data

38
For the overall research design, the data collection method and analysis procedures, I did my survey in
Satna (M.P.). For data collection it was scheduled prior to survey work, like whom to get feedback.
The primary and secondary sources of data collection were:

 Universe - Finite
 Sampling unit - The sample unit consist the consumer, carpenter
and dealer of plywood products
 Data collection:
1. Primary Data
 Questionnaire
 Interview
2. Secondary Data
 Journals
 Company’s report
 Company’s Website
 Internet
 Size of the sample - 100
 Research Design - Descriptive
 Region - Satna (M.P.)
 Sampling method - Conveyance

39
CHAPTER -4

40
LITRETURE REVIEW

4.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

Consumer Behaviour Christopher (1989) studied the shopping habits of consumers to form an idea of
whether or not the store concepts, product ranges and strategies of the companies are appropriate towards
consumer requirements. He believed that consumer behaviours are unpredictable and changing
continuously changing; while trying to under try to understand how individual or group make their
decision to spend their available resources on consumption-related items. These are factors that influence
the consumer before, during, and after a purchase (Schiffiman and Kanuk, 1997), for example, feedback,
from other customers, packing, advertising, product appearance, and price (Peter & Olsonetc, 2005).

The essence of this approach is critical for organizational success, so that they can have a better
understanding of their customer behaviours (Solomon et al., 2006). The physical action or behaviour of
consumer and their buying decision every day can be measured directly by marketers (Papanastassiu and
Rouhani, 2006). For that reason many organisations these days are spending lot of their resources to
research how consumer makes their buying decision, what they buy, how much they buy, when they buy,
and where they buy (Kotler, Amstrong, 2001). To get a well coherent result, organisations normally
looked at these behaviour base their analysis on difference conceptions; whether customers buying
behaviour were measured from different perspectives, such as product quality and better service, lower
price structured etc (Papanastassiu and Rouhani, 2006)

Different theories and researchers have claimed that when organisation fully meet all aspects of its
customer needs, the result enhances their profitability (Chaudhuri, 2006), and also enable them to develop
a better tackling strategies for consumer (Asseal, 1998). Possibly, the most challenging concept in
marketing deals with the understanding why buyers do what they do and what method or philosophy are
they using to evaluate the product after the transactions and what might be the effect on future transaction
(Schiffman, 2004). The reason why marketer chooses to learning about consumers” buying behaviour is,
from a business perspective; to be able to be more effectively reach consumers and increase the chances
for success (Sargeant & West, 2001). Therefore the field of consumer behaviour has take a tremendous

41
turn in the commercial world and became the fundamental concepts of achieving company goal
(Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007).

More recently, different researchers and author have given their definition and meaning of consumer
behaviour. For Michael R. Solomon (2001) consumer behaviours typically analyse the processes of group
selected or individual purchases/dispose of product, service, concept or experiences to satisfy their need
and desires. Additionally, Kotler (1996) suggested that consumer behaviours have a huge impact in a firm
marketing decision making process every year. There is a risk that what a consumer does will inflict on
his or her behaviour and generate consequences. (Snoj, Pisnik Koda & Mumel, 2004). The user and the
purchaser can be different person, in some cases; another person may be an influencer providing
recommendations for or against certain products without actually buying or using them (Solomon 1999;
Solomon et al. 1999).

In this case, most of the large consumer electronics retailers tend to gathered more information about
customers motivating factors and what influences their buying behaviours Solomon & Stuart (2000).

To get in-depth understanding consumer behaviour concepts will gives us an idea on how its plays
significance role in our life and in the whole trend of business profit to various firms which will allow the
researcher to get the analysis and determine product positioning, develop the message and targeting
strategy in order to reach to the market (Holskins J, 2002). Consumer behaviour involves lot aspects, such
as;

Complex Buying Behaviour

This kind of buying behaviours significantly involved the consumers when making a purchase decision.
This kind of buying behaviours demand consumer to highly involve within the process. In case of high
involvement, consumers distinguish salient differences among the competing brands (Kotler, Wong,
Saunders, Armstrong, 2005). This phenomenon is particularly essential for Dixons consumers to highly
involve, and engage in extensive research about the product category and make a good purchase decision
about the firm own manufacturing products, in case they invent a new technology electronics products or
audio-video equipment that is too expensive.

42
Dissonance reducing buying behaviour

This type of buying behaviour also has high consumer involvement. In terms of expensive and infrequent
purchase, consumer also undergoes reducing dissonancy behaviour. It is extremely difficult for
consumers to differential among brands in this type of buying behaviours (Kotler, Wong, Saunders,
Armstrong, 2005). Differentiating Dixons electronics products/equipments in the same store from
PCWorld or Currys is a daunting task and consumer buying these products may encounter dissonance
reducing buying behaviour, as electronics are usually expensive and self-expressive. Consumer may
easily assume that the available electronics brands in the store/market within a certain price range to be of
the same quality. Then if the product does not meet customers’ expectations, it will result to consumer to
experience post purchase dissonance (after sales discomfort) (Kotler, Wong, Saunders, Armstrong, 2005).

Habitual Buying Behaviour

Contrariwise, in this type of buying behaviour consumers have lesser levels of involvements. It implies
that consumer do not have to bother to retrieved information about the available products and brands in
the market. So therefore, there are no potential differences between the different brands. Whether this
factor will have damaging effects on Dixons will be analyse at the findings and analysis chapter below.
Because of the less level of involvement, in habitual buying behaviour consumers don’t often go to the
stores to purchase product, (Kotler, Wong, Saunders, Armstrong, 2005).

However, some believed that if the consumer persistently purchasing the same product repeatedly, it
becomes habit and their mindsets and perceptions changes overtime about the brand and the provider
(Cohen and Manion, 1987). This conception will portray the consumer to have unconscientiously
developed a brand loyalty to that particular brand due to the consumer regular buying habits (Cohen and
Manion, 1987).

Variety Seeking Buying Behaviour

This type of consumer level of involvement is low. However consumer may became critical in terms of
brand differences. Additionally, consumer may easily switch from PCWorld to Currys i.e. from one brand
to another. The consumers can now have beliefs about the various brands and choose a brand without
much evaluation. But they evaluate that product at the time of purchase. In this high technology world,
43
consumer switches their brands not because of dissatisfaction but because of that enormous trend of
technological equipment (Aaker, 1991).

1. Decision making

The concept of decision making perceived by buying behaviour as a problem-solving activity that
consumer undergo to solve different problems. The stages include; need recognition, striving for
information, evaluates the alternative, purchase decisions, and post-purchase evaluations.

Consumer decisions making can sometimes be confusing and relate to many ideas and beliefs. There are
numerous perspectives of consumer decision making that include the ‘cue utilisation theory’, value
perspective, emotional perspective, and information processing perspective.

 Value perspective

This emphasises a trade-off circumstances (Lunn et al, 1997). The common value terms often involve in
the trade-off between quality and price, which also may also be defined the ‘value-for-money between
quality and price, which also may defined the ‘value-for-money perspective (Change and Wildt, 1994;
Hansen, 2001; Sweeney and Soutar, 2001). Zeithaml (1988) and Levy (1999) purpose that consumers are
‘value driven’. Zeithaml (1988) claims that customer’s perceived value may be seen as a reacting of the
overall evaluation of the consumption of a product or service based on perceptions of what is received and
what is given.

On the other hand, the value emerges partly from what consumers perceive they are receiving and partly
from what consumers perceived they are giving.

Moreover, Blackett and Robins (2001) consistently said that the key drivers of demand for products are
awareness/familiarity, perceived quality, sales quality and price. These tool drivers influence the
perception of customer in term of the decision making. .

 Cue utilization theory

This phenomenon allowed consumer to judge the quality and multiplicity of different product when
deciding what to purchase and how many. Hansen (2005) opined that, perhaps it might be extremely hard

44
for consumers to evaluate the essence of different in quality aspects in relation to each other and in
relation to requirement or intention to consumer the products.

This has led consumers to encounter instabilities when making judgements about product quality, but may
not have sufficient of time or the motivation to the considered products’ comparative. Attempting to
overcome their uncertainty and the shortage of information, following the ‘cue utilization theory’ (Olson
and Jacoby, 1972), consumers may select one or more indicators (cues or stimuli) to help their judgement
of the product quality. A number of cues are studied in many researches. In judging the product quality,
these cues can be used to indicate, including ‘country of origin’ (Eliot and Cameron, 1994), ‘product
composition’ (Olson, 1972), ‘brand name’, ‘store name’ (Dodds, 1995) and ‘price’ (Shapiro, 1973;
Brooker et al., 1986). As mentioned in the cue utilisation theory, consumers try decrease risk by applying
cues (e.g. brand name, price, colour, advertising, etc) as a way of determining the service or the product
quality. Thus, the reliance on one or one or more cues is a risk-reduction strategy (Hansen, 2005).

Dawar and Parker (1994) depicted that cues assist consumers to determining the quality of the product
when there is a need to reduce the perceived risk of purchase and when consumer involvement is low.
‘Low-involved’ consumers use simple decision ways or indicators in their assessments to the quality or
the overall performance of a product. In contrast, the behaviour of ‘high-involved’ consumers are
analysed and described on the basis of the information processing perspective.

 Information processing perspective

The information processing perspective indicated that consumer act as problem-solving ‘cognitive’
individual researching for a reasoned decision (Kassarjian, 1981).

Dubois (2000) describes that consumers are expected to apply their cognitive resources in creating
‘beliefs’ (cognitive part) about the attribute of a product, which may result of the progression of an overall
feeling (affective part) in the sense of liking/disliking product. Consumers with a positive ‘attitude’ to a
product are expected to be more willing to consider purchasing in (cognitive part) than consumers with
less positive attitude to the same product.

Emotional perspective Emotion is not the response of an evaluation process in buying a product, but it is
an effective reaction to consumers’ perceptions of stimuli in the environment. It represents an effective

45
view of consumer behaviours and it is caused by consumers’ appearance to particular stimuli (Bagozzi et
al., 1999). Zajonc and markus (1982) discussed that the ‘traditional’ cognitive view should be
complemented by determining consumers’ affective responses, like the emotional responses to the
perception and assessment of products and experiences. Consumer involvement also influences to
emotion perspective and product evaluations.

Peter et al (1999) debated that if product involvement is high, people may experience stronger affective
reaction such as emotions and stronger feelings.

2. Consumer Buying Behaviour

Consumer purchasing behaviour tends to determine what it exactly is that drives consumers when making
buying decisions. Many studies have been performed including the above mentioned with regard to
consumer behaviourism. Three theories those understand the consumers’ buying decision are; radical,
teleological, and picoeconomics behaviourism (Foxall, 2007). Even though, all three theories take their
own the consumers’ choice, “they still plays complementary role with consumer behaviour”.

1. Radical Behaviourism

According to Foxall, (2007) refer to the radical behaviourism as Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM),
see diagram below.

Figure 1 Summative Behavioural Perspective Model (Foxall, 2007: 136)

On the one hand Figure 1, depicts two inputs of consumer behaviour, namely the behaviour setting and
the learning history. These two input variables can be seen as the consumer’s frame of reference when
making a buying decision. The behaviour setting “consists of all the physical, social and temporal
elements that signal the likely consequence of behaving in a particular way” (Foxall, 2007: 136).

The learning history refers to past experiences – both positive and negative – of the consumer.
Additionally, it accounts for personal factors influencing the consumer’s choice, such as: the ability to
pay, consumers’ mood, impulsive buying and deprivation. On the other hand, three possible consequences
of consumer behaviour are depicted in Figure 1, respectively; utilitarian reinforcement, informational
reinforcement and aversive consequences. Utilitarian reinforcement refers to the satisfaction consumers
46
perceive when buying, owing and consuming economic goods. Informational reinforcement as an
outcome of consumer behaviour relates to the feedback on the purchase which connects the consumers’
choice to the social status that comes with it.

Of course the informational reinforcement outcome is not applicable to every product that can be bought,
as one will not obtain any social status from buying nails for example, on the other hand, people are often
judged by the car they drive, making cars an excellent example of the informational reinforcement. Lastly,
aversive consequences can be described as the costs of consuming; having to wait in line, not being able
to buy alternative products, relinquishing money, etc. (Foxall, 2007). Based on the level of informational
and utilitarian reinforcement a grid can be composed that divides consumer behaviour in four broad
categories, Maintenance purchases are characterized by necessity; therefore this category can be
compared to the physiological level in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which stands for the basic
requirements for human survival (Maslow, 1943). Accumulation purchases refer to consumer behaviour
related to certain kinds of collecting, saving and instalment buying. Hedonism or pleasure purchases refer
to the consumption of popular entertainment.

Finally, accomplishment purchases reflect one’s social and economic success, such as: “acquisition and
conspicuous consumption of status goods, displaying products and services that signal personal
attainment” (Foxall, 2007: 136). Foxall (2007) found that green consumer behaviour cannot be linked to a
specific category but can be found in any of the four categories.

2. Teleological Behaviorism

“Teleological behaviorism proposes an interpretation of complex behavior based on final causes, i.e., the
consequences of behaviour” (Foxall, 2007: 132). Final causes extend outwards from the person who
behaves, each fitting in the next pattern (Foxall, 2007). Hence, making a sum fits into doing homework,
which fits into taking the math class, which fits into studying, which in turn fits into providing yourself
with a good future. Every step (cause) is wider than the previous one and therefore more embracing,
making each cause more final (Rachlin, 1994). “The process of finding the causes of behaviour is one of
fitting the behaviour into an ever- increasing molar pattern of response and consequences” (Foxall, 2007:
132).

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Rachlin (1994) states that mind equal behaviour and sequences or patterns of behaviour rather than
single acts. This implies that mental phenomena such as intentions, attitudes as well as pain are all defined
as extended patterns of behaviour. When pain is taken as an example, people know that somebody else is
in pain because of the behaviour the other person emits: grimacing, groaning, holding his arm, etc.
(Foxall, 2007). “A whole series of final causes may each be nested within one another, diffused over time,
the whole sequence being necessary to a full explanation of the behaviour that produced them” (Foxall,
2007: 132).

Rachlin (1994) points out that in order to understand the full complexity of behaviour’s consequences, a
significant elapse of time may be required, as the events that explain behaviour are temporarily extended,
it will take time for the whole sequence to be completed and with that understand behaviour. When it
comes to consumer buying behaviour, teleological behaviourism helps understanding consumer’s brand
choice (Foxall, 2007). Teleological behaviourism helps to understand why consumers only consider only
a few brands out of all the brands they can choose from when making a buying decision (Foxall, 2007).

Consumers will only consider brands of which they have direct use-knowledge and which products
characteristics show the greatest match compared to the consumer’s spending power. Teleological
behaviourism also helps understanding why consumers change patterns and decide to buy another brand
than they usually do. It does so by acknowledging the conflict consumers can face between utilitarian
reinforcement and informational reinforcement.

3. Consumer Decision

In electronics markets the consumer will make the decision to purchase technological products to fulfil
and satisfy their desire. Also, there are several factors that can influence consumer to select which product
they will use for provide their needs, such as;

1. Social influences

According to Boone and Kutz (2006) they have stated on this point that in every consumer belong to the
each social group. As earlier mostly experience can come from a group of family, neighbourhood groups,
work and community. Also, a group membership can influences individual’s purchase decision by values,

48
attitude and behaviour that a group deems appropriate for its member. Hence, many consumers are often
strongly making decision by people who the consumer knows and trusts.

2. Economic Man

Many marketers understand consumer behaviour from economics. Especially, the assumption between
people and rational in their behaviour by identified the behaviour that relating to price, consumer income,
consumer taste, and quality of products. Therefore, the demand of medicine is positivity associated with
low price of medicine, high price for products substitutes (high level of consumer income, high education,
high tastes). Also, the quality of products included with services.

3. Personal Influences

Each person is driven by variety of desires and pressures that influence behaviour by values, attitudes,
personality and beliefs. This could help marketer expected the personal influence from the field of
psychology.

Personality and self concept that in each person’s distinct personality influences his/her buying behaviour
because the personality refers to unique psychological in each person. Thus, personal characteristics have
relative to buying behaviour on our decision making and personality can be useful for marketer to
analyzing consumer behaviour for certain products or select their choice (Armstrong and Kotler, 2008).
Buying Behaviour The marketers can better predict how consumers will respond to marketing strategies.
Also, they need to understand the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using
products

Solomon (1991) stated that a consumer decision is a response to a problem. Schiffman and Kanuk (1978)
depicted that decision is the selection of an action from two or more alternative choices. It means that
there must be more that one alternative choice whenever a customer is making a decision. Kotler (1996)
pointed out that the consumer buying process is the sum total of alternative, purchase decision, and
purchase evaluation.

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CHAPTER -5

50
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRATATION

Q.1 What is your age group?

AGE NO. OF RESPONDENT

Bellow 20 year 13

20-30 year 32

30-40 year 28

Above 40 year 27

13%
27%
Bellow 20 year
32% 20-30 year
30-40 year
28%
Above 40 year

INTERPRETATION

 13% of the respondents are bellow 20 year


 32% of the respondents are 20-30 year
 28% of the respondents are 30-40 year
 27% of the respondents are Above 40 year
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Q.2 What is your occupation?

OCCUPATION NO. OF RESPONDENT

Agriculturist 52

Self Employed 22

Serviceman 16

Housewife 10

10%
16%
Agriculturist
52%
Self Employed
22% Serviceman
Housewife

INTERPRETATION

 52% of the respondents are Agriculturist


 22% of the respondents are Self Employed
 16% of the respondents are Serviceman
 10% of the respondents are Housewife

52
Q.3 Are you aware about the Rama ply products and doors?

RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENT

YES 59
NO 41

41%
YES
NO
59%

INTERPRETATION

 59% of Respondent are aware about the Rama Plywood product but 41% of respondent are not aware
about the company’s product.

Q.4 Do you always purchase the product of Rama plywood ltd?

53
RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENT

Yes 49

No 26

Rarely 16

Can’t Say 9

9%

16%
49% Yes
No
Rarely
26%
Can’t Say

INTERPRATATION

 49% of the respondents are purchase the company’s product in next time but 26%of the respondents are
not interested to purchase the product, 16% says rarely and 9% can’t say

Q.5 Are you satisfy with the product price?

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RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENT

Fully satisfy 36

Satisfy 42

Can’t say 10

Dissatisfy 12

12%

10% 36%
Fully satisfy
Satisfy
Can’t say
Dissatisfy

42%

INTERPRATATION

 36% of the respondents are fullysatisfy with price, 42% of the respondents are satisfy, 10% can’t say and
12% are dissatisfy for the price.

Q.6 Are you satisfy with the quality of the Rama Plywood product?

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RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENT

Fully satisfy 32

Satisfy 50

Can’t say 12

Dissatisfy 6

6%

12%
32%
Fully satisfy
Satisfy
Can’t say
Dissatisfy

50%

INTERPRATATION

32% of the respondents are fully satisfy with the quality of product, 50% of the respondents are satisfy
with the quality, 12% unable to say and 6% are dissatisfy with the quality.

Q.7 Are you satisfy with the design and colour of the Rama Plywood product?

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RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENT

Fully satisfy 35

Satisfy 40

Can’t say 16

Dissatisfy 9

9%

16% 35%
Fully satisfy
Satisfy
Can’t say
Dissatisfy

40%

INTERPRATATION

35% of the respondents are fully satisfy with the design & colour of product, 40% of the respondents are
satisfy with the design & colour, 16% can’t say and 9% are dissatisfy with the design and colour.

Q.8 While purchasing project which feature influence you?

(a) Product feature [ ]

57
(b) Brand [ ]

(c) Service [ ]

(d) Durability [ ]

15%

40% Product feature


Brand

25% Service
Durability

20%

INTERPRATATION

On the basis of diagram 40% of the respondents says product feature, 20% of the respondents says Brand,
25% of the respondent says service and 15% says durability.

Q.9 Are you purchase Plywood product as Carpenter’s reference?

RESPONSE NO. OF RESPONDENT

YES 69
NO 31

58
31%

YES
69% NO

INTERPRATATION

 69% of the respondent says yes they purchase as carpenter’s reference and 31% of the respondents says
no

Q.10 Is Rama Plywood products are easily available in market?

(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Can’t say

59
10%

20% Yes
No
Can't Say

70%

INTERPRATATION

 In the above pie chart we show that 70% respondents says that products are easily available, 20%
respondents says that products are not available easily and remaining 10% respondents cannot say about it

FINDINGS

 company face a stiff competition from Century Ply Boards ltd. And Green ply Industries ltd. In the
market.

 The Transport vehicle modification industry prefer company’s plywood and wood material because a low
cost brand.

 Maximum numbers of the respondents are satisfy with the service and quality.

60
 The small furniture makers prefer some other brands (century ply and Green ply) because of termite
resistant and smooth cutting features.

 The customer in the market selects any plywood brand which is suggested by the shopkeeper or carpenter.

 The customer in the rural area prefer Steel doors and Local made wooden door because of strength, low
cost, termite resist and maintenance free features.

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SUGGESTIONS

 Tie-up with carpenters and contractors.

 Increase Dealership stores.

 Make the product termite resistant and maintenance free to attract customers.

 Technology should be more improved .

 Consumers are attractive towards different schemes, so company should bring some attractive scheme.

 Service after Sales is one major factor that retain the consumers loyalty, so company should be more
focused on it.

 Promotional events should be conducted in rural area.

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CONCLUSION

The study of consumer behaviour remains a corner stone to successful marketing strategy. The discussion
centers on defining consumer behaviour and describing different perspectives of consumer behaviour that
include consumers influence perspective, Holistic perspective and Intercultural perspectives

Since the consumer behaviour is the important factor to forecast the sale so any production on a particular
area. So company should keep close eye on the market situation yet, customer were price sensitive , but
the changing market trend and customer view and preference shown that customer are now quqlity
sensitive. They want quality product, good services, easy availability of product and better performance
by the product.

Consumer is a vital part of the marketing strategy of company because it can be directly affected the profit
criteria of the company. The consumer of Rama Plywood Ltd. Are satisfied with the product quality and
rates. Company should try to create brand image or position of the new product in the mind of consumer.
Products feature is main factor which can be attract to the consumer or customer.

63
BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Company’s official website www.ramaply.com


 Marketinglessons.in, Understanding Marketing Behaviour (Summary of Philip Kotler) , 20-10-2012
 Consumer Behaviour 11/e (4-Colour) Paperback – 2015by Schiffman/Kumar (Author)

 J. Scott Armstrong (1991). "Prediction of Consumer Behavior by Experts and Novices". Journal of
Consumer Research. Journal of Consumer Research Inc. 18: 251–256. doi:10.1086/209257.
 Business Dictionary, http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/call-to-action.html
 Consumer behaviour, en.wikipedia.org, 13-8-2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_behaviour

64
ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNNAIRE

Q.1 What is your age group?

(a) Below 20 year (b) 20-30 year

(c) 30-40 year (d) above 40 year

Q.2 What is your occupation?

(a) Agriculturist (b) Self employed

(c) Service man (d) House wife

Q.3 Are you aware about the Rama ply products and doors?

(a) YES (b) NO

Q.4 Do you always purchase the product of Rama plywood ltd?

(a) Yes (b) No

(c) Rarely (d) Can’t Say

Q.5 Are you satisfy with the product price?

(a) Fully satisfy (b) Satisfy

(c) Can’t say (d) Dissatisfy

Q.6 Are you satisfy with the quality of the Rama Plywood product?

(a) Fully satisfy (b) Satisfy

(c) Can’t say (d) Dissatisfy

Q.7 Are you satisfy with the design and colour of the Rama Plywood product?

(a) Fully satisfy (b) Satisfy

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(c) Can’t say (d) Dissatisfy

Q.8 While purchasing project which feature influence you?

(a) Product feature [ ]

(b) Brand [ ]

(c) Service [ ]

(d) Durability [ ]

Q.9 Are you purchase Plywood product as Carpenter’s reference?

(a) YES (b) NO

Q.10 Is Rama Plywood products are easily available in market?

(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Can’t say

66

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