INDEX

S.No Particulars Signature

1. Chapter – 1 (Introduction & Literature Review)
 Introduction
 Industry Profile
 Company Profile

2. Chapter – 2 ( Research Objective & Methodology)

 Research Objective
 Research Scope
 Research Design
Types of research design
 Data Collection
Sources of data collection (Primary)

3. Chapter- 3 (Data Analysis & Interpretation)

 Analysis Of The Data
 Interpretation of the result

4. Findings
5. Limitations
6. Conclusion and suggesttion
7. Bibliography
8. Annexure
 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
COMPANY PROFILE

ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies with a market capitalisation of nearly
US $ 14 billion and a turnover of over US $ 5 billion. ITC is rated among the World's Best
Big Companies, Asia's 'Fab 50' and the World's Most Reputable Companies by Forbes
magazine, among India's Most Respected Companies by Business World and among India's
Most Valuable Companies by Business Today. ITC ranks among India's `10 Most Valuable
(Company) Brands', in a study conducted by Brand Finance and published by the Economic
Times. ITC also ranks among Asia's 50 best performing companies compiled by Business
Week.

ITC has a diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers,
Packaging, Agri-Business, Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Information Technology,
Branded Apparel, Personal Care, Stationery, Safety Matches and other FMCG products.
While ITC is an outstanding market leader in its traditional businesses of Cigarettes, Hotels,
Paperboards, Packaging and Agri-Exports, it is rapidly gaining market share even in its
nascent businesses of Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care and
Stationery.

As one of India's most valuable and respected corporations, ITC is widely perceived to be
dedicatedly nation-oriented. Chairman Y C Deveshwar calls this source of inspiration "a
commitment beyond the market". In his own words: "ITC believes that its aspiration to create
enduring value for the nation provides the motive force to sustain growing shareholder value.
ITC practices this philosophy by not only driving each of its businesses towards international
competitiveness but by also consciously contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of the
larger value chain of which it is a part."

ITC's diversified status originates from its corporate strategy aimed at creating multiple
drivers of growth anchored on its time-tested core competencies: unmatched distribution
reach, superior brand-building capabilities, effective supply chain management and
acknowledged service skills in hoteliering. Over time, the strategic forays into new
businesses are expected to garner a significant share of these emerging high-growth markets
in India.

ITC's Agri-Business is one of India's largest exporters of agricultural products. ITC is one of
the country's biggest foreign exchange earners (US $ 3.2 billion in the last decade). The
Company's 'e-Choupal' initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its
competitiveness by empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. This
transformational strategy, which has already become the subject matter of a case study at
Harvard Business School, is expected to progressively create for ITC a huge rural
distribution infrastructure, significantly enhancing the Company's marketing reach.
ITC employs over 25,000 people at more than 60 locations across India. The Company
continuously endeavours to enhance its wealth generating capabilities in a globalising
environment to consistently reward more than 3, 60,000 shareholders, fulfil the aspirations of
its stakeholders and meet societal expectations. This over-arching vision of the company is
expressively captured in its corporate positioning statement: "Enduring Value. For the nation
For the Shareholder."

History

ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name of 'Imperial Tobacco Company of
India Limited'. Its beginnings were humble. A leased office on Radha Bazar Lane, Kolkata,
was the centre of the Company's existence. The Company celebrated its 16th birthday on
August 24, 1926, by purchasing the plot of land situated at 37, Chowringhee, (now renamed
J.L. Nehru Road) Kolkata, for the sum of Rs 310,000. This decision of the Company was
historic in more ways than one. It was to mark the beginning of a long and eventful journey
into India's future. The Company's headquarter building, 'Virginia House', which came up on
that plot of land two years later, would go on to become one of Kolkata's most venerated
landmarks. The Company's ownership progressively Indianised, and the name of the
Company was changed to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. In recognition of the Company's multi-
business portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses - Cigarettes & Tobacco, Hotels,
Information Technology, Packaging, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Agri-Exports, Foods,
Lifestyle Retailing and Greeting Gifting & Stationery - the full stops in the Company's name
were removed effective September 18, 2001. The Company now stands rechristened 'ITC
Limited'.

Though the first six decades of the Company's existence were primarily devoted to the
growth and consolidation of the Cigarettes and Leaf Tobacco businesses, the Seventies
witnessed the beginnings of a corporate transformation that would usher in momentous
changes in the life of the Company.

ITC's Packaging & Printing Business was set up in 1925 as a strategic backward integration
for ITC's Cigarettes business. It is today India's most sophisticated packaging house.

In 1975 the Company launched its Hotels business with the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai
which was rechristened 'ITC-Welcomgroup Hotel Chola'. The objective of ITC's entry into
the hotels business was rooted in the concept of creating value for the nation. ITC chose the
hotels business for its potential to earn high levels of foreign exchange
infrastructure and generate large scale direct and indirect employment. Since then ITC's
Hotels business has grown to occupy a position of leadership, with over 100 owned and
managed properties spread across India.
In 1979, ITC entered the Paperboards business by promoting ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards
Limited, which today has become the market leader in India. Bhadrachalam Paperboards
amalgamated with the Company effective March 13, 2002 and became a Division of the
Company, Bhadrachalam Paperboards Division. In November 2002, this division merged
with the Company's Tribeni Tissues Division to form the Paperboards & Specialty Papers
Division. ITC's paperboards' technology, productivity, quality and manufacturing processes
are comparable to the best in the world. It has also made an immense contribution to the
development of Sarapaka, an economically backward area in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It
is directly involved in education, environmental protection and community development. In
2004, ITC acquired the paperboard manufacturing facility of BILT Industrial Packaging Co.
Ltd (BIPCO), near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The Kovai Unit allows ITC to improve
Customer service with reduced lead time and a wider product range.
In 1985, ITC set up Surya Tobacco Co. in Nepal as an Indo-Nepal and British joint venture.
Since inception, its shares have been held by ITC, British American Tobacco and various
independent shareholders in Nepal. In August 2002, Surya Tobacco became a subsidiary of
ITC Limited and its name was changed to Surya Nepal Private Limited (Surya Nepal).

In 1990, ITC acquired Tribeni Tissues Limited, a Specialty paper manufacturing company
and a major supplier of tissue paper to the cigarette industry. The merged entity was named
the Tribeni Tissues Division (TTD). To harness strategic and operational synergies, TTD was
merged with the Bhadrachalam Paperboards Division to form the Paperboards & Specialty
Papers Division in November 2002.

Also in 1990, leveraging its agri-sourcing competency, ITC set up the Agri Business
Division for export of agri-commodities. The Division is today one of India's largest
exporters. ITC's unique and now widely acknowledged e-Choupal initiative began in 2000
with soya farmers in Madhya Pradesh. Now it extends to 10 states covering over 4 million
farmers. ITC's first rural mall, christened 'Choupal Saagar' was inaugurated in August 2004
at Sehore. On the rural retail front, 24 'Choupal Saagars' are now operatonal in the 3 states of
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

In 2000, ITC launched a line of high quality greeting cards under the brand name
'Expressions'. In 2002, the product range was enlarged with the introduction of Gift
wrappers, Autograph books and Slam books. In the same year, ITC also launched
'Expressions Matrubhasha', a vernacular range of greeting cards in eight languages and
'Expressions Paperkraft', a range of premium stationery products. In 2003, the company
rolled out 'Classmate', a range of notebooks in the school stationery segment.

ITC also entered the Lifestyle Retailing business with the Wills Sport range of international
quality relaxed wear for men and women in 2000. The Wills Lifestyle chain of exclusive

stores later expanded its range to include Wills Classic formal wear (2002) and Wills
Clublife evening wear (2003). I+TC also initiated a foray into the popular segment with its
men's wear brand, John Players, in 2002.
.
 In 2006, Wills Lifestyle became title partner of the country's most premier fashion event -
Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week - that has gained recognition from buyers and retailers as
the single largest B-2-B platform for the Fashion Design industry. To mark the occasion, ITC
launched a special 'Celebration Series', taking the event forward to consumers. In 2007, the
Company introduced 'Miss Players'- a fashion brand in the popular segment for the young
woman.

In 2000, ITC spun off its information technology business into a wholly owned subsidiary,
ITC Infotech India Limited, to more aggressively pursue emerging opportunities in this area.
Today ITC Infotech is one of India‟s fastest growing global IT and IT-enabled services
companies and has established itself as a key player in offshore outsourcing, providing
outsourced IT solutions and services to leading global customers across key focus verticals -
Manufacturing, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services & Insurance), CPG&R (Consumer
Packaged Goods & Retail), THT (Travel, Hospitality and Transportation) and Media &
Entertainment.

ITC's foray into the Foods business is an outstanding example of successfully blending
multiple internal competencies to create a new driver of business growth. It began in August
2001 with the introduction of 'Kitchens of India' ready-to-eat Indian gourmet dishes. In 2002,
ITC entered the confectionery and staples segments with the launch of the brands mint-o and
Candyman confectionery and Aashirvaad atta (wheat flour). 2003 witnessed the introduction
of Sunfeast as the Company entered the biscuits segment. ITC's entered the fast growing
branded snacks category with Bingo! in 2007. In just seven years, the Foods business has
grown to a significant size with over 200 differentiated products under six distinctive brands,
with an enviable distribution reach, a rapidly growing market share and a solid market
standing.

In 2002, ITC's philosophy of contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of the entire

value chain found yet another expression in the Safety Matches initiative. ITC now markets
popular safety matches brands like iKno, Mangaldeep, Aim, Aim Mega and Aim Metro.

ITC's foray into the marketing of Agarbattis (incense sticks) in 2003 marked the
manifestation of its partnership with the cottage sector. ITC's popular agarbattis brands
include Spriha and Mangaldeep across a range of fragrances like Rose, Jasmine, Bouquet,
Sandalwood, Madhur, Sambrani and Nagchampa. ITC introduced Essenza Di Wills, an
exclusive range of fine fragrances and bath & body care products for men and women in July
2005. Inizio, the signature range under Essenza Di Wills provides a comprehensive grooming
regimen with distinct lines for men (Inizio Homme) and women (Inizio Femme). Continuing
with its tradition of bringing world class products to Indian consumers the Company
launched 'Fiama Di Wills', a premium range of Shampoos, Shower Gels and Soaps in
September, October and December 2007 respectively.

.
The Company also launched the 'Superia' range of Soaps and Shampoos in the mass-market
segment at select markets in
October 2007 and Vivel De Wills & Vivel range of soaps in February and Vivel range of
shampoos in June 2008.

Meaning of Name
st
ITC stands for “Imperial Tobacco Company” initially when it was incorporated for the 1
time in 1924. Later on the name has been changed to “Indian Tobacco Limited” in 1974.
After that, in recognition of the Company's multi-business portfolio encompassing a wide
range of businesses - Cigarettes & Tobacco, Hotels, Information Technology, Packaging,
Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Agri-Exports, Foods, Lifestyle Retailing and Greeting
Gifting & Stationery - the full stops in the Company's name were removed effective
September 18, 2001. The Company now stands rechristened 'ITC Limited'. There is no
specific meaning of ITC name is given on their website. But what I think is that it is the name
given to the company to signify the operation of the company. Since ITC started its business
in tobacco industry, they have chosen the name to demonstrate their nature of business and
what exactly what they want to perform.

Evolution of Name

ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name of 'Imperial Tobacco Company of
India Limited'. ITC had a humble beginning and in the initial days it used to operate from a
leased office on Radha Bazar Lane, Kolkata. On its 16th birthday on August 24, 1926, ITC
purchased the plot of land situated at 37, Chowringhee, (now renamed J.L. Nehru Road)
Kolkata. Two years later company's headquarter building, 'Virginia House' came on that plot.
Progressively the ownership of the company Indianised, and the name of the Company was
changed to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. In recognition of the Company's multi-business portfolio
encompassing a wide range of businesses, the full stops in the Company's name were
removed effective September 18, 2001 and the Company was rechristened as 'ITC Limited'.

Since the present research is based on the educational and stationery offering the profile of
the same is given as below:

Education & Stationary products

• ITC made its entry into the stationery business in the year 2002 with its premium
range of notebooks, followed in the year 2003 with the more popular range to augment its
offering.

• Today, ITC continues to blend its core capabilities to market a growing range of
education and stationery products. These capabilities include,

a. Manufacturer of India‟s first Ozone treated environment friendly Elemental Chlorine

Free (ECF) pulp, paper and paperboard

.
b. Knowledge of image processing, printing & conversion garnered from its Packaging
& Printing Business.

c. Brand Building & Trade Marketing & Distribution strengths resident in its FMCG
Business.

• ITC‟s stationery Brands are marketed as “Classmate” and “Paperkraft”, with

Classmate addressing the needs of students and Paperkraft targeted towards college students
and executives.

• Classmate - India‟s truly largest National brand, reaching 65,000 outlets across the
country, has over 300 variants in its range which comprises notebooks, long books, practical
books, drawing books, scrap books, reminder pads etc.

• The Classmate Fun N Learn range of children books targeting pre school learners,
comprising categories like Pre School Learner, Active Minds and Read Aloud Tales with
features like Wipe n Use again, Trace & Color and Puzzles ensure that a child's first lessons
are truly enjoyable.

• Classmate Invento Geometry Boxes, launched for school students comprise a world-
class precision compass and high quality plastic instruments coupled with interesting trivia
and useful information, to make geometry more fascinating for students.

• Aesthetically designed, Classmate pens offer the consumer a smoother and more
comfortable writing experience through use of ergonomic design, reducing the effort required
for writing. The initial launch comprises ball pens - Classmate Safari and Classmate Ilet - and
gel pens - Classmate Glider and Classmate Octane.

• A new entry to the Classmate portfolio is its range of HB Jet Black pencils. Designed
attractively for school kids, the pencils offer a unique advantage of lesser lead wear out and
thus, “Stay Sharper for Longer”.

• The Classmate Notebook range builds in regional preferences and caters to the
requirements of All India & State Education Boards. Every Classmate notebook carries ITC's
Corporate Social Responsibility message on its back. For every four Classmate Notebooks,
ITC contributes Re. 1 to its rural development initiative that supports, among other projects,
primary education in villages.

• Classmate has successfully run the “Classmate Young Author & Artist Contest” for 5
years. The contest is a national level event going across 34 cities and getting participation
from 5000 schools.

.
 CHAPTER – 2
RESEARCH AND
METHOLOGY
Objectives of research:-
 To study working of distributors in ITC classmate To study how ITC classmate could
penetrate the various institution
 To improve the quality of their products.
 To survive in the market.
 To have loads of stores worldwide.
 To be an ongoing company.
SCOPE OF STUDY

The scope of this study is to analyse the various marketing strategies of ITC products and to
know that how these strategies attracts the buyers to buy more and more products of ITC.
Apart from this it focus on the objective of the company. Through this analysis we can easily
came to know about the image of a company in a market and find its present position in the
market.
MEANING OF RESEARCH

Research is systematic investigation of a subject to discover new knowledge, including

designs of new products and processes. The process of carrying out research is influenced
heavily by the topic being researched and the purpose of research.Identifying the problem or
the specific research task. Studying existing information related to the problem or the
research task. Formulating a hypothesis that gives possible explanation or description of the
facts to be uncovered by the research. Collecting data or evidence that enables the researcher
to test the validity of the hypothesis. Analysing the data collected and drawing conclusions
based on it.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be

understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the
various
steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with
the logic behind them. It is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research
methods/techniques but also the methodology. Researchers not only need to know how to
develop certain indices or tests, how to calculate the mean, the mode, the median or the
standard deviation or chi-square, how to apply particular research techniques, but they also
need to know which of these methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what
would they mean and indicate and why. Researchers also need to understand the assumptions
underlying various techniques and they need to know the criteria by which they can decide
that certain techniques and procedures will be applicable to certain problems and others will
not. All this means that it is necessary for the researcher to design his methodology for his
problem as the same may differ from problem to problem. For example, an architect, who
designs a building, has to consciously evaluate the basis of his decisions, i.e., he has to
evaluate why and on what basis he selects particular size, number and location of doors,
windows and ventilators, uses particular materials and not others and the like. Similarly, in
research the scientist has to expose the research decisions to evaluation before they are
implemented.

TYPES OF RESEARCH

 EXPLORATORY RESEACH
Exploratory research is a type of research conducted for a problem that has not been
clearly defined. Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data
collection method and selection of subjects. It should draw definitive conclusions
only with extreme caution. Exploratory research often relies on secondary
research such as reviewing available literature and/or data, or qualitative approaches
such as informal discussions with consumers, employees, management or
competitors, and more formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus groups,
projective methods, case studies or pilot studies. The Internet allows for research
methods that are more interactive in nature.

 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
 Descriptive research includes surveys and fact finding enquiries of different kinds.
The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it
exists at present. In social science and business research we quite often use the term
Ex post facto research for descriptive research studies. The main characteristic of this
method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; he can only report
what has happened or what is happening. Most ex post facto research projects used
for descriptive studies in which the researcher seeks to measure such items as, for
example, frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or similar data. Ex post facto
studies also include attempts by researchers to discover causes even when they cannot
control the variables. The methods of research utilized in descriptive research are
survey methods of all kinds, including comparative and correlational methods.

My research is a Exploratory research

SOURCES OF DATA
1) Primary Data

The data collected by the investigator for his own purpose, for the first time, from beginning
to end are called primary data. These are collected from the source of origin. In the world of
Wessel. Data originally collected in the process of investigation are known as primary data.
Primary data are original. The concerned investigator is the first person who collects these
information. The primary data are therefore, a first hand information.

2) Secondary Data

Secondary data are those data which are already in existence and which have been
collected for some other purpose than the answering of the question in hand. .
According to Wessel data collected by other persons are called secondary data. These
data are therefore called second hand data. Obviously, since these data have already
been collected by someone else, these are available in the form of published collected
or unpublished reports.
In this study,
Sources of data collected- this study is based on primary data.

Methods- the methods of the data collected used in this study are:
 Primary data- Questionnaire method (questionnaire consisting of 8 questions)
and Observation method.(For Questionnaire See ANNEXURE )

SAMPLE SIZE

 around 100 people was given the questionnaires to find out the analysis.
 CHAPTER-3
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
The findings are based on the questionnaire which was circulated online to consumers
through various websites viz. Facebook, Gmail, Linked In etc. the below are given the
findings. The Fig. 1 is the preference of consumers they exhibit in buying stationery
products, the total brands mentioned in the questionnaire were 5 viz. Apsara, Kores, Camlin,
Navneet, Classmate and Faber castell. The ranking of the brands is in terms of percentage.

Ranking of Brands
40

35

30

25

20 Series1

15

10

0
Apsara Kores Camlin Navneet Classma Faber
te Castell
Series1 18.987 8.86 15.189 4.43 35.443 17.088

Figure 1

The figure 1 depicts that consumers rank Classmate as number 1 stationery brand followed
by Apsara and Faber Castell. The ranking depicts the overall buyer behaviour towards the
Classmate. The question asked for this question was ranking the brands on a scale of five,
where 1 stood for the most preferred and 5 stood for least preferred and out of the brands
shown in the figure Classmate got most of the 1s and 2s and the overall percentage of getting
most preferred rank is 35.443% which is quite high comparing it to the other competitor
brands. Classmate is followed by Apsara and Faber Castell with 18.987% and 17.088%
respectively.
As recall at the time plays a very important role from company‟s point of view the recall
percentage of Classmate‟s “let‟s put India first” initiative is given in the Fig2

Recall Percentage
80
60
Series1
40
20
0
Yes No
Series1 75 25

Figure 2

The figure 2 depicts the responses in the form of Yes and No, 75% of the respondents were
aware of the scheme and 25% did not know about the scheme. The awareness is the basis for
preference, and as established by responses, the awareness of Classmate CSR is modest.
Since awareness is one of the most important factors in the buyer‟s purchase process. Only
25% of the respondents were not aware of the CSR efforts of Classmate.

Preference for Classmate due to its CSR initiatives

Preferece for Classmate

80
60
Series1
40
20
0
Yes No
Series1 75 25

Figure 3

The figure 3 depicts the responses collected in the form of Yes and No, the question asked is
whether the CSR efforts of Classmate leads them to prefer it over the companies not doing
CSR.
12.
The figure depicts 75% of the total respondents showed a positive response which is exactly
equal to the percentage of respondents who are aware of the CSR efforts of Classmate.
Attention towards CSR:

The attention towards the CSR activities as per the responses is given in the figure4, the
responses are below:

Attention towards CSR

45
40
35
30
25
20 Series1
15
10
5
0
Strongly Strongly
Agree Neutral Disagree
agree disagree
Series1 18 25 40 10 7

Figure 4

The figure 4 depicts the percentage of people who pay close attention to the CSR initiatives
and as per the responses collected 40% are neutral to this and 18% and 25% strongly agree
and agree respectively. Relatively only a small percentage of consumers do not pay attention
to the CSR efforts. A good percentage of people are neutral to it which may be taken as an
opportunity as the interest among consumers can be generated by efforts by any company.

Readiness for Premium Price:

Readiness to pay premium price

30
25
20
15 Series1
10
5
0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Series1 16 27 29 19 9

Figure 5

The question was intended to know the readiness of people towards paying premium price
and the results in the sample depict that 29% are neutral towards it, 27% are ready to pay a
premium price and 16% are strongly ready to pay premium price. The premium price is the
extra price that consumers pay to help less privileged or any other cause.
Deliberate buying of Classmate due to CSR:

Deliberate purchase of Classmate

30
25
20
Series1
15
10
5
0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Series1 16 27 29 19 9

Figure 6

Deliberate purchase of Classmate refers to the tendency of consumers to buy Classmate

stationery because of its social initiatives. The deliberate purchase means a consumer prefers
to buy Classmate even if the options are available and it may be assumed at a lower price.
Since Classmate stationery is comparatively following high pricing consumers still don‟t
mind paying high price.

Recommendation to others:

Recommendation to others

30

20

Series1
10

0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Series1 21 30 24 15 10

Figure 7

The recommendation refers to adverting others to buy a particular product or service here it
refers to Classmate, as recommendation is a form of communication that is quite powerful
that works for the benefit of a company. A high percentage of respondents agreed that they
refer people to buy classmate which is a good sign, recommendation may be assumed to be
equivalent to referral thus it needs to be understood to help consumers to refer others in the
benefit of the company.

Sense of fulfilment:

Sense of fulfilment

45

40

35

30

25 Series1

20

15

10

0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Series1 20 41 17 16 6

Figure 8

The sense of fulfilment has a very modest role to play in shaping the consumer behaviour
precisely speaking consumer preference. As the sense of fulfilment is a psychological
process that satiates a consumer need which ultimately leads to extra satisfaction that a
consumer gets on buying a product as a by-product. The contribution of Classmate for the
purpose of education for less privileged on sale of every product leads to a sense of
fulfilment in the consumers which is depicted in the (figure 8) 61% believe that it is a source
of fulfilment for them, on the other hand lesser percentage is against the statement
Helping our country in pursuit towards development:

40

35

30

25
Series1
20

15

10

0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Series1 17 37 24 11 11

Figure 9

Since our country has been aspiring to be tagged developed in the immediate future and it has
been striving hard to achieve the same status but we are ranked low on the literacy and this
path breaking struggle has been joined by many corporate players including ITC, the notion
behind this question was to understand the level of agreement of people towards the initiative
being undertaken by Classmate, whether they appreciate its effort towards the same or not
and according to the figure 9 a good percentage of 51% respondents agreed and 22%
disagreed. Thus overall respondents have shown a positive and favourable response for the
effort.
17.
Company giving back to society:

Company giving back to society

35
30
25
20
Series1
15
10
5
0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Series1 20 33 26 16 5

Figure 10

In modern times companies are anticipated to give back to the society as every individual in
a society is supposed to. Classmate is also trying to give back to the society and it remains a
question how well is it taken by the society. As per the findings figure 10, 53% agree that
the Classmate (ITC) is trying to give back to the society in the form of education for poor.
Interestingly 26% are neutral and 21% disagree.

Advertising and publicity purposes:

Since there is a rich segment of people who believe that CSR is just a marketing gimmick
that companies play to attract attention and publicity. For the same reason this question was
asked to know the response of consumers towards the CSR efforts of ITC and the results are
represented in figure 11 below, 43% say they do it for advertising purposes which is quite
high and only 26% of respondents have declined the statement, thus it should be noted that
there is a low percentage who deny it is a marketing ploy.

Advertising and Publicity Purposes

35
30
25
20
15 Series1
10
5
0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Series1 15 28 31 18 8

Figure 11
2.1 Consumers’ opinion on the other CSR activities undertaken
by companies
Many questions were asked to collect the responses to know how strongly consumers feel
about the other initiatives undertaken by other companies as their CSR. The other initiatives
mostly undertaken by companies excluding education for less privileged are listed as under:

 Save environment initiatives

 Public health and hygiene
 Women empowerment
 Rural development

2. The education for poor got the below responses.

Education for poor

14 6 13 Most important
Important
20 Neutral
47 Not important
Least important

Figure 12

2. Save environment initiative

Save environment initiative

8 Most important
10 20
Important
25
Neutral
37
Not important
Least important
3. Public health and hygiene

Pub
lic
hea
lth
and
hyg
ien
e
15
6
27
20
32
Most
impo
rtant

Impo
rtant

Neut
ral

Not
impo
rtant

Least
impo
rtant
Figure 14

4. Women empowerment

Wo
men
emp
owe
rme
nt
7
10 23
28
32
importan
t
Least
importan
t
Figure 15

5. Rural development

R
ur
al
d
e
v
el
o
p
m
e
nt
3
13 21
23
40
Figure 16

The above is given the consumers‟ view of various initiatives undertaken by companies, as
it can be easily depicted from the figures above that the consumers do feel strongly about all
the initiatives above. Now among all the initiatives the initiatives that are given more
weightage are rural development and education for less privileged with 61% and 60%
respectively.

The findings of the above pie charts can be summarised as below it is the summarisation of
pie charts to find the initiative that is most favoured by the consumers. All the above
initiatives are need of the hour in our country and may be taken seriously and in good spirit
by all the stake holders and the most among stakeholders i.e; society.

The most desired CSR by the consumers

61
60
59
58
57
56
Series1
55
54
53
52

Figure 17
The figure 17 depicts that all the five initiatives are felt strongly about by consumers and
among them the most preferred and desired one is rural development followed by education
for less privileged, followed by public health and hygiene. Education for less privileged is
very much supported by the consumers, which is quite a good sign for ITC. If we look at the
analysis above all the initiatives are quite relevant in Indian context as we are aspiring to
achieve growth, development and sustainability all of the above can pave way for the
betterment of India as a country. So the companies can look about all the options available
and try to look for the initiative that is strongly felt by the consumers.
On the basis of demographic factors the sample characteristics can be summed up as:

1. Gender

Gender
23 Male
Female
77

Figure 18

The 77 are males and 23 are females.

2. Age

15 8
15-20
20-25
77 more than 25

Figure 19

The age-wise composition of the sample is as follows:

15-20 are 8 respondents, 20-25 are 77 respondents and 15 respondents are more than 25 years
old.

3. Occupation

3 6
Occupation Businessman
33 Employee
Student
58
Others

Figure 20
58 students, 33 employees, 6 businessmen and 3 others.

4. Monthly income:

Monthly Income
<15000
15000-20000
32
47 20000-25000
More than 25000
12
9

Figure 21

The figure 21 depicts that 47% of the population under study have < Rs 15000 monthly
income, 32% have more than Rs. 25000 monthly income and 12% have monthly income
20000-25000 rs

5. Educational level:

Education Level

27 Graduation
Matriculation
Post Graduation
Secondary School
3

67

Figure 22

The figure 22 depicts that 67% are post graduates, 27% are graduates, 3% have matriculated
and 5% have secondary level of education.
CHAPTER-4
FINDING
Summary of findings

The findings are as follows:

CONSUMERS‟ QUESTIONNAIRE

 Since memorability and awareness of companies CSR efforts is very important and
crucial, it was found that out of 100 consumers 75% of them were very aware of the
efforts of Classmate (ITC) and they could recall it which is a modest percentage.
 The preference of classmate over other stationery brands is exhibited by 75% of
consumers which may be associated with the recall of the CSR effort of Classmate.
 The attention is paid by consumers towards the consumers, 43% agreed that they pay
close attention to these efforts.
 The readiness to pay higher price was quite seen as 43% of the respondents said they
are willing to pay premium price.
 Deliberate buy is exhibited by consumers, 53% agreed they deliberately buy
classmate because the company is helping the less privileged
 People recommend the brand to other consumers and 51% of the total respondents
agreed on this.
 The sense of fulfilment was found to be one of the most significant factors and 61%
agreed that it brings about a sense of fulfilment to them.
 54% of the sample population agreed that Classmate is helping India in pursuit
towards development.
 53% agreed that Classmate is giving back to the society through the initiative.
 43% of the sample population said that the company does it for advertising and
publicity purposes.
 58% respondents said they feel strongly about initiatives like the classmate‟s effort,
the other initiatives refer to save environment initiatives, public health and hygiene,
women empowerment, rural development.
CHAPTER-5
LIMITATION
 LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT STUDY

Since the topic corporate social responsibility is one of the most discussed topics in the
modern day business, it has drawn attention from all the stakeholders including
consumers. Consumers are also building consciousness towards the same. Since the
present research has been conducted to study the topic impact of CSR on the consumer
preference though the research has been conducted quite rigorously but still like the rule
says every research has some limitations to which a researcher can‟t attend to due to the
inherent limitations in the research process. The present research suffers from following
limitations:

 Small sample size: The sample size of the present research is 100 which is quite
small keeping in view the scope of Corporate Social Responsibility and its impact
on the society, it would have been prudential to involve the beneficiaries of the
scheme but due to constraints of time and finance it was subject to confinement.

 Composition of sample: The sample is composed of good number of educated

people who are quite conscious of the positive or negative measures of the
companies. In addition to that almost none of the minor students has found a place
in sample which also would have been quite useful in understanding the behavior
of children towards the scheme, because they are also the direct customers of the
Classmate products.

 Method of sampling: Convenience sampling though quite useful but suffers from
many limitations that limit the equal chance of every individual being selected in
the sample. Since the sampling frame is not known, and the sample is not chosen
at random, the inherent bias in convenience sampling arises that the sample is
unlikely to be representative of the population being studied. This undermines our
ability to make generalizations from the sample to the population we are studying.

 CSR being a social initiative, it is supported by every individual on paper: The

bias arises from the human nature which is people tend to support causes on paper
but when action is to be taken only a few prove to be pragmatic.

Online data collection: Though the online data collection is convenient and cost effective
method, it limits the interaction of respondents with the enumerator
 CHAPTER-6
CONCLUSION AND
SUGGESTION
Conclusions and Suggestions

The present research report supports previous research results reported in the literature,
suggesting that a substantial, viable, and identifiable market segment exists there that
considers a company‟s level of social responsibility in the business.

The research presents an elaborate and explained study of consumer preference and corporate
social responsibility. It should be noted that the results are favouring the literature that CSR
has a direct relationship with the consumer preference. Additionally some important factors
that play more important role in the preference are attention and awareness. The awareness is
the very base for building preference as concluded by most of researchers and its implication
in the determination of preference has been proved to be true.

The awareness is not lone factor that leads to consumer preference rather a closely related
factor has been also found to be quite useful in this regard, the attention at the time of
purchase. The awareness though is very important but attention at the time of purchase
proves to be more influential as a consumer is quite emotionally touched in case he has never
come to know about the same.

Also paying high premium price has not been approved quite viable as per the present
research, the regression coefficients have been found negative for it which proves that
consumers don‟t want to pay higher price rather they think it to be a duty on part of the
companies and prefer the one doing it because only a few companies have initiatives
supporting social causes.

Also the consumers don‟t believe that it is helping our country a long way in pursuit of the
development.

Thus it can be concluded that CSR initiatives are being taken quite usefully from Company‟s
point of view, so more and more CSR efforts should be encouraged. As it is not only the
consumers who look at the issue in this way, there are also more stakeholders mostly external
who take it quite positively. The following are the arguments in favour of CSR:

Changed public expectations: one of the most potent arguments for social responsibility is
that public expectations from business have changed. It is reasoned that the institution of
business exists only because it satisfies the valuable needs of society. Society gives business
its charter to exist, and the charter can be amended or revoked at any time that the business
fails to live up to society‟s needs and give the society it wants.

Balanced responsibility with power: the business‟s responsibility should be more related to
its power. It is reasoned that businesses has vast amounts of social power. They do affect the
economy, minorities and other social problems. In turn, an equal amount social responsibility
is required to match their social power.
Business has the resources: the business has a vast pool of resources in terms of men, talents,
functional expertise, and deep pockets. Probably, business is without peers in respect of the
resources it possesses.

Thus CSR initiatives have a bearing in the determination of consumer preference.

The present research findings are quite incredible which may be quite useful to the companies in
respect of their efforts to foster preference of their products over other competitors. The ultimate
goal should be the benefit to society and benefit to the organisation as well because there are
academicians who argue that the business of business is only business, so there has to be a
synthesis to bring about an emergent approach to the issue to create an impact that is positive to
the corporate citizenship of a company and also the image.

As per the findings of the present research I would like to make some recommendations which
are listed as below:

 The attention at the time of purchase has been found quite important so companies should
try to make their effort visible to consumers so that it flashes in the mind of a consumer
before purchasing.
 The awareness among consumers cannot be ignored at any cost, there has to be a proper
communication strategy to create awareness.
 There can be some methods through which a customer recommends other customers to
by a product as recommendation has been found quite important.
 Though sense of fulfilment has been found to have a weak relationship but it cannot be
ignored, thus advertisement should be done in a manner that tries to convey the sense of
fulfilment that one gets by contributing to the society.
 The notion that CSR efforts help a country towards development has not been found true
among the consumers rather an inverse relationship has been found for the same.
 The company involved in CSR is perceived as giving back to the society, which
strengthens the fact that companies are a individuals in a society and their efforts are
taken quite positively.
Bibliography

BOOKS:

1. Philip Kotler, Keller,Koshy & M. Jha, 2010, Marketing Management, Pearson Education
2. Araña, J., & León, C. (2005a). Consumers’ valuation of corporate social responsibility:
A stated preference approach. Unpublished manuscript,University of Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria, Canarias, Spain.

3. Bhattacharya, C., & Sen, S. (2003). Consumer-company identification: A frameworkfor

understanding consumers‟ relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing, 67(2), 76-88.

4. Philip Kotler, Nancy Lee, 2003, Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for
Your Company and Your Cause, Prentice Hall.
5. Etile Fabrice, Teysssier Sabrina (2011), Corporate Social Responsibilityand the Economics
of Consumer Social Responsibility, research paper, University of Carolina.

WEBSITES:

1. “British Academy of Management CSRIG” February 2013

http://www.bam.ac.uk/groups/page.php?unid=DD4DF8090021DF177BBADE

58748070E3

2. “Corporate Social Responsibility” Wikipedia, November 2012,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility
3. “ Corporate Social Responsibility in sustainable business” Levit Core, “SustainAbility”
December 2012 http://www.sustainability.com/sustain_business
APPENDIX: Questionnaire used for collection of responses from retailers.

Qno.1 How long have you been selling Classmate stationery?

a) 10 years
b) 5-9 years
c) 1-5 years

d) Less than 1 year

Qno.2 Which of the following products are you familiar with and also deal in?

a) Classmate Notebooks
b) Classmate Math instruments
c) Classmate Writing instruments
d) Paper Kraft Paper stationery
e) Paper Kraft Highlighters and markers

Qno.3 how would you rate their campaign “Let’s put India first”?
a) Excellent
b) Good
c) Neutral
d) Bad
e) Very Bad
Qno.4 Do you have a direct stake partnership in the scheme?
a) Yes
b) No

Qno.5 In your interaction with customers, do you think they are aware of “Let us put India
first” scheme while buying?
a) Well aware
b) Aware
c) Neutral
d) Unaware
e) Totally unaware