CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how

products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation.
Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total
customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings)
exceeds specified satisfaction goals."[1] In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers,
71 percent responded that they found a customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing
and monitoring their businesses.

It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced

Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer
satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of
business strategy.

"Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus
employees on the importance of fulfilling customers' expectations. Furthermore, when these
ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability.... These metrics
quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-
mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective."

Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be

able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction.

"In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service
has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction.
When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed
and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort,
for example, might receive a lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its
facilities and service would be deemed superior in 'absolute' terms."

7
The importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has increased bargaining
power. For example, cell phoneplan providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, participate in an
industry that is an oligopoly, where only a few suppliers of a certain product or service exist.
As such, many cell phone plan contracts have a lot of fine print with provisions that they
would never get away if there were, say, 100 cell phone plan providers, because customer
satisfaction would be far too low, and customers would easily have the option of leaving for
a better contract offer.

There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of customer
satisfaction for firms.

Purpose

A business NEXA carlly is continually seeking feedback to improve customer satisfaction.

"Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions and

loyalty."  "Customer satisfaction data are among the most frequently collected indicators of
market perceptions. Their principal use is twofold:" 

1. "Within organizations, the collection, analysis and dissemination of these data send a
message about the importance of tending to customers and ensuring that they have a
positive experience with the company's goods and services."
2. "Although sales or market share can indicate how well a firm is performing currently,
satisfaction is perhaps the best indicator of how likely it is that the firm’s customers
will make further purchases in the future. Much research has focused on the
relationship between customer satisfaction and retention. Studies indicate that the
ramifications of satisfaction are most strongly realized at the extremes."

On a five-point scale, "individuals who rate their satisfaction level as '5' are likely to become
return customers and might even evangelize for the firm. (A second important metric related
to satisfaction is willingness to recommend. This metric is defined as "The percentage of
surveyed customers who indicate that they would recommend a brand to friends." When a
customer is satisfied with a product, he or she might recommend it to friends, relatives and
colleagues. This can be a powerful marketing advantage.) "Individuals who rate their

8
satisfaction level as '1,' by contrast, are unlikely to return. Further, they can hurt the firm by
making negative comments about it to prospective customers. Willingness to recommend is a
key metric relating to customer satisfaction."

Theoretical Ground

"In literature antecedents of satisfaction are studied from different aspects. The
considerations extend from psychological to physical and from normative to positive aspects.
However, in most of the cases the consideration is focused on two basic constructs as
customers expectations prior to purchase or use of a product and his relative perception of the
performance of that product after using it.

Expectations of a customer on a product tell us his anticipated performance for that product.
As it is suggested in the literature, consumers may have various "types" of expectations when
forming opinions about a product's anticipated performance. For example, four types of
expectations are identified by Miller (1977): NEXA carl, expected, minimum tolerable, and
desirable. While, Day (1977) indicated among expectations, the ones that are about the costs,
the product nature, the efforts in obtaining benefits and lastly expectations of social values.
Perceived product performance is considered as an important construct due to its ability to
allow making comparisons with the expectations.

It is considered that customers judge products on a limited set of norms and attributes.
Olshavsky and Miller (1972) and Olson and Dover (1976) designed their researches as to
manipulate actual product performance, and their aim was to find out how perceived
performance ratings were influenced by expectations. These studies took out the discussions
about explaining the differences between expectations and perceived performance." 

The Disconfirmation Model

"The Disconfirmation Model is based on the comparison of customers’ [expectations] and

their [perceived performance] ratings. Specifically, an individual’s expectations are
confirmed when a product performs as expected. It is negatively confirmed when a product
performs more poorly than expected. The disconfirmation is positive when a product
performs over the expectations(Churchill & Suprenant 1982). There are four constructs to
describe the traditional disconfirmation paradigm mentioned as expectations, performance,
disconfirmation and satisfaction." [3] "Satisfaction is considered as an outcome of purchase

9
and use, resulting from the buyers’ comparison of expected rewards and incurred costs of the
purchase in relation to the anticipated consequences. In operation, satisfaction is somehow
similar to attitude as it can be evaluated as the sum of satisfactions with some features of
product."  "In the literature, cognitive and affective models of satisfaction are also developed
and considered as alternatives(Pfaff, 1977). Churchill and Suprenant in 1982, evaluated
various studies in the literature and formed an overview of Disconfirmation process in the
following figure:" 

Customer satisfaction measured

Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring

customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at
providing products and/or services to the marketplace.

"Customer satisfaction is measured at the individual level, but it is almost always reported at
an aggregate level. It can be, and often is, measured along various dimensions. A hotel, for
example, might ask customers to rate their experience with its front desk and check-in
service, with the room, with the amenities in the room, with the restaurants, and so on.
Additionally, in a holistic sense, the hotel might ask about overall satisfaction 'with your
stay.'"

As research on consumption experiences grows, evidence suggests that consumers purchase

goods and services for a combination of two types of benefits: hedonic and utilitarian.
Hedonic benefits are associated with the sensory and experiential attributes of the product.
Utilitarian benefits of a product are associated with the more instrumental and functional
attributes of the product (Batra and Athola 1990).

Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of
the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to
product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and
physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend
rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may
have and other products against which the customer can compare the organization's products.

Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (Leonard L) between 1985 and 1988
provides the basis for the measurement of customer satisfaction with a service by using the

10
gap between the customer's expectation of performance and their perceived experience of
performance. This provides the measurer with a satisfaction "gap" which is objective and
quantitative in nature. Work done by Cronin and Taylor propose the
"confirmation/disconfirmation" theory of combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman,
Zeithaml and Berry as two different measures (perception and expectation of performance)
into a single measurement of performance according to expectation.

The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey from software providers such
as Confirmit, Medallia andSatmetrix[8] with a set of statements using a Likert Technique or
scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and
expectation of performance of the organization being measured. Their satisfaction is
generally measured on a five-point scale.

"Customer satisfaction data can also be collected on a 10-point scale.

"Regardless of the scale used, the objective is to measure customers’ perceived satisfaction
with their experience of a firm’s offerings." It is essential for firms to effectively manage
customer satisfaction. To be able do this, we need accurate measurement of satisfaction.

Good quality measures need to have high satisfaction loadings, good reliability, and low
error variances. In an empirical study comparing commonly used satisfaction measures it was
found that two multi-item semantic differential scales performed best across both hedonic
and utilitarian service consumption contexts. According to studies by Wirtz & Lee (2003),
[11]
 they identified a six-item 7-point semantic differential scale (for example, Oliver and
Swan 1983), which is a six-item 7-point bipolar scale, that consistently performed best across
both hedonic and utilitarian services. It loaded most highly on satisfaction, had the highest
item reliability, and had by far the lowest error variance across both studies. In the study,
[11]
the six items asked respondents’ evaluation of their most recent experience with ATM
services and ice cream restaurant, along seven points within these six items: “pleased
me to displeased me”, “contented with to disgusted with”, “very satisfied with to very
dissatisfied with”, “did a good job for me to did a poor job for me”, “wise choice to poor
choice” and “happy with to unhappy with”.

A semantic differential (4 items) scale (e.g., Eroglu and Machleit 1990),[12] which is a four-
item 7-point bipolar scale, was the second best performing measure, which was again
consistent across both contexts. In the study, respondents were asked to evaluate their
11
experience with both products, along seven points within these four items:
“satisfied to dissatisfied”, “favorable to unfavorable”, “pleasant to unpleasant” and “I like it
very much to I didn’t like it at all”.

The third best scale was single-item percentage measure, a one-item 7-point bipolar scale
(e.g., Westbrook 1980).[13]Again, the respondents were asked to evaluate their experience on
both ATM services and ice cream restaurants, along seven points within
“delighted to terrible”.

It seems that dependent on a trade-off between length of the questionnaire and quality of
satisfaction measure, these scales seem to be good options for measuring customer
satisfaction in academic and applied studies research alike. All other measures tested
consistently performed worse than the top three measures, and/or their performance varied
significantly across the two service contexts in their study. These results suggest that more
careful pretesting would be prudent should these measures be used.

Finally, all measures captured both affective and cognitive aspects of satisfaction,
independent of their scale anchors. Affective measures capture a consumer’s attitude
(liking/disliking) towards a product, which can result from any product information or
experience. On the other hand, cognitive element is defined as an appraisal or conclusion on
how the product’s performance compared against expectations (or exceeded or fell short of
expectations), was useful (or not useful), fit the situation (or did not fit), exceeded the
requirements of the situation (or did not exceed).

Methodologies

American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a scientific standard of customer

satisfaction. Academic research has shown that the national ACSI score is a strong predictor
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and an even stronger predictor of Personal
Consumption Expenditure (PCE) growth.[15] On the microeconomic level, academic studies
have shown that ACSI data is related to a firm's financial performance in terms of return on
investment (ROI), sales, long-term firm value (Tobin's q), cash flow, cash flow
volatility, human capital performance, portfolio returns, debt financing, risk, and consumer
spending. Increasing ACSI scores has been shown to predict loyalty, word-of-mouth
recommendations, and purchase behavior. The ACSI measures customer satisfaction

12
annually for more than 200 companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors. In addition
to quarterly reports, the ACSI methodology can be applied to private sector companies and
government agencies in order to improve loyalty and purchase intent.[19] ASCI scores have
also been calculated by independent researchers, for example, for the mobile phones
sector, higher education, and electronic mail.

The Kano model is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction developed in

the 1980s by Professor Noriaki Kano that classifies customer preferences into five categories:
Attractive, One-Dimensional, Must-Be, Indifferent, Reverse. The Kano model offers some
insight into the product attributes which are perceived to be important to customers.

SERVQUAL or RATER is a service-quality framework that has been incorporated into

customer-satisfaction surveys (e.g., the revised Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer
to indicate the gap between customer expectations and experience.

J.D. Power and Associates provides another measure of customer satisfaction, known for its
top-box approach and automotive industry rankings. J.D. Power and Associates' marketing
research consists primarily of consumer surveys and is publicly known for the value of its
product awards.

Other research and consulting firms have customer satisfaction solutions as well. These
include A.T. Kearney's Customer Satisfaction Audit process, which incorporates the Stages
of Excellence framework and which helps define a company’s status against eight critically
identified dimensions.

For B2B customer satisfaction surveys, where there is a small customer base, a high response
rate to the survey is desirable.[25] The American Customer Satisfaction Index (2012) found
that response rates for paper-based surveys were around 10% and the response rates for e-
surveys (web, wap and e-mail) were averaging between 5% and 15% - which can only
provide a straw poll of the customers' opinions.

In the European Union member states, many methods for measuring impact and satisfaction
of e-government services are in use, which the eGovMoNet project sought to compare and
harmonize.

13
These customer satisfaction methodologies have not been independently audited by
the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) according to MMAP (Marketing
Metric Audit Protocol).

14
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how, where and what people do or do not
buy products. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social psychology,
anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process,
both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as
demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also
tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference
groups, and society in general. Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying
behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer.
Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen
interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the
importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer
retention, customer relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one-to-one
marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. Each
method for vote counting is assumed as a social function but if Arrow’s possibility theorem
is used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved. Some specifications of the
social functions are decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonocity, unanimity,
homogeneity and weak and strong Paretooptimality. No social choice function meets these
requirements in an ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social
function is identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical relation
with the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy customers. With that in mind,
the productive system is considered from its beginning at the production level, to the end of
the cycle, the consumer (Kioumarsi et al., 2009).

Belch and Belch define consumer behavior as 'the process and activities people engage in
when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and
services so as to satisfy their needs and desires'.

The black box model shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, decision
process and consumer responses. It can be distinguished between interpersonal stimuli
(between people) or intrapersonal stimuli (within people).[2] The black box model is related to
the black box theory of behaviorism, where the focus is not set on the processes inside a

15
consumer, but the relation between the stimuli and the response of the consumer. The
marketing stimuli are planned and processed by the companies, whereas the environmental
stimulus are given by social factors, based on the economical, political and cultural
circumstances of a society. The buyers black box contains the buyer characteristics and the
decision process, which determines the buyers response.

The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious, rational
decision process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the problem. However,
in reality many decisions are not made in awareness of a determined problem by the
consumer.

Information search
Once the consumer has recognised a problem, they search for information on products and
services that can solve that problem. Belch and Belch (2007) explain that consumers
undertake both an internal (memory) and an external search.

Sources of information include:

 Personal sources
 Commercial sources
 Public sources
 Personal experience

The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with information search is
behaviour. Behaviour is defined as 'the process by which an individual receives, selects,
organises, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world'

The selective behaviour process

Stage Description

- Selective exposure consumers select which promotional messages they will expose
themselves to.
- Selective attention consumers select which promotional messages they will pay
attention to

16
 - Selective comprehension consumer interpret messages in line with their beliefs,
attitudes, motives and experiences

- Selective retention consumers remember messages that are more meaningful or

important to them

The implications of this process help develop an effective promotional strategy, and select
which sources of information are more effective for the brand.

INFORMATION EVALUATION

At this time the consumer compares the brands and products that are in their evoked set. How
can the marketing organization increase the likelihood that their brand is part of the
consumer's evoked (consideration) set? Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the
functional and psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing organization needs to
understand what benefits consumers are seeking and therefore which attributes are most
important in terms of making a decision.

Purchase decision
Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the consumer is ready to make a purchase
decision. Sometimes purchase intention does not result in an actual purchase. The marketing
organization must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intention. The provision of
credit or payment terms may encourage purchase, or a sales promotion such as the
opportunity to receive a premium or enter a competition may provide an incentive to buy
now. The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with purchase decision is
integration.

Postpurchase evaluation
The EKB model was further developed by Rice (1993) which suggested there should be a
feedback loop, Foxall (2005) further suggests the importance of the post purchase evaluation
and that the post purchase evaluation is key due to its influences on future purchase patterns.

17
 MARKET AWARENESS

Market awareness, formerly known as tape reading, is an understanding of the market

nuances and order flow that helps us with the decision making process. At tasty trade, we use
market awareness to help us broadly assess the market, while providing a sense of what to
trade and why. 

Market awareness begins with an overall macro view of the market with stock index futures.
This means understanding the relative strength and weakness of the /ES, /NQ, /TF, and /YM.
We then may look to the bond, commodity and currency futures to gain an overall view of
the current state of the market. In addition, the VIX or /VX futures will help gauge the fear in
the marketplace. Outside of futures, we believe that an understanding of liquidity, IV rank,
binary events, and price movement are important metrics to look for in individual stock. 

market awareness is the extent to which a brand is recognized by potential customers, and is

correctly associated with a particular product. Expressed usually as a percentage of the target
market, brand awareness is the primary goal ofadvertising in the early months or years of
a product's introduction.

Market awareness is related to the functions of brand identities in consumers’ memory and
can be reflected by how well the consumers can identify the brand under various
conditions. market awareness includes brand recognition and brand recall performance.
Brand recognition refers to the ability of the consumers to correctly differentiate the brand
they previously have been exposed to. This does not necessarily require that the consumers
identify the brand name. Instead, it often means that consumers can respond to a certain
brand after viewing its visual packaging images. Brand recall refers to the ability of the
consumers to correctly generate and retrieve the brand in their memory.

A brand name that is well known to the great majority of households is also called
a household name.

Importance

"Awareness, attitudes, and usage (AAU) metrics relate closely to what has been called the
Hierarchy of Effects, an assumption that customers progress through sequential stages from

18
lack of awareness, through initial purchase of a product, to brand loyalty." In total, these
AAU metrics allow companies to track trends in Customer knowledge and attitudes.

Although the hierarchy of effects is considered as a one-way linear relationship, these three
stages are not “clear-cut”. The causal link might be reversed. The usage could cause the
awareness while the attitudes can also influence the awareness. For example, one owned a
Dell wireless mouse and had excellent using experience. Such experience might determine
the one’s favorite brand attitude toward Dell.

market awareness plays a major role in a consumer’s buying decision-making process.

During this process, the category need is stimulated first. For example, you need to do food
shopping. You will only write down the food categories, like chocolate, instead of brand
names on your list. You will scan the packages of chocolate on the shelf and recognize
different brands. Such recognition might be based on the knowledge of an acquaintance or
friend having used the product in the past or constant advertisement. In this situation, brand
awareness does not require brand recall because brand awareness may occur along with
brand recognition. However, in other situations, brand recall is required. For instance, you
are in a hurry and want to grab a bite at a fast-food restaurant. It is not possible for you to
drive around and make a decision. You need to retrieve different fast-food brands in your
memory, choose one and go there directly. In this situation, constant advertisement is
important in consumers’ memory retrieval because the consumers are willing to go to the
first brand that can be recalled.

The eventual goal of most businesses is to make profits and increase sales. Businesses intend
to increase their consumer pool and encourage repeat purchases. Apple is a brilliant example
of how there is a very high recognition of the brand logo and high anticipation of a new
product being released by the company. An iPod is the first thing that pops into our minds
when we think of purchasing an mp3 player. iPod is used as a replaceable noun to describe
an mp3 player. Finally, high brand awareness about a product suggests that the brand is
easily recognizable and accepted by the market in a way that the brand is differentiated from
similar products and other competitors. Brand building also helps in improving brand loyalty.

19
Measures of market Awareness

Aided Awareness- This type of awareness is generated in a consumer. When asked about a
product category, if the consumer is aided with a list of company names and he recognizes
the company from the given set it is categorized as aided awareness.

Spontaneous awareness --- When asked about a product category, the consumers are asked to
list brands they know without any cues.

Top of the mind Awareness- When the name of the company is automatically recollected
because the consumer very promptly associates the brand with the product category, it is
called a top of the mind awareness of the product. It’s the first brand name listed by the
consumers when asked to name brands they know without any cues.

Methodologies

Mokhira discussion in industry and practice about the meaning and value of various brand
awareness metrics. Recently, anempirical study appeared to put this debate to rest by
suggesting that all awareness metrics were systematically related, simply reflecting their
difficulty, in the same way that certain questions are more difficult in academic exams.

Channels of market awareness

There are many ways to generate brand awareness in the consumers. Listed below are four
such channels

Advertising is the activity or profession of producing information for promoting the sale of
commercial products or services.[6] Advertising is used through various media to generate
brand awareness within consumers. They can be aired as radio ads, television commercials,
internet etc.

Guerrilla Marketing creative campaigns allow every small firm to compete with bigger
firms by carving out narrow but profitable niches. Nowadays, big firms also use guerrilla
marketing to catch consumers’ attention at low cost. These tactics include

(1) extreme specialization,

(2) aiming every effort at favourably impressing the customers,

(3) providing service that goes beyond the customers' expectations,

20
(4) fast response time,

(5) quick turnaround of jobs, and

(6) working hours that match the customer's requirements. The term 'Guerrilla Marketing' is a
registered trademark of author Jay Levinson who popularized it through his several
'Guerrilla' books.

It is an out of the ordinary way of marketing a product. Low-cost channels can be utilised to
generate a high level of interest in the product and create brand awareness. Utilisation of
personal contacts is the most popular way of guerrilla marketing. Product Plabanking is an
advertising technique used by companies to subtly promote their products through a non-
traditional advertising technique, usually through appearances in film, television, or other
media.

A formal agreement between the product manufacturer and a media company can be
generated through which the media company also receives an economic benefit, usually in
the form of a fee. The media company in return will showcase the product through any of the
various means they have available to make the brand stand out. Some people, however,
consider product plabanking to be deceptive and unethical.

For example, Coca-Cola could pay a given fee to have the title character drinking a Coke,
instead of a Pepsi beverage, or Toyota might pay to have one of the characters drive their
newest automobile. Through product plabanking, companies hope that moviegoers will take
note of the products used by the characters, and therefore think more strongly about using the
products themselves. Social Media is the most contemporary and cost-effective way of
creating a brand awareness with an online audience. Many companies use social media like
Facebook, YouTube, blogs etc.

21
Challenges

Maintaining market awareness 

Maintaining market awareness is a very important aspect in marketing a company. It is

imperative and very helpful to analyze the response your audience has towards the change in
packaging, advertising, products and messages sent across through various means. Working
towards creating an image in the minds of the consumers is not the last thing a company
should aim to do. Inviting consumer feedback and maintaining a constant presence in the
market is equally essential. Availability of the product to the consumer is one such way of
doing this. The consumer should not have to come looking for you when he is in need of
making a second purchase of the product, dealerships and outlets at convenient places should
make the consumer think of the brand as the most convenient and best solution to their needs
of fulfillments.

While brand awareness scores tend to be quite stable at aggregate level, individual consumers
show considerable propensity to change their responses to aided recall based brand
awareness measures. For unaided recall based brand awareness measures, consumers’ brand
awareness remain relatively stable. For top of mind recall measures, consumers give the
same answer in two interviews typically only 50% the time. Similar low levels of consistency
in response have been recorded for other cues to elicit brand name responses.

22
 CONSUMER AWARENESS

Consumer awareness is the study of when, why, how, where and what people do or do not
buy products. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social psychology,
anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process,
both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as
demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also
tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference
groups, and society in general. Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying
behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer.
Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen
interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the
importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer
retention, customer relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one-to-one
marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions. Each
method for vote counting is assumed as a social function but if Arrow’s possibility theorem
is used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved. Some specifications of the
social functions are decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonocity, unanimity,
homogeneity and weak and strong Paretooptimality. No social choice function meets these
requirements in an ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social
function is identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical relation
with the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy customers. With that in mind,
the productive system is considered from its beginning at the production level, to the end of
the cycle, the consumer (Kioumarsi et al., 2009).

Belch and Belch define consumer awareness as 'the process and activities people engage in
when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and
services so as to satisfy their needs and desires'.

Black box model

ENVIRONMENTAL BUYER'S
BUYER'S BLACK BOX
FACTORS RESPONSE

Marketing Environmental Buyer Decision Process

23
Stimuli Stimuli Characteristics

Product
Problem recognition choice
Attitudes
Product Economic Information search Brand choice
Motivation
Price Technical Alternative evaluation Dealer choice
Perceptions
Place Political Purchase decision Purchase
Personality
Promotion Cultural Post-purchase timing
Lifestyle
awareness Purchase
amount
The black box model shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, decision
process and consumer responses.[1] It can be distinguished between interpersonal stimuli
(between people) or intrapersonal stimuli (within people).[2] The black box model is related to
the black box theory of awareness ism, where the focus is not set on the processes inside a
consumer, but the relation between the stimuli and the response of the consumer. The
marketing stimuli are planned and processed by the companies, whereas the environmental
stimulus are given by social factors, based on the economical, political and cultural
circumstances of a society. The buyers black box contains the buyer characteristics and the
decision process, which determines the buyers response.

The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious, rational
decision process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the problem. However,
in reality many decisions are not made in awareness of a determined problem by the
consumer.

Information search
Once the consumer has recognised a problem, they search for information on products and
services that can solve that problem. Belch and Belch (2007) explain that consumers
undertake both an internal (memory) and an external search.

Sources of information include:

 Personal sources
 Commercial sources
 Public sources

24
  Personal experience

The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with information search is
perception. Perception is defined as 'the process by which an individual receives, selects,
organises, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world'

The selective perception process

Stage Description

- Selective exposure consumers select which promotional messages they will expose
themselves to.
- Selective attention consumers select which promotional messages they will pay
attention to

- Selective comprehension consumer interpret messages in line with their beliefs,

attitudes, motives and experiences

- Selective retention consumers remember messages that are more meaningful or

important to them

The implications of this process help develop an effective promotional strategy, and select
which sources of information are more effective for the brand.

INFORMATION EVALUATION
At this time the consumer compares the brands and products that are in their evoked set. How
can the marketing organization increase the likelihood that their brand is part of the
consumer's evoked (consideration) set? Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the
functional and psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing organization needs to
understand what benefits consumers are seeking and therefore which attributes are most
important in terms of making a decision.

Purchase decision
Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the consumer is ready to make a purchase
decision. Sometimes purchase intention does not result in an actual purchase. The marketing

25
organization must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intention. The provision of
credit or payment terms may encourage purchase, or a sales promotion such as the
opportunity to receive a premium or enter a competition may provide an incentive to buy
now. The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with purchase decision is
integration.

Postpurchase evaluation
The EKB model was further developed by Rice (1993) which suggested there should be a
feedback loop, Foxall (2005) further suggests the importance of the post purchase evaluation
and that the post purchase evaluation is key due to its influences on future purchase patterns.

Alternatives to short selling available on the SGX :

1. Borrow the share and proceed to sell a stock.

2. Buy a put warrant
3. Short a CFD.
4. Sell a Single Stock Future (SSF) in the futures market.

Poker and gaming

"Buying in" regarding poker tournaments is the process of entering a poker tournament that
requires an up-front payment. The size of the payment, otherwise known as the "Buy In",
determines the total winning prize pool and also contains a fee, otherwise known as the rake,
that is paid to the house.

For example a 50 person capacity tournament could cost $55 to enter per player. In poker
terms this could equate to $50+5, meaning $50 goes to the prize pool to pay the eventual
winners and $5 (10%) goes to the house for hosting the tournament. In this example the prize
pool would contain $2500 and the house would take a total of $250 (also 10%).

Management
The process of lobbying for support for part of the influential group before suggesting an
idea, arguing a case or submitting a report.

In the sports world, buying in is a significant aspect of players/participants accepting goals

and direction from a coach, leader or program. "Buying in" becomes synonymous with

26
commitment and dedication. In the Spring of 2007, two film makers, Tim
Breitbach(Dopamine) and Ralph Barhydt, started producing a film entitled, "Buying In" that
explores the social issues of buying in based on the success of the boys' and girls' high school
basketball teams at The Branson School, in Ross, California, who each won the State
Championship in their division in 2007.

Customer relationship

Customer relationship is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing

and nurturing a company’s interactions with customers and sales prospects. It involves using
technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales
related activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The
overall goals are to find, attract, and win new customers, nurture and retain those the
company already has, entice former customers back into the fold, and reduce the costs of
marketing and customer service.

According to Forrester Research, spending on customer relationship management is expected

to top $11 billion annually by 2010, as enterprises seek to grow top-line revenues, improve
the customer experience, and boost the productivity of customer-facing staff.

Once simply a label for a category of software tools, customer relationship management has
matured and broadened as a concept over the years; today, it generally denotes a company-
wide business strategy embracing all customer-facing departments and even beyond. When
an implementation is effective, people, processes, and technology work in synergy to develop
and strengthen relationships, increase profitability, and reduce operational costs.

Benefits

Customer relationship management tools have been shown to help companies attain these
objectives:

 Streamlined sales and marketing processes

 Higher sales productivity
 Added cross-selling and up-selling opportunities

27
  Improved customer service, loyalty, and retention
 Increased call center efficiency
 Higher close rates
 Better customer profiling and targeting
 Reduced expenses
 Increased market share
 Higher overall profitability
 Marginal costing

Challenges

Tools and workflows can be complex to implement, especially for large enterprises. While
some companies report great success, initiatives have also been known to fail—mainly owing
to poor planning, a mismatch between software tools and company needs, roadblocks to
collaboration between departments, and a lack of workforce buy-in and adoption.

Previously these tools were generally limited to contact management: monitoring and
recording interactions and communications with customers. Software solutions then
expanded to embrace deal tracking and the management of accounts, territories,
opportunities, and—at the managerial level—the sales pipeline itself. Next came the advent
of tools for other customer-facing business functions, as described below.

Customer relationship management technology has been, and still is, offered as on-premises
software that companies purchase and run on their own IT infrastructure. Vendors include:
Oracle Corporation, SAP AG, and Amdocs. Perhaps the most notable trend has been the
growth of tools delivered via the Web, also known as cloud computing and software as a
service (SaaS). In contrast with conventional on-premises software, cloud-computing
applications are sold by subscription, accessed via a secure Internet connection, and
displayed on a Web browser. Companies don’t incur the initial capital expense of purchasing
software; neither must they buy and maintain IT hardware to run it on. In 2009, SaaS
represented approximately 20% of all customer relationship management spending, and
continues its trajectory of outselling on-premises software by a ratio of 3-to-1.

28
Sales Force Automation

As its name implies, a sales force automation (SFA) system provides an array of capabilities
to streamline all phases of the sales process, minimizing the time that reps need to spend on
manual data entry and administration. This allows them to successfully pursue more
customers in a shorter amount of time than would otherwise be possible. At the heart of SFA
is a contact management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process
for each prospective customer, from initial contact to final disposition. Many SFA
applications also include features for opportunity management, territory management, sales
forecasting and pipeline, workflow automation, quote generation, and product knowledge.
Newly-emerged priorities are modules for Web 2.0 e-commerce and pricing management.

Marketing

Systems for marketing (also known as marketing automation) help the enterprise identify and
target its best customers and generate qualified leads for the sales team. [4] A key marketing
capability is managing and measuring multichannel campaigns, including email, search,
social media, and direct mail. Metrics monitored include clicks, responses, leads, deals, and
revenue. Marketing automation also encompasses capabilities for managing customer
loyalty, lists, collateral, and internal marketing resources.

As marketing departments are increasingly obliged to demonstrate revenue impact, today’s

systems typically include performance management features for measuring the ROI of
campaigns.

Customer Service and Support

Recognizing that customer service is an important differentiator, organizations are

increasingly turning to technology platforms to help them improve their customers’
experience while increasing efficiency and keeping a lid on costs.[5] Even so, a 2009 study
revealed that only 39% of corporate executives believe their employees have the right tools
and authority to solve customer problems.“.

The core for customer service has been and still is comprehensive call center management,
including such features as intelligent call routing, computer telephone integration (CTI), and

29
escalation capabilities. More recently, e-service capabilities—Web self-service, knowledge
management, email response management, Web chat, collaborative browsing and virtual
assistants—are gaining in importance. In fact, today’s profusion of customer service channels
has prompted many companies to deploy integrated support applications that deliver
knowledge-enabled solutions across all of them.

Another key trend is the increasing popularity of SaaS platforms for customer service, owing
to their rapid deployment, low initial cost, and now-established efficacy for large and
complex contact centers.

Analytics

Relevant analytics capabilities are often interwoven into applications for sales, marketing,
and customer service. These features can be complemented and augmented with links to
separate, purpose-built applications for analytics and business intelligence.

Sales analytics let companies monitor and understand customer actions and preferences,
through sales forecasting, data quality management, and dashboards that graphically display
key performance indicators (KPIs).

Marketing applications generally come with predictive analytics to improve customer

segmentation and targeting, and features for measuring the effectiveness of online, offline,
and search marketing campaign Web analytics have evolved significantly from their starting
point of merely tracking mouse clicks on Web sites. By evaluating customer “buy signals,”
marketers can see which prospects are most likely to transact and also identify those who are
bogged down in a sales process and need assistance. Marketing and finance personnel also
use analytics to assess the value of multi-faceted programs as a whole.

Customer service analytics are increasing in popularity as companies demand greater

visibility into the performance of call centers and other support channels, in order to correct
problems before they affect customer satisfaction levels. Support-focused applications
typically include dashboards similar to those for sales, plus capabilities to measure and
analyze response times, service quality, agent performance, and the frequency of various
customer issues.

30
Integrated/Collaborative

Departments within enterprises—especially large enterprises—tend to function in their own

little worlds. Traditionally, inter-departmental interaction and collaboration have been
infrequent and rivalries not uncommon.

More recently, the development and adoption of the tools and services has fostered greater
fluidity and cooperation among sales, customer service, and marketing. This finds expression
in the concept of collaborative customer relationship management, which uses technology to
build bridges between departments. The objective is sharing and harnessing information from
all quarters to improve the quality of customer service, and increase customer satisfaction
and loyalty as a result.

For example, feedback from a technical support center can enlighten marketers about specific
services and product features customers are asking for. Similarly, demand generation
strategies need to marry marketing programs with structured sales processes—that is,
campaign-engendered leads must be quickly and efficiently funneled to sales. Reps, in their
turn, want to be able to pursue these opportunities without the time-wasting burden of re-
entering records and contact data into a separate SFA system. Conversely, lack of integration
can have negative consequences: If a sales force automation or customer relationship
management system isn’t adopted and integrated among all departments, several sources
might contact the same customers for an identical purpose.

Owing to these and related factors, many of the top-rated and most popular products come as
integrated suites.

Despite all this, many companies are still not fully leveraging these tools and services to
align marketing, sales, and service to best serve the enterprise and its customers. Often,
implementations are fragmented; isolated initiatives by individual departments to address
their own needs. Systems that start disunited usually stay that way: Siloed thinking and
decision processes frequently lead to separate and incompatible systems, an incomplete
customer view, and dysfunctional processes.

31
Small Business

Basic customer management can be accomplished by a contact management system, an

integrated solution that lets organizations and individuals efficiently track and record
customer and supplier interactions, including emails, documents, jobs, faxes, scheduling, and
more.

This kind of solution is gaining traction with even very small businesses, thanks to the ease
and time savings of handling customer contact through a centralized application rather than
several different pieces of software, each with its own data collection system.

In contrast with contact managers, bona fide customer relationship management tools usually
focus on accounts rather than individual contacts. They also generally include opportunity
management for tracking sales pipelines plus added functionality for marketing and customer
service.

As with larger enterprises, small businesses are finding value in online management
solutions, especially for mobile and telecommuting workers.

Social Media

Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are greatly amplifying the customer voice in the
marketplace, and are predicted to have profound and far-reaching effects on the ways
companies manage their customer relationships.[9] This is because customers are using these
social media sites to share opinions and experiences on companies, products, and services.
As social media isn’t moderated or censored, individuals can say anything they want about a
company or brand, whether pro or con.

Increasingly, companies are looking to gain access to these conversations and take part in the
dialogue. More than a few systems are now integrating to social networking sites. Social
media promoters cite a number of business advantages, such as using online communities as
a source of high-quality leads and a vehicle for crowd sourcing solutions to customer-support
problems. Companies can also leverage customers’ stated habits and preferences to
personalize and even “hyper-target” their sales and marketing communications.

Some analysts take the view that business-to-business marketers should proceed cautiously
when weaving social media into their business processes. These observers recommend

32
careful market research to determine if and where the phenomenon can provide measurable
benefits for customer interactions, sales, and support.

Adoption Issues

Historically, the landscape is littered with instances of low adoption rates. In 2003, a Gartner
report estimated that more than $1 billion had been spent on software that wasn’t being used.
A contemporaneous AMR Research study found that of 80 large customers surveyed, 47%
had difficulty with end-user adoption, leading to abandoned projects or unused software
modules.

More recent research indicates that the problem,while perhaps less severe, is a long way from
being solved. According to a CSO Insights less than 40

EVALUATION OF CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is to create a competitive advantage by being

the best at understanding, communicating, elivering, and developing existing customer
relationships, in addition to creating and keeping new customers. It has emerged as one of the
largest management buzzword. Popularised by the business press and marketed by the
aggressive CRM vendors as a panacea for all the ills facing the firms and managers, it means
different things to different people. CRM, for some, means one to one marketing while for
others a call centre. Some call database marketing as CRM. There are many others who refer
to technology solutions as CRM. If so, what is CRM?

Merchants and traders have been practicing customer relationship for centuries. Their
business was built on trust. They could customize the products and all aspects of delivery and
payment to suit the requirements of their customers. They paid personal attention to their
customers, knew details regarding their customers tastes and preferences, and had a personal
rapport with most of them. In many cases, the interaction transcended the commercial
transaction and involved social interactions. Even today, this kind of a relationship exists
between customers and retailers, craftsmen, artisans – essentially in markets that are
traditional, small and classified as pre-industries markets.

33
These relationship oriented practices have changed due to industrial revolution.. Businesses
adopted mass production, mass communication and mass distribution to achieve economics
of scale. Manufactures started focusing on manufacturing and efficient operations to cut
costs. Intermediaries like distributors, wholesalers and retailers took on the responsibilities of
warehousing, transportation, distribution and sale to final customers. This resulted in greater
efficiencies and lower costs to manufacturers but brought in many layers between them and
the customers. The resulting gap reduced direct contacts and had a negative impact on their
elationships.

The post-industrial era saw the re-emergence of relationship practices. Marketing

academicians.

(a) Rapid advances in technology,

(b) Intensive competition in most markets,

(c) Growing importance of the service sector, and

(d) Adoption of total quality management programs

34
BENEFITS OF CR

Customers are Profitable over a period of time

Studies by the US-based Bain and Company have shown that a customer becomes more
profitable with time because the initial acquisition cost exceeds gross margin while the
retention costs are much lower. When an organization retains the customer, it gets a larger
share of the customers wallet at a higher profit-one percent increase in sale to existing
customer increase profits by 17 per cent while the same amount of sale to new customer
increased profit by only 3 per cent. This huge different is explained by the fact that for most
companies the cost of acquiring the customer is very high. It costs six to eight times more to
sell to a new customer than to sell to an existing one. The same study also highlighted that a
company can boost its profit up 85 per cent by increasing its annual customer retention by
only 5 per cent.

Customer Experience Focus

Marketing

Interactions

Sales

Interactions

Service

Interactions

Support

Interactions

Customer

Differential

35
Customer

Satisfaction

Loyalty,

and

Value

Similarly, studies have shown that the probability of selling a product to a prospect is 15 per
cent while it is 50 per cent to a existing customer. Thus, the time, the effort and the costs of
selling are much lower for an existing customer.

36
 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Customer Satisfaction

Satisfaction has been broadly defined by Vavra, T.G. (1997) as a satisfactory post-
purchase experience with a product or service given an existing purchase expectation.
Howard and Sheth (1969)
According to Westbrook and Reilly (1983) define satisfaction as, “The buyer’s cognitive
state of being adequately or inadequately rewarded for the sacrifices he has undergone”
(p.145). 6, customer satisfaction is “an emotional response to the experiences provided
by, associated with particular Customer Satisfaction Satisfaction has been broadly
defined by Vavra, T.G. (1997) as a satisfactory post-purchase experience with a product
or service given an existing purchase expectation. Howard and Sheth (1969)
According to Westbrook and Reilly (1983) define satisfaction as, “The buyer’s cognitive
state of being adequately or inadequately rewarded for the sacrifices he has undergone”
(p.145). 6, customer satisfaction is “an emotional response to the experiences provided
by, associated with particular purchase expectations with perceptions of performance
during and after the consumption experience.13 Oliver (1981)14 defines customer
satisfaction as a customer’s emotional response to the use of a product or service. Anton
(1996)15 offers more elaboration: “customer satisfaction as a state of mind in which the
customer’s needs, wants and expectations throughout the product or service life have
been met or exceeded, resulting in subsequent repurchase and loyalty”. Merchant
Account Glossary points out that, “Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract
concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will very from person to
person and produce/service to produce/service.....”16Schiffman and Kanuk (2004) 17
Woodruff and Gardian (1996)
defines customer satisfaction as “The individual’s perception of the performance of the
product or service in relation to his or her expectations”.
According to Hung (1977), “…. satisfaction is a kind of stepping away from an
experience and evaluating it … One could have a pleasurable experience that caused
dissatisfaction because even though it was pleasurable, it wasn’t as pleasurable as it was

37
 supposed to be. So satisfaction / dissatisfaction isn’t an emotion, it’s the evaluation of the
emotion”. define “Satisfaction, then, is the evaluation or feeling that results from the
disconfirmation process. It is not the comparison itself (i.e., the disconfirmation process),
but it is the customer’s response to the comparison. Satisfaction has an emotional
component.”

Consumer behaviour

Cognitive theories of behaviour assume there is a poverty of stimulus. This (with reference to
behaviour ) is the claim that sensations are, by themselves, unable to provide a unique
description of the world. Sensations require 'enriching', which is the role of the mental model.
A different type of theory is the perceptual ecology approach of James J. Gibson. Gibson
rejected the assumption of a poverty of stimulus by rejecting the notion that behaviour is
based upon sensations – instead, he investigated what information is actually presented to the
perceptual systems. His theory "assumes the existence of stable, unbounded, and permanent
stimulus-information in the ambient optic array. And it supposes that the visual system can
explore and detect this information. The theory is information-based, not sensation-
based." He and the psychologists who work within this paradigm detailed how the world
could be specified to a mobile, exploring organism via the lawful projection of information
about the world into energy arrays. Specification is a 1:1 mapping of some aspect of the
world into a perceptual array; given such a mapping, no enrichment is required and
behaviour is direct behaviour .

Behaviour -in-action

An ecological understanding of behaviour derived from Gibson's early work is that of

"behaviour -in-action", the notion that behaviour is a requisite property of animate action;
that without behaviour , action would be unguided, and without action, behaviour would
serve no purpose. Animate actions require both behaviour and motion, and behaviour and
movement can be described as "two sides of the same coin, the coin is action". Gibson works
from the assumption that singular entities, which he calls "invariants", already exist in the
real world and that all that the behaviour process does is to home in upon them. A view
known as constructivism (held by such philosophers as Ernst von Glasersfeld) regards the
continual adjustment of behaviour and action to the external input as precisely what
constitutes the "entity", which is therefore far from being invariant.

38
Glasersfeld considers an "invariant" as a target to be homed in upon, and a pragmatic
necessity to allow an initial measure of understanding to be established prior to the updating
that a statement aims to achieve. The invariant does not and need not represent an actuality,
and Glasersfeld describes it as extremely unlikely that what is desired or feared by an
organism will never suffer change as time goes on. This social constructionist theory thus
allows for a needful evolutionary adjustment.

A mathematical theory of behaviour -in-action has been devised and investigated in many
forms of controlled movement, and has been described in many different species of organism
using the General Tau Theory. According to this theory, tau information, or time-to-goal
information is the fundamental 'percept' in behaviour .

Evolutionary psychology (EP) and behaviour

Many philosophers, such as Jerry Fodor, write that the purpose of behaviour is knowledge,
but evolutionary psychologists hold that its primary purpose is to guide action. For example,
they say, depth behaviour seems to have evolved not to help us know the distances to other
objects but rather to help us move around in space.[44] Evolutionary psychologists say that
animals from fiddler crabs to humans use eyesight for collision avoidance, suggesting that
vision is basically for directing action, not providing knowledge.

Building and maintaining sense organs is metabolically expensive, so these organs evolve
only when they improve an organism's fitness. More than half the brain is devoted to
processing sensory information, and the brain itself consumes roughly one-fourth of one's
metabolic resources, so the senses must provide exceptional benefits to fitness. Behaviour
accurately mirrors the world; animals get useful, accurate information through their senses.

Scientists who study behaviour and sensation have long understood the human senses as
adaptations. Depth behaviour consists of processing over half a dozen visual cues, each of
which is based on a regularity of the physical world. Vision evolved to respond to the narrow
range of electromagnetic energy that is plentiful and that does not pass through
objects. Sound waves provide useful information about the sources of and distances to
objects, with larger animals making and hearing lower-frequency sounds and smaller animals
making and hearing higher-frequency sounds.[44]Taste and smell respond to chemicals in the
environment that were significant for fitness in the environment of evolutionary
adaptedness. The sense of touch is actually many senses, including pressure, heat, cold,
39
tickle, and pain. Pain, while unpleasant, is adaptive. An important adaptation for senses is
range shifting, by which the organism becomes temporarily more or less sensitive to
sensation. For example, one's eyes automatically adjust to dim or bright ambient light.
Sensory abilities of different organisms often coevolve, as is the case with the hearing of
echolocating bats and that of the moths that have evolved to respond to the sounds that the
bats make.

Evolutionary psychologists claim that behaviour demonstrates the principle of modularity,

with specialized mechanisms handling particular behaviour tasks.[44] For example, people
with damage to a particular part of the brain suffer from the specific defect of not being able
to recognize faces (prospagnosia). EP suggests that this indicates a so-called face-reading
module.

Theories of visual behaviour

 Empirical theories of behaviour

 Enactivism
 Anne Treisman's feature integration theory
 Interactive activation and competition
 Irving Biederman's recognition by components theory

Physiology
Sensory system

A sensory system is a part of the nervous system responsible for

processing sensory information. A sensory system consists of sensory receptors, neural
pathways, and parts of the brain involved in sensory behaviour . Commonly recognized
sensory systems are those for vision, hearing, somatic
sensation (touch), taste and olfaction (smell). It has been suggested that the immune system is
an overlooked sensory modality. In short, senses are transducers from the physical world to
the realm of the mind.

The receptive field is the specific part of the world to which a receptor organ and receptor
cells respond. For instance, the part of the world an eye can see, is its receptive field; the

40
light that each rod or cone can see, is its receptive field. Receptive fields have been identified
for the visual system, auditory system and somatosensory system, so far.

Consumer behaviour is a field of study that focuses on consumer activities. This has been a
topic of vast interest for the marketers all over the world. The marketing managers always
study these consumer behavioural changes and make continuous changes in products and
services. According to Blackwell et al. (2006), consumer behaviour is defined as the
activities that people undertake when obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and
services that they expect will satisfy their personal needs. Blackwell et al. (2006) mentions
that a customer follows a sequence before buying a product or service.
 consumer behaviour has become a factor that has a direct impact on the overall performance
of the businesses (Kotler and Keller, 2012)

consumer behaviour has become crucial especially due to fierce competition in retail industry
in the worldwide (Lancaster et al, 2002) consumer behaviour addressing the works of 
marketers. Moreover, consumer decision making process, in particular, five stages of
consumer decision making process will be discussed in detail.

41
 COMPANY PROFILE

The Story Behind Designing Nexa - Maruti's 'Premium' Dream in India. ... A similar story
went into the making of Maruti Suzuki Nexa, the brand's premium dealership in India.
Maruti Suzuki is the most loved car brand of India for its great value, fuel efficiency and
huge service networ

NEXA CARS

42
43
 EXTENDED WARRANTY

The NEXA extended warranty program gives the owner an extension and reassurance about
the reliability and quality of premium NEXA vehicles. It offers safety and comprehensive
protection to our customers that builds a long term relationship. So, you may enjoy the peace
of mind with the option of extending the warranty period of your vehicle.

THE NEXA
EXTENDED WARRANTY ADVANTAGES
 Maruti Suzuki Insurance
 Flexibility to approach any dealer in the country for warranty claims
 One time payment only, so protection against rising costs of parts and labor
 Total peace of mind, full cover for risks against manufacturing defects
 Nominal price to pay
 Better resale value of vehicles

NEXA FINANCE

44
NEXA Finance helps customers realize their dream of owning a car, with ideal finance deals
suited for the customers, right at the dealership. Starting from choosing the right financier,
until the completion of loan formalities, we ensure that availing finance at NEXA will be a
delight. NEXA Finance also offers flexible and customized financial solutions to enhance
your car buying experience.

INSURANCE

For all Insurance related needs of your car, we recommend Maruti Insurance Broking Private
Limited, an Insurance Broking entity licensed by IRDA. They serve you on a single window
concept and are trusted for their customer centric approach and services.

Maruti Insurance offers Motor Insurance products, customized for Maruti Suzuki Cars, from
the leading Insurance Companies such as National Insurance, New India Assurance, ICICI
Lombard, IffcoTokio, Royal Sundaram, Bajaj Allianz & Others.

You get near cash-less Claim Settlement at the Nationwide Service Network of Maruti
Suzuki, where repairs are carried out using Maruti Suzuki Genuine Spare Parts by trained
technicians. Additionally, state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure of the workshops
ensure Quality Repairs, with manufacturer specified Safety Standards for your Maruti
vehicle.

Maruti Insurance also ensures Excellent Customer Service with utmost fairness and
transparency in all its transactions. No wonder, more than 90% customers buying a Maruti
Suzuki, prefer to buy a Maruti Insurance Policy for their car.

45
Advantages of Maruti Insurance

The key features of Maruti Insurance that differentiate it from other motor insurance policies
available in the market are:

CASH-LESS*
CLAIM SETTLEMENT
No hassles of paying the total repair bills upfront, and then following up with Insurance
Company - Just pay your share, which is a small differential amount and the repaired vehicle
will be delivered to You. The amount payable by the Insurance Company, which is the large
portion of the claim, is directly settled with workshop.
CORPORATE AND INSTITUTIONAL SALES
CORPORATE SALES

At MSIL Corporate and Institutional Sales, we have a dedicated team for our customers,
wherein we offer individualized solutions meeting their requirement.
We offer one stop solution for customers, including Corporate, PSUs, Government and self
employed professionals. As a corporate customer, you can avail special services for bulk
purchases, leasing and individual purchases.

46
There are special privileges of being a corporate customer with Maruti Suzuki; you can enjoy
the convenience of having a single direct contact through a dedicated corporate sales
manager as well as the wide range of services provided through our exclusive NEXA dealer
network. The institutional sales team is dedicated towards providing a hassle free experience
and best business deals to our customers.
CORPORATE SALES ENQUIRYPlease enter the form below with your contact details
and requirement.

MARUTI TRUE VALUE

Maruti True Value is India's largest certified used car dealer network, with around 763
outlets spread across 550 cities.
Maruti True Value system and process ensures that transactions made for used cars are fair
and transparent.
Every vehicle bought under Maruti True Value is inspected and certified by Maruti Suzuki
engineers. True Value category cars are refurbished in state of art workshops using Maruti
Genuine Parts and by skilled technicians. These cars are then sold through Maruti True Value
outlets with one -year warranty and three free services.
Simply put, it's the best place to buy, sell or exchange a used car.

47
 GENUINE PARTS

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. provides replacement of parts under the brand “Genuine
NEXA Parts".

Genuine NEXA Parts are precisely engineered according to the design &
specifications of the specific model, hence giving the best performance to your
vehicle. Genuine NEXA Parts meet global quality standards & add to your safety and
driving pleasure while ensuring that your car gets a long service life. Genuine parts
always pay off.

Air Filter
For allowing clean air in your vehicle's combustion chamber; Genuine NEXA filters are
precisely tailored to the vehicle’s engine to provide optimum & economical performance.

48
Oil Filter
For a well oiled engine that is free from impurities and produced from combustion; Genuine
NEXA oil filters have a large filteration surface for effective cleaning to protect your S-Cross
engine from damage.

Clutch
For a smooth & quiet transfer of engine power to the transmission; Genuine NEXA clutches
are engineered according to original manufacturing standards, they fit seamlessly for perfect
acceleration.

Brake Pads
For a safe driving with short braking distance; Genuine NEXA brake pads are perfectly
tailored for your S-Cross that provides perfect braking & longevity. Non asbestos material
further makes it more environment friendly.

49
Wiper Blade
For a clear view through windscreen at all times; Genuine NEXA wiper blades are designed
to provide perfect contact to the windscreen.

Shock absorbers
For a smooth and comfortable ride over various surfaces & roads, Genuine NEXA Shock
absorbers are designed for longevity & performance and are made with high quality material.
So no more bumps in your ride!

Spark Plug

For an efficient engine performance, Genuine NEXA Spark Plugs ensure faster response &
precise ignition.

50
ON ROAD SUPPORT
You leave the showroom with your Premium Car from NEXA, but we never leave your side.
We're always there, on every road, whenever you need help.

Stuck in the city? Or stuck in the back of beyond, without help for miles? All you need to do
is remember the number 1800-102-6392, 1800-200-6392. Just a Call and NEXA On Road
Service will swing into action.
Travelling on any of the high density highways in India, expect to find a NEXA service
workshop at a distance of 30 km or thereabouts. So, remember when you drive a car from
NEXA, you never drive alone.

51
 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

An objective is the most important part of a research .The objective is the bull’s eye,
which a researcher has to hit. The objective determines the path on which a researcher
has to walk on, and help him/her by not deveining from the path.

 To analyse brand loyalty of customers towards the company’s products range.

 Analyse consumer satisfaction for after sales service provided by NEXA.
 Analyse the Consumer behaviour of among NEXA .

 To analyze the awareness of customer of NEXA

52
 SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope formulation is the first step to a successful Research process. Project undertaken
the problem of analyzing the consumer satisfaction with special reference to NEXA in
lucknow

IMPORTANCE AND USE OF THE STUDY

To keep things in mind that as the ever changing competitive business environment. New
thoughts and ideas should pour into its, Research & Development to innovate its existing
products which should be beyond competitors comprehension.
This study enables the user with answer to formulate an effective marketing mix strategy
with a broader prospective to tap areas where it did not feel the need earlier, hence the
decision of whether to penetrate this section or not can be found out at the end of the data
analysis.
It also gives an idea of the potential of our business in the future & the fluctuation in prices
from time to time & from product to product.
Special reference is made to the improvement of ability of product in terms of packaging&
product innovations & advertisement always means to cut down competitors.

53
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
This chapter aims to understand the research methodology establishing a framework of
evaluation and revaluation of primary and secondary research. The techniques and concepts
used during primary research in order to arrive at findings; which are also dealt with and lead
to a logical deduction towards the analysis and results

RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design applied here was exploratory research
Exploratory Research is one in we don’t know about the problem, we have to find about the
problem and then work on solving the problem. Whereas in case of descriptive research, we
know the problem, we just have to find the solution to the problem. Generally descriptive
research design is applied after exploratory research design.
Here after doing the secondary research, we found the general perception about the retail
baking but then in second phase we tried to figure out where the difference lies and on what
basis the banks differ from each other

54
RESEARCH TOOL
Research tool
The purpose is to first conduct a intensive secondary research to understand the full impact
and implication of the industry, to review and critique the industry norms and reports, on
which certain issues shall be selected, which remain unanswered , this shall be further taken
up in the next stage of secondary research. This stage shall help to restrict and select only
the important question and issue, which inhabit growth and segmentation in the industry.
DATA COLLECTION:
Both primary and secondary data have been collected very vigorously
Secondary data: it is collected by the study of various reports. The reports studied under
secondary data. Primary Data was taken with questionnaire

THE RESEARCH REPORT

The report is the result of a survey which was undertaken in Lucknow city. The objectives
of the project has been fulfilled by getting response from the customer associated to these
segments through a personal interview in the form of a questionnaire. The responses
available through the questionnaire are used to evaluate the consumer behaviour for the
products of NEXA and the willingness of the customer to purchase its products on future.
The project also covers an analysis of the switch over of customers to competitors products
in the market.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

The problem formulation is the first step to a successful Research process.
Project undertaken the problem of analyzing the customer satisfaction in NEXA

THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

Based on the problem the objective of the research is divided into two which
are as follows:

55
Primary Objective:
 To analyse customer satisfaction towards the company’s products range.
Secondary Objective:
 Analyse customer satisfaction for different NEXA products.
 Analyse the customer behaviour of NEXA.

THE RESEARCH DESIGN

The research design used in the project is exploratory design. The
investigation is carried upon the customers in Lucknow city. The reason for choosing this
design is to get responses from the customers so that their buying behaviour about the
products of the company and their loyalty could be predicted.

THE DATA SOURCE

The data has been taken from two sources
 Primary data source
The primary data source has been collected through questionnaire by personally
interviewing each respondent on a number of queries structured in a questionnaire.
 Secondary data source
Secondary data was collected from following sources
Prior research reports
Websites
Books
Newspaper
Personal consultation

THE AREA OF WORK

The field work is conducted in the Lucknow city in various Places like Mall,
Showroom and retailers situated in different location all over the city.

56
 THE SAMPLE SIZE
The sample size consists of 100 units out of which the most logical and non
biased response are selected thus the sample size is taken out to be 100 units.

LIMITATION
Though, best efforts have been made to make the study fair, transparent and
error free. But there might be some inevitable and inherent limitations. Though outright
measure are undertaken to make the report most accurate.
The limitation of the survey are narrated below:
 The project is valid for Lucknow city only.
 It was not possible to cover each and every respondent due to time constrains.
 There may be some biased response form the respondents
 Some respondents did not provide the full data.
 Unwillingness on the part of the customers to disclose the information as per the
questionnaire.
 The decisiveness on the part of the customers regarding some question hence difficulty
faced in recording and analyzing the data.

57
DATA ANALYSIS
AND
INTERPRETATION

58
 DATA ANALYSIS
1. Do you like the idea of purchasing NEXA products?

Yes 87
No 13

13%

87%

Yes No

INTERPRETATION
87% respondent said that they have idea of purchasing NEXA products but 13% are not

59
2. Have you ever purchase product of NEXA ?

Yes 77
No 23

23%

77%

Yes No

INTERPRETATION
77% respondent said that they have ever purchase product of NEXA but 23% are not

60
3. What helps you to decide which product of NEXA you purchase ?

TV Advertisement 23
Personal recommendation 36
Special offer 11
Radio advertising 17
News paper 7
Word of mouth 6

7% 6% 23%
17%

11%
36%

TV Advertisement Personal recommendation

Special offer Radio advertising
News paper Word of mouth

INTERPRETATION
23% respondent said that they decide to purchase the product of NEXA by TV
advertisement, 36 personal recommendation, 11% special offer, 17% radio advertising, 7%
from News paper and 6% word of mouth.

61
4. How frequently you see advertisement of NEXA product ?

Weekly 27
Monthly 37
daily 27
None 19

17% 25%

25%
33%

Weekly Monthly daily None

INTERPRETATION
25% respondent said that they have see advertisement of NEXA product weekly, 33%
monthly, 25% daily, but 17% none.

62
5. For which one of the following purpose you visit in your product ?

Purchasing brand goods 57

Purchasing local goods 23
Only gathering information 11
Others 9

9%
11%

57%
23%

Purchasing brand goods Purchasing local goods

Only gathering information Others

INTERPRETATION
57% respondent said that they have purpose to visit product purchasing brand goods, 23%
purchasing local goods, 11% only gathering information and 9% others.

63
6. What according to you are attractive features that buy NEXA product ?

Quality 32
Economy 49
look wise 19

19%
32%

49%

Quality Economy Look wise

INTERPRETATION
32% respondent said that they have attractive features that buy NEXA product Quality, 49%
Economy, 19% Lookwise.

64
7 Are you satisfy with NEXA Products?

Yes 91
No 9

9%

91%

Yes No

INTERPRETATION
91% respondent said that they satisfied buy 9% no.

65
8. Do according to you NEXA product have changed the way the Consumer behavior
towards automobile sector ?

Yes 71
No 29

29%

71%

Yes No

INTERPRETATION
71% respondent said that NEXA product have changed the way the Consumer behavior
towards automobile sector Yes but 29% said no.

66
9. Do you suggest NEXA products to others

Yes 89
No 11

11%

89%

Yes No

INTERPRETATION
89% respondent said that they suggest NEXA products to others yes but 11 said no.

67
10. How will you rate your present NEXA product performance?
Poor 7
Satisfactory 23
Fair 27
Good 21
Very good 13
Excellent 9

9% 7%
13% 23%

21%
27%

Poor Satisfactory Fair Good Very good Excellent

INTERPRETATION
7% respondent said that they rate your present NEXA product performance poor, 23%
satisfactory, 27% fair, 21% good, 13% very good, 9% excellent.

68
FINDINGS

69
 FINDINGS

 87% respondent said that they have idea of purchasing NEXA products but 13% are
not

 77% respondent said that they have ever purchase product of NEXA but 23% are not
 23% respondent said that they decide to purchase the product of NEXA by TV
advertisement, 36 personal recommendation, 11% special offer, 17% radio
advertising, 7% from News paper and 6% word of mouth.
 25% respondent said that they have see advertisement of NEXA product weekly, 33%
monthly, 25% daily, but 17% none.
 57% respondent said that they have purpose to visit product purchasing brand goods,
23% purchasing local goods, 11% only gathering information and 9% others.
 32% respondent said that they have attractive features that buy NEXA product
Quality, 49% Economy, 19% Lookwise.
 91% respondent said that they satisfied buy 9% no.
 71% respondent said that NEXA product have changed the way the Consumer
behavior towards NEXA product Yes but 29% said no.
 89% respondent said that they suggest NEXA products to others yes but 11 said no.
 7% respondent said that they rate your present NEXA product performance poor,
23% satisfactory, 27% fair, 21% good, 13% very good, 9% excellent.

70
SUGGESTIONS AND
RECOMMENDATION

71
 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

The recommendations are

 The brand loyalty for more NEXA can be increased if the Quality and appearance of the
products are given due attention because Hyundai has captured a major share of
automobile sector.

 The switch over of the customers can be prevented if more of new products are launched
more frequently like Hyundai which launches new products with slight variations from
the previous.

 Quality are good but it still needs improvements.

72
CONCLUSION

73
 CONCLUSION

The report comes to the following conclusion

 The customers of NEXA are brand loyal with only a small percent want to shift over to
other brands. Trying of other brands by customers is mainly because the customer wants
to try something new.

 The performance of NEXA is fair in comparison to Hyundai.

 Economy is the basic feature influencing to built brand Image.

 The competition of NEXA is majorly Hyundai .

 Due to high brand loyalty the customers of NEXA recommend its product to others.

 The customers are satisfied with the product range of NEXA product.

74
BIBLIOGRAPHY

75
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS AUTHORS

 Marketing Management : Philip Kotler

 Marketing Research : D. D. Sharma
 Research Methodology : C. R. Kothari
 Websites
 www.NEXA.com
 www.google.com

76
ANNEXURE

77
 QUESTIONNIARE

Q1) Do you like the idea of purchasing products NEXA ?

( a) Yes ( b) No

Q2) Have you ever purchase product of NEXA ?

( a) Yes ( b) No

Q3) What helps you to decide which product of cement you purchase?

( a) TV Advertisement ( b) Personal recommendation ( c) Special offer

( d) Radio advertising ( e) News paper ( f) Word of mouth

Q4) How frequently you made a purchase NEXA product ?

( a) Weekly ( b) Monthly ( c) Quarterly ( d) None

78
Q5) For which one of the following purpose you visit in your product ?

( a) Purchasing brand goods

(b) Purchasing local goods

(c) Only gathering information

(d) Others

Q6) What according to you are attractive features that buy NEXA product ?

(a) Quality (b) Economy (c) performance

Q7) Are you satisfy with NEXA Product ?

(a) Yes (b) No

Q8) Do according to you NEXA product have changed the way the
Consumer behavior towards automobile secotr ?

(a) Yes (b) No

79
Q9.Do you suggest NEXA products to others
 Yes
 No

Q10. How will you rate your present NEXA performance?

 Poor
 Satisfactory
 Fair
 Good
 Very good
 Excellent

80