Market Survey on Brand Equity Wrong

8/2/2019 Market Survey on Brand Equity Wrong

1/92

1

A STUDY ON THE MARKET SURVEY ON BRAND EQUITY AT

AUTO-MACHINE

MAIN PROJECT REPORT

Submitted to

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

In the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Submitted by

S.R.MONISH

3511010431

Under the guidance of

Mrs. DHANALAKSHMI

SRM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

SRM UNIVERSITY

KATTANKULATHUR 603 203


2/92

2


3/92

3

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report titled A MARKET SURVEY ON BRAND

EQUITY AT AUTO-MACHINE LTD, is the Bonafide work of Mr.

S.R.MONISH (3511010431) who carried out the study under my supervision.

Certified further, that to the best of my knowledge the work reported here in

does not from part of any other project report or dissertation on the basis of

which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any

other candidate.

Submitted for the viva-voice examination held on _____________________

Mrs.DHANALAKSHMI Dr.JAYSHREE SURESH

(INTERNAL GUIDE) DEAN / MBA

___________________________

External Examiner


4/92

4

ABSTRACT

Indian Automobile Industry

Following India's growing openness, the arrival of new and existing models,

easy availability of finance at relatively low rate of interest and price discounts

offered by the dealers and manufacturers all have stirred the demand for

vehicles and a strong growth of the Indian automobile industry.

The data obtained from ministry of commerce and industry, shows high growth

obtained since 2001- 02 in automobile production continuing in the first three

quarters of the 2004-05. Annual growth was 16.0 per cent in April-December,2004; the growth rate in 2003-04 was 15.1 per cent the automobile industry

grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 per cent between 1992

and 1997.

With investment exceeding Rs. 50,000 crore, the turnover of the automobile

industry exceeded Rs. 59,518 crore in 2002-03. Including turnover of the auto-component sector, the automotive industry's turnover, which was above Rs.

84,000 crore in 2002-03, is estimated to have exceeded Rs.1,00,000 crore (

USD 22. 74 billion) in 2003-04.


5/92

5

DECLARATION

I, S.R.MONISH, hereby declare that the Main Project, entitled A MARKET

SURVEY ON BRAND EQUITY AT AUTO MACHINE LTD submitted to

the SRM University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of

the Degree of Master of Business Administration is a record of original research

work done under the supervision and guidance of Mrs.Dhanalakshmi SRM

School of Management, SRM University, Kattankulathur Campus and it has not

formed the basis for the award of any Degree/Fellowship or other similar title

to any candidate of any University.

Place: Chennai

Date:

Signature of the Student


6/92

6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Internship is an integral part of any Master of Business Administration program

and for that purposes I had joined the company AUTO-MACHINE LTD.

I take the opportunity to express my gratitude to all of them who are in some or

other way helped me to accomplish this challenging project. No amount of

written expression is sufficient to show my deepest sense of gratitude to them.

Also, I express my gratitude and sincere thanks to our Dean Dr. JAYSHREE

SURESH, for having given us spontaneous and wholehearted encouragement

for completing the project successfully.

I am very indebted to our Project guide, Mrs.Dhanalakshmi for her deluge of

ideas, assistance and invaluable support that has provided all through theproject.

My thanks to all other faculty and non-teaching staff members of our

department for their support and also those who helped me to complete this

project.


7/92

7

CONTENTS

INDEX PAGE NO

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

11

CHAPTER 2

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

15

CHAPTER 3

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

16

CHAPTER 4

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

18

CHAPTER 5

METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

34

CHAPTER 6

HOSPITAL PROFILE

38

CHAPTER 7

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

45

CHAPTER 8

FINDINGS

84


8/92

8

CHAPTER 9

SUGGESTIONS

85

CHAPTER 10

CONCLUSION

86

ANNEXURE 87

BIBLIOGRAPHY 92


9/92

9

LIST OF TABLES

SNO INDEX PAGE NO

1 BUY PRODUCT IF MANUFACTURED

INDEPENDENTLY

46

2 APPROPRIATE INDICATOR FOR BRAND EQUITY 48

3 TRUST PRODUCT GOT FROM LOCAL STORES 50

4 WHERE DO U PREFER BUYING OUR PRODUCT 52

5 APPEARANCE OF OUR PRODUCT 54

6 QUALITY OF OUR PRODUCT 56

7 INTANGIBLE FEATURES OF OUR PRODUCT 58

8 WILL U SPEND PREMIUM PRICE FOR REPUTEDCOMPANY PRODUCT

60

9 ASSOCIATE OUR PRODUCT WITH 62

10 WOULD U IDENTIFY OUR BRAND WITH

LITTELE OR NO ADVERTISING

64

11 COMPANY INVEST IN BUILDING BRANDEQUITY

66

12 WHICH IS WELL MANAGED, CUSTOMERLOYALTY OR SATISFACTION

68

13 IS OUR PRODUCT MARKET LEADER 70

14 MARKETING ACTIVITIES FOR BRANDBUILDING

72

15 UNDERTAKEN BRAND VALUE MEASUREMENTEXERCISE 74

16 DOES THE FIRM KEEP UP ITS PROMISES 76

17 IMPORTANT CRITERION FOR BRANDPREFERENCE

78

18 ARE U BULK PURCHASER OF OUR PRODUCT 80

19 BENEFITS COMPETITORS PROVIDE FOR YOURPRODUCT

82


10/92

10

LIST OF CHARTS

SNO INDEX PAGE NO

1 BUY PRODUCT IF MANUFACTURED

INDEPENDENTLY

47

2 APPROPRIATE INDICATOR FOR BRAND EQUITY 49

3 TRUST PRODUCT GOT FROM LOCAL STORES 51

4 WHERE DO U PREFER BUYING OUR PRODUCT 53

5 APPEARANCE OF OUR PRODUCT 55

6 QUALITY OF OUR PRODUCT 57

7 INTANGIBLE FEATURES OF OUR PRODUCT 59

8 WILL U SPEND PREMIUM PRICE FOR REPUTEDCOMPANY PRODUCT

61

9 ASSOCIATE OUR PRODUCT WITH 63

10 WOULD U IDENTIFY OUR BRAND WITH

LITTELE OR NO ADVERTISING

65

11 COMPANY INVEST IN BUILDING BRANDEQUITY

67

12 WHICH IS WELL MANAGED, CUSTOMERLOYALTY OR SATISFACTION

69

13 IS OUR PRODUCT MARKET LEADER 71

14 MARKETING ACTIVITIES FOR BRANDBUILDING

73

15 UNDERTAKEN BRAND VALUE MEASUREMENTEXERCISE 75

16 DOES THE FIRM KEEP UP ITS PROMISES 77

17 IMPORTANT CRITERION FOR BRANDPREFERENCE

79

18 ARE U BULK PURCHASER OF OUR PRODUCT 81

19 BENEFITS COMPETITORS PROVIDE FOR YOURPRODUCT

83


11/92

11

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

INDUSTRY PROFILE:

In the year 1769, a French engineer by the name of Nicolas J. Cugnot

invented the first automobile to run on roads. This automobile, in fact, was a

self-powered, three-wheeled, military tractor that made the use of a steam

engine. The range of the automobile, however, was very brief and at the most, itcould only run at a stretch for fifteen minutes. In addition, these automobiles

were not fit for the roads as the steam engines made them very heavy and large,

and required ample starting time. Oliver Evans was the first to design a steam

engine driven automobile in the U.S.

A Scotsman, Robert Anderson, was the first to invent an electric carriage

between 1832 and 1839. However, Thomas Davenport of the U.S.A. and

Scotsman Robert Davidson were amongst the first to invent more applicable

automobiles, making use of non-rechargeable electric batteries in 1842.

Development of roads made travelling comfortable and as a result, the short

ranged, electric battery driven automobiles were no more the best option for

travelling over longer distances.

The Automobile Industry finally came of age with Henry Ford in 1914 for the

bulk production of cars. This lead to the development of the industry and it first

begun in the assembly lines of his car factory. The several methods adopted by

Ford, made the new invention (that is, the car) popular amongst the rich as well

as the masses.


12/92

12

According the History of Automobile Industry US, dominated the automobile

markets around the globe with no notable competitors. However, after the end

of the Second World War in 1945, the Automobile Industry of other

technologically advanced nations such as Japan and certain European nations

gained momentum and within a very short period, beginning in the early 1980s,

the U.S Automobile Industry was flooded with foreign automobile companies,

especially those of Japan and Germany.

The current trends of the Global Automobile Industry reveal that in the

developed countries the Automobile Industries are stagnating as a result of the

drooping car markets, whereas the Automobile Industry in the developing

nations, such as, India and Brazil, have been consistently registering higher

growth rates every passing year for their flourishing domestic automobile

markets.


13/92

13

NEED FOR THE STUDY

The World Automobile Industry is turned to the developing markets.

With the developed markets almost saturated, the World Automobile Industry is

now focused on the developing markets of South America and Asia, and

Eastern Europe with special emphasis on BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and

China).

As per the reports of the International Organization of Motor Vehicle

Manufacturers or OICA(the association of the companies involved in World

Automobile Industry), for the fiscal end in 2006, the automobile manufacturers

in the U.S. have been overtaken by those in Japan, in terms of the total volume

of automobile units manufactured worldwide.

However, the struggling General Motors of the U.S. still remain the worldwide

leaders of the World Automobile Industry, ahead of the rapidly growing Toyota

Motor Corporation of Japan, by a substantial margin.

The Emerging Indian Automobile Market:

The Indian Automobile Market is a promising industrial sector that is growing

immensely every passing year. The passenger cars are referred to, through theuse of the word "automobile." The whooping growth experienced by the Indian

Automobile Market in the last financial year itself that is the financial year end

in February, 2007 was very close to an 18 percent over the previous fiscal. This

statistical fact is a glittering example of the potential of the growing Automobile

Industry in India.


14/92

14

As per the survey conducted by the Society of Indian Automobile

Manufacturers, the total number of automobiles manufactured by the

Automobile Industry in India, throughout the financial year 2006-07, was very

close to the 15.5 lakh (1.5 million) margin. The huge of number of automobiles

manufactured by the Automobile Industry in India was an enormous growth

upon the number of automobiles manufactured during the previous fiscal that

ended in 2006.

The total number of cars that were exported from India were very close to the

2.0 lakh (2.0 hundred thousand) margin, an encouraging sign for the

Automobile Industry in India. The export of cars manufactured in India

comprised nearly 13 percent of the total number of cars manufactured

domestically by the Automobile Industry in India.

The India Automobile Market looks set to prosper, largely due to the growing

market for automobiles that is developing in India. In the financial year that

ended in February, 2004, the Indian automobile markets were the fastestgrowing in the world, with the registered growth rate touching nearly 20

percent.

The Automobile Industry in India mainly comprises of the small car section,

which enjoys nearly a 2/3rd market share of the entire market for automobiles in

India. In this respect, the Indian markets are the largest in the world for small

cars, behind Japan.

The Indian passenger car market which ranks amongst the largest in the world,

is poised to become even larger and enter the top five passenger car markets in

the world in the next decade.


15/92

15

CHAPTER 2

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Professional management is essence for improving overall efficiency and

effectiveness in every business, which makes business organization sustainable

in changing political and economic environment. Since couple of years more

and number of corporate sector companies have experienced the grave problems

of deciding promotional strategy and specifically sales promotion schemes towin the customers. Also, on the other hand, sales promotion initiatives taken

without keeping the long term objectives of the business may dilutes the brand

equity. It is felt that management practices of designing and implementing

promotional decisions should be well researched and rational to justify the

investment on promotions. It has been felt that large gap remain what has been

accomplished and what is remaining. Therefore the statement of the problem

under the study that has been selected is Effects of Sales Promotions on

Consumer Preferences & Brand Equity Perception .


16/92

16

CHAPTER 3

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To provide a useful strategic function and guide marketing decisions, it isimportant for marketers to fully understand the sources of brand equity,

how they affect outcomes of interest.

2. To know how these sources and outcomes change, if at all, over time.3. To understand the sources and outcomes of brand equity provides a

common denominator for interpreting marketing strategies and assessing

the value of a brand.

4. To study the sources of brand equity help managers understand and focuson what drives their brand equity.


17/92

17

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

To understand exactly how and where brands add value. Towards that goal, we

review measures of both sources and outcomes of brand equity in detail. We

then present a model of value creation, the brand value chain, as a holistic,

integrated approach to understanding how to capture the value created by

brands. We also outline some issues in developing a brand equity measurement

system. We conclude by providing some summary observations.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:

we propose an integrated approach to measuring and managing brand

equity using an econometric model of supply and demand that takes into

account both the perspectives of the firm and the consumer and illustrates the

structural link between consumer- and firm-based measures of brand equity. We

model firm-based brand equity in the form of product market performance

measures of the brands profit, profit premium, revenue, and revenue premium,

and model consumer-based brand equity using a logit model that not only

accounts for the products physical characteristics, price, and advertising, but

also consumer mindset measures of brand equity in the form of the consumers

perceived quality and satisfaction with the brand.

We also study the importance of incorporating such consumer mindset data in a

model of brand equity management vis--vis excluding such data, and discuss

its managerial usefulness in understanding a brands equity positioning among

competing brands and in assessing and predicting the brands performance in

the market.


18/92

18

CHAPTER 4

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Does consumption respond to promotion? Many studies have focused on

the effects of promotion on brand switching, purchase quantity, and stockpiling

and have documented that promotion makes consumers switch brands and

purchase earlier or more. The consumersconsumption decision has long beenignored, and it remains unclear how promotion affects consumption (Blattberg

et al. 1995). Conventional choice models cannot be used to address this issue

because many of these models assume constant consumption rates over time

(usually defined as the total purchases over the entire sample periods divided by

the number of time periods).

While this assumption can be appropriate for some product categories such as

detergent and diapers, it might not hold for many other product categories, such

as packaged tuna, candy, orange juice, or yogurt. For these categories,

promotion can actually stimulate consumption in addition to causing brand

switching and stockpiling. Thus, for product categories with a varying

consumption rate, it is critical to recognize the responsiveness of consumption

to promotion in order to measure the effectiveness of promotion on sales more

precisely.

Emerging literature in behavioral and economic theory has provided supporting

evidence that consumption for some product categories responds to promotion.

Using an experimental approach, Wansink (1996) establishes that significant

holding costs pressure consumers to consume more of the product. Wansink and


19/92

19

Deshpande (1994) show that when the product is perceived as widely

substitutable, consumers will consume more of it in place of its close

substitutes. They also show that higher perishability increases consumption

rates. Adopting scarcity theory, Folkes et al. (1993) show that consumers curb

consumption of products when supply is limited because they perceive smaller

quantities as more valuable. Chandon and Wansink (2002) show that

stockpiling increases consumption of high convenience products. More than that

of low-convenience products.

In an analytical study, Assuncao and Meyer (1993) show that consumption is an

endogenous decision variable driven by promotion and promotion-induced

stockpiling resulting from forward-looking behaviour. There are some recent

empirical papers addressing the promotion effect on consumer stockpiling

behaviour under price or promotion uncertainty. Erdem and Keane (1996) and

Gonul and Srinivasan (1996) establish that consumers are forward looking.

Erdem et al. (2003) explicitly model consumersexpectations about future priceswith an exogenous consumption rate. In their model, consumers form future

price expectations and decide when, what, and how much to buy. Sun et al.

(2003) demonstrate that ignoring forward looking behavior leads to an over

estimation of promotion elasticity.

Sales Promotion

Consumer promotions are now more pervasive than ever. Witness 215 billion

manufacturer coupons distributed in 1986, up 500% in the last decade

(Manufacturers Coupon Control Center 1988), and manufacturer expenditures

on trade incentives to feature or display brands totaling more than $20 billion in

the same year, up 800% in the last decade (Alsop 1986; Kessler 1986). So far,

not much work has been done to identify the purchasing strategies that


20/92

20

consumers adopt in response to particular promotions, or to study how

pervasive these strategies are in a population of interest. Blattberg, Peacock and

Sen (1976) define a purchase strategy as a general buying pattern which

"incorporates several dimensions of buying behavior such as brand loyalty,

private brand proneness and deal proneness." A greater understanding of the

different types of consumer responses to promotions can help managers to

develop effective promotional programs as well as provide new insights for

consumer behavior theorists who seek to understand the influence of different

types of environmental cues on consumer behavior.

Blattberg, Eppen, and Liebermann (1981), Gupta (1988), Neslin, Henderson,

and Quelch (1985), Shoemaker (1979), Ward and Davis (1978), and Wilson,

Newman,

and Hastak (1979) find evidence that promotions are associated with purchase

acceleration in terms of an increase in quantity purchased and, to a lesser extent,

decreased inter purchase timing. Researchers studying the brand choicedecision-for example, Guadagni and Little (1983) and Gupta (1988)-have found

promotions to be associated with brand switching. Montgomery (1971),

Schneider and Currim (1990), and Webster (1965) found that promotion-prone

households were associated with lower levels of brand loyalty.

Blattberg, Peacock, and Sen (1976, 1978) describe 16 purchasing strategysegments based on three purchase dimensions: brand loyalty (single brand,

single brand shifting, many brands), type of brand preferred (national, both

national and private label), and price sensitivity (purchase at regular price,

purchase at deal price). There are other variables that may be used to describe

purchase strategies, examples are whether the household purchases a major or

minor (share) national brand, store brand, or generic, or whether it is store-loyal

or not. McAlister (1983) and Neslin and Shoemaker (1983) use certain


21/92

21

segments derived from those of Blattberg, Peacock, and Sen but add a purchase

acceleration variable to study the profitability of product promotions.

A large body of literature has examined consumer response to sales promotions,

most notably coupons (e.g.. Sawyer and Dickson, 1984; Bawa and Shoemaker,

1987 and 1989; Gupta, 1988; Blattberg and Neslin, 1990; Kirshnan and Rao,

1995; Leone and Srinivasan, 1996). Despite this, important gaps remain to be

studied. It is generally agreed that sales promotions are difficult to standardize

because of legal, economic, and cultural differences (e.g., Foxman, Tansuhaj,

and Wong, 1988; Kashani and Quelch, 1990; Huff and Alden, 1998).

Multinational firms should therefore understand how consumer response to

sales promotions differs between countries or states or province.

Brand Equity Measurement:

According to Rust, Ambler, Carpenter, Kumar, & Srivastava (2004), it isimportant to measure marketing asset of a firm which they define as customer

focused measures of the value of the firm (and its offerings) that may enhance

the firms long-term value. To measure this, they focus on two approaches:

brand equity and customer equity. Measuring brand equity deals with the

measurement of intangible marketing concepts, such as product image

reputation and brand loyalty. Rajagopal (2008) supports the view of measuringthe marketing asset of a firm and highlights that the major advantage of a brand

measurement system is that it links brand management and business

performance of the firm and is a strategic management tool for continuous

improvement rather than a static snapshot in time of the brands performance.

An effective brand measurement system therefore helps businesses to

understand how the brand is performing with the framework of customer values

and against competing brands.


22/92

22

According to Ambler, 2003 many companies measure brand equity to ensure

that marketing activities are aligned with the companys strategy and to ensure

that investment is used for the right brands. Ambler (2003) further defines

marketing metrics as quantified performance measures regularly reviewed by

top management which can be classified into six categories such as:

1. Consumer intermediate: such as consumer awareness and attitudes. The

measure lies in inputs (advertising) and behaviour (sales).

2. Consumer behaviour: such as quarterly penetration.

3. Direct trade customer: distribution availability.

4. Competitive market measures: market share (measure relative to a competitor

or the whole market).

5. Innovation: such as share of turnover due to new products.

6. Financial measures: advertising expenditure or brand valuation.

Multinationals such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo, McDonalds, IBM and many othershave marketing metrics in place that are used globally to measure and track

brand equity. According to Kish, Riskey & Kerin (2001), PepsiCo measures and

tracks brand equity using a propriety model called Equitrak which is based on

two factors: (1): Recognitionhow broad and deep is a brands awareness and

(2): Regards: which measures how people feel about the brand and includes

brand reputation, affiliation, momentum and differentiation. The Equitrakmodel used by PepsiCo not only tracks the company brands but competitor

brands as well and is used by all subsidiaries in different countries.

McDonalds UK has key areas for metrics to track their marketing quarterly: 1.

Sales transaction (which also includes customer satisfaction, value for money

and cleanliness), 2. Market share and brand equity measures (awareness, and

advertising recall) and 3. Mystery diners who visit the stores to evaluate the


23/92

23

service level (Ambler, 2003). Shell also uses a global tracker which provides

metrics and diagnostics for their brand versus competitors across 70 countries

and has a range of questions including awareness, trial, purchase, loyalty and

image (Ambler, 2003).

The key therefore is to balance financial and non financial goals and many

authors do agree that top management must support this and regular review of

both financial and non-financial goals is necessary to drive a market orientated

business. Dunn and Davies (2004), suggest that having a brand focused business

should be a top bottom approach driven by the top executives. The concept of

market orientation therefore plays a significant role. According to Barwise &

Farley (2004), both external and internal forces are steadily forcing firms to be

more market oriented and research suggests that market-oriented firms tend to

enjoy superior performance.

This view is supported by Best (2005), who says that a strong marketorientation cannot be created by a mere proclamation but by adopting a market

based management philosophy whereby all members of the organization are

sensitive to customers needs and are aware of these needs. The benefits of

strong market orientation are: better understanding of competitors, customer

focus, customer satisfaction and high profits (Best, 2005; Ambler, 2003). Davis

(2002) adds that brands should be managed as assets using a top down approachwhere senior executives embrace the concept that marketing should have a

leading seat at the strategy table and use the brands to drive key strategic

decisions. Also if senior executives are vocal and show commitment to the

brands, then employees within an organization will start taking ownership of the

brand.


24/92

24

Sales Promotion

At this point, it is useful to define what mean by the terms "expected price" and

"price promotion." Following Thaler (1985), it is viewed that the price

consumersuse as a reference in making purchase decisions as the price they

expect to pay prior to a purchase occasion. Further, the expected price may also

be called the "internal reference price" (Klein and Oglethorpe 1987) as opposed

to an external reference price such as the manufacturers' suggested list price.

Finally, a brand is on price promotion when it is offered with a temporary price

cut that is featured in newspaper advertising and/ or brought to consumers'

attention with a store display sign.

The price expectations hypothesis has been used to provide an alternative

explanation for the observed adverse long-term effect of price promotions on

brand choice (Kalwani et al. 1990). Previous research has shown that repeat

purchase probabilities of a brand after a promotional purchase are lower thanthe corresponding values after a non promotional purchase (Dodson, Tybout,

and Sternthal 1978; Guadagni and Little 1983; Shoemaker and Shoaf 1977).

Consumers' reactions to a retail price then may depend on how the retail price

compares with the price they expect to pay for the brand. Specifically, during a

price promotion, they are apt to perceive a price "gain" and react positively;correspondingly, when the deal is retracted, they are apt to perceive a price

"loss" and are unlikely to purchase the brand. Neslin and Shoemaker (1989)

offer yet another alternative explanation for the phenomenon of lower repeat

purchase rates after promotional purchases.

They argue that the lower repeat purchase rates may be the result of statistical

aggregation rather than actual declines in the purchase probabilities of


25/92

25

individual consumers after a promotional purchase. Specifically, "if the

promotion attracts many consumers who under non promotion circumstances

would have very low probabilities of buying the brand, then on the next

purchase occasion the low probabilities of these consumers bring down the

average repurchase rate among promotional purchases".

The behavior of households that have low probabilities of buying a brand upon

the retraction of a deal can be explained readily in a price expectation

framework. It has been suggested that the price they expect to pay for the brand

may be close to the deal price and they may forego purchasing the focal brand

when it is not promoted because its retail price far exceeds what they expect to

pay for it. It has been investigated that the impact of price promotions on

consumers' price expectations and brand choice in an interactive computer-

controlled experiment.

Manohar U. Kalwani and Chi Kin Yim discussed that expected prices wereelicited directly from respondents in the experiment and used in the empirical

investigations of the impact of price promotions on consumers' price

expectations. Further, rather than studying the impact of just a single price pro-

motion and its retraction, they assessed the significance of the dynamic or long-

term effects of a sequence of price promotions.

They have concluded that both the price promotion frequency and the size of

price discounts have a significant adverse impact on a brand's expected price.

Consistent with the findings of Raman and Bass (1988) and Gurumurthy and

Little (1989), they also found evidence in support of a region of relative price

insensitivity around the expected price such that changes in price within that

region produce no pronounced change in consumers' perceptions.


26/92

26

Price changes outside that region, however, are found to have a significant

effect on consumer response. Further, they discussed that promotion

expectations are just as important as price expectations in understanding

consumer purchase behaviour. In particular, consumers who have been exposed

to frequent price promotions in support of a given brand may come to form

promotion expectations and typically will purchase the brand only when it is

price promoted. Added to it, in the case of price expectations, consumer

response to promotion expectations was asymmetric in that losses loom larger

than gains.

Applying Helson's (1964) adaptation-level theory to price perceptions, Sawyer

and Dickson (1984) suggest that price promotions may work in the short run

because consumers may use the brand's regular price as a reference and then are

induced by the lower deal price to purchase the brand. However, frequent

temporary price promotions may also lower the brand's expected price and lead

consumers to defer purchases of the brand when it is offered at the regular price.Tversky and Kahneman (1974) have shown that people rely on a limited

number of heuristic principles that reduce complex tasks of assessing

probabilities and predicting values to simpler judgmental operations. In some

cases, people may anchor and adjust their forecasts by starting with a

preconceived point and weigh that point heavily in arriving at a judgment.

When the frequency of past price promotions is "very low," consumers identifya price promotion offer as an exceptional event and may not modify the brand's

expected price. The brand's expected price then will be anchored around the

regular price because of insufficient adjustment. In other cases, people may

arrive at a judgment on the basis of how similar or representative the event is to

a class of events.


27/92

27

Therefore, when a brand is price promoted "too often," consumers come to

expect a deal with each purchase and hence expect to pay only the discounted

price on the basis of its representativeness. Clearly, given a certain level of price

discount, the brand's expected price will be bounded by the regular price and the

implied sale price. That line of reasoning suggests that the relationship between

the price promotion frequency and the expected price can be approximated by a

sigmoid function. Whether a price discount will affect the brands expected price

depends on how consumers perceive the discount.

Uhl and Brown (1971) postulate that the perception of a retail price change

depends on the magnitude of the price change. They report results from an

experiment indicating that 5% deviations were identified correctly 64% of the

time whereas 15% deviations were identified correctly 84% of the time. Della

Bitta and Monroe (1980) find that consumer' perceptions of savings from a

promotional offer do not differ significantly between 30%, 40%, and 50%

discount levels. However, they find significant differences between the 10% and30 to 50% levels.

Hence, the impact of the depth of price discounts on lowering the brand's

expected price is likely to occur when the price discount offered by the brand is

relatively large but not so large that it is seen as an exceptional event. Price

discounts ranging from 10 to 40%, a range commonly used in past research onprice discounts in the consumer packaged goods categories (Berkowitz and

Walton 1980; Curhan and Kopp 1986). Within that range, the findings of Uhl

and Brown (1971) and Della Bitta and Monroe (1980) suggest that it is

reasonable to expect the relationship between the brand's expected price and the

depth of price discounts to be concave.


28/92

28

However, Manohar U. Kalwani and Chi Kin Yim (1992) found that the brands

expected price is a linear function of the price promotion frequency and the

depth of price discounts at conventional significance levels. Nevertheless, the

results provide some directional support for nonlinear relationships between the

expected price and the two elements of a price promotion schedule. Given the

important implications of such potential nonlinear effects of price promotions

on brands' expected prices, further research testing those nonlinear effects of

price promotions should prove fruitful for the design of optimal price promotion

policies.

They also contributed that promotion expectations suggest that unfulfilled

promotion expectation events among consumers who have come to expect

promotions on a brand because of frequent exposure to them will have an

adverse impact on the brand. Analogously, unexpected promotion events will

enhance the probability of purchasing a brand among consumers who have not

been exposed to many price promotions and therefore do not as a rule expect thebrand to be available on a promotional deal. they suggest that those results are

consistent with the rational expectations view that "any policy rule that is

systematically related to economic conditions, for example, one observed with

stabilization in mind, will be perfectly anticipated, and therefore have no effect

on output or employment" (Maddock and Carter 1982). Policy actions that come

as a surprise to people, in contrast, will generally have some real effect. Clearly,the design of optimal price promotion schedules requires consideration of the

fact that an increase in the use of price promotions could erode long-term

consumer demand by lowering the prices that consumers anticipate paying for

the brand. Price promotional deals may come to be "perfectly anticipated" and

have much less impact on consumer response than they do when they come as a

surprise to consumers.


29/92

29

Apart of it they suggested that Evaluation of the trade off between the short-

term sales gain from a price promotion and the adverse effect on future sales

because of consumers forming price and promotion expectations requires

knowledge of how price promotions affect the formation of consumers'

expectations under different market conditions. Promotions have increased in

popularity during the past few decades.

The positive short-term impact of price promotions on brand sales is well

documented. A price promotion typically reduces the price for a given quantity

or increases the quantity available at the same price, thereby enhancing value

and creating an economic incentive to purchase. However, if consumers

associate promotions with inferior brand quality, then, to the extent that quality

is important, a price promotion might not achieve the extent of sales increase

the economic incentive otherwise might have produced.

It is well documented that building and maintaining positive brand equity

with ones consumer base is considered to be critical for long-term survival(Farquhar 1990; Keller 1993; Blackstone 2000; Ambler 2001). Fill C. (2005)

noted that in the changing and competitive marketing communication industry it

is of vital importance for companies finally to recognize that consumers

perceive a brand through all the communication touch-points. This, in turn,

implies the importance of a strategic focus in any marketing communications

plan, as brand building is a long-term exercise.

A brand entails a construct of, first, an identity that managers wish to

portray and secondly, images construed by audiences of the identities they

perceive. Given the potential link between promotion and brand equity, of

major concern is to know consumers perception towards consumer based brand

equity sources. Despite a wealth of literature on the separate issues of Brand

Equity and sales promotion, to date there has only been a relatively small


30/92

30

amount that specifically addresses the relationship between the two; further

support for Schultzs suggestion that they dont really know a lot yet.

The most recent literature on sales promotions (Chandon & Laurent 1999)

stresses the need to distinguish between two types, monetary and non-monetary,

because there are important differences between them. On the one hand,

monetary promotions (e.g. free product, coupons) are primarily related to

utilitarian benefits, which have an instrumental, functional and cognitive nature.

They help consumers to increase the acquisition utility of their purchase and

enhance the efficiency of their shopping experience.

On the other hand, non-monetary promotions (e.g. contests, sweepstakes, free

gifts, loyalty programmer) are related to hedonic benefits with a non-

instrumental, experiential and affective nature, because they are intrinsically

rewarding and related to experiential emotions, pleasure and self-esteem. So,

studying the consumer preference between cash discount (Price Promotion) and

free gift (Non Price promotion) has been identified as one of the objectives ofthis study.

These factors have been highlighted especially in the markets, characterized

usually by low involvement products; a lack of clear differentiation between

brands and extreme competiveness. Premium brands and market leaders have

not been exempted from these issues, as it has been found that followers andmarket leaders experience the same level of competition although their brand

characteristics may vary greatly.


31/92

31

IMPORTANCE OF BRAND EQUITY:

Brand equity is one of the most valuable assets that a firm can have, and

brand equity measurement and management continue to be important areas of

research in both academia and industry. Most of the extant research on brand

equity has looked at the issue from the perspective of either the consumer or the

firm. Brand equity research from a consumers perspective usually involves

collecting data on consumer mindset measures of brand equity from the

consumer through surveys or experiments, and using the data to assess the

consumers perceptions, feelings, and attitudes towards the brand.

It may also involve collecting data on the consumers revealed preference

behavior, using self-reported or actual purchase data, and using it to assess the

incremental value that the brand name has on the consumers utility and her

resulting choice behavior. On the other hand, brand equity research from a

firms perspective generally involves the use of observed market data to assessthe brands financial value to the firm. The market in question could be a

geographic or physical product market, where performance measures such as

market share or profit can be used, or it could be a financial market, where

performance measures such as the firms stock price or other financial variables

may be used to assess the brands value.

While studying brand equity using either a consumer-based or a firm-based

approach has yielded valuable insights on the different ways that brand equity

can be measured and managed, there is a need to better understand the link

between the brand metrics obtained from the two perspectives. In particular,

there is a general consensus that a brands performance in the marketplace is

determined in part by consumer perceptions, behavioral intentions, and attitudes

toward the brand.


32/92

32

For example, Srivastava and Shocker (1991) propose that brand equity

comprises of two components: brand strength, which consists of the set of

associations and behaviors on the part of the brands customers, channel

members, and parent company that allows the brand to enjoy a competitive

advantage; and brand value, which is the financial outcome of managements

ability to strategically leverage brand strength (the basis of brand value) to

produce profits.

Researchers such as Aaker and Jacobson (1994, 2001) and Kim, Kim, and An

(2003) have also shown the existence of a relationship between measures of

consumer brand perceptions and the brands financial performance. In addition,

related streams of research have looked at the link between marketing and

financial metrics, such as those between consumer satisfaction and a firms

market performance (e.g. Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann 1994; Gomez,

McLaughlin, and Wittink 2003), as well as the relationship between consumerbrand ratings and a firms market share and penetration (e.g. Baldinger and

Rubinson 1996). These studies, among others, suggest that studying brand

equity solely from the perspective of either the firm or the consumer may be

inadequate. While assessing brand equity from the perspective of the firm can

provide a measure of the financial value of the brand to the firm, it neglects the

fundamental basis of the brand equity concept, which suggests that the equity ofa brand is not merely a dollar-metric value but also an intangible asset residing

in the minds of consumers.

Similarly, while measuring brand equity from the perspective of the consumer

gives an indication of the value that the brand name provides to the consumer in

the form of the consumers favorable (or otherwise) attitudes or perceptions of

the brand, or the increase in the consumers utility provided by the brand name,


33/92

33

it does not show how these mindset measures can be translated into more

tangible measures of a brands financial value or its market performance, which

may be more useful for managers.

A simultaneous firm-based and consumer-based approach to measuring and

managing brand equity will not only have significant implications for firms

attempting to improve the equity of their brands on both fronts, but will also be

useful in developing a more complete picture of the brand equity concept. Firm-

centric approach also does not assess how this financial value may be affected

by changes in these consumer mindset measures of brand equity.


34/92

34

CHAPTER 5

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Objectives:

1. To study the consumer attitude towards the cash discount as a sales

promotion scheme.

2. To compare the consumer preference between cash discount and free gift3. To study the deal proneness of consumer considering demographic variables.

4. To study the consumer perception towards brand equity sources considering

sales promotion schemes.

5. To understand the media preference to know the sales promotion schemes

information.

6. To study consumer preference of sales promotion schemes across

demographic variables.

7. To study the sales promotion schemes preference according to various

attributes.

Research Hypothesis:

Ho1: There is no significant difference between Consumer attitude towards the

cash discount as a sales promotion scheme and demographic variables.

Ho2: There is no significant difference between consumer preference of cash

discount and free gift as sales promotion schemes.

Ho3: There is no significant difference between Consumer deal proneness and

demographic variables.


35/92

35

Ho4: There is no significant difference between Brand equity perception and

demographic variables considering sales promotion schemes.

Ho5: There is no media preference to know the sales promotion schemes

information

Ho6: There is no significant difference between demographic variables and

sales promotion schemes preference.

Motivation for the study:

With the growth of population and spending power of the consumer has created

the opportunities and challenges for the companies in the world market.

Simultaneously, competition to win consumers has been increased drastically.

World is becoming the small village and Many MNCs have entered in India

and other countries. Marketing paradigm is shifting from consumer satisfaction

to consumer delight. Enticing consumers with the various sales promotion

schemes is the order of the day. If this tool is not used strategically, companyhas to follow the trend of promotions to maintain the market share. Considering

almost universal applications of designing the sales promotion schemes and

understanding its impact on business has motivated to take the steps in the

direction to study this crucial aspect of promotion management.

Research Design:

A research design is a framework or blue print for conducting the research

project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information need to

structure and/or solve research problems. The research design lays the

foundation for conducting the project. The descriptive research design is being

used to study the formulated problem. Primary and secondary data has been

collected according to the need of the study. For collecting primary data,


36/92

36

structured questionnaire has been prepared considering objectives of the study.

More over important factors has been considered to measure the interested

variable of the study.

Sampling Element: Each and every individual who purchases the products in

the state of Gujarat has been identified as a sampling element.

DATA COLLECTION:

In this study, for primary data collection we have used questionnaire

method. This is written and in organized format containing all questions

relevant to soliciting type, in which all questions and answers is specified and

comments in the respondents own words are held to a minimum. The

unstructured questionnaire is useful in carrying out in depth interviews where

the aim is to probe for attitudes and reasons. For secondary data we have used

the data prepared by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration

Laboratories (NABL).

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

Data collection is the systematic recording of information; data analysisinvolves working to uncover patterns and trends in data sets; data

interpretation involves explaining those patterns and trends.

Scientists interpret data based on their background knowledge andexperience, thus different scientists can interpret the same data in

different ways.


37/92

37

By publishing their data and the techniques they used to analyze andinterpret that data, scientists give the community the opportunity to both

review the data and use it in future research.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

1. The samples size is not too much to generalize the result of the study.

2. This study is limited to Gujarat state only and result may differ if conducted

in other regions. Also it measures the consumer preference product categories.If the same study is repeated for other industry consumer preference of sales

promotion schemes may vary

3. The study is limited to sales promotion schemes of product categories only

and result may vary if study is conducted for non product categories.

4. There are other variables besides sales promotion schemes which affect brand

equity perception and consumer preferences.

5. Evaluation is based on the primary data generated through questionnaire and

accuracy of the findings entirely depends on the accuracy of such data and

unbiased responses of the customers.

Although sales promotion is an important strategy for producing quick, short-

term, positive results, it is not a cure for a bad product, poor advertising, or an

inferior sales team. After a consumer uses a coupon for the initial purchase of a

product, the product must then take over and convince them to become repeat

buyers. In addition, sales promotion activities may bring several negative

consequences, including due to the number of competitive promotions.


38/92

38

CHAPTER 6

INDUSTRY PROFILE

COMPANY PROFILE:

Auto - Machine, is one of the leading manufactures of pipe and tube

fittings components of brass and steel and automobile parts. Auto - Machine,

having established in 1983, have developed to a full fledged manufacturing unitwith annual capacity of more than 10 million components.

We are producing large varieties of compression fittings, flare type fittings and

high pressure couplings for hydraulic, pneumatic and refrigeration application,

in strict compliance of BS, IS, and SAE specifications in various ranges and

also we are manufacturing machined components as per the customer's

requirements.

Infrastructure

We have the backing of a state-of-the-art infrastructure aiding the operations.

The unit is well-equipped with advanced R&D wing assisted by sophisticated

machines and equipment. These machines have enabled us in bringing out cost-

effective products like Stainless Steel Rods, Steel Sheets & Plates. We have

developed to a full-fledged manufacturing unit for precision and machined

components supplying to all leading OEM groups of customers.

We do own the rare privilege of being the self certified supplier to all leading

earth movers and automobile manufactures. Our field activities are not confined

to the customers in India. We have been exporting Automobile products tomany of the countries since 1999.


39/92

39

Auto - Machine, have established Quality Assurance Laboratory, which is

responsible for inspection of components.

This industry includes manufacturers who produce a range of plastic pipes,plastic fittings for plastic pipes, and plastic profile shapes such as rods, tubes,

plates and car parts, but specifically excludes plastic hose or plastic plumbing

fixtures. The pipe products are sold to customers with fluid handling

requirements such as construction and irrigation supply vendors, water

treatment plants, oil rigs and farmers.

The essential steps of pipe and fitting production are to heat, melt, mix and

convey the raw material into a particular shape and hold that shape during the

cooling process. This is necessary to produce solid wall and profile wall pipe as

well as compression and injection moulded fittings.

Quality Management

Quality has been the integral part of our business policy. Our products are

available with an assurance of high quality and standards as they are tested on

different parameters before supply. This is to ensure that only flawless products

reach the hands of the clients.

Network

We are thriving on our well-established network that is spread not only in India

but also in the markets of Gulf countries. Our well-coordinated network has

enabled us in the timely and efficient delivery of the products. Subsequently, we

are acknowledged as one of the trusted Industrial Fasteners Manufacturers &

Suppliers in India.


40/92

40

Services

SAE Fittings

Pipe TEE, Clevis, Cock Pipe plug Olive type Ferrule type Flair type Hose fittings Forged and Machined components Elbow tee connector Pipe line fittings

AUTO MACHINE established its presence in India by opening a subsidiary

called Hyundai Motor India Limited with a total investment of US$ 614

Millions. The AUTO MACHINE project is the largest to be made by an MNC

in the automobile sector. The plant near Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu is

the largest manufacturing plant of AUTO MACHINE outside Korea and

contains nearly all facilities necessary for a self sufficient manufacturing and

production site for developing cars.

This assembly plant not only boasts its own assembly facilities but also a R&D

center, a performance experimenting and testing center, and a driving testing

ground. As such, the India plant represents a family-type combined automobile

assembly facility, capable of all production processes, research and

development, testing of products, marketing for sales and provision of after sale

service in India.


41/92

41

Measures to be adopted by global leaders of the World Automobile

Industry:

Several significant economic measures are being considered by the majorplayers of the World Automobile Industry in order to make a smooth entry into

the markets of the developing countries, and to make a name for them. The

effective measures include:

Reducing the selling prices of the automobiles manufactured in theirfactories

Improving the levels of after-sales services to keep customers satisfied Opening manufacturing factories in the developing nations, to reduce

effective costs of production as well as saving shipping charges, and

enhancing prompt delivery of automobile units.

Automobile Industry Trends:

In keeping with the Automobile Industry Trends, the leading automobile

manufacturers are turning to the Asian markets that appear set to grow

immensely over the next decade. The automobile markets in the U.S., Europe

and the Japan have almost matured as a result of saturation and appear set to

decline through the next decade. In contrast, the automobile markets spread

over the entire Asian continent (with the exception of Japan), are constantly

increasing in size and will be the destination for most of the globally leading

automobile manufacturers.

The Automobile Industry Trends reveal that the emerging markets of the

developing nations of Asia especially China, and India are backed by their

huge population growth rate, to add to the growing national economy of these

two nations.


42/92

42

The rapid growth of the national economy of the BRIC countries (including

Brazil, Russia, India, and China) has enabled a growing section of the

population of these countries to purchase automobiles. Global surveys

conducted recently reveal that within the next ten years, these emerging

automobile markets will account for nearly a whooping 90 percent of the global

automobile sales growth. As a result of this, leading Automobile manufacturers

of the world are setting up factories in the emerging markets, in order to serve

the potential consumers better as well as reduce manufacturing and shipping

costs. In addition, these arrangements are enabling the leading global

automobile manufacturers to compete with the local automobile manufacturers

that were flourishing in the absence of quality competition.

The prosperity of the national economy is reflected in the rising per capita

income of the developing nations. Therefore, increasing Gross Domestic

Product and per capita income have raised the purchasing ability of thepopulation that constitutes these emerging markets

As a growing percentage of the population in the developed nations age rapidly,

in comparison to the rest of the world, these aging numbers necessitate

automobiles to fit the physiological change of the world population.

The Emerging Indian Automobile Market:

In terms of Car dealer networks and authorized service stations, Maruti leads

the pack with Dealer networks and workshops across the country. The other

leading automobile manufactures are also trying to cope up and are opening

their service stations and dealer workshops in all the metros and major cities of

the country.


43/92

43

Major Manufacturers in Automobile Industry:

Maruti Udyog Ltd.

General Motors India Ford India Ltd. Eicher Motors Bajaj Auto Daewoo Motors India Hero Motors Hindustan Motors Hyundai Motor India Ltd. Royal Enfield Motors Telco TVS Motors DC Designs

Government has liberalized the norms for foreign investment and import of

technology and that appears to have benefited the automobile sector. The

production of total vehicles increased from 4.2 million in 1998- 99 to 7.3

million in 2003-04. It is likely that the production of such vehicles will exceed

10 million in the next couple of years.

The industry has adopted the global standards and this was manifested in theincreasing exports of the sector. After a temporary slump during 1998- 99 and

1999-00, such exports registered robust growth rates of well over 50 per cent in

2002-03 and 2003-04 each to exceed two and- a-half times the export figure for

2001-02.


44/92

44

Automobile Export Numbers:

Category 1998-99 2004-05 (Apr-Dec)

Passenger Car 25468 121478

Multi Utility Vehicles 2654 3892

Commercial Vehicles 10108 19931

Two Wheelers 100002 256765

Three Wheelers 21138 51535

Percentage Growth -16.6 32.8

Export growth rates have been high both for motorcycles and scooters.

Automotive spare parts and components is a lesser known industry yet a big

one. In past few years the industry has grown enormously, even more than the

automotive industry itself not only in the Indian but global scenario.This vast industry includes automotive components, accessories, gadgets, spare

parts and tools; the consumers being the OEM segment and the replacement and

aftermarket sector. Automotive spare parts replacement and aftermarket have in

themselves become a major industry.

In mid 1990s the quality of Indian products increased a lot and the prices were

considerably lowered. This posed an interesting situation where the Indianreplacement and aftermarket industry had geared up to meet the international

standards and awaited an ideal opportunity for global exposure.

The results are quite apparent, Indian automotive parts industry makes original

components of major automotive giants like General Motors and Mercedes

amongst others. They have, through consolidated efforts been positioned as

global players of the sector.


45/92

45

CHAPTER 7

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The data after collection is to be processed and analyzed in accordance with the

outline and down for the purpose at the time of developing research plan.

Technically speaking, processing implies editing, coding, classification and

tabulation of collected data so that they are amenable to analysis. The term

analysis refers to the computation of certain measures along with searching for

pattern groups. Thus in the process of analysis, relationship or difference should

be subjected to statistical tests of significance to determine with what validity

data can be said to indicate any conclusions.

The analysis of data in a general way involves a number of closely relatedoperations, which are performed with the purpose of summarizing the collected

data and organizing them in such a manner that they answer the research

questions.


46/92

46

TABLE 1

BUY PRODUCT IF MANUFACTURED INDEPENDENTLY

particulars No of respondents %

Yes 60 60

No 30 30

May be 10 10

Cant say - -

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION:

According to the above chart 60% of the people said yes product if it was

manufactured independently with company group. And 30% of the people said

no, product if it was manufactured independently with company group.10% of

the people said may be, and none of people said product if it was manufactured

independently with the group of company.


47/92

47

CHART 1

BUY PRODUCT IF MANUFACTURED INDEPENDENTLY

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

yesno

may becan't say

product if it was manufactured

independently with company

group


48/92

48

TABLE 2

APPROPRIATE INDICATOR FOR BRAND EQUITY


Brand value 30 30

Brand identity 30 30

Brand recall 20 20

Brand image 20 20

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 30% of the people said brand value and

30% of the people said brand identity, and 20% of the people said brand recall,and 20% of the people said brand image the most appropriate indicator of the

brand equity.


49/92

49

CHART 2

APPROPRIATE INDICATOR FOR BRAND EQUITY

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

bran valuebrand

identitybrand

recallbrand

image

the most appropriate indicator

of brand equity


50/92

50

TABLE 3

TRUST PRODUCT GOT FROM LOCAL STORES


Yes 40 40

No 60 60

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 40% of the people said yes our product

brought from local store, and 60% of the people said no, our product bought

from local store.


51/92

51

CHART 3

TRUST PRODUCT GOT FROM LOCAL STORES

40%

60%

do you trust our product bought from local

store

yes no


52/92

52

TABLE 4

WHERE DO U PREFER BUYING OUR PRODUCTS


Company stores 40 40

Local shops 10 10

Sales persons 30 30

online 20 20

other - -

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 40% of the people said company stores buying the

product, and 10% of the people said local shops, and 30% of the people said

sales persons from buying the product, 20% of the people said online buying

from the product. None people said other.


53/92

53

CHART 4

WHERE DO U PREFER BUYING OUR PRODUCTS

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

company

storeslocal

shopssales

personsonline

other

from where do you prefer

buying our product


54/92

54

TABLE 5

APPEARANCE OF THE PRODUCT

RATING BETWEEN 1-5.

1 = least appealing, 5 = most appealing


1 20 20

2 30 30

3 30 30

4 10 10

5 10 10

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 20% of the people said rate appearance of the

product 1, and 30% of the people said rate appearance of the product 2 or 3, and

10% of the people said rate appearance of the product 4 or 5.


55/92

55

CHART 5

APPEARANCE OF THE PRODUCT

Rate the appearance of the product. 1 = least appealing, 5 = most appealing

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

12

34

5

rate the appearance of the

product


56/92

56

TABLE 6

QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT

Rate the quality of our product. 1= of least quality, 5 = of highest quality


1 20 20

2 30 30

3 30 30

4 10 10

5 10 10

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 20% of the people said rate of quality the

product 1, and 30% of the people said rate of quality and highest quality 2 or 3,

and 10% of the people said rate of quality of product and highest product 4 or 5.


57/92

57

CHART 6

QUALITY OF OUR PRODUCT

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

12

34

5

rate of quality


58/92

58

TABLE 7

INTANGIBLE FEATURES OF THE PRODUCT


Yes 60 60

No 40 40

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 60% of the people said yes, intangible

features of the product, and 40% of the people said no, intangible features of the

product.


59/92


60/92

60

TABLE 8

WILL U SPEND PREMIUM PRICE FOR REPUTED COMPANY

PRODUCTS


Yes 60 60

No 40 40

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 60% of the people said yes spend premium of the

product, and 40% of the people said no spend premium of the product.


61/92

61

CHART 8

WILL U SPEND PREMIUM PRICE FOR REPUTED COMPANY

PRODUCTS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

yesno

spend premium price


62/92

62

TABLE 9

ASSOCIATE OUR PRODUCT WITH


Its advertisements 40 40

Its attributes 30 30

The parent group of

companies

20 20

Other 10 10

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 40% of the people said its advertisement

associate of the product, and 30% of the people said attribute associate of

product, and 20% of the parent of the group of companies, and 10% of the

people said other associate of the product.


63/92

63

CHART 9

ASSOCIATE OUR PRODUCT WITH

05

101520

25303540

associate the product


64/92

64

TABLE 10

IDENTIFY OUR BRAND WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVERTISING


Yes 40 40

No 60 60

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 40% of the people said yes, and 60% of

the people said no, identify our brand with little or no advertising.


65/92

65

CHART 10

IDENTIFY OUR BRAND WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVERTISING

yes no

40 60

identify our brand with little or no advertisting


66/92

66

TABLE 11

COMPANY INVEST IN BUILDING BRAND EQUITY


Yes 70 70

No 30 30

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 70% of the people said yes, company investing

building brand, and 30% of the people said no, investing building brand.


67/92

67

CHART 11

COMPANY INVEST IN BUILDING BRAND EQUITY

70%

30%

company investing building brand

yes no


68/92

68

TABLE 12

WHICH IS WELL MANAGED CUSTOMER LOYALTY OR

SATISFACTION


Customer loyalty 50 50

Customer satisfaction 50 50

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 50% of the people said customer loyalty,

and 50% of the people said customer satisfaction the brand is being managed

well.


69/92

69

CHART 12

WHICH IS WELL MANAGED CUSTOMER LOYALTY OR

SATISFACTION

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

customer

loyalty

customer

satisfaction

the brand is being managed well


70/92

70

TABLE 13

IS OUR BRAND MARKET LEADER

Particulars No of respondents %

Yes 60 60

No 40 40

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 60 % of the people said yes, in the brand leader of

industry, and 40% of the people said no, in the brand leader of industry


71/92

71

CHART 13

IS OUR BRAND MARKET LEADER

60%

40%

the market leader in the industry

yes no


72/92

72

TABLE 14

MARKETING ACTIVITIES FOR BRAND BUILDING

particulars no of respondents %

Yes 50 50

No 30 30

To a good extent 20 20

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 50% of the people said yes marketing

activities for brand building, and 30% of the people said no marketing activities

for brand building, and 20% of the people said to a good extents marketing

activities brand building.


73/92

73

TABLE 14

MARKETING ACTIVITIES FOR BRAND BUILDING

50%

30%

20%

marketing activities for brand

buliding

yes no to a good extent


74/92

74

TABLE 15

UNDERTAKEN BRAND VALUE MEASUREMENT EXERCISE


Yes 80 80

No 20 20

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the people said 80% of the people said yes, undertaken a

brand value investment, and 20% of the people said no, undertaken a brand

value investment.


75/92

75

CHART 15

UNDERTAKEN BRAND VALUE MEASUREMENT EXERCISE

yes no

80 20

Chart Title

undertaken a brand value measurment exercise


76/92

76

TABLE 16

DOES FIRM KEEP ITS PROMISES


Completely successful 40 40

Moderately successful 30 30

Unsuccessful 20 20

Failed completely 10 10

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 40% of the people said completely

successful, and 30% of the people said moderately successful, and 20% of the

people said unsuccessful, and 10% of the people said failed successful, do you

think the firm has been in keeping the promise.


77/92


78/92

78

TABLE 17

IMPORTANT CRITERION FOR BRAND PREFERENCE


Quality 30 30

Cost 20 20

Availability 20 20

durability 10 10

flexibility 20 20

other - -

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 30% of the people said quality, and 20% of the

people said cost, and 20% of the people said availability or flexibility, and 10%

of the people said durability, and none of the people said product mostimportant brand preference.


79/92

79

CHART 17

IMPORTANT CRITERION FOR BRAND PREFERENCE

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

brand perferance


80/92

80

TABLE 18

ARE U BULK PURCHASER OF OUR PRODUCT


Yes 60 60

No 40 40

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 60% of the people said bulk purchase, 40% of the

people said bulk purchase of the product


81/92

81

CHART 18

ARE U BULK PURCHASER OF THE PRODUCT

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

yesno

bulk purchase


82/92

82

TABLE 19

BENEFITS COMPETITOR PROVIDE FOR YOUR PRODUCT

Particulars No of respondents %

Yes 70 70

No 30 30

Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

According to the above chart 70% of the people said yes, and 30% of thepeople said no benefits that your competitors provide over your product

CHART 19


83/92

83

BENEFITS COMPETITORS PROVIDE FOR YOUR PRODUCT

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

yes no

benefits that your compitors


84/92

84

CHAPTER 8

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

Analyzing the information of sales promotion schemes on various

products, it can be inferred that cash discount and Free gift as one type of value

added sales promotion schemes widely used by marketers.

Sales promotion schemes on international brand are preferred therefore

managing the perception towards brand is also very important in sector. So, it is

suggested to manage the perception towards the brands. Word of mouth as a

medium of spreading sales promotion schemes awareness is preferred over

others. Considering this fact found in this research, promotion mix of the

company should be decided to take the benefits of the sales promotion schemes.

While deciding sales promotion schemes of products, immediate benefits

should be provided to consumers as this research highlights the preference of

immediate benefits compare to delayed benefits


85/92

85

CHAPTER 9

SUGGESTIONS

It can be suggested from this research that cash discount should be used

compare to free gift as a sales promotion scheme. Extending further, it can be

suggested from conjoint analysis considering various attributes and their levels

of sales promotion schemes value added schemes should be given preference

over other types of sales promotion schemes.

From Present research it can be suggested that consumers are deal prone which

signals the importance of timing of launching sales promotion schemes. Brand

type is the most important attribute among the selected attributes of the sales

promotion scheme followed by medium to spread awareness about sales

promotion schemes. These both should be given weighted and due

consideration while designing the sales promotion schemes


86/92

86

CHAPTER 10

CONCLUSION

Brand equity appears to play a significant role in industrial branding. It

was conceptualized as the result of past investments in the 5 Ps of the

marketing mix. That is, investments in product, place, people, promotion and

price. In the business-to business context, promotion was interpreted as

providing information. Buyers perceptions about the 5Ps have an influence onthe way they perceive and evaluate the brand.

This, in turn, has an effect on their purchase decisions. By investing in the

5Ps, companies create brand awareness and a positive brand image. In this

way, brand equity and loyalty are created. Two interrelated components of

brand equity were distinguished: product brand equity and corporate brand

equity. The results show that product brand equity is mostly influenced by

physical product attributes and distribution. Employees and information played

a lesser role. Corporate brand equity is mostly determined by service attributes,

and employees. Here distribution and value did not play a direct role. In terms

of direct effects, the corporate brand seems to be slightly more important in

industrial markets than the individual product brand; however, the product

brand contributes not only directly to behavioral intentions, but also indirectly

via corporate brand equity.


87/92

87

APPENDIX

Questionnaire

Name: ____________________

Address: ____________________

Phone Number: ____________________

Email id: ____________________

1. Would you have bought the product if it was manufactured independently

with no connection with the company group?

a) Yes b) No

c) May be d) Cant say

2. Can you list down some of our other brands belonging to our company?

_______________________________________________________________

3. Do you trust our product bought from local stores?

a) Yes b) No

4. From where do you prefer buying our products?

a) Company stores b) Local shops

c) Salespersons d) Online

e) Other __________________________________________________


88/92

88

5. Rate the appearance of the product. 1 = least appealing, 5 = most appealing

a) 1 b) 2 c) 3

d) 4 e) 5

6. Rate the quality of our product. 1= of least quality, 5 = of highest quality

a) 1 b) 2 c) 3

d) 4 e) 5

7. Do you value the intangible features of the product?

a) Yes b) No

8. Are you willing to spend premium price for products of reputed companies?

a) Yes b) No

9. What do you associate the product with?

a) Its advertisements b) Its attributes (smell, taste, flavour, etc)

c) The parent group of companies

d) Other __________________________________________________


89/92

89

10. Can you interpret what brand equity means to you?

___________________________________________________________

11 Does your company invest in building brand equity?

a) Yes b) No

12. If the answer to the above question is no, please provide a reason for not

doing so.

________________________________________________________________

If the answer to Q1 is yes, please proceed with the following questions.

13. What is the amount of investment in brand building as a percentage of the

total sinvestment in the company?

__________________________

14. What kind of marketing activities are undertaken to improve the brand

equity of the company?

a) ____________________

b) ____________________

c) ___________________

15. Do you think that the consumers are getting the messages through the

marketing activities for brand building?


90/92

90

a) Yes

b) No

c) To a good extent

16. Have you ever undertaken a brand value measurement exercise?

a) Yes b) No

17. If the answer to the above question is yes, please provide the result of the

brand value measurement in brief.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

18. For your products, what is the most important criterion for brand

preference?

a) Quality

b) Cost

c) Availability

d) Durability

e) Flexibility

f) Other _________________________________


91/92

91

19. What should be the reason for customers to choose your products over that

of your competitors?

_______________________________________________________________

20. Name some of your brand competitors?

a) ____________________

b) ____________________

c) ____________________

21. Did you find any benefits that your competitors provide over your products?

a) Yes b) No

If yes, please list them

______________________________________________


92/92

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aaker, David A. (1991),Managing Brand Equity, New York: Free Press.

Aaker, J. L. (1997), Dimensions of Brand Personality, Journal ofMarketing Research, 34 (August), 347-356.

Allenby, Greg and Peter E. Rossi (1999), Marketing Models ofconsumer Heterogeneity,Journal of Econometrics, 89 (1), 57-78.

Elrod, Terry and Michael P. Keane (1995), A Factor Analytic ProbitModel for Representing the Market Structure in Panel Data, Journal of

Marketing Research, 32 (1), 1-16.

Farquhar, Peter H. (1989), Managing Brand Equity, MarketingResearch, 1 (September), 24-33.

Market Survey on Brand Equity Wrong

Documents