STUDY OF CUSTOMER PREFERENCE TOWARDS AIRTEL

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 About the Industry

India has a fast-growing mobile services market with excellent potential for the future. With

almost five million subscribers amassed in less than two years of operation, India's growth tempo

has far exceeded that of numerous other markets, such as China and Thailand, which have taken

more than five years to reach the figures India currently holds. The number of mobile phone

subscribers in the country would exceed 50 million by 2005 and cross 300 million by 2010,

according to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

According to recent strategic research by Frost & Sullivan, Indian Cellular Services Market, such

growth rates can be greatly attributed to the drastically falling price of mobile handsets, with

price playing a fundamental role in Indian subscriber requirements. Subscribers in certain regions

can acquire the handset at almost no cost, thanks to the mass-market stage these technologies

have reached internationally. The Indian consumer can buy a handset for $150 or less. This

should lead to increased subscribership. This market is growing at an extremely fast pace and so

is the competition between the mobile service providers.

With the presence of a number of mobile telephony services providers including market leaders

like Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Tata Indicom, Spice Communications etc. who are providing

either of the two network technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications

(GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In cellular service there are two main

competing network technologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code

Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Understanding the difference between GSM and CDMA will

allow the user to choose the preferable network technology for his needs.

Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) is a new digital technology developed by the

European community to create a common mobile standard around the world. It helps you achieve

higher sell capacity and better speech quality and one can enjoy crystal clear reception on ones

mobile phone. It automatically solves the problem of eavesdropping on ones calls.

Before analyzing the telecom licensing framework in India, it is imperative that one must

examine what is a license. License issued by the government is an authority, given to a person

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upon certain conditions to do something which would have been illegal or wrongful otherwise.

For example, a driver’s license issued by the government, gives the authority to a person to drive

a motor vehicle. There are three main types of license fee which the government charges: (I)

initial license fee, which generally is non-refundable, (ii) annual license fee, and (iii) additional

fee for allocation of spectrum.

Licensing framework has been an integral part of India’s telecommunication law. Under the

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, section 4 gives power to the government to grant license to any

person to establish, maintain or use a telegraph.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) describes a communication channel access principle

that employs spread spectrum technology and a special coding scheme (where each transmitter is

assigned a code). It is a spread spectrum signaling, since the modulated coded signal has a much

higher bandwidth than the data being communicated. CDMA is the current name for mobile

technology and is characterized by high capacity and small cell radius. It has been used in many

communication and navigation systems, including the Global Positioning System and the

omnitracs satellite system for transportation logistics.

Indian mobile telephony market is increasing day by day and there is more to happen with

technological up gradations occurring nearly every day and the ever-increasing demand for easier and

faster connectivity, the mobile telephony market is expected to race ahead.

National Telecom Policy 1994 (NTP-94)

The National Telecom Policy was announced in 1994 which aimed at improving India's

competitiveness in the global market and provide a base for a rapid growth in exports. This

policy eventually facilitated the emergence of Internet services in India on the back of

established basic telephony communication network. This policy also paved way for the entry of

the private sector in telephone services.

The main objectives of the policy were:

• To ensure telecommunication is within the reach of all, that is, to ensure availability

of telephone on demand as early as possible

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• To achieve universal service covering all villages, that is, enable all people to access

certain basic telecom services at affordable and reasonable prices

• To ensure world-class telecom services. Remove consumer complaints, resolve

disputes and encourage public interface and provide a wide permissible range of

services to meet the demand at reasonable prices

• To ensure that India emerges as a major manufacturing base and major exporter of

telecom equipment

• To protect the defence and security interests of the nation.

The policy also announced a series of specific targets to be achieved by 1997 and further

recognized that to achieve these targets the private sector association and investment would be

required to bridge the resource gap.

Thus, to meet the telecom needs of the nation and to achieve international comparable standards,

the sector for manufacture of telecom equipment had been progressively relicensed and the sub-

sector for value-added services was opened up to private investment (July 1992) for electronic

mail, voice mail, data services, audio text services, video text services, video conferencing, radio

paging and cellular mobile telephone. The private sector participation in the sector was carried

out in a phased manner. Initially the private sector was allowed in the value added services, and

thereafter, it was allowed in the fixed telephone services. Subsequently, VSAT services were

liberalized for private sector participation to provide data services to closed user groups.

Establishment of TRAI

The entry of private players necessitated independent regulation in the sector; therefore, the

TRAI was established in 1997 to regulate telecom services, for fixation/revision of tariffs, and

also to fulfil the commitments made when India joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in

1995. The establishment of TRAI was a positive step as it separated the regulatory function from

policy-making and operation, which continued to be under the purview of the DoT2.

The functions allotted to the TRAI included:

a. To recommend the need and timing for introduction of new service provider

b. To protect the interest of customers of telecom services

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c. To settle disputes between service providers

d. To recommend the terms and conditions of license to a service provider

e. To render advice to the Central government on matters relating to the development of

telecommunication technology and any other matter applicable to the telecommunication

industry in general.

New Telecom Policy 1999 (NTP-99)

In recognition of the fact that the entry of the private sector, which was envisaged during NTP-

94, was not satisfactory and in response to the concerns of the private operators and investors

about the viability of their business due to non realization of targeted revenues the government

decided to come up with a new telecom policy. Moreover, convergence of both markets and

technologies required realignment of the industry. To achieve India’s vision of becoming an IT

superpower along with developing a world class telecom infrastructure in the country, there was

a need to develop a new telecom policy framework. Accordingly, the NTP 1999 was framed

with the following objectives and targets:

• Availability of affordable and effective communication for citizens was at the core of the

vision and goal of the new telecom policy

• Provide a balance between provision of universal service to all uncovered areas, including

rural areas, and the provision of high-level services capable of meeting the needs of the

economy

• Encourage development of telecommunication facilities in remote, hilly and tribal areas

of the nation

• To facilitate India’s journey to becoming an IT superpower by creating a modern and

efficient telecommunication infrastructure taking into account the convergence of IT,

media, telecom and consumer electronics

• Convert PCOs, wherever justified, into public telephone information centers having

multimedia capability such as ISDN services, remote database access, government and

community information systems etc.

• To bring about a competitive environment in both urban and rural areas by providing

equal opportunities and level playing field for all players

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• Providing a thrust to build world-class manufacturing capabilities and also strengthen

research and development efforts in the country

• Achieve efficiency and transparency in spectrum management

• Protect the defense and security interests of the country

• Enable Indian telecom companies to become global players.

In line with the above objectives, some of the specific targets of the NTP 1999 were:

• Make available, telephone on demand by 2002 and achieve a tele density of 7% by 2005

and 15% by 2010

• Encourage development of telecom in rural areas by developing a suitable tariff structure

so that it becomes more affordable and by also making rural communication mandatory

for all fixed service players and thus

o Achieve a rural tele density of 4% by 2010 and provide reliable transmission

media in all rural areas.

Players in the market

• BSNL is the market leader with a 67.7 per cent share followed by MTNL with 11.5 per

cent market share. Next is Bharti Airtel at 10.9% followed by Tata and Reliance at 5%

and 4.1% respectively.

• BSNL as a company is growing and showed annual revenues of approximately $4.5

billion as of 2014. BSNL is serving more than 125 million customers across the country

and is catalyst in checking the price point for telecom services.

• Also, with the government intensifying its rural focus, only BSNL can turn into reality the

next wave of rural telecom penetration.

• BSNL is a 100% Central Government entity and employees with BSNL are entitled to get

salaries and perks as decided by Government of India and not by BSNL

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• However both, MTNL and BSNL are plagued by declining revenues coupled with high

costs. BSNL has massive infrastructure, manpower, systems, and 80 per cent of landlines

and 90 per cent of broadband connections in India are operated by it.

• “Vodafone is investing nearly US$ 3 billion over the next two years in India in expanding

its network infrastructure and distribution channel in the country,” as per Vittorio Colao,

CEO, Vodafone Plc.

• BlackBerry plans to set up enterprise solutions centres to educate corporate customers

about various BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10 solutions. "India is one of the

fastest growing markets in terms of smartphone and mobile data adoption,” said according

to Sunil Lalvani, Managing Director (MD), BlackBerry India.

• Tata Teleservices plans to set up nearly 4,000 wi-fi hotspots in nine cities across the

country in the next two years.

Booming sectors

• The tide has turned for the telecom sector in India, as growth and profitability has

accelerated in recent times. Tower companies are reaping benefits of a turnaround in the

sector as operators have started investing in networks to boost data penetration.

• However it is in the country’s booming mobile segment in which the major battles are

being fought. Three major private players – Bharti, Reliance and Vodafone - with a

formidable 54% share of the market between them, lead a large field of mobile operators.

State-owned enterprises –BSNL and MTNL – have also been making their presence felt

with a combined market share of 12%.

A look ahead

• According to Craig Wigginton, vice chairman and U.S. Telecommunications leader,

Deloitte & Touche LLP, the big challenge for the telecom industry in 2014 – which also

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presents a major growth opportunity for the sector – is that consumers are getting addicted

to connectivity and speed.

• The ongoing expansion of the mobile ecosystem, coupled with demand for high-

bandwidth applications and services such as video and gaming, is keeping pressure on the

industry to increase the availability and quality of broadband connectivity.

• What does this mean for players in the sector? Carriers will continue to pursue

technological advancements to handle demand, including offloading some mobile

bandwidth needs to Wi-Fi, which is proving an effective complement to mobile networks.

At the same time, long-term spectrum availability, spectrum efficiency, small cells and

continued backhaul improvements are likely to be a key focus to assure continued mobile

broadband momentum

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1.2 Company profile

Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The businesses at Bharti

Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU’s)

1. Mobile services

2. Broadband and telephone services (B&T)

3. Enterprise services

The Mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles, while

B&T business group provides broadband & telephone services in 94 cities. The Enterprise Services

group has two sub-units – carriers (long distance services) and services top corporates. All these

services are provided under the Airtel brand

Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated

telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business.

In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction, Airtel has redefined the business through

marketing innovations, continuous technological up gradation of the network, introduction of new

generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care.

Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom

circles of the country. It has over 25 million satisfied customers.

Bharti Airtel limited is a telecom MNC headquartered in New Delhi India, with a presence in 20

countries across the world its the 4th largest telecom company in the world in terms of subscribers

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base which was over 275 million as on July 2013. Airtel is also the largest telecom company in India

and the second largest in country mobile operator by subscriber base after china mobile.

Sunil Bharti Mittal is the head of Airtel. Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony and second

in terms of fixed telephony and also provides broadband and DTH services. Airtel became the first

Indian company to get gold certification by CISCO.

Airtel is appreciated for forming a business strategy of outsourcing all its operations except sales,

marketing and finance ensuring low cost and high volumes. The network is outsourced to Ericsson

and Nokia Siemens whereas it is outsourced to IBM, transmission towers are maintained by bharti

infratel ltd. In India.

Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s. At that time, there were only two

major private players, Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only

post-paid services. Initially, the cellular services market registered limited growth. Moreover, these

services were mostly restricted to the metros. Other factors such as lack of awareness among people,

lack of infrastructural facilities, low standard of living, and government regulations were also

responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone.

With the presence of a number of mobile telephony services providers including market leaders like

Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Tata Indicom, Spice Communications etc. who are providing either of

the two network technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code

Division Multiple Access (CDMA). In cellular service there are two main competing network

technologies: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access

(CDMA). Understanding the difference between GSM and CDMA will allow the user to choose the

preferable network technology for his needs.

Indian mobile telephony market is increasing day by day and there is more to happen with

technological up gradations occurring nearly every day and the ever-increasing demand for easier and

faster connectivity, the mobile telephony market is expected to race ahead…

The mobile telephony services providers Airtel, Vodafone (Formerly Hutch), have been competing

aggressively for their market share with MTNL, Tata Indicom, Reliance and Idea Cellular entering

into the foray, this tussle has only become tougher. With major market share in the hands of the likes

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of Reliance, Airtel, Vodafone (Formerly Hutch), Idea Cellular the others have been finding it difficult

to compete in the market.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI) has been playing an important role in keeping a

watch on these existing players and bringing new environment as well as policies and reforms for

these Mobile Telephony Service Providers and permitting them to provide mobile telephony services

including permission to carry its own long distance traffic within their service area without seeking an

additional license. TRAI’s mission is to create and nurture conditions for the growth of

telecommunications including broadcasting and cable services in the country in a manner and

at a pace which will enable India to play a leading role in the emerging global information

society. The service providers are free to provide, in its service area of operation, all types of mobile

services including voice and non-voice messages, data services and PCO’s. The Operators would be

required to pay a one-time entry fee. The basis for determining the entry fee and the basis for

selection of additional operators would be recommended by the TRAI. Apart from the one time entry

fee, operators would also be required to pay license fee based on a revenue share. It is proposed that

the appropriate level of entry fee and percentage of revenue share arrangement for different service

areas would be recommended by TRAI in a2

Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players

increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal.

This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services, which were

still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications. Following this realization,

the major cellular service providers in India, launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s. The

main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid

services, which were targeted only at the premium segment).

Bharti’s Vision

By 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India:

• Loved by more customers

• Targeted by top talent

• Benchmarked by more businesses

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Bharti’s Mission

To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers.

We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through:

• Customer Service Focus

• Empowered Employees

• Cost Efficiency

• Unified Messaging Solutions

STRENGTHS

· Cost advantage

· Current leaders in quality service

· Largest distribution network

· Ability to constantly innovate

· Highly skilled workforce

· Entrepreneurial zeal

· Airtel’s increased equity and market cap.

WEAKNESSES

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· To prove credibility

· Price pressures

· Need for Government support

· Awareness

· Sales and Marketing

OPPORTUNITIES

· To sustain passion and commitment

· Airtel’s market share increasing at other service provider expense.

· Attain higher value services

· Collaborative business needs to be explored

· Vertical repeatable solutions.

· Low penetration level in rural markets.

THREATS

· Foreign investment

· Global trends moving from GPS to WLL.

· Lack of global parity in telecom tariff

· Other competition

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The Airtel Brand and its Logo

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There has been no change in the brand name Airtel was born free, a force to unleash into the market

with a relentless and unwavering determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy creativity

and team driven to seize the day with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom

service.

The Airtel logo is a strong, contemporary and confident symbol for a brand that is always ahead of

the rest. It is a specially drawn wordmark.

• The unique symbol is an interpretation of the 'a' in Airtel. The curved shape & the gentle

highlights on the red color make it warm & inviting, almost as if it were a living object.

• The logo represents a dynamic force of unparalleled energy that brings us and our customers

closer," it added.

• The "unboxed" having been freed of its rigid boundaries. Airtel calls the new logo youthful,

international, inclusive and dynamic – representing the journey of the first Indian brand to go

truly global. The new identity underlines Airtel’s willingness to embrace everything that is

new. The red color, which is an integral part of the brand, continues to represent the energy

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and dynamism that has made Airtel the success it is today. The new curved addition to the

logo is a symbol which will help ensure instant recognition across diverse international

markets.

• The color "Red is part of our heritage. It is the color of energy & passion that expresses the

dynamism that has made Airtel the success it is today, in India, and now on the global stage.

BRAND AMBASSADORS USED BY AIRTEL

In order to take the advantage of the growing number of youth in our country, Airtel introduced

Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh khan, Saif ali khan, kareena Kapoor, Gautam gambhir and many others

as brand ambassadors to tap the potential.

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Airtel has taken the lead on many occasions. It has been the first

• Launched Cellular service in Delhi on November, 1995.

• Operator to revolutionize the concept of retailing with the inauguration of Airtel Connect

(exclusive showrooms) in 1995.

• To expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April, 1997

and the first in Delhi to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming

to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network.

• First to provide roaming facility in USA. Airtel has the largest automatic roaming service

"SMART ROAM"- National in 400 cities in India and "SMART ROAM" - International in

over 60 countries and 95 networks all over the world.

• It is also the first company to export its products to the USA.

Awards for the year 2012-2013

• Bharti Airtel Shared Services Team won two awards in categories of

Value Creation and Innovation & Improvement at the SSON (Shared Services & Outsourcing

Network) Excellence Awards 2012.

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• Bharti Airtel won four Effie awards at the Effie Awards 2012. Airtel's extremely popular 'Har

ek friend zaroori hota hai' campaign conceptualized by Taproot India, stood out as a

campaign amongst all nominations, winning three Gold Effie awards. Apart from a Gold in

the 'Telecom & Related Services' category, the campaign won a Gold each in 'Digital

Advertising' and 'Integrated Advertising'. Bharti Airtel also won one Silver Effie

award for its 'Baat sirf paison ki nahin hai' campaign for Airtel moneyin the telecom

category.

• Sanjay Kapoor was awarded the "Telecom Person of the year 2012" at the "Voice & Data

Telecom Leadership Awards 2012". The award was accorded by Honourable Minister of

New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah.

• Won the QUEST Forum India Quality Award for the Top Telecom Service Provider.

QuEST Forum is a unique collaboration of information and communication technologies

(ICT) service providers and suppliers across the world, dedicated to improving operational

and supply chain quality and performance.

• Awarded the #1 Service brand in Brand Equity's List of "Most Trusted Brands".

• Bharti Airtel was felicitated for 'Best Mobile Service Provider' and 'Innovation in

mMoney' at Aegis Graham Bell Awards held on November 1, 2012.The Aegis Graham Bell

awards honor the best innovations in the field of TIME (Telecom, Internet, Media &

Edutainment) recognizing the most exceptional contributions in the respective fields.

• Bharti Airtel was awarded the 'Brand of the Year' at the CNBC TV18's flagship initiative,

the India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) for its Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota

Hai campaign. The IBLA Brand of The Year Award seeks to recognize a brand mass media/

communication campaign based on its key message, popularity amongst the target audience

and impact on the brand.

• Bharti Airtel won the 'Excellence in First People Initiative' award at the first, People 2012

Awards. Airtel HR's multiple initiatives in enhancing the internal customer's experience

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through innovation and leveraging mobile technology helped us to win the prestigious award.

• The Airtel Centre of Excellence (ACE) received the 'Excellence Award for Shared Service

Centre Operations in India' in the 2nd National Shared Services Council by All India

Management Association and Delhi Management Association in recognition of their

outstanding efforts to identify key strategic drivers and implementing them to deliver value to

all.

• Bharti Airtel won the highly prestigious Porter Prize in the 'Exploiting Trade-offs' category.

The Porter Prize Awards, named after Professor Michael Porter – the father of modern

strategic field, are the most coveted awards in the field of strategy and competitiveness. The

award recognises and honours Indian companies which have embraced the best strategic

management practices.

• Bharti Airtel Sri Lanka bagged a silver at the prestigious HRM awards. Airtel Sri Lanka was

recognized for their HR practices by HRM awards.

• Bharti Airtel won the Star News Viewer’s Choice Best Mobile Network, Best Quality

Mobile Network Service Provider, at the 6th National Telecom Awards 2012 hosted

by CMAI in May 2012.

• Bharti Airtel won 5 awards at the Telecom Operator Awards 2012, announced in March 2012

by Tele.net . Airtel bagged the 'Best National Mobile Operator', 'Best VAS Provider',

'Best Enterprise Services Provider', 'Best Ad Campaign by an Operator' and 'Most

innovative Solution' for Airtel money.

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Network of Airtel

• Cellular Service

Airtel Completes Its 23 Circle All India Footprint Airtel now connects India from the Indus to

the Indian Ocean and from Sabarmati to the Brahmaputra on a network of more than 10,000

base stations with cumulative investments of more than Rs. 16,000 crores.

• Internet infrastructure

Our Internet backbone involves state of the art high-end routers and switches as may deployed

on the best networks across the world to offer you reliable service of unmatched quality. Three

years back we had established satellite based gateway for internet access. This was the first

gateway by a private operator. Now we have established our fibre gateway on Network i2i,

first private submarine cable owned by us and SingTel.

• Fixed line infrastructure

Our high quality fibre-based, fixed line networks in Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,

Madhya Pradesh and Chahattisgarh , intensively covers the most prominent commercial and

business districts in the country. We provide the power of last mile fixed line network to bring

end-to-end voice and data solutions.

• Long distance infrastructure

Our 25,000 km advanced fibre-optic cable long distance network covers India's top 200 cities.

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And it powers the services of India's leading private telecom service providers - cellular, fixed

line and internet through Our Long Distance Services.

• Submarine cable

We have partnered with SingTel to create the world's largest submarine cable system-

Network i2i with 8.4 Tbps capacity. This 3200 km undersea cable structure stretches from

Chennai to Singapore and thereon to Tier-1 carriers on SingTel's capacity on 175,000 km of

cables. The huge capacity on network i2i is distributed locally in India through our 25,000 km

of advanced fibre-optic domestic long distance backbone, providing unprecedented capacity,

speed,reliability.

Organization structure

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Partners

The company has a strategic alliance with SingTel. The investment made by SingTel is one of the

largest investments made in the world outside Singapore, in the company.

The company’s mobile network equipment partners include Ericsson and Nokia. In the case of the

broadband and telephone services and enterprise services (carriers), equipment suppliers include

Siemens, Nortel, Corning, among others. The Company also has an information technology alliance

with IBM for its group-wide information technology requirements and with Nortel for call center

technology requirements. The call center operations for the mobile services have been outsourced to

IBM Daksh, Hinduja TMT, Teletech & Mphasis. The company's unique strategic outsourcing model

has been studied and documented by Harvard Business School as a case study which is available for

download at: www.hbsp.harvard.edu.

• Factsheet At-a-glance guide to Bharti Airtel

• Organization Structure Organisation chart depicting the Senior Management positions

• Shareholding Structure Details on the latest shareholding structure and major shareholders, as on

June 30, 2007

• Awards & Recognitions Laurels recognising Bharti's consistent efforts

Corporate Governance

Bharti Airtel Limited firmly believes in the principles of Corporate Governance and is committed to

conduct its business in a manner, which will ensure sustainable, capital-efficient and long-term

growth thereby maximising value for its shareholders, customers, employees and society at large.

Company’s policies are in line with Corporate Governance guidelines prescribed under Listing

Agreement/s with Stock Exchanges and the Company ensures that various disclosures requirements

are complied in ‘letter and spirit’ for effective Corporate Governance.

During the financial year 2003-04, your Company was assigned highest Governance and Value

Creation (GVC) rating viz. ‘Level 1’ rating by CRISIL, which indicates that the company’s capability

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with respect to creating wealth for all its stakeholders is the highest, while adopting sound Corporate

Governance practices. This rating was re-affirmed by CRISIL on April 20,2006

Chapter 2

Literature Review

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2.1 Literature review

The growth in demand for telecom services in India is not limited to basic telephone services. India

has witnessed rapid growth in cellular, radio paging; value added services, internet and global

communication by satellite item (GMPCS) services. The agents of change, as observed from

international perspective, have been broadly categorized into economic structure, competition policy

and technology. Economic reforms and liberalization have driven telecom sector through several

transmission channels of which these three categories are of major significance.

The effective research cannot be accomplished without critically studying what already exists in the

form of general literature and specific studies. Therefore, it is considered as an important pre-requisite

for actual planning and execution of research project. This helps to formulate hypotheses and

framework for further investigation. In this research, the survey of literature has been classified into

two parts - studies related to telecom sector and studies related to marketing strategies.

• Seth et al (2008) analyzed that there is relative importance of service quality attributes and

showed that responsiveness is the most importance dimension followed by reliability,

customer perceived network quality, assurance, convenience, empathy and tangibles. Liu

(2002) found that the choice of a cellular phone is characterized by two attitudes: attitude

towards the mobile phone brand on one hand and attitude towards the network on the other.

Samuvel (2002) observed that most of the respondents consider size, quality, price, instrument

servicing are an important factors for selecting the handset while majority of the respondents

are satisfied over the payment system, quality of services, coverage area and the process of

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attending the complaints regarding their mobile service provider. Nandhini (2001) examined

that attitude of the respondents using cell phones was not influenced by either education or

occupation and income.Kalpana and Chinnadurai (2006) found that advertisement play a

dominant role in influencing the customers but most of the customers are of opinion that

promotional strategies of cellular companies are more sale oriented rather than customer

oriented. Haqueet (2007) suggested that price, service quality, product quality & availability,

and promotional offer play a main role during the time to choose telecommunication service

provider.

• Muller in his a research focuses that the success of the mobile commerce can be attributed to

the personal nature of wireless devices. Adding to this are its unique features of voice and data

transmission and distinct features like localization, feasibility and convenience. The sustained

growth of the mobile commerce around the world has been more because of the transfer of

technology according to the needs of local geography.

• National Telecom Policy projected a target 75 million telephone lines by the year 2005 and

175 million telephone lines by 2010 has been set. Indian telecom sector has already achieved

100 million lines. With over 100 million telephone connections and an annual turnover of Rs.

61,000 crores, our present tele density is around 9.1%. The growth of Indian telecom network

has been over 30% consistently during last 5 years.

• According to Wellenius and Stern (2001) information is regarded today as a fundamental

factor of production, alongside capital and labor. The information economy accounted for one-

third to one-half of gross domestic product (GDP) and of employment in Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in the 1980s and is expected to

reach 60 percent for the European Community in the year 2000. Information also accounts for

a substantial proportion of GDP in the newly industrialized economies and the modern sectors

of developing countries.

• Virat Bahri (2006) explains the viewpoint of Sam Pitroda the Chairman of Worldtel that

identifies opportunities for investments in telecommunications. He analyses that there is an

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increasing role for telecom in e-governance in India. According to him, technology can be

leveraged to take India’s development to next level.

• In the study of consumer behaviour, it is possible to conclude that perception is presented as

one of personal factors determines consumer behaviour. A personal factor is the closest

environment of a consumer, including everything that makes up the individual, his/her head

and soul, which characterised his personality. Using sensory receptors and influenced by

external factors, the person receives information, accepts and adapts it, forms his personal

attitude, opinion, and motives that influence behaviour. Perception within this context is one

of the principal personal factors, conditioning the nature of the consumer and his/her

behaviour and other variables.

• Analysing classifications proposed by marketing specialists, suggests that sensation, attention,

interpretation and retention are the dominating elements of the perceptual process (Branyte et

al, 2007). Crane and Klarke (1994) posit the theory of perceptual filters, based on the idea that

the perceptual process is a set of filters, used for sorting and modifying a stimulus leading

finally to stored memory of consumers. Indeed consumer cannot perceive all the stimuli in the

phase of sensation; consumers do not react to every stimulus received in the attention phase

lest they fail to understand the proper meaning of a stimulus while interpreting it. Essentially,

they do not remember everything they have understood. The theory reflects the importance of

evaluation and recognition of the elements of the perceptual process, seeking to activate and

affect the consumer’s perception. Every phase makes the consumer feel differently as the

intensity of his/her reactions and the importance of external influence change. According to

Chernatony and McDonald, (1998), the challenge for marketers is to appreciate how all the

marketing resources supporting a brand interact to produce the benefits that consumers

perceive as being unique to a specific brand. Consumers interpret the meaning of the

marketing activity behind a brand and project values onto the brand, endowing brands with a

personality. They developed a useful framework to help understand the diverse types of brand-

added value which includes; added values from experience; added values from reference

group effect; added values from a belief that the brand is effective; and, added values from the

appearance of the brand. Consumers form impressions of a brand from their packaging and

develop brand preferences based on their attraction to the package design.

25

• Demographic variable is an importance determinant of customer behaviours. Study shows that

gender has significant moderating effect on perception, satisfaction- loyalty relationship. On

this note, social identity theory proposes that attitudes are moderated by demographic,

situational, environmental, and psychosocial factors (Haslam et al, 1993). According to the

social psychological theories, consumers’ evaluations are moderated, or in some cases

mediated, by personal feelings of equity in the exchange, disconfirmation between desires and

outcomes, individual preferences, social comparisons, and other complex phenomena. These

theories strongly suggest that consumers’ differences influence their attitudes. Women are

affected by sales process while men are satisfied with the impact of the product. That is, there

is significant relationship and consistent differences in the levels of perception among

demographic groups. Kotler and Keller (2006) and Karjoluoto et al (2005) report that

demographic variables have an influence on the evaluation of different attributes related to

mobile phone choice. Specifically, gender and social class will impact on the evaluations of

the attributes as men belonging to higher social class seem to be more technology savvy.

Decision making mainly follows a rational decision making process in which different

attributes are evaluated, but also has some symbolic nature as brand was regarded as important

among many study participants. Product choice also is greatly affected by occupation,

economic circumstances, spending income (level, stability and time pattern), savings and

assets (including the percentage that is liquid) debt, borrowing power, and attitude towards

spending and saving (Kotler and Keller 2006). Personality and selfconcept are important

determinants of buying behaviour. Kotler (2001) defines personality as a set of distinguishing

human psychological traits that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to

environmental stimuli.

• Personality are characterised by such traits as selfconfidence, dominance autonomy difference,

sociability, defensiveness and adaptability. Consumer’s personality is very useful variable in

analysing consumer brand choices. This is because brands also have personalities, and

consumers are likely to choose brands whose personality matches their own. Brand

personality is defined as the specific mix of human traits that may be attributed to a particular

brand (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Aaker (1997) identifies the following as brand personality

traits, sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and Ruggedness. However, people

from same subculture, social class and occupation may lead quite different lifestyle. Lifestyle

26

is a person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in activities, interests and opinions.

Marketers often search for relationships between their products and lifestyle groups (Kotler

and Keller, 2006). Factors that relate to the user’s surroundings and interactions with other

people in his/her personal network of family, friends, colleagues and other important people

also have important implications on consumers purchase.

• This is based on the fact that an individual’s decisions and behaviours are not made solely by

him/her, but rather are influenced by the opinions and recommendations of other important

people. As a person is part of a social network, he/she normally interacts with others in daily

life and talks and shares with others on what he/she sees, thinks and experiences (Pedersen,

2005). That is why, for example, word of mouth is known as one of the most effective

channels through which positive and negative ideas and perceptions and spread in a social

setting. Today, for every firm a critical question for its success is that how it can maintain its

current customers and how it can make them loyal to the brands.

• Loyal customers play important role in building businesses by making different moves like

buying more, by paying premium prices and most importantly providing companies different

sets of new customers by positive word of mouth (Aydin and Ozer, 2004). In fact

telecommunication companies lose their customer quite regularly. So it’s very challenging

task for the mobile phone operators to retain existing customers as well as bringing new

customers towards their brands and creating loyalty in them. It happens in almost every

industry but especially in telecommunication services, it is said that when customers are

connected to a particular service provider or operator then their long term relationship with the

operator is of great importance for the success of the company in the competitive market.

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2.2 About the Topic

Mobile phone markets are one of the complete market atmospheres nowadays due to increased

competition and change. Thus, the growing concern requires marketers to strictly look at

Customers buying decision processes and demand focus on the factors such as Prices, Purchase

intention, Perceived intention, Perceived quality, Perceived sacrifice and Perceived value that

subsequently determine willingness to purchase between different mobile phones with an

appropriate service.

In this competitive environment, to find out the customer satisfaction, customer preferences,

expectations and perception about the Airtel life time card out of all other Cellular service

providers in the market. The underlying problem in predicting customer choice resides much

more in the fact that purchase decisions are made on the basis of many different criteria. This

problem is further confounded in service applications where customers may consider intangible

features and characteristics of the market offerings and interactions between service providers

and the consumers with an appropriate service.

In this competitive environment, to find out the customer satisfaction, customer preferences,

expectations and perception about the Airtel life time card out of all other Cellular service

providers in the market.

28

Theories of Perception

On a straightforward view, we directly perceive the world as it is. The way that things look, feel,

smell, taste, and sound is the way that they are. We see colours, for example, because the world is

coloured. This view of perception is called, somewhat dismissively, naive realism.

Plausibly, perception is a lot more complicated than this.

Though things may appear to be coloured to us, our experiences of colour are merely

representative of the surface properties of objects; the physical property of reflecting certain

wavelengths of light and the colour red as we experience it are two quite different things.

This has led to representative realism, which suggests that perception is not the passive process

that the naive realist suggests, that we do not simply receive information about the world through

our senses.

Rather, we are actively involved in perception, supplying much of the content of our experiences,

and must bear this in mind if we are to know what the world is really like in itself.

More extreme than either naive or representative realism is idealism. Idealists, persuaded by the

thought that we have direct access only to our experiences of the world, and not to the world

itself, have questioned whether there is anything beyond our experiences. A more recent theory

that bears some similarities to idealism has also been proposed: phenomenalism.

The underlying problem in predicting customer choice resides much more in the fact that

purchase decisions are made on the basis of many different criteria. This problem is further

confounded in service applications where customers may consider intangible features and

characteristics of the market offerings and interactions between service providers and the

consumers.

Many philosophers, such as Jerry Fodor, write that the purpose of perception is knowledge, but

evolutionary psychologists hold that its primary purpose is to guide action. For example, they

say, depth perception seems to have evolved not to help us know the distances to other objects

but rather to help us move around in space. Evolutionary psychologists say that animals from

29

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. Perception accurately

mirrors the world; animals get useful, accurate information through their senses.

Scientists who study perception and sensation have long understood the human senses as

adaptations. Depth perception 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. Taste and smell respond to chemicals in the environment that were significant

for fitness in the EEA.

The sense of touch is actually many senses, including pressure, heat, cold, 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 echo locating bats and that of the moths that have

evolved to respond to the sounds that the bats make.

Evolutionary psychologists claim that perception demonstrates the principle of modularity, with

specialized mechanisms handling particular perception tasks. 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.

Customer Perception

Consumers can evaluate a product along several levels. Its basic characteristics are inherent to the

generic version of the product and are defined as the fundamental advantages it can offer to a

customer. Generic products can be made distinct by adding value through extra features, such as

quality or performance enhancements.

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The final level of consumer perception involves augmented properties, which offer less tangible

benefits, such as customer assistance, maintenance services, training, or appealing payment

options. In terms of competition with other products and companies, consumers greatly value

these added benefits when making a purchasing decision, making it important for manufacturers

to understand the notion of a “total package” when marketing to their customers.

Sensations can be defined as the passive process of bringing information from the outside world

into the body and to the brain. The process is passive in the sense that we do not have to be

consciously engaging in a "sensing" process. Perception can be defined as the active process of

selecting, organizing, and interpreting the information brought to the brain by the senses.

For example, when manufacturing automotive parts, a high-performing product will provide the

customer base with basic benefits, while adding spare parts, technical assistance, and skill

training will offer enhanced properties to create a total package with increased appeal to

consumers.

Perception is the process through which a person forms an opinion about the various stimuli he

receives from his sensory organs. In marketing, perception is concerned with understanding how

the consumer views a product or service. The five senses of a person help him in this process

• To identify which cellular service they are using presently and try to convert them.

• To identify the type of connection plan, that the consumers currently have. (Postpaid,

Prepaid, or Life time card)

• To find out the communication channels most used by the consumers to know about

Airtel.

• To analyze consumer perception and expectation towards Airtel.

• To analyze the Reason and Purpose behind using Airtel.

• To find out the satisfaction level of customers towards Airtel.

Lacking and factor for dissatisfaction has been studied from the customer’s point of view.

31

• Getting an opportunity to convince and interact with the customers.

• Creating awareness and perception towards Airtel.

• The limit of the study is only for the Telecommunication of Airtel.

• The survey was taken from some people of Delhi city alone so the result may not be

feasiblefor other locations other than Delhi city. So, the findings only suitable for

intention and perception towards Airtel.

Today, for any organization or firm to survive in this competitive world depends on its ability to

be dynamic and be different from the competition to be unique in the industry. Customer

Satisfaction helps every organization to keep the existing customer and to build new customer.

This research is aimed at profiling the standard customer with an aim to increase the network and

improve company-customer relations. The information gathered through this research can be

used by the company to improve its services and became more customers friendly. This can

increase the goodwill of the company and its overall performance.

Perception

Our perception is an approximation of reality. Our brain attempts to make sense out of the

stimuli to which we are exposed. This works well, for example, when we “see” a friend three

hundred feet away at his or her correct height; however, our perception is sometimes “off”—for

example, certain shapes of ice cream containers look like they contain more than rectangular ones

with the same volume.

Factors in perception

Several sequential factors influence our perception.Exposure involves the extent to which we

encounter a stimulus. For example, we are exposed to numerous commercial messages while

driving on the freeway: bill boards, radio advertisements, bumper-stickers on cars, and signs and

banners placed at shopping malls that we pass. Most of this exposure is random—we don’t plan

to seek it out. However, if we are shopping for a car, we may deliberately seek out

advertisements and “tune in” when dealer advertisements come on the radio.

Exposure is not enough to significantly impact the individual—at least not based on a single trial

(certain advertisements, or commercial exposures such as the “Swoosh” logo, are based on

extensive repetition rather than much conscious attention). In order for stimuli to be consciously

32

processed, attention is needed. Attention is actually a matter of degree—our attention may be

quite high when we read directions for getting an income tax refund, but low when commercials

come on during a television program. Note, however, that even when attention is low, it may be

instantly escalated—for example, if an advertisement for a product in which we are interested

comes on.

Interpretation involves making sense out of the stimulus. For example, when we see a red can,

we may categorize it as a CokeÒ.

Weber’s Law suggests that consumers’ ability to detect changes in stimulus intensity appear to be

strongly related to the intensity of that stimulus to begin with. That is, if you hold an object

weighing one pound in your hand, you are likely to notice it when that weight is doubled to two

pounds. However, if you are holding twenty pounds, you are unlikely to detect the addition of

one pound—a change that you easily detected when the initial weight was one pound. You may

be able to eliminate one ounce from a ten ounce container, but you cannot as easily get away with

reducing a three ounce container to two (instead, you must accomplish that gradually.

The wholly empirical approach holds that this experience is the sole determinant of perceptual

qualities. The reason percipients see an object as dark or light, the argument goes, is that in both

our own past and the past of the species it paid off to see it that particular way. Returning to the

bucket analogy, imagine that each of the three hoses pumps out water of a different color: one

pumps out black water, one pumps out gray water, and one pumps out clear water. All one sees is

the water in the bucket, which can be clear, gray, black, or any shade in between. As expected, it

is impossible to perform some calculation on the color of the water in the bucket to find out how

much water came out of each hose. Now imagine that it is your job to bet on how much water

came out of the gray hose. The output ratios of the hoses are not random, but co-vary in all kinds

of complicated ways based on the time of day, how long it takes to fill up the bucket, etc. At first

your behavior in response to the color of the bucket might not be so good, but over time this

would gradually improve as different shades and behaviors in response became associated by trial

and error. The key is that in order to improve you have to know whether or not your behaviors

worked by interacting with the world.

Several factors influence the extent to which stimuli will be noticed. One obvious issue

is relevance. Consumers, when they have a choice, are also more likely to attend

to pleasant stimuli (but when the consumer can’t escape, very unpleasant stimuli are also likely

to get attention—thus, many very irritating advertisements are remarkably effective). One of the

33

most important factors, however, is repetition. Consumers often do not give much attention to a

stimuli—particularly a low priority one such as an advertisement—at any one time, but if it is

seen over and over again, the cumulative impact will be greater.

Surprising stimuli are likely to get more attention—survival instinct requires us to give more

attention to something unknown that may require action. A greater contrast (difference between

the stimulus and its surroundings) as well as greater prominence (e.g., greater size, center

placement) also tend to increase likelihood of processing.

Subliminal stimuli. Back in the 1960s, it was reported that on selected evenings, movie goers in a

theater had been exposed to isolated frames with the words “Drink Coca Cola” and “Eat

Popcorn” imbedded into the movie. These frames went by so fast that people did not consciously

notice them, but it was reported that on nights with frames present, Coke and popcorn sales were

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

subliminal advertising. First of all, there is a question as to whether this experiment ever took

place or whether this information was simply made up. Secondly, no one has been able to

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

embarrassment when they are briefly exposed to “dirty” words in an experimental machine.

Here, again, the exposure is so brief that the subjects are not aware of the actual words they saw,

but it is evident that something has been recognized by the embarrassment displayed.

34

Chapter 3

Research Methodology

35

Research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. Research

Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science

of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally

adopted by a researcher to know not only the research methods or techniques but also the

methodology. We not only talk of the research methods but also consider the logic behind the

methods we use in the context of our research study and explain why we are using a particular method

or evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others.

3.1 Purpose of the study

The purpose is to check out the consumer preference towards Airtel and its services and what

are their requirements and why a problem costumer faces.

3.2 Research Objective of the study

The objective of the study is to check out the preference of consumer towards Airtel and study the

requirements of consumer and their grievances towards the company. The secondary objective of the

study.

• To study Advertising Strategy of Airtel Cellular Service: Ads are an internal part of

every company and company has to know how and when to use it.

• Its effect on existing mobile users: The cellular services market in India grew during the

late 1990 and is increasing. Airtel has to launch services in the market.

36

3.3 Research methodology of the study

Research methodology is done to solve the research problems involving a study of various

steps that are adopted by the researcher in studying his problem.

Throughout the entire project the emphasis was to check the awareness level of the customers

towards the different services of Airtel and there views and perception about the same.

Finally the project was concluded by taking the feedback from the customers.

3.3.1 Research Design

The project is more of a qualitative than quantitative study. The project aims at the perception of

consumers regarding the consumers.

Explorative Research: Explorative Research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different

kinds. The major purpose of description of the state of affairs it exists at present. In social science and

business research we quite often use the term expost factor research for descriptive research studies.

A Main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; he can

only report what has happened or what is happening.

3.3.2 DATA COLLECTION METHOD

• THERE TWO TYPE OF METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION.

o PRIMARY DATA

o SECONDARY DATA

• DATA USED FOR THE RESEARCH WORK WAS PRIMARY

• Primary Data: The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire. The

questionnaires are distributed among 35 peoples and the there view is recorded and used in

analyzing the data Secondary sources. Primary source is a term used in a number of

37

disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea

being studied. In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called

original source or evidence) is an artifact, a document, a recording, or other source of

information that was created at the time under study. If created by a human source, then a

source with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. It serves as an original

source of information about the topic. Similar definitions are used in library science, and other

areas of scholarship. In journalism, a primary source can be a person with direct knowledge of

a situation, or a document created by such a person.Primary sources are distinguished from

secondary sources, which cite, comment on, or build upon primary sources, though the

distinction is not a sharp one. "Primary" and "secondary" are relative terms, with sources

judged primary or secondary according to specific historical contexts and what is being

studied.

• Secondary Data :

• Secondary sources include online sites (www.Google.Co.in, www.Airtel.com), newspapers

(Times of India) and templates from AIRTEL distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer

Care. In scholarship, a secondary source is a document or recording that relates or discusses

information originally presented elsewhere. Secondary source contrasts with a primary source,

which is an original source of the information being discussed; a primary source can be a

person with direct knowledge of a situation, or a document created by such a person.

Secondary sources involve generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation, or evaluation of

the original information. Primary and secondary are relative terms, and some sources may be

classified as primary or secondary, depending on how it is used. An even higher level, the

tertiary source, resembles a secondary source in that it contains analysis, but attempts to

provide a broad overview of a topic that is accessible to newcomers.\

3.3.3 Sample designing

Target population:- The Target population under this survey are the consumers of mobile

network providers.

The target population is limited to the central Delhi.

SAMPLE SIZE : - The sample size included 100 related people in variousdifferent location.

38

Search process was done by interacting with number of customers during the activities

performed, which included, markets, cold calling, canopies, etc. Sample design consist of

CONVIENCE SAMPLING.

3.4 Method of data collection

Instrument of Data collection

Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. Inaccurate data collection

can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results. For the above objectives,

quantitative methods were used. Interviews were studied for the employees and structured

Questionnaires were given to them. Then the data was analyzed and interpreted in the form of

tabulation and charts.

There are two types of data collection methods used:

1. Primary data collection

2. Secondary data collection

Primary data collection method-

Primary data is the data in which the researcher collects data through various methods like

interviews, surveys, questionnaires etc., to support the secondary data.

Primary data collected in this project is using the interview and questionnaire.

Secondary data collection method-

Secondary data is data collected by someone other than the user. Common sources of secondary

data for surveys, organizational records and data collected through qualitative methodologies or

qualitative research.

Secondary data used in this project is records of Human Resource Department for the service file

of the separating staffs, various HR Journals, projects and research papers of different scholars

both national and international.

3.3.3 Drafting of a questionnaireA questionnaire consisting of 18 questions was prepared which consisted of questions like the

working of various welfare committees of the organization and the development systems, canteen

39

and rest room facilities etc. So, keeping in view all the aspects of research and it consisted of

following types of questions-

• Close ended Questions - A closed-ended question is a question format that limits

respondents with a list of answer choices from which they must choose to answer the

question. Commonly these type of questions are in the form of multiple choices, either

with one answer or with check-all-that-apply, but also can be in scale format, where

respondent should decide to rate the situation in along the scale continuum, similar to

Likert questions.

Types of closed ended questions used-

1. Dichotomous Questions - Fixed-alternative question that can only be answered in

one of the two indicated ways, such as 'A' or 'B', True or False, Yes or No.

2. Multiple Choice Questions- Multiple choice is a form of assessment in which

respondents are asked to select the best possible answer (or answers) out of the

choices from a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used

in educational testing, in market research, and in elections, when a person chooses

between multiple candidates, parties, or policies. Multiple choice testing is

particularly popular in the United States. If guessing an answer, there's usually a

25 % chance of getting it correct on a 4 answer choice question.

3.5 Limitations

The project has been successfully completed with certain inherent limitations, which are as follows:

• This Project report is based on the secondary sources for data collection and no Primary data

has been used, due to which there is lack of practical knowledge.

• Time and work constraints were also there.

40

• Limited information & Respondent’s unavailability.

• Time pressure and fatigue on the part of respondents and interviewer.

• Courtesy bias& the behavior of the customer while approaching them to fill the questionnaire

was unpredictable.

• Lack of customer’s cooperation was a major constraint.

• Majority of the customer were too aggressive in nature.

Chapter 4

Analysis & Interpretation

41

AGE GROUP

Table 4.1

42

Age Group (in years) Users15-21 2921-28 5628-35 15

3.2

8.2

1.40

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

15-21 21-28 28-35

Age Group

15-21

21-28

28-35

Chart 4.1

Interpretation:

As we can see from the above graph, the people who are in the age group of 21-28 years are the ones who

are the maximum users of mobile phones. This segment is the one which give maximum business to the

mobile operators. This segment constitutes the young executives and other office going people. They are

65% of the total people who were interviewed. The next age group are the people who are 28-35 years

old. They are 20% of the total. They are those who are at home or have small business units etc. And the

next age group is the youngest generation who are 15-21 years old. They are school and college going

students and carry mobile phones to flaunt. They are 15% of the total interviewed people.

Occupation

What is your occupation?

1. Student 2. Household 3. Executive 4.Other

Occupation Users

Student 15

Executive 55

43

Household 20

Other 10

Table 4.2

Chart

4.2

Interpretation

Above graph shows that 55% of the total people interviewed are working. So, these people are the ones

who are the maximum users of mobile phones. They are the young executives, managers etc. who require

mobile for their official purposes. The next category is the households 20 %, who are either housewife,

small units which operate from their homes etc. The next segment is the students. They are 15%of the

whole. And 10% of the whole is categories who are the professionals.

Customer Service at Airtel Graph

What is your satisfaction level with Airtel?

1.Fully 2.Partially 3.Distassified 4.Fully distassisfied

Table 4.3

Satisfied Users

Fully dissatisfied 10

Fully Satisfied 20

Dissatisfied 60

44

15

55

2010

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Others

Households

Executives

Student

Partially 10

Chart 4.3

Interpretation

As the above graph clearly shows that customer services at Airtel seems poor. 60% of the people are

dissatisfied with the customer services provided by Airtel. They are the ones who have the maximum

share in the market but they are lagging behind in the customer services. This could leave an impact

on the mind of the consumer

Features convinced to use Airtel

Which feature of AIRTEL convinced you to use Airtel

1.Advertisements 2.Connectivity 3.Schemes 4.Goodwill

Convincing Factor UsersAdvertisement 23

Scheme 8Connectivity 58

Goodwill 19Table 4.4

45

10

20

60

10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Satisfaction

Satisfied Fully satisfoed Dissatified Partially

Chart 4.4

Interpretation

The above data shows that the connectivity of the Airtel is its backbone and it is the

main reason that the consumers are using it and the network is still is in usage and

goodwill of the company is at risk and falling at a huge rate.

Usage of Airtel

Which service do you use of Airtel

• Mobile service

• Internet

• DTH

• Other

Usage UsersDTH 10

Internet 25Mobile Service 64

Others 8Table 4.5

46

64

25

10 80

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Mobile service Internet DTH Others

Sales

Mobile service Internet DTH Others

Chart 4.5

Interpretation

It can be seen from the data represented above that most the customers use Airtel because of its

Mobile service’s rather than any other requirement as it provides them the best service in Airtel in the

service Department.

Monthly expense graph

How much is your monthly expenses?

• 500 – 1000

• 1000 – 2000

• 2000 & above

Table 4.6

Expenses Users

500-1000 24

1000-2000 64

2000 & Above 12

47

2464

120

50

100

500-1000 1000-2000 2000 & Above

Expenses

500-1000

1000-2000

2000 & Above

Chart 4.6

Interpretation

People on an average spend RS 500 per month as their mobile phone expense. 64% people spend this

amount. 24% people spend RS 300 per month as their monthly mobile expense. And the remaining

12% had an expense more than RS 1000, they could the ones having sim connections or having cash

cards and having a lot of business calls on their mobiles.

Influencer

What makes Airtel different from others?

1.Connectivity 2.Tariff plans

3.New schemes

4.Other

Factors UsersConnectivity 72New schemes 14Tariff plans 32Other 12

Table 4.7

48

8.2

3.2

1.4 1.20

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

connectivity Tariff Scheme others

Influence

connectivity Tariff Scheme others

Chart 4.7

Interpretation

The above figure shows that connectivity is the favored influencer of Airtel and it persuades

consumer to use the network and later on tariff and schemes play there role in the company.

Celebrity Factor

Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL

• Sachin Tendulkar

• Shahrukh khan

• Kareena Kapoor

• A.R. Rehman

Celebrities UsersShahrukh Khan 36Kareena Kapoor 2

A.R. Rehman 19Sachin Tendulkar 28

Table 4.8

49

28

36

2

19

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Celebrity Factor

Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A. Rehman

Chart 4.8

Interpretation

The main celebrity that is responsible for the success of the Network is Shahrukh khan then Sachin

Tendulkar and behind him is A.R. Rehman and Kareena Kapoor comes in the last.These celebrity did

their best to promote it but the network was hugely favored by the above data.

Users

What type of Airtel service you use?

• Postpaid

• Prepaid

Card Users

Prepaid 46

Postpaid 54

Table 4.9

50

Chart 4.9

Interpretation

The above data shows that earlier prepaid was the favorite of consumers but with the flow of time the

time this preference has shifted towards the postpaid side and now they are in demand as earlier only

network was used for call’s only and now it provides number of facilities like internet etc.

Service Provider Graph

Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone?

1.AIRTEL 2.VODAFONE 3.IDEA 4.RELIANCE 5.OTHERS

Networks UsersVodafone 25

Idea 5Airtel 35

Reliance 15Others 20

Table 4.10

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Chart 4.10

Interpretation

The above graph shows a slice of 50%. These are the total no. of people who are using Airtel. It

seems that people are more aware of Airtel than any other brand. The next popular brand is Hutch.

305 of the people interviewed had Hutch connections. The next popular brand was Idea. 15% people

had Idea connections. As it came very late in the market when Airtel had established it self very well.

AIRTEL is #1 in India

Opinion Users

Yes 87

No 13

Table 4.11

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Chart 4.11

Interpretation

The above graph shows the result of the survey that how many people think Airtel is best in its

services. According to the survey done, 95% of the people think that Airtel is the best which

provides better telecommunication services and only 5% of the people thinks vice-

versa.Purple color shows people who say ‘yes’ to the survey that Airtel is No. 1 and maroon

color shows who do not agree.

Type of Card Graph

Cards Users

Sim Card 15

Cash cards 85

Table 4.12

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Chart 4.12

Interpretation

Cash cards seemed quite popular among the people interviewed. 85% of the total mobile users were

having cash card connections. This means that the cash cards should be easily and readily available in

the local markets. Airtel should make sure that Magic is available in each and every nook and corner

of the market. 15% of the people were having sim connections which is the regular bill.

Advertisement

Type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL

• Audio Visual

• Print

• Audio

Advertisement UsersAudio 20

Audio Visual 58

54

Print 22

Table 4.13

8.2

3.2

1.40

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Audio Visual Print Audio

Advertisement

Audio Visual Print Audio

Chart 4.13

Interpretation

It can be seen from the above data that audio visual advertisements are still the best mode of reaching

the consumers and influence them.

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Chapter 5

Findings & Suggestions

5.1 Findings

• Airtel is a very successful brand in India as it covers a wide network and is still one of the best

still in network coverage and stands one of the best network in the world and has covers major

of the population coverage.

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• There is still scope of improvement as some of the rural and remote areas are not till covered

by any service provider and the company is shifting its focus towards them as well to reach a

wide area and generate loyal customers.

• Business houses are the major users of Airtel as it is better than all other network’s in

broadband coverage and plans are better than any.

• Airtel focuses on its customer’s satisfaction but it can provide some more relaxation to its

users and provide some more incentives for its dealers so that they can be more loyal towards

the company and market it better.

• Company is undertaking extensive promotional activities like advertisements released in

different Medias to create brand awareness in target pulling areas like campuses etc. Free

samples should be distributed among the prospects like free recharge or sims & sales

promotion tools like gifts, contests and coupons must be given to retailers as well as customers

and prospects. Catalogues should be distributed among customers.

• The company is focusing more on the Youth & the untapped areas of the country

like rural areas to hold a strong position in the country and prosper further.

• Company has shifted to its concern to one of the most influential target market i.e. YOUTH as

population concern more on the youth as they consist majority of the population in the country

and are most spenders in today’s age.

• Airtel provides value added packs for its heavy users as to retain them as postpaid connections

are on the rise as compared to prepaid.

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• It is used mainly for its mobile network coverage across the globe as it covers a huge area so

its connectivity is high and the goodwill factor comes into play.

5. 2 SUGGESTIONS

• Following are the few suggestions to AIRTEL for improving the market share and image of

the products concerned.

• Modification must be brought about in AIRTEL, in terms of quality. Its demand should be

increased and provides its consumer with value added services as to retain them.

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• In today’s age the brand must focus on other areas to market it like Malls, theatre and crowed

area to get attention and market it and gather audience interest.

• Most of the respondents are satisfies with the services provided by Airtel to mobile user steps

to be taken to make customers more satisfied but many are still not aware of phone plus

facility and steps are to be taken to popularize it.

• Many of the respondents are not satisfied with the features provided to prepaid users as

compared to Landline users.

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Chapter 6

Conclusion

Airtel is a very successful brand in India & providing customer satisfaction is to be there main

motive.Provides Internet access on the move as people are more dependent on it in their daily lives

like wide network and good 3G services.

Airtel possesses congestion free & wide network, unique value added & customer services.

Providing customer satisfaction is the most crucial step of the company as they are to be satisfied and

provides Internet access on the move such as Wide network and good 3G services as they are

important and technology advanced stuff required by almost everybody in today’s environment,

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Airtel is a home brand and a very successful brand in India and overseas and one of the most

successful brands still to date. It possesses congestion free & wide network, unique value added &

customer services to cover one of the widest areas.

From the details it can be concluded that 70% of Airtel users preferred to remain with Airtel. Also

good number of users who were willing to switch from their respective subscribers showed interest in

Airtel. Hence, these statistics imply a bright future for the company. Also the company is used mainly

by executives who want wide coverage for their operations but the problem of customer satisfaction

still persists with the company and cause of its lacking new customers.

Connectivity is the backbone of the company and it is still the reason why consumers use it and the

most users of the company fall in the youth category and are now using postpaid services as they are

aware of the services provided as the youth is the main target of major of companies as the country

mainly comprises of them.

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME:

ADDRESS:

OCCUPATION:

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1. Do you think that Airtel tariff plans are better than others?

• Yes

• No

2. Which service do you use of Airtel?

• Mobile service

• Internet

• DTH

• Other

3. Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone?

• AIRTEL

• HUTCH

• IDEA

• RELIANCE

• TATA INDICOM

• OTHERS

4. How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service?

• Friends

• Advertisements

• Relatives

• Other Sources

5. Which feature of AIRTEL convinced you to use AIRTEL?

• Advertisements

• Connectivity

• Schemes

• Goodwill

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6. Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service?

• Advertisements

• Connectivity

• Schemes

7. What is your age?

• 15-21 years

• 21-28 years

• 28-35 years

8. Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL?

• Audio Visual

• Print

• Audio

9. Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL?

• Sachin Tendulkar

• Shahrukh khan

• Kareena kapoor

• A.R. Rehman

10. What is your occupation?

• Student

• Household

• Professional

• Other

11. Are you an Airtel customer?

• Yes

• No

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12. What type of Airtel service you use?

• Postpaid

• Prepaid

13. How did you come to know about Airtel?

• Friend

• Dealer

• Advertisement

• Other

14. What makes Airtel different from others?

• Connectivity

• Tariff plans

• New schemes

• Other

15. What is your satisfaction level with Airtel?

• Fully

• Partially

• Distassified

• Fully distassisfied

16. How much is your monthly expenses?

• 500 - 1000

• 1000 – 2000

• 2000 & above

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Bibliography

In this project report, while finalizing and for analyzing quality problem in details the following

Books, Magazines/Journals and Web Sites have been referred. All the material detailed below

provides effective help and a guiding layout while designing this text report.

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• Books :

• Kothari. C.R (2004): Research Methodology Methods & Techniques , New Age‟

International Publishers, New Delhi, 2nd Edition.

• Richard I. Levin, David S. Rubin (2004): „Statistics for Management , Prentice Hall of‟

India Private Limited, New Delhi, 7th Edition.

• Principles of Marketing –Philip Kotler & Kevin keller edition 12

• Market Research – D.D. Sharma

• Research Methodology – C.R. Kothari

Websites:

• www.Airtelworld.com

• www.google.com

• www.info-matic.com

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel

• http://www.slideshare.net/muskan19/airtel-brand-analysis

• http://www.airtel.in/

• http://www.slideshare.net/dpdas3/bharti-airtel

• http://www.authorstream.com

• http://www.moneycontrol.com/competition/bhartiairtel/comparison/BA08

• http://wirelesstelecom.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/swot-analysis-of-indias-largest-

mobile-telecom-operator-bharti-airtel/

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• http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/history-about-the-generic-strategies-

marketing-essay.php

• http://www.themediaant.com/airteladvertising

• http://mythbhagat.blogspot.in/2009/04/successful-sales-and-distribution.html

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