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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof. N.K. Kapoor

(director), P arul Institute of Management, college of management studies

for giving me permission to do project work at Indian Express, Vadodara.

I also express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Anirudha Tambe , who

inspired me during my extensive research in this area and extended his

constructive guidance and constant supervision which is of immense help

to me in the successful completion of the study.

I am very much grateful to Mr. Mahesh Patel (Deputy Manager), Mr.

Virendra Gaekwad and Mr. Pintu Dodia (Circulation Manager) , Indian

Express, Vadodara for giving me opportunity to do project work at Indian

Express.

Words would never be adequate to express my gratitude to my

parents and friends because whatever I am and whatever I do is a result of

their perseverance in molding me.

P lace: Vadodara

Date: ANIL KUMAR MOHANTA


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DECLARATION

I, Anil Kumar Mohanta, hereby declare that the report on Summer Training andproject work entitled A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION with specialreference to THE INDIAN EX P RESS, VADODARA is a result of my own workand my indebtedness to other work publications, if any, have been dulyacknowledged.

P lace: Vadodara

Date: 04/07/2011 Anil Kumar Mohanta


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CHAPTER 1I N TROD U CTIO N

y Introduction to newspapersy Origin of newspapersy

Importance of news papersy N eed for the study y Scope of the study y Present scenario of the newspaper

industry y Limitations


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INTRODUCTION

Communication and transportation has made the earth a very small

planet to live in. The process of social change produced societies that are highly

dependent on mass communication. It is natural that mass communication is

possible only through mass media. Newspaper is one among the mass media

available and probably the most distinct and important achievement for the

society. The newspaper acts as the agency of information and education. It is

also an instrument of democracy.

The role of newspaper during the independence struggle was significant.

The newspaper has not lost its importance with the rapid development of the

other media which can be seen from the increasing circulation if various

newspapers. Newspapers have become the food for upgrading knowledge.Overcoming fear and gaining information about current affairs around the world

nation, region etc. This is the same for a student, business man, government or

private employee or a housewife who has the important task if educating and

bringing up tomorrows citizens of the world.


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THE ORIGIN OF NEWSPAPERS IN INDIA

The history of newspapers is an often-dramatic chapter of the human

experience going back some centuries. In Renaissance Europe handwritten

newsletters circulated privately among merchants, passing along information

about everything from wars and economic conditions to social customs and

"human interest" features. The first printed forerunners of the newspaper

appeared in Germany in the late 1400's in the form of news pamphlets or

broadsides, often highly sensationalized in content. Some of the most famous of

these report the atrocities against Germans in Transylvania perpetrated by a

sadistic veovod named Vlad Tsepes Drakul, who became the Count Dracula of

later folklore.

Compared to many other developing countries, the Indian press has flourished

since independence and exercises a large degree of independence. Many of

India's great English-language newspapers and some of its Indian-language

press were begun during the nineteenth century.

The Indian press has experienced impressive growth since independence. In

1950 there were 214 daily newspapers, with forty-four in English and the rest in

Indian languages. By 1990, the number of daily newspapers had grown to 2,856,

with 209 in English and 2,647 in indigenous languages. The expansion of literacy


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and the spread of consumerism during the 1980s fuelled the rapid growth of

news weeklies and other periodicals.

By 1993 India had 35,595 newspapers--of which 3,805 were dailies--and other

periodicals. Although the majority of publications are in indigenous languages,the English-language press, which has widespread appeal to the expanding

middle class, has a wide multicity circulation throughout India.

There are four major publishing groups in India, each of which controls

national and regional English-language and vernacular publications. They are the

Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the Hindustan Times Group,

and the Anandabazar P atrika Group. The Times of India is India's largest

English-language daily, with a circulation of 17,00,000, published in six cities.

The Indian Express, with a daily circulation of 15,19,000, is published in

seventeen cities. There also are seven other daily newspapers with circulations

of between 134,000 and 477,000, all in English and all competitive with one

another.

In our time, radio and television have gradually supplanted newspapers as

the nation's primary information sources, so it may be difficult initially to

appreciate the role that newspapers have played in our history.


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IMPORTANCE OF NEWSPAPERS

y The news and features are recorded on the newspaper. So they can be

accessed whenever necessary and can be discussed elaborately.

y Newspapers reach remote areas where the other media is not accessible.

y The local news and information locally can cover more properly in the

news papers.

y

The items like application formats, examinations results etc. can be givenonly through the newspapers.

y Newspapers are the cheapest medium for advertisers to reach a large

number of people.

y The newspaper can be expended in terms of pages to accommodate more

news, give extra supplements and other feature.

y The newspaper can give news, information and advertisements at the

same time on the same page. This enables different people to access

different item or features at the same time.


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PRESENT SCENARIO OF NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY

The industry has achieved a point where the public feels that newspaper is

must for the society and the welfare of the society and not for profits. The

industry is affected by two main sections. The government and its working and

paper industry through which it gets the necessary input resources i.e. the

newsprint. The Government controls the price and quota of newsprint given to

the respective newspaper organizations.

The competition both from other players in the market but also from the

other media. The economic and social factors that affect the industry are the

literacy rate, the per capita income, the average time spent on reading, attitude of

the public about particular newspaper. In the present day the industry is at a very

slow growth with the individual organizations reaching maturity in their business

life cycles. The newsprint produced in the country is costlier because of which

most of newsprint is imported. Hence an increase or decrease in the import tariffs

would also affect the newspaper industry.

In order to study the present scenario of the The Indian Express the

activities of production, Finance, Human Resource and Marketing have been

considered.


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PRODUCTION PROCESS:

The production of the newspaper is carried out at the greatest speed when

all production stops at the most of the other industries. The hectic activity starts

at about 9:30 P M and ends at 3:30 AM, Coordination play an important role in the

newspaper industry. The various departments that co-ordinate in bringing out the

product are as follows:

FINANCE DEPARTMENT:

There are not much of activities with respect to finance that takes place. In

the various units spread out in the state most of the decisions the executive who

reside at the corporate. The Indian Express at Vadodara was set up by the

corporate officer with all its structure and its printing unit was established at

Ahemdabad. The price of the newspaper is less than the cost of its production.

This gap is filled in from the revenue that the organization gets in the form of

advertisements.

The agents collect the actual circulation revenue and submit to the

marketing department. In turn it is passed over to the accounts department.

Billing activities are carried out by the marketing department. Since the inflow of

advertisements is seasonal and the profits are calculated yearly.


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HUMAN RESOURCE:

Indian Express unit at Vadodara has a work force of 14 of which 6 of them

are in management levels. The regular working staff is divided into clerical,

marketing and editing staff. The general working hours for the clerical staff is

9:30 AM to 5:00 P M. The editorial staff start their work at about 6:30 P M and

finishes at about 3:00 AM the next day.

The sales organization is headed by the sales manager (marketing). Under him are the circulation inspectors. They are two in number one sales officers.

They are followed by the field sales promoters. The sales promoters are both

permanent and temporary. There are about 10 sales promoters. The sales

promoters work in teams. The average working hours per day is 8 hours. The

sales promoters are two in number one as sales officer and other as asst. sales

officer, they are followed.

MARKETING DEPARTMENT:

In this department they mainly concentrate on the Marketing Mix like the

P roduct, P rice, P lace and P romotion.


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PRODUCT:

The product from the newspaper industry is the newspaper which in itself

carries features like news, information, advertisements and entertainment. Each

paper covers these four important aspects in varying proportions. The Indian

Express at Vadodara does not publish English newspaper but its production

house is at Ahmadabad.

PRICE:

The sales of any product are based on price compared to other factors it

plays a major role in buying a product.

The prices were reduced in paper industry in Oct 2000 when will India

reduced its price to Rs. 1.50p with this all English newspapers, in the industry

were forced to cut down their prices in order to survive in the competition.

Even though the prices were reduced all the papers were maintaining the

same number of pages and supplements for the same reduced price. With the

reduction in prices all the papers circulation has also increased tremendously.

When compared with last two decades, readership percentage increases

abnormally. Even though the company had spent lots of money on publicityearlier, growth percentage increased just above 10%. After the price slash, even

without publicity, the market has seen a tremendous growth rate in its circulation.


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In 1980 the price of the paper in weekdays was Rs.0.30p and for Sunday it

is Rs.0.40p. In Jan 2000, price of the paper in weekdays is Rs.1.00 and for

Sundays it is Rs2.50. From March 2006 these prices are increased to Rs.2.50 for

weekdays and 3.00 for Sunday.

After the reduction of price by Times of India, Indian Express this is also

found in the survey that the circulation of the paper has increased because

readers were subscribing only one paper before the press cut. After reducing the

price people are subscribing for more than one paper.

At present the price of week days Indian Express is Rs. 3 and Rs. 5 for Sunday

newspaper.

PROMOTION:

Newspaper is a media that promotes other business. Naturally it does notfor excessive promotion of itself. Indian Express Vadodara, promotion is done by

marker into urban and rural semi-urban, market the sponsorship. In the rural

areas the slides are used which are show in the theatres. The use of stockers are

painting is also used for promotion.


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CLASSIFICATION OF NEWSPAPER:

Newspapers can be defined as a tangible media that is used in mass

communication through which the receiver is made aware of the latest news,

information and the related topic perceived as important by the editorial

personnel of the newspaper. The newspapers can be classified on the basis of

ownership, on the basis of circulation, on the basis of frequency of editions, on

the basis of subjects dealt.

On the basis of Ownership:

Chains: More than one newspaper under common ownership from more than onecommon centre. Examples Indian Express.

Groups: More than one news papers under common ownership from same centre.

MultipleUnits: More than one news paper having the same title, language and periodicityand under common ownership. Example THE HINDU.

On the Basis of Circulation:

Big Newspaper: Newspaper with a circulation of more than 50,000 copies per

publishing day from centre.

Medium Newspapers: Newspapers with a circulation of more than 15,000 copies

and less than 50,000copies per day.

Small Newspaper: Newspapers with a circulation of less than 15,000 copies.


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On the basis of Ownership:

L ocal News

P apers:

News papers that generally give news about the

happening locally. Ex: Vadodara Reporter.

Regional News

P apers:

News papers that give news mostly at the state level Ex:

Gujarat Samachar. Reporter.

Regional News

P apers:

News papers that give news regionally and also from all

over the country Ex: THE INDIAN EX P RESS.

On the basis of frequency of editions:

Daily : A news paper appearing at least four times a week.

Weekly : A news paper being published once in a week.

On the basis of subjects dealt :

General: News papers that deal with the news from all corners cater to all

sections of the society, provide information etc. Ex. THE TIMES OF INDIA, THE

INDIAN EX P RESS.

Business: News papers that generally are mostly give importance the news from

the business environment Ex: Economic Times, Business line, Financial express.

Political: News papers that generally are run by individual for their political

interest.


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LIMITATIONS OF NEWS PAPERS

y The market has to be literate and able to understand difficult sentences.

y The subscription is a regular expense i.e. the customer has to pay for

every month.

y The time of delivery and its value becomes less as the day goes by.

y The price of the newspaper is less than the cost of production.

y Hot news cannot be given immediately and the readers have to wait till the

next morning.

y Effort has to be put in by the reader to read the news paper.

y The newspaper is geographically oriented.

y Journalism is not literature and is short lived.

y The interference of the press into the private lives of individuals, both high

and low is criticized.

y In places where here is no freedom of press the newspapers becomes

mere tools of the government.


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CHAPTER - 2COMPA NY PROFILE OF THE I N DIAN EXPRESS

o Organisation chart of The Indian Expresso Vision and mission of The Indian Expresso The Indian Express salient featureso Industry structure of The Indian Express Achievements

and awards of The Indian Express


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INDUSTRY VISION STATEMENT

Newspapers serve our democratic society by vigilantly protecting the

peoples right to know. Newspapers are leaders in providing news, editorial

comment, information and advertising. Newspapers will remain vital and sustain

their vigilance by Investing energy and resources to strengthen their value to

readers and advertisers Continuing to be the most comprehensive source of

gathering, organizing and presenting news and information P ioneering

businesses that anticipate and meet the changing needs and desires of

consumers and marketers Attracting, retaining and advancing a talented, creative

and diverse workforce.

VISION STATEMENT OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS:

Create a Vibrant organisation

P erfect the functioning of all the parts

Focus on the success of the whole company

Release the enthusiasm of our people

Tune-in to the live ends of the evolving society

Convert every challenge into an opportunity


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MISSION STATEMENT:

Readers Friendly

Trade P artners Friendly

Employees Friendly

Systems Friendly

Employees Family Friendly

Society Friendly

SALIENT FEATURES

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO :

1. Focused News

2. All Muscle, No Fat

3. Bold but not brash

4. Analytical

5. Always Investigative


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STRATEGIC GROWTH INITIATIVES (S.G.I) VALUES:

1. Cleanliness & Orderliness

2. Speed & P unctuality

3. Communication & Co-ordination

4. P roduct Quality

5. Cost saving

6. Soft speech

7. Streamline systems

8. Customer Satisfaction

9. P roductivity & Development of Employees

10. Maintenance & Maximum utilization of equipment

SALES MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (SMIS):

OBJECTIVES:

1. Activities

2. Measurement of the Activities

3. Market Intelligence


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4. Identification of P roblems

5. Feedback on P erformance

6. Identification of P otential Segments

7. Decision Makings

AREAS COVERD UNDER SMIS:

1. Reporting

2. Agency Management

3. Focused Segments

REPORTING FORMAT:

1. Daily Call Report

2. Daily Activity Report

3. Circulation Report

4. Monthly report Call Analysis

5. Monthly report Agency P rint Order Status

OBJECTIVES OF REPORTING:

1. Minimum number of daily visits.

2. Generate database

3. Analyze P roductivity of calls in each segment


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AGENCY MANAGEMENT FORMAT:

1. New agency development plan

2. Agency bifurcation plan

3. Agency distribution management

FOCUSSED SEGMENT FORMAT:

1. Stall Segment

2. School Segment

3. Hospital Segment

4. Hotel Segment


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ORGANISATION STRUCTURE OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS

Express publications Limited, (formerly Indian express L imited) was

founded by L ate Shri Ramnath Goenka, along with other companies in the Indian

Express Group. The company was incorporated on 11 th April 1959 under the

Indian Companies Act, 1956 and has its registered office at Express Estates,

Anna Salai, and Chennai 600002.

The company now forms part of Express (Madurai) Group owned and

managed by Shri Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, the grandson of L ate Shri Ramnath

Goenka.

Express (Madurai) Group is an independent Group, publishing

Newspapers and periodicals in the states of Tamilnadu, Andhrapradesh,

Karnataka, Kerala, orissa ,Union Territories of P

ondicherry, Andaman andNicobar islands, Enam and L akshdweep. It brings out its publication of

Newspapers and periodicals from 14 centers Viz., Bangalore, Bhubaneswar,

Chennai, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Belagam, Kochi,

Kozhikode, Shimoga, Trivendrum, Vishakapatnam, Madurai, Tiruvananthapuram,

and Vijayawada.


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The companys publications include Dailies v iz.The Indian Express in

English (the southern editions of the New Indian Express renamed as The New

Indian Express, effective from 28-12-98), Dinamani in Tamil, Andhra prabha in

Telugu and Kannada prabha in Kannada. In addition to dailies, the company also

brings out magazines viz., Cinema Express in Tamil a fortnightly, Tamilian

Express a weekly in Tamil, Samakalika Malayalam Varika, a weekly in

Malayalam, Andhra praba illustrated weekly in Telugu. The Company is

professionally managed with well qualified and experienced people holdingcharge of different departments.

The various departments in the organization are:

1. Editorial department.

2. Advertisement department.

3. Electronics &communications department.

4. Camera section.

5. Retouching section.

6. P age making section.

7. P late making section.

8. P acking section.

9. Dispatch section.

10. Marketing department.

11. Accounts department.

12. Security department.


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THE EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT:

The news is gathered by reporters residing in and around Vadodara

region. The news is composed and screened by the reporters and sub-editors

respectively. The stories are set aside respectively by allocating them to a certain

page. The entering work is done by the sub-editors for The Indian Express the

paper composing and only the local edition composed at Vadodara.

THE ADVERTISEMENT DEPARTMENT:

The advertisement department is responsible for collection of

advertisements and publishing them in the news paper. The respective pages

are also fixed. This is further intimated to the editorial section which fills in the

news material in the space left out in the respective pages.

The advertisements are divided into commercial, financial, notices,

appointments and classifieds respectively and the tariffs are also imposed

accordingly. Full page and half page and quarter page advertisements are also

accepted. The advertisements are also received from the advertisements

agencies which are given 15% commission. The direct advertisements are also

accepted. There 15% also a small percentage of advertisement coming from the

Indian Newspaper society. The organization also employees field staff for

procuring the advertisements.


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The advertisement department is headed by the assistant of the

Advertising Manager. There are both field staff and office staff. The office staff is

headed by sectional head. The office staff handles the scheduling billing,

accounting and typing works respectively.

ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT:

Different information is collected in the different faces by the

communication software developers exclusively by the The Indian Express. The

Indian Express has got highly automated communication software which has no

need of any man power to send the information from one center to another. They

are sending and receiving new items, photo advertisements, and pager

messages from one centre to another as files.

The various centers are connected to each other via the leased lines,

hence the collected information will send to next sections.

PLATE MAKING SECTION:

In the plate making section the page size negatives are subject to high

ultra violet rays. The image rails on aluminum plates are of high quality and the

high quality sensitizer developer and finisher are used in making the plate.

MACHINE SECTION:

Machine section can be called as the heart of the production process. The

plates from the plate making section are in to the news web offset press

machine. It is a semi automatic machine. The capacity is 30000maximum per


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hour. There are two such set of machines having the capability of printing pages

at a time The Indian Express newspaper.

PACKING AND DISPATCH SECTIONS:

The newspapers from the machine section are sent for the packing and

dispatching purposes. The packing is done according to the invoices received

from the respective agents. The packing is done with the help of waste

newsprint.

TRANSPORT SECTION:

The transport function is handled by the respective night supervisors. The

vehicles are owned by private parties.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS

The New Indian express has been best Identified and appreciated for

being investigative. It is awarded as the Best Investigative news paper in the year

2003-2004 by All India P rint Media Association(AI P MA). The New Indian express

is also awarded for its highest growth rate in Circulation.


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CHAPTER - 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE ST U DY

Importance of customer satisfaction innewspaper industry

To study the customer satisfaction of Various topics covered in The IndianExpress

To study the customer loyalty at The IndianExpress


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their consumption experience. Assuming that a customer will learn from

experience, then decreasing levels of disconfirmation should affect customer

satisfaction. For example, if a customer is surprised by an excellent service

experience he or she will be satisfied. Yet the customer now has higher expectations for the service the next time it is purchased. If product performance

is consistent, the degree of disconfirmation will diminish regardless of whether

the revised expectations are exceeded or just met. If disconfirmation is the best

predictor of satisfaction, then satisfaction should vary directly with disconfirmation

to a steady state level, despite increasing expectations. A longitudinal approach

to the antecedents of consumer satisfaction logically implies the hypothesis of

systematically varying consumer satisfaction.

L iterature related to consumer satisfaction, repurchase behavior, switching

barriers, and consumer information updating is reviewed in order to fashion a

model that integrates these concepts. A longitudinal study of the antecedents of

satisfaction and their consequence over time could not be found, although

several articles study satisfaction in a dynamic setting. The review also reveals

the following three important conceptual relationships: 1) satisfaction is a function

of expectations, perceived performance, and disconfirmation; 2) intention to

repurchase is a function of consumer satisfaction and switching barriers; and 3)

choice is a function of expectations and intention to repurchase. These

relationships are integrated in a conceptual model called the satisfaction-Based

Repeat P urchase Behavior model. The model is dynamic and emphasizes

satisfaction as a primary determinant of repurchase behavior. It also incorporates

the antecedents of satisfaction, and allows their effect to vary with time.

A combination of the model and the notion of systematically varying

consumer satisfaction make it possible to formulate some interesting predictions

that have many implications for marketing. Specifically, the hypothesis of


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systematically varying consumer satisfaction provides a rationale for continuous

improvement, yet reinforces the notion that there is no substitute for high quality

and good value. This follows because customers will adapt their expectations as

improvements are made, until no disconfirmation exists. When this occurs,

satisfaction is based solely on expectations (or performance). The higher the

expectations that are met, the higher the customer satisfaction and probability of

repurchase.

If satisfaction is assumed to be a significant predictor of repurchase and

switching behavior, another implication is that if satisfaction varies with

disconfirmation to a steady state or equilibrium level, the probability of

repurchase and switching will be affected in a predictable way. Moreover, the

positive disconfirmation created by a surprise factor and its effect on consumer

satisfaction and repurchase probabilities will dissipate over time, which implies

that switching behavior becomes more probable as satisfaction decreases.

Another implication is that the hypothesis of systematically varying consumer

satisfaction may offer an alternative explanation to the variety-seeking

phenomenon, or it may even offer a rationale for variety seeking. Both the variety

seeking literature and the hypothesis of systematically varying consumer

satisfaction predictin the typical casea decreasing marginal utility of product

consumption. Diminished satisfaction with one product is a good reason to try an

alternative, and it might be difficult to discern whether variety seeking or a desire

to increase satisfaction is the goal.


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TO STUDY THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF VARIOUS

TOPICS COVERED IN THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

In marketing, customer is very often referred to as a King. Customers are

value maximizers. Consumer satisfaction is defined by Websters dictionary as:

Fulfillment of a need or want. Satisfaction is a persons feeling of pleasure or

disappointment, resulting from comparison of a products perceived and actual

performance in relation to his or her expectations. So, consumers satisfaction is

a function of the products perceived performance and the consumers

expectation.

Satisfaction is often a subjective phenomenon and depends on the

consumers state of mind both at the time of purchase and more importantly at

the time of consumption. It is important because in a large number of case, some

degree of post purchase dissonance is evident among consumers.

Many companies are aiming at high satisfaction because customers who

are just satisfied find easy to switch when a better offer comes along. Those who

are highly satisfied are much less ready to switch. In fact, emphasis has shifted

from more satisfaction to delight of customers. High satisfaction or delight

creates an emotional affinity with the brand and the supplier, not just a rationalpreference. The result is high customer loyalty.

Some of todays most successful companies are raising expectations and

delivering performances to match. These companies are aiming for Total.


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Customer Satisfaction (TCS). Xerox, for example, guarantees total satisfaction

and well replace at its expense any dissatisfied customers equipment for a

period of three years after purchase. Cigna advertises well never be 100%

satisfied until you are, too. And one of Hondas advertisements says, One

reason our customers are so satisfied is that we arent. Nissan invites potential

infinite buyers to drop by for a guest drive (not a test drive), since the

Japanese word for a customer is honoured guest.

PROFIT VERSUS CONSUMER SATISFACTION:

Some writers think that the businessmans operational interpretation

orientation has not approached the philosophical meaning of promising customer

satisfaction as the ultimate goal of marketing. According to one of them, One

apparent reason is that the attempt to provide customer satisfaction may conflict

directly with the most basic operational goal of business to earn a satisfaction

rate of return on its shareholders investment.

Although consumer satisfaction is the basis tenet of the marketing

concept, in practice, the firms do not tend to maximize consumer satisfaction. If

that was the case, as Kotler has very succinctly said, Company would simply

putout the best product and service in the world and price it below cost. There by

it would create substantial customer satisfaction but it would also be out of

business. As such, it should be very clear to every corporate management,

weather operating in the public or the private sector, that profit is the basic

condition of ,as distinct from motive and apart from profiteering ,the corporate

existence, stability and growth, not withstanding any suggestions to the country.


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If profit as a condition of business is scarified at the alter of maximum customer

satisfaction the very existence of business and, thereby, even minimum

customer satisfaction, will be threatened.

Customer satisfaction expectations are often reflected in their sacrifice

preparedness in terms or money against their products. This may be known by a

carefully planned consumer price expectation.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A CONSUMER OREANTED ORGANISATION:

A written consumer-based mission statement.

Consumers are always put in front.

Through market and consumer service planning.

Integrate approach and peoples involvement.

Commitment to quality of service.

Customer research and feedback

Setting and monitoring service standards.

THE COMMITMENT TO CONSUMER SATISFACTION:

Consumer satisfaction research is neither quick nor easy. Six months time

lapse from developing a request for a proposal to receiving the first consumer

satisfaction rating is not uncommon. A significant commitment of company

personnel is necessary, even if an outside research company manages the

interviewing and analyse phases in consumer satisfaction.


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Research is only the beginning of the process dedicated to improving

consumers satisfaction. The generates among consumers an expectation for

improvement that must be satisfied. An effort of this magnitude should be

undertaken only if managements desire to learn is strong and its commitment to

making changes is substantial.

The results, however, are invariably worth the effort. Here are examples of

how consumers view the importance of service and satisfaction.

The ball is in their court. If they do right by me, they can have my business.

We are happy with the way they do business, so we give them more

business.

They think they will be around when everyone else is gone, when in fact

the other companies are going to put them out of business with consumer

service.

They like to tell me how good are but a competitor came in and showed

me how good they were.

They want the business buy they cant give us the service.

The immediate consequence of this phenomenon is the exposure of even

the farthest corners of the world to the rapidly unfolding events elsewhere in theworld.

Almost all parts of the inhabited world have taken to, though in varying

degree, newer ways of thinking and doing business necessitated mostly by the


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intense competitive spirit that has merged in the international as well as the

domestic market place.

A recent study of the corporate world clearly establishes the fact that only

such of those corporations, which have given the consumers maximum value for

their money, have survived and further. Only such of those companies that have

gone beyond the stage of satisfying the consumers in to delighting their

consumers by exceeding their expectations, have really grown beyond one

wildest dreams.

A scrutiny of the latest list of Fortune 500 clearly proves this point. Nearly a

third of the companies are new entrants to the Fortune 500 list and they were not

there earlier and good number of companies that dominated the list in the 50s

and 60s are conspicuous by their absence in their list today. The lesson that all

big corporations of the developed world have learnt in the recent past is that their

activity has to be geared towards achieving one goes that is in delighting the

consumer and nothing else.


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TO STUDY THE CUSTOMER LOYALTY AT THE

INDIAN EXPRESS

THE LOYAL CONSUMER AS AN ASSET :

The delighted consumer can have a significantly the impact. The delighted

customer tells many others and will have some degree of influence over them.

Therefore, delighted consumers are sound investment and some companiesclearly understand their impact.

Making consumer satisfaction happen has significant organizational

implementations because of strategic nature. Strategic issues are marketing

owned and therefore, marketing plays a critical role in making customer

satisfaction. Happen. The marketing has three basic owner ship roles in

consumer delight ness. The first is to make a customer satisfaction a straighten

focus of the organization. The second is to structure the organization to make it

more responsive to the voice of the consumer. The third is to align the

organization reward and recognition system with its consumer focus.

SOME CAUTIONS IN MEASURING CUSTOMER LOYALTY:

When customer rate their satisfaction with an element of the

companys performance-say, delivery-the company needs to recognize that

customer vary in how they define good delivery. It could mean early delivery, on


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CHAPTER - 4RESEARCH DESIG N AN D METHODOLOG Y


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RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and

reporting of data and finding of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing

situation facing the company.

Research Process:

Data for the proposed study on market potential for the products through a

mix of data source like

1. P rimary Source

2. Secondary Sources.

Primary Source:

The primary data are those which are collected a fresh and for the first

time and thus happens to be original in characters.

Define theProblem &ResearchActivities

Develop the researchPlan

Collection ofInformation

Analyze theInformation

Present thefindings


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Secondary Sources:

The secondary data means data that is already available i.e., they refer to

the data, which has already been collected and analyzed by someone else.

It includes periodically, magazines, newspapers, company newsletters,

reports and broachers etc., through liabilities and previous projects for guidance.

Sampling:

It is an act of drawing samples from a batch on random basis; Sampling

may be as the process of obtaining information about an entire population by

examining only a part of it.

The selected respondents constitute the sample and survey so conducted

is sample survey.

I n s i d eC o m p a n y

O u t s i d eC o m p a n y

S e c o n d a r y d a t aS o u r c e

P r im a r y D a t a

S o u r c e

D a t a S o u r c e

N e w s l e tt e r s ,D o c u m e n t s , e t c .

L i b r a r i e s ,M a g a z i n e s , e t c .


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Sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given

population.

In conducting the market survey, it is always a line problem to collect the

various data and problem analysis.

The data may be collected from the whole population of a specified area or

if an area is too wide, samples representing whole population, may be chosen for

and used for analysis.

In this survey sample of 50 customers were met and are presented withquestionnaires, to find out how far they are satisfied with the dealer service.

The information collected by both primary and secondary data.

1. Meeting the customers directly collected information.

2. Through magazines and newspapers.


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CHAPTER - 5 STATISTICAL I N FORMATIO N OF THE N EW I N DIAN

EXPRESS


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INFORMATION OF The Indian Express

Circulation -15000 per day in Vadodara

COMMUNICATION INPUTS

OUT DOOR ELECTRONIC OTHERS

P osters SMS L eaf lets

Hoardings FM Radio Home Ads

Cinema slides TV scroll

Call Taxis Internet Cafes

Stall pops

Banners

TECHNO L OGY

The new Indian express is using a very sophisticated technology and

recently they have introduced STATE OF THE ART TECHNO L OGY printing

machine being erected with the help of latest technology from Germany.


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Brief description of The Indian Express:

The New Indian Express is probably the newspaper that does not enjoy a

high readership, circulation but found all over-India. In one way it can be called a

newspaper that is national having the regional touch which is an added

advantage; the paper is popular for its promotions in delivering frank, sensational

flash news. Also in many cases it is responsible for the investigators reports of

scams and other including paper gives color editions all throughout the week.

The number of pages also less than the other papers. The marketing activities

are team oriented and the generally customers are people who have migrated

from the other states.

The constituents of the newspaper are in the following percentage.

NEWS 57.97

INFORMATION 04.63

ADVERTISEMENTS 35.36

ENTERTAINMENT 02.02

The newspaper has an awareness of 40% according to the statistics.


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Profile of The Indian Express

Name : The New Indian Express.

Language : English

Established : 1949, Mumbai

Status of Newspaper : National

Head office : At Ahmadabad(GUJ)

Local office : 407 Dwarkesh Complex

Alkapuri, Vadodara, Gujarat -390005

The Editor : Vivek Goenka

The publisher : K. Ranganadham

Number of pages (avg) : 18

Price : Monday to Saturday --- 3.00/-Rupees

Sunday --- 5.00/-Rs

Local Circulation : near about 15,000

Other publishing centers : Ahmedabad, Bangalore, New Delhi,

Bhubaneswar, P une, Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai,

Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode, Madurai,

Tiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada.


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LAYOUT OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS PAPER.

The Indian Express carries a variety of features every day and there are

special items in store for each day of the week in order to study the features the

study can be divided into the study of features that are covered daily and the

other for the features that comes on a specific day.

The topics covered by the news paper for all days of the week are as

follows.

Page 01

In the first page of any news paper news that is of greatest interest is

published i.e., latest news, flash news etc. appears in the first page. The first

page covers the news in the national, international, regional levels depending on

the importance.

W eather Report:

Weather is important factor to be considered before starting any important

work for the day. Hence report is given in the first page.

Ad v ertisements :


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An advertisement is given in the right side bottom cover of the first page.

This advertisement is generally pertaining to the local units and published

respectively from the covers pending units.

In Brief :

In the left corner of the first page the different news are given in brief.

Page 02

In the page 2 the newspaper leisures and listings have been given.

S pirituality-prosperity :

This part deals with different aspects of the spirituality and prosperity.

On your screen today :

In this time enable at the various media channels are given like

entertainment, sports, movies etc.

Page 03 & 04

City /Regional news :

The news from the city and local areas in and around Vadodara is covered

in this page. The news pertaining to politics, infrastructure, reports of regional

festival functions etc are given importance. The topics like city notes and crime

beat news are also printed in this page.

Ad v ertisements :


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The advertisements pertaining to the local edition and local appointment

classifieds etc are printed in this page.

Page 05

S tate :

The news pertaining to the state as a whole are printed in this page

Page 06, 07 & 10

N ation :

The news from the national levels as a whole are printed. News pertaining

to the various parts of the world as a whole is printed here.

Page 08 & 09

Articles :

Articles are published in the center pages of any newspaper. This

facilitates easy reading. The articles written by prominent authors from the

concerned field is selected for publishing activity, the activity that pertain to the

present scenario is taken for printing.

Letters to the editor :

Corresponding is where any citizen or reader can express their views

about the articles and editorials published in the newspapers.


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E ditorials :

The editorial for any newspaper is like the heart and voice of it. It is the

editorial where the editor expresses his views and ideas.

Voices of today & yesterdays :

The voices of well known people like politicians etc and comparisons of

their words at present and previous.

India v artha internet poll :

The readers will be given whether queries to poll their way whether they

agree or not to the particular ideas and questions.

Page 11

W orld

The news from the international level as a whole are printed in the page

the news pertaining to the international from various parts as a whole are printed

in this page.

Page 12

The information regarding different market and their market valves have

been given in this page.

Page 13

Business Ex press


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The news from all the business sector is published in these pages and

also the stock market news is given due importance.

On shore & of shore

The information regarding national and international business.

Page 14, 15, 16

S ports :

National: The sports news at the national level and the reviews are printed

in this page.

International: The late night sports, other international sports events etc.

are printed in the upper half of the page.

Ad v ertisements :

The last page is all allocated to advertisements as in the case of the first

page.

SUPPLIMENTS

Sunday:

Sunday the IE called as the Sunday Express and the features will remain

the same as ordinary day.


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Classified reader services :

Classifieds are advertisements that are changed according to the words in

the advertisements in the classified advertisements there are general

employment, real estate, automotive, rental business offers, finance and

education advertisements.

Life mates

The advertisements regarding the matrimonial are given in this page.

Magazines

The interesting news regarding the insight (news &information regarding

the well known persons) books literature personal finance and science/colony


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CHAPTER - 6

A N AL Y SIS A N D I N TERPRETATIO N S


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SWOT A N AL Y SIS

STRENGTH

The articles, stories and editorials of the Indian Express differentiate itself

from its competitors.

Indian Express have got strong brand image.

P otential market can discover more segments of readers with the help of

direct marketing by the marketing and circulation division.

WEAKNESS

The promotional schemes are not planned and implemented well.

(Except Sunday supplement) There are no supplements with the main

news paper.

No free gifts given to the readers, who seek additional benefits other than

reading.

Newsprint quality. (comparative)


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OPPORTUNITIES

Currently company is giving almost 50% off on all its Express newspaper ,which helps the company to expand the market.

There were around 80% Gujarati medium schools and only 20% English

medium schools in 1990, but these figures have changed to 80% English

medium and 20% Gujarati medium schools.

THREATS

High competition from Times Of India.

In Gujarat majority people prefer to read local language newspaper andreaders who reads English newspaper contribute very less in number(in

comparison)


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1. BASED ON OCCUPATION

SAMPLE SIZE N=100

s.no Occupation THE TIMES OF

INDIA

THE NEW INDIAN

EXPRESS

Total

In No. % In No. % In No. %

1 Employee 18 18 06 06 24 24

2 Student 35 35 14 14 49 49

3 Business 10 10 10 10 20 20

4 P rofession 03 03 04 04 07 07

TOTA L 66 66 34 34 100 100


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1. BASED ON OCCUPATION

From the table we can interpret that the majority of the subscribers when

classified on the basis of occupation or students concluding 49% student of the

total sample then comes employees with 24%,businessmen with 20% and

professionals with 07% respectively

6

18

14

35

10 10

43

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

THE INDIAN EXPRESS THE TIMES OF INDIA

Employee

Student

Business

Profession


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From the table we can interpret that the largest readership in the sample is

contributing by The Times of India subscribers with 66% and The New Indian

Express with 34% respectively

3.Based On Loyalty

SAMPLE SIZE N=100

S

N o

Name of the paper 5 years

1. The Times Of India 16 23 14

2. The New Indian

Express

08 17 22


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3. Based On Loyalty

From the table we can interpret that the loyalty of The Times of India

subscribers are high as the largest part they are contributing in below 5 years

area and then The Indian Express is now gaining its boom now respectively.

Above or upto 5 years The Indian Express have good readership.

8

17

22

16

23

14

0

5

10

15

20

25

< 2 years 2 - 5 years > 5years

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

THE TIMES OF INDIA


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4.What do you prefer most in the newspaper?

SAMPLE SIZE N=100

S

N o

Name of the Article The Times

Of India

Indian

Express

total

In No. % In

No.

% In

No.

%

1. News 18 18 22 22 40 40

2. Entertainment 20 20 15 15 35 35

3. Sports 15 15 10 10 25 25

Total 100


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From the table we can interpret that the more no. of subscribers are

reading The Times Of India for entertainment and sports purposes and reading

The Indian Express for news purpose respectively

22

18

15

20

10

15

0

5

10

15

20

25

THE INDIAN EXPRESS THE TIMES OF INDIA

NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS


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5.How do you rate the following news papers based on

SAMPLE SIZE N=100

Name

of the

paper

Quality P acking Availability P rice

good Avg bad Good avg bad Good avg bad costly Value

cost

Eco

The

TOI

45 10 06 44 14 05 42 16 04 10 25 23

The IE 12 16 11 16 14 07 19 13 06 14 17 11


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Based on Quality, Packing, Availability

Based on quality:

From the table and we can interpret that the no. of subscribers expressing

good about quality are more in The Times Of India and The New Indian Express

respectively

Based on Packing:

From the table we can interpret that the no. of expressing good about

packing are more in The Times Of India contributing more than 62% of the total

and The New Indian Express with 38% respectively.

12

16

11

1614

7

19

13

6

45

10

6

44

14

5

42

16

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Good Avg. Bad Good Avg. Bad Good Avg. Bad

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

THE TIMES OF INDIA


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Based on Availability:

From the table we can interpret that the no.of expressing good about

availability are more in The Times Of India contributing 62% of the total and The

New Indian Express 38% respectively.

Based on Price:

Based on Price:

From the table we can interpret that the no. of Respondents expressing

value for the cost about price are more in The Times Of India then The New

Indian Express.

14

17

1110

25

23

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Price costly Price value for the cost Price Economical

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

THE TIMES OF INDIA


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6. Based on modes of Purchase

SAMPLE SIZE N=100

S N o Modes of Purchase The IndianExpress

The TimesOf India

1. Door Delivery 32 54

2. Daily P urchase 05 09

Based on modes of Purchase

Modes of Purchase:

From the table and we can interpret that the main modes of purchase of allthe papers are door delivery contributing a major percentage as compare to the

daily purchase from road side or from station.


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7. Compare the newspapers, news channels and magazines, which media

do you prefer?

10

3746

7

INTERE ST

MAGAZINES

NEWSPAPER

NEWS CHANNELS

OTHERS


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CHAPTER - 7 S U MMAR Y AN D S U GGESTIO N S

APPE N DIX

BIBILOGRAPH Y


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The Times Of India is market leader and The Indian Express is the only

challenger in Gujarat. Most of the readers dont read the newspaper thoroughly,and are the ones who just go through the newspaper. The price and the articles

of The Indian Express are satisfactory to respondents but layout and the

newspaper quality of I.E. are not satisfactory. There are no Educational or

Entertainment supplements with the main newspaper. Most of the readers are

very much satisfied from their newspaper vendors.


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SUGGESTIONS:

1. Frequent surveys can be conducted to know the levels of awareness in

people in opinion and about the company position in the market.

2. Hot news can be given immediately which can make the company stand

out.

3. The content and quality of the paper has to be enhanced.

4. Readers prefer variety, so care must be taken to drive out

Monotony.

5.New technology has to be adopted in order to have competitive edge.

6. Distribution channels have to be monitored thoroughly.

7. Safety provisions are maintained well and flexibility to make changes with

the timely requirements is being suggested.


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APPENDIX

1. Name: ______________________________

2. Age: 18 25 26 3536 -- 45 46 5555 and above

3. Gender: Male Female

4. Educational Qualification:

P UCGraduateP ost GraduateP rofessional Degree

5. Occupation:

Business EmployeeP rofessional Student

6. You prefer buying newspaper at

Newspaper MartSubscribe at HomeOthers

If others, specify


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7. Which English Newspaper do you read?

The Indian Express (IE)Times of India

If Others, specify

8. What do you prefer reading most in your preferred newspaper?

Current affairsP olitical newsBusiness & FinanceEntertainmentSportsHealth articles

Educational articlesEditorialsOthers

If others, please specify

9. Rate your satisfaction with the following features of your preferrednewspaper.

Good Avg Bad

Quality

P acking

Availabilty

P rice Costly Value cost Economical

Comments


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10. Rate your satisfaction with the following features of your preferrednewspaper.

Very Good Good Fair P oor Very P oor Cant Say

Current affairsP olitical newsBusiness & FinanceEntertainmentSportsHealth articlesEditorialsEducational articles

Advertisements

Comments

11. If you read Indian Express, how often do you read it?

DailyFew times a weekWeekend OnlySeldomOther Comments

12. How do you find supplements provided by Indian Express?

Very Good

Good

Fair

P oor

Very P oor


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13. Are you aware of the The New Indian Express e-newspaper on

internet?

YesNo

If Yes, comment

15. If you had cause to complain, how was the situation resolved?

Extremely unsatisfactory

Unsatisfactory

Average

Very satisfactory

First class

16. Which media do you prefer?

Newspaper

News Channels

Magazines

Others


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BIBLIOGRA PHY:

WEBSITES:http://www.expressindia.com

http ://www.financialexpress.com

http ://www.expressbusinesspublications.comhttp ://www.expressbuzz.com

http ://www.business.com/directory

BOOKS:

(1) Research Methodology 9 th edition (2010)

- Donald R. Cooper

- Pamela S. Schindler

(2) Production and Operations Management 8 th edition (200 9)

- Lee. Krajewski

- Larry Ritzman

- Manoj Malhotra

(3) Marketing Management 13 th edition

- Philip Kotler

anil mohanta project

Documents