A “Dissertation Report”

ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE IN SELECTED BRANDS

(WHIRLPOOL, VIDEOCON, LG) OF 200 Lts REFRIGERATORS ON THE BASIS OF PRICE, BRAND NAME, QUALITY & AFTER

SALES SERVICES IN THE REGION OF YAMUNA NAGAR

Submitted to

Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra in partial fulfilment

for the degree of Master of Business Administration (Session

2005-2007)

Under the supervision of:- Submitted By:- Ms. Bharti Dua Diwas MenroyFaculty MBA 1143/05 TIMT 02-MY-630

University roll no.

MBA-final.

Tilak Raj Chadha Institute of Management & Technology, Yamuna Nagar (TIMT). Approved by AICTE and Affiliated to

Kurukshetra University,

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Preservation, inspiration and motivation have always played a key role

in any venture. In the present world of cutthroat competition project is

likely a bridge between theoretical and practical working, willingly I

have prepared this project.

I feel highly delighted with the way my dissertation report on the topic

“Consumer Preferences in selected brands (Whirlpool, Videocon,

LG) of 200 lts refrigerators on the basis of Price, Brand name,

Quality & After Sales Services in the region of Yamuna nagar.”

has been completed.

I express my utmost gratitude and indebt ness to God and to all who

have contributed in some way or the other and been linked with the

project from day one.

I express my sincere gratitude to Dr.R.K.Garg(Director) without

whose guidance, keen interest and regular encouragement my project

would not have been compiled.

From the core of my heart, I express my sincere thanks to

Dr.Vikas Daryal (Assistant Professor,H.O.D) and Mrs. Bharti Dua

Tilak Raj Chadha Institute Of Mgt. & Tech., Yamuna Nagar for

encouragement and guidance.

I am extremely grateful to my parents, the respondents and all my

friends for their unconditional support and ready assistance.

(Diwas Menroy)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In today scenario, every company wants to compete with others to

remain in the market. So it is very necessary for the company to know

what are the needs and wants of the customer, what is the preference

of customer. It is very important for a company to know which product

is preferred by the customer on which basis.

My study is all about this i.e. to study the preference of customer in

selected brands of refrigerator on the basis of price, brand name,

quality and after sales services and find out the steps that a company

can adopt to fight the competition.

In the earlier part of the project I have discussed about the Consumer

& the preference of consumer. I have also discussed about the

introduction of the refrigerator.

This research is carried out using primary data. The method that i have

used is questionnaire technique to get the data from the customer.

The sample size is of hundred customer of Yamuna Nagar those are

using refrigerator.

From this study, I have found that LG was having major market share

in terms of Refrigerator as comparison to others. There were 46% of

the people those were having LG Refrigerators.

INDEX

Serial No. Contents Page No.

1. Certificate

2. Acknowledgement

3. Executive Summary

4. Index

5. Introduction

6. Objective of the study

7. Literature Review

8. Research Methodology

a. Sampling & Sample Design

b. Analytical Tools

c. Data Collection

d. Hypothesis Testing

e. Limitations of the study

9. Result & Discussions/Findings

10. Recommendation

11. Bibliography

12. Annexure

INTRODUCTION…

INTRODUCTION

The topic of research here is “Consumer preference in selected

brands (Whirlpool, Videocon, LG) of 200 lts Refrigerators on the

basis of Price, Brand name, Quality & After sales Services in the

region of Yamuna Nagar”.So the project is to study the Preference of

the consumers.

Here the term ‘consumer’ means the end user of the product who not

only consumes the product but also gives the feedback to the

company.

The traditional view point has been to define consumer strictly in terms

of economic goods and services. This position holds the consumers

are potential purchasers of product and services offered for sale

Consumer Behavior

It may be defined as” the decision process and the physical activities

individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of

goods and services.

The Consumer Behavior research goes far beyond the facts

of consumer preferences and encompasses all of the behaviors that

consumers display in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating and

disposing of products and services that they expect would satisfy their

need.

One "official" definition of consumer behaviour is "The study of

individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to

select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or

ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on

the consumer and society." Although it is not necessary to memorize

this definition, it brings up some useful points:

Behaviour occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a

group (e.g., friends influence what kinds of clothes a person

wears) or an organization (people on the job make decisions as

to which products the firm should use).

Consumer behaviour involves the use and disposal of products

as well as the study of how they are purchased. Product use is

often of great interest to the marketer, because this may

influence how a product is best positioned or how we can

encourage increased consumption. Since many environmental

problems result from product disposal (e.g., motor oil being sent

into sewage systems to save the recycling fee, or garbage piling

up at landfills) this is also an area of interest.

Consumer behaviour involves services and ideas as well as

tangible products.

The impact of consumer behaviour on society is also of

relevance. For example, aggressive marketing of high fat foods,

or aggressive marketing of easy credit, may have serious

repercussions for the national health and economy.

Consumer Preference

It is a concept, used in the social sciences, particularly economics. It

assumes a real or imagined "choice" between alternatives and the

possibility of rank ordering of these alternatives, based on happiness,

satisfaction, gratification, enjoyment, utility they provide. More

generally, it can be seen as a source of motivation. In cognitive

sciences, individual preferences enable choice of objectives/goals.

Introduction to Refrigerator

A refrigerator (often called a "fridge" for short) is a cooling appliance

for the storage and preservation of perishable food; food kept in a

refrigerator lasts longer than that left at room temperature as the cold

inhibits bacterial growth. A refrigerator maintains a cold temperature

above the freezing point of water. The refrigerator is a relatively

modern invention amongst kitchen appliances. It replaced the common

icebox which had been a household item for almost a century and a

half prior, and is sometimes still called by the original name "icebox".

The word freezer is generally used to describe an appliance that

keeps foods frozen. Freezers are common as household units for

storing food but are also used in commercial settings. Most freezers

operate around -18 °C (0 °F). Domestic freezers can be included as a

compartment in a refrigerator or can be standalone units. Domestic

freezers are generally upright units, resembling refrigerators, or chests,

resembling upright units laid on their backs. Many modern freezers

come with an icemaker.

Commercial fridge and freezer units, which go by many other names,

were in use for almost 40 years prior to the common home models.

The fact that they operated with toxic ammonia gas systems made

them unsafe for home use. Practical household refrigerators were

introduced in the 1920s and gained wider acceptance in the 1930s as

prices fell and non-toxic, nonflammable synthetic refrigerants, such as

Freon or R-12, were introduced.

The Videocon group emerges as a USD 2.5 Billion global

conglomerate continuing to set trends in every sphere of its activities

from a conference room sized assembly line in 1979.

Today the group operates through 4 key sectors:

Consumer Durables Thomson CPT CRT Glass Oil & Gas

Consumer Electronics, Home Appliances & Compressor

manufacturing in India

Videocon enjoy a pre-eminent position in terms of sales and customer

satisfaction in many of its consumer products like Colour Televisions,

Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Microwave ovens

and many other home appliances, selling them through a Multi-Brand

strategy with the largest sales and service network in India.

Refrigerator manufacturing is further supported by its in-house

compressor manufacturing technology in Bangalore.

Display industry and its components

With the Thomson acquisition Videocon has emerged as one of the

largest Colour Picture tube manufacturers in the world operating in

Mexico, Italy, Poland and China, continuing to lead through new

innovative technologies like slim CPT, extra slim CPT and High

Definition 16:9 format CPT.

Colour Picture Tube Glass

Videocon is one of the largest CPT Glass manufacturers in the world

with a high level of experience and technical expertise operating

through Poland and India. Videocon will leverage on this synergy after

the Thomson acquisition to internally source glass for its CPT

manufacturing increasing efficiencies and lowering costs.

Oil and Gas

An important asset for the group is its Ravva oil field with one of the

lowest operating costs in the world producing 50,000 barrels of oil per

day. The group has ambitious plans for expansion in this sector

globally.

Whirlpool, right from its inception in 1911 as first commercial

manufacturer of motorized washers to the current market position of

being world's number one manufacturer and marketer of major home

appliances, has always set industry milestones and benchmarks. The

parent company is headquartered at Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA

with a global presence in over 170 countries and manufacturing

operation in 13 countries with 11 major brand names such as

Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht, Laden and Ignis. The

company boasts of resources and capabilities beyond achievable feat

of any other in the industry.

Whirlpool initiated its international expansion in 1958 by entering

Brazil. However, it emerged as truly global leader in the1980's. This

encouraging trend brought the company to India in the late 1980s. It

forayed into the market under a joint venture with TVS group and

established the first Whirlpool manufacturing facility in Pondicherry.

Soon Whirlpool acquired Kelvinator India Limited in 1995 and marked

an entry into Indian refrigerator market as well. The same year also

saw acquisition of major share in TVS joint venture and later in 1996,

Kelvinator and TVS acquisitions were merged to create Indian home

appliance leader of the future, Whirlpool India. This expanded the

company's portfolio in the Indian subcontinent to washing machines,

refrigerator, microwave ovens and air conditioners.

Today, Whirlpool is the most recognized brand in home appliances in

India and holds a market share of over 25%. The company owns three

state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at Faridabad, Pondicherry and

Pune. Each of these manufacturing set-ups features an infrastructure

that is witness of Whirlpool's commitment to consumer interests and

advanced technology.

In the year ending in March '06, the annual turnover of the company for

its Indian enterprise was Rs.1,375 Crores. According to IMRB surveys

Whirlpool enjoys the status of the single largest refrigerator and

second largest washing machine brand in India.

LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of LG

Electronics, South Korea was established in January, 1997 after

clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

The trend of beating industry norms started with the fastest ever-

nationwide launch by LG in a period of 4 and 1/2 months with the

commencement of operations in May 1997. LG set up a state-of-the art

manufacturing facility at Greater Noida, near Delhi, in 1998, with an

investment of Rs 500 Crores. This facility manufactured Colour

Televisions, Washing Machines, Air-Conditioners and Microwave

Ovens. During the year 2001, LG also commenced the home

production for its eco-friendly Refrigerators and established its

assembly line for its PC Monitors at its Greater Noida

manufacturing unit. The beginning of 2003 saw the roll out of the

first locally manufactured Direct Cool Refrigerator from the plant at

Greater noida.

In 2004, LGEIL also up its second Greenfield manufacturing unit in

Pune, Maharashtra that commences operations in October this year.

Covering over 50 acres, the facility manufactures Color Televisions,

Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Washing Machines Microwave Ovens

Color Monitors and GSM phones.

The Greater Noida manufacturing unit line has been designed with the

latest technologies at par with international standards at Korea and is

one of the most Eco-friendly units amongst all LG manufacturing plants

in the world

MARKET SHARE

OBJECTIVE

OF THE

STUDY…

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Objective of the research enables the research to collect necessary

relevant information.

Objectives are

To know about the marketing skills use while convincing the

customers.

To examine Preference of consumer in Selected Brands

(Whirlpool, Videocon , LG ) of 200 Lts. Refrigerators on the

Basis of Price, Brand Name and Quality.

To find out the market share of these three brands in the market

To find the extent of brand loyalty that exists among Refrigerator

user.

To study the brand awareness of Refrigerator among the

residents of Yamuna Nagar.

To study the influence of various factors on the purchase of

Refrigerators-

Price.

Quality.

Brand Awareness

To study the affect of after sales services on

purchasing of refrigerators

LITERATURE

REVIEW…

LITERATURE REVIEW

Once the problem is formulated, the researcher undertakes an

extensive literature survey connected with the problem.

The literature survey undertaken here includes the books and

different web sites from the Internet.

The research project was to to examine Preference of consumer in

Selected Brands (Whirlpool, Videocon, LG) of 200 Lts. Refrigerators on

the Basis of Price, Brand Name ,Quality & after sales services.

I have gone through www.videoconworld.com/consumer-

durables/home-appliances/refrigerators,

www.whirlpoolindia.com/product_details.aspx?

dis=a&main_category_id=1&product_category_id=1 and

www.lgezbuy.com/category.aspx?CatID=50&MaiCatID=0.

I got the information about various models of refrigerator from these

sites.

I have studied Research methodology, methods and

techniques by Kothari C.R, new age international ltd.

Publishers ,Second edition, Ch 3 page no 39-67,methods of data

collection Ch 6 Page no 117-150,Analysis of data Page no 151-186. I

have also studied Statistical method by Gupta S.P, sultan chand

and sons, educational publishers, New Delhi, page no 377 to study

the correlation.

RESEARCH METHODOLGY

…

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research:

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge.

Research can also be defined as a scientific and systematic search for

pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of

scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of current

English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation

or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of

knowledge". “Marketing Research is the systematic design,

collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a

specific marketing situation or problem”.

Research methodology :

Research methodology may be understood as the science of study

how research is done significantly and scientifically.

The objective of this section is to describe the research procedure and

methods that have been adopted for the achievement of the project

objectives. The Research methodology adopted for the study, which

is intended to examine the Consumer Preference in Selected

Brands ( Whirlpool, Videocon , LG ) of 200 Lts Refrigerators on the

Basis of Price, Brand Name, Quality & after sales services in the

Region of Yamuna Nagar .

.DATA COLLECTION

Data collection includes the type of data & the source of data that we

used while doing a project.

The data is collected from both primary and secondary sources.

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data is the data which is new .we use the primary source to

collect the primary data. Primary source include personal meeting/

interviewing method . As a primary Source of data I have filled the

questionnaires from different customer who were using different

brands of refrigerators of 200 lts ( Whirlpool, Videocon , LG ).

QUESTIONNAIRE

An questionnaire is prepared to examine the Preference in Selected

Brands ( Whirlpool, Videocon , LG) of 200 Lts Refrigerators. The

language of questionnaire should be so simple & easy so that every

one can answer easily. These questions has helped me to study the

Preference of consumer

SECONDARY DATA

The data which is already in existence is known as secondary data.

Secondary sources include websites, brochures of the respective

companies, various papers, and magazines published from time to

time. Historical documents and other sources of published information.

SAMPLING DESIGN

It includes size of sample & the technique that we used for selecting

the different items from the sample. A sampling design is a definite

plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It refers to the

technique that the researcher adopts in selecting items for the sample.

It should be ensured in the sampling process itself that the sample

selected is representative of the population.

Sample size

By sample size we mean that the number of people to be selected

from the population to make a sample. A sample size should be

sufficient enough that can serve our purpose.

It should have Efficiency, Flexibility, and Reliability.

My sample size is of 100 people of Yamuna Nagar those are using the

refrigerator.

Sample unit

Sample unit is individual customer of Yamuna Nagar whose

Preference has to be examined.

Sample technique

This is the type of technique that one uses to select the items

for the sample. The sampling method that I have used is

JUDGEMENT SAMPLING. Which is a type of Non Probabilistic

sampling.

ANALYTICAL TOOL

The tool that I have applied on my research report is

Multidimensional scaling & Correlation analysis.

Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis refers to the techniques used in measuring the

relationship between the variables.

According to Simpson and Kafka “correlation analysis deals with the

association between two or more variables”.

It helps in determining the degree of relationship between two or more

variables but it does not tell us anything about cause and effect

relationship.

Types:

Correlation is classified in several different ways. Three of the most

important ways are

Positive or negative

Simple partial or multiple

Linear or non-linear

There are two types of variables

Static-Consumer preference

Dynamic- Brand Name ,Price, Quality, After sales Services.

I have shown the correlation between these two types of variables.

Group Correlation

dy dx

LG Whirlpool Videocon f fdy fdy2 fdydx-1 0 1

Brand image

-2 15 8 2 25 -50 100 26

Quality -1 11 9 4 24 -24 24 7Price 0 18 15 7 40 0 0 0After sales service

1 2 6 3 11 11 11 1

f 46 38 16 100 -63 135 34fdx -46 0 16 -30fdx2 46 0 16 62fdxdy 39 0 -5 34

Correlation

r = f × ∑fdydx - (∑fdx) ( ∑fdy)

f× ∑fdx2 - (∑fdx)2 f× ∑fdy2 - (∑fdy)2

100 × 34 - (-30) (-63)

100 × 62 – (-30)2 100× 135 - (-63)2

3400-1890=

6200-900 13500-3939

= 1510

5300 9561

1510=

72.8 × 97.78

1510=

7118.4

r = 0.2121

HYPOTHESIS TESTING

The chi-square test is one of the most simplest and widely used non-

parametric test in statistical work. The symbol is Greek letter chi. It was

first used by Karl Pearsons in the year 1990. the quantity chi-square

describes the magnitude of the discrepancy between theory and

observation

Chi-square= Σ(O-E) 2

E

Where O=observed frequency

And E=expected frequency

Degree of freedom:

While comparing the calculated value of chi square with the table

value, we have to determine the degree of freedom. By degree of

freedom we mean the number of classes to which the values can be

assigned arbitrary or will without violating the restriction or limitations

placed.

H0 = let us take the hypothesis that brand image, Price, quality, after sale service and looks do not influence the customer in their buying decision.

H1= let us take the hypothesis that brand image, Price, quality, after sale service and looks influence the customer in their buying decisionObserved frequency table:

Factors Brand Image

Quality Price After sales services

Looks Total

Influence on buying decision

25 24 40 11 0 100

Perception of customers while buying refrigerator

17 27 35 6 15 100

Total 42 51 75 17 15 200

42×100E11= =21 200 51×100E12= = 25.5 200

75×100E13= =37.5 200

17×100E14= =8.5 200

15×100E15= =7.5 200

42×100E21= =21

200 51×100E22= = 25.5 200

75×100E23= =37.5 200

17×100E24= =8.5 200

15×100E25= =7.5 200

Expected Frequency table:

Factors Brand Image

Quality Price After sales services

Looks Total

Influence on buying decision

21 25.5 37.5 8.5 7.5 100

Perception of customers while buying refrigerator

21 25.5 37.5 8.5 7.5 100

Total 42 51 75 17 15 200

Observed frequency(O)

Expected Frequency(E)

O-E (O-E)2 (O-E)2/E

25 21 4 16 .76117 21 -4 16 .76124 25.5 -1.5 2.25 .08827 25.5 1.5 2.25 .08840 37.5 2.5 6.25 .16635 37.5 -2.5 6.25 .16611 8.5 2.5 6.25 .736 8.5 -2.5 6.25 .730 7.5 -7.5 56.25 7.515 7.5 7.5 56.25 7.5Total 18.502

χ2 = {(O-E) 2} = 18.502 E

Degrees of freedom = V = (r-1) (C-1) = (2-1) (5-1) = (1) (4) = 4

At degrees of freedom V = 4, χ2.05 = 9.49

Since the tabulated value of χ2.05 = 9.49 is less than the calculated value of χ2 so, we reject the null hypotheses (H0).

Hence it is proved that brand image, Price, quality, after sale service

and looks influence the customer in their buying decision

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Although sincere efforts have been made to collect the maximum

information from the respondents, but even then the report is subject to

following limitations.

Company officials didn’t take interest in providing information

about the products.

Companies were not ready to give address of their respective

customers to conduct a survey.

Some of the respondents thought me as the representative of the

company & hence instead of answering to my queries they put

their questions to me.

Some people were not at all cooperative.

Lack of time and other resources as it was not possible to

conduct survey at large level

RESULTS

AND

FINDINGS…

RESULTS AND

DISCUSSIONS/FINDINGS

Which Brand of Refrigerator do you have?

No. of Respondents LG Whirlpool Videocon

100 46 38 16

46%

38%

16%

LG

Whirlpool

Videocon

INTERPRETATION: from my survey, I have found that LG was having major market share in terms of Refrigerator as comparison to others. There were 46% of the people those were having LG Refrigerators.

How did you come to know about your brand /model of

Refrigerator?

No. of Respondents News papers

Magazines

Through friends

others

100 38 16 27 19

38

16

27

19

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

News papers Magazines Through friends others

No

of

Pers

on

s

Series1

INTERPRETATION: from my survey, I have found that News papers played a major role in making aware to the customers about the refrigerator. The next major role is played by the Friends. However, only 16% of customers said that they came to know about the product through magazines.

Which factor influence you more In your Buying Decision?

No. of Respondents Brand image

Price Quality After Sales

Services

100 25 40 24 11

25

40

24

11

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Brand image Price Quality After SalesServices

No

. o

f P

ers

on

s

Series1

Series2

INTERPRETATION: the factors that were responsible for choosing a particular product was found to be price, Brand name & quality.There were 40% of the people those said that price has influenced them more while buying.

Who influenced you more in your buying decision?

No. of Respondents Self Friends/relatives

Family members

others

100 15 26 38 21

15%

26%

38%

21% Self

Friends/relatives

Family members

others

INTERPRETATION: from my survey, it is very much clear that there is a major role of family in the buying decision of the people. The next major role is played by the Friends.

Awareness about Refrigerator Brand available in the market

No. of Respondents Fully aware Less aware Unaware

100 31 28 41

31%

28%

41% Fully aware

Less aware

Unaware

INTERPRETATION: from my survey, it is very much clear that there were majority of the people those were not aware of the different refrigerator brands available in the market. There were 40% of the people those were not aware.

What did you perceive first while buying a Refrigerator-

No. of Respondents

Brand Image

Price Quality

After sales service

Style/looks

100 21 35 28 7 9

21

35

28

79

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Brand Image Price Quality After salesservice

Style/looks

no

of

per

son

s

Series1

INTERPRETATION: the factors that were responsible for choosing a particular Brand Of refrigerator was found to be price, Brand name & quality.There were 36% of the people those said that price has influenced them more while buying a refrigerator

Are you satisfied with its overall performance?

No. of Respondents

Fully Satisfied

Satisfied

Undecided

Less satisfied

poor

100 12 43 26 13 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

FullySatisf ied

Satisf ied Undeciced Lesssatisf ied

poor

No

. o

f p

erso

ns

Series1

INTERPRETATION: on asking that whether the customers were satisfied with the overall performance of the refrigerator, only about 13% reported that they were Less satisfied whereas about 43% said they are satisfied with the performance of the refrigerator.

According to you which company gives the most beneficial

schemes to the Customers?

No. of Respondents LG Whirlpool Videocon

other

100 38 31 14 17

38

31

1417

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

LG Whirlpool Videocon other

No

of

Pers

on

s

Series1

INTERPRETATION: on asking that which company provides the most beneficial schemes to the customer , only about 17% of the people were in the favor of other companies . 38% of the people were in the favor of LG.

If any of other brands of Refrigerator offers you any attractive

scheme, will you go for that brand?

No. of Respondents Yes No

100 37 63

37%

63%

Yes

No

INTERPRETATION: it is clearly seen that if a company offers more attractive schemes then only 37% will go for that brand & 63% of the people will not go for tat brand.

SUGGESTIONS…

SUGGESTIONS

On the basis of the survey conducted by me, following suggestions are

to be considered:

The companies should work on promotional efforts to increase

the awareness of the consumers.

The Company should send their representatives to contact

personally to the customers to avoid any communication

problems.

The Company should give more Attention to all the segments.

The companies should come up with some attractive schemes to

attract more & more customers.

Proper advertisement should be given in order to remind the

customers about their schemes and other benefits.

People generally consider price While purchasing a refrigerator

to company should emphasize on competitive prices.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

…

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Research methodology, methods and techniques by Kothari C.R,

new age international ltd. Publishers, Second edition.

Statistical method by Gupta S.P, sultan chand and sons,

educational publishers, New Delhi.

Marketing research by Sharma D.D, sultan chand and sons,

educational publishers, New Delhi.

Marketing management by Chabra T.N and Grover S.K,Dhanpat

rai and company(pvt.)ltd. Educational and technical publishers,

edition 2005.

Consumer Behavior by David L. Loudon, Albert J. Della

Bitta,Tata McGraw hills Publishing Company Ltd, 4th Edition.

Consumer Behavior in Indian Perspectives (First Edition: 2001)

by Suja R. Nair, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai-400004.

Chapter 1, Page 3-6.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preference(15 Feb 2007)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator(21 Feb 2007)

http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/(21 Feb 2007)

www.videoconworld.com/consumer-durables/home-appliances/re

frigerators(1 Mar 2007)

www.whirlpoolindia.com/product_details.aspx?

dis=a&main_category_id=1&product_category_id=1(4 Mar 2007)

www.lgezbuy.com/category.aspx?CatID=50&MaiCatID=0(4 Mar

2007)

ANNEXURE…

QUESTIONNAIRE

“Consumer Preferences in selected brands (Whirlpool, Videocon, LG) of 200 lts refrigerators on the basis of Price, Brand name ,Quality & After sales Services”

Name: - Gender:-

Place: - Age:-

Occupation: - Income:-

1. Do you have Refrigerator?

Yes No

2. Which Brand of Refrigerator do you have?

LG Videocon Whirlpool

3. What is the price of your Refrigerator?

………………………..

4. How long do you own this Refrigerator?

Less than six month

Six month

One year

Two year

More than 2 years

5. How did you come to know about your brand /model of Refrigerator?

Newspaper Magazines Through Friends Others

6. Which factor influence you more in your buying decision–

Brand image

Price

Quality

After Sales Services

7. Who influenced you more in your buying decision?

Self

Friends/Relatives

Family member

Others

8. Awareness about Refrigerator Brand available in the market-

Fully aware

Less aware

Unaware

9. What did you perceive first while buying a Refrigerator-

Brand Image

Price

Quality

After Sales Services

Style/Looks

10.Are you satisfied with its overall performance?

Fully satisfied

Satisfied

Undecided

Less satisfied

Poor

11.According to you which company gives the most beneficial schemes to the

Customers?

LG

Whirlpool

Videocon

Other

12.What are your views about brand image of following brands of Refrigerator?

Very good Good Average Bad Worst

Whirlpool

Videocon

LG

13.What are your views about Price of following brands of Refrigerator?

Very High High Average Low Very Low

Whirlpool

Videocon

LG

14.What are your views about Quality of following brands of Refrigerator?

Very good Good Average Bad Worst

Whirlpool

Videocon

LG

15.If any of other brands of Refrigerator offers you any attractive scheme, will you

go for that brand?

Yes No

16.Suggestion/problems, if any…………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………..

Brand Image Quality Price

after sales services looks

Influence 25 24 40 11 0Perception 17 27 35 6 15

Tests on Contingency Tables (Chi-square...)

XLSTAT 7.1 - Tests on Contingency Tables (Chi-square...) - 3/14/2007 at 11:43:58 AMData: workbook = Book1 / sheet = Sheet1 / range = $B$2:$F$3 / 2 rows and 5 columns

Independence tests between the rows and columns in the contingency table:

Chi-square test:

Chi-square (observed value) 18.504Chi-square (critical value) 9.488DF 4One-tailed p-value 0.001Alpha 0.05

Decision:At the level of significance Alpha=0.050 the decision is to reject the null hypothesis of independence between the rows and the columns.

In other words, the dependence between the rows and the columns is significant.

Chi-square likelihood ratio test (Wilks' G²):

Wilks' G² (observed value) 24.330Wilks' G² (critical value) 9.488DF 4One-tailed p-value < 0.0001Alpha 0.05

Decision:At the level of significance Alpha=0.050 the decision is to reject the null hypothesis of independence between the rows and the columns.In other words, the dependence between the rows and the columns is significant.

Table of the statistics testing the independence rows/columns:

  Value DF p-valueChi-square 18.504 4 0.001Wilks' G² 24.330 4 < 0.0001

Table of the coefficients:

Coefficient ValuePearson's Phi 0.304Cramer's V 0.304Tschuprow's T 0.215Contingency coefficient 0.291Theil's U (R|C)Theil's U (C|R)Averaged Theil's UGoodman and Kruskal tau (R|C) 0.093Goodman and Kruskal tau (C|R) 0.012Averaged Goodman and Kruskal tau 0.052

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS)

XLSTAT 7.1 - Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) - 3/14/2007 at 1:47:37 PMSimilarity matrix (converted to a dissimilarity matrix): workbook = Book1 / sheet = Sheet1 / range = $C$3:$F$6 / 4 rows and 4 columns

Uniform weighting (default)No missing valuesMetric Multidimensional ScalingMultidimensional Scaling model: absoluteStress used for the results: Kruskal's stress-1Dimension of the representation space: 2Repetitions: 10Seed of the pseudo-random numbers generator: 1094498164Iterations: 50Convergence: 0.0001

Space with 2 Dimensions:

Model: Dij= Pij

Observation coordinates:

Observation Dim1 Dim28 -2.065 -1.9342 -2.784 -2.1992 4.578 -1.8672 0.271 6.000

Factors/Group Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5Brand name 10 8 2 2 2Quality 9 8 4 2 1Price 13 10 5 2 4After sales services 2 4 2 1 2others 1 2 1 1 2

Distances measured in the representation space:

  8 2 2 28 0 0.766 6.644 8.2712 0.766 0 7.370 8.7502 6.644 7.370 0 8.9692 8.271 8.750 8.969 0

Ideal distances calculated using the model (disparities):

  8 2 2 28 0 0.000 6.000 8.0002 0.000 0 8.000 9.0002 6.000 8.000 0 9.0002 8.000 9.000 9.000 0In the case of the absolute model, the disparities are equal than the dissimilarities

Residual distances:

  8 2 2 28 0 0.766 0.644 0.2712 0.766 0 -0.630 -0.2502 0.644 -0.630 0 -0.0312 0.271 -0.250 -0.031 0Comparative table:

Pair Dissimilarity Disparity DistanceDissimilarity

rankDisparity

rankDistance

rank39296 0.000 0.000 0.766 1 1 139296 6.000 6.000 6.644 2 2 239115 8.000 8.000 7.370 3 3 339296 8.000 8.000 8.271 3 3 439115 9.000 9.000 8.969 4 4 639115 9.000 9.000 8.750 4 4 5In the case of the absolute model, the disparities are equal than the dissimilarities

Summary of repetitions:

Repetition IterationsInitial stress

Fin. stress

1 18 0.368 0.0692 15 0.386 0.0693 27 2.426 0.0694 13 0.448 0.0695 16 0.528 0.0696 22 0.470 0.0697 16 0.522 0.0698 14 0.480 0.0699 15 1.124 0.06910 9 0.961 0.069In bold, repetition corresponding to the best solution that XLSTAT found