66

CHAPTER – II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

67

CHAPTER - II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Over a period of time, especially after 1958, a number of studies on the

performance of passenger car industry have been made by economists, academicians,

researchers and others in India. A survey of these studies will throw light on the

distinguishing features and the importance of those studies and will pave the way for

further investigation. The purpose of this section is to critically examine the relevant

literature on the performance of passenger car industry and bring out the distinguishing

aspects of this study.

Chandler (1958)1 forecasted car ownership in the UK by using past trends and

car production capacity. The author concluded that car ownership would increase in the

1960s.

Tanner (1958)2 observed that the higher the level of car ownership, the lower is

the growth of car ownership per 1000 people.

1. Chandler, K. N., “Traffic Trends,” Research Note, Hammondsport: Road Research

Laboratory, RN / 3174, 1958.

2. Statistics Bureau, Japan Statistical Yearbook, National Government Debt Outstanding (F. Y.

1980 - 2003) http: // www.stat.go.jp / data / nihon / zuhyou / n0501300.xls

68

Edgar A (1959) Pessenier approach to brand switching behaviour was based on

the price factor. He emphasized the fact that price increase in the most preferred brand,

relative to the price of the other brands, is essential to induce brand switching behaviour

in consumers.3

A study combining consumer loyalty to store and brand was undertaken by

Cunningham in the early 1961's. He attempted to relate many store and brand loyalists

and tried to measure store loyalty by the concentration of total food products purchased

on product by product basis. Totally 18 product classes were identified and studied out

of which only three product classes showed statistically significant correlation co-

efficients. It was also made known in his study that high store loyalty did not go hand in

glove with high brand loyalty. When brand loyalty was measured on a product by

product basis, significant association was found to exist in high brand loyal families

concentrating their purchases in that product class in one store.4

Studies attempting to establish the relationship between the amount of purchase

and brand consciousness, yield contradictory findings. Cunningham found very little

relationship between purchasing activity and brand loyalty for 66 households in 7

product categories including soap, cleansers, coffee, peas, margarine, orange juice and

3. Edgar A Pessenier, "A New Way to Determine Buying Decisions," Journal of Marketing,

Vol. 24, October 1959, pp. 41 - 46.

4. Ross M Cunningham, "Consumer Loyalty to Store and Brand," Harvard Business Review,

Vol. 39, November / December 1961, pp.127 - 137.

69

head-ache remedies. Similar findings were also reported by Massy, Frank and Lodahl

for coffee and beer, although they were able to find some association between

purchasing activity and tea. In contrast to the above studies, Alfred A Kuchn found

brand loyalty was higher for heavy users of frozen orange juice than for light users.5

According to research gleaned from Ernest Becker (19626, 1973

7, 1975

8), the

intellectual ability to recognize one’s vulnerability in mortality creates the potential for

tremendous terror, as it seemingly renders one helpless to preserve himself / herself

from impending mortality. As human intellectual abilities have emerged, individuals

have sought to create an anxiety buffer against this terror, and cultural worldviews have

been adapted to create an anxiety buffer from thoughts of one’s own death. This

uniquely human defence mechanism serves to protect the individuals of any given

culture from mortality-induced anxiety, and has been adapted into Terror Management

Theory (TMT), as mentioned previously. The TMT explains culture as a providing

security through the introduction of two concepts: (a) the idea that the world is a just

and equitable place, and (b) the promise that symbolic immortality can be found by

adopting a regional culture (Greenberg et al. 1994). The promise of security found in

the symbolic immortality of a terror-reducing cultural worldview, however, is only held

5. Alfred A Kuchn, "Consumer brand Choice as a Learning Process," Journal of Advertising

Research, Vol. 2, December 1962, pp.10 - 17.

6. Becker, E. (1962), The Birth and Death of Meaning, New York: Free Press.

7. Becker, E. (1973), The Denial of Death, New York: Free Press.

8. Becker, E. (1975), Escape From Evil, New York: Free Press.

70

for those who live up the culture’s standards of value, as these standards are what

provide the stability individuals seek when thoughts of death are aroused.

Many researchers emphasized the fact that store loyalty was one of the most

important factors correlating with brand loyalty. This may be due to the fact that store

loyalty of a consumer may restrict the choice of many brands of a product available to

him inside the store. However, Carman points out that the relationship between store

loyalty and brand loyalty is much more complicated and one cannot come to a

consensus that as the availability of brands for a particular product is reduced, store

loyal consumers tend to be brand loyal. A comparative study Conducted by Frank and

Boyd (1965) revealed that socio-economic variables could not be differentiated between

private and manufacturers' brand loyal consumers.9

The consumer behaviour regarding the selection of one's favourite brand and its

non-availability was examined by Scott M Cunningham (1967).10

He also analyzed

purchasing behaviour regarding the number of brands purchased, and the percentage of

money spent on most frequently purchased brands by using a brand-loyalty score.

Relationship between brand loyalty and certain personality measures were observed in

the Edwards test.

9. Frank Ronald and Boyd Harper "Private Brand Prone Grocery Customers Really Different?"

Journal of Advertising Research Vol. 5, December 1965, pp. 27 - 35.

10. Scott M Cunningham, " Perceived Risk and Brand Loyalty in Donald Coaxed Risk Taking

and Information Handling in Consumer Behaviour" (Boston Harvard University Press 1967)

pp. 507 - 523

71

Jagadish’s (1968) definition on brand loyalty is based on the factor analytic

approach which relates to the frequency of purchases of a brand to patterns of these

purchases.11

Brand consciousness research was reviewed by Frank (1967) and he observed

that brand loyalty as a pattern of market segmentation which is not very encouraging.

He emphasised that the conscious buyers were significantly different from those of non-

loyal buyers when new brands were tried.12

Gerald (1967)13

studies how a new car buyer feels about his purchase and what

factors determine his reactions when he begins living with his new car. The finding of

this investigation suggests the effect of a customer’s self confidence, his personality,

and the quality of service he receives upon his cognitive dissonance.

Edward and Gregg (1968)14

test a methodology for measurement of self-concept

and consumer behaviour in comparable terms and, therefore, to further substantiate the

relationship of self theory to consumer behaviour. The authors suggest that the owners

11

. Jagadish N Sheth, "A Factor Analytic Model of Brand Loyalty". Journal of Marketing

Research, Vol. 5, November 1968, pp. 395 - 404.

12 Frank A Ronald, "Is Brand Loyalty a Useful Basis for Market Segmentation?" Journal of

Advertising Research, Vol.7, June 1967, p. 3.

13. Gerald D. Bell, “Self - Confidence and Persuasibility Among Car Buyers”, Journal of

Marketing Research, 1967, pp. 46 - 52.

14

. Edward L. Grubb and Gregg Hupp, “Perception of Self Generalized Stereotypes and Brand

Selection”, Journal of Marketing Research, 1968, Vol. 5, pp. 58 - 63.

72

of a specific make of automobiles perceive themselves as having self-concepts similar

to those of others who own that make of automobile, and significantly.

James (1970) was able to measure brand loyalty in some specific purchase made

by consumers of certain brands during a set period of time.15

Brand consciousness is

closely associated with the consumers' shopping pattern and the amount of money and

time spent by consumers in shopping. There is also a close relationship between the

amount spent on purchases, the brand last purchased, inter-purchase time and store

loyalty.

Brand attitudes and usage level vary for different brands. The relationship

between the attitudinal change and behavioural change with regard to the same group of

people was analysed and studied by Channon and Ehrenberg (1970).16

Joseph and Richard emphasized the known fact that brand loyalty emerges from

brand satisfaction. They observed that a relatively strong relationship exists between

brand loyalty and satisfaction with a present product of that brand.17

15

. James M Carman, "Correlates of Brand Loyalty Positive Results" Journal of Marketing

Research, February 1970.

16. M Bird C Channon and A.S.C. Ehrenberg, "Brand Image and Brand Usage" Journal of

Marketing Research, Vol. 7, August 1970, pp. 307 - 314

17. Joseph W Newman and Richard A Webal, "Multivariate Analysis of Brand Loyalty for

Major Household Appliances," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 10, November 1973,

pp. 404 - 409.

73

Tulpule (1972)18

and Tanner (1975)19

, various estimation methods were

developed, such as the disaggregated model by vehicle class and the extension of past

trends applied to different countries (Transport and Road Research Laboratory, TRRL

1979)20

. Dargay21

projected passenger car ownerships at the year 2025 using a dynamic

Gompertz function on the basis of historical data for 82 countries. The author used GDP

as a variable, but noted that there could be significant effects from non-income variables

that were omitted from the model. Previous studies of motor vehicle ownership models

have generally focused on accurately adhering to the track record, statistical

signification, or model structure; however, there are problems encountered in

attempting to focus on all these factors together. Generally, forecasts according to the

average income were underestimated as compared with the track record. For example,

the hike in fuel price in 1973 could not have been predicted.

18. Tulpule, “Investigations into Vehicle Ownership in Developing Countries,” TRRL Leaflet,

Crowthorne: Transport and Road Research Laboratory, 1979, L F 758.

19. Tanner, J. C., “Forecasts of Vehicles and Traffic in Great Britain: 1974 revision.” TRRL

Report, Crowthorne: Transport and Road Research Laboratory Department of the Environment,

1975, L R 650.

20. Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL), “Investigations into Vehicle Ownership in

Developing Countries,” TRRL Leaflet, Crowthorne: Transport and Road Research Laboratory,

1979, L F 758.

21. Dargay, J., and Gately. D., “Modelling Global Vehicle Ownership”, Paper Number. 4124.

74

Joseph and Richard (1973) found that there exist a close relationship between

brand loyalty and the satisfaction derived after using the particular brand purchased.22

Contradictions in loyalty may be due to differences in loyalty caused by the

length of time the product has been in the market. Excellent experiments have been

carried out by Ehrenberg and Charilton (1973) in a continuing panel of household RBI

Mini Test Market Operations. In these studies it was found that brand switching is much

more prevalent immediately after the introduction of a product and brand loyalty or

equilibrium is reached after the passage of an amount of time.23

Competing brands occupying the market shelves contribute to disloyalty. This is

because of one's personal experience and information gained through trying these

brands. Weinberg (1973) in his study came out with the above finding.24

22

. Joseph W Newman and Richard A Werbal, "Multivariate analysis of Brand Loyalty for

Major Household Appliances, "Journal of Marketing Research Vol. X, November 1973,

pp. 404 - 409.

23. Ehrenberg A. S. C. and P. Charilton, "An Analysis of Simulated Brand Choice," Journal of

Marketing Research Vol. 8, February 1973.

24. Charles B Weinberg, "The Decay of Brand Segments," Journal of Advertising Research,

Vol. 8, February 1973, pp. 44 - 47

75

The selection of a store to purchase products is not done without proper

thinking. A housewife makes a biased decision about the choice of store. This important

concept was studied by Rao way back in 1969.

Sharp (1973)25

pointed out that a variation in the assumptions can produce

different forecast results. Further, the uncertainties in the forecasting processes were

huge, and this made the final results unreliable. It is important for these previous studies

with economic variables to be accurate in arriving at passenger car ownership results for

further development.

Rothe and Benson's (1974)26

notion of "Intelligent Consumption" and Fisk's

(1973)27

concept of "ecological imperatives" reflect the need to educate the consumer to

become aware of environmental problems and their relation to his / her consumption

patterns.

Store loyalty was found to be the most important correlate of brand loyalty.

Many researchers have demonstrated the importance of store loyalty in determining

brand loyalty. This relationship is probably true as store loyalty tends to restrict the

number of brand alternatives available to the consumer. However, Carman pointed out

25

. Sharp, C. H., “Living with the Lorry,” A Report, UK: University of Leicester, 1973. 26

. Rothe, J. T. and Benson, L, Intelligent Consumption: An Attractive Alternative to the

Marketing Concept. MSU Business Topics, 1974, Winter, pp. 29 - 34.

27

. Fisk, G, Criteria for a Theory of Responsible Consumption. Journal of Marketing, 1973,

Vol. 37 (2), pp. 24 - 31.

76

that no concrete conclusions can be arrived at as the brand loyalty or store loyalty

concept is much more complex than the simple reduction in available choices.

Shopping - proneness is another characteristic that has been related to brand

loyalty. Consumers, who are not shopping-prone, shop in relatively few stores. Within

these stores, they tend to be loyal to a small number of brands rather than make careful

choices between the values being offered by these stores.

When the store in which the shopper normally makes a purchase, undergoes

substantial change (such as ownership) it may also affect the buyer's loyalty to the

manufacturer's brand formerly purchased there. The study undertaken by Norstrom and

Swan on auto-buyers discloses the above findings.28

Tanner (1978)29

describes the development of car ownership forecasting since

1951. The first forecasting model was conceived in 1951 by Smeed in the Road

Research Laboratory30

.

28

. Richard D Norstrom and John E Swan, "Does a Change in Customer Loyalty Occur When a

New Car Agency is Sold?," Journal of Marketing Research Vol. 8, May 1976, pp. 173 - 77.

29. Tanner, J. C., “An Analysis of Increase in Motor Vehicles in Great Britain and the United

State,” Research Note, Harmon worth: Road Research Laboratory, RN / 3340, 1958,

pp. 19 - 22.

30

. Smeed, R. J., “Likely Increases of Road Traffic in Great Britain.” Research Note,

Hammondsport: Road Research Laboratory, RN / 1518, 1951, pp. 48 - 60.

77

In this first forecast, real income was a major determinant of traffic growth.

Rudd (1951)31

estimated car ownership by using income and motoring costs. These

studies also provided broad trends in car ownership rather than precise indications.

After the first oil shock, the Department of Energy forecasted car ownership according

to economic growth and the fuel price based on Tanner’s model (1977)32

. In its Energy

Policy Review, the Department of Energy (1977)33

referred to crude oil prices as a

reasonable planning assumption.

Some brands have value-expressive dimensions, especially, commodities like

clothing. This study was undertaken by Teresa (1983). She described the brand symbols

and message differentiation. She concluded that individuals had different interpretations

for different brands of the same product. The extent to which functional differences

between brands of the same product were minimal and "message differentiation" was

described as a viable product differentiation strategy.34

31

. Rudd, E., “The Relationship between the National Income and Vehicle Registrations,”

Research Note, Hammondsport: Road Research Laboratory, 1951, RN / 1631.

32. Tanner, J. C., “Car Ownership Trends and Forecasts.” TRRL Report, Crow Thorne:

Transport and Road Research Laboratory Department of the Environment and Transport, 1977,

LR 799.

33. Department of Energy, Energy Policy Review, London: Department of Energy, 1977.

34. Teresa A Swartz, "Brand Symbols and Message Differentiation," Journal of Advertising

Research Vol. 23, 5 October / November 1983, pp. 59 - 63.

78

Domon Darlin (1983)35

in his article has mentioned that satisfied new car buyers

discuss their experiences with eight people and dissatisfied buyers complain to an

average of 22 people.

According to John (1984) the brand and a new advertisement's image tended to

move toward each other. He also emphasized that advertising images, brand images and

consumer preferences were established and occurred for existing brands although the

new advertisement's affected the brand.36

The role of advertisements in shaping one's image and perception of brands is

well known. Many researchers have attempted to study the role of advertisement on

brand loyalty. A successful advertisement must be able to transfer its distinctive image

and appeal over to the brand. Simon tried to analyze the effect of advertising on brand

sales (Julian 1969)).37

Meryl Paula (1985) Gardner reported the result of an experiment, examining the

use of attitude toward the advertisement and brand related beliefs in brand attitude

35

. Domon Darlin, (1983) “Although US Cars Are Improving, Imports Still Win Quality Survey

– Wall Street Journal, p. 31.

36

. John W Keon "Copy Testing Advertisements for Imaginary Products," Journal of

Advertising Research Vol. 23, December 1983 / January 1984, pp. 41 - 48.

37. Julian L Simon, "The Effect of Advertising on Liquor Brand Sales," Journal of Marketing

Research Vol. 5, August 1969, pp. 301 - 305.

79

formation under two different processing sets, brand evaluation and non-brand

evaluation. Brand sets may be related closely to decision making and non-brand sets

may characterize common advertisement pre-test conditions. She suggested that attitude

toward the advertised brand was as much under a brand evaluation set as under a non-

brand evaluation set.38

Peeru Mohamed (1988)39

attempted to focus on the market conditions and brand

selection of the passenger car owners of Coimbatore district. The study focused

attention on the industry from the view points of both the makers and the users. Also the

study pointed out the problems associated with the industry and appropriate

recommendations have been made to overcome the situation.

This security is not permanently fixed and must be continually reaffirmed

against frequent threats. With constant reminders of mortality seen daily in the media

and life experiences, individuals must continuously bolster their worldview in order to

provide the needed protection from thoughts of mortality Rosenblatt et al. 1989.40

38

. Meryl Paula Gardner, "Does Attitude Toward the Advertisement Affect Brand Attitude

Under a Brand Evaluation Set?," Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. XXII, May 1985,

p. 196.

39. Peeru Mohamed, H., ‘The Passenger Car Industry of India: A Study of Market Conditions

and Brand selection’, An unpublished Ph.D. Thesis submitted to Bharathiar University,

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu State, 1988.

40. Rosenblatt, A., Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Psyzczynski, “Evidence for

Terror Management Theory: I. The Effects of Mortality Salience on Reactions to Those Who

Violate or Uphold Cultural Values,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57

(October), 1989, pp. 681 - 690.

80

Ironically, it is this characteristic of the cultural worldview, and its ability to be

applied in an everyday setting, that makes it possible to study the actions of individuals

who have experienced a condition of mortality salience, and then to prescribe ideas to

explain the ways in which those persons can successfully reinforce their cultural

worldview. Not surprisingly, it has been shown that the acceptance of others who

support one’s cultural worldview effectively reinstates a person’s faith in their own

cultural standpoint, and thereby creates a successful anxiety buffer Greenberg et al.

1990.41

William (1991)42

investigated the effects of the extrinsic cues of price, brand

and store information on consumer perception of product quality. He found that price

had a positive effect on perceived quality but a negative effect on perceived value and

respondents’ willingness to buy.

Samson Itamer (1992)43

has observed that purchase decisions are determined on

the basis of both absolute attributes of the alternatives and their relative positions within

41

. Greenberg, J., Tom Psyzczynski, and Sheldon Solomon, “Anxiety Concerning Social

Exclusion: Innate Response or One Consequence of the Need for Terror Management?” Journal

of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1990, Vol. 9, pp. 202 - 213.

42

. William B Doods, (1991), “ Effects of Price , Brand and Store Information on Buyers

Product Evaluation”, Journal of Marketing Research, pp. 301- 319.

43

. Samson Itamer, (1992) “Get Closer to Your Customers by Understanding How They Make

Choices”, Working Paper, Hass School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, 1992,

pp. 19 - 30.

81

the particular choice set under consideration. He has further suggested that consumers

are less likely to choose alternatives that were selected by other consumers for reasons

that do not apply to them and that consumers are less likely to choose alternatives that

are offered with unneeded features or premium even when these features do not reduce

the value of the product in any way.

Ottman, (1993)44

and Polonsky, (1994)45

have studied that a majority of people

believe that green marketing refers solely to the promotion or advertising of products

with environmental characteristics.

Aradhana Krishna (1994)46

viewed that buyers’ purchase behaviour can be

influenced not only by current price of a product but also by what price they expect in

future.

Andreasen (1994)47

believe that social marketing can have a major impact on the

society’s myriad social problems. However, this impact can be seriously compromised

44

. Ottman, J, Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation. 2nd

Edition, NTC Business Books,

New Delhi, 1993, pp. 56 - 70.

45. Polonsky, M. J., An Introduction to Green Marketing, Electronic Green Journal, New Delhi,

1994, Vol. 1 (2), pp. 34 – 42.

46. Aradhana Krishna, “The Effects of Deal Knowledge on Consumer Purchase Behaviour”,

Journal of Marketing Research, Mumbai, 1994, Vol. 31, pp. 102 - 108.

47

. Andreasen, A. R., Social Marketing: Its Definition and Domain, Journal of Public Policy and

Marketing, New Delhi, 1994, Vol. 13 (1), pp. 108 - 114.

82

if the technology is applied incorrectly or to areas in which it is not appropriate.

Consumers have more power than ever before.

Whan Park et al (1994)48

assessing the consumer knowledge have observed that

consumer knowledge is an important construct in understanding consumer behaviour

such as information search and information processing. Increase in self assessed

knowledge was associated with decrease in the utilization of sales persons’

recommendations.

Alagh (1995)49

argued that media have made great inroads into rural markets.

Distribution structure too is improving. These two factors combined with increasing

wealth of rural people are bridging the great rural – urban divide. It has also been found

that detergents and toiletries are the major components of the rural spending, accounting

for 37 and 30 per cent respectively, whereas food and beverages account for only 14.5

per cent. Readymade garments, cosmetics, shampoos, baby care products and

entertainment electronics are gaining popularity.

Walker (1995)50

underlined the importance of word-of-mouth communication.

He found that ninety per cent of unhappy customers will tell more than twenty people

48

. Whan Park C, David L Motherbaugh and Lawrence Feick, “Consumer Knowledge

Assessment”, Journal of Consumer Research, New Delhi, 1994, Vol. 21, pp. 210 – 218.

49

. Alagh, S., “Innovations: The Key to Survival”, Dalal Street Journal, Nagpur, 1995, March,

pp. 10 - 12.

83

about the negative experience. The people differ about their reasons for being

influenced by word-of-mouth or reasons for seeking opinion about a product or service.

Women and men are likely to differ in the products about which they seek advice. Also,

in general, women are likely to seek advice of individuals especially from other women.

Andrew et al (1996)51

assess number of different measures of consumer

expertise by examining their ability to predict correct choices in three stimulus based

choice tasks.

A study by Yogyata Datta (1997)52

attempted to analyze an Automobile Industry

from the various aspects such as evolution and emergence of the Industry, used car

segments and auto finance. The study analyzed the viability of car manufacturers

entering the Indian market and their investment in India.

Susan M. Broniarczyk et al (1998)53

have made a study on “Consumer’s

perceptions of the display of cars in the showroom”. The author examined how

50

. Walker Chip, “Word of Mouth”, American Demographics, New York, 1995, July,

pp. 40 - 42.

51. Andrew D. Gershoff and Gita Venkataramani Johar, “Do You Know Me? Consumer

Calibration of Friends' Knowledge”, Journal of Consumer Research, New Delhi, 2006, Vol. 32,

pp. 496 – 503.

52. Yogyata Datta, ‘A Study on Automobile Industry Analysis’, IIM, Bangalore, 1997.

53. Susan M. Broniarczyk, wayne D. Hoyer, Leigh Mealister, “Consumer’s Perceptions of the

Display of Cars in the Showroom”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 10, March 1998,

pp. 19 - 29.

84

consumer’s form display perceptions in the face of show room with a particular

emphasis on two heuristic cues the availability of a favorite design and color and the

amount of space devoted to the category. The results indicated that the dealers might be

able to make decisions without negatively affecting display perceptions.

Suresh Kannan (1999)54

in his research study titled “A Study of Preference for

Four Wheelers of the Women’s Arts College Teachers in Madurai City” examined the

various brands of four wheelers preferred by them. The study showed that the attribute

of price, brand, textures, color, after sales service etc. are the important factors

influencing the brand preference.

Brower and Leon (1999)55

have urged the customers to take steps such as

driving fuel – efficient, low polluting cars, eating less meat and making their homes

energy efficient.

Ingram and Liu (1999)56

researched the price elasticity of motor vehicle

ownerships. The authors concluded that price elasticities are smaller than income

54

. Suresh Kannan, ‘A Study of Preference for Four Wheelers of the Women’s Arts College

Teachers in Madurai City, 1999, Unpublished Ph.D., Thesis Submitted to Madurai Kamaraj

University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu State.

55. Brower, M. and Leon, W., The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices:

Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.

56. Ingram, G. K., and Z. Liu., “Determinants of Motorization and Road Provision,” In Gómez-

Ibáñez, J., Tye, W.B., and C. Winston (Eds.), Essays in Transportation Economics and Policy,

Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1999, pp. 359 - 397.

85

elasticities because the variety of prices depending on car type makes an average price

index difficult.

Chopra (2000)57

pointed out that the influence of retailers is comparatively

higher in rural areas than in urban areas because urban consumers are more educated

and knowledgeable due to greater media exposure. Though media penetration has

increased significantly in rural areas, its impact on social and personal life of the people

is not so pervasive.

The consumer involvement and its consequences and antecedents have been

clearly stated by Sanjay and Kavitha (2000)58

. It is shown in Figure 2.1.

TABLE 2.1

CONSEQUENCES AND ANTECEDENTS

57

. Chopra, R., “Impact of Television on Social Awareness of Adults”, Indian Journal of Adult

Education, New Delhi, 2000, Vol. 51 (1), pp. 45 - 48.

58. Sanjay K. Jain and Kavita Sharma, “Product Related Antecedents of Consumer Involvement:

An Empirical Investigation”, Vikalpa, New Delhi, 2000, Vol. 25 (1), pp. 29 - 42.

Personal Factors

Product Related

Factors

Situational

Factors

Consumer

Involvement

Consumer

Behaviour

86

Meenabigai and Ravichandran (2001)59

concluded that the educational status,

farming experience, farm size, social participation, extension agency contact,

innovativeness, scientific orientation, decision making pattern, household

responsibilities, attitude towards farm and possession of media had positive and

significant association with media utilization.

Peter and Jerry (2001)60

viewed that brand knowledge among the consumers

relates to the cognitive representation of the brand.

Krishnamurthi and Raj, (2001)61

were of the view that brand loyalty refers to a

biased behavioural response expressed over time by some decision making units with

respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands.

Maria Piacentini et al (2001)62

have carried out a research on “Diversity in

Deprivation Exploring the Motorized Cycle Behaviour of Disadvantaged Consumer”.

The study was conducted in a deprived residential area in Scotland. The researchers

59. Meenabigai, J. and Ravichandran, V., “Factors Influencing Media Utilization Behaviour of

Farm Women” Journal of Extension Education, 2001, Vol. 11 (4), October – December,

pp. 2954 - 2957.

60. Peter, J. Paul and Jerry. C. Olson, Consumer Behaviour, Chicago: Irwin, 2001.

61. Krishnamurthi, L and Raj, S. P., “An Empirical Analysis of Relationship Between Brand

Loyalty and Consumer Price Elasticity”, Marketing Science, 2001, Vol. 10 (2), pp. 112 - 183

62. Maria Piacentini, Salley Hibberty, Haya A1 - Dejani, ‘Diversity in Deprivation Exploring the

Motorized Cycle Behaviour of Disadvantaged Consumer’, Business Horizons, Vol. 42, No. 3,

September – October, 2001.

87

characterized the respondents as economic buyers who were heavily dependent on the

local convenience mainly due to the financial and mobility restrictions they faced. It

was found that the experience of social exclusion was not homogenous within the

sample varying with other aspects of disadvantages, including social support networks,

on illness, age, family situation and mobility.

Louden and Delta Bitha, (2001)63

viewed that the study of consumer’s buying

behaviour normally should include the less observable decision processes that

accompany consumption, including where, how often and under what conditions

consumers make their purchases of desired goods and services. Most of the marketers

have accepted the fact that the understanding of consumer buying behaviour is essential

to their long-run success. Therefore, their major activities and strategies such as market

opportunities, analysis, target market selection and marketing mix decision, are

consumer oriented.

Laurent and Kapferer (2001)64

were of the view that understanding the source of

involvement provides a dynamic picture of the consumer’s subjective situation and

gives clues to that appeals that should be made in communicating with customers.

63

. Louden, D. L., and Delta Bitha, A. J., Consumer Behaviour Concept and Application,

McGraw Hill Book Company, New York, 2001, p. 14.

64. Laurent and Kapferer, (2001), Op. cit.

88

Alba and Wesley (2002)65

concluded that brand familiarity reflects the extent of

a consumer’s direct and indirect experience with a brand.

Sarwade and Ambedkar (2002)66

revealed that the level of brand awareness

among the rural people is comparatively lesser. The important sources of brand

awareness among them are words of mouth, advertisement and retailers. The

availability and price of the products are the main factors which influenced the rural

consumers to select a particular brand.

Keshav Sharma, et al., (2002)67

found that the rural consumers believed in joint

buying decision making in consultation with the elders and the women of the house.

However, the youngsters purchase items of their personal use according to their own

independent buying decisions. Advertisement with rural culture and regional / local

language attracted the audience. All the respondents felt strongly about their customs

and traditions. The respondents were aware of the availability of the products. They

preferred quality to price.

65

. Alba, Joseph, W., and J. Wesley Hutchinston, “Dimensions of Consumer Expertise”, Journal

of Consumer Research, 13 March 2002, pp. 411 - 454.

66. Sarwade, W. K. and Babasaheb Ambedkar, “Emerging Dimensions of Buyer Behaviour in

Rural Area”, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi, 2002, Vol. 32 (1 - 2), pp. 13 - 21.

67. Keshav Sharma, Deepak R Gupta and Parikshat Singh Manhas, “Rural Marketing Challenges

in the New Millenium”, Pranjana, New Delhi, 2002, Vol. 5 (2), July – December, pp. 77 - 81.

89

Yogesh and Shiv Kumar (2002)68

identified that the rural marketing is not about

“peripheral activity” like taking an audio-visual van to the village and feeling that one

has done one’s bit. It requires a totally different mindset, which involves getting rid of

many mental barriers. A marketer will have to realize that he should be in the field for

the long haul as gains are neither unmediated nor large in the short term. It is also

concluded that the same marketing mix may not appeal to the rural market that is being

used in the urban counterpart. As the growth in the urban markets is saturating, the rural

battle field is going to hot up day by day.

Mamta and Yudhvir Singh (2002)69

identified that the awareness level of

farmers on tractors has increased regarding the higher efficiency of high HP tractors.

Prestige issue is also playing its part in higher sales of high HP tractor. The factors

affecting purchase decision of consumers are fuel efficiency, price, maintenance cost,

credit facility, durability, resale price and standard of living.

Vidyadhar Reddy Aileni (2002)70

found that the awareness advertisement given

by service organization is very high. The major sources of media are news-paper,

68. Yogesh Upadhy and Shiv Kumar Singh, “Rural Marketing in India: An Empirical

Investigation”, A Management Journal Survey, Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business

Management, 2002, Vol. 42 (1 - 4), pp. 35 - 41.

69. Mamta and Yudhvir Singh, “Consumer Behaviour Towards Growth and Development of

Transaction in Punjab”, Indian Economic Panorama, Vol. 12 (1), April, 2002, pp. 36 - 43.

70

. Vidyadhar Reddy Aileni, “Effectiveness of Print Advertisements – A Study of Indian Service

Organisations”, The Management Accountant, 2002, Vol. 34 (2), November, pp. 832 - 835.

90

magazines and journals, television and bill boards. There is a significant difference

among the ranking given by men and women regarding the message with respect to the

study advertisement. Similarly, regarding the opinion about the copy, there is a

significant difference between men and women.

Prashant Mishra et al., (2002)71

concluded that consumers seek word-of-mouth

communication mainly due to the importance they attach to the information related to

the product or service. The motivation to seek information compels them to value the

product related knowledge an opinion leader has. It is this knowledge which makes the

opinion leader an authority regarding the particular product. With the authentic and

relevant information from words-of-mouth sources, customers seek to reduce risk

perception associated with a particular purchase event.

Harminder Kaur and Raminder Kaur (2002)72

concluded that television is the

most important medium of information regarding fashion awareness among the rural

and the urban respondents. The rural respondents are very much concerned about the

society because of the social constraints while this factor is given least consideration in

71. Prashant Mishra, Vasant G. Kondalkar and Ankin Singh, “Seeking Word – of -Mouth: An

Empirical Investigation of Consumer Motivation”, Paradigan, 2002, Vol. 3 (2),

July – December, pp. 49 - 56.

72. Harminder Kaur and Raminder Kaur, “Fashion Awareness Among Rural and Urban

Adolescents”, Indian Journal of Social Research, Vol. 43 (1), January – March 2002,

pp. 37 - 40.

91

case of urban respondents. They are very much fashion conscious and adopt the latest

fashion at a faster rate.

Piyush Kumar Sinha et al (2002)73

identified that the primary reasons for

choosing a store are convenience and merchandize, store ambience and service being

the other reason. Shoppers could minimize the effort of shopping by reducing either the

travel time or time spent in the shop. The gender and the age of shoppers drive the

choice of store. Monthly household income did come out as a significant factor but it

was reflected more in terms of the type of products bought. Men give more prominence

to proximity. Ambience and facilities are more important in cases where the shopper

spends more time within a store.

Seema Gupta and Chundawat (2002)74

revealed that demand initiation for

household goods differs from product to product. The rise in the number of dual income

families, fewer children per household and nuclear families have made parents more

responsive to the needs and demands of children. The social factors mainly family,

friends, relatives and acquaintances play a major role in influencing purchase decisions.

Information obtained from these sources was considered to be most reliable. The study

73

. Piyush Kumar Sinha, Arindam Banerjee and Dwarika Prasad Uniyal, “Deciding Where to

Buy: Store Choice Behaviour of Indian Shoppers”, Vikalpa, New Delhi, Vol. 27 (2), April –

June 2002, pp. 13 - 27.

74. Seema Gupta and Chundawat, “Family and Social Influences in Buying Decision Making –

A Study of Refrigerator”, NMIMS Journal, New Delhi, Vol. 14 (1), July – December 2002,

pp. 31 - 41.

92

also revealed that if the advertisement does not reflect the importance to social factors it

will be waste.

Abdul et al (2002)75

identified that the significantly influencing factors on the

consumption of fine rice in the households were monthly income, size of family and

expenditure on other cereal food items. The increase in income and family size enlarge

the amount spent on the consumption of fine rice. The consumption of fine rice was not

affected by the consumption of coarse rice and basmati rice.

Sarwade (2002)76

observed that the role of the husband in a family’s purchasing

decision in various items was comparatively less than that of the housewife. The family

purchases the convenient goods in the rural market once in a week and it is for daily

consumption of goods such as edible oil, sugar, tea and the like. Most of the consumers

from higher income group generally purchase the products which are highly popular in

urban area. Most of the rural consumers are not aware of the producers of the product.

The buying behaviour in general and decision in particular in the rural area are

influenced by the factors like price, availability of products.

75

. Abdul Waheed, K. and Sanjaya S. Gaur, “Factors Influencing the Consumption of Fine Rice

in Urban Areas of Tamil Nadu”, Khadi Gramodyog, Vol. 48 (12), September 2002,

pp. 376 - 381.

76. Sarwade, W. K., “Emerging Dimensions of Buyers Behaviour in Rural Area”, Indian Journal

of Marketing, Vol. 33 (12), January – February 2002, pp. 13 - 21.

93

Sanjaya Gaur (2002)77

found that the important decision maker for the purchase

of branded rice was the housewife of the family. The retailers were ranked as the prime

source of information about the product. Most of the households purchased branded rice

from the rice shops. The quality and the image of the brand were ranked as the major

factors for brand preference.

The study, “Scenario of Small Cars Segment: A Study with Reference to

Chennai city” by Maran (2002)78

deals with the market share and marketing strategy,

technical and financial performance of the manufacturers of small cars segment. He has

pointed out that the ancillary industries which supply components to the manufacturers

often failed to adhere to the delivery schedule causing production problems. He has also

found that higher maintenance cost of small cars due to inflation, high cost of spares

and components and adverse conditions which prevailed in the town and semi-urban

areas led to postponement of purchase of small cars as the problems faced by the small

car owners.

77

. Sanjaya Gaur, S., “Study of Buying Behaviour for Branded Fine Rice”, Indian Journal of

Marketing, New Delhi, 2002, Vol. 32 (7), July, pp. 3 - 8.

78. Maran, K., “Scenario of Small Cars Segment: A Study with Reference to Chennai City”, An

Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis Submitted to Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu

State, 2002.

94

A study by Abirami Devi (2002)79

attempted to access the consumer attitude,

level of satisfaction and the problems perceived by the owners of small cars with

reference to Chennai city. Only those who drive and own the vehicle were selected as

respondents for the study. From the findings of the study, it is inferred that very less

complaints were made by the Hyundai Santro owners followed by the Telco Indica. In

the area of product features, the Maruti and the Santro are given a joint first place.

Kaliraj (2003)80

the automobile has become an important aspect of economic

and social life. The automobile industry’s contribution to the national income has

increased from Rs.21.08 crore in 1959 to Rs.40,000 crore in 2002. The passenger car

industry gained considerably by way of reduced customs duties. Another factor that

contributes to the increase in profit was the operational efficiency of the companies. The

significant policy measure that resulted in the growth of passenger car industries was

the delicensing of the manufacture of passenger cars in February 1993. Another

milestone in the growth was the new industrial policy of 1991. He has suggested that

there is a need for conducting a special audit on the local content used by the new car

manufacturers.

79

. Abirami Devi, K., ‘A Study on Consumer Attitude and Level of Satisfaction of Small Car

Owners with Reference to City of Chennai’, An Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis Submitted to

University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu State, 2002.

80. Kaliraj, S., ‘Liberalization and Its Impact on Indian Automobile Industry: An Analysis’, An

Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis submitted to University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu State,

2003.

95

The groundwork for the TMT lies in its explanation of the cognitive ability of

the individual to recognize the inevitability of death and simultaneously possess the

human instinct of self-preservation, thereby motivating one to seek protection from

mortality salience through bolstering the threatened cultural worldview and by

implementing a variety of social-symbolic defences (Wisman and Koole 2003).81

Aggarwal (2003)82

identified that the Indian consumers have been found

becoming more and more brand loyal. Depending upon the nature of the product

namely basic necessities or luxuries, they have single or multi brand loyalty. This brand

loyalty on their part has been found to be affected both by their brand choice as well as

by their store loyal behaviour. Retailer continues to have an influence over the brand

choice and loyalty behaviour of the consumers as store loyalty has contributed in a big

way to brand loyalty in the case of a large majority of the consumers surveyed.

Zaltman and Wallaendorf (2003)83

found that Human behaviour in consumption

process involves planning to make purchase, making purchases and using their varying

degrees of satisfaction to make their purchase. In all these activities, consumers (a

81

. Wisman, A., and Sander L. Koole, “Hiding in the Crowd: Can Mortality Salience Promote

Affiliation with Others Who Oppose One’s Worldviews?” Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, New Delhi, March 2003, Vol. 84, pp. 511 - 526.

82

. Aggarwal, A. K., “Brand Loyalty in Blade”, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi, 2003,

Vol. 15 (4), December, pp. 15 - 21.

83. Zaltman G and Wallaendorf, M., Consumer Behaviour, John Wiley and Sons, New York,

2003, pp. 22 - 24.

96

human being involved in consumption is termed consumer in marketing lexicon) are the

target of marketing attempts to influence by major entities such as businesses,

government agencies, advocate groups and by social groups such as one’s family,

friends and peers.

Pavleen Soni and Ragbbir Singh (2003)84

in their article have perceived that the

family as a reference group has one of the strongest, most immediate and pervasive

effects on a consumer’s personality motivation and attitudes. The author have affirmed

that from the marketing point of view investigating the family as a consumption unit

becomes crucial since attitudes towards saving and spending, and even towards brands

and products, are often moulded by the family.

Richard and Patrica (2003)85

in their large – scale, national study investigates

the influences of monthly payment incentives (rebates and low interest rates) on the

decision process of both car and truck owners and lessees. Results suggest that

incentives were found rated significantly more important among lessees than among

buyers. While evidence suggests that incentives obviously should not be used on a

wholesale basis, there appears to be a niche among which incentives may be successful.

84

. Pavleen Soni and Ragbbir Singh, “Dimensions in Family Decision Making Revisited” –

IIMB Management Review, New Delhi, 2003, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 59 - 68.

85. Richard F Beltramini and Partica S Chapman, “Do Customers Believe in Automobile

Industry Rebate Incentives”, Journal of Advertising Research, 2003, pp. 16 - 24.

97

Author suggests that lessees would be more open to choosing a vehicle that has an

attractive monthly payment via rebates and other incentives.

Marnik et al., (2003)86

say that a firm’s ability to retain customer and foster

brand loyalty is crucial for its contained success. Loyal customers are typically less

price sensitive than others, and a loyal customer base provides firms with a usable time

to respond to competitive conditions. Indeed, a cost of attracting a new customer has

been found to be costlier by six times higher than the cost of retaining a current

customer.

Nandagopal and Chinnaiyan (2003)87

found that the product quality was the first

factor influencing the brand preference of the soft drinks in the rural Tamil Nadu

followed by availability and retail price. Rural price, advertisement, word of mouth and

retail shop keepers are the other factors that influenced the brand of soft drinks in the

study area.

Francis Sekar (2003)88

revealed that the consumers compare and evaluate their

brand attitudes and purchasing behaviour in the context of the reference groups to

which they belong. Reference group may be a relative, friend, neighbour, family

86

. Marnik, G. Dekimpe, Martin Mellens, Jan - Benedicts, E. M., Steenkarnps, and Piet Vanden

Abeele, (2003), “Erosion and Variability in Brand Loyalty”, http://www.msi.org/msi/search.cfm

87. Nandagopal, R. and Chinnaiyan, P., “Brand Preference of Soft Drinks in Rural Tamil Nadu”,

Indian Economic Panorama, 2003, Vol. 11 (2), October, pp. 47 - 49.

88. Francis Sekar, “Culture – A Factor that Influences Buyer Behaviour in Canada and India”,

Indian Economic Panorama, 2003, Vol. 13 (4), October, pp. 66 - 74.

98

member, wife, husband, children and celebrities like cinema actor, actress, player,

leader and so on. Culture, religion, race, occupation, income and communication,

education and reference group types are the factors which influence a buyer’s

behaviour.

Rohini Gupta Soni (2003)89

revealed that the rural consumers normally do not

make brand discrimination but once induced to buy and use a product, they become

loyal to the brand provided they are satisfied about its functional utility such as loyalty

to the brand. The user may even make efforts to get the whole village to use it. The

advertisement is effective when it could speak in the idioms of rural people. Brand

differentiation is in village tracts where big marketers are fighting global brands on the

price front and where duplicate or spurious brands are all-pervasive.

Gill and Aujla (2003)90

found that majority of respondents from low income

group felt the attractiveness of advertisement on television but all respondents gave the

highest mean score to repetition of advertisements on radio. The large cinema screen

which made advertisements more attractive, was agreed by all. The low cost of

newspaper, earned top rank from middle and low income group for its selection as

media. Similarly eye catching advertisements of magazines influenced high income

89

. Rohini Gupta Soni, “Rural Marketing – Some Issues”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33

(10), October 2003, pp. 23 - 25.

90. Sandhu R. Gill and Mehotra P. Aujla, “Factors Responsible for Selection of Mass Media and

its Impact on Purchase Behaviour of Urban Households”, Indian Journal of Social Research,

Vol. 45 (3), 2003, pp. 243 - 248.

99

group respondents. Free availability of pamphlets and leaflets has least importance for

high and middle income group although they all agreed that these had required

information.

Selvaraj and Mahendran (2003)91

identified the availability of a number of

brands of washing machines in the market at different price, quality, capacity, type and

the like. The consumers prefer to purchase their favourite brands due to various reasons

namely quality, price, advertisement, brand name, dealer’s network and after sales

service. Majority of the respondents prefer to buy the videocon washing machine for its

quality and reasonable price.

Shivakumar and Ravindran (2003)92

revealed that the housewife is the decision

maker for the purchase of agarbattis, cooking oil, grocery, milk and salt whereas the

husband is the decision maker for fruits and magazines. Mosquito mats / coils are

bought on the basis of joint decisions. There is a significant difference in the decision

regarding the purchase of convenience goods due to changes in any one of the

characteristics of husbands / wives namely age, education, occupation and income level.

91

. Selvaraj, A. and Mahendran, A., “Brand Preference of Washing Machine: Role of Factors

and Problems”, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi, 2003, Vol. 33 (10), October,

pp. 19 - 21.

92

. Shivakumar, K. and Ravindran, “Role of Husband and Wife in Purchase Decisions”, Facts

For You, New Delhi, 2003, May, pp. 29 - 31.

100

Ganesan (2003)93

identified that consumers from the rural markets felt relatively

new set of guidelines like short-term promotional exercises were found to be

ineffective. Two important variables namely advertisement and discounts were found

not significant due to lack of reach of media in rural areas and lack of dissemination of

information to them. In the variables namely taste, price, package and cuppage, there

exists a significant difference in the respective means of pre and post purchase

satisfaction levels. The taste and the price turn out independent for brand switching.

Normally the price which is often a variable considered for brand switching turns out

being an independent one.

Sampathkumar (2003)94

mentioned that the behaviour of the consumer involves

understanding the acquisition, consumption and disposition of the products and

services. Those involved in analyzing it, be it consumers, marketers, middlemen, or

regulatory agencies, should continuously make sincere and necessary efforts and take

periodic measures to strengthen the body of knowledge that is already existing. The

study reveals that the consumers uniformly both in the urban and the rural areas, desire

to have quality products at reasonable price and they trust more the advice of retailers.

93

. Ganesan, P., “Brand Switching: A Study of Rural Consumers”, Udyog Pragati, Mumbai,

Vol. 27 (2), April – June 2003, pp. 36 - 40.

94

. Sampath Kumar, “A Study of the Consumer Behaviour with Reference to Selected

Products”, Finance India, New Delhi, Vol. 17 (4), December 2003, pp. 1478 - 1483.

101

Shahid Ahmed (2003)95

depicted that the expenditure elasticity for food and

clothing is negative and significant which means that this expenditure elasticity has

declined significantly over the sample period. The trend rates for fuel and light and

other non-food are also negative but insignificant. The estimates of price elasticities of

all commodities are negative. The size of elasticities is found to confirm a positive

effect of household size on household consumption of necessaries and negative effect

on luxuries.

Deepak Halan (2003)96

mentioned that many rural customers are daily wage

earners. So it makes sense to package products in smaller units or offer low-priced

variants for rural markets. In rural markets, many brands have to compete with goods

from the unorganized sector. These goods are generally very low priced. Often there are

cheap substitutes available. The rural consumers are ready to pay higher prices for

better quality or more featured products at the harvest season. This is the time when

chances of selling expensive brands are the highest. Hence, any pricing strategy must

take into account when money is received, how it is used and what is the priority order

of the needs.

95

. Shahid Ahmed, “An Analysis of Family Budgets of Cultivators in Haryana”, The Indian

Economic Journal, Hyderabd, 2003, Vol. 50, pp. 116 - 125.

96. Deepak Halan, “Rural Marketing: It is a Different Ball Game”, Indian Management,

Bangalore, Vol. 42 (11), November 2003, pp. 60 - 64.

102

Verma and Munjal (2003)97

identified the major factors in making a brand

choice decision namely quality, price, availability, packaging and advertisement. The

brand loyalty is a function of behavioural and cognitive pattern of customer. The age

and demographic variable affect significantly the behaviour and cognitive patterns of

the customers while other demographic characteristics such as gender and marital status

are not significantly associated with these behavioural and cognitive patterns of the

consumers.

Mithileshwar Jha (2003)98

identified that the rural buyers are relatively simpler,

more forthright, with low to medium aspiration levels, influenced by social pressures,

rituals and norms, with moderate to high risk taking ability and gullible to dream

merchants. With the success of the green revolution, the white revolution (milk), the

yellow revolution (oil seeds) and the micro-credit revolution (SHGs), the discretionary

income in rural areas will further increase. This will require developmental marketing

efforts with a constructive mindset.

97

. Verma, D. P. S., and Surender Munjal, “Brand Loyalty Correlates: Study of FMCGS”,

Abhigyan, New Delhi, Vol. 21 (2), July – September 2003, pp. 25 - 31.

98. Mithileshwar Jha, “Understanding Rural Buyer Behaviour”, IIMB Management Review,

Bangalore, Vol. 15 (3), September 2003, pp. 89 - 92.

103

Losarwar (2003)99

found that the maximum number of brands of consumer

durable products namely Television, Washing Machine, Refrigerator, Mixture and Fan

were available in both the urban and the rural markets. There is a considerable positive

correlation between the urban and the rural population with reference to selection of

brands of television, washing machine, refrigerator and mixer. There is negligible

positive correlation between urban and rural population with reference to selection of

brands of fan.

Rajashekar and Shan Karaiah (2003)100

revealed that the nature of problems

among the consumers varied from place to place and degree of intensities linked with

the awareness level of individual consumers. The women respondent experienced

maximum number of problems regarding duplicates in essential items, adulteration and

under weight. Problem of high price of consumer durables was more common in all

rural areas than the urban areas. Education levels are directly linked to problems due to

lack of manufacturing date and expiry date and this problem affects overall consumer

segments.

99

. Losarwar, S. G., “Marketing Challenges for New Millennium: Brand Awareness and Brand

Selection of Consumer Durables – A Study with Reference to Marathwada Region”, Indian

Economic Panaroma, Vol. 13 (3), October 2003, pp. 38 - 41.

100

. Rajashekar, B., and Shan Karaih, A., “Problems of Consumers in Andhra Pradesh”,

Management Researcher, Vol. 10 (1x2), July – December 2003, pp. 2 - 16

104

Pratima Harigunari et al (2003)101

identified the important factors that influence

the purchase decision of the cosmetics among the urban consumers. They are quality,

perfume, brand name, seasons and advertisement campaign in the talk market. The

packing, schemes, price offer and availability are placed as the last factors. Besides,

recommendation like word of mouth and shop-keepers’ insistence also showed some

influence on the decision of the consumers to purchase talcum powder.

Krishnamurthi and Raj (2004)102

identified that the loyal customers are to be less

price sensitive and the presence of a loyal customer base provides the firm with

valuable time to respond to competitive actions because a large number of loyal

customers is constructed as a competitive strength for a brand that has been identified as

a major determinant of its equity.

Schiffman and Kanuk (2004)103

has used intelligent agents to locate the best

prices for the products or services, bid on various marketing offerings, bypass

distribution outlets and middlemen, and shop for goods around the globe and around the

clock from the convenience of their homes. To understand about the awareness of the

consumers and their behaviors, in depth, study has been done on the various literatures

101

. Pratima Harigunari et. al “Consumer Behaviour with Regard to Talcum Power in Urban

Society”, Indian Journal of Social Research, Vol. 44 (1), January – March 2003, pp. 29 - 32

102. Krishnamurthi, L., and Raj, S. P., “An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between

Brand Loyalty and Consumers Price Elasticity”, Marketing Science, 2004, Vol. 10 (2),

pp. 172 - 183.

103. Schiffman, L. G., and Kanuk, L. L., Consumer Behavior Pearson Education, PHI Private

Limited, New Delhi, 2004.

105

available in the area of green marketing. From an empirical perspective, a substantial

academic and professional literature explores the areas like sustainable marketing,

consumer behaviour and green car and its response in the marketplace. The

methodologies of these studies vary widely but the major findings have been observed

to define the research objective The above literature review gives an in-depth idea on

the topic and it is also observed that not much work has been done in India in reference

to the environment friendly car and customer’s behaviour with reference to the eco

friendly cars.

Bettman (2004)104

opined that Consumers’ brand knowledge can be defined in

terms of personal meaning about a brand stored in consumer memory, that is all

descriptive and evaluative brand – related information.

Raghbir Singh and Pavleen Kaur (2004)105

found that husbands in the urban

families wield maximum influence for the purchase of the two wheelers, whereas wives

have the greatest influence in the purchase of a refrigerator. Both spouses together have

the strongest influence for all durables. Children exercise little influence individually

over durable purchases while all members together use the greatest power for the

104. Bettman, James. R., An Information Processing Theory of Consumer Choice, Readin, M A:

Addison - Wesley, 2004, pp. 67 - 69.

105. Raghbir Singh and Pavleen Kaur, “Do Rural and Urban Families Decide ‘Differently to

Buy?”, The ICFAI Journal of Marketing Management, Hyderabad, 2004, Vol. 3 (3) August,

pp. 17 - 28.

106

purchase of television and two-wheeler. More control is wielded by both the spouses for

the purchase of all the durables in the rural area.

Pankaj Priya (2004)106

identified that the rural consumers are not always “distant

cousins” of the urban folk. They have their distinct personality and independent

thinking based on strong set of beliefs and values. For people in small towns and

villages, community decision-making is quite common in product category due to

strong caste and social structure. By the age of the rural consumers, three key groups

can be identified. The youngsters in the age group of eight to 15 would be seen catching

up with their urban counterparts, due to their interaction. The age group of 18 to 25 also

exposed to these situations, would be a bit vary about these changes. In contrast, the age

group 35 plus will be “laggard” in the marketing sense. They would still be logged

down by their traditional beliefs and age-old customs.

Venkateshwarlu (2004)107

revealed that the age, and education could explain the

variation in perception of preference of functions in terms of price, quality, service,

status style significantly in relation with the other land sizes with an exception of

perception of preference towards parameters like price, quality, service, status and style.

And as the land size increased lesser the degree of said sensitivity. The varimax rotation

106. Pankaj Priya, “Challenges for Marketing in Indian Hinterland”, Marketing Mastermind,

August 2004, pp. 48 - 51.

107

. Venkateshwarlu, M., “Preference Portfolio of Rural Customers Towards Consumer

Electronics”, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi, 2004, Vol. 34 (3), March, pp. 14 - 18.

107

factor analysis identified that the major determinant of rural consumer preferences are

land size and education and age of the respondents.

Shivkumar and Giram (2004)108

found that the consumers are mainly influenced

for purchasing by the opinion of their family members followed by the recommendation

and advertisement of dealers. The respondents are not in favour of the branded product

since its prices are higher. The important reason for not purchasing the SSI products is

not because of poor quality. The second influencing factor for not purchasing such

goods is the high price of the products. The lower income class has not chosen such

products due to their unawareness of such products.

Kamala Kannan (2004)109

mentioned that the survival and growth of any

business organization depends upon its ability to satisfy the present and potential

consumers. Consumer behaviour is influenced by individual characteristics, product and

situational characteristics. The important factors influencing the consumer behaviour in

shampoo market are the literacy, family income of the respondents, quality, price,

attractive package, colour and branding of the shampoo.

108 . Shivkumar and Giram, V., “Buyer Behaviour of Consumer Towards the Products Produced

by SSI - Units”, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi, 2004, Vol. 34 (3), March, pp. 19 - 23.

109. Kamala Kannan, “Consumer Behaviour with Regard to Shampoo – A Study”, Kissan

World, New Delhi, Vol. 31 (12), December 2004, pp. 26 - 27.

108

Purba Basu (2004)110

explained the need of understanding the rural consumers

among the marketer and fine time of their strategy to reap benefits in the coming years.

In fact, the leadership in any product or service is linked to leadership in the rural India

except a few life style-based products which depend on urban India mainly. The

greatest hindrance to reap the opportunities in rural India is to understand the consumer

behaviour.

Rajnish Tule and Amit Mooherjee (2004)111

found that the rural consumer

prefers to meet their immediate and day-to-day needs from village shops and avoid a

comparatively higher transportation cost. At the same time bulk purchases will drive

them to the periodic markets to avail of the “bargain” and promotional incentives which

will negotiate the impact of shopping cost incurred. Rural consumers patronize village

shops to meet their credit-based impulsive requirements. On the other hand, cash rich

consumers with no urgency prefer to purchase from periodic markets to avail of the

benefits of low prices, discounts and varieties and the like which in turn motivate rural

consumers.

Nagaraja (2004)112

identified the important factors influencing the purchasing of

the goods among the rural consumers. They are quality, price, easy availability,

110. Purba Basu, “Emerging Face of Rural Markets in India”, Marketing Master Mind, New

Delhi, Vol. 4 (5), May 2004, pp. 57 - 61.

111. Rajnish Tule and Amit Mooherjee, “Retail Formats: Patronage Behaviour of Indian Rural

Consumers”, South Asian Journal of Management, Hyderabad, 2004 Vol. 11 (3), pp. 57 - 69.

109

advertising, use by the neighbour consumers and experience of the own family

members. In the rural areas, cinema dialogues, pictures and names of famous heroes and

heroines, flowers, symbols, entertainments, quickies, short theatre commercials, TV

spots, cricket themes, road shows, vow programmes are used extensively to influence

the consumer behaviour. The rural consumer is very much attached to and influenced by

‘touch and feel’ aspect of any promotional activity.

Dilip Roy and Saikat Banerjee (2004)113

found that the causes behind the

purchase decision on consumer durables are price, guarantee after sales services, colour

and design, previous experience of usage, recommendations by dealers, advertisement

and sales promotion. The branded players are enjoying different brand equity under

different parameters. Price-wise non-branded or other small players are enjoying a

competitive edge over branded players. Dealers are interested in pushing the non-

branded products due to higher margins offered by them.

112

. Nagaraja, B., “Consumer Behaviour in Rural Areas: A Micro Level Study on Buyer

Behaviour of Rural Consumers in Kavali Mandal”, Indian Journal of Marketing,

New Delhi, Vol. 34 (11), November 2004, pp. 30 - 36.

113. Dilip Roy and Saikat Banerjee, “Marketing of Fans in India: Dealers Perspectives and

Situation Analysis”, South Asian Journal of Management, Hyderabad, 2004, Vol. 10 (4),

pp. 35 - 42.

110

A study by Vikas Mehra (2004)114

was about the consumers’ purchase

behaviour with respect to three car models in the Indian mid sized segment - Ford Ikon,

Hyundai Accent and Honda City. The study highlighted that going in for a superior

technology, to replace old car and representation of car owner’s status are the three

main reasons for buying mid sized car for the Indian buyer.

A study by Mandeep Kaur and Sandhu (2004)115

attempted to find out the

important features which a customer considers while going for the purchase of a new

car. The study covers the owners of passenger cars living in the major cities of the State

of Punjab and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The respondents perceive that safety

and comfort are the most important features of the passenger car followed by

luxuriousness. So the manufacturers must design the product giving maximum

weightage to these factors.

A study by Chidambaram et al (2004)116

postulates that there are certain factors

which influence the brand preferences of the customers while they take decision to buy

114

. Vikas Mehra, ‘Analysis of Consumer’s Purchase Behaviour in Indian Mid - Sized Car

Segment’, Apeejay Business Review, New Delhi, Vol. 5, No. 1, January – June 2004,

pp. 30 - 36.

115

. Mandeep Kaur and Sandhu, H. S., ‘A Study on Factors Influencing Buying Behaviour of

Passenger Car Market’, Paradigm, New Delhi, Vol. 8, No. 2, July – December 2004,

pp. 26 - 30.

116

. Chidambaram, K., Soundra Rajan, A., and Alfread Mino, ‘A Study on Brand Preference of

Passenger Car with Reference to Coimbatore City’, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi,

Vol. 34, No. 9, September 2004, pp.18 - 21.

111

passenger cars. Within this framework, the study reveals that customers give more

importance to fuel efficiency than other factors. They believe that the brand name tells

them something about product quality, utility, technology and the like. They prefer to

purchase the passenger cars which offer high fuel efficiency, good quality, technology,

durability and reasonable price.

A survey by Satya Sundaram (2005)117

analyzed how the competition makes the

automobile manufacturer to launch at least one new model or a variant of the model

every year. This survey also pointed out that Diesel cars are becoming popular in India

and the announcement of reductions in excise duties by the Government has helped to

some extent to boost the demand.

Clement Sudhakar and Venkatapathy (2005)118

studied the influence of peer

group in the purchase of car with reference to Coimbatore District and their study

identified friends as the most influencing peer in the purchase of passenger cars. It was

also found that the influence of friends is higher for the purchase of small sized and mid

sized cars.

117

. Satya Sundaram, I., ‘A Market Survey on New Models Heating up the Car War’, Facts For

You, New Delhi, January 2005, pp. 7 - 11.

118. Clement Sudhakar, J., and Venkatapathy, R., ‘A Study on Automobile Purchase - Peer

Influence in Decision Making’, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi, Vol. 35, No. 6, June

2005, pp. 3 - 9.

112

A study by Ashok (2005)119

suggested the strategies to be adopted to improve

the sales of Maruti Zen passenger cars with specific reference to Salem District. It also

highlighted the customers level of satisfaction towards the features of Zen and the

problems associated with the use of Zen.

Kristin Diehl (2005)120

suggests that consumers often search for and choose

from ordered sets, commonly from options listed from best to worst. Greater search can

lead to more positive evaluations for improving versus declining orderings because

consumers experience more positive moments on which to base their evaluation.

Overall evaluations are influenced by differences in these key moments over and above

quality changes of the set.

Mowen (2005)121

found that brand loyalty can be defined as “the degree of

consistency in buying particular brand(s) as a function of recognition, satisfaction,

commitment, positive attitude towards brand(s)”.

Sakthivel and Bishnu Priya Mishra (2005)122

found that majority of the rural

consumers refer to some products in sachets and others in medium or large containers

119

. Ashok, J., ‘A Study on Developing Strategies to Improve the Sales of Maruti Zen Passenger

Cars’, International Journal of Management Science, New Delhi, Vol. 1, No.1, July 2005,

pp. 92 - 102.

120. Kristin Diehl and Gal Zauberman, “Searching Ordered Sets - Evaluations from Sequences

Under Search”. Journal of Consumer Research, Kolkata, 2005, Vol. 31, pp. 40 - 48.

121. Mowen, John, C., Consumer Behaviour: 4

th Edition New Jersey: Prentice - Hall Inc – 1,

New Delhi, 2005.

113

according to their requirements. The products that they prefer in sachets are purchased

on weekly basis and monthly in containers. Some of the products in sachets like

shampoo, fairness cream, spices and mosquito repellants have created a considerable

impact among the rural consumers and the rest of them failed. Products like shampoo,

spices, fairness cream and mosquito repellants are preferred in small containers and rest

of the products are mainly in medium containers.

It is an important variable influencing pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase

phases of consumer behaviour (Zaichkowsky, 2005)123

.

Venkatrama Raju and Saravanan (2005)124

found that the purchase of a

consumer durable is collectively decided by the family members. The choice is

dependent on the income and size of the family. Advertisement or publicity through

mass media proves to be the best source of reaching the public, followed by information

from friends and relatives.

122

. Sakkthivel, A. M., and Bishnu Priya Mishra, “Effectiveness of Sachets in Modifying Rural

Consumers Buying Behaviour and Their Consumption Pattern”, Indian Journal of Marketing,

New Delhi, Vol. 35 (2), February 2005, pp. 33 - 38.

123. Zaichkowsky, L., “Measuring the Involvement Construct”, Journal of Consumer Research,

New Delhi, 2005, Vol. 12 (2), pp. 341 - 352.

124. Venkatrama Raju, D., and Saravanan, S., “A Study on Consumer Behaviour in the

Marketing of a Household Appliance in Chennai City of Tamil Nadu State”, Indian Journal of

Marketing, New Delhi, 2005, Vol. 35 (3), March, pp. 33 - 34.

114

Ramana and Viswanath (2005)125

revealed in their study that the price, quality

and taste have become the most influencing factors among all the categories of

consumers than smell, colour and company package and brand in the purchase of edible

oil. The change in price and quantity of buying has not influenced the buying behaviour

of the consumers. Non-availability of a particular product forced some of the buyers to

buy other brands. Reasons for using the same brand, taste and quality is easy

availability among employees and businessmen, while low price is the attraction for

labourers. Regarding motivation factors influencing buying decisions, it is found that

head of the family and advice of the family members are the most influencing factors.

Renganathan (2005)126

in his study on consumer markets and buyer behaviour of

cars made clear that the style and appearance of a car influence the intention of a

customer to buy a car. The factors that scored the highest importance to have a car are

necessity, convenience and comfort. Mileage was the main criterion for the prospects

looked for in a car. Then maintenance, safety and other criteria came next. Auto

magazines are the primary media source. The consumers expect a car to be luxurious

and mid sized.

125

. Ramana, A. V., and Viswanath, P., “Consumers Behaviour and Awareness with Special

Reference to Edible Oil Users - A Study”, Indian Journal of Marketing, New Delhi, Vol. 35 (3),

March 2005, pp. 33 - 37.

126. Renganathan, R., “Consumer Markets and Buyer Behaviour of Cars”, Indian Journal of

Marketing, New Delhi, 2005, Vol. 35 (4), April, pp. 27 - 33.

115

Diana Rajendran (2005)127

revealed that the consumers’ awareness for consumer

soft prevails among rural consumers. Since their purchasing power is low, they are able

to buy one of the products from the available outlets, and mostly a few local brands

dominate in selected consumers soft. The familiarity of the brand names in selected

consumer soft among these rural masses makes one understand the desirability of these

people to use these products.

Jasjit Kaur et al., (2005)128

identified that there is an improvement in the

personality of rural women. They were being considered important in money matters as

they were consulted at different levels for investment. In case of children’s marriage

and their career, educated women play a great role. The uneducated women did not care

much about all. Education had played a greater role in making the women aware

regarding different matters in society. The women had started their involvement

regarding self, husband and children, participation in decision making regarding home

and society.

127

. Diana Rajendran, “Rural Marketing of Consumers Soft”, Indian Journal of Marketing, New

Delhi, Vol. 24 (4), April 2005, pp. 10 - 22.

128. Jasjit Kaur, Market Singh and Singh, K. J., “Role of Education and Involvement of Rural

Women in Decision Making”, Indian Economic Panorama, Vol. 13 (4), October 2005,

pp. 51 - 54.

116

Vijayakumar (2005)129

has conducted a research study titled, “Consumer

Behaviour Relating to Light Vehicles in Selected Urban Centres in Tamil Nadu”. The

objective was to analyze the relationship between socio – economic profiles of the

buyers and the purchase pattern of light vehicles. He found those who were less than 26

years were married male respondents and those who had education up to the college

level preferred take vehicles. He has suggested that the manufacturers of light vehicles

should make available the vehicles at all time and increase the sales turnover.

Vincent Wayne Mitcheil and Greg Herris (2005)130

have carried out a study on

“The Brand Preference of Cars in terms of Socio – Economic Factors”. The purpose

was to help retailers understand customers car choice processes as a function of the

linkages between attributes of purchasing motives and risk dimensions which can help

them develop a more coherent and clearer positioning strategy. The findings suggested

that motives are linked to only four main risk dimensions, namely time, financial,

psychological and physical and presented evidence for reassessing positioning

strategies, giving more emphasis to brand image”.

129

. Vijayakumar S, “Consumer Behaviour Relating to Light Vehicles in Selected Urban Centres

in Tamil Nadu, Unpublished Ph.D., Thesis Submitted to Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai,

Tamil Nadu State, 2005.

130

. Vincent – Wayne Mitcheil and Greg Herris, ‘The Brand Preference of Cars in terms of

Socio – Economic Factors’, Journal of Marketing Research, 14th November 2005.

117

Deepali Singh (2005)131

found that young children attempt to influence family

decision as soon as they possess the basic communication skills needed to interact with

other family members. The friends, parents and the immediate environment are the

instruments towards the immediate purchase among them.

Schoulten and Alexander (2005)132

explained the multiple dimensions of brand

knowledge. The reality that emerges from the varied activity in branding through the

years is that all different kinds of information may become linked to a brand, including

the following:

1. Awareness – Category identification and needs, satisfied by the brand.

2. Attitudes – descriptive features that characterize the brand name product either

intrinsically (e.g., related to product performance) or extrinsically (e.g., related to brand

personality or heritage).

3. Benefits – Personal value and meaning that consumers attach to the brand’s product

attributes (e.g., functional, symbolic, or experiential consequences from the brands’

purchase or consumption).

4. Images – Visual information, either concrete or abstract in nature.

131. Deepali Singh, “Children as Consumers”, Indian Management, New Delhi,Vol. 37 (9),

September 2005, pp. 78 - 81.

132. Schoulten, John W. and James H. Mc Alexander, “Subcultures of Consumption: An

Enthography of the New Bikers”, Journal of Consumer Research, Ethiopia, 22 June 2005,

pp. 43 - 61.

118

5. Thoughts – Personal cognitive responses to any brand related information.

6. Feelings – Personal affective responses to any brand related information.

7. Attitudes – Summary judgements and overall evaluation to any brand related

information.

8. Experiences – Purchaser’s consumption behaviours and any other brand related

episodes.

Blackwell and Miniard (2006)133

the high involvement means personal

relevance or importance of the product. It is an internal state variable and indicates the

amount of arousal, interest and / or drive evoked by a particular stimulates or situation.

Kent and Chris (2006)134

explained that the brand familiarity captures

consumer’s brand knowledge structures, that is, the brand associates that exist within a

consumer’s memory. Although many advertised products are familiar to consumers,

many others are unfamiliar, either because they are new to the market place or because

consumers have not yet been exposed to the brand. Consumers may have tried or may

use a familiar brand or they may have family or friends who have used the brand and

told them something about it.

133

. Blackwell, R. D. and Miniard, P. W., “Consumer Behaviour”, 7th Edition, Fort Worth, TX:

Dryden, 2006.

134. Kent, Robert J. and Chris T. Allen, “Competitive Inference Effects in Consumer Memory

for Advertising: The Role of Brand Familiarity”, Journal of Marketing, 28 (July 2006),

pp. 97 - 105.

119

Maruthamuthu et al (2006)135

have made a study entitled “Consumer Behaviour

and Brand Preference of Cars – An Empirical Study with reference to Salem, Tamil

Nadu”. The objectives of the study were to understand the brand preference for cars and

to find the media influence on purchase. They found that the customers prefer to

purchase due to its brand image and a majority on them are influenced by Television as

a medium in purchase decision.

Mittal (2006)136

identified that Consumer behaviour researches have tried to

define and describe purchase involvement. But it has always been referred to as

conglomeration of ideas and views.

Davy Lerouge and Luk Warlop (2006)137

in their article propose that many

buying decisions require predictions of another person's product attitudes. Yet,

consumers are decisions require predictions of another person's product attitudes. Yet,

consumers are often inaccurate predictors, even for familiar others.

135

. Maruthamuthu K, Krishnakumar K and Vasan M, ‘Consumer Behaviour and Brand

Preference of Cars – An Empirical Study with Reference to Salem, Tamil Nadu’, Journal of

Marketing, New Delhi, October 2006, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 45 - 56.

136. Mittal, B. Lee M. S., “A Casual Model of Consumer Involvement” Journal of Economic

Psychology, New Delhi, 2006, Vol. 10 (1), pp. 363 - 389.

137. Davy Lerouge and Luk Warlop, “Why it is so Hard to Predict Our Partner's Product

Preferences – The Effect of Target Familiarity on Prediction Accuracy”, Journal Of Consumer

Research, New Delhi, 2006, Vol. 33, pp. 393 - 402.

120

Leszczye, et al., (2006)138

have shown that the store choice is a dynamic

decision. It can be conceptualized as a problem of deciding when and where to shop.

The first decision is the traditional store location choice problem, whereas the second is

the shopping trip incidence problem relating to the timing of shopping trips. The two

decision processes are correlated. Store choice is dependent on the timing of shopping

trips as consumers may go to a local store for short “fill-in” trips and go to a more

distant grocery store for regular shopping trips.

Ruth and Suraj (2006)139

revealed that the major economic decisions had

become more shared and less controlled by just one family member. Most decisions

involved collaboration of partners instead of being solo-decisions. Also owing to socio -

economic changes, some decisions in the past are wife dominated in the present.

Involvement is a mental state variable which has been defined as perceived

personal relevance of the product to the persons needs, values and goals (Celsi and

Olson, 2006)140

.

138

. Leszczye, Peser Popkowski, T. L. and Timmermans, Harry, J. P., “Consumer Store Choice

Dynamics: An Analysis of the Competitive Market Structure for Grocery Stores”, Journal of

Retailing, New Delhi, 2006, Vol. 76 (3), pp. 323 - 345.

139. Ruth, Julie and Suraj Commuri, “Shifting Roles in Family Decision - Making”, Advances in

Consumer Research, Bangalore, 2006, Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 400 - 406.

140. Celsi, R. L., and Olson, J. C., “The Role of Involvement in Attention and Comprehension

Processes”, Journal of Consumer Research, Bangalore, Vol. 15 (September 2006),

pp. 210 - 224.

121

Srinivasan et al., (2006)141

found that the consumers with higher educational

levels were found to consume more of processed products. The quantity of processed

fruit and vegetable products is consumed more in the higher income group. In majority

of the households, the buying decisions were made by the wives followed by husbands.

The household expenditure and the total income significantly influenced the

expenditure incurred on it.

Nathan (2006)142

identified the relative influence of husbands and wives in the

purchase decision on automobiles and furniture. This study shows a high level of

agreement in husband-wife perceptions of relative roles when viewed in aggregate

terms, but significant differences in intra-family perceptions of each others’ roles.

Frank (2006)143

found that there is no significant association between the socio-

economic variables namely social class, sex, intelligence, marital status, family size and

education of the buyers and their brand loyalty.

141. Srinivasan, N., Elangovan, S., and Chinnaiyan, P., “Consumers’ Perception Towards

Processed Fruit and Vegetables Products”, Indian Economic Panorama, New Delhi, 2006,

Vol. 10 (3), October, pp. 11 - 12.

142. Nathan, S. V., “Dimensions of Marital Roles in Consumer Decision - Making”, Vikalpa,

New Delhi, Vol. 22 (1), January – March 2006, pp. 11 - 22.

143. Frank, R. E., “Correlates of Buying Behaviour of Grocery Products; Journal of Marketing,

New Delhi, Vol. 31 (3x4), March 2006, pp. 111 - 118.

122

Yogesh Upadhyal (2006)144

revealed that the brand loyalty is identified among

more than 60 per cent of the rural and urban consumers in the product categories

namely washing powder, washing soap, bathing soap, shampoo and tooth paste /

powder. The brand loyalty is not applicable in the three product categories namely

spices, clothes and flour and rice.

Kaur (2007)145

reported that television viewing enhanced social mobility and

social maturity among rural adults. She has also reported that these influences are

related to literacy, status, sex and viewing time. From the findings of the present study,

it can be argued that despite big technological leaps, there is still a wide socio-economic

gap between rural and urban markets. This could be an important reason for the

differences in the attitudes between the rural and the urban consumers.

Bhatacharjee and Bansal (2007)146

identified the marketers need to understand

not only the relevance of demographic or psychographic profile of rural consumers but

also their response to marketing mix since it is more at variance with the marketers’

understanding of the urban market. They also remarked the dominance of periodic

144

. Yogesh Upadhyal, “Brand Loyalty in Rural and Urban Consumers: An Empirical

Investigation”, Indian Journal of Social Research, New Delhi, Vol. 40 (4), October – December

2006, pp. 316 - 325.

145. Kaur, J., “Impact of Viewing TV on the Social Life of Rural Illiterate and New -Literate

Adults”, Psycho - Lingua, Ludhiana, 2007, Vol. 28 (1), pp. 39 - 44.

146. Bhatacharjee and Bansal Joseph, “Rural Markets: Who is Winning and How”, Business

World, Mumbai, October 2007, pp. 22 - 32.

123

markets in the rural marketing infrastructure in India, along with the shops situated

within villages.

Muralidhar (2007)147

has made a study entitled “Passenger Cars: Distinct Signs

of Maturity”. The objectives of the study were to understand the trend of global market

for passenger cars. The global car market is growing by 2% per annum and expected to

continue the same pattern in the near future. Further more, the global industry is moving

towards quality in a big way. The car industry generates ample employment

opportunities in the economy.

Sumantran (2007)148

in his study titled “Passenger Car Players Plan Expansion”

examined the performance of Passenger Car Industry which is based on volumes rather

than margins. The Indian consumer is extremely price sensitive. Various socio-

demographic factors like high GDP growth, rising income levels, booming knowledge

sector and growing urbanization have contributed towards tremendous growth of this

sector.

Sanjay (2007)149

observed that retailers purchase large packs of consumables,

open them and sell the products loose, by weight or number in rural area. Retailers

147

. Muralidhar, S., ‘Passenger Cars: Distinct Signs of Maturity’, The Hindu Survey of Indian

Industry, 2007, pp. 4 -6.

148. Sumantran, V., ‘Passenger Car Players Plan Expansion’, The Hindu Survey of Indian

Industry, 2007, pp. 8 - 10.

149. Sanjay K. Patro, “Rural Marketing: The Relevance, Challenges and Strategies”,

Management and Labour Studies, Zamshedpur, 2007, Vol. 25(3), July, pp. 191 - 199.

124

make an extra profit on such sales over and above the retailer’s margin. However, firms

would be better off to introduce small unit packing since the chances of adulteration or

faulty weight will be reduced. The significant increase in purchasing power of rural

consumers coupled with a rise in their aspirations to consume and the reach of the

electronic media, acting as a catalyst has expanded the rural share of both consumables

and durable products.

Velankar (2007)150

in his study titled “Customer Service-A Perspective”

revealed that the customer choice and awareness have increased tremendously due to

open economy, advent of information technology and media revolution. This requires

the marketing executives, to have a perfect knowledge about the products and services

which requires proper and adequate training and motivation.

Nathan (2007)151

found that the product category is an important factor in the

decision making process. While for some product purchases, the husband may be most

influential, for others wife or other family members may decide about all or most

dimensions of purchase. Role specialization of the wife is observed to be high for

purchase of groceries, furniture and clothing, while that of the husband is significant for

the purchase of automobiles and life insurance. Vacations and housing decisions are

150

. Velankar R. D, “Customer Service-A Perspective”, Becon, 27th Indian Economist

Conference, 2007.

151. Nathan, S. V., “Dimensions of Marital Roles in Consumer Decision Making”, Vikalpa, New

Delhi, Vol. 22 (1), January – March 2007, pp. 11 - 22.

125

seen to fall under the joint – consensus category and those of savings, investments and

household appliances come under the autonomic category.

Brodowsky and Howard Glen (2007)152

studied the role of the country of origin

in consumer purchase decisions. The findings were that high and low ethnocentric

consumers used the country information differently and hence the model could be

useful for managers when choosing a location for manufacturing.

Ghosh (2007)153

remarked that the cohesive social grouping in rural areas

suggests purchase of similar brands by members within the group. This affects the

number of brands used in the village and within a family. In rural markets there are

fewer brands and one brand tends to dominate. The benefits sought by the rural

consumers are mostly economy and overall quality, than specific features or

determinant of quality.

Liu Dongyan and Bai Xuan (2008)154

found that Chinese consumers take

“safety” as the most important characteristic and take “value for money” as the second

152

. Brodowsky and Howard Glen, “The Role of Country of Origin in Consumer Purchase

Decision: Development and Testing of a Comprehensive Theoretical Model”, Humanities and

Social Sciences Dissertation, 2007, Vol. 58 (1), pp. 224 - 225.

153. Ghosh, Joydeep, “The Rural Rush”, The Week, New Delhi, 2007, Vol. 15 (14), pp. 11 - 13.

154. Liu Dongyan and Bai Xuan, “Car Purchasing Behaviour in Beijing: An Empirical

Investigation”, Master Thesis, Umea School of Business and Economics, University of Umea,

2008.

126

most important and “riding comfort” as the third important characteristic when

purchasing a car. “Safety” and “value for money” are considered very important, which

might not be significantly different from western car customers. For “riding comfort”,

most of Chinese family have only one car, so they use the car a lot for picking up family

members, but in developed countries, it is common that each family has two or three

cars, so “riding comfort” might not be considered as much important as in China.

Chinese consumers take “after - sale maintenance” and “exterior design / size” as the

forth most important factors when making the purchase decision. For “exterior design /

size”, it indicates that Chinese people are status-seeking and Chinese people prefer to

choose a bigger car with a good appreance (Mian Zi Che) to show their good social

status and want to get respects from others. Chinese consumers put the least importance

on resale value that is because second hand car market is not well developed in China,

so Chinese consumers usually don’t consider the factor of resale value when they

purchase cars. Chinese customers put the second least importance on equipment and

interior, which explains again Chinese consumers pay more attention on outside rather

than inside, that is car performance.

Sanal Kumar (2008)155

found that the rural consumer uses multiple sources of

information with television as one of the important sources. The actual purchase in rural

markets is by the male member of the household, though the decision maker depends on

the type of product. The rural buyer is less aware of brands of new products and he is

155

. Sanal Kumar, V., “Buyer Behaviour in Rural Markets: A Study of Soap Market”,

Productivity, New Delhi, Vol. 39 (2), July – September 2008, pp. 321 - 327.

127

more of a habitual buyer than a variety seeker. The brand choice among them is

influenced by social groups. Rural buyers are willing to switch when discounts or gifts

are made available.

James Helperin (2010)156

suggests about the numerical benchmark - the

almighty credit score. She insists to maintain a high credit score ensures qualifying for

larger loans and lower interest rates. With a low credit score, you'll pay more interest,

make higher down payments or not qualify to borrow at all.

Alexandru Ioan Cuza (2011)157

in their research article entitled “Factors

Influencing Passenger Car Consumer Behaviour and their Use in the Environmental

Public Policy” concluded that the car has an important symbolist to the consumer and

does not represent only a mean of satisfaction of the transportation need. The car is

combined in the consumer’s perception with his / her personality; it defines him /

her compared to the others and states his / her belonging to certain consumer groups.

This role of the car will not be easily changeable in the near future, so the actions

aiming to influence the consumer behavior need to take this into account. For the

moment, the ecological car, besides solving the problem of the CO2 emissions and the

energy efficiency, will have to respond to the symbolic and affective issues in order to

156. James Helperin “New Credit Scoring System Affects Auto Loans” Accessed on 28

th

November 2010.

157. Alexandru Ioan Cuza, “Factors Influencing Passenger Car Consumer Behaviour and their

use in the Environmental Public Policy”, Journal of Euro Economics, London, 2011, Vol. 1,

pp. 20 - 26

128

the adopted on a large scale and to replace the usual car of today. Apart from the

infrastructure problems, where the main role remains to the public authorities, the

automotive producers will have to differentiate the ecological car through design, so

that it could be identified as such on the street, but also build a new image for the owner

of the ecological car, different from the current typical car owner, so that it creates

desire among the consumers. In this way, would be possible the change of the powerful,

large and sophisticatedly accessorized car stereotype with the new ecological car that

should not be modest nor pretend to the consumer to make compromises. In building an

appropriate marketing strategy is essential to correctly segment the market in order to

identify the early adopters, but there is a need for more research regarding the consumer

in order to discover the behavioral model and values to be promoted in the

marketing communication towards these early adopters. Concerning the Romanian

consumer there need to be made studies that can identify his / her level of

concern towards the environment, that can assess the acceptance level for the

ecological innovation in the automobiles field on separate consumer segments and to

identify the affective and symbolic factors important to the Romanian consumer when it

comes to his / her car.

Ajoy and Kamble (2011)158

in their research article state that one of the most

important factors that influence purchase of passenger cars in India is the availability of

auto finance or consumer credit. This empirical study analyses the behavioral pattern

158

. Ajoy S Joseph and H Y Kamble, “Buying Behaviour of Passenger Car Customers Towards

Auto Finance – An Empirical Study” Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies,

New Delhi, 2011, Vol. II, No. 1, pp. 66 - 68

129

exhibited by passenger car customers towards auto loan schemes and financiers when

they purchase their cars. In their finding indicates that overall the most important three

factors considered by car purchasers while deciding auto finance company were less

processing time, easy documentation and explanation of the financing scheme by the

staff.

The studies reviewed above clearly indicated the importance of the customer

service quality among the automobile industries particularly passenger car. These

studies have made use of various parameters to measure the service related variables. It

can be noted that majority of these studies could establish their view on marketing of

car in isolation. However, it can not be denied that the level of satisfaction are strongly

influenced by the socio-economic background of the customers, and none of the studies

attempted to identify the extent of influence of these factors on the level of satisfaction

on the marketing of passenger cars. This study, apart from analyzing the behavior and

perception of the customers, would examine the extent of influence of socio-economic

background on the satisfaction levels of the customers. In this regard this is a maiden

attempt and exploratory in character. Through this, the study also contributes to the

existing literature.