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CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR OF

FASTRACK WATCHES

Final REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………

2. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND…………………………………………...

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3. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY…………………………………………………………..

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

A.DEFINITIONS…………………………………………………………………

B.BUYING DECISION PROCESS………………………………………………

5. AN OVERVIEW OF WRIST WATCH INDUSTRY………………………………..

6. COMPANY PROFILE OF FASTRACK…………………………………………….

7. STP ANALYSIS OF FASTRACK…………………………………………………..

8. MARKETING MIX OF FASTRACK………………………………………………..

9. CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF FASTRACK…………………………..

10. METHODOLOGY OF STUDY…………………………………………………….

11. ANALYSIS OF STUDY……………………………………………………………

12. RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………………………………...

13. REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………..

14. ANNEXURES………………………………………………………………………

1. ABSTRACT
The report focuses on attitudes and behavior on the concept of the youth’s buying behavior
towards Fastrack watches. Different consumers have got different decision making process. The
buyer’s ultimate goal is to buy the product of qualitative, quantitative with low/best affordable

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price. To identify different kinds of consumer buying behavior towards different wrist watches
and Fastrack, we have carried out survey of buying behavior of youth and different kind of
consumer behavior models, literature and theory of consumer behavior. Finally we analyzed and
concluded with research based on questionnaire of Fastrack watches at IBS Hyderabad. The
research has been conducted to understanding the various important factors effecting the buying
behavior patterns of consumers in particular the youth. The research findings could be used to
enhance the features of product which could ultimately lead to profitability of the company.

2. INTRODUCTION
Why studying consumer buying behavior?

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Fastrack brand mainly target youth segment. Youth is perhaps the most difficult demographic
group to communicate with. Not only they have a short attention span, they are also elusive in
media consumption, fickle in brand preference, and simply challenging to engage and entertain.
Marketers spend millions in marketing research every year trying to predict, or anticipate,
changing youth behaviors. With the continually proliferating choices of trendy watches, not only
does this group embrace technology at an early age, it quickly becomes the early adopters of all
new trends and convergent platforms. One can argue that whatever youth does today foreshadows
what older demographic groups will adopt in the near future. All this makes it extremely difficult
to understand and target their behaviors.

BACKGROUND

Consumer has been elated with the kind of reception they are getting from various companies
these days. The reason behind a drastic change in consumer behavior is because the consumer is
no more treated as a hire purchaser but, he is treated as the decider of the company’s fortune.
Companies or marketers cannot hire any fortuneteller to guess the consumer’s attitude. Guessing
or measuring the consumers attitude is not a cake walk but this is because predicting consumers
attitude is as tough as predicting consumer’s mind. Consumers are continuously choosing among
the various products though they are not aware of the products and usage, even though they are
intentionally purchasing the various new brands without any knowledge about the new products,
furthermore if new company enters into the market, for every consumer it is very difficult to
understand the features of the news products and this makes confusion among the consumers to
obtain the information. For example: If one local company enters into the market then to gain the
knowledge about the features of the new product, it will take long time for the consumers to
understand. The term ‘consumer’ can be described as a person who acquires goods and services
for self satisfaction and his often used to describe two different kinds of consuming entities: the
personal consumers and organizational consumers. The personal consumers buy goods and
services for his/her own use. In this context, the goods are bought for final use by individual, who
are organizational consumers, they encompasses for profit and not for profit business,
government agencies, institutions, all of them must buy products, equipment and services in order
to run their organization. The consumer will respond according to the product quality and
reliability, the fundamental understanding of products is necessary to understand the product
features, products reliability and product benefits. The consumer is the end user for the product;
consumers buy the products in market; in order to perform successful sales operations in the
market an effective distribution channel and networks are required for the organizations.
Distribution channels and networks play an important role in the consumer goods industry.
Consumer is the ultimate user of every product, without any consumer there is no market as such.
Every region wise the different consumers are using different kind of products. Every consumer
has their own tastes and preferences. So, every consumer’s opinions and preferences are different
from one another. The local marketers have good idea about, what the local consumers are using

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(region wise). For example: The south Indian food habits and tastes and preferences are different,
when compared to north Indian food habits. Hence we can deduce that direct marketing activities
have big impact on every consumer, because through direct marketing every company knows
about the behavior of every consumer in the market. Manufacturing companies, retailer and
suppliers do not have an idea about the consumer behavior in the local market. So, direct
marketing activities should be left to the local market leaders, because the local market leaders
have best idea of local market and local consumer behavior. This theory helps for the
organization and sub-organizations to know the consumer behavior in different market
environments, taste and preferences of the consumer behavior. McDonald’s would not have made
a big impact in the Indian market had it persisted with its U.S. product line that included beef
products, moreover, McDonald’s repositioned the brand as family-oriented and children-friendly,
catering the traditional Indian middleclass segment that finds pride in its family culture and is
especially conscious of childcare. So in this point of view Mc Donald’s have approached
differently, because they identified that, which they followed earlier that will not get good impact
on their business so, they immediately changed the business line to achieve the targets, thus, this
is one kind of business strategy to achieve the set goals in huge populated countries. For
perspective of globalization we can not change the system of tastes and preferences of
Consumers. The consumers mind is different from one another in according to the human
psychology, demographical differences, age & sex and to understand people needs. To assess the
influences of every consumer approach is different, in theory explained that consumer is treated
as decider of the company, what ever the product comes to the market, the consumer is the
ultimate purchaser for every product, some times the consumers are choosing, selecting and
going for family decision making to choose differently, in one point of time the consumers
differentiated and explained that they are going for personal and some of the them are using
products for profit. Demographical differences make new food habits for every consumer. The
example could be of two countries, wherein Chinese consumers are giving respect to traditional
and patriotic values; where as Indian consumers are more religious when they are using the
products. These are influences that make the consumer to purchase different products; mostly
those influences are more related to the physiological, demographical, social, cultural, economic,
family and business influences. According to Kotler, consumer behavior is the study of how
people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It is a subcategory of marketing
that blends elements from psychology, sociology, socio psychology, anthropology and
economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in
groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics,
and behavioral variables in an attempt to understand people needs. It also tries to assess
influences on the consumer from group such as family friends, reference groups, and society in
general. for example while consumers purchase the shoe, then they go for family decision,
comfort, satisfaction, price and quality. Every family member doesn’t have the same opinion to
buy the same product; different family members have different choice to buy the product. So, in
one family consumer behavior is different

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3. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to a better knowledge of consumer buying
behavior towards purchasing the Fastrack watches. The aim of the thesis is to find out the factors
influencing the youth in purchasing Fastrack watches.

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

4.a DEFINITION
Consumer-buying behavior according to Kotler is defined as “The buying behavior consumers –
individuals and house holds who buy goods and services for personal consumption.” the term
‘consumer’ can be described as a person who acquires goods and services for self satisfaction is
often used to describe two different kinds of consuming entities: the personal consumers and the
organizational consumers. The personal consumers buy goods and services for his/her own use.
In this context the goods are bought for final use by individual, who are organizational
consumers, encompasses for profit and not for profit business, government agencies, institutions,
all of them must buy products, equipment and services in order to run their organization. Peter
and Olson mention that interactions between the peoples emotions, moods, affection and specific
feelings is called consumer behavior, in other words in Environmental events which they
exchange ideas and benefits each is called consumer behavior. Buying behavior of people, who
purchase products for personal use and not for business purposes. The Physical actions of
consumers that can directly observe and measured by others, by influencing behavior profit can
be earned. The study of consumer behavior has evolved in early emphasis on rational choice to
focus on apparently irrational buying needs and the use of logical flow models of bounded
rationality. The latter approach has depended into what is often called the ‘information processing
model’. The information processing model regards the consumer as a logical thinker who solves
problem to make purchasing decision. Compares the four major approaches to create successful
inter-organizational relationships and integrates them into a single prescription for managing
important inter firm relationships. Service fails, in satisfying the customers and developing
customer loyalty over time in business to business markets. Webster and Wind famously
identified five buying roles, they are: 1. users 2. Influencer
3. Buyer 4. Decider and 5 Gatekeepers. Further categories have been suggested as the ‘initiator’,
and the ‘analyst’ and spectator. The product purchase decision is not always done by the user.
The buyer necessarily purchases the product. Marketers must decide at whom to direct their
promotional efforts, the buyer or the user. They must identify the person who is most likely to
influence the decision. If the marketers understand consumer behavior, they are able to predict
how consumers are likely to react to various informational and environmental cues, and are

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able to shape their marketing strategies accordingly. The consumer behavior influences are
follows: The consumer behavior influences in 3 aspects, they are acquiring, using and disposing.
The acquiring means that how the consumer spends money on the products, such as leasing,
trading and borrowing. Using means some of the consumers use the high price products and some
of the consumer sees the quality. Disposing is nothing but distribution, order or places a
particular product. By understanding consumer behavior deeply, different authors have given
different information about the consumer behavior, how consumer buys the products, it involves
five steps they are: need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase
decision and post purchase behavior, the marketer can pick up many clues as and how to meet the
buyer need and develop an effective program to support an attractive offer to the target market.
According to Kotler, the Consumers buying decision process is influenced by four steps those are
as follows: a. Types of consumer buying decision behavior: Consumer buying behavior decision-
making varies with the type buying decision. There are different types of buying behavior
decisions. b. Complex buying behavior: Consumers undertake complex buying behavior when
they are highly involved in purchase and complex buying behavior and perceive significant
difference among the brands. Consumers may be highly involved when the product are
expensive, risky, purchased in frequently and are highly expensive (Kotler, 1994). c. Dissonance:
Reducing buying behavior occurs when consumers are highly involved with an expensive,
infrequent or risky purchase, but sees little difference among various brands. d. Variety:
Consumers undertake variety seeking buying behavior in situations characterized by low
consumer involvement, but significant perceived brand difference. In such cases, consumers often
do a lot brand scrutiny.

4.b THE BUYING DECISION PROCESS

A. INTRODUCTION OF BUYING DECISION PROCESS

Consumers make many buying decisions every day. Mostly large companies do extensive
research on consumer buying decision, to answer questions like what does consumer buy, where
they buy, how they buy, how much they buy, when they buy and why do they buy a product, for
this question to reorganize the decision different stages needed they are, information search, and
evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase decision etc., The consumer
passes through all five stages with every purchase, but in more routine purchases, consumers
often skip or reverse some of these stages.

B. THE BUYING DECISION PROCESS

NEED RECOGNITION

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The buying process starts with need recognition, where as buyer recognize the need. The buyer’s
decision is depending on his/her internal & external stimuli of consumer behavior. The internal
and external stimuli of consumer behavior means that the consumer, which product should
purchase, how much wants to purchase and externally which products are more reliable and
usable. According to this internal and external stimuli’s the buyer will take the decision. The
consumers are searching the information from the various sources those are information search,
personal source, commercial sources, public sources and experimental sources; this is also
process of the buying decision process before purchase of the product.

INFORMATION SEARCH:

The consumer can obtain information from any of several sources, which includes:
Personal source: family, friends, neighbors, acquaintance etc.
Commercial sources: advertising, sales people, dealers, packaging, displays.
Public sources: mass media, consumer-rating organizations etc.
Experimental sources: handling, examining, using of the product.
Consumers receive most of the information about a product from commercial sources, which are
controlled by the marketer. The most effective source however tend to be personal. Personal
sources appear to be even more important in influencing the purchase.

C. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES:

The consumer evaluates all the alternatives available to him/her to arrive at a brand choice. The
consumer will see the product as a bundle of attributes with varying capacities, which satisfies his
or her needs. The consumer will pay more attention to those attributes connected with their needs.
The consumer is likely to develop a set of brand beliefs about, where each brand stands on each
attribute. These of beliefs held about the particular brand is known as brand image, according to
the beliefs and preferences of the consumer, evaluates the alternative products instead of using
existing products.

D. PURCHASE DECISION:

In the evaluation stage, the consumer ranks all the brands and makes a purchase intention.
Generally the consumer purchase decision is to buy the most preferred brand, when purchasing a
products, consumer will think about two things, which can be, purchase decision and purchase
intention. The attitude of others and unexpected situation factors both directly or indirectly
effects the consumer’s final decision to buy a particular brand.

E. POST PURCHASE BEHAVIOR:


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The buyers’ job does not end when the product is brought. After purchasing the product, the
consumer will be satisfied or dissatisfied and will be engaged in post purchase behavior. The
satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the purchase of a particular product depends on the relationship
between the consumer expectation and the consumer disappointment, if it meets the consumer
expectations, the consumer can get satisfied. And if it exceeds he/she is delighted.

5. WRIST WATCH INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW


Wrist Watches form an integral part of the personality of individuals in the present era. Earlier
seen as a luxury item, they are now witnessing a fundamental change in perception, and are now
gaining respect as an essential utility item. For the watch industry, time seems in its favor what
with the liberalization of the Indian market coupled with the rising purchasing power of the
young and consumerist Indians.
Indian watches market was for long dominated by public sector organizations like Hindustan
Machine Tools Ltd. (HMT) and Allwyn and has now left the pioneers far behind or nowhere in

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market by private sector enterprises like Titan, Sonata, Ajanta and Timex along with foreign
entities jostling for display space in the smallest of shops selling these products.
Before the establishment of HMT as the dominant player in the Indian markets initially, the
country was solely dependent on imports to meet the internal demand. However, establishment of
HMT as the leading player in the wrist watch segment in the 1960’s, changed the scenario.
In post liberalization India, the market stood to witness intensive competition between foreign
and Indian manufacturers like Timex, Titan, Movado, Longines, Rado, Rolex, Fréderique
Constant, Mont Blanc, Swatch, and many others. Many watch makers have made significant
inroads in the industry and others are in the process of establishing themselves, currently.
Besides this, buyers are extremely choosy about the brand and type of wrist watches they wear.
Being extremely brand conscious, their tastes have evolved over the years and have gone beyond
the realms of durability to choose in terms of aesthetics and elegance. Thus it is a buyers market
with multitude of designs that have entered and flooded the market place.
The size of the watch market currently is estimated to be around 40 to 45 million pieces annually.
The organized sector alone contributes up to 30 percent of this figure, and the rest of the demand
is being met by the unorganized grey sector. This data is significant indeed in view of the socio
economic distribution of the Indian populace. More than 58 percent of the population is under
twenty five and more than 80 percent of the population is below 45 years of age.
In dollar terms, the estimated annual market size is around USD 195 million, despite the fact that
the penetration of watches is the lowest, compared globally. Looking into this fact and the long
standing Indian tradition of comparing watches with jeweler and other traditional items, many
watch companies are interested in setting up base in India. The average growth in the size of the
market is slated to be around 10 -15 percent per year.
A casual study of the watch market reveals that it is segmented on basis of multiple proportions
such as price, benefits and types of watches. The price of the watches is a major motive in the
minds of the customer. Accordingly, three segments can be identified here, namely low priced,
medium priced, and high priced watches.
The lower priced segment consists of watches priced less than INR 1000; the medium price range
consists of watches in the INR 1000-3000 range and the high priced watches come in the INR
3000 upwards range. There are other higher categories as well such as the premium and luxury
range, but they appeal to only a small category of the watch market in India.
According to a recent study, more than 90 percent of the watches were from the lower price
ranges with international costs being less than 20 Euros. Moreover, around 20 to 25 watches are
being sold for every 1000 citizens. Thus there is enormous potential for growth of the industry in
this untapped segment. Some customers look out for features like fashion appeal, technology,
sophistication and status. Others go for durability, economy and precision.

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Many customers prefer mechanical and automatic watches, while others prefer quartz watches.
Newer segments are also on rise such as ladies watches, children’s watches and gent’s watches.
Customers usually base their preferences and buying decisions on a variety of factors like price,
durability, utility, aesthetic appeal and brand name. A combination of all these points ultimately
forms the customer’s buying decision that translates into the purchase of a watch.
The retail sector has just begun to boom in India. Since the early 1990’s, Indian customers are
relying more on departmental stores and shopping malls to purchase their wants and needs. This
has come as a boon for watch manufacturers and dealers, who are now looking forward to utilize
these new outlets to reach out to the Indian masses. Watch manufacturers are looking at a suitable
mix to market their products ranging from exclusive retail outlets to display sections in malls and
large departmental stores.
In the end, though India is still considered to be a difficult market to penetrate, due to reasons like
price sensitiveness and its largely unorganized sector. However, with the right planning and the
right partners and experienced collaborators, it is expected that both international and domestic
watch manufacturers will do well in the Indian markets.

6. COMPANY PROFILE: FASTRACK


BACKGROUND OF FASTRACK

Timex had entered the Indian market through a joint venture with Titan and which was
their offering for the youth market. When that JV broke off in 1997 and Timex went independent,
there was a gap in Titan’s portfolio and it only made sense to fill that need through their offering.
Fastrack was launched as a range of watch ware under Titan and was called Titan Fastrack.
Subsequently, it grew from a range to a sub-brand, where Titan was upfront in the logo and the
association was strong. They used the jazzy version of the Mozart tune, which is Titan’s signature
tune. So, the link with Titan was very strong. When they launched, they targeted predominantly

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the early jobber 23-30 year-old male executive. It was only a year or two later that they launched
a line for women.

RE-LAUNCH OF THE BRAND

They took off and did well in the start but started stagnating in 2001-2003, and that’s
when they went for a reality check. Titan had simultaneously launched the steel collection, which
was an attempt to contemporize for a Titan audience. But what was happening was the collection
in terms of looks, price point and consumer buying behavior was very similar to Fastrack,
including advertising. The parent brand needed to continue in its endeavor to keep it
contemporary and hence repositioned Fastrack to younger audience in sub-25 range.

Awareness of Fastrack was very low and was linked to Titan. There was no independent
identity. Research had also shown that the fact that it had the backing of Titan was a positive
assurance. However, kids didn’t like to be serious and sober like their parents. Fastrack needed to
break away and hence changed the logo to bring in a youthful, spontaneous, energetic and fun
identity and also removed Titan from the upfront association in the logo. They however, kept it at
the bottom, saying it’s a Titan product. This helped carry the assurance of the trusted Titan brand.
They also stopped using the Mozart tune in advertising.

Fastrack was launched with new products, a new identity, new advertising and a new logo
in June 2005. The year took off so well that they ran out of stock very quickly and ended the year
with a 150 per cent growth and the demand was growing continuously. Next year, they recorded
another 100 per cent growth.

When re-launch was started, Fastrack brand was worth about Rs 29 crore but however
they have grown almost ten times of that over the last three years. Fastrack has a presence in over
6000 outlets across 800 towns, with new exclusive brand kiosks in Metro Malls and its multi-
channel distribution network which covers the 228 strong World of Titan Network, 122 Large
Format Chain stores viz. Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Central, Westside, Pantaloons and Multi-
brand watch & optical outlets. Fastrack is actually among the few brands where people come
asking for the brand. They have adopted a fashion based strategy, where they launch about 3-4
collections in a year in both categories. Collection-based strategy has helped them very well.

It has been twin approach of constantly innovating on product design, yet being
affordable, and to reach out to consumers in a language that connects to them that led to their
success. It’s not your typical fashion brand talking down saying you must look cool and you must
look like me. With their advertising, they were able to relate to the youth in a setting they were
familiar with.

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Fastrack, in it’s journey to being a fashion accessories brand has expanded it’s portfolio to
now include not just watches and sunglasses but bags, belts, wallets and wristbands too. With
this, it now has enough categories to open a fashion accessories store – and that’s just what
they’ve done!

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STP Analysis

SEGMENTING: Wrist watch can be majorly segmented on the basis demographic factors
and price. On the basis price the market can be segmented into low priced, medium priced and
high priced. The low priced watches are priced less than Rs.1000, medium priced watches are
priced from Rs1000 to Rs.3000 and highly priced are priced above Rs.3000. Fastrack has
unveiled products in all the segments. The range of Fastrack watches is from Rs. 500 to Rs.4000.

On demographic grounds, the market could be segmented on the basis of age. The watches could
be targeted at kids, youth and middle aged people. Fastrack watches were launched to cater to the
needs of youth at first however it introduced watches for kids also later on. Hence

TARGETING:
Fastrack has products caters to the products in all the segments. The range of Fastrack watches is
from Rs. 500 to Rs.4000. Hence it is catering to all the three segments of low, medium and highly
priced segments. However more emphasis is laid on medium and high priced segments.

Collection Price range


Sport 2000-4000
Army 2000-3500
Adventure 1000-2000
Basics 500-1500
Grunge 1000-2500
Aluminum 500-1000
Color Play 1000-2000
Digital Fashion 500-2000
Essentials 1000-2500
Party 1500-3000
Pairs 3000-3500
Neon - Disc 1000-2500
Neon 500-1500
XY 1500-3000

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On demographic grounds, Fastrack watches were launched to cater to the needs of youth at first
however it introduced watches for kids also later on. Hence it is targeting both youth and kids
segments.

Collection Target
Sport Men only
Army Both men and women
Adventure Both men and women
Basics Both men and women
Grunge both men and women
Aluminum Women only
Color Play Women only
Digital Fashion Both men and women
Essentials Both men and women
Party Both
Pairs Pair
Neon - Disc Men only
Neon Men only
XY Both

POSITIONING:
Fastrack positions itself as both trendy and affordable range. These two attributes were usually
considered as two poles wide apart. Fastrack has taken the challenge of combining both the
features to offer a greater value proportion to its customers.

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MARKETING MIX OF FASTRACK:

PRODUCT AND PRICE:


There are a variety of collections of Fastrack watches specifically targeted to men and women.
Each product is includes a different set of features to meet the need of specific customers.

COLLECTION PRICE RANGE TARGET


Sport 2000-4000 Men only
Army 2000-3500 Both men and women
Adventure 1000-2000 Both men and women
Basics 500-1500 Both men and women
Grunge 1000-2500 Both men and women
Aluminium 500-1000 girls only
Colour Play 1000-2000 girls only
Digital Fashion 500-2000 Both men and women
Essentials 1000-2500 Both men and women
Party 1500-3000 Both men and women
Pairs 3000-3500 Pair
Neon - Disc 1000-2500 Men only
Neon 500-1500 Men only
XY 1500-3000 Both men and women

PROMOTION

• Advertising: advertising is in the form of television commercials. The company uses


youth icons to portray the trendy and funky look of the brand and to associate with it.

• Public displays also play an important role in promotion. The colorful and lively bill
boards play an important role in promotion.

PLACE

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• Channels: The product is sold at almost all the leading watch stores and shopping
malls. The company has also established branded stores and it is also available in
Titan stores.

• Coverage: the products are available all over India.

9. Consumer buying behavior: Fastrack watches


CULTURAL FACTORS
In India, Titan ahead of all other brands as the Most Admired Brand in India across all product
categories. It was also a fitting tribute to a brand, which had not only revolutionised the Indian
watch industry, but also brought in world-class benchmarks in product design, quality and
retailing into India. In 1998, it was Fastrack, the cool, trendy, funky range for the young and
young-at-heart. Since Indian population has positive outlook for titan it has influenced the
behavior of younger generation who are variety seeking.

SOCIAL CLASS
The age and stage of individual has a mojor influence on the buying behavior of consumer. The
youth in the range of age of fifteen years to mid thirties are generally attracted to the watches.
Friends and their peer group has a mojor influence on the purchase decisions of the youth.

ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES:

Economic circumstances do not play a major role in opting for Fastrack watches because
the target segment is youth and it offers an affordable range.

BRAND PERSONALITY
For Fastrack watches traits like Excitement and ruggedness can be attributed. Excitement
includes imaginative and being up to date while ruggedness sports outdoorsy and tough.

LIFESTYLE
A Fastrack watch generally attracts people with affluent lifestyle who are fashion
conscious.

For Fastrack watches traits like Excitement and ruggedness can be attributed. Excitement
includes imaginative and being up to date while ruggedness sports outdoorsy and tough.

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BUYING DECISION PROCESS OF CONSUMER FOR
FASTRACK WATCHES

• PROBLEM RECOGNITION: The buyer first and foremost identifies the reason
why he or she wants a particular product. In the case of Fastrack watches the need is
triggered by both internal and external stimuli. Internal stimuli are the need to keep track
of time while external stimuli are because of the peer group who are using the watch. In
the survey we have conducted many of them have responded that it as either a necessity or
a accessory.

• INFORMATION SEARCH: In order to reach a large audience Fastrack employs a


number of advertising and promotional campaigns. Fastrack has roped in John Abraham
as brand ambassador of the product at the beginning to portray the sporty nature of the
brand. The company has also roped in Aamir khan for army collection. The company uses
youth icons to portray the trendy looks of the watches. It also advertises aggressively in
internet, print media and television. Therefore it’s quite easy on the part of consumers to
make an informed decision regarding Fastrack watches by collecting data from various
sources of mass media and from family, friends etc. In the survey we have conducted
majority have responded that television and print media have major influence on their
purchase decisions.

• EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES: A consumer then evaluates various


alternatives based on the needs and information available to him. Fastrack through its
variety of variants is able to satisfy a number of needs of the consumers. Fastrack which is
always perceived as trendy and affordable watch has an edge over its competitors. Hence
Fastrack is one of the best alternatives who are looking for a trendy yet affordable watch.

• PURCHASE DECISION: There is a strong preference of Fastrack brand among


youth in both middle and upper. It would involve other sub decisions like timing, payment
method. All the Branded stores and shopping malls would be offering flexible payments
methods and flexible timings. In the survey conducted by us we have observed that
consumers preferred to buy the watches majorly in branded stores and shopping malls.

• POST PURCHASE BEHAVIOR: Since Fastrack has been able to deliver value
for money and satisfy the needs of consumers, it has been able to build a brand image for

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itself and win the loyalty of consumers. Hence many of the respondents have responded to
not only buy the Fastrack watch once again bit also to recommend the brand to their
friends and colleagues.

Thus above mentioned is the process which shows the different stages in consumer buying
behavior.

AWARENESS CONSIDERATIO CHOICE DECISI


TOTAL SET SET N SET SET ON
Fastrack Fastrack Fastrack Fastrack ?
Tommy
Hilfigure Taghure Timex Timex
Taghure Timex Titan
Timex Titan
Titan
Sonata

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10. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

A. INTRODUCTION:

The research methodology is a procedure of collecting data to find out purpose. The data
collection distinguished in secondary and primary data including description of the target
population, survey method, design of questionnaire and presenting and demonstrated finally, used
methods for the analysis and conclusion.

B. METHOD

As the types of method qualitative and quantitative researches are. Usually qualitative research is
supported by quantitative to describe the research object more precisely the research is focused
on quantitative method to get more attention on the purpose. Quantitative method is the analysis
of the complex collected data much due to the amount of information and the highly resource
demanding. Quantitative method of research provided insights into the problem and in
developing approach by generating relevant questions.

C. TYPES OF RESEARCH

The objective of descriptive research is to provide a description of various phenomenon’s


connected to individuals, situations or events that occur. The purpose might be to develop
empirical generalization. Once, such generalizations begins to appear, then they are worth
explaining, which might lead to theory development. Moreover, descriptive research is often used
when a problem is well structured and there is no intention to investigate cause/effect
relationship. The objective with explanatory research is to analyze cause-effect relationship,
explaining, because explanatory study is to develop a theory that could be used to explain the
empirical generalization that was developed in the descriptive stage. This provides a cycle of
theory construction, theory testing and theory reformulations, this research is descriptive research
which objective is that to get the accurate answers from the respondents Combination of items
from the frame of statistical explanation which quantifies the risk and thus enables an appropriate
sample size to be chosen, descriptive studies require a clear specification of who, what, when,
where, why, and how of the research.

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D. RESEARCH APPROACH

The Research can be divided into two categories


1. Deductive or inductive research
2. Qualitative and quantitative research of the study

The qualitative and quantitative methods refer to the way one chooses to treat and analyze the
selected data. Selectivity and distance to the object of research characterize a quantitative
approach, whereas a qualitative approach is characterized by nearness to the object of research.
Both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses and neither one of the approaches can be
held better than the other one. The best research method to use for a study depends on the study’s
research purpose and the accompanying research questions. There is one significant difference
between these two approaches. In the quantitative approach results are based on numbers and
statistics that are presented in figures in the qualitative approach, the focus lies on describing the
subject with the use of words, which approach to choose depends on the problem definition
together with what kind of information is needed. The two approaches are used as per their
suitability and also be used in combination.

E. POPULATION AND SAMPLE

The two definitions of population and sample: The whole number of people is called as
population. For example of ten millions known as population, whereas sample means a part of
anything presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the whole; a specimen;
as, goods are often purchased by samples. Data has been collected from the Icfai Business School
Hyderabad students who are master level students wearing Fastrack watches and not wearing
Fastrack watches. The students of Icfai Business School Hyderabad has got students across the
country from all the states of india. The students were randomly selected 150 of 2000 students of
Icfai Business School Hyderabad participated in interviews. All the students responded towards
the questionnaires about the wrist watch products differently, mostly the youth have participated
in the research, as far as research is concern more about utility theory and reality of buying
behavior of youth. This research is useful for further research in the subject area. The research
came out with the new ideas in consumer behavior when they are purchasing the watch products
in the market.

F. INSTRUMENT TO COLLECT THE DATA.

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For the acquisition of data a questionnaire is used for standardizing the data and allowing and
easy comparison. Instrument to collect the data, questionnaires used to get the data from the
students. The primary data which helps for the research to do more effective research of the
study, when talking about secondary data: there to investigate the demand on which the consumer
behavior is based, thus it was decided. Primary data collection includes both in-depth interviews
with ICFAI Business School Hyderabad. It is applied randomly in the way of simple and straight
forward questionnaire. Questionnaires are close ended, multiple and moreover covering with
research questions as well the subject related. The questionnaires were asked deeply to do the
research more effective and efficient. (All questionnaires included in the Appendix) Secondary
data can be usually collect quickly compared to primary data. The data are source materials that
have been collect for the study. Secondary data is derived from sources like internet, online
internet articles, journals and other online databases home site of Fastrack and other marketing
management, consumer behavior books and consumer behavior literature books.

G. RESEARCH VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY

To optimize the validity of this research, some early steps have been handled carefully, when
interviewed in person by contacting them personally, still list the question guideline to direct me
in collecting information’s more effective. To ensure the reliability further checked the data,
especially the figures repeatedly to ensure the source accuracy. We have tried our best to reduce
the limitation, primary data and secondary data furthest. When finished the whole work, we also
recheck everything again to make the research more reliable.

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ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY

Introduction: In the analysis part, first the graphical representation of different questionnaires and
description after that presenting the empirical analysis of the study, the questionnaires the way is
used more scientifically and very straight and deep questions, which are very easy to get the
answers from the students, which are very positive and appropriate answers from the respondents.
1. A watch to you is?

For the question we separated men and women to know deeper information from the youth
consumers. A total of 282 students participated in the survey. Among them 150 were men and
rest of 1328 were women.
Males: For this question all of the 150 men have responded of which

Description:
Majority of the male customers have responded that they viewed a wrist watch an absolute
necessity. Secondly they responded it to be an accessory. Some of them responded it to be both
an accessory and a style statement. A relatively few people responded with other in which they
felt it to be a
Women for these question 132 women have responded as follows.

Description:

24
In contrast to the men’s view of wrist watch as a necessity majority of the women felt it as an
accessory. Secondly they felt it to be a necessity. Same as men many of them felt it to be both an
accessory and a style statement.
2. In your view, what key features does a watch need to have?

For this question also we have grouped the responses of men and women differently so that
improvements could be specifically targeted.

MEN:

Description

For this question majority of men have responded that they are looking trendy looks than any
other feature. After trendy looks they are more conscious about the price. And then we were
looking for digital and analog features. A relatively few people responded that they wanted after
sale services.

Women:

25
For this question, women also responded that they were looking for trendy looks inline with men.
Then they were looking for digital and analog functions and then conscious about price. And then
they looked for after sale services.

3. Do you prefer branded watches to unbranded watches?

This question has been included to know if branding influences the purchase decision of the
consumers.

Men:

For this question 81% of men responded that they preferred branded watches to unbranded
watches. Hence we can deduce that there is a wide scope for branded watches.

Women:

Description:

26
For this question 73% of women have responded that they would prefer branded watches to
unbranded watches. Some of them responded as can’t say as it would depend upon their mood
and specific conditions prevailing at that point of time. Hence we can see from this also that
branded watches have a huge scope.

4. Where do you prefer to buy a watch?

This question has been included to know the places where customers prefer to make their
purchases.

Men:

Description:

65% of men have responded that they would like to buy their watch from a branded store
followed by shopping malls by 23% and then local stores by 11%.

Women:

27
Description:

54% of women have also responded that they would like to buy their watch from a branded store
followed by shopping malls 27% and then by local stores.

5. How often do you change your watch?

This question has been included to know about the usage rate of watches among youth.

Men:

Description:

45% of men liked to change their watches in one to three years 23% liked to change it three to
five years 17% liked to change their watch in less than one year and then 15% they liked to
change their watch in greater than five years.

Women:

Description:

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36% of women wanted to change their watches in less than one year 30% liked to change their
watch in one to three years 25% liked to change their watch in three to five years. Lastly a
relatively small percentage 9% of people preferred to change it in more than five years.

6. The amount of rupees you wish to spend on buying a new watch?

This question in included to know the spending pattern of youth on wrist watches. This would
give insights to know more about the spending patterns and company could try to include more
variety in the particular range.

Men:

Description:

56% of the men have responded that they would prefer to buy in thousand to three thousand
ranges. It is followed by 20% of three to five thousand ranges and then less than thousand range
of 13% and lastly in greater than five thousand range 11%.

Women:

29
Description:

46% of the women have also responded that they would prefer to buy in thousand to three
thousand ranges. It is followed by 39% of three to five thousand range and then greater than five
thousand range 10%and lastly in less than thousand range 5%.

7. What additional features do you mostly prefer in a watch?

This question is included to learn about the further improvements that could be made to the watch
series.

Men:

Description:

60% of men have responded that date and year function as other features they would like to
prefer to have in their wrist watch. It is followed 29% by night glow feature. Thirdly they
preferred to have other features like MP3 player, stop watch, lap time etc. A small number of
people responded to prefer yatchmeter in their watch.

Women:

30
Description:

42% women of our sample 282 have responded that night glow feature as the preference other
feature they would like to prefer to have in their wrist watch. It is followed by date and year
function by 28%. 17% preferred to have yatchmeter in their watch. A small number of people
13% responded to prefer other features like MP3 player, stop watch, lap time etc.

8. As per you, what is the most effective medium of advertisement for a wrist watch?

Men:

54% of men feel television is the effective medium of advertisement followed by print media
21%, internet 7% and public display18%

Women

31
37% of women feel print media is the effective medium of advertisement followed by television
21%, internet 7% and public display18%

9. What influences you to buy a particular wrist watch?

Men:

Description:

34% men were influenced by advertisements. 34% are influenced by their peer group and friends
and then 23% by other factors such as their personal choice, situational factors etc. Lastly they
were 14% influenced by family.

Women:

32
Description:

46% women are influenced by friends. 27% were influenced by their advertisements and then
21% by family. Lastly they were 6% influenced by other factors such as their personal choice,
situational factors etc.

10. Which brand do you use now?

Men:

Description:

54% of the men were using Fastrack watches. It is followed by 27% Tommy Hilfigure, 10%
Taghuer and 9% by other brands which included Titan, Timex, Casio, Espirit and some local
brands. Many of the men were using more than one watch of different brands.

33
Women:

Description:

61% of the women were using Fastrack watches. It is followed by 27% other brands which
included Titan, Timex, Casio, Espirit and some local brands and then Taghuer 7% and Tommy
Hilfigure 5%. Many of the women were also using more than one watch of different brands.

11. Have you used Fastrack watch?

Men

Description:

79% of men have used Fastrack watches at some point of time.

Women

34
Description:

68% of women have used Fastrack watches at some point of time. Comparatively less number
has used than men.

12. How do you perceive Fastrack watches?

Men:

Description:

51% of men perceived Fastrack watches as trendy. It is followed by 27% affordable and then
19% value of money. A relatively small 3% of people have perceived them as unaffordable.
Many of them have responded to this question as being both trendy and affordable.

35
Women:

Description:

50% of women have also perceived Fastrack watches as trendy. It is followed by 42% affordable
and then 8% for value of money. None of the women have perceived them as unaffordable. Many
of them have responded to this question as being both trendy and value for money.

13. How likely is it you would recommend Fastrack watch to your friends and colleagues

Men

Description:

55% of men responded to recommend it fairly to their friends and colleagues. Followed by 27%
strong recommendation and then by 18% recommending sometimes. None of them responded to
refer it never.

Women

36
Description:

51% of women responded to recommend it strongly to their friends and colleagues. It followed
by 38% of fair recommendation and then 9% of recommending sometimes. A relatively small 3%
of women responded to refer it never.

14. How likely is that you buy a Fastrack watch in your next buy?

Men:

Description:

37
43% of men responded to buy a Fastrack watch in their next buy as fairly. It followed by 29%
strong will to buy and then 20% by sometimes. 9% of them also responded to re-buy it never.

Women

Description:

51% of women responded to buy a Fastrack watch in their next buy as strongly. It followed by
43% fairly and then 6% by sometimes. None of them responded to re-buy it never.

15. Which type of strap do you prefer in your watch?

Men:

Description:

38
51% of men responded to have a leather strap. It followed by 42% steel strap and 5% by gold
plated strap. Rest 2% of them responded to have other type of straps like plastic, cloth type,
Velcro type material etc.

Women:

Description:

40% of women have also responded to have a leather strap. It followed by 39% steel strap and
5% by gold plated strap. Rest 16% of them responded to have other type of straps like plastic,
cloth type, Velcro type material etc.

RECOMMENDATION
Based on the above study we would like to recommend Fastrack to target the market with
new variants of watches on regular basis as many of them feel the Fastrack as trendy in order to
increase the market share. Fastrack has to increase its branded stores from its current 4 stores as
most of the people like to buy the wrist watches in branded stores only. In addition to these
Fastrack should add new features like display of date and day in more variants of analog watches.
Fastrack should use television, print media and start some brand magazine for there
advertisements and to keep there existing customers update of any new variants of watches as
around 50% of people would like to change there watches in less than 3years. Most important
point is around 60% of people would like to recommend others to buy Fastrack and around 48%
of people like to buy Fastrack in there next buy. The above type of advertisements can help
Fastrack to improve the loyalty customer base. As the positioning of Fastrack targeted trendy,
affordable ranges in youth segment and it is been accepted by most of the people but they would
like to have more and more variants and features in this segment

39
Following recommendations are the key features to be added and improvements for Fastrack

 New trends year on year

 More brand showrooms

 More no of variants in the price range of Rs1000 - Rs3000

 Date and day display option for boys

 Night glow option for girls

 Promotions in televisions and print media

 More variants in leather and steel strap

 Providing special offers for the loyal customers

References:
1. www.fastrack.in

2. Aaker A., Kumar, V., Day, G.s., (1997): Marketing Research., John wiley and Sons Inc.,P.
776.

3. A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin and Beverly A. Drinnien 1987 Online article of


Maslow’sHierarchy Needs of Consumer Behavior. West Publishing Company, New York.

4. Baker, M.(2002)., "A Composite Model of Buyer Behaviour", Journal of ConsumerBehavior,


Vol.1 (1), pp.85-109.

40
5.Babin, B. J., Darden, W. R., & Griffin, M. 1994. Work and/or Fun: Measuring Hedonic and
Utilitarian Shopping Value. Journal of Consumer Research, 20(4): 644-656.

6. Bovee, c. L., Thill, J.V., (1992): Marketing. McGraw-ill, Inc., P. 761.

7. Philip Kotler, Abraham Koshy (2009): Marketing Management, Pearson Education., p.154,
159-165

ANNEXURES
Questionnaire
Name: _________________ Age: _______Gender: ___________Mobile No:
__________________

Please provide your valuable and unbiased views to make our project analysis in
more effective way

1. A watch to you is

A. Necessity B. Accessory

41
C. Style D. other

2. In your view, what key features does a watch need to have?

A. Trendy looks B. Digital & Analog combined

C. Price D. After sales services

3. Do you prefer branded watches to unbranded watches?

A. Yes B. No C. Can’t say

4. Where do you prefer to buy a watch?

A. Branded stores B. Online

C. Shopping Malls D. Local store

5. Which type of strap do you prefer in your watch?

A. leather Strap B. Steel Strap

C. Gold plated Strap D. others______________

4. How often do you change your watch?

A. Less than one year B. 1-3 years

C. 3-5 years D. Greater than 5 years

6. The amount of rupees you wish to spend on buying a new watch?

A. Less than 1000 B.1000-3000

C. 3000-5000 D. More than 5000

7. What additional functions do you mostly prefer in a watch?

A. Night-glow B. Date & year Function

C. Yatch meter D. Others____________________

8. As per you, the most effective medium for the advertisement for a wrist watch

A. Print Media B. Television

C. Internet D. Public Display

9. What influence you to buy a particular wrist watch?

42
A. Family B. Friends

C. Advertisements D. Other __________________

10. Which brand of watch do you use?

A. Fastrack B. Taghuer

C. Tommy Hilfigure D. Other _________________

11. Have you used Fastrack watch?

A. Yes B. No

12. How do you perceive Fastrack Watches?

A. Trendy B. Affordable

C. Unaffordable D. Value for money

13. How likely is it you would recommend Fastrack watch to your friends and
Colleagues

A. Strongly B. Fairly

C. Sometimes D. Never

14. How likely is that you buy a Fastrack watch in your next buy?

A. strongly B. Fairly

C. Not sure D. Never

15. Which type of strap do you prefer in your watch?

A. leather Strap B. Steel Strap

C. Gold plated Strap D. others______________

43

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