Indian Journal of MARKETING

VOLUME : XXXIX Rs. 100/-

NUMBER : 4

APRIL, 2009

In This Issue

Managing New Products Successfully: A Strategic Imperative Brand Positioning: The Unbeatable Weapon in Present Marketing Scenario Asian Paints: Changing Rules of The Game

Corporate Customer Behavior & Indian Hardware Market (With Special Reference to HCL Infosystem Ltd.) Customer Satisfaction of Nokia Mobile Handset Users

Role of Co-operative Banks In Catering To The Credit Needs Of Rural Masses Assessing International Heritage Tourist Satisfaction in India Rajeev Kumar Ranjan

Saloni Pawan Diwan Prof. M.K Jain Rushina Singhi Dewyani Kawale Yogesh Chaudhari Dr. T. Koti Reddy Soumya Kanti Sarkar

J. V. Rangeswara Reddy

Nidheesh K. B.

Dr. Manish Srivastava INDIAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING MESSAGE OF DR. KULBHUSHAN CHANDEL - EDITORIAL ADVISOR

India has observed radical changes in last two decades. It can be attributed to our strong basic fundamentals and the era of Globalization and Liberalization.It is evident that a large number of multinationals have made inroads into the Ind ian economy. India has become a favorite destination for out-sourcing as well as Foreign Direct Investments. The best way of transforming a nation to comply wit h the recent requirements is to focus mainly on science and technology. We still have to do a lot to progress in basic technologies. We are aping the technology of the west whereas, the west is using Indian talent/brain to develop fundament al technologies. There is a great need to emphasize upon continuous research and developmental efforts. All these imply the need for continued SWOT analysis of economy and industry, information sharing, strategic planning and preparedness t o implement. Indian Journal of Marketing is well achieving its objective of brid ging the gaps between academia, industry and policymakers. It seeks to provide a forum to the researchers, academia, industry, policymakers and students to shar e their viewpoint and to access the results of various research areas of interes t having strategic implications. Thus, the selected research papers and articles focus on various challenging issues and I hope that our readers would find them fructuous. Lastly, the suggestions and comments of our esteemed readers and experts are alw ays welcome. I hope that they shall continue to provide their valuable suggestio ns that enable us to meet our objective to maintain the academic standard of the Journal-Indian Journal of Marketing. Last but not the least, I am grateful to Indian Journal of Marketing for their i ndispensable efforts of laying the foundation for this endeavor and making it a great success. Dr. Kulbhushan Chandel From the Editor's Desk We bring to you the April 09 issue of Indian Journal of Marketing. We extend a v ery warm welcome to Dr.Kulbhushan Chandel in the Editorial Board of Indian Journ al of Marketing.Dr Chandel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Commer ce, H.P University, Shimla,Himachal Pradesh. Specializing in Marketing, Dr.Chand el is a committed author as well as a distinguished academic and altruist. He ha s published 19 research papers on Marketing in reputed national and internationa l journals and has contributed several well- researched articles in Indian Journ al of Marketing. Quality has been the hallmark of Indian Journal of Marketing. Even in the face o f pressing inflationary concerns, we never took any half measures with the quali ty of the journal. Apart from printing distinguished articles, we lay a special emphasis on the quality of the paper used in our journal. This paper comes from the house of Ballarpur Industries limited (BILT), which is India's largest paper company and the only Indian company to rank amongst the top 100 paper companies in the world. This paper has precedence over the others of its kind as it has a longer shelf life, is non-toxic, is environment friendly, has exceptional white ness and the least amount of opacity among its peers. We also feel proud to inform our readers that we have increased the number of pa ges of Indian Journal of Finance from 40 to 56 pages. In order to maintain the p aramount quality of the journals, we have increased the annual subscription amou nt of Indian Journal of Marketing and Indian Journal of Finance to Rs.1000 after a substantial amount of time. We acknowledge the authors for contributing well-researched and innovative paper

s for the journals and extend our thanks to all of our readers and patrons for t heir unending support and patronage. Mrs. S. Gilani Editor Indian Journal of Marketing Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 1 Indian Journal of MARKETING VOLUME : XXXIX 00/Editor Mrs. S. Gilani Editorial Board : C O N T E N T S Prof. V. Shekhar M. Com., M.B.A., Ph.D. Dean, Faculty of Management, Osmania University, Hyderabad Dr. R. Vijayakumar Head, Department of Commerce Government Arts College, Udagamandalam, The Nilgir is, Tamil Nadu Dr. D.N.S. Kumar Associate Dean Alliance Business School Bangalore, Karnataka Dr. Kulbhushan Chandel Assistant Professor Department of Commerce Himachal Prade sh University Shimla, Himachal Pradesh Mr. P. K. Mittal MBA (Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi) Managing Director eMIT Peripherals Pvt. Ltd. Noida, Uttar Pradesh Assistant Editor Meenakshi Sawhney Subscription Manager Meenakshi Gilani Senior Manager Deepak Sawhney Copy Editor Priyanka Gilani The views expressed by individual contributions in Indian Journal of Marketing a re not necessarily endorsed by the Management. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may by reproduc ed or distributed in any form or by any means without the prior written permissi on of the publisher. ISSN 0973-8703 Managing New Products Successfully: A Strategic Imperative Brand Positioning: The Unbeatable Weapon in Present Marketing Scenario Asian Paints: Changing Rules of The Game NUMBER : 4 APRIL, 2009 Rs. 1

Corporate Customer Behavior & Indian Hardware Market (With Special Reference to HCL Infosystem Ltd.) Customer Satisfaction of Nokia Mobile Handset Users Role of Co-operative Banks In Catering To The Credit Needs Of Rural Masses Assessing International Heritage Tourist Satisfaction in India Rajeev Kumar Ranjan 3

Saloni Pawan Diwan Prof. M.K Jain

Rushina Singhi Dewyani Kawale Yogesh Chaudhari Dr. T. Koti Reddy Soumya Kanti Sarkar

14

21

J. V. Rangeswara Reddy

33

Nidheesh K. B.

39

Dr. Manish Srivastava 49 All disputes are subject to Delhi Jurisdiction only. All correspondence relating to circulation and advertisement may be address ed to:INDIAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING Y-21, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016 (India) Phone : 01 1-42654857, 011-32547238 Url : http://www.indianjournalofmarketing.com Email : editor@indianjournalofmark eting.com meenakshi.gilani@indianjournalofmarketing.com Indian Journal of Marketing is published monthly and is available against subscr iption only. Subscription Rates for Individuals/Institutions : One year - Rs. 1000/- Two years - Rs. 1900/- Three years - Rs. 2800/- Five years - Rs. 4600Back Issues (2000-2007) - Rs. 800/- per year International Rates - US $ 70 per year

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

Managing New Products Successfully: A Strategic Imperative Win their hearts. Win their minds. *Rajeev Kumar Ranjan At the outset, we must accept without doubt that we are an emotional people. The truth is that we all sit somewhere on the emotional rational continuum, which o f course need not be a bad thing. In recent decades, advertising has dropped sim ple descriptions of a brand's benefits in favor of emotional appeals-celebratory anthems, humorous situations and intimate moments are now more common i n TV spots than product demonstrations. The basis for this trend is entirel y valid: If consumers connect with an ad emotionally, they are more likely to he ar a brand message. A meta-analysis of eight advertising research studies conduc ted by The Center for Emotional Marketing shows that advertising which provokes a strong emotional response along with providing sufficient product information often proved successful. The results, across a range of consumer product categor ies from food and health and beauty to automotive and technology show that purel y emotional marketing does build business because such advertising connects with consumers, but provided the product meets and exceeds the expectations of the c onsumer. Globalization has thrown upon major challenges to the process of new pr oduct management. With competition getting stiffer day by day and product life c ycles shortening very fast, there is an urgent need to find out alternative ways to manage the innovative products effectively in the crowd of me too products. So the company should strive for managing innovation through global customer centr icity, global customer loyalty and mass customization. The customer brand loyalt y may be said to be a function of the following: Perceived value derived from the brand. Consistent customer satisfaction over repeated usage. Formation of affective /emotional bonds with the brand. Customer brand loyalty = f (PV, cs, ab) Where, PV= Perceived value; cs = customer satisfaction; and ab = affective bonds. New Product development is the process of designing, building, operating, and ma intaining a new good or new service. New product development ensures that the cu stomer's voice is not lost in the rush to develop an exciting technology. Produc t development adds things like pricing, marketing, and customer support to the t echnology to create a complete product. Product development is performed by a mu lti-disciplinary team whose goal is building, operating, and maintaining the pro duct. In the present scenario, one of the most potent weapons to manage innovati ve products is to use emotional marketing that is, the marketers have to connect themselves with customers by creating strong emotional bonds. Purchasing is a c omplex phenomenon, influenced by various considerations to select a particular b rand of product. Besides the availability of various brands of products, it also aggravates and complicates the act of purchasing as it involves the decision of the entire family. The Pre-purchase analysis covers the three heads. 1. Sources of information for selecting a particular brand. 2. People involved in the buying decision. 3. Purpose of buying a product. Table 1 : Sources of information for selecting a particular Brand

* Lecturer, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Energy Acres, P.O. Bidho li via-Premnagar, Dehradun-248007. E-mail : ranjanrajeev87@rediffmail.com Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 3 Out of the total sample of 100 respondents, emotional appeal was the most import ant source for selecting a brand followed by advertisements. The biggest misconception in branding strategies is the belief that branding is a bout market share when it's about mind and emotions shared. Marc Gobe (Proposed the concept of Emotional Branding) Over the past decade, the world has been moving from an industrially driven econ omy towards a people driven economy that puts the consumer in the seat of power. Consumers around the world are very intelligent and knowledgeable. They are ver y clear about their needs and benefits they require from the product .As we know that innovative products are engines to growth and profitability, hence practit ioners ,consultants and academicians have developed a keen interest in product i nnovation and its management. Out of the box approach and unprecedented performa nce in product innovation in companies like Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Unileve r Limited, Perfetti etc is the outcome of adopting a disciplined and systematic approach to product innovation and its development. For e.g. HUL have been able to manage its huge product mix successfully using the emotional marketing. To co nvince the consumer towards the new product is a tedious work for the product ma nager. In such a situation, emotions can play a vital role in the brand acceptan ce and in creating loyalty for the product. By 'emotion' we mean a mental state of readiness that arises from cognitive apprais als of events and thoughts. Using emotions for managing the product globally can help the company to gain competitive advantage because the philosophy and proce ss of managing a product globally has undergone a sea change. New concepts are b eing implemented to manage the innovative products globally. For gaining competi tive advantage in the market, it is not necessary to limit the focus only on tra ditional marketing but it should have an enlarged scope looking after other effe ctive ways and means. Emotional marketing is one of the means which can be used to gain first mover competitive advantage in the market. So, in a nutshell, this paper is an attempt to find out the role of emotions in managing a global product and how can an organization gain competitive advantage in the market using emotion as one of the attribute in managing an innovative p roduct. You cannot solve a problem on the same level that it was created. You have to ris e above it to the next level Albert Einstein EMOTIONS DEFINED (FOUR APPRAISAL CLASSES) Emotion, as already discussed, is a mental state of readiness that arises from c ognitive appraisal of events and thoughts. Appraisal theorists maintain that the critical determinant of any emotion is the resultant evaluation and interpretat ion that arises after comparing an actual state with a desired state. Two apprai sal theories at the stage of emotion formation are: Goal relevance Goal congruence. (Lazarus 1991) A description of appraisal theory is relevant for marketing in the treatment of a goal. Outcome desire conflict: An outcome desire conflict happens when one fails to ac hieve a goal or when one faces an unpleasant event. The most common emotional re action is disappointment, anger, shame, guilt, and regret depending on the sourc e of goal failure. Outcome desire fulfillment: It takes place when one achieves a goal, experiences a pleasant situation or avoids unpleasant event. The common emotional reaction may be satisfaction, joy, elation, pride, and relief depending on the source of goal fulfillment. The remaining two classes go on with the planned outcome. Outcome desire avoidance: It happens in anticipation of unpleasant outcomes or g

oals. The common emotional reactions are fear, worry, anxiety, and distress .So the consumer wants to avoid undesirable outcomes. Outcome desire pursuits: It happens in anticipation of pleasant goals or outcome s. The emotional response may be to realize or facilitate the outcome attainment and to sustain ones' commitment. So, the above mentioned four theories of appraisal classes help in reducing the cognitive dissonance and also help the management of innovative products as per the prevailing conditions. PRODUCT INNOVATION (KEY TO SUCCESS) 'Innovation' encompasses the entire process, from idea to implementation, for th e development of new products, 4 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

services, methods, management practices and policies. The word "innovation" is o ften synonymous with the outcome of the process, but should not be confused with "invention. A constant attempt at innovation, both in terms of product and servi ce, holds the key for success of business in a competitive world, where consumer satisfaction is the main mantra. Innovation is not only about developing a prod uct or service from scratch, but it is also about adding new features or value t o an existing product or service. Innovativeness helps the organization in impro ving customer responsiveness and leading generally to more market share. Current market conditions have made it compulsory for the organizations to unlearn, lea rn and relearn new things (either concept, process, techniques) for the survival in turbulent times. Organizations across the world have focused on innovation i n order to achieve the competitive advantage required for creating and sustainin g growth. Companies soon realized that without innovation, the company can face the possibility of extinction from the market. Innovation means delighting the c onsumer by offering them extra in the product which the competitor is not offeri ng. It should be noted that the innovations and the risk associated with them are pr oportional. INNOVATION a RISKS INVOLVED Increasing the level of effective risk-taking, initiative and innovation in an o rganization is not a short-term process. Risk inclination and risk tolerance are core elements of an organization's culture. It is part of what defines the orga nization. But it can be gradually changed by implementing the certain steps, bei ng consistent in emphasizing the importance to the organization of taking though tful risks and by rewarding initiative ,innovation can be fruitful. Scott Bedbury, who was the head of advertising at Nike for seven years, in the 1 990s said that the key to Nike's success was its willingness to embrace a culture of screw-ups. It really does learn from its mistakes. An insightful comment abou t Nike, which is one of the most successful and innovative companies of our time . EMOTIONS IN INNOVATIONS (THE WAYAHEAD) Innovation is about emotions as it is about logic. It is about intuition as much as it is about analysis. The paper tries to demystify the belief that innovatio n is an elitist activity that involves serious analysis and logic. Creativity is not the domain of marketers alone. It is embedded in each of us. Democratize inn ovation this is the challenge of leaders. The company should begin by understandi ng that people are emotional creature's first, rational beings second. While the competitors are busy pumping out boring and rational, or over-the-top self-focu sed marketing, one can be touching to prospects where it counts. When people rea lize that you get it about their pain or passion, you've created an emotional conn ection that goes beyond mere words. How you determine what that emotional connec tion is, and how and why it works, is at the heart of this lively and informativ e paper. Armed with an understanding of emotional marketing, simple tactics and some down- to-earth truths, you'll make wiser and less painful marketing choices . Feelings play a predominant role here. Here, the utility is derived from the f eelings or affective states that a product generates. A consumer brushes his tee

th with Colgate everyday, not only because he gets good value for money, is sure that his teeth are well-protected, but primarily because, he has literally grow n up using that brand and thus is emotionally tied to the brand. In a mad world, marketers are often caught in a frenzy to deliver today. That ma kes the entire marketing process clinical. It is not enough to capture the heads an d minds of people; the company needs to get people's hearts as well. Add intuiti on to logic and analysis. And fill the brim with emotions! Marketers must be emo tional. That's the heart of marketing. Involvement and emotions also help an orga nization to understand the consumer better; consumer insight as it is called. It also awakens the old and the known. Generally, most researchers regard TV as th e perfect vehicle to showcase the factual benefits of products and services as l ong as that is the intention of the advertiser, which is not always the case. Ka y (1997) states Advertising is about managing the gap in information . On the basi s of the explored literature, the following propositions are proposed: P1: TV is the best medium to reach the market. P2: Consumers are generally dissatisfied from TV advertisements. P3: Consumers expect more information from advertisements and clearer to the poi nt, rational messages. P4: There are some common emotional patterns in the market in watching and reach ing to TV advertisements. P5: There is no need for TV advertisements to treat emotions separately but it i s essential to acknowledge their importance. Emotions are more closely associated with temporary and instinctual physiologica l reactions and emotional benefits are usually attached to specific elements of a brand and to the brand itself as a whole. Therefore, Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 5 companies must constantly be on the lookout for customer's expectations, feeling s and customer ideas. "Citizens are demanding greater accountability, improved service, greater openne ss, enhanced accomplishments and, above all, results." These demands have heightened the pressures on managers in the government to be more innovative personally, and to promote innovation and risk-taking behavior a cross their organizations. Product innovativeness and its management depend heav ily on advertisements as the features have to be communicated to the end consume rs. For this, the use of emotions can prove to be a potent tool in product manag ement. As per a survey, it was found that 54% of the respondents found emotions in adve rtisements sometimes a source of product management effectiveness.35% of the res pondents found emotions in advertisements often a source of product management e ffectiveness. 6% responded that emotions are not at all effective in product man agement effectiveness. A majority of the respondents agreed that the companies tend to overspend on adv ertisements rather than adding or improving the innovativeness of the product.

Always

The modern marketing is customer focused which has developed the modern customer not only as a user, but also has offered him an opportunity to convey his needs

and expectations from the products. This helped the innovators visualize and bu ild a product which meets customer needs .Moreover, with the globalization and l iberalization in the Indian economy, emotions in innovation has come as an icing on the cake. Anyone who wants to build a great brand first has to understand who they are. The real starting point is to go out to the customers and find out what they like o r dislike about the brand and what they associate as the core of the brand conce pt. Scott Bedburry (Head Advertising, Nike) During the innovation process, customer information becomes crucial as the information can be adopted by the company, wh ich can be used in three different ways: The product is designed for users meeting their expectations. The users are involved in the innovation process. In the third method, the company asks the user's questions like what the product should look like and how they would use it. After the innovation, the management of the product becomes essential so that th e brand is accepted in the market. Since the product is made keeping in mind the customer expectations, so the delivery of the changes and brand association bec omes very important. In such a scenario, emotional marketing calls for a long te rm commitment to a customer's relationship, which needs top to bottom support. T he goal of emotional marketing is to develop an enduring connection with each cu stomer that nurtures loyalty and results in repeat purchases. Emotion based mark eting principle provides a powerful tool for competitive advantage and incorpora ting strategies that are almost impossible to replicate. As marketers, the organ izations have gone from marketing products to building a total customer experien ce. To remain competitive, marketing must try to win the heart of potential buye rs. In business, we have heard over and over again that people make buying decis ions emotionally. If the companies wish that consumers should buy from them, the n the consumers should be persuaded into action through appeals. So, the marketi ng communications must assure two things: Get the attention of the consumer. Make the prospect curious enough to respond. INNOVATIVE PRODUCT FAILURES It's hard for any new product to gain marketplace acceptance. Most studies estim ate new product failure rates at 6 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

50% or more. But it's particularly challenging if a product is highly innovative -a really new product that revolutionizes an existing product category or defines a new category. Although such products may suffer from a firm's lack of resource s, expertise, or commitment, even those that are well supported and that offer c onsumers significant gains over existing alternatives are far from certain to su cceed. However, many firms' ultimate success or failure depends on the successfu l development and adoption of innovative products. Author John Gourville offers a behavioral framework-called the curse of innovation-to explain such failures, st arting with the simple fact that highly innovative new products tend to require consumers to change their behavior in some way. Consumers see these changes as l osses, and due to status quo bias, these losses loom larger in consumers' minds th an do the benefits offered by the new innovation. Developers of new products, on the other hand, are biased in the other direction-they come to regard the produ ct they are developing as the status quo, and they subsequently undervalue the l osses consumers must experience to adopt the innovation, leading them to overest imate the likelihood of marketplace success. Managers can help innovative new pr oducts to succeed in the marketplace by understanding the degree of behavior cha nge the innovation requires and planning for it, anticipating the rate of produc t adoption and tailoring marketing efforts accordingly. Alternatively, the produ ct itself can be tailored to minimize the behavior changes consumers will have t o make. In such a scenario, emotional marketing can help in breaking the status quo and

can result in acceptance in the market. The main reason is the fundamental custo mer bias to overvalue the benefits of existing alternatives to a new alternative . There are gaps between the new product and prospective customers which is to b e filled for effective product management. Due to these gaps, developers fail to understand the customer's perspective in adopting innovation, thus increasing t he rate of product failures. For example: Nestle upbeat with their success with Maggie Noodles went to brand extension with Maggie pickle. However, they failed to impress Indian consumers with their innovative product. Pickle being an India n ethnic food supplement, has a distinct place in consumer's mind. A typical Ind ian customer will prefer homemade pickle. There was an inert reluctance to taste the pickle and the positioning was completely wrong. MANAGING CHALLENGES: For a very long time, McCarthy's 4Ps of marketing and the principle of STP were dominant. But in the current scenario, the whole marketing form is undergoing a metamorphosis. Marketers are increasingly giving more and more importance to the customer by offering him distinct value. Marketing is changing its face from se gment based marketing to relationship marketing to one to one marketing. The suc cessful launch of the innovative product requires a distinct approach for implem entation. The process involves using a standard process to drive product develop ment forward using structured product and raw material specifications. Building an emotional connection through branding process calls for: Brand analysis. Brand printing Brand face Brand culture Brand check Fig: Relationship between Brand trust and loyalty

ATTITUDINAL

If an organization wants to improve their relations with the customers, advertis ers and agencies need to internalize a new set of principles that enlightened ma rketers and agencies. This proper management of challenges requires the followin g steps which are to be followed: Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 7 Shed the paradigm that advertising is either "emotional" or "functional." Busin ess-building advertising is in most cases a blend of the two. Integrate product information in new, more creative ways. The traditional package shot may registe r the brand but it may not stimulate a positive emotional response. In contrast, advertising that romances the product, includes an exaggerated demonstration or creates a virtual usage experience, gives consumers the product information the y need while appealing to their emotions. That mundane "product" may be much mor e exciting than an organization assumes. Tell a good story, a tale in which the product is the hero. The product must be essential to this story-not an afterthought. Emotional Marketing: In the globalized world, where customers are bombarded wit h thousands of advertising messages, the company can gain a competitive advantag e with advertisements that tap into the incandescent

power of human emotions. Chandler, the creator of communication strategy known a s dream weaving, says that advertising messages must focus on customers dream first and then on how the com pany's products and services will help the customer fulfill that dream. Some suc cessful companies are Harley Davidson, Hallmark, Bron shoe etc. Smart idea management and integrated concept development through stages and gat es to respond to market trends effectively creating a central hub for product ma nagement which will improve visibility across the product development and distri bution channel to the market. Most research is limited to cognitive impact of ma rketing and does not generally address the affective dimension of positioning wh en emotional based marketing principles are used as the lead strategies that are almost impossible to replicate. If we look at the product life cycle, the innovations in product should take pl ace at the growth or maturity stage .If a company is implementing innovation in the decline stage, then the organiza tion is taking a calculated risk. So the product innovation should take place at the growth or maturity stage. In short, agencies and advertisers need to move away from extreme either/or posi tions and seek more balanced solutions. Such advertising actually helps build ma rket share-and that, after all, is the best way to build better relations. CONCLUDING REMARKS A better knowledge of the influence of emotion is not only necessary for researc hers but also for managers who want to use emotion as a marketing tools (e.g., s ome companies send a small gift on their client's birthday, or give them once in a while tickets to attend a match of their favorite sport). Some studies show t hat companies using emotion follow their gut feeling-without knowing anything ab out this emotion and it's effects-sometimes face disastrous consequences. A majo r contribution of this paper thus concerns the place of emotions in models of sa tisfaction formation. The paper concluded that emotion is worth studying on its own and that its influence on satisfaction is not fully captured by disconfirmat ion. In a globalized and industrialized world, innovation is the key to enter or expand in a market. It's seen that the market leaders are always the greatest i nnovators so as to maintain market share because they keep a certain specified b udget for R &D so the bigger challenge is for small companies with limited budge t to make innovative products for the market and also earn trust of the customer . The goal of emotional marketing is to develop an enduring connection with each customer that nurtures loyalty and results in repeat purchases appealing to the audiences in terms of emotional engagements that will comprise a growing propor tion of the value being exchanged between you and your customers. Market and customer needs are constantly changing and companies' ability to chan ge and lead the change as the market leader must be ongoing. The company must co nstantly work to improve the product, service, as the prospects require. The onl y challenge is to have the right kind of people, promotion, process and environm ent to foster a culture of innovation and emotion. Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans -Peter Drucker. BIBLIOGRAPHY Celci L. Richard and Jerry C. Olsen, The Role of Involvement in Attention and Com prehension Processes, Journal of Consumer Research, 1988, 15 (Sep), (210224). Greenwald, Anthony A. and Clark Leavitt, Audience Involvement in Advertising: Fou r Levels Journal of Consumer Research, 1984, 1i (June), (581592). Raju K.A., (Dec ember 2002). Title of article: Social Marketing of Rural Development Informati on: A Case Study, Kurukshetra, A monthly journal of Ministry of Rural Developmen t, 10, (4). Sen. A.2000. Development as freedom, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Marketing Mastermind (August 2007). Petty, (1986), Communication and persuasion: New York, Verlag. 8 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 Brand Positioning: The Unbeatable Weapon in Present Marketing Scenario

* Saloni Pawan Diwan ** Prof. M.K Jain Over the decades, the sea change in the attitudes and lifestyles of people provi ded various big ideas to marketers, which can be nurtured out of changing social needs, desires and values of the target customers. These innovative ideas resul ted in reshaping the thinking of marketers by first identifying and understandin g the needs and expectations of the target group and then to come up with suitab le products. In the present scenario, the innovations are taking place rapidly b ut even the best demanded brands are not sure regarding their survival because t he innovations are difficult to develop and easy to copy. So, the marketers are continuously seeking the distinct positions for their brands in the minds of cus tomers and hence brand positioning has emerged as the most challenging job in to day's mature and overcrowded markets. It aims at imprinting a differentiated ima ge of the brand in the minds of the prospective customers. According to Charles Mittelstadt, Positioning refers to how you want your brand 'thought about' in con nection with the competitors in its product category. It needs to be specific to your brand aimed at specific target audience. A successful brand positioning str ategy concentrates on finding out the strong position in customer's mind and the n sitting on it, which leads to gain the competitive advantage in the market. Th e marketing managers are constantly facing the dilemma to position and repositio n the brands according to the changing perceptions, needs and desires of the cus tomers. Therefore, in the light of this fact, in this present study, we tend to focus upon describing the various strategies to position brands accurately in th e market. The objective of our study is twofold. Firstly, to contemplate the bas ic concept of positioning and secondly, to give a brief account of puzzles and a dvancements in positioning. POSITIONING AS A VITAL TOOL OF MARKETING Positioning emerged as a vital tool to understand how brands are positioned in t he mind of customer in relation to relevant attributes. It is based on the funct ional attributes or the emotional associations with the brand. Positioning is th e pursuit of differential advantage (Subroto Sengupta, 1999). Whatever the brand positioning strategy is opted by the organization, the customers and employees must get the clarity about what differentiates your brand. The organization will bear less expense if it adopts the right positioning strategy with right market ing mix aimed at specific target audience. The brands, which have a clear vision , a concise meaning and understand their parameters of relevance, are well posit ioned. Nike has done its positioning as: Athletic Shoes for Winners- Whatever you want, you can 'just do it' in Nikes. Similarly, 7-up positioned itself as 'The U ncola' drink by using colas as a frame of reference which creates its distinct i mage in the soft drink market. So the marketers must discover the positions whic h can award them the competitive advantage. Further, these positions are general ly divided in three categories. (a) Functional Positions, which can be achieved by providing benefits of the pro duct and solutions to the problems. (b) Symbolic Positions, which can be attained by enhancing the self-image, ego-i dentification and satisfaction. (c) Experiential Positions, by providing the prospects, sensory pleasures and co gnitive stimulations. SIGNIFICANCE OF POSITIONING Positioning is the hub of business wheel Positioning is the basis of everything done in business. No brand can be built e ffectively and no consistent image can be conveyed until a strong brand position ing is developed. Positioning is the foundation of R&D, Product development, Bra nding, Pricing, Packaging, Advertising, Promotion, Merchandising, Publicity, Dis tribution Channels etc. Positioning can beat the competition Today, the markets are flooded with clones or a sea of homogeneous products. The only way to cross this sea is to create and communicate a distinct image which makes the customers convinced to choose your brand over the competitor's brands. Lifebuoy occupies the 'Hygiene' position. The original version of Lifebuoy was

targeted to rural segment. The Double-action plus was for urban teenagers (Boys) and Lifebuoy Gold for young girls, but in * Lecturer, University School of Management, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra - 136 119, Haryana. E-mail : mehta_dais@rediffmail.com ** Professor, University School of Management, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshet ra - 136 119, Haryana. Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 9 all, the position was same i.e. Germ-Killing action. On the other hand, Margo is in 'Herbal' position and Mysore sandal in 'pure and natural fragrance' slot. Positioning drives growth Unfortunately, many organizations tend to focus upon making products rather than building brands. Product is something which is made in a factory, whereas brand s are made in the mind. A good brand name combined with strong and clearly defin ed positioning leads to excellent market performance and increased market share and profits. Positioning creates brand loyalty We are in the habit of using at least one brand of a particular product in our d aily life. We keep on using that product until the manufacturer changes the prod uct. This brand loyalty is created by strong positioning which makes the custome r feel that there is no perfect substitute available in the market for their pre ferred brand. POSITIONING A PRODUCT IN THE MARKETPLACE The pillar of positioning is based on the foundation of market segmentation i.e. partitioning the market into homogeneous groups of the potential customers. To engrave a strong position for the product, marketers first have to divide the ma rket in unique segments and then select the target segments. After discovering t he way to reach the market, the next step is how to attract the customers to try their products. In the monopolistic market, though too many brands are function ally similar, yet the firm can adopt various positioning strategies, which help it to differentiate its brands on one facet or the other. Quality Quality had been the base of positioning and the efforts are put together to bui ld the dominant perception of quality. It can be built up by focusing on limited range of products, specializing in them and it can also be achieved by attachin g higher price tag to the brand. To some customers, a higher price tag provides the psychological satisfaction but a product must also have some uniqueness to j ustify the price. Eureka Forbes, Sony, Levi, Microsoft owned this qualitative pe rception for their products. The positioning at the lower end of price-quality r ange embraces the problem of upgrading the image of the product. Features Sticking to the facts about the product brings the credibility in positioning, e ither it is VW's.. 'Think Small' on the introduction of Beetle, Onida's.. 'Scien ce of Sound' or 'Avis' the rental cars 'We Try Harder.' Product feature position ing can range from specific physical benefits to more abstract features. Benefits Markets overwhelmed with the brands similar in features, open doors to position on the basis of the benefits of products. This is superior convincing strategy a s it aims at providing the reason to purchase the solution of the problem like F rozen meals save time of preparation, Crest reduces cavities, Head & Shoulders c lears dandruff. Value Once the good value brands were thought to be inexpensive, but today they are mo re popular amongst consumers. Coca-Cola & Pepsi, besides meeting with various co ntroversies, are still well-liked by people because of the status symbol. People don't visit McDonalds because of the services offered but for the reason that t hey love to be seen there. They feel proud to talk about these brands. Besides k eeping hold of the strong identity, McDonalds nicely announced the 'Happy Price Menu' leaving the competitors to think about new ways.

Usage Another influential differentiating strategy is positioning the product accordin g to the usage occasions. Some organizations reflected the courage to dominate t he usage position in the market like Dettol antiseptic for nicks and cuts. Furth er, Vicks Vaporub is sitting on the unchallengeable usage positioning of 'cold a t night'. Dettol Soap perfectly grilled the idea of '100% bath' to refresh you u p. User Category Delving deeply into the segment, positioning prompts are decided keeping in mind the target customers; who should buy the product. Nestl's Cerelac, the easily di gestive cereal food and Johnson & Johnson's mild shampoo were positioned for bab ies. Further positioning Complan for 'Growing Children' and communicating 'I am a Complan boy. No, I am a Complan girl' in their ads, Glaxo Laboratories created a distinct image in the customer's mind. Competition Product's superiority can be demonstrated by comparing it directly with competit ors. Some organizations adopt this aggressive positioning strategy to justify th at how 'their' brand is superior. This process is followed in two 10 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

ways. Firstly, by comparative advertisements, and secondly, by relating your bra nd with the No. 1 brand. In comparative advertisements, the product is compared with the competitor's product which is not named but can be recognized by people and then after comparison of attributes, superiority of 'our' product is justif ied. Cold Drinks and laundry detergents are going head to head to prove themselv es better. Further if your brand is not No. 1, relate it with No. 1. Avis follow ed this 'Against Position Strategy' by stating Avis is only No. 2 in rent-a-cars, so why go with us? We try harder. This was a success as consumers start relating No.2 Avis to No. 1 Hertz (Ries & Trout, 2003). Looking inside the prospect's mind By ignoring the conventional logics, a unique position can be found out by diggi ng up the minds of prospects, not by looking inside the organization and product . 7-Up is still on the unbeatable position of 'The Uncola Drink' as it was able and successful to discover & extract the 'Uncola' idea from the mind of the soft drink consumer and did not look inside the product. Hunting Holes Exploring the unoccupied positions (not grabbed by the competitors) and getting first to the mind provides a powerful weapon in the hands of marketers to positi on their brands. 7-Up used 'Uncola' idea, Maggi noodles used the idea of '2-Minu tes', and VW introduced Beetle in small segment by saying 'Think Small'. Further IBM was first to position the computer, yet it was not the first to invent it. Emami was the first to introduce and position 'Fair & Handsome', a fairness cream in male segment in India. Here we would like to ad d one more thing that if a company is first to introduce the product in market, then this fact must be emphasized to draw the attention of prospects. Coca-Cola beautifully discovered 'The Real Thing' implying that the competitors are just i mitators. Multibrand /Single Position The pace of new technology provides numerous opportunities to enter into new mar kets which award the leaders with the chance of introducing multiple brands rath er than changing existing brands holding the leading positions. Introducing and positioning a new brand is much more economical and simpler rather than changing the existing ones. Reliance is continuously grabbing this strategy by entering into new fields. Ries and Trout named this as a single position strategy as each brand owns a static position in the mind of the customer. Success can also be a chieved by focusing on a single theme. Nokia 'Connecting People' and Amul 'The T aste of India' have been able to achieve success by focusing on a single theme a nd reflecting it in their communication mix respectively. PREREQUISITES OFAN EFFECTIVE BRAND POSITIONING STRATEGY

The insight of consumer behavior is necessary for drafting a successful position ing strategy. Here, the central idea is to focus upon what consumers think about brands rather than what we think. So, positioning requires the extensive resear ch and perfect understanding of consumers as well as brands on the different asp ects such as needs of customers, product category, target segment, competition, benefits, perceptions, brand personality. (a) Needs of customers A good place to start with is by identifying the existing and emerging needs of the customers in the marketplace. To get a clear understanding of consumer needs , one should keep in consideration that two different types of needs exist. Func tional needs and emotional needs. Functional needs are more tangible, whereas em otional needs are related to emotions or psychographic factors like self-image, status symbol, desire to be different, lifestyle, values, attitudes and beliefs etc. It is impossible to ignore any need, but the homework is related to what ty pe of need is more important in the segment. No doubt that functional need is im portant but sometimes like in the case of perfumes and cosmetics, emotional need s are more important than functional needs. (b) Product Category Product class or product category is the set of all the products, which the cons umers perceive as substitutes to satisfy the specific need. It consists of all t he alternatives that the consumers can go for while facing some problem. Suppose , if a person wants snacks, then he is having various alternatives. He can eithe r go for ready-to- eat snacks, mostly available at home, like biscuits, wafers; peanuts etc. or he can go for snacks prepared at home like pakora, sandwich, noo dles, papad, dhokla etc. He can also purchase snacks from the market like samosa , pakora, burger etc. Similarly, if a person is suffering from headache, then also he can go for a num ber of modes. He can take tea or drink something else, lie down or have a sleep, get a massage, take some medicine, go for the acupuncture exercise or visit the doctor. Since, the consumers are having a plethora of alternatives to choose from, the m arketers must have the knowledge of all these ways. Identifying these options an d studying them in detail helps in identifying the product category, Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 11 i.e. in which class, our product will enter, which in turn will help in defining the competition. (c) Target Segment The next step on the ladder is finding out the target customers for our product. It involves the understanding of demographic, psychographic and usage behavior of the customers in that product category. All the audience cannot come in targe t segment because one positioning cannot appeal to everybody. Only those custome rs will be targeted who are having similar needs. Thums-Up targets those who are adventurous by saying 'Taste the Thunder'. Pepsi targets who thinks 'Young' and American Express targets 'Prestige conscious, frequent travelers, who crave rec ognition, attention and special service'. So, after digging out the right custom ers, it is important to communicate them, that this is the perfect brand which c an best satisfy their needs. (d) Competition Product category defines the competition. The companies wish to enter in the pro duct category grilled with less or no competition. But the reality is far beyond this situation. To face reality and to cope up with the marketing warfare, four ways are suggested. 1. Defensive Mode: Only the market leader can defend himself by strengthening hi s own position. Position can be strengthened by bringing out the new innovations in new products/ services that supersede his own existing ones. e.g., Nokia and Gillette. 2. Offensive mode: This is followed by the follower by searching out the negativ e in the leader's positioning and attacking on that negative. e.g., Vicks Vaporu

b. 3. Flanking mode: All the segments cannot be occupied by the market leader. So, the neglected segment is occupied. e.g., Complan. 4. Guerilla mode: Finding out the niche in the market. Niche is a very small pa rt of the market, where the volumes are very low but margins are very high. e.g. , Rolls Royce. Earlier, while analyzing the competitive framework, the companies used to consid er standard of identity but today, new ways to look at competition have emerged. Now power brands adopt perceptual competitive framework e.g. Nestle is not sell ing Nescafe merely as a coffee, but it is a brand associated with achievement an d freedom. It is something that rejuvenates you and freshens you up and prepares you for the whole day. In the same line, Nokia is not just selling cell phones; it is selling 'Fashion Accessories'. McDonald's is not competing in the fast fo od industry but in the 'Family Entertainment' business. Mercedes is not merely s elling the cars but selling 'Self-esteem'. (e) Benefits People purchase benefits. Benefits convey strong reason to the customer that why they should go for a particular product. So, while framing the positioning stra tegy, benefits should be given due consideration, because they can provide the c ompetitive advantage in the market, if not exploited by the competitors. While c onsidering the benefits, the marketers are mostly in the situation of flux that whether to concentrate on functional/physical benefits or on emotional benefits. Like functional needs, functional benefits are more tangible and measurable. Fo r example, Colgate helps in decay prevention, Maruti Suzuki is India's most fuel -efficient car, Tide removes tough stains and brightens the clothes etc. But the brand loyalty or the sense of belongingness cannot be achieved just by achievin g the functional end. Belongingness comes with the emotions. So, the positioning strategy must be framed by ensuring that the brand is conveying functional as w ell as emotional benefits. Further, Dettol kills germs. This is the functional aspect but the housewife is feeling relaxed that her family is safe is the emotional aspect of the brand. 'F airness' by Fair & Lovely is the physical benefit, but it connects deeply with t he emotions which bring the annoyed 'Lucky Girl' out of the fear that she will b e rejected by the boy coming to see her. Then she feels excited by listening the word 'Lucky Boy'. In India, Fiat India talked about safety by offering crumble zones, side-impact beams for maximum passenger and driver safety, fire preventio n system and anti-lock braking system. 'Safety' lies on functional end but the e motional side of this benefit is to convey the customer that he is purchasing th e best car to protect his family during the journey. Sometimes, the customers are not frequently using the physical benefit but are f eeling relaxed on the emotional end. In case of the insurance companies, we are paying premium regularly for the number of years but rarely do we bother about t he financial reimbursement due to any mishappening. Truly saying, in the wrap of premium, we actually are paying the price to purchase the relaxed sleep at nigh t which is the height of emotional benefit. (f) Perceptions 'Marketing is not the battle of products. It is the battle of perceptions' (Ries & Trout). For the marketer, it is necessary to know the consumer perceptions re garding the products that they perceive as the substitutes. This can 12 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

be known with the technique of perceptual mapping. Perceptual map is basically t he two-dimensional space on which the consumer perceptions and preferences regar ding your product and competitor's products are plotted. So, this technique help s the marketer to know the consumer perceptions and preferences about his own pr oducts in relation to the competitor's products. This technique also defines the similarities and dissimilarities among the products. The closely plotted poin ts on the map convey that the products are similar whereas far situated points c

onvey dissimilarity. The single consumer's preferred position is represented by one point but if the number of points are closely situated, it makes a cluster, which means that several consumers have same preferences. The preference is cons idered as an ideal vector. The marketers analyze that whether their products comes in ideal vector category or not. If yes, positioning is strong, but if not, the n how much is the difference between perception and preference and how can it be minimized? So the major concern of the strategist is to bring the consumer perc eption close to the ideal point or bring the ideal position close to the percept ion. No doubt, the second mode is difficult but the first can be achieved by repositioning the brands by changing advertisement and modifying products in accor dance with consumer preferences. (g) Brand Personality Brands are like individuals. Individuals can inherent some similar physical char acteristics but still differ in their personalities. Personality is the percepti on of individual in totality i.e. his physical characteristics, values, beliefs, attitude, lifestyle, potential to perform and emotional associations. Similarly , though brands can be similar in terms of physical attributes or functions perf ormed, yet they differ in terms of personality. According to David Ogilvy, The pe rsonality of a product is an amalgam of many things- its name, its packaging, it s price, the style of its advertising and above all the nature of the product it self. No two brands can be similar in personality/character, as no two individual s can be. For example, one brand can be considered as youthful, upper- class, tr endy and perfectionist while a similar brand, on the other end, can be considere d as middle-aged, mature, sophisticated, and graceful .So while framing a positi oning strategy, the crucial aspect taken into consideration is to create the bra nd character/personality that keeps it distinct from other brands. Personality c reation is the responsibility of advertising agencies, marketers or sometimes th e head of an organization. It can be articulated by thinking the brands in terms of human-beings and then visualizing that if it were a person then how old woul d it be? How would it be dressed up? In what profession would it be? What would be his likes or dislikes? What attitudes would it have and how emotionally would it be associated? Whatever personality is created by the marketers should be co nsistent with the perception of that personality that the consumer carries. The symbolic imprints of a brand impression should be the same in the marketer's as well as in the consumer's mind. PUZZLES AND ADVANCEMENTS IN BRAND POSITIONING In theoretical, as well as in practical field, brand positioning is given the ut most importance, but, at the floor of implementation, some doubts remain in the mind of the marketer when he indulges in the market loaded with the competition which leads to change. So when everything is changing, the customer perceptions, preferences, and expectations also change. Then it becomes difficult for the co mpanies staying with constant positioning. Further, it is very difficult to meas ure the space owned by a product in the customer's mind. Again, one strong recom mendation in literature regarding positioning is to position the product in top category or by creating powerful category, but again, if it is already grabbed b y the competitors, then what's the way? Today even when the stability is at stak e, all these things become extremely difficult. But where there is a will, there is a way. This tough competition conceived the idea of brand wikization. Actually, the irony with the organizations is that the y still engrave positioning as the corporate exercise and companies keep on doin g the experiments by selling the products according to their wish, not in the wa y the consumers seek to purchase. But now the companies have started to move tow ards wikization. Wiki is actually the common judgment. Today the companies are n ot defining brands and markets, the consumers do this through word-of- mouth and personal experiences. Brand Wikization is derived by customers and also emphasi zes on building healthy and long-term relationships with customers which in turn , means low cost and higher profits. Being customer driven, brand wikization for ces the companies to identify and fulfill the customer requirements and also res pond to their dissatisfaction. Unlike the positioning, brand wikization is measu rable by identifying what customer's value and delivering according to their ben

chmarks. CONCLUSION The concept of positioning emerged in 1969 when used by Al Ries and Jack Trout i n the paper Positioning is a game people play in today's me-too market place in the publication Industrial Marketing. It became the vital (Cont. on page 20) Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 13 Asian Paints: Changing Rules of the Game * Rushina Singhi ** Dewyani Kawale *** Yogesh Chaudhari INDUSTRY PROFILE: THE INDIAN PAINT INDUSTRY The paint industry of India is more than 100 years old. Its beginning can be tra ced to the setting up of a factory by Shalimar Paints in Kolkata in 1902.Till th e advent of World War II, the industry consisted of just a few foreign companies , and some small, indigenous producers. The war led to a temporary stoppage of i mports leading to many more local entrepreneurs setting up manufacturing facilit ies. Nevertheless, foreign companies continued to dominate the industry. Even no w, they remain active contestants, though their foreign shareholdings stand redu ced, with two of them having become totally Indian. Today the Indian Paint Industry produces about 1050,000 MT per annum. The corres ponding value base is about INR 8,800 crores (USD 1.95 Billion). The Indian Pain t industry enjoys a global market share of about 1.8%. Per capita consumption of paint in India is 800-900 grams compared to 15-25 kg in the developed countries . Market Growth of Indian Paint industry is estimated to be about $200 - $400 mi llion per year over the next 5 years. Source: PaintIndia, 2007 The industry is composed of two sectors, the organized and the unorganized. The organized sector controls 70 percent of the total market. The remaining 30 perce nt is in the hands of the unorganized sector, consisting of 2000 odd small-scale players. The industry is not capital intensive. It is however working capital i ntensive. The demand for paints is fairly price-elastic and is linked to economi c and industrial growth. Demand is somewhat seasonal in nature-low during monsoo n months, high during festival seasons. THE MAIN SEGMENTS The industry comprises of two main segments -decorative/architectural and indust rial paints. The decorative/architectural paint segment accounts for 70 percent of the total paint market while the industrial paint segment accounts for the re maining 30 percent. The industry is, however, expected to undergo a structural s hift towards industrial paints in the next few years, when its share is expected to go upto 50 percent in line with the global trend. Industrial paints thus hol d greater growth potential in the coming years. Actually, with the decorative se gment gradually bottoming out, companies are already increasing their focus on i ndustrial paints. Industrial paints are technology intensive. The industrial pai nts segment can be further classified into automotive paints, marine, powder coa tings, high performance coatings, and others. Original equipment manufacturers ( OEM) of products such as automobiles, furniture and white goods such as refriger ators are prime consumers of industrial paint. The automobile industry accounts for 50 percent of the industrial paint market.A good part of the demand are from shipping and heavy industry. THE MAIN PLAYERS Asian Paints, Goodlass Nerolac, ICI (India), Berger, Jenson & Nicholson and Shal imar are the leading companies in the organized sector. The top ten manufacturer s account for about 80 percent of the market in the organized sector in value te rms.APL is the industry leader, with an overall market share of 33 percent in th e organized sector. Threat of global competition is minimal in the industry. APL dominates the decorative segment, with a 29 percent market share. Berger Paints is number two with a 10 per cent market share.Nerolac and ICI have 8 percent an

d 6 percent shares, respectively, in this segment followed by Shalimar, with 3 p er cent. * Lecturer, Amity Business School, Noida-201303, Uttar Pradesh. E-mail : rushina .singhi@yahoo.co.in ** Student, Amity Business School, Nodia-201303, Uttar Pradesh. *** Student, Amity International Business School, Noida-201303, Uttar Pradesh. 14 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

Source: PaintIndia, 2007 Goodlass dominates the industrial paints segment, with 41 percent market share. APL is a poor second here; with a 15 percent market share. Berger, ICI, and Shal imar are the other substantive players in the sector, with 10 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent shares, respectively. The dominance of Goodlass in industrial pai nts is largely the result of its technical associated with the Japanese paint ma jor, Kansai Paints, which has a 29.5 per cent equity stake in the company. Good lass has a lion's share of 70 percent in the OEM passenger car segment, 40 perce nt share of two-wheeler OEM market and 20 percent of commercial vehicle OEM mark et.Goodlass also holds 20 percent of the white-goods segment. The market shares of the leading companies are shown in following graph:

SMEs, 43 Asian Paints, 24 Berger Paints, 10

ICI Paints, 7 Nerolac Paints, 1 Other Organised Players, 5 Market shares by volume in Percentage Source: PaintIndia, 2007 COMPANY PROFILE Asian Paints is India's largest and Asia's third largest paint company today, wi th a turnover of Rs 44.04 billion (around USD 1.1 billion). The company has an e nviable reputation in the corporate world for professionalism, fast track growt h and building shareholder equity. Asian Paints operates in 20 countrie s and has 28 paint manufacturing facilities in the world servicing consumers in over 65 countries. Besides Asian Paints, the group operates around the world through its subsidiaries, Berger International Limited, Apco Coatings, SCIB Pai nts and Taubmans. VISION Asian Paints aims to become one of the top five decorative coatings companies wo

rld-wide by leveraging its expertise in the higher growth emerging markets. Simu ltaneously, the company intends to build long term value in the Industrial coati ngs business through alliances with established global partners. MANUFACTURING FACILITIES Asian Paints along with its subsidiaries has operations in 20 countries across t he world and 28 paint manufacturing facilities, servicing consumers in 65 countr ies through Berger International, SCIB Paints-Egypt, Asian Paints, Apco Coatings and Taubmans. Asian Paints operates in 5 regions across the world viz. South As ia, South- East Asia, South Pacific, Middle East and Caribbean region through th e five corporate brands viz. Asian Paints, Berger International, SCIB Paints, Ap co Coatings and Taubmans. In 10 markets, it operates through its subsidiary, Ber ger International Limited; in Egypt through SCIB Paints; in 5 markets in the Sou th Pacific it operates through Apco Coatings and in Fiji and Samoa, it also oper ates through Taubmans. MARKETING STRATEGIES BYASIAN PAINTS TO PENETRATE IN URBAN AND RURALAREA During 1 960's, market for paints was at a dead end. It was totally dominated by MNCs and Indian companies were looked down upon. MNCs had a cartel approach and had deal ers with long standing relationship in an oligopoly market. Entry barriers were not there as paints were low tech low capital projects. Alternate product was li me Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 15 based low cost used by most in poverty ridden India. In reach homes and offices, wood paneling was being used. Market was largely controlled by MNCs.Mr. Choksey found that to fight MNCs, he has to look at the market segment so far neglected by them and found that near vacuum exists in semi-urban and rural markets. They however had special needs. Low cost paint in small containers. The segment needed new distribution system as well. Asian paints value for customers was to build through innovative packages (size), distribution, and communication. In 1970's, it decided to computerize and network their 30 depots round the country to provi de proper feedback from the market. It was one of the first companies to come up with 50 ml and 100 ml paints packs for rural markets where consumers needed very small quantities. For the rural market, they changed communication and promotion strategy as well. For example, Asian Paint supported Pola fair in Maharashtra by painting the horns of the bulls. Another example is the launch of Utsav brand by Asian paints. This is to cater f or first-time users of branded paints in rural India. Amit Syngle, Asian Paints' general manager, marketing, Asian paints, spent six months in the interiors of Rajasthan and Maharashtra. He observed that rural buyers are becoming brand cons cious and are willing to look at "value-for-money" products. According to him, pe ople in rural areas are definitely saving less and that they are willing to upgr ade to higher categories of any product. Asian Paints promoted its Utasv brand of paint by painting the village Sarpanch's house a few months prior to the launch to demonstrate that the paint does not peel off and is an ideal replacement of chuna. One of the strategies of Asian paints for becoming a leader is to maintain a goo d relationship with the dealers. Mr. Choksey's style of functioning was informal as he kept friendly relations with the depot staff and the sales team, and coul d be seen having tea in some rural dealers' shops. Asian Paints differentiation strategy starts from market segment, distribution, and packaging. With increasing volumes in chosen segments, Asian Paints achieved economies of scale for cost leadership. With their dominant position, they di versified in product range as also market and geographic segments. It diversified into manufacturing raw materials for paints. Product Diversificati on also included industrial paints. Now, with a large market share, they have a strong distribution network even in metros. Asian Paint's strategy of quick resp

onse translates into supplying 95 percent of the orders supply in 48 hours, whic h is a positive competitive advantage. The latest offer by Asian paints is Asian Paints Samplers. These are small 200 ml paint packs which can be bought at Asia n Paints Colour World outlet, and can be used to sample how the colour would loo k on the wall and then the final decision can be taken. It offers a low-risk sma ll trial pack so that customers are more comfortable in taking their final decis ion. Asian Paints realized the need for brand building even during sixties. The brand focused on mass and rural market. Asian Paints had a mascot called Gattu, who w as created by the celebrated cartoonist R. K Lakshman. These efforts made the br and a leader during the late sixties. It also was the first to come up with the tinting machine option; Mera Walla Yellow" campaign that would remind readers of the initiative. The consumers could pick and choose a shade in at the dealer, wh o would mix the appropriate colours and deliver the paint. It had a two fold imp act, reduction in inventory at the dealer point, because now he could manage wit h the base and few other additives, and for the consumers , he need not move fro m one outlet to the other in search of shades. Then came the Asian Paints Home S olutions, wherein a consumer could give a call on a toll-free number and avail s ervices of trained painters who would provide all services needed. Any one who h as gone through the hassle of getting his house painted would realize the benefi ts that such a service offers for consumers. The success of these initiatives ca n be assessed by the fact that all other players in the industry have followed A sian Paints in offering similar services to consumer. All these initiatives have kept the consumer interest at the forefront, be it in providing samplers or the total bouquet of services of painting houses to the increased choice through th e tinting machine option. To keep their position dominant, Asian Paints has always put more stress on vigo rous R&D for innovative products, increased the number of depots for covering th e entire country, advertise separately for each market segment and advertise Asi an paints as a whole and the continuous market research to enhance their competi tive advantage. DISTINCTION BETWEEN BERGER AND ASIAN PAINTS Berger Paints, India is the country's third largest paint manufacturer and the s econd largest decorative paint player. It is headquartered in Calcutta and it se rvices the market through a distribution network comprising of 75 stock points a nd 12,000+ paint retailers. The concept of the company was envisaged by the lege ndary paint chemist, Mr. Lewis Berger in 1760. Berger Paints, India is a 70 year old company. 16 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

Asian paints is India's number one company and it is the largest paint manufactu rer in India. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Asian Paints operates in 20 countri es and has 28 paint manufacturing facilities in the world, servicing consumers i n over 65 countries. Asian Paints, the group operates around the world through its subsidiaries, Berg er International Limited, Apco Coatings, SCIB Paints and Taubmans. `Berger Inter national Limited (BIL) with headquarters in Singapore was also listed on the Sin gapore stock exchange in November 2002.BIL became a part of the Asian Paints Gro up. It's a subsidiary of Asian paints. Acquisition of BIL was a step of Asian Pa ints to make its presence across Middle East, Caribbean and South East Asia. CHALLENGES FOR INDIAN PAINT INDUSTRY 1) SEASONAL DEMAND : Paint Industry is a seasonal industry. The demand shoots up during the Diwali se ason and it will be low in the rainy season. 2) INVENTORY MANAGEMENT AT DEALER LEVEL The product differentiation is minimal in paint industry. The very close substit utes are readily available (e.g. ICI Dulux can be a very close substitute for As ian Paints Royale). Hence the inventory management at the dealer level is of a p rime importance. It is also important for brand visibility and occupying the she

lf space. 3) DISTRIBUTION COSTS Distribution costs are important for a lower price product like Distemper. The D istemper is a stiff paint and is sold on weight basis. It is called as the Bread and Butter of the paint industry as the consumption is highest for this product. Hence, the cost associated with distribution of it is of prime importance. 4) SHADE OFFERINGS As the shades offered by the paints companies are very high in number, (e.g. Asi an paints offers more than 1200 own shades), the problem of distribution becomes very significant. The demand for a particular shade may peak up suddenly in a p articular region. The inventory management at the distributor and dealer level i s of great importance. 5) LOW PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION As mentioned earlier, the per capita paint consumption in India is in one of the lowest. It stands at mere 815 gms per person per annum as compared to the 25 kg per person per annum in US. This shows the lower penetration of the paint indus try in the country. The paint companies have to educate the customers that they should go for the re painting of their houses frequently. This is a very unique feature of the indust ry that the Indian people will go for repainting either for some festival such a s Diwali or occasions like Marriage or when the repainting is absolutely unavoid able. OVERCOMING THESE CHALLENGES BYASIAN PAINTS DEALING WITH SEASONALITY OF DEMAND To cope up with the seasonality of the demand, Asian Paints has created one of t he best distribution networks in India. They are probably second only to Hindust an Unilever. Asian paints services around 20,000 dealers through its 70 sales of fices. Their distribution covers entire country. The co-ordination between them is achieved by using VSATs, ISDN lines and PSTN lines. This entire infrastructur e has helped APL to do better demand planning. APL has around 1600 SKUS to manuf acture, out of which around 300-350 are fast moving with extremely high liquidit y at the counter. Therefore planning for such a large number of SKUs requires high analytical skil ls and excellent tools. Also, the distribution network covers the rural market a lso, so it increases the challenges ahead for the logistic team. Besides this, v arious other factors have to be considered while forecasting and planning of dem and for paint. i) Peak to average: Paint is the commodity though it is sold throughout the year but its demand increases tremendously during Diwali and to a certain extent dur ing other festive seasons. Therefore, its production has to start according to i ts demand (forecasting right from July). Since APL has to take care of 300-400 f ast moving SKUs, planning has to be done in such a way that it results in high i nventory turnover and the company is left with least stuck stock. ii) Promotional activity: Keeping in mind the expected demand, the promotional a ctivities are also to be planned. Accordingly, a company decides scheme promos d uring that period and arrives at variable sales that happened due to these promo s. Considering the SKUs, the production needs to be scheduled. It is a tedious j ob for the distribution department to determine the variable sales. iii) Large user business: Sudden demand from the large institutions needs to be factored in all of the above. These Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 17 prominent large institutes do not give much lead time; therefore such huge order s need to be processed in between such hectic months. SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTION BYASIAN PAINTS Asian Paints has used various IT tools to improve its internally developed plann ing distribution and logistics system. This has resulted in not only differentia ting the company from its rival companies but also put it ahead of several large FMCG companies.

Asian Paints uses best of the IT tools available for Supply Chain Management whi ch consists of 4 modules viz. Demand Planner, SCM Planner, Factory Planner, Prod uction Scheduler. Demand Planner helps in demand forecasting. SCM planner helps in master planning for inventory i.e. which plant will produce what material and when. Factory Planner helps in procurement of raw material and packing material . Production Scheduler: Helps in day to day scheduling in each and every plant. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PROCESS FOR APL I. DEMAND MANAGEMENT:

STEP 1: Historical data for 4-5 years is stored in the System STEP 2: Generation of forecast with the use 1. Statistical techniques on data (Seasonality and Patterns) 2. use of graphical tools 3. Many views (field Sypply chain function, central marketing etc.) 4. Causal

Rolling 12 month forecast

Significance of this method: Improved performance due to use of BMW method as well as techniques such as tr iple exponential smoothing. Since the data is processed into a server at supply chain office, it saves the time and also makes correction to statistical forecast. The software allows marketing function at HO and supply chain function also lo gs in, thus helping in best estimate of sales. The software also allows good exception reporting to help in correction of for ecast. II. MASTER PLANNING AND INVENTORY DEPLOYMENT The process uses the demand forecast and forecast accuracy as well the cycle tim e for product replenishment to arrive at optimum cycle and safety stock that sho uld be held at each location. III. PROCUREMENT PLANNING The process helps in raw material procurement based on detailed daily production sequence for one month. It also helps in determining realistic safety stock lev el to account for external variability only. Total computerization of the physical distribution and the credit control system : Effective computerization of the distribution system, inventory control and co ntrol of credit outstanding is the other factor that helped APL to control distr ibution costs without lowering service level. A totally computerized and a total ly integrated distribution system was evolved by the company beginning from 1976 . Computerization of sales and inventory data and the use of rational distributi on models helped the company increase its service levels by 10% with no increase in the overall level of inventory carried. Computerization also enabled APL to process recent sales data for the 100 fastest moving SKUs. This analysis was use d to project sales of specific products, which helped plan production, raw mater ial purchases and advance stocking. ATTRACTIVE SCHEMES BYAPL The Company offers the dealer's attractive incentive schemes to induce them to k eep Asian paints stalk. For example: i. A special discount of 3.5% is to be passed on at the end of the year, provide

d that each and every payment time norms. This is refereed ii. A cash discount of 5% for given whenever payments were 18

throughout the year was made within the stipulated to as the discount for perfection in payments. all outright cash purchases. The cash discount was received within 24 hours of the supply/invoice.

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

The scheme became a grand success. APL's credit outstanding always stood below 2 5 days while the outstanding of competitors were mostly in the range of 40 days. STRATEGIC LOCATIONS OF MANUFACTURING FACILITIES Having plants spread across the region being serviced is very important for chea per products like distempers but not so for emulsion paints. The high transporta tion costs as a fraction of the COGS would wipe out a substantial portion of the profit margin otherwise (The distempers sell for about Rs. 50/kg and the exteri or paints and emulsions for Rs.150 to 300 per litre. The transportation cost from Mumbai to Kolkata is about Rs. 1,500/kilolitre.) Plant Locations:

The plants are located in the areas of high demand so as to reduce the transport ation and distribution costs. The same trend is followed by the other players as well depending on their strong areas. ASIAN COLOR WORLD It was early 1996 and the Indian paint market was in the middle of a sea change. For many years, Asian Paints had been a market leader (since the early 1970's) and the premier paint brands like ICI (Dulux), Berger and Jenson & Nicholson wer e steadily losing market share to Asian Paints due to the sheer distribution mus cle of the company. Asian Paints had further skewed the market in its favour by launching the Color Corner concept made famous by the Mariana Blue and Merawala Pin k ad campaigns. Color corners were specially designated dealers who were servicin g 151 shades of colour using manual tinting of shades at the local Asian Paints branches. In answer to that by 1994, Jenson & Nicholson had come up with an innovative con cept- automatic tinting machines at the dealer shops-The machines that could use neutral bases (close to white paint) and make any colour automatically by choos ing it in the computer. The pressure was mounting on Asian Paints to come up wit h something of its own. Thus, the Asian Paints Colour World brand (as it was lat er christened) was born. The advent of the colour-world was a revolutionary concept. A complete shopping experience selecting from over thousand shades to interactive paint your home sof tware to actual choice of a paint in over 2500 dealer locations across the count ry. It was followed by Asian Paints Home Solutions, a hassle-free painting service i n which Asian Paints takes over the entire job of painting of one's home, from s tart to a smooth finish.

NID came up with a truly unique fan deck shade card with 1320 shades arranged in 2 20 strips of 6 shades each. IMPROVING PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION Asian Paints Ltd has undertaken various measures to increase the per capita cons umption of the Indian Paint market. Some of the strategies are as follows: SMALLER PACKS IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE PENETRATION When APL entered in the market, paint was available in a container of size 500ml or larger. APL saw an Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 19 opportunity in this situation. It found that many times, consumers do not requir e the product in larger quantity. Therefore, they buy the paint in a larger quan tity and share that paint especially in the rural area. In order to trap this ta rget segment, it started providing products in smaller packages- in 200ml, 100ml and 50 ml packs. This also increased the product depth of the APL. GOING TO INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERS WITH WIDE PRODUCT RANGE In order to meet the needs of various customers, offering the widest range of th e products in different pack sizes under the umbrella brand of Asian Paints is one of the most successful strategies adopted by Asian Paints. It has around 1600 S KU's to fulfill the customer needs. ENTERING INTO SEMI-URBAN AND RURAL MARKET In order to enter into semi-urban and rural markets along with the existing urba n market, APL has adopted decentralized distribution network rather than keeping its distribution network simple and centralized. It therefore follows the field focused distribution network in which it has depots located all over the countr y/ marketing territory. TIME FRAME IN THE STUDY This paper is an overview of the Asian paints distribution system which evolved since 1942 with the experience and strategy of being a market leader by giving d ifferentiation, thus gaining a competitive edge over its competitors. This paper raises the following questions that can be useful for other researche rs: 1. What are the distribution strategies adopted by APL? 2. Enlist the various issues related to Distribution Management of Indian Pain t Industry. 3. How the challenges in the paint industry could be overcome? BIBLIOGRAPHY: An Overview of Indian coating Industry, Dilip Raghvan, Editor Publisher, Paint Ind ia, 2007 Biology or buy-logy? Prof. S Suresh Asst. Professor, Institute of Management and R esearch, Gaziabad Speech By Mr. Vinod Dhall, Competition commission of India at Indian paint Indus try Conference, Mumbai, 15 January 2005 crisinfac CRISIL's Industry Intelligence Database www.asianpaints.com www.paintstore.com (Cont. from page 13) process in identifying the space in the mind of consumer and then fitting the im age of brand in that space. A strongly positioned brand assumes more survival an d competitive advantage for the company. No doubt, it is quite a tough job but c an be achieved by indulging in extensive research regarding consumer behaviour,

which again made the marketers gripped with the number of positioning strategies . Whatever the strategy is opted by the organization to position the brand must be unique, pertinent, reliable, evident, convincing and communicable. Moreover p atience should be there, because positioning is not a one night game. It takes y ears to position the brand. So, in the competitive world, the only way to surviv e in the market is to build a strong positioning for the brands. It is substanti ated from the number of examples available in literature that nobody could beat those companies, which had sharpened their positioning edges and hence, for deca des the strong positioning walked with grace by wearing the crown of unbeatable w eapon in the market place. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Ries Al and Trout Jack(2003), Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, New York : Mc Graw-Hill. 2. Sengupta Subroto(1999), Brand Positioning strategies for competitive advantag e, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi. 3. Cowley Don (1996), Understanding Brands Kogan Page Limited, London. 4. Kumar Ramesh S.(2007), Managing Indian Brands- Marketing Concepts and Strateg ies, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. 5. Moorthi Y.L.R.(2006), Brand Management: The Indian Context, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. 6. Soundararaj J.J, Rengmani J., The inevitability of Positioning in the present marketing scenario, Indian Journal of Marketing, XXXII(12) (2002),.3-5. 7. Renganathan R. Positioning a tourism destination to gain a competitive advanta ge, Indian Journal of Marketing, XXXIV(9) (2004),6-10. 8. Sekar I.F.G., Successful Positioning Strategies of Indian Corporates-A Replica and Retrospect in the Last Millenium. Indian Journal of Marketing, XXX (11-12) ( 2000), 9-12. 9. Reckom Johan Van, Jacobs Garriele, Verlegh P.W.J., Measuring and managing the essence of brand personality, Market Lett (17) (2006), 181-192. 10. Ganguly P., An empirical study to determine the perceptual positioning of ten well-known toothpaste brands in the minds of youth. Indian Journal of Marketing, XXXV (10) (2005), 19-25. 11. Bence Brenda, Getting Back to the Basics: The Fundamentals of Positioning Thai American Business, July-Aug.2004.10-13. 12. Chakraborty Kishore, Mitra Amit, Laser Petors, Winning Markets Through Power Brands Journal of Marketing and Communication, Vol I (2) SepDec.2005. 119-126. 13. Gurowitz Edward M.. Positioning products and services accurately The CEO Refre sher,(2000),1-6. 14. Hofer Vera, Ladner Klaus, Positioning of new brands in an experiment CEJOR (14 ) (2006), 435-456. 15. www.brandingasia.com 16. www.brandblogs.com 17. www.indiainfoline.com 20 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

INTRODUCTION Corporate Customer Behavior & Indian Hardware Market (With special reference to HCL Infosystem Ltd.)

* Dr. T. Koti Reddy ** Soumya Kanti Sarkar The global computer hardware market generated total revenues of $338.5 billion i n 2004, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.4% for the first five-year period of the millennium spanning 20002004. The market is forecasted to grow at a faster rate than in previous years, with a CAGR of 5.5% for the five- year 2004-2009 period inflating the market to a value of $442.6 billion by the end of 2009. The Indian computer hardware marke t generated total revenues of $5.3 billion in 2004, with a projected CAGR of 10. 7 % for the period of 2004-2009 thus driving the market to a value of $48.8 bill ion by the end of 2009(Gartner, 2007). Value creation has become the prime focus of all leading companies globally, and the new mantra of success both for the c onsumer market as well as the corporate market. Therefore, it has become imperat ive for domestic organizations like HCL to be equally concerned and proactively responsive towards the corporate customer as they are sensitive towards the reta il consumers. The concept and process of organizational buying is distinctly dif ferent from that of consumer buying.While the buying decisions of individual con sumers are made relatively quickly and easily and more often without a systemati c decision-making process, organizational buying involves a through and deep ana lysis. According to Robert W. Palmatier, 2007 [07-118] a number of key variables have emerged in modeling different relationship situations. The major factors i nclude reputation, performance satisfaction, trust, social bonds, comparison lev el of alternatives, mutual goals, interdependence and power, non-retrievable inv estments, adaptation, structural bonds, co-operation, and commitment. In accorda nce to Michael Solomon, the adoption of a relationship approach probably require s a change in attitude by the parties concerned. The relationship variables iden tified can be integrated with a relationship development process which includes a number of stages. Not all the variables are relevant at the same time necessar ily and may become latent as the relationship progresses. The project was aimed at understanding B2B marketing practices and studying the corporate consumer beh avior through primary research. The study was realized through visits to industr y houses, dealers and retail outlets of the company. Finally, the report include s the recommendations derived from the study and subsequent analysis. It has bec ome evident through the study, that value consciousness is indeed the business t rend in the organizational market where quality per penny rather than quality al one has become the yardstick. It is as important thus to woo the value sensitive corporate customer as it is to maintain that value added relationship over time . The report has been organized into sections as follows. Section II gives the maj or objectives, details about the methodology used in the study and the theoretic al background. Section III incorporates the comparative analysis and the statist ical analysis done using SPSS tool. Finally, the recommendations have been liste d in section IV. II OBJECTIVES 1. To study and understanding of corporate customer behavior. 2. To understand the business processes practiced in the company. 3. To study the Sales and Distribution processes prevalent in the organization. METHODOLOGY The entire study was based on both primary and secondary data. The primary resea rch was spanned across 125 small and medium sized corporate houses in and around Kolkata.The questionnaire for the purpose was designed to unveil the preference s of the corporate world, the correlations of the chief influencing factors with organizational buying behavior and also to ascertain the position of HCL with r espect to the leading competitors of the industry. 13 of the responses were inva lid and thus finally, responses from 112 business houses were available for anal ysis. The data so accumulated was subjected to Statistical analysis and graphica l interpretation using SPSS software tool. Further, a comparative analysis was u

ndertaken to understand the business practices of HCL in contrast to the major m arket leaders HP and IBM. The secondary data has been obtained from independent sources like internal records of HCL etc. *Faculty, ICFAI Business School Hyderabad. E-mail : kotireddy_tamma@yahoo.com ** 2nd Year Student, ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad. Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 21 ANTECEDENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DECISIONS There are two research streams that directly relate to an organization's decisio n to adopt a new product or technology standard. One is the general study of org anizational purchases, the other organizational adoption of new product or techn ology. The organizational market can be classified into the following subgroups:

The decision by organizations to buy specific products is considered distinct fr om consumer-oriented marketing in four ways: the seller's inter-functional depen dence, product complexity, buyer/seller interdependence and the complexity of th e organizational buying process. The latter three characteristics are relevant t o this study. While the organizational consumers purchase for further production , usage in operating the organization, and/or resale to other consumers, the fin al (or ultimate) consumers purchase for Personal, Family and Household use. Sign ificant purchases usually require involvement from multiple individuals within t he organizations, representing as many as six different roles: Initiator User Decider Influencer Buyer and Gatekeeper Decisions are reached through a combination of interpersonal (intra-organization al) influence tactics, including problem-solving, persuasion, bargaining and pol iticking. The organization's decision is often stimulated by a boundary-spanning employee who acts as an internal advocate for an external vendor. The influence of any particular influencer is related both to formal rank and informal positi on within intra-organizational communication patterns. Organizational purchase h as been deciphered into major eight stages, commencing with problem recognition and terminating in Performance evaluation. The difference stages can be enunciat ed as below: Problem recognition Determine product dimensions and quantity Precise description of product characteristics Search and qualification of potential sources Acquisition and analysis of proposals Evaluation of proposals and supplier selection Selection of an order routine Performance feedback and evaluation Several factors influence the different stages of organizational purchase decisi on making. Chiefly the most significant parameters that influence the organizati onal purchase behavior include: Environmental factors, Organizational factors, S ocial & Interpersonal factors and Individual factors of the persons concerned. E nvironmental influences can be further sub-classified as technological, economic al, physical, political as well as cultural. Influences are exerted by different institutions, like suppliers, competitors and customers. Examples of environmen tal factors include Regulatory regime, Investment behavior, consumer behavior, i

nterest rate, market environment, technology, legislation, competition, politica l scenario etc. Broad organizational mission and the organizational work cultur e influence individuals to act differently with restraint facilitating synergy of organization decisions. Organizational Buying Behavior is influenced by goal s of the organization, which are determined again by financial means, technology as well as human resources. Major organizational factors include Goals, Purchas e tactics, Organizational structure and Hierarchy. Group decisions significantly affect 22 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

corporate buying behavior. Factors of influence include individual goals and cha racter characteristics, Group structure, Group dynamics and external influences (environment, organization). Lastly, ultimately high profile individuals are the absolute decision makers in an organization. Cultural, organizational and socia l factors affect individuals. Individual factors affect the decision-making proc ess also due to factors like ignorance, over availability of alternatives, infor mation gaps etc. Buying decisions for high technology products as in the IT indu stry are constrained by buyer uncertainty, due to rapid technological change and mutually incompatible product offerings. This uncertainty, the level of technic al expertise, the organization's potential switching costs and the strategic imp ortance of the decision all drive the width of products considered as well as th e ultimate purchase decision. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS III India is the fastest growing IT hardware products market in the Asia-Pacific Reg ion. Most of the prominent global as well as local vendors are operating in the competitive Indian Market. Although, India is a diverse country with a huge popu lation base and a significant enterprise universe, it has one of the lowest IT p enetrations. This is perceived to be the greatest opportunity by the hardware ve ndor community. Additionally, the Indian Software and BPO industry is also creat ing a great potential for employment with a projected CAGR of 10.7 %. All of the se make India one of the most exciting markets for IT hardware vendors. It is ve ry interesting and surprising to note that though HP is the market leader presen tly, followed by HCL and IBM, the corporate customer perceive IBM as the most preferred brand followed by Dell while HCL and HP fight neck to neck fo r the 3rd and the 4th spots. HCL faces a tough competition from the major MNC's including behemoths like IBM, Dell and HP. While it has the advantage of being a domestic player fully conversant of the geo-demographical characteristics and b usiness practices of its homeland, it lacks the global technological expertise o f its competitors. IBM, Dell as well as HP are all highly acclaimed brands among the corporate buyers. Owing to their esteemed global presence, they enjoy a hig h perceived brand value. In contrast, HCL is generally perceived as a low end br and. On the technological front, while with ninety years of technological lineag e, IBM has been effectively leveraging its global know-how across different sect ors, combined with innovative technologies, HCL has still to catch up a long way . Market leader HP also has a highly developed research wing on market-driven, a pplication-oriented IT research. With the recent launch of Mileap range of Lapto ps and BusyBee and BeanStalk series of desktop PCs, HCL has made an aggressive m ove in this field providing products with different server configurations and ha rdware profiles. However in the Server market, IBM world's largest manufacturer of Servers is far ahead. In a fist to increase its dominance of the Indian serve r market, IBM has recently launched a modular system capable of being expanded a s capacity demand warrants. HCL thus needs to infuse over time, much more techno logical advancements in the likeness of the domestic electronics player Onida fo r example so as to ameliorate its perception and image. In this regard, Research and Development has to gain prominence in the immediate future. Both IBM and De ll have highly developed multiple research facilities worldwide and in India as well.IBM India's Research Lab in Delhi is the youngest of the eight IBM labs acr

oss the world, each with world class facilities. HCL on the other hand has a mai den research facility at Pondicherry. Target customer is another important comparable aspect among the IT companies. W hile HCL has primarily focused on the small and medium sized business enterprise s, HP and IBM have had a broader spectrum of activities. Both HP and IBM have a major chunk of their revenues derived from the large scale businesses where HCL has no significant presence. To make things even worse, almost all the MNC's hav e lately come up with aggressive down market stretching strategies aimed at the SME's and SMB's in India. For instance IBM has developed a separate wing named G lobal Small & Medium Business (GSMB) unit to cater to the 3000 SMB customers in India. The Product portfolio of HCL is fairly competitive with all the major pla yers in the industry. Its range of offerings spans Product Engineering, Technolo gy and Application Services, BPO, Infrastructure Services, IT Hardware and Syste ms Integration. Over a business of three decades, HCL has established itself in all the three domains of IT business including Software, Hardware and Training t hrough HCL technologies, HCL Infosystems and HCL Career Development Center respe ctively. From the Pricing point of view, HCL has a distinct edge over HP or IBM. HCL has over the years concentrated on offering value for money to the price se nsitive Indian consumer. Its products and services have matched global standards but at much more reasonable and affordable price points. For example, with the launch of 'MiLeap' X Series Ultra Portable range of Leaptops, HCL has broken the Rs. 14,000/- price barrier. With prices starting at Rs 13,990/- the HCL 'MiLeap ' X series, is specially designed for the Indian environment, delivers exception al value at a very affordable price. Similarly, Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 23 HCL 'MiLeap' Y Series Ultra Portable Leaptops ranging from Rs 29,990/- onwards a re at half the price point of current similar products available in the market. With regards to partnerships and alliances, HCL is at par with the major MNC's. It has alliances with Nokia, Apple, Casio, Kodak, Toshiba, Bull, Ericsson, Cisco , Microsoft, Konica Minolta and many more as IBM is allied with Linux, Bharti, S AP, Oracle, Siebel, Peoplesoft, J. D. Edwards etc. Lastly, Service and customer support is the field wherein HCL still needs to improve to compete with the like ness of HP, Dell and IBM. Though HCL has service centers in the metros and the o ther major cities of the country, the service is often criticized as not being p rompt or at par with expectations. There are also complaints of delay and non-av ailability. On the contrary, HP has service centers at a larger no. of locations that ensure much speedy and prompt solution of grievances. HCL has a customer s upport center at Noida while Dell's customer support centers are part of a 30-ce nter network worldwide. STATISTICALANALYSIS Statistical analysis was undertaken on the data collected though primary researc h. The questionnaire was aimed in deciphering the brand value, brand pull and re call of HCL. It also sought to understand the position of HCL with respect to th e leading IT companies operating in India. Besides, the respondents were asked t o convey their preferences and suggestions with respect to HCL products. Of the 125 respondents interviewed, 112 valid responses could be selected for the analy sis. The responses were analyzed statistically using SPSS software and the resul ts have been enunciated as under: (refer to annexure) ANNEXURE Table 1: Brand preference (No. of responses in favor)

Table 2: Parameter ratings (of HCL products)

Table 3: Factor ratings (on a scale of 10)

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Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 25

GRAPHICAL INTERPRETATIONS: 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 HCL 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 HCL

IBM

Dell

HP

Wipro

IBM

Dell

HP

Wipro

1st Position 2nd Position 26 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 HCL 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 HCL IBM Dell HP Wipro IBM Dell HP Wipro

3rd Position 4th Position From the analysis of the ratings of 5 major IT companies including HCL, an idea of the perceived Brand value of HCL can be inferred as evident from the graphs a bove. The graphs depict no. of favorable responses in terms of rankings like 1st , 2nd etc. Clearly it seems that IBM is the most respected and trusted brand wit h 37% and 34% of the 112 responses in its favor for the 1st and 2nd positions respectively. IBM is cl osely followed by Dell as the 2nd most preferred brand. According to the respons es for these positions, it is apparent that only a minor about 12% of the corpor ate customers consider HCL as the most preferred brand. However it is evident th at a substantial no. of responses are observed for the 3rd and 4th positions in the favor of HCL wherein it accounts for about 26% and 31% of the total responses respectively. The analysis shows that, the most commonly perceived preference order of the abo ve brands would be IBM, Dell, HP, HCL and Wipro. While IBM is by far, the most r evered brand followed by Dell, HCL is a strong contender for the 3rd and the 4th spots. The study has also identified the major and closest competitor of HCL as HP. Apparently HCL faces the toughest and stro ngest competition from HP. While HP overweighs HCL for the 1st and the 2nd posit ions, HCL has a relatively stronger position in the 3rd and the 4th spots. Needl ess to say that HCL has to be most cautious about the business strategies and moves of HP above any othe r company. Wipro has only lately ventured into the hardware market and in consonance, has been mostly ranked as t he least preferred brand among the five. It is only a follower of HCL and presen tly does not pose a major threat. However HCL would do good to keep track of its business moves considering the fact that it is already a well-established playe

r in the other sectors of the IT industry - an advantageous position, which it m ay leverage to catch up with the likes of HCL. Simultaneously, HCL could benchma rk its strategies and business practices with IBM or Dell who have secured a str ong preference position among the corporate customers.

Service Price upgradability BTO Technology Brand Pull Brand Awareness 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The analysis of the average ratings of the major parameters of HCL Infosystems, we observe a mixed response. Though corporate customers consider the pricing of HCL products as fairly reasonable, the low responses reveal a Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 27 relatively dim image on the technological and service aspects. Neither the Brand pull of HCL seems particularly impressive. Conversely, though the organizationa l buyers are comparatively satisfied with the Built to Order and customization f acilities that are offered by the company. Fortunately it seems that HCL has alr eady established itself as a major player as apparent from the high brand awaren ess value. From an overall perspective, it seems that the brand value and brand pull of HCL is midway between the established MNC's like IBM and the domestic compatriots l ike Wipro. Though it enjoys a relatively high ground, there is still much scope of brand building for HCL. CORRELATION ANALYSIS The study intended to establish the relationship between corporate buying decisi on and loyalty with the probable influencing factors like Price, Service, Techno logical expertise, Brand value etc. SPSS was used to establish the correlations between the said variables. The results are as shown below:

Interpretations of the above results lead to the fact that the most significant factors contributing to the loyalty of a corporate customer are Service and Long association. To a lesser but substantial extent, Built to Order (BTO) and Upgra dability features also have a high correlation with customer loyalty. The result s also show that, the perceived brand value is determined by the technological a

dvancement of the respective products. Technology is also important in determini ng the loyalty as well. While upgradability and Built to order feature show a hi gh level of mutual dependencies, the most significant correlation of 0.912 is ob served between Service and Long association. It seems that with prolonged relati onship between the seller and the purchasing organization, the demand for better and prompt service also strengthens in consonance. Most surprisingly, there is no significant correlation between Price and Loyalty or any other variable. Thus , we may conclude that Price has a very insignificant role to play in the determ ination of the corporate buying behavior. Co-efficients (a) Co-efficients Co-efficients

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Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

REGRESSION ANALYSIS From the SPSS output and using standardized coefficients, the regression equatio n for the said variables can be framed as: Loyalty = - 0.047(Brand Value) + 0.292(Technology) + 0.323(BTO) - 0.026(Upgradab ility) + 0.191(Price) + 0.278(Service) + 0.184(Long Association) According to the regression equation, Technology, Built to Order (BTO) facility and Service are the most important factors that determine the outcome of a corpo rate purchase decision and Loyalty. Though Brand Value and Upgradability have-ve coefficients, we can eventually ignore them as both have insignificant value. U nlike in Correlation Analysis, here Price has a significantly high coefficient, therefore we may revise our interpretation that price can be ignored but rather state that price too is among the major factors that has a considerable influenc e on the corporate buying decision. DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS Discriminant analysis model suggests an accuracy of 93% of original grouped case s being correctly classified. Here, the categorical variable was loyalty which was coded as zero and one signifying disloyal and loyal customer respectively. The Eigen value, also called the characteristic root of each discriminant function r eflects the ratio of importance of the dimensions which classify cases of depend ent variable. In our case, the Eigen value corresponding to function one was 1.6 07 corresponding to a canonical coefficient of 0.785. The Wilk's Lambda was calc ulated to be 0.384 which is less than 0.5 (closer to zero) indicating better dis criminating power of the model and that it is statistically significant. From th e output of the standardized canonical discriminant coefficient function, the di scriminant function can be represented as: Loyalty = -0.093 (Brand Value) + 0. 566 (Technology) + 0.544 (BTO) - 0.047 (Upgr adability) +0.372 (Price) + 0.436 (Service) + 0.285 (Long Association)

The transformed group centroids are -.918 and 1.719 thus with a mean of 0.4005, suggesting disloyalty below it and loyalty above. From the coefficient of the in dependent variables, we can infer that Technology (coefficient = 0.566) and BTO (0.544) are the most important factors deciding the loyalty of a customer. 2 of 73 of the customers originally classified as disloyal and 5 of 39 of the customers originally classified as loyal are proved to be incorrectly cl assified yielding 93.8 % accuracy. The percentage of loyalty is calculated to be about 35%. The no. of disloyal customers (73) being almost twice that of the lo yals (39) tends to show that, people are not considerably brand specific and don 't prefer to persist with a single company for years when it comes to IT hardwar e. Therefore, it appears imperative that the companies must focus their attentio n in building up credibility

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 29

to sustain any long-term business prospects, particularly in terms of incorporat ing advanced technology and infusing customer orientation in product development . FACTOR ANALYSIS

The factor analysis was aimed at establishing interrelations between the eight p rimary variables that we considered in the study with respect to consumer buying decisions and subsequently grouping the highly correlated variables into fewer condensed factors. The correlation matrix establishes the fact that variables BT O, Upgradability, Service and long association are considerably highly correlate d. Similarly Brand Value and Technology are mutually highly correlated. Price do es not show significant correlation with any other variable and therefore was co nsidered as a separate variable itself. From the KMO and Bartlett's Test, the me asure of sampling adequacy comes out to be 0.582 which is acceptable. Further fr om the communality table, the measures of variance of a given variable towards t he factors are reliable. Total Variance table indicates that three factors can b e extracted by Principal Component Analysis method corresponding to total Eigen values of more than 1 and cumulative percentage of variance of 84.335. The Scree plot shows a change of steepness corresponding to component no. three justifyin g the no. of factors. From the Component Matrix table and the table of Rotated C omponent Matrix, the variables can be grouped into the respective components bas ed on their Loadings as shown below: Component 1

This component can be termed as Customization and Service. Component 2

This component can be termed as Brand Equity Component 3 This component can be termed as Price. From the analysis it becomes obvious that, Brand Value and Technology are the ch ief variables that decide Brand Equity of a corporate customer. BTO, Upgradabili ty, Service and Long Association attribute towards Customization and Customer ce ntric business strategies, while Price forms an independent component deciding t he purchase behavior of the corporate buyer. The Analysis corroborates the findi ngs from the Correlation and Regression results with regards to the interdepende nces of the factors. Apparently, an organization in the IT business must inevita bly focus on technological advancements to establish its brand pull. Technologic al obsolence is thus a major threat for companies like HCL who must therefore ke ep abreast with the latest technologies prevalent globally. A high degree of cus tomer orientation and prompt service are among other aspects where an organizati on needs to concentrate and strategize well. 30 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

Total Variance Explained

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Component Matrix(a)

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. a 3 components extracted. IV CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The findings of the research work have shown that, in spite of the market statis tics establishing HP as the market leader followed by HCL poised favorably at th e second position, the perceptions of the corporate buyers in contrast, is not p articularly in favor of Indian domestic players like HCL Infosystems or Wipro. I t is in fact, an observation of caution that the targeted audience perceives IBM and Dell as the most preferred brands while HCL is at best the third or the fou rth choice. It seems evident thus, that companies like HCL are required to act a t the earliest so as to improve its business prospects and perception among its targeted customer. The following recommendations have made based on the findings during this period. Firstly, the product portfolio of HCL is abruptly truncated at the higher end bo th technologically as well as from the price point of view. Therefore the compan y may have to helplessly compromise. Simultaneously, the concern is thus incapab le of addressing a very important, rich and major market altogether. Line modern ization and improvement of the portfolio may prove beneficial for the organizati on. HCL Infosystems Ltd. has been following Ad-Hiatus-Ad strategy. However, it h as become apparent during this project that the communication strategy is not pr ecisely effective and is inadequate. Such a strategy is not suited owing to the nature of the product itself as well as the cut throat rivalry as prevalent in t he market. The hiatus or gap between the advertisements is often too long and th ereby the awareness level among the targeted consumer falls. This in fact, provi des the competitors opportunity to gain relative business advantage over HCL. Co nducting frequent PR and publicity exercises among prospective corporate buyers may be another effective method of marketing communication for HCL. Development of an online portal is another probable improvement that the organization may co nsider. Presently, HCL unlike globally successful brands like Dell, does not hav e the feature on its web page where-from the customer can place orders online. T his could serve as an effective communication medium for interactions Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 31 with the corporate customers, both cost effectively and timely. Service has been

another major issue of concern. The company needs to immediately focus on the b etterment of service at the earliest so as to make it both prompt and readily av ailable. Statistical analysis has shown that the brand equity of a company is de termined by the technological expertise of its offerings. Therefore to improve t he credibility of the HCL brand, the organization must focus on technological ad vancement. The Company would do well by increasing the exclusive dealers of HCL. HCL already has its exclusive showrooms named Digilife Shops, it is strongly su ggested that more of such stores be opened for direct consumer interactions. It would also provide the company insight into customer preferences. The organizati on may endeavor in Up-Market Stretching to establish the brand and simultaneousl y address the premium segment. Discriminant Analysis has shown that the most imp ortant factor influencing the loyalty of a corporate customer is the degree of c ustomization facility provided by the company. Evidently, the company must impro ve its Built to Order feature and increase the scope of customization and custom er centric product development furthermore to leverage long-term associations. C omparative analysis has revealed that the company needs to give due significance to Research and Development to develop products with latest and innovative tech nology matching the needs of the corporate purchaser. Analyzing the comparative position of HCL with respect to HP or IBM, the company may also undergo geograph ical expansion to cater to a broader global market and finally HCL may undertake CSR exercises to increase its brand awareness and long-term credibility in the society and among the corporate and retail customers alike. The study of the buying behavior of the organizational market in the IT hardware sector is a representative of a broader arena of corporate buying. The research has revealed several important aspects of customer behavior and the underlying dynamics of the market. It has unveiled the intricacies of the rivalry of the sa id industry and has also provided a glimpse of the actual market scenario in con trast to the perceptions of the targeted customer. The market itself is highly v alue sensitive and is continuously evolving and rapidly metamorphosizing. Needle ss to say, all the players in general and the domestic companies like HCL in par ticular, will have to keep pace with the changing trends, technology and demands to stand their ground, to establish brand preference and sustain competitive ad vantage. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Internal records of HCL 2. Carley, K.M. 1992. Organizational learning and personnel turnover. Organiz ation Science. 3rd Ed., pages 20-46. 3. Philip Kotler - Principles of Marketing, 2nd European Edition. 4. Alexis Jacquemia - The New Organizational Behavior, 3rd Ed. 5. Leon G. Schiffman & Leslie KAnuk Consumer behavior, 9th Ed., Prentice Hall Pub. 6. Loudon & Della Consumer Behavior Concepts and Applications, 4th Ed, TMH 7. Michael Solomon Consumer Behavior-Buying, having & being, 5th Ed., Prentic e Hall. 8. Hutt, Michael D. & Thomas WBusiness Marketing Management, 5th Ed., Dryden Press 9. Thomas W Speh Business Marketing Management: A strategic View of Industria l & Organizational Markets. 10. Roy Wetts Hill Organizational Buying Behavior, New York, Palgrave Macmillan . 11. Frederick E. Webstar, Yoram Wind Organizational buying behavior. 12. Donald Kooper & Pamela Schindler-Business Research Methods, 7th Ed., TMH Pu b. 13. S. Shejchan- Research Methodology for management, 3rd Ed., Jaico Pub. House . 14. Pre-negotiation Strategy in Uneven Power Situations Goliath, 1st July, '04. 15. Ivar Vermeulen and Jeroen Bruggeman - The Logic of Organizational Markets: Thinking Through Resource Partitioning Theory, March 2000. 16. B2B Marketing in Asia, Journal of Academy of Marketing Sciences, University o

f Miami, 1st quarter, '07. 17. New Definition of B2B gains currency, Times of India, 15th April, 2007. 18. http://www.hclinfosystems.in/ 19. http://www.hclinfosystemsltd.com/INVESTORS>FinancialPressRelease(CURRENT)> General Press Release.htm 20. http://www.talk2hcl.in/channelpartner.htm

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Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

Customer Satisfaction of Nokia Mobile Handset Users

*J. V. Rangeswara Reddy In 19th century, Prof. Alfred Graham Bell invented the telephony to talk to othe rs. The first real improvement in the telephone was due to Thomas Alva Edison's carbon transmitter, which was then further improved by the Blake microphone. Another improvement was the combination of mouthpiece and the earpiece into a si ngle handset, giving a new freedom of movement to users. The individual parts of the telephone were discovered and developed by different people at different ti mes. On February 14, 1876, the day that Graham Bell applied for a patent for his vers ion of the telephone, Elisha Gray applied for a caveat-a document indicating tha t he intended to file his own patent claim within three months. But Gray was a f ew hours too late. Bell had already filed an actual patent application. In this way, London's first trunk telephone line linked the city with Brighton. For the first time, telephone communication was opened between London and what were then termed 'the Midland and Northern countries'. Thomas Watson was Alexander Graham Bell's right- hand man who helped him create the telephone. Cellular Phones are an offshoot of Graham Bell's invention. These devices work and have to be activ ated with the help of an electronic chip which are provided by many service prov iders. The cellphone has revolutionized the way in which people communicate with each o ther. India has a population of 100 crores and 60% of the people use cell phones. VARIOUS TYPES OF COMMUNICATION DEVICES No one product can meet the needs, wants and desires of the people and market. T he Indian communication department has, over the years, grown in scale with a diversified product range. The various types of communication devices in In dia are: Telephones (Landlines) Pagers Cellular phones NOKIA CORPORATION Wireless wizard NOKIA has cast a spell on the mobile phone market. The company i s the world's #1 maker of cell phones. NOKIA is also aiming for the top of the n ascent mobile Internet market. The company's products are divided primarily betw een four divisions: mobile phones (wireless voice and data devices for personal and business uses), multimedia (home satellite systems, and mobile gaming device s), networks (wireless switching and transmission equipment used in carrier netw orks), and enterprise solutions (wireless systems for businesses). It has agreed to combine its network equipment business with that of Siemens in a joint ventu

re.NOKIA is currently the world's largest manufacturer of mobile telephones, wit h a global market share of approximately 36% in Q3 of 2006.It produces mobile ph ones for every major market and protocol, including GSM, CDMA, and W- CDMA (UMTS ). The corporation also produces telecommunications network equipment for applicati ons such as mobile and fixed- line voice telephony, ISDN, broadband access, voic e over IP, and wireless LAN. NOKIA's headquarters are in Espoo, a neighboring city of Helsinki, Finland, but it has R&D, manufacturing, and sales representation sites in many continents thr oughout the world. NOKIA Research Center, the corporation's industrial research laboratories, has sites in Athens, Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu, Tokyo, Beijing, Buda pest, Bochum, Palo Alto, California, Bangalore and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA . PRODUCT DIVISIONS NOKIA comprises of four business groups: Mobile Phones, Multimedia, Enterprise S olutions and Networks, plus various horizontal entities such as Customer and Mar ket Operations, and Technology Platforms. MOBILE PHONES NOKIA's Mobile Phones division provides people with mobile voice and data produc ts across a wide range of mobile devices. The division aims to target primarily high-volume category sales of mobile phones and devices, with consumers being the most important customer segment. The devices are based on GSM/EDG E, *Assistant Professor, Velangini Institute of Management, Bogaram, Keesara, Andhr a Pradesh. E-mail : rangeswar_777@yahoo.co.in Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 33 3G/WCDMA and CDMA cellular technologies. MULTIMEDIA The Multimedia division's purpose is to design devices and applications that bri ng multimedia experiences to their customers. These devices allow people to crea te access and consume multimedia, as well as share their experiences with others . The devices are included with a wide range of connectivity such as GSM, 3G/WCD MA, WLAN and Bluetooth. ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS As the name implies, the NOKIA Enterprise Solutions offers businesses, corporati ons and institutions a broad range of products and solutions, such as enterprise -grade mobile devices, underlying security infrastructure, software and services . NOKIA also works with a range of companies to provide network security, bring mobilized corporate e-mail and extend corporate telephone systems to work with N OKIA's mobile devices. NETWORKS NOKIA Networks provides mobile network infrastructure, communications and networ ks service platforms, as well as professional services to operators and service providers. Networks focuses in: GSM, EDGE and 3G/WCDMA networks; core networks with increasing IP and multi-access capabilitie s; and services. NOKIA'S LANDMARKS Year 1969: NOKIA introduced the world's first 30-channel PCM (Pulse Code Modulat ion) transmission equipment conforming to the standards of CCITT (Consultative C ommittee on International Telegraphy and Telephony). Year 1981: The world's first international cellular mobile telephone network NMT opened in Scandinavia with NOKIA introducing the first car phones for the network. Year 1982: Opening of Europe's first digital telephone exchange, the DX 200. Year 1984: Introduction of world's first portable NMT car telephone, the NOKIATa lkman. Year 1988: Introduction of world's first NMT hand portable, the NOKIA City man. Year 1989: The world's first ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) exchange

conforming to CCITT standards, manufactured by NOKIA, was brought into use in Finland. Year 1990: The world's first Actionet trunking mobile radio network was brought into operation. The world's first fast-poll 14,400 bps (bits-per-second) modem. Year 1991: Introduction of world's first Radio Data System (RDS) and Mobile Sear ch (MBS) text pagers. Year 1992: The first manufacturer to have a large-scale production of GSM phones . The world's first genuine GSM call made using Radiolinja's network, supplied by NOKIA. Year 1993: Introduction of The NOKIA 1011, the first digital hand portable phone for GSM networks. The NOKIA 100 series, the first family of hand portable phones for all analog networ ks. Year 1994: The first Personal Communications Network based on GSM 1800 standard delivered by NOKIA. The world's first SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) taken into commercial use. The world's first credit card size cellular modem card deve loped with AT&T Paradyne. Year 1995: The first official GSM call in the Republic of China made on a NOKIA phone on Beijing TA4s network, supplied by NOKIA. The first European manufacture r to start selling mobile phones in Japan. Year 1996: The world's first integrated wireless pay phone. NOKIA Prime Site, th e world's smallest base station for GSM/DCS cellular mobile networks. The new jo int venture, Beijing NOKIA Mobile Telecommunications Ltd., was established: the first factory to manufacture large scale GSM systems and equipment in China. Year 1997: The NOKIA 8100 product family, the first with an innovative, ergonomi cally comfortable design was introduced. NOKIA was the first manufacturer to off er both simplified and traditional character sets in the same phone. The first d igital multimedia terminal in the world, the NOKIA Media master. Year 1998: The world's first four TETRA networks were delivered by NOKIA. The wo rld's first digital satellite receiver with Common Interface, the DVB 9600 S. Th e world's first GSM dual band base station, the NOKIA GSM 900/1800 Dual Band BTS . This provides the possibility to integrate GSM 1800 transceivers (TRXs) into a n existing GSM 900 Base station (BTS). Year 1999: NOKIA delivered world's first ETSI standard ADSL and IP network to Te lecom New Zealand, thereby marking the start of commercial delivery of broadband data services using the ADSL network. Year 2000: NOKIA is first to market with corporate WAP server. NOKIA introduced the world's first high-speed data terminal for wireless networks: the NOKIA Card Phone 2.0 brings about a four-fold increase in data transmission speed. NOKIA a nnounced the world's first media phone that is based on the Wireless Application 34 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 Protocol (WAP) in Mobile Media Mode. Year 2001: NOKIA introduced the world's first IPv6-enabled end-to-end GPRS netwo rk. NOKIA introduced the world's first TETRA WAP browser which brings powerful W AP applications to TETRA professional mobile radio networks. Year 2002: NOKIA and the Finnish operator Sonera conducted the world's first Wir eless LAN roaming based on GSM technology. Sonera is making use of NOKIA technol ogy that allows mobile operators to offer broadband wireless Internet services i n Wireless LAN access zones. Year 2003: NOKIA announced the NOKIA 6200 tri-band (GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1800/1900M Hz) phone, the world's first 3GPP compliant EDGE (Enhanced Data-Rates for GSM Ev olution) handset, offering users advanced voice features and robust mobile data services via high speed Internet connectivity. NOKIA introduced the world's firs t handset for WCDMA and GSM networks. Year 2004: NOKIA and Jay-Z teamed up to create a music and wireless industry fir st with the Black Phone. NOKIA unveiled the world's first GSM push-to-talk hands et, the sports-inspired NOKIA 5140 phone. NOKIA demonstrated world's first dual stack IPv4/IPv6 CDMA handset. Year 2005: Using NOKIA's CDMA Dual-Stack handset, NOKIA demonstrated the industr

y's first Mobile IPv6 call at the 3G World Congress Convention and Exhibition in November. Year 2006: NOKIA announced world's first commercial solution for managing DVB-H broadcast services. The NOKIA 6630 imaging smart phone has as the first device i n the world achieved global GCF 3G WDCMA Certification. The certification was ac hieved based on the requirements defined by Global Certification Forum (GCF). OBJECTIVE The objective of the paper is to study the Satisfaction level of customers, Prod uct awareness and Consumer Behavior with reference to NOKIA mobile handset users. SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study enables us to understand the perception of the market segment in a bet ter way. So, this study would help NOKIA dealers to recognize the factors influe ncing the purchase of NOKIA Mobiles and also to identify various features influe ncing the buying process. In short, the study covers the area of consumer behavi or, the attitudes and perceptions of Mobiles phone users. SAMPLING PLAN The type of sampling is convenient random sampling& sample size is 100. The data was collected by administering a questionnaire to this sample. For analyzing the responses of customers, we have used simple averages and for t he purpose of interpretation of analyzed data some of the graphical representati ons were used. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 1) Product Awareness

0%

5% 10% 15% 20% The above table indicates that NOKIA is having good awareness among the responde nts. After NOKIA, Samsung &Sony Ericsson occupy the second place. Motorola & LG is in the Third place. Spi ce and Benq are in the fourth place. Haier and O2 comes before i Mate and BPL. 2) Factors Influencing the Brand Preference

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 35

resalevalue 15% features 22% appearance 11%

price 9% battery backup 26% brand image 17% The above table shows that 22% of the respondents are influenced to buy NOKIA ph ones for features and price 9%, 17% by the brand image, 26% by the battery backup, appearance 11%and 15% buy the Nokia brand because of its resale value respectively. 3) Media Preference for Advertisement

From the above table, it is observed that 46% of the respondents prefer Televisi on for advertising the product where as 17% of them prefer newspapers and 18% pr efer Magazines, hording and pamphlets are preferred by 9% and 2% ,8% is prefered by others respectively. 4) Place of preference for buying NOKIA mobile phones

From the above table it can be concluded that 18% said that they prefer to buy t heir phones with priority outlets, 66% said that they prefer to buy with dealers and 8% said that they prefer to bu

y in gray market and finally 6% 36 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

preferred to buy with others. 5) Awareness about the features in NOKIA mobile

From the above table it can be concluded that 82% of the customers are having aw areness about the features in their phones and 18% do not have awareness about t he features present in their phones. 6) Opinion about the prices of NOKIA mobile phones Expensive Affordable Economical Cheaper

From the above table it can be concluded that regarding the prices of NOKIA mobi le phones, 24% said that they are expensive and 42% said that they are affordabl e, 22% said that they are economical and 12% said that they are cheaper. 7) Satisfaction level of service provided by the NOKIA service centers

The above table reveals that majority of customers are satisfied with NOKIA serv ice centers. And only 20 percent of them are not satisfied about the service pro vided by the NOKIA service centers respectively. Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 37

8) Showing the satisfactory level of NOKIA mobile phones

From the above table it is clear that 99% of the respondents prefer NOKIA phones and only 1% do not prefer NOKIA phones respectively. 9) Showing Classification based on satisfactory level

appearance Features: In the above analysis, 51% of the respondents gave their opinion as hi ghly satisfied with the features of the mobile, 49% of respondents gave their op inion as satisfied, 0% of respondents were not satisfied. Audio output: In the above analysis, 23% of respondents are highly satisfied wit h the audio output, 50% of respondents are satisfied, and 27% of respondents are not satisfied with this attribute. Software compatibility: In the above analysis, 20% of respondents gave their opi nion as highly satisfied with the software compatibility, 63% of respondents gav e their opinion as satisfied, 17% of respondents gave their opinion as not satis fied with this attribute. Built in memory: In the above analysis, 25% of respondents are fully satisfied w ith built in memory, 54% of respondents are satisfied, but 18% of respondents ar e not satisfied. Accessories: In the above analysis, 31% of respondents are fully satisfied with

the accessories, 56% of respondents are satisfied, and 13% of respondents are no t satisfied. Appearance: In the above analysis, 31% of respondents are fully satisfied with t he appearance, 56% of respondents are satisfied, and 13% of respondents are not satisfied. Battery backup: In the above analysis, 66% of respondents are fully satisfied wi th the battery backup, 23% of respondents are satisfied, and 21% of respondents are not satisfied. 38 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

(Cont. on page 48) Role of Co-operative Banks In Catering To The Credit Needs of Rural Masses INTRODUCTION * Nidheesh K. B. Development is an activity or process of both qualitative and quantitative chang e in the existing systems aiming at immediate improvement of living conditions o f the people or increases the potential betterment of living conditions in the f uture. The concept of rural development was born in the context of agriculture a nd it remained for a long time with agricultural development in India. The royal commission on agriculture (1928) provided this kind of interpretation to rural development. Nearly half a century later, another committee took more or less si milar view of 'rural development'. The planning commission's taskforce on integr ated rural development observed in 1972, After careful consideration, we have bel atedly decided to take what might be considered a rather restricted view of the expression, rural development. We have chosen to equate it with agricultural dev elopment in the widest sense so as to embrace besides corp. husbandry, all the a llied activities. Since nineteen seventies, the concept of rural development has undergone a change and has become more comprehensive.The concept of rural develo pment, as enunciated by the World Bank, makes such a change. The World Bank defi nes rural development, as a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people - the poor. The rural development involves e xtending the benefits of rural development to the poorest among those who seek l ivelihood in the rural area. The group includes small scale farmers, tenants and landless. To quote from the world banks sector policy paper on rural developmen t: A national programme of rural development should include a mix of activities i ncluding projects to raise agricultural output, create new employment, improve h ealth and education, expand communication and improve housing. In sort, it is wro ng to equate rural development with agricultural development alone, although agr iculture may be at the centre of the stage. Thus, a policy designed to bring about rural development as defined above should incorporate the components stated in the chart RURAL DEVELOPMENT

AGRICULTURE

DEVELOPMENT

MECHANISATION

HIGH YIEDING SEEDS

PEST CONTROL

MARKETING VILLAGE INDUSTRIES

MODERNISATION

TECHNICAL TRAINING

MARKETING EDUCATION

TECHNICAL

ARTISANS SKILLS

AGRICULTURAL SERVICES

DISPENSARY

HEALTH GUIDANCE

FAMILY WELFARE

WORK SHOPS

RANKING * Lecturer, Commerce Department, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry-605014. E-m ail : nidheeshkbpu@yahoo.co.in Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 39 From the chart , it is disclosed that, rural development is a systematic approac h aiming at total development of the area and the people by bringing about neces sary institutional , attitudinal changes and delivering a package of services th rough extensive method to encompass not only the economic field that is developm ent of agriculture, rural industries etc., but also the establishment of the req uired infrastructure and service in the area of health, education, banking etc. with an ultimate objective of improving quality of life in rural area. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The study envisaged to cover the operations of bank in fulfi lling its role as a generator and provider of credit for the rural masses. Evalu ation is a method of determining how far the lending operations of the bank; par ticularly, the lending operations has progressed and how much faster and in what way it could be carried to accomplish its role as a provider of credit. The pre sent study is aimed to evaluate how far the bank is able to accomplish its basic objectives. The approach of study has been fabricated from the point of view of both the banker and customer. The period of study covers ten years from 1997 to 2006. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The study aims at analyzing the role of primary cooperative banks in providing credit to rural poor. To study the co-operative movement during the pre and post independence periods . To study the working of service cooperative banks in India with special referen ce to RBI recommendations and NABARD assistance. To analyse the various lending policies and operations of Kayakkody Service Coo perative Bank. To asses the performance of Kayakkody Service Cooperative bank with regard to e fficiency in employing its deposits mobilized. To bring in to light the reason for non- repayment of loans even after due date . To offer viable suggestions to improve the performance of KSCB based on finding s. METHODOLOGY : The synthesis of the study is both descriptive and analytical. Pri mary and secondary data were collected to examine the objectives of the study. T he study was spread to cover every nook and corner of the village. The persons w ith overdue were selected at random from the bank records in order to investigat e into the reason for non- repayment of loans. Thus, a multistage sampling techn ique which involves the selection of panchayat, wards and borrowers, was adopted for the present study and the sample size constitutes 60 members. RESEARCH TOOL

S : Interview schedule is the main research tool used in the study. Major data r elating to deposits, lending operations under various schemes, overdue position were complied from the annual statistical statements and other records of the KS CB. Collected data is analysed by using various statistical tools like trend ana lysis, regression, comparative statements, ratios and recent software called e-v iews, which provides more accuracy to the study. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY No information concerning non -performing assets could be collected from the ba nk. Personal judgment of the researcher played a major role in selecting samples fo r the study PERFORMANCE OF CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT STRUCTURE: Kerala can claim to have an elabor ate and efficient rural credit system administered through primary Co-operatives , Central Co-operative Banks and Apex Co-operative Banks. The co-operative credi t structure in Kerala comprises of 2 parts viz. (i) short and medium term credit structure (ii) long term credit structure. The short and medium credit requirem ents are met by a three- tier system consisting of State Co-operative Banks at m iddle level and 1628 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies at the base level. In addition to this, 85 urban co-operative Banks and 1013 Employees credit Co-oper atives are meeting the Non-Agricultural Credit requirements of their members. Po sition of PACS in Kerala.

Rs. Rs. Rs. The Primary Agricultural Credit Societies in the state which were once upon a ti me mere Nanaya Vinimaya 40 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

Sahakarana Sangham in course of time transformed themselves into the present Agr icultural Credit Societies which can cater to all the credit needs of the rural mass and capable of doing all modern Banking Business. They spread their wings i n all spheres of socio-economic activities, got entrenched in diverse sectors of the economy and touched the lives of all sections of the people at large. Primary cooperative banks- all India position

For the growth of any banking institution, credit is an indispensable input. The slogan accepting deposit for the purpose of lending clearly brings out the prime

importance of lending function of the bank. It is increasingly realized that, pu blic institutions, particularly banks have to play a prominent role to accelerat e the economic and social status of weaker sections as part of their activities. The main aim behind the establishment of cooperative banks is to provide financ ial assistance in short term, medium term, and long term basis to it members. The role of cooperative banks in expanding and extending credit is considered to be an important indicator of their performance. The lending operations of a coo perative bank help us to know the extent to which the bank is able to cater to t he credit needs of its members. LOAN ACCOUNT AND AMOUNT OF LOANS DISBURSED FOR 10 YEARS

Source: General ledger of the KSCB, Navigation through the advances of KSCB for the past ten years from 1997 to 2006 reveals a light of enhancement and improvement in its lending operations. It sh ows that the bank is able to meet the emerging demand of rural households in the period under study. The trend analysis of the advances of KSCB spells out that there is a linear tre nd in its lending operations. The value has grown from 27.75 (in 1997) to 133.41 (in 2006). There is almost a five fold increase in trend value. It explains tha t the lending operations of the bank are increasing in absolute and relative ter ms. Each and every year under study, the trend values increased. The lending operation of the bank showed a positive trend which paved the way fo r increased lending. The needs of the people are increasing day by day and the t rend analysis shows that the bank is able to meet at least a portion of the incr eased need for credit of the rural households. Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 41 YEAR-WISE TREND EQUATION ANALYSIS OF ADVANCES TREND YEAR VALUE Ye= a + bx ADVANCES

*source: General ledger of the KSCB, The figure above shown is the graphical representation of the values. In the X a xis, it shows the year, and the Y axis shows the amount and trend values. The st raight line is the trend of advances of KSCB; it shows a positive increasing tre nd over the last ten years. PURPOSE-WISE CLASSIFICATION OF ADVANCES FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 2006

* Source: Annual statistical statement of KSCB. A close look at the table reveals that BSCB concentrates its lending activities for agricultural and non-agricultural activities. For example, out of Rs. 201849 95, Loans sanctioned for the year 2006, agricultural and allied activities accou nted for Rs. 74166061. That amounts to 36% of the total advances. Among the various agricultural loans, bank granted Rs. 6055614 as advance agains t Kissan Credit Card scheme, which worked out to be 81 % of the total advances t o agricultural and allied activities. In the non-agricultural section, gold loan occupies the first place. Gold loan is sanctioned by KSCB to the extent of Rs. 7879191 which works out to 39% of total advances. Next to gold loan, NAST and NA MT occupy significant positions. From the above analysis, one important point that emerged was the importance giv en to jewel loans. It seems KSCB prefers jewel loans as advance against jewels does not involve cumbersome p rocedure and hence it is easy 42 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

to avail loan from the point of view of borrowers. It was further inferred that the beneficiaries are free to use the amount sanctioned as loans.

YEAR-WISE ADVANCES TO AGRICULTURE AND NON-AGRICULTURE AND PERCENTAGE TO TOTAL AD VANCES

*source: General ledger of the KSCB A thorough look through the table reveals that the advances are concentrated mos tly on non-agricultural sectors. In the year 1997, the advances to agriculture w ere Rs.676183 which amounts to 16.59% of the total advances and non agricultural loans were granted to the extent of Rs. 3398598, i.e. 83.41% of total advances. A close watch through the table gives us that the advances to agricultural secto r show a growing trend. It grew from 16.59% in the year 1997, to 36.74% in 2006. This means that the increasing importance of agriculture and the need for agric ultural credit is satisfied by the bank. On the other hand, there is a percentag e decrease in non-agricultural loans. Further, we can understand that the bank i s not following a uniform policy of lending to agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. CREDIT DEPOSIT RATIO OF KSCB YEAR CREDIT DEPOSIT C/D RATIO

*source: General ledger of the KSCB Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 43 The credit deposit ratio of a bank shows the efficiency of the bank in employing the deposits mobilized by it. Deposit is the major source of income for a bank. The credit deposit ratio of the bank in 1997 was more than 100% (i.e. 111%). It shows that the banks are able to employ the deposit available with it in an eff icient manner. But in the succeeding years the same was not followed, all other years the credit deposit ratio was less than 100%. This reduction in employment of deposit for lending may be because of its other operations like onachanda, re tail shop, fertilizer depot etc. For safe and secure lending like any other financial institution, KSCB also prov ides advances on the basis of security. When advances have been secured, the sec urity can be enforced in case of defalcations. Analyses of the securities provid ed by the customer is as follows : OCCUPATION AND TYPE OF SECURITY AVAILED Occupation Land NO. % Surety bond No. Jewels No. Total No. % % %

Self-employed

The table reveals that 36.6%of the total respondents provides land as security. Of this, 10% are agricultural farmers. The table further shows that self-employe d prefer surety bond as security. 6.7% of the unemployed preferred surety bond a s the source of their security. The preference of self -employed on land is 8.3 % and 10% of coolie workers furnished land as security. None of the self-employe d preferred jewel as security. Interest is the amount paid by the borrower to the lender for the privilege of u sing the lenders' money. Bank advances different kinds of loans at different rat es of interest, the rate of interest is determined by a number of factors like t he repayment period of the loan, purpose of the loan etc. Here this question in the schedule tries to probe into the opinion of borrowers on the interest charge d by KSCB on its advances. RATE OF INTEREST OF THE LOAN -OCCUPATION WISE ANALYSIS

The table explains that about 38% of the total respondents showed a positive vie w about the interest charged for the loan. 28.3% of the respondents did not have any command about the rate of interest charged by the bank. The respondents exp ressed negative feelings towards rate of interest charged by the bank that const ituted 33.3%. Navigation through the table shows that 60% of the total responden ts opinioned the period of repayment convenient. Of these, 13.3% are agricultura l labours and self -employed and unemployed account for 8.3% and 11.6% respectively. About 21.7% of the respondents expressed the view that they are not comfortable with the repayment period of the loan. They expressed that l ocal money lenders provide money at a flat rate of interest without considering the period of repayment and there is no need for furnishing any security for ava iling the loan. Many reasons could be attributed for overdue problem. The study on overdues in cooperative banks reveals that a considerable number of borrowers do not make payments not because they would not be able to repay, but because 44 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

PERIOD OF REPAYMENT OCCUPATION WISE ANALYSIS

Self-employed

they are not willing to repay the loan. This category of borrowers is known as wi llful defaulters. And it is quite possible for some borrowers not to keep up thei r repayment due to some genuine reasons, like increased family expenditure, liti gation of expenditure, repayment of other loan, unemployment, loss of agricultur al production, illness etc. REASON FOR OVERDUE - OCCUPATION WISE ANALYSIS

Self- employed

According to the above table, 45% of the respondents expressed that they could n ot repay the loan due because of unemployment. 18.3% of the respondents became d efaulters because of illness and 23.3% of them did not have a justifiable reason . It can therefore be inferred that there respondents come under the category of willful defaulters. They may be expecting some relief under the agricultural and rural relief scheme. The personal experience of the researcher adds some more fa cts to this view. Some of the respondents allegedly responded very casually in t his regard. A look through the records of the bank gave an embracing picture to the researcher; debts were due for more than seven years. Another reason brought out under this overdue position was that there are some loans which are taken f or the benefit of certain persons in the name of the original loaned, this is a situation observed while interacting with some of the respondents. In such a ca se, the loan remained unpaid because of the default of the other person. Such ca ses are shown in the table in others column which accounted for 5% of the total respondents. It is appreciable to note that the efforts taken by KSCB to recover the loan wer e fairly good, when we compare to their counter parts in the other parts of Indi a. INTIMATION FROM THE BANK ABOUT OVERDUE POSITION

The table shows that about 86% of the respondents were intimated at least once a bout their overdue position through registered post. Further, the respondents ex pressed that they were also intimated informally through telephone. So we can ju dge that the bank is trying to safeguard its side by employing all possible effo rts to recover the loans from the defaulters. Overdue is common in the lending o perations. An enquiry was conducted to find out Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 45 the reason for this state of affair. The respondents are asked to state the purp ose for which they utilized loans taken by them. UTILITY OF THE LOAN - OCCUPATION WISE ANALYSIS

It can be viewed that about 53% of the total respondents who come under the cate gory of irregular in repayments did not used their loan amount for the purpose f or which the loan was availed. In the case of agricultural farmers, this trend w as more pronounced. For example, only 43% of the borrowers utilized their amou nt for the specific purpose of the loan .Some of them availed agricultural loans at concessional rate of interest and used for some domestic purposes that has no monetary outcome. The advantage of concessional interest rate and subsidies a

re utilized by such people for unproductive purposes. Recovery of loan disbursed is very important for the recycling of the funds and profitability of the bank. Here, the researcher tried to root out the mode of re payment of the overdue loan. The respondents are asked what is there in their min d to repay the overdue loan. The details of the analysis are shown in table given below; MODE OF REPAYMENT - OCCUPATOIN WISE ANALYSIS

Self- employed

The table shows that 41.6% of the respondents expected to repay the loan out of the chitty. There was no repayment from some respondents, it is represented as n o idea, and this group constitutes 23.3% of the respondents. Some of them showed a benevolent attitude towards the bank, they are ready to repay but they don't have the means to pay. 5% of the respondents expressed that they are proposing t o take another loan to repay the loan over due. Some of the respondents revealed that they have some savings in the form of recurring deposit in Post Office. Ab out 13 % of the respondents expressed that they are thinking to repay the loan b y small installments. One of the basic objectives of the establishment of cooperative banks is to reli ve the rural households from the clutches of the local money lenders. Lenders in the locality are a source of credit for many people even now. Some of the respo ndents expressed that the procedure for getting credit from the local money lend ers like marvadies is very simple. In banks, they have to furnish many certifica tes and comply with a number of cumbersome procedures and have to wait for the l oan disbursement. There is no such procedure in case of money-lenders; it is a s ource of quick cash. Some of the respondents held the notion that the interest c harged by these lenders are low as compared to banks because they say that they will not consider the time period of the loan. The borrower has to pay a flat in terest, that too at the time of granting the credit. Upon further probing, the r esearcher came to know 46 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

that from the respondents, the interest charged by the local money lenders is 20 rupees for each hundred rupees. That is 20 percentage. For emergency credit at midnight, they charge some extra amount. The responses of the respondents regard ing the present position of the money lenders are depicted in the following tabl e. CURRENT POSITION OF LOCAL MONEY LENDERS

From the above table we can say that the bank is able to curtail the growth of l ocal money lenders in the locality. 30 % of the respondents expressed that the position of money lenders remain the sam e. OPINION ABOUT THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BANK- SEX WISE ANALYSIS

The Table elucidates that out of the total male respondents, 53% expressed that management of the bank is efficient and it is 20% of the total female respondent s. 23.3% of the customers have no command about the management but none of the r espondents have the opinion that the management of the bank is inefficient. The personal experiences of the researcher supplements this view, one month associat ion with the bank, its management and employees helped to develop a cardinal rel ationship with them. FINDINGS 1. Cooperative bank is an invaluable institutional system in rural areas as it i s able to meet the productive needs of rural households. 2. Co-operative credit still forms a small portion of the total borrowing of the farmers which means that the farmers are still in the clutches of money lenders . 3. Most primary credit societies are unable to even meet the production oriented needs of farmers; 4. There is an increased demand for gold loan. Gold loan is preferred by the peo ple because of the easiness of getting loan. The procedure is very simple; even a non -member can avail loan against gold. It is less risky for the bank also. 5. The loan availed from the bank is not being utilized for the purpose mentione d while taking the loan; it became one of the reason for non- repayment of the l oan. 6. The ultimate analysis, most outstanding of the findings, which indeed is at t he root of many of the shortfalls in the co-operative performance, is in the are a of management. There has been considerable discussion over the years at all le vels in regard to the need for proper manpower development in co-operative secto r. Not much progress, however, has taken place. The cooperatives themselves have shown lack of appreciation of this problem. 7. The bank is not following the principle of order, the records are not kept in order, it creates more physical and mental strain to employees and affects thei r productivity also. 8. Socio- economic condition of the locality is well known to the board of direc tors of the bank, so it helps them to grand loans accordingly. SUGGESTIONS 1. Cooperative banks should adopt scientific methods and principles in its day-t o-day affairs, the bank should try to appoint professionally qualified people so that effective management of loans, deposits etc. can be achieved. The present employees should be given effective training. 2. A significant number of people of kayakkody are working in gulf countries, so it is advisable to the banks to start NRI accounts in the bank by making use of concessions provided by the govt. to N RIs.

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 47 3. A more realistic approach should be devised while lending loans to the people ; it should be made sure that the amount disbursed is utilized for the purpose i t is granted for. Then only the key objective of cooperative banks could be achi eved. 4. Nowadays, cooperative banks have to compete with commercial banks so it shoul d be made viable at least for its surveillance. Like the three tier system of le nding, the cooperative banks can device methods to attract more deposits. They c an collectively improve their services by adopting facilities like ATM. 5. Rural Cooperative banks should improve member education as it deals with illi terate and less educated people. The members should be able to know what kind of loans they are availing, what are the benefits of it as compared to other loans and loans granted by other banks, what will be the impact of non -repayment of the loan etc. 6. Primary cooperative banks can be allowed to invest in industrial securities t o a certain extent depending upon the degree of professional managers the bank p osseses. So that the accumulated loss position in the cooperative banks can be r educed. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Shah, Deepak (2000), 'Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies in Ma harashtra: Some Emerging Issues', Prajnan, Vol. 29, No. 1, April-June, pp. 31-51 . 2. Ramesha K (1996): Self-Help Groups: Emerging Cooperatives, paper presented a t the National Seminar on Rediscovering Cooperation, November 19-21, 1996. Paper subsequently published in Rajagopalan R edited Rediscovering Cooperation (Volum e II), Institute of Rural Management Anand, 1996 3. Shivamaggi, H.B. (1996), 'Future Strategy for Development of Co-operatives', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXI, No. 20, pp. 1187-1188. 4. Ramesha K (2001): Monetary and Credit Policy 2001-2002: Implications for Urba n Cooperative Banking Sector, paper presented at Seminar on New Credit Policy of RBI and Cooperative Credit Management, July 19, 2001, Department of Economics, Shivaji U niversity, Kolhapur, India 5. Thamarajakshi, R. (1999), 'Agriculture and Economic Reforms', Economic and Po litical Weekly, Vol. XXXIV, August 14-20, p. 2293. 6. Ramesha K (2001): Credit Risk Management in Agricultural Cooperative Banks, N ational Seminar on Cooperative Reforms, January 24-25, 2001, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Coope rative Management, Pune, India 7. Reserve Bank of India (2002): Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in Indi a 2001-2002, RBI, Mumbai 8. Reserve Bank of India (1989): Report of the Agricultural Credit Review Commit tee, RBI, Mumbai 9. Reserve Bank of India (1999): Report of the High Power Committee on Urban Coo perative Banks, RBI, Mumbai 10. Reserve Bank of India (1991): Report of the Committee on Financial System, R BI, Mumbai 11. Government of India (1998): Report of the Committee on Banking Sector Reform s, RBI, Mumbai (Cont. from page 38) CONCLUSIONS Most of the people are aware of NOKIA brand than others. Among the respondents, 50% of them have changed their mobile phone from other brands to NOKIA. Features and Battery played a key role for brand switching from other brands t o NOKIA. Television advertisements influence most of the users to buy NOKIA phones and

dealers play a key role in the channels of distribution. Majority of the respondents bought phones from the dealers. 44% of NOKIA users buy phones from the Gray market. Prices of NOKIA phones are affordable. SUGGESTIONS NOKIA Care Centers should be within the customer's reach and hence Nokia shoul d open more centers by giving dealerships. Nokia should stick to the quality with respect to Battery and features since i t plays a key role in buyer's decision-making. Dealers and brand ambassador's role should be considered to attract new custom ers. Pamphlets don't have much impact on buyers buying process. So better not to us e pamphlets as an advertisement media since its impact is less. It is necessary to avoid customers buying phones without invoice. Audio output of some models needs to be improved. Software compatibility of the new mobiles should be changed. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Leon G. Shiffman, Lesile Lazar Kanuk, Consumer Behavior- Pearson Educatio n, 8th Edition, 2004. 2. David L.Loudon, Albert J. Della Bitta, Consumer Behavior Tata McGraw-Hill Edition, 4th Edition, 2004. 3. Philip Kotler, Kevin Keller, Marketing Management-Prentice Hall India, 12 th Edition, 2006. 4. V.S.Ramaswamy, S.Namakumari-Marketing Management Planning Implementation and Control, 2006. 5. Rajan Saxena, Marketing Management- Tata McGraw-Hill Edition, 2nd Edition , 2002. 6. Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong, Principles of Marketing- Prentice Hall Ind ia, 11th Edition, 2006. 7. Naresh K. Malhotra, Marketing Research An Applied Orientation- Pearson Ed ucation, 3rd Edition, 2002. 8. Aaker, Kumar, Day, Marketing Research- John Wiley Sons Inc., 7th Edition. 9. Paul E Green, Donalds Tull, Gerald Albaum, Research for Marketing Decisio ns- Prentice Hall India, 5th Edition, 2002. 10. Prestige Journal of Management and Research, Vol. 11, April 2007- Prestige Institute of Management and Research. 11. Journal of Marketing,Vol. 70,July 2006 American marketing association. 48 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

INTRODUCTION Assessing International Heritage Tourist Satisfaction in India

* Dr. Manish Srivastava If we were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endo wed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow - In some part a very paradise on earth -I should point to India. If I were asked under what sk y the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has deeply pondered over the greatest problems of life, and has found solution of some of them which will deserve the attention even of those who have studied Plato and K ant-I should point to India. - Max Muller India is a land of contrasts - from tropics to snow. India is the s

econd most populous and seventh largest country in the world. No region in the w orld is more colorful or picturesque than India. Its ancient monuments and build ing designed by great craftsman of by gone days, its tradition, culture, philoso phy, festivals, religion and art testify to one of the oldest and richest civili zation and are of absorbing interest. Understanding the tourism potential of Ind ia, ABTA (Association of British Travel Agency) has ranked India as the number 1 destination among the top 50 places in 2006. Conde Nast Traveller. The worlds' leading travel and tourism jo urnal has also ranked India as top 4 preferred holiday destinations in the world . Traveling and Tourism has been an integral part of Indian Culture & Tradition. I n ancient time, tourism was confined to pilgrimage only. People used to travel t o holy places situated all over the country. People also travelled to participat e in fairs, exhibitions and festivals. Because of this, in India, the concept of Atithi Devo Bhavah (Guest is God) and Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam(All world is a family) s tarted. In 1951, only 16,800 foreign tourists came in India, the number increase d to 4.97 million in year 2007, so India's earning from tourism increased to $ 11.95 billion in year 2007. If we see the average growth rate of tourism industr y in India, we find it at 13 % as compared to growth rate in the world as 7 %, w hich shows the importance of Tourism Industry for the Indian Economy although, t he tourism industry in India has a share of 0.52% of world tourism and the recei pts as 0.89% of the world receipts. Tourism industry today is one of the world's fastest growing industries. It has earned over $735 billion (US) world wide, generated by over 842 million internat ional travelers in year 2006 and the No. of tourists has been increased to 898 m illion in 2007 (World Tourism Organization). Domestic tourism also has been incr eased upto at least 9000 million worldwide. The contribution of tourism industry in world trade is 3 0% and in world GDP, it continued to be 10.6% in year 2005 and the employment ge nerated by Tourism Industry was 221.568 million worldwide which is 8.3% of the t otal employment in the year 2005-06. According to John Naisbit (1994), the only revolution will be in the field of communication and the biggest industry in 21s t Century will be Travel & Tourism Industry. According to World Tourism Institute an d World Tourism & Travel Corporation (Vision 2020), the predictions for Tourism is that till 2020, the number of tourists traveling across world will be nearly 16 00 million and they will spend nearly $2000 billion on it. The average growth in tourism industry will be nearly 4.3 % and the receipts will be 6.7 % of total r eceipts. There is no doubt that tourism comes with certain negative attributes of a host community such as increased litter and pollution, increased seasonal employment, inflated local economy, and exploitation of natural resources. Positive outcome s could also result from these recreational outlets with proper guidance and dir ection (Henderson, 1991), it provides an opportunity for the visitors to underst and the host culture and same with the host country too. That is the objective o f heritage tourism. Heritage means inheritance or a legacy; things of value which have been passed t hrough one generation to the next. (Parks Canada, undated, Page 7). In this sens e, cultural heritage is cultural property and in extreme cases, it can be fought over or otherwise physically appropriated (Eirinberg 1992) as a relationship of the present with the past; it can also be contested and revised (Light 2000). T he National Trust for Historic Preservation defines heritage tourism as Traveling to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present. India with its glorious past has ensured that the present and subsequent generat ions have plenty of historical and * Reader, School of Management Sciences, Khushipur, Mohansarai-Mughalsarai Road, Varanasi-221011, Uttar Pradesh. E-mail : manishiftm@gmail.com Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 49

cultural heritages to be proud of. The fascinating monuments and heritage sites in the country stand quietly today to retell their story of joy, sorrow, courage and sacrifice, which attracts a number of international tourists from all over the world to feel the magic of the oldest country/ civilization. The paper is an attempt to understand the satisfaction indicator among international travelers relating to the heritage sites of India. REVIEW OF LITERATURE In the sociology of tourism, tourism is viewed primarily as a social phenomenon (Apostolopoulos 1996, Dann 1996a, Cohen 1996), with the consumption and social behavior of tourism being le gitimate areas of research and study (Swarbrooke & Horner 2001, Baudrillard 1998 ) There are many theoretical approaches in the sociology of tourism literature, most of which are related to the major sociological theories. The main perspecti ves are : The evolutionary perspective; The Neo Durkheimian perspective; The conflict perspective; The functionalist perspective; The Weberian perspectiv e; phenomenology; ethnomethodology; symbolic interactionism and sociolinguistic. Dann and Cohen (1996) suggest that a study of tourism and tourist behavior usin g only one theoretical perspective is limiting, and recommended a more pluralist ic, integrative and multi-dimensional approach to these subjects. A study conducted by Kerkvliet and Nowell (1999) focuses on visitor experience i n relation to distance traveled and effort required to access a specific locatio n. Attraction, facilities and accessibility are the three important parameters o f a tourist destination. A tourist destination can be popular when it has all th e three attributes. Specific attributes relating to setting have the ability to constrain individuals and thereby influence their destination preferences (Sider elis & Moore, 1998). Every destination differs with its potential to attract the tourists. Heritage tourism, now- a -days is gaining attention everywhere. All l eisure behavior is multiple goal oriented or needs satisfying (Manning 1986). An alternative benefit chain analysis is found in consumer behavior, as means-end chain (Gutman 1982) where consumers are asked to explain why what they are doing is important (Davies and Prentice 1995). Cultural capital is the notion that the customers not only have the money capita l as resources, but they also have other sorts of capital including that derived from their cultural background. This tradition flows from the work of Bourdieu (Holt 1998; Robbins 2000) Heritage is about special sense of belonging and of continuity (Miller 1989) but visits are recalled for many reasons other than sense of history alone (Masberg &Silverman, 1996; Prentice 1998). Getz (1989) identified five benefits for heri tage events. These are authenticity, belonging, spectacle, games and rituals. Jo y, celebration and excess may dominate at such events rather than learning. Such motivations dominate festival consumption (Getz 1991; Williams - Barun1994). Heritage sites are selected in relation to the cost involved, accessibility and the facilities in those sites, but it is questionable what the level of satisfac tion related with the site is. Tourist satisfaction is one of the most discussed concepts in the field of tourism marketing and the sociology of tourism (Schofi eld 2000 page no. 269).The more the similarity between cultures, the more the sa tisfaction. There are three good reasons to pay so much attention to tourist satisfaction : first, high tourist satisfaction provides word of mouth recommendations of produ ct and services to family and friends, which in turn brings in new customers: Se cond, it creates repeat customers by satisfying them first time around, and so t hey provide a steady source of income without the need of additional marketing e xpenditure: Third, it limits complaints and compensation payments which are expe nsive, time consuming and bad for an organization's reputation (Swarbrooke and H orner 2001, pg. 238). Repeat visitation displays a certain level of individual satisfaction and attach ment to particular location and/or activity. Tourist attractions have been found to rely heavily on loyal, repeat visitors (Gitelson & Crompton, 1984). A study by Laverie and Arnett (2000) examines recreational attachment and satisfaction i

n the context of devoted sports fan behavior. Another study concerning tourism destination loyalty was conducted by Opperman ( 2000) on the lifelong travel patterns of New Zealand residents. Three primary ar eas were observed by means of a mail-back questionnaire: visitation frequency be tween 1985 and 1995, past visitation behavior, and predicted visitation rates. B y associating socio- demographics, lifestyle, and tourist loyalty variables, spe cific population segments were identified as having specific desired loyalty typ es. Ultimately, the study findings suggest that past travel experiences signific antly influence future destination selection. Fig 1 presents a tourist satisfaction process that has three stages: a tourist p roduct, a satisfaction factor and an outcome defined as satisfaction, partial sa tisfaction or dissatisfaction and reflecting what a tourist thinks and feels 50 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

about their overall experience and their received goods and services (Kozak 2001 b, p 304 ; Heber and lerner 1999). Since satisfaction is largely a subjective quality, the self- evaluation of their own experiences by tourist themselves are the most commonly used measur ement tools (Kozak 2001b; Schiffman and Kanuk 2000; Swarbrooke and Horner 2001). The Tourist Product -tangible element -service element -role of intermediaries and agents The Satisfaction Factor - perception of tourist experience - tourist attitudes and expectations - Uncontrollable factors Fig - 1 The Outcome - tourist satisfaction - tourist partial satisfaction - tourist dissatisfaction Cross cultural comparative research is one of the most important of many differe nt research methodologies and approaches in tourist satisfaction research (Swarb rooke and Horner, 2001; Baker and Crompton, 2000; Todd, 1999; Choi and Chu, 2000; Reisinger and Turner, 1998; Kozak and Rimington, 2000; Kozak, 2001a, 2000; Pizam and Sussman 1995). The research compares the tourist satisfaction levels of different nationalities by using a direct or indirect met hod. The direct method directly asks the tourists themselves about their experie nces, perception and satisfaction levels; the indirect method asks local residen ts, business owners, tour guides etc. about their perception of how the tourists are enjoying (or not) their experiences (Kozak 2001a, page no. 391). This study has employed the direct method, with respondents being asked, through formal su rveys, to answer questions about their holidays. According to a study conducted by Derrick, Lehfeld, and Wolfe (1981), expenditur es increased with increasing levels of income and education and decreased with o lder aged households and tourist satisfaction is significantly related to custom er loyalty, repeat visitation, and positive social communications (Beeho & Prent ice, 1997). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Data was collected through brief, on-site interviews based on a structured, nondisguised questionnaire. The questions were focused on certain demographic infor mation (gender, state and county of residence) and a limited number of core, cen tral questions relating to the overall study objective such as primary purpose o f visit, distance traveled, and if it was the respondent's first visit to the ar

ea, visitor experience and satisfaction. Expenditure and satisfaction variables were measured through fill-in-the- blank questions, as well as five-point Likert scale responses. The researcher had contacted foreign tourists on heritage tourist sites like New Delhi (The capital of India and famous for monuments), Agra (The city of Taj), Varanasi (The most ancient and eternal city), Jaipur (historical Rajputana site) etc. and they had been requested to spare 2 minutes. of their time to help in f illing the questionnaire. Data collection for this project was conducted from December, 2007 to February 2 008 over a period of ten weeks. The data collection process resulted in a total of 234 surveys. DATAANALYSIS A profile of the sample population, including age, gender, group size, distance traveled, and first-time visitor status is shown in Table 1-6. There were 112 ma les and 122 females in the study. The overall mean age of sampled visitors was f ound to be 37.7 years; however, there were less that ten percent of visitors abo ve the age of fifty five. Average duration of the stay was found to be 20.63 day s which is much higher than other Asian countries. Survey has found that nearly 60% of the respondents came to India for the first time. The primary concern of this paper is to determine overall satisfaction levels am ong foreign visitors visiting heritage tourist places in India and determine spe cific attributes that contribute to their level of satisfaction. The survey aske d very simple questions just to rank various facilities in the Likert scale of 5 . These ranking were given points, which has formed a basis for the developing s atisfaction index related with various attributes. The index Table 1 Table 2

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 51 Table 3 Table 4

Table 5 Table 6

has been shown in Figure 2. The Figure clearly mentions that the perception abo ut major facilities at important tourist places is below average. Only Hotels an d eating facilities have delighted foreign tourists by their services. Differenc es in satisfaction between categories of different visitor groups were explored using z-tests and analysis of variance. Satisfaction Index

Fig 2 Mean satisfaction level for all the factors is 57.2%, but after removing the las t 3 factors, in which government has fewer or no role, the index reduces to 43.2 % as last three factors i.e. hotels, food and attitude of people has a mean inde x of 78.5%. Gender wise Satisfaction Index

52 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 Figure 3 Mean satisfaction level for males is 55.12 and for females is 57.63, which shows that female tourists are more satisfied than male tourists. There are only two factors- food and attitude of people, in which male satisfaction was higher than the female satisfaction. Female tourists rate Indian food as spicy, but they en joy taking it.Z-test was used to evaluate the satisfaction level for different f actors between male and female Table 7

With 5% level of significance, (Critical value for z = 1.96) we may conclude tha t in most of the cases, there is no significant difference between satisfaction level of male tourists and female tourists. Only Infrastructural facility, sign board and attitude of people are the factors where male and female satisfaction is different. CONCLUSION There is tremendous hike in tourism all over the world. Even tourism has got the status of largest Export Industry of the world. The estimates about tourism say s that the number of tourists leaving their homes is 898 million in 2007 and this number is likely to swell to 1600 million by 2020 and the receipts from it are estimated to cross $2000 billion. Although the benefits of tourism are not to be judged in terms of economic benef its alone, tourism has wider implications encompassing not only economic benefit s but also social and cultural benefits as well. From the social and cultural po int of view, there is enough evidence to support the fact that tourism and trave l unquestionably produces an interaction between the cultural customs of the vis itors and those of the host population. Heritage tourism is a fertile ground for exercising creative talents, festering special kinds of relations between the v isitors and the host population, between the tourist and the host environment. India is now increasingly seen as an exotic destination offering a mix of cultur e, history and state of art amenities to the international traveler. The inbound tourist traffic is growing steadily over the past few years and India has the p otential to emerge as a front runner in the world tourism scenario. While the to urists were more satisfied with food, hotel and people of India, a deep sense of dissatisfaction can be perceived with regard to infrastructure. Overall Satisfa ction level was 57.2% which can be considered as a good score for a developing c ountry like India. Understanding the potential of tourism industry, the Indian g overnment along with other stake holders tries to build a positive image in the eyes of foreign tourists. Government is now emphasizing more on tourist satisfac tion and is working in this area with private public participation. It was found that the tourists coming in India are very much satisfied with the attitude of Indians. The first Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had once quoted that Welcome the tourists and send him as a friend. There is no doubt that there were some problems related with law and order with some tourists (ba sically theft), but overall, the people are friendly and helpful. It is proved b y average stay of tourists (20.63 days) which is much more than any other countr y in Asia. The government is also committed for the safety of tourists and deplo yed tourist police in major tourist destinations to help tourists. Major dissatisfaction of tourists was with infrastructural facility. They remark ed that there were inordinate delays at immigration counters. These delays were attributable to lack of space and inadequate computerization, coupled

Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009 53 with heavy rush during morning hours. To overcome this, the authorities concerne d at international airports must ensure availability of more space so as to enab le the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) to locate additional counters and deploy more immigration officers and the paper work involved in immigration should be r educed in line with international practice. There was dissatisfaction with road transport too. Tourists were of the opinion that roads leading to tourist destinations were in bad condition causing great i nconvenience and delays.To overcome this, a comprehensive study should be commis sioned by the Ministry of Transport in collaboration with Department of Tourism to ascertain the status of approach roads and prepare a time bound action plan t o rectify the defects to make them travel friendly in major tourist destinations . About 60% of the tourists preferred budget accommodations and only about 20% sta yed in starred hotels. Satisfaction index in relation to Hotels was only 71, whi ch can be improved by providing suitable incentives to the private sector in ter ms of land or lease space and tax benefits as given in other industries. Tourists were also not satisfied with airport facilities like ambience, toilets, cleanliness, cafeteria, baggage, customs clearance, security etc. With the expa nsion and modernization under way, these problems are likely to be eased. It is therefore suggested that modernization & expansion of airports and other policy measures under consideration should be expedited and implemented within a specif ied time frame. The satisfaction indexes for sign boards, maintenance of heritage tourist places were also very low. Government should take adequate action to maintain these si tes to increase tourist inflow. They can also get private partnership to maintai n it. The tourists were very much satisfied with Guides approved by the government, bu t illegal guides are also present at every heritage site who are involved in ear ning money through unfair means. Government should curb the practices of illegal guides and tourists should also take help of only government approved guides. T here should be training program of guides too. It is important for tourism service providers to understand the diversity of the ir potential customers and attempt to cater to the needs of all population segme nts. Quality services leave a positive impression on visitors regardless of thei r overall experience. Quality service delivery also possesses the ability to inc rease monetary profits. The premise of service quality meanders within all aspec ts of the tourism experience from promotional materials, on- site personnel, cle anliness of facilities, accessibility, and employee knowledge and courtesy. A cr eative approach should be taken in the tourist product planning, providing them proper facilities, changing of exhibits, programs, and outdoor excursions to off er more reasons for tourist satisfaction. BIBLIOGRAPHY Amaro, B. (1999). Ecotourism and ethics. Earth Island Journal. 14,16-17. Beeho, A. J. & Prentice, R. C. (1997). Conceptualizing the experiences of herita ge tourists: A case study of New Lanark World Heritage Village. Tourism Management, 18 (2),75-87. Davies A.J. and Prentice R.C. (1995) Conceptualizing the latent visitor to herit age attractions, Tourism Management 16(4), 491-500 Eirinberg K. (1992) Culture under fire, Geographical magazine 64(12) 24-8 Getz D. (1989) Special Events. Defining the product. Tourism Management 10(2) 12 5-37 Getz D. (1991) Festivals. Special Events and Tourism. New York : Van Nostrand Re inhold. Gitelson, R. J., & Crompton, J. L. (1984). Insights into the repeat vacation phe nomenon. Annals of Tourism Research, 199-217. Gutman J (1982) The means- end cha in model based on consumer categorization process; Journal of Marketing 46, 60-7 2

Henderson, K. H. (1991). Dimensions of choice: A qualitative approach to recreat ion, parks, and leisure research. State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc. Ho lt D.B. (1998) Does cultural capital structure American Consumption, Journal of Consumer Research 25, 1-25 Kerkvliet, J., & Nowell, C. (1999). Heterogeneous visitors and the spatial limit s of the travel cost model. Journal of Leisure Research, 31 (4), 404-419. Kozak M (2001) A critical review of approaches to measure satisfaction with dest inations. In J. A. Mazanec. G.I. Crouch, J.R.B. Richie & A. G. Woodside (Eds) Consumer psychology of tourism, hospitality and leisure (Vol II p 303-320) Laverie, D. A., & Arnett, D. B, (2000). Factors affecting fan attendance: The in fluence of identity salience and satisfaction. Journal of Leisure Research, 32 ( 2), 225-246. Light D. (2000) Gazing on communism, Tourism Geographies 2, 157-76 Manning R. E.(1986) Studies in Outdoor recreation. Corvallis: Oregon State unive rsity press Masberg B.A. &Silverman L.H., (1996) Visitor experiences at Heritage sites, Jour nal of Travel Research 34(4) 20-5 Miller S (1989) Heritage management for heritage tourism. Tourism Management 10( 1), 9-14 Naisbitt John (1994), Global Paradox, William Morrow & Co. Parks Canada, undated, Parks Canada policy, Ottawa : Parks Canada Prentice R. C. (1998) Recollection of museum visits, Museum Management and curat orship 17, 41-64 Robbins D. (2000) Bourdieu and Culture, London: Sage Oppermann, M. (2000). Tourism destination loyalty. Joumal of Travel Research, 39 .78-84. Siderelis, C. & Moore, R. L. (1998). Recreation demand and the influence of site preference variables. Joumal of Leisure Research, 30 (3), 301-318. Srivastava M (2006) National and State Tourism Marketing, Kanishka publication, N Delhi. Stryker, S. (1980). Symbolic interactionism: A socio- structural version. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings. Williams Barun B.(1994) Situating Cultural policies . Environment and planning : Society and Space 12, 75-104 54 Indian Journal of Marketing April, 2009

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