A

“Dissertation Report”
ON
CONSUMER PREFERENCE IN SELECTED BRANDS
(WHIRLPOOL, VIDEOCON, LG) OF 200 Lts REFRIGERATORS
ON THE BASIS OF PRICE, BRAND NAME, QUALITY & AFTER
SALES SERVICES IN THE REGION OF
YAMUNA NAGAR

Submitted to
Kurukshetra University,
Kurukshetra in partial fulfilment
for the degree of Master of
Business Administration (Session
2005-2007)

Under the supervision of:- Submitted By:-

Ms. Bharti Dua Diwas
Menroy
Faculty MBA
1143/05
TIMT 02-
MY-630
University roll
no.
 MBA
-final.

Tilak Raj Chadha Institute of Management &

Technology, Yamuna Nagar (TIMT). Approved by AICTE
and Affiliated to Kurukshetra University,

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Preservation, inspiration and motivation have always played a key role

in any venture. In the present world of cutthroat competition project is
likely a bridge between theoretical and practical working, willingly I
have prepared this project.
I feel highly delighted with the way my dissertation report on the topic
“Consumer Preferences in selected brands (Whirlpool, Videocon,
LG) of 200 lts refrigerators on the basis of Price, Brand name,
Quality & After Sales Services in the region of Yamuna nagar.”
has been completed.
I express my utmost gratitude and indebt ness to God and to all who
have contributed in some way or the other and been linked with the
project from day one.

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

whose guidance, keen interest and regular encouragement my project
would not have been compiled.
From the core of my heart, I express my sincere thanks to
Dr.Vikas Daryal (Assistant Professor,H.O.D) and Mrs. Bharti Dua
Tilak Raj Chadha Institute Of Mgt. & Tech., Yamuna Nagar for
encouragement and guidance.
I am extremely grateful to my parents, the respondents and all my
friends for their unconditional support and ready assistance.

(Diwas Menroy)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In today scenario, every company wants to compete with others to
remain in the market. So it is very necessary for the company to know
what are the needs and wants of the customer, what is the preference
of customer. It is very important for a company to know which product
is preferred by the customer on which basis.

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

selected brands of refrigerator on the basis of price, brand name,
quality and after sales services and find out the steps that a company
can adopt to fight the competition.

In the earlier part of the project I have discussed about the Consumer
& the preference of consumer. I have also discussed about the
introduction of the refrigerator.

This research is carried out using primary data. The method that i have
used is questionnaire technique to get the data from the customer.
The sample size is of hundred customer of Yamuna Nagar those are
using refrigerator.

From this study, I have found that LG was having major market share
in terms of Refrigerator as comparison to others. There were 46% of
the people those were having LG Refrigerators.

INDEX

Serial No. Contents Page No.

1. Certificate
2. Acknowledgement
3. Executive Summary
4. Index
5. Introduction
6. Objective of the study
7. Literature Review
8. Research Methodology
a. Sampling & Sample Design
b. Analytical Tools
c. Data Collection
d. Hypothesis Testing
e. Limitations of the study
9. Result & Discussions/Findings
10. Recommendation
 11. Bibliography
12. Annexure

INTRODUCTION
…
 INTRODUCTION
The topic of research here is “Consumer preference in selected
brands (Whirlpool, Videocon, LG) of 200 lts Refrigerators on the
basis of Price, Brand name, Quality & After sales Services in the
region of Yamuna Nagar”.So the project is to study the Preference of
the consumers.
Here the term ‘consumer’ means the end user of the product who not
only consumes the product but also gives the feedback to the
company.
The traditional view point has been to define consumer strictly in terms
of economic goods and services. This position holds the consumers
are potential purchasers of product and services offered for sale

Consumer Behavior
It may be defined as” the decision process and the physical activities
individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of
goods and services.
 The Consumer Behavior research goes far beyond the facts
of consumer preferences and encompasses all of the behaviors that
consumers display in searching for purchasing, using, evaluating and
disposing of products and services that they expect would satisfy their
need.
One "official" definition of consumer behaviour is "The study of
individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to
select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or
ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on
the consumer and society." Although it is not necessary to memorize
this definition, it brings up some useful points:

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

group (e.g., friends influence what kinds of clothes a person
wears) or an organization (people on the job make decisions as
to which products the firm should use).
• Consumer behaviour involves the use and disposal of products
as well as the study of how they are purchased. Product use is
often of great interest to the marketer, because this may
influence how a product is best positioned or how we can
encourage increased consumption. Since many environmental
problems result from product disposal (e.g., motor oil being sent
into sewage systems to save the recycling fee, or garbage piling
up at landfills) this is also an area of interest.
• Consumer behaviour involves services and ideas as well as
tangible products.

• The impact of consumer behaviour on society is also of

relevance. For example, aggressive marketing of high fat foods,
 or aggressive marketing of easy credit, may have serious
repercussions for the national health and economy.

Consumer Preference

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

assumes a real or imagined "choice" between alternatives and the
possibility of rank ordering of these alternatives, based on happiness,
satisfaction, gratification, enjoyment, utility they provide. More
generally, it can be seen as a source of motivation. In cognitive
sciences, individual preferences enable choice of objectives/goals.

Introduction to Refrigerator

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

for the storage and preservation of perishable food; food kept in a
refrigerator lasts longer than that left at room temperature as the cold
inhibits bacterial growth. A refrigerator maintains a cold temperature
above the freezing point of water. The refrigerator is a relatively
modern invention amongst kitchen appliances. It replaced the common
icebox which had been a household item for almost a century and a
half prior, and is sometimes still called by the original name "icebox".

The word freezer is generally used to describe an appliance that

keeps foods frozen. Freezers are common as household units for
storing food but are also used in commercial settings. Most freezers
operate around -18 °C (0 °F). Domestic freezers can be included as a
compartment in a refrigerator or can be standalone units. Domestic
freezers are generally upright units, resembling refrigerators, or chests,
resembling upright units laid on their backs. Many modern freezers
come with an icemaker.

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

were in use for almost 40 years prior to the common home models.
The fact that they operated with toxic ammonia gas systems made
them unsafe for home use. Practical household refrigerators were
introduced in the 1920s and gained wider acceptance in the 1930s as
prices fell and non-toxic, nonflammable synthetic refrigerants, such as
Freon or R-12, were introduced.

The Videocon group emerges as a USD 2.5 Billion global

conglomerate continuing to set trends in every sphere of its activities
from a conference room sized assembly line in 1979.

Today the group operates through 4 key sectors:

Consumer Durables Thomson CPT CRT Glass Oil & Gas

Consumer Electronics, Home Appliances & Compressor

manufacturing in India
Videocon enjoy a pre-eminent position in terms of sales and customer
satisfaction in many of its consumer products like Colour Televisions,
Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Microwave ovens
and many other home appliances, selling them through a Multi-Brand
strategy with the largest sales and service network in India.
Refrigerator manufacturing is further supported by its in-house
compressor manufacturing technology in Bangalore.

Display industry and its components

With the Thomson acquisition Videocon has emerged as one of the
largest Colour Picture tube manufacturers in the world operating in
Mexico, Italy, Poland and China, continuing to lead through new
innovative technologies like slim CPT, extra slim CPT and High
Definition 16:9 format CPT.
Colour Picture Tube Glass
Videocon is one of the largest CPT Glass manufacturers in the world
with a high level of experience and technical expertise operating
through Poland and India. Videocon will leverage on this synergy after
the Thomson acquisition to internally source glass for its CPT
manufacturing increasing efficiencies and lowering costs.

Oil and Gas

An important asset for the group is its Ravva oil field with one of the
lowest operating costs in the world producing 50,000 barrels of oil per
day. The group has ambitious plans for expansion in this sector
globally.
Whirlpool, right from its inception in 1911 as first commercial
manufacturer of motorized washers to the current market position of
being world's number one manufacturer and marketer of major home
appliances, has always set industry milestones and benchmarks. The
parent company is headquartered at Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA
with a global presence in over 170 countries and manufacturing
operation in 13 countries with 11 major brand names such as
Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht, Laden and Ignis. The
company boasts of resources and capabilities beyond achievable feat
of any other in the industry.

Whirlpool initiated its international expansion in 1958 by entering

Brazil. However, it emerged as truly global leader in the1980's. This
encouraging trend brought the company to India in the late 1980s. It
forayed into the market under a joint venture with TVS group and
established the first Whirlpool manufacturing facility in Pondicherry.
Soon Whirlpool acquired Kelvinator India Limited in 1995 and marked
an entry into Indian refrigerator market as well. The same year also
saw acquisition of major share in TVS joint venture and later in 1996,
Kelvinator and TVS acquisitions were merged to create Indian home
appliance leader of the future, Whirlpool India. This expanded the
company's portfolio in the Indian subcontinent to washing machines,
refrigerator, microwave ovens and air conditioners.

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

India and holds a market share of over 25%. The company owns three
state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at Faridabad, Pondicherry and
Pune. Each of these manufacturing set-ups features an infrastructure
that is witness of Whirlpool's commitment to consumer interests and
advanced technology.

In the year ending in March '06, the annual turnover of the company for
its Indian enterprise was Rs.1,375 Crores. According to IMRB surveys
Whirlpool enjoys the status of the single largest refrigerator and
second largest washing machine brand in India.
LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of LG
Electronics, South Korea was established in January, 1997 after
clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

The trend of beating industry norms started with the fastest ever-
nationwide launch by LG in a period of 4 and 1/2 months with the
commencement of operations in May 1997. LG set up a state-of-the art
manufacturing facility at Greater Noida, near Delhi, in 1998, with an
investment of Rs 500 Crores. This facility manufactured Colour
Televisions, Washing Machines, Air-Conditioners and Microwave
Ovens. During the year 2001, LG also commenced the home
production for its eco-friendly Refrigerators and established its
assembly line for its PC Monitors at its Greater Noida
manufacturing unit. The beginning of 2003 saw the roll out of the
first locally manufactured Direct Cool Refrigerator from the plant at
Greater noida.

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

Pune, Maharashtra that commences operations in October this year.

Covering over 50 acres, the facility manufactures Color Televisions,

Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Washing Machines Microwave Ovens
Color Monitors and GSM phones.

The Greater Noida manufacturing unit line has been designed with the
latest technologies at par with international standards at Korea and is
one of the most Eco-friendly units amongst all LG manufacturing plants
in the world

MARKET SHARE
OBJECTIVE
 OF THE
STUDY…

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Objective of the research enables the research to collect necessary
relevant information.
Objectives are

 To know about the marketing skills use while convincing the

customers.
 To examine Preference of consumer in Selected Brands
(Whirlpool, Videocon , LG ) of 200 Lts. Refrigerators on the
Basis of Price, Brand Name and Quality.
 To find out the market share of these three brands in the market
 To find the extent of brand loyalty that exists among Refrigerator

user.
 To study the brand awareness of Refrigerator among the

residents of Yamuna Nagar.

 To study the influence of various factors on the purchase of

Refrigerators-
 Price.
 Quality.
 Brand Awareness
 To study the affect of after sales services on
purchasing of refrigerators
 LITERATURE
REVIEW…

LITERATURE REVIEW

Once the problem is formulated, the researcher undertakes an

extensive literature survey connected with the problem.
The literature survey undertaken here includes the books and
different web sites from the Internet.
The research project was to to examine Preference of consumer in
Selected Brands (Whirlpool, Videocon, LG) of 200 Lts. Refrigerators on
the Basis of Price, Brand Name ,Quality & after sales services.
I have gone through www.videoconworld.com/consumer-
durables/home-appliances/refrigerators,
www.whirlpoolindia.com/product_details.aspx?
dis=a&main_category_id=1&product_category_id=1 and
www.lgezbuy.com/category.aspx?CatID=50&MaiCatID=0.
I got the information about various models of refrigerator from these
sites.
I have studied Research methodology, methods and
techniques by Kothari C.R, new age international ltd.
Publishers ,Second edition, Ch 3 page no 39-67,methods of data
collection Ch 6 Page no 117-150,Analysis of data Page no 151-186. I
have also studied Statistical method by Gupta S.P, sultan chand
and sons, educational publishers, New Delhi, page no 377 to study
the correlation.
 RESEARCH
METHODOLGY
…
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research:

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge.

Research can also be defined as a scientific and systematic search for
pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of
scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of current
English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation
or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge". “Marketing Research is the systematic design,
collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a
specific marketing situation or problem”.

Research methodology:

Research methodology may be understood as the science of study

how research is done significantly and scientifically.

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

methods that have been adopted for the achievement of the project
objectives. The Research methodology adopted for the study, which
is intended to examine the Consumer Preference in Selected
Brands ( Whirlpool, Videocon , LG ) of 200 Lts Refrigerators on the
Basis of Price, Brand Name, Quality & after sales services in the
Region of Yamuna Nagar .
 . DATA COLLECTION

Data collection includes the type of data & the source of data that we
used while doing a project.
The data is collected from both primary and secondary sources.

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data is the data which is new .we use the primary source to
collect the primary data. Primary source include personal meeting/
interviewing method . As a primary Source of data I have filled the
questionnaires from different customer who were using different
brands of refrigerators of 200 lts ( Whirlpool, Videocon , LG ).

QUESTIONNAIRE

An questionnaire is prepared to examine the Preference in Selected

Brands ( Whirlpool, Videocon , LG) of 200 Lts Refrigerators. The
language of questionnaire should be so simple & easy so that every
one can answer easily. These questions has helped me to study the
Preference of consumer

SECONDARY DATA
The data which is already in existence is known as secondary data.
Secondary sources include websites, brochures of the respective
companies, various papers, and magazines published from time to
time. Historical documents and other sources of published information.
 SAMPLING DESIGN
It includes size of sample & the technique that we used for selecting
the different items from the sample. A sampling design is a definite
plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It refers to the
technique that the researcher adopts in selecting items for the sample.

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

selected is representative of the population.

Sample size
By sample size we mean that the number of people to be selected
from the population to make a sample. A sample size should be
sufficient enough that can serve our purpose.
It should have Efficiency, Flexibility, and Reliability.
My sample size is of 100 people of Yamuna Nagar those are using the
refrigerator.

Sample unit

Sample unit is individual customer of Yamuna Nagar whose

Preference has to be examined.

Sample technique

This is the type of technique that one uses to select the items
for the sample. The sampling method that I have used is
JUDGEMENT SAMPLING. Which is a type of Non Probabilistic
sampling.
 ANALYTICAL TOOL
The tool that I have applied on my research report is
Multidimensional scaling & Correlation analysis.

Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis refers to the techniques used in measuring the

relationship between the variables.
According to Simpson and Kafka “correlation analysis deals with the
association between two or more variables”.
It helps in determining the degree of relationship between two or more
variables but it does not tell us anything about cause and effect
relationship.

Types:
Correlation is classified in several different ways. Three of the most
important ways are
 Positive or negative
 Simple partial or multiple
 Linear or non-linear

There are two types of variables

Static-Consumer preference
Dynamic- Brand Name ,Price, Quality, After sales Services.
I have shown the correlation between these two types of variables.
Group Correlation

dy LG Whirlpool Videoco f fdy fdy2 fdydx

dx n
-1 0 1
Brand -2 15 8 2 25 -50 100 26
image
Quality -1 11 9 4 24 -24 24 7
Price 0 18 15 7 40 0 0 0
After 1 2 6 3 11 11 11 1
sales
service
f 46 38 16 100 -63 135 34
fdx -46 0 16 -30
fdx2 46 0 16 62
fdxdy 39 0 -5 34

Correlation

r= f × ∑fdydx - (∑fdx) ( ∑fdy)

f× ∑fdx2 - (∑fdx)2 f× ∑fdy2 - (∑fdy)2

100 × 34 - (-30) (-63)

100 × 62 – (-30)2 100× 135 - (-63)2

3400-1890
=
6200-900 13500-3939

= 1510

5300 9561

1510
=
72.8 × 97.78

1510
=
7118.4

r= 0.2121
 HYPOTHESIS TESTING

The chi-square test is one of the most simplest and widely used non-
parametric test in statistical work. The symbol is Greek letter chi. It was
first used by Karl Pearsons in the year 1990. the quantity chi-square
describes the magnitude of the discrepancy between theory and
observation

Chi-square= Σ(O-E)2
E
Where O=observed frequency
And E=expected frequency

Degree of freedom:
While comparing the calculated value of chi square with the table
value, we have to determine the degree of freedom. By degree of
freedom we mean the number of classes to which the values can be
assigned arbitrary or will without violating the restriction or limitations
placed.
H0 = let us take the hypothesis that brand image, Price, quality, after sale service and looks
do not influence the customer in their buying decision.

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

Factors Brand Quality Price After Looks Total

Image sales
services
Influence 25 24 40 11 0 100
on buying
decision
Perception 17 27 35 6 15 100
of
customers
while
buying
refrigerator
Total 42 51 75 17 15 200

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

75×100
E13= =37.5
200

17×100
E14= =8.5
200

15×100
E15= =7.5
200

42×100
E21= =21
 200
51×100
E22= = 25.5
200

75×100
E23= =37.5
200

17×100
E24= =8.5
200

15×100
E25= =7.5
200

Expected Frequency table:

Factors Brand Quality Price After Looks Total

Image sales
services
Influence 21 25.5 37.5 8.5 7.5 100
on buying
decision
Perception 21 25.5 37.5 8.5 7.5 100
of
customers
while
buying
refrigerator
Total 42 51 75 17 15 200
Observed Expected O-E (O-E)2 (O-E)2/E
frequency(O) Frequency(E)
25 21 4 16 .761
17 21 -4 16 .761
24 25.5 -1.5 2.25 .088
27 25.5 1.5 2.25 .088
40 37.5 2.5 6.25 .166
35 37.5 -2.5 6.25 .166
11 8.5 2.5 6.25 .73
6 8.5 -2.5 6.25 .73
0 7.5 -7.5 56.25 7.5
15 7.5 7.5 56.25 7.5
Total 18.502

χ2 = {(O-E) 2}
= 18.502
E

Degrees of freedom = V = (r-1) (C-1)

= (2-1) (5-1)
= (1) (4)
=4

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

Since the tabulated value of χ2.05 = 9.49 is less than the calculated
value of χ2 so, we reject the null hypotheses (H0).
Hence it is proved that brand image, Price, quality, after sale service
and looks influence the customer in their buying decision
 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Although sincere efforts have been made to collect the maximum

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

 Company officials didn’t take interest in providing information

about the products.

 Companies were not ready to give address of their respective

customers to conduct a survey.

 Some of the respondents thought me as the representative of the

company & hence instead of answering to my queries they put

their questions to me.

 Some people were not at all cooperative.

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

conduct survey at large level

RESULTS
AND
FINDINGS…
 RESULTS AND
DISCUSSIONS/FINDINGS

 Which Brand of Refrigerator do you have?

No. of Respondents LG Whirlpool Videocon

100 46 38 16

16%

46% LG
Whirlpool
Videocon
38%
 INTERPRETATION: from my survey, I have found that LG was
having major market share in terms of Refrigerator as comparison to
others. There were 46% of the people those were having LG
Refrigerators.

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

Refrigerator?

No. of Respondents News Magazines Through others

papers friends
100 38 16 27 19

40 38

35

30 27
No of Persons

25
19
20 Series1
16
15

10

0
News papers Magazines Through friends others

INTERPRETATION: from my survey, I have found that News papers

played a major role in making aware to the customers about the
refrigerator. The next major role is played by the Friends. However,
only 16% of customers said that they came to know about the product
through magazines.

 Which factor influence you more In your Buying Decision?

No. of Respondents Brand Price Quality After Sales

image
Services

100 25 40 24 11

45
40
40
35
No. of Persons

30
25 24
25 Series1
20 Series2
15 11
10
5
0
Brand image Price Quality After Sales
Services
 INTERPRETATION: the factors that were responsible for choosing a
particular product was found to be price, Brand name & quality.
There were 40% of the people those said that price has influenced
them more while buying.

 Who influenced you more in your buying decision?

No. of Respondents Self Friends/relatives Family others

members
100 15 26 38 21

21% 15%
Self
Friends/relatives
26% Family members

38% others

INTERPRETATION: from my survey, it is very much clear that there

is a major role of family in the buying decision of the people. The next
major role is played by the Friends.
  Awareness about Refrigerator Brand available in the market

No. of Respondents Fully aware Less aware Unaware

100 31 28 41

31%
41% Fully aware
Less aware
Unaware
28%

INTERPRETATION: from my survey, it is very much clear that there

were majority of the people those were not aware of the different
refrigerator brands available in the market. There were 40% of the
people those were not aware.

 What did you perceive first while buying a Refrigerator-

No. of Respondents Brand Price Quality After sales Style/looks

Image service
100 21 35 28 7 9

40
35
35

30 28
no of persons

25
21
20 Series1

15
9
10 7
5

0
Brand Image Price Quality After sales Style/looks
service
 INTERPRETATION: the factors that were responsible for choosing a
particular Brand Of refrigerator was found to be price, Brand name &
quality.
There were 36% of the people those said that price has influenced
them more while buying a refrigerator

 Are you satisfied with its overall performance?

No. of Fully Satisfied Undecide Less poor

Respondents Satisfied d satisfie
d
100 12 43 26 13 6

50
No. of persons

40
30
Series1
20
10
0
Fully Satisfied Undeciced Less poor
Satisfied satisfied

INTERPRETATION: on asking that whether the customers were satisfied with the
overall performance of the refrigerator, only about 13% reported that they were
Less satisfied whereas about 43% said they are satisfied with the performance of
the refrigerator.
 According to you which company gives the most beneficial
schemes to the Customers?

No. of Respondents LG Whirlpool Videocon other

100 38 31 14 17

40 38

35
31
30
No of Persons

25

20 17 Series1
14
15

10

0
LG Whirlpool Videocon other
 INTERPRETATION: on asking that which company provides the most beneficial
schemes to the customer , only about 17% of the people were in the favor of other
companies . 38% of the people were in the favor of LG.

No. of Respondents Yes No

100 37 63

 If any of other brands of Refrigerator offers you any attractive

scheme, will you go for that brand?

37%
Yes
No
63%
INTERPRETATION: it is clearly seen that if a company offers more attractive
schemes then only 37% will go for that brand & 63% of the people will not go for
tat brand.

SUGGESTIONS…
 SUGGESTIONS
On the basis of the survey conducted by me, following suggestions are
to be considered:

 The companies should work on promotional efforts to increase

the awareness of the consumers.

 The Company should send their representatives to contact

personally to the customers to avoid any communication

problems.

 The Company should give more Attention to all the segments.

 The companies should come up with some attractive schemes to

attract more & more customers.

 Proper advertisement should be given in order to remind the

customers about their schemes and other benefits.
 People generally consider price While purchasing a refrigerator

to company should emphasize on competitive prices.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
…
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Research methodology, methods and techniques by Kothari C.R,

new age international ltd. Publishers, Second edition.

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

educational publishers, New Delhi.

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

educational publishers, New Delhi.

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

rai and company(pvt.)ltd. Educational and technical publishers,
edition 2005.
 Consumer Behavior by David L. Loudon, Albert J. Della

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

 Consumer Behavior in Indian Perspectives (First Edition: 2001)

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

Chapter 1, Page 3-6.

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

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

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

 www.videoconworld.com/consumer-durables/home-

appliances/refrigerators(1 Mar 2007)

 www.whirlpoolindia.com/product_details.aspx?

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

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

2007)
 ANNEXURE…

QUESTIONNAIRE
“Consumer Preferences in selected brands
(Whirlpool, Videocon, LG) of 200 lts refrigerators
on the basis of Price, Brand name ,Quality &
After sales Services”
Name: - Gender:-
Place: - Age:-
Occupation: - Income:-

1. Do you have Refrigerator?

Yes No

2. Which Brand of Refrigerator do you have?

 LG Videocon Whirlpool

3. What is the price of your Refrigerator?

………………………..

4. How long do you own this Refrigerator?

 Less than six month
 Six month
 One year
 Two year
 More than 2 years

5. How did you come to know about your brand /model of Refrigerator?
Newspaper Magazines Through Friends Others

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

 Brand image
 Price
 Quality
 After Sales Services

7. Who influenced you more in your buying decision?

 Self
 Friends/Relatives
 Family member
 Others
8. Awareness about Refrigerator Brand available in the market-
 Fully aware
 Less aware
 Unaware
9. What did you perceive first while buying a Refrigerator-
  Brand Image
 Price
 Quality
 After Sales Services
 Style/Looks

10. Are you satisfied with its overall performance?

 Fully satisfied
 Satisfied
 Undecided
 Less satisfied
 Poor

11. According to you which company gives the most beneficial schemes to the
Customers?
 LG
 Whirlpool
 Videocon
 Other

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

Very good Good Average Bad Worst

Whirlpool
Videocon
LG

13. What are your views about Price of following brands of Refrigerator?
 Very High High Average Low Very Low

Whirlpool
Videocon
LG

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

Very good Good Average Bad Worst

Whirlpool
Videocon
LG

15. If any of other brands of Refrigerator offers you any attractive scheme, will
you go for that brand?
Yes No

16. Suggestion/problems, if any

………………………………………………………………………………….
.
………………………………………………………………………………….
.
………………………………………………………………………………….
.

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

Brand Image Quality Price after sales services looks

Influence 25 24 40 11 0
Perception 17 27 35 6 15
XLSTAT 7.1 - Tests on Contingency Tables (Chi-square...) - 3/14/2007 at 11:43:58 AM
Data: workbook = Book1 / sheet = Sheet1 / range = $B$2:$F$3 / 2 rows and 5 columns

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

Chi-square test:

Chi-square (observed value) 18.504

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

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

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

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

Wilks' G² (observed value) 24.330

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

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

Table of the statistics testing the independence rows/columns:

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

Table of the coefficients:

Coefficient Value
Pearson's Phi 0.304
Cramer's V 0.304
Tschuprow's T 0.215
Contingency coefficient 0.291
Theil's U (R|C)
Theil's U (C|R)
Averaged Theil's U
Goodman and Kruskal tau (R|C) 0.093
Goodman and Kruskal tau (C|R) 0.012
Averaged Goodman and Kruskal tau 0.052
Multidimensional Scaling (MDS)
Factors/Group Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5
Brand name 10 8 2 2 2
Quality 9 8 4 2 1
Price 13 10 5 2 4
After sales
services 2 4 2 1 2
others 1 2 1 1 2

XLSTAT 7.1 - Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) - 3/14/2007 at 1:47:37 PM

Similarity matrix (converted to a dissimilarity matrix): workbook = Book1 / sheet =
Sheet1 / range = $C$3:$F$6 / 4 rows and 4 columns
Uniform weighting (default)
No missing values
Metric Multidimensional Scaling
Multidimensional Scaling model: absolute
Stress used for the results: Kruskal's stress-1
Dimension of the representation space: 2
Repetitions: 10
Seed of the pseudo-random numbers generator: 1094498164
Iterations: 50
Convergence: 0.0001

Space with 2 Dimensions:

Model: Dij= Pij

Observation coordinates:

Observation Dim1 Dim2

8 -2.065 -1.934
2 -2.784 -2.199
2 4.578 -1.867
2 0.271 6.000

Distances measured in the representation space:

8 2 2 2
8 0 0.766 6.644 8.271
2 0.766 0 7.370 8.750
2 6.644 7.370 0 8.969
2 8.271 8.750 8.969 0

Ideal distances calculated using the model (disparities):

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

Residual distances:

8 2 2 2
8 0 0.766 0.644 0.271