ABSTRACT

Generally newspaper reading habit in the house starts with the traditional family newspaper.
The perception of the reader about newspaper start from writing style, editorial, layout, feel
of the newspaper & convenience of reading etc. It‟s make people to resistant to change their
newspaper brand from one to another unlike FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) product
or to replace it with the electronic news. English is an international language. Everybody not
only in India but also throughout the world wants to cope with English language. According
to some facts and figure, approx 400 million people speak it as a secondary language and 350
million people claim as their native language. The morning newspapers compete with each
other and with other media such as TV, radio, the internet and other on-line services. In order
to be competitive in the media landscape of today, morning newspapers need to improve the
production and the distribution of newspapers as well as other processes within the
newspaper companies.
 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Every person normally starts his day by reading the Newspaper in the morning. In
these modern days; instead of having many other options like 24x7 News Channels, Online
news, Mobile updates etc. The importance of the newspaper is not yet changed in the life of
people. Newspaper always treated as most reliable, analytical, trusted news source but
definitely the content of the newspaper has been changed over the period of time.

Generally newspaper reading habit in the house starts with the traditional family
newspaper. The perception of the reader about newspaper start from writing style, editorial,
layout, feel of the newspaper & convenience of reading etc. Its make people to resistant to
change their newspaper brand from one to another unlike FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer
Goods) product or to replace it with the electronic news. Its take years to cultivate a
newspaper brand in to the family. Most of the time the family newspaper or 1st choice
newspaper of the family is the regional newspaper Tamil, Malayalam or telugu etc. Secondly
is the English newspaper. The 1st and the 2nd choice of newspaper normally reflect into their
socio economic status.

The history of the newspaper starts from 1605. When first newspaper got printed in
Europe. The German-language „Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien‟,
by Johann Carolus in Strasbourg, is often recognized as the first newspaper

2
 James Augustus Hickey is considered as the "father of Indian press" as he started the
first Indian newspaper from Calcutta, the Calcutta General Advertise or the Bengal Gazette
in January, 1780. In 1789, the first newspaper from Bombay, the Bombay Herald appeared,
followed by the Bombay Courier next year (this newspaper was later amalgamated with the
Times of India in 1861).

English is an international language. Everybody not only in India but also throughout
the world wants to cope with English language. According to some facts and figure, approx
400 million people speak it as a secondary language and 350 million people claim as their
native language.

In Chennai, being metropolitan city over 8 million population. Analyst says that 3.5
million people read English in Chennai but only 1.7 million buy English newsprint of any
kind. This study put lights of many of the facts & figures.

Today morning‟s newspaper publishing is a competitive and became a very complex

market. The morning newspapers compete with each other and with other media such as TV,
radio, the internet and other on-line services. In order to be competitive in the media
landscape of today, morning newspapers need to improve the production and the distribution
of newspapers as well as other processes within the newspaper companies. This study has
been undertaken to understand the newspaper industry majorly concentrating on Chennai
region analyzing the three major market players; The Hindu, The Indian Express &
Hindustan Times. Two are the new entrant in the Chennai market & other is the Old & the
leader in the market. Other English dailies will also be the part of the studies as the
established player in the market.

Metrics

Newspapers in India are measured on two parameters, circulation and readership.

Circulation

Circulation referred to the actual copies sold every day. Circulation is certified by the
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) which is an industry body. ABC audit for circulation of
the member newspaper companies & publishes periodic report on the circulation. ABC audits
starts from the actual production of the copies from purchase report of newsprint to sale of

3
the last printed copy. ABC is the non bios body therefore this reports are referred by the
company itself & stakeholders of the company also by the advertisers, advertising agencies &
competitors too.

Readership

Readership is estimated by two different surveys, The Indian Readership Survey

(IRS) and the National Readership Survey (NRS). Both are the independent agencies who
conduct the surveys across the region by different methods of survey i.e. one to one
interview, observation etc. IRS & NRS also publishes periodic report on the readership. This
reports also referred by the company itself & stakeholders of the company also by the
advertisers, advertising agencies & competitors as well. The readership no is always greater
than the circulation nos.

1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

The Indian Media market has been on an upswing in the last 5 years. New media
have grown at high rates in line with their expected potential. However, traditional media
have not been disadvantaged by this, and they have continued to show strong growth, though
their share of the total media pie has expectedly shown a slight dip. The main reasons for this
are: Willingness of emerging advertisers to pay for impact

 Expansion of traditional media into new markets and formats, which is helping them
demand value
 A strong business environment that supports this growth
 Increase in advertisers‟ spends on traditional media to maintain status quo and their
willingness to look at new media (which also tend to be cheaper options) to create
differentiation and grab attention
 The newspaper is the most trusted media by the advertiser after the TV. 40% of the
overall spend on the advertising is on the newspaper. Newspaper is effective media than
any other media. It‟s about the mindshare than the pocket share. Its gives more top of the
mind to the reader about any of the advertisements

4
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

Objective of the Study is to find out consumer buying behavior of the particular brand of
news paper among readers & exploring new marketing strategies to attract new consumers.
In this study the aims at analyzing the following aspects:

 Current market players & their marketing strategies

 Readers psychology & Reading Habits
 Readers response towards product, Price, place & promotions
 Brand preference for newspaper.
 Different factors for preferring the particular brand.
 Preference of the consumers about the other newspaper brand
 New marketing strategies

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study enables to understand the perception of the market segment in a better way.
It also provides an opportunity to the marketer to satisfy the needs of their potential
consumer in a unique way.

1.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Just like any product, which is doing well in the market, having good figures, good
packages, good quality and it is from branded company. With all these futures, we can‟t say
it is flow less, every product has its own limitation whether a good or a bad

In the same way, how much ever effort a student puts into a project it will have one or
the other limitation. The limitations of my project are.

 The area covered was restricted to Rasipuram only.

 There was lack of interest from some readers.
 The study size was considerably small, it confirms only to respondents.
 Due to the confidentiality of certain information, all the details could not be obtained
from the company.
 The biggest limitation was the incomplete answering of the questionnaire with
particular to general information.

5
1.6 INDUSTRY PROFILE

INTRODUCTION

In India the wheels of journalism were set in motion in 1700 when the Bengal Gazette
was started by James Augustus Hicky in Kolkata. It was a two-sheet weekly newspaper and
specialized in writing on the private lives of the sahibs of the East Indian Company.

It lasted till the 1830s when its circulation was overtaken by another weekly The
Englishman (also published from Kolkata from 1818, and now known as the statesman).
India Gazette, Calcutta Gazette, Bengal journal were the other weeklies along with a monthly
called The Oriental Magazine of Calcutta Amusement.

Chennai got its first newspaper when Richard Johnson started The Madras Courier in
1785. Its second newspaper was Hurkaru, started by Hugh Boyd in 1791. Boyd, who was the
editor of the Courier quit and founded the Hurkaru.

From those early days newspapers have come a long way in India. Today, India has
more newspapers than any other nation in the world and is the world‟s second largest
newspaper market with 78.8 million copies sold daily. Newspapers like The Hindu, The
Times of India and The Statesmen that were started in the 19th century are still around.

INTRODUCTION OF THE COMPANY

The Hindu is a leading English-language Indian daily. With a circulation of 1.17

million copies, The Hindu is the Third largest circulated English Daily in India and slightly
ahead of Hindustan Times and slightly ahead of Economic Times and has its largest base of
circulation in South India, especially Tamil Nadu. Begun in 1878, it was founded on the
principles of fairness and justice. Headquartered at Chennai (formerly called Madras), The
Hindu was published weekly when it was launched and started publishing daily in 1889.

The Hindu became, in 1995, the first Indian newspaper to offer an online edition. The
Hindu is the most circulated periodical in India with a circulation of 1,102,783 copies,
according to the Registrar of Newspapers for India (The Sunday Times of India is second
with a circulation of 1,038,954 copies).

6
 The Hindu is published from 12 locations - Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi,
Hyderabad, Kochi, Madurai, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, Vijayawada
and Visakhapatnam. According to Indian Readership Survey 2008, Round 2, The Hindu has
a readership of 5.2 million.

1.7 HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

PRE-INDEPENDENCE

The first issue of The Hindu was published on September 20, 1878, by a group of six
young men, led by G. Subramania Aiyer, a radical social reformer and school teacher from
Thiruvaiyyar near Thanjavur. Aiyer, then 23, along with his 21-year-old fellow-tutor and
friend at Pachaiyappa's College, M. Veeraraghavachariar of Chingleput, and four law
students, T.T. Rangachariar, P.V. Rangachariar, D. Kesava Rao Pant and N. Subba Rao
Pantulu were members of the Triplicane Literary Society. The British-controlled English
language local newspapers had been campaigning against the appointment of the first Indian,
T. Muthuswami Iyer, to the Bench of the Madras High Court in 1878. "The Triplicate Six,"
in an attempt to counter the dominant attitudes in the English language press started The
Hindu on one British rupee and twelve annas of borrowed money. Aiyer was the editor and
Veeraraghavachariar the Managing Director. The first editorial declared, "[the] Press does
not only give expression to public opinion, but also modifies and moulds it."

Three of the students soon left the paper and took up careers in law, while Pantulu
continued to write for The Hindu. The founders of the newspaper maintained a neutral stance
regarding British rule, and occasionally, as in an editorial of 1894, held that British rule had
been beneficial to Indian people. "However, it was equally convinced that the Anglo-Indian
Press should be challenged, despotic bureaucrats condemned, and the abuse of power
exposed," writes historian S. Muthiah.

Initially printing 80 copies a week at the Srinidhi Press in Mint Street, Black Town,
The Hindu was published every Wednesday evening as an eight-page paper, each a quarter of
today's page size and sold for four annas (1/4 Rupee). After a month of printing from the
Srinidhi Press, the newspaper switched to the Scottish Press, also in Black Town. The earliest
available issue of the paper is dated June 21, 1881. In 1881, it moved to Ragoonada Row's
'The Hindu Press' of Mylapore, with the intention of making it tri-weekly. This plan did not

7
materialize until it moved to the Empress of India Press, where, starting on October 1, 1883,
is was published on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening; it continued maintaining
the same size as before.

The offices moved to rented premises at 100 Mount Road on December 3, 1883. The
newspaper started printing at its own press there, christened "The National Press," which was
established on borrowed capital as public subscriptions were not forthcoming. The building
itself became The Hindu's in 1892, after the Maharaja of Vizianagaram, Ananda Gajapathi
Raju, gave The National Press a loan both for the building and to carry out needed expansion.

Its assertive editorials earned The Hindu the nickname, the Maha Vishnu of Mount
Road. "From the new address, 100 Mount Road, which to remain The Hindu's home till
1939, there issued a quarto-size paper with a front-page full of advertisements - a practice
that came to an end only in 1958 when it followed the lead of its idol, the pre-Thomson
Times - and three back pages also at the service of the advertiser. In between, there were
more views than news." After 1887, when the annual session of Indian National Congress
was held in Madras, the paper's coverage of national news increased significantly, and led to
the paper becoming an evening daily starting April 1, 1889.

The partnership between Veeraraghavachariar and Subramania Aiyer was

dissolved in October 1898. Aiyer quit the paper and Veeraraghavachariar became the sole
owner and appointed C.Karunakara Menon as editor. However, The Hindu's adventurousness
began to decline in the 1900s and so did its circulation, which was down to 800 copies when
the sole proprietor decided to sell out. The purchaser was The Hindu's Legal Adviser from
1895, S.Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, a politically ambitious lawyer who had migrated from a
Kumbakonam village to practise in Coimbatore and from thence to Madras. Kasturi Ranga
Iyengar's ancestors had served the courts of Vijayanagar and Mahratta Tanjore. He traded
law, in which his success was middling but his interest minimal, for journalism, pursuing his
penchant for politics honed in Coimbatore and by his association with the `Egmore Group'
led by C.Sankaran Nair and Dr T.M. Nair.

8
POST-INDEPENDENCE

In late 1980s when its ownership passed into the hands of the family's younger
members, a change in political leaning was observed. Worldpress.org lists the Hindu as a
left-leaning independent newspaper. This political polarization is supposed to have taken
place since N.Ram took over as editor-in-chief. Joint Managing Director N.Murali said in
July 2003, "It is true that our readers have been complaining that some of our reports are
partial and lack objectivity. But it also depends on reader beliefs." N.Ram was appointed on
June 27, 2003 as its editor-in-chief with a mandate to "improve the structures and other
mechanisms to uphold and strengthen quality and objectivity in news reports and opinion
pieces", authorized to "restructure the editorial framework and functions in line with the
competitive environment". On September 3 and 23, 2003, the reader's letters column carried
responses from readers saying the editorial was biased. An editorial in August 2003 observed
that the newspaper was affected by the 'editorializing as news reporting' virus, and expressed
a determination to buck the trend, restore the professionally sound lines of demarcation, and
strengthen objectivity and factuality in its coverage.

In 1987-'88 The Hindu's coverage of the Bofors arms deal scandal, a series of
document-backed exclusives set the terms of the national political discourse on this subject.
The Bofors scandal broke in April 1987 with Swedish Radio alleging that bribes had been
paid to top Indian political leaders, officials and Army officers in return for the Swedish arms
manufacturing company winning a hefty contract with the Government of India for the
purchase of 155 mm howitzers. During a six-month period the newspaper published scores of
copies of original papers that documented the secret payments, amounting to $50 million,
into Swiss bank accounts, the agreements behind the payments, communications relating to
the payments and the crisis response, and other material.

The investigation was led by part-time correspondent of The Hindu, Chitra

Subramanian reporting from Geneva, and was supported by Ram in Chennai. The scandal
was a major embarrassment to the party in power at the centre, the Indian National Congress,
and its leader Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The paper's editorial accused the Prime Minister
of being party to massive fraud and cover up.

9
 In 1991, Deputy Editor N.Ravi, Ram's younger brother replaced G. Kasturi as Editor.
Nirmala Lakshman, Kasturi Srinivasan's granddaughter, became Joint Editor of The Hindu
and her sister, Malini Parthasarathy, Executive Editor.

In 2003, the Jayalalitha Government of the state of Tamil Nadu, of which Chennai is
the capital, filed cases against the paper for "breach of privilege" of the state legislative body.
The move was widely perceived as a government's assault on freedom of the press. However,
The Hindu emerged unscathed from the ordeal, scoring both political and legal victories, as it
instantly commanded the support of the journalistic community throughout the country, as
well as the national government's political leadership.

The younger generation of The Hindu's editors have also contributed much to its
commercial success. They built a modern infrastructure for news-gathering, printing and
distribution. On the look of the newspaper, editor-in-chief Ram writes, "The Hindu has been
through many evolutionary changes in layout and design, for instance, moving news to the
front page that used to be an ad kingdom; adopting modular layout and make-up; using large
photographs; introducing colour; transforming the format of the editorial page to make it a
purely 'views' page; avoiding carry-over of news stories from one page to another; and
introducing boxes, panels, highlights, and briefs." Major layout changes appeared starting
(redesign by Edwin Taylor) and starting Apr 14, 2005 (redesign by Mario Garcia and Jan
Kny).

The Hindu, like many other Indian publishing houses, is family-run. It was headed by
G. Kasturi from 1965 to 1991, N. Ravi from 1991 to 2003, and by his brother, N. Ram, since
June 27th 2003. Other family members, including Nirmala Lakshman, Malini Parthasarathy,
Nalini Krishnan, N Murali, K Balaji, K Venugopal and Ramesh Rangarajan are directors of
The Hindu and its parent company, Kasturi and Sons. S.Rangarajan, former managing
director and chairman since April 2006, died on 8 February 2007. Ananth Krishnan, who is
the first member of the youngest generation of the family to join the business has been
working as a special correspondent in Chennai and Mumbai since 2000.

10
 CHAPTER – 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Assaari and Karia1 (2000) in their paper titled, “Churn Management towards Customer
Satisfaction; A Case of Cellular operations in Malaysia” have viewed that customer
satisfaction and customer service have been critical factors of the cellular industry. Cellular
service providers need to ensure about the technology that provides customer service best in
the industry. It is stated that investment in people and in technology helps in providing best
customer service for today and for the future. One common ground that most carriers and
customers agree on is that good customer service can have a key impact on how a customer
views firm‟s services and company.

Bepko (2000) in his article entitled, “Service Intangibility and Its Impact on Consumer
Expectations of Service Quality” has pointed out that among the areas which need to be
addressed in service quality research is the nature of consumer expectations across the range
of intangibility. Previous research has compared consumers service quality expectations
across services, but different groups of subjects have been evaluated for each different
service. The problem of using different subjects for each service is that the subjects‟
demographic characteristics may be responsible for the significant differences in expectations
of quality. The paper has used a controlled and repeated measure of design, where subjects
have been asked to evaluate three services, varying in their degree of intangibility.

Carsten Fink, Aaditya Mattoo and RandeepRathindran (2001) in their study titled,
“Liberalizing Basic Telecommunications: The Asian Experience” have found that despite the
move away from traditional public monopolies, most Asian governments are still unwilling
to allow unrestricted entry, eliminate limits on private and foreign ownership, and establish
strong independent regulators. A comprehensive reform including privatization, competition
and regulation has been implemented and there are significantly higher levels of main line
availability, service quality and labour productivity.

11
David M. Szymanski and David H. Henard (2001) in their study entitled, “The New
Marketing Developing Long-term Interactive Relationships” have said that the growing
number of academic studies on customer satisfaction and the mixed findings they report
complicate the efforts among managers and academics to identify the antecedents to, and
outcomes of businesses having more against less-satisfied customers. These mixed findings
and the growing emphasis by managers on having satisfied customers point to the value of
empirically synthesizing the evidence on customer satisfaction to assess current knowledge.
To achieve this aim, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of the reported findings on
customer satisfaction. They have documented that equity and disconfirmation are most
strongly related to customer satisfaction on average.

Jonathan, Lee, Janghyuk, Lee, Lawrence and Feick (2001) in their article titled, "The
Impact of Switching Costs on the Customer Satisfaction-loyalty Link: Mobile Phone Service
in France” have analyzed that moderating role of switching costs in the customer
satisfaction-loyalty link and to identify customer segments and to retain them. Thus the
purposes of this paper are to examine the moderating role of switching costs in the customer
satisfaction-loyalty link and to identify customer segments and then analyze the
heterogeneity in the satisfaction-loyalty link among the different segments. An empirical
example based on the mobile phone service market in France indicates support for the
moderating role of switching costs. Managerial implications of the results are discussed.

Robert C. Ford, Cherill P. Heaton and Stephen W. Brown (2001) in their article titled,
“Delivering Excellent Service Lessons from the Best Firms” have stated that many
companies see investments in complaint handling as means of increasing customer
commitment and building customer loyalty. However, firms are not well informed, on how to
deal successfully with service failures or the impact of complaint handling 48 strategies.
They have supported a quasi “brand equity” perspective-whereas satisfaction with complaint
handling has a direct impact on trust and commitment, to a limited extent, on the effects of
poor complaint handling. Implications for managers and scholars have also been discussed.

Wilska (2001) in his paper titled, “New Technology and Young People‟s Consumer
Identities: A Comparative Study between Finland and Brazil” has found that among young
people aged 16-20, it was found that mobile phones choice and especially usage is consistent
with respondents general consumption styles. The research has indicated that addictive use is
common among females and is related to trendy and impulsive consumption styles. Instead,
12
males have been found to have more technology enthusiasm and trend-consciousness. These
attributes have been then linked to impulsive consumption. The study concludes that genders
are becoming more alike in telecom service choice because individual differences in
consumption patterns are obviously identifiable.

Balasubramanian, Paterson and S.L.Jarvenpaa (2002) in their article entitled, “Exploring

the Implications of M-convenience for Markets and Marketing” have identified that the
unique intrinsic attributes mentioned by the end users are unhindered time and space
attributes of the mobile phone. The extrinsic attributes are divided as direct and indirect
network. Direct network is the effect of the size, speed and capacity of the network, whereas,
indirect network is the effect originating from the information, transaction, or machine
interactive services.

Bhave and Ashish (2002) in their article entitled, “Customer Satisfaction Measurement”
have found that the opinion that customer‟s perception towards service and quality of a
product determines the success of that product or service in the market. With better
understanding of customers perceptions, a firm can determine the suitable actions to meet the
needs of customers. Firms can identify their own strengths and weaknesses in comparison
with their competitors. Major attributes that influence customer satisfaction are product
quality, packaging, delivery commitments, price, responsiveness and ability to resolve
complaints and overall communication, accessibility and attitude failing short creates
dissatisfaction. Customer loyalty is an important strategic objective for all organizations.

K.E. Lommeruda and L. Sorgard (2003) in their study on “Entry in Telecommunication:

Customer Loyalty, Price Sensitivity and Access Prices” have stated that telecommunication
services are like undifferentiated products. Therefore, customers are not price sensitive all the
times and sometimes brand loyalty takes a dominant part in brand preferences. This is
because some consumers are retained with old monopolists. They have pointed out that
substantive role of price fairness and quality service with customer satisfaction existing in the
communication sector.

Michael Draganska and Dipal Jain (2003) in their article titled, “Consumer Preferences
and Product Line Pricing Strategies: An Empirical Analysis” have analyzed that India is
having 752.19 Million mobile subscribers and Informant Mobile Intelligence reports claim
that in Average Minutes Per User (AMPU) in India is 25 to 30 minutes per day of active time

13
on voice calls and almost 15 to 20 minutes per day of the active time on messaging. Bharati
the major mobile service provider in India claimed as on November 2010 that Indian
Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is 202 rupees which is reduced at 20 per cent
on a year base and it is expected to decrease further. As there is an increase in mobile
subscribers and increase in AMPU at the same time, there is a decrease in ARPU Mobile
service providers who are planning to attract Mobile subscriber to their service with less
affordable price.

J. Pakola, M. Pietila and R.Svento (2003) in their article titled, “An Investigation of
Customer Behaviour in Mobile Phone Markets in Finland” have indicated that price and
properties are the major influential factors affecting the purchase of a new mobile phone,
whereas audibility, price and friends are regarded as the most important in choice of the
mobile phone operators. Customers have certain amount of self-knowledge about telephone
features, connection fee, access cost, mobile-to-mobile phone rates, call rates and free calls
which are related to mobile phone purchasing respondents. He has stated that customers with
prior experience about a product can be able predict their choices relatively well but tend to
overestimate the importance of a monthly access fee, mobile-to-mobile rates and connection
fees.

Stephen Y. Walters (2003) in his study on “The New Telephony-Technology, Convergence,

Industry Collision” has viewed that the telecommunication industry is being rocked by
change fueled by the advent of the tremendous success of the internet and its technologies.
For quite some time there has been competition in the telephony business. Long-distance
rates have seen continuous decreases for two decades as new carriers seek to capture greater
and greater market share. Local carriers have seen competition for interconnecting the
networks of large corporate customers and for providing them access to long-distance
services. So, competition and change are not new issues in telecommunications. But the
internet has forced an entirely new set of changes on the phone business. There are new
carriers, new business scenarios, new technologies, and new ways of thinking about end
users and the services they seek.

S.Krishnan (2004) in his survey titled, “Net Profit Surges 123 per cent in Q3” has stated that
Bharti had 31.9 million mobile users at the end of 2006 compared to 16 million at the end of
2005. Its broadband and telephone subscriber„s base grew from 1.2 million to 1.7 million
over the one year period. The revenues and net profit for the nine months was 13,126 crores
14
and 2,904 crores, a growth of 59 per cent and 84 per cent respectively compared to the year
2004.

K. Maran, C. Madhavi and K.Thilagavathi (2004) in their article titled, “Customer's

Perception on Telephone: A Study with Special Reference to Chennai City” have indicated
that the consumer perceptions about fixed telephone lines in Chennai. The objectives of the
study is (1) to find the most influencing factor in selection of service provider, and (2) to
measure customer perception and satisfaction as regards the service provided. The study on a
sample of 550 telephone users indicate that some problems exist that deserve the attention of
the company. The company needs to bridge the gap between the services promised and
services offered. And to conclude, “Delivering service without measuring the impact on the
customer is like driving a car without a windshield”.

Avnish Bansall (2005) in his study on “Cell Phones Taking Control of Our Lives” has
reported that India is the fastest growing mobile communication market in the world. It is one
of the early adopters of Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) technology and
during 2005 there were over 30 million GSM subscribers in the country, an increase of 100
per cent over the year 2004. In addition, there were over 10 million Code-Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) subscribers. In order to keep pace with the world, India should widely adopt
third generation (3G) technology.

P.Chandiran (2005) in his article entitled, “Product Life Cycle and Promotion Strategies in
Cellular Telecom Industry” brings to light the various promotion strategies followed by the
cell phone services during the growth stage. Brand building, emotional bondage and mass
media are the effective advertising strategies adopted as promotional tools. As sales
promotion strategies, the schemes, tariff plans, event sponsoring, special package for the
corporate world, and co-promotion should be given importance during the growth stage of
the cell phone services. In the personal selling process, the suitable strategies to be followed
are focused personal selling and corporate accounts strategy. In the distribution process, in-
depth retailing and high-reach strategies can be entertained to make the services successful in
the near future.

K. Francis Sudhakar and Lydia Nutan (2005) in their article titled, “An Objective Study
of Customer Behaviour in BPL Mobile Cellular Ltd” have pointed out that there are various
reasons for the factors influencing the migration of cell phone customers from prepaid to

15
post-paid services. They are the schemes and tariff plans, increased usage of mobile
connections, need for additional services, low air time rates of post-paid in comparison to the
prepaid at the time of purchase, reference group influence, prepaid proving economical and
availability of corporate connections.

Indian Infrastructure Report (2005) has viewed that India‟s rapidly expanding telecom
sector is continuing to witness stiff competition. This has resulted in lower tariffs and better
quality of services. Various telecom services-basic, mobile, internet, national long distance
and international long distance had seen tremendous growth in year 2005 and this growth
trend promises to continue electronics and home appliances businesses each of which are
expected to net $ 2.5 bonus in revenues by that year. So, driving forces for manufacturing of
handsets by giants in India include-sheer size of India market, its frantic growth rates and
above all is the fact that it conforms to global standards.

Kumara Kaushalam (2005) in his survey on Business Today has reported that the mobile
market of Airtel had touched two lakh subscriber marks, while the Chennai cell phone
market had crossed the four lakh figures in December 2002. The total of 62 million cell
phone subscribers in the Indian Telephone Market is divided between GSM and CDMA and
its proportion was 3.8:1, and 750 million numbers of cell phones sales was expected
worldwide in the year 2005.

16
 CHAPTER - 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Business research is of recent origin and is largely supported business organization

that hopes to achieve competitive advantages research methodology lays down the various
steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying the problem.

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problems, it

maybe understands as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. It includes
overall research design the sampling procedure, data collection method and analysis
procedure.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research is a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific

topic. It is a careful investigation through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.

According to Kerlinger, “Research is a systematic, controlled, presume relations

among natural phenomena.”

3.3 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

The research was descriptive research questionnaires survey approach was descriptive
research. The survey was conducted to learn about consumer‟s perception towards the brand
and product, price, technology and others about vehicle. A structured questionnaire was
given to fill in the answer required to analyze their perception. 100 customers from different
places in Rasipuram were taken as the respondents for the study. Convenient sampling technique
is used for the study.

3.4 SAMPLING PLAN

In marketing research it is not possible to study the whole respondents, hence,

sampling becomes inevitable. The plan calls for three decisions.

a. Sampling Unit
17
 b. Sampling Size
c. Sampling Procedure

a) SAMPLING UNIT (who was the respondent?)

The respondents were users of The Hindu. To understand their perception in a better
way they were classified into their preference, occupation and their monthly income.

b) SAMPLING SIZE (How many respondents were surveyed?)

Large sample size gives more reliable data than small size however, it was not
possible to sample the entire The Hindu readers in a short period, and hence the sample size
was only 100 respondents.

c) SAMPLING PROCEDURE (how respondents are chosen?)

100 customers from different places in Rasipuram were taken as the respondents for the
study. Convenient sampling technique is used for the study.

3.5 DATA COLLECTION

Data is recorded measure of phenomena while deciding about the method of data
collection, the researcher should keep in the mind about they are:

 Primary data
 Secondary data

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data is first-hand information which the researcher gets from the population.
The tool for collecting primary data is “questionnaire”

SECONDARY DATA

The secondary data are collected from libraries, records, books, company annual
report book etc, both primary data and secondary data‟s are needed to complete this study.

18
 CHAPTER - 4

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

4.1 AGE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Percentage of the
Age wise No of the Respondents
Respondents

Below 18 10 10%

18-25 40 40%

26-35 27 27%

36-50 14 14%

Above 50 9 9%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 40% of the respondents are under 18 -25
years age group. 27% of the respondents 26-35 years old. 14% of the respondents 36-50
years old. 10% of the respondents below 18years old and other 9% of the respondents only
above 50 years old.

Majority of the respondents are 18-25 years age group.

19
 CHART 4.1

AGE OF THE RESPONDENTS

40% 40%

35% 27%
PERCENTAGE

30%
25%
20% 14%
10% 9%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Percentage of the Respondents

Below 18 18-25 26-35 36-50 Above 50

20
 TABLE 4.2

GENDER OF THE RESPONDENTS

Percentage of the
GENDER No of the Respondents
Respondents

MALE 52 52%

FEMALE 48 48%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 52% of the respondents are male. 48%
of the respondent‟s female.

Majority of the respondents are male.

21
 CHART 4.2

GENDER OF THE RESPONDENTS

48%
52%

Male Female

22
 TABLE 4.3

MARITAL STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS

Marital Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
status Respondents

Married 55 55%

Unmarried 45 45%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 55% of the respondents are married.
45% of the respondent‟s unmarried.

Majority of the respondents are married.

23
 CHART 4.3

MARITAL STATUS OF THE RESPONDENTS

45%

55%

Married Unmarried

24
 TABLE 4.4

MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS

Percentage of the
Monthly Income No of the Respondents
Respondents

Below 5000 29 29%

5000-10000 34 34%

10000-15000 16 16%

Above 15000 21 21%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 29% of the respondents are below 5000.
34% of the respondents 5000-10000. 16% of the respondents 10000-15000. 21% of the
respondents above 15000.

Majority of the respondents 5000-10000.

25
 CHART 4.4

MONTHLY INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS

34%
35%
29%
30%
21%
25%
PERCENTAGE

16%
20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Percentage of the Respondents

Below 5000 5000-10000 10000-15000 Above 15000

26
 TABLE 4.5

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENTS

Educational Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
Qualification Respondents

Post Graduate 33 33%

Graduate 42 42%

Diploma 12 12%

Others 13 13%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 33% of the respondents are post
graduate. 42% of the respondent‟s graduate. 12% of the respondent‟s diploma. 13% of the
respondents are others.

Majority of the respondents Graduates.

27
 CHART 4.5

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION OF THE RESPONDENTS

42%
45%

40% 33%
35%
PERCENTAGE

30%

25%

20% 12% 13%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Percentage of the Respondents

Post Graduate Graduate Diploma Others

28
 TABLE 4.6

NEWS READING HABIT OF THE RESPONDENTS

Percentage of the
Habit No of the Respondents
Respondents

Daily 48 48%

Weekly 27 27%

Occasionally 25 25%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 48% of the respondents are daily. 27%
of the respondent‟s weekly.25% of the respondents occasionally.

Majority of the respondents are daily.

29
 CHART 4.6

NEWS READING HABIT OF THE RESPONDENTS

48%
50%

40%
27%
25%
30%
PERCENTAGE

20%

10%

0%
Percentage of the Respondents

Daily Weekly Occasionally

30
 TABLE 4.7

NEWS INTERESTED AREA OF THE RESPONDENTS

Percentage of the
Interested No of the Respondents
Respondents

Locality 13 13%

Political 10 10%

Business 13 13%

Sports 15 15%

Cinema 15 15%

All 34 34%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 13% of the respondents are locality.10%
of the respondents political. 13% of the respondents business. 15% of the respondent‟s
sports. 15% of the respondent‟s cinema.34% of the respondents all.

Majority of the respondents ALL.

31
 CHART 4.7

NEWS INTERESTED AREA OF THE RESPONDENTS

35% 34%

30%

25%

20% 15% 15%

PERCENTAGE

13% 13%
15% 10%

10%

5%

0%
Percentage of the Respondents

Locality Political Business Sports Cinema All

32
 TABLE 4.8

OPINION ABOUT COST LEVEL OF THE RESPONDENTS

Percentage of the
Cost Level No of the Respondents
Respondents

High 35 35%

Fare 27 27%

Reasonable 15 15%

Ok 23 23%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table shows that 35% of the respondents are high. 27%
of the respondent‟s fare. 15% of the respondents reasonable. 23% of the respondents ok.

Majority of the respondents are High.

33
 CHART 4.8

OPINION ABOUT COST LEVEL OF THE RESPONDENTS

35%
35%
27%
30%
23%
25%
PERCENTAGE

20% 15%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Percentage of the Respondents

High Fare Reasonable Ok

34
 TABLE 4.9

MONEY SPEND TOWARDS THE HINDU NEWS PAPER BY THE RESPONDENTS

Percentage of the
Money Spend No of the Respondents
Respondents

50-60 45 45%

60-70 29 29%

90-120 26 26%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA.

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 45% of the respondents are Rs, 50-60.
29% of the respondents Rs, 60-70.26% of the respondents Rs,90-120.

Majority of the respondents Rs.50-60.

35
 CHART 4.9

MONEY SPEND TOWARDS THE HINDU NEWS PAPER BY THE

RESPONDENTS

45%
45%
40%
29%
35% 26%
30%
25%
PERCENTAGE

20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Percentage of the Respondents

50-60 60-70 90-120

36
 TABLE 4.10

MAJORITY ADDITIONAL EDITIONS OF THE RESPONDENTS

Additional Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
Editions Respondents

Educational plus 21 21%

Employment
22 22%
Opportunities

Friday review 19 19%

Young world 21 21%

Sunday magazine 17 17%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 21% of the respondents are
educational plus.22% of the respondents‟ employment opportunities. 19% of the respondents
Friday review. 21% of the respondent‟s young world. 17% of the respondents Sunday
magazine.

Majority of the respondents Employment opportunities.

37
 CHART 4.10

MAJORITY ADDITIONAL EDITIONS OF THE RESPONDENTS

25
22
21 21
20 19
17

15
PERCENTAGE

10

0
No of the Respondents

Educational plus Employment Opportunities

Friday review Young world
Sunday magazine

38
 TABLE 4.11

PURPOSE OF READING HINDU NEWS PAPER

Percentage of the
Purpose No of the Respondents
Respondents
Reading the
28 28%
News
Develop the
English 54 54%
language skill

Others 18 18%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 28% of the respondents are reading
the news. 54% of the respondents develop the English language skill.18% of the respondents
others.

Majority of the respondents develop the English language skill.

39
 CHART 4.11

PURPOSE OF READING HINDU NEWS PAPER

54%
60%

50%

40% 28%
30% 18%
PERCENTAGE

20%

10%

0%
Percentage of the Respondents

Reading the News

Develop the English language skill
Others

40
 TABLE 4.12

COMFORT USE OF LANGUAGE BY THE RESPONDENTS

Comfort Use Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
language Respondents

Highly satisfied 36 36%

satisfied 43 43%

Natural 18 18%

Dissatisfied 2 2%

Highly
1 1%
Dissatisfied

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 36% of the respondents are highly
satisfied.43% of the respondents‟ satisfied. 18% of the respondent‟s natural.2% of the
respondents dissatisfied. 1% of the respondents highly dissatisfied.

Majority of the respondents Satisfied.

41
 CHART 4.12

COMFORT USE OF LANGUAGE BY THE RESPONDENTS

50
45 43

40 36
35
30
PERCENTAGE

25
20 18

15
10
5 2 1
0
No of the Respondents

Highly satisfied satisfied

Natural Dissatisfied
Highly Dissatisfied

42
 TABLE 4.13

UNDERSTANDING OF WORDS BY RESPONDENTS

Understanding of Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
words Respondents

Able to understand 86 86%

Unable to
14 14%
understand

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 86% of the respondents are yes. 14%
of the respondent‟s no.

Majority of the respondent‟s Yes.

43
 CHART 4.13

UNDERSTANDING OF WORDS BY RESPONDENTS

14

86

yes no

44
 TABLE 4.14

SATISFICATION ABOUT THE CIRCULATION OF

HINDU NEWS PAPER

Percentage of the
Satisfy No of the Respondents
Respondents

Highly satisfied 32 32%

satisfied 42 42%

Natural 21 21%

Dissatisfied 5 5%

Highly
0 0%
Dissatisfied

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 32% of the respondents are highly
satisfied.42% of the respondents‟ satisfied. 21% of the respondent‟s natural.5% of the
respondents dissatisfied. 0% of the respondents highly dissatisfied.

Majority of the respondents are Satisfied.

45
 CHART 4.14

SATISFICATION ABOUT THE CIRULATION OF

HINDU NEWS PAPER

45 42
40

35 32
30
PERCENTAGE

25
21
20

15

10
5
5
0
0
No of the Respondents

Highly satisfied satisfied

Natural Dissatisfied
Highly Dissatisfied

46
 TABLE 4.15

POLITICAL PARTIES SUPPORT OF HINDU NEWS PAPER

Feel Of Hindu Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
News Paper Respondents

Yes 47 47%

No 53 53%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 67% of the respondents are yes.33%
of the respondent‟s no.

Majority of the respondent‟s yes.

47
 CHART 4.15

POLITICAL PARTIES SUPPORT OF HINDU NEWS PAPER

33

67

yes no

48
 TABLE 4.16

FAITHFULNESS OF NEWS PUBLISHED IN HINDU NEWS PAPER

Published Of Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
Faithful Respondents

Faithful 82 82%

Unfaithful 18 18%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 82% of the respondents are yes. 18%
of the respondent‟s no.

Majority of the respondent‟s yes.

49
 CHART 4.16

FAITHFULNESS OF NEWS PUBLISHED IN HINDU NEWS PAPER

18

82

yes no

50
 TABLE 4.17

INTRODUCED OF LOW COST OF THE RESPONDENTS

Introduced Of Percentage of the

No of the Respondents
Low Cost Respondents

Yes 62 62%

No 38 38%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA.

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that62% of the respondents are yes. 20%
of the respondent‟s no. 18% of the respondent‟s If No Reason

Majority of the respondent‟s yes.

51
 CHART 4.17

INTRODUCED OF LOW COST OF THE RESPONDENTS

38

62

yes no

52
 TABLE 4.18

RESPONDENTS OPNION RECOMMENCED THE HINDU NEWS PAPER

Percentage of the
Refer To Buy No of the Respondents
Respondents

Yes 83 83%

No 17 17%

Total 100 100%

SOURCE: PRIMARY DATA.

INTERPRETATION

It is inferred from the above table‟s shows that 83% of the respondents are yes. 17%
of the respondent‟s no.

Majority of the respondent‟s yes.

53
 CHART 4.18

RESPONDENTS OPINION RECOMMENCED

THE HINDU NEWS PAPER

17

83

yes no

54
 CHAPTER – 5

FINDINGS SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

5.1 FINDINGS

1. From the above survey it was found that most of the readers belong to the monthly
income of 5,001 to 10,000.
2. The majority of readers are Business people.
3. Majority of readers influenced by price of the product.
4. From the above survey it was found that most of the readers are highly satisfied with
The Hindu.
5. Majority of readers are buying the The Hindu from the past 4 years continuously.
6. Majority of readers came to know about The Hindu through advertisement.
7. Majority of readers feel that price of The Hindu is comparatively less compare to
other competitors.
8. Majority of readers feel that the delivery of newspaper is not satisfied.
9. Majority of readers feel that the information in The Hindu newspaper is not fully
satisfied.
10. The majority of the readers look more for business section and classifieds section.
11. There is no any bias in the news coming in The Hindu.
12. Most of them feel the quality of the paper is good.
13. According to the readers the The Hindu made the mark in the market.
14. The readers rated the The Hindu as Excellent News paper.
15. It is recommended by the readers to others in purchasing The Hindu.

55
5.2 SUGGESTIONS

The Hindu Newspaper in Rasipuram. It is a company that has provided one of the
best products to the readers and satisfying them to a great extent.
It is very difficult to find any drawback to suggest them to take corrective
Measures. Some suggestions that may help for the betterment of the company to reach the
peak of Reader‟s Perception are listed below.
1 It is clear from the study that the readers do not find the proper distribution regularly.
So the company should employ their own executives rather than giving to contract.
2 Since readers are highly influenced by the media the company should increase in
advertising the product through various channels.
3 The Hindu must give more information not only related to Rasipuram but also all
over Tamilnadu and all over India with depth information.
4 Management should maintain good relationship with customers.

56
5.3 CONCLUSION

In today‟s competitive world marketing a product and satisfying the customers is not
simple. Because customer‟s demand consistent quality besides increased customization. The
study analysis the quality of the product rendered to the customer‟s by The Hindu. There is
high level of satisfaction of readers towards The Hindu. The quality, price and other
preference are found to be good in The Hindu. Readers have a good perception and positive
approach to the product of The Hindu.

57
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3. Hellen Woodruffe. Service Marketing, Macmillan India Ltd. Delhi, 1997

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Wiley, c1998. MBS 658.812 GABB

5. Good service is good business : 7 simple strategies for success / Catherine DeVrye. 2nd
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6. How to sell a service : guidelines for effective selling in a service business / Malcolm
H.B. McDonald with John W. Leppard.2nd ed. Oxford : Heinemann rofessional, 1988.
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7. Managing customer satisfaction in consumer service business / by John A.

Czepiel.Cambridge, Mass. : Marketing Science Institute,1980. MBS f 658.812 CZEP.

8. Marketing your services : a step-by-step guide for small businesses and professionals /
Anthony O. Putman.New York : Wiley, c1990. MBS 658.8 PUTN

9. Jha, S.M. Service Marketing, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai, 2000.

10. Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, Prentice Hall. New Delhi, 1993.

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12. Perception, Randolph Blake, Grimley, J.M. Lomis, 1974.

13. After sales Management: Creating a Successful After sales Strategy to Reduce Costs,
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58
15. Services Marketing, People, Technology, Strategy, Fifth edition, Christopher Loveloca
and Jochen Wirtz. Pearson.

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Delhi, 1992.

59
 APPENDIX

1. Name :
2. Age :
a. Below 18 b. 18-25 c. 26-35
d. 36-50 e. Above 51
3. Gender
a. Male b. Female
4. Marital Status :
a. Married b. Unmarried
5. Your Monthly income :
a. Less than 5000 b. 5000-10000
c. 10000-15000 d. 15000 and Above
6. Educational Qualification
a. Post Graduate b. Graduate
c. Diploma d. Others
7. Habit of reading the Hindu Newspaper?
a) Daily b. Weekly c. Occasionally
8. Which news do you interested?
a. Locality b. Political
c. Business d. Sports
e. Cinema f. All
9. What do you think about the cost of the Hindu Newspaper?
a. High b. Fare
c. Reasonable d. Ok
10. How much money do you spend her the Hindu News paper monthly?
a. Rs.50-60 b. Rs.60-70
b. c. Rs.90-120
11. Compare to other News paper which additional editions do you like?
a. Educational plus b. Employment Opportunities
c. Friday review d. Young world
e. Sunday magazine

60
12. What purpose you buy The Hindu News paper?
a. Reading the News b. Develop the English language skill
c. Others
13. Are you comparable with the language used by the Hindu?
a. Highly Satisfied b. Satisfied c. Natural
d. Dissatisfied d. Highly Dissatisfied
14. When compare to other Newspaper are you able to understand the words used I the
Hindu Newspaper?
a. Yes b. No
15. Are you satisfy with the circulation of the Hindu Newspaper?
a. Highly Satisfied b. Satisfied c. Natural
d. Dissatisfied d. Highly Dissatisfied
16. Do you feel that the Hindu News paper news are supporting to a particular political
parties?
a. Yes b. No
17. Do you think the News are published in the Hindu are Faithful are
a. Yes b. No
18. Do you switch over to other news paper if they are introduced at low cost than the
Hindu?
a. Yes b. No c. If no, reason
19. Did you refer any other‟s to buy the Hindu Newspaper?
a. Yes b. No
20. Your Suggestions:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Thank you

61