Outlook File

Summer Internship Project Report 2021
A REPORT ON
MEASURING CUTOMER SATISFACTION
BY
ANMOL ANAND
AT
OUTLOOK PUBLISHING INDIA PVT. LTD.

A report submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements of MBA Program of GGSIPU
Date of Submission: 7th AUGUST,2021

“MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION”
“GENERATING SALES FOR THE OUTLOOK PUBLISHING INDIA PRIVATE

LIMITED”
By
ANMOL ANAND
00661203920
At
Outlook Publishing India Private Limited, New Delhi

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of
The requirements of
MBA Program of
GGSIPU
Under The Guidance Of
Mr.
College Mentor
Dr. APARNA MISHRA
LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION
This is to certify that ―Mr. ANMOL ANAND, Enrolment number 00661203920 student
of GGSIPU will be doing his Summer Internship Program Project with ―OUTLOOK
PUBLISHING (India) PVT. LTD.‖ from 07th June, 2021 to 07st August, 2021.
The project work entitled ―Measuring Customer Satisfaction ‖ and “Generating Sales
for The Outlook India Private Limited” embodies the original work done by Anmol
Anand during the above full training period.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude and indebtedness to the management and staffs
of GGSIPU for providing me this wonderful opportunity to gain practical industrial
exposure by including this summer internship as part of my curriculum of the two year
MBA program.
I would also like to thank Dr. APARNA MISHRA (Faculty Guide) of GGSIPU for his
valuable suggestion in making the project report and for his continuous support and
unconditional help, which guided me through this report.
Nevertheless, I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. , OUTLOOK

PUBLISHING INDIA Private Limited) for allowing me to complete my summer
internship in the company. It was his guidance and support that made this project
possible.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Topics Page Number
Cover Page. 1
Title Page. 2
Authorization. 3
Acknowledgments. 4
Table of Contents. 5
Literature Review 6-16
Synopsis/ Abstract/ Summary. 17-18
Introduction. 19-31
Main text. 32-42
Findings/ Conclusions/Recommendations. 43-49
References. 50
LITERATURE REVIEW
Before starting any research it is very necessary to read articles and other research
papers that have been written on the subject in the past. These literatures help us in
developing a strong base for our study and provide us with information that can be
used during the research. It also helps in developing objectives for the study
 Consumer Report by www.consumerdaddy.com
As per the consumer report compiled by consumerdaddy.com from the various

products of Outlook Publishing India Private Limited in 2012, the overall customer
satisfaction level is 4.65 on a 10 pointer scale based on the statistics of consumer
complaints, consumer court data, consumer cases, criticism, praises and other
relevant factors. The website rates other magazines of The Outlook Group like
Outlook, Traveller and Money as 4.54, 4.08 and 5.00 respectively.
Sources:
http://www.consumerdaddy.com/consumer -reviews-of-outlook-publishing-india-
privatelimited-c-1399.htm
http://www.consumerdaddy.com/consumer -reviews-for-outlook-traveller-magazine-
p2756.htm
http://www.consumerdaddy.com/consumer -reviews-for-outlook-india-magazine-p2754.htm
http://www.consumerdaddy.com/consumer -reviews-for-outlook-money-magazine-
p2755.htm
 A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future

ResearchAuthor(s): A. Parasuraman, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Leonard L.
BerrySource: The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Autumn, 1985), pp. 41-
50Published by: American Marketing AssociationStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1251430
Efforts in defining and measuring quality have come largely from the goods sector.
According to the prevailing Japanese philosophy, quality is "zero defects-doing it right
the first time." Crosby (1979) defines quality as "conformance to requirements."
Garvin (1983) measures quality by counting the incidence of "internal" failures (those
observed before a product leaves the factory) and "external" failures. Knowledge
about goods quality, however, is in-sufficient to understand service quality. Three
well-documented characteristics of services-intangibility, heterogeneity, and
inseparability must be acknowledged for a full understanding of service quality. Most
services cannot be counted, measured, inventoried, tested, and verified in advance of
sale to assure quality. Because of intangibility, the firm may find it difficult to
understand how consumers perceive their services and evaluate service quality
(Zeithaml 1981).
Researchers and managers of service firms concur that service quality involves a
comparison of expectations with performance. Service quality is a measure of how
well the service level delivered matches customer expectations. Delivering quality
service means conforming to customer expectations on a consistent basis. (Lewis and
Booms 1983) In line with this thinking, Gronroos (1982) developed a model in which he
contends that consumers compare the service they expect with perceptions of the
service they receive in evaluating service quality. Smith and Houston (1982) claimed
that satisfaction with services is related to confirmation or disconfirmation of
expectations. They based their re-search on the disconfirmation paradigm, which
maintains that satisfaction is related to the size and direction of the disconfirmation
experience where disconfirmation is related to the person's initial expectations
(Churchill and Suprenaut 1982).
Lehtinen and Lehtinen's (1982) basic premise is that service quality is produced in the
interaction be-tween a customer and elements in the service orga-nization. They use
three quality dimensions: physical quality, which includes the physical aspects of the
ser-vice (e.g., equipment or building); corporate quality, which involves the
company's image or profile; and interactive quality, which derives from the
interaction between contact personnel and customers as well as between some
customers and other customers. They furtherd ifferentiateb etween the qualitya
ssociatedw ith the process of service delivery and the quality asso-ciated with the
outcome of the service.
Insights from Exploratory Investigation Executive Interviews
Remarkably consistent patterns emerged from the four sets of executive interviews.
While some perceptions about service quality were specific to the industries selected,
commonalities among the industries prevailed. The commonalities are encouraging for
they suggest that a general model of service quality can be developed. Perhaps the
most important insight obtained from analyzing the executive responses is the
following: A set of key discrepancies or gaps exists regarding executive perceptions of
service quality and the tasks associated with service de-livery to consumers. These
gaps can be major hurdles in attempting to deliver a service which consumers would
perceive as being of high quality. The gaps revealed by the executive interviews are
shown in the lower portion (i.e., the MARKETER side) of Figure 1. This figure
summarizes the key insights gained (through the focus group as well as executive
interviews) about the concept of service quality and factors affecting it. The
remainder of this section discusses the gaps on the service marketer's side and
presents propositions implied by those gaps. It is important to note that the gaps on
the marketer side of the equation can be favorable or unfavorable from a service
quality perspective. That is, the magnitude and direction of each gap will have an
impact on service quality. The focus groups revealed that, regardless of the type of
service, consumers used basically similar criteria in evaluating service quality. These
criteria seem to fall into 10 key categories which are labeled "service quality
determinants"
Determinants of Service Quality
RELIABILITY involves consistency of performance and dependability. It means that the

firm performs the service right the first time. It also means that the firm honors its
promises. Specifically, it involves: -accuracy in billing; -keeping records correctly;
performing the service at the designated time.
RESPONSIVENESS concerns the willingness or readiness of employees to provide

service. It involves timeliness of ser-vice: -mailing a transaction slip immediately;
calling the customer back quickly; -giving prompt service (e.g., setting up
appointments quickly).
COMPETENCE means possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the
service. It involves: -knowledge and skill of the contact personnel; -knowledge and
skill of operational support personnel; -research capability of the organization, e.g.,
securities brokerage firm.
ACCESS involves approachability and ease of contact. It means: -the service is easily
accessible by telephone (lines are not busy and they don't put you on hold); -waiting
time to receive service (e.g., at a bank) is not extensive; -convenient hours of
operation; -convenient location of service facility.
COURTESY involves politeness, respect, consideration, and friendliness of contact

personnel (including receptionists, telephone operators, etc.). It includes:
consideration for the consumer's property (e.g., no muddy shoes on the carpet); clean
and neat appearance of public contact personnel.
COMMUNICATION means keeping customers informed in language they can understand

and listening to them. It may mean that the company has to adjust its language for
different consumers-increasing the level of sophistication with a well-educated
customer and speaking simply and plainly with a novice. It involves: -explaining the
service itself; -explaining how much the service will cost; -explaining the trade-offs
between service and cost; -assuring the consumer that a problem will be handled.
CREDIBILITY involves trustworthiness, believability, honesty. It involves having the

customer's best interests at heart. Contributing to credibility are: -company name;
company reputation; -personal characteristics of
SECURITY is the freedom from danger, risk, or doubt. It involves: -physical safety (Will
I get mugged at the automatic teller machine?); -financial security (Does the company
know where my stock certificate is?); -confidentiality (Are my dealings with the
company private?).
UNDERSTANDING/KNOWING THE CUSTOMER involves making the effort to understand

the customer's needs. It involves: -learning the customer's specific requirements;
providing individualized attention; -recognizing the regular customer.
TANGIBLES include the physical evidence of the service: -physical facilities;

appearance of personnel; -tools or equipment used to provide the service; -physical
representations of the service, such as a plastic credit card or a bank statement;
other customers in the service facility.
The Perceived service quality is the result of the consumer’s comparison of expected
service with perceived service. It’s quite possible that the relative importance of the
10 determinants in molding consumer perceptions (prior to service delivery) may
differ from the relative difference vis-à-vis consumer perceptions of the service
quality. However the general comparison of perceptions with expectations was
suggested in past research on service quality (Gronroos 1982, Lehtinen and Lehtinen
1982).
SUMMARY: The exploratory research (focus group and in-depth executive interviews)
reported in this article offers several insights and propositions concerning consumers'
perceptions of service quality. Specifically, the research revealed 10 dimensions that
consumers use in forming expectations about and perceptions of services, dimensions
that transcend different types of services. The research also pinpointed four key
discrepancies or gaps on the service provider's side that are likely to affect service
quality as perceived by consumers. The major insights gained through the re-search
suggest a conceptual service quality model that will hopefully spawn both academic
and practitioner interest in service quality and serve as a framework for further
empirical research in this important area.
 Using SERVQUAL to Assess the Customer Satisfaction Level of the Oregon

HIDTA ISC Analytical Unit by CHRIS GIBSON
The purpose of this Capstone Project is to assess the customer satisfaction level
of the Oregon High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) funded interagency
drug enforcement task force members who utilize the Oregon HIDTA
Investigative Service Center (ISC) Analytical Unit. The SERVQUAL customer
perception tool is used to measure gaps between customer expectation and
customer perception of service quality along five dimensions: Tangibility
Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance Empathy
In an article entitled "Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: An Assessment

and Future Directions" the authors – Peter Hernon, Danuta Nitecki and Ellen
Altman – assert that ―service quality, developed over time, relates to customer
expectations, whereas satisfaction is transaction-specific, is a more short-term
measure, and focuses on a personal, emotional reaction to service ‖ (1999, pp.
9-10)). Research on service quality has tended to focus on one dimension –
expectations – and has defined service quality in terms of reducing the gap
between service provided and customer expectations (Hernon & Nitecki, 1999).
This suggests that if public sector leaders want to increase service quality, the
gap needs to be narrowed. The potential payoff from improved service quality
is considerable. Providing excellent service, which should be the goal of every
organization, leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness and a loyal customer
base (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, Delivering Quality Service - Balancing
Customer Perceptions and Expectations, 1990).
This Capstone Project involves the use of a customer perception tool known as
SERVQUAL. SERVQUAL was developed by A. Parasuraman, Leonard Berry and
Valerie A Zeitham in the 1980s. SERVQUAL is a multi-item scale developed to
assess customer perceptions of service quality in service and retail businesses
(Parasuraman, Berry, & Zeihaml, 1988). The scale breaks down the notion of
service quality into five dimensions which were derived from five years of
qualitative and quantitative customer service quality research (Parasuraman,
Berry and Zeitham, 1988 and 1990. The five service quality dimensions
identified through this process are:
- physical facilities, equipment, staff appearance, etc.;
- ability to perform service dependably and accurately;
- willingness to help and respond to customer need;
- ability of staff to inspire confidence and trust; and

- the extent to which caring individualized service is given
SERVQUAL measures service quality as the discrepancy (gap) between a

customer's expectations for a service offering and the customer's perceptions of
the service received. The SERVQUAL customer perception tool requires
customers to answer questions about both their expectations and their
perceptions and to assign a numerical weight to each of the five service quality
dimensions (Parasuraman, Berry, & Zeihaml, 1988).
As a by-product of research being conducted into the subject of service quality,

the SERVQUAL instrument was developed during the late 1980s and early 1990s
by Valerie A. Zeithaml, A Parasuraman and Leonard L. Berry. Their early
research revealed that while the literature in the area of goods quality was
fairly abundant, there was practically nothing in the area of service quality.
The quality control principals and practices that they uncovered in the area of
goods quality were inadequate for understanding service quality. They
concluded that the inadequacy of the quality control principals and practices
for understanding service quality is the result of three fundamental differences
between services and quality (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990).
First, services, as opposed to goods, are intangible; they are performances and
experiences rather than objects. While precise manufacturing specifications
can be set concerning uniform quality standards for objects like vehicles and
shovels, the same cannot be said for services like tactical and strategic
analytical support since the criteria that are set for evaluating performance of
service delivery by the customers is likely ―complex and difficult to capture
precisely(Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990, p. 15).
Second, services, as opposed to goods, are ―heterogeneous; their performance

often varies from producer to producer, from customer to customer, and from
day to day‖ (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990, p. 15).
While the literature was weak in the area of service quality, the SERVQUAL
developers were able to find a few contributions that helped to guide their
future development. Those contributions were boiled down into three themes:
―Service quality is more difficult for customers to evaluate than goods

quality.
Customers do not evaluate service quality solely on the outcome of a service;

they also consider the process of service delivery.
The only criteria that count in evaluating service quality are defined by the
customers‖ (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990, p. 16).
As a result of the insights obtained during their initial research into the area of
service quality, the SERVQUAL developers sought to ascertain the following:
How customers evaluate the quality of the service provided to them.
Whether customers directly make a global evaluation or if they assess specific

facets of a service in arriving at an overall evaluation.
If they assess specific facets, what the facets or dimensions on which they
evaluate the service.
Whether or not the facets or dimensions vary across services or and different
customer segments.
If customers’ expectations play a crucial role in the assessment of service

quality, what are the factors that shape and influence those expectations?
(Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990)
In order to obtain this information, the SERVQUAL developers conducted an

exploratory study which consisted of 12 customer focus-group interviews which
encompassed customers of the retail banking, credit card, securities brokerage,
and product repair and maintenance industries. They chose these service
industries because they felt that they ―varied along key attributes used to
categorize services‖ (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990, p. 17)
The SERVQUAL developers began a quantitative research project to develop an

instrument for measuring customers’ perceptions of service quality. The
instrument that was ultimately developed was SERVQUAL. The SERVQUAL
customer perception tool which was developed through this process consisted
of 22 statements to ascertain the general expectation of customers concerning
a service and 22 matching statements to measure customers’ assessment of a
specific organization within the service industry.
A seven point scale ranging from 7 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree)
accompanied each question (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990). Each set
of statements earned a difference score by subtracting the perception score
from the expectations score. The difference scores could range from +6 to -6
with more positive scores representing higher perceived service quality
(Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990, p. 24).
 Analysing the Use of the SERVQUAL Model to Measure Service Quality in

Specific-Industry Contexts
Mr. Tameem Al Bassam
PhD Researcher
tameem.albassam@brunel.ac.uk
Information Systems Evaluation and Integration Group (ISEing)
Brunel Business School
Brunel University
Uxbridge, UB8 3PH
Middlesex
Dr. Sarmad Al Shawi

Lecturer
sarmad.alshawi@brunel.ac.uk
Information Systems Evaluation and Integration Group (ISEing)
Brunel Business School
Brunel University
Uxbridge, UB8 3PH
Middlesex
UK
The survival of any organisation in a highly competitive environment depends

on its ability to provide the best service quality to its existing customers as the
quality of service is a key factor in the success of any organisation. It is well
established that the measurement of service quality is an important procedure
for the improvement of the performance of any organisation. Facts indicate
that more attention is needed toward developing an industry-specific scale for
measuring service quality from the end-user perspective within specificindustry
contexts. The main aim of this research-in-progress paper is to review
comprehensively previous and contemporary literature on service quality
measurement and to discuss the key issues on the development of an
industryspecific scale for measuring service quality from the customer’s
perspective in specific-industry contexts. This study contributes to knowledge
in the field of service quality research as it suggests future research directions
for academicians in related research.
Nowadays, in a severe competitive environment, the most central factor to
sustainable competitive advantage is to provide the best possible service
quality which will result in improved customer satisfaction, customer retention,
and profitability (Sureshchandar et al., 2002; Buttle 1996). The significance of
the service quality concept derives researchers and scholars to address this
issue and to investigate it further across different service sectors. Thus,
throughout the past two decades, service quality has become an established
area in the marketing literature. There have been many research studies that
have studied, examined, and investigated its nature in the traditional face-to-
face service environment (see, for example, Rust and Oliver, 1994; Hallowell,
1996; Sureshchanar et al., 2002, etc.). Moreover, numerous traditional service
quality models have been developed to assess and evaluate service quality
performance in the traditional service environment such as the SERVQUAL
model (Parasuraman et al., 1985).
In current service literature, there are a number of key instruments available

for measuring service quality performance. Though, the SERVQUAL model has
been the major generic model used to measure and manage service quality
across different service settings and various cultural backgrounds (Buttle,
1996). However, apart from its wide use, a number of theoretical and empirical
criticisms of the measurement model have been pointed out (Ladhari, 2008).
First of all, the validity of the SERVQUAL model as a generic instrument for
measuring service quality across different service sectors has been raised. Also,
there has been an argument that a simple revision of the SERVQUAL items is not
enough for measuring service quality across different service settings.
Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) are three researchers in the service
quality academic field from the United States of America. They are considered
the key contributors to the North American School (Gap Analysis School) of
thought concerning service quality. They have developed a research model
(SERVQUAL Model) to examine the service quality concept. The model
development was based on exploratory qualitative research projects including
focus group interviews with consumers and in-depth interviews with firms’
executives. It was developed on the bases of data collection from four service
settings in the United States of America including retail banking, credit cards,
securities brokerage, and product repair and maintenance. Their research
findings showed that service quality as perceived by customers is a comparison
of the customers’ expectations with their perceptions of the performance of
the actual service
A Generic Measure of Service Quality: the SERVQUAL Scale
Apparently, service quality is an old concept. It was initiated in the late 1980s,
grown in the 1990s, and progressed in the 21st Century. However, measuring
and managing service quality from the consumer’s point of view is still rather a
debatable issue. In the literature, there are a number of key instruments
available for measuring service quality. Nevertheless, the SERVQUAL instrument
has been the major technique used to measure service quality and has been
extensively implemented and valued by academics and practitioners.
Parasuraman et al. (1988) identified a number of potential applications for the
SERVQUAL model, including:
1. It can be used on a regular basis to track customer perceptions of service
quality of a particular firm compared to its competitors.
2. It provides the opportunity for a firm to assess its service quality
performance on the basis of each dimension individually as well as the overall
dimensions.
3. It allows the firm to classify its customers into different segments based on
their individual SERVQUAL scores.
4. It allows multi-unit retail companies to assess the level of service quality
offered by individual stores and to group them into different sectors with
different quality images.
However, the main aim of the model is to be employed as a generic instrument

for measuring service quality across different service sectors. Parasuraman et
al. (1991b) proposed that the SERVQUAL instrument is developed for use in
various service settings and provides a basic skeleton that can be adapted to fit
the specific attributes of a particular organisation. It is applicable across
different empirical contexts and various countries and cultural backgrounds.
Parasuraman et al. (1988, p. 6) stated that ―SERVQUAL instrument is designed
for use in a broad set of service business and provides a basic skeleton through
its expectations/perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the
five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted
or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a
particular organisation‖.
The SERVQUAL model was theoretically and empirically studied, examined, and
discussed in several academic studies. In addition, it has been implemented to
measure and assess service quality across different service, industrial,
commercial, and non-profit settings (Buttle, 1996; Ladhari, 2008). This
includes, for example, hospitals and health-care sector, banking and financial
services sector, fast food chain, telecommunications industry, retail chain,
information systems, library services, hotels and leisure services, travel and
tourism, car servicing, higher education, hospitality, business-to-business
channel partners, accounting firms, architectural services, recreational
services, airline catering, apparel retailing, and local government (see, for
example, Carman, 1990;
Conclusion
It appears that regardless of the extensive acceptance and adoption of

SERVQUAL, there has been a severe hesitation concerning its future use as a
tool for measuring service quality. This argument is supported by Robinson
(1999, p. 21) who stated that ―although it has probably been the best, and
most popular approach available during the 1990s, it is becoming apparent that
it has some significant shortcomings. It can be argued that SERVQUAL is
applicable to contexts close to its original setting‖.
In view of the criticisms mentioned, researchers have argued that there is a
doubt about the applicability of a single generic scale for measuring service
quality across a range of service settings (Jabnoun and Khalifa, 2005; Akbaba,
2006; Caro and Garcia, 2007). Moreover, there is a general agreement among
researchers that a simple adaptation of the SERVQUAL dimensions is
unsatisfactory for measuring service quality across a variety of service settings
(Carman, 1990; Brown et al., 1993; Van Dyke et al., 1997).
For these reasons, it has been suggested that developing industry-specific

scales for measuring service quality can be more suitable than a single generic
scale (Caro and Garcia, 2007; Ekiz and Bavik, 2008). This argument is supported
by Dabholkar et al. (1996, p. 14) who stated that ―It appears that a measure of
service quality across industries is not feasible; therefore, future research on
service quality should involve the development of industry-specific measures of
service quality‖.
SYNOPSIS OF THE PROJECT
This project will deal with the parameters and factors that contribute to the customer
satisfaction. Satisfaction is consumer’s fulfillment response. It is a judgment that a
product or a service feature or the product or service itself provides pleasurable level
of consumption related fulfillment. Customer satisfaction is the act of just doing
enough to be acceptable to a customer. The company must operate on the philosophy
that it is trying to deliver a high level of satisfaction to the other stake-holder within
the constraints of its resources.
The present report is prepared for the partial fulfillment of PGPM Program (IBS
Gurgaon) and as a part of curriculum. The survey is an attempt to determine the
perception of the customers of Outlook group towards the magazine .‖ To pursue
research, the respondents are chosen randomly from the customer’s database of the
Outlook group and the questionnaire is filled by telephonic as well as face to face
interaction.
The Project ―measuring customer satisfaction‖ is an attempt to find out the factors
and causes which affect the degree of satisfaction among the customers of Outlook
Magazines. IN this tough time of competition magazines industry is going a long way in
developing, formulating and implementing promotional strategies to cope up with this
tough competition. Though there are many aspects which can be improvised in the
services of Outlook magazine. Strategies are formulated not only keep up with cut
throat competition but also to meet the highly volatile consumer preferences.
Marketing is very necessary for every organization. It helps organizations in

determining what product and services may interest customers and also strategies for
use in product development, sales and promotions.
Finally some suggestions with respect to the survey for the future improvement are
given to improve the survey because their competitors have also taken up the surveys.
At the end of the report limitations, SWOT analysis, conclusion of the research and
Appendix which includes questionnaire, Bibliography, FAQ, and Glossary that has the
technical terms of the report.
Objectives of study:
 To find out consumers’ perception towards Outlook Publishing company.
 To find out the parameters affecting customer satisfaction.
 To recognize the expectations and experiences that customers have with

the products of a publishing house.
 To find out the factors on the basis of which a customer purchases a
product
 To find out the quality of service rendered by a company
About the Company: OUTLOOK Publishing India Pvt. Ltd
Mr. Rajan Raheja is the Owner of THE OUTLOOK GROUP.

The OUTLOOK Group is one of the biggest magazine publishing groups in India. It is a
well-known brand and appreciated all over the world.
IT was established in October 1995.Its branches are established in New Delhi, Kolkata,
Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. The head office of the outlook group is
situated in New Delhi. In 1995, Mr. Vinod Mehta was the editor-in chief when the first
issue of the magazine was published.
In October 1995, group company Hathaway Investments private Limited entered the
print media. Outlook a weekly News magazine galvanized a sluggish market reeling
under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly placed itself as a need for readers
who value it in depth.
Today Outlook is the preferred magazine of about 2 million readers in India, and sells
more than 12 million copies over the year. There are 9 magazines of outlook group.
One of those magazines (OUTLOOK) is in Hindi and other eight are available in English.
VISION OF THE COMPANY

Leadership through empowering individual thought.
MISSION OF THE COMPANY

To be the largest and the most profitable Magazine Publisher in India
The Magazines under the Outlook group comprises of both National as well as
International issues.
OUTLOOK MAGAZINES
National: International:
Outlook Business Marie Claire
Outlook Money Outlook
Traveler Geo
Outlook Hindi People
Careers 360
About the Products:
Outlook is Publishing Nine Magazines:

 OUTLOOK ENGLISH (Weekly News Magazine)
 OUTLOOK HINDI(Weekly News Magazine)
 OUTLOOK MONEY(Personal Finance and Banking)
 OUTLOOK BUSINESS (Business)
 OUTLOOK TRAVELER(Best of Travel)
 MARIE CLAIRE(Women’s Beauty and Fashion Magazine)
 PEOPLE(Celebrity Magazine)
 GEO(Knowledge Based)
 CAREERS 360(Career Based)
OUTLOOK BUSINESS
It covers all about the company and industry, provident fund, advertising,
enterprise, technology etc. This magazine is one of the most selling magazines
in India. Most business class people prefer to get this magazine. This magazine
is published fortnightly i.e. 1 issue in every 15 days. Its cover price is 40 rupees
per copy.
OUTLOOK MONEY
It covers bank sector, banking, insurance general, insurance decoder, mutual
funds. How to invest money in the market & mistakes when investing? How to
invest? Basically it’s a personal financing magazine and preferred by
youngsters. It is also a fortnightly Magazine. Its cover price is Rs. 30/- per copy.
OUTLOOK TRAVELER
It includes all the details like address of the tourism spot in hills, wildlife,
adventure, beach, resorts, heritage, and weekend. This magazine is preferred
by the people who love to travel to new destinations. It is a monthly magazine.
Its cover price is 100 rupees per copy.
OUTLOOK HINDI
It is for the Hindi reading audience. Hindi reader keeping their interests,
realities & aspirations in mind, it is not a translation of outlook English. As per
the management decisions, it is only sold at the stalls or book-stores.
Subscribing this magazine online is not yet possible. It is a weekly news
magazine and its cover price is Rs. 35.
OUTLOOK PEOPLE
It covers all the celebrities, their lifestyles, likes, dislikes etc. It covers all the
happenings in the celebrity’s life. It is a fortnightly magazine. Its cover Price is
Rs. 50/-.
OUTLOOK GEO
It is a knowledge based magazine covering things related to wildlife, nature,

geographic etc. It is a monthly magazine and its cover price is Rs. 100/-
MARIE CLAIRE
It includes all the dress styles, costumes and new dresses in the market, latest
fashion news, styles, beauty trends etc. in the market. It is a preferred
magazine among women in India as well as other countries. It is a monthly
magazine and its cover price is Rs. 100.
CAREERS 360
It covers all the information related with careers, test preparations, sample
question papers etc. This magazine is useful for students. It is a monthly
magazine and its cover price is Rs. 50/-
Outlook’s Web Media
Outlookindia.com: Before 1998, Outlook was not available online. But after
1998, Outlook went online as outlookindia.com. Outlookindia.com is both
outlooks Magazine’s home on the internet and an online publication. Going
online was a valuable deal for outlook group because people who were
technology oriented came closer to the outlook group’s magazines. Apart from
Outlook’s printed edition in it’s entirely supplemented with links to related
articles on its own site and elsewhere on the web. Outlookindia.com also offers
an array of Original columns that is only meant for web and news updates every
day with a very lively interaction with the readers.
Outlooktraveller.com: Inaugurated as a web resource in 2000, this travel

Website has since come a long way. Outlook traveler began by opening up new
vistas in web-driven vacation planning, with its highly focused editorial
features on an array of destinations. Still a highlight of the website, these are
supported by tools and resources that make putting together your holiday a
breeze — from selecting your destination, to choosing your mode of transport,
finding your way around the map, selecting a place to stay to catching the local
festivities, plus ferreting out the nearest ATM, fuel stop or cybercafé. Here
there is something for everyone; themed vacation ideas from 'A for adventure'
to 'W for wildlife', honeymooners dream destinations, foodies delights,
firstperson travelogues, a message room where you can exchange notes or ask
us for more info that you want… And don't forget to book your copies of our
international award-winning bestsellers from Outlook Traveler Getaways,
available at a special price when you order on the website. If you want a sneak
preview, there're excerpts from the guide books by renowned authors,
including the likes of Prabhu Ghate, Ruskin Bond and Jug Suraiya.
Outlookmoney.com: outlookmoney.com takes forward the philosophy and beliefs

ushered in by Intelligent Investor (the personal finance magazine that was
launched in mid-1998, now known as Outlook Money). The site has six channels
-- Stocks, Mutual Funds, Loans, Retirement Planning, Taxation and Insurance --
that address broad areas of the personal finance spectrum. Outlookmoney.com
comes with many interactive tools. The Loans channel alone sports calculators
that do all the number crunching a visitor may want on home, car, personal or
equity loans. Outlookmoney.com seeks to provide total solutions to personal
finance issues -- from disseminating information to providing avenues for e-
commerce transactions.
Guides of Outlook Group
Apart from publishing magazines, there are some guides also which is
published by Outlook group.
OUTLOOK Traveler Travel Guides published from outlook group is today a

wellrecognized, established and acknowledged premier travel reference guide
book in India. In just a span of 15 years, 14 successful titles have been
published- Some of them are:-
 Weekend Breaks (from Delhi/ Mumbai/ Bangalore/ Chennai)

 State Travel Guides (Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Himachal)
 Trekking Holidays
 Wildlife Holidays
 101 pilgrimage Destinations  Heritage Holidays
OUTLOOK Traveler Guides are not only useful for reliable information
about the destination to be visited; it is also useful for knowing the culture
and workings of that destination. These guides are generally preferred by
the people who like to travel a lot and who are keen to know about new
destinations.
OUTLOOK & Its Competitors
OUTLOOK GROUP COMPETITORS

OUTLOOK(ENGLISH) INDIA TODAY
OUTLOOK MONEY MONEY TODAY
OUTLOOK TRAVELLER TRAVEL TODAY
OUTLOOK BUSINESS BUSINESS TODAY, BUSINESS ECONOMY
MARIECLARE FEMINA, COSMO, VOGUE
CAREERS 360
GEO
CURRENT PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES
CURRENT OFFERS FROM OUTLOOK

MAGAZINE GROUP
Indian magazine print media Market overview

Print media in India is more than a century old and well established industry. The
print industry mainly comprises of newspaper and magazine publishing. Book
publishing is smaller but significant in terms of revenue. Even though it's a mature
industry, new magazines are being launched every year. India has been one of the
fastest growing world economies since the past three years. Robust consumption and
rising income levels have helped the growth of print media. New titles that focus on
niche topics continue to launch in the market. The revenue sources for a magazine
are subscription, single copy sales and advertisement. Approximately 73 per cent of
revenue comes from advertising and 27 per cent from circulation.
The magazine industry is going through a tough phase in India just like in other
countries. Newspapers have added supplements to their main issue and infringed on
the content covered by magazines earlier. Television channels have launched in
different genres that didn't exist a few years back. And with the increased
penetration and adoption of the Internet in the country, more people are now
consuming news and stories on different topics on the web and mobile. There is still a
demand for high quality print content and magazines need to deliver on that need to
avoid losing market share to other mediums. In addition, they also need to explore
and distribute their content on the web and mobile platforms to give choice to their
subscribers to consume content from anywhere and at any time.
India has 49,000 publications, but annual revenues total just $1.1 billion. Most lack
technology, marketing, and capital to grow which has resulted in a handful of
publications dominating the market with the Times of India Group being the market
leader. Distribution is critical for a magazine since it has to be readily available and
marketed to consumers. Big publications have strong distribution network set up.
• Retail: magazines are available in retail outlets for sale. The retailer gets a
commission on the sale price.
• Subscription: publisher signs up subscribers directly or through partners and

delivers the issues in mail.
• Selective Distribution: Special sponsored copies are distributed in airplanes and

hotels.
The print industry in India is highly fragmented due to the large number of local
languages. Regional language publications own 46 per cent of the market share, Hindi
language publications cover 44 per cent and the remaining 10 per cent is served by
English publications. The primary penetration of English language magazines currently
is in metros and urban centres though the growth is widening to smaller cities as the
education and income levels increase among the middle class.
With the opening up of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, several international
publishers are aggressively entering the market and this trend is expected to
continue.
Advertisement Revenue (Breakdown by Region)
North 23%
South 38%
East 9%
West 26%
National 4%
The ad-revenue sources are local, national, classified, Pre-printed and advertorials.
The CPM rate for magazines is lower than television and the audience is more
targeted.
300
250
200
150 Magazines
Newspapers
100
50
0
FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12
Current Size: 10900 Crores
Projected Size: 20,000 Crores
Leadership Team of Outlook Group:
Editors in chief Vinod Palekar

Editors Sandeepan Deb(1995-2005)
Vinod Mehta(2005-2008)
Vinod Palekar(at present)
Managing Directors Tarun Tejpal (1995-2000)
Nandini Mehta (2000-present)
Notable Contributors Vinod Mehta
Shobha de
Arundhati Roy
Namrata Joshi
Publisher Maheshwar peri
Executive Editor Bishwadeep Moitra
Managing Director Nandini Mehta
Foreign editor Ajaz ashraf
Business Editor Sunit Arora
Political Editor Smita Gupta
Books Editor Sheela Reddy
Photo Editor T. Narayan
Business Office:
President Suresh selvaraj
Vice-president (features) Alok Mathur
General Managers Anand Dutt
National Head: Himanshu Pandey (Business Development)

Alex Joseph (Retail)
Awards and accolades of the company
 Department of tourism, Government of India Award, National Tourism Award

2001-2002 awarded to Outlook Traveler for excellence in Publication.
 OUTLOOK Traveler ―75 Holidays in the Hills" won the 2004, PATA Gold Award.
 In 2002-2003 the Government of India recognized "Outlook Traveler Getaways" as the

―Best Travel Publication".
 Weekend breaks from Delhi was in the BESTSELLERS top three, non-fiction category for
14 consecutive weeks in North India
 Weekend breaks from Mumbai was in the BESTSELLERS list top three for 8 consecutive
weeks in West India
DETAILED PROGRESS
As a management trainee I joined ―OUTLOOK MAGAZINES ‖ New Delhi and I have been
given the profile of a ―RELATIONSHIP EXECUTIVE‖.
I work in the company as a Relationship Executive and my primary work in the

company is to face individual to facilitate and participate in the planning and
execution of field of marketing activities. I work with my team, I meet many
customers and receive their feedback and I am involved in business development
activity.
My profile is to approach the customer over phone and to promote the magazines so
that the number of readership will increase.
This research is an attempt to describe the satisfaction level of Outlook subscribers.

So, here I have adopted Descriptive Research Design in order to come to a
conclusion, by survey and observation with help of a Structured Questionnaire.
Key Learning
1. I got to know about the atmosphere of the organization.
2. The working condition of the company.

3. Code of conduct in a company and its rules and regulations.
4. Process and procedure of working.
5. Learned to take orders by superiors.
6. Way of communicating right thing at right time to subordinates and to

superiors.
7. Coordination at work.
8. Creating strategy on daily basis to achieve my daily target and make the job
easier
9. Coordinate with everyone to achieve the target.
10. Creating hygienic atmosphere to work.
11. Learned how to work in stress.
This research is an attempt to describe the satisfaction level of Outlook subscribers. So, here I
have adopted Descriptive Research Design in order to come to a conclusion, by survey and
observation with help of a structured Questionnaire.
Sources of data collection

The marketing research was a field survey personally done through questionnaire.
The research is based on both
Primary data
o For collecting the primary data the survey was done through questionnaire, which
was personally given to customers and was filled through interacting with different
age groups, sex, monthly income and occupation.
o Studying the degree of customer satisfaction on objective needed to be work on.
o Finally analyzing the data of various areas and trying to study about various
influence factors.
Secondary data
For theoretical overview, secondary data was collected from magazines, newspapers and
different websites.
The source of data collection for the observation is Primary data which is collected from the
Questionnaire. Primary data are originated by a researcher for the specific purpose of
addressing the problem at hand.
o Sample size:
The sample size is restricted to only 40 which consists of people belonging to Delhi
NCR who are existing customers of The Outlook Group.
QUESTIONNIARE:
Kotler defines customer satisfaction as the level of persons felt state resulting from
comparing a product’s perceived performance or outcome in violation to his or her
own expectations. So, customer satisfaction could be used as a comparative behavior
between inputs beforehand and post obtainments.
The servequal questionnaire contains 21 items of measuring customer satisfaction

based on 5 dimensions viz. Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance and
Empathy that are used to measure customer satisfaction. The 7 point Likert Scale is
used to record the responses of the customers. The level of expectation and the level
of perception is of customers is measured on the scale at each and every step and gap
analysis is done to find out where the magazine is lagging and to figure out the scope
of improvement for the publishing house.
Customer Feedback Form
Please put in your details as per your expectation (what you expected ) and perception (what you actually got)
NAME
Please select your age group
• 18 - 25
• 26 - 45
• 46 - 65
• 65+
Expectation (E1) Excellent Publishing House will have modern looking Magazines
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
Select a value from a range of 1,Strongly Disagree, to 7,Strongly Agree,.
Perception (P1) Outlook has modern looking Magazines
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
E2. Materials associated with the service (such as Invitations and Discount Offers) will be visually appealing at a Publishing House
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Strongly Agree

Disagree Select a value from a range of 1,St rongly Disagree, to 7,St rongly Agree,.
P2. Materials associated with the service (such as Invitations and

Discount private ltd
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

E3. The paper quality at Publishing House will be visually appealing
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Offers) will be visually appealing at Outlook Publishing
P3. Outlook publishing private ltd magazine paper quality is visually appealing
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
E4. Sales executives who visit the customers will be neat appearing
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

P4. Sales executives of Outlook are neat appearing
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
E5. When Excellent Magazine Publishing Companies promise to do something by a certain time, they do
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
P5. When Outlook promises to do something by a certain time, it does so
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

E6. When a customer has a problem, Excellent Magazine Publishing Companies will show a sincere interest in solving it
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Select a value from a range of 1,St rongly Disagree, to 7,St rongly Agree,.
Strongly Agree
P6. When you have a problem, Outlook Customer care executives show a sincere interest in solving it
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Select a value from a range of 1,St rongly Disagree, to 7,St rongly Agree,.
Strongly Agree
E7. Excellent Magazine Companies will perform the service right the first time
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
Select a value from a range of 1,St rongly Disagree, to 7,St rongly Agree,.
P7. Outlook performs the service right the first time
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
E8. Excellent Magazine companies will provide the service at the time they promise to do so
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Disagree
P8. Excellent Magazine companies will insist on error free

magazines
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
P10. Outlook insists on error free magazines
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
E10. Employees of excellent magazine companies will tell customers exactly when service will be performed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Disagree
P10. Employees in Outlook tell you exactly when service will be performed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree
E11. Employees of excellent magazine companies will give prompt service to customers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
P11. Employees in Outlook give you prompt service

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
E12. Employees of excellent magazine companies will always be willing to help customers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
P12. Employees in Outlook are always willing to help you
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
E13. Employees of excellent magazine companies will never be too busy to respond to customers’ request
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Disagree
P13. Employees in Outlook are never too busy to respond to your request
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
E14. Employees of excellent magazine companies will have the knowledge to answer the customers’ questions
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
P14. Employees in Outlook have the knowledge to answer your questions
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
E15. Employees of excellent magazine companies will be consistently courteous with customers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
P15. Employees in Outlook are consistently courteous with you
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

E16. Customers of excellent magazine companies will feel safe in transactions
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

P16. You feel safe in your transactions with Outlook
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

E17. The behaviour of employees of excellent magazine companies will instill confidence in customers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
P17. The behavior of employees of Outlook instills confidence in you
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
E18. Excellent magazine companies will give customers individual attention
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
P18. Outlook gives you individual attention
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
E19. Excellent magazine companies will have operating hours convenient to all their customers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
P19. Outlook has operating hours convenient to you
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
E20. The employees of excellent magazine companies will understand the specific needs of their customers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Disagree
P20. The employees of Outlook understand your specific needs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Disagree
E21. Excellent magazine companies will have their customer’s best interest at heart
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Disagree
P21. Outlook has your best interest at heart
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disagree
Please allocate 4 Grade among the five features according to how important it is to you. We would like to know how much each of
these features is important to you. Please make sure the Grade add up to A, B, C, D.
FINDINGS and INTERPRETATIONS:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1c337tmlhubtB5m6pzB5n4OjZ1DGJ1aNlprzurB89io/vie
wanalytics
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoRJHeKHjy7TdDljdktCdnFnelU2SzgyZl9T
TzByc3c&rm=full#gid=0
 Outlook is a big brand with vast distribution channel and huge customer follow-up.
 Outlook satisfies the content expectation of customers.
 When surveyed by other survey agencies, the overall response for outlook was
excellent, good or satisfactory.
 There is a lot of scope for Outlook to improvise.
The satisfaction of the customers who are subscribed to Outlook magazine is measured by
taking five dimensions in-to account viz. Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance
and Empathy.
TANGIBILITY When something is tangible it is a material good. For example the

jewelry is a tangible gift. It holds a monetary value and is something you can touch
and hold onto. Tangible things are capable of being touched and are discernible by
the touch. Tangibles are real or actual, observable and understandable rather than
imaginary or visionary. Anything having actual physical existence, as real estate or
chattels, and therefore capable of being assigned a value in monetary terms can be
termed as tangible.
Importance of Tangibility Consumers do not purchase goods for the goods
themselves, but for the satisfaction derived from using the goods (Lancaster 1966
and 1971, Haley
1968, Ratchford 1975). If attributes that are important to the consumer are not
included, then preference predictions may be suspect. For example, when New Coke
was developed, the "taste" attribute was the primary focus. However, loyal Coke
drinkers responded negatively to the new product because intangible imagery
attributes were probably driving their preferences more than the tangible taste
attribute. In general there is a growing realization that, in many product classes,
where there are few "meaningful" differences between brands and more so-called
"parity" products, image and other intangibles become more important (Business
Week, 1983).
The Tangibility dimension of the SERVQUAL customer perception tool is comprised of

the first four questions which assess perceptions of the tangible appearance aspects
(materials, physical facility and employees) of the Outlook publishing house. When
looking at each of the four factors making up the tangibility dimension of customer
satisfaction, the expectations of the customers of Outlook Magazine exceed their
perceptions (average gap score – P-E = -17.25).
As per the responses given by customer to the survey questionnaire and keeping in
view the four factors that account for the tangibility in the questionnaire, The
Outlook Publishing Company needs to pay more attention to the appearance of the
executives who visit customers and the materials like subscription invitations,
discount offers which they deliver to the concerned addresses. It hasn’t been able to
keep up with the expectations of the customers although the quality of material used
for making magazine has been good. The results reveal that there is a lot of scope
for The Outlook Publishing house to improve in the areas mentioned above.
RELIABILITY
It involves the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. It
includes doing it right the first time, which is one of the most important service
components for customers. It also extends to provide services when promised and
maintain error-free records. The Reliability dimension of the SERVQUAL instrument is
comprised of questions 5-8, which assess customers’ perceptions of the reliability
aspects (acting according to promises, sincerity in problem solving, performing the
service right at the first time, providing service at the promised time & insistence on
error free records) of the Outlook publishing company. When looking at each of the
four factors making up the reliability dimension of customer satisfaction, the
expectations of the customers of Outlook India Group expectations exceed their
perceptions in all four areas, the average gap score being -30.50. The survey result
show that the perception of the customers fall below their expectation of the
reliability aspects of the Outlook-India Group. It shows that the company doesn’t
keep up with its commitments and need to work hard more on the area under
reliability viz. service performance.
RESPONSIVENESS
The Responsiveness dimension of the SERVQUAL instrument is comprised of questions

10-13, which assess Outlook Group’s customers’ perceptions of the responsiveness
aspects (informing when services will be performed, providing services promptly,
willingness to help, never being too busy to respond to request for service). When
looking at each of the four factors making up the responsiveness dimension of
customer satisfaction, the expectations of the Outlook Group’s customers’
expectations exceed their perceptions in all the four areas; informing when services
will be performed (average gap score – P-E = -28.5). This score indicates that the
customers of The Outlook Group aren’t satisfied with the overall responsiveness of
the company. More specifically, they aren’t satisfied with the Outlook’s performance
in the areas of prompt service of the employees of Outlook and response to
customers’ request.
ASSURANCE - Assurance of competency, courtesy, credibility & security:

The average SERVQUAL perception value for assurance is -15.5. This score indicates
that, the customers of the Outlook group don’t feel safe in their transaction while
subscribing to any magazine. Additionally they indicate that the members of the
Outlook aren’t consistently courteous and that their behaviour doesn’t instil
confidence when they are called upon for assistance.
EMPATHY - The Company’s Performance in personal care, understanding customers.

The average SERVQUAL perception value for empathy is -24. This score indicates that
the customers of Outlook aren’t satisfied with the overall empathy displayed and
demonstrated by the Outlook Group. Customers responded that they believe that the
executives of the Outlook Group doesn’t provide individual attention, doesn’t have
employees who provide personal attention, who have their best interests at heart,
and who understand their needs.
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
 well organized and experienced staff

 Innovative and customer oriented products
 Direct approach to the customers
 Strong distribution network
 Effective and fast delivery system
WEAKNESS
 Price of some magazines is high

 Customer perception that outlook serves to a political party.
OPPORTUNITIES
 It has many products capturing all sectors information so it has an opportunity
to become a market leader.
THREATS:
 Number of competitors in the market.

 India today has already captured the big market share
LIMITATIONS
 The Research is confined only to multiple rural and urban areas.
 The responses of all the customers couldn’t be noted due to time constraint
 There is a possibility that some respondents might have given dishonest

replies
 Some people were surveyed by calling on their contact numbers due to

which bias became a major problem
 Lack of time, money and other relevant resources became a major problem
 Hard to get the personal information of the customers of Outlook

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Effective promotional scheme – a strategy for consumer motivation
It is important to motivate the consumer to subscribe for the magazine for boosting the sales and
its obvious that most of the consumers will not get motivated unless and until they get what they
want. From the market survey it was able to identify that the motivating factors are the gifts
provided along with the subscriptions and according to most of the consumers a good gifts are
one which have good brand value associated with it and those which offer better utility.
2. Offline referral marketing – a strategy for customer or subscriber motivation
Referral marketing can be effectively used to improve the subscription sales. The existing
customer can be motivated to refer to their friends, relatives etc. to subscribe for the magazine by
means of exciting and attractive gifts as incentives. The magazine should provide Business reply
cards exclusive for existing subscriber along with subscriber’s copies during the magazine
delivery so that they can refer their friends and relatives for magazine subscription. The business
reply card should offer the facility to be filled with at least ten references. Subscribers should be
able to send them free of cost. Now these subscribers can be provided with attractive gifts.
3. Customer retention
It is a normal saying that customer acquisition is good, retention is better. This is because a
customer retained is equal to five new customers as the money spent for acquiring a customer is
calculated to be five times the money spent to retain a customer. From the information obtained
from Outlook, if was identified that Outlook does nothing for customer retention. Outlook needs
to formulate and implement customer retention and loyalty programs to retain the customers.
• Greet the customers with exciting gifts during special occasions
• Sell the subscription renewal at discount
• Auto renewal of subscription
• Allow grace period for subscription expiry
• Send loyalty gifts
• Organize entertainment events for subscribers
• Organize get – together
• Offer free Medical claim or Insurance Policy
4. Improved magazine – for customer satisfaction
From the market survey it was revealed that the strengths of Outlook Magazine are Promotional
Schemes and unbiased reporting. Its weaknesses are its Content quality, Paper quality and Print
quality so it should work on it to increase the customer’s satisfaction. If the product is able to satisfy
customers in its core product attributes, then the customer will be tend to be loyal as their
expectations are fulfilled.
So to improve customer loyalty and thereby increase voluntary sales outlook magazine has to
work on its weaknesses as expected by the customers of the magazine Since the quality of
content and coverage are subjective in nature, Outlook needs to identify what are weaknesses of
the current contents and coverage of the magazine as well as the customers’ expectations about
them. For this Outlook should go for detailed survey and customers feedback so that it can
understand the customers’ expectations as far as content and coverage of the magazine are
concerned. Once the customer expectation is identified Outlook need to restructure the magazine
by implementing the customer requirements and demands in order to improve their satisfaction
level which will in turn boost the magazine as well as subscription sales
REFERENCES
Referred Books:
1. Solomon, Michael R., “Consumer Behavior-Buying, Having and Being”, 2009 Pearson
Education Inc.,
2. Malhotra, Naresh K., Dash, Satyabhusan., “Marketing Reseach, An applied orientation”

2010, Pearson Education Inc.,
3. Cooper & Schindler, “Business Research”
4. Belch George, Belch Michael, “Advertising and promotion”
5. Kotler Phillip, “Marketing Management”
Websites:
www.outlookgroup.com www.outlookindia.com
www.outlookmagazines.com
www.Delhioutlookmagazines.com
www.outlooktraveler.com
www.outlookbussiness.com
www.outlookmoney.com

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Summer Internship Project Report 2021

OUTLOOK PUBLISHING INDIA PVT. LTD.

Date of Submission: 7th AUGUST,2021

“GENERATING SALES FOR THE OUTLOOK PUBLISHING INDIA PRIVATE

Outlook Publishing India Private Limited, New Delhi

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of

Under The Guidance Of

Dr. APARNA MISHRA

Nevertheless, I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. , OUTLOOK

Literature Review 6-16

Synopsis/ Abstract/ Summary. 17-18

Main text. 32-42

Findings/ Conclusions/Recommendations. 43-49

 Consumer Report by www.consumerdaddy.com

As per the consumer report compiled by consumerdaddy.com from the various

 A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future

Insights from Exploratory Investigation Executive Interviews

Determinants of Service Quality

RELIABILITY involves consistency of performance and dependability. It means that the

RESPONSIVENESS concerns the willingness or readiness of employees to provide

COURTESY involves politeness, respect, consideration, and friendliness of contact

COMMUNICATION means keeping customers informed in language they can understand

CREDIBILITY involves trustworthiness, believability, honesty. It involves having the

UNDERSTANDING/KNOWING THE CUSTOMER involves making the effort to understand

TANGIBLES include the physical evidence of the service: -physical facilities;

 Using SERVQUAL to Assess the Customer Satisfaction Level of the Oregon

In an article entitled "Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: An Assessment

- physical facilities, equipment, staff appearance, etc.;

- ability to perform service dependably and accurately;

- willingness to help and respond to customer need;

- ability of staff to inspire confidence and trust; and

SERVQUAL measures service quality as the discrepancy (gap) between a

As a by-product of research being conducted into the subject of service quality,

Second, services, as opposed to goods, are ―heterogeneous; their performance

―Service quality is more difficult for customers to evaluate than goods

Customers do not evaluate service quality solely on the outcome of a service;

How customers evaluate the quality of the service provided to them.

Whether customers directly make a global evaluation or if they assess specific

If customers’ expectations play a crucial role in the assessment of service

In order to obtain this information, the SERVQUAL developers conducted an

The SERVQUAL developers began a quantitative research project to develop an

 Analysing the Use of the SERVQUAL Model to Measure Service Quality in

Dr. Sarmad Al Shawi

The survival of any organisation in a highly competitive environment depends

In current service literature, there are a number of key instruments available

A Generic Measure of Service Quality: the SERVQUAL Scale

However, the main aim of the model is to be employed as a generic instrument

It appears that regardless of the extensive acceptance and adoption of

For these reasons, it has been suggested that developing industry-specific

SYNOPSIS OF THE PROJECT

Marketing is very necessary for every organization. It helps organizations in

 To find out consumers’ perception towards Outlook Publishing company.

 To find out the parameters affecting customer satisfaction.

 To recognize the expectations and experiences that customers have with

 To find out the quality of service rendered by a company

About the Company: OUTLOOK Publishing India Pvt. Ltd

Mr. Rajan Raheja is the Owner of THE OUTLOOK GROUP.

VISION OF THE COMPANY

MISSION OF THE COMPANY

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