CHAPTER – I

INTRODUCTION

1
 INTRODUCTION

Customer is the king, this is all the more apt for today's business environment where, all
other factors remaining more or less constant, it is the value addition to the customer that is
making all the difference.
Customer satisfaction depends on the performance relative to a expectations.
A key premise in customer satisfaction is understanding the needs and meeting or exceeding the
expectations of customers. Furthermore, this is done while optimally using resources. While
most companies have developed strategies to improve quality and external customer service,
internal customer satisfaction is a much neglected component of quality improvement. To this
end, it is important to emphasize that total customer satisfaction can be attained only if all
employees devoted to external customer satisfaction can work together and assist each other to
achieve the common objective, when the internal customer isn't satisfied, Relationships with the
external customer suffer. So, it is suggested to adopt customer oriented approach to keep the
internal customer satisfied and motivated, who in turn will focus their attention and energy upon
meeting the requirements of their customers, thereby maximizing the customer, thereby
maximizing the customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction survey is the process to monitor the satisfaction quotient of their
people. In internal satisfaction surveys therefore tracks the return on your investments in keeping
your people happy, high salaries, a quality culture, a healthy work environment.
Last, but not the least internal customer satisfaction survey helps in finding the critical
areas, which need further improvement.
NEED OF INTERNAL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY ARISES DUE TO
FOLLOWING REASONS.
Rapidly growing organization.
High or growing turnover rate.
Excessive rumor's
Highly competitive industry.
Planned and recent organizational changes.

In a buyers market where the customer is the king, business begins and ends with the
customer. The business growth, profitability, liquidity and image of an organization depend

2
upon the customer. It is therefore essential that a supplier meets the customer’s expectations
fully and ensures that he is satisfied. Hence it is necessary to place emphasis on building and
maintaining customer satisfaction by putting the customer first in all activities.

The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with GDP per
capita growing at a rate of 7.1% per annum1 . The country is also experiencing a demographic
shift towards a younger population with about 35% of the population being between 15 and 34
years of age2 in 2017. In the next few decades, unprecedented numbers of young people are
expected to enter the workforce, earn and save part of their earnings. India’s household financial
savings were estimated to be about 8.1% of the Gross National Disposable Income (GNDI), or
about $26 trillion in the financial year 2016-17. About a fourth of these savings are invested in
insurance3 . Thus, the insurance sector is large and will grow further in the coming years.
Understanding consumer behavior and what influences purchase decisions is important for
different players in this industry including regulators and insurance companies.

Life insurance allows individuals to secure the financial future of their families in the
event of their own premature death. It also serves the savings and investment needs of
individuals who may be unaware of or wary about investing in mutual funds or the stock market.
Unlike countries in the developed world, social security or government pension schemes are
accessible to only a small part of the population in India. Most people use bank savings, fixed
deposits, post office savings and public provident fund (PPF) as instruments for savings and
investment. Due to the lack of access to formal financial markets and lack of information and
financial literacy, life insurance assumes a critical role in the financial wellbeing of a large part
of the society. It is especially important for rural and poorer sections of the society.

Despite recent growth, the life insurance market in India has low penetration rates
compared to many other countries. Financial inclusion is one of the primary concerns of policy
makers across the world. The World Bank defines financial inclusion as follows: "Financial
inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial
products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and
insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way‖. It is notable that in the World Bank
definition, access to and use of insurance services has been included as an integral part of
financial inclusion. Financial inclusion is of particular relevance to a country like India where

3
many millions are financially excluded. The Government of India has introduced several policies
to further the goal of greater financial inclusion in 2014 and 2015. The first of these is the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) that aims to provide basic banking services to more
Indians. The Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha
Bima Yojana (PMSBY) introduced in 2015 aim to provide low cost life insurance and accident
insurance respectively.

4
 CHAPTER – II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

5
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Customer satisfaction is the customer’s perception that a vendor has met his expectation
fully, efficiently and promptly.

This may pertain to different segments of business from marketing, engineering,

manufacturing, timely project completion, quality, response to customer
queries/suggestions/letters, post-installation services, complaint handling etc.. Customer
satisfaction is the summary of the opinion of the customer about the vendor. Right from pre-
marketing to after-installation service and complaint management, the customer comes in
contact with carious departments and functions of vendor organization and the opinion he makes
about the supplier is the sum total of his experience and perception he makes while coming in
contact with different sections of vendor. The customer ultimately chooses a vendor who
provides him more value for his money and with whose product he is comfortable and satisfied.
Higher the satisfaction level, the better is the emotional and sentimental attachment to that brand
and more intense is the relationship between the customer and the vendor. With all the products
and services, these are always chances of problem arising. What makes a company stands out
from the rest is the way these problems are handled. The customer expects that when he makes a
request for assistance, it will be listened to the issue will be resolved as quickly as possible. Will
have a bearing on the trouble free operation and lesser maintenance requirement after the product
has come into the operation, i.e. efficiency and performance and its maintenance requirement. If
a product is having frequent breakdowns or is requiring expert attention more frequently, it
becomes a source of irritation for the customer apart from the financial loss. Similarly, if the
equipment is not operating efficiently and consuming higher resources, it becomes a source of
worry and headache for the customer.
Customer satisfaction survey is the process to monitor the satisfaction quotient of their people. In
internal satisfaction surveys therefore tracks the return on your investments in keeping your
people happy, high salaries, a quality culture, a healthy work environment.
Athma. P and kumar. R (2007) in the research paper titled ―an explorative study of life insurance
purchase decision making: influence of product and non-product factors". The empirical based
study conducted on 200 sample size comprising of both rural and urban market. The various

6
product and non-product related factors have been identified and their impact on life insurance
purchase decision-making has been analyzed. Based on the survey analysis; urban market is
more influenced with product based factors like risk coverage, tax benefits, return etc. Whereas
rural population is influenced with non-product related factors such as: credibility of agent,
company’s reputation, trust, customer services. Company goodwill and money back guarantee
attracts many people for life insurance.
Girish kumar and eldhose (2008), published in insurance chronicle icfai monthly magazine
august 2008 in their paper titled "customer perception on life insurance services: a comparative
study of public and private sectors", well explained the importance of quality services and its
significance in raising customer satisfaction level. A comparative study of public and private
sectors help in understanding the customer perception, satisfaction and awareness on various life
insurance services.
Jayakar (2003) in his study emphasized that new products innovation; distribution and better use
of technology are helping the new private life insurers to take market share away from lic, a only
company before liberalization of insurance industry. With the privatization of insurance sector
and with the entrance and cut throat competition with the private sectors gaining an ever
increasing edge over the public sector.
Narayan. H. Jai (2009), in an article has made an emphasis on importance of customer in the
business of insurance. He explained in phase of growing market competition, there is an intense
need to go beyond mere efficiency in designing products. To understand the customer’s needs
and to convey what they have to offer would perhaps bring in higher efficiencies in customer
service. Insurance business revolves around the customer and fair treatment to customers is need
of an hour to win their loyalty and trust. In a service based organizations, customer service is the
most dominating feature that differentiate and gives good return to the insurers. Proper dealing
with customer complaints, effective customer grievances handling mechanism and fast claim
settlement procedure are some of the ways through which satisfaction level of customers can be
increased. Hence to serve the customers promptly and effectively is the key success of a life
insurance business.

7
praveen kumar tripathi (2008), in his summer training project report titled ―customer buying
behavior with a focus on market segmentation‖ conduct a research based study on buying
pattern in the insurance industry with a special focus on hdfc standard life insurance. The various
segments of the markets divided in terms of insurance needs, age groups, satisfaction levels etc
were taken into account to know the customer perception and expectation from private insurers.

8
 CHAPTER - III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

9
 NEED FOR THE STUDY
The perceptions of the customer are of paramount importance. No study is complete without the
inclusion of a study of customer perceptions. There is a need for the study to measure the
perceptions so as to know the performance of products and service offered by the company, how
customers rate the company services on various parameters, primary and the secondary reasons
for buying, bring out the hidden desires of the customers, to understand the difference in the
needs of the different segments, i.e. if there are any segment specific nuances, acceptable market
prices and last but not the least the likely market demand

IV. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• To study attitude of customers towards online shopping.
• To find out the preferences of the consumer regarding the attributes of online
shopping website.
• To identify the issues faced by the user while online shopping.
• To determine the parameters for choosing the particular shopping Centre for purchase
of INSURANCE items.
• To determine whether online INSURANCE shopping will be beneficial and on what
factors.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology : Survey Method

Research Instrument : Questionnaire
Contact Method : Personal Interview
The Questionnaire was the main tool used for securing the responses from the responders
regarding the company’s product.
The Respondents were contacted personally and were interviewed and collected their
views, opinions and suggestion given by them.

DATA COLLECTIONS

The data collection is of two types.

10
 They are:

1) Primary Data
2) Secondary Data

Primary Data
The primary Data is collected through the data collection instrument (or) Tool.
Questionnaire by adopting a data collection method of personal interviewing survey method.
Completed questionnaires are revised on a regular basis as the research study progressed to
ensure that the recorded responses are chosen complete and legible.

Secondary Data
Secondary information is any data originally generated for some purpose other than the present
research objectives. It include findings based on research done outside as well as generated in
house for earlier studies or even customer information collected by the firms sales department.
Data collected from the new papers. Brochures and Internet sites
COMPANY ADDRESS:
Address:- LB Nagar - Uppal Road, Inner Ring Rd, Survey Colony, Uppal, Hyderabad,
Telangana 500039

The method of sampling used was random sampling. The main aim of the study was to cover
employee’s at all hierarchical levels. Therefore, a sample of respondents was chosen at each
level of hierarchy in all the departments and services. The sample size was taken as 50. The
respondents were from 4 categories as Scientific Staff, Technical Staff, Administrators, and
Supporting Staff.

Respondents
Employee Details Supporting Technical Scientific
Administrators
Staff Staff Staff
Total No. of.
700 100 105 100
Employees
Sample No. of.
20 10 10 10
Employees
Sample selection is random from all the 4 categories

11
 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The opening up of the insurance sector to private companies has made available more product
and world class service to Indian customer. To quote Mr. n.rangachari former chairman of IRDA
― all these years the nationalized insurance
have been bleeding us‖ ― the future for liberalized insurance sector looks bright with amonitoring
agency committed to promoting the interest of the customers‖. According
to business world, ―the sheer size and potential of Indian insurance market has attractedmany
new players. Even going by govt estimates there are about 312 million middle class

customers with financial resources to purchase insurance products, only 2.5 % of this is covered
by any form of insurance Sales agents will remain the prime distribution channel, and according
to some estimated insurance could finally end up creating over 20,000 jobs for sales
representatives alone. The IRDA has already accredited 14 insurance training schools spread
over a few major cities of our country, which would churn out about some 1500students
annually. So the scope of the insurance sector is wide and open where there a lot of opportunities
for the sector to grow in the next couple of years. More and more private companies with
international experiences are entering into the market with knowing the scope that is available.
Moreover each and every individual have started realizing the importance of life insurance in
their life as the life is considered to be really unexpected in the world we live today.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. Since the Questionnaire involves the view of customers, brand messages & suggestions
regarding promotional activities, they were not prepared to disclose the actual view.
2. Only Hyderabad was selected for the study. Thus the sample may not be considered as
the true study of the whole market.
3. As the duration of the study was to only a limited period of 40 days.
4. The opinions expressed by the respondents are subjective in nature.
5. Some respondents were not interested to give the accurate information of products.
6. The recommendations at the end of the report are made based on the information
obtained through the survey.

12
 CHAPTER - IV
THEORETICAL FRAME WORK

13
 THEORETICAL FRAME WORK

Beginning in the late 1950s, business schools shifted from descriptive and practitioner-focused
studies to more theoretically driven and academically rigorous research (Dahl et al. 1959). As the
field expanded from an applied form of economics to embrace theories and methodologies from
psychology, sociology, anthropology, and statistics, there was an increased emphasis on
understanding the thoughts, desires, and experiences of individual consumers. For academic
marketing, this meant that research not only focused on the decisions and strategies of marketing
managers but also on the decisions and thought processes on the other side of the market—
customers.

Since then, the academic study of consumer behavior has evolved and incorporated concepts and
methods, not only from marketing at large but also from related social science disciplines, and
from the ever-changing landscape of real-world consumption behavior. Its position as an area of
study within a larger discipline that comprises researchers from diverse theoretical backgrounds
and methodological training has stirred debates over its identity. One article describes consumer
behavior as a multidisciplinary subdiscipline of marketing ―characterized by the study of people
operating in a consumer role involving acquisition, consumption, and disposition of marketplace
products, services, and experiences‖ (MacInnis and Folkes 2009, p. 900).

This article reviews the evolution of the field of consumer behavior over the past half century,
describes its current status, and predicts how it may evolve over the next twenty years. Our
review is by no means a comprehensive history of the field (see Schumann et al. 2008; Rapp and
Hill 2015; Wang et al. 2015; Wilkie and Moore 2003, to name a few) but rather focuses on a few
key thematic developments. Though we observe many major shifts during this period, certain
questions and debates have persisted: Does consumer behavior research need to be relevant to
marketing managers or is there intrinsic value from studying the consumer as a project pursued
for its own sake? What counts as consumption: only consumption from traditional marketplace
transactions or also consumption in a broader sense of non-marketplace interactions? Which are
the most appropriate theoretical traditions and methodological tools for addressing questions in
consumer behavior research?
A brief history of consumer research over the past sixty years—1960 to 2020

In 1969, the Association for Consumer Research was founded and a yearly conference to share
marketing research specifically from the consumer’s perspective was instituted. This event
marked the culmination of the growing interest in the topic by formalizing it as an area of
research within marketing (consumer psychology had become a formalized branch of
psychology within the APA in 1960). So, what was consumer behavior before 1969? Scanning
current consumer-behavior doctoral seminar syllabi reveals few works predating 1969, with most
of those coming from psychology and economics, namely Herbert Simon’s A Behavioral Model
of Rational Choice (1955), Abraham Maslow’s A Theory of Human Motivation (1943), and
Ernest Dichter’s Handbook of Consumer Motivations (1964). In short, research that illuminated
and informed our understanding of consumer behavior prior to 1969 rarely focused on

14
marketing-specific topics, much less consumers or consumption (Dichter’s handbook being a
notable exception). Yet, these works were crucial to the rise of consumer behavior research
because, in the decades after 1969, there was a shift within academic marketing to thinking about
research from a behavioral or decision science perspective (Wilkie and Moore 2003). The
following section details some ways in which this shift occurred. We draw on a framework
proposed by the philosopher Larry Laudan (1986), who distinguished among three inter-related
aspects of scientific inquiry—namely, concepts (the relevant ideas, theories, hypotheses, and
constructs); methods (the techniques employed to test and validate these concepts); and aims (the
purposes or goals that motivate the investigation).

Key concepts in the late-1960s

During the late-1960s, we tended to view the buyer as a computer-like machine for processing
information according to various formal rules that embody economic rationality to form a
preference for one or another option in order to arrive at a purchase decision. This view tended to
manifest itself in a couple of conspicuous ways. The first was a model of buyer behavior
introduced by John Howard in 1963 in the second edition of his marketing textbook and quickly
adopted by virtually every theorist working in our field—including, Howard and Sheth (of
course), Engel-Kollat-&-Blackwell, Franco Nicosia, Alan Andreasen, Jim Bettman, and Joel
Cohen. Howard’s great innovation—which he based on a scheme that he had found in the work
of Plato (namely, the linkages among Cognition, Affect, and Conation)—took the form of a
boxes-and-arrows formulation heavily influenced by the approach to organizational behavior
theory that Howard (University of Pittsburgh) had picked up from Herbert Simon
(Carnegie Melon University). The model represented a chain of events

I→C→A→B→SI→C→A→B→S
where I = inputs of information (from advertising, word-of-mouth, brand features, etc.); C =
cognitions (beliefs or perceptions about a brand); A = Affect (liking or preference for the
brand); B = behavior (purchase of the brand); and S = satisfaction (post-purchase evaluation of
the brand that feeds back onto earlier stages of the sequence, according to a learning model in
which reinforced behavior tends to be repeated). This formulation lay at the heart of Howard’s
work, which he updated, elaborated on, and streamlined over the remainder of his career.
Importantly, it informed virtually every buyer-behavior model that blossomed forth during the
last half of the twentieth century.

To represent the link between cognitions and affect, buyer-behavior researchers used various
forms of the multi-attribute attitude model (MAAM), originally proposed by psychologists such
as Fishbein and Rosenberg as part of what Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) called the theory of
reasoned action. Under MAAM, cognitions (beliefs about brand attributes) are weighted by their
importance and summed to create an explanation or prediction of affect (liking for a brand or
preference for one brand versus another), which in turn determines behavior (choice of a brand
or intention to purchase a brand). This took the work of economist Kelvin Lancaster (with whom
Howard interacted), which assumed attitude was based on objective attributes, and extended it to
include subjective ones (Lancaster 1966; Ratchford 1975). Overall, the set of concepts that

15
prevailed in the late-1960s assumed the buyer exhibited economic rationality and acted as a
computer-like information-processing machine when making purchase decisions.

Favored methods in the late-1960s

The methods favored during the late-1960s tended to be almost exclusively neo-positivistic in
nature. That is, buyer-behavior research adopted the kinds of methodological rigor that we
associate with the physical sciences and the hypothetico-deductive approaches advocated by the
neo-positivistic philosophers of science.

Thus, the accepted approaches tended to be either experimental or survey based. For example,
numerous laboratory studies tested variations of the MAAM and focused on questions about how
to measure beliefs, how to weight the beliefs, how to combine the weighted beliefs, and so forth
(e.g., Beckwith and Lehmann 1973). Here again, these assumed a rational economic decision-
maker who processed information something like a computer.

Seeking rigor, buyer-behavior studies tended to be quantitative in their analyses, employing

multivariate statistics, structural equation models, multidimensional scaling, conjoint analysis,
and other mathematically sophisticated techniques. For example, various attempts to test the
ICABS formulation developed simultaneous (now called structural) equation models such as
those deployed by Farley and Ring (1970, 1974) to test the Howard and Sheth (1969) model and
by Beckwith and Lehmann (1973) to measure halo effects.

Aims in the late-1960s

During this time period, buyer-behavior research was still considered a subdivision of marketing
research, the purpose of which was to provide insights useful to marketing managers in making
strategic decisions. Essentially, every paper concluded with a section on ―Implications for
Marketing Managers.‖ Authors who failed to conform to this expectation could generally count
on having their work rejected by leading journals such as the Journal of Marketing
Research (JMR) and the Journal of Marketing (JM).

Summary—the three R’s in the late-1960s

Starting in the late-1960s to the early-1980s, virtually every buyer-behavior researcher followed
the traditional approach to concepts, methods, and aims, now encapsulated under what we might
call the three R’s—namely, rationality, rigor, and relevance. However, as we transitioned into the
1980s and beyond, that changed as some (though by no means all) consumer researchers began
to expand their approaches and to evolve different perspectives.

Concepts after 1980

In some circles, the traditional emphasis on the buyer’s rationality—that is, a view of the buyer
as a rational-economic, decision-oriented, information-processing, computer-like machine for
making choices—began to evolve in at least two primary ways.

16
First, behavioral economics (originally studied in marketing under the label Behavioral Decision
Theory)—developed in psychology by Kahneman and Tversky, in economics by Thaler, and
applied in marketing by a number of forward-thinking theorists (e.g., Eric Johnson, Jim Bettman,
John Payne, Itamar Simonson, Jay Russo, Joel Huber, and more recently, Dan Ariely)—
challenged the rationality of consumers as decision-makers. It was shown that numerous
commonly used decision heuristics depart from rational choice and are exceptions to the
traditional assumptions of economic rationality. This trend shed light on understanding consumer
financial decision-making (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998; Gourville 1998; Lynch Jr 2011) and
how to develop ―nudges‖ to help consumers make better decisions for their personal finances
(summarized in Johnson et al. 2012).

Second, the emerging experiential view (anticipated by Alderson, Levy, and others; developed
by Holbrook and Hirschman, and embellished by Schmitt, Pine, and Gilmore, and countless
followers) regarded consumers as flesh-and-blood human beings (rather than as information-
processing computer-like machines),
Methods after 1980
The two burgeoning areas of research—behavioral economics and experiential theories—
differed in their methodological approaches. The former relied on controlled randomized
experiments with a focus on decision strategies and behavioral outcomes. For example,
experiments tested the process by which consumers evaluate options using information display
boards and ―Mouselab‖ matrices of aspects and attributes (Payne et al. 1988). This school of
thought also focused on behavioral dependent measures, such as choice (Huber et al. 1982;
Simonson 1989; Iyengar and Lepper 2000).

The latter was influenced by post-positivistic philosophers of science—such as Thomas Kuhn,

Paul Feyerabend, and Richard Rorty—and approaches expanded to include various qualitative
techniques (interpretive, ethnographic, humanistic, and even introspective methods) not
previously prominent in the field of consumer research. These included:

 Interpretive approaches—such as those drawing on semiotics and hermeneutics—in an

effort to gain a richer understanding of the symbolic meanings involved in consumption
experiences;

 Ethnographic approaches—borrowed from cultural anthropology—such as those

illustrated by the influential Consumer Behavior Odyssey (Belk et al. 1989) and its
discoveries about phenomena related to sacred aspects of consumption or the deep
meanings of collections and other possessions;

 Humanistic approaches—such as those borrowed from cultural studies or from literary

criticism and more recently gathered together under the general heading of consumer
culture theory (CCT);

17
  Introspective or autoethnographic approaches—such as those associated with a method
called subjective personal introspection (SPI) that various consumer researchers like
Sidney Levy and Steve Gould have pursued to gain insights based on their own private
lives.

These qualitative approaches tended not to appear in the more traditional journals such as
the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, or Marketing Science. However, newer
journals such as Consumption, Markets, & Culture and Marketing Theory began to publish
papers that drew on the various interpretive, ethnographic, humanistic, or introspective methods.

Aims after 1980

In 1974, consumer research finally got its own journal with the launch of the Journal of
Consumer Research (JCR). The early editors of JCR—especially Bob Ferber, Hal Kassarjian,
and Jim Bettman—held a rather divergent attitude about the importance or even the desirability
of managerial relevance as a key goal of consumer studies. Under their influence, some
researchers began to believe that consumer behavior is a phenomenon worthy of study in its own
right—purely for the purpose of understanding it better. The journal incorporated articles from
an array of methodologies: quantitative (both secondary data analysis and experimental
techniques) and qualitative. The ―right‖ balance between theoretical insight and substantive
relevance—which are not in inherent conflict—is a matter of debate to this day and will likely
continue to be debated well into the future.

Summary—the three I’s after 1980

In sum, beginning in the early-1980s, consumer research branched out. Much of the work in
consumer studies remained within the earlier tradition of the three R’s—that is, rationality (an
information-processing decision-oriented buyer), rigor (neo-positivistic experimental designs and
quantitative techniques), and relevance (usefulness to marketing managers). Nonetheless, many
studies embraced enlarged views of the three major aspects that might be called the three I’s—
that is, irrationality (broadened perspectives that incorporate illogical, heuristic, experiential, or
hedonic aspects of consumption), interpretation (various qualitative or ―postmodern‖
approaches), and intrinsic motivation (the joy of pursuing a managerially irrelevant consumer
study purely for the sake of satisfying one’s own curiosity, without concern for whether it does
or does not help a marketing practitioner make a bigger profit).

The present—the consumer behavior field today

Present Concepts
In recent years, technological changes have significantly influenced the nature of consumption as
the customer journey has transitioned to include more interaction on digital platforms that
complements interaction in physical stores. This shift poses a major conceptual challenge in
understanding if and how these technological changes affect consumption. Does the medium
through which consumption occurs fundamentally alter the psychological and social processes
identified in earlier research? In addition, this shift allows us to collect more data at different

18
stages of the customer journey, which further allows us to analyze behavior in ways that were
not previously available.

. In recent years, a number of concepts (e.g., identity, beliefs/lay theories, affect as information,
self-control, time, psychological ownership, search for meaning and happiness, social belonging,
creativity, and status) have emerged as integral factors that influence and are influenced by
consumption. To better understand these concepts, a number of influential theories from social
psychology have been adopted into consumer behavior research. Self-construal (Markus and
Kitayama 1991), regulatory focus (Higgins 1998), construal level (Trope and Liberman 2010),
and goal systems (Kruglanski et al. 2002) all provide social-cognition frameworks through which
consumer behavior researchers study the psychological processes behind consumer behavior.
This ―adoption‖ of social psychological theories into consumer behavior is a symbiotic
relationship that further enhances the theories. Tory Higgins happily stated that he learned more
about his own theories from the work of marketing academics (he cited Angela Lee and Michel
Pham) in further testing and extending them.

Present Methods
Not only have technological advancements changed the nature of consumption but they have
also significantly influenced the methods used in consumer research by adding both new sources
of data and improved analytical tools (Ding et al. 2020). Researchers continue to use traditional
methods from psychology in empirical research (scale development, laboratory experiments,
quantitative analyses, etc.) and interpretive approaches in qualitative research. Additionally,
online experiments using participants from panels such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and Prolific
have become commonplace in the last decade. While they raise concerns about the quality of the
data and about the external validity of the results, these online experiments have greatly
increased the speed and decreased the cost of collecting data, so researchers continue to use
them, albeit with some caution. Reminiscent of the discussion in the 1970s and 1980s about the
use of student subjects, the projectability of the online responses and of an increasingly
conditioned ―professional‖ group of online respondents (MTurkers) is a major concern.

Technology has also changed research methodology. Currently, there is a large increase in the
use of secondary data thanks to the availability of Big Data about online and offline behavior.
Methods in computer science have advanced our ability to analyze large corpuses of unstructured
data (text, voice, visual images) in an efficient and rigorous way and, thus, to tap into a wealth of
nuanced thoughts, feelings, and behaviors heretofore only accessible to qualitative researchers
through laboriously conducted content analyses. There are also new neuro-marketing techniques
like eye-tracking, fMRI’s, body arousal measures (e.g., heart rate, sweat), and emotion detectors
that allow us to measure automatic responses. Lastly, there has been an increase in large-scale
field experiments that can be run in online B2C marketplaces.

Present Aims
Along with a focus on real-world observations and data, there is a renewed emphasis on
managerial relevance. Countless conference addresses and editorials in JCR, JCP, and other
journals have emphasized the importance of making consumer research useful outside of

19
academia—that is, to help companies, policy makers, and consumers. For instance,
understanding how the ―new‖ consumer interacts over time with other consumers and companies
in the current marketplace is a key area for future research. As global and social concerns
become more salient in all aspects of life, issues of long-term sustainability, social equality, and
ethical business practices have also become more central research topics. Fortunately, despite
this emphasis on relevance, theoretical contributions and novel ideas are still highly valued. An
appropriate balance of theory and practice has become the holy grail of consumer research.

The effects of the current trends in real-world consumption will increase in magnitude with time
as more consumers are digitally native. Therefore, a better understanding of current consumer
behavior can give us insights and help predict how it will continue to evolve in the years to
come.

The future—the consumer behavior field in 2040

The other papers use 2030 as a target year but we asked our survey respondents to make
predictions for 2040 and thus we have a different future target year.
Niels Bohr once said, ―Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.‖ Indeed, it
would be a fool’s errand for a single person to hazard a guess about the state of the
consumer behavior field twenty years from now. Therefore, predictions from 34 active consumer
researchers were collected to address this task. Here, we briefly summarize those predictions.

Future Concepts
While few respondents proffered guesses regarding specific concepts that would be of interest
twenty years from now, many suggested broad topics and trends they expected to see in the field.
Expectations for topics could largely be grouped into three main areas. Many suspected that we
will be examining essentially the same core topics, perhaps at a finer-grained level, from
different perspectives or in ways that we currently cannot utilize due to methodological
limitations (more on methods below). A second contingent predicted that much research would
center on the impending crises the world faces today, most mentioning environmental and social
issues (the COVID-19 pandemic had not yet begun when these predictions were collected and,
unsurprisingly, was not anticipated by any of our respondents). The last group, citing the widely
expected profound impact of AI on consumers’ lives, argued that AI and other technology-
related topics will be dominant subjects in consumer research circa 2040.

While the topic of technology is likely to be focal in the field, our current expectations for the
impact of technology on consumers’ lives are narrower than it should be. Rather than merely
offering innumerable conveniences and experiences, it seems likely that technology will begin to
be integrated into consumers’ thoughts, identities, and personal relationships—probably sooner
than we collectively expect. The integration of machines into humans’ bodies and lives will
present the field with an expanding list of research questions that do not exist today. For
example, how will the concepts of the self, identity, privacy, and goal pursuit change when web-
connected technology seamlessly integrates with human consciousness and cognition? Major
questions will also need to be answered regarding philosophy of mind, ethics, and social

20
inequality. We suspect that the impact of technology on consumers and consumer research will
be far broader than most consumer-behavior researchers anticipate.

As for broader trends within consumer research, there were two camps: (1) those who expect (or
hope) that dominant theories (both current and yet to be developed) will become more integrated
and comprehensive and (2) those who expect theoretical contributions to become smaller and
smaller, to the point of becoming trivial. Both groups felt that current researchers are filling
smaller cracks than before, but disagreed on how this would ultimately be resolved.

Future Methods
As was the case with concepts, respondents’ expectations regarding consumer-research
methodologies in 2030 can also be divided into three broad baskets. Unsurprisingly, many
indicated that we would be using many technologies not currently available or in wide use.
Perhaps more surprising was that most cited the use of technology such as AI, machine-learning
algorithms, and robots in designing—as opposed to executing or analyzing—experiments. (Some
did point to the use of technologies such as virtual reality in the actual execution of experiments.)
The second camp indicated that a focus on reliable and replicable results (discussed further
below) will encourage a greater tendency for pre-registering studies, more use of ―Big Data,‖ and
a demand for more studies per paper (versus more papers per topic, which some believe is a
more fruitful direction). Finally, the third lot indicated that ―real data‖ would be in high demand,
thereby necessitating the use of incentive-compatible, consequential dependent variables and a
greater prevalence of field studies in consumer research.

As a result, young scholars would benefit from developing a ―toolkit‖ of methodologies for
collecting and analyzing the abundant new data of interest to the field. This includes (but is not
limited to) a deep understanding of designing and implementing field studies (Gerber and
Green 2012), data analysis software (R, Python, etc.), text mining and analysis (Humphreys and
Wang 2018), and analytical tools for other unstructured forms of data such as image and sound.
The replication crisis in experimental research means that future scholars will also need to take a
more critical approach to validity (internal, external, construct), statistical power, and
significance in their work.

Future Aims
While there was an air of existential concern about the future of the field, most agreed that the
trend will be toward increasing the relevance and reliability of consumer research. Specifically,
echoing calls from journals and thought leaders, the respondents felt that papers will need to
offer more actionable implications for consumers, managers, or policy makers. However, few
thought that this increased focus would come at the expense of theoretical insights, suggesting a
more demanding overall standard for consumer research in 2040. Likewise, most felt that
methodological transparency, open access to data and materials, and study pre-registration will
become the norm as the field seeks to allay concerns about the reliability and meaningfulness of
its research findings.

21
One fundamental assumption of classical economic theory regarding consumers’ behavior is that
a consumer’s choice is basedon complete and perfect information. In reality, these conditions
occur rarely. Rather, consumers often act on information thatis less than complete and far from
perfect. As a result, consumers are often faced with at least some degree of risk in their
purchasedecisions.In marketing management, scholars have incorporated the perception of risk
in understanding consumer purchase behavior (Bauer1960; Jacoby and Kaplan 1972; Petter and
Ryan 1976; Zikmund and Scott 1973). In the case of Internet online shopping, twotypes of risk
are said to be predominant: product category risk and financial risk (Bhatnagar et al. 2000).
Product category riskis associated with the product itself, e.g., technological complexity or price
of the product. Financial risk is not related to theproduct, but to the channel (Internet) itself being
a safe mode of commerce. For example, submitting credit card informationthrough the Internet
evokes consumer apprehension due to the possibility of fraud (Fram and Grady 1997).However,
perceived risk is not the only factor involved in consumerpurchasing behavior. A past study
(Wilkie and Pessemier 1973)provides strong evidence that consumers make purchase decisions
tomaximize expected gain, in other words, for perceived benefit.Consumers regard the
perceived benefit as an incentive for thepurchasing behavior.Tarpey and Peter (1975)
identified three fundamental frameworks ofconsumer decision making:

(1) perceived risk framework, whichcharacterizes consumers as motivated to minimize, or at

least reduceany expected negative utility (perceived risk) associated with purchasebehavior;

(2) perceived benefit framework, which focuses on the con-sumers’ perception toward benefits
of the product; and

(3) perceivedvalue or a net valence, which is a combination of both the perceivedrisk and
perceived benefit frameworks. This framework assumes that consumers perceive products as
having both positive andnegative attributes. Figure 1 shows the basic model of this study. The
underlying logic of this model is that consumers make apurchasing decision based on their
perception of benefit and risk regarding Internet online shopping.

3. CONSUMER LIFESTYLES AND ONLINE PURCHASINGSeveral studies have discussed

the relationship between consumer lifestyles and online purchasing (Li et al. 1999;
Swaminathanet al. 1999). Recently Bhatnagar et al. (2000) are probably among the first to apply
the valence framework to an online shoppingpurchasing model. In their model, the
consumers’ channel choice decision depends on a consumer’s convenience and
riskperception. Clearly individual characteristics such as a consumer’s lifestyle need to be
emphasized as key determinants ofpurchasing decisions (Bellman et al. 1999). Mowen (1987)
points out that consumer lifestyle relates to how people live, how theyspend their money, and
how they allocate their time. Based on Mowen’s description, we group replies into three
empiricalcategories for online shoppers’ lifestyles: price-oriented, net-oriented, and time-
oriented style.Price is an important aspect of online shopping. Price power is evident in the
ranking of store formats. Some shoppers are highlyprice sensitive and consequently look for
bargains. Such individuals will actively search and buy products on the Internet in orderto obtain
lower prices because lower prices are a main reason why online shoppers shop on the web
(Forrester Research 1999).As consumers develop a more price-oriented style, their

22
perception of benefit toward online shopping increases and theirperception of risk
decreases.People who have been on the Internet for years, not just a few months, have a tendency
toward a net-oriented style. They probablyreceive a large number of e-mail messages every day;
they work on the Internet in their offices every week; and they tend to agreethat the Internet and
other developments in communication technology have improved their productivity at work. As
consumersbecome more wired on the Internet, their perception of risk decreases and their
perception of benefit increases. As the total number of hours worked by members of a household
increases, the less time there is to search for and buy productsin the traditional way. For
example, dual-income households seek new ways to find information and buy things that are
faster andmore convenient. As consumers become more time-oriented; in other words, the less
discretionary time they have, the more.

Summary - Future research questions and directions

Despite some well-justified pessimism, the future of consumer research is as bright as ever. As
we revised this paper amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear that many aspects of
marketplace behavior, consumption, and life in general will change as a result of this
unprecedented global crisis. Given this, and the radical technological, social, and environmental
changes that loom on the horizon, consumer researchers will have a treasure trove of topics to
tackle in the next ten years, many of which will carry profound substantive importance.

23
 CHAPTER – V
COMPANY PROFILE

24
 COMPANY PROFILE

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (ヤマハ発動機株式会社, Yamaha Hatsudōki Kabushiki-gaisha) is a

Japanese manufacturer of motorcycles, marine products such as boats and outboard motors, and
other motorized products. The company was established in 1955 upon separation from Yamaha
Corporation (however, Yamaha Corporation is still the largest private company shareholder with
9.92%, as of 2019), and is headquartered in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The company conducts
development, production and marketing operations through 109 consolidated subsidiaries as of
2012.

Led by Genichi Kawakami, the company’s founder and first president, Yamaha Motor began
production of its first product, the YA-1, in 1955. The 125cc motorcycle won the 3rd Mount Fuji
Ascent Race in its class.

The company's products includes motorcycles, scooters, motorized bicycles, boats, sail boats,
personal water craft, swimming pools, utility boats, fishing boats, outboard motors, 4-wheel
ATVs, recreational off-road vehicles, go-kart engines, golf carts, multi-purpose engines,
electrical generators, water pumps, snowmobiles, small snow throwers, automobile engines,
surface mounters, intelligent machinery, industrial-use unmanned helicopters, electrical power
units for wheelchairs and helmets. The company is also involved in the import and sales of
various types of products, development of tourist businesses and management of leisure,
recreational facilities and related services. Yamaha’s motorcycle sales are the second largest in
the world and Yamaha is the world leader in water vehicle sales.

Yamaha Motor is a highly diversified company which produces products for a large number of
industries and consumer market segments:

OVERVIEW

• Motorcycles: Sport bikes, Star Cruiser bikes, trail bikes, road racers and motocross racers

• Commuter vehicles, including scooters

• Recreational vehicles: All-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles

• Boats: Powerboats, sailboats (e.g. Yamaha 26, a sailboat produced in the 1970s), utility
boats and custom boats

• Marine engines: Outboard motors, electric marine motors, marine diesel engines and stern
drives

• Personal watercraft – see WaveRunner

• Electric bicycles

25
• Automobile engines

• Industrial-use unmanned helicopters

• Golf cars

• Power products: generators, multipurpose engines, water pumps and snow throwers

• Swimming pools, watersliders and pool-related equipment

• Intelligent machinery, including compact industrial robots

• Electric wheelchairs and wheelchair electric drive units

• Yamaha parts and accessories, apparel, cycle helmets and motor oil

• Industrial robots and surface mounters

Automobile engines

Yamaha-built DOHC V6 Ford Taurus SHO engine

Yamaha has built engines for other manufacturers' vehicles beginning with the development and
production of the Toyota 2000GT (1967). The cylinder head from the Toyota 4A-GE engine was
developed by Yamaha and built at Toyota's Shimayama plant alongside the 4A and 2A engines.

In 1984, executives of the Yamaha Motor Corporation signed a contract with the Ford Motor
Company to develop, produce, and supply compact 60° 3.0 Liter DOHC V6 engines for
transverse application for the 1989–95 Ford Taurus SHO. From 1993 to 1995, the SHO engine
was produced in 3.0 and 3.2 Liter versions. Yamaha jointly designed the 3.4 Liter DOHC V-8
engine with Ford for the 1996–99 SHO. Ford and Yamaha also developed the Zetec-SE branded
4-cylinder engines used in several Ford cars like the small sports car Ford Puma.

From 2005 to 2010, Yamaha produced a 4.4 Litre V8 for Volvo. The B8444S engines were used
in the XC90 and S80 models, whilst also adapted to 5.0L configuration for Volvo's foray into the
V8 Supercars with the S60. British sportscar maker Noble also uses a bi-turbo version of the
Volvo V8 in their M600.

All performance-oriented cylinder heads on Toyota/Lexus engines were designed and/or built by
Yamaha. Some examples are the 1LR-GUE engine found on the 2010–2012 Lexus LFA, the
2UR-GSE found in Lexus ISF, the 3S-GTE engine found on the Toyota MR2 and Toyota Celica
GT4/All-Trac, the 2ZZ-GE engine found on the 1999–2006 Toyota Celica GT-S and Lotus Elise
Series 2, and the Toyota 4GR-FSE engine found on the Lexus IS250.

26
Yamaha also tunes engines for manufacturers, such as Toyota, so Yamaha logos are on Toyota S
engines.

Yamaha also tried to produce a supercar in the 1990s, named the Yamaha OX99-11. It was made
as a supercar to have an Yamaha Formula 1 engine as its powerplant and have Formula 1
technology in it. Even though their engines did not win a Grand Prix, by 1991 the team had
produced a new engine, the OX99, and approached a German company to design an initial
version of the car. Yamaha was not pleased with the result as it was too similar to sport cars of
that time, so it contacted IAD to continue working on the project. By the beginning of 1992, just
under 12 months after starting to work on the project, IAD came with an initial version of the
car. The car's design was undertaken by Takuya Yura, and was originally conceived as a single
seater. However, Yamaha requested a two-seater vehicle, and a tandem seating arrangement was
suggested, which was in keeping with Yamaha's motorcycle expertise over the budget made
Yamaha take the project to its own Ypsilon Technology, which was given six months to finish
the project; otherwise, it would be terminated. To make matters worse, this resulted in a radical
and somewhat outrageous design based on Group C cars of the time, such as the cockpit-locking
roof. It also shared the same chassis as the Formula 1 car, to try to give the consumer market a
pure Formula 1 experience. But disagreements with IAD over the budget made Yamaha take the
project to its own Ypsilon Technology, which was given six months to finish the project,
otherwise it would be terminated. To make matters worse, Japan was in the midst of an economic
downturn, which made Yamaha believe there would be no customers for the car, and so the
project was cancelled in 1994 after many delays, with only 3 prototypes in existence.

HISTORY

Beginnings: 1955

The motorcycle division of Yamaha was founded in 1955, and was headed by Genichi
Kawakami. Yamaha's initial product was a 125 cc (7.6 cu in) two-cycle, single cylinder
motorcycle, the YA-1, which was a copy of the German DKW RT 125. The YA-1 was a
competitive success at racing from the beginning, winning not only the 125cc class in the Mt.
Fuji Ascent, but also sweeping the podium with first, second and third place in the All Japan
Autobike Endurance Road Race that same year. Early success in racing set the tone for Yamaha,
as competition in many varieties of motorcycle racing has been a key endeavor of the company
throughout its history, often fueled by a strong rivalry with Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and other
Japanese manufacturers.

Yamaha began competing internationally in 1956 when they entered the Catalina Grand Prix,
again with the YA-1, at which they placed sixth. The YA-1 was followed by the YA-2 of 1957,
another 125cc two stroke, but with significantly improved frame and suspension. The YD-1 of
1957 was a 250cc two-stroke twin cylinder motorcycle, resembling the YA-2, but with a larger
and more powerful motor. A performance version of this bike, the YDS-1 housed the 250cc two-

27
stroke twin in a double downtube cradle frame and offered the first five-speed transmission in a
Japanese motorcycle. This period also saw Yamaha offer its first outboard marine engine.

Yamaha Motor Company was incorporated on 1 July 1955 (Japan). Highlighting its presence in
the performance motorcycle segment, the company announced that in 2020 they will be
celebrating their 65th anniversary on the 1st of July, 2020 with a holiday they call "Yamaha
Day". The theme for Yamaha Day 2020 is "heritage" – Yamaha plans to use this holiday to
enhance the brand's connection with their customers.

Success and growth in the 1960s

By 1963 Yamaha's dedication to both the two-stroke engine and racing paid off with their first
victory in international competition, at the Belgium GP, where they won the 250cc class. Success
in sales was even more impressive, and Yamaha set up the first of its international subsidiaries in
this period beginning with Thailand in 1964, and the Netherlands in 1968. 1965 saw the release
of a 305cc two-stroke twin, the flagship of the company's lineup. It featured a separate oil supply
which directly injected oil into the gasoline prior to combustion (traditionally riders had to pre-
mix oil into gasoline together before filling the gas tank on two stroke engines). In 1967 a new
larger displacement model was added to the range, the 350cc two stroke twin R-1.

In 1968 Yamaha launched their first four-stroke motorcycle, the XS-1. The Yamaha XS-1 was a
650cc four-stroke twin, a larger and more powerful machine that equaled the displacement and
performance of the popular British bikes of the era, such as the Triumph Bonneville and BSA
Gold Star. Yamaha continued on with both the two-stroke line and four-stroke twins at a time
that other Japanese manufacturers were increasingly moving to four cylinder four-stroke
machines, a trend led by Honda in 1969 with the legendary CB-750 four-stroke four-cylinder
cycle.

Two stroke era begins: the 1970s

Not until 1976 would Yamaha answer the other Japanese brands with a multi-cylinder four
stroke of their own. The XS-750 (and later 850) a 750cc triple cylinder machine with shaft final
drive was introduced almost seven years after Honda's breakthrough bike. Yamaha's first four-
cylinder model, the XS-1100 followed in 1978, again with shaft drive. Despite being heavier and
more touring oriented than its rivals it produced an impressive string of victories in endurance
racing.

The 1970s also saw some of the first dedicated off-road bikes for off-road racing and recreation.
Yamaha was an early innovator in dirt-bike technology, and introduced the first single-shock rear
suspension, the trademarked "Monoshock" of 1973. It appeared in production on the 1974
Yamaha YZ-250, a model which is still in production, making it Yamaha's longest continuous
model and name.

28
Yamaha continued racing throughout the 1960s and 1970s with increasing success in several
formats. The decade of the 1970s was capped by the XT500 winning the first Paris-Dakar Rally
in 1979.

AWARDS

2020s

2020IBEX Innovation Award

Helm Master EX

Phase Angle Control Charging System

2010s

2019Japan Foundry Engineering Society Castings of the Year Award

Lightweight, high-rigidity aluminum wheels

2019The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology: Prizes for Science and Technology (Development Category)

Development of Control Systems for Industrial-use Unmanned Helicopters

2019JSME Tokai Branch Technology Award

Study on self-standing motorcycle control mechanism (AMCES)

2018SLAS New Product Award

CELL HANDLER™

2018IBEX Innovation Award

F425A

29
 CHAPTER - VI
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION

30
 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS

1. AGE GROUP OF THE RESPONDENT

S.NO AGE No. Of respondent Percentage

1 15-24 22 15
2 25-34 38 25
3 35-44 60 40
4 Above 45 30 20
Total 150 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that 40% of the respondents age group is 35-44, 25% of the
respondents are in the age group is 25- 34, 20% of the respondents are in the age group above
45 and 15% of the respondents are in the age group of 15 -24.

AGE GROUP OF THE RESPONDENTS

AGE
20% 15%
15-24

25-34
25%
35-44

40% Above 45

31
2. GENDER OF THE RESPONDENT

S.NO Gender No. Of respondent Percentage

1 Male 100 33
2 Female 50 67
3 Total 150 100

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table it is inferred that 67% of the respondents are male and 33 %of the
respondents are female.

GENDER OF THE RESPONDENT

80%

70% 67%

P 60%
E
50%
R
C 40%
E 33%
N 30%
T
A 20%
G
10%
E
0%
Male Female

GENDER

32
3. EDUCATION QUALIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS

S.NO Educational No. of respondent Percentage

qualification
1 SSLC 38 25
2 Hsc 32 21
3 Graduate 37 25
4 Diploma 20 13
5 Other specify 23 16
Total 150 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that 25 % of the respondents completed SSLC & Graduation
respectively, 21% of the respondents completed HSC,13 % of the respondents completed
diploma and 16 %the respondents completed technical courses.

EDUCATION QUALIFICATION OF RESPONDENTS

25% 25%
25%

21%

P 20%
E
16%
R
C 15% 13%
E
N
T 10%
A
G
E 5%

0%
SSLC hsc Graduate Diploma Other specify

EDUCATION QUALIFICATION

33
4. MARITAL STATUS OF RESPONDENTS

S.NO Marital status No. Of Respondent Percentage

1 Married 120 80
2 Un married 30 20
3 Total 150 100

INTERPRETATION

from the above table it is infered that 80%of respondents are married and 20 % of respondents
are unmarried.

MARITAL STATUS OF RESPONDENTS

80%

70%
P
E
60%
R
C
E 50%
N
T 80%
40%
A
G
E 30%

20%

20%
10%

0%
Married Un married

MARITAL STATUS

34
 5. Rate the service provided by the [company] representative.

S.NO RATINGS No. Of respondent Percentage

1 1 8 8%
2 2 10 10%
3 3 12 12%
4 4 20 20%
5 5 40 40%

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is was analysed 100 employees from different company and the response
were for 1 rating 8 percentage and for the 2nd rating the percentage was 10 per cent and for 3
rating it was 12 per cent, for the fourth rating the percentage was 20 and the last 5 rating it was
40 percentage.

45

40

35

30
S.NO
25
RATINGS
20
No. Of respondent
15 Percentage
10

0
1 2 3 4 5

35
 6. Rate how clearly the representative communicated.

S.NO Gender No. Of respondent Percentage

1 Male 65 33
2 Female 35 67
3 Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table it is inferred that 33% of the respondents are male and 67 %of the
respondents are female.

100
90
80
70
60
50 YES

40 NO

30
20
10
0
No. Of respondent Percentage

36
7. Rate the friendliness of the representative.

S.NO Gender No. Of respondent Percentage

1 Male 48 45
2 Female 52 55
3 Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table it is inferred that 45% of the respondents are male and 55 %of the
respondents are female

100
90
80
70
60
50 YES

40 NO

30
20
10
0
No. Of respondent Percentage

37
8. Was your representative knowledgeable about the company/policies/product?

S.NO YES/NO No. Of respondent Percentage

1 YES 85 90
2 NO 15 10
3 Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table it is inferred that 85% of the respondents are Yes and 15 %of the
respondents are No.

100
90
80
70
60
50 YES

40 NO

30
20
10
0
No. Of respondent Percentage

38
 9. Did your representative make you feel valued as a customer?

S.NO YES/NO No. Of respondent Percentage

1 YES 75 80
2 NO 25 20
3 Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table it is inferred that 75% of the respondents are Yes and 25 %of the
respondents are No.

40

35

30

25

20 Very good
Good
15

10

0
No.of respondent Percentage

39
10. Are you aware of Yamaha motor bikes?

CONSUMER AWARENESS

S.NO Types No.of respondent Percentage

1 Yes 95 95
2 No 5 5
3 Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table shows that 95% of the respondents are aware of Yamaha motor bikes.

40

35

30

25

20 Very good
Good
15

10

0
No.of respondent Percentage

40
 11. How do you came to know about Yamaha motor bikes?

SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT YAMAHA MOTOR BIKES

S.NO Sources No. of respondent Percentage

1 Friends 20 20
2 Advertisement 50 50
3 Shops 10 10
4 Relative 15 15
5 Neighbour 2 2
6 Others 3 3
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is infered that 20, 50 %of the respondents get information by
advertisement & by friends, 10% of the respondents get information through shops,15 % of
the respondents get information by relative,12 % of the respondents get information by
neighbour and 2 %of the respondents get information by others sources 3

120

100

80

60
No.of respondent
40 Percentage

20

0
Very Good Neither Bad Very bad Total
good good or
bad

41
12. How often you purchase and use Yamaha motor bikes?

PURCHASE & USAGE OF YAMAHA MOTOR BIKES

S.NO usage No. of respondent Percentage

1 Regularly 40 40
2 occasionally 50 50
3 Rarely 9 9
4 Never 1 1
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is infered that 50 % of the customers are occasionally purchasing
Yamaha motor bikes,9 % of the respondents are rarely purchasing Yamaha motor bikes ,40 % of
the respondents are regularly purchasing Yamaha motor bikes,1 % of the respondents are never
purchasing Yamaha motor bikes.

40

35

30

25

20 No.of respondent
15 Percentage
10

0
Very good Good Neither good Bad
or bad

42
13. Which brand of product do you prefer more?

BRAND PREFERENCE OF CONSUMERS

S.NO Category No.of respondent Percentage

1 Yamaha motor bikes 30 25
2 Hero 10 20
3 Bajaj 50 41
4 Honda 10 14
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that 25 % of respondents prefer Yamaha motor bikes, 20 %
prefer Hero, and 41 prefer for Bajaj, the last 14% prefer for Honda.

40

35

30

25

20 No.of respondent
15 Percentage
10

0
Very good Good Neither good Bad
or bad

43
 14. How long you are using Yamaha motor bikes?

TIME PERIOD OF USAGE

S.NO Time(years) No. of respondent Percentage

1 1-2 yrs 20 20
2 2-3yrs 30 30
3 3-4yrs 40 40
4 Above 4 yrs 10 10
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that 30% of the respondents are using Yamaha motor bikes for
the 2-3 years, 20 % of the respondents are using Yamaha motor bikes for 1-2 years, 40 % of the
respondents are using Yamaha motor bikes for 3-4 years, 10% of the respondents are using
Yamaha motor bikes above four years.

No.of respondent

Very good
Good
Neither good or bad
Bad

44
 15. Are you satisfied with Yamaha motor bikes?

SATISFACTION LEVEL OF RESPONDENTS TOWARDS YAMAHA MOTOR BIKES

S.NO Category No.of respondent Percentage

1 Yes 80 80
2 No 20 20
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that 80 % of the respondents are satisfied with Yamaha motor
bikes, and 20 % of respondents are dissatisfied with Yamaha motor bikes

40

35

30

25

20 Very good
Good
15

10

0
No.of respondent Percentage

45
16. Rank the factors which influence you to purchase this brand?

S.NO Levels of satisfaction No. of respondent Percentage

1 Highly satisfied 17 17
2 Satisfied 23 23
3 Neutral 30 30
4 Dissatisfied 17 17
5 Highly dissatisfied 13 13
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that 30%of the respondents are neutral with
advertisement,23% of the respondents are satisfied with advertisment,17 % of the respondents
are highly satisfied with advertsment,17 % of the respondents dissatisfied with advertisment,13
% of the respondents are highly dissatisfied with advertisment.

No.of respondent

Very good
Good
Neither good or bad
Bad
Very bad

46
17. Measure the level of satisfaction towards Yamaha motor bikes?

S.NO Level of satisfaction No.of respondent Percentage

1 Highly satisfied 19 19
2 Satisfied 21 21
3 Neutral 30 30
4 Dissatisfied 17 17
5 Highly dissatisfied 13 13
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that 30% of the respondents are neutral with cash discount,21
% of the respondents are satisfied with cash discount,19%of the respondents are highly satisfied
with cash discount,17% of the respondents dissatisfied with cash discounted,13 % of the
respondents are highly dissatisfied with cash discounted.

40
35
30
25
20
No.of respondent
15
Percentage
10
5
0
Very good Good Neither Bad Very bad
good or
bad

47
 18. What do you think the general opinion about Yamaha motor bikes products compare to
other brand?

S.NO Level of satisfaction No.of respondent Percentage

1 Very good 21 21
2 Good 37 37
3 Neither good or bad 15 15
4 Bad 17 17
5 Very bad 10 10
Total 100 100

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is inferred that37% of the respondents are gave good,21%of the
respondents are gave very good,17%of the respondents are gave bad,15%of the respondents are
gave neither good or bad,and 10% of the respondents are gave very bad.

No.of respondent

Very good
Good
Neither good or bad
Bad
Very bad

48
 CHAPTER - VII
RESEARCH FINDINGS &
SUGGESTIONS

49
 RESEARCH FINDINGS & SUGGESTIONS

 From the above table it is inferred that 40% of the respondents age group is 35-44, 25%
of the respondents are in the age group is 25- 34, 20% of the respondents are in the age
group above 45 and 15% of the respondents are in the age group of 15 -24.
 From the above table it is inferred that 67% of the respondents are male and 33 %of the
respondents are female.
 From the above table it is inferred that 25 % of the respondents completed SSLC &
Graduation respectively, 21% of the respondents completed HSC,13 % of the
respondents completed diploma and 16 %the respondents completed technical courses.
 from the above table it is infered that 80%of respondents are married and 20 % of
respondents are unmarried.
 From the above table it is was analysed 100 employees from different company and the
response were for 1 rating 8 percentage and for the 2nd rating the percentage was 10 per
cent and for 3 rating it was 12 per cent, for the fourth rating the percentage was 20 and
the last 5 rating it was 40 percentage.
 From the above table it is inferred that 33% of the respondents are male and 67 %of the
respondents are female
 From the above table it is inferred that 45% of the respondents are male and 55 %of the
respondents are female
 From the above table it is inferred that 85% of the respondents are Yes and 15 %of the
respondents are No.
 From the above table it is inferred that 75% of the respondents are Yes and 25 %of the
respondents are No.
 From the above table shows that 95% of the respondents are aware of Yamaha motor
bikes.
 From the above table it is infered that 20, 50 %of the respondents get information by
advertisement & by friends, 10% of the respondents get information through shops,15 %
of the respondents get information by relative,12 % of the respondents get information
by neighbour and 2 %of the respondents get information by others sources 3
 From the above table it is infered that 50 % of the customers are occasionally purchasing
Yamaha motor bikes,9 % of the respondents are rarely purchasing Yamaha motor bikes

50
 ,40 % of the respondents are regularly purchasing Yamaha motor bikes,1 % of the
respondents are never purchasing Yamaha motor bikes
 From the above table it is inferred that 25 % of respondents prefer Yamaha motor bikes,
20 % prefer Hero, and 41 prefer for Bajaj, the last 14% prefer for Honda.
 From the above table it is inferred that 30% of the respondents are using Yamaha motor
bikes for the 2-3 years, 20 % of the respondents are using Yamaha motor bikes for 1-2
years, 40 % of the respondents are using Yamaha motor bikes for 3-4 years, 10% of the
respondents are using Yamaha motor bikes above four years.
 From the above table it is inferred that 80 % of the respondents are satisfied with Yamaha
motor bikes, and 20 % of respondents are dissatisfied with Yamaha motor bikes
 From the above table it is inferred that 30%of the respondents are neutral with
advertisement,23% of the respondents are satisfied with advertisment,17 % of the
respondents are highly satisfied with advertsment,17 % of the respondents dissatisfied
with advertisment,13 % of the respondents are highly dissatisfied with advertisment.

51
 CHAPTER -VIII
SUGGESTIONS &
RECOMMENDATIONS

52
 SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

First and foremost, customer satisfaction affects your business revenue. Low customer
satisfaction levels mean your retention rates will likely be low, too. Kolsky’s research reveals
that only 1 in 26 unhappy customers actually complain. More importantly, though, 91% of
unhappy customers who are non-complainers simply leave.

With that in mind, can you afford to lose 91% of your unhappy customers? If not, see the tips in
the next section and find out how to identify dissatisfied clients by collecting customer feedback.

Collect customer feedback: To better understand your customers’ needs, you need to listen to
them. And know what your customers want. By using surveys, you can measure customer
satisfaction and discover what improvements your customers request.

Turn customer feedback into action: Now that you know what your customers want, it’s time to
turn their feedback into action. For example, if a customer said your onboarding sessions are not
helpful, it’s worth working with your team to improve them.

Improve your product or service: You should constantly strive to improve your product or
service based on customer feedback. For instance, if the customer requests features you can’t yet
deliver, always update them on the progress. This lets you keep customer satisfaction levels high.

Follow up with your customers: Have you made an improvement based on what your customer
has told you? Follow up with the customer to let them know about it. Keeping your customers in
the loop shows that your business values customer feedback.

So, improving customer satisfaction comes down to gathering customer feedback and then acting
on it. For this reason, these 8 tips will help you improve customer satisfaction

53
BIBLIOGRAPHY

54
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

Marketing management By: Philip Kotler

Marketing management By: J.C Gandhi

Functional management By: R.K.Sharma

Kothari C.R, ―Research methodology‖, Wishva Prakashan (Hyderabad), 2000.

Kotler Philip, ―Marketing management‖, prentice Hall of India

private Ltd., 10th Edition Beri G.C, Tata M.C Graw, ―Marketing

research‖, Hill, 3 rd Edition, 1996.

Schiffman, Kanuk ― Consumer behavior‖

Arora P.N, Arora .S ―Statistics for management ―, First Edition, 2003

INTERNET:

www.google.com

www.wlkipedia.com

www.paradise.com

NEWSPAPER:

Economic times

55
QUESTIONNAIRE

56
 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Name :

2. Age group :15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 above54

3. Gender : Male Female

4. Education qualification : SSLC HSC Graduate Diploma

Other specify

5. Marital status : Married Unmarried

6. Please rate the service provided by the [company] representative.

A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 D) 4 E) 5

7. Please rate how clearly the representative communicated.

A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 D) 4 E) 5

8. Please rate the friendliness of the representative.

A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 D) 4 E) 5

9. Was your representative knowledgeable about the company/policies/product?

A) YES B) NO

10. Did your representative make you feel valued as a customer?

A) YES B) NO

11. Are you aware of Yamaha motor bikes?

A) YES B) NO

12. How do you came to know about Yamaha motor bikes?

Friends Advertisement Shops Relatives Neighbour

Others
13. How long you are using Yamaha motor bikes?
1-2 years 2-3years 3-4year s above 4years

57
14. Which brand of product do you prefer more?
Yamaha motor bikess Hero Bajaj Honda
15. How often you purchase and use Yamaha motor bikes?
Regularly occasionally Rarely Never
16. Are you satisfied with Yamaha motor bikes?
Yes No
17. Rank the factors which influence you to purchase this brand?
SL NO Particular Rank
1 Economic in price
2 Compact package
3 Brand image
4 Availability

18. Measure the level of satisfaction towards Yamaha motor bikes?

Highly satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly
satisfied dissatisfied
Availability
Quality
Price
Package
Durability
Quantity
Advertisement

19. What do you think the general opinion about Yamaha motor bikes products compare to other
brand?
Very good good Neither good or bad Bad very bad

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