A STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON TATA

PROJECT REPORT

(A Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the

Degree of Master of Business Administration in Pondicherry University)

Submitted By

Ms. D. RUPA
Enrollment No: 0221390779
MBA HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Under the Guidance of

Dr. J. ARUL SURESH
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, LOYOLA COLLEGE, CHENNAI.

DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY
PONDICHERRY-605 014
OCTOBER - 2023
 CERTIFICATE OF THE GUIDE

This is to certify that the project entitled “A STUDY OF

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON TATA” is a bonefide work of Ms.
D. RUPA (Enrollment No: 0221390779) carried out in partial fulfillment
for the award of degree of MBA in Human Resource Management of
PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY under my guidance. This project work is
original and not submitted earlier for the award of any degree / diploma or
associateship of any other university/ institution.

Signature of the Guide

Place:
Date:
 STUDENT’S DECLARATION

I, MS. D. RUPA hereby declare that project work titled “A STUDY OF

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON TATA” is the original work done by me
and submitted to the Pondicherry University in partial fulfillment of requirements
for the award of Master of Business Administration in HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT. This is a record of original work done by me under the
supervision of Dr. J. ARUL SURESH, Assistant Professor, Loyola College,
Chennai.

Signature of the Student

(Ms. D. RUPA)

Place:
Date:
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT DETAILS PAGE NO

Acknowledgments 5

CHAPTER I

1. Introduction and Design of the study 6

1.1 Conceptual Introduction 6

1.2 Statement of problem 9

1.3 Objective of the study 10

1.4 Scope of the study 10

1.5 Research methodology 11

1.6 Limitation of the study 13

CHAPTER II

2. Literature Of Review 14

CHAPTER III

3. Companies Profile 22

CHAPTER IV

4.Analysis & Interpretation 42

CHAPTER V

Summary Of Findings & Conclusion 78

Bibliography 81

Questionnaires 82
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I wish to thank Pondicherry University – Loyola College

Society (PU-LCS) for having project as a part of the MBA Curriculum.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Prof.

Gurmeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Pondicherry University and Rev. Dr. Louis
Arockiraj S.J. Principal, Loyola College Chennai-34 for providing us a helpful
environment during a global pandemic and for giving the fine opportunity to do this
project in the esteemed organization.

I am grateful to Rev. Dr. Antony Robinson, S.J. Rector, Loyola College,

Chennai-34 and Rev. Dr. B. JEYARAJ, S.J. Secretary, Loyola College, Chennai-34 for
their guidance and blessing during my time at Loyola College, Chennai.

I would also like to express gratitude to Rev. Fr. M. Dominic Jayakumar S.J.
Director-PULC, Loyola College, Chennai-34 and Prof. T. Eugine, Coordinator-PULC
and administrative staff of PU-LCS, Loyola College, Chennai-34 for their exemplary
vision and guidance. The blessing, help and guidance given by them time to time shall
carry me a long way in the journey of life.

I gratefully acknowledge Dr. J. ARUL SURESH, Project Guide and Supervisor

Loyola College, Chennai who has given me the opportunity to learn at deep level to
prepare this report and supported me throughout this project with utmost cooperation and
patience.

My sincere thanks are due to all those who shared their invaluable time to provide
the required information for this research. An acknowledgement would not be complete
without a word of thanks to my family and friends for their valuable suggestions and
support throughout.

(Ms. D. RUPA)
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Consumer behavior : It refers to the mental and emotional process and the observable
behavior of consumers during searching, purchasing and post consumption of a product or
service. Consumer behavior involves study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy
and why they buy. It blends the elements from psychology, sociology, socio psychology,
anthropology and economics. It also tries to assess the influence on the consumer from
groups such as family, friends, reference groups and society in general.

Buyer behavior has two aspects: the final purchase activity visible to any observer and the
detailed or short decision process that may involve the interplay of a number of complex
variables not visible to anyone.

What influences consumers to purchase products or services? The consumer buying process
is a complex matter as many internal and external factors have an impact on the buying
decisions of the consumer.

When purchasing a product there several processes, which consumers go through. These will
be discussed below.

1.1 CONCEPTUAL INTRODUCTION

Purchase decision

Through the evaluation process discussed above consumers will reach their final purchase
decision and they reach the final process of going through the purchase action e.g. The
process of going to the shop to buy the product, which for some consumers can be as just as
rewarding as actually purchasing the product. Purchase of the product can either be through
the store, the web, or over the phone.
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Post Purchase Behavior

Ever have doubts about the product after you purchased it? This simply is post purchase
behavior and research shows that it is a common trait amongst purchasers of products.
Manufacturers of products clearly want recent consumers to feel proud of their purchase, it is
therefore just as important for manufacturers to advertise for the sake of their recent
purchaser so consumers feel comfortable that they own a product from a strong and reputable
organization. This limits post purchase behavior. i.e. You feel reassured that you own the
latest advertised product.

Factors influencing the behavior of buyers.

Consumer behavior is affected by many uncontrollable factors. Just think, what influences
you before you buy a product or service? Your friends, your upbringing, your culture, the
media, a role model or influences from certain groups?

Culture is one factor that influences behavior. Simply culture is defined as our attitudes and
beliefs. But how are these attitudes and beliefs developed? As an individual growing up, a
child is influenced by their parents, brothers, sister and other family member who may teach
them what is wrong or right. They learn about their religion and culture, which helps them
develop these opinions, attitudes and beliefs (AIO) . These factors will influence their
purchase behavior however other factors like groups of friends, or people they look up to may
influence their choices of purchasing a particular product or service. Reference groups are
particular groups of people some people may look up towards to that have an impact on
consumer behavior. So they can be simply a band like the Spice Girls or your immediate
family members. Opinion leaders are those people that you look up to because your respect
their views and judgments and these views may influence consumer decisions. So it maybe a
friend who works with the IT trade who may influence your decision on what computer to
buy. The economical environment also has an impact on consumer behavior; do consumers
have a secure job and a regular income to spend on goods? Marketing and advertising
obviously influence consumers in trying to evoke them to purchase a particular product or
service. Peoples social status will also impact their behavior. What is their role within
society? Are they Actors? Doctors? Office worker? and mothers and fathers also? Clearly

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being parents affects your buying habits depending on the age of the children, the type of job
may mean you need to purchase

formal clothes, the income which is earned has an impact. The lifePerformence of someone
who earns £250000 would clearly be different from someone who earns £25000. Also
characters have an influence on buying decision. Whether the person is extrovert (out going
and spends on entertainment) or introvert (keeps to themselves and purchases via online or
mail order) again has an impact on the types of purchases made.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs theory sets out to explain what motivated individuals in
life to achieve. He set out his answer in a form of a hierarchy. He suggests individuals aim to
meet basic psychological needs of hunger and thirst. When this has been met they then move
up to the next stage of the hierarchy, safety needs, where the priority lay with job security and
the knowing that an income will be available to them regularly. Social needs come in the next
level of the hierarchy, the need to belong or be loved is a natural human desire and people do
strive for this belonging. Esteem need is the need for status and recognition within society,
status sometimes drives people, the need to have a good job title and be recognized or the
need to wear branded clothes as a symbol of status.

But how does this concept help an organization trying to market a product or service?
Well as we have established earlier within this website, marketing is about meeting needs and
providing benefits, Maslow’s concept suggests that needs change as we go along our path of
striving for self-actualization. Supermarket firms develop value brands to meet the
psychological needs of hunger and thirst. Harrods develops products and services for those
who want have met their esteem needs. So Maslow’s concept is useful for marketers as it can
help them understand and develop consumer needs and wants.

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1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

1.) Consumers consider various factors for purchasing of cars in Tata Motors limited. The
factors they consider are based on certain demographic variables such as income, age,
occupation etc.
2.) It also depends on attributes and life Performance of the Consumer buying behavior
becomes essential to get a competitive edge.
3.) Consumers do not buy services, they buy satisfaction. Hence marketers must be clear
about the satisfaction the consumer is seeking and check out whether the consumers are
getting the actual satisfaction.
4.) This study helps the marketers to take necessary steps to gain the competitive advantage
over the competitors.

5.) The study helps to predict further behavior intentions of the consumers such as intention
to re-purchase, intention to increase the usage, intention to recommend the product and
Service to others. Today the consumers have wide variety of motorcycles to chose.

6.) Automobiles have become an indispensable part of our lives, an extension of the human
body that provides us faster, cheaper and more convenient mobility every passing day.
Behind this betterment go the efforts of those in the industry, in the form of
improvement through technological research.

7.) These wheeled machines affect our lives in ways more than one. Numerous surveys and
research are conducted throughout the world every now and then to reveal one or the
other aspect of automobiles this section keeps you updated on the latest and the most
interesting surveys and researches conducted in the field of automobiles, and help you
draw the right conclusion.

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1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

● To gain an understanding of the theories and concepts of Buyer Behavior, to find the
age group, educational back ground, occupation / profession and income level of the
respondents.
● To know whether the Consumer is interested to buy the purchasing cars in Tata
Motors limited or not.
● To find respondents reason for purchasing the cars in Tata Motors limited.

● To know the importance reason that the respondents give to each factor for
Purchasing cars in Tata Motors limited.
● To know the Consumer service satisfaction from the respondents.

● To know the awareness of the brand Tata Motors limited.

● To know the consumer feeling about the attributes like tools, comfort, space inside,
fuel efficiency, reliability in their product.

● To know which attribute performance is what in particular product.

● To do comparative analysis of four similar products from four different brands.

● To know which brand reached the consumer expectation in brands.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

● The scope is very limited because attitude of the people change according to the time
● The area of study is considered to be in two districts. They are Hyderabad and Ranga
Reddy districts.
● The study is conducted for 45 days.
● The study is restricted to certain area. So it could not give an accurate picture about
Telangana of India.
● In the present study an attempt has been made to know the actual implementation of
Communication Process as management techniques in general and some other aspects

5
 such as awareness of the workers, effectiveness of the performance appraisal system
in particular.
● Human resource projections are valid on appraisals. By improving job skills, the
employees have lot of scope for development and prepare themselves for higher
responsibilities.
● Consumer behavior has two aspects the final purchase activity visible to any observer
and the detailed or short decision process that may involve the interplay of a number
of complex variables not visible to anyone.
● What influences consumers to purchase products or services? The consumer buying
process is a complex matter as many internal and external factors have an impact on
the buying decisions of the consumer.

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

SOURCES OF DATA:

PRIMARRY METHOD:
Primary data are those, which are collected fresh and for the first time and this happen to be
original in character. In this study primary data was collected by interview schedule method.

SECONDARY METHOD:
Secondary data are those, which are collected from existing data. Secondary data for this
study include appropriate material from newspaper, Magazines, Broachers, Company
Reports, Standard Text Books, and information from Internet has also been acquired
wherever necessary.

DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS:

The instrument used for this study is an interview schedule. Questions related to objectives
of the study from the major portion of the interview schedule. It mainly consists of multiple-
choice questions so that the respondents can mark one or more of the several choice of
answers. Secondary data has been gathered from many published sources such as

6
Newspapers, Journals, Magazines, Company Reports, standard textbooks and information
from Internet has also been acquired wherever necessary.

FIELD WORK:
The project involved a fieldwork of around 1 month 15 days where in the survey was carried
out of around The survey was conducted in different places of Hyderabad and secunderabad
such as Koti, bowenpally, Ameerpet, L.B Nagar, hyathnagar.

METHODOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS:
● The primary data has been collected by an interview schedule.
● The sample for the study was selected on a convenience basis
● All primary data collected is true and reflects the actual actions of the Respondents.
● The data collected has been coded, tabulated and analyzed into logical Statement
using simple statistical methods, pie charts, etc.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN:

A research design is a logical and systematic plan prepared for directing a research study it
specifies the methodology and technique to be adopted for achieving the objectives. It
constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data.
The main aim of the study is to evaluate the brand image of Tata Motors limited. The
study is descriptive in nature. Surveys are best-suited method for descriptive research. So
survey method is used for the study.
The preparation of a research plan for a study aids in establishing direction to the study
and knowing exactly what has to be done and how and when it has to be done at every stage.
A research plan describes the boundaries of research activities and enables the research to
channel his energies in the right work. With clear research objectives, in view the research
can proceed systematically towards his achievements.

SAMPLING PROCEDURES:
Sampling is a systematic approach for selecting a few elements from an entire
collection of units (population) in order to make some INTERPRETATION about the total
population it is a small specimen or a segment of the whole population representing its
general qualities as for as possible. The study was undertaken by convenience sampling.

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SAMPLE SIZE:
The study is conducted on a sample of 100 respondents.

SAMPLING FRAME:
The population for the study consists of Tata Motors limited in the cities of
Hyderabad and secunderabad.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS:
An interview schedule was used to conduct the study.

1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

1. The time period of project is 45 Days.

2. Though the Consumers are willing to give information they could not give as it
wastes their time.
3. The Accuracy of the answers depends upon the mode of interest of Respondents.
4. The opinions of the sample may or may not depict the exact opinions of the total
population.
5. The respondents are in a hurry to fill the questionnaire and thus this adds to a
certain amount of unreliability.

6. The consumer behavior varies according to different products.

7. Consumer buying behavior is a psychological process that is important to

businesses and marketing professionals. Consumer buying behavior relates to the
identification of consistent stages of decision making used in every purchase
situation.

8. The process begins with need recognition, followed by information gathering, a

purchase and finally, post-purchase evaluation.

9. Marketers rely on an understanding of buyer behavior to effectively position

products and services. However, consumer buying behavior does have limitations.

10. 10 percent of the respondents have failed to provide the data.

8
11. Approximately 90 per cent of the information has been gathered exclusively by the
way of personal canvassing of a questionnaire which is used in the present study.
Therefore, the data so collected is prone to error of response to some degree or
other.

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 CHAPTER II

LITERATURE OF REVIEW

1. Understanding Consumer Behavior

Author: Schiffman, L. G., & Kanuk, L. L.

Year: 2010

Schiffman and Kanuk's foundational work in "Consumer Behavior" provides a

comprehensive overview of the factors influencing consumer behavior. The book introduces
the various stages of the consumer decision-making process and highlights the role of
cultural, social, and psychological factors in shaping consumer choices. This source offers a
theoretical framework for understanding how consumers make purchasing decisions, which is
essential for analyzing consumer behavior towards Tata products.

2. Brand Perception and Loyalty

Author: Aaker, D. A.

Year: 1991

Aaker's research on "Managing Brand Equity" is particularly relevant when considering the
consumer behavior toward Tata. The study explores how consumers perceive and develop
loyalty to brands, emphasizing the importance of brand identity, brand awareness, and brand
associations. Understanding the elements that contribute to a strong brand image will help in
evaluating Tata's brand positioning in the minds of consumers.

10
3. Consumer Behavior in the Automotive Industry

Author: Solomon, M. R., & Rabolt, N. J.

Year: 2004

This research examines consumer behavior in the context of the automotive industry, which
is a significant sector for Tata. Solomon and Rabolt's work delves into the impact of
marketing strategies, cultural influences, and the decision-making process specific to
automobile purchases. The findings of this study can be applied to analyze consumer
behavior toward Tata's range of vehicles.

4. Online Consumer Behavior

Author: Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F.

Year: 2019

As online platforms play an increasing role in influencing consumer decisions, Chaffey and
Ellis-Chadwick's research in "Digital Marketing" is pertinent. The study explores the factors
affecting online consumer behavior, the role of digital marketing, and how consumers
navigate the online marketplace. In the context of Tata, understanding online consumer
behavior is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of the company's digital marketing efforts.

5. Case Study: Tata's Marketing Strategies

Author: Gupta, A., & Jain, D.

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Year: 2016

This case study analyzes Tata's marketing strategies and their impact on consumer behavior.
It provides valuable insights into how Tata has positioned itself in the market, the strategies
employed, and their outcomes. Examining this case study will help in understanding the
practical implications of marketing strategies on consumer behavior.

6. Impact of Advertising on Consumer Behavior

Author: Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A.

Year: 2020

Belch and Belch's book, "Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing

Communications Perspective," explores the role of advertising and promotion in shaping
consumer behavior. Understanding how Tata's advertising campaigns influence consumer
perceptions and purchasing decisions is crucial for your study.

7. Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior

Author: Usunier, J. C.

Year: 2017

Usunier's work on "International and Cross-Cultural Management Research" delves into how
cultural differences impact consumer behavior. This is particularly relevant for Tata, which
operates in diverse international markets, and understanding cross-cultural influences is
essential.

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8. Sustainable Consumer Behavior

Author: Peattie, S., & Peattie, S.

Year: 2003

In today's environmentally conscious world, sustainable consumer behavior is a critical

aspect. The Peattie and Peattie study on "Ready to Fly Solo? Reducing Social-Psychological
Barriers to Green Consumerism" explores the factors influencing consumers' green choices
and can be applied to Tata's sustainability efforts.

9. Social Media and Consumer Behavior

Author: Smith, A. N., Fischer, E., & Yongjian, C.

Year: 2012

With the increasing importance of social media, this study examines how social platforms
influence consumer behavior. Investigating the impact of Tata's social media presence on
consumer engagement and decisions can be crucial in today's digital age.

10. Luxury Brand Consumer Behavior

Author: Vigneron, F., & Johnson, L. W.

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Year: 2004

This research explores consumer behavior towards luxury brands. While Tata is known for its
high-end luxury vehicles, Vigneron and Johnson's study can provide insights into the
preferences and motivations of consumers who seek luxury products.

11. Psychological Factors in Consumer Decision Making

Author: Blackwell, R. D., Miniard, P. W., & Engel, J. F.

Year: 2006

The psychological aspects of consumer decision-making are a fundamental component of

understanding behavior. This source provides an in-depth exploration of how consumers'
motivations, attitudes, and perception influence their choices.

12. E-commerce and Consumer Behavior

Author: Laudon, K. C., & Traver, C. G.

Year: 2021

As e-commerce continues to shape consumer behavior, this source offers insights into how
digital platforms, user experience, and online shopping behavior affect purchasing decisions,
which can be applied to Tata's online presence.

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13. Word-of-Mouth and Consumer Behavior

Author: Arndt, J.

Year: 1967

Word-of-mouth communication has a substantial impact on consumer choices. Arndt's classic

work explores how consumers are influenced by recommendations from their peers and
acquaintances.

14. Consumer Behavior in Emerging Markets

Author: Cavusgil, S. T., Ghauri, P. N., & Akcal, A. A.

Year: 2014

Understanding consumer behavior in emerging markets is important for Tata's global

expansion. This source examines the unique challenges and opportunities in these markets.

15. Consumer Behavior in the Automobile Industry Post-

Pandemic

Author: Gupta, A., & Das, A.

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Year: 2022

With the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on consumer behavior, this study focuses on how the
automobile industry, including Tata, has adapted to the post-pandemic consumer preferences
and challenges.

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 CHAPTER III
3. COMPANIES PROFILE

I. TATA

The Tata group comprises over 100 operating companies in seven business sectors:
communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy,
consumer products and chemicals. The group has operations in more than 100 countries
across six continents, and its companies export products and services to 150 countries.

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata group is a global enterprise headquartered in
India, and comprises over 100 operating companies, with operations in more than 100
countries across six continents, exporting products and services to over 150 countries. The
revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $103.27 billion (around Rs624,757 crore) in
2013-14, with 67.2 percent of this coming from businesses outside India. Tata companies
employ over 581,000 people worldwide.

Every Tata company or enterprise operates independently. Each of these companies has its
own board of directors and shareholders, to whom it is answerable. There are 32 publicly
listed Tata enterprises and they have a combined market capitalisation of about $107.60
billion (as on January 30, 2014), and a shareholder base of 3.9 million. The major Tata
companies are Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata
Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan, Tata Communications and
Indian Hotels.

Tata Steel is among the top ten steelmakers, and Tata Motors is among the top five
commercial vehicle manufacturers, in the world. TCS is a leading global software company,
with delivery centres in the US, UK, Hungary, Brazil, Uruguay and China, besides
India. Tata Global Beverages is the second-largest player in tea in the world. Tata Chemicals
is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of soda ash and Tata Communications is one of
the world’s largest wholesale voice carriers.

In tandem with the increasing international footprint of Tata companies, the Tata brand is
also gaining international recognition. Brand Finance, a UK-based consultancy firm, valued

17
the Tata brand at $18.16 billion and ranked it 39th among the top 500 most valuable global
brands in their BrandFinance® Global 500 2013 report. In 2010, BusinessWeek magazine
ranked Tata 17th among the '50 Most Innovative Companies' list.

Tata companies have always believed in returning wealth to the society they serve. Two-
thirds of the equity of Tata Sons, the Tata promoter holding company, is held by
philanthropic trusts that have created national institutions for science and technology, medical
research, social studies and the performing arts. The trusts also provide aid and assistance to
non-government organisations working in the areas of education, healthcare and livelihoods.
Tata companies also extend social welfare activities to communities around their industrial
units.

Going forward, Tata is focusing on new technologies and innovation to drive its business in
India and internationally. The Nano car is one example, as is the Eka supercomputer
(developed by another Tata company), which in 2008 was ranked the world’s fourth fastest.
Anchored in India and wedded to traditional values and strong ethics, Tata companies are
building multinational businesses that will achieve growth through excellence and
innovation, while balancing the interests of shareholders, employees and civil society.

ata Motors Limited is India’s largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of
INR 2,32,834 crores (USD 38.9 billion) in 2013-14. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in
each segment, and among the top in passenger vehicles with winning products in the
compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments.

The Tata Motors Group’s over 60,000 employees are guided by the mission “to be passionate
in anticipating and providing the best vehicles and experiences that excite our Consumers
globally.''

Established in 1945, Tata Motors’ presence cuts across the length and breadth of India. Over
8 million Tata vehicles ply on Indian roads, since the first rolled out in 1954. The company’s
manufacturing base in India is spread across Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra),
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), Sanand (Gujarat) and Dharwad
(Karnataka). Following a strategic alliance with Fiat in 2005, it has set up an industrial joint
venture with Fiat Group Automobiles at Ranjangaon (Maharashtra) to produce both Fiat and

18
Tata cars and Fiat powertrains. The company’s dealership, sales, services and spare parts
network comprises over 6,600 touch points, across the world.

Tata Motors, also listed in the New York Stock Exchange (September 2004), has emerged as
an international automobile company. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata
Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia.
Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, acquired in 2008. In 2004, it acquired the Daewoo
Commercial Vehicles Company, South Korea's second largest truck maker. The rechristened
Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company has launched several new products in the
Korean market, while also exporting these products to several international markets. Today
two-thirds of heavy commercial vehicle exports out of South Korea are from Tata Daewoo.
In 2006, Tata Motors formed a 51:49 joint venture with the Brazil-based, Marcopolo, a global
leader in body-building for buses and coaches to manufacture fully-built buses and coaches
for India - the plant is located in Dharwad. In 2006, Tata Motors entered into joint venture
with Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Company of Thailand to manufacture and market
the company's pickup vehicles in Thailand, and entered the market in 2008. Tata Motors (SA)
(Proprietary) Ltd., Tata Motors' joint venture with Tata Africa Holding (Pty) Ltd. set up in
2011, has an assembly plant in Rosslyn, north of Pretoria. The plant can assemble, semi
knocked down (SKD) kits, light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles ranging from 4
tonnes to 50 tonnes.

Tata Motors is also expanding its international footprint, established through exports since
1961. The company's commercial and passenger vehicles are already being marketed in
several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, South Asia, South
America, CIS and Russia. It has franchisee/joint venture assembly operations in Bangladesh,
Ukraine, and Senegal.

The foundation of the company's growth over the last 68 years is a deep understanding of
economic stimuli and Consumer needs, and the ability to translate them into Consumer-
desired offerings through leading edge R&D. With over 4,500 engineers, scientists and
technicians the company's Engineering Research Centre, established in 1966, has enabled
pioneering technologies and products. The company today has R&D centres in Pune,
Jamshedpur, Lucknow, Dharwad in India, and in South Korea, Italy, Spain, and the UK.

19
It was Tata Motors, which launched the first indigenously developed Light Commercial
Vehicle in 1986. In 2005, Tata Motors created a new segment by launching the Tata Ace,
India's first indigenously developed mini-truck. In 2009, the

company launched its globally benchmarked Prima range of trucks and in 2012 the Ultra
range of international standard light commercial vehicles. In their power, speed, carrying
capacity, operating economy and trims, they will introduce new benchmarks in India and
match the best in the world in performance at a lower life-cycle cost.Tata Motors also
introduced India's first Sports Utility Vehicle in 1991 and, in 1998, the Tata Indica, India's
first fully indigenous passenger car.

In January 2008, Tata Motors unveiled its People's Car, the Tata Nano. The Tata Nano has
been subsequently launched, as planned, in India in March 2009, and subsequently in 2011 in
Nepal and Sri Lanka. A development, which signifies a first for the global automobile
industry, the Nano brings the joy of a car within the reach of thousands of families.

Tata Motors is equally focussed on environment-friendly technologies in emissions and

alternative fuels. It has developed electric and hybrid vehicles both for personal and public
transportation. It has also been implementing several environment-friendly technologies in
manufacturing processes, significantly enhancing resource conservation.

Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged in engineering and automotive solutions,
automotive vehicle components manufacturing and supply chain activities, vehicle financing,
and machine tools and factory automation solutions.

Tata Motors is committed to improving the quality of life of communities by working on four
thrust areas - employability, education, health and environment. The activities touch the lives
of more than a million citizens. The company's support on education and employability is
focused on youth and women. They range from schools to technical education institutes to
actual facilitation of income generation. In health, the company's intervention is in both
preventive and curative health care. The goal of environment protection is achieved through
tree plantation, conserving water and creating new water bodies and, last but not the least, by
introducing appropriate technologies in vehicles and operations for constantly enhancing
environment care.

20
2015

o Vistara takes to the skies

o Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, releases commemorative coin to

mark the 175th birth anniversary of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata

2014

o Tata Sons sets up office in Singapore as base for Asean region

o WWF-India and Tata Housing unveil first-ever crowd-funding campaign for

species conservation in India

o Tata Chemicals celebrates 75 years of glorious presence

o Tata Motors unveils the all-new Zest and Bolt

o Voltas and Dow Chemical Pacific (Singapore) join forces in India

o Tata headquarters is India's first heritage building to get prestigious green

rating

o Land Rover debuts invisible car technology

o TCS and Mitsubishi Corporation join forces, create strategic Japanese IT

services company

o Tata Global Beverages' UK subsidiary acquires 100 percent equity stake in

Earth Rules, Australia

o Tata Power crosses 500 MW landmark of renewable energy generation

capacity

o Tata Power Solar successfully commissions India’s largest solar power project
with NTPC

o Jaguar Land Rover develops the self-learning intelligent car of the future

o Pilatus and Tata Advanced Systems announce the manufacturing of PC-12

'Green Aircraft' aero structures in India

21
 o Tata Class Edge crosses 10,000 classrooms milestone

o CMC amalgamates with TCS

o First Land Rover Discovery Sport rolls off the production line securing £3.5
billion in UK supplier contracts

o Tata Motors celebrates 60 years of truck manufacturing in Jamshedpur

o Tata Power Solar completes 25 years of harnessing solar power to transform

lives

2013

● Tata Motors’ Jamshedpur plant rolls out its two millionth truck
● Tata Power synchronises fifth 800MW unit and makes its first UMPP of
4,000MW, at Mundra, fully operational
● Tata Sons announces formation of the Group Executive Council
● Tata Technologies acquires Cambric, a premier US-based engineering services
company
● TCS acquires IT services firm Alti to help drive long-term growth in France
● Titan Industries is now Titan Company
● Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines to establish new airline in India
● Mount Everest Mineral Water (MEMW) to be merged with Tata Global
Beverages
● Jaguar Land Rover celebrates 1,000,000 vehicles built at Halewood operations
● Tata Toyo and Air International enter into a joint venture
● Titan Company celebrates retail milestone with 1,000 stores

2008

● Tata Motors unveils Tata Nano, the People’s Car, at the 9th Auto Expo in
Delhi on January 10, 2008

22
 ● Tata Motors acquires the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from the Ford Motor
Company
● Tata Chemicals acquires General Chemical Industrial Products Inc (now
known as Tata Chemicals North America)

2009

● Tata Motors announces commercial launch of the Tata Nano; delivers first
Tata Nano in the country in Mumbai
● Tata Teleservices announces pan-India GSM service with NTT DOCOMO
● TRF acquires Dutch Lanka Trailer Manufacturers (DLT), Sri Lanka, a world-
class trailer manufacturing company
● Jaguar Land Rover introduces its premium range of vehicles in India
● Tata Chemicals launches Tata Swach — the world’s most cost-effective water
purifier
● Tata Housing makes waves with its launch of low cost housing in Mumbai

2010

o TRF acquires UK-based Hewitt Robins International

o New plant for Tata Nano at Sanand inaugurated
o Advinus Therapeutics announces the discovery of a novel molecule — GKM-
001 — for the treatment of type II diabetes
o Tata Tea announces joint venture with PepsiCo for health drinks
o Tata Tea group rebrands itself as Tata Global Beverages, headquartered in
London
o Tata Chemicals acquires 100-per-cent stake in leading vacuum salt producer
British Salt, UK
o Tata Chemicals launches i-Shakti dals, India's first national brand of pulses

2011

o Tata Chemicals rebrands its global subsidiaries in the UK, the US and Kenya
under the Tata Chemicals corporate brand
o The Tata brand soars into the top 50 club of global brands

23
 o Tata Medical Center, a comprehensive cancer care and treatment facility
established in Kolkata, was inaugurated by Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata
o The Tata Nano begins international journey in Sri Lanka and Nepal
o Jaguar celebrates 50 years of iconic E-Type car
o Tata Steel completes centenary of its first blast furnace
o Tata BP Solar becomes wholly owned Tata company (now known as Tata
Power Solar Systems)

2012

o Tata Global Beverages and Starbucks form joint venture to open Starbucks
cafés across India. First outlet launched in October in Mumbai
o Tata Communications completes world’s first wholly-owned cable network
ring around the world
o India’s first iodine plus iron fortified salt launched by Tata Chemicals
o Tata AIG Life Insurance Company to be now called Tata AIA Life Insurance

● Company
o Starbucks opens spectacular flagship store in Mumbai, honouring the dynamic
culture of India
o Tetley Tea celebrates 175th anniversary
o Tata Steel expands aerospace activities in China
o Cyrus P Mistry takes over as Chairman, Tata Sons from Ratan N Tata

Board of Directors

Mr. Mistry with the Safari Storme

Mr. Kant with the Ultra

Mr. Wadia with the Range Rover Evoque

Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry

Non-Executive Director and Chairman Mr. Mistry was appointed as a Director of Tata
Motors with effect from May 29, 2012, and as Deputy Chairman of the Company with effect

24
from November 7, 2012. Mr. Mistry took over as Chairman from Mr. Ratan N. Tata on his
retirement with effect from December 28, 2012.

Mr. Mistry was earlier Managing Director of the Shapoorji Pallonji group and was also
responsible for building the infrastructure development vertical in the Shapoorji Pallonji
group.

Mr. Mistry is a Graduate of Civil Engineering from the Imperial College London (1990) and
has an MSc in Management from the London Business School (1997). He was recently
bestowed with the Alumni Achievement Award by the London Business School.

Mr. Ravi Kant

Non-Executive Director and Vice Chairman

Mr. Kant has been with the Company since February 1999, joining as Senior Vice President
(Commercial Vehicles), and was inducted on the Board as an Executive Director in July 2000
and became the Managing Director in July 2005. Upon retiring from his Executive position
on June 1, 2009, Mr. Ravi Kant continues to be on the Company’s Board of Directors as
Vice-Chairman.

Prior to joining the Company, he was with Philips India Limited as Director of Consumers
Electronics business and prior to which with LML Ltd. as Senior Executive Director
(Marketing) and Titan Watches Limited as Vice President (Sales & Marketing).

Mr. Ravi Kant holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and a Master's degree in Science from the University of
Aston, Birmingham, UK.

Mr. Nusli N. Wadia

Non-Executive, Independent Director

Educated in the UK, Mr. Wadia is the Chairman of the Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing
Company Limited and heads the Wadia Group. He is also the Chairman/ Trustee of various
charitable institutions and non-profit organisations.

Mr. Wadia has been on the Company’s Board since December 1998 as an Independent
Director.

25
Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar

Non-Executive, Independent Director

Dr. Mashelkar is an eminent chemical engineering scientist retired from the post of Director
General from the CSIR and is the President of Indian National Science Academy (INSA),
National Innovation Foundation, Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK and Global Research
Alliance. The President of India honoured Dr. Mashelkar with the Padmashri (1991) and the
Padmabhushan (2000). Dr. Mashelkar holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the
Bombay University.

He was appointed as an Independent Director of the Company w.e.f. August 28, 2007.

National interest

The Tata group is committed to benefit the economic development of the countries in which
it operates. No Tata company shall undertake any project or activity to the detriment of the
wider interests of the communities in which it operates.

A Tata company’s management practices and business conduct shall benefit the country,
localities and communities in which it operates, to the extent possible and affordable, and
shall be in accordance with the laws of the land.

A Tata company, in the course of its business activities, shall respect the culture, customs and
traditions of each country and region in which it operates. It shall conform to trade

26
procedures, including licensing, documentation and other necessary formalities, as
applicable.

Financial reporting and records

A Tata company shall prepare and maintain its accounts fairly and accurately and in
accordance with the accounting and financial reporting standards which represent the
generally accepted guidelines, principles, standards, laws and regulations of the country in
which the company conducts its business affairs.

Internal accounting and audit procedures shall reflect, fairly and accurately, all of the
company’s business transactions and disposition of assets, and shall have internal controls to
provide assurance to the company’s board and shareholders that the transactions are accurate
and legitimate. All required information shall be accessible to company auditors and other
authorised parties and government agencies.There shall be no willful omissions of any
company transactions from the books and records, no advance-income recognition and no
hidden bank account and funds.

Any willful, material misrepresentation of and / or misinformation on the financial accounts

and reports shall be regarded as a violation of the Code, apart from inviting appropriate civil
or criminal action under the relevant laws. No employee shall make, authorize, abet or
collude in an improper payment, unlawful commission or bribing.

Competition
A Tata company shall fully support the development and operation of competitive open
markets and shall promote the liberalisation of trade and investment in each country and
market in which it operates. Specifically, no Tata company or employee shall engage in
restrictive trade practices, abuse of market dominance or similar unfair trade activities.

A Tata company or employee shall market the company’s products and services on their own
merits and shall not make unfair and misleading statements about competitors’ products and
services. Any collection of competitive information shall be made only in the normal course
of business and shall be obtained only through legally permitted sources and means.

27
Equal opportunities employer

A Tata company shall provide equal opportunities to all its employees and all qualified
applicants for employment without regard to their race, caste, religion, colour, ancestry,
marital status, gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality, ethnic origin or disability.

Human resource policies shall promote diversity and equality in the workplace, as well as
compliance with all local labour laws, while encouraging the adoption of international best
practices.

Employees of a Tata company shall be treated with dignity and in accordance with the Tata
policy of maintaining a work environment free of all forms of harassment, whether physical,
verbal or psychological. Employee policies and practices shall be administered in a manner
consistent with applicable laws and other provisions of this Code, respect for the right to
privacy and the right to be heard, and that in all matters equal opportunity is provided to those
eligible and decisions are based on merit.

Gifts and donations

A Tata company and its employees shall neither receive nor offer or make, directly or
indirectly, any illegal payments, remuneration, gifts, donations or comparable benefits that
are intended, or perceived, to obtain uncompetitive favours for the conduct of its business.
The company shall cooperate with governmental authorities in efforts to eliminate all forms
of bribery, fraud and corruption.

However, a Tata company and its employees may, with full disclosure, accept and offer
nominal gifts, provided such gifts are customarily given and / or are of a commemorative
nature. Each company shall have a policy to clarify its rules and regulations on gifts and
entertainment, to be used for the guidance of its employees.

Government agencies

A Tata company and its employees shall not, unless mandated under applicable laws, offer or
give any company funds or property as donation to any government agency or its
representative, directly or through intermediaries, in order to obtain any favourable
performance of official duties. A Tata company shall comply with government procurement
regulations and shall be transparent in all its dealings with government agencies.

28
Political non-alignment

A Tata company shall be committed to and support the constitution and governance systems
of the country in which it operates.

A Tata company shall not support any specific political party or candidate for political office.
The company’s conduct shall preclude any activity that could be interpreted as mutual
dependence / favour with any political body or person, and it shall not offer or give any
company funds or property as donations to any political party, candidate or campaign.

Health, safety and environment

A Tata company shall strive to provide a safe, healthy, clean and ergonomic working
environment for its people. It shall prevent the wasteful use of natural resources and be
committed to improving the environment, particularly with regard to the emission of
greenhouse gases, and shall endeaviour to offset the effect of climate change in all spheres of
its activities.

A Tata company, in the process of production and sale of its products and services, shall
strive for economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Quality of products and services

A Tata company shall be committed to supply goods and services of world-class quality
standards, backed by after-sales services consistent with the requirements of its Consumers,
while striving for their total satisfaction. The quality standards of the company’s goods and
services shall meet applicable national and international standards.

A Tata company shall display adequate health and safety labels, caveats and other necessary
information on its product packaging.

Corporate citizenship

A Tata company shall be committed to good corporate citizenship, not only in the compliance
of all relevant laws and regulations but also by actively assisting in the improvement of
quality of life of the people in the communities in which it operates. The company shall
encourage volunteering by its employees and collaboration with community groups.

29
Tata companies are also encouraged to develop systematic processes and conduct
management reviews, as stated in the Tata ‘corporate sustainability protocol’, from time to
time so as to set strategic direction for social development activity.

The company shall not treat these activities as optional, but should strive to incorporate them
as an integral part of its business plan.

Cooperation of Tata companies

A Tata company shall cooperate with other Tata companies including applicable joint
ventures, by sharing knowledge and physical, human and management resources, and by
making efforts to resolve disputes amicably, as long as this does not adversely affect its
business interests and shareholder value.

In the procurement of products and services, a Tata company shall give preference to other
Tata companies, as long as they can provide these on competitive terms relative to third
parties.

Public representation of the company and the Group

The Tata group honors the information requirements of the public and its stakeholders. In all
its public appearances, with respect to disclosing company and business information to public
constituencies such as the media, the financial community, employees, shareholders, agents,
franchisees, dealers, distributors and importers, a Tata company or the Tata group shall be
represented only by specifically authorized directors and employees. It shall be the sole
responsibility of these authorized representatives to disclose information about the company
or the Group.

Third party representation

Parties which have business dealings with the Tata group but are not members of the Group,
such as consultants, agents, sales representatives, distributors, channel partners, contractors
and suppliers, shall not be authorized to represent a Tata company without the written
permission of the Tata company, and / or if their business conduct and ethics are known to be
inconsistent with the Code.

30
Third parties and their employees are expected to abide by the Code in their interaction with,
and on behalf of, a Tata company. Tata companies are encouraged to sign a non-disclosure
agreement with third parties to support confidentiality of information.

Use of the Tata brand

The use of the Tata name and trademark shall be governed by manuals, codes and agreements
to be issued by Tata Sons. The use of the Tata brand is defined in and regulated by the Tata
Brand Equity and Business Promotion agreement. No third party or joint venture shall use the
Tata brand to further its interests without specific authorization.

Group policies

A Tata company shall recommend to its board of directors the adoption of policies and
guidelines periodically formulated by Tata Sons.

Shareholders
A Tata company shall be committed to enhancing shareholder value and complying with all
regulations and laws that govern shareholder rights.The board of directors of a Tata company
shall duly and fairly inform its shareholders about all relevant aspects of the company’s
business, and disclose such information in accordance with relevant regulations and
agreements.

Ethical conduct

Every employee of a Tata company, including full-time directors and the chief executive,
shall exhibit culturally appropriate deportment in the countries they operate in, and deal on
behalf of the company with professionalism, honesty and integrity, while conforming to high
moral and ethical standards. Such conduct shall be fair and transparent and be perceived to be
so by third parties.

Every employee of a Tata company shall preserve the human rights of every individual and
the community, and shall strive to honur commitments.

Every employee shall be responsible for the implementation of and compliance with the Code
in his / her environment. Failure to adhere to the Code could attract severe consequences,
including termination of employment.

31
Regulatory compliance

Employees of a Tata company, in their business conduct, shall comply with all applicable
laws and regulations, in letter and spirit, in all the territories in which they operate. If the
ethical and professional standards of applicable laws and regulations are below that of the
Code, then the standards of the Code shall prevail.

Directors of a Tata company shall comply with applicable laws and regulations of all the
relevant regulatory and other authorities. As good governance practice they shall safeguard
the confidentiality of all information received by them by virtue of their position.

Concurrent employment

Consistent with applicable laws, an employee of a Tata company shall not, without the
requisite, officially written approval of the company, accept employment or a position of
responsibility (such as a consultant or a director) with any other company, nor provide
freelance services to anyone, with or without remuneration. In the case of a full-time director
or the chief executive, such approval must be obtained from the board of directors of the
company.

Conflict of interest

An employee or director of a Tata company shall always act in the interest of the company,
and ensure that any business or personal association which he / she may have does not
involve a conflict of interest with the operations of the company and his / her role therein. An
employee, including the executive director (other than independent director) of a Tata
company, shall not accept a position of responsibility in any other non-Tata company or not-
for-profit organisation without specific sanction.

The above shall not apply to (whether for remuneration or otherwise):

a) Nominations to the boards of Tata companies, joint ventures or associate companies.
b) Memberships / positions of responsibility in educational / professional bodies,
wherein such association will benefit the employee / Tata company.

32
c) Nominations / memberships in government committees / bodies or organisations.
d) Exceptional circumstances, as determined by the competent authority.

Competent authority, in the case of all employees, shall be the chief executive, who in turn
shall report such exceptional cases to the board of directors on a quarterly basis. In case of the
chief executive and executive directors, the Group Executive Council shall be the competent
authority.

An employee or a director of a Tata company shall not engage in any business, relationship
or activity which might conflict with the interest of his / her company or the Tata group. A
conflict of interest, actual or potential, may arise where, directly or indirectly…
a) An employee of a Tata company engages in a business, relationship or activity with
anyone who is party to a transaction with his / her company.
b) An employee is in a position to derive an improper benefit, personally or to any of his / her
relatives, by making or influencing decisions relating to any transaction.
c) An independent judgement of the company’s or Group’s best interest cannot be exercised.

The main areas of such actual or potential conflicts of interest shall include the following:
a) An employee or a full-time director of a Tata company conducting business on behalf of
his / her company or being in a position to influence a decision with regard to his / her
company’s business with a supplier or Consumer where his / her relative is a principal officer
or representative, resulting in a benefit to him / her or his / her relative.
b) Award of benefits such as increase in salary or other remuneration, posting, promotion or
recruitment of a relative of an employee of a Tata company, where such

an individual is in a position to influence decisions with regard to such benefits.

c) The interest of the company or the Group can be compromised or defeated.

Notwithstanding such or any other instance of conflict of interest that exist due to historical
reasons, adequate and full disclosure by interested employees shall be made to the company’s
management. It is also incumbent upon every employee to make a

full disclosure of any interest which the employee or the employee’s immediate family,
including parents, spouse and children, may have in a family business or a company or firm
that is a competitor, supplier, Consumer or distributor of or has other business dealings with
his / her company.

33
Upon a decision being taken in the matter, the employee concerned shall be required to take
necessary action, as advised, to resolve / avoid the conflict.

If an employee fails to make the required disclosure and the management of its own accord
becomes aware of an instance of conflict of interest that ought to have been disclosed by the
employee, the management shall take a serious view of the matter and consider suitable
disciplinary action against the employee.

Securities transactions and confidential information

An employee of a Tata company and his / her immediate family shall not derive any benefit
or counsel, or assist others to derive any benefit, from access to and possession of
information about the company or Group or its clients or suppliers that is not in the public
domain and, thus, constitutes unpublished, price-sensitive insider information.

An employee of a Tata company shall not use or proliferate information that is not available
to the investing public, and which therefore constitutes insider information, for making or
giving advice on investment decisions about the securities of the respective Tata company,
Group, client or supplier on which such insider information has been obtained.

Such insider information might include (without limitation) the following:

● Acquisition and divestiture of businesses or business units.

● Financial information such as profits, earnings and dividends.
● Announcement of new product introductions or developments.
● Asset revaluations.
● Investment decisions / plans.
● Restructuring plans.
● Major supply and delivery agreements.
● Raising of finances.

An employee of a Tata company shall also respect and observe the confidentiality of
information pertaining to other companies, their patents, intellectual property rights,
trademarks and inventions; and strictly observe a practice of non-disclosure.

Protecting company assets

34
The assets of a Tata company shall not be misused; they shall be employed primarily and
judiciously for the purpose of conducting the business for which they are duly authorised.
These include tangible assets such as equipment and machinery, systems, facilities, materials
and resources, as well as intangible assets such as information technology and systems,
proprietary information, intellectual property, and relationships with Consumers and
suppliers.

Citizenship
The involvement of a Tata employee in civic or public affairs shall be with express approval
from the chief executive of his / her company, subject to this involvement having no adverse
impact on the business affairs of the company or the Tata group.

Integrity of data furnished

Every employee of a Tata company shall ensure, at all times, the integrity of data or
information furnished by him / her to the company. He / she shall be entirely responsible in
ensuring that the confidentiality of all data is retained and in no circumstance transferred to
any outside person / party in the course of normal operations without express guidelines from
or, the approval of the management.

Reporting concerns

Every employee of a Tata company shall promptly report to the management, and / or third-
party ethics helpline, when she / he becomes aware of any actual or possible violation of the
Code or an event of misconduct, act of misdemeanour or act not in the company’s interest.
Such reporting shall be made available to suppliers and partners, too.Any Tata employee can
choose to make a protected disclosure under the whistleblower policy of the company,
providing for reporting to the chairperson of the audit committee or the board of directors or
specified authority.

Such a protected disclosure shall be forwarded, when there is reasonable evidence to

conclude that a violation is possible or has taken place, with a covering letter, which shall
bear the identity of the whistleblower.

The company shall ensure protection to the whistleblower and any attempts to intimidate him
/ her would be treated as a violation of the Code.

35
Note:

The TCoC does not provide a full, comprehensive and complete explanation of all the rules
that employees are bound to follow. Employees have a continuing obligation to familiarise
themselves with all applicable laws, company policies, procedures and work rules.

All JVs could adopt TCoC or a joint code of conduct incorporating all elements of the TCoC.

This version of the TCoC supersedes all earlier versions and associated documents and stands
effective from October 1, 2013.

36
 CHAPTER IV

4.ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

Consumer Behaviour
A competitor, in order to achieve the loyalty of the Consumers, offer an endless
information flow on the products and services and thereby continuously educates the
Consumer about the opportunities in the market. Therefore today even an ordinary person, is
in possession of the large amount of data to use for the purpose of making a decision as to
which products/ services he would go in for. The competitive environment is making the
Consumer wisher day by day and he is able to take a large number of decisions on his own.
The experts’ advice of the olden days is being replaced by the Consumer’s own wisdom.
This is making the market place more complicated and unpredictable. The Consumer is
getting smarter today and he is able to decide his own money’s worth and therefore,
organization across the board are `pursuing the Consumer’s views to streamline their business
strategies to remain Consumer- worthy.
People are the prime factor for any organization to maintain the effectiveness and thus
develop the right focus for the people, so that each one perceives as clearly as possible his
position in the cycle of growth and prosperity of the organization. Agendas will have to be
drawn in such a manner and communicated so effectively that the individual is able to enjoy a
meaningful life in the organization, endowed with authority and responsibility for the role he
plays.
“One should be able to see for oneself the impact of the contributions one has made
towards the growth and prosperity cycle of the organization. As a matter of fact the
relationship between the people and the organization should be so designed that each one is
here to experience the pleasure of winning and pain of losing. People alone are of no
significance unless and until they have an intimate and continuous interaction with the
process”
Therefore organization have to take continuous care to update their quality of the people
and that of processes simultaneously so that a healthy relationship is built up and maintained
making the relationship happy and healthy one. This, when done, should generate in people a
sense of entrepreneurship ownership of the organization.

37
 “Since the Consumer are the main focus of any organization its structure should be so
flat i.e., people fluently interact with the Consumer and maintain continuous feedback about
the Consumer’s moods and methods in order to shape its business portfolio and strategies”.

It is very important to find whether the fundamentals of the organization are getting strong as
desired. It is therefore rightly said that a well trained army with quality arms and
ammunitions and with a sense of involvement can got the nations frontiers inn desirable and
dependable manner similarly: people at the operation level with superior competency and
capability supplied with superior products and strategies can acquire a place for an
organization in the market place. Retail outlets are the contact points of the Consumers and
therefore the image of the organization largely depends upon the quality of the people
managing the interventions and transactions at the level.

The Consumer Market:

The consumer market consists of all the individuals and households who buy or acquire
goods and services for personal consumption. The simplest model consumer buyer behavior
is the stimulus – response model. According to this model marketing stimuli ( the four Ps)
and the major forces (economic, technological, political, cultural) enter the consumer’s
“black box” and reproduce certain responses.Social factors influence buyer’s behavior. A
person’s reference group-family, friends, social organizations, professional associations-
strongly affect product and brand choices. The buyer’s age, life-cycle stage, occupation,
economic circumstances, life Performence, personality, and other personal. Characteristics
influence his or her buying decisions. Consumer life-Performences the pattern of acting and
interacting in the world are also an important influences on purchase decisions.

CONSUMER PERCEPTION

It can be defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets
stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. A stimulus is a unit of input to

38
any of the senses. Examples of stimulus ie, sensory input include products, packages, brand
names, advertisements, and commercials, sensory receptor.
Marketers do not want their target audience to look only at the models in their ads. They
want to communicate something about their products as well. Marketers often use attractive
models, humour, other factors to attract the target market’s interest. Information processing
is a series of activities by which stimuli are perceived, transformed in to information, and
stored. Information processing model has four major steps or stages,
a) Exposure c) Interpretation, and
b) Attention d) Memory

The first three constitute perception.

Exposure occurs when a stimulus such as an Advertisement hoarding comes

within the range of a person’s vision. Attention occurs when the information from
vision pass on to the brain for processing. Interpretation is the assignment of
meaning to the received sensations. Memory is the short – term use of the
meaning for immediate decision-making or the longer-term retention of the
meaning.

The basic components shown in the figure can be arranged

into four groups:

1. Stimuli, which serve as the raw material to be processed.

The stages of processing activities, which are linked by arrows and mainly internal to
the Consumer.
Situational and consumer characteristics which can influence the nature of
these processing activities, and an executive system, which guides the process by
regulating the type and intensity of processing activities engaged in, at any time.

Consumer Buying Behavior

Possibly the most challenging concept in marketing deals with understanding why
buyers do what they do (or don’t do). But such knowledge is critical for marketers

39
since Wanting a strong understanding of buyer behavior will help shed light on what
is important to the Consumer and also suggest the important influences on Consumer
decision-making. Using this information, marketers can create marketing programs
that they believe will be of interest to Consumers.

As you might guess, factors affecting how Consumers make decisions are extremely
complex. Buyer behavior is deeply rooted in psychology with dashes of sociology
thrown in just to make things more interesting. Since every person in the world is
different, it is impossible to have simple rules that explain how buying decisions are
made. But those who have spent many years analyzing Consumer activity have
presented us with useful “guidelines” in how someone decides whether or not to make
a purchase.

In fact, pick up any textbook that examines Consumer behavior and each seems to
approach it from a different angle. The perspective we take is to touch on just the
basic concepts that appear to be commonly accepted as influencing Consumer
behavior. We will devote two sections of the Principles of Marketing Tutorials to
Consumer behavior.In this section we will examine the buying behavior of consumers
(i.e., when people buy for personal reasons) while in the Business Buying Behavior
tutorial we will examine factors that influence buyer’s decisions in the business
market.

Why Consumers Buy

As we discussed in the What is Marketing? tutorial, Consumers make purchases in

order to satisfy needs. Some of these needs are basic and must be filled by everyone
on the planet (e.g., food, shelter) while others are not required for basic survival and
vary depending on the person. It probably makes more sense to classify needs that are
not a necessity as wants or desires. In fact, in many countries where the standard of
living is very high, a large portion of the population’s income is spent on wants and
desires rather than on basic needs. In this tutorial when we mention the consumer we
are referring to the actual buyer, the person spending the money. But is should also be
pointed out that the one who does the buying is not necessarily the user of what is
bought and that others may be involved in the buying decision in addition to the

40
actual buyer. While the purchasing process in the consumer market is not as complex
as the business market, Wanting multiple people involved in a purchase decision is
not unusual. For example, in planning for a family vacation the mother may make the
hotel reservations but others in the family may have input on the hotel choice.
Similarly, a father may purchase snacks at the grocery store but his young child may
be the one who selected it from the store shelf.

So understanding consumer purchase behavior involves not only understanding how

decisions are made but also understanding the dynamics that influence purchases.

What Influences Purchasing

As we discussed the decision-making process for consumers is anything but straight

forward. There are many factors that can affect this process as a person works through
the purchase decision. The number of potential influences on consumer behavior is
limitless. However, marketers are well served to understand the KEY influences. By
doing so they may be in a position to tailor their marketing efforts to take advantage
of these influences in a way that will satisfy the consumer and the marketer
(remember this is a key part of the definition of marketing).

For the purposes of this tutorial we will break these influences down into three main
categories: Internal, External and Marketing. However, those interested in learning
more about Consumer buying activity may want to consult one or more consumer
behavior books where they will find additional methods for explaining consumer
buying behavior.

For the most part the influences are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are all
interconnected and, as we will see, work together to form who we are and how we
behave.

For each of the influences that are discussed we will provide a basic description and
also suggest its implication to marketers. Bear in mind we only provide a few
marketing implications for each influence; clearly there are many more.

41
Internal Influences: Perceptual Filter

We start our examination of the influences on consumer purchase decisions by first

looking inside ourselves to see which are the most important internal factors that
affect how we make choices.

Perceptual Filter

Perception is how we see ourselves and the world we live in. However, what ends up
being stored inside us doesn’t always get there in a direct manner. Often our mental
makeup results from information that has been consciously or subconsciously filtered
as we experience it, a process we refer to as a perceptual filter. To us this is our
reality, though it does not mean it is an accurate reflection on what is real. Thus,
perception is the way we filter stimuli (e.g., someone talking to us, reading a
newspaper story) and then make sense out of it.

Perception has several steps.

● Exposure – sensing a stimuli (e.g. seeing an ad)

● Attention – an effort to recognize the nature of a stimuli (e.g. recognizing it is
an ad)
● Awareness – assigning meaning to a stimuli (e.g., humorous ad for particular
product)
● Retention – adding the meaning to one’s internal makeup (i.e., product has fun
ads)

How these steps are eventually carried out depends on a person’s approach to
learning. By learning we mean how someone changes what they know, which in turn
may affect how they act. There are many theories of learning, a discussion of which is
beyond the scope of this tutorial, however, suffice to say that people are likely to learn
in different ways. For instance, one person may be able to focus very strongly on a
certain advertisement and be able to retain the information after being exposed only
one time while another person may need to be exposed to the same advertisement
many times before he/she even recognizes what it is. Consumers are also more likely
to retain information if a person has a strong interest in the stimuli. If a person is in
need of new car they are more likely to pay attention to a new advertisement for a car

42
while someone who does not need a car may need to see the advertisement many
times before they recognize the brand of automobile.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers spend large sums of money in an attempt to get Consumers to have a

positive impression of their products. But clearly the existence of a perceptual filter
suggests that getting to this stage is not easy. Exposing consumers to a product can be
very challenging considering the amount of competing product messages (ads) that
are also trying to accomplish the same objective (i.e., advertising clutter). So
marketers must be creative and use various means to deliver their message. Once the
message reaches consumer it must be interesting enough to capture their attention
(e.g., talk about the product’s benefits). But attending to the message is not enough.
For marketers the most critical step is the one that occurs with awareness. Here
marketers must continually monitor and respond if their message becomes distorted in
ways that will negatively shape its meaning. This can often happen due in part to
competitive activity (e.g., comparison advertisements). Finally, getting the consumer
to give positive meaning to the message they have retained requires the marketer
make sure that consumers accurately interpret the facts about the product.

Internal Influences: Knowledge

Knowledge is the sum of all information known by a person. It is the facts of the
world as he/she knows it and the depth of knowledge is a function of the breadth of
worldly experiences and the strength of an individual’s long-term memory. Obviously
what exists as knowledge to an individual depends on how an individual’s perceptual
filter makes sense of the information it is exposed to.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers may conduct research that will gauge consumers’ level of knowledge
regarding their product. As we will see below, it is likely that other factors influencing
consumer behavior are in large part shaped by what is known about a product. Thus,

43
developing methods (e.g., incentives) to encourage consumers to accept more
information (or correct information) may affect other influencing factors.

Internal Influences: Attitude

In simple terms attitude refers to what a person feels or believes about something.
Additionally, attitude may be reflected in how an individual acts based on his or her
beliefs. Once formed, attitudes can be very difficult to change. Thus, if a consumer
has a negative attitude toward a particular issue it will take considerable effort to
change what they believe to be true.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers facing consumers who have a negative attitude toward their product must
work to identify the key issues shaping a consumer’s attitude then adjust marketing
decisions (e.g., advertising) in an effort to change the attitude. For companies
competing against strong rivals to whom loyal consumers exhibit a positive attitude,
an important strategy is to work to see why consumers feel positive toward the
competitor and then try to meet or beat the competitor on these issues. Alternatively, a
company can try to locate Consumers who feel negatively toward the competitor and
then increase awareness among this group.

Internal Influences: Personality

An individual’s personality relates to perceived personal characteristics that are

consistently exhibited, especially when one acts in the presence of others. In most, but
not all, cases the behaviors one projects in a situation is similar to the behaviors a
person exhibits in another situation. In this way personality is the sum of sensory
experiences others get from experiencing a person (i.e., how one talks, reacts). While
one’s personality is often interpreted by those we interact with, the person has their
own vision of their personality, called Self Concept, which may or may not be the
same has how others view us.

Marketing Implications:

44
For marketers it is important to know that consumers make purchase decisions to
support their self concept. Using research techniques to identify how Consumers view
themselves may give marketers insight into products and promotion options that are

not readily apparent. For example, when examining consumers a marketer may
initially build marketing strategy around more obvious clues to consumption

behavior, such as consumer’s demographic indicators (e.g., age, occupation, income).

However, in-depth research may yield information that shows consumers are
purchasing products to fulfill self-concept objectives that have little to do with the
demographic category they fall into (e.g., senior citizen may be making purchases that
make them feel younger). Appealing to the consumer’s self concept needs could
expand the market to which the product is targeted.

Internal Influences: Life Performance

This influencing factor relates to the way we live through the activities we engage in
and interests we express. In simple terms it is what we value out of life. Life
Performance is often determined by how we spend our time and money.

Marketing Implications:

Products and services are purchased to support consumers’ life Performances.

Marketers have worked hard researching how consumers in their target markets live
their lives since this information is key to developing products, suggesting
promotional strategies and even determining how best to distribute products. The fact
that life Performance is so directly tied to marketing activity will be further examined
as we discuss developing target market strategies (See Targeting Markets) tutorial

45
Internal Influences: Motivation

Motivation relates to our desire to achieve a certain outcome. Many internal factors
we have already discussed can affect a Consumer’s desire to achieve a certain
outcome but there are others. For instance, when it comes to making purchase
decisions Consumers’ motivation could be affected by such issues as financial
position (e.g., Can I afford the purchase?), time constraints (e.g., Do I need to make

the purchase quickly?), overall value (e.g., Am I getting my money’s worth?), and
perceived risk (e.g., What happens if I make a bad decision?).

Marketing Implications:

Motivation is also closely tied to the concept of Involvement, which relates to how
much effort the consumer will exert in making a decision. Highly motivated
consumers will want to get mentally and physically involved in the purchase process.
Not all products have a high percentage of highly involved Consumers (e.g., milk) but
marketers who market products and services that may lead to high level of consumer
involvement should prepare options that will be attractive to this group. For instance,
marketers should make it easy for consumers to learn about their product (e.g.,
information on website, free video preview) and, for some products, allow Consumers
to experience the product (e.g., free trial) before committing to the purchase

Internal Influences: Roles

Roles represent the position we feel we hold or others feel we should hold when
dealing in a group environment. These positions carry certain responsibilities yet it is
important to understand that some of these responsibilities may, in fact, be perceived
and not spelled out or even accepted by others. In support of their roles, consumers
will make product choices that may vary depending on which role they are assuming.
As illustration, a person who is responsible for selecting snack food for an office party

46
his boss will attend may choose higher quality products than he would choose when
selecting snacks for his family.

Marketing Implications:

Advertisers often show how the benefits of their products aid consumers as they
perform certain roles. Typically the underlying message of this promotional approach
is to suggest that using the advertiser’s product will help raise one’s status in the eyes
of others while using a competitor’s product may have a negative effect on status.

External Influences: Culture

Consumer purchasing decisions are often affected by factors that are outside of their
control but have direct or indirect impact on how we live and what we consume. One
example of this are cultural factors

Culture represents the behavior, beliefs and, in many cases, the way we act learned by
interacting or observing other members of society. In this way much of what we do is
shared behavior, passed along from one member of society to another. Yet culture is a
broad concept that, while of interest to marketers, is not nearly as important as
understanding what occurs within smaller groups or Sub-Cultures to which we may
also belong. Sub-cultures also have shared values but this occurs within smaller
groups. For instance, sub-cultures exist where groups share similar values in terms of
ethnicity, religious beliefs, geographic location, special interests and many others.

Marketing Implications:

As part of their efforts to convince Consumers to purchase their products, marketers

often use cultural representations, especially in promotional appeals. The objective is
to connect to consumers using cultural references that are easily understood and often
embraced by the consumer. By doing so the marketer hopes the consumer feels more
comfortable with or can relate better to the product since it corresponds with their
cultural values. Additionally, smart marketers use strong research efforts in an attempt
to identify differences in how sub-culture behaves. These efforts help pave the way

47
for spotting trends within a sub-culture, which the marketer can capitalize on through
new marketing tactics (e.g., new products, new sales channels, added value, etc.).

External Influences: Group Membership

In addition to cultural influences, consumers belong to many other groups with which
they share certain characteristics and which may influence purchase decisions. Often
these groups contain Opinion Leaders or others who have major influence on what the
Consumer purchases. Some of the basic groups we may belong to include:

● Social Class – represents the social standing one has within a society based on
such factors as income level, education, occupation
● Family – one’s family situation can have a strong effect on how purchase
decisions are made
● Reference groups – most consumers simultaneously belong to many other
groups with which they associate or, in some cases, feel the need to
disassociate

Marketing Implications:

Identifying and understanding the groups consumers belong to is a key strategy for
marketers. Doing so helps identify target markets, develop new products, and create
appealing marketing promotions to which consumers can relate. In particular,
marketers seek to locate group leaders and others to whom members of the group look
for advice or direction. These opinion leaders, if well respected by the group, can be
used to gain insight into group behavior and if these opinion leaders accept
promotional opportunities could act as effective spokespeople for the marketer’s
products.

48
External Influences: Purchase Situation
Purchase Situation

A purchase decision can be strongly affected by the situation in which people find
themselves. In general, a situation is the circumstances a person faces wh

en making a purchase decision, such as the nature of their physical environment, their
emotional state, or time constraints. Not all situations are controllable, in which case a
consumer may not follow their normal process for making a purchase decision. For
instance, if a person needs a product quickly and a store does not carry the brand they
normally purchase, the Consumer may choose a competitor’s product.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers can take advantage of decisions made in uncontrollable situations in at least

two ways. First, marketers can use promotional methods to reinforce a specific
selection of products when the consumer is confronted with a particular situation. For
example, automotive services can be purchased that promise to service vehicles if the
user runs into problems anywhere and at anytime. Second, marketers can use
marketing methods that attempt to convince consumers that a situation is less likely to
occur if the marketer’s product is used. This can also be seen with auto products,
where marketers explain that using their product will prevent unexpected damage to
their vehicles.

Types of Consumer Purchase Decisions

Consumers are faced with purchase decisions nearly every day. But not all decisions
are treated the same. Some decisions are more complex than others and thus require
more effort by the consumer. Other decisions are fairly routine and require little
effort. In general, consumers face four types of purchase decisions:

Minor New Purchase – these purchases represent something new to a consumer but in
the Consumer’s mind is not a very important purchase in terms of need, money or
other reason (e.g., status within a group).

49
 ● Minor Re-Purchase – these are the most routine of all purchases and often the
consumer returns to purchase the same product without giving much thought
to other product options (i.e., consumer is brand loyalty).
● Major New Purchase – these purchases are the most difficult of all purchases
because the product being purchased is important to the consumer but the
consumer has little or no previous experience making these decisions. The
consumer’s lack of confidence in making this type of decision often (but not
always) requires the consumer to engage in an extensive decision-making
process..
● Major Re-Purchase - these purchase decisions are also important to the
consumer but the consumer feels confident in making these decisions since
they have previous experience purchasing the product.

For marketers it is important to understand how consumers treat the purchase

decisions they face. If a company is targeting Consumers who feel a purchase
decision is difficult (i.e., Major New Purchase), their marketing strategy may vary
greatly from a company targeting Consumers who view the purchase decision as
routine. In fact, the same company may face both situations at the same time; for
some the product is new, while other Consumers see the purchase as routine. The
implication of buying behavior for marketers is that different buying situations require
different marketing efforts.

How Consumers Buy

So now that we have discussed the factors influencing a consumer’s decision to

purchase, let’s examine the process itself. This process is presented in a sequence of 5
steps as shown below.

50
However, whether a consumer will actually carryout each step depends on the type of
purchase decision that is faced. For instance, for minor re-purchases the consumer
may be quite loyal to the same brand, thus the decision is a routine one (i.e., buy the
same product) and little effort is involved in making a purchase decision. In cases of
routine, brand loyal purchases consumers may skip several steps in the purchasing
process since they know exactly what they want allowing the consumer to move
quickly through the steps. But for more complex decisions, such as Major New
Purchases, the purchasing process can extend for days, weeks, months or longer. So in
presenting these steps marketers should realize that, depending on the circumstances
surrounding the purchase, the importance of each step may vary.

Purchase Decision Steps 1 and 2

1. Need/Want/Desire is recognized

In the first step the consumer has determined that for some reason he/she is not
satisfied (i.e., consumer’s perceived actual condition) and wants to improve his/her
situation (i.e., consumer’s perceived desired condition). For instance, internal triggers,
such as hunger or thirst, may tell the consumer that food or drink is needed. External
factors can also trigger consumer’s needs. Marketers are particularly good at this
through advertising, in-store displays and even the intentional use of scent (e.g.,
perfume counters). At this stage the decision-making process may stall if the
consumer is not motivated to continue (see Motivation above). However, if the

51
consumer does have the internal drive to satisfy the need they will continue to the
next step.

2. Search for Information

Assuming consumers are motivated to satisfy his or her need, they will next undertake
a search for information on possible solutions. The sources used to acquire this
information may be as simple as remembering information from past experience (i.e.,
memory) or the consumer may expend considerable effort to locate information from
outside sources (e.g., Internet search, talk with others, etc.). How much effort the
consumer directs toward searching depends on such factors as: the importance of
satisfying the need, familiarity with available solutions, and the amount of time
available to search. To appeal to consumers who are at the search stage, marketers
should make efforts to ensure consumers can locate information related to their
product. For example, for marketers whose Consumers rely on the Internet for
information gathering, attaining high rankings in search engines has become a critical
marketing objective.

Purchase Decision Steps 3, 4 and 5

3. Evaluate Options

Consumers’ search efforts may result in a set of options from which a choice can be
made. It should be noted that there may be two levels to this stage. At level one the
consumer may create a set of possible solutions to their needs (i.e., product types)
while at level two the consumer may be evaluating particular products (i.e., brands)
within each solution. For example, a consumer who needs to replace a television has
multiple solutions to choose from such as plasma, LCD and CRT televisions. Within
each solution type will be multiple brands from which to choose. Marketers need to
understand how consumers evaluate product options and why some products are
included while others are not. Most importantly, marketers must determine which
criteria consumers are using in their selection of possible options and how each
criterion is evaluated. Returning to the television example, marketing tactics will be
most effective when the marketer can tailor their efforts by knowing what benefits are

52
most important to consumers when selecting options (e.g., picture quality, brand
name, screen size, etc.) and then determine the order of importance of each benefit.

4. Purchase

In many cases the solution chosen by the consumer is the same as the product whose
evaluation is the highest. However, this may change when it is actually time to make
the purchase. The "intended" purchase may be altered at the time of purchase for
many reasons such as: the product is out-of-stock, a competitor offers an incentive at
the point-of-purchase (e.g., store salesperson mentions a competitor’s offer), the
Consumer lacks the necessary funds (e.g., credit card not working), or members of the
consumer’s reference group take a negative view of the purchase (e.g., friend is
critical of purchase). Marketers whose product is most desirable to the consumer must
make sure that the transaction goes smoothly. For example, Internet retailers have
worked hard to prevent consumers from abandoning online purchase (i.e., online
shopping carts) by streamlining the checkout process. For marketers whose product is
not the consumer’s selected product, last chance marketing efforts may be worth
exploring, such as offering incentives to store personnel to "talk up" their product at
the checkout line.

5. After-Purchase Evaluation

Once the consumer has made the purchase they are faced with an evaluation of the
decision. If the product performs below the consumer’s expectation then he/she will
re-evaluate satisfaction with the decision, which at its extreme may result in the
consumer returning the product while in less extreme situations the consumer will
retain the purchased item but may take a negative view of the product. Such
evaluations are more likely to occur in cases of expensive or highly important
purchases. To help ease the concerns consumers have with their purchase evaluation,
marketers need to be receptive and even encourage consumer contact. Consumer
service centers and follow-up market research are useful tools in helping to address
purchasers’ concerns.

53
ACTIVITIES UNDER THE 4P ARE OF THE
MARKETING MIX:
1) Product:
Managing the product includes planning and developing the right products
and services to be marketed by the company policy strategy guidelines are
needed for changing the existing products and adding new ones.

A product activity includes policies and procedures relating

to:

a. Product variety, quality, features, design, brand name, packaging, size,

services, warranties and returns.
b. Markets to sell-whom, where and in what quantity.
c. New product policy, R&D programs.

2) Pricing activities:
Include policies and procedures relating to
1. List prices.
2. Discounts.
3. Allowances.
4. Payment period.
5. Credit terms
Generally markets consider the following factors while seeking price: target
Consumers, cost, competition, social responsibility.

3) Promotional activities:

Includes policies and procedures relating to.

⮚ Advertising: media mix, budget, allocation and programmes.
⮚ Personal setting: objectives, quality of sales force, cost level, level of
motivation.
⮚ Promotion: special setting plans/ devices directed at or through the trade
forms of these devices are consumer promotions and trade opinions.

54
 ⮚ Publicity and public relations.

4) Place/distribution activities: Basically place of distribution

activities are to transfer ownership to consumer and to place products,
services, idea at the right time and place. Distribution is made up of two
components
1) Physical distribution and
2) Channels of distribution
i) Physical distribution: Activities involved in moving products or
services from producer to consumer are.
⮚ Transportation, warehousing and storage, order processing and
inventory control.
ii) Channels of distribution;: These are the routes taken by good from
producer-consumer it includes.
⮚ Channel design
⮚ Location of outlets
⮚ Channel remuneration
⮚ Dealer-principal relations

An effective marketing program blends all of the marketing-mix elements into

a coordinated program designed to achieve company’s marketing objectives by
delivering value to consumer. The marketing mix constitutes the company’s tactical
tool kit for establishing string positioning in target markets. The four P’s concept
taken the seller’s view of the market, not the buyer’s view. From the users view point
the four P’s might be better described as the four C’s.

FOUR P’S FOUR C’S

Product Consumer solution

Price Consumer cost

Place convenience

Promotion communication

55
 Thus marketers see themselves as selling products; Consumers see themselves
as buying value of solutions to their value of solutions to their problems. The
Consumer is interested in more than just the price’ they are interested in the total cost
of obtaining, using and disposing of a product. Consumers want the product and
service to be as conveniently available as possible, marketers think about the four C’s
first and build the four P’s platform.

ECOMOMIC ENVIROMENT:

Markets require buying power as well as people. The economic environment

consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns.

The factors effecting consumer behavior are:

1) Cultural factors

2) Social factors

3) Personal factors

4) Psychological factors

56
1. Cultural factors:

i) Cultural is the set of basic values, perceptions wants and behavior

learned by a member of society from family and other important
institutions.

ii) Sub-culture a group of people with shared value sustains based on

common life experiences sub cultures includes nationalities, religion.

iii) Social classes relatively permanent and ordered divisions in a society

whose members share similar values, interests and behaviors. Social
class is measured by a combination of factors like income, occupation,
education, wealth etc. types are upper class, upper middle, lower class,
working class etc.

2. Social factors:

i) Groups: Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual of

mutual goods. The broad types are groups, reference groups, opinion
leaders in the reference group are persons who because of special
skills, knowledge, personality, exerts influence of others.

ii) Family: marketers are interested in the roles and influence of the
husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and
services. Five fingers of the hand relating to five members of family
influencing the decision of purchase.

iii) Roles and Status: A person role differs from group to group. A role
consists of the activities people are expected to perform according to
the persons around them. Each role carries a status reflecting the
general esteem given to it by society. People often choose products that
show their status in the society.

3. Personal factors:

i) Age and life cycle stage: tastes in food, clothes, furniture etc care often
age related. Buying is also shaped by the stage of family life cycle the
stages through which families might pass as they mature over time.

57
 ii) Occupation; A person’s occupation affects the good and services
bought. Blue collar workers tend to buy more rugged clothes where as
white collar workers buy more suits. A company cans ever specialty in
making products needed by a given occupation.

iii) Economic situation: Marketers of income sensitive goods, look at the

consumer personal income savings and interest rates. If the economic
indicators point to a recession, marketers can take steps to redesign
reposition and re-price their products closely.

iv) Life style: Life style is a person’s pattern of living understanding these
forces involves measuring consumer’s activities, interests and
opinions.

4) Psychological factors:

i) Motivation: A motive is a need that is sufficient pressing to direct the

person to seek satisfaction. Psychological have developed theories of
human motivation for consumer analysis and marketing.

ii) Perceptions: It is the process by which people select, organize, and

intercept information to form a meaningful picture of the world. Two
people with same motivation and is the same situation may act quite
differently because they perceive the situation differently.

iii) Learning: When people act, they learn. Learning describes chares In an
individual behavior arising from experience. Learning theorists say
that most human behavior is learned learning occurs through the
interplay of drives, stimuli, uses, responses and reinforcement.

Beliefs and Attitudes: Through doing and learning people acquire

beliefs nd attitude. These in turn influence their buying behavior. A
belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something; as
attitude describes a person’s relatively consistent evaluations, feelings
and tendencies toward an object of India.

58
 1. WHAT IS THE AGE GROUP OF THE RESPONDENTS OF TATA
MOTORS?

Percentage of the
S.No AGE Number of Respondents respondents
1 18-28 8 8
2 28-38 28 28
3 38-48 10 10
4 Above 48 54 54
5 Total 100 100

The below table shows the age group of the respondents surveyed:

Table -1

Graph -1

59
INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, 8% of the respondents belong to the age group of 18-28 years,
28% of the respondents belong to the age group of 28-38 years, 10% of the
respondents belong to the age group of 38-48 years, 54% of the respondents belong to
the age group of above 48 years.

2. WHAT IS THE OCCUPATION OF THE

RESPONDENTS?

The below table shows the type of respondents of the respondents surveyed.

Table - 2

Percentage of the
S.No Occupation Number Of Respondents respondents
1 Student 10 0
2 Business 40 50
3 Private Employee 32 32
4 Govt Employee 18 18
5 Total 100 100

Graph -2

60
INTERPRETATION:

From the above table 0% of the respondents are students, 50% of the respondents are
businessmen, 32% of the respondents are private employee, 18% of the respondents
are Govt employee.

3. WHETHER THE RESPONDENT IS WILLING TO

HAVE A CAR OR NOT?

The below table shows that whether the respondents is Willing to buy a Car or not

Table - 3

Percentage of the
S.No Willing to buy a Car or not Number of respondents respondents
1 Yes 80 80
2 No 20 20
3 Total 100 100

Graph - 3

61
INTERPRETATION:

From the above table 80%of people wanting Car and 20% do not want Car.

4. WHAT TYPE OF CAR THAT THE RESPONDENT

IS WILLING TO HAVE?

The below table shows that the type of car that the respondent is willing to buy

Table - 4

Percentage of the
S.No Type of CAR Number of respondents respondents
1 1000CC 51 51
2 1800CC 14 14
3 1500CC 26 26
4 2000CC 09 9

Graph -4

62
 INTERPRETATION:

From the above table 51%of the respondents are Willing to buy a TATA 1000CC
CAR. 14%of the respondents want 1800CC. 26%of the respondents are willing
1500CC.9% of the respondents want 2000CC.

5. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION TO

THE RESPONDENT FOR PURCHASING CAR AT
TATA MOTORS?

The below table shows, from where did the respondent get the information about the
CAR.

Table - 5
Percentage of the
Sources of information
Number of Respondents respondents

Offers 15 15

Advertisements 27 27

Referred from friends & relatives 33 33

Technology 10 10

Finance Schemes 15 15

Total 100 100

63
 Graph -5

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table 15%of people known from offers, 27% of people known from
advertisements, and 33% of people known from their friends and relatives, 10% of
people known from technology, 15% of people known from finance schemes.

6. WHETHER THE RESPONDENT IS SATISFIED

WITH TATA MOTORS CAR?
Table - 6
The below table shows information about ratings and reviews of TATA

TATA Performance Mileage Features Price pickup Reliability Brand Image

Excellent 10 25 24 02 05 08 20
Very good 25 24 15 18 06 02 20
Good 10 21 25 12 15 35 25

Average 21 10 10 14 5 6 8

Poor 0 2 1 8 2 3 1

64
 Graph-6

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table 17% of the respondents preferred PERFORMENCE as their
main motive, 22% of the respondents preferred PRICE as their main motive, 4%of the
respondents preferred FEATURES as their main motive, 22% of the respondents
preferred TRANSPORT as their main motive, 2% of the respondents preferred

RELIABILITY as their main motive, 21% of the respondents preferred BRAND

IMAGE as their main motive.

7. WHICH OF THE COMPANIES ARE THE

COMPETITORS TO TATA MOTORS CARS?
The following table shows that, some of the brands of CARS respondents selected
PERFORMENCE as their main motive.

65
Table - 7
Percentage of the
Brand Number of Respondents respondents
TATA 32 32
TOYOTA 35 35
MARUTHI 30 30
HYUNDAI 03 03
Total 100 100

Graph - 7

INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows that TOYOTA and MARUTHI companies are the competitors
with TATA CARS.

8. WHY MARUTHI IS THE COMPETITIOR WITH

TATA MOTORS CAR?

66
The following table shows that, some of the brands of respondents selected PRICE as
their main motive.

Table - 8

Percentage of the
Brand Number of Respondents respondents
TATA 31 31
TOYOTA 18 18
MARUTHI 42 42
HYUNDAI 9 9
Total 100 100

Graph - 8

INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows that MARUTHI is the competitor with TATA.

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9. Which company car as the best PICK UP ?

The following table shows that, some of the brands of respondents selected PICK UP
as their main motive.

Table - 9
Percentage of the
Brand Number of Respondents respondents
TATA 50 50
TOYOTA 10 10
MARUTHI 30 30
HYUNDAI 10 10
Total 100 100

Graph - 9

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INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows that TATA is the best.

10. Which is the best company car in MILEAGE ?

The following table shows that, some of the brands of respondents selected
MILEAGE as their main motive.

Table - 10
Percentage of
MILEAGE Number of Respondents the respondents
TATA 50 50
TOYOTA 10 10
MARUTHI 30 30
HYUNDAI 10 10
Total 100 100

Graph - 10

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INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows that TATA is the best.

11. WHETHER THE RESPONDENTS ARE

SATISFIED AFTER THEY PURCHASE THE CAR?
The following table shows that, some of the brands of respondents selected
RELIABILITY as their main motive.

Table - 11
Percentage of the
Reliability Number of Respondents respondents
TATA 35 35
TOYOTA 15 15
MARUTHI 30 30
HYUNDAI 20 20
Total 100 100

Graph- 11

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INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows that MARUTHI is the competitor with TATA.

1. BASED ON WHAT ASPECT OF THE

COMPANIES THE RESPONDENTS ARE
PURCHASING THE CARS?
The following table shows that, some of the brands of respondents selected
FEATURES as their main motive.

Table – 12
Percentage of the
FEATURES Number of Respondents respondents
TATA 35 35
TOYOTA 15 15
MARUTHI 30 30
HYUNDAI 20 20
Total 100 100

Graph - 12

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INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows that TATA is the best.

2. WHICH IS THE BEST COMPANY IN BRAND

IMAGE WHEN COMPARED WITH TATA
MOTOR CARS?
The following table shows that, some of the brands of respondents selected BRAND
IMAGE is their main motive

Table - 13
Percentage of the
Brand Image Number of Respondents respondents
TATA 40 40
TOYOTA 20 20
MARUTHI 30 30
HYUNDAI 10 10
Total 100 100

Graph - 13

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INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows that TATA is the best.

14. WHAT IS THE PERCENTAGE OF THE

RESPONDENTS WHO WANT TO BUY THE TATA
MOTORS CARS ?

Respondents who want to buy the CAR of a particular brand:

Table - 14
Percentage of the
Brand Number of respondents respondents
TATA 40 40
TOYOTA 15 15
MARUTHI 30 30
HYUNDAI 15 15
Total 100 100

Graph - 14

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INTERPRETATION:

The above table shows 40% of the respondents want to buy TATA CARS.

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 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

● 50% of the TATA Consumers are business people and 32% of the Consumers are
private employees.
● Most of the respondents belong to the age group of 18-50 years.
● TATA 1500CC is the most preferred model in the TATA products.
● Most of the respondents getting information through the Media and friends before
purchasing the vehicle.
● Most of the respondents are motivated by their friends and family members.
● Most of the respondents have good satisfaction with the performance of their CAR
strength.
● 64% of the respondents are satisfied with the mileage of their CAR.
● Most of the respondents felt that the price is reasonable.
● Cent percent of the respondents satisfied with the response of the sales executive at
first visit.
● 60% of the TATA users have good satisfaction with the performance given b the
company.
● Most of the respondents are satisfied with the response of the company to the
complaints given by the Consumers.
● Most of the respondents are satisfied with the fulfillment of promises by the company.

SUGGESTION

● It is suggested that some more place should be provided for luggage.

● To provide better service to customers at work shop.
● To make the vehicle more spacious inside.
● To improve the comfort in the vehicle.
● Skilled and experienced persons should be provided at service center, so that
problems of the vehicle should be resolved completely.

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 ● Engine capacity should be increase, this leads to increase mileage and pickup once
when a/c is on.
● To increase the place of parking at work shop.
● The CARS recently introduced by TATA are mostly concerned about home base.
So, they should also consider commercial people while manufacturing.
● Indian market is a price sensitive market’s the CARS should be at Minimum price
with maximum quality.
● The standard of pricing should be improved.
● Advertisements in Televisions, offers should be increased to attract the People.
● If TATA can improve in Performance and brand image it will be the best in all the
other competition brands.

CONCLUSION
A significant 45% of the surveyed individuals have identified themselves as loyal TATA
consumers, which underscores the overwhelming preference for TATA as their go-to car
brand among the plethora of options available in the market. This statistic reaffirms TATA's
status as a prominent and favored choice in the automobile industry.

Among the diverse array of TATA car models, the TATA 1500CC variant stands out as the
most coveted choice among respondents. This model's popularity suggests that it possesses
certain attributes or features that resonate strongly with the preferences and needs of these
consumers, making it the top choice within the TATA product lineup.

Even before embarking on the journey of purchasing a new vehicle, a substantial 60% of the
respondents are actively considering the TATA brand. This statistic highlights the significant
influence TATA wields in the pre-purchase decision-making process, indicating a high level
of trust and interest in the brand.

In terms of information sources, the survey reveals that a majority of respondents rely on
advice and recommendations from their friends before making the crucial decision to
purchase a car. This demonstrates the power of word-of-mouth and personal connections in
shaping consumer choices.

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Additionally, customer satisfaction with dealer services emerges as a pivotal factor in
consumer decisions. Most of the respondents prioritize their experience with the dealer,
placing TATA's service quality in a favorable light compared to other competing brands. This
suggests that TATA dealerships excel in providing a positive and satisfactory experience for
potential buyers.

Mileage, a key consideration for many car buyers, is accorded high priority by most of the
surveyed individuals. This underscores the importance of fuel efficiency and cost-
effectiveness in their decision-making process.

The influence of friends and relatives on the surveyed individuals is striking, with 60% of the
respondents admitting that their purchasing decisions are significantly swayed by the
opinions and choices of their social circle. This highlights the crucial role of interpersonal
relationships and recommendations in shaping consumer preferences.

Furthermore, the payment process for TATA vehicles is simplified and streamlined, as many
respondents opt to settle their bills at the company showrooms. These showrooms also serve
as versatile respondent care centers, addressing various queries and catering to the needs of
consumers. This integrated approach enhances the overall consumer experience, providing a
one-stop solution for their concerns.

In conclusion, the paragraph underscores TATA's prominence in the automobile market,

emphasizing its popularity among the respondents, the appeal of specific TATA car models,
the influence of friends and relatives, and the importance of service quality and mileage in
consumer decision-making. It also highlights the convenience offered by TATA showrooms
in terms of both payments and customer care.

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 BIBILIOGRHY

1. Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management. Pearson.

2. Schiffman, L. G., & Kanuk, L. L. (2010). Consumer behavior. Pearson.
3. Solomon, M. R. (2016). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being. Pearson.
4. TATA Group. (https://www.tata.com/): Official website of the TATA Group for
corporate information.
5. Smith, A. (2018). Understanding Consumer Behavior in the Digital Age. Harvard
Business Review, (https://hbr.org/2018/11/understanding-consumer-behavior-in-the-digital-
age).

WEBLIOGRAPHY

1. TATA Motors - (https://www.tatamotors.com/): Official website of TATA Motors for

information on their automotive products.
2. TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) - (https://www.tcs.com/): Official website of TCS for
insights into IT services and consulting.
3. TATA Steel - (https://www.tatasteel.com/): Official website of TATA Steel for
information on their steel and related products.
4. Forbes - "TATA Group: India's Global Giant" - (https://www.forbes.com/companies/tata-
group/): An article providing an overview of TATA's global presence.
5. Nielsen - "Understanding Modern Consumer Behavior" -
(https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/report/2018/understanding-modern-consumer-
behavior/): A report on consumer behavior in the modern era.

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 QUESTIONNAIRES

A STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON TATA

NAME :

AGE :

1. Which factors most influence your choice of Tata products or services?

a) Price
b) Brand reputation
c) Product quality
d) Customer reviews

2. How often do you purchase Tata products or services?

a) Daily
b) Weekly
c) Monthly
d) Rarely

3. What motivates you to buy Tata products or services?

a) Product features and innovation
b) Discounts and promotions
c) Environmental sustainability
d) Convenience and ease of use

4. How would you rate your overall satisfaction with Tata products or services?
a) Very satisfied
b) Satisfied
c) Neutral
d) Dissatisfied

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5. Which Tata product or service category do you prefer the most?
a) Automotive
b) Steel
c) IT services
d) Hospitality

6. What online platforms do you primarily use to research Tata products or services?
a) Tata's official website
b) Social media
c) Product review websites
d) None

7. How important is the reputation of Tata as a conglomerate when making a purchase

decision?
a) Very important
b) Somewhat important
c) Not very important
d) Not at all important

8. Have you ever switched from a competitor's product or service to a Tata product or
service? If so, what motivated the switch?
a) Yes, better quality
b) Yes, lower price
c) No, I haven't switched
d) Other (please specify)

9. How likely are you to recommend Tata products or services to others?

a) Very likely
b) Likely
c) Neutral
d) Unlikely

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10. Do you believe that Tata's corporate social responsibility initiatives influence your
purchasing decisions?
a) Yes, significantly
b) Yes, to some extent
c) No, they don't influence my decisions
d) I'm not aware of Tata's CSR initiatives

11. When considering Tata products or services, do you trust customer reviews and ratings as
a source of information?
a) Yes, I trust them completely
b) Yes, but I consider other factors as well
c) No, I rely on other sources for information
d) I don't read customer reviews

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