A study on buyer behavior on two wheelers in selected districts of Andhra Pradesh

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

(INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY, PURPOSE OF THE STUDY, SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY, OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PLAN AND PRESENTATION OF THE STUDY).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR -CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

TWO- WHEELER INDUSTRY PROFILE

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION FINDINGS

RECOMMENDATIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER – I

INTRODUCTION

Marketing, lays thrust on customer needs so much so that “customer-driven marketing” has become synonymous with marketing. The emphasis is now on understanding and fulfilling consumer needs to such an extent that it strikes a balance between value-delivered and company profitability. Satisfaction of customers needs provides the rationale for a firm’s existence. An understanding of the motives underlying consumer behaviour helps the firm to seek better and more effective ways to satisfy its customers, select appropriate sales-mix and advertising strategies, and plan its marketing programme in a more timely and effective manner.

The two-wheeler segment in the automobile industry plays a vital role in India. The reason being, that a two-wheeler is affordable by middle class people in urban and semi-urban areas. It is also more convenient for traveling short distances with in the city over the years the sales figures of the two-wheelers have increased to a very large amount. The sales of the two-wheelers in 1950 were less, where as now the total sales have shoot up to lakhs per year.

The standard of living is improving year by year People are able to afford for opulence items for self-satisfaction and need fulfillment. In this scenario, automobiles are gaining its share because of new innovations and inventions in automobile industry.

Due to this, motor vehicles are in full demand. Apart from the above increasing manufacturing efficiencies, greater emphasis on quality, large investments implying increasing financial commitments and distributed ownership of enterprise have all resulted in the advancement of Two- Wheeler segment in India.

In order to know which brand has got good brand image and market share, and buying behaviour of the consumers in competition to various brands. Two- Wheeler market will still be dominated by two-segments: Motorcycles and un-geared scooters and that will not change. Moped segment may see a reversal change i.e. which was declining will have favourable monsoon. There has been a series of two-wheeler launches by most of the companies with some being success and others are not being acceptable by the customers. Even discounts or price cuts are being undertaken in the market which is flooded with option, however at the end of the day what the customer actually looks at to derive from the Two- Wheeler.

By analyzing, attempts are made to understand the buying behaviour of the consumers towards different brands and also to identify the areas where further improvements are required.

The study of consumer behaviour, therefore, includes an understanding of physical activity of buying as well as mental decision process involved in the purchase outcome. On one side, intermeshing of various demographic and psychographics features in consumers pose several challenges and opportunities to marketers. And stiff competition among sellers and the availability of a wide array of products increase complexities for a consumer and hence, involvement in buying. Though marketers are chiefly interested in the “physical act of buying” by a consumer, yet, the market conditions impel them to study the “mental decision process” undergone in reaching the decision along with.

Everyone in this world is a consumer we need a variety of goods and services. Time was when people used to get surprised when some consumers droves a two-wheeler. The option of riders was very limited or limited to a small percentage of the total two-wheeler market. Not all buyers are two-wheeler consumers, and then who are those consumers? In addition, how they behave while purchasing a two-wheeler is very important for the marketers. Walter says that buyer behaviour is the process whereby individuals decide what, when, where, how and from whom to purchase goods and services. Competition is getting fierce with the arrival of foreign collaborated two-wheeler manufacturers who are recognized for their quality across the globe. A challenge has begun and the fate of these various brands will be decided based upon their price, technology, and servicing.

Therefore, it becomes necessary to study the buying behaviour of the customers by which marketers can understand consumer behaviour, only then they are able to predict how customers are likely to react to various informational and environmental clues and shape their strategies accordingly suggest relevant strategies to the organization towards understanding the behaviour of customers and enhance the profitability of the organization.

Consumer behaviour is influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal and psychological and psychographic factors. Cultural factors include a set of basic values, perceptions, want and behaviour learned by a member of the society from family and other important institutions. The social factors include consumer’s family, small groups, social roles, and status. The personal factors characterized such as buyer’s age, lifecycle stage, occupation, economic situation and lifestyle etc., a person’s buying choices are further influenced by psychological factors. psychographics “seeks to describe the human characteristics of consumers that may have bearing on their response to products, packaging, advertising and public relations efforts. Such variables may span the spectrum from self-concept and lifestyle to attitudes, interests and opinions, as well as perceptions of product attributes” (Gunter & Furnham, 1992).

Psychographics are used to determine lifestyle characteristics and traits that can be correlated into targeted marketing programs (Bainbridge, 1999).

Psychographics and lifestyle are often used interchangeably, but psychographics is actually the way that lifestyle is made operationally useful to marketing managers. Psychographics appraises a consumer’s activities, interests, opinions, and values and correlates them with a consumer’s demographics. Psychographics allow for a more complete picture of an individual, making it easier to understand how to market products to them.

Basis of Psychographics – Psychographics initially emphasized consumer’s activities, interests, and opinions, also known simply as AIO. AIO inventories were helpful, but were soon found to be excessively narrow. Today, psychographics has broadened to include attitudes, values, activities and interests, demographics, media patterns, and usage rates (Hawkins, 1998). Because of this new, more extensive, definition, psychographics is able to more precisely define who a company or product’s consumers are.

There has been some dispute between marketing experts and scholars as to what constitutes psychographics. Is it synonymous with lifestyle or is it a separate entity? Researchers have concluded that there is a distinction between the concepts.

Some marketers believe that psychographics refers to a consumer’s personality traits, while lifestyles consist primarily of an individual’s activities, interests, and opinions (Gunter et. al, 1992). In application of psychographics, however, it is helpful to use both personality traits and lifestyles to collect meaningful market information. Examples of what constitutes AIO categories is found in the following table: AIO Categories of Lifestyle Studies

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

(Gunter & Furnham, 1992)

Psychographic Research – One can not begin to explain psychographics without first defining the manner in which psychographic research is conducted. Psychographic research is quantitative research that attempts to place consumers based on psychological, as opposed to strictly demographic dimensions (Heath, 1995). The most popular research tool describing lifestyle and psychographics is SRI International’s Value and Lifestyles Program (VALS).

VALS was introduced in 1978, but was replaced in 1989 by a new system, VALS 2 (Hawkins, 1998). The original VALS was more activity and interest based, while VALS 2 is more psychologically based. VALS 2 also places less emphasis on values and more emphasis on psychological, economic, and educational resources (Weinstein, 1994). VALS 2 is used to classify subjects according to their self-orientation and resources. Based on these two concepts, eight general psychographic segments have been identified. The following table gives a quick overview of some of the key descriptors for the groups.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

(Weinstein, 1994; Hawkins, 1998)

VALS and VALS 2 information has been used successfully to develop new products, create product positioning strategies, target new markets, design ad campaigns, measure media audiences, and predict consumer and business trends (Weinstein, 1994). It is one of the most valuable and useful tools related to psychographic research.

Increase in urbanization, higher disposable incomes, falling interest rates, poor public transportation lead to increase in the volume of Two-Wheelers. A buyer chooses personalized transportation or convenience, instead of public transportation to a desired location in most of the situations.

Buying behaviour involved in Two-Wheeler purchase is mostly “complex buying behaviour”. These buyers perceive significantly, the differences among different brands, the two-wheeler purchase is risky, purchased infrequently and highly self-expressive. Typically, buyer has much to learn about the availability of different brands and models before taking the buying decision. They will pass through a learning process, first developing beliefs about the two-wheelers, then attitudes, and then making a thoughtful purchase decision choice. Sheer pace of growth, wide spectrum of new technologies, and the number of new two-wheeler manufacturers have made the two-wheeler unique. With the entry of the new-models for has made the two-wheeler buyer more attracted towards the two-wheelers. With the changes in perception, as well as lifestyles, two-wheelers have become indispensable in most households. There is also demand shift towards semi-automatics or electric starts, mainly because of the ease in operations, preferred by this segment.

Marketing practitioners and marketing researchers have begun to recognize the importance of this segment not only because of their increasing size and wealth, but also because this segment have been identified as having market place needs different from other segments. Their needs, personal characteristics and perceptions form a separate segment.

Customers are becoming more style conscious. Certain segment of buyers have a new breed of buyers who have mastered the art of buying armed with increased disposable income due to recognition and position in the corporate world.

Marketers have identified such consumers buy with their heart and mind. They prefer detailed information about the benefits and ingredients.

In many cases, they would like to know, what if he does not like the product or service before even trying it. Buyer would buy the product only if he is been convinced that the manufacturer considers their behavioural aspects. Never forget that Dale Carnegie rule that says, “People want to know how much you care before they care about how much you know”. The first thing a consumer would look for their convenience. A regular update on what is new and offers is necessary to keep the loyal customers in tact.

The year 2000 can be best described as a bumpy one it was dolled with a spate new vehicle launches both in India and world wide as well as controversies, financial troubles, mergers and shut downs. The bottom line: the market did not really fact well. In fact, marketers were busy trying to clean up their own premises, fix financial upheavals and consolidate their position.

The same raising expectations have occurred in automobile market two wheeler market has seen plenty of intensive action. Sales of motor cycles over look those of scooters, forcing even scooter makers such as LML to get into the mobile market until recently a given model changed very little from year to year, its usually look ten years for significant changes to become standard. Now the rate of change and corresponding customer’s expectation has accelerated at a frightening pace. People expect each new model to offer most and better features. Satisfaction of consumers is the ultimate aim of the any business activity. For the success of business, all the marketing plans and policies should be consumer oriented. Knowledge of consumer behaviour is therefore acquired for effective product planning.

The study of consumer behaviour attempts at marketing implications for two-wheelers the study includes, awareness determinant factors such as psychographics and demographics, attributes influencing the selection of a two-wheeler and so on.

Aim of the study

The aim of the study is to know the buyer behaviour on two wheelers in select districts of Andhra Pradesh (India).

Objectives of the study

- To study the impact of specific demographic variables on buyer behaviour.
- To study the relationship between psychographics of two-wheeler buyers and their brand choice.
- To examine the features influencing while making two-wheeler purchase.
- To identify the factors influencing two-wheeler purchase behaviour

HYPOTHESIS

1. H0: There are no significant differences among different brand owners as measured by Brand Engagement in Self Concept when compared across select demographic characteristics.

2. H0: There are no significant differences among different brand owners as measured by Brand Engagement in Self Concept when compared across and within the select groups.

Scope of the study

The study is focused on buyer behaviour on Two-wheelers in Select Districts of Andhra Pradesh. Buyer behaviour and their decision process are studied from customer’s point of view. Sampling technique is used to collect the opinions of customers on two wheelers, this study is conducted in Hyderabad and Medak Districts surrounded municipalities. It is believed that the residents of these municipalities’ people who have settled down here are from various parts of Andhra Pradesh. The study is emphasized on, buyer behaviour their purchasing patterns; determinant factors such as psychographics (value and life styles, activities, interests and opinions, personality) and demographics, their impact on buying decisions. Customer opinions are evolved from the following product categories of two-wheelers such as bikes, mopeds, scooters.

Significance of the study

Today, Two-Wheelers have become an essential part of personal possessions and life. Customers life styles are changing, behaviour patterns are changing, buying habits are also changing. Usage of Two-Wheelers is increasing in the market, The whole two-wheelers market is undergoing transformation as companies lay special emphasis on personality of consumers in making these brands. in course of this process, some Two-Wheelers companies are attaining a good success, while the others are failing to reach their target customers, thus there is a need to know the factors effecting , success or failure.

The study is taken up to know the buying behaviour of consumers particularly in select districts (Hyderabad and Medak) of Andhra Pradesh, identify their buying patterns. This study has considerable academic as well as industrial relevance because the study is focused on, buyer behaviour their purchasing patterns; determinant factors such as psychographics (value and life styles, activities, interests and opinions, personality) and demographics, their impact on buying decisions are best understood. The study evoked better understanding and ideas for marketing strategies and pruning of best behavioural practices of target buyers for Two-wheelers. The finding of the study helps in aligning marketing strategies with the changing buyer behaviour and market needs.

Methodology

The Methodology adopted for conducting the study in Select Districts Hyderabad- Shalibanda, Bandlaguda, Gachibowli, Chandrayangutta, Hanmantekdi, and Secunderabad, Avulamanda, Lal Bazaar, Uppal, LB Nagar, KPHB, Kapra, Rajendranagar, Gaddiannaram, Saroornagar, Ramchandrapuram and Medak- Sangareddy, Gopannapally, Siddipet, Narsapur, Gajwel, Gummadidala, Bontapally, Edupailu, Empalle, Nachagiri, Kondapur Pocharam, Manjira.

While considering the Two-Wheeler Customers and Users as participants of the study. As it forms the central basis of the study, various issues in a systematic order have been dealt with. Aspects like, Research Design, Study Area, Sampling Method and Tools of data collection, Data Processing and Analysis, Statistical Tests, Significance and Presentation of the Thesis have been elaborated in order to ensure the research rigor that was followed while conducting the study.

Research Design

A descriptive research design is adopted in order to conduct the study. This design was found the most suitable for understanding the customers/ consumers’ perceptions, views, expectations and experiences with Automobiles, particularly Two-Wheelers. There is a general feeling that descriptive studies are factual and very simple.

Study Area

The Select Districts includes Hyderabad- Shalibanda, Bandlaguda, Gachibowli, Chandrayangutta, Hanmantekdi, and Secunderabad, Avulamanda, Lal Bazaar, Uppal, LB Nagar, KPHB, Kapra, Rajendranagar, Gopannapally Gaddiannaram, Saroornagar, Ramchandrapuram and Medak- Sangareddy, Siddipet, Narsapur, Gajwel,, Gummadidala, Bontapally, Edupailu, Empalle, Nachagiri, Kondapur Pocharam, Manjira.

The population of these Districts was 55 lakhs as per the 2001 census. The twin cities also caters to the two lakh floating population, recently all these bought under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. Most of the surrounded municipalities’ people are migrants from all corners of the Andhra Pradesh.

Sample design

The present research work is taken up to understand and analyze buyer behaviour on Two-Wheelers of all categories in Select Districts of Andhra Pradesh, namely bikes, mopeds, scooters of different branded companies. A descriptive Research Design is adopted to meet the said objectives. The opinions, perception and attitudes of customers towards Two-Wheelers of all categories are being collected. The study represents the buyer behaviour pertaining to the two-wheelers in Select Districts. Such as motivation, learning attitudes, perceptions and beliefs and their buying patterns.

The data has been collected using multistage random sampling technique. In the first stage the areas are identified. The target areas are Hyderabad- Shalibanda, Bandlaguda, Gachibowli, Chandrayangutta, Hanmantekdi, and Secunderabad, Avulamanda, Lal Bazaar, Uppal, LB Nagar, KPHB, Kapra, Rajendranagar, Gaddiannaram, Saroornagar, Gopannapally, Ramchandrapuram and Medak- Sangareddy, Siddipet, Narsapur, Gajwel, Gummadidala, Bontapally, Edupailu, Empalle, Nachagiri, Kondapur Pocharam, Manjira.

In the second stage, list of respondents are collected from 20 dealers and randomly 50 respondents from each dealer are picked and contacted, and thus, the primary data is collected from 1000 individuals.

In all there are seven descriptive questions that capture the demographic information, attributes considered for purchase, mode of purchase (Hire purchase/Cash) and factors that influence the purchase decision.

The primary data were collected from customer/ consumers of Two-Wheelers. All categories of customers were taken from Hyderabad and Medak District surrounded municipalities.

The secondary data has been collected from Journals, Articles, Books, Doctoral Thesis, Magazines of Indian and Foreign origin, from the last ten years.

Operationalizing the Variables

As mentioned in the section above, the questionnaire was divided into four parts for the purpose of data collection and subsequent investigation. It is found necessary to describe the method in which the data captured was analyzed.

In the first part, the analysis was carried out in a manner to give aggregate information of buyer behaviour. For example, selection of dealer, brand purchased, mode of purchase, attributes considered for the purchase of two-wheelers etc, have been analyzed using simple descriptive measures.

In the second part the psychological influence on buyer behaviour was analyzed. The proposed five point Likert scale allowed for aggregating of responses by simple counts and weighted averages. Construct- wise mean scores were arrived at by the aggregation of individual statements in each construct.

Part C includes standardized scale pertaining to assessment of customer psychographics. This scale consists of objects which were statements rather questions pertaining to the personality (Self Concept) of buyer on two wheelers in select districts of Andhra Pradesh, they were measured with 7-point (Semantic Differential),

Tools of Data Collection

The questionnaire and interview methods were utilized as necessary tools. Part A, dealt with questions pertaining to demographics and Part B includes standardized scale pertaining to assessment of customer views and opinions.

This scale consists of objects which were statements rather questions pertaining to the buyer behaviour on two wheelers in select districts of Andhra Pradesh, they were measured with 5-point (Likert), where

Strongly Agree - 5

Agree - 4

Neither Agree nor Disagree - 3

Disagree - 2

Strongly Disagree - 1

Scores were used to have the accurate value of opinions. And

Part C includes standardized scale pertaining to assessment of customer psychographics. This scale consists of objects which were statements rather questions pertaining to the personality (Self Concept) of buyer on two wheelers in select districts of Andhra Pradesh, they were measured with 7-point (Semantic Differential), where

Strongly Agree - 7

Agree - 6

Partially Agree - 5

Neither Agree nor Disagree - 4

Partially Disagree - 3

Disagree - 2

Strongly Disagree - 1

Scores were used to have the accurate value of opinions. This scale was developed by Sprott, Czellar and Spangenberg (JMR, Feb, 2007) captures the psychographic dimensions of the selected respondents. The scale consists of eight items.

The eight item scale when tested for reliability returned with a Cronbach Co-efficient Alpha of 0.903 indicating a high level. (A score of 0.70 is considered appropriate in descriptive tests – Nunnally, 1976)

Pre- Testing of the Questionnaire

The questionnaires were pre-tested on a sample of 100 Customers. The pre-testing of questionnaire has helped in modifying some questions.

Some of the respondents were happy to reveal their experiences and sought for necessary changes to be incorporated, like aesthetics in the questionnaire.

The final (modified) questionnaire after pre-testing was used for collecting the data.

Data Processing and Analysis

The data collected from the respondents were separated according to their category and were screened for any possible errors or incompleteness. Later, these data, which were in qualitative form, were converted into codes and those codes were entered into the computer in the spreadsheet form, Later, these spreadsheet data were processed with the help of SPSS statistical package. All the percentage tables were prepared first in order to know the trends. Later descriptive statistics were prepared for all variables.

In addition, while editing the data, the following points were kept in mind as to see that the data were:

- Uniformly entered
- As complete as possible
- Acceptable for tabulation
- As accurate as possible and
- To facilitate cross tabulation

Statistical Tests

In order to test the hypothesis, the independent and dependent variables were cross tabulated. Further to know whether the relationship exist between both the variables is statistically measured using ANOVA, Mean scores .

Scope for Further Research

Psychographic factors includes Values and life styles(VALS), attitudes interests and opinions(AIO) and personality) the present study has focused only on personality (Self-Concept) of two-wheeler buyers is considered, the other dimensions of personality can also be explored for further research.

Only two-wheeler buyer behaviour is considered for the study, it can also be focused on other durable products or other category of automobiles for the study.

This study has considerable academic as well as industrial relevance because the aspects such as. Any research aimed at gathering information has immense scope for further research on two-wheeler buyer behaviour.

Period of Study

The period of the present study has been broken into two parts for the purpose of a broad understanding. For analyzing the broad dimensions of the two-wheeler market five year period (2003-2007) has been chosen. For the purpose of field survey, the time frame was six months (January 2008 and August 2008).

Sources of Data

Data for the study has been collected mainly from primary sources and to some extent from secondary sources. Primary data was collected from consumers. Consumers who purchased the two-wheeler during the selected time frame (2004– Oct 2008). For this purpose, sample respondents were selected from Hyderabad, and medak markets.

For secondary data, a host of sources were tapped. Academic databases like EBSCO were sourced for referring the past research in the area of buyer behaviour. Journals like Vikalpa, Management Review were referred to get insights from the Indian context. For getting industry insights, sources such as ICRA, CMIE, were accessed. Company websites were visited for secondary information and related literature was gathered.

Limitations of the Study

1. The study was carried out to understand the customer opinions, views and experiences pertaining to Two-Wheelers in Selected Districts of A.P. Hence this is a limitation of the study.
2. The sample selected may not represent the universe and hence, there could be some differences between the study and actual practices.
3. The study is emphasized on only Two-Wheeler buyer behaviour.
4. The respondents neither exclusive user of one single company Two-wheeler, they are also using other company Two-Wheelers.
5. The study covered buyer decision-making process only.

In spite of the above limitations, the study throws some light on understanding customer opinions and experiences of Two-Wheeler buyers in particular and others in general. Since the study was descriptive in nature, it is expected that this will pave the way for further research in the area.

Plan of Presentation of the Thesis

The results of the study are presented in five chapters.

The first chapter presents introduction, objectives of the study, research methodology and review of literature. The review of literature contains exerts from articles / books / News paper write ups in India and foreign journals. And doctoral works of various universities also reviewed.

The second chapter presents highlights the conceptual frame work of Consumer Behaviour. In this chapter an attempt is made to understand definition and Buyer decision making process is explained.

The third chapter covers the profile of Two-Wheeler Industry. It also gives the panoramic view of Two-Wheeler brands.

The fourth chapter covers the data analysis and results. The data were explained in tables and graphs.

The fifth chapter is devoted to the presentation of conclusion and suggestion/ recommendations of thesis work.

CHAPTER – II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Existing literature on Consumer Behaviour is scattered. Scholars and practitioners have viewed the problem in isolation. Nevertheless, a variety of dimensions has been explored and new meanings added. The same concept has been studied in its various manifestations defining, redefining and refining it for conceptual clarity for an enlarged usage from the research point of view. Practitioners documented the best prices, which led them to success, thus supplementing the theoretical formulations. An attempt is made in the following lines to carry on the literature and examines the linkages of the current thinking to the work done so far in the area.

Consumers do not make decisions in vacuum. Their purchases are highly influenced by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. For most part marketer does not control them, but this must be taken into consideration. The study tried to examine the influence of each factor on consumer behavior.

International Council of Social Sciences Research, survey report (1977) on management revealed that the study of consumer behavior in a unexplo-red area for research in the field of marketing. Consumer behavior concentrates on understanding the attitudes, beliefs, values, norms of the consumers and analyses the way the consumer consciously or unconsciously follows any of these.

However, several studies in India have attempted to understand the patterns of consumer behaviour among different sections of the society. The studies conducted by academic institutions, individual researchers and by the committees appointed by the Government of India, and respective State Governments, on the aspects of buying by consumers. industrial growth in the coming years. This is going to require a great deal of orientation by manufactures towards the consumers. At the same time,

S.L. Rao ¹ in his article stated, “India is on the threshold of significant Indian industries have to move away from the small markets that they have concentrated on over the years due to the capacity and other limitations, and look to mass markets. To do so they will have to become good marketing people and their organizations will have to become marketing oriented”. Theoretical framework

Kalkundrikar ² in a paper on “Consumerism” argued, “Consumers in India are not properly organized. A very few consumers are aware of their rights. Consumers in India have remained unprotected due to ignorance, non-price consciousness and irrational behavior. Lack of education and irrational thinking, have contributed to the present state of affairs of the consumers in India. Mere laws are not sufficient to protect the consumers. The consumers are required to build strong associations and exert their rights”. Consumerisation in India confines mainly to urban centers. It must take to rural areas to protect the vast majority of our consumers, who reside mainly in the villages.

Mahajan ³ in his article” inter-regional homogeneity of consumer behavior in India”, expressed Consumer behavior in India markedly differs between the rural and urban sectors and it is, in no small measure, selective among regions within each sector”.

Murthy ⁴ in his article on “consumer behavior in India” pointed out to the fact that only a few studies has been carried out in India, both in estimating the complete set of demand elastics, and in testing the postulates of the neo-classical theory. While the studies using the time series data, have indicated the importance of prices in addition to income (or total expenditure) for analyzing the consumer behavior, the studies using the time series of cross sectional data have been revealed rather strongly the inadequacy of a single demand system for forging a link between income distribution and demand patterns; and more so striking was sectoral (rural urban) dualisms in demand patterns as seen, and pronounced in the Indian context.

Henry, 5 (1976) This view was supported in the context of nutrition attitudes and nutrition shopping behaviors (Homer and Kahle, 1988), recycling behavior (McCarty and Shrum, 1993) as well as advertising research (Becker, 1998). Although Lastovicka (1982) had suggested that culture leads to values which leads to lifestyle patterns (like social traits, home traits, other traits) which in turn leads to purchase decisions and consequently to post-purchase evaluation,

Schiffman and Kanuk (2000). Individuals are more likely to buy brands whose personalities intimately match their own self images

Aaker, 1999; Kassarjian, 1971; Sirgy, 1982. in their article claimed that consumers express themselves by selecting brands whose personalities are recognized to be consistent with their own personalities

According to Jitendra Sancheti ⁵ “customer trends are changing very quickly. One has to be very flexible enough to change as and when the market evolved”.

He noted in his interview in advertising and marketing magazine to Vivek Pareek that “customer is becoming appreciative of quality – This will keep happening as the consumer becomes more aware of global standards of reliability and quality.

(Gunter & Furnham, 1992). 5 Their definition claims that psychographics “seeks to describe the human characteristics of consumers that may have bearing on their response to products, packaging, advertising and public relations efforts. Such variables may span a spectrum from self-concept and lifestyle to attitudes, interests and opinions, as well as perceptions of product attributes” (Gunter & Furnham, 1992).

Sarason ⁶ in his paper titled “Social and ecological psychology perspective”, observed, “apart from gaining theory and procedures for changing attitudes and beliefs, it gives a sense of transactions between environment and behaviors. Hence the concern is with, how the form and structure of our organizations, institutions, communities and customs influence behavior”.

Hayes and Cones ⁷ in their article, argued that” the central role of consequences, reinforcement, in modifying and maintaining behaviours comes from the behavioural psychology. Energy used behaviours can be modified by the systematic arrangement of reinforces. Reinforces need not always be material (e.g, money, rice changes, rebates) but can also take immaterial forms (e.g., praise and feed back)”.

Ramchander ⁸ commented, in “Economics and Political weekly”, that “consumer behaviour as a branch of study is best described as applied behavioural science. Other similar fields would be industrial psychology or organizational behavior; it is a confluence of at least three streams of social sciences, i.e. individual psychology, social psychology and cultural anthropology”. The most fundamental findings of consumer behaviour are of course those concerning demand supply relationships have been well described in classical economics. These are naturally applicable to populations all over the world and with some modifications even where the market economics do not operate. Generally, as more consumer researchers have appreciated the complexity of customers’ behaviour, the more the have tended to look beyond formal economics for explanations of such activity.

Bandura ⁹ in his article mentioned, “Social learning theory is currently in dominant position in psychology. In many ways, this approach has been a reaction against some of the limitations of behavioral psychology while concerned with antecedent and consequence conditions, social learning theory focuses on cognitive and affective processes; down played and even sometimes ignored, in behavioral psychology. Thus, a person’s beliefs, attitudes, values, norms, and perceptions are seen as greatly determining behavior, however the process is seen as reciprocal, modified behaviors also usually modify attitudes, beliefs and perceptions which in turn can modify other behaviors”.

Richard Stone et.al. ¹⁰ defined the concept of consumer’s equilibrium for durable goods this: “It may be said that the consumers are on equilibrium when their given real income, and at the given relationship between prices of this and of other goods, they are content with holding the stock which are in fact holding. When they are out of equilibrium, in other words, when the stock they hold is less than the stock, which they would like to be holding, they will increase their current purchase of the goods in order to build their stock at a certain rate at the desired level” stock level capable of yielding the equilibrium level of services (at the given income and prices) is known as the desired stock level. As, the income and prices change over time, the desired stock level changes while the actual stock level lags behind. Thus, a gap between the actual and the desired stock arises, if the flow of services, from the actual stock is less than the desired level of services consumers would make current purchases for affecting stock accretion necessary to take the flow of services to the desired level.

Jha ¹¹ in his article, claimed” it can be said that so far consumer activists and consumer organizations have concentrated their attention mostly on demanding justices for buyers in the marketplace and thus have committed the blunder of equating ‘customerism’ with consumerism. It is suggested here that ‘consumer interest’ should not be understood in the narrow sense of buyer’s interest’. Rather it should be thought of as the interest of all the citizens in their capacity as consumers”.

Wingo & Evans ¹² made an interesting observation: “Measurement of quality of life is indeed a difficult job. Roughly speaking, one might envisage the quality of like depending on: a) personality and physical; conditions – perhaps indicated by ability to perform normal functions; b) command over private goods – indicated by income; c) immediate environment – indicated by space, availability of gardens etc. and by local public goods and bads; d) working environment – indicated by, for example, temperature, participation, stress; e) the wider environment – indicated by state of air, water, etc. So far we have given undue importance to the second factor only at the cost of others”.

David ¹³ in his thesis observed that the purpose of the study by him was to develop and test a conceptual model of long-term buyer seller relationship. Theoretical and empirical studies in the following areas were used to develop the model: sales literature, other areas of marketing (e.g. service encounter, service quality, marketing channels, service marketing) marriage and family and interpersonal relations. It as conceptualized that long-term buyer-seller relationship develops over time via four stages:

It is concludes that the model may be used when examining long-term buyer -seller relationships for consumer services and products, as well

1 Awareness
2 Expansion
3 Commitment and
4 Dissolution

As industrial services and products. Further, the model developed in the study may use when examining business- to- business relationships.

Neelkhant and Anand 14 in their article, suggests that a purposeful research programme having the objective of preparing the consumer to be well informed, conscious and a discrete buyer is immediately necessary and would be the concern of one and all government as well as private.

Ramchander15 in his paper questioned, “What is different about consumer behavior in India? Can the research findings of, Western academics or marketing professionals be translated across cultural borders? The role of the homemaker in decision-making is clearly different even within India, across ethnic groups and religions. Any wrong assumption can easily lead to erroneous conclusions. The author raised some relevant issues that would crop up in developing a theory of consumer behaviour in the Indian context.

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