Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1ABOUT THE TOPIC Perception plays an important role in every organizational growth. if perception of the customers towards a company or brand is favorable, only then they would go for it . perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world, or it can be described as” how we see the world around us” people usually see what they expect to see, is usually based on familiarity, previous experience, or precondition set (expectations).in a marketing context, people tend to perceive products and products attributes. According to their own expectations. The customer perception is influenced by various factors, which may result in change in service quality as well. Various such factors could be like: Age, gender, Occupation, Global competition & Technological changes. The perception of younger generation of service quality could be different from the older one. Similarly a working corporate professional perception could be different from a businessperson or from a housemaid. That is why the perception should be taken into consideration by service providers to meet the customer requirements. This study attempts to finds customer perception in various dimension. The focus is on understanding the quality/performance, product attributes, image and price of micromax mobile handset.
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1.2
Industry profile The mobile phone market in India is worth 130 million handsets annually. Market opportunities
in the Indian mobile handset market is expected to grow from a total of 151 million handsets for the twelve month period ended December 31, 2009 to 402 million handsets for the twelve month period ended December 31, 2014. The growth in the Indian mobile handset market is likely to be driven by the replacement handset market rather than new user additions. Within the replacement handset market, the medium ASP device market is likely to grow the fastest. Replacement cycle: The growth in the Indian mobile handset market is likely to be driven by the replacement handset market rather than new user additions. The replacement market is expected to grow from 118 million handsets for the twelve month period ended December 31, 2010, constituting 62.77% of overall Indian mobile handset market, to 359 million handsets for the twelve month period ended December 31, 2014, constituting 89.30% of overall Indian mobile handset market. Some major companies: NOKIA SAMSAMSUNG APPLE SONY ERICSSION KARBON SPICE LAVA NOKIA – Nokia is the leader in the mobile phone industry in India (38% market share). It is dominating the Indian market from years. Recently it is facing problems to retain its growth and sales. But the pioneer is working hard to get out of this. For the same reason Nokia is going to use operating system of software biggie Microsoft. So it is expected that Nokia will try to regain its lost market share. SAMSUNG – Samsung has emerged as a very healthy and prominent competitor in the market. Samsung is backed with the high quality and professional team in the R&D area. Innovative products specially smart phones and Galaxy series from Samsung are ruling in the market. So it is expected that with the increasing demand of mobile phones Samsung will try to retain and increase its market share. APPLE – Apple is one of the most major competitors in this industry. Slick, stylish and innovative phones of Apple are driving crazy to its users. Apple is aggressively entering Indian market with its
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amazing iPhone series. Other domestic players – Other players like Karbon, Spice, Lava etc have more or less the same market strategy. Chinese manufacturers – Some of the Chinese manufacturers have already entered the Indian market. These manufacturers have priced their mobiles very low. So these manufacturers are expected to grow as with the demand. While the big companies like Nokia, Samsung, L.G. Motorola and Sony Ericsson make up for 70% share, the market has of late seen a slew of domestic firms such as Micromax, Karbon and Intex making large in roads and new established brands like Videocon and Onida entering the field. Among the domestic firms, one of the most promising brand is Micromax. Micromax, started operations in 1991 as an embedded software design firm, but was incorporated as a company in 1998, when it branched out as a distributor of computer peripherals such as printers, monitors, scanners from manufacturers such as L.G., Sony Inc., Dell Corp. Today, Micromax is one of the leading Indian Telecom Companies with 23 domestic offices across the country and international offices in Hong Kong, USA, Dubai and now in Nepal.
1.3 Company Profile:
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Micromax Informatics Limited (company profile) Micromax was incorporated as Micromax Informatics Ltd. on 29 March 2000. They started rebranding Chinese imported mobile phones in 2008with a focus on low pricing, in order to compete with international brands. Because of the issues of power in Dewas, Rahul Sharma saw a PCO being powered by a truck battery and decided to launch a feature phone with longer battery life. Micromax launched its first phone with a month long battery back-up known as X1i.In 2014, Micromax surpassed Samsung to become the mobile phone manufacturer shipping the most number of phones in a single quarter in India. On 24 January 2014, Micromax became the first Indian mobile company to start sales in Russia. The launched their first phone in rural areas with unique features of 30days battery life(micromax x1i).It is present in 560 districts through 12,5000 retail outlets in India. It spreads across SAARC market including Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal on january 2014 introduced in Russia. Micromax is the highest handset seller brand in second quarter of 2014 having market share around 16.6% and Samsung 14.4%.Samsung maintained its leadership with more then 4.4 millions units shipped and micromax 3.1 millions. Micromax is the second largest company and it can surpass Samsung only if the customer holds high perception of its mobile handsets. Micromax Informatics Limited is one of the leading consumer electronics company in India and the 10th largest mobile phone player in the world. With sales presence across India and global presence in Russia and SAARC markets, the Indian brand is reaching out to the global frontier with innovative products that challenge the status quo that Innovation comes with a price. The history of Micromax (2013-14 revenue: Rs 1,978 crore or Rs 19.78 billion), which ventured into the mobile phone market in 2008, is one of the most fascinating success stories in the Indian consumer electronics industry. In barely years, the company has come to occupy the third position (by volume) in the mobile handset market in India and is at No. 12 globally. It leads the Indian tablet market with a share of 18.4 per cent, ahead of veterans Samsung and Apple. Over the past decade, Micromax has pioneered the democratization of technology in India by offering affordable innovations through their product offerings and removing barriers for large scale adoption of advanced technologies. Micromax is currently the 2nd largest smart phone company in India. Micromax is a brand which is close to the heart of the youth and celebrates the vibrancies of life and empowerment.
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Products: Micromax products have become an extension of the Indian youth’s lifestyle and dynamism. The company has many firsts to its credit when it comes to the mobile handset market including the 30-day battery backup, Dual SIM Dual Standby phones, QWERTY keypads, universal remote control mobile phones, first quad-core budget smart phone etc. The brand’s product portfolio embraces more than 60 models today, ranging from feature rich, dual – SIM phones, 3G Android smart phones, tablets, LED televisions and data cards. Micromax sells around 2.3 million Mobility Devices every month, with a presence in more than 560 districts through 1, 25,000 retail outlets in India.
SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Innovative products and features: Marathon battery mobile phones with a 30-day battery life, phone which is programmable as a universal remote control, gravity phones are some of the features which have increased the popularity of the product. Low cost of production : With its plants located in China, Micromax bears a low cost in production due to availability of labour at cheaper rates. Effective promotion campaigns: Micromax has been promoting its products through famous celebrities and has also had tie ups with MTV. Weaknesses: Weak brand image in urban areas: Micromax has still not been able to establish itself well in the urban market as its main concentration had been on the rural population. Perception of low-quality Chinese brand: Micromax has a manufacturing unit set up in china which has strengthened this perception among people. Opportunities: Increase penetration in urban market: Since Micromax has not yet entered this market; it has a very huge opportunity to establish itself in this market.
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Entry into international markets- Micromax has the potential to make its presence felt on global scale eventually as it establishes itself in the domestic market. Threats: Increasing competition from local and international players- With well established players like Nokia, Samsung, etc Micromax faces a tough competition from these players.
1.3. Literature Review.
Schiffman and Kanuk (2003) defined Perception as the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of world. it can described ‘how we see the world around us’. They emphasized that Individual act and react on the basis of their perceptions not on the basis of objective reality. For each individual reality is totally personal
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phenomenon based on that person’s needs, wants, value and personal experiences. Individual make decision based on what they perceive to be reality. Two individual may be exposed to the same stimuli under the same conditions but how each person recognize, selects ,organize and interprets these stimuli under the same apparent condition but how each person recognize, selects , organize and interprets these stimuli is highly individual process based on each persons need, value and expectations. Parasuraman, Zeithaml And Berry (1994)have tried to integrate the concepts of product quality and service quality into an overall transaction satisfaction index, on the basis that all product purchases contain some element of service beyond the core tangible offering. Their research model suggests that the consumer’s overall satisfaction with the transaction is based on the evaluation of three components: service quality, product and price
1.4 Scope of the Study
This study help Micromax mobile to work on the weakness of it and areas or improvements, so
that they can get the rid of market which will help to be of first position. The study covers students of post graduation (21-25yrs) The Geographical Area covered was Greater Noida region. The study of the customer perception is extensive and covers respondents across all categories. This project helped me in knowing the market practically.
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The study also covers the areas which are important for th improving their performance.
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1.5 Objective of the study
To find out the proportion of customer holding favorable and unfavorable perception of micromax mobile handset.
To find out perception of product attributes of micromax mobile handset. To find out perception of customer services of micromax mobile handset. To find out perceived risk associated with micromax mobile handset. To find out perception of price of micromax mobile handset.
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1.6. RESEARCH METODOLOGY Research always starts with a question or a problem. Its purpose is to question through the application of the scientific method. It is a systematic and intensive study directed towards a more complete knowledge of the subject studied. Marketing research (MR) is the function which links the consumer, customer and public to the marketer through information- information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions, monitor marketing actions, monitor marketing performance and improve understanding of market as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs, and the method for collecting information, manage and implemented the data collection process, analyses the results and communicate the findings and their implication Thus, three key ideas regarding marketing research are:Marketing research is concerned with studying any of the manifold problems in marketing. Its purpose is to aid decision-making in the marketing field. Systematic gathering and analysis of information is its route in achieving Its purpose. Sample design: Sample size: 40 Sample unit: Students of post graduate students of Greater Noida. DATA COLLECTION Primary data: It is original data, first hand and for the specific purpose of the research project. For this project, I have used the following common research instrument:Primary Data Collection: Primary data is generated by the students or the researcher for the preparation of the project and used by the student immediately for collecting data . 1) Observation
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2) Survey 3) Personal Interview 4) Questionnaire Questionnaire: Questionnaire development is the critical part of primary data collection job. For this I have prepared a questionnaire in such a way that it is able to collect all relevant information regarding the project. In this questionnaire, I have used mostly close-ended questions that are easier to be answered by respondents (consumers) and also easier for interpretation and tabulation & one open-ended question to take the opinion of the respondents in their own words. The questions were asked to the consumers covering perception towards their purchase, price of the product, purpose for using the product, characteristic of the product, brand image, effectiveness of the advertisements, sales promotional activities, overall opinion about the product, etc. For collecting the answers from the above questionnaire, I have used the following common method:Interview: It is the most common method for contacting consumers & collecting primary data. For this project I have used following type of interview:Personal interview: It is the most extensively used method. It enables better control of the sample and ensures answers from the respondents. It also provides for a tactful approach to the respondent since it is based on a personto-person talk. But this method is generally more expensive and time consuming. For this project each interview was taking 15 to 20 minutes to complete Secondary data: Secondary data means data that are already available i.e. they refer to the data which have already have been collected and analyzed by someone else. Both primary and secondary data has been collected for this study . Primary data has been collected through questionnaire. Secondary data has been data has been collected through journals, company websites, books, reports etc.
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1.7 Limitations
Financial limitation
The study is limited to Greater Noida region
Because of time constraint sample size was the scope of this project is limited to areas.
Some of the respondents did not respond whole-heartedly due to lack of time.
The questionnaire was not taken seriously by many surveyed respondents due to which they filled in improper responses or might have just filled the questionnaire without properly analyzing the questions or purpose it is meant for.
It is difficult to know whether the sample is truly representative of the population or not.
Chapter -2
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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 2.1 Demographic profile of respondents Age The age of respondents was in the range of 21-25 yrs. Gender Table 2.1: Gender Gender Male Female
%of respondents 62.5 37.5
25 15 Fig.2.1.
Gender of respondents 70 60 50 40
gender of respondents 62.5
30
37.5
20 10 0 Male
Female
2.2 Users of mobile phone handset
Types of phone Conventional phone Smart phone
Table:-2.2 Users of mobile phone handset No of users %users 8 20 32 80
Types of mobile phone handset used:
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%users 80 70 60
%users
50 40 30 20 10 0 conventional phone
smart phone
Interpretation: Only 20% of respondents were having conventional phone and 80% of them were having smart phone. 2.3: Duration of Usage Table -2.3:Duration of Usage Duration of Usage %of respondents >3 Years 6 15 3 Years 8 20 2Years 10 25 1Years 16 40 Fig.2.3.
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Duration of Usages 40 40 35
25
30 25 20
20
Duration of Usages
15
15 10 5 0 >3 Yrs
3 Yrs
2 Yrs
1 Yrs
Interpretation: Most of the respondents(40%) were using micromax mobile set for the last one year. Only 15% were using their mobile for more than three years. 2.4 Customer Perception Of Micromax Mobile Set 2.4.1 Perception of image Table-2.4 : Perception of image Perception of image Neutral 4 10 Agree 26 65 Strongly Agree 10 25
%of respondents
Fig.2.4
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perception of image 65 70 60 50
perception of image
40
25
30 10
20 10 0 Agree
strongly Agree
Neutral
Interpretation: 65% of the respondents agreed and 25% strongly agreed that micromax mobile handset has a good image among mobile users. None of the respondents found to be held negative image of micromax mobile set. It means that higher proportion of respondents held favorable perception of image. 2.4.2 perception of micromax mobile set in comparison with other company mobile set Table-2.5perception of comparative image of micromax Not inferior %of respondents Strongly Disagree 4 5 Disagree 5 12.5 neutral 12 30 Agree 9 22.5 Strongly Agree 10 25 Fig.2.5.
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comperative analysis 30
30 25
22.5
25
20 12.5
15 10
5
not inferior
5 0
Interpretation: 25% of the respondents strongly agreed and 23% of them agreed that micromax mobile handset was not inferior in comparison to other reputed company’s mobile sets. But 18% of the respondents perceived that micromax mobile handset was inferior in comparison to other reputed company’s mobile sets . it means less than half of the respondents perceived that micromax mobile set was inferior to other reputated company mobile set. 2.4.3 : perception of features Appealing Feature Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Table-2.6: perception of Feature No. of respondents 0 0 0 0 12 30 20 50 8 20
%of respondents
Fig.2.6.
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appe aling fe ature 50
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
30 20
0
appealing feature
0
Interpretation: 50% respondents agreed that micromax mobile set has appealing features and a 20% respondents perceived it. 30% of the respondents perceived neutral about features of micromax mobile set. it means high proportion(70%) of respondents perceived the features of micromax mobile set to be appealing. 2.4.4 perception of quality/performance Table-2.7: Perception about quality Perception about quality Strongly Disagree Disagree neutral Agree Strongly Agree
%of respondents 4 6 4 12 14
10 15 10 30 35 Fig-2.7
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perception about quality 35
35
30
30 25 20 15 10
10
15 10
perception about quality
5 0
Interpretation: 35% of the respondents strongly and 30% are agreed that micromax mobile is providing good quality .it means that higher proportion (65%) of respondents perceived the performance of micromax mobile set meeting their expectation . 2.4.5 perception of recognition due to owing micromax mobile set Table-2.8:Perception about Social recognition Perception about Social Risk %of respondents Strongly Disagree 0 0 Disagree 2 5 neutral 14 35 Agree 18 45 Strongly Agree 6 15 Fig.2.8.
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pe rce ption about risk 45
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
35
15
perception about risk
5 0
Interpretation: 45% and 15% respondents agreed that micromax mobile handset provides social recognition and only few respondents were having risk. It means that higher proportion(60%) of respondents perceived that micromax mobile set gave recognition to a person in the society. 2.4.6 perception of service Perception about after sale service Strongly Disagree Disagree neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Table-2.9:Perception about after sale service No of respondents %of respondents 4 8 14 14 0
10 20 35 35 0 Fig.2.9.
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perception about after sale service 35
35
35
30 25
20
20 15
10
perception about after sale service
10 5 0 0
Interpretation: 35% of the respondents agreed that they got after sale service but most of the respondents did not get after sale service. it means just over 1/3 rd (35%) of the respondents perceived after sale service of micromax to be good. 2.4.7 :Perception of price Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
2.10: Perception of price No of respondent 3 5 20 12
% of respondent 7.5 12.5 50 30
Fig.2.10.
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attractive price 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
attractive price
Interpretation:50% of the respondents agreed , 30% strongly agreed ,12.5% of the them were neutral and 7.5% of them disagreed that price of micromax mobile set was attractive. It means that a high proportion of respondents (80%) perceived that price of micromax mobile set was attractive. 2.5 Overall Satisfaction Level Table-10 Overall Satisfaction Level
Respondent Satisfaction Level Satisfied highly satisfied dissatisfied highly dissatisfied
Number of Respondents 14 16 6 4 Fig.10.
% of respondents 35 40 15 10
22
respondents 40
35
40
30 respondents
20 10
15
0
10
satisfied highly satisfied Dissatisfied
Highly Dissatisfied
Interpretation: 35% of respondents satisfied and 40% of respondents are highly satisfied about micromax overall performance and 15% and10% are dissatisfied and highly dissatisfied. it means that 3/4th were satisfied with their micromax mobile set.
Chapter-3 FINDINGS. The facts that we have found from the research on the consumer perception about micromax mobile are as follows:
It is found that a very high proportion (80%) of respondents held favorable perception of image. None of the respondents was found to be held negative image of micromax mobile set.
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It is found that less than half of (48%) the respondents perceived that micromax mobile set was not inferior to other reputated company mobile set.
It is found that high proportion (70%) of respondents perceived the features of micromax mobile set to be appealing.
It is found that higher proportion (65%) of respondents perceived the performance of micromax mobile set meeting their expectation. However 25% of respondents did not perceive the performance of micromax mobile not match with their exactation. It means that higher proportion (60%) of respondents perceived that micromax mobile set gave recognition to a person in the society. It is found that just over 1/3 rd (35%) of the respondents perceived after sale service of micromax to be good It means that a high proportion of respondents (80%) perceived that price of micromax mobile set was attractive It is found that 3/4th were satisfied with their micromax mobile set.
Chapter-4 SUGGESTION The few of the suggestions which we could give to the company based on the research to improve its sale and market share are as follows:
The company should work on celebrity endorsements .Ex: they brought in Hugh Jackman to promote the brand instead they should have brought in Indian stars with whom the customer could relate.
The company should work on improving the quality of the mobile phones..
The company should work on improving the after sales services by opening up more service centers at accessible places and improve the promptness of services.
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Chapter-5 CONCLUSION. With the advent of Technology world around us, its really hard to penetrate the market for any brand especially when companies like Apple and Samsung have flooded the entire market with their innovative products. Amidst this An Indian Company Micromax has come out with some radiance and seem to be a mass scale product for mid income group, enhancing the brand and its value. Apple, Samsung are likely to give away their products charging 50,000 and micromax would give away the same features in say around 25,000. Its just the cost of brand that other companies charge for their product which is not charged by micromax and compromised by the customers when they buy MICROMAX. People have become prone to change and it has almost become a fashion keeping cell phones with latest sleek slim body and newer version of operating system. Its because of this reason that people do take up MICOMAX and use it for sometime and then switch over again. The survey conveys the fact as the number of users using the phones for more than 3 years is much less than people using it for 1 year or so. Its sales in terms of volume is more in comparison to the other companies but its sales in value is not very much at par with the other companies. It made its mark among big shot companies like apple and Samsung But there are few faults in the marketing, distribution and other fields which the company needs to deal with to gain a stronger market position and become at par with the companies like Samsung and apple.
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Bibliography 1.
Kothari, R. C. Research Methodology(1990)Revised edition. New Age International
Limited publishers. 2. Kotler. P, (2004) Marketing Management. pearson Education. 3. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., and Berry, L. (1994). Reassement of Expectations as a comparison Standard in Measuring service Quality for further Research. Journal of Marketing,58, January 1994. 4. Schiffman, L.G. and Kanuk, L.L. (2003) Consumer Behavavior PHI. WEBSITES:
www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.micromax.com www.slideshare.com www.micromaxindia.com
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QUESTIONNAIRE Name
: ………………………………………
Age
: ….Yrs
Gender
:
a) Male
Occupation : (a) Salaried Email
b) Female (b) Business man
(c) Student
(d) Others
: …………………………………
-----------------------------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxx---------------------------------------------------1. Which type of Micromax mobile handset do you have? (a) Conventional Phone
(b) Smart phone
2. I have been using Micromax mobile handset for: (a) 1 yr
(b) 2 yrs
(c) 3 yrs
(d) > 3 yrs
3. Indicate your response to the following statements in 1 to 5 scale as mentioned below.
(1-
Strongly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Neutral, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly agree) SD
D
N
A
SA
3.1. Micromax mobile set has a good image among mobile users.
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3.2. Micromax mobile is not inferior to any other reputed company‘s mobile set. 3.3. Micromax mobile set has appealing features. 3.4. The quality/performance of Micromax mobile set matches my expectation. 3.5. Owning Micromax gives recognition to a person. 3.6. Customer service related to the Micromax mobile is good 3.7 The price of micromax mobile handset is attractive
4. what is your Overall level of satisfaction with your mobile set? Highly dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Neutral
Satisfied
Highly satisfied
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