Abhinav
International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research In Management & Technology
Volume II, February’13
ISSN – 2320-0073
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR FOR SMALL CARS: AN
EMPIRICAL STUDY
Shiv Prasad Joshi
Assistant Professor, JIET- School of Management, Mogra, Jodhpur, India
Email: shiv.joshi@jietjodhpur.com
ABSTRACT
The small car market in India is soon going to be one of the biggest in the world, as major automakers are investing here in this segment. There is Tata Nano ready to be launched and many others who are eyeing the Indian consumers to keep up their global sales figures.
There is increasing competition with the entry of many new foreign as well as Indian players in the market. The war has begun and the fate of these firms will be
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We used the convenience sampling method to carry out the present study. The sample size consists of 100 respondents.
A well-designed questionnaire was prepared for obtaining the information. The respondents were asked to mark on the five point Likert scale. The scale was administered on the users of various small cars. After scoring, the raw scores were tabulated for analysis. Likert scale and rating scale have been used to analyze the data.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Table 1. Brands possessed by the customers
S. No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Name of the Brand Possessed
Maruti 800
Tata Indica
Maruti Zen
Palio
Alto
Spark
Santro
% of the Respondents
28
15
10
03
23
06
15
The total sample surveyed which consisted of 100 respondents were the car-owners. Table 1 clearly indicates that Maruti is still the market leader in small car segment. 61% of the customers were found as brand possessors of Maruti cars (28%, 23% and 10% for Maruti
800, Alto and Zen respectively). Equal number of respondents owned Santro and Tata Indica
i.e. 15% of the respondents having each.
Table 2. Motivators for purchase of a specific brand
S. No.
Motivators
% of the Respondents
1
Advertisements (TV & Print media)
56
2
Dealer’s recommendations
15
3
Family member’s & friend’s recommendations
27
4
Others
02
To find out from the respondents a question was asked related to the motivators which have considerably influenced their purchases decision. The information given in table 2 indicates
48
The answers are measured on a 5 point Likert scale from questions 1-7 and Yes or No format for questions 8 -10. Responses are recorded and interpreted according to the scoring key and norms. The results are then displayed in the form of a pie chart comparing each sector.
Although the class has not had input into the methodology used to collect the data for this report it is still important for us to know why these methods were used. Questionnaires can be useful in order to get opinions and views from a large groups of people (McLeod 2014), such like conditions for the research for this reports. This can be useful as this can be an easier way of targeting a larger audience other than in interview purposes. This will also be more time consuming as everyone is answering the same questions.
The Likert Scale and Questionnaire Type Survey that will be used to assess the participants’ cultural, socioeconomic status, cultural and
Participants responded to each of the 29 items on this questionnaire using a six-point Likert scale ranging from one (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Each of the twenty nine individual answers we added up and divided by the number of questions. Higher scores on the study indicated higher levels of happiness.
With the launch of Nano, the dynamics of India’s auto industry are likely to undergo major changes as wide spectrum of auto manufacturers ranging from two-wheelers to cars will come under intense pressure to minimize prices as much as possible. Success of Nano is expected to make every automobile company change the way it works and looks at the volume market. The creation of an ultra low cost segment has already created a shudder in the automobile industry. Many automobile companies have announced their entry into this segment while others have hinted price cuts to sustain demand. Industry experts believe that introduction of Nano will lead to a sharp drop in prices of used car and in turn will stretch the budget of a new car buyer looking for exchanging old car. This aspect will affect sales of all small cars like Wagon R, Zen Estillo, Santro, Indica, Hyundai ‘i10’ and Spark.
Five-point Likert scale was used to in the design of the questionnaire, anchored from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The plain language statement was provided in the front page of the questionnaire so that participant could understand the purpose of survey. It also gave them a quick idea of what the questionnaire is about.
This journal is relevant to the topic of this research, firstly it provides information about what factors will influence the public’s choice of car, secondly it shows how the three main variables influence the distribution intensity of each brand, so that influence the public’s choice of car. However, this study focuses on
According to rating agency CRISIL(TNN, 2008), Tata Nano's launch could expand the Indian car market by 65%
Data was collected during the online survey and added to a spreadsheet. The order of questions were given in the order provided below in a open-question model with room for comments
In just 4 years since Volkswagen (VW) set up its India operations, it had captured a 3.6% market share - something
The surveys asked the respondents to provide a rating for each question using the scale below:
Car priced below USD 12000 accounts for nearly 80% of the market. Also 7000-12000 USD form’s the largest segment in the passenger car market.
Recommendations of further study for this 5-point Likert scale is to modify the criteria to add more questions and the types of questions need to be answered. The pre-and the post – test
The project title a study on consumer behaviour towards Skoda cars in Mysore city has basically prepared to know the customer behaviour towards Skoda cars.
Likert survey scale was invented by Rensis Likert, who was first to apply this approach in surveys to check attitudes. The main advantage of his method is that it requires less time to develop and is easier to adopt than the previously used survey methods. Moreover, the Linkert’s approach does not require the use of negative wording points, which is why Linkert scale survey has been used so much.