GAUHATI UNIVERSITY

A Training report submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the award of the Degree of the Master of
Business Administration (Industry Integrated), Gauhati University
on

Promotion of Noika GPS Systems

Under Organization Guidance of: Under Institutional Guidance of:

Mr. Alok Srivastva Mrs. Deepti Gaur
Manger – Retail sales M. Com (UGC .NET)

Prepared and Submitted by:

Akshay Badhwar
G. U. Registration No. 09010012 of 2009-2011
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project Report at

Comprehensive Study on Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(Industry Integrated)

TO

GAUHATI UNIVERSITY, GUWAHATI

Is a record of bonafide training carried out by

______________
Under my supervision and guidance and that no part of this report has been submitted for

the award of any other degree/diploma/fellowship or similar titles or prizes.

Faculty Guide

Signature:

Name: ________________

Qualifications: Signature & Seal of the Learning Center

ii
 STUDENT'S DECLARATION

I here by declare that the training report conducted at

Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Under the guidance of

Mr. Alok Srivastva

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

To

GAUHATI UNIVERSITY, GUWAHATI

Is my original work and the same has not been submitted for the award of any other

degree/diploma/fellowship or other similar titles or prizes.

Place: ______________

Date: Reg No. A_________

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would also like to thank the entire team of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited, for the

constant support and help in the successful completion of my project.

Also, I am thankful to my faculty guide Mr. _________ of my institute, for his/ her

continued guidance and invaluable encouragement. I express my sincere gratitude for her

able guidance, continuous support and cooperation throughout my project, without which

the present work would not have been possible.

_____________

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Introduction
1.2 Objective of the study
1.3 Industry Profile
a) Origin and development of the industry
b) Growth and present status of the industry.
c) Future of the industry.
CHAPTER 2 PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION
2.1 Origin of the Organization
2.2 Growth and Development of the Organization
2.3 Present Status of the Organization
2.4 Future Plan of the organization
2.5 Functional Department of the organization
2.6 Organization structure and Organization chart
2.7 Product and service profile of the organization
2.8 Market profile of the Organization
CHAPTER 3 DISCUSSIONS ON TRAINING
3.1 Student’s work profile
3.2 Key Learnings
CHAPTER 4 STUDY OF SELECTED RESEARCH PROBLEM
4.1 Statement of research problem
4.2 Statement of Research objectives
4.3 Research Design & methodology
CHAPTER 5 ANALYSIS
5.1 Analysis of data
5.2 Summary of Findings
CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Summary Of Learning Experience
6.2 Observations and Recommendations
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY

v
 INTRODUCTION
1.2 General Introduction

Basic or Pure Research: The research which is done for knowledge enhancement,
the research which does not have immediate commercial potential, the research
which is done for human welfare, animal welfare and plant kingdom welfare is the
basic or pure research.

Government of India, through Census, does research on population count to identify

total population of India, no. of male, female, no. of families, no. of voters, etc. One
of the major findings of census is, some rural areas, proportion of female is 10% less
as compared to male. In some metros and mini metros, female count is marginally
less than male. This situation might create problems in future. Govt. responded
quickly to this trend and have implemented ad-campaign having punch line ‘a world
without women’.

Applied Research: The research which has immediate commercial potential is

called applied research. Applied research can further be classified as problem
oriented and problem solving research.

Problem Oriented Research – This type of research is done by Industry Apex

Body for sorting out problems faced by all the companies. For example NASSCOM
regularly conducts problem oriented research for the benefit of all software
companies. Similarly CII does the research for all types of companies. At global
level, WTO does problem oriented research for developing countries. In India,
APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority) conducts
regular research for the benefit of agro industry.

Problem solving Research – This type of research is done by an individual

company for the problem faced by it. For example if Videocon International
conducts research to study customer satisfaction level, it will be problem solving
research. The findings of problem solving research are unique and only true for that
company which does the research and cannot be generalized. Whereas findings of
the problem oriented research could be generalized.

Market Research and Marketing Research are the applied research.

1
1.2 Objective of the study
♦ To understand the key concepts of marketing research and the various types of
marketing research.

1.3 Industry Profile

In corporate India total number of companies could be more than 10,000 whereas
companies engage in conducting marketing research, in organize sector are around
10 to 15 and unorganized around 32 to 50; of which the major are leading marketing
research companies and their sales turnover is as follows:

Marketing Services offered Sales turnover for

Research the year 2005 (Rs. In
Company Crores)

ORG-MARG People meter, retail 100

audit

MRAS Test marketing 25

MBA Opinion polls 10

RCG Perceptual maps 12

STANDARD Customer 10
RESEARCH satisfaction surveys

IMRB Advertising testing 75

research

Total 232

Corporate India’s turnover is few billion $ whereas sales turnover of all marketing
research companies (organize and unorganized) does not exceed more than Rs. 500
crores. This indicates that marketing research is not very popular with corporate
India.

2
The big shots in consumer non-durables i.e. HLL and ITC hardly spend around Rs.
25 crores and 20 crores respectively annually on marketing research, which is not
even 1 per cent of their sales turnover. This fact confirms unpopularity of marketing
research with corporate world. The reasons for unpopularity could be as follows:

Narrow conceptions: MR is perceived as data collection activity only i.e. a clerical

job. This is because the marketer never comes in forward of respondents and
explains to him the objectives of research or purpose of research. E.g. Times of
India and Indian Express conduct research for estimating readership and viewership
every six months. The boys recruited are under-graduates who do not know the
purpose of the study. They judge jott down the answers on structured questionnaires
and say that they are doing marketing research. Hence the respondents form
perception that marketing research is clerical job.

Improper orientation of the investigators – data collection activity is normally

enthrusted to first year management students without imparting any training to them.
The respondents are just given quota i.e. they have to complete say 100 surveys in
one week’s time and submit 100 questionnaires. Normally, the interviewer is not
able to complete this work in one week’s time and to fulfill the quota on his own he
fills up the questionnaire. This hampers the accuracy of the survey.

Late results - well design and plan survey which is to be completed by conducting
personal interviews might take 4 to 6 months time. In marketer’s opinion, the
survey should not take more than one month’s time since he perceives it as clerical
job. As such the report submitted by marketer may not be attended by the sponsors.

Conditional findings – MR companies normally want to play safe i.e. due to

volatile Indian markets, they never recommend any marketing strategy. In place
they normally recommend conditional strategies i.e. if this happen, this marketing
strategy will work. Such conditional marketing plans are not acceptable to the
marketer because marketer can hardly control the conditions.

Cost affair – Field research is always very costly because the expenses like
traveling, conveyance, lodging, meals, communication, etc. to be incurred e.g. a
survey done for nation wide market for consumer non-durable like toothpaste might

3
require few crore rupees. However, marketers opinion is it should not take more
than few thousand since he perceives MR as clerical job.

Biasness – Research may have biased due to

(a) Improper research techniques

(b) Inadequate skill of investigator

(c) Researcher inclined towards pre-determined

results.

4
 PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION
2.1 Origin of the organization

Annik is a leading provider of Market Research and Data Management services.

With more than 500 employees across the globe, Annik offers a comprehensive
range of services such as Data Collection, Management, Business Intelligence and
Reporting services to clients around the world. Annik is listed by Deloitte as one of
the Top 50 fastest growing technology companies in India.

Vision

"To be a best-in-class organization delivering knowledge-intensive, information-

based services; the foundation of our business will consist of satisfied customers
and empowered employees - exceeding expectations and adding demonstrated value
at every step"

Mission

"To help our clients convert information into insights we will achieve this by looking
at all situations from our client's perspective and by leveraging technology to
collect, organize, clean, maintain, process and analyze data using certified
processes and programming methods."

Annik is one of the largest providers of Market research related support, data
analysis, data management and programming support to clients around the world.
Founded in April 2000, have been working with clients in the US, Europe, and parts
of Asia Pacific, including Japan. Using proven methods of documentation, design,
testing, implementation and most importantly, communication, ANNIK is one of the
few Indian companies that truly understand the business of providing offshore and
remote services. They have offices in the New Delhi and Hyderabad.

Their areas of expertise include Data Processing and Tabbing, Data Cleaning,
Online Survey Programming, Coding of Open Ends, CATI programming, Data
Entry, Web Applications and portals to support data collection and data delivery,

5
Automated Reporting Systems, Data Warehousing, Mining and Analysis, Intelligent
Reports and Analytical Transaction Processing.

They are continuing to add more MR applications to their area of expertise and their
staff is easily trained on any custom applications your company uses to conduct the
applications mentioned above. They look forward to being a part of your extended
operations team or working on cutting edge research applications.

Specialties

Market research, data management, survey programming, data mining, research,

customer data integration, Business intelligence, DqG, market research outsourcing,
outsourcing.

Annik Technology Services, a leading Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO)

group with 10 years of Excellence, outlines its global expansion plans. The group is
headquartered in Gurgaon, India and provides value added services in the Market
Research and Data Management spaces.

The group announced today the opening of its Middle East office located at Abu
Dhabi, UAE. This marks the culmination of a global expansion strategy started and
accelerated through the downturn of 2008-2009. Annik had already had sales
presence in the US and Europe, which are its two main markets, since 2008.

The expansion started about 18 months ago, with the launch of a delivery center in
Shanghai, servicing the China, Japan and South Korea markets followed with a
delivery center in Poland in February 2010 to service Western and Eastern Europe.
With the launch of the Abu Dhabi office the group now has wide servicing
capability across geographies in almost all key global languages and regions.

Data Security

Information is an equally important asset as any other critical business assets, has
value to an organization and consequently needs to be protected - ISO 27001
Security Standards.

6
Annik recognizes the importance of the information that it holds on behalf of its
customers, stakeholders and associates. They are committed to secure all of this
information, including data, copyrights and trademarks, while it is being handled,
processed, stored, transmitted and delivered.

They follow internationally acclaimed quality and information security processes,

which help them to enhance customer confidence, ensure secure operating
environment, minimize business damage by reducing the impact of security
incidents and eliminate the possibilities of reoccurrences of identified security
incidents and to maximize business investments and opportunities. They have been
continuously striving to make the network a safe and secure medium to work and
have incorporated many features and controls during the course of time.

Annik's ISO27001 Certification

Annik being early movers achieved ISO 27001 (revised version of BS 7799 Part
2:2002) certification — an International Standard for Information Security
Management System issued by external auditors —BSI Global. Annik was certified
as ISO27001 compliant on Oct 26, 2006. Since then, Annik has successfully passed
yearly audits by BSI keeping itself compliant to the Framework.

There are 3 important components in any organization namely People; Procedures

and Methods; Tools; Processes hold them together. The Quality of the product is
highly influenced by the Quality of the processes used to develop and maintain it.

Annik is at the threshold of continuous improvement where processes are indeed

predictable, consistent and repeatable. Annik has achieved CMMi L3 V1.2
certification which is an International Standard developed by Software Engineering
Institute of Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburg USA. It has been developed in the
field of development and which provides a model for understanding the capability
maturity of an organization's development business processes. The certificate came
in effect from Feb 11, 2008.

One of the fundamental advantages of Annik as a preferred vendor for Research

support services was low cost. Annik helped clients reduce transaction costs better

7
than competitors elsewhere in the world. In its primitive years, Annik was
considered for outsourced services of tasks and a subset of activities in a business
process of a Client. Most of the services were at a lower end of value chain.

Once the credentials of Annik were established and more and more Clients started
showing faith in the services provided by Annik, the challenge and obvious growth
path was to shed the "cheap service provider" brand and move up the value chain.
The idea was to transform Annik into a brand that would help Clients improve
business performance through cutting edge research applications. Another challenge
facing Annik was to maintain a balance between making processes transparent to
potential clients and strengthening security and confidentiality processes.

To address these challenges, Annik decided to adapt CMMi quality framework to

help establish and improve processes throughout the lifecycle. The model is
intended to improve the capability of processes in order to consistently deliver high
quality services to Clients. The idea was to balance the recommendations of the
model against the business value that the new processes would add.

CMMi is a compilation of "best practices" from successful organizations across the

globe. Moreover, it provides a road map for improvement by providing five
capability levels with different practices at each level. Every practice describes a set
of key activities that one needs to perform along with set of metrics suggested to
improve processes.

Annik Technology Services, a leading market research data collection &

technologies company, has today launched “SurveyFlashTools Connect” reinforcing
their objective of making interactive Flash questions a possibility on any online
survey.

In April, Annik successfully launched SurveyFlashTools, fully compatible with

Confirmit and Dimensions. Now with the enhanced “SurveyFlashTools Connect”,
all users will be able to immediately leverage the advantages of using Flash in online
surveys regardless of their survey platform.

8
SurveyFlashTools enables companies to dramatically reduce the effort and costs
involved in the development, while implementation of Flash tools requires no
knowledge of Flash programming. The expanding portfolio of Flash components
includes sliders, text highlighters, image gallery, ranking and advanced rating tools.

2.2 Growth and development of the organization

 Annik is a leading provider of Market Research and Data Management

services. With more than 500 employees across the globe.

 Annik offers a comprehensive range of services such as Data Collection,

Management, Business Intelligence and Reporting services to clients around
the world.

 Annik is listed by Deloitte as one of the Top 50 fastest growing technology

companies in India.

 There are 3 important components in any organization namely People;

Procedures and Methods; Tools; Processes hold them together.

 The Quality of the product is highly influenced by the Quality of the

processes used to develop and maintain it.

 Annik is at the threshold of continuous improvement where processes are

indeed predictable, consistent and repeatable.

2.3 Present status of the organization

 The turnover of the company is around 45 crores

 They face competition from agencies providing similar services to clients.

 Competitors:

Tata matrix/WNS/Ugam

9
2.4 Future plans of the organization

 Annik has achieved CMMi L3 V1.2 certification which is an International

Standard developed by Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon
University Pittsburg USA. It has been developed in the field of development
and which provides a model for understanding the capability maturity of an
organization's development business processes. The certificate came in effect
from Feb 11, 2008.

 Annik Technology Services, a leading market research data collection &

technologies company, has today launched "SurveyFlashTools ConnectTM"
reinforcing their objective of making interactive Flash questions a possibility
on any online survey.

2.5 Functional departments of the organization

• Marketing

• Research

• Human Resource

2.6 Organization Structure and Organization Chart

10
2.7 Product and Service Profile of the organization

Data Management Services

 Master Data Management

 Data Quality and Governance

 Web Content Management

 Innovation through Technology

Research Analytics & Services

 Research Operations Support

 Healthcare and Life Sciences

 Analytics and Reporting

 Innovation through Technology

11
 DISCUSSIONS ON TRAINING
3.1 Students Work Profile

• Understanding the product profile of Annik

• Understanding the key aspects of Market Research

• Evaluation the market position of the company

3.2 Key learning's

DEFINITIONS OF MR

MR is a tool for a study

• To measure →needs, wants, demands.

• To evaluate →consumer attitudes

• To interpret →consumer behavior of various target markets.

MR is the systematic gathering recording &analyzing of data about problems

relating to the marketing of goods &services.

MR is the objective & formal process of systematically obtaining, analyzing

&interpreting the marketing data for actionable decision making.

SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA

Government Sources

Name of the Source Information provided

1) Directorate General of Installed manufacturing

Supplies & Disposal capacities & actual utilized
(DGS&D) capacities for all

2) Directorate General of manufacturers

Trade & Disposal

3) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Availability of foreign

currencies.

12
4) Directorate General of Import-Export statistics
Commercial Intelligence &
Statistics

5) Centre for monitoring Indian Economic Growth, GDP

Economy (CMIE)

6) Census Population, no. of families,

no.of voters

7) Geographic Survey of India Regionwise production of agri-

produce

8) Horticulture Board of India Value-added fruits, vegetables

& flowers and markets

9) Directorate General of Import Export Regulations

Foreign Trade (DGFT)

10) Exim Bank Creditworthiness of importers

and countries.

11) Export Credit Guarantee Insurance covers and financial

Corporation of India (ECGC) guarantees available to
exporters.

12) Agriculture & Processed High Tech Agri Farming,

Food Export Development technology tie-ups, seed
Authority(APEDA) capital, inspection, etc.

13) Central Statistical Industry Economics

Organisation (CSO)

14) National Sample Survey Per Capita consumption &

(NSS) monthly per capita income,
literacy per state, employment
across male & female

etc.

13
Non-Government Sources

1) Org Marg TRP ratings, Retail Store Audit

2) INSDOC (private Library) Any publication after 1970

3) Path Finder Household disposable income &

consumer behaviour.

4) University Public Relation Various courses, fees, duration

Offices and eligibility.

5) Yellow Pages & Ask Me Classified information

6) Internet Sites Classified information

7) Indian Association of No.of Retailers, their

Retailers classification, types, etc.

8) J.D.Power Asia Pacific Customer satisfaction Index

Survey

9) Technopak Retailing in India

10) A.T.Kearney

THE NATURE OF SECONDARY DATA

• Secondary data is available from publications, in-house

databases, research agencies etc. It constitutes readymade information that
can be used for research purpose with minimal analysis. However, the
researcher should bear in mind that secondary data is published for purposes
other than the current research.

• Collecting primary data involves field work and further

analysis on the data collected to arrive at a conclusion. For instance, a
marketer who wants to launch a particular product may be interested in
collecting data regarding the buying habits of consumers in that particular
region. The marketer can conduct field surveys to collect the relevant data,

14
 which, in turn, can be analyzed to arrive at a proper conclusion. But at the
same time, he can refer to any published material that has already done an
analysis. While the first method is tedious, time consuming, and expensive,
the second method, which is collecting secondary data, is fast and
inexpensive.

ADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY DATA

• One of the main advantages of secondary data is that it is

quite inexpensive. A small start-up company study the market to launch a
product may not be able to afford to do primary research. By getting hold of
good reports and articles, such small organizations will be able to do the
study cost effectively.

• Secondary data helps researchers save time. While primary

research takes a considerable amount of time in the form of collecting and
analyzing the data, secondary data offers readymade solutions.

• If the demographics of a particular region have to be studied,

the researcher has to collect the statistics of the population. It is impossible
for any organization to conduct such a census study. Here too, secondary
data published by a government organization will be of considerable use.
Moreover, data collected and published by the government will be less
biased.

DISADVANTAGES OF SECONDARY DATA

• The major disadvantages of secondary data are

• Relevance

• Accuracy

• Sufficiency

• Availability

15
METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION IN FIELD RESEARCH

Element Personal interview Mail method Telephone

of method interview
differenti method
ation

No of Not very high due Large no Much more

samples time constraint samples can be sample can be
contacted contacted as
less time
required

Time Is used when Used when Used when

adequate time is considerable very short is
available time is available
available

Cost Highest Lowest Moderately

high as
compared to
MM

Accuracy Highest due to Not very high Fairly high but

personal interaction due to depends on
and data recording skill of
a. Response
with right interviewer in
rate not more
understanding sorting out
than 20 to 25%
misinterpretati
b. Wrong
on of Qus.
interpretation
of Qus. can not
be sorted out.

Use Not much useful For For outstation

when large geographically samples the

16
 geographic area is scattered cost could be
to be cover due to samples this is prohibitive
cost constraint best suited hence useful
local surveys
only.

Infrastruc Huge infrastructure Almost In terms of

ture in form of project negligible skilled
leader, research telephone
officer and operator and
investigators data base
required

Type of Useful for ignorant Suitable for Suitable if

samples and illiterate samples who samples can
samples can read and properly
write communicate

Question Samples loose lengthy Legthy

naire interest with lengthy questionnaire questionnare
questionnaire is no prob. wont do bcoz
bcoz sample is not
directly seen
Sample feel it
at his
convenient
time

Interview Skilled Interviewer Skilled o not Skilled

er can improve skilled Interviewer can
accuracy Interviewer r improve
does not affect accuracy
accuracy

Type of Suitable for Suitable for Suitable only

Qus spontaneous Ans spontaneous as for

17
 since samples do well as well Spontaneous
not like to tax their thought Ans Ans
memories

Drawback If investigators are Questionnaire It is impossible

s/Limitati not trend, he himself might not be to judge person
ons might fill up filled up by contacted is
Questionnaire intended desired person
person as such the 1st
name of
sample must
be known

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Internet Interviewing

Web interviewing Email survey

• Applications marketing surveys All type of Exam

• CAT

• Admissions

Advantages of Internet interviewing

• Fast set up, Execution and completion

• Visual stimuli can be evaluated ( in case of web cap)

• Stimuli presentation can be controlled allowing for pre and post questions
unlike traditional mail.

• Question presentation is consistent and eliminates interviewer's bias

• Questionnaire skip pattern can be controlled

• Less instructive process, allowing respondents to ans as per their

convenience

• Accurate responses possible since it is self administered.

• Eliminates cost of an interviewer

• Permits real time data

• Much cheaper than traditional research procss.

SAMPLING

• Web interviewing can be generated provided sample are accessible. Hence

samples to b chosen from

a. Visitors to a website

b. E-commerce customers

c. Users of certain compuer hardware or software

d. Employees of a company that provides web access for 24 hours

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 e. Regular web surfers at net cafes

f. Wap users

SURVEY DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS

• Screen look and feel

• Question layout

• Word dynamics for onscreen questionnaires’

• Placement of graphics

• Randomization of ans or stimuli

• Richer open end responses

APPLICATIONS

• Study of competitor's product where PI/MM/TI may not be possible due to

cost, time Ect.

• Marketer can heir a .com company to study competitor's actions

LIMITATIONS

• No. of PC owner/internet users are limited

• This type of survey can not be for masses but for classes

• Sampling is complex due to problems in identifying in sample frame.

MARKETING AUDIT

Definition: A systematic, comprehensive, independent and periodic examination of

companies’ business unit’s marketing problem areas and opportunities and to
recommend an action plan to improve marketing effectiveness.

Marketing Audit

(1) Marketing Environment Audit (2) Marketing Strategy Audit

(3) Marketing Organization Audit (4) Marketing System Audit

20
The frequency of conducting the exercise of marketing audit depends on type of
products. For example, in case of consumer non durables the exercise might have to
be done twice in a year whereas for home appliances once in a year could be OK.

DATABSE MARKETING

Definition: Marketing Database system is an organize collection of comprehensive

data about individual customers, prospects or even suspects (suspects can be
converted into customers), i.e. current, accessible and actionable for marketing
purpose such as lead generation and sales of a product or service or maintenance of
customer relationships.

Effective database marketing might start with employees itself (case study of Alpha
Laval and Mrs. Poonawala to be discussed).

For consumer durables, database marketing could be done as follows:

All the dealers could be enlightened to ensure that the customers who walk in the
shops to be converted into buyers. For this purpose, whosoever just enquires his
name, address, contact nos. to be taken down and to be followed at regular interval
till he is converted as buyer?

FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE

This is also known as indirect interviews. A group of eight to ten samples jointly
participate in an unstructured interview conducted by a moderator. The samples
selected have similar background or use experience related to the problem being
research. The moderator in informal way goes on asking unstructured questionnaire
and recording the data in two-in-one tape recorder. This information later on
analyzed for decision making.

Advantage: The data can be collected in shortest possible time, say, a day or two.

Disadvantage: Since sample size is very small, accuracy could be doubtful.

Moreover, in one focus group if a dominant personality is one of the sample then
other samples gets carried away with his views even though they want to say
something different.

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BASIC TERMS IN SAMPLING

• Sample Population: It is pre-defined set of potential respondents (elements)

in a specific geographic area where research is intended.

For example: All mothers in Delhi city who buy branded baby products.

All teenagers in Mumbai who love watching MTV

• Sample Frame: It is a sub-set of the defined target population, from which

researcher can select a sample for collection of data. Sample frame is
usually a partial list of population.

For Example: Telephone directory of Delhi

List of income tax payers in Delhi

• Sample: It is the test unit, which provide information or data to the

researcher. Alternatively, samples are the respondents who represent the
characteristics of the target population and drawn from sample frame.

Sample Size Calculation

N = (ZS / e)2

where n = sample size, Z = standard normal distribution for certain

confidence level, e.g. Z95% = 1.96 & Z90% = 1.645, Z99 = 2.58,

S = Population Standard Deviation = (Maximum value – minimum value) / 6

e = Tolerable error in estimating the variable

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Probability Sampling Non-probability Sampling

1) Each sample unit in sample 1) The chance of each sample

frame has equal or know chance unit from sample frame being
of being included as sample included as sample cannot be
estimated.

2) Samples are selected at 2) Samples are selected w.r.t.

random from sample frame. prior Experience or judgement of

22
 the researcher

3) Whenever large sample size is 3) For accessing small sample

involved, this method is used. size this method is used.

4) When highly accurate 4) Whenever time and cost

decisions of known errors are constraints are inevitable (like
intended regardless of cost, this exploratory Research), this
method is useful. method is used.

5) Normally used for consumer 5) Normally used for industrial

goods survey. goods survey.

Sampling Methods

For probability sampling technique

(i) Random Sampling

(ii) Systematic Sampling

(iii) Stratified Sampling

(iv) Multistage Sampling

(v) Area Sampling

For non-probability technique

(i) Purposive Sampling

(ii) Quota Sampling

Questionnaire Design and Drafting

Following elements in balance manner make good questionnaire

(i) The questions must be relevant to subject matter and a set of questions must
be able to cover the entire topic of the research (illustration of Chaitanya
Health Clubs questionnaire)

(ii) The question should not indicate specific answers. (example of Amul’s Masti
curd and HLL’s study on Surf Wash Boosters)

23
(iii) Lengthy and difficult questions would lose customer attention and hence
short and easy questions to be posed.

(ii) Each and every question should create interest in the minds of samples so
that samples also feel importance of question being asked and hence likely to
give accurate answers seriously.

(iii) Double-baralled Questions to be avoided.

Inexperienced questionnaire designers have a tendency to combine two

questions into a single question, such as:

Are you happy with the price and quality of brand Y?

Yes  No 

This is not a good question to ask, because the answer will be ambiguous, whether it
is yes or no. It would not be clear whether the respondent has said yes for price
alone, quality alone, or for both. The same problem exists for a ‘no’ answer.

It is better to rephrase the question and provide for different answer categories for
each attribute or ask two separate questions, one for price and one about quality.
Then the interpretation of answer becomes far easier.

Appropriate Layout

Method of data
Information Needed Sampling technique and
collection, PI, TI or
(Secondary or Primary data) methods
Observation

Questionnaire Layout Design

Decide on content of each question

Decide on type of questions

Decide on wording or questions

Decide sequence of questions

Decide pre-testing of questionnaire

Final testing of revised questionnaire

24
Questionnaire Do’s and Don’ts

• Ensure questions are free of bias

• Make questions simple

• Make questions specific

• Avoid sophisticated words

• Avoid ambiguous words

• Avoid negatives

• Avoid hypotheticals

• Avoid words that could be misheard

• Use mutually exclusive categories

• Allow for “other” in fixed response questions

APPLICATIONS OF MARKETING RESEARCH

PRODUCT RESEARCH

Product research areas Marketing research techniques

(1) Formulating new product Regression Technique, Benefit

Analysis

(2) Product Line Extension / Perceptual Map

Brand Extension

(3) Test Marketing of new Experimental research design

product

(4) Re-launching of declining Qualitative Research or

product Perceptual mapping

25
DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH

Decision area Marketing research

technique to be adopted

1) Selecting suitable channel option Indepth interviews, focus

from two alternatives like direct group studies,
Distribution or Indirect distribution exploratory research

2) Performance Appraisal of two Cluster analysis

horizontal channel partners (retailer vs
retailer)

3) Encouraging or motivating channel Qualitative research or

members focus group studies

ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Decision area Marketing research technique

1) Determining ad-objectives Focus group interview,

(which objective should be qualitative research
chosen)

2) Evaluating ad-copy and ad- Experimental research deisgn

effectiveness

3) Deciding media Qualitative research

4) Advertising budgets Opinion poll, qualitative

research

26
 STUDY OF SELECTED RESEARCH PROBLEM

4.1 Statement of research problem

Case 1:

♦ Whether Shah Rukh Khan is the right choice as a male ambassador for Lux.

♦ To test this we will have to find out whether people associate Shah Rukh Khan’s
qualities with Lux.

♦ We shall also analyze whether Lux needs to target the male consumers also.

♦ We shall test by finding out whether men really have a say in the purchase
decision for soaps.

Case 2

♦ To study market penetration of Surf Detergent Powder in & around Delhi.

4.2 Statement of Research objectives

Case 1

Primary Objective

To find whether there is an image mismatch between the image of Shah Rukh Khan
and Lux

Secondary Objective

• To find out whether the new improved positioning of

Lux (targeting men also) is required?

• To find out which male celebrity (if any) is the most

appropriate for Lux.

Case 2

Research Objectives

To find out:

(a) Which is the most commonly used detergent in the market?

27
 (b) What influences people to buy a particular brand?

(c) What is the penetration level of Surf in the market?

(d) To identify customer needs.

4.3 Research Design & methodology

The plank on which the study rests is information, which was procured as a
judicious mix of both secondary data and primary sources of data.

Developing research plan

(a) Research Design – Descriptive

(b) Sources of secondary data – From Indian retailers association, name and
addresses of grocers, supermarkets were collected, from whom name and
addresses of detergent users were collected.

Sources of primary data – Household samples

(c) Research approach – Focus group interviews and individual sample

interview.

(d) Research instruments – Structured questionnaire

(e) Sample Plan Universe – Residents of Delhi

Frame – Detergent users

Sample size – 52 / 40 (52 list of

detergent users from whom 40 Surf
users were picked up)

Method – Systematic sampling

Unit – Household

(f) Contact method – TI / PI

28
 ANALYSIS

5.1 Analysis of data

FINDINGS

Qualities Rank for Lux Rank for SRK

1 Masculine 5 6 0

2 Feminine 1 2 1

3 Status 3 5 2

4 Sophisticated 4 3 1

5 Cool / Hep 5 4 1

6 Glamorous 2 1 1

Summary of Findings

Correlation

1 Glamour There is not a significant Difference

2 Feminist There is a significant Difference

3 Mascutinity There is a significant Difference

4 Status There is a significant Difference

5 Sophistication There is not a significant Difference

6 Cool / Hap There is a significant Difference

29
ANALYSIS

Market Share of Various Soaps:

Out fo the total 21 men interviewed 5 of them use Lux, 3 use Cinthol and 3 use
dove. 9 of them use soaps other than those mentioned here.

From among the 73 women interviewd, 18 of them use Lux i.e. around 25% of them
use Lux, 13% use dove and pears and around 17% use Cinthol. A very small share
goes to Dettol, i.e. around 2.7% whereas around 25% of the female respondents
prefer to use other soaps like Chandrika and other medicated soaps.

Men and Buying Decision:

From, the data collected, we have found that out fo all the men interviewed only
21% either buy the soap themselves or ask someone else to buy the brand they
specify. This means that the men do not have any influence on the buying decision
for any brand of soap. Thus the strategy of Lux of trying to capture the male
segment of the society by targeting them would not work as men do not influence
the buying decision.

Reason for buying a Soap:

From what we have collected, we find that just 4% of the respondents buy soap
because a celebrity endorses it. Majority of the respondents buy it for medical
reasons (31%) or because of its attractive packaging, shape or scent (24%). Not
even one of these respondents claims to be buying their brand of soap due to
influence by friends or peers. A good 14% of the respondents buy their brand of
soap because they think their brand is value for money. Thus we can infer that the
buying decision for a particular brand of soap largely depends upon medical reasons.
Thus Lux would be better off trying to capture more market share by using that
strategy.

Lux and Male Celebrity?

When the respondents were asked about their opinion on Lux using a male celebrity
to endorse it, only 23% said that they liked the idea, 20% said that it does not matter
to them whether Lux uses a male or a female celebrity, whereas 57% of them did not

30
like the idea. This shows that the Ad has not been absolutely accepted by the
general public. The Ad might have created a stir in the market, but that according to
us will not attract many customers and may be not improve the market share for the
soap.

Preferred male Star in Lux Ad:

If the company plans to continue with a male celebrity in its ads, it should take Saif
Ali Khan as majority of the respondents (31%) though he is more of a metro sexual
man as compared to SRK. He was followed by Shahid Kapoor with 19% votes.
This supports our research as it shows that the public have not been able to connect
to the Lux-Shah Rukh Khan partnership and the company would been better off if
they would have chosen either Saif Ali Khan or Shahid Kapoor for the same. Both
Saif and Shahid are on the up in their careers and are thus very much in the news.
The metro sexuality quotient is very high in both of them and thus very much liked
by youth of today.

LUX AD FEATURING SHAH RUKH KHAN:

Nearly 1 out of every 2 people asked did not like the Lux Advertisement featuring
Shah Rukh Khan. Also, the number of people who liked the Advertisement is a
19%. Most of the people were of the opinion that the advertisement was not only
unaesthetic but also that it could have been shot in a better manner as it was the first
time that Lux was experimenting with a male celebrity. The advertisement has
created a stir in the minds of the consumers, but has not necessarily helped the
company in increasing its market share. The advertisement is in the news, but not
for the reasons the company must have wanted it to be in. this has lead to confusion
in the minds of the consumers.

TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS

To test our stated hypothesis, we wanted to see if there was a correlation between
the qualities associated with Lux and those associated with Shah Rukh Khan. There
is significant difference in the rankings given to the qualities for each Shah Rukh
Khan and Lux.

31
 1. There is no significant Difference in the Glamour quotient of Shah Rukh
Khan and Lux.

2. There is a significance Difference in the Feminine quotient of Shah Rukh

Khan and Lux.

3. There is no significance Difference in the Sopyhistication quotenti of Shah

Rukh Khan and Lux.

4. There is a significance Difference in the Masculinity quotient of Shah Rukh

Khan and Lux.

5. There is a significance Difference in the Status quotient of Shah Rukh Khan

and Lux.

Thus, we find that there is a significant difference in the quotients of 4 of the 6

qualities used to describe Shah Rukh Khan and Lux. Thus we conclude that there is
an image mismatch to some extent.

Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis (that there is no mismatch between the
image of Lux and Shah Rukh Khan), thus concluding that,

There is an image mismatch between Lux and Shah Rukh Khan.

32
CASE -2 DETERGENTS

Sample Composition

In all, group members as a part of our survey visited 52 households. 12 of them

revealed that they were entirely dependent on local washermen or launderettes.
Therefore these respondents were not considered for answer the questionnaire. The
remaining 40 thereby formed the sample size of our survey.

Sex

Male
Female

Sample size = 40

OCCUPATION
30
23
20
10
10 7

0
Housewife Student Working

Sample Size = 40

33
 INCOME GROUP
<5000 6
5001-10000 14
10001-15000 10
>15000 10

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Sample Size
Sample Size =
= 40
40

AGE GROUP
15 14
12
10 9

5
5

0
<25 25-34 35-44 >44

Sample Size = 40

25 22
20
15 12
10 6
5
0
1

Yourself Maid / servant Others

Sample Size = 40

34
 MEMBERS IN HOUSEHOLD
1 5%
2 10%
28%
3
4 14%
5
6

24% 19%

Sample Size = 40

OWN A WASHING MACHINE?

50% 50%

Yes No

Sample Size = 40

Findings of Survey

23%

77%

Yes No

Sample Size = 52

35
As a part of our survey, we visited 52 houses. It was found that 12 households gave
all their clothes to launderettes, while 40 households washed their clothes at home.
Since the objective of our survey was to find out which detergent is popular in the
households, we did not take into consideration the 12 who depended entirely on
launderettes.

48%
52%

Surf
Others

Sample Size = 40

Of the 40 people interviewed, it was found that 21 households used Surf, while 19 of
them washed their clothes with other detergents. This is a clear indicator of the
popularity and the presentation of this particular brand in the consumer’s mind and
in the market.

3. Sub-brands of Surf used

20
17
15

10

5
2 2
0
0
Surf Excel Surf Ultra Surf Super Surf Excel
Excel Matic

Users of Surf 21

Of the 21 consumers using Surf, it was found that Surf Excel & Blue as a sub-brand
was the most commonly sued, with 17 consumers stating it as their preference. This
was followed by Surf Ultra and Surf Super Excel with 2 consumers each. However,
no users could be detected for Surf Excel Matric.

36
4. Influential factors while buying Surf
5%
14%

37%

Whiteness
Lather
easy on hands
24%
easy on Fabric
Stain Removal
10%
Others 10%

Sample Size = 21

As indicated above, whiteness that the detergent provides, say 8 of the consumers, is
one of the most potent influences while buying the detergent. The second most
important influence is the fact that it is easy on the fabric, say 5 of them. Other
influential factors are its gentleness on hands and its good stain removing capacity
(Daag dhoondte reh jaaoge).

5. Consumer awareness with respect to the advertising campaign of Surf.

10%
32%
24%
Lalitaji

Surf Excel hai Naa

Dho Daala 10% 24%

Dhoondte Reh
Jaaoge
Any Other

Sample Size = 21

Of the consumers surveyed, awareness with respect to advertising by Surf was cent
per cent-that is, all consumers using Surf were aware of its promotional campaigns

37
and all had seen Surf ads at one point of time or the other. Of the different types of
ads aired by the media, the lalitaji ad held the greatest retention power and linking,
with 7 out of the 21 consumers liking it the most, followed by the ad for Surf Excel
and Dhoondthe Reh Jaaoge, with a fan following 5 consumers each.

6. Persuasive Powers of various

Schemes, which are launched by Surf to promote sales, are generally not THE major
criteria when the consumer goes in for a purchase. This is also reflected by the
survey in which 13 out of 21 of the consumers supported the fact. Only 8 were
those who were affected by the schemes propagated by Surf.

7. Suggestions provided by the consumers

The following changes were suggested in the any other category.

• Demands for a measuring scale so as to avoid wastage of powder.

• Change in the color of the detergent powder.

• Fragrance of the detergent.

8. Reasons for not using Surf.

0
Price Quality Packaging Fewer Others
Schemes

Sample Size = 19

Price of the detergent and association with fewer schemes were the two primary
reasons for which consumers preferred other brands to Surf. Price was a factor for

38
users of cheaper washing powders such as Nirma, Rin and Wheel. Users of Henko,
Tide and Ariel insisted that the quality of their detergent was superior to that of Surf.

9. Detergents (other than Surf) frequently used by consumers

0 2 4 6 8

Others 2
Tide 1
1
Rin 7
Wheel 7
2
Ariel 4

Sample Size = 24

Amongst many existing brands available (excluding Surf) in the market, the most
frequently used ones are Rin and Wheel followed by Ariel with others (Local)
constituting the rest of the market. In the chart indicted above, 19 were nonusers of
Surf, while 5 of them also preferred an additional detergent besides Surf.

10. Major influencers while making a purchase

Factors No.

Friends 3

Neighbours 4

Advertisements 13

Self-experience 19

Others 1

Total 40

While conducting the survey, personal experience of using the product along with
many others over a period was major influence while indulging in the purchase.

39
Apart from this, effective advertising was a close runner-up and was largely
responsible in influencing people while buying their preferred brand.

11. Quantity usually purchased

Quantity No.

Less than 1 kg 10

1-2 kg 20

2-3 kg 6

3-4 kg 3

More than 4 kg 1

Total 40

As is predictable, due to the fact that the survey was done in an area which was
middle – class one, the housewives usually went in for the 1-2 kg pack and the
frequency of purchase was once in a month which is depicted in the chart above.

12. Frequency of purchase

Frequency No.

Once a week 3

Once a fortnight 11

Once a month 23

Once in two months 3

Total 40

Usually households preferred to buy their stock of detergent once in a month, as is

mostly the case with all stock being ordered along with the ration that comes
monthly. But still many households also buy it fortnightly.

Packets (500 gm, 1 kg, 2 kg) are the outright winners in this section with more than
50% consumers in this category preferring this particular style of packaging.

40
However, Jars were also preferred because of their multi-utility purpose after using
the primary product.

14. Alternative brand of detergent

First choice Second choice

Brands No. Brands No.

Rin 9 Rin 11

Wheel 8 Wheel 12

Surf 10 Surf 5

Tide 1 Tide 6

Ariel 7 Ariel 3

Henko 4 Henko 1

Nirma 1 Nirma 2

Total 40 Total 40

There were 10 non-users of Surf who preferred it as their first choice of purchase in
case of non-availability of their preferred brand. Users of Surf voted for Ariel, Rin
and wheel as their first choice given the same situation.

41
15. Stock of detergents

No

Yes

0 5 10 15 20 25

Sample Size = 40

More than 50% of the households did not keep a stock of detergents at home and
resorted to purchase only when the need arose.

16. Preferred detergent amongst acquaintances of consumers

The general impression that we get after conducting the survey is that Surf rules the
market because it was revealed that amongst the acquaintances also Surf was the
most popular brand followed by Ariel and Nirma.

Findings

• In Q.No. 7, eight respondents stated that they would like more schemes
to be associated with Surf. However, when they were asked that what
change would they suggest in their detergent (Q.No. 8), only 5 of them
suggested more schemes.

• Surf Excel (17/21) is preferred by the consumers because of its

extraordinary whiteness (8/21) and the fact that it is easy on the fabric
(5/21).

• When it comes to housewives the verdict is almost equal with 12 saying

‘Yes’ and 11 saying that they do not use Surf but when it comes to
students, Surf is the clear winner with 6 out of 7 favouring the product.

• Of the 40 consumers surveyed, 21 Surf and of those 21, 19 were women

as Surf is more a product that homemakers use. Of the 19 non-users, 16

42
 again were women with the rest being men who had genuine knowledge
about the product and who had used it at one moment of time or another.

• Of the users of Surf, all of them were more or less equally distributed
when categorized according to the income group with the higher income
group categories preferring Surf a little more as Surf is costlier than most
of the other brands (13/21).

• An interesting fact is revealed, 4 suers stated that some of their clothes

were washed either by themselves or by their maids; however the
expensive clothes were given to launderettes.

We also find that the trend of people who are in the different categories is
almost the same with almost an equal number in each category.

• One interesting observation may be possible. It is seen that the less than
25 age group of users are more inclined to sue Surf and as the age group
increases the number of users decrease, this may be due to the new
positioning that Surf is using where it is targeting the younger generation
too, through its advertisements.

• Surf is popular with acquaintances of both the users and the non-users.
In the acquaintances of users section Ariel follows (5/21) while in the
alternative category Nirma (6/19) and Ariel (4/19) are preferred widely.

Recommendations for designing marketing strategy

• Of the sub-brands, Surf Excel was the most recognized one, so the
company ought to take some measures to make the consumer aware
about other sub-brands.

• If possible, pricing should be reviewed, with many consumers citing it as

a negative factor.

• Surf being viewed as a premium product could come up with a lower

priced sub-brand for more rural market penetration to compete with
Wheel, Nirma and so on.

• More schemes should be introduced to attract non-users.

43
• Advertising standards should be maintained, if possible improved, as
advertisements have contributed immensely to the awareness level and
usage of the product.

44
 SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

6.1 Summary of Learning Experience

The nature of marketing research is very much linked with marketing as such. It
deals with each and every decision which marketing also deals with. In nut and
shell marketing research involves research related to nature and range of products,
demand for the products, pricing, distribution and promotion, etc.; virtually every
aspect of serving customer or clients right from idea generation till delivery,
recovery of payment, installation and training.

Marketing Research helps the marketer in following decision areas:

(a) Target Market: To understand taste, preferences and choices of

consumers, to understand market size, to measure market potential, to
interpret consumer behavior, to study influence of life style on target
market behavior.

(b) Products / Services: To identify customer satisfaction, to identify

customer service levels, to study and to augment product features,
attributes as well as to identify service gaps

(c) Price: To study price affordability of target market, to study competitive

pricing structure, etc.

(d) Distribution: To identify prevailing channels of distribution, emerging

channels, channels of distribution by competitors and modification to be
done in channels structures as per market requirement. (P&G introduce
master wholesaler between stockiest and retailer to augment service
level)

(e) Promotion: To design promotion mix, to identify promotion mix of

competitors, to study emerging promo tools (road shows, pops and
kiosks)

45
6.2 Observations & Recommandations

Market research is systematic gathering, evaluation and analysis of data relating to

sale and distribution of financial products and services regarding consumers'
preferences. In marketing process, Research services India provides an approximate
analysis of market demand either for a new product, or for existing products, as well
as appropriate methods of distributing those product.

According to American Marketing Association, “Marketing Research is the function

that 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 performance;
and improve understanding of marketing as a process.”

Marketing Research is systematic problem analysis, model building and fact finding
for the purpose of important decision making and control in the marketing of goods
and services. This may all sound rather complicated at the moment but you will soon
understand it all. This site is a great way to brush up on your previous skills or to
learn new information, like you would at online colleges. With so many subjects to
choose from, you will be an expert in that field in no time. For more information on
courses, please visit our homepage.

Marketing Research is a well-planned, systematic process which implies that it

needs planning at all the stages. It uses scientific method. It is an objective process
as it attempts to provide accurate authentic information. Marketing Research is
sometimes defined as the application of scientific method in the solution of
marketing problems.

Marketing Research plays a very significant role in identifying the needs of

customers and meeting them in best possible way. The main task of Marketing
Research is systematic gathering and analysis of information.

Before we proceed further, it is essential to clarify the relationship and difference

between Marketing Research and Marketing Information System (MIS).Whatever

46
information are generated by Marketing Research from internal sources, external
sources, marketing intelligence agencies-consist the part of MIS.

MIS is a set of formalized procedures for generating, analyzing, storing and

distributing information to marketing decision makers on an ongoing basis.

1. While Marketing Research is done with a specific purpose in mind with

information being generated when it is conducted, MIS information is
generated continuously.
2. MIS is continuous entity while Marketing Research is a ad-hoc system.
3. While in Marketing Research information is for specific purpose, so it is not
rigid; in MIS information is more rigid and structured.

Marketing Research is essential for strategic market planning and decision making.
It helps a firm in identifying what are the market opportunities and constraints, in
developing and implementing market strategies, and in evaluating the effectiveness
of marketing plans.

Marketing Research is a growing and widely used business activity as the sellers
need to know more about their final consumers but are generally widely separated
from those consumers. Marketing Research is a necessary link between marketing
decision makers and the markets in which they operate.

Marketing Research includes various important principles for generating

information which is useful to managers. These principles relate to the timeliness
and importance of data, the significance of defining objectives cautiously and
clearly, and the need to avoid conducting research to support decisions already
made.

Marketing Research is of use to the following:-

1. Producers
a. To know about his product potential in the market vis-à-vis the total
product;

47
 b. New Products;
c. Various brands;
d. Pricing;
e. Market Structures and selection of product strategy, etc.
2. Business and Government

Marketing Research helps businesses and government in focusing attention

on the complex nature of problems faced by them. For example:

a. Determination of Gross National Product; Price indices, and per

capita income;
b. Expenditure levels and budgeting;
c. Agricultural Pricing;
d. The economic policies of Government; and
e. Operational and planning problems of business and industry.
3. Market Research Agencies

Marketing Research is being used extensively by professionals to help

conducting various studies in Marketing Research. Most prominent agencies
being:-

a. Linta India Ltd;

b. British Market Research Bureau (BMRB);
c. Hindustan Thompson Associate Ltd;
d. eSurveysPro.com;
e. MARG
4. Managers

1. Marketing research is research on the manifold problem of marketing.

2. Its purpose is to aid decision making in marketing.
3. Systematic gathering and analysis of information is what it does in achieving
its mission.

48
With the increasing complexity of business activity, marketing research too has been
growing in complexity and it has emerged as a highly specialized function of
marketing management. Today, carrying out research relating to customers,
products, products and markets necessitates specialized skills and sophisticated
techniques.

In applying marketing for solving marketing problems, the researcher has to go

through several steps or stages. Each stage has its own decisive role in the total
process. Right from defining the problem, down to the preparation of the research
report, the researcher has to proceed step by step.

While most marketing research assignments go through the above steps and in some
cases the steps are compressed depending on the type of problem as well as
considerations of time, costs and benefits. There are many recurring market research
problems, which can be handled by certain simplified approaches instead of going
through the elaborate process described above. Any elaborate research study will
normally involve all the above steps / stages.

Defining the marketing problem and the marketing research problem involved in the
task correctly is the most important part of the marketing research process.
Normally, there is nothing like a marketing research problem in a business. The
problem belongs to marketing. The marketing research problem is a derivative of the
marketing problem. Therefore, in the first instance, the marketing problem involved
should be clearly identified, defined and conceptualized. The definition of the
marketing problem, however, however, may not always be easy. Often the real issue
may not be apparent and the apparent issue may be deceptive. At times, an
understanding of the problem may in itself involve some exploratory research. Once
the marketing problems involved are correctly identified, definition of the marketing
research problem becomes a relatively easy task.

49
 APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE

Questionnaire for household's samples.

Dear Sir / Madam,

The students of Management studies, Delhi are conducting this survey, as a

part of their project in the field of Research. The purpose of this activity is to
measure the penetration of Surf in Delhi.

1. Do you wash your clothes at home?

 Yes

 No

2. Do you use Surf?

 Yes

 No

3. If Surf, which sub-brand do you use?

 Surf Excel, Surf Excel Blue

 Surf Ultra

 Surf Super Excel

 Surf Excel Matic

4. What influences your decision while buying Surf? (Tick as many as

applicable)

 Whiteness

 Lather

 Easy on hands

 Easy on fabric

 Stain removal

50
  Any other (please specify)

5. Have you seen any promotional campaign of Surf?

 Yes

 No

If yes, which one does you like the most?

 Lalitaji

 Surf Excel hai na

 Dho daala ,Daag Achhe Hai !Hai Na ?

 Dhoondhthe Reh jaaoge

 Any other (please specify) ________

6. Do the various schemes associated with Surf affect your purchase?

 Yes

 No

7. Would you suggest any changes for Surf in the following fields?

 Availability in different quantities

 Style of packaging

 More schemes to be associated with the brand

 Pricing

 Any other (please specify) ____

8. Why not Surf?

 Price

 Quality

 Packaging

 Fewer schemes as compared to other brands

 Any other (Please Specify) _

51
9. Which detergent does you most frequently use? (Tick as many
applicable)

 Ariel

 Nirma

 Wheel

 Rin

 Tide

 Henko

 Any other (please specify) _______

10. What influences you to buy your preferred brand?

 Friends

 Neighbours

 Advertisements

 Self Experience

 Any other (please specify) ______

11. While purchasing a detergent, what quantity do you usually go for?

 Less than 1 Kg

 1-2 Kg

 2-3 Kg

 3-4 Kg

 More than 4 Kg

12. How frequently do you purchase detergents?

 Once a week

 Once a fortnight

 Once a month

52
  Once in two months

13. You prefer your detergent in:

 Sachets (10 gm, 20 gm, 50 gm, etc)

 Packets

 Jars

 Bigger containers

 Any other (please specify) _______

14. If your preferred detergent is not available, you go for:

First Choice ______________

Second Choice ___________

15. Do you keep a stock of detergents in your home?

 Yes

 No

16. Most preferred detergent among people you know

 Surf

 Ariel

 Nirma

 Wheel

 Rin Tide

 Henko

 Any other (please specify) _______

Something about you

Name :Mr./Mrs./Ms. _________

Age Group : Kindly tick whichever is applicable

 < 25

53
  25-34

 35-44

 45 and above

Address:

Occupation:

Do you own a washing machine?

 Yes

 No

Who washes the clothes in your house?

 Yourself

 Maid

 Any other (please specify) _______

How many members are there in your household?

_________________________________

Income Group: (Tick whether is applicable)

 < 5000

 5,001-10,000

 10,001-15,000

 15,001 and above

Thank you

54
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bradley, Nigel Marketing Research. Tools and Techniques.Oxford University Press,

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