`

Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati
(A Summer Internship Report)
Under

Indian Oil Corporation Limited

North East Integrated State Office East Point Towers, Bamunimaidam, Guwahati 781021, ASSAM

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

Post Graduate Programme in Management (July 2010-2012)

Industry Guide Mr. Dipdyuti Chowdhury Manager (Retail Sales) Faculty Guide Prof. Ray Titus Submitted By FARHAD AHMED Reg. No. 10SBCM0074 MBA (July 2010-2012)
Alliance University School of Business
Chikkahagade Cross, Chandapura - Anekal Main Road, Anekal, Bangalore 562106

Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

INFORMATION SHEET
  Name of the company - Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Address of the company - North East Integrated State Office, East Point Towers, Bamunimaidam, Guwahati-781021, Assam, India          Contact No. of the company - +91-94353 37559 Date of Internship Commencement - 6th May 2011 Date of Internship Completion- 1st July 2011 Name of the Industry Guide - Mr. Dipdyuti Chowdhury Designation of the Industry Guide - Manager (Retail Sales) Students Name - Farhad Ahmed Students Registration No. 10SBCM0074 Students E-mail ID - fahmed@alliancebschool.org Students Mobile No. - +91-99019 01111

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

Study on

THE ATTITUDE AND SATISFACTION OF INDIAN OIL RETAIL CUSTOMERS IN GUWAHATI INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LTD., GUWAHATI (ASSAM)

Prepared by FARHAD AHMED Registration No: 10SBCM0074

Under the Guidance of Prof. Ray Titus

In partial fulfillment of the Course-Industry Internship Programme (IIP) in Semester II of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (Batch: Aug 2010-12)

BANGALORE
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DECLARATION

This is to declare that the Report entitled Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati has been made for the partial fulfillment of the Course: Industry Internship Programme (IIP) in Semester II (Batch: July 2010-12) by me at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. under the guidance of Prof. Ray Titus.

I confirm that this Report truly represents my work undertaken as a part of my Industry Internship Programme (IIP). This work is not a replication of work done previously by any other person. I also confirm that the contents of the report and the views contained therein have been discussed and deliberated with the Faculty Guide.

Signature of the Student

Name of the Student (in Capital Letters) : FARHAD AHMED

Registration No

: 10SBCM0074

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Farhad Ahmed, Reg. No. 10SBCM0074 has completed the Report entitled Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati under my guidance for the partial fulfillment of the Course: Industry Internship Programme (IIP) in Semester II of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (Batch: July 2010 2012).

Signature of Faculty Guide (Prof. Ray Titus)

Signature of Industry Guide (Mr. Dipdyuti Chowdhury)

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Table of Contents

S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Particulars Executive Summary Introduction Objective Literature Review Methodology Results and data analysis Recommendations and Conclusion Limitations Learning Outcome Appendix 1: Questionnaire Appendix 2: Abbreviation Appendix 3: Bibliography

Page No. 7 8-24 25 26-27 28-34 35-47 48-50 51 52 53-56 57 58

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is the outcome of sincere efforts and hard work put in by not only me but also a number of individuals. First and foremost, I would like to thank Alliance University School of Business for giving me the opportunity to work with such a prestigious company. I am thankful to my faculty guide Prof. Ray Titus for his support throughout the internship period.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my company guide Mr. Dipdyuti Chowdhury, Manager (Retail Sales), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. who not only gave me valuable inputs about the industry but also was a continuous source of inspiration during these two months, without whom this project could never be such a great success. I would also take the opportunity to thank the entire staff of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. who helped and shared their knowledge about the industry for which I am highly grateful.

Last but not the least I would like to thank all my faculty members, friends and family members who have helped me directly or indirectly in the completion of this project.

Farhad Ahmed Reg. No. 10SBCM0074 MBA July 2010-2012 Alliance University School of Business

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the scenario of competitive business environment, it has become important for a management student to equip himself/herself with the practical exposure of the corporate world. It was great privilege for me to understand the practical Marketing aspects learnt in our university classroom at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Guwahati. In regards to this project I was asked to study the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers and also about the performance of Xtra Premium petrol in Guwahati city. The sample consisted of only the high-end retail customers. It was analyzed that the regular petrol from Indian Oil is performing well in the market. Customers prefer regular petrol to Xtra Premium petrol primarily due to higher cost. Indian Oil filling station managers were contacted to find out an approximate population size for Xtra Premium petrol customers. A Questionnaire was designed based on inputs from the filling station managers. These questionnaires were than distributed among respondents at various places such as Indian Oil filling stations, DTO, car dealerships etc. The survey was carried out and the feedbacks of the respondents were recorded. Based on these feedbacks, the analysis was done.

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1. Introduction to the Project

In the year 2002, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. launched its high octane branded fuel: Xtra-Premium petrol. The major competitors, HPCL and BPCL, have also launched products in the same categories. The consumer today is demanding and always looks for better products. In such a scenario of high competition, the companies cannot just launch a product and sit back. They need to monitor the value of their products, the brand, etc. in the eyes of its customers. In this project, we are trying to do the same. We conduct a study to determine the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers (High End) in Guwahati city for its Xtra-Premium brand of petrol.

2. Introduction to the industry

Oil accounts for 31 per cent of Indias total energy consumption and there is unlikely to be any significant scaling down of dependence on these fuels in the next five to ten years. India will account for 10.8 per cent of Asia/Pacific regional oil demand by 2010, while providing 10.2 per cent of supply, as suggested by Business Monitor International in the India Oil and Gas Report. Currently, of the six core industries identified in India, the oil and gas sector has propelled the growth of Indian economy most and the Government is looking for more investors in the sector. India is currently worlds fifth biggest energy consumer and the need is continuously growing, according to KPMGs Oil and Natural Gas Overview 2010, To keep up to the rising demand the Government of India has initiated policies that have helped investors in the sector and also facilitated exploration and production of oil and gas in the country.
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And even though the Mumbai oil fields are still not exhausted, the Government realized the need to explore more areas and introduced New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) to encourage the private sector to invest in exploration of oil. NELP was introduced in March 1997. Currently, about 58 per cent of the prospective Indian sedimentary basins have been explored and till the ninth round of NELP, there were 34 oil and gas blocks on offer. India naturally has about 138 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas and bulk of this has not been found yet. India will account for 12.59 per cent of Asia Pacifics regional oil demand by 2014, according to the latest India Oil & Gas Report.

Production According to the provisional production data released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, dated January 2011
y

Crude Oil production from the period April-January 2011 was 31.411 million metric tonne (MMT), as compared to the 28.072 MMT in the past corresponding period. Natural Gas production during April-January 201 1 was 44030 million cubic meters, as compared to 38490.7 million cubic meters in the corresponding period in 2010. From April-January 2011, 136.46 MMT of crude oil was refined, compared to 133.26 MMT in the corresponding period in 2010.

India will account for 12.59 per cent of Asia Pacifics regional oil demand by 2014, while providing 10.13 per cent of supply, according to the Business Monitor Internationals India Oil and Gas Report Q4 2010. The regional oil production was estimated at 8.82mn barrels per day (b/d) in 2010 compared to 8.35mn b/d in 2001. The projected production for crude oil in 2010-11 is 37.96 (MMT), which is about 12.67 per cent higher than the actual crude oil production of 33.69 MMT during 2009-10. The projected production for natural gas (including coal bed methane or CBM) for 2010-11 is

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53.59 billion cubic meter (BCM), 12.8 per cent higher than the actual production of 47.51 BCM in 2009-10. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) produced maximum domestic oil in 2010, averaging to 830,000 b/d highlighted the India Oil and Gas Report Q4 2010. The report predicts that with such effort, the production of oil in India will be as high as 950,000 b/d by 2012.

Consumption The consumption of petroleum products during 2009-10 was 138.196 MMT (including sales through private imports) an increase of 3.60 per cent over sales of 133.4 MMT during 2008-09, according to the Ministry of Petroleum. Indias current petroleum products consumption rate from April 2010 to February 2011 was 128.827 million tonnes (MT), as per the estimates of the Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). Diesel consumption in the country grew at 4 per cent annual rate to 4.96 MT in October 2010 while petrol sales were up 7.3 per cent at 1.21 MT. Jet fuel consumption was up 10 per cent at 434,100 tonnes. Overall fuel sales in the country were up one per cent at 11.647 MT in October 2010 against 11.538 MT in the same month in the previous year. Gas consumption is set to rise from an estimated 63 BCM in 2010 to 110 BCM, with domestic supply up from around 45 BCM in 2010 to at least 70 BCM by 2014.

Gas The gas transmission domain was dominated by Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) till, in April 2009, the first natural gas production started from Krishna Godavari (KG) basin deepwater block by Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd. Currently, the natural gas production from the KG D6 block is about 60 million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD). The natural gas production from the block is expected to be in the range of 80-89 MMSCMD till March 2012.

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Gas production is expected to rise from an estimated 45BCM in 2010 to a possible 95 BCM by 2019. Natural gas is expected to play a key role in Indias energy mix by 2025. The proportion of natural gas in the total energy mix has increased to 10 per cent in 2009 from 4 per cent in 1999. The same is expected to increase to 20 per cent in 2025. GAIL (India) Limited has set a target of transmitting 118.2 MMSCMD of natural gas from domestic sources and through liquefied natural gas (LNG) route during 2011-12 under the annual memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for performance targets for the financial year 2011-12. For the FY 2011-12, the target for Gas Marketing is 85.5 MMSCMD and for production of 422 TMT of Polymers (HDPE & LLDPE) and 1,350 TMT of Liquid Hydrocarbons. Natural gas production in India grows at an average annual rate of 4.0 per cent over the projection period, the fastest growth in non-OECD Asia. Most of the growth in India's natural gas production is expected in the near term, averaging 11.7 per cent per year as total production grows from 1.1 trillion cubic feet in 2007 to 2.7 trillion cubic feet in 2015. Natural gas production from the KG-D6 block is ready to flow at its plateau rate of just over 1 trillion cubic feet per year as soon as the government-designated customers are ready to receive it. In January 2011, ONGC created an exploration landmark when gas flowed out from the Barren Measure shale at a depth of around 1700 m, in its first research and development (R&D) well RNSG-1 near Durgapur at Icchapur, West Bengal. This breakthrough is significant as India is the first Asian country where gas was discovered from shale outside U.S and Canada. The well RNSG-1 drilled down to a depth of 2000 m. The Barren Measure Shale, which is the main target, was encountered from 985 to 1843 m.

Investments
y

Essar Oil has started pumping gas trapped in seams of coal in its Raniganj CBM (coal bed methane) acreage in West Bengal. The acreage is expected to
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produce gas for 15 years and Essar Oil is investing US$ 300 million for CBM gas production. The company is producing 90,000-100,000 million cubic meters per day of gas and will touch a peak output of over three million cubic meters.
y

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) plans to invest over US$ 3.82 billion on onshore operations in Gujarat over the next five years. ONGC will also set up a 10-mega watt (MW) solar power project in the state with an investment of US$ 33.73 million. Under the programme, the company has earmarked over US$ 1.79 billion for revamping its 90 installations, including 200 km-long pipeline network and 65 tanks in the state. It is also commissioning 850 km of new pipelines at an investment of US$ 150 million. Essar Energy has acquired Shell's Stanlow Refinery for US$ 350 million in cash. Stanlow Refinery is the second-largest refinery in the UK and will provide Essar a direct access in that market. The complete acquisition is expected to be completed by end of 2011. It is expected that the acquisition will be completed during the second half of 2011. International Finance Corporation (IFC) would make an equity investment of US$ 25 million in Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd (BGL), a company floated by HPCL and GAIL for setting up city gas distribution (CGD) projects in Andhra Pradesh. The proposed investment would support BGL's capital expenditure of US$276 million to create gas distribution infrastructure in the major cities of the state. ONGC and GAIL have agreed for mutual business growth covering natural gas as well as petro-chemicals. This over-arching understanding was documented in the form of various agreements and exchange of letters, which were initialed in the office of GAIL.

Government Initiatives
y

The Government of India has implemented NELP, by which 100 Per cent FDI is permitted for small and medium sized oil fields through competitive bidding.

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y

The refining sector is open to public-private partnerships (PPP) as well as only private investments. In case of an Indian private company, FDI of 100 per cent is permitted. 100 per cent FDI is allowed for petroleum products and pipeline sector as well as natural gas/LNG pipeline, for infrastructure related to marketing of petroleum products, market study of formulation and investment financing. For trading and marketing, minimum 26 per cent equity is recovered over five years.

In one of the biggest FDI into the oil and gas sector, BP will be paying US$ 7.2 billion for a 30 per cent stake in 23 oil and gas blocks of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The amount will be paid to RIL, for the interests it would acquire in the 23 production sharing contracts. Future performance payments up to US$ 1.8 billion could be paid based on exploration success resulting in development of commercial discoveries. The two will also enter into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) for sourcing and marketing of gas. These payments and the combined investment could amount to US$ 20 billion.

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3. Introduction to the organization:

Incorporated as Indian Oil Company Ltd. on 30th June 1959, it was renamed as Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. on 1st September 1964 following the merger of Indian Refineries Ltd. (established 1958) with it. Indian Oil and its subsidiaries account for approximately 48% petroleum products market share, 34% national refining capacity and 71% downstream sector pipelines capacity in India. The Indian Oil Group of companies owns and operates 10 of India's 20 refineries with a combined refining capacity of 60.2 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) i.e. 1.2 million barrels per day. The Corporation's cross-country network of crude oil and product pipelines, spanning over 10,550 km and the largest in the country, meets the vital energy needs of the consumers in an efficient, economical and environment-friendly manner. Indian Oil is currently investing Rs. 47000 crores in augmentation of refining and pipeline capacities, expansion of marketing infrastructure and product quality upgrade. As the flagship national oil company in the downstream sector, Indian Oil touches millions of lives every day through a countrywide network of over 35,600 sales points. They are backed for supplies by 167 bulk storage terminals and depots, 98 aviation fuel stations and 88 Indane (LPG) bottling plants. About 7,593 bulk consumer pumps are also in operation for the convenience of large consumers, ensuring products and inventory at their doorstep. Indian Oil operates the largest and the widest network of petrol & diesel stations in the country, numbering 18,643 including 2947 Kisan Seva Kendra (KSK) outlets in the rural markets. Indane cooking gas is present in 2,764 markets through a network of 5,095 Indane Distributors. Indian Oil's ISO-9002 certified Aviation Service commands almost 63% market share in aviation fuel business, meeting the fuel needs of domestic and international flag carriers, private airlines and the Indian Defence
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Services. The Corporation also enjoys 65% share of the bulk consumer business, including that of railways, state transport undertakings and industrial, agricultural and marine sectors.

Products
Indian Oil's product range covers Petrol, Diesel, LPG, Auto LPG, Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), Lubricants, Naphtha, Bitumen, Paraffin and Kerosene. Xtra Premium Petrol, Xtra Mile Diesel, Servo Lubricants, Indane LPG, Autogas LPG, Indian Oil Aviation are some of its prominent brands. Recently, Indian Oil has also introduced a new business line of supplying LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) by cryogenic transportation. This is called "LNG at Doorstep". LNG headquarters are located at the Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, Delhi.

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y Digboi Refinery, in Upper Assam, is India's oldest refinery and was commissioned in 1901. Originally a part of Assam Oil Company, it became part of Indian Oil in 1981. Its original refining capacity had been 0.5 MMTPA since 1901. Modernization project of this refinery has been completed and the refinery now has an increased capacity of 0.65 MMTPA.   y Guwahati Refinery, the first public sector refinery of the country, was built with Romanian collaboration and was inaugurated by Late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, on 1 January 1962.   y Barauni Refinery, in Bihar, was built in collaboration with Russia and Romania. It was commissioned in 1964 with a capacity of 1 MMTPA. Its capacity today is 6 MMTPA.   y Gujarat Refinery, at Koyali in Gujarat in Western India, is Indian Oils largest refinery. The refinery was commissioned in 1965. It also houses the first hydro cracking unit of the country. Its present capacity is 13.70 MMTPA.   y Haldia Refinery is the only coastal refinery of the Corporation, situated 136 km downstream of Kolkata in the Purba Medinipur (East Midnapore) district. It was commissioned in 1975 with a capacity of 2.5 MMTPA, which has since been increased to 5.8 MMTPA.   y Mathura Refinery was commissioned in 1982 as the sixth refinery in the fold of Indian Oil and with an original capacity of 6.0 MMTPA. Located strategically between the historic cities of Delhi and Agra, the capacity of Mathura refinery
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was increased to 7.5 MMTPA.

Panipat Refinery is the seventh refinery of Indian Oil. The original refinery with 6 MMTPA capacities was built and commissioned in 1998. Panipat Refinery has doubled its refining capacity from 6 MMTPA to 12 MMTPA with the commissioning of its Expansion Project. 

Subsidiary refineries Bongaigaon Refinery (2.95 MMTPA), Chennai Petroleum (9.5 MMTPA)

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Globalization Initiatives
Indian Oil has set up subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is simultaneously scouting for new business opportunities in the energy markets of Asia and Africa.

Lanka IOC Plc (LIOC)

LIOC is ranked no. 1 among the island nations leading listed companies. It operates about 150 petrol & diesel stations in Sri Lanka, and has a very efficient lube marketing network. Its major facilities include an oil terminal at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka's largest petroleum storage facility and an 18,000 tonnes per annum capacity lubricants blending plant and state-of-the-art fuels and lubricants testing laboratory at Trincomalee. Presently, it holds a market share of about 43.5%. In a highly competitive bunker market, catering to all types of bunker fuels and lubricants at all ports of Sri Lanka, viz., Colombo, Trincomalee and Galle. It is the major supplier of lubricants and greases to the three arms of the Defence services of Sri Lanka. I t holds 12.4% share of the market. It has also introduced nitrogen-filling facilities for automotive tyres, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka.

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Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd. (IOML)

Indian Oil (Mauritius) Ltd. is the third largest petroleum company in Mauritius and holds an overall market share of 24% and commands a 42% market share in aviation fuelling business, apart from its bunkering business. It operates a modern petroleum bulk storage terminal at the Mer Rouge port, besides 17 filling stations. In addition to the ongoing expansion of retail network, IOML has to its credit the first ISO 9001-2008 product-testing laboratory in Mauritius.

Indian Oil Middle East FZE (IOME) The Corporation's UAE subsidiary, IOC Middle East FZE, which oversees business expansion in the Middle East, is mainly into blending and marketing of SERVO lubricants and marketing of petroleum products in the Middle East, Africa and CIS countries. It exports finished lubes to Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, UAE and Nepal.

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Vision of IOCL:

A Major, Diversified, Transnational, Integrated Energy Company, with National leadership and a Strong Environment Conscience, playing a National Role in Oil Security & Public Distribution.

Mission: y To achieve international standards of excellence in all aspects of energy and diversified business with focus on customer delight through value of products and services, and cost reduction. y To maximize creation of wealth, value and satisfaction for the stakeholders.

To attain leadership in developing, adopting and assimilating state of the art technology for competitive advantage.

To provide technology and services through sustained Research and Development. To foster a culture of participation and innovation for employee growth and contribution. To cultivate high standards of business ethics and Total Quality Management for a strong corporate identity and brand equity.

To help enrich the quality of life of the community and preserve ecological balance and heritage through a strong environment conscience.

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Organizational Objectives: y To serve the national interest in the oil and related sectors in accordance and consistent with government policies. y To ensure and maintain continuous and smooth supplies of petroleum product by way of crude refining, transportation and marketing activities and to provide appropriate assistance to the consumer to conserve and use petroleum product efficiency.

y y

To earn a reasonable rate of interest on investment. To work towards the achievement of self- sufficiency in the field of oil refining and by setting up adequate capacity and to build up expertise in laying of crude and petroleum product pipeline.

To create a strong R&D base in the field of oil refining and stimulate the development of new products formulations with a minimize/eliminate their import and to have next generation products.

To maximize utilization of the existing facilities in order to improve efficiency and increase productivity.

To optimize utilization of its existing capacity and maximize distillate yield from refining of crude oil to minimize foreign exchange outgo.

To minimize fuel consumption in refineries and stock losses in marketing

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operation to effect energy conservation. y To further enhance distribution network for providing assured service to customer throughout the country through expansion of reseller network as per marketing plan/ government approval. y To avail of viable opportunities, both national and global, arising out of the liberalization policies being pursued by the government.

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Brands at IOCL
Brands at IOCL can be broadly classified into 3 categories, viz. energy, retail, and customer loyalty programs. ENERGY: (i) Xtra-Mile Diesel (ii) Xtra-Premium Petrol (iii) Servo (iv) Indane (v) Indian Oil Aviation (vi) LNG at doorstep RETAIL: (i) Xtra Care (ii) Kisan Seva Kendra (iii) Swagat (iv) Servo Express CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAM: (i) Xtra Rewards (ii) Xtra Power

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Value added petrol

The value added petrol of Indian Oil is Xtra Premium.

Xtra Premium
Indian Oils Xtra Premium Petrol, the leader in the branded petrol segment, is blended with world-class multi-functional fuel additives. Commercial vehicle owners choose Xtra Premium because they see a clear value benefit in terms of superior mileage, lower maintenance costs and improved engine protection. A growing section of customers who own petrol vehicles, both in the lifestyle and passenger category, prefer Xtra Premium as a fuel for its added and enhanced performance. Xtra Premium has brought in huge savings in the high mileage commercial vehicles segment. Transport fleets that operate a large number of vehicles crisscrossing the country are using Xtra Premium to benefit from higher mileage and reduced maintenance costs.

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3. Objective:
The objective of the study is to study the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers and to determine the brand performance of Xtra Premium petrol in Guwahati City. The term brand performance comprises a number of parameters, like brand recall, advertisement recall, brand trial, experience of customer, etc. The study tries to determine the performance of brand under these parameters to finally determine the overall brand performance.

Sub-objectives of the study:

y Brand recall: This includes determining whether the respondent recalls the brand without any aid, with little aid, with high aid or does not recall at all y Promotion effectiveness: This includes determining the advertisement recall, and peoples perception towards the ads. y Brand trial: This includes determining how many respondents have tried our brand, competitors brands, or no brand at all (use normal fuel). It also includes their experience with the brand and determining the negatives and positives they find in the brand.   y Brand loyalty: This includes determining how many respondents would recommend our brand and competitors brand to others. 

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4. Literature Review
A brand is a name or symbol used to identify the source of a product. When developing a new product, branding is an important decision. The brand can add significant value when it is well recognized and has positive associations in the mind of the consumer. This concept is referred to as brand equity1. Aaker (1991) defined brand equity as . a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to and subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firms customers (p. 15). Good examples of companies with strong brand equity are corporations such as Nike and Coca-Cola, whose corporate logos are recognized worldwide. Brand Recall is the extent to which a brand name is recalled as a member of a brand, product or service class, as distinct from brand recognition. Common market research usage is that pure brand recall requires "unaided recall". For example a respondent may be asked to recall the names of any cars he may know, or any whisky brands he may know. Some researchers divide recall into both "unaided" and "aided" recall. "Aided recall" measures the extent to which a brand name is remembered when the actual brand name is prompted. An example of such a question is "Do you know of the "Honda" brand?" In terms of brand exposure, companies want to look for high levels of unaided recall in relation to their competitors. The first recalled brand name (often called "top of mind") has a distinct competitive advantage in brand space, as it has the first chance of evaluation for purchase.2 According to Bloemer and Kasper (1994), brand loyalty implies that consumers bind themselves to products or services as a result of a deep-seated commitment. They assert that a repeat purchase behavior "is the actual re-buying of a brand whereas
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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati
loyalty includes "antecedents or a reason/fact occurring before the behavior. According to Aaker (1992), brand loyalty implies both a consistent pattern of purchase of a specific brand over time and a favorable attitude towards a brand. The literature shows two alternative approaches to the construct of brand loyalty. The first one is concerned with a consistent purchase behavior of a specific brand over time. According to Kuehn (1962), brand loyalty can be viewed as, at least in part, a function of the frequency and regularity with which a brand has been selected in the past.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

5. Methodology
5A. Instruments of survey:
The survey, as stated above, was conducted on the aforementioned parameters. Additionally, some demographic questions were also asked. Questions 1 to 3 were related to the vehicle that the respondent is using. Q.1, Do you own a petrol vehicle?, was the qualifying question. If the response was Yes, only then the survey was continued ahead. Questions 4 determine the brand recall value. Question 4 simply asks the respondent if he has heard of the petrol brand Xtra Premium. If the respondent says Yes, then the recall is unaided. Questions 5 & 6 determine the promotion effectiveness. The questions ask the respondent about whether they can recall any of the advertisements and what did they like about the advertisements etc. Questions 7 to 13 determine the experience of the customer with our brand, with other brands, why they use or dont use branded fuels etc. Questions 14 asks the respondent about their fuel preference, i.e., which fuels they prefer and which company they prefer. This helps us gain an insight into what the respondents prefer, on a usual basis. Questions 15 determine the brand loyalty of customer for our brand and other brands respectively. Its a known fact that best kind of promotion is word of
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mouth promotion. So, companies need to deliver such products, that people become brand loyal, recommend the brand to their friends, repurchase the brand themselves, etc. Question 16 asks for suggestions from the respondent to help us deliver better products and service. Questions 17 to 21 ask respondents personal details and their demographic features. The demographic questions (age and income) were asked to refine the results on the basis of these constraints and get a better view of what perceptions different people own. On the basis of results collected, different bar graphs and pie charts were created to draw results with different constraints.

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5B. Conduction of survey

A total of 100 users, which comprises of private and commercial high-end retail customers were surveyed out of the total population, in Guwahati Region of Assam. As mentioned above, the qualifying question was: Do you own a petrol vehicle?.

Legend:
Q1. What is the usage of your vehicle? 1-Commercial - The respondent drives a commercial vehicle, example Cabs. 2-Private - The respondent drives a personal vehicle, example Personal car Q2. Have you heard about Xtra Premium? 1-Yes - The respondent recalls the brand after high aid 2-No - The respondent does not recall the brand, even after the high aid 3-N/A - The person recalls the brand with either no aid or low aid Q3. People will be motivated to buy the product after watching these ads? 1-Yes - The respondent thinks that the advertisement has a good effect on the audience 2-No - The respondent thinks that the advertisement cant motivate the audience to buy the product 3-N/A- The respondent does not recall any advertisement while answering

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Q4. Have you tried Xtra Premium? 1-Yes - Yes, the respondent has used the product 2-No - No, the respondent has never used the product Q5. Have you tried other branded petrol? 1-Yes - The respondent has used branded petrol of other brands too 2-No - The person has not used any other branded fuel

Q6. Which fuel you use usually? 1- Xtra Premium 2- IOCLs Regular Petrol 3- Other - Any other specific company, whether branded or normal, but does not included IOCs fuels. 4- Any Regular Petrol - Including IOCs 5- Any Branded - Including IOCs Q7. Which is your usually visited company? 1- HP 2- BP 3- IOCL 4- Any - No preference

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

Q8. Would you recommend Xtra Premium to your friends? 1- Yes 2- No Q9. Would you recommend other brands branded fuels to your friends? 1- Yes 2- No 3- N/A- If respondent says yes to Q8, we dont ask this question. Q10. Age 1- 18-30 2- 30-45 3- 45-60 4- More than 60

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6. Research Design Formulation

It involves the following steps: SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS -

This phase involved preliminary investigation of the various factors, which could possibly affect the consumers perception about the various, brands and in turn influence the purchase decisions of the consumer. The secondary data would be collected from different sources like From the website of Indian Oil. From past data From some made projects, i.e. literature review. From Internet

The analysis of secondary data proved to be very useful to me in understanding the problem and in preparing the Questionnaire.

Collecting Quantitative Data

Based on the objective of the research, the following method of collecting Quantitative data was considered appropriate:

Descriptive, survey method This is a Quantitative research in which Descriptive research design is used i.e. the research is conclusive. The type of Descriptive research that is done here is Survey i.e.
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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati
the data is collected by questioning people. Different Survey methods were used for collecting data. The principle method used was Personal Interviewing of the respondents. I will also prepare a Case Study of one or two of the respondents.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN The Research instrument used here is Questionnaire. The Questionnaire contains some questions. The questionnaire is undisguised i.e. direct questions are asked and all questions are close-ended. The various questions included are consistent with the objectives of the research and questionnaire is designed keeping in mind the secondary data collected and the research objectives. SAMPLING PROCESS & SAMPLE SIZE Target Population: The Target Population for the research are the users of Xtra Premium. The users include the higher end consumers. Sample Size: Sample size i.e. number of people questioned in the survey is 100. Only those people have been included in the sample size of 100 who are the high-end retail customers. Sampling Technique: Convenience sampling has been used in this research that is a Non-Probability sampling method. Care has been taken to include people from different age groups, educational qualification and income levels. PLAN OF DATA ANALYSIS Here question-by-question analysis of the data has been done covering all questions. Questions have been analyzed graphically using pie chart and bar graph.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

7). Results and data analysis

A total of 100 users were surveyed. The results are following:

Analysis according to Pie Charts:

1) Which vehicle do you own? 64% - Hatchback 25% - Sedan 11% - SUV

11% 25% 64% Hatchback Sedan SUV

In the survey made I have found that the owners of Hatchback cars are more as compared to owners of Sedan and SUVs.
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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 2) What is the usage of your vehicle? Private 92% Commercial 8%

8%

Private 92% Commercial

In the survey made I found that number of private cars are more than commercial vehicles i.e. Cabs.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 3) Are you aware of the petrol brand, Xtra Premium? Yes - 99% No - 1%

1%

Yes No 99%

In the study I have found that 99% of the respondents are aware of the brand Xtra Premium and a few are not aware of it (1%).

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 4) Can you recall any advertisements of Xtra Premium? Yes 2% No - 98%
2%

Yes No 98%

In the survey made, I found out that only a very small no. of respondents could recall any of the advertisements for Xtra Premium. A large no. of respondents i.e. 98% of them could not recall any of the advertisements.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 5) Have you ever used Xtra-Premium? Yes - 30% No - 70%

30%

70%

Yes No

The respondents were asked if they have ever used Xtra Premium for their vehicles. I found out that only 30% of the respondents have used Xtra Premium at some point of time and 70% of the respondents have never used Xtra Premium.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

6) How was your experience with Xtra-Premium?

Very Good - 10% Good - 50% Satisfied - 40%

10% 40% 50% Very Good Good Satisfied

In the survey made, I found out that 10% of the respondents had a very good experience with Xtra Premium and said they could see a huge improvement in the performance of their vehicle after using this brand of fuel, 50% said their experience was good and 40% of the respondents were satisfied with the brand. Overall we received a positive feedback from all the respondents who participated in the survey.
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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 7) Why have you not used Xtra Premium yet? Expensive - 80% Prefer Regular Petrol - 20%

20%

80%

Expensive Prefer Regular Petrol

In the survey conducted, I asked the respondents why they are not using Xtra Premium Petrol, in that context 80% of them replied that Xtra Premium is expensive than Regular Petrol and with rising fuel prices they would prefer to stick to the Regular Petrol whereas 20% of the respondents said that for many years they are using Regular Petrol and a sudden change in petrol will not make much difference in the mileage and may also cause the engine to misfire, so they prefer using Regular Petrol.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 8) Have you tried branded fuel of any other company? Yes 15% No 85%

15%

85%

Yes No

In the survey made, it is found that 85% of the respondents have tried branded fuel of another company like Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum etc. whereas 15% of the respondents have not.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 9) If yes, which branded fuel did you try?

Bharat Petroleums Speed 100% Others 0%

0%

BP Speed 100% Others

In the survey conducted, respondents who said yes to the previous question i.e. Have you tried branded fuel on any other company? were further asked to specify the brand of petrol that they have tried. I found out from the data collected from asking this question that 100% of the people who said they have tried branded petrol of another company have used Bharat Petroleums Speed Petrol.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 10) Which fuel do you normally prefer?

Xtra Premium 15% Indian Oils Regular Petrol 60% Others (NRL, BP) 25%

25%

15%

Xtra Premium 60% Indian Oil Regular Petrol Others (NRL, BP)

In the survey conducted, I have found that, 60% of the respondents normally prefer filling Indian Oils Regular Petrol in their cars whereas 15% and 25% prefer Xtra Premium and Other company fuel respectively.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 11) Would you recommend Xtra-Premium to your friends? Yes 75% No 25%

25%

75%

Yes No

In the survey conducted, when the respondents were asked if they would recommend Xtra Premium to their friends, 75% of them said Yes, They will. And 25% said, No, They will not.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 12) How often do you use Xtra-Premium petrol for your vehicle?

Never

Very rarely

Sometimes

Mostly

Always

40% - Sometimes 60% - Never

40% 60% Sometimes Never

In the survey, the respondents were asked how often do they use Xtra Premium for their cars. 40% of them said they use Xtra Premium sometimes but a large no. of the respondents i.e. 60% of them said they never use Xtra Premium.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati 13) Please rate the following factors for selecting a fuel in the order of importance 1 (Least Imp.) 2 3 4 5 (Most Imp.)

Better Mileage Better Engine Protection Better power Lesser pollution Less Noise

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 1 (Least Important) 2 (Less Important) 3 (Doesn't matter) 4 (Important) 5 (Most Important)

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

7. Conclusion and Recommendations

7A. Conclusion Looking at the various pie charts, there were some results that could be easily derived, which are as follows: y Car owners are mostly using Regular Indian Oil petrol.  y Car owners also use BP petrol. y The brand loyalty is there for Regular Indian Oil Petrol. y The brand recall value is high for Xtra Premium compared to others. y People are not able to recall the advertisements. y Customers are satisfied with Xtra Premium Petrol as it improves engine performance but due its high cost, most of customers prefer Regular Indian Oil petrol to Xtra Premium Petrol. Among the open-ended questions, where there were some views asked from the respondents, there were some common results found out. First of all, responded generally complained about the worthiness of what they got. People believe that they get normal fuel in the name of branded, fuel provided is less than the value shown on meters and mixing is a big problem. Generally, respondents who have not used Xtra Premium or other branded petrol, prefer not to do so due to high cost in most of the cases.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati Recommendations:

Some of the recommendations:

Brand Window: The brand window during the advertisements should be increased, with more specific message for high-end private car owners. Most of the respondents when asked about the advertisements, could recall some advertisements for SERVO and not for Xtra Premium. TV advertisements can be renewed explaining the benefits of the product and aggressive marketing will help the company. 

 y Brand Trial: The brand trial, among the high-end private car owners is high but they are not using Xtra Premium Petrol constantly as they are loyal to Regular Petrol. So in order to increase the sale of Xtra Premium Petrol, the company should control the production of Regular Petrol and make the customers aware of the benefits of using high-octane petrol so that the customers use more of Xtra Premium.  y The company can devise a sale strategy. For example, company could offer special gifts on bulk purchase of Xtra Premium Petrol. This would encourage people to buy our product, and if they like it, the loyalty would increase.
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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

y Most importantly the company should work on reducing the price difference between Xtra Premium and Regular Petrol and also try and maintain an affordable price without bringing much changes in the price year after year.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

8. Limitations
Following were the limitations of the study:  The sample size was just 100 and study was conducted in Guwahati city only. Thus, the study cannot be generalized for the country for a population of 1.3 billion.   The sample taken includes the owners and also the drivers of the vehicles. Buying preferences of the driver and the car owner would be different.   Finally, there were time constraints. It a very lengthy process and results would have been better had there been more time.

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Study of the attitude and satisfaction of Indian Oil retail customers in the city of Guwahati

9. Learning Outcome
 Identify core concepts of marketing and the role of marketing in business and society.  Knowledge of social, legal, ethical and technological forces on marketing decision-making.  Appreciation for the global nature of marketing and appropriate measures to operate effectively in international settings.  Ability to develop marketing strategies based on product, price, place and promotion objectives.  Ability to create an integrated marketing communications plan, which includes promotional strategies and measures of effectiveness.  Ability to communicate the unique marketing mixes and selling propositions for specific product offerings.  Ability to formulate marketing strategies that incorporate psychological and sociological factors, which influence consumers.  Ability to collect, process, and analyze consumer data to make informed marketing decisions  Ability to analyze marketing problems and provide solutions based on a critical examination of marketing information.  Ability to apply knowledge and skills to real-world experiences in an internship.

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Appendix 1
SURVEY DESIGNED:

QUESTIONNAIRE
1) Do you own a petrol vehicle?  YES  NO

2) Which vehicle do you own?

3) What is the usage of your vehicle?  PRIVATE  COMMERCIAL

4) Are you aware of the petrol brand, Xtra Premium?  YES  NO

5) Can you recall any advertisements of Xtra Premium?

6) What did you like about the advertisement?

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7) Have you ever used Xtra Premium?  YES  NO

8) How was your experience with Xtra Premium? (Only if you answered Q. 7 with YES)  Very Good  Very Bad  Good  Satisfactory  Bad

9) Why have you not used Xtra Premium yet? (Only if you answered Q. 7 with NO)  Expensive  Prefer Regular Petrol

10) Have you ever-tried branded fuel of any other company?  YES  NO

11) If you answered Q.10 with YES, kindly specify the company and the brand of fuel.

12) How was your experience with the branded fuel of the other company?  Very Good  Very Bad  Good  Satisfactory  Bad

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13) Please rate Xtra Premium petrol on a scale of 1 (unfavorable) to 5 (favorable) on the following factors: 1 2 3 4 5

(Unfavorable)

(Favorable)

Better Mileage Better Engine Protection Better power Lesser pollution Less Noise

14) Which fuel do you normally prefer?  Xtra Premium  Indian Oil s regular petrol  Others

If others, please specify

15) Would you recommend Xtra Premium to your friends?  YES  NO

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16) Any suggestions to help us deliver better products and service?

17) Your name (Optional)

18) Your contact no. (Optional)

19) Your Email ID (Optional)

20) Age

 18 30  More than 60

 30 45

 45 60

21) Monthly Household Income  Less than ` 20000  ` 50000 ` 100000  ` 20000 ` 50000  More than ` 100000

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Appendix 2
Abbreviations:
HPCL: Hindustan petroleum Corporation Limited BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited IOCL: Indian Oil Corporation Limited Ad/ad: Advertisement NRL: Numaligarh Refinery Limited. Rs: Indian Rupees

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Appendix 3
Bibliography:
y y Managing Brand Equity, Free Press, New York by Aaker.  Marketing Research by Donald R Cooper & Pamela S Schindler, 

Web:
http://www.iocl.com http://www.cvent.com http://www.wikipedia.org

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