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1.

1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY


Consumer
Consumer is the central point and all the marketing activities revolve around him.
Manufactures produce what the consumer wants. As the customers behavior differ from persons
to persons, customer purchase an article as a consequence of certain mental and economic forces
creating desires or wants, which can be satisfied by the articles afford for purchase. In a market,
customer is considered to be king. Their needs and wants are unlimited. Customers preference
depends upon the nature of customer. The customer once purchase a mobile, if it gives
satisfaction to them, again they give reference to same mobiles service.
Service provider should fulfill needs and wants of customers, They are expecting good
quality and lower prices from provider. If the cannot give satisfaction to the customers, they will
go for other mobile. The growth of business depends on customer satisfaction. The customers
expectations are changing day to day. Hence the customers preferences are not constant.
In economics, consumers are individuals or households that "consume" goods and
services generated within the economy. Since this includes just about everyone, the term is a
political term as much as an economic term when it is used in everyday speech. Typically when
businesspeople and economists talk of "consumers" they are talking about person-as-consumer,
an aggregated commodity item with little individuality other than that expressed in the buy/not
buy decision. However there is a trend in marketing to individualize the concept. Instead of
generating broad demographic and psychographic profiles of market segments, marketers are
engaging in personalized marketing, permission marketing, and mass customization.
In standard microeconomic theory, a consumer is assumed to have a budget which can be
spent on a range of goods and services available on the market. Under the assumption of
rationality, the budget allocation is chosen according to the preference of the consumer, i.e. to
maximize his or her utility function. In time-series models of consumer behaviour, the consumer
may also invest a proportion of their budget in order to gain a greater budget in future periods.
This investment choice may include either fixed rate interest or risk-bearing securities.

In the context of mental health, consumer is also a term applied to describe a person
living with mental illness. Concern over the best interests of consumers has spawned much
activism, as well as incorporation of consumer education into the school curriculum. One nonprofit publication active in consumer education is Consumer Reports.
Within many selling companies "consumer" has come to be a derogatory term. Meaning
"purchaser of products who is not very intelligent." This is in contrast to the meaning of
customer. Which is defined as an intelligent purchaser who has power in the purchasing
relationship between buyer and seller.
Consumer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is an ultimate aim of all economic activity. Customer is the largest
economic group who are affected by public and private economic decision. Customer satisfaction
is an ultimate aim of any business. Both survival and growth of depend on customer satisfaction.
The customer satisfaction is the relationship between the customers exception and the
mobile perceived performance. If it exceeds them, the customer is highly satisfied; if it falls short
the customer is dissatisfied. A satisfied customer is more likely to purchase the mobile next time
and will say good things about the mobile to others. According to marketers, A satisfied
customer is our best advertisement. The marketing systems goal should be to maximize
consumption, Customer satisfaction. The marketing systems goals should be to maximize life
quality of customer goods and services but also the quality of environment.
Customer satisfaction deals with the characteristics of human behavior. Marketing
belongs to human behavior as it deals with buying decisions. The Advertisement copy writer has
to study psychology behind human behavior in respect of satisfaction of his wants. Consumer
satisfaction is a method by which we study the needs of the customers and what they think about
the services provided and in general in the terms of (quality, cost, time and services) and in this
we find better ways no how the satisfaction can be evaluated and making the services better.
Consumer behavior

Consumer behavior refers to the behavior that consumers display in searching for
purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy
their needs. The study of consumer behavior is the study of how individuals make decisions to
spend their available resources( time,money,effort) on consumption related items; it includes the
study of what they buy,why they buy,when they buy it, where they buy it,how often they buy it
and how often they use it.
The wealth of products and services produced in a country make our economy strong.
Almost all the products, which are available to buyers, have a number of alternative
supplies;substitute products are available to consumers, who make a decision to buy products.
Therefore, a seller most of his time, seeks buyers and tries to please them. A buyer make a
purchase of a particular product or a particular brand and this can be termed product buying
motives. And the reason behind the purchase from a particular seller is patranoge motives.
When a person gets his pay packet, and if he is educated, sits down along with his wife
and prepares a family budget, by appropriating the amount to different needs. It may happen that
after a trip to the market, they might have purchased some items, which are not in budget, and
thus there arises a deviation from the budgeted items and expenditure. The deviation is due to the
new needs because of the arrival of new products, better display of products,credit facilities,
behavior of salesman,competitive priceetc.,
The new needs may arise because the son has a friend shoe in his mind,the daughter has a
friends dress in her mind, the wife has been thinking about a particular sari or he himself has
been thinking about the design of the drawing hall at his friends house etc. all the behavior of
human beings during the purchase may be termed as buyer behavior. The process whereby
individuals decide whether, what, when,how and from whom to purchase goods and services can
be termed as the customers or the buyers behavior.
The buyer may take a decision whether to save or spend the money. When he decides to
spend, then there are many problems as to what to purchase, because needs are numerous, which

lead to ranking the needs in terms of priority. Then, the problems are consumption problemswhere to buy, how to buy, from whom to buy etc.,
Factors influencing consumer behaviour:
The individual determinants that effect consumer behaviour are:
Motivation and involvement
Attitudes
Personality and self concept
Learning
Information processing
The external influences or factors are:
Cultural influences
Sub-cultural influences
Social class influences
Social group influences
Family influences
Personal influences
INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS
Motivational and involvement
In a society, different consumers exhibit different consumer behaviour because have
unique sets of needs. Motivation is that internal force that activates some needs and provides
direction of behaviour towards fulfillment of these needs. While talking of motivation, we cannot
afford to forget the Maslows Hierarchy of needs which tells us about the primary and secondary
needs.

First the biological needs of hunger, thirst, shelter are satisfied then the safety needs and
then the psychological desires of being accepted in society, seeking status, esteem, etc. are
satisfied. Involvement refers to the personal relevance or importance of a product or a service
that a consumer perceives in a given situation. Depending on the value and personal interest, a
consumer can have a high or low involvement. For a professional tennis player, the choice of a
tennis racket is made with great care. He sees the weight, size, grip and tension of the strings etc.
Attitudes
These are our learned predispositions towards people, objects and events. Attitudes are
responsible for our responses and are not inborn but are learnt from people around us. Our
attitudes influence our purchase decisions and consumer. A person having a carefree attitude will
buy an object without much involvement. People who want to play safe and avoid risk taking,
will go for a safe investment. People, who want convenience and are short of domestic help, will
have a positive attitude towards canned and frozen foods.
Personality and self concept
It is the sum total of our mental, physical and moral qualities and characteristics that are
present in us and that make us what we are. Consumers try to buy the products that match their
personality. People wanting to look manly will buy products with a macho appeal, which would
enhance their image and personality. People, who give emphasis on comfort and care, will
purchase comfort products and so on. If one wants to emulate a film star his choice will be
different from others.
Learning and Memory
Every day we are exposed a wide range of information, but retain only a small portion of
it. We tend to remember the information that we are interested in or, that is important to us. In a
family different member of the family are interested in different types of information which they
individually retain. Mothers retain information regarding household items. Father retains
information regarding his interest in cars, motor cycles and other objects. Children are interested
in objects of their interest like amusement parks, joy rides, Barbie dolls, etc.

Our motives, attitudes, personality filters the information. Keeping only relevant
information in our minds and, keeping the others out. This is known as selective retention. We
retain in our memory only selective information that is of interest to us.
Information processing
All consumers analyses and process the information they receive. These are activities
that a consumer engages in, while gathering, assimilating and evaluate selective information and
this reflects on their motives, attitudes and personality and self concept. Same information can be
evaluated in a different manner by different individuals. The most common example is a glass
half filled with a liquid. It can be interpreted as half empty or half full. The first is a pessimistic
view and the other is an optimistic view of processing the information.
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Cultural factors
Cultural factors have the broadest and deepest influence on customer behavior.
a) Culture
Culture is the most fundamental determination of a persons wants and behavior. The
growing acquires a set of perception, preferences and behavior through a process of socialization
involving the family and other factors. A child growing up in the America as exposed to the
following: achievement and success, activity efficiency and practically, progress, material,
comfort, individualism, freedom.

b)

Sub culture
Each culture contains smaller sub cultures, or groups of people with shared value systems

based on common life experiences and situations. subcultures includes nationality, religions,
racial groups and geographical regions. Many subcultures make up important market segments,
and marketers often design products and marketing programs tailored to their needs. These
factors will affect her food preferences, clothing choices, recreation activities and career goals.
Four types of sub culture are differentiated

Nationality group:
It has group or collection of some nation.

Religious group:
It has group of some community peoples

Racial groups
Grouping on their race or caste

Geographical area
Grouping the buyers on an area wise

b) Social class
Almost every society has some form of social class structure. Social classes are societys
relatively permanent and ordered divisions whose members share similar values, interest, and
behaviours. Social class is not determined by a single factor, such as income, but is measured as
a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth and other variables. Social classes show
distinct product and brand preferences in areas such as clothing, home furnishings, leisure
activity, and automobiles.
Social factors
Consumer behavior is also influenced by such social factors as reference groups, family
and social roles and status. Consumer wants, learning, motives etc. are influenced by opinion
leaders, person's family, reference groups, social class and culture.

a) Reference group
Many groups influence a persons behavior. A persons reference group consists of all the
groups that have a direct influence on a person are called membership group. These are groups to
which the person belongs and interacts. Some are primary groups with there is fairly continuous
interaction such as family, friend, neighbours and co-workers.
A person also belongs to secondary groups, which tend to be more formal and there is
less continuous interaction. They include religious professions and trade union groups. Markets
try to identify the reference groups as their target customs people are significantly influenced by
their reference groups. Reference groups expose an individual to new behavior and life cycle.

b)

Family
Family members constitute the most influential primary reference groups shaping a

buyers behavior, we can distinguish between to families in the buyers life. The family is the
most important consumer buying organization in society and it has been researches extensively.
Marketing are interested in the roles and relative influences of the husband, wife and
children in the purchase of a large variety of products and services. Husband dominates-LIC,
automobiles and TV. Wife dominate-washing machine, carpeting non-room furniture, kitchen
user soaps, powders. Equal-vacation, housing, outside.
c)

Roles and status


A participates in many groups throughout life-family, clubs, and organization. The

persons position in each group can be desired in terms of role and status. A role consist of the
activities that a person is expected to perform according to the persons around him.
Personal factors
A buyers decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics notably the buyers
age, occupation, economic circumstances, life style and personality and self-concepts.

a)

Age
People buy different goods and services over their lifetime. They eat by food in the early

years, most foods. In the growing and mature years peoples tastes in clothes, furniture and
recreation is also age related.
b)

Occupation
Persons consumption patterns are also influenced by his occupation. A labour looks for

wore clothes, wore shoes, lunch boxes. A company president will by expensive suits, air travel,
country club, membership marketers try to identify the occupational groups that none above
average interest in their products and services. Companies can even specialized occupational
groups.
c)

Economic circumstances

Product choice is greatly affected by ones economic circumstances consist of their


spendable income, savings and assets, borrowing power. It economic indicators point the
recession; marketers can take steps to design, reposition and reprise their products. So they
continued to appeal to target.
d)

Life style
People coming from the same culture, social class and occupation may lead quite

different lifestyles. A persons lifestyle is the person pattern of living in the world as expressed in
the persons activities.
e)

Personality and self concept


Each person has a distinct personality that will influence his buying behavior. Buying

personality is meaning the persons distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to


relatively consist and enduring responses to his environment. Personality can be useful variable
in analyzing consumer behavior, provided that personality types can be classified and that strong
correlation exists between certain personality types and products or brand choices.

Psychological factors
A person buying choices are influenced by four major psychological factors motivation,
perception, learning and beliefs and attitudes.
a)

Motivation
A person has many needs at given time. Some needs biogenic. They arise from

psychological status of tension such as hunger thirst, discomfort, other needs are
psychologicalogenic. They arise from psychological status of tension such as the need for
recognition esteem or belonging a need become motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of
intensity.
b)

Perception
A motivated is ready to act. How the motivated person actually acts in influenced by is

perceptional at the situation. Perception is desired as the process by which in individual selects,
organize and interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world.

c)

Learning
When people act, they learn describes changes in an individuals behavior arising from

experience. Learning theory teaches marketer that they can build up demand for a product by
associating it with strong dives, using motivating cause and priding positive reinforcement.
d)

Beliefs and attitudes


Through acting and learning, people acquiring beliefs and attitudes. This in turn influence

their buying behaviour. A belief is a descriptive thought that a persons old about something. these
beleifs based on knowledge, opinion, or faith.

Manufacturers are very interested in the

beliefs that people carry in their products and services. These beliefs make product and brand
image and people act on their images.
An attitude describe a persons enduring favourable and unfavourable cognitive
evaluations, emotional feelings and action tendencies towards some objector idea people have
attitude towards almost every thing, religions policies, clothes, music, food.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Overall customer satisfaction is generally considered to be a multi-attribute model
(Woodruff, Cadotte and Jenkins,1983). Components of overall satisfaction (SAT_OVERALL)
that have been examined include product satisfaction (e.g., Oliver 1993; Homburg and Rudolph
2001), interpersonal satisfaction (e.g., Lele and Sheth 1988; Manning and Reece 2001),
satisfaction with the price of the offering(e.g., Anderson 1996),and satisfaction with vendor
performance (e.g., Sheth 1073)
Researchers have sought greater understanding of the overall satisfaction construct in
industrial markets by examining the phenomenon in different situation. In a study of consumer
can be simultaneously satisfied with one or more components of satisfaction related to a specific
offering while being dissatisfied with other components of satisfaction for that same offering.
Thus, while experiencing relatively high overall satisfaction, a customer might be extremely
dissatisfied with one or more aspects of that offering.

Extensive research into the factors influencing customer satisfaction has been conducted
in consumer markets (e.g., Spreng et al.1996: Swan and Oliver 1991; Oliver swan 1989;
Churchil and Surprenant 1982), but relatively little such research has been conducted in
industrial markets. In spite of this dearth of research, Patterson, Johnson, and Spreng (1997) find
that industrial buyers, like consumers, consider multiple attributes when evaluating overall
satisfaction.
While industrial buyers weight their judgments differently than consumers, the
disconfirmation paradigm is applicable in B2B markets (Patterson, Johnson and Spreng, 1997).
In the expectancy- disconfirmation model of customer satisfaction, the most widely accepted and
studied model (Patterson, Johnson and Spreng, 1997), customers compare their perceptions of
performance (not objective actual performance) with their pre-purchase expectations to form
judgments about the experience (Olshavsky and Spreng, 1989).
When expectations are met, i.e., when perceived performance is lose to expectations,
little conscious thought is given to the process. However, when perceived performance is higher
(lower) than the expected level of performance, expectations are said to be disconfirmed. When
expectations are lower (higher) than perceived performance, satisfaction (dissatisfaction) is
experienced.

According to Keiningham, Munn, and Evans (2003, p. 37), both practitioners and
academics have accepted the premise that customer satisfaction results in customer behavior
patterns that positively affect business results. While it is highly argued that retaining current
customers is easier than attracting new ones, as it would normally cost 20 times more to attract
new customers rather than keeping existing ones per Carson Research Consulting, Inc. report.
Continuous customer satisfaction from the offered product will lead to an easy purchase decision
every time the need for these products and services arises. Thus, customers tend to become loyal
to these providers, where their satisfaction helps to increase customer loyalty, reducing the need

to allocate marketing budget to acquire new customers, where their word-of-mouth will also
bring potential customers, increasing revenue and profit.

According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001), satisfied customers form the foundation of any
successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive
word of mouth.
As positive and negative feelings can coexist, customers may like parts of the service while
rejecting other parts.

According to Willard Hom Satisfaction is the state felt by a person who has experienced a
performance (or outcome) that has fulfilled his or her expectations. Satisfaction is thus a function
of relative levels of expectation and perceived performanceExpectations are formed on the
basis of past experiences with the same or similar situations, statements made by friends and
other associates, and statements made by the supplying organization. (Kotler & Clarke, 1987).

According to Kano Model Theory of customer satisfaction. Basically Kano saw three
types of customer satisfaction: required (basic quality also threshold requirements), more is
better

(performance

quality)

and

delighter

(excitement

quality).

Customers expectations change over time. Often what was once enough to delight a customer
(remote control for a TV) becomes expected. Once a feature is expected the organization gets no
credit for providing it they only risk a negative reaction if they fail to provide it.

AndrewMennie,GeneralManager,eGain Ever wondered how much customer satisfaction


is worth? We all know and accept that it is a strategic goal for all organisations involved in the
delivery of customer service

Yet in all my experience as a professional in this arena, I have never come across a
customer services director who could articulate the financial value of customer satisfaction to
their business. Conversely, I have never met a Customer Service Director who wasnt measured
on it. How bizarre. Big business is happy to measure it but doesnt know what its worth.

According to Michael D. Johnson


1) customization is more important than reliability in determining customer satisfaction,
(2) customer expectations play a greater role in sectors in which variance in production and
consumption is relatively low, and
(3) customer satisfaction is more quality-driven than value- or price-driven. The authors
conclude with a discussion of the implications of ACSI for public policymakers, managers,
consumers, and marketing in general

According to O'Loughlin: Customer satisfaction and retention are key issues for organizations in
todays competitive market place. As such, much research and revenue has been invested in
developing accurate ways of assessing consumer satisfaction at both the macro (national) and
micro (organizational) level, facilitating comparisons in performance both within and between
industries.

According to Thomas Leutbecher This project work deals with a customer satisfaction survey,
conducted in a caf in downtown Helsinki. The main objective is to find weak points of the
business from a customer perspective in order to give recommendations for optimising the
companies performance.

Glossary Entony:
The extent to which a customers expectations of product quality, service quality, and price are
met.

Kotler:
Customer satisfaction is the measure of how well our PRODUCTS, SERVICE,
SUPPORT and ENGAGEMENT are able to meet the customer EXPECTATIONS.
Customer satisfaction is a measure of how well our
PRODUCTS- Products including physical products and services.

SERVICE- Customer service post sale. This includes responding to customer queries and issues.

SUPPORT- Repair, maintenance and upkeep of your products post sales.

ENGAGEMENET- Engaging with customer, apart from the above mentioned contexts (product,
service and support). This includes offering new products, schemes, up-sell and cross-sell.
Gary S. Goodman:

Defining customer satisfaction is a very important undertakingone that even the most
customer-focused companies, fail to do. If we dont define it carefully, how can we monitor and
measure it, let alone produce it on a consistent and reliable basis?
Kotler, Phillip:
Goal-oriented, integrated philosophy practiced by producers of goods and services that
focuses on satisfying the needs of consumers over the needs of the producing company. The
marketing concept holds that the desires and needs of the target market must be determined and
satisfied in order to successfully achieve the goals of the producer

OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The main objectives of the study is to reveal the customer satisfaction about Acer
laptop.
To study the customers satisfaction towards product quality, price, after sales service of

the company.
To study the opinion of customers regarding product and services of Acer laptop.
To study customers perception of product quality.
To identify the effect of advertisement
Analyzing the problem faced by customers in the company.
To propose recommendations/suggestions for improvement.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is limited to Salem town.


It is focused on the satisfaction of the customers towards ACER laptop
The survey investigates the customer satisfaction on the brands equality, quality, price,
awareness, and other attitude related to the product towards the company and industry at
large. This study also looks at customer satisfaction levels on quality of both product and
service availed.

LIMATATION OF THE STUDY

The study restricts itself within Salem town.


The study assumes that the information was given by the customer without any bios.
The study is done based on the opinions of the sample taken at random, the size of which
is 100.
The researcher found it difficult to collect the questionnaire, since some of the
respondents did not give proper response in the sales point.
The customers did not respond properly during peak hours.
The project was only for 3 months. So there was time constraint.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
Research Methodology is a systematic way to solve a research problem; It includes
various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying the problem along with the
logic behind them. The present study was conducted at ACER LAPTOP in Salem town.
RESEARCH DESIGN
A Research Design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis
of data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with the economy in
procedure. The research design adopted for the studies is descriptive design. The researcher has
to describe the present situation in order to know the behavior of the consumers. Hence
descriptive research study is used. Descriptive research can only report what has happened and
what is happening.
PERIOD OF STUDY
The duration taken by the researcher for the data collection and analysis regarding the customer
satisfaction of ACER Laptop in Salem town is for three months.
METHOD OF COLLECTION
The study basically uses primary and secondary data. Primary data means data which is fresh
collected data. Primary data mainly been collected through personal interviews, surveys etc.
Secondary data means the data that are already available. Generally speaking secondary data is
collected by some organizations or agencies which have already been processed when the
researcher utilizes secondary data; the process of secondary data collection and analysis is called
desk research. Secondary data provides economy in time and cost. It is easily available and
unbiased. Secondary data may either be published data or unpublished data. For this study
secondary data were collected from the annual reports of the company and from the company
website. The study depends mainly on the primary data and secondary data namely the text
books, journals, newspapers, magazines and internet.

SAMPLING
POPULATION

The aggregate elementary units in the survey are referred to as the population. Here it
covers the entire customers of ACER laptop Salem town.
Sample Size
The study based only on the opinion and expectation of consumer. Total number of
sample taken for the study is 100 respondents.
SAMPLING UNIT:
Sampling unit is in Salem town.
Sample design
Convenience sampling techniques were used for the study.
TOOLS USED
STATISTICAL TOOLS USED
Statistical tools
The commonly used statistical tools for analysis of collected data are:
1. Percentage analysis
2. Chi Square.
Percentage analysis
This method is used to compare two or more series of data, to describe the relationship
or the distribution of two or more series of data. Percentage analysis test is done to find out the
percentage of the response of the response of the respondent. In this tool various percentage are
identified in the analysis and they are presented by the way of Bar Diagrams in order to have
better understanding of the analysis.

Number of respondents

Percentage of respondents =

______________________ X 100
Total respondents

Chi-square
Chi-square was done to find out one way analysis between socio demographic variable and
various dimensions of the programme.

(O E)2
= ______
E
O Observed value
E Expected value

Problems faced By the Researcher


Some of the respondents were reluctant to fill the questionnaire because they felt they did
not understand English properly.

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