Economics project

Consumer Awareness

By

Anugraha Vasan
XI-D

Index

1. Acknowledgement
2. Preface
3. What is consumer awareness?
4. Meaning of consumer awareness?
5. What is a questionnaire?
6. Survey on consumer awareness
7. Analysis and interpretation of data
8. Summary and conclusion

Acknowledgement
I have taken efforts in this project. However, it
would not have been possible without the kind
support and help of many individuals and
organizations. I would like to extend my sincere
thanks to all of them.
I am highly indebted to PSBB Millennium School for
their guidance and constant supervision as well as
for providing necessary information regarding the
project & also for their support in completing the
project.
I would like to express my gratitude towards my
parents & my friends for their kind co-operation
and encouragement which help me in completion of
this project.
I would like to express my special gratitude and
thanks to industry persons for giving me such
attention and time.
My thanks and appreciations also go to my
colleague in developing the project and people who
have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

Objectives of the Study

(Preface)
The Study
objectives :

is based on

following

1. To study the level of consumer

awareness of the consumers
in
the study area
2. To make the students habituated
about the survey work.
3. To make the students acquainted
how different statistical tools can
be applied in different socioeconomic problems.

What is consumer awareness?

Consumer is the person who hires or avails of
any services for a consideration which has
been paid or promised or partly paid and
partly promised or under any system of
deferred payment. But Consumer exploitation
is very rampant these days. Consumers get
exploited in many ways through the more
dominating and knowledgeable sources. On
the other hand, consumers have to be aware
not only of the commercial aspects of sale
and purchase of goods but also of the health
and security aspect. Besides this, they should
be aware of their rights and duties being as
rational human beings viz., price and quality
of products used by them, about Fair Price
Shops, standardization of products, about
Consumer Forums etc. Therefore, Consumer
exploitation should be bought down with
proper awareness to the consumers on their
rights and how they could go about with
things, if they feel they have been cheated.
In the globalization, liberalization and
privatization era, most of the economic
decisions are taken by them. Though the
government has withdrawn itself
from
many economic activities, it interferes very
often when the market mechanism fails due
to structural rigidities in the economy and
other factors, to
provide
goods
and

services to the people. Consumption is one

of the important economic activity which
requires regular government intervention,
as market is unable to promote security and
welfare aspects of the consumers. On the
other hand, consumers have to be aware not
only of the commercial aspects of sale and
purchase of goods but also of the health and
security aspect also. Besides this, they
should be aware of their rights and duties
being as rational human beings.
Though, the first consumer movement
began in England after the Second World
War, a modern declaration about the
consumers rights was first made in USA in
the year 1962, where four basic consumer
rights i.e. Choice, information, safety and
right to be heard were recognized. Ralph
Nadar, a consumer activist is considered as
the father of Consumer Movement. 15th
March is now celebrated as the World
Consumer Rights Day. The U.N.O.
Also
adopted in the year 1985, certain guidelines
to achieve the objectives of maintaining
protection for consumers and to establish
high level ethical conduct for those engaged
in production and distribution of goods and
services.
In
India,
24th
December
is
celebrated as Consumers Day every year.

Meaning of Consumer
Awareness
Consumer awareness means awareness
of consumers in different aspects of
consumption
activities.
Consumer
awareness is a broader and wider
concept. It covers the followings:
a) Consumer awareness about Maximum
Retail Price (MRP).
b) Consumer awareness about Fair Price
Shop.
c) Consumer awareness about price,
quality and expiry date of the product.
d) Consumer awareness
rights and duties.

about

their

e) Consumer awareness about the

certified products like ISI, Agmark, ISO2000

What is a Questionnaire ?
This method acts as a great source or a
facility for the collection of the data from
the diverse and scattered group of
people. A questionnaire consists of a
variety of the questions printed or typed
in a definite order on a form which are
mailed further to the respondents. The
respondent
has
to
answer
these
questions on his own.
The main function or the objective of the
questionnaire is to collect data from the
respondents, who are generally scattered
in a vast diverse area.
This method also helps in the collection
of reliable and dependable data.
According to Bogardus, a questionnaire
is a list of the questions sent to a number
of persons to answer. It secures the
standardized
results
that
can
be
tabulated and also treated statistically.

Questionnaire
Consumer awareness
Personal information
Name:

Age:

Occupation:

Product Information

1.Which brand of Product do purchase?

(a) Colgate

(b) Pepsodent

(c) Close up

(d) Anchor

2.Do you find the product costly?

(a)Yes

(b) No

3.Are you satisfied with the quality of the product ?

(a)Yes

(b) No

4.How do you come to know about the product ?

Advertisement
Newspaper
Cinema
Exhibits Stall
Any other

TV
Magazine
Sales Representatives
Radio

5.Are you attracted by promotional offers like rebates, free, buy one get one free ?
(a)Yes

(b)No

6.If a new brand of product is launched in the market will you buy it ?
Yes/No . If yes, then what consideration ?
(a)Price of the Product

(b)Quality of the product

(c)Promotional offer

(d)Any Other

Consumer Awareness Information

1.Do you examine the expiry date of the items you buy?
(a)Yes

(b)No

2.Do you check the MRP (Maximum Retail Price) before buying a product?
(a)Yes

(b)No

3.Are you charged the MRP or more than/less than the MRP?
(a)Yes

(b)No

4.Do you check the weight of the products mentioned on the items?
(a)Yes

(b)No

5.Have you ever come across adulteration or duplication items?

(a)Yes

(b)No

6.If yes to question (5), did you complain to:

(a)Shopkeeper

(b) Main Supplier

(c)Any Other

7.What was the response to your complaint?

(a)Satisfactory

(b)Not Satisfactory

(c)No Response

8.Are you aware of your rights as consumers?

(a)Yes

(b) No

9.If you are not satisfied with the price/quality of the products do you realize the need for forming
some consumer clubs to fight for your rights?
(a)Yes

(b)No

10.Are you ready to join such forums for the redressed of your grievance?
(a)Yes

(b)No

11.Are you aware of consumer courts for redressed of grievances of the consumers?
(a)Yes

(b)No

12.If yes, have you ever filled a case in the consumer court?
(a)Yes

(b)No

13.If yes to the question (12), was the consumer court able to redress your grievance?
(a)Yes

(b)No

14.Do you think media can play an important role in increasing consumer awareness?
(a)Yes

(b)No

Sign of respondent
enumerator
Date

Sign of
Date

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

Tabular Presentation of Data

Table No. 1 represents the preferred use of toothpaste,

Table No. 2 represents the influence of different agencies
on families while purchasing different brand of
toothpastes used by the surveyed households and Table

No.3 represents different aspects of consumer awareness

in day to day life of the surveyed households.
Table No.1
Preferred use of Toothpaste
Brand

No. of Households

Percentage(%)

Close-up

05

33.3

Colgate

04

26.6

Pepsodent

03

20

Anchor

02

13.3

Others

01

6.6

Total

15

100

Table No.2
Source of influence on the Purchase of different Brand of Toothpaste
Sources

No. of Households

Percentage(%)

TV

40

Newspaper

33.3

Magazine

20

Others

01

6.6

Total

15

100

Table No. 3
Different aspects of Consumer Awareness
Consumer Awareness
Knowledge about Certified
Products
Check MRP, Expiry and

Yes

No

15

10

Manufacturing date
Knowledge about Fair Price Shop 6
Check ingredients used
Knowledge about Consumer
Courts
Ever gone to Consumer Court
Insist cash Memo for Consumable
goods purchased

11

13

15

15

From table No.1, it is evident that highest

percentage of families i.e. 33.3% prefer
Closeup followed by Colgate with 26.6%. Income and
occupation factor did not influence the purchase or
consumption of toothpaste of Close-up or Colgate.
Majority people come to know about the product
through advertisement on TV, followed by
newspaper,magazine and other agencies as
evident from Table No.2.
Table No.3 depicts different aspects of consumer
awareness i.e. about standardization, MRP, date of
manufacturing and expiry, knowledge about
Consumer Courts, rights and duties of the
consumers etc. Out of total of 15 respondents ,
10check MRP, date of manufacturing and expiry.
However, out 15 of people interviewed, 4 people
check the ingredients used in the product. As far
as Consumer Court is concerned, majority of them
13 respondents have knowledge about it but only
15 out of total respondents no one has gone to the
Consumer Court to redress their problems on
different occasions.. Lastly, it is clear from Table
No. 3 that majority of people surveyed, insist for
Cash Memo at the time of purchase. However, it is

limited to non-consumable durable items and some

consumable
items
when
large
quantity
is
purchased.

Summary and Conclusion

The objective of this project is to assess the

people of different class in the society about
different aspects of consumer awareness viz., price
and quality of products used by them, about Fair
Price Shop,
standardization
of
products,
about Consumer
Forum,
about
their
Rights and Duties etc. Consumers will lead a
happy, healthy and prosper life if they fully aware
about the above mentioned aspects.
For the project report, total number of people
interviewed is 15 and all belong to urban area. Out
of total head of family interviewed, 13 are literate
whereas only 2 are illiterate. All belong to different
income group i.e. high, medium and low income
group.
Closeup is the most preferred brand(37.5%) of
toothpaste followed by Colgate(27.5%) among
the surveyed households. Households from medium
and high income group prefer respective brand of
toothpaste taking into account the quality of the
product and wishes of their children also. On the
other hand, for the low income group, the most
important factor that determines the use of
toothpaste is the price of the product. Again,
majority of respondent(40%) are influenced by the
advertisement about the product and the important
media is Television.
As far as consumer awareness is concerned,
majority of respondents have knowledge about
certified
products,
check MRP,
date
of

manufacturing and expiry at the time of purchase.

However majority of them do not check about the
ingredients used in the product. On the other hand,
majority of them have the knowledge of Consumer
Courts, but out of total respondents
no one
has
ever gone to the Consumer Courts for
complaining about different commodities they
purchased and consumed. Lastly, it is evident
from the study that, majority of them insist
for Cash Memo at

the time of purchase, but, it is limited to consumer

durable goods and for consumer non-durable
goods when large quantities of goods is purchased.
To conclude, people are concerned about
different aspects of consumer awareness i.e.
their rights and duties, certified products, MRP,
date of manufacturing and expiry of the
products they used, Consumer Courts etc as far as
urban area is concerned.
Educational implications of the study is that every
students as well as parents should be aware about
different aspects of different commodities they
consume in day-to-day life. They should have
knowledge about certified products, Check MRP,
date of manufacturing, and expiry at the time of
purchase of a commodity. They must have
awareness about their rights and duties. This
project report will give a preliminary idea about
survey work to the students. Lastly, students

will get an idea about how statistical techniques

can be used in different socio-economic problems.