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 based on following
objectives :
1.

2.

3.

To
study
the
level
of
consumer awareness of the
consumers in the study
area
To
make
the
students
habituated about the survey
work.
To
make
the
students
acquainted
how
different
statistical
tools
can
be
applied in different
socio-economic 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government has withdrawn itself from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.

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
Informatio
n
____________________________________________
Name
__
____________________________________________
Occupation __
____________________________________________
Age
__
____________________________________________
Sex(M/F)
__

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
Sign of enumerator
Date
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

30

37.5

Colgate

22

27.5

Pepsodent

12

15

Anchor

06

7.5

Others

08

10

Total

80

100

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

No. of Households

Percentage(%)

TV

56

70

Newspaper

06

7.5

Magazine

10

12.5

Others

08

10

Total

80

100

Table No. 3
Different aspects of Consumer Awareness
Consumer Awareness

Yes

No

65(81.25%)

15

68(85%)

08

Knowledge about Certified

Products
Check MRP, Expiry and

Manufacturing date
Knowledge about Fair Price Shop 60(75%)

20

Check ingredients used

35(43.75%)

45

77(96.25%)

03

10(12.5%)

70

57(71.25%)

23

Knowledge about Consumer

Courts
Ever gone to Consumer Court
Insist cash Memo for Consumable
goods purchased

From table No.1, it is evident that highest

percentage of families i.e. 37.5% prefer
Close-up followed by Colgate with 27.5%.
Income and occupation factor did not
influence the purchase or consumption of
toothpaste of Close-up or Colgate. However,
in case of lower income group, out of 10, 6
families use either Anchor or Promise and
they prefer to it as it cost less than other
brand of toothpastes. On the other hand,
quality of product is important for high and
medium income group, using Close-up and
Colgate. Besides, quality of product and
price, choice of children also taken into
account while using the Colgate or Close-up
for about 20% of the households. Majority
people come to know about the product
through advertisement on TV, followed by
magazine, newspaper 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 families, 81.25% of families
check MRP, date of manufacturing and expiry.
However, 56.25% of people interviewed,
check the ingredients used in the product. As
far as Consumer Court is concerned, majority
of them (96.25%) have knowledge about it
but only 10 out of total respondents have
gone to the Consumer Court to redress their
problems on different occasions.. Lastly, it is
clear from Table No. 8 that majority of
households(71.25%) 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 head of
households interviewed is 80 and all belong to
urban area. Out of total head of family
interviewed, 78 are literate whereas only 2
are illiterate. All belong to different income
group i.e. high, medium and low income
group. However, majority of them belong to
medium income group (75%). Again, on
the
basis
of
occupation,
85%
of

respondents
are
government
servants
whereas other are businessmen.
Close-up
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(70%) 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 only
10 have 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.