2

RESEARCH
DESIGN

Research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in a
manner that aims to combine relevance to search purpose with economy in procedure.

– By CLAIRE SELTIZ
31
The research design is a conceptual structure within which research is conducted and it
constitutes a blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data.

This chapter deals with the statement of problem. The objectives of the study, concepts
followed, methodology used, sampling techniques, fieldwork undertaken, analysis of
data, techniques followed and finally the scheme of chapter’s presentation in the report.

Title of the study:

“CONSUMER PERCEPTION - WITH REFERENCE TO REEBOK.”

Statement of problem:

The increasing population of the country has forced the demand for various commodities
in the country to rise by leaps and bounds. There has been a huge progress in the variety
of goods that are being produced within the country due to the advances made in the
technology. There has also been a rise in the standard of living of the people. The
competition has increased. The brand war has helped in bringing out the best from the
companies, benefiting the customers.

The customer today does not get the satisfaction by mere consumption. The additional
benefits given the company attract the customers. They look forward for the
commodities, which give them the ‘value for money’. Customer is the king today. Special
care is taken for services provided to the customers, customer attraction and customer
retention by the companies. In this competitive environment, it’s become very difficult to
retain the customer because the customer deflection rates are high.

Research design leads to know and understand the concept in fullest sense and be able to
pass on the benefits to those who need it. It enables to enhance ones capabilities in
pursuing his or her activities. With the advent of industrial revolution the market became
a very busy place. There were many products in the market and many more close
substitutes. To hold foot in the market the sellers had to attract most of the customers by
32
introducing something new and unique. They also have to properly plan the marketing
techniques and pay considerable attention towards branding, packaging, pricing, etc.

The major concern for the present marketers is to see how their products fare in
comparison to their competitor products. Also the present marketers concern goes for
how to attract consumers in this over communicated society and once attracted how to
keep them from shifting. Therefore one should be an expert in knowing the talent of
positioning a product.

Objectives of the study:

The prime objective of the study is to help the company track down the approach of
consumers in purchasing the Reebok products so as to elicit information with regards to:-

1. To study consumer perception with reference to Reebok products.

2. To find out the brand association identity.
3. To study the competing products and identify the differentiable perspective
attributes.
4. To suggest effective measures for product penetration.

5 Satisfaction towards the service.

By gathering information about the above mentioned factors and analyzing it, company
can choose the suitable strategy for marketing of Reebok products.

Scope of the study:

The study is designed to gather information on the customer perception towards the
Reebok products. Scope of the study also extends to discover or research dealer’s
reaction, how the product is perceived as compared to its competitor’s performance in
respect of price, quality, standard, service and company’s reputation.

Period of the study:

The study covers a period of 2 months i.e. from February to April which is the time taken
for survey work which was required for the successful completion of the report.
33
Limitations of the study:

Customer Perception and satisfaction involves mainly the human element. Getting
accurate information about the buyer is slightly difficult task as respondents may try
hiding certain information and may give ambiguous or evasive answers. Care is taken in
the formulation of the questionnaire to get as far as possible true responses.

But we should remember that Bangalore is test marketing place for any product
produced. This is because of various type of customers exist in this city.

Operational definition:

Majority of factors considered in the project study has been defined in the introduction.
Those which are not dealt earlier are given below.

BRAND: A name, term, size, symbol, design or combination of them intended to identify
the goods or services of one seller/ marketer and to differentiate them from those
competitors.

NECESSITY: The need for basic items/product without which a person cannot mnage
his life.

ADVERTISING: Any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas, goods or

services by an identified sponsor (marketer).

SALES PROMOTION: Short term incentives to encourage sale of a product or service.

ADVERTISING MEDIA: This refers to the channel of communication of messages to

the ultimate buyers.

Methodology:

This refers to the method of collecting data. Data were gathered through a survey, which
is acquired by the various customers and conducted in various Reebok outlets of Garuda
Mall, and Forum Mall.

34
Data collection techniques:

Collection method included only direct interviews with various customers in order to
know whether customers are satisfied with the product and the services rendered by
Reebok. By using structured questionnaires, the data analysis was restricted to frequency
counts.

Sampling:

A study instrument used structured questionnaire.

Method used – customer survey only.

Sampling size- 100 sportswear users.

Tools for data collection:

The questionnaire is used for collection of data as a primary source.

Journals/ periodicals/ newspapers serves as secondary source.

The structured questionnaire for buyers covered information like Name, Gender, Income
group, Occupation, above mentioned information was administered in the questionnaire.

Field work:

The fieldwork comprising of data collection with the help of questionnaire was carried
out. Response was very poor in the beginning as the respondents were basically not
interested to divulge information. Efforts were made in the questionnaire to keep simple
questions to the beginning and more personal questions at the end.
35
Each questionnaire took approximately 6 - 8 minutes of the respondents’ time; unless
there was something he/she didn’t understand and had to be told the significance of.

Plan of analysis:

Completed questionnaires received were used to prepare various tables and data gathered
was tabulated and classified percentages were calculated. Answer to opened questions
were edited and classified suitably. Graphs and charts were used to highlight the statistics
results and conclusions were drawn from the above and were used to suggest options in
the last chapter.

Over view of the chapter scheme:

The study has been presented in chapters. The details are given below.

1.The first chapter introduces the subject matter of the study. This chapter covers the
meaning and importance of customer relationship and consumer perception. It also states
the meaning of customer satisfaction and focuses on a few core concepts of marketing.

2. The second chapter gives the details of design of the study and its objectives.

3. The third chapter gives the profile of the Reebok Company.

4. The fourth chapter gives the brief discussion on analysis and interpretation..

5. The fifth chapter gives report on Findings,

6. The sixth chapter gives the Suggestions and conclusions.

7. The seventh chapter gives the bibliography of the topics referred.

At the end is the annexure of the questionnaire

36
37