College of Technology London

Research Methodology ASSIGNMENT

STUDENT NAME: ANUSANKAR CHALAVANA PRABAHAKARAN STUDENT ID: 105178-88 UNIVERSITY ID: 1003050 LECTURER: WILSON OZEUM

Contents
Research topic ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Research overview .............................................................................................................................. 3 Research Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 3 Research Questions ............................................................................................................................. 3 Literature review ................................................................................................................................. 3 Research methodology ........................................................................................................................ 5 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Ethical issues....................................................................................................................................... 6 Time scale ........................................................................................................................................... 6 References ........................................................................................................................................... 6

Research topic
Investigating the impact of customer satisfaction on automobile industry: A case study on MRF 2

Research overview In todays competitive business environment the satisfaction of the customers is necessary for an organization to survive. It is the duty of the companies to give superior and quality products than the competitors to satisfy their customers. The satisfied customers will remain loyal to the organization and it will lead to the customer retention. The dissatisfied customers will depend upon other products for satisfying their needs. The retention of the customers is very vital for the profitability of the organization (Jones&Saiser, 1993).The customers expect better services and benefits from the product everytime.The organization have to provide superior and quality goods to satisfy their needs and expectations. If the customers expectations are not met it will lead to the dissatisfaction and it will affect the organizational effectiveness. The organization has to take care of their internal systems to provide better product to the customers. If the internal systems of an organization are good then the organization can provide better and superior goods (Taylor, 1989).The loyalty factor is very vital because it is very easy to make the customers stay within the organization rather than catching new customers. The loyal customers are like the assets of the organization. The customer satisfaction can be measured by using the SERVQUAL framework. In this research the customer satisfaction aspect is discussed with respect to the MRF tyres in the European market. This study will help to identify the role and importance of the customer satisfaction in the organization performance. Research Objectives To review the main factors affecting the customer satisfaction of the MRF Tyres in UK To know how the customer satisfaction can be enhanced in the MRF Research Questions What are the factors affecting the customer satisfaction of MRF? How MRF can improve the customer satisfaction? Literature review In the relationship marketing the customer satisfaction and the service quality aspect is an important concept. The consumer satisfaction is a vital factor in todays marketing activities(Bloemer,1990).In this literature review section the customer satisfaction concept, The theories ,the models etc are discussed by analyzing the past research articles. The customer satisfaction is a one of the main concept in the marketing and it has led to a large amount of research to be conducted (Bogozzi,1999).the past research studies shows that the customer satisfaction aspect depends on the specific attributes and features of the product(Anderson&Sullivan,1993;Gabarino&Johnson 1999).the customers satisfaction and dissatisfaction may vary according to the attribute like the price,quality,design etc.The customer satisfaction is the main motive for most of the organizations. If the customers are satisfied ultimately the product will lead to profit of the organization(Drucker,1954).The organization are giving main focus to the customer satisfaction aspect due to the profitability aspect(Anderson&lehman,1999).If the customers are dissatisfied with the product then they will affect the profitability of the organization. The dissatisfied customers will depend upon
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the competitors product and it will cause reduction in the market share of the organization. If the customers are satisfied then they will repurchase the product and the customers will act as a word of mouth promotion for the organization. The satisfied customers will refer the product to friends and relatives and the society in which they live.(Anderson&Mittal 2000).The satisfied customers will help the organizations to retain their customers and the loyalty will be increased.(Anderson&Sullivan 1993).The satisfied customers are seen as a source of revenue for the organization(Fornell 2002).However the customer satisfaction can be achieved by meeting their needs and wants. The organizations have to satisfy their needs by providing superior goals (Anderson&Mittal, 2000). The customer satisfaction is so important and vital to the organization success that many researchers have tried to find a way to measure the customer satisfaction. The Fourmen&Mick (1992) in their studies tried to measure the satisfaction of the customers with respect to the individual perspective.Dewolf, Odekerten&Schroder (2001) tried to measure the satisfaction with respect to different organizations. But the main tool for measuring the customer satisfaction is the SERVQUAL framework.(Parasurman&Zeithaml,1978).The framework is used to measure the satisfaction concept with respect to the service quality concept. The satisfaction and the service quality are interrelated. The quality of service will affect the satisfaction perspective of the customers. It will play a part in forming an overall satisfaction towards the product. The main theories that can be used to understand the customer satisfaction are mainly equity theory; attribution theory etc.The model associated with the customer satisfaction is expectancy-disconfirmation model. The studies show that the satisfaction and dissatisfaction are interrelated. One feature or attribute in a product will lead to satisfaction of the product while the other feature of the product leads to dissatisfaction of the product(Cote,2000).The customer satisfaction is a way to create the loyalty towards the organization(Oliver,1997).
Because of the dramatic growth of the service industry, researchers and practitioners have been attracted to examine the interaction of perceived service quality and customer satisfaction (Parasuraman et al 1985, 1988, 1994; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Shah and Schaefer, 2005). Not surprisingly, service quality (SQ) or perceived service quality and overall customer satisfaction connect firmly together in the literature (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). As discussed in the previous section, service quality results from the comparison of customers between service expectation and actual service performance (Gronroos 1982; Parasuraman et al 1985; Woodside, 1989). Or in other words, service quality is the gap between expectation of customers and the actual service performance. The construct of service quality is also examined through a number of the similar aspects as CS. In comparison with the definition of CS/CD, it can be seen that both concepts are influenced by the gap of expectation and performance facets, although, to the CS/CD paradigm, the literature focus more on which related to disconfirmation, expectation and actual performance, which, in contrast, belong to the input in terms of customer satisfaction of service quality. When creatingtheir own construct Parasuraman et al (1985) also posit the existence of the

relationship between CS and SQ. However, according to Cronin and Taylor (1992), the antecedence of the constructs regarding to measure the service quality is still under debate.

Research methodology

The research paradigm adopted for this research is Interpretivism because it helps to understand the difference between the humans in our role as social actors. In this study for getting the valid and reliable findings mixed research method is used. The mixed research methods means both the quantitative and qualitative data is collected and it will make triangulation of data. This will help to collect the valuable information. The survey strategy is used in this study because it helps to collect the large information about the customer satisfaction concept. The survey strategy will help to analyze the relationship between the various variables affecting the satisfaction concept. The primary and secondary sources are used in this study. The secondary data is only used for forming the questionnaires and the literature section. The customer satisfaction cocept, theories and models etc are collected form the past research articles by visiting emerald and Athens. Interviews and the focus group are adopted to gather the primary source of data for the study. The qualitative data is collected with the use of the interviews and the focus group method. The unstructured interviews are used gather the data. The unstructured interviews are informal in nature and it will help us to collect the deep data about the customer satisfaction aspect and the factors affecting them. The focus groups are also adopted for the gathering of the qualitative data. In the focus group mainly the topic is clearly defined and the discussion will be carried on the basis of that topic to collect the data. In this study two focus groups are carried out to collect data. The two groups are divided with respect to the using criteria. The first group consists of respondents who used the MRF service within the past 3 months. The second group consists of the respondent who has not used the service within the past 12 months. This will help to collect the data about the satisfaction concept in two aspects. The data from the first group will help to know why the respondents are using the MRF and what are the factors attracting them. The second group will help to identify why the respondents are not using the service and the factors responsible for their dissatisfaction. The quantitative data is collected with the help of the surveys. A well structured questionnaire is adopted for the survey method. The mail survey is used in this research to cover a wide sample. The respondents are mailed with a structured questionnaire and a post envelope is attached with the questionnaire. Questionnaires are also used for the interviews and the focus group too. The research is adopting sampling method for the study. The population for this research consists of the MRF customers in the UK.The sampling frame for this study is the online directory of the MRF. The samples are selected from the frame by using the cluster sampling method. The samples are selected from the two groups; those who use the service for the past weeks and those who not use the service within past 10 months. The sampling size selected for this research is 200 samples.
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Data Analysis The data are collected from the interviews, focus group and the surveys in this research. There are various forms of analysis like the thematic analysis; content, grounded theory etc.The quantitative data collected are analyzed with the help of the content analysis. The graphs and pie charts are also used to interpret the data. Ethical issues This research is conducted by following the moral ethics and no unethical issues are involved in the research. The permission from the company is taken before conducting the research. In the data collection process the consent of the respondents are asked before interviewing them. The confidentiality of the data is followed throughout the research. The personal details of the respondents are not asked and the information is kept secret. The bias is also avoided in the data collection and the analysis due to the intervention of a third party. Time scale Topics Selection of topic Preparation of proposal Proposal submission Literature review Research Methodology Data analysis Findings Suggestion Conclusion Submission of final

August sepetember October Novemebr December x x x x x x x x x x

References Anderson E.A and Sullivan M.W. (1993), The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms, Marketing Science, Vol. 12, Spring, pp. 125-43

Bloemer, J. & Kasper, H.. 1990, The overall customer satisfaction Relationship, pp 118-189. Bagozzi,R.(1998,Consumer behaviour goal setting, Journal of marketing,63 Fornel;C.1992),Customer satisfaction barometer,journal of marketing,Vol.52 No 2 ,pp.6-20 Jones, T.O., Loveman, G.W., Sasser, W.E., Schlesinger, L.A. (1994), "Putting the serviceprofit chain to work", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72 No.2, pp.164-74. Oliver, R. & Swan, J.E. 1989, Perceptions of the customers and the customer satisfaction concept. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 54, March 22-36

Oliver, R.L. (1997), Behavioural perspective on the Customer Relationship, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, pp 88-144. Parasuraman, A., L. L. Berry and V. A. Zeithaml. 1988. "SERVQUAL:The Framework For measuring the service quality and Customer Satisfaction." Journal of Marketing. Vol. 64, No. 1: 12-40. Parasuraman A., Zeithaml V.A. and Berry L.L. (1994), Reassessment of expectations as a comparison standard in measuring service quality: implications for future research, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, February, pp. 6-17

Research slides

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