Symbiosis

Institute of Media and Communication

Marketing Research II
Research Proposal for bank of Maharashtra

-Prof. Ashutosh Dutt

Submitted By: Ruchi Kothari 162 MBA (PR) 2010-12

Market Research Proposal

Project Bank of Maharashtra

Nov 2011 Prepared for: Bank of Maharashtra Prepared by: Ruchi Kothari | 162 | MBA-PR |

History Between 2005-07 BOW carried out retail brand tracking-both periodically and point in time. This entailed brand and ad awareness, benchmarking against competition on 9 major attributes

Currently BOW is undertaking 2 major initiatives - A Strategic Business Ruchi Review that reviews market position and tries to outline a path to increased customers, revenue and profitability. It is also re evaluating its brand positioning-in a bid to make it more relevant and differentiated and looking at a better visual manifestation of the same at its market place.

Research Objectives: The overall objective is to analyze the market position and examine the brand positioning of BOM in a bid to make it more relevant and differentiated in order to have a better visual manifestation of the same at the market place. This has been broken into the following sub-objectives: Measure brand awareness and perception, with a particular focus on markets of interest and target audience. Evaluate brand performance vis--vis major competition. Track brand awareness and association with key attributes over period of time-to observe changes before and after launch of refreshed positioning. We have detailed further areas beneath each objective. Measure brand awareness and perception, with a particular focus on markets of interest and target audience. This objective would seek to gauge the existing awareness level and the overall perception of all the stakeholders of BOM. And also we need to study the consumer behavior & Perception. Evaluate brand performance vis--vis major competition. To analyze , the awareness levels of BOM in the Indian Banking Industry. To study, competition density in banking industry. Also we will need to study the market share of BOM Track brand awareness and association with key attributes over period of time-to observe changes before and after launch of refreshed positioning.

To study the Brand Loyalty test.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Brand Equity The issue of brand equity has emerged as one of the most crucial topics for marketing management since 1990s( Leuthesser,1988; Keller,1993; Cobb-Walgren, Ruble, & Dontu, 1995: Lassar, Mittal & Sharma, 1995; Aaker, 1996; Dyson, Farr, and Hollis, 1996; Faircloth et al. 2001, Esch et al, 2006; Ramos & Franco et al. 2005. Brand equity has been considered in many context: the value added to the product (Jones, 1986; Lethesser 1988; Farquhar, 1990; Aaker,1991,1996,1999; Keller, 1993,1998, 1999; Kapferer, 1997); value of the firm (Aaker, 1991; Kim & Kim, 2005); value of the customer(Aaker1991; Martensen & Gronholt, 2003); brand preference, purchase intention (Lattin, 1987; Zeithaml 1988; Hardie et al 1993; Cobb-Wagren 1995); brand loyalty, brand awareness perceived quality, brand associations (Aaker, 1991; Keller,1993; Gralpois 1998, Pappu et al, 2005; Atilgan et al, 2005); differential effect of brand knowledge of consumer response to the marketing of brand (Keller,1993); incremental utility (Simon & Sullivan, 1993); consequence of marketing efforts (Ramos & Franco, 2005). There have been three different perspectives for considering brand equity; The customer- based perspectives, the financial perspectives and combined perspectives. While this study focus on the customer based perspectives. Customer- Based Brand Equity. The advantage of conceptualizing brand equity from the Customer- based perspective is that it enables managers to consider specifically how their marketing programs improves the value of their brands in the minds of consumers. Within the marketing literature, operationalization of customer based-brand equity usually fall into two groups (Cobb-Walgren et al. (1995); Yoo & Donthu (2001)): consumer perception (brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality ) and consumer behaviour (brand loyalty, willingness to pay a high price). Mahajan, Rao, and Srivastava (1991) claimed that a customer-based brand equity could be measured by the level of customers perception. Also operationalized by Lassar et al. (1995) as an enhancement of the perceived utility and desirability that a brand name confers on a product. According to them, costumer- based brand equity indicates only perceptual dimensions, not including behavioral or attitudinal such as loyalty or usage intention, which differs from Aakers (1991) who suggested to measure brand equity including behavioural and attitudinal dimensions. Farquhar (1990) maintained that brand equity is reflected by the change of consumer attitude while purchasing a product. Aaker (1991) incorporated definitions, the four dimensions of brand equity namely brand awareness, brand association perceived quality, and brand loyalty. Customer- Based Brand Equity is defined as a set of Brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firms consumers ( Aaker,1991). On the other hand, some researcher related the customer based brand equity with other construct, e.g. Farquhar and Ijiri (1991) proposed a model by judging the corporations marketing efforts on its brand directly. While Lassar et al (1995) focused on relationship

between customer based and financial/ market based brand equity measurement. Customer- based brand equity in this respect, is the driving force for incremental financial gains to the firm. Table 1. Main different concepts: Main Concept contributor Mahajan Rao Measure customer based brand equity by the level of customers (1991) perception Farquhar -Brand equity is reflected by the change of consumer (1990) attitude while purchasing a product. Aaker ( 1991) Measuring the four dimensions of brand equity: brand awareness, brand association perceived quality, and brand loyalty. Keller (1993) Adopted two basic approaches ( direct and indirect ) to measure customer- based brand equity emphasizing two constructs: brand awareness and brand image. The indirect approach to identify potential sources of costumer- based brand equities The direct approach focuses on consumer response to different elements of firms marketing program. Farquhar & Ijiri Judging the corporations marketing efforts on its brand directly. (1991) Lassar et al, Relationship between customer based and financial/ market based 1995 brand equity measurement. Customer-based brand equity in this respect, is the driving force for incremental financial gains to the firm. Hypothesis Relationships between Brand Awareness and Brand Associations. Aaker (1991,1996) argued that brand equity is a multidimensional construct, which consists of brand loyalty, Customer based brand awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand awareness and brand associations. brand equity occurs when the consumer has a high level of awareness and familiarity with the brand and holds some strong, favourable, and unique brand association memory. Fiske and Taylor (1995) contended that brand associations could be recalled in customers mind as emotional impressions. Brand awareness influences consumer decisions making by affecting the strength of the brand associations in their mind.(Keller,1993,1997). Pitta and Katsanis ( 1995) also pointed out that there are several dimensions of brand awareness with brand associations . They further indicated that brand associations of the

product can be stored in consumers minds after brand awareness of the product are already in their memory. Brand awareness and brand associations were found to be correlated (Atilgan et al 2005; and Pappu et al 2005). Moreover, high levels of brand awareness positively affect the formation of the products brand image ( association) (Ramos and Franco,2005). Esch et al ( 2006) also found that brand awareness affects brand image ( association). These literature review leads to hypotheses H1 H1: Brand Awareness has a positive direct effect to Brand Associations. The Relationship between Brand Awareness, Brand Association and Brand Loyalty Yoo, Donthu and Lee, (2000) researched about brand awareness with brand associations and brand equity. These researchers indicated that brand awareness with brand association has a significant positive effect on brand equity. While brand loyalty can be defined as combination of elements including the degree of customer satisfaction and the positive of brand associations. Thus it can be seen that if customers had higher brand associations and brand awareness, brand loyalty would increase. Similarly in Atilgans (2005) study, the more favourable associations consumers have towards a brand, the more their loyalty and vice versa. These literature review leads to hypotheses H2, H3 H2: Brand Awareness has a positive direct effect to Brand loyalty H3 : Brand Association has a positive direct effect to Brand Loyalty The Relationship between brand awareness, brand association and perceived quality. As studied by Aaker (1991), Keller (1993) and Pappu et al (2005), consumer who hold favourable associations towards a brand are also likely to develop favourable perceptions of quality and vice versa. Brand awareness in their study has been defined as consumers ability to recall that a brand is a member of product category. Consumers brand awareness is likely to be high when they have strong associations for the brand and when they perceived the quality of the brand to be high and vice a versa. These literature review leads to hypotheses H4 and H5: H4: Brand Awareness has a positive direct effect to Perceived Quality. H5: Brand Associations has a positive direct effect to Perceived Quality. The Relationship between Perceived Quality and Brand Loyalty.

 For several studies found that brand loyalty is related perceived quality ( Mc Connel,1968, Shapiro,1970 Szybiloo and Jacoby,1974) as reviewed by Lau and Lee (1999). Atilgan et al. (2005) studied the relationship between the dimensions of brand equity and brand equity itself. They concluded that brand loyalty is the most influence dimension of brand equity. Even their study did not give enough support to the existence of a direct causal relationship between the three dimensions brand awareness, brand association, and perceived quality and brand equity However, observed pair-wise comparison suggested that there is a correlation between brand loyalty, brand awareness, and perceived quality. As a result they suggested that concentrating brand loyalty, should not undervalue the effect of brand awareness and perceived quality to brand loyalty. As Pappu et als study (2005) is envisaged that consumers perception of quality will be associated with their brand loyalty. The more brand loyal a consumer is, the more he or she is likely to perceived the brand as offering superior quality and vice a versa. These literature review leads to hypotheses H6 H6 : Perceived Quality has a positive direct effect to Brand Loyalty The Mediating Effect of Perceived Quality Brand awareness has been define as consumers ability to recall that a brand is a member of product category (Aaker, 1991). Consumers brand awareness is likely to be high when they have strong associations for the brand and when they perceived the quality of the brand to be high and vice a versa. Similarly, consumers perception of quality of a brand is likely to be high when they have strong association with the brand and vice versa Pappu et al. (2005). According to Aaker (1991) while brand awareness builds the familiarity liking sight and is a signal of substance/commitment, perceived quality acts as a differentiation tools. These literature review leads to hypotheses H7, H8 H7 : Perceive Quality is mediating the relationship between Brand Awareness and Brand Equity. H8: Perceived Quality is mediating the relationship between Brand Association and Brand loyalty. The Mediating Effect of Brand Association. Brand awareness influences consumer decisions making by affecting the strength of the brand associations in their mind.(Keller,1993,1997). Pitta and Katsanis (1995) also indicated that brand associations of the product can be stored in consumers minds after brand awareness of the product are already in their memory. Later Atilgan et al; and Pappu et al

(2005) found that brand awareness and brand associations were correlated. These literature review leads to hypotheses H9 H9: Brand Association is mediating the relationship between Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty. METHOD. This research examined the relationship among the four most important dimensional constructs of brand equity which is includes brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality and brand loyalty Research Framework Based on literature review and research hypotheses as illustrated in the last chapter, this study develop the conceptual framework of this research as shown in Figure 3

FIGURE 2: The Research Framework The proposed research framework present the relationship between four construct of customer based brand equity namely Brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality and brand loyalty.

 Measures Measures of brand equity consist of the four construct of customer based brand equity. This study employed a five point Likert scale anchored from 1 (strongly disagreed) to 5 (strongly agreed) which were adopted from Atilgan (2005) and Kim and Kim (2005). Brand awareness. Sample responded to four items designed to assess their ability to recognize and recall the brand as a member of a certain project category. The items from Atilgans questionnaires ( Atilgan et al, 2005) which including I am aware of this restaurant (BAW1), I can recognize this restaurant among other restaurants(BAW2), I know what this restaurant looks like( BAW3), Some characteristic of Mc Donald come to my mind quickly(BAW4). Brand Associations Fourteen items by Kim and Kim ( 2005) were adopted to measure anything linked in memory to the brand: It is crowded (BA1), It is noisy (BA2), The price is reasonable (BA3), Service is prompt (BA4). It is conveniently located (BA5), It has a differentiated image from other restaurant brands( BA6). It tastes good compare with price (BA7), Employees are very kind( BA8), It has a very clean image( BA9), It has cheerful and enchanting atmosphere (BA10), There are many event (BA11) I feel comfortable to visit alone (BA12), It has a long history( BA13), Its brand is familiar to me( BA14). Perceived Quality Ten items by Kim and Kim ( 2005) were adopted to measure customer perception of overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose relative to alternatives including, The physical facilities (e.g building, sign, room dcor, illumination) are visually appealing(PQ1), The restaurant staff gives customers individual attention(PQ2), The appearance of staff members are clean, neat, appropriately dressed (PQ3), The restaurant has operating hours convenient to all their customers ( PQ4), The staff provides prompt service at promised times (PQ5). The staff handles customers complaints effectively(PQ6). The staff is always willing to customers(PQ7), The knowledge and confidence of the staff are good(PQ8), The

food quality of the restaurant is good(PQ9), and The restaurant insists on error-free service( PQ10). Brand Loyalty Five items by Kim and Kim (2005) were adopted to measure the attachment that customer has to a brand including : I regularly visit this restaurant( BL1), I intend to visit this restaurant again( BL2), I usually use this restaurant as my first choice compared to other restaurants(BL3), I am satisfied with the visit to this restaurant(BL4), I would recommend this restaurant to others (BL5), and I would not switch to another restaurant for the next time( BL6).

Research Design: A research design is purely and simply the work or plan for a study that guides the collection and analysis of the data. I have chosen descriptive research design for study.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:The methodology used to analyze the project is mainly based on survey method and this survey was conducted through Questionnaires and it also include direct contact with the management and the managerial staff of the bank.

SAMPLE DESIGN Population definition A population can be defined as including all people or items with the characteristic one wish to understand. Because there is very rarely enough time or money to gather information from everyone or everything in a population, the goal becomes finding a representative sample (or subset) of that population. So therefore for our research purpose our population would consist of the following sample Existing Users Of BOM-Database of all the consumers who avail services of BOM Any Users who avail Banking Services from any bank. So to summarize our population would comprise of the USERS & NONUsers of BOM. But will comprise of all the people who use banking services. Sampling TechniqueSimple random sampling as a technique would be used in order to get clear and unbiased results, as random people would be chosen among the

sample. SIZE OF SAMPLE BOM Customer 50, Non BOM Customers 25

Sample Frame The database of the existing consumers at BOM And the database for other bank users would be obtained form secondary sources in the form of published records of this information. Sample Profile The sample profile for Bank of Maharashtra would be based on the following things Geographic LocationMetropolitan & Semi Metropolitan cities OccupationWorking Professionals Age GroupAbove 21 Observational DesignMETHODOLOGY Primary method: - From Users & Non-Users Secondary method: - From Internet, Journals, Magazines and Newspapers and published Papers

The unit of analysis is bank consumers sampled through university staff of four public universities in India. To proceed the formal data collection, we first explain the purpose of this study and show respondents how to fill in the questionnaires. If respondents have problems in filling in the questionnaires, they can directly ask us . It takes ten to fifteen minutes to complete the formal questionnaires. Survey questionnaires were hand distributed to the 75 respondents, and retrieved with the aid of undergraduate and graduate university students. A total of 73 usable questionnaires, or 98.82 percent response rate. From the retrieved questionnaires we separate into the frequent and less frequent consumers data. We conducted our analysis on 73 valid data of frequent consumers. Before the process of quantitative data analysis began, we employed human efforts in dealing with retrieved questionnaires, using SPSS 13.00 for Windows to analyze the data of questionnaires. Incomplete questionnaires were regarded as invalid. We enlisted the code for the retrieved questionnaires and entered them into the table

ANALYTICAL TOOLS

Survey Method, which will be administered through Questionnaire Statistical ToolsFactor Analysis and or Cluster Analysis

Operational DesignTimingThe table below indicates our suggested timeframe for the project. This meets the deadlines set out in the brief. When the project is underway, we will send weekly progress reports in the form of emails at 12 noon every

Friday. This allows us to summarise the weeks work and gives us the opportunity of the weekend to put into place any modifications you might suggest. Please note that there are overlapping periods; these have been carefully studied to ensure that your dead- lines are respected. Week

Activity Client Interactions Literature study Develop Proposal Questionnaire development Field study Coding and data Analysis Report Writing Presentation

Days 18 4 days 2days 3 days 10 days 4 days 2 days 1 day

Total Number of days: 34 days Milestones: Proposal Approval Data Collection Completion Final Report

FEES Total- 5 lakhs INR The fees quoted below are exclusive of VAT and are subject to the standard terms and conditions, which are appended. The fees are subject to the assumptions contained in these proposals and we reserve the right to make adjustments should any assumptions prove to be incorrect.