A REPORT ON A SURVEY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON POST-PAID SUBSCRIBERSFOR HUTCH

BY K. VIJAYBHASKAR 520442815

HUTCHISON ESSAR SOUTH LTD HYDERABAD

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A REPORT ON

A SURVEY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON POST-PAID SUBSCRIBERS

With reference
To

Hutchison Essar South Limited,

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

By

K. VIJAYBHASKAR 520442815

Under the guidance of Mr. Manoranjan Singh Area Sales Manager Hyderabad Prof. Rajender IBMR College Hubli

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The project work mainly focuses on study of A survey on customer satisfaction on post paid subscribers. For hutch in Hyderabad city, the Corporate Exposure and Learning was basically intended to have an exposure of the working environment of the Organization and Market situations. The questionnaire was prepared and was personally administered to the customers. The sample size was 50 respondents. The endeavor of the project was mainly taken over for 8 weeks, under which the areas covered start from the introduction to the suggestion and conclusion about the topic. Telecommunication is the one of the fastest growing industry service plays of industry a vital the in role the in world. the The 80m Telecom economic Indian telephone

development

country. with

telecommunications

network

connections is the fifth largest in the world and second largest among the emerging economies of Asia.

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The customer satisfaction is what is required to help the organization to reach its goals and objectives by providing good services like Billing, Installations, Tariff Plans and customer care etc. Thus study was conducted to know the customer satisfaction level of Hutch post paid service.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A SURVEY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON POST-PAID SUBSCRIBERS, is a study conducted at Hutchison Essar South Ltd, is the result of my interaction with the customers during the project work of 6 weeks at Hutchison Essar South Ltd, (Hyderabad Branch) I take this opportunity to extend my most heartfelt thanks to all those whose help and their guidance made this endeavor of mine a successful one. I express my deep sense of gratitude to Prof. Rajender IBMR college, Mr. Manoranjan Singh (Area Sales Manager Hutch), Mr.Abbas branch manager, Mr.Venu HR manager and Mr. Vamsi Krishna (Team Leader Hutch) and who provided me with enough freedom and reposed great faith on my ability to complete my project work at Hutchison Essar South Ltd, Hyderabad. I also express my deep gratitude to all the staff of Hutchison Essar South Ltd Hyderabad & all my friends, for their guidance, encouragement and help given to me during this training period.

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The unique nature of my project was a great experience and it helped me to gain valuable insight into the world of marketing. Above all, my humble and wholehearted prostration to all mighty for his blessings.

K.VIJAYBHASKAR

DECLARATION
I hereby state this project report on A SURVEY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON
POST-PAID SUBSCRIBERS,

submitted by me in partial fulfillment of requirements

of MBA is an original research work carried out by me under the guidance and supervision of our faculty guide and company guide. This work or any part of it has not been previously submitted for a degree of MBA.

K. VIJAYBHASKAR
Hyderabad. DATE: ..
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TABLE OF CONTENTS page no

Executive summary.. Acknowledgement Declaration i ii iii

Chapter 1: Chapter 2 :

Introduction Industry Analysis 2.1 Industry Profile 2.2 Company Profile..

1-2 2-14 14-21

Chapter 3: About My Study Objectives 21-22 Methodology .. 22-23 Limitations.. 23-24

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Value added to self.. About customer satisfaction.. Details about study Chapter 4: Results and Findings Analysis.. Findings Recommendations . Annexure .. References.

24-25 26-37 37-41 42-51 51-52 52-53 iii iv

RESULTS AND FINDINGS OF DATA COLLECTED FROM CORPORATE SECTOR

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INTRODUCTION

As part of my project the Hutch Company assigned me an OJT in sales. The company has given a detailed class regarding the formation, operation and about the marketing strategies of the company. The company said to prepare a set of questioner to make the survey and also the company instruct me to market the products simultaneously, the company fixed a target of 10 post paid cards. Through this OJT sale, I and the company will come to know about the customers perception about the product, how for our product stands in the mind of customer, and in which way we have to move to the market share. Through this the company an design the product according to the customer perception in order to make a high sales turnover.

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INDUSTRY PROFILE
India operates one of the largest telecom networks in Asia. The telecommunication network continued to grow at a rapid pace as a higher switching capacity of 17.9 lakh lines was added in the network in 1998-99 as against 35.2 lakh lines in 1997-98 resulting in an increase of 22.5 per cent in the switching capacity in 1998-99 over the preceding year. The number of new connections provided in 1998-99 (was 37.9 lakh as against 32.6 lakh in 1997-98. Similarly, microwave and optical fiber network was enhanced. 2,06,500 lines of Trunk Automatic Exchange (TAX) capacity, 14,009 Route Kilometers (RKMs) of microwave and 31,771 Route Kilometers of optical fiber were added in 1998-99 over the total TAX capacity of 12,61,500 lines. 72,592 Route Kilometers of microwave and 76,261 Route Kilometers of optical fiber respectively as on March 31, 1998. Efforts to expand the network have been continued in 1999-2000.

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INVESTMENT
Six companies have so far signed the license agreement with the Government for providing basic telephone services in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab. Interconnectivity of network for data transmission has been permitted as per the recommendations of the National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development. An integrated computerized customer service package for commercial, directory enquiry and telephone billing and accounting has been implemented in 14 Telecom Districts its first phase in the current, year. The fault repair service has also been included in the software. This will help in delivery of customer service on single window concept with a single integrated database. Licenses to 187 Internet Services Providers (ISP) has been issued. An InterMinisterial Committee has finalized the guideline for setting up the International Wherever you go our network follows

Gateway by ISPs. Accordingly, applications have been invited from ISPs for setting up of International Gateway and the response for this has shown a remarkable trend as more companies go for the investment in Internet Segment. The opening up of Ku-band for V-SAT operation is being

Finalized and the recommendations of the TRAI are awaited on this matter. DOT has also provided access to the nearest Internet node on local call basis, throughout India except for Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Leah due to problem of technical feasibility.

It has been decided to set up Internet access node at every secondary switching area by end of 2000 as per the recommendations of the National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development.

A number of other value added services, viz. Voice-mail/Audio-Text, E-mail, VSAT, and Radio Paging etc. have also been franchised to various private/public Indian registered companies on non-exclusive basis.

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The National Telecom Policy (NTP) 1994 had envisaged the objective of one public call office (PCO) for every 500 persons in the urban areas. As on September 30, 1999, 5.70 lakh PCOs were working all over the country. The present PCOPopulation ratio at the national level is 1:453 for urban areas on all-India average basis. Further, as per the National Telecom Policy (NTP), every village is to be provided with one public telephone. This target has now been rescheduled and expected to be completed by the end of 9th Five-Year Plan. As per the terms of the license agreement, private operators have to provide a minimum of 10 per cent Direct Exchange Lines (DELs) as village public telephones (VPTs). Out of 6.07 lakh villages in the country, 3.43 lakh villages have been provided with public telephones by the end of September 1999. During 1998-99, a total of 37,058 villages were provided with telephone facility and during the current year 1999-2000, it is proposed to provide 45,000 VPTs.

November 1994, 8 licenses were issued for Cellular Mobile Telephone service in 4 metro cities. Further 34 licenses to 14 companies for 18 telecom circles were issued since December 1995. The service has since been started in all the 4 metro cities and selected cities in 18 Telecom Circles. There were about 13.5 lakh cellular mobile telephone customers in the country as December 30, 1999 and in March 30,2006 the customers are 6,90,64,954.

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NEW TELECOM POLICY 1999 (NTP 1999)

New Policy Framework In order to effect separation of service providing functions from policy and licensing functions etc., a separate Department of Telecom Services (DTS) has been set up in October, 1999. Department of Telecommunication (DOT) would be concerned with the functions relating to the implementation of treaties and agreements with other countries; policy matters, licensing, coordination, research and development, private investment, administration of laws (Acts), Enquiries and Statistics etc. relating to Telephone Industries (ITI) and Hindustan Teleprinters Ltd. (HTL). DTS will look after the execution of land. all matters other than policy and licensing relating to services of telephones, wireless, data, facsimile and telematics, MTNL, CDOT etc. The Telecom Commission will handle matters relating to the coordination

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between the DOT and DTS. This will include corporatisation of DTS as India Telecom. In terms of National Telecom Policy (NTP) 1999 and subsequent Government approval in 1999, a Package for Migration from fixed license fee to revenue sharing under New Telecom Policy was offered to the

Telephone Instruments Service Providers, which has been accepted by most of them. Consequent to the change in the tariff revision announced by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the DOT as a service provider (now DTS), adopted the tariff with some modifications. The tariff in respect of rural subscribers and low calling urban

subscribers was retained at the level prevailing prior to the notification. In addition, the subscribers got the benefit of reduction in STD/ISD rates as announced by TRAI. It was estimated that the combined effect of these revisions would entail significant net reduction in DOT'S revenue in the current year. TRAI was, therefore, requested to rework the tariffs for the next two years, keeping in view the negative impact on the revenues of Telecom operators.

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Number of mobile Subscribers in India & AP

Jan,30,2006 62019144 Feb,2006 65188550 882131 1732271 800145 1118355 March2006 69064954 934541 1808121 848296 1246499

All India A.P.

Total

IDEA 850858 Bharti Tele-Ventures 1534879 Hutchison Essar 756395 BSNL 1053728

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CELLULAR MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS

INTRODUCTION Cellular Telephony - the technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime, anywhere - has spawned an entire industry in mobile telecommunication. Mobile telephones have become an integral part of the growth, success and efficiency of any business / economy. The most prevalent wireless technology in the world today, is GSM. The GSM MoU (Global System for Mobile Communications) was instituted in 1987 to promote and expedite the adoption, development and deployment and evolution of the GSM standard for digital wireless communications. The Association was formed as a result of a European Community agreement on the need to adopt common standards suitable for cross border European mobile communications. Starting off

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primarily as a European standard, the Group Special Mobile as it was then called, soon came to represent the Global System for Mobile Communications as it achieved the status of a world-wide standard. The GSM MoU Association addresses issues of concern facing the operator, the administrator, the regulator around the globe. The GSM membership has grown exponentially since 1992. The membership now extends to 323 members from over 125 countries. (See graph) The GSM network now services over 125 million customers worldwide. The world's satellite operators have also joined the GSM community, which further adds to its strength and impact on world

markets. GSM is today, the world's leading digital standard accounting for 64% of the global digital wireless market.

The cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSP) shall be permitted to provide mobile telephony services including permission to carry its own long distance traffic within their service area without seeking an additional license. Direct interconnectivity between licensed CMSP's and any other type of service provider (including another

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CMSP) in their area of operation including sharing of infrastructure with any other type of service provider shall be permitted. Licenses would be awarded for an initial period of twenty years and would be extendible by additional periods of ten years thereafter.

FIXED SERVICE PROVIDERS The Fixed Service Providers (FSP) shall be freely permitted to establish `last mile' linkages to provide fixed services and carry long distance traffic within their service area without seeking an additional license. Direct interconnectivity between FSPs and any other type of service provider (including another FSP) in their area of operation and sharing of infrastructure with any other type of service provider shall be permitted. The FSP allowed to directly interconnect with the VSNL after the opening up of national long

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distance from January 1, 2000. The FSP may also utilize last mile linkages or transmission links within its service area made available by other service providers. The FSP licenses would be required to pay a one time entry fee. All FSP licensees shall pay license fee in the form of a revenue share. It is proposed that the appropriate level of entry fee and percentage of revenue share and basis for selection of new operators for different service areas of operation would be recommended by TRAI in a time-bound manner, keeping in view the objectives of the New Telecom Policy.

As in the case for cellular, for WLL also, availability of appropriate frequency spectrum as required is essential not only for providing optimal bandwidth to every operator but also for entry of additional operators.

CABLE SERVICE PROVIDERS Under the provisions of the Cable Regulation Act, 1995, Cable Service Providers (CSP) shall continue to be freely permitted to provide 'last mile' linkages and switched services within their service areas of operation and operate media services, which are essentially one-way, entertainment related services.

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INTERNET TELEPHONY
Internet telephony shall not be permitted at this stage. However, Government will continue to monitor the technological innovations and their impact on national development and review this issue at an appropriate time.

RADIO PAGING SERVICE PROVIDERS The Radio Paging Service Providers (RPSP) shall be permitted to provide paging services within their service area of operation, Direct interconnectivity between licensed RPSPs and any other type of service provider in their area of operation

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including sharing of infrastructure shall be permitted. Interconnectivity between service providers in different service areas shall be reviewed in consultation with TRAI. The radio paging licenses shall pay a one time entry fee. The basis for determining the entry fee and basis for selection of additional operators will be recommended by the TRAI. All radio paging licensees shall pay license fee as a revenue share.

OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS

For application like tele banking, tele-medicine, tele-education, tele trading, ecommerce, other service providers will be allowed to operate by using infrastructure provided by various access providers. No license fee will be charged but registration for specific services being offered will be required. These service providers will not infringe on the jurisdiction of other access providers and they will not provide switched telephony. At present in the country, there are 24604 electronic and 15 non-electronic exchanges are functioning.

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The Union Cabinet approved the migration package for private telecom operators. Subsequent to the adoption of New Telecom Policy (1999) by the government, the existing licensees of Cellular Mobile Telephone Services and Basic Telephones Services were offered to migrate to NTP 1999. As per this package, the licensees were offered migrations to NTP-1999. Although the telecom segment is liberalized and this important segment does not come free from controversies and contentious issues. Issues like implementation of the CPP regime as recommended by the TRAI, the role of TRAI in issuing licenses, the cancellation of licenses, the percentage of revenue share between private operators and the government and lastly the differences between TRAI and MTNL over the launch of the latest cellular services are some among the issues to be solved.

The DoT has drawn an ambitions plan to provide over one million telephone connections based on wireless in local loop (WLL) system during 2000-01. The government initiated the process of separating the policy making functions of the Department of Telecom from its functions as a service provider.

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Company Profile
Hutchison established its presence in India in 1994, through a joint venture with Max India Limited. In 1995, Hutchison Max Telecom became the first operator in India to launchitscellularservice.

Today, Hutchison is the one of the largest providers of cellular services in India with presence in all the major regions - Orange in Mumbai and Hutch in Gujarat, Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Chennai, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP.

It is also the countrys largest roaming operator, with a more extensive network in India and around the world than any other operator. It is part of the Hong Kong based multinational conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited, a Fortune 500 company, and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock

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Exchange. Its operations span 36 countries across the Asia Pacific region, Europe and the Americas.

Hutchison affiliates jointly account for the largest number of cellular subscribers in India numbering over 7 million.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

Hutchs presence in India dates back to late 1992, when they worked with local partners to establish a company licensed to provide mobile telecommunications services in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Commercial operations began in November 1995. Between 2000 and March 2004,Hutch acquired further operator equity interests or operating licenses, and now provide mobile services in 13 of the 23 defined service areas across the country, with a further two areas at planning stage. These service areas collectively cover 56% of India's population and 74% of current mobile customers.

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Hutch India has benefited from rapid and profitable growth in recent years. Hutch had over 7.1 million customers by the end of 2004, making us the fourth-largest private mobile operator in the country

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

2005 No. 1 in Customer satisfaction - TNS India Cell track 4 2004 Launched Punjab, UP West and West Bengal 2003 Best Continued Campaign - Orange TM - ABBY Awards 2003 Added Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP (East) circles to India operations 2003 Acquired ADIL, with operations in Rajasthan, UP East and Haryana 2002 'India's most admired Telecom Company' - Business World - IMRB 2002 NFO MBL Best Performer in Customer Satisfaction Won auction for licenses to operate GSM services in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and 2001 Chennai Acquisition of Delhi operations Entered Calcutta and Gujarat markets through 2000 acquisition 1992 Hutchison and Max established Hutchison Max

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Corporate Structure
Hutchison-Essar is a Hutchison Whampoa company. It is a joint venture between the Hong Kong-based mobile group and the Indian conglomerate Essar Group.

Financial and Operational Performance

Hutchison declared revenues of HK$3.2bn in H1 2005 from its Indian operations, up from HK$1.95bn in H1 2004. Hutchison-Essar had more than 7 m subscribers at end-Jan 2005 COMPANY Hutch Airtel Wherever you go our network follows TOWN 214 215

Idea

175

TOTAL NETWORK COVERAGE IN ANDRA PRADESH

250 200 TOWNS 150 100 50 0 Hutch Airtel COM PANIES Idea Series1 Series2

Company Strategy
Hutchison-Essar entered the mobile market in 1995 in the first wave of operator licensing The operator has a presence in all four metro circles in India. The operator is expanding its business and increasing market share through a combination of growth by acquisition (it has acquired the operations of Fascel and Aircel in the year to September 2004) as well as network investment. Nokia is currently increasing capacity on its networks in Chennai, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, while also rolling out new networks in West Bengal and western Uttar Pradesh. The operator has followed the 60% tariff cuts introduced by Reliance Infocomm to the pre-paid mobile market in August 2004, in a bid to maintain market share. The operator launched EDGE services in July 2004.

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Products and Services

Hutch India provides 2G services using digital GSM technology. We offer GSM voice and data services in all of the regions in which we currently operate. In addition to basic mobile voice telephony services, we offer a wide range of value-added and data services. These include voicemail, dual SIM card capabilities, missed-call alerts, SMS, GPRS services and e-mail services. Hutch India has roaming arrangements with some 250 international and 46 domestic operators Hutchison-Essar currently offers GSM services across 12 circles in India. It offers pre- and post-paid voice, MMS and internet access services. August 2004: Hutchison-Essar formally notified its intention to list its Indian operations and all of its 2G businesses.

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July 2004: The operator launched EDGE services and began talks with TV channels over content streaming July 2004: Hutchison-Essar launched services in Punjab

The challenges ahead

Hutchison Essar's ARPUs have fallen slightly, from Rs 490 in the April-June quarter to Rs 487 in the July-September quarter. And the ARPUs of rivals like Bharti Televentures are picking up.

In markets like Delhi, the revenues of rivals have grown faster than those of Hutchison. Delhi accounts for over 21 per cent of Hutchison Essar's total revenues

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It does not have a pan Indian presence and is missing from lucrative markets like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Its value added services advantage is becoming smaller as others have launched numerous services.

Todays consumers do not want to hear the virtues of a brand, they are interested in specifics and thats what our campaigns always do.

Objectives
To find out the satisfaction level of respondents with Hutch post paid Service. To find out the factors inspire to opt for Hutch post paid Service. To know the satisfaction level of customer with regard to various parameters (Installation, Billing, Service etc). The basic objective of the study is to identify the prospective businesses and opportunities for cross promotion. To identify the effective media for advertisement of Hutch post paid products.

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To study the sales achieved through different cross promotions done in these towns.

Conduct a survey and to derive customer opinion on the services provided by the different companies. To study the Satisfaction level of post paid customers in Hyderabad,

Conduct a survey, and to derive customers opinion on the Services provided by different companies.

METHODOLOGY:
The methodology used to collect the data is shown below. 1 2 Primary through questionnaire Secondary Data: Secondary data will be collected through various journals,

books, and websites.

Questionnaire:
The questionnaire was prepared to know the Satisfaction level of post paid customers in Hyderabad, with reference to Hutch.

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The questionnaire has both open and close-ended questions, which will help in collecting information about the customers and their perception towards Hutch Postpaid Connection.

Sample size is 120 convenience sampling as a tool to analyze the survey. After collecting the data through survey the data was analyzed.

LIMITATIONS:

1) The city Hyderabad is very vast spread and is difficult to reach each and every length and breadth of the city.

2) Due to time constraint a much-detailed study has not been made.

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VALUE ADDED TO SELF

The findings of the survey will provide me an overview of what customers perception towards the postpaid connection, what are the factors which affects their behavior, by whom they get influenced, what role does brand plays and which influence their behavior, the faith of people and awareness level about the Public limited and Private Limited companies. I will also come to know that where Hutch telecommunication does stand compare to other companies options. Based on all this fact what should be the strategies to make customer go for post-paid connection.

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A GENERAL DEFINITIONAL FRAMEWORK OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION: Based on the insights provided by the literature review, group and personal interviews, we propose a framework for developing context-specific definitions of consumer satisfaction. This framework is not a generic definition of satisfaction. As noted above, innumerable contextual variables will affect how satisfaction is viewed. As such, any generic definition of satisfaction will be subject to chameleon effects. Rather than presenting a generic definition of satisfaction, we identify the conceptual domain of satisfaction, delineate specific components necessary for any meaningful definition of satisfaction, and outline a process for developing contextspecific definitions that can be compared across studies.

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As concluded by the literature review and validated by the group and personal interview data, there appears to be three essential components of consumer satisfaction: Summary affective response which varies in intensity; Satisfaction focus around product choice, purchase and consumption; and time of determination, which varies by situation, but is generally, limited in duration.

In this framework, satisfaction is limited to an affective response reflecting satisfaction as a holistic evaluative outcome. This distinction does not preclude the importance of cognition in determining satisfaction; however, cognitions are bases for the formation of satisfaction, but the cognitions are not satisfaction. This is similar to choice in that the

brand chosen may be based on cognitive evaluations; however, the choice is not cognition but the brands selected or not selected. It is the study of real work situation where the person is going to do a particular job here he has to perform many tasks such as interaction with the customers, selling process,

Customer perception about the product and others.

The summary affective response is defined as the holistic nature of consumer's state of satisfaction, the focus is the object(s) of consumer's state, and timing refers to the temporal existence of satisfaction. According to field data results and supported by

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extant satisfaction literature, these components are applicable across situations and across consumers. All of these components are critical to appropriately operationalize the definition, to produce valid results, and make accurate interpretations and managerial decisions. Thus, the following components should be included in any context specific definition of consumer satisfaction.

Consumer satisfaction is:

A summary affective response of varying intensity. The exact type of affective response and the level of intensity likely to be experienced must be explicitly defined by a researcher depending on the context of interest.

With a time-specific point of determination and limited duration. The researcher should select the point of determination most relevant for the research questions and identify the

likely duration of the summary response. It is reasonable to expect that consumers may consciously determine their satisfaction response when asked by a researcher; therefore, timing is most critical to ascertain the most accurate, well-formed response.

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Directed toward focal aspects of product acquisition and/or consumption. The researcher should identify the focus of interest based on the managerial or research question they face. This may include a broad or narrow range of acquisition or consumption activities/issues. By fleshing out these components, researchers should be able to develop specific definitions that are conceptually richer and empirically more useful than previous definitions. To develop context-relevant definitions and measures, researchers must be able to identify both the questions they are interested in answering and some basic information about the setting and consumers. Specifically, the researcher will need to provide details about all three components of satisfaction.

Satisfaction Focus
The difficult decision for a researcher is to determine the degree of detail needed to define the satisfaction focus. For example, is satisfaction with the product an appropriate focus (e.g., the automobile), or should it be limited to specific attributes (e.g., gas mileage) or specific benefits (e.g., the automobile is fun to drive)? One way researchers

could identify the appropriate focus or foci is by surveying or interviewing existing or new customers during the purchase process or at various points following

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purchase (Gardial et al. 1994). This information would allow researchers to segment their customers on the basis of what foci are actually considered when they determine their satisfaction. The purpose would be to develop a battery of satisfaction survey instruments tailored to different types of customers and research questions.

Timing

As noted above, there are two important properties related to timing; time of determination and duration. When examining time of determination, the researcher must identify which stage of the purchase and consumption process is most important to the research question. For example, if an automobile manufacturer is interested in repeat purchase, then the final stages of consumption may be most appropriate. On the other hand, if the firm were interested in improving the warranty program, then earlier stages would be most appropriate. Duration will also help identify the most appropriate time of determination to consider. For example, if satisfaction is fleeting, then it should be measured earlier in the process.

Summary Response
The final step is to identify appropriate affective responses. Intensity represents the key properties of response. Affective responses can vary dramatically across a range of responses. For example, Cadotte, Woodruff and Jenkins (1987) identify ten different types of affective descriptors that may be appropriate in a restaurant

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setting. However, it is unreasonable to assume that all of these will be appropriate in another specific context. Researchers must select descriptors that accurately reflect the emotional responses to the relevant satisfaction focus. If the range of intensity is too large, then there will be little variance in any measures of satisfaction. If the range is too small, then the researcher does not obtain the maximum information that the consumers can provide (Cox 1980).

Definitional Adequacy The proposed definitional framework lead the reader to question why satisfaction is limited to an affective response rather than including cognitive and conative components. Limiting satisfaction to affective responses is consistent with Oliver's (1992) proposal that, "satisfaction and dissatisfaction reflect the general affective tone" (p. 242). In addition, the phrases reflect a condensed, global response to one or many aspects of purchase or consumption consistent with Zajonc's (1980) conceptualization of affect being a holistic concept. We would also argue that cognitive and conative components tend to be more strongly related to antecedents and consequences of the satisfaction determination. For example, cognitive deliberations (such as comparing performance to expectations) reflect the process by which a summary evaluation (affect) is formed. Conversely, a summary affective response may be later justified by cognitive

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explanations (it just didn't do what I wanted) or exemplified in behavior (repeat purchase). Several definitions in Table 1 include process such as, "the consumer's response to the evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior expectations (or some norm of performance) and the actual performance of the product as perceived after its consumption" (Tse and Wilton 1988, p. 204, italics added). Our definition emphasizes the construct itself rather than the evaluative process (model) by which the response is determined. Focusing on the response (construct) rather than the process (model) facilitates the operationalization of consumer satisfaction as a single construct unencumbered by various antecedents or consequences.

In order to ensure our definitional framework is rigorous, we evaluated it according to Teas and Palan's (1997) definitional criteria: ambiguity; intensional vagueness; and extensional vagueness. We will examine these criteria as suggested by Teas and Palan (1997) consistently using the coined terms they have proposed and defined. Ambiguity is the degree to which confusion "reduces the theoretical meaningfulness of language used to express theory and, therefore, reduces the degree to which theories can be precisely expressed, interpreted, and empirically tested" (Teas and Palan 1997, p. 56). In order to be applicable across all contexts, our definitional framework must be somewhat indefinite. Thus, by design, ambiguity exists in our general framework; however, modified definitions based on this general definition are unambiguous and well justified. Specific definitions used to operationalize the consumer satisfaction construct would be

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sufficiently distinct and explicit so as to resolve the ambiguity issue beyond most extant definitions.

As noted by Teas and Palan (1997), some degree of intensional vagueness will exist because an exhaustive list of properties is unlikely. Intensional vagueness is minimized by our definitional framework because components and properties have been carefully determined. Specifically, we have identified the affective response ranges in intensity from minimal to extreme; the foci range across purchase and consumption response sources (e.g., product benefits); and the timing ranges in determination from immediately upon purchase to time of repurchase and ranges in duration from very limited to enduring. In addition, properties of consumer satisfaction are well explicated in the specificity of the operational definition. For example, for a specific context, consumer satisfaction may be defined as an intense affective response (elation) to the product benefits determined immediately upon purchase and lasting for a brief duration. This affective response dissipates to enjoyment of product benefits enduring for the life of (or consumer interaction with) the product. Thus, intensional vagueness is minimized by using the framework to explicate the general properties of satisfaction or dissatisfaction and guides the development of specific properties within a particular research setting.

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Extensional vagueness, or lack thereof, is "the ability to classify objects in the physical realm unambiguously into one of two sets: the extension of the concept or its complement

(nonextension)" (Teas and Palan 1997, p. 59). Extensional vagueness is reduced by our definitional framework since the response, the focus of the response, and the timing (determination and duration) are specified. Thus, it is possible to distinguish consumer satisfaction from what consumer satisfaction is not. In particular, delineating the time component greatly reduces extensional vagueness. For example, Teas and Palan (1997) examine the vagueness of prior expectations in terms of the point location along a time continuum (when consumers actually determine their prior expectations) as well as the point when expectations are actually measured by researchers. By applying our definitional framework, the timing of the satisfaction response is ascertained and measured at a temporally appropriate point, greatly alleviating extensional vagueness.

A context-specific definition generated using our framework (the definiens) could be substituted for the term, consumer satisfaction (the definiendum), without falsifying the statement. Thus, our definition adheres to the rules of replacement. However, as intended, our framework reduces the specificity of the conceptual domain so as to appropriately modify (by increasing the specificity) the definition for any particular context. As such, the context-specific definition used in one study cannot substitute

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for the definition in another study. However, both definitions would have the same general components and specific differences could be easily identified and compared. As such, our framework would generate definitions that meet the requirement of replacement without creating chameleon effects.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

The satisfaction literature has not yet, explicitly or implicitly, established a generally accepted definition of satisfaction, which has limited our abilities to develop appropriate measures and compare results across studies. As suggested by Gardial et al. (1994), there is a "need for a clear delineation of what this phenomenon is (and is not)" (p. 556). The definitional framework presented above provides guidelines for developing conceptually consistent, clearly delineated, context-specific

definitions of satisfaction.

By providing appropriate detail concerning the affective response, time of determination and duration, and the focus of the response, a more meaningful definition of satisfaction can be constructed. As encouraged by Marsh and Yeung (1999) context-specific definitions created using the framework should be general

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enough to allow comparisons across studies, but specific enough to allow for the development of context-specific measures in order to prevent chameleon effects.

Implications for Theory Development and Testing

Consumer satisfaction researchers consider a consensual definition to be a priority in furthering consumer satisfaction theory (Peterson and Wilson 1992; Yi 1990). This directive is important for two reasons:

A construct cannot be measured without an understanding of the domain of the construct (Bollen 1989; Churchill 1979); and,

Empirical

studies

can

be

compared

only

if

similar

definitions

and

operationalizations are employed.

Currently, it is impossible to disentangle differences in operationalizing satisfaction from differences in results. This limits theoretical advancements. Our proposed definition framework allows researchers to identify the common and unique components of different satisfaction studies. This will allow results to be more easily interpreted and compared. Developing Measures of Satisfaction

A consensual, yet adaptable, definition and underlying properties would increase the validity of consumer satisfaction measures. Valid measures are essential for

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theory development and testing (Peter 1981), yet, researchers do not always "recognize the serious impact measurement error can have on empirical results" (Cote and Buckley 1988, p. 579). Valid measures put the emphasis back on developing and testing theory. Having a grounded conceptual definition and a subsequent procedure for measuring the construct should improve the construct validity of consumer satisfaction measures.

The proposed definitional framework provides the specificity to allow researchers to develop context specific measures. When appropriate, researchers can develop measures of satisfaction consistent with the conceptual definition and their research goals (e.g., satisfaction with a retailer or satisfaction one-month after purchase). Providing context-specific measures will prevent chameleon effects which can cause the meaning of items to vary depending on the other information presented in the questionnaire or research context (Marsh and Yeung 1999). As Marsh and Yeung (1999) note, . items referring to a particular domain to be much more invariant across contexts than esteem items that are specifically constructed to be content free, forcing participants to infer the relevant domain or domains in forming their esteem responses" (p. 62). The definitional framework we suggest helps researchers form clear statements of the relevant satisfaction domains. By researching and understanding different types of customers and context, researchers can tailor the satisfaction scale to more accurately reflect the consumer's true meaning of

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satisfaction. This allows researchers to move away from putting, . . . too much emphasis on global measures . . . instead of more specific self-concept scales that are more closely related to the content of their research" (Marsh and Yeung 1999, p. 62). Furthermore, the typical measurement problems of negative skewness and lack of variability can be alleviated with scales reflecting appropriate endpoints. For example, in contexts where consumers can be elated, a satisfied/dissatisfied scale does not discriminate adequately resulting in a clumping of positive responses (Peterson and Wilson 1992). Changing the endpoints does not completely resolve these measurement issues. Most likely, the ambiguity of the construct is the cause of negative skewness and lack of variability; thus, making the satisfaction question more explicit (with proper endpoints being only a part of this) should help to remedy these measurement problems.

In summary, Firms must appropriately modify the basic components of consumer satisfaction to develop a context-specific definition that will guide the assessment of satisfaction. This measurement process is necessary to move closer to truly understanding customers, and thus, to make better managerial decisions. Otherwise, it is virtually impossible to interpret what consumers mean by the number they mark on a scale.

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DETAILS ABOUT MY STUDY

On the 1st day of my project work i.e. on 9th Feb 2006 I have been to our company where we have given training about: The service provided b the company to its customers. Major competitors. The product line offered by the company. The total number of network areas covered by the Co in Andhra pradesh. How to market the product. Others.

The target that I have assigned by our company guide is to prepare a questionnaire and make a survey on our project title named by Satisfaction level of post paid customers in Hyderaba. I have informed to go and meet the corporate sector to

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know that which mobile service they are using, why they have opted that service, the benefits they are getting from them. Then I was moving daily to different areas and I was collected the data. It is a kind of job where I met lot of people in Hyderabad city.

The Things that I learned

We came to know about the mobile service industry, how they works, about their strategies. How to face the customer. The customers perception regarding our products. Customer relationship management. Consumer behavior about hutch service. About the competitors. We learnt the ART OF SELLING. Adopted to corporate culture.

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TASK
1) Go for market survey, to know about the Satisfaction level of post paid customers in Hyderabad, 2) Meet the Prospective and collect the information about which mobile service he is using. 3) If the customer is using prepaid convince him to get postpaid connection

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TABLE 1.1 CUSTOMER PREFERENCE OF POST PAID MOBILE SERVICE

PREFERENCE OF POST PAID MOBILE SERVICE Number of respondents HUTCH AIRTEL IDEA BSNL RELIANCE TATA 27 31 16 14 15 17

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PREFERENCE OF POST PAID MOBILE SERVICE

TATA Relianc 14% e 13% BSNL 12% Idea 13%

Hutch 23%

Airtel 25%

This diagram shows the customer preference of post-paid service.Majority of customers prefer Airtel for their postpaid connection followed by Hutch.

TABLE 1.2

MOBILE SERVICE PREFERED ON THE BASIS OF

MOBILE SERVICE PREFERRED ON THE BASIS OF Number of respondents VOICE CLARITY NETWORK COVERAGE PRICE INSTANT CONNECTIVITY BILLING SYSTEM OTHERS 16 31 29 9 26 9

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Mobile Serv ice Preferred On The Basis Of

40 30 20 Series1 10 0 Voic Netw Pric Insta Billin Othe 31 29 9 26 9

Series1 16

The diagram shows that the mobile users prefer to have connection on the basis of the service provided by the service providers. TABLE 1.3

SATISFACTION LEVEL OF POST PAID CUSTIMERS.

SATISFACTION LEVEL YES NO 100

SATISFACTION LEVEL OF POST PAID 20 USERS

PAID CUSTOMERS

YES NO

NO 17%

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83%YES

This figure shows the satisfaction level of the customer using post paid.83%of them are satisfied and remaining 17% are not satisfied.

TABLE 1.4

Customers perception about tariffs.

PERCEPTION ABOUT TARIFF EXPENSIVE REASONABLE LOW 47 67 6

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P e rc e p tio n A b o u t T a riff
Low 5%

E x p e n s ive 39%

R e a s o n a b le 56%

The above diagram shows the perception of customers regarding the tariff pricing and the figure depicts the following TABLE 1.5 CUSTOMERS PERCEPTION ABOUT THE CURRENT SERVICES PERCEPTION ABOUT THE CURRENT SERVICES HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED MODERATELY SATISFIED 13 51 56

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P e rc e p tio n T h e C u rre n t S e rvic e

Highly S atis fied 11% S atis fied 43%

M oderately S atis fied 46%

This diagram shows the perception of the customer regarding the current service.46% of them are moderately satisfied, 43% are satisfied and 11% of them are highly satisfied.

TABLE 1.6

Customers perception about vas

PERCEPTION ABOUT VAS HIGHLY SATISFIED SATISFIED MODERATELY SATISFIED 5 47 68

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Perception About Value Added Servises

Highly

4% 39% 57%
M odaratlySatisfied Satisfied

The above table shows the 57% of respondents are moderately satisfied and 4% of them are highly satisfied and remaining 39% are satisfied.

TABLE 1.7

SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE HUTCH SALES EXECUTIVES

SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE HUTCH SALES EXECUTIVES

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YES NO

11 16

SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE HUTCH SALES EXECUTIVES

YES 41% NO 59%

The above table shows that 59% of the customers are not satisfied with service provided by the Hutch sales executives and remaining 41% of them are satisfied. TABLE 1.8

Satisfaction regarding the net work of hutch

Satisfaction regarding the net work of hutch

YES 12

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NO

15

Satisfaction regarding the hutch network

44% YES

NO

56%

The above table shows that 56% of the customers are not satisfied with hutch network and remaining 44% of them are satisfied.

TABLE 1.9 THE EXTRA FACILITIES PROVIDED BY HUTCH DURING FESTIVAL

THE EXTRA FACILITIES PROVIDED BY HUTCH DURING FESTIVAL HIGHLY SATISFIED 2

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SATISFIED MODERATELY SATISFIED

8 17

Perception About The Extra Facilities Provided B y H utch D uring Festival

Highly Satisfied 7% M oderately Satisfied 63%

Satisfied 30%

It is clear from the above graph that 63% of customers are moderately satisfied and 7% highly satisfied and 30% of them are satisfied. .

TABLE 1.10

Overall Service Ratings

Service Ratings High Average Low

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Hutch Airtel Idea Reliance Tata BSNL

39 43 33 32 30 24

51 58 56 53 56 51

30 19 31 35 34 45

SERVICE RATING
BSNL Tata Reliance Idea Airtel Hutch 0 20 40 Ratings 60 80 Low Ave High

FINDINGS
Most of the post paid customers are satisfied with their service (83%)

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25% Of customers prefers Airtel for post paid services fallowed by Hutch 23%.

Major users prefers their connection on the basis of net work coverage (31%) fallowed by price (29%) & billing(26%)

Customers of hutch are not satisfied with net work coverage in twin cities.

Most customers highlighted that the value added services provided by Hutch is good.

Most of the customers are influenced by the Hutch ads.

Major parts of customers are not satisfied with marketing executives of Hutch.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
The company has a strong brand name at the same time it should focus more about its net work coverage. Customers are not satisfied with marketing executives of Hutch, giving proper training to them may help the organization.

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QUESTIONNAIRE
COMPANY NAME CONSULTING PERSON : :

ADDRESS/TELE-NO/E-MAIL :

1. Are you a mobile user? a) Yes b) no

2. If yes, which mobile service you prefer the most? a) Airtel b) Idea c) Hutch d) BSNL e) Reliance f) Tata

3. Which type of connection do you prefer? a) Post-paid b) Pre-paid 4. If post-paid then why? ____________________________________________________________ 5. If pre-paid then why?

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_____________________________________________________________ 6. On what basis you prefer current mobile service a) Voice Clarity d) Instant connectivity b) Network coverage e) Billing system c) Pricing f) others

7. If you prefer corporate plan then which service you prefer most? a) Airtel b) Idea c) Hutch d) BSNL e) Reliance f) Tata

8. Are you satisfied with the current service you avail? a) Yes 9. If yes then why? _____________________________________________________________ 10. If no then why? _____________________________________________________________ b) no

11. What do you feel about tariff? (a) Expensive (b) Reasonable (c) Low

12. Are you satisfied with billing system of current service? a) Yes b) no

13. How much are you satisfied with the current service? (a) Highly satisfied (b) Satisfied (c) Moderately satisfied

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14. Are you satisfied with the value added service provided by your service provider? (a) Highly satisfied 15. Service: Hutch : Airtel : Idea Tata : : Reliance: BSNL : (a) High (a) High (a) High (a) High (a) High (a) High (b) Average (b) Average (b) Average (b) Average (b) Average (b) Average (c) Low (c) Low (c) Low (c) Low (c) Low (c) Low (b) Satisfied (c) Moderately satisfied

16. Have you seen Hutch advertisement? a) Yes b) no

17. Which company can you recall at this moment (TOM Recall) Top of the most? a) Airtel b) Idea c) Hutch d) BSNL e) Reliance f) Tata

18. Are you influenced by the Advertisement? a) Yes b) no

19. Which is the influencing factor in the advertisement? a) Concept b) Celebrity c) Child d) Animals e) Others

20. Are you able to recall the punch line of Hutch? a) Yes b) no

21. From where did you come to know about Hutch? a) T.V b) Hoarding c) Newspaper d) Friends & Relatives e) others

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22. What is the purpose of using Hutch? a) SMS b) M to M plan c) Buddy Tracking d) F to F plan e) Billing system

23. Are you satisfied with the service provided by Hutch sales executives? a) Yes b) no

24. Are you satisfied with hutch network? a) Yes b) no

25. Extra facilities provided by Hutch during festivals is (a) Highly satisfactory (b) satisfactory (c) Moderately satisfactory

26. Please give your valuable suggestion for Hutch? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 27. Would you like to give some references? I. II. III.

Signature

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References:
Book: Philip Kotler and Armstrong : principles of marketing . Websites: www.hutch.co.in. Www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3896/is_200001/ai_n8881546/pg_30)

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