ON

CREDIBILITY PERCEPTION OF CONSUMER TOWARDS

VARIOUS MEDIA

Prepared for:
Dr. R. CHATTERJEE
Faculty Member
Jaipuria Institute of Management

Prepared by:
AMIT GUPTA (CFTR07-04)
VIDYA SAGAR SHARMA (CFTR07-056)
PGDM (Retail) 2007-2009
Third Trimester

Jaipuria Institute of Management

April 30, 2008

 Acknowledgement

The satisfaction and euphoria that accompany the successful completion of any work
would be incomplete unless we mention some of the persons, as an expression of
gratitude, which made it possible, whose constant guidance and encouragement served as
a beckon light and crowned the efforts and success.

We take this opportunity of expressing our gratitude to Dr. R. CHATTERJEE. Who has
always been of immense help during the making of this project, which helped us a great
deal in enhancing our knowledge by virtue of practical application. His guidance and
support carried us all through the preparation of this project.

We regret any inadvertent omissions.

PGDM (Retail) 2
 Contents

1. Abstract………………………………………………………………
…...3
2. Introduction…………………………………………………………
…....4
2.1 Source of credibility……………………………………………
…...6
2.2 Advertising Goal………………………………………………
…...8
2.3 Consumer decision making process………………………
………...9
2.4 Decision factors for buying…...…………………
…..........................11
3. Scope of the study……………………………………………………
….12
4. Management Problem………………………………………………
……13
5. Research Problem……………………………………………………
…..13
7. Research Objective…………………………………………………
…….14
8. Research methodology………………………………………………
…....15
9. Questionnaire…………………………………………………………
….17
10. Finding & result………………………………………………………
…18
11. Discussion……………………………………………………………
….22
12. Limitations of study…………………………………………………
…...26
13. Conclusion……………………………………………………………
…27
14. Suggestions & Recommendations ………………………….…
…………29
15. Bibiliographys ………………………………………………………
…...30

PGDM (Retail) 3
16. Remarks…………………………………………………………
….........31

Abstract

Credibility and perception of consumer towards various media influences decision

making process of selection of a Retail outlet. Retailer organization using various means
of communication for advertisement and sales promotions that can attract more
customers to enhance sales and make life time relation with consumer. Communication is
a tool marketers use to persuade consumers to act in a desired way.

Retailers operate in a highly competitive market. Customers have many more choices
than ever before, and retailers increasingly must vie for customer attention just to keep
their stores in business.

To communicate, to Persuade, to Influence and to lead to some action is what advertising

is all about .The aim of this study to investigate the attitude, behaviour, perception

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regarding various means of communication in making selection decision of a particular
retail outlet.

It attempts to understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually and in

groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics,
psychographics, and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants.

The paper offers an insight into communication process of a retail organisation and how
consumer perceives and believes on all these effort of retailers. How much a retailer
successful to arose interest of consumer.

A few lines of possible research are also suggested at the end.

After all, to quote Pantaloon's Biyani: "Retail is like riding a bicycle. If you stop
pedaling, you'll fall."

Introduction
Advertising is a form of communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers
about products and services and how to obtain and use them. Many advertisements are
also designed to generate increased consumption of those products and services through
the creation and reinforcement of brand image and brand loyalty. For these purposes
advertisements often contain both factual information and persuasive messages. Every
major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies,
magazines, newspapers, the Internet and billboards.

Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of retail store,
on the sides of buses, and in-store public systems. Advertisements are usually placed
anywhere an audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio and print.
Primarily advertising concentrates more on the benefits of the product, with the objective
of creating a market for the product, secondary advertising has a focus on the brand. In

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case of a pioneering brand bringing in a new concept, primary advertising has to be
supplemented simultaneously with secondary advertising to ensure the pioneering brand
gets the competitive advantage of having marketed the concept. Titan may not have been
a pioneering brand in quartz watches but it is currently a leading brand because of the
brand-building efforts undertaken by the brand though it was a `follower' brand
“Advertising” and “Promotion” are often used interchangeably, even by professionals,
some definitions may be helpful. In ordinary use, “Promotion” is everything that is done
to help sell a product or service in every step of the sales chain, from the presentation
materials a salesperson uses during a sales call to the television commercial or newspaper
advertisement that tries to get the customer to think favorably about what is being
advertised. However, “advertising” is responsible for “space” or “print”—that is,
newspaper and magazine ads, Internet advertising, radio and television commercials, and
direct mail and other “direct response” activities, plus catalogs and billboards.
“Promotion” is responsible for everything else in this area except public relations and
publicity. These last two may be assigned to an independent department or to either
advertising or promotion, depending on the make-up of the company or organization.
Because job titles and department designations are quite arbitrary, a detailed job
description is highly desirable to avoid turf battles when more than one person or
department does any of the above.

Advertisement can do three things nicely: Make customer aware of a brand, product or
services, narrate its USP or function (in very brief time-may be maximum 30 seconds or
half page of a magazine) that may satisfy a targeted consumer need/want or thirdly
stimulate short term sales promotion. I doubt if advertising can do much beyond this. I
even doubt it can create any of above well enough. Even if that is achieved it is great
performance.

It is a fallacy to think that advertising can create brands and cults.

It is also fallacy to think that advertisements can create a fresh desire for instant action on
part of buyer. It needs lot of field work by sales staff or agents and convincing and follow

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up .Public relations is rising rapidly as PR is more important than advertising to develop
and sustain brands over a long period of time .That is what companies have to bother
about. Both corporate and product branding. That only can save them in disastrous
market conditions.

It is often wondered as to why strange and literary work is searched and used in
advertising when objective is simply to convey product benefit. Well, that is one of
biggest riddle and has no answer. You have to be unique, get noticed and put across your
idea in a few seconds so emphatically that it is memorable experience. Although another
theory says that customers' memory is often weak and needs reinforcement advertising
rather quite frequently.

Source Credibility

Central goal of advertising is the convincing of consumers and persuasion to purchase,

the ultimate objective, though not openly spoken, is to some how attract consumers to the
market offering of the company, generating positive attitude, reinforce positive
association and ultimately to generate sales, may be a trial purchase. At later stages, the
sponsor may work towards creating a brand loyalty but generating initial sales or
increasing the existing sales is the primary objective. In this respect, the credibility of an
endorser along with advertisement plays an important role in convincing the target
audience of the attractiveness of the company's brand and generates sales. Pursuing a
celebrity endorsement strategy enables advertisers to project a credible image in terms of
expertise, persuasiveness, trustworthiness, and objectiveness.

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To create effective messages, celebrity advertisers also have to consider the attractiveness
of the spokesperson. Source attractiveness refers to the endorser's Physical appearance,
Personality, Likeability and Similarity to the receiver, thus to the perceived social value
of the source. This behaviour mainly goes back to halo effect, whereby persons who
perform well on one dimension example: physical attractiveness or top professional
performance, social status are assumed to excel on other levels as well i.e. happiness and
coolness.

Brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational and cultural image that you can
associate with a company or the product. Few examples will bring home the meaning i.e.
Amul - utterly butterly delicious; Coke – thanda matlab coca-cola; Pepsi – Yeh dil
mange more; Kurkure- Masti bole to kurkure.

These examples convey one message that when people watch advertisement a connect is
being created and result is that people go for experience of buying. People feel by using
the brand they will portray certain traits or characteristics that otherwise they do not have.
This generates a certain level of emotional affiliation and a sense of fulfillment. It is this
emotional relationship with brands that make them so powerful.

Advertisements enforces what exactly the brand stands for and what to expect by its
consumption and above all what factors, features and attributes makes it better from
competition. Advertisements along with other marketing efforts generate expectations
and feelings in a customer and force them to think when they see or hear the brand name.
This Thinking process and emotional bonding gets more mature and relevant when a
celebrity endorses the brand. The subjective intangible feelings of a customer become
objective and tangible in the form of celebrity and the level of expectations will rise. The
customer will start to perceive himself in the reference frame of the celebrity after the
brand or the advertised product has been purchased or consumed by him.

The 'switch factor' is absolutely lacking in today's ads. When you have prepared the
pitch for a television commercial, you must sit with your client and find out if the ad has

PGDM (Retail) 8
the essential element to make people switch from some other brand to yours. If it does
not, then you must waste no time in tearing the commercial up and preparing a new one.

Behavioral Effects

Advertising has three orders of effects ~ short-term, medium-term and long-term. These
effects can be measured in terms of consumer purchasing (cognitive and attitudinal data
are too soft and indirect to measure these effects robustly). One extremely important
point is that each effect is a gatekeeper to the next. In particular, without a short-term
effect, no other effect is possible.

Advertisement Goals

• Persuade the prospect to visit a retail outlet and ask for a demonstration.
• of brand. Build up the morale of the company’s sales force.
• Facilitate sales by correcting false impressions, misinformation and other
obstacles.
• Announce a special reason for buying NOW (e.g., sale).
• Make a brand identity known and easily recognizable.

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 • Provide information or implant attitude regarding benefits and superior
features

Communication Options in Retail

Media advertising Consumer Promotions

TV Samples
Radio Coupons
News Paper Price off
Magazines Bonus pack

Point Of Purchase advertising direct response advertising

Shelf Talker Mail

Aisle Marker Telephone
Shopping cart ads Print media
In-store radio or TV Broadcast media

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 Consumer Decision-making process

The given process is very complicated though on first sight it does not look so. Process
starts with problem recognition or with an unsatisfied need. Something that a consumer
would like to have or purchase in order to attain satisfaction. This need can be
Psychological, attitudinal or Physiological but yes it should have the capacity to be
fulfilled by consuming a particular product or service.

To satisfy the given need what all are the components that should be taken into
consideration and how we can maximize the satisfaction is the next stage. In this stage,
we will cover ability to purchase, level of involvement, people whose opinion will count
and other relevant details that will help us in optimizing satisfaction.

Based upon information search we will generate various alternatives i.e. which brand or
product is affordable for me, where will it be available comfortably and above all in
comparison to other brands or products how better or economical it is.

Evaluation stage will look like cost benefit analysis and based upon maximum value or
utility per rupee spend, we will decide or shortlist the product or brand. This is the
decision and confirmation stage where the consumers prepares him for the purchase of a
particular brand and give preference to one and only one over and above the others.

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Next comes the purchase when the consumer will finally go to the market and look for
the brand or the product, physically verifies it and purchases it.

Last is the post purchase Evaluation in which the customer wants to justify his
consumption or purchase decision. He tries to find out whether his purchase decision was
right or not. Companies make lot of effort to tackle this situation successfully and they
want the customer to be satisfied with their product.

This stage may result into three situations, first is satisfaction where customer is satisfied
and he got expected results but this does not necessitates the repeat purchase by the
consumer. Second is dissonance where the consumer is not satisfied as he got less utility
or less than expected result from the consumption or product performance. Third is
Delight, here the consumer gets more than expected satisfaction and utility and this will
assure the repeat purchase and creation of brand loyalty.

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 Decision factors for buying
Though the buying process goes like the above chart, there are some factors that would
influence the decisions of the buyer.
They are shown in the following chart:

PGDM (Retail) 13
 Scope of the Study

Indian retail sector have emerged as a most dynamic and fast pace industries with
immense completion .Retail organization are aggressively adopting innovative marketing
Strategy to attract the customer. Many Players are trying to recreate the ambience and
experience of foreign shopping malls and are providing wide product range, quality and
value for money to create a memorable shopping experience. Retail organization using
various means of communication tools and investing a huge amount of profit in
advertising. Retail outlets are offering different kind promotional schemes and discount
to enhance sales and increase footfalls .The service offered at these outlets promoted
through the print, electronics and outdoor. However, it is still to find out at what extend
the Indian consumer are accepting this innovation and what they perceive about it.

Thus this study was conducted at organized retail outlets which were in luck now region
to find out the consumer credibility perception and behavior towards various media and
what influence them in making purchase decision from a particular outlet.

PGDM (Retail) 14
 Management Problem

• Need for advertisement in retailing

• Effectiveness of advertisement in retailing

• Consumer perception and behavior to retail advertisement

• Factors that influence in decision making to select a retail outlet

Research Problem

• Different modes or mediums of advertisement prevalent in retailing

• How much is share of consumer attention each advertisement medium gets

• Does the awareness level of consumers really increase through advertisement?

• Does more advertisement lead to more sales in retailing

• Does advertisement lead to easy brand recall?

• Does celebrity endorsement influence the decision making behaviour of consumers

• Is advertisement a way of constant up gradation of consumer awareness level

• Does advertisement help in establishing an emotional attachment with the consumers?

PGDM (Retail) 15
 Research Objective

• The study has been conducted with following objective in view:

• Assessment of need and importance of advertisement in retailing
• How it influences the decision making behaviour of consumers.
• Find out which types of promotion offers appeal more to the customer
• Find out which means of communication play a vital role to persuade customer
• Find out the impact of Celebrity endorsement on advertisement in decision making
• Find out the factors which influence customer to switch over to retail outlet?

PGDM (Retail) 16
 Methodology

The objective of the research is to know the consumer perception and behaviour toward
various media that influence consumer decision making in retail. Investigating factors
that appeal to select and switch over to particular retail out let.

For this research we make use of exploratory and descriptive study. The research has
been done through structured questionnaire keeping in mind the objective of the study
and secondary data analysis.

Data Collection Techniques

A survey was conducted by the help of survey tool- questionnaire, which was design by
both group members and approved by Dr. R. Chatterjee. Our questionnaire contains nine
questions covering all the important parameters involved.
200 questionnaires were filled by customers of various retail outlets of Lucknow.

Geographical Territory

Data was collected from those 200 customers of retail outlets-Big Bazaar, Shoppers Stop,
Spencer’s, Vishal Megamart and in the malls- Fun republic, Sahara Ganj.

Data was collected in a time period of one week with a time slot of 3-4 hour in the
evening basis to have better sample selection. Weekend days it was during the morning
and evening time .weekend days was very important for us because of service holders
and professionals respondents.

Scaling

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In this questionnaire we have used “Category Scaling” & “Likert Scaling” while
designing the questionnaire. In category scaling there is an attitude scale consisting of
several response categories to provide the respondent with alternate ratings. In likert
scaling there is a measure of attitudes designed to allow respondents to indicate how
strongly they agree or disagree with carefully constructed statements that range from very
positive to very negative towards an attitudinal object.

Data Coleusion

To collate the data Ms Excel was used to convert the primary data to give pictorial
representation in form of Bar and Pie Graphs. All data was entered by both the groups
members and collated to calculate percentages.

On the basis of responses different frequencies were calculated manually related to each
question and preferences of customer were analyzed.

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 Questionnaire
We the students of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow; are conducting a survey on Credibility perception
of consumer towards various media. Please co-operate us in this survey by giving your responses. Your views
will be used only for purpose of academic research.
1. Which retail outlet you visit frequently?
Big Bazaar Spencer’s
Shopper’s Stop Vishal Mega Mart

2. Through which promotional source you come to know about the retail outlet?
Print Media Electronic Media
Word of Mouth Magazine

3. What type of media appeals you more for purchasing from the retail outlet?
Print Media Electronic Media
Word of Mouth Magazine
4. How much do you think that the promotional activities help in making your shopping
beneficial?
To great Extent __ __ __ __ __ Not much
1 2 3 4 5

5. Does the offers influence you to visit the retail outlet more often?
Yes No

6. Which retail outlet gives you more promotion/offers?

Big Bazaar Spencer’s
Shopper’s Stop Vishal Mega Mart

7. How would you think advertisement help you to select a retail outlet.
Rate the followings
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
Reducing price of a product brings down the
effectivness of advertisement
An emotional appeals adds to the effectiveness
of communication for selecting an outlet
Celebrity endorsement on advertisement
motivate you to purchase

Punch line/Slogan of company /outlet easy to

recall
8 .Rank the following factors which influence you to visit the retail outlet other than
promotions/offers?
High 1 2 3 4 Low
Quality Price
Store Ambiance Fast Service

9. Is promotions/ offers are one of the major factors which influence you to switch over to
other brand or retail outlet ?
Strongly Agree Agree
Neutral Disagree
Strongly Disagree

Demographic Profile:

Age 20-30 30-40 40-50 Above 50

Gender Male Female
Academic Secondary Higher Graduation Post graduate Professional
qualification secondary
Occupation student Service holder Business man academician Housewife
“THANK YOU”

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 Finding & Result

1. Which retail out let you visit frequently?

80 73
70 17%
No. of Response

60 51 36%
50 42
40 34
30 21%
20
10
0 26%
Big Bazaar Spencer’s Shopper’s Vishal
Stop Mega Mart
Big Bazaar Spencer’s
Retail Outlet Shopper’s Stop Vishal Mega Mart

2. Through which promotional source you come to know about the retail outlet?

80
70 67
63
No. of Response

11%
60
48 32%
50
40
24%
30 22
20
10
0
33%
Print Electronic Word of Magazine
Media Media Mouth
Print Media Electronic Media
Advertising Means Word of Mouth Magazine

3. What type of media appeals you more for purchasing from the retail outlet?

80 73
69 6.5%
70
22.5%
No. of Response

60
50 45
40 34.5%
30
20 13
10
0 36.5%
Print Electronic Word of Magazine
Media Media Mouth
Print Media Electronic Media
Advertsising Means Word of Mouth Magazine

PGDM (Retail) 20
4. How much do you think that the promotional activities help in making your shopping
beneficial?

80 2%
72 12%
70 27%
60 53
48
50
40 24%
30 23
20
10 4 35%
0
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

5 .Does the offers influence you to visit the retail outlet more often?

180 171
160 15%
140
No. of Response

120
100
80
60
40 29
20
0 85%
Yes No
Decision Yes No

6. Which retail outlet gives you more promotional /offers?

120
97
100
No. of Response

80 33%
66
60
48%
40
18 19
20
10%
0 9%
Big Spencer’s Shopper’s Vishal
Bazaar Stop Mega Mart
Big Bazaar Spencer’s
Retail Store Shopper’s Stop Vishal Mega Mart

PGDM (Retail) 21
7. How would you think advertisement help you to select a retail outlet?
Rank the following
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strong disagree
a) Advertisement persuades you to select a retail outlet.

9% 2%
90 83 21%
80
70
60 55
50 42 27%
40
30
20
17
10 3
0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly 41% Neutral
Strongly Agree Agree
Agree Disagree
Series1
Disagree Strongly Disagree

b) An emotional appeal adds to the effectiveness of communication for selecting an

outlet.
80 73
4%
70 65 12% 16%
60
50
40 32
30 23
20 32%
10 7 36%

0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
Series1 Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

c) Celebrity endorsement on advertisement motivates you to purchase.

4%
70 64 20%
19%
60
52
50
39 37
40
30
26%
20
10
8 31%

0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Neutral
Series1 Disagree Strongly Disagree

PGDM (Retail) 22
d) Punch line/slogan of company /outlet easy to recall.
90 82
80
70 67 1%
11%
60
34%
50 14%
40
28
30 21
20
10 2
0 40%
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Neutral
Series1 Disagree Strongly Disagree

8. Rank the following factors which influence you to visit the retail outlet other than
promotions/offers?

80 74 14%
No. of Response

70 62
60 31%
50
37
40 19%
27
30
20
10
0
Quality Price Store Fast 36%
Ambiance Service
Quality Price
Factors Store Ambiance Fast Service

9. Is promotions/ offers are one of the major factors which influence you to switch over
to other brand or retail outlet?

70 64 14% 10%
60
No. of Response

50 47
42 24%
40 21%
28
30
19
20
10 31%
0
Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Strongly Agree Agree
Agree Disagree
Neutral Disagree
Level of Satisfaction Strongly Disagree

PGDM (Retail) 23
 Discussion

From the survey, we found that Big Bazaar has highest visitors in Lucknow than other
retail outlet with 36% of the total respondent .Spencer’s has 51 visitors in 200
respondents; it has 26% of visitors. Results shows hypermarket format is more popular in
lucknow than other format. Shoppers stop and vishal mega mart was at position of third
and fourth with 24%and 11% of total respondent respectively. Shoppers Stop has less
market share in lucknow because of price and higher segment target market.

In promotion source print media and electronic media both have high rich.
Electronic media is slightly more popular than print media.33% people know promotion
scheme through electronic media.32% respondent access promotional scheme through
print media like new paper and leaflet. Word of mouth has its own important and plays a
vital role in decision making.48% people get aware about promotional scheme though
word of mouth. Magazines are generally accessible by youth and professionals only 20%
people get aware about discount and offers by this communication medium.

According to the survey 36.5% people says electronic media appeals to make purchase
and 22.5 % respondents says print media appeal to visit retail outlet. Where as words of
mouth at the second place with 34.5% response which persuade more effectively than
other means. It is only medium which have high credibility and without any investment.
But this can be only creating by well experience and good services. Magazines only
persuade 6.5% people to visit retail outlet.

Promotional scheme are beneficial in making shopping easy .Most people said that it help
in their shopping ranked 2nd at scale of great extend. Out of 200 respondent 72 believe
that it is effective, 53 said it is most effective and need this type of information before
actual purchase.24% respondent not gave it too importance and rest 14% respondent
mark it at 4th and 5th rank, they generally know promotional scheme at moment of truth.

PGDM (Retail) 24
85% respondents said that promotional scheme influence them to visit the retail outlet
where as 15% people do not take promotional scheme in consideration to visit the retail
outlet. In Lucknow it is general conception that Big Bazaar more discount offers and run
more promotional scheme than other retailers. Almost half of the respondent said Big
Bazaar gives more promotional offers. Vishal mega mart at the second place in response
that give promotional offers.33% people believe that vishal mega mart gives more
discounts. Shoppers Stop and Spencer’s at the third and forth position with 10% and 9%
response respectively.

Results shows that 21% people strongly agree that advertising persuade them to visit a
particular retail outlet and help in narrow down the alternatives.49% people are agree .It
means almost 70% people says that advertising help in selection of retail outlet.27%
respondent said that advertisement has neutral influence in selection of retail outlet.9%
respondents disagree and 2% are strongly disagree that advertising persuade in selection
of retail outlet.

Emotional appeals in advertising adds effectiveness and influence people for selecting a
retail outlet. Emotional appeals which near to viewers or relate viewers in effective way
that this particular product or organisation serve you better and you will be in your
comfortable zone .this type of ads more successful.16% people strongly agree with this
statement.36% respondents agree that this affect their decision. While 32 % respondents
said that it has neutral effective.12% respondents are disagree and 4% respondents are
strongly disagree.

Research shows punch line/ slogan of company /outlet easy to recall.34%

respondents are strongly agree and 40% respondents are agree that it is easy to recall
retail outlet or organisation through slogan or punch line.!4% respondents mark it neutral
and 11% are disagreeing and only 1% is strongly disagree.

A celebrity is a person who is widely recognized in a society. Whereas attributes like

attractiveness, extraordinary lifestyle or special skills are just examples and specific

PGDM (Retail) 25
common characteristics cannot be observed. It can be said that within a corresponding
social group, celebrities generally differ from the social norm and enjoy a high degree of
public awareness.

As per the study 34% of the respondents feel that celebrities cast an impact through the
advertisements,10% of the respondent are strongly agree and 24% respondents are agree.
While 66% do not feel any impact of celebrities. Out of 200 respondents,64 feel that
celebrities impact is neutral,37 dissatisfy with statement that celebrities has an impact in
decision making and 8 respondent are strongly dissatisfy. People said that celebrities
attract attention towards an ad.

Research shows that punch line and slogan easy to recall organisation or retail outlet.74%
respondents said that this a effective to recall brand or retail organisation in which 34%
are strongly agree and 40% respondents are agree.14% respondent believe that it has
neutral effect.11% are disagree and 1% are strongly disagree with the statement .It most
effective tool to recall that’s why this concept is adopt by all the organisations.

Consumer was asked to assign rating to importance of different factors they consider
while taking the purchase decision at various retail out. Factors considered are like
quality, prices, store ambience and fast service.

Likert scale was used to assign different weights which are 1for the most important, 2 for
important, 3 for neutral, 4 for unimportant and 1 for most unimportant.

In today’s cut edge competitive market organisations are focusing on quality and best
services to differentiate them from others. Indian consumer is more cautious about quality
than before and consumer is also very high price sensitive. The rating assigned by the
respondents to the importance of price was 36%.

PGDM (Retail) 26
31% respondents consider quality at selection of retail outlet.19% give importance to the
ambience of store in selection procedure of retail outlet. While 14% of respondent select
outlet on the basis of fast services.

Promotional offers does not more influence to customer to switch over to other brand or
outlet. 31% respondents said that promotional offer play neutral role to switch over.
While 10% respondents are strongly agree that it influence to make switch over to other
outlet. And 24% agree with this statement that it play some role in switch over. Disagree
respondent are close to agree with 21% response .where as 14% are strongly disagree.

PGDM (Retail) 27
 Limitations of study

Though every effort was made to elicit authenticity in every sense, yet there can be
uncomfortable factor which may have their influence on the final outcome. This survey is
conducted in lucknow, at Sahara ganj, Fun republic malls. It may not be true
representation of whole retail sector. Few respondents who are not familiar with other
retailers may give a neutral or unfavourable response to some of the questions. Some
advertising median is not accessible by some of the respondent so the response may be
Unfavourable .There may be some biases in the information provided by respondents.
Some variables might have omitted in the study.

PGDM (Retail) 28
 Conclusion

Indian retail is exploding. Yet it is the beginning only. Future trends are visible .despite
obvious growth, Indian retail sector is still at nascent stage .we have only scratched
surface of surface. There is a gold mine deep below.

The study reveals that consumer perception and behaviour towards various media and
importance of advertising in retail. We have analysed all aspects of communication that
influence in decision making.

During the research it has been found that electronic media and print media has high
reach in consumer and play a major role in communication about promotional scheme
and offers.

Study indicates that word of mouth make significant impact in decision making than any
other means of communication.

Having identified the need and the current level of development, this paper has examined
the factors that influence advertising effectiveness .Emotional appeals through
advertising influence majority of people in decision making process. Indian consumer
still driven entities .shopping ,entertainment and eating out are family events .hence all
shopping or eating out decision are more often that not, group decision .Hence a retailer
has to address family sensibilities more vigorously.

Celebrity Advertising has become a significant tool for creating awareness of products or
retail organisation. The important point in celebrity advertising is the effectiveness with
which they are endorsing the product. By the mere presence of celebrity, the product will
not make a sale as majority of the respondents who were not influenced by the
advertisement responded that they did not find the persuasiveness in the advertisement.
And few people who purchased the product(s) responded that they were influenced by the
product information given in the advertisement.

PGDM (Retail) 29
Indian consumer has become more sensitive to quality, customer services and status .s/he
is ready to pay sometimes astronomical sum, if he/she needs are met. Consumer is
looking for an experience which was lot more cognitive than physical.

At great extent Indian consumer is price sensitive .Study indicates that it an important
factor that play a major role to pull crowd.

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important ingredients of successful business. In

order to increase sales, increase in the number of consumer and the retention of the
consumer is must and this is possible only when consumer is satisfied.

Borrowing from C K Prahlad, there is a fortune below the social pyramid. India is
sleeping tiger. Only concern one has about it becoming a dinosaur. One hopes and prays
that Indian players learn from science of zoology.

"There is one thing which is stronger than all the armies of this world, and that is an idea whose
time has come."

- Victor Hugo

PGDM (Retail) 30
 Suggestions and Recommendations

 Personal stories and testimonials in which prospective customer learn what other
people have to about a retail outlet. All products as advertising on television for
health care, fitness and wellness by the Asian sky shop use this method and
survey shows it is the most effective communication.

 Existing customer could also share experience on open forum which way find
parallels in the live of the prospective customers and convince them to buy.

 ITC’s Wills Life style has been maintaining data base of customer to contact them
through direct mail to offer discount cheques, this type of advertising activities are
more successful. Retailer could use more non-mass media advertising tools.

PGDM (Retail) 31
 Bibliography

Strategic Brand Management

Second Edition
Kevin lane Keller

Journal of Marketing & communication

Sep-Dec.2007, vol.3 issue 2.

Synthesis
July-December, 2006, vol.3, no.3

Business Research
Vol. April 2007

Websites
www.indiaretailing.com
www.retailbiz.com
www.livemint.com
www.indian-report.com

PGDM (Retail) 32
 Remarks

PGDM (Retail) 33