CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Consumers have become very discerning in their choices. Consumer behavior is very complex and is determined to a large extent by social and psychological factors and it is necessary for a marketing manager to understand properly before he plans his marketing strategy. Within the broad framework of marketing, the area that entices the most researchers is the study why a consumer behaves in a particular way. The complexity of the behavior, however, varies with the nature of the product and the need, which it is required to satisfy. The term consumer behavior may be defined as the decision process and physical activities in which individuals engage them while evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing off goods and services. The study of consumer behavior is the study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources on consumption of related items.

Buying behavior is an attempt to understand and predict human actions in the buying role. The issues that dealt within the discipline of consumers’ buying behavior are: What products and services do the consumers buy?How do they buy?Why do they buy?From where do they buy?When do they buy?

Consumer behavior provides a sound basis for identifying and understanding consumer needs. It is the act of the individuals directly involved in obtaining and using economic goods and services.

The study of consumer behavior is an essential component of marketing. The adoption of marketing concept by the marketers provides the impetus for the study of consumer behavior.

In case of New Product Introduction in the market, there is a risk of product failure. To increase the chances of success of new products, better information of the consumer behavior is required. Their desires, tastes and preferences are to be taken care of. So from all these aspects the study of consumer behavior is important.

The following are a few examples of the benefits of the study of consumer behaviour derived by the different categories of people:

1. A marketing manager would like to know how consumer behaviour will help him to design better marketing plans to get those plans accepted within the company.

2. In a non-profit service organisation, such as a hospital, an individual in the marketing department would like to know the patients' needs and how best to serve those needs.

3. Universities & Colleges now recognise that they need to know about consumer behaviour to aid in recruiting students. "Marketing Admissions" has become an accepted term to mean marketing to potential students.

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Understanding of the consumer behaviour begins with study of the consumer buying process. Consumer buying process is five step activities. The starting with need recognition, which leads to information search, once information is obtained from different sources next step, is the evaluation and intent where in consumer evaluates various parameters of the product or service. The next step in five-step activity is the purchase decision where in intent is converted into an actual purchase of the good or the service. The final step is post-purchase reaction where in customer if she is satisfied with goods or services recommends to other prospective customers or repeat the purchase. If the customer is not happy with purchase, a bad word of mouth follows, and she looks for alternative product or service.

MAJOR FACTORS INFLUENCING BUYER BEHAVIOUR

There are four major factors which influence the consumer buying behaviour are as follow:

CULTURAL FACTORSCultural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence on consumer behavior. The roles played by the buyers culture, sub culture and social class are particularly important. CULTURE-

Basically, culture is the part of every society and is the important cause of person wants and behavior. The influence of culture on buying behavior varies from country to country therefore marketers have to be very careful in analyzing the culture of different groups, regions or even countries.

SUB-CULTURE-

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Culture

Culture

Subculture

Social Class

Each culture contains different subcultures such as religions, nationalities, geographic regions, racial groups etc. Marketers can use these groups by segmenting the market into various small portions. For example marketers can design products according to the needs of a particular geographic group.

SOCIAL CLASS- Every society possesses some form of social class which is important to the marketers because the buying behavior of people in a given social class is similar. In this way marketing activities could be tailored according to different social classes. Here we should note that social class is not only determined by income but there are various other factors as well such as: wealth, education, occupation etc.

SOCIAL FACTORS REFERNCE GROUPS-

Reference groups have potential in forming a person attitude or behavior. The impact of reference groups varies across products and brands. For example if the product is visible such as dress, shoes, car etc then the influence of reference groups will be high. Reference groups also include opinion leader (a person who influences other because of his special skill, knowledge or other characteristics).

FAMILY- Buyer behavior is strongly influenced by the member of a family. Therefore marketers are trying to find the roles and influence of the husband, wife and children. If the buying decision of a particular product is influenced by wife then the marketers will try to target the women in their advertisement. Here we should note that buying roles change with change in consumer lifestyles.

ROLE AND STATUSES- Each person possesses different roles and status in the society depending upon the groups, clubs, family, organization etc. to which he belongs. For example a woman is working in an organization as finance manager. Now she is playing two roles, one of finance manager and other of mother. Therefore her buying decisions will be influenced by her role and status.

PERSONAL FACTORSA buyer’s decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics. These include the buyer’s age & stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, personality & self concept. AGE & STAGE IN THE LIFE CYCLE-

Age and life-cycle have potential impact on the consumer buying behavior. It is obvious that the consumers change the purchase of goods and services with the passage of time. Family life-cycle consists of different stages such young singles, married couples, unmarried couples etc which help marketers to develop appropriate products for each stage.

OCCUPATION-

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The occupation of a person has significant impact on his buying behavior. For example a marketing manager of an organization will try to purchase business suits, whereas a low level worker in the same organization will purchase rugged work clothes.

ECONOMIC CIRCUMCTANCES- Consumer economic situation has great influence on his buying behavior. If the income and savings of a customer is high then he will purchase more expensive products. On the other hand, a person with low income and savings will purchase inexpensive products.

LIFESTYLE- Lifestyle of customers is another import factor affecting the consumer buying behavior. Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and is expressed by the things in his/her surroundings. It is determined by customer interests, opinions, activities etc and shapes his whole pattern of acting and interacting in the world.

PERSONALITY AND SELF-CONCEPT- Personality changes from person to person, time to time and place to place. Therefore it can greatly influence the buying behavior of customers. Actually, Personality is not what one wears; rather it is the totality of behavior of a man in different circumstances. It has different characteristics such as: dominance, aggressiveness, self-confidence etc which can be useful to determine the consumer behavior for particular product or service.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORSA person’s buying choices are influenced by four major psychological factors-motivations, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes. MOTIVATION-

The level of motivation also affects the buying behavior of customers. Every person has different needs such as physiological needs, biological needs, social needs etc. The nature of the needs is that, some of them are most pressing while others are least pressing. Therefore a need becomes a motive when it is more pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction.

PERCEPTION- Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, & interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world. A motivated person is ready to act. How the motivated person actually acts is influenced by his or her perception of the situation.

BELIEFS & ATTITUDES- A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something. Through doing & learning, people acquire beliefs & attitudes. These in turn influence their buying behavior. Particularly important to global marketers is the fact that buyers often hold distinct disbeliefs about brands or products based on their country of origin. An attitude is person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotional feelings, and action tendencies towards some object or idea. People have attitude toward almost everything: religion, politics, clothes, music, food, and so on.

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Attitude put them into a frame of mind of liking or disliking an object, moving toward or away from it.

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN INDIAThe Indian automotive industry has emerged as a 'sunrise sector' in the Indian economy. India is being

deemed as one of the world's fastest growing passenger car markets and second largest two wheeler manufacturer. It is also home for the largest motor cycle manufacturer and the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer.India is expected to become the third largest automobile market in the world. Ford is looking at India as a major export hub, as per Mr Joginder Singh, President and Managing Director, Ford India.By 2020, the luxury car segment is estimated to be around three per cent of the overall passenger car market in India. So, there is huge opportunity for growth. India is going to be one of the biggest markets for us, worldwide, according to Tomas Ernberg, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India.India is the largest base to export compact cars to Europe. Moreover, hybrid and electronic vehicles are new developments on the automobile canvas and India is one of the key markets for them. Global and Indian manufacturers are focusing their efforts to develop innovative products, technologies and supply chains.

Current Scenario

The amount of cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into the automobile industry during April 2000 to November 2012 was worth US$ 7,518 million, amounting to 4 per cent of the total FDI inflows (in terms of US$), as per data published by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce.

India's scooter and motorcycle manufacturers have registered 4 per cent growth during April-November 2012, according to the recent data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Moreover, the passenger vehicles segment grew at 9.71 per cent during April-June 2012, while overall commercial vehicle segment registered an expansion of 6.06 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y).

The Indian small and light commercial vehicle segment is expected to more than double by 2015-16 and to grow at 18.5 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next five years, according to a report titled, 'Strategic Assessment of Small and Light Commercial Vehicles Market in India' by Frost & Sullivan.

Major Passenger car Automobile Players in India

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Maruti Suzuki Hyundai Motors Tata Motors Mahindra & Mahindra

With a tough competition among different players, all are trying to increase their market share in India; Maruti Suzuki is leading the industry with 46% market share. Tata Motors have a market share of 14%. Hyundai Motors has been a bleto capture 14% of the market. Mahindra & Mahindra have a market share of around 7%.

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in Feb 1981 through an Act of Parliament. Maruti Udyog Ltd is one of India's leading automobile manufacturers and the market leader in the car segment, both in terms of volume of vehicles sold and revenue earned. The Joint Venture agreement was signed between Government of India and Suzuki Motor Company (now Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan) in Oct 1982. The company went into production in a record time of 13 months and the first car was rolled out from Maruti Suzuki India Limited Gurgaon in December, 1983. The company has crossed the millstone of becoming the first Indian company in March 1994 by manufacturing in totality one million vehicles. It is known for its mass production and selling of more than one million cars. Maruti Suzuki India ltd is the India’s automobile largest company which entered in the market with affirmed aim to render high quality fuel –efficient and low cost vehicles.

SAMPLE SIZE The universe for the study consists of teachers community in faculty of commerce Dayalbagh Educational Institute Agra. The number of respondents included in the study was 12 out of 20 sample or universe for convenience in evaluating and analyzing the data and because of time constraint.

Topic Universe or Sample

Respondents Percentage

Consumer buying behavior towards Maruti cars

20 12 60%

ANALYSIS OF DATA In the study, an attempt was made to understand the choice and preference of consumers for different car brands and the factors that influence their buying behavior. Therefore, different factors influencing the buying behavior of consumers for cars are studied. Data analysis is an attempt to organize and summarize the data in order to increase results’ usefulness.

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For the analysis of primary data, the statistical tools, which are used, are tables, Pie Charts and bar graphs.Figure 1 -Model of Maruti Car posses by respondents

MARUTI WAGON-R

MARUTI ALTO-800 MARUTI 8000.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

33%

50%

17%

No. of Respondents

Interpretation: As per the survey conducted, 50% of the respondents are the owners of Maruti ALTO-800 Cars; 33.33% are the owners of MARUTI WAGON-R cars; where as 16.67% are the owners of and Maruti 800. The Maruti Alto 800 possess by higher number of respondents because of its wave front design, fresh and specious interiors and easy driving.

Figure 2 - Maruti have a wide variety of cars

58%

42%

No. of Respondents

Strongly AgreeAgree

Interpretation: As per the survey 58% of the total respondents are strongly agreed and 41% are agreed that Maruti Suzuki has a wide variety of cars to choose such as Maruti WAGON--R, Maruti Swift, Maruti 800, Maruti Gypsy, Maruti Zen and Dzire etc.

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Figure 3- Maruti Car are worth their prices

25%

75%

No. of Respondents

Highly SatisfiedSatisfied

Interpretation:

75% of the respondents are satisfied and 25% of the respondents are strongly satisfied with the price of Maruti cars and are happy to spend money to buy Maruti cars.

Figure 4- Maruti cars are serving better than other brand cars

33.33%

66.67%

No. Of Respondents

Strongly Agree

Agree

Interpretation:

66.67% of respondents are agreed and 33.33% of respondents are strongly agreed that Maruti cars serve better than other brand cars like Hyundai, TATA, & Ford etc. because it provides reassurance to existing customers about resale their car and it is also very approachable and receptive to customer complaints.

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Features on the basis of which you select the present car

a) Fuel Efficiency Rank I II III IV V

Weight 5 4 3 2 1

Frequency of respondents 11 1 0 0 0

W×F 55 4 0 0 0 59

Mean = W ×FN

= 5912

= 4.92

b) Interiors Rank I II III IV VWeight 5 4 3 2 1Frequency of respondents 0 0 4 6 2W×F 0 0 12 12 2 26

Mean=2.16

c) LooksRank I II III IV VWeight 5 4 3 2 1Frequency of respondents 0 0 6 6 0W×F 0 0 18 12 0 30

Mean=2.5

d) After Sales ServiceRank I II III IV VWeight 5 4 3 2 1Frequency of respondents 1 11 0 0 0W×F 5 44 0 0 0 49

Mean=4.08

e) Resale ValueRank I II III IV VWeight 5 4 3 2 1Frequency of respondents 0 0 2 0 10W×F 0 0 6 0 10 16

Mean=1.33

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Figure 5 - Features on the basis of which you select the present car

Fuel Ef-ficiency

Interiors Looks After SALE Services

Resale Value0

1

2

3

4

5

64.92

2.16 2.5

4.08

1.33

Mean Value

Interpretation:

As per the survey conducted the mean value of fuel efficiency is 4.92, after sale service is 4.08 followed by looks, interiors and resale value with the mean value are 2.50, 2.16 and 1.33. It means majority of respondents has given first choice or rank to fuel efficiency of car and second rank to the after sale services on the basis of which they have selected their present Maruti car.

Figure 6- Nearest competitor of Maruti

Hyundai Tata M & M Honda0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%50%

25%17%

8%

No. of Respondents

Interpretation:

50% of the respondents think that Hyundai is the nearest competitor to Maruti Suzuki, followed by TATA, Mahindra and Honda with 25%, 16.67% and 8.33%.

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Factors forcing you to purchase a Maruti car a) Family or friends

Rank I II III IV V

Weight 5 4 3 2 1

Frequency of respondents 0 2 0 10 0

W×F 0 8 0 20 0 28

Mean Value= 2.33b) Advertisement

Rank I II III IV V

Weight 5 4 3 2 1

Frequency of respondents 0 0 0 0 12

W×F 0 0 0 0 12 12

Mean Value= 1c) Brand

Rank I II III IV V

Weight 5 4 3 2 1

Frequency of respondents 9 3 0 0 0

W×F 45 12 0 0 0 57

Mean Value=4.75d) Style &features

Rank I II III IV V

Weight 5 4 3 2 1

Frequency of respondents 0 2 8 2 0

W×F 0 8 24 4 0 36

Mean Value = 3e) Technical Advancement

Rank I II III IV V

Weight 5 4 3 2 1

Frequency of respondents 3 5 4 0 0

W×F 15 20 12 0 0 47

Mean Value=3.82

Figure 7- Factors forcing you to purchase a Maruti car

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Family

or frie

nds

Adverti

semen

tBran

d

Style

&features

Tech

nical A

dvancem

ent

012345

2.33

1

4.75

33.82

Mean Value

Interpretation: As per the survey conducted brand has highest mean value is 4.75, technical advancement is 3.82 followed by style & features, family or friends and advertisement. It means majority of respondents gives the first choice or rank to brand of car and Second rank to the Technical Advancement which force to them to purchase a Maruti car.

Figure 8- Do you suggest to your friends to prefer a Maruti car

Yes No Can Not Say

0%20%40%60%80%

100%120%

100.00%

0.00% 0.00%

No. of Respondents

Interpretation: 100% means all the respondents are satisfied with Maruti car and they suggest to their friends to prefer a Maruti car.

FINDINGS

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Maruti Alto-800 is the most demanded car by the customer. People think that Maruti Suzuki has a wide variety of cars to choose. Price of the cars was found reasonable by most of the respondents. Majority of respondents think that Maruti cars serve better than other brand cars. While purchasing a new car, fuel efficiency is the feature which people think will affect their

purchase decision. People consider Hyundai as the biggest competitor of Maruti Suzuki cars. Brand image is a key point to affect the purchase decision of the customers. Maruti Suzuki cars have good fuel efficiency, with competitively priced and wide variety and

colour options. Majority of the respondents were found satisfied with the performance of Maruti cars and are

happy to buy a Maruti car in the future.

CONCLUSION

Maruti has its vast networks of dealers and service centers they are able to provide good after sale service and are able to maintain good relationship with customers which is their strongest point. Maruti is also benefitted with its goodwill and brand name which is already in market. So Maruti can use these as an opportunity to bring new and innovative car models in market and try to attract more and more customers.

With the rapid increase in car brands, consumers really have to think hard while making a choice or deciding for the Maruti Suzuki car to be purchased. Due to increased competition, more and more work is to be done by the marketing department so as to understand the purchase behavior of the consumers. Therefore this study would help the companies in understanding the factors that influence the purchase decision of the consumers and their expectations from the passenger cars.

After the survey, it can be concluded that Maruti Suzuki cars have a very good future in India. Market share of Maruti Suzuki cars is increasing very rapidly because of majority of the respondents are satisfied with the Maruti Suzuki cars.

Referenceshttp://www.cardekho.com/compare/hyundai-eon-and-maruti-alto-800.htmlhttp://marutisuzukialto800.com/http://www.slideshare.net/1990prabhjot/peoples-perception-toward-maruti-suzuki-carshttp://www.google.co.in/search?q=market+share+of+passenger+car+player+in+2012.htmlhtt p:/ /www .surf indi a .c om/ a utom obil e /automobi l e - indus tr y .htm l

QUESTIONAIREConsumer buying behavior towards Maruti CarsPersonal informationName:

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Occupation: Age: 1) 26-35 2) 36-45 3) Above 45Q.1 which model of Maruti car do you Posses?a) MARUTI SWIFT b) MARUTI WAGON-R c) MARUTI ZEN d) MARUTI ALTO e) MARUTI 800 f) OtherQ.2 Maruti have a wide variety of cars.

Strongly agree Agree No opinion Disagree Strongly DisagreeRange

Q.3 Maruti car are worth their price?Strongly agree Agree No opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree

RangeQ.4 Maruti cars are serving better than other brand cars?

Strongly agree Agree No opinion Disagree Strongly DisagreeRange

Q.5 Please gives first ranks to your first choice among the following trial on the basis of which you select the present car.

Fuel Efficiency Interiors Looks After Sales Service Resale Value OtherRange

Q.6 Which could be the nearest competitor of Maruti?

Hundai Honda TATA Ford Mahindra Nissan Other

Range

Q.7 Which are the factors forcing you to purchase Maruti car? Please gives first ranks to your first choice.

Family or friends Advertisement Brand Style &features Technical Advancement Other issues

Range

Q.8 Do you suggest to your friends to prefer a Maruti car?

a) Yes b) No c) Can Not Say

Q.9 Your suggestions regarding Maruti cars. (If any)

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Thank you, Sir\Madam for spending your precious time in filling this Questionnaire. Your opinion values a lot for us.

Date:

Place: signature:

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