CHAPTER-I Introduction Need for study Objectives of the study Methodology Limitations of the study

INTRODUCTIONDefinition:Consumer behavior involves study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy. It also tries to assess the influence on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups and society in general.Buyer behavior has two aspects: the final purchase activity visible to any observer and the detailed or short decision process that may involve the interplay of a number of complex variables not visible to anyone.What influences consumers to purchase products or services? The consumer buying process is a complex matter as many internal and external factors have an impact on the buying decisions of the consumer.When purchasing a product there several processes, which consumers go through. These will be discussed below.Purchase decision The evaluation process discussed above consumers will reach their final purchase decision and they reach the final process of going through the purchase action e.g. The process of going to the shop to buy the product, which for some consumers can be as just as rewarding as actually purchasing the product. Purchase of the product can either be through the store, the web, or over the phone.Post Purchase BehaviorEver have doubts about the product after you purchased it? This simply is post purchase behavior and research shows that it is a common trait amongst purchasers of products. Manufacturers of products clearly want recent consumers to feel proud of their purchase, it is therefore just as important for manufacturers to advertise for the sake of their recent purchaser so consumers feel comfortable that they own a product from a strong and reputable organization. This limits post purchase behavior. I.e. you feel reassured that you own the latest advertised product.Factors influencing the behavior of buyersConsumer behavior is affected by many uncontrollable factors. Just think, what influences you before you buy a product or service? Your friends, your upbringing, your culture, the media, a role model or influences from certain groups?Culture is one factor that influences behavior. Simply culture is defined as our attitudes and beliefs. But how are these attitudes and beliefs developed? As an individual growing up, a child is influenced by their parents, brothers, sister and other family member who may teach them what is wrong or right. They learn about their religion and culture, which helps them develop these opinions, attitudes and beliefs (AIO). These factors will influence their purchase behavior however other factors like groups of friends, or people they look up to may influence their choices of purchasing a particular product or service. Reference groups are particular groups of people some people may look up towards to that have an impact on consumer behavior. So they can be simply a band like the Spice Girls or your immediate family members. Opinion leaders are those people that you look up to because your respect their views and judgments and these views may influence consumer decisions. So it maybe a friend who works with the IT trade who may influence your decision on what computer to buy. The economic environment also has an impact on consumer behavior; do consumers have a secure job and a regular income to spend on goods? Marketing and advertising obviously influence consumers in trying to evoke them to purchase a particular product or service.Peoples social status will also impact their behavior. What is their role within society? Are they Actors? Doctors? Office worker? And mothers and fathers also? Clearly being parents affects your buying habits depending on the age of the children, the type of job may mean you need to purchase formal clothes; the income which is earned has an impact. The life Performance of someone who earns 250000 would clearly be different from someone who earns 25000. Also characters have an influence on buying decision. Whether the person is extrovert (out going and spends on entertainment) or introvert (keeps to themselves and purchases via online or mail order) again has an impact on the types of purchases made.

Maslows Hierarchy of NeedsAbraham Maslow hierarchy of needs theory sets out to explain what motivated individuals in life to achieve. He set out his answer in a form of a hierarchy. He suggests individuals aim to meet basic psychological needs of hunger and thirst. When this has been met they then move up to the next stage of the hierarchy, safety needs, where the priority lay with job security and the knowing that an income will be available to them regularly. Social needs come in the next level of the hierarchy, the need to belong or be loved is a natural human desire and people do strive for this belonging. Esteem need is the need for status and recognition within society, status sometimes drives people, the need to have a good job title and be recognized or the need to wear branded clothes as a symbol of status.But how does this concept help an organization trying to market a product or service?Well as we have established earlier within this website, marketing is about meeting needs and providing benefits, Maslows concept suggests that needs change as we go along our path of striving for self-actualization. Supermarket firms develop value brands to meet the psychological needs of hunger and thirst. Harrods develops products and services for those who want have met their esteem needs. So Maslows concept is useful for marketers as it can help them understand and develop consumer needs and wants.

NEED FOR THE STUDYCustomersconsidervariousfactorsbeforepurchasinganyproduct.Thefactorstheyconsiderarebasedoncertaindemographicvariablessuchasincome,age,occupation,etc. ItalsodependsonattributesandPerformanceoftheitem.Customerbuyingbehaviorhas becomesessentialtogetacompetitiveedge.Following are the things consumer will look before purchasing a product. Consumerssearchforthose thingsthat suit their needs in the product. Consumersevaluatetheproductsby comparing them before theybuy. Consumersidentifythereasonsfordissatisfactionbeforepurchasingtheproduct. Whatkinds of promises the company made in advertising their products.The following are the questions that are to be posed before making a consumer to buy a product. Howconsumerssearchforthingsthattheyneed. Howconsumersevaluatetheproductsthattheybuy. Whatistheimpactondissatisfactiononconsumerpurchases? Howdoconsumersmakepurchasedecisions? What kinds of advertising is the most effective

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To study the buying motives of the customers regarding purchasing of Kesoram Cement2. To gain an understanding of the theories and concepts of Buyer Behavior3. To find the reason for purchasing Kesoram Cement4. To know the importance the respondents give to each factor while Purchasing Cement in Kesoram5. To know the customer satisfaction towards Kesoram Cement6. To know the customer brand awareness

RESEARCH MOTHDOLOGYSOURCES OF DATA:PRIMARY METHOD:Primary data are those, which are collected fresh and for the first time and this happen to be original in character. In this study primary data was collected by interview schedule method.SECONDARY METHOD:Secondary data are those, which are collected from existing data. Secondary data for this study include appropriate material from newspaper, Magazines, Broachers, Company Reports, Standard Text Books, and information from Internet has also been acquired wherever necessary.DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS: The instrument used for this study is an interview schedule. Questions related to objectives of the study from the major portion of the interview schedule. It mainly consists of multiple-choice questions so that the respondents can mark one or more of the several choice of answers. Secondary data has been gathered from many published sources such as Newspapers, Journals, Magazines, Company Reports, standard textbooks and information from Internet has also been acquired wherever necessary.FIELD WORK: The project involved a fieldwork of around 1 month 15 days where in the survey was carried out of around The survey was conducted in different of Hyderabad and secunderabad such as Koti, bowenpally, Ameer pet, L.B Nagar, Picket.METHODOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS:The primary data has been collected by an interview schedule.The sample for the study was selected on a convenience basisAll primary data collected is true and reflects the actual actions of the respondents.The data collected has been coded, tabulated and analyzed into logical Statement using simple statistical methods, pie charts, etc.DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN: A research design is a logical and systematic plan prepared for directing a research study it specifies the methodology and technique to be adopted for achieving the objectives. It constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the brand image of KESORAM. The study is descriptive in nature. Surveys are best-suited method for descriptive research. So survey method is used for the study. The preparation of a research plan for a study aids in establishing direction to the study and knowing exactly what has to be done and how and when it has to be done at every stage. A research plan describes the boundaries of research activities and enables the research to channel his energies in the right work. With clear research objectives, in view the research can proceed systematically towards his achievements.SAMPLING PROCEDURES:Sampling is a systematic approach for selecting a few elements from an entire collection of units (population) in order to make some inference about the total population it is a small specimen or a segment of the whole population representing its general qualities as for as possible. The study was undertaken by convenience sampling.CONVENIENCE SAMPLE: Convenience sampling is a non-profitability sampling. T means selecting sample units in just hit and miss fashion i.e., interviewing people whom you happen to meet.SAMPLE SIZE:The study is conducted on a sample of 100 respondents.

LIMITATIONS1. The time period of project is 45 days. 2. Though the customers wanted to give information they could not give as it wastes their business time.3. The accuracy of the answers depends upon the mode of interest of respondents.4. Though the customers wanted to give information they could not, as they felt it takes away their business time.5. The accuracy of the answers depends upon the mode of interest of respondents.6. The opinions of the sample may or may not depict the exact opinions of the total population.

CHAPTER-IIINDUSTRY PROFILE&COMPANY PROFILE

INDUSTRY PROFILEThe Indian cement industry is directly related to the country's infrastructure sector and thus its growth is paramount in determining the development of the country. With a current production capacity of around 366 million tonnes (MT), India is the second largest producer of cement in the world and fueled by growth in the infrastructure sector, the capacity is expected to increase to around 550 MT by FY20.India has a lot of potential for development in the infrastructure and construction sector and the cement sector is expected to largely benefit from it. Some of the recent major government initiatives such as development of 100 smart cities are expected to provide a major boost to the sector.Expecting such developments in the country and aided by suitable government foreign policies, several foreign players such as the likes of Lafarge, Holcim and Vicat have invested in the country in the recent past. Another factor which aids the growth of this sector is the ready availability of the raw materials for making cement, such as limestone and coal.Market SizeAccording to data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), cement and gypsum products attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$ 2,984.29 million between April 2000 and September 2014.In India, the housing sector is the biggest demand driver of cement, accounting for about 67 per cent of the total consumption. The other major consumers of cement include infrastructure at 13 per cent, commercial construction at 11 per cent and industrial construction at nine per cent.To meet the rise in demand, cement companies are expected to add 56 MT capacity over the next three years. The cement capacity in India may register a growth of eight per cent by next year end to 395 MT from the current level of 366 MT. It may increase further to 421 MT by the end of 2017. The country's per capita consumption stands at around 190 kg.A total of 188 large cement plants together account for 97 per cent of the total installed capacity in the country, while 365 small plants account for the rest. Of these large cement plants, 77 are located in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The Indian cement industry is dominated by a few companies. The top 20 cement companies account for almost 70 per cent of the total cement production of the country.INVESTMENTOn the back of growing demands, due to increased construction and infrastructural activities, the cement sector in India has seen many investments and developments in recent times. Some of them are as follows:Lafarge and Holcim plans to request for the European Commission's approval for their possible merger. The two companies had earlier unveiled plans in April 2014 to create the world's biggest cement group with US$ 44 billion in yearly sales.JSW cement plans to enter the Kerala market to cash in on the construction frenzy in the state. JSW is presently building a three million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity plant at Chitrapur in Karnataka to add to the current 5.4 MTPA capacity in South India.Zuari Cement through its subsidiary Gulbarga Cement Limited (GCL) plans to set up a 3.23 MT cement plant in Gulbarga, Karnataka. The company along with the cement plant is setting up a 50 MW captive power plant in the region.Malabar Cements plans to set up an automated cement handling and bagging unit as well as raw materials import facility in the Kochi port. Malabar Cements has projected a minimum throughput of 300,000 tonnes per annum which can be extendable up to 600,000 tonnes per annum, apart from intermediate products and raw materials such as clinker, limestone and coal.Reliance Cement Company (RCC), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, has entered into the cement market of Bihar where the demand for the building material is on the rise due to a realty boom. RCC presently has plants with total installed capacity of 5.8 MTPA.GOVERNAMENT INITIATIVESIn the 12th FiveYear Plan, the government plans to increase investment in infrastructure to the tune of US$ 1 trillion and increase the industry's capacity to 150 MT.The Cement Corporation of India (CCI) was incorporated by the Government of India in 1965 to achieve self-sufficiency in cement production in the country. Currently, CCI has 10 units spread over eight states in India.In order to help the private sector companies thrive in the industry, the government has been approving their investment schemes. Some such initiatives by the government in the recent past are as follows:The Andhra Pradesh State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) has approved proposals worth Rs 9,200 crore (US$ 1.48 billion) including three cement plants and concessions to Hero MotoCorp project. The total capacity of these three cement plants is likely to be about 12 MT per annum and the plants are expected to generate employment for nearly 4,000 people directly and a few thousands more indirectly.India has joined hands with Switzerland to reduce energy consumption and develop newer methods in the country for more efficient cement production, which will help India meet its rising demand for cement in the infrastructure sector.The Government of India has decided to adopt cement instead of bitumen for the construction of all new road projects on the grounds that cement is more durable and cheaper to maintain than bitumen in the long run.Road AheadWith the Government of India providing a boost to the infrastructure and various housing projects coming up in urban as well as rural areas, the cement sector has enough scope for development in the future.Market Size The Indian cement sector is expected to witness positive growth in the coming years, with demand set to increase at a CAGR of more than 8 per cent in the period FY 2013-14 to FY 2015-16, according to the latest report titled Indian Cement Industry Outlook 2016 by market research consulting firm RNCOS. The report further observed that Indias southern region is creating the maximum demand for cement, which is expected to increase more in future.The cement and gypsum products sector has attracted foreign direct investments (FDI) worth US$ 2,656.29 million in the period April 2000August 2013, according to data published by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).InvestmentsPrism Cement Ltd has become the first Indian company to get the Quality Council of India's (QCI) certification for its ready-mix concrete (RMC) plant in Kochi, Kerala. The company received the certification from Institute for Certification and Quality Mark (ICQM), a leading Italian certification body authorised to oversee QCI compliance.UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group Company, has acquired the 4.8 million tonne per annum (MTPA) Gujarat unit of Jaypee Cement Corp for Rs 3,800 crore (US$ 595.61 million).ACC Ltd plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore (US$ 470.22 million) to expand its capacity by nearly 4 MT a year in three eastern region states, over the next three years.Reliance Cements Co Pvt Ltd will set up a 3 MTPA grinding unit at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore (US$ 94.04 million). The unit is likely to come up at Raghunathpur in Purulia, West Bengal.Reliance Cement Co, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, is commissioning its first 5 MTPA plant in Madhya Pradesh. The project has been implemented at a cost of approximately Rs 3,000 crore (US$ 470.22 million).Zuari Cement plans to set up a cement grinding unit at Auj (Aherwadi) and Shingadgaon villages in Solapur, Maharashtra. The new unit will have a production capacity of 1 MTPA and is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2015.JSW Steel has acquired Heidelberg Cement India's 0.6 MTPA cement grinding facility in Raigad, Maharashtra, for an undisclosed amount.Government InitiativesGiving impetus to the market, the Indian government plans to roll out public-private partnership (PPP) projects worth Rs 1 trillion (US$ 15.67 billion) over the next six months. The Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will monitor these projects. Also, the steering group appointed by Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, to accelerate infrastructure investments, has set deadlines for the awarding of projects such as Mumbai rail corridor and Navi Mumbai Airport, among others.The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vasavdatta Cement, a company with its plant in Karnataka. The firm would use the plastic waste collected by the state agencies and village panchayats from Goa as fuel for its manufacturing plant.Road AheadThe globally-competitive cement industry in India continues to witness positive trends such as cost control, continuous technology upgradation and increased construction activities. Furthermore, major cement manufacturers in India are progressively using other alternatives such as bioenergy as fuel for their kilns. This is not only helping to bring down production costs of cement companies, but is also proving effective in reducing emissions.With the ever-increasing industrial activities, real estate, construction and infrastructure, in addition to the various Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being developed across the country, there is a demand for cement.It is estimated that the country requires about US$ 1 trillion in the period FY 2012-13 to FY 2016-17 to fund infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth, which promises a good scope for the cement industry.The 4th Annual India Cement Sector Business Sentiment Survey is nearly out and the India Construction & Building Materials Journal provides the opportunity of an exclusive look at the surveys results before their sharing with the wider audiences. We are glad to be able to present here some of the survey highlights and provide our readers with before-hand data regarding the views and expectations of cement industry professionals.Optimism continues to be the name of the game for the Indian cement industry a function of long-term trends as well as human nature. But on a closer look, the survey shows that the optimism only runs skin deep and that it has already been eroded by an increasing percentage of industry members who feel dissatisfied with the overall performance of the field last year.For instance, the percentage of those who believe the industry performed well dropped from 43 percent in 2012 to 26 percent in 2013, while the number of respondents who believe the industry performed poorly almost tripled from 8 percent last year to 22 percent in 2013. Regarding the future evolution of the industry, survey participants continue to be on the optimistic side and hope for a somewhat better or much better performance compared to the last 6 months.China tackles pollution and overcapacity 2013 has been the year that China's central planners took action against cement production overcapacity and pollution. Consolidation plans for the industry followed falling profits for cement producers in 2012. However, record air pollution levels in Beijing in early 2013 shut the city down, raised public awareness and gave the government a strong lever to encourage further industry consolidation through environmental controls. By the middle of year profits of major producers were up but production was also up. Finally in December 2013, China started to launch its emissions trading schemes (ETS), led by Guangdong province, to create what will be the second largest carbon market in the world after the EU ETS.India faces a sticky wicket Mean while, the world's second largest cement producing country has faced poor profits and growth for cement producers blamed on paltry demand, piddling prices and proliferating production costs. Compounding that, the Indian Rupee fell to a historic low relative to the US Dollar in mid-2013, further putting pressure on input costs. Holcim reacted to all of this by releasing plans to simplify its presence in the country between Holcim India, Ambuja and ACC.Sub-Saharan Africa draws up the battle lines Competition in sub-Saharan Africa is set to intensify when Nigeria's Dangote Cement opens its first cement plant in South Africa in early 2014. It is the first time Africa's two largest cement producers, Dangote and South Africa's PPC, will produce cement in the same country. Future clashes will follow across the region as each producer increasingly advances toward the other.The Kingdom needs cement... and workers Saudi Arabian infrastructure demands have created all sorts of reverberations across the Middle Eastern cement industry and beyond as the nation pushes on to build its six 'economic' cities amongst other projects. Back in April 2013 King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia issued an edict ordering the import of 10Mt of cement. Then some producers started to report production line shutdowns in the autumn of 2013 as they buckled under the pressure, although they consoled themselves with solid profit rises. Now, cement sales have fallen following a government crackdown on migrant workers that has hit the construction sector.Competition concerns in Europe Europe may be slowly emerging from the economic gloom but anti-trust regulators have remained vigilant. An asset swap between Cemex and Holcim over units in the Czech Republic, Germany and Spain has received attention from the European Commission. In the UK the Competition Commission has decreed that further action is required for the cement sector following the creation of new player Hope Construction Materials in 2012. Lafarge Tarmac may now have to sell another one of its UK cement plants to increase more competition into the market. Elsewhere in Europe, Belgium regulators took action in September 2013 and this week we report on Polish action against cartel-like activity.Don't forget South-East Asia, Brazil or Russia! Growth continues to dominate these regions and major sporting tournaments are on the way in Brazil and Russia, further adding to local cement demand. Votorantim may have cancelled its US$4.8bn initial public offering in August 2013 but it is still has the highest cement production capacity in Brazil. Finally, Indonesia may not have had any 'marquee' style story to sum up 2013 but it continues to regularly announce cement plant builds. In July 2013 the Indonesian Cement Association announced that cement sales growth had fallen to 'just' 7.5% for the first half of 2013. In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term "opus caementicium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed rock with burnt lime as binder. The volcanic ash and pulverized brick additives which were added to the burnt lime to obtain a hydraulic binder were later referred to as cementum, cimentum, cment and cement. Cements used in construction are characterized as hydraulic or non-hydraulic.The most important use of cement is the production of mortar and concretethe bonding of natural or artificial aggregates to form a strong building material which is durable in the face of normal environmental effects.Concrete should not be confused with cement because the term cement refers only to the dry powder substance used to bind the aggregate materials of concrete. Upon the addition of water and/or additives the cement mixture is referred to as concrete, especially if aggregates have been added.It is uncertain where it was first discovered that a combination of hydrated non-hydraulic lime and a pozzolan produces a hydraulic mixture (see also: Pozzolanic reaction), but concrete made from such mixtures was first used on a large scale by Roman engineers.They used both natural pozzolans (trass or pumice) and artificial pozzolans (ground brick or pottery) in these concretes. Many excellent examples of structures made from these concretes are still standing, notably the huge monolithic dome of the Pantheon in Rome and the massive Baths of Caracalla. The vast system of Roman aqueducts also made extensive use of hydraulic cement. The use of structural concrete disappeared in medieval Europe, although weak pozzolanic concretes continued to be used as a core fill in stone walls and columns.Modern cement Modern hydraulic cements began to be developed from the start of the Industrial Revolution (around 1800), driven by three main needs: Hydraulic renders for finishing brick buildings in wet climates Hydraulic mortars for masonry construction of harbor works etc, in contact with sea water. Development of strong concretes.In Britain particularly, good quality building stone became ever more expensive during a period of rapid growth, and it became a common practice to construct prestige buildings from the new industrial bricks, and to finish them with a stucco to imitate stone. Hydraulic limes were favored for this, but the need for a fast set time encouraged the development of new cements. Most famous was Parker's "Roman cement." This was developed by James Parker in the 1780s, and finally patented in 1796. It was, in fact, nothing like any material used by the Romans, but was a "Natural cement" made by burning septaria - nodules that are found in certain clay deposits, and that contain both clay minerals and calcium carbonate. The burnt nodules were ground to a fine powder. This product, made into a mortar with sand, set in 515 minutes. The success of "Roman Cement" led other manufacturers to develop rival products by burning artificial mixtures of clay and chalk.John Smeaton made an important contribution to the development of cements when he was planning the construction of the third Eddystone Lighthouse (1755-9) in the English Channel. He needed a hydraulic mortar that would set and develop some strength in the twelve hour period between successive high tides. He performed an exhaustive market research on the available hydraulic limes, visiting their production sites, and noted that the "hydraulicity" of the lime was directly related to the clay content of the limestone from which it was made. Smeaton's work, the same principle was identified by Louis Vicat in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Vicat went on to devise a method of combining chalk and clay into an intimate mixture, and, burning this, produced an "artificial cement" in 1817. James Frost,orking in Britain, produced what he called "British cement" in a similar manner around the same time, but did not obtain a patent until 1822. In 1824, Joseph Aspdin patented a similar material, which he called Portland cement, because the render made from it was in color similar to the prestigious Portland stone.All the above products could not compete with lime/pozzolan concretes because of fast-setting (giving insufficient time for placement) and low early strengths (requiring a delay of many weeks before formwork could be removed). Hydraulic limes, "natural" cements and "artificial" cements all rely upon their belite content for strength development. Belite develops strength slowly. Because they were burned at temperatures below 1250 C, they contained no alite, which is responsible for early strength in modern cements. The first cement to consistently contain alite was made by Joseph Aspdin's son William in the early 1840s. This was what we call today "modern" Portland cement. Because of the air of mystery with which William Aspdin surrounded his product, others (e.g. Vicat and I C Johnson) have claimed precedence in this invention, but recent analysis of both his concrete and raw cement have shown that William Aspdin's product made at Northfleet, Kent was a true alite-based cement. However, Aspdin's methods were "rule-of-thumb": Vicat is responsible for establishing the chemical basis of these cements, and Johnson established the importance of sintering the mix in the kiln.William Aspdin's innovation was counter-intuitive for manufacturers of "artificial cements", because they required more lime in the mix (a problem for his father), because they required a much higher kiln temperature (and therefore more fuel) and because the resulting clinker was very hard and rapidly wore down the millstones which were the only available grinding technology of the time. Manufacturing costs were therefore considerably higher, but the product set reasonably slowly and developed strength quickly, thus opening up a market for use in concrete. The use of concrete in construction grew rapidly from 1850 onwards, and was soon the dominant use for cements. Thus Portland cement began its predominant role. it is made from water and sandTypes of modern cementPortland cementCement is made by heating limestone (calcium carbonate), with small quantities of other materials (such as clay) to 1450C in a kiln, in a process known as calcination, whereby a molecule of carbon dioxide is liberated from the calcium carbonate to form calcium oxide, or lime, which is then blended with the other materials that have been included in the mix . The resulting hard substance, called 'clinker', is then ground with a small amount of gypsum into a powder to make 'Ordinary Portland Cement', the most commonly used type of cement (often referred to as OPC).Portland cement is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar and most non-speciality grout. The most common use for Portland cement is in the production of concrete. Concrete is a composite material consisting of aggregate (gravel and sand), cement, and water. As a construction material, concrete can be cast in almost any shape desired, and once hardened, can become a structural (load bearing) element. Portland cement may be gray or white.

Portland cement blendsThese are often available as inter-ground mixtures from cement manufacturers, but similar formulations are often also mixed from the ground components at the concrete mixing plant. Portland blast furnace cement It contains up to 70% ground granulated blast furnace slag, with the rest Portland clinker and a little gypsum. All compositions produce high ultimate strength, but as slag content is increased, early strength is reduced, while sulfate resistance increases and heat evolution diminishes. Used as an economic alternative to Portland sulfate-resisting and low-heat cements. Portland flyash cement It contains up to 30% fly ash. The fly ash is pozzolanic, so that ultimate strength is maintained. Because fly ash addition allows a lower concrete water content, early strength can also be maintained. Where good quality cheap fly ash is available, this can be an economic alternative to ordinary Portland cement. Portland pozzolan cement It includes fly ash cement, since fly ash is a pozzolan, but also includes cements made from other natural or artificial pozzolans. In countries where volcanic ashes are available (e.g. Italy, Chile, Mexico, the Philippines) these cements are often the most common form in use.Portland silica fume cement. Addition of silica fume can yield exceptionally high strengths, and cements containing 5-20% silica fume are occasionally produced. However, silica fume is more usually added to Portland cement at the concrete mixer. Masonry cements Masnory cements are used for preparing bricklaying mortars and stuccos, and must not be used in concrete. They are usually complex proprietary formulations containing Portland clinker and a number of other ingredients that may include limestone, hydrated lime, air entrainers, retarders, waterproofers and coloring agents. They are formulated to yield workable mortars that allow rapid and consistent masonry work. Subtle variations of Masonry cement in the US are Plastic Cements and Stucco Cements. These are designed to produce controlled bond with masonry blocks.Expansive cements Expansive cements contain, in addition to Portland clinker, expansive clinkers (usually sulfoaluminate clinkers), and are designed to offset the effects of drying shrinkage that is normally encountered with hydraulic cements. This allows large floor slabs (up to 60 m square) to be prepared without contraction joints.White blended cementsIt may be made using white clinker and white supplementary materials such as high-purity metakaolin.Colored cementsThey are used for decorative purposes. In some standards, the addition of pigments to produce "colored Portland cement" is allowed. In other standards (e.g. ASTM), pigments are not allowed constituents of Portland cement, and colored cements are sold as "blended hydraulic cements".Very finely ground cements These are made from mixtures of cement with sand or with slag or other pozzolan type minerals which are extremely finely ground together. Such cements can have the same physical characteristics as normal cement but with 50% less cement particularly due to their increased surface area for the chemical reaction. Even with intensive grinding they can use up to 50% less energy to fabricate than ordinary Portland cements. Non-Portland hydraulic cementsPozzolan-lime cements. Mixtures of ground pozzolan and lime are the cements used by the Romans, and are to be found in Roman structures still standing (e.g. the Pantheon in Rome). They develop strength slowly, but their ultimate strength can be very high. The hydration products that produce strength are essentially the same as those produced by Portland cement.Slag-lime cements. Ground granulated blast furnace slag is not hydraulic on its own, but is "activated" by addition of alkalis, most economically using lime. They are similar to pozzolan lime cements in their properties. Only granulated slag (i.e. water-quenched, glassy slag) is effective as a cement component.Supersulfated cements. These contain about 80% ground granulated blast furnace slag, 15% gypsum or anhydrite and a little Portland clinker or lime as an activator.They produce strength by formation of ettringite, with strength growth similar to a slow Portland cement. They exhibit good resistance to aggressive agents, including sulfate.Calcium aluminate cementsCalcium aluminate cements are hydraulic cements made primarily from limestone and bauxite. The active ingredients are monocalcium aluminate CaAl2O4 (CaO Al2O3 or CA in Cement chemist notation, CCN) and mayenite Ca12Al14O33 (12 CaO 7 Al2O3 , or C12A7 in CCN). Strength forms by hydration to calcium aluminate hydrates. They are well-adapted for use in refractory (high-temperature resistant) concretes, e.g. for furnace linings.Calcium sulfoaluminate cementsCalcium sulfoalumminate cements are made from clinkers that include ye'elimite (Ca4(AlO2)6SO4 or C4A3 in Cement chemist's notation) as a primary phase. They are used in expansive cements, in ultra-high early strength cements, and in "low-energy" cements. Hydration produces ettringite, and specialized physical properties (such as expansion or rapid reaction) are obtained by adjustment of the availability of calcium and sulfate ions. Their use as a low-energy alternative to Portland cement has been pioneered in China, where several million tonnes per year are produced. Energy requirements are lower because of the lower kiln temperatures required for reaction, and the lower amount of limestone (which must be endothermically decarbonated) in the mix. In addition, the lower limestone content and lower fuel consumption leads to a CO2 emission around half that associated with Portland clinker. However, SO2 emissions are usually significantly higher."Natural" Cements Natural cements correspond to certain cements of the pre-Portland era, produced by burning argillaceous limestones at moderate temperatures. The level of clay components in the limestone (around 30-35%) is such that large amounts of belite (the low-early strength, high-late strength mineral in Portland cement) are formed without the formation of excessive amounts of free lime. As with any natural material, such cements have highly variable properties.Geopolymer cementsGeopolymer cements are made from mixtures of water-soluble alkali metal silicates and aluminosilicate mineral powders such as fly ash and metakaolin.

COMPANY PROFILE Kesoram Industries Limited ("KIL") was incorporated as a public company under the name Kesoram Cotton Mills Limited ("KCML") as per the provisions of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 and received a Certificate of Incorporation dated 18 October 1919 from the Registrar of Companies, West Bengal ("ROC"). The name of KCML was altered to 'Kesoram Industries and Cotton Mills Limited ("KICM") effective 30th August, 1961. Through a Fresh Certificate of Incorporation consequent on change of Name obtained from the ROC. The name of KICM was altered to KIL effective 9th July, 1986.For over 40 years, Birla Shakti has helped laid the foundations of buildings everywhere. From schools and homes, to hospitals and skyscrapers, Birla Shakti helps build the dreams of people. When the safety of people depends on your product, you know that quality is of upmost importance. That is why Birla Shakti practices Total Productivity Maintenance (TPM). Combining the key principles of plant utilization, quality management and downtime minimisation, every stakeholders aim is to achieve zero product defects, zero equipment unplanned failures and zero accidents.To support Birla Shaktis production capabilities, a network of 491 sales engineers and 1,544 dealers are located conveniently throughout the region, so that every customers need can be met.Birla Shaktis quality and efficiency is certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation for its world-class standards. Learn more about our certifications below.Certification for conformation with the occupational health and safety management system in accordance with IS/ISO 18001 : 2007 for Kesoram Cement Plant.2 November 2014 Certification for conforming with the environmental management system in accordance with IS/ISO 14001 : 2004 for Kesoram Cement Plant.7 August 2013 Certification for conformation with the quality management system in accordance with IS/ISO 9001 : 2008 for Kesoram Cement Plant.31 October 2014.Under the cement division of Kesoram Industries Limited, Birla Shakti manufactures and sells cement. We are widely recognised for our quality, strength and technology, which has enabled us to build strong working relationships and gain the trust of our customers and builders. As a mark of our quality management best practices, we have been certified an ISO 9001 company.Birla Shakti has two cement manufacturing plants located at Sedam, Karnataka (the "Vasavadatta Cement Plant") and Basantnagar, Andhra Pradesh (the "Kesoram Cement Plant"). Our cement business has been in operation for over 40 years, catering to the regional demands predoimnently in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Our plants are strategically located near our leased limestone deposits in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Presently, we have a combined total installed capacity of 7.25 million MT.MISSION / VISIONMISSIONTo inspire and touch lives through our services and products.VISIONWe Endeavour to shape tomorrows urban landscape and provide a better quality of living for all mankind.Following are some of the key events and milestones in relation to KIL: KIL has diversified business interests in various sectors including tyres, cement and rayon. It owns and operates two integrated tyre manufacturing plants located at Balasore, Odisha (the "Balasore Tyre Plant") and Haridwar, Uttarakhand (the "Laksar Tyre Plant") with a combined total installed capacity of 298,660 MT of tyres as of 31 March 2013. The tyres are marketed under the brand name "Birla Tyres".KIL is setting up a new manufacturing unit at its Balasore Tyre Plant for the production of passenger car radial tyres. Once completed, this new capacity will make KIL one of the few tyre companies in India that would be able to offer a complete range of tyres across all vehicle sectors. KIL's Laksar Tyre Plant is at present exempt from excise duty on tyres manufactured and sold. This exemption expires on various dates between 27th March, 2018 and 9th March, 2020 depending upon commencement of operations of individual units of the plant.KIL owns and operates two cement manufacturing plants, located at Sedam, Karnataka (the "Vasavadatta Cement Plant") and Basantnagar, Andhra Pradesh (the "Kesoram Cement Plant"). Its cement business has enjoyed an operating history of over 40 years, catering to regional demands in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The plants are strategically located near limestone deposits in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and have a combined total installed capacity of 7.25 million MT of Cement as of 31 March 2013. Its cement grinding units are also located close to captive power plants. Further, KIL procures much of its fly ash from NTPC which has power plants in close proximity to both the Vasavadatta Cement Plant and Kesoram Cement Plant. Cement produced at the plants is marketed under the brand names "Birla Shakti" and "Vasavadatta Cement".All KIL Businesses maintain separate marketing and distribution networks.KIL also manufactures viscose rayon, filament yarn and transparent paper at its plant at Tribeni, District Hooghly, West Bengal. The rayon is marketed under the brand name "Kesoram Rayon", while transparent paper is marketed under the brand name "Kesophane".The tyre, cement and rayon (including transparent paper and chemicals) business operations contributed 59.3%, 35.2% and 5.5%, respectively, of KIL's total revenues for the year ended 31 March 2013.KIL has also started expansion of its existing truck and bus radial tyre manufacturing capacity at Laksar.KIL's Equity Shares are currently listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange and Calcutta Stock Exchange in India. GDRs are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.ProductsCement (1)One MT of OPC generally contains 0.96 / 0.97 MT of clinker.One MT of PPC generally contains 0.67 / 0.70 MT of clinker.

Rayon and Transparent PaperKIL also manufactures viscose rayon filament yarn, transparent paper and other related products. KIL currently manufactures deniers of varying thickness from 75 deniers to 700 deniers.KIL's rayon and transparent paper plant is located Hooghly, West Bengal. Its rayon is marketed under the brand name "Kesoram Rayon," while transparent paper is marketed under the brand name "Kesophane". KIL's tyre and cement sales have historically contributed a substantial part of its revenue. It expect these businesses to continue contributing significantly to its overall revenue. KIL also has active manufacturing operations in the fields of rayon and transparent paper. TyresKIL presently manufactures the following types of tyres under the "Birla Tyres" brand truck and bus bias tyres;truck and bus radial tyres; farm tyres; off-the-road vehicle tyres; and two - and three - wheeler tyres.A new manufacturing unit is under construction at the Balasore Tyre Plant for manufacturing passenger car radials.Truck and Bus Bias TyresKIL manufactures a comprehensive range of bias tyres for the truck and bus sectors. The truck and bus bias tyres are marketed under four different categories, namely, high load, high mileage, load and mileage, and load economy, catering to the various requirements of customers. Truck and bus bias tyre sales accounted for approximately 64.3% and 66.9% of KIL's total tyre and tyre-related product sales for the years ended 31 March 2012 and 2013, respectively. Truck and Bus Radial TyresKIL manufactures a comprehensive range of radial tyres for trucks and buses. It has historically achieved higher gross margins from selling radial tyres as compared to bias tyres. In recent years, KIL has been successful in realising its strategy to increase sales of radial tyres. Radial tyre sales accounted for approximately 10.1% and 12.4% of our total tyre and tyre-related product sales in the years ended 31 March2012 and 2013, respectively.Farm TyresKIL manufactures a wide range of tractor tyres for farm vehicles. Tractor tyre sales accounted for approximately 2.7% and 2.6% of total tyre and tyre-related product sales for the years ended 31 March 2012 and 2013, respectively.Off-the-road Vehicle Tyres ("OTR")KIL manufactures a wide range of OTR tyres, primarily for earth moving equipment vehicles. OTR tyre sales accounted for approximately 0.8% and 1.1% of total tyre and tyre-related product sales for the years ended 31 March 2012 and 2013, respectively.Two - and three - wheeler TyresKIL manufactures a comprehensive range of two- and three-wheeler tyres. The sale of two - and three - wheeler tyres has achieved higher margins compared to other tyre products. Two - and three - wheeler tyre sales accounted for approximately 4.6% and 6.0% of total tyre and tyre-related product sales in the financial years ended 31 March 2012 and 2013, respectively.Tubes and Flaps and othersKIL's tube product lines include pneumatic tubes for a wide range of trucks, buses, two - and three - wheelers and farm vehicles. Tubes and flaps and others are produced at both of the tyre plants. KIL's flap product lines include flaps for the trucks, buses, two - and three - wheelers and farm vehicles. Sales of tubes and flaps and others accounted for approximately 17.5% and 11.1% of total tire and tyre-related product sales in the financial years ended 31 March 2012 and 2013.Our businessWe are part of one of the oldest conglomerates in India and were incorporated in October 1919. Since 1924, we have been under the leadership of late G.D. Birla, late B.M. Birla, and our current Promoter, Mr. B.K. Birla. We have diversified business interests in various sectors including tyres, cement and rayon.We are among the top five largest tyre manufacturing companies in India by production volume for the year ended 31 March 2012 (Source : Automotive Tyre Manufactures Association 2011-12 ("ATMA")). We own and operate two integrated tyre manufacturing plants located at Balasore, Odisha (the "Balasore Tyre Plant") and Haridwar, Uttarakhand (the "Laksar Tyre Plant") with a combined total installed capacity of 298,660 MT of tyres as of 31 March 2013. Our tyres are marketed under the brand name "Birla Tyres".We own and operate two cement manufacturing plants, located at Sedam, Karnataka (the "Vasavadatta Cement Plant") and Basantnagar, Andhra Pradesh (the "Kesoram Cement Plant"). Our cement business has enjoyed an operating history of over 40 years, catering to the regional demands in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Our plants are strategically located near our leased limestone deposits in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. We have a combined total installed capacity of 7.25 million MT as of 31 March 2013. Our cement is marketed under the brand name "Birla Shakti" and "Vasavadatta Cement".We maintain separate marketing and distribution networks for our tyre and cement operations, comprising internal sales and marketing teams of 491 persons for tyre products and 132 persons for cement products. We also have agreements with approximately 209 tyre agents and 16 cement agents and a network of more than 8,831 tyre dealers and 1,544 cement dealers as of 31 March 2013, who market our tyre and cement products. Our tyre products are primarily distributed to purchasers located across India, while our cement and clinker is sold regionally to purchasers located in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.In addition, we also manufacture viscose rayon, filament yarn and transparent paper. Our rayon and transparent paper plant is located at Hooghly, West Bengal. Our rayon is marketed under the brand name "Kesoram Rayon", while our transparent paper is marketed under the brand name "Kesophane".The tyre, cement and rayon (including transparent paper and chemicals) business operations contributed 62.6%, 32.9% and 4.5%, respectively, of our total revenues for the year ended 31 March 2012 and 59.3%, 35.2% and 5.5%, respectively, of our total revenues for the year ended 31 March 2013. For the years ended 31 March 2012 and 2013, our loss before tax was Rs. 710.3 crore and Rs. 377.2 crore, and our net loss for the year was Rs. 379.7 crore and Rs. 329.2 crore, respectively.We plan to recommence construction of a new manufacturing unit at our Balasore Tyre Plant for the production of passenger car radial tyres with an expected capacity of 80 MT per day, subject to certain regulatory approvals. See "-On going capacity expansion initiative-Passenger car radial unit at Balasore Tyre Plant". We believe that this new capacity when added will make us one of few tyre companies in India that is able to offer a complete range of tyres across all vehicle sectors. We have also started expansion of our existing truck and bus radial tyre manufacturing capacity. See "-On going capacity expansion initiative-Truck and bus radial expansion at Laksar Tyre Plant".We own our registered office at 8th floor, Birla Building, 9/1, R.N. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700 001, India. Our Equity Shares are currently listed on the BSE, NSE and CSE in India. Our Equity Shares are currently not traded on the CSE. The GDRs of our Company are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The closing price of our Equity Shares on 21 May 2013 on the BSE was Rs. 73.95 per Equity Share and on the NSE was Rs. 74.15 per Equity Share. As of 21 May 2013, our market capitalization on the BSE was Rs. 338.25 crore and on the NSE was Rs. 339.17 crore.The Board of Directors (the "Board") of the Company has adopted the following Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the "Code") for directors and senior Management personnel of the Company. Senior Management personnel mean all members of the management one level below the Board i.e. Sr. President/President of each Division of the Company. This code is intended to focus on the Board members including each of the executive directors and senior management personnel on areas of ethical risk, integrity and honesty providing guidance to help them recognize and deal with ethical issues; mechanisms to report unethical/dishonest conducts; and help foster a culture of honesty, integrity and accountability. The Code of Conduct as approved by the Board and subsequent amendments thereto by the Board shall be posted on the Website of the Company.INTERPRETATION OF CODEIn this code wherever the word "Director" is appearing, it also means and includes senior management personnel to the extent applicable. Any question or interpretation under this Code of Ethics and Business Conduct will be considered and dealt with by the Board or any committee or any person authorized by the Board in this behalf. The Board or any designated person/committee so authorised has the authority to waive compliance with this Code of business conduct for any director, officer or employee of the Company. The person-seeking waiver of this Code shall make full disclosure of the particular circumstances of the case to the Board or the designated person/committee.Any waiver of this Code as may be made by the Board and/or so authorised person/committee shall be promptly posted on the Website of the company.Each and every director and senior management personnel is expected to comply with the letter and spirit of this Code. I. CONFLICT OF INTERESTDirectors must avoid any conflicts of interest with the Company. Any situation that involves, or may reasonably be expected to involve, a conflict of interest with the Company, should be disclosed promptly to the Board. A "conflict of interest" can occur when : i. A director's personal interest is adverse to or may appear to be adverse to the interests of the Company as a whole. ii. A director, or his/her relative, receives improper personal benefits as a result of his/her position as a director of the Company. Explanation : Relatives here means dependant-parents, brothers, sisters, spouse, children, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law. As illustrations only and being not exhaustive, some of the more common instances of conflict of interest which directors should avoid, are listed below : A .Relationship of Company with third parties Directors shall not receive a personal benefit from a person or entity, which is seeking to do business or to retain business with the Company. Shall not participate in any decision making process of the Board involving another entity in which the director has direct or indirect interest. b. Compensation from non-Company sources Directors shall not accept compensation (in any form) for services performed for the Company from any source other than the Company. c. Gifts Directors shall not offer, give or receive gifts from persons or entities that deal with the Company, where any such gift, is perceived as intended directly or indirectly to influence the directors' actions as members of the Board, or where acceptance of such gift could create the appearance of a conflict of interest. d.Personal use of Company assets Directors shall not use Company assets, labour or information for personal use.

CHAPTER-III THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

CUSTOMER GETTING SMARTERA competitor, in order to achieve the loyalty of the customers, offer an endless information flow on the products and services and thereby continuously educates the customer about the opportunities in the market. Therefore today even an ordinary person, is in possession of the large amount of data to use for the purpose of making a decision as to which products/ services he would go in for. The competitive environment is making the customer wisher day by day and he is able to take a large number of decisions on his own. The experts advice of the olden days is being replaced by the customers own wisdom. This is making the market place more complicated and unpredictable. The customer is getting smarter today and he is able to decide his own moneys worth and therefore, organization across the board are `pursuing the customers views to streamline their business strategies to remain customer- worthy.People are the prime factor for any organization to maintain the effectiveness and thus develop the right focus for the people, so that each one perceives as clearly as possible his position in the cycle of growth and prosperity of the organization. Agendas will have to be drawn in such a manner and communicated so effectively that the individual is able to enjoy a meaningful life in the organization, endowed with authority and responsibility for the role he plays. One should be able to see for oneself the impact of the contributions one has made towards the growth and prosperity cycle of the organization. As a matter of fact the relationship between the people and the organization should be so designed that each one is here to experience the pleasure of winning and pain of losing. People alone are of no significance unless and until they have an intimate and continuous interaction with the process. Therefore organization have to take continuous care to update their quality of the people and that of processes simultaneously so that a healthy relationship is built up and maintained making the relationship happy and healthy one. This, when done, should generate in people a sense of entrepreneurship ownership of the organization.Since the customer are the main focus of any organization its structure should be so flat i.e., people fluently interact with the customer and maintain continuous feedback about the customers moods and methods in order to shape its business portfolio and strategies.

Consumers Buyer Behavior:Consumer buyer behavior is influenced by four keys sets of buyer characteristics; cultural, social, personal, and psychological. Although many of these factors cannot be influenced by the marketer, they can be useful in identifying interested buyers and in shaping products and appeals to severe consumer needs better. Culture3 is the most basic determinant of a persons wants and behavior. It includes the basic values, perceptions, preference, and behavior \s that a person learns from family and other important instructions. Subcultures are cultures within cultures that have a distinct values and lifePerformences and can be based on anything from age to ethnicity. People with different culture and sub culture characteristics have different product and brand preferences. As a result, marketers may want to faces their marketing programs on the special needs of certain groups.Social factors influence buyers behavior. A persons reference group-family, friends, social organizations, professional associations- strongly affect product and brand choices. The buyers age, life-cycle stage, occupation, economic circumstances, lifePerformence, personality, and other personal. Characteristics influence his or her buying decisions. Consumer life-Performences the pattern of acting and interacting in the world are also an important influences on purchase decisions.Finally, consumer-buying behavior is influenced by four major psychological factors- motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes. Each of these factors provides a different perspective for understanding the workings of the buyers black box.

CONSUMER PERCEPTIONIt can be defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. A stimulus is a unit of input to any of the senses. Examples of stimulus ie, sensory input include products, packages, brand names, advertisements, and commercials, sensory receptor.Marketers do not want their target audience to look only at the models in their ads. They want to communicate something about their products as well. Marketers often use attractive models,humour, other factors to attract the target markets interest. Information processing is a series of activities by which stimuli are perceived, transformed in to information, and stored. Information processing model has four major steps or stages,

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a) Exposure\b) Attentionc) Interpretation, andd) Memory

The first three constitute perception.Exposure occurs when a stimulus such as an Advertisement hoarding comes within the range of a persons vision. Attention occurs when the information from vision pass on to the brain for processing. Interpretation is the assignment of meaning to the received sensations. Memory is the short term use of the meaning for immediate decision-making or the longer-term retention of the meaning.The basic components shown in the figure can be arranged into four groups: Stimuli, which serve as the raw material to be processed. The stages of processing activities, which are linked by arrows and mainly internal to the customer. Situational and consumer characteristics which can influence the nature of these processing activities, and an executive system, which guides the process by regulating the type and intensity of processing activities engaged in, at any time.Consumer Buying BehaviorPossibly the most challenging concept in marketing deals with understanding why buyers do what they do (or dont do). But such knowledge is critical for marketers since Wanting a strong understanding of buyer behavior will help shed light on what is important to the customer and also suggest the important influences on customer decision-making. Using this information, marketers can create marketing programs that they believe will be of interest to customers.As you might guess, factors affecting how customers make decisions are extremely complex. Buyer behavior is deeply rooted in psychology with dashes of sociology thrown in just to make things more interesting. Since every person in the world is different, it is impossible to have simple rules that explain how buying decisions are made. But those who have spent many years analyzing customer activity have presented us with useful guidelines in how someone decides whether or not to make a purchase.In fact, pick up any textbook that examines customer behavior and each seems to approach it from a different angle. The perspective we take is to touch on just the basic concepts that appear to be commonly accepted as influencing customer behavior. We will devote two sections of the Principles of Marketing Tutorials to customer behavior. In this section we will examine the buying behavior of consumers (i.e., when people buy for personal reasons) while in the Business Buying Behavior tutorial we will examine factors that influence buyers decisions in the business market.Why Consumers BuyAs we discussed in the What is Marketing? tutorial, customers make purchases in order to satisfy needs. Some of these needs are basic and must be filled by everyone on the planet (e.g., food, shelter) while others are not required for basic survival and vary depending on the person. It probably makes more sense to classify needs that are not a necessity as wants or desires. In fact, in many countries where the standard of living is very high, a large portion of the populations income is spent on wants and desires rather than on basic needs. In this tutorial when we mention the consumer we are referring to the actual buyer, the person spending the money. But is should also be pointed out that the one who does the buying is not necessarily the user of what is bought and that others may be involved in the buying decision in addition to the actual buyer. While the purchasing process in the consumer market is not as complex as the business market, Wanting multiple people involved in a purchase decision is not unusual. For example, in planning for a family vacation the mother may make the hotel reservations but others in the family may have input on the hotel choice. Similarly, a father may purchase snacks at the grocery store but his young child may be the oSo understanding consumer purchase behavior involves not only understanding how decisions are made but also understanding the dynamics that influence purchases.What Influences PurchasingAs we discussed the decision-making process for consumers is anything but straight forward. There are many factors that can affect this process as a person works through the purchase decision. The number of potential influences on consumer behavior is limitless. However, marketers are well served to understand the KEY influences. By doing so they may be in a position to tailor their marketing efforts to take advantage of these influences in a way that will satisfy the consumer and the marketer (remember this is a key part of the definition of marketing).For the purposes of this tutorial we will break these influences down into three main categories: Internal, External and Marketing. However, those interested in learning more about customer buying activity may want to consult one or more consumer behavior books where they will find additional methods for explaining consumer buying behavior. For the most part the influences are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are all interconnected and, as we will see, work together to form who we are and how we behave.For each of the influences that are discussed we will provide a basic description and also suggest its implication to marketers. Bear in mind we only provide a few marketing implications for each influence; clearly there are many more.Internal Influences: Perceptual FilterWe start our examination of the influences on consumer purchase decisions by first looking inside ourselves to see which are the most important internal factors that affect how we make choices. Perceptual FilterPerception is how we see ourselves and the world we live in. However, what ends up being stored inside us doesnt always get there in a direct manner. Often our mental makeup results from information that has been consciously or subconsciously filtered as we experience it, a process we refer to as a perceptual filter. To us this is our reality, though it does not mean it is an accurate reflection on what is real. Thus, perception is the way we filter stimuli (e.g., someone talking to us, reading a newspaper story) and then make sense out of it.Perception has several steps. Exposure sensing a stimuli (e.g. seeing an ad) Attention an effort to recognize the nature of a stimuli (e.g. recognizing it is an ad) Awareness assigning meaning to a stimuli (e.g., humorous ad for particular product) Retention adding the meaning to ones internal makeup (i.e., product has fun ads)How these steps are eventually carried out depends on a persons approach to learning. By learning we mean how someone changes what they know, which in turn may affect how they act. There are many theories of learning, a discussion of which is beyond the scope of this tutorial, however, suffice to say that people are likely to learn in different ways. For instance, one person may be able to focus very strongly on a certain advertisement and be able to retain the information after being exposed only one time while another person may need to be exposed to the same advertisement many times before he/she even recognizes what it is. Consumers are also more likely to retain information if a person has a strong interest in the stimuli. If a person is in need of new car they are more likely to pay attention to a new advertisement for a car while someone who does not need a car may need to see the advertisement many times before they recognize the brand of automobile.MARKET IMPLICATIONS:Marketers spend large sums of money in an attempt to get customers to have a positive impression of their products. But clearly the existence of a perceptual filter suggests that getting to this stage is not easy. Exposing consumers to a product can be very challenging considering the amount of competing product messages (ads) that are also trying to accomplish the same objective (i.e., advertising clutter). So marketers must be creative and use various means to deliver their message. Once the message reaches consumer it must be interesting enough to capture their attention (e.g., talk about the products benefits). But attending to the message is not enough. For marketers the most critical step is the one that occurs with awareness. Here marketers must continually monitor and respond if their message becomes distorted in ways that will negatively shape its meaning. This can often happen due in part to competitive activity (e.g., comparison advertisements). Finally, getting the consumer to give positive meaning to the message they have retained requires the marketer make sure that consumers accurately interpret the facts about the product.

Internal Influences: KnowledgeKnowledge is the sum of all information known by a person. It is the facts of the world as he/she knows it and the depth of knowledge is a function of the breadth of worldly experiences and the strength of an individuals long-term memory. Obviously what exists as knowledge to an individual depends on how an individuals perceptual filter makes sense of the information it is exposed to.Marketing Implications:Marketers may conduct research that will gauge consumers level of knowledge regarding their product. As we will see below, it is likely that other factors influencing consumer behavior are in large part shaped by what is known about a product. Thus, developing methods (e.g., incentives) to encourage consumers to accept more information (or correct information) may affect other influencing factors.Internal Influences: AttitudeIn simple terms attitude refers to what a person feels or believes about something. Additionally, attitude may be reflected in how an individual acts based on his or her beliefs. Once formed, attitudes can be very difficult to change. Thus, if a consumer has a negative attitude toward a particular issue it will take considerable effort to change what they believe to be true.Marketing Implications:Marketers facing consumers who have a negative attitude toward their product must work to identify the key issues shaping a consumers attitude then adjust marketing decisions (e.g., advertising) in an effort to change the attitude. For companies competing against strong rivals to whom loyal consumers exhibit a positive attitude, an important strategy is to work to see why consumers feel positive toward the competitor and then try to meet or beat the competitor on these issues. Alternatively, a company can try to locate customers who feel negatively toward the competitor and then increase awareness among this group.

Internal Influences: PersonalityAn individuals personality relates to perceived personal characteristics that are consistently exhibited, especially when one acts in the presence of others. In most, but not all, cases the behaviors one projects in a situation is similar to the behaviors a person exhibits in another situation. In this way personality is the sum of sensory experiences others get from experiencing a person (i.e., how one talks, reacts). While ones personality is often interpreted by those we interact with, the person has their own vision of their personality, called Self Concept, which may or may not be the same has how others view us.Marketing Implications:For marketers it is important to know that consumers make purchase decisions to support their self concept. Using research techniques to identify how customers view themselves may give marketers insight into products and promotion options that are not readily apparent. For example, when examining consumers a marketer may initially build marketing strategy around more obvious clues to consumption behavior, such as consumers demographic indicators (e.g., age, occupation, income). However, in-depth research may yield information that shows consumers are purchasing products to fulfill self-concept objectives that have little to do with the demographic category they fall into (e.g., senior citizen may be making purchases that make them feel younger). Appealing to the consumers self concept needs could expand the market to which the product is targeted.Internal Influences: LifePerformenceThis influencing factor relates to the way we live through the activities we engage in and interests we express. In simple terms it is what we value out of life. LifePerformence is often determined by how we spend our time and money. Marketing Implications:Products and services are purchased to support consumers life Performences. Marketers have worked hard researching how consumers in their target markets live their lives since this information is key to developing products, suggesting promotional strategies and even determining how best to distribute products. The fact that life Performence is so directly tied to marketing activity will be further examined as we discuss developing target market strategies.Internal Influences: MotivationMotivation relates to our desire to achieve a certain outcome. Many internal factors we have already discussed can affect a customers desire to achieve a certain outcome but there are others. For instance, when it comes to making purchase decisions customers motivation could be affected by such issues as financial position, time constraints, overall value, and perceived risk. Marketing Implications:Motivation is also closely tied to the concept of Involvement, which relates to how much effort the consumer will exert in making a decision. Highly motivated consumers will want to get mentally and physically involved in the purchase process. Not all products have a high percentage of highly involved customers (e.g., milk) but marketers who market products and services that may lead to high level of consumer involvement should prepare options that will be attractive to this group. For instance, marketers should make it easy for consumers to learn about their product (e.g., information on website, free video preview) and, for some products, allow customers to experience the product (e.g., free trial) before committing to the purchaseInternal Influences: RolesRoles represent the position we feel we hold or others feel we should hold when dealing in a group environment. These positions carry certain responsibilities yet it is important to understand that some of these responsibilities may, in fact, be perceived and not spelled out or even accepted by others. In support of their roles, consumers will make product choices that may vary depending on which role they are assuming. As illustration, a person who is responsible for selecting snack food for an office party his boss will attend may choose higher quality products than he would choose when selecting snacks for his family. Marketing Implications:Advertisers often show how the benefits of their products aid consumers as they perform certain roles. Typically the underlying message of this promotional approach is to suggest that using the advertisers product will help raise ones status in the eyes of others while using a competitors product may have a negative effect on status.External Influences: CultureConsumer purchasing decisions are often affected by factors that are outside of their control but have direct or indirect impact on how we live and what we consume. One example of this are cultural factorsCulture represents the behavior, beliefs and, in many cases, the way we act learned by interacting or observing other members of society. In this way much of what we do is shared behavior, passed along from one member of society to another. Yet culture is a broad concept that, while of interest to marketers, is not nearly as important as understanding what occurs within smaller groups or Sub-Cultures to which we may also belong. Sub-cultures also have shared values but this occurs within smaller groups. For instance, sub-cultures exist where groups share similar values in terms of ethnicity, religious beliefs, geographic location, special interests and many others.Marketing Implications:As part of their efforts to convince customers to purchase their products, marketers often use cultural representations, especially in promotional appeals. The objective is to connect to consumers using cultural references that are easily understood and often embraced by the consumer. By doing so the marketer hopes the consumer feels more comfortable with or can relate better to the product since it corresponds with their cultural values. Additionally, smart marketers use strong research efforts in an attempt to identify differences in how sub-culture behaves. These efforts help pave the way for spotting trends within a sub-culture, which the marketer can capitalize on through new marketing tactics (e.g., new products, new sales channels, added value, etc.).External Influences: Group MembershipIn addition to cultural influences, consumers belong to many other groups with which they share certain characteristics and which may influence purchase decisions. Often these groups contain Opinion Leaders or others who have major influence on what the customer purchases. Some of the basic groups we may belong to include: Social Class represents the social standing one has within a society based on such factors as income level, education, occupation Family ones family situation can have a strong effect on how purchase decisions are made Reference groups most consumers simultaneously belong to many other groups with which they associate or, in some cases, feel the need to disassociate Marketing Implications :Identifying and understanding the groups consumers belong to is a key strategy for marketers. Doing so helps identify target markets, develop new products, and create appealing marketing promotions to which consumers can relate. In particular, marketers seek to locate group leaders and others to whom members of the group look for advice or direction. These opinion leaders, if well respected by the group, can be used to gain insight into group behavior and if these opinion leaders accept promotional opportunities could act as effective spokespeople for the marketers products.External Influences: Purchase SituationPurchase SituationA purchase decision can be strongly affected by the situation in which people find themselves. In general, a situation is the circumstances a person faces when making a purchase decision, such as the nature of their physical environment, their emotional state, or time constraints. Not all situations are controllable, in which case a consumer may not follow their normal process for making a purchase decision. For instance, if a person needs a product quickly and a store does not carry the brand they normally purchase, the customer may choose a competitors product. Marketing Implications:Marketers can take advantage of decisions made in uncontrollable situations in at least two ways. First, marketers can use promotional methods to reinforce a specific selection of products when the consumer is confronted with a particular situation. For example, automotive services can be purchased that promise to service vehicles if the user runs into problems anywhere and at anytime. Second, marketers can use marketing methods that attempt to convince consumers that a situation is less likely to occur if the marketers product is used. This can also be seen with auto products, where marketers explain that using their product will prevent unexpected damage to their vehicles. Types of Consumer Purchase DecisionsConsumers are faced with purchase decisions nearly every day. But not all decisions are treated the same. Some decisions are more complex than others and thus require more effort by the consumer. Other decisions are fairly routine and require little effort. In general, consumers face four types of purchase decisions: Minor New Purchase these purchases represent something new to a consumer but in the customers mind is not a very important purchase in terms of need, money or other reason (e.g., status within a group). Minor Re-Purchase these are the most routine of all purchases and often the consumer returns to purchase the same product without giving much thought to other product options (i.e., consumer is brand loyalty). Major New Purchase these purchases are the most difficult of all purchases because the product being purchased is important to the consumer but the consumer has little or no previous experience making these decisions. The consumers lack of confidence in making this type of decision often (but not always) requires the consumer to engage in an extensive decision-making process.. Major Re-Purchase - these purchase decisions are also important to the consumer but the consumer feels confident in making these decisions since they have previous experience purchasing the product.For marketers it is important to understand how consumers treat the purchase decisions they face. If a company is targeting customers who feel a purchase decision is difficult (i.e., Major New Purchase), their marketing strategy may vary greatly from a company targeting customers who view the purchase decision as routine. In fact, the same company may face both situations at the same time; for some the product is new, while other customers see the purchase as routine. The implication of buying behavior for marketers is that different buying situations require different marketing efforts.

How Consumers BuySo now that we have discussed the factors influencing a consumers decision to purchase, lets examine the process itself. This process is presented in a sequence of 5 steps as shown below.

However, whether a consumer will actually carryout each step depends on the type of purchase decision that is faced. For instance, for minor re-purchases the consumer may be quite loyal to the same brand, thus the decision is a routine one (i.e., buy the same product) and little effort is involved in making a purchase decision. In cases of routine, brand loyal purchases consumers may skip several steps in the purchasing process since they know exactly what they want allowing the consumer to move quickly through the steps. But for more complex decisions, such as Major New Purchases, the purchasing process can extend for days, weeks, months or longer. So in presenting these steps marketers should realize that, depending on the circumstances surrounding the purchase, the importance of each step may vary. Purchase Decision Steps 1 and 21. Need/Want/Desire is RecognizedIn the first step the consumer has determined that for some reason he/she is not satisfied (i.e., consumers perceived actual condition) and wants to improve his/her situation (i.e., consumers perceived desired condition). For instance, internal triggers, such as hunger or thirst, may tell the consumer that food or drink is needed. External factors can also trigger consumers needs. Marketers are particularly good at this through advertising, in-store displays and even the intentional use of scent (e.g., perfume counters). At this stage the decision-making process may stall if the consumer is not motivated to continue (see Motivation above). However, if the consumer does have the internal drive to satisfy the need they will continue to the next step.2. Search for InformationAssuming consumers are motivated to satisfy his or her need, they will next undertake a search for information on possible solutions. The sources used to acquire this information may be as simple as remembering information from past experience (i.e., memory) or the consumer may expend considerable effort to locate information from outside sources (e.g., Internet search, talk with others, etc.). How much effort the consumer directs toward searching depends on such factors as: the importance of satisfying the need, familiarity with available solutions, and the amount of time available to search. To appeal to consumers who are at the search stage, marketers should make efforts to ensure consumers can locate information related to their product. For example, for marketers whose customers rely on the Internet for information gathering, attaining high rankings in search engines has become a critical marketing objective.Purchase Decision Steps 3, 4 and 53. Evaluate OptionsConsumers search efforts may result in a set of options from which a choice can be made. It should be noted that there may be two levels to this stage. At level one the consumer may create a set of possible solutions to their needs (i.e., product types) while at level two the consumer may be evaluating particular products (i.e., brands) within each solution. For example, a consumer who needs to replace a television has multiple solutions to choose from such as plasma, LCD and CRT televisions. Within each solution type will be multiple brands from which to choose. Marketers need to understand how consumers evaluate product options and why some products are included while others are not. Most importantly, marketers must determine which criteria consumers are using in their selection of possible options and how each criterion is evaluated. Returning to the television example, marketing tactics will be most effective when the marketer can tailor their efforts by knowing what benefits are most important to consumers when selecting options (e.g., picture quality, brand name, screen size, etc.) and then determine the order of importance of each benefit.4. PurchaseIn many cases the solution chosen by the consumer is the same as the product whose evaluation is the highest. However, this may change when it is actually time to make the purchase. The "intended" purchase may be altered at the time of purchase for many reasons such as: the product is out-of-stock, a competitor offers an incentive at the point-of-purchase (e.g., store salesperson mentions a competitors offer), the customer lacks the necessary funds (e.g., credit card not working), or members of the consumers reference group take a negative view of the purchase (e.g., friend is critical of purchase). Marketers whose product is most desirable to the consumer must make sure that the transaction goes smoothly. For example, Internet retailers have worked hard to prevent consumers from abandoning online purchase (i.e., online shopping carts) by streamlining the checkout process. For marketers whose product is not the consumers selected product, last chance marketing efforts may be worth exploring, such as offering incentives to store personnel to "talk up" their product at the checkout line.5. After-Purchase EvaluationOnce the consumer has made the purchase they are faced with an evaluation of the decision. If the product performs below the consumers expectation then he/she will re-evaluate satisfaction with the decision, which at its extreme may result in the consumer returning the product while in less extreme situations the consumer will retain the purchased item but may take a negative view of the product. Such evaluations are more likely to occur in cases of expensive or highly important purchases. To help ease the concerns consumers have with their purchase evaluation, marketers need to be receptive and even encourage consumer contact. Customer service centers and follow-up market research are useful tools in helping to address purchasers concerns.

CHAPTER-IV DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

1. Age group of the respondents:

AgeNo of respondentsPercentage of respondents

18-2888

28-382828

38-481010

Above 485454

Total100100

Interpretation From the above table, 8% of the respondents belong to the age group of 18-28 years, 28% of the respondents belong to the age group of 28-38 years, 10% of the respondents belong to the age group of 38-48 years, 54% of the respondents belong to the age group of above 48 years.

2. Occupation of the respondents:

OccupationNo of respondentsPercentage of respondents

Student00

Business5050

Private employee3232

Govt employee1818

Total100100

Interpretation from the above table 0% of the respondents are students, 50% of the respondents are businessmen, 32% of the respondents are private employee, 18% of the respondents are govt employee.

3. Type of cement that the respondent is wanting:

Type of cementNo of respondentsPercentage of respondents

53 grade5151

43 grade1414

Opc grade2626

Ppc grade099

Total100100

Interpretation from the above table 51%of the respondents are wanting kesoram 53 grade cement. 14%of the respondents are wanting 43 grade cements. 26%of the respondents are wanting opc cement.9% of the respondents are wanting ppc cement. 4. Satisfaction with kesoram cement?KesoramPerformanceTransportFeaturesPricePakingReliabilityBrand image

Excellent10252402050820

Very good25241518060220

Good