PROJECT REPORT

ON

“Research Analysis on Consumer Buying Behavior in

order to generate sales for outlook Magazines”

Under the Guidance of-:

Mr. V.P Arora (Faculty guide)

Mr. Madhusudan Mehar (External mentor) Team Leader

Submitted by-:

Ratika Nagpal
Roll no.-107

PGDM (2010-12)

1
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the

Project Report entitled

“Research Analysis on Consumer Buying Behavior in order to

generate sales for outlook Magazines”

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

Requirements for the

POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT

FROM
JIMS KALKAJI, NEWDELHI

By

RATIKA NAGPAL

has worked under my supervision and guidance and

that no part of this report has been submitted for the award of
any other Degree, Diploma, Fellowship or other similar titles or prizes
and that the work has not been published in any journal or magazine.

Certified,

INTERNAL MENTOR EXTERNAL MENTOR

(Mr. V.P. ARORA) (Mr. MADHUSUDAN MEHAR)

2
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled “RESEARCH ANALYSIS ON CONSUMER
BUYING BEHAVIOUR IN ORDER TO GENERATE SALES FOR OUTLOOK MAGAZINES
“submitted for the POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT is my original
work and the Project Report has not formed the basis for the award of any degree,
diploma, associated, or other similar title.

Date

Place

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Behind every achievement lies an unfathomable sea of gratitude to those who have
extended their support and without whom it would never have come into existence. To
them we say our words of gratitude.

I would like to express my deepest sense of gratitude to Mr. Himanshu Pandey,

National Sales Manager for giving me this opportunity to undergo Summer Training at
Outlook India Ltd. I would also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to him for his
constant encouragement and valuable insight, guidance and facilities at all phases of
the project.

I would also like to acknowledge the support and guidance of Mr. Madhusudan Mehar,
Team Leader, Outlook India Ltd. Without his help and encouragement it would have
been practically impossible to complete this project.

Last but not least we are also thankful to the entire Summer Placement Team who
helped us in getting our Summer Placements at outlook.

RATIKA NAGPAL

PGDM (2010-2012)

Roll No. 107

JIMS

4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No Title Page No.

1. Executive Summary 6
2. Industry Profile 8
3. Company Profile 9
4. Products 15
5 Competition 22
6. SWOT Analysis 25
7. Introduction 27
8. Research Methodology 33
9. Analysis & Interpretation 35
10. Findings 44
11. Results 49
12. Learning 50
13. Suggestions 51
14. Limitations 52
15. Conclusion 53
16. Reference 54
17. Annexure 55

5
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Print Media, as anyone can understand is one of the most important factors coming
through in the way a nation works. Newspapers, magazines, books etc. are ready by a
lot of people and are certainly one of the most trusted mediums of National and
International News.
Outlook is part of the RAJAN RAHEJA GROUP which made its beginning in the
construction business and after building a huge presence in the realty market, the group
diversified laterally into manufacturing , financial services and media. The magazine
division of Outlook consists of OUTLOOK ENGLISH, OUTLOOK MONEY, OUTLOOK
PROFIT, OUTLOOK TRAVELLER, OUTLOOK SAPTHAIK, OUTLOOK BUSINESS,
MARIE CLAIRE, GEO AND CAREER 360.

Object of project includes:

PRIMARY:-

 Generation of sales for outlook’s magazines subscription .

 Analyze the client’s response affecting the level of sales and list out potential
clients in each segment.

SECONDARY:-

 To extract my potential to the fullest and use it for the benefit of the company and
my own self by achieving a remarkable sales target.
 To work on improving convincing skills.

Target given was 60 subscription per month and the process used for selling
subscription includes Prospecting, Gathering information about a client and the key

6
decision maker, Pre-approaching, Approaching the interested suspects, Presentation,
Proposal, Follow up, Objection handling, Settled terms and conditions, Contract and
delivery.

In this project sample 150 respondents have been collected around Delhi NCR region,
In order to gather information about the preferences of the customer and the varieties of
choices of magazines by different customers. The technique used was

 Questionnaire method

The various methods used for selling was corporate canopies, cold calls, stalls etc And
it was found that corporate canopies is the best method to get maximum sales as
people believe what they see more than they hear .half of the total sales come from
canopies which were set up in highly reputed offices like CONVERGYS, GENPACT,
MARUTI SUZUKI, IIFCO TOKIO.

Giving the consumer what they want (and the research has the wish list of things that
the consumer would like to see in a magazine subscription) may not always be practical
or economically viable for publishers. Yet to ignore completely what they want, which
same publishers seen inclined to do, is commercial suicide.

So there is an opportunity to turn subscription from a cold, business transaction into a

real relationship from a “contract” into a “services”. When that happens, then loyalty
flows automatically. That is the real subscription challenges for the industry.

The majority of non-subscriber has not actively rejected subscribing, but simply need
more convincing.

In addition, gift subscription offer significant growth opportunities , but consumer

awareness of them appears to be relatively low and gifting process could be made to be
more of an “event” and to give the recipient more choice and freedom in their little
selection.

Moreover it was concluded that there are a lot of potential subscribers who need just a
little extra something to make them subscribe.

7
 INDUSTRY PROFILE
There are the two main sources of obtaining data to determine readership of any
publication:

 National Readership Survey – NRS

 Indian Readership Survey - IRS

National Readership Survey is a survey on all media, but especially the print medium,
conducted by the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC) - supported by Audit
Bureau of Circulation (ABC), Advertising Agencies association of India (AAAI) & Indian
Newspapers Society.

It investigates the readership of about 80 major Indian publications-dailies, weeklies, bi-

weeklies and monthlies-in over 475 towns of 57 regions across the length and breadth
of the country. The towns, selected, however are publication centres of dailies. By
process of ‘systematic sampling,’ over 55,000 households in these towns are surveyed,
the number of households in each town proportionate to it population. All men and
womenfolk above the age 15 are questioned for about half an hour on the basis of a
structured questionnaire.

It claimed to be the most thorough readership survey in the country. It provides

exhaustive data (available to its clients on computer disks) readership, radio listenership
profile’-the socio economic characteristics of the readers of various publications, of
cinema and TV viewers, and of listeners to radio, as well as the degree of duplication
among publications and between media. Research agencies involved are: IMRB, TNS
Sofres Mode, and AC Nielsen in collaboration with ORG.

8
Indian Readership Survey is conducted by the Media Research Users Council
(MRUC). IRS 2002 is the largest continuous media survey ever conducted (sample size
of 229,000 individuals) providing a single-source database for demographics, media
habits and product / brand usage across 986 towns and 2858 villages in India. The
survey was conducted over two rounds with the field work between November 2001 and
November 2002.

This all-India survey conducted jointly with the Media Research Users' Council (MRUC)
also provides product / brand penetration information for over 50 different products
allowing one to link media habits and product usage data for adults and children from
the age of 12 years.

Both NRS & IRS

Gives media consumption habits, product ownership & consumption, lifestyle indicators
information on macro demographic & geographic parameters.

 Population coverage: 12 years & above

 Sample size: over 200, 000
 Geographic coverage: All India (Urban + Rural)

Sample Frame: Electoral rolls based on 2001 Census definition of Urban Agglomeration

9
 COMPANY PROFILE

RAJAN RAHEJA
GROUP

10
 The Rajan Raheja Group is a diversified conglomerate which has interests in
sectors such as building materials (through Prism Cement, H&R Johnson (India)
and RMC Ready-mix (India)), automotive and industrial batteries (Exide
Industries), cable T.V. (Hathway Cable & Datacom and Asianet Satellite
Communications), financial services (in life insurance and asset management
through joint ventures with ING), publishing (OUTLOOK group), retail (Globus,
H&R Johnson (India) TBK, Food world and Health & Glow), real estate
development, software, petrochemicals and hotels.

OUTLOOK: In October 1995, group company Hathway Investments Private Limited

entered the print media. OUTLOOK, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta,
galvanized a sluggish market reeling under the impact of satellite TV.
OUTLOOK quickly carved a significant niche for itself among discerning readers who
value its in-depth, investigative reporting as well as its stylish visual format. Known to
be fiercely independent, OUTLOOK has shaken the establishment on events ranging
from Kargil to Kashmir to cricket, sensitized the reading public to important issues like
big dams, education and gender, and provided an unremitting focus on South Asian
geopolitics.
Today, OUTLOOK is the preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in India, and sells
more than 11.2 million copies over the year.

11
 Sales
HR
Functional Marketing
department
Finance Operations

12
 OUTLOOK UMBRELLA

MAGAZINE INTERNET EVENTS BOOK

DIVISION DIVISION DIVISION DIVISION

OUTLOOK
outlook OUTLOOK
MONEY India.com SPEAK OUT
OUTLOOK
PROFIT GETAWAYS
TRAVELLER outlook TRAVELLER
money.com AWARDS
GEO
MARIE
CLAIRE outlook MONEY
BUSINESS traveller
AWARDS
.com
PEOPLE OUTLOOK
GUIDES
CAREERS outlook PERSONAL
360 business FINANCE
NEWSWEEK .com SHOW

13
 PRODUCTS

PROFIT

The premium fortnightly that packs market intelligence & incisive analysis of the
stock market, while capturing emerging trends & tracking market experts & their moves.
This magazine tells you which stock you should buy or avoid, also contains comparative
figures of domestic and international market, and if you want to update your knowledge
related to automobiles and movie reviews then this is one of the best magazines for our
readers

PEOPLE

The OUTLOOK Group has reached an agreement with U.S. based publishing company
Time Inc. to bring ‘People’, one of its most successful and popular editorial products to
India in 2008. Time Inc. which is the largest publisher in the U.S. and U.K, redefined
personality journalism in 1974 with ‘People’ magazine and its unique mix of news and
lifestyle features. Every week the ‘People’ brand reaches 43 million readers with latest
news, exclusive interviews and in-depth reporting on the most compelling people of our
time.

BUSINESS

OUTLOOK Business, in the true tradition of the OUTLOOK group, has as its aim no less
an objective than the complete rewrite of what has been tried by the way of business
journalism in the magazine space. Targeted at decision makers, the product focuses on
important business issues and developments with a view to providing clear takeaways –

14
impact and implications for decision-making. A holistic approach ensures all influences
on business: economic, political, and markets driven are examined.

MONEY

In July 1998, the Group launched "Intelligent Investor" re-christened as "OUTLOOK

MONEY" as of 30-Nov-2002, India's first personal finance magazine, which offers sound
strategies for the lay investor, especially the growing segment of salaried middle and
upper middle-class and self-employed professionals. Its message is clear and simple:
'Invest well, borrow wisely, and spend smartly'. Evidently, that message has gone down
well: the magazine sold upwards of 1, 00,000 copies a fortnight within a year. One of its
distinguishing characteristics is that about 93 per cent of readers retain all past issues of
OUTLOOK Money.

NEWSWEEK

It‘s a weekly magazine. It covers international affairs this magazine was honored by
best magazine award at international level in 05. News week offers comprehensive
coverage of world events with a global network of correspondents, reporters and editors
covering national and international affairs, business, science and technology, society
and arts and entertainment. It is truly a magazine, which fuels the global perspective.

TRAVELLER

OUTLOOK Traveller is a monthly magazine from the stable of OUTLOOK Publishing

India Pvt. Limited and the only significant magazine aimed at the travel reader. Every
month since June 2001 OT has introduced readers to the wonders of unknown
destinations while also encouraging travelers to take a fresh look at familiar places.

15
Whether people are planning a holiday, or simply dreaming of one, OUTLOOK Traveller
continues to take them closer.

GEO

The European print media company owned by the German media major Bertelsmann, is
making its India debut with GEO, its premium science and geography magazine. The
magazine was launched under a licensing arrangement with the OUTLOOK Group in
India and positioned as a family magazine. The OUTLOOK Group says that there is a
big market for knowledge magazines in India and GEO will help the Group in increasing
its market share.

MARIE CLAIRE

MC is French magazine and being promoted by different group in different countries

and in India it is being promoted by OUTLOOK Group with Indian edition, best
magazine for those who want to update themselves with latest fashion & trends. Mostly
women and girls, who are linked with fashion, subscribe this magazine. MC is
considered as women brand with a punch line, ‘let me be me’.

CAREERS 360

It gives you an all around perspective on the latest career trends, fresh avenues,
admission alerts, careers, courses and updates your general knowledge with the
literacy rate of different states and courses offered by colleges in these states. This
magazine contains well researched information for the youth and youngsters.

16
 PROMOTIONAL OFFERS
Newsstand Sub
Magazines Term Issues Price Price Assured Free Gift

1 Outlook Magazine 3 year 153 3825 1999 five travel guides (worth Rs 295)
1 year 51 1275 799 One travel guide (worth Rs 295/-)

2 GEO 3 year 36 3600 1599 Rucksack Bag (worth Rs.1200/-)

2 year 24 2400 1099 Overnight Laptop Bag
1 year 12 1200 549 Traveller's Waist Pouch

3 Marie Claire 3 year 36 3600 2999 Get Hidesign bag

2 year 24 2400 1999 H2O hamper

4 Outlook Traveller 3 year 36 3600 1499 Rucksack Bag (worth Rs.1200)

2 year 24 2400 999 Travel Waist Pouch
1 year 12 1200 549 3-in-1 Travel Kit (worth Rs.400)

5 Outlook Money 5 year 130 3900 1950 N/A

3 year 78 2340 1399 N/A
1 year 26 780 525 N/A

6 People 3 year 78 3120 1999 Stylish People Mug

1 year 26 1040 999 Stylish People Mug

7 Outlook Business 3 year 78 1950 1199 one year subscription top-up

1 year 26 650 499 3 months subscription top-up

8 Newsweek 2 year 104 7800 2200 N/A

1 year 52 3800 1200 N/A
6 month 26 1950 799 N/A

9 Buisnessweek 1 year 51 8925 5000 N.A

10 Outlook + newsweek 1 year` 51 - 52 5175 999 N.A

17
18
19
 SUPPLY CHAIN

The main proposition or usp of outlook on which they compete with other brand is the
distribution channel. Copies were send to the press for publishing on Friday night and
on Saturday morning it was boarded from airport and send to all major hubs through
metro’s as well as tire 2 and tire 3 cities from where copies being distributed to vendor,
news stand, hawker. Moreover outlook has a hub in top ten metro cities where the
magazine are delivered directly to the individuals. Other than this they use postal
authorities for timely delivery of magazines. Metro cities include:

NORTH- Delhi, NCR, Chandigarh and Lucknow.

WEST- Ahmadabad, Mumbai, and Pune.

EAST- Calcutta.

SOUTH- Bangalore, Hyderabad and madras.

Based on the place where offices are located company simply uses courier delivery
services rather than postal services. Earlier outlook use to outsource courier services
now they had a contract for job outlook magazine. All magazine are delivered
personally. Other than this places like Kota, Jaipur, Manesar and Agra where there are
no offices magazine are delivered through local post if not delivered properly than it is
being send through UPC a registered services so that it reaches on time

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 4 P’S

PRICE:-

The pricing is decided on analyzing the competitors pricing strategy. Even a slight
decrease in price account for high profit. The price of outlook magazine vary for Rs
25(outlook) to Rs 100(Marie Claire) depending on the money invest for each magazine
and seeing the target market.Subscription offer have to be a mode to save so they are a
value for money as its cheaper than individual magazine with a marked difference.

PRODUCT:-

The company defines each product according to various segments and is trying to cover
each segment.Magazine like MARIE CLAIRE aim women and girls of elite and middle
class. At the same time magazine like outlook money and outlook business aims at
corporate world and working class. Outlook saptahik is mainly for people with limited
access to English. Every product aims at a particular target market and age group.

PLACE:-

Place is selected according to the product keeping in mind its target market and the age
group. Magazine that have high probability to be sold among the elite class are target to
malls etc, whereas health and fashion magazine are targeted to saloons, fitness clubs
and spa. Travel magazine are generally targeted towards airports, car rentals etc. The
place of selling affects the sales tremendously.

PROMOTION:-

Outlook India adopts a promotional strategy that aims at organizing events in malls and
offering free subscription as gift.Hoarding, banner and new plan are a great way
adopted by outlook to promote their magazine. It aims at shelter, airport for its
promotion and advertising as mass crowd present in these areas

21
 COMPETITION

MARKET SHARE

OUTLOOK 25%
INDIA TODAY 32%
BUSINESS TODAY 12%
OTHERS 31%

MARKET SHARE

31% 25%
OUTLOOK
INDIA TODAY
12% BUSINESS TODAY
32%
OTHERS

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 OUTLOOK Quarterly Sales
Apr - Jun Jul - Sep Oct - Dec Jan - Mar

22%
29%

14%
35%

Fig. 1

In fig. 1, OUTLOOK quarterly sales doughnut is being described and it is observed

that during 2nd quarter (Jul – Sep) and 4th quarter (Jan – Mar) maximum revenue is
earned reasons thereof are as follows:

1. In the middle of 1st and 2nd quarter, company appoints college interns, who
are really enthusiastic and focused towards their work. Secondly, company
launches Bonanza offers during this period.

23
 2. During last quarter, every employee gives his/her best performance to
achieve the annual targets and company earns maximum profit through
its‘Subscription & Retail division’.

SOURCES OF FINANCING

SUBSCRIPTION
DIVISION
20%

ADVERTISEMENT
45%

RETAIL DIVISION
30%

EVENT
SPONSORSHIP
5%
Fig. 3

In fig. 3, it is clearly shown that Advertisement division gives 45% revenue

followed by Retail (30%), Subscription division (20%) and Events Sponsorship
i.e. only 5%. Group earns maximum revenue by publishing advertisement in
their magazines, retail and subscription division together gives good figures to
the Group by circulating 1.5 million copies. Similarly, small but effective division,
Event sponsorship also contributes by organizing Award ceremonies.
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 SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS:

 Well organized and experienced staff.

 Innovative and customer oriented products.
 Direct approach to the customer.
 Customer satisfaction.
 Strong distribution network.
 Efficient and fast delivery system.
 Good subscription gifts.
 Have separate group for Hindi magazines

WEAKNESS:

 Price of some magazines is high.

 They are reluctant in promoting some of their own products .

OPPORTUNITIES:
 It has many products capturing all sectors information so it has an opportunity to become
a market leader.
 Career 360 is a very good career magazine.

THREATS:

 Existing competitors in the market.

 India today has already captured the big market share.

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 MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED

1. Mass impersonal selling methods (Advertising).

Pull Blend.

2. Face to face personal selling (Salesman ship).

Push Blend.

Both of these are closely related to the Channel of Distribution.

1. A Pull Blend is one in which mass impersonal, sales efforts are given the greatest
emphasis. The purpose of pull blends to pre-sell to the final consumers so that they
demand the product at the retail level of distribution.
The firm adopting this strategy would spend more on advertising and sales promotion
rather than in personal selling.

2. A Push Blend emphasizes personal selling. Naturally firms adopting this method
develop a strong sales force at both the distributor and the dealer level; this method
would tend to push the product through the channel of distribution.

26
 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT:

Generating sales in any company is the most intresting and most difficult part.It requires
a lot of market research to analyze the consumer behavior so that we can make our
product and services according to their needs. We have to design our sales promotion
strategies in such a way the maximum people are attracted by it. In our two months we
have done many things which include most of the above said techniques and strategies
which have made our product (OUTLOOK MAGAZINES) a market leader.

We have products which cater to each and every segment of market e.g. Outlook
English, Outlook Money, Outlook Profit, Outlook Business, Outlook Traveller, Marie
Claire, Geo and career 360.

Outlook group was started in 1995 since then it has established itself in the market of
print media. They have been also successful with different products they have launched
in addition to their basic magazine outlook English. Outlook also has a very dedicated
site which gives a very good insight into the outlook group.

27
 OBJECTIVES

PRIMARY:-

 Generation of sales for outlook’s magazines subscription and meet the target of 2
subscription of outlook (mainly) per day. It can also include the other magazines
Of outlook also like outlook traveler, business, Marie Claire, news weekend
money.

 Analyze the client’s response affecting the level of sales and list out potential
clients in each segment.

SECONDARY:-

 To extract my potential to the fullest and use it for the benefit of the company and
my own self by achieving a remarkable sales target.
 To work on improving convincing skills.

28
 SALES PROCES

PROSPECTING
Prepared a comprehensive list of prospective clients in each segment. After the
segments were identified, a list of prospective clients was made in segment with the
help of Internet and telephone Directory services. The list consisted of all details of the
clients including name, address, and telephone number etc.

GATERING INFORMATION ABOUT A CLIENT AND THE KEY

DECISION MAKER
This step consisted of gathering information about the clients as to whether they are
currently taking any magazines and at what prices. Also the key decision maker in the
company was determined and his/her details were found out.

PRE-APPROACHING
The next step involved calling up the decision maker in the client organization and
making him interested in the product and taking an appointment with him/her.

APPROACHING THE INTERESTED SUSPECTS

Once an appointment was taken, the next step was to meet the client on the appointed
time.

PRESENTATION
The appointment began with asking the client to explain their business in detail. The
client was asked if he is buying any other magazines and if yes, at what price.
Information regarding magazines being already a part of his business was extracted
from the client. Then detailed information regarding features of the product and its edge
over the competitors was explained to the client. The various options like free pouch

29
and free UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON T-Shirt were offered to him. Sample copies
were shown to display the various options.All the efforts were made to convince the
clients to buy the magazine by offering him various schemes, gifts and range of
subscriptions.

PROPOSAL
If the client showed interest in proposition offered to him, the next step was to offer a
proposal. The proposal consists of various details like price, option being offered and
other details about the delivery, payment in advance etc.

FOLLOW UP
Once the proposal was offered, follow up is required until the decision maker in the
organization takes a decision regarding ordering and the number of copies to be
ordered.

OBJECTION HANDLING
Various issues were settled. Many of the clients demanded reduction in the amount by
not accepting the T-Shirt. Moreover, few government officials wanted to make the
payment through cheque which contradicted the company terms, but, it was accepted
if the personnel appealed to be trustworthy and held a reputed and respectful position.
Various queries regarding proper and timely delivery were solved.

SETTLED TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Once the client showed his readiness to order, the terms and conditions were settled
him with regard to type of subscription , delivery – whether it is single point or multipoint,
payment in advance , time period of subscription. A customized sample copy and the
assured gift was also shown to the client and his approval was seeked.

CONTRACT
Once all the terms and conditions were settled, the agreement was made. The
agreement consisted of all the terms and conditions agreeable to both the parties and
was duly signed by both the parties i.e. the client and Outlook.

30
DELIEVERY
The clients gave all the details of delivery to Outlook as to whether the magazines were
to be delivered to the client or at his place. All the address details of the client was
taken. After the magazines were delivered, the Proof of Delivery (POD) was shown in
the office. If any copies were undeleivered due to any reason, the client was informed
about it.

31
STALL AT DIFFERENT CORPORATES

32
 Research Methodology
Study Background
To understand the Sales Process carried out in the organization, Outook is keen to be
able to make its process more efficient by reducing the delivery time required between
various steps in the whole process, understand user dynamics across different types of
clientel and using all enquiries to be converted into final orders.

Action Plan of the project

The action plan for the project consisted of step by step procedure. It started with
problem recognition i.e. less efficient sales process- that took more and more time to
convert follow ups into a final order, thus a research was conducted to find out
consumer buying behaviour. Then with the help of questionnaire survey method, a small
sample size of 150 was taken and a survey was done randomly at Delhi NCR region.

Relevance of the study

Being an internee at Outlook, it was very important for me to find out the reason why
India Today captured the major portion of the market, even after Outlook has been
segmenting it’s magazine for every kind of mass. So in order to maintain its market
leader position the organization needs to have a competitive advantage over other
which it can achieve by being efficient enough to delivery in a short span of time. They
are spread worldwide and looking at the growth potential in India, they are also willing to
develop manufacturing facilities at various locations as well in the future.

Project Objective:

To study the consumer buying behaviour of magazines.

Research Methodology adopted:

33
Survey method using questionnaire.

Sample size:

The 150 responses were analyzed as asked by the company. The responses have
been taken from Delhi NCR region.

TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION

PRIMARY DATA

In this project I have collected the sample 150 respondents from around Delhi NCR region. I
came to know about the preferences of the customer and the varities of choices of magazines by
different customers.

SAMPLING

Sampling is that part of statistical practice concerned with the selection of individual
observations intended to yield some knowledge about a population of concern, especially for the
purposes of statistical inference. Each observation measures one or more properties (weight,
location, etc.) of an observable entity enumerated to distinguish objects or individuals. Survey
weights often need to be applied to the data to adjust for the sample design. Results from
probability theory and statistical theory are employed to guide practice.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Questionnaire is one of the method used in order to conduct the study. Under this set of questions
were prepared in order to gather information about the behavior of customers about the outlook
magazines and got it filled by the sample size that was 150 .

34
 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Efficiency assessment of the process is based on the inputs from the responses of all
persons concerned with the sales terms of time taken in ach and every step of the
process be it, finalizing the specifications or negotiation or signing of proposal. The
following are the analysis done on basis of the 150 respondents.

What kind of magazines do you read?

Technology
8%

Sports
11% Business
Politics 31%
2%

General Fashion
33% 13%

health
2%

Interpretation:

It was found that majority of the people i.e. 33% read general magazines and business
related magazines, whereas health and politics being the least choice of people.

35
 Which brand magazines do you generally
prefer?
Any AutoCar Business Outlook
Business today Business Today & Sports Star Business World
Chip Cosmopolitan Digit
entrepreneurship femina Filmfare
Forbes General HBR
India Today IndiaTimes New York Times
Outlook Reader Digest sports illustrated
Sportstar sportszone TAXI
Teen Mags Times Times Now
Times Of India Today's Goup Women Era

4% 4%
2% 2%
2% 2%
2%
4%
11%
2%

4%
2%
2%
4%
4%
4%
2%
2% 2%
2%
6% 2%
4%
2%
2% 2%
2%
9% 2% 2%

Interpretation:

The pie chart shows that India Today magazine is generally preferred mostly.

36
 What contents do you exactly look for into a
magazine
Business Cars and Bikes Case studies Sports Current affairs
Defence Politics Fashion Technology True Stories

8% 6%
8%

16%
10%

6%

14%

20%
6%
6%

Interpretation:

The pie chart shows that 20% of the total respondents look for current affairs in a
magazine and 16% take interests in technology related magazines.

37
 What cost range do you prefer?

100-200
Rs50-100
2%
11% Rs10-20
17%

Rs.30-50
36%

Rs 20-30
34%

Interpretation:

The pie diagram shows that 36% of the people between the age group of 20-25 are
interested to purchase magazines between the cost price of Rs 30-50 and hold the
major portion.

38
 What attracts you most towards the magazine?

Cover Page
17%

Content
83%

Interpretation:

From the pie diagram it is confirmed that 83% of the respondent make their purchase
decision according to the contents in the magazine if at all they purchase magazines.

39
 Who/what influences you the purchase
decision?
My self
5%

Colleagues
Peers 16%
16%

Family
9%
Nobody
7%

Mentor
2%
Interest
3%
Friends
42%

Interpretation:

The pie charts shows that 42% of the people agree that they are influenced by their
friends when they go to buy or subscribes magazines.

40
Rating of magazines on the basis of the following attributes

Price
25

20

15

10

0
Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor
Rate your favourite magazine
brand on the basis of following 8 14 21 7 0
attributes. [Price]

41
 Offer
Excellent very Good Good fair Poor

2%

12%
16%

32%

38%

42
 [Contents]
Poor
0%

Fair
4%
Good
14%

Excellent
38%

Very good
44%

Interpretation:

From the diagram it’s seen that majority respondent out of 150 respondents have rated
price and offer as good and contents as very good.

43
 FINDINGS
SUBSCRIPTION BOUGHT

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
men women

Magazines are not only a medium for entertainment and gossip but also provide us
news and information about several things. It is one of the oldest reading medium of
news and entertainment. But, modern consumers form a very difficult “moving target”
time – pressure, difficult to define and characterize, less brand loyal and often wanting
conflicting things from their lives and their product consumption.

They know what publishers are after and they recognize that the commitment of a
subscription as a real value and they want something in return.Based on sales
generation it was analyzed that the magazine market straddles a wide range of
magazines types where the purchasing pattern vary considerably from sector to sector.

The following findings were discovered:

Subscription purchasing has become much stronger among men than women, reflecting
perhaps the shift into women’s weak lives away from the monthly sector. It was

44
observed that maximum subscription buyers were men above 23%of women bought the
magazine showing a drop in women buyers

Monthly sales

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
APRIL MAY JUNE

The monthly sales were highest in the month of May (2865). During the first month there
were 40 trainees which is increased to 60 in the second month so there was a increase
in number of sales The last month showed decline in sales (1600). Bad weather, traffic
jams and reduced time period were the main cause of this decrease.

45
INCREASE IN SUBSCRIBERS IN DELHI/NCR

104000
102000
100000
98000
96000
94000
92000
90000
88000
86000
1st april 7th july

An increase was observed in the last three month which shows that the brand is
climbing the ladder of success and working hard to give neck to neck competition to its
competitors.

46
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
outlook india today the week others

OUTLOOK lies second after India today which is the major competitor to outlook. India
today has its magazines in all segments which make it a tuff competitor .Whereas it
leads The Week and other brand which are quite far from Outlook in performance.

47
SECTOR WISE SALE

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
corporate B2B Car rentals Real state Corporate Coaching Insitutes
Canopies

Corporate canopies are the best way to earn maximum sales as people believe what
they see more than they hear .half of the total sales come from canopies which were set
up in highly reputed offices like CONVERGYS, GENPACT, MARUTI SUZUKI, IIFCO
TOKIO. These companies have high manpower which helps us to increase our clients.
Car rentals gave only 3% of the sales as they ask for subscription in bulk which was not
allotted to us. Corporate B2B stood second after canopies as personal interaction
affected them a lot.

Young students were less interested in buying magazines due to existence of fast
internet work so institutes accounted for only 5% of the sales.

48
 RESULTS

Based on the finding and analysis, there were several inferences drawn out.

 It is clear that the pricing of subscription has become a massive issue for the
magazine industry as the consumer has been trained to think that below –retail
pricing is what subscribing as all about. Yet if the price discount is stripped away,
then what is left in the average subscription offer to make it special.
 Linked to the issue of pricing is the whole area of loyalty. Consumers are very
much aware that the magazine tends to penalize loyalty by offering the best
prices to new consumers. There is no longer in their reaction to that-simply
pragmatic and cynical recognition that this is how the publishing business model
works. Yet their reaction is why they should show any loyalty to publishers in
response. Current publisher practice is not creating any emotional capital or
“glue” between reader and magazine
 The modern consumer demands the right to choose in all aspect of their
shopping. They like the idea of flexible magazine subscription which they can
stop and start, of taking short “breathers” from the subscription or of switching
from magazine to magazine when they feel like it. Paying money upfront does
not seem to be a massive barrier to subscribing; feeling locked into buying one
product.

49
 LEARNING
This training proved to be highly beneficial for me as it trained me for future.

 It increased my practical knowledge and well equipped me with all the

methods and knowledge.

 I learned to deal with people and control my patience level which is a very
important ingredient in the dish of life. I faced all kinds of people and
learned to adopt myself in different situation.

 The training was very useful in studying the services, client’s satisfaction,
consumer behavior, company culture which is vital for us as we are the
future managers who will lead the world.

 It made me polish my internal qualities such as competitiveness, team

spirit, leadership, confidence etc. I adopted good convincing skills and
characteristics to work in different environment

50
 SUGGESTIONS

 Giving the consumer what they want (and the research has the wish list of things
that the consumer would like to see in a magazine subscription) may not always
be practical or economically viable for publishers. Yet to ignore completely what
they want, which same publishers seen inclined to do, is commercial suicide.

 So there is an opportunity to turn subscription from a cold, business transaction

into a real relationship from a “contract” into a “services”. When that happens,
then loyalty flows automatically. That is the real subscription challenges for the
industry.

 Sales efficiency should be increased.

 Company should work upon its internal system, as due to poor control and
coordination there is delay in delivery of magazines.

 Proper training of sales person is required ,their communication skills need to be

improve

51
 LIMITATIONS

 Few of the previous clients were not satisfied so five out 10 clients where
demanding for renewal.

 Much of the time wasted in commuting. Moreover unpleasant weather and

traffic were hindrance in the project.

 Sometimes magazine, gifts, etc were out of stock so many suspects

dropped the subscription.

 Sometimes magazines do not reach on time.

52
 CONCLUSION

THE POTENTIAL FOR SUBSCRIPTION GROWTH

The majority of non-subscriber has not actively rejected subscribing, but simply
need more convincing.

In addition, gift subscription offer significant growth opportunities , but consumer

awareness of them appears to be relatively low and gifting process could be
made to be more of an “event” and to give the recipient more choice and freedom
in their little selection.

Moreover it was concluded that there are a lot of potential subscribers who need
just a little extra something to make them subscribe. These relatively inexpensive
premiums related to business are effective. They increase trial subscription, and
we can sell more efficiently.

53
 REFERENCES

 Outlookindia.com

 National Readership Survey

 Indian Readership Survey

54
 QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Age:

Occupation: Mobile No.

Q1. What kind of magazines do you read?

 General
 Technology
 Fashion
 Business
 Sports
 Health
 politics

Q2. Which brand magazines do you generally prefer?

 India Today
 Outlook
 Business World
 Business Today
 Others

Q3. What contents do you exactly look for into a magazine

 Business
 Politics
 Sports
 Technology
 Current affairs

55
  Defence
 Fashion
 Others

Q4. What cost range do you prefer?

 10-20
 20-30
 30-50
 50-100
 100-200

Q5. What attracts you most towards the magazine?

 Cover Page
 Content

Q6. Who/what influences you the purchase decision?

 Family
 Friends
 Peers
 Colleagues
 Myself
 Mentor
 No one

56
 Q7. Rating of magazines on the basis of the following attributes

Attributes Excellent Very Good Good Fair Bad

price - - - - -

Content - - - - -

Special Offers - - - - -

57
.

58