 INTRODUCTION

 NEED&IMPORTENCE
 OBJECTIVES
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
 LIMITATIONS

INTRODUCTION:
Marketing is the moving and exciting activity in everybody activities. The
sellers, distributors, advertising agencies, consultants, transporters, financers, store
agencies and every one as a counter are part of the marketing system. Any
exchange process be it consumer, goods, intermediary goods, services of ideas,
comes under the preview of marketing. It is very often regarded that the
development of markets and marketing is synonymous with the economic
development of account. Through marketing is an action discipline. In the ever-
growing corporate world, marketing is being regarded as a crucial element for the
success of an Enterprise.

The marketing discipline is undergoing fresh re aparisal in the light of the

vast global, technological, economic and social challenges facing today’s
companies and countries. Marketing at its best is about value creation and raising
the world’s living standards. Today’s winning companies are those who succeed
most in satisfying, indeed delighting their target customers.

As quoted by P.P.Drucker “Marketing is so basic that it cannot be considered

a separate function. It is whole business seen from the point of view of its final
result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Business success is not
determined by the producer but by the customer”.

Philip Kotler has therefore defined marketing as “it is a social and

managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and
want through creating, offering and exchanging products of values with others”.
Many Indian companies espouse a satisfied customer philosophy and describe
marketing as customer-satisfaction engineering. Since the economy in this country
has changed from a primary condition of scarcity to gradual and steady stage of
affluence, largely giving consumers the opportunity to choose among many varied
alternatives, satisfaction has become a major concern of business.

INTRODUTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:

One thing that we have in common is that we all are consumers. In fact
everybody in this world is a consumer. Every day of our life we are buying and
consuming an incredible variety of goods and services. However, we all have
different tastes, likes, dislikes, and adopt different behavior patterns while making
purchase decisions.
 The term consumer behavior refers to the behavior that consumers display in
searching for purchasing using evaluation and disposing in searching for
purchasing using evaluating and disposing of products and services that they exact
will satisfy o how individuals make decisions to send their available resources
(time, money and effort) on consumption related items. It includes the study of
“What they buy”, ”Why they buy”, “When they buy it”, “Where they buy it”, “how
often they buy it” and “how often they use.

DEFINITIONS:

Consumer Behavior (or Buyer Behavior) is broadly defined by various

scholars & researchers as:

1. It’s the behavior displayed by the consumers during the acquisition,

consumption and disposition of products, services, time and ideas by
decision making units.
2. It is the body of knowledge which studies various aspects of purchase and
consumption of products and services by individuals with various social and
psychological variables at play.
3. The behavior that the consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using,
evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will
satisfy their needs.
4. The process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting,
purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as
to satisfy their needs and desires.
5. The activities directly involved in obtaining, consuming, and disposing of
products and services, including the decision processes that precede and
follow these actions.
 6. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines consumer behavior as
“The dynamic interaction of cognition, behavior & environmental events by
which human beings conduct the exchange aspect of their lives.

Consumer behavior is helpful in understanding the purchase Behavior and

preferences of different consumers. As consumers, we differ in terms of sex age,
education, occupation, income, Family setup, religion, nationality and social
status. Because of this different background factors, have different needs and we
have only buy those products and services, which we think, will satisfy our needs.

A MODEL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR:

A consumer decisions to purchase a particular product of service is the result

of complex interplay of a number of variables. The starting point of the decision
process is provided by the companies marketing stimuli in the shape of product,
promotion, price and distribution strategy. Consumer often purchase new products
that are associated with a favorable viewed brand name.

The term consumer behavior refers to the behavior that consumer display in
searching for purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services
that they expect will satisfy these needs. The study of consumer behavior in the
study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time,
money, effort) on consumption related items. It includes the study of “what they
buy”, “why they buy”, “when they buy”, “where they buy”, “how often they buy”
and “how they use”.

MODEL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

 Marketin Other stimuli
g
stimuli

Product Economic
Price Technological
Place Political
Promotio cultural
n

DETAILED MODEL OF

FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

CULTURAL FACTORS:

Culture: Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a persons wants and

behavior like set of values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors through his or
her family member.
Subculture: social classes are relatively homogeneous and enduring divisions in a
society which are hierarchically ordered and whose members shares similar
Values, interest and behavior and social classes includes upper class, middle class
and lower class.

SOCIAL FACTORS:

References Groups: A persons reference groups consist of all the groups that have
a direct (face to face) are indirect influence on the persons altitude or behavior.
This group to which the person, belongs and interacts.

Personal Factors: A consumer decision also influenced by personal characteristics

notably the buyers age & life cycle stage, occupation, economic circumstances,
life style and personality and self concept.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS:

Motivation: A person has many needs at any given time. Some needs are biogenic. They arise
from psychological states of tension such as hunger, tryst and discomfort.

Perception: Perception is defined ass “the process by which an individual selects, organizes,
intercepts, information, inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world.

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Consumer behavior plays a major role for the growth of the company in the modern
market scenario. The basic idea of this study is to find the consumer behavior towards Big
Bazaar. The needs have to be recognized and necessary steps have to be taken to make the
changes.

India is growing rapidly and changes are dynamic. People are changing, the preference
and the demand is changing. The market also has to change accordingly.
 The purpose of consumer behavior is not only for retaining the customers but also
attracting new customers and increasing the sales also creating and maintenance of brand
awareness.

In this competitive market the level of consumer satisfaction decides the success of any
product and any company. The night consumers have to be targeted and the right strategy should
be implemented at the right time. This will give the desired results.
 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective is to determine the current consumer behavior levels of the
customers with regards to Big Bazaar.

 To study and analyze consumer shopping behavior towards Big Bazaar.

 To assess the behavior level of different type of customers shopping at Big

Bazaar.

 To identify what type of strategies are suitable for the company to reach the
targeted customers.

 To find out the factors which influence the consumption of the products in
Big Bazaar.

 To identify effective a advertising sources which are influencing customer

purchasing behavior at Big Bazaar.

 To find out how the consumers spent their incomes, time on the purchasing
of the products.
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The survey technique is intended to secure one or more items of information

from a sample of respondents who are representatives of a larger group. The
information is recorded on a form known as questionnaire. As data are gathered by
asking questions from persons who are believed to have desired information, the
method is known as questionnaire technique.

REASONS FOR WIDE USE OF THIS METHOD:

 It can secure both quantitative and qualitative information directly from the
respondents.
 It is the only method of directly measuring attitudes and motivations.
 It is quite flexible in terms of the types of data to be saaembled, the method
of collection or the timing of research.

Meaning of Research

According to D. Slessinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopedia of social

sciences define research as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for
the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that
knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art”.

TYPES OF RESEARCH

1. Exploratory Research,
2. Descriptive Research.
Exploratory Research:

Exploratory research studies are also termed as formulate research studies.

The main purpose of such studies in that of formulating a problem for more precise
investigation or of developing the working hypothesis forms an operational point
of view.

Descriptive Research:

Diagnostic Research studies determine the frequency with something occurs

or its association with something else.

In this project, information pertaining to customer needs satisfaction and

their demographic profile was collected; hence it is a descriptive research.

1) Primary data:

Meaning: Primary sources of data are the data which

needs the personal efforts of collect it and which are not readily available.

Primary source of data are the other type of source through which the data was
collected.

Following are few ways in the data was collected:

1. Questionnaires: It is the set of questions on a sheet of paper was being given

to the of fill it, bases on which the data was interpreted.
2. Direct interviewing: Direct interviewing involved the process where I asked
the questions directly to the customers and I got the feedback.

2) Secondary data:

Secondary sources are the other important sources through which the data
was collected.

These are the readily available sources of the data where one had need not
put much effort to collected, because it is already been collected and part in an
elderly manner by some researcher, experts and special.

The secondary sources helpful for the study were

1) Text books like marketing management research methodology

Advertisement and sales promotion etc.
2) Internet was made use for the collection of the data.
3) News papers were also referred.
4) Business magazines were referred.

3) Sample size:
By using judgment random sampling technique 100 respondents are
selected for the purpose of the study.

4) Period of study:
The study is undertaken in the duration of 34 days.
5) Research approach:
The survey method was adopted for collected the primary data. Survey
research is systematic gathering of data from respondent through
questionnaire.

6) Research instrument:
The data for this research study was collected by survey technic using
interview method guided by questionnaire.

7) Collection of Data:
Questionnaire and personal interviews are the methods that I have used
for collecting the data.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Big Bazaar as six branches in LUCKNOW. My scope is limitation to one

Branch (KACHIGUDA). The scope of the study is to identify the consumer

behavior towards Big Bazaar. It is aimed at enlightening the company about

different steps to be taken up to increase the share of Big Bazaar with regard other

competitors and also to make the company to provide better customer services.

The scope of the study is only confined to the area covered under
LUCKNOW and only confined in studying about the consumer behavior towads
Big Bazaar.

LIMITATIONS:
 Time has been a major constraint throughout the study as it has been only
for duration of 2 months.

 As this survey was restricted to LUCKNOW this cannot be stated as an in

depth research on this subject.

 Enough care is taken in formulating the questionnaire, still some errors may
creep in.
 The consumer behavior varies according to different products.

 Quality verses price was not taken into the consideration.

 The project is based on the interview methodology by a stured questionnaire

and the jpersonal skills of the person undertaking the project affect the
results.
  REVIEW OF LITERATURE

REVIEW OF LITARATURE/CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR:

What is consumer behavior?

Activities people involved in when selecting, purchasing, and using products

so as to satisfy needs and desires. Consumer behavior involves the psychological

process that consumers go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve

these needs, making purchase decision (e.g., whether or not to purchase a product

and, if so, which brand and where), interpret information, make plans, and

implement these plans (e.g., by engaging in comparison shopping or actually

purchasing a products).

SOURCES OF INFLUENNCE OF THE CONSUMER:

The consumer faces numerous of influence. Often, we take cultural

influences for granted, but they are significant. An American will usually not

bargain with a storeowner. This, however, is common practice in much of the

world. Physical factors also influence our behavior. We are more likely to buy a

soft drink when we are thirsty. For example, and food manufacturers have found

that it is more effective to advertise their products on radio in the late afternoon

when people are getting hungry. A person’s self image will also tend to influence.

what he/she will buy. An upwardly mobile manager may buy a flashy car to project

an image of success. Social factors also influence what the consumers buy-often,

consumers seek to imitate others whom they Admire, and may buy the same

brands, the social environment can include both the mainstream culture (e.g.,
Americans are more likely to have corn flakes/ham and eggs for brake past than to

have rice, which is preferred in many Asian countries) and a sub culture (e.g., rap

music often Appeals to a segment within the population that seeks to distinguish

itself from the main stream population). Thus sneaker manufacturers are eager to

have there products worn by admired athletes. Finally, consumer behavior is

influences by learning – you try a hamburger and learn that it satisfies your hunger

and tastes good, and the next time you are hungry, you may consider another

hamburger.

DECISION-MAKING INVOLVE SEVERAL STEPS

1.Need recognition

5.Purchase evaluation
2. Information search

4.Purchase decision 3. Evaluation of alternatives

Problem recognition – you realize that something is not as it should be. Perhaps,

for example, your car is getting more difficult to start and is not accelerating well.
Information search- what are some alternative ways of solving the problem? You

might buy a new car, buy a used car, take your car in for repair, ride the bus, ride a

taxi, or ride a skateboard to work.

A customer can obtain information from several sources:

Personal sources: family, friends, neighbors etc.

Commercial sources: advertising, sales forces retailers, dealers,

Packaging, point-of sale displays.

Public sources: news papers, radio, television, consumer organizations,

special magazines.

Experimental sources: handling, examining, using the product

Internal and external search for information to make a decision

Internal search: Scan memory.

External search: shopping, personal sources, public media,

Advertisements

Evaluation of alternatives: A skateboard is inexpensive, but may be ill-suited for

long distances and for rainy days.

 Purchase stage, and sometimes a post-purchase stage (e.g., you return a

product to the store because you did not find it satisfactory), in reality, people may

go back and fourth between the stages. For example, a person may resume

alternative identification during while evaluating already known alternatives.

The decision maker(s) have the power to determine issues such as:

Whether to buy?

Which product to buy?

Which brand to buy?

Where to buy it? And

When to buy?

Note, however, that the role of the decision maker is separate from that of

the purchaser. From the point of view of the marketer, this introduces some

problems since the purchaser. can be targeted by point-of-purchase (POP)

marketing a effort that cannot be aimed at the decision maker. Also note that the

distinction between the, purchaser and decision maker be somewhat blurred the

decision maker may have to make a substitution if the desired brand is not in stock,

the purchaser may disregard institutions (by error or deliberately).

BUYER BEHAVIOUR – CULTURAL FACTORS

Cultural factors have a significant impact on customer behavior. Cultural is

the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behavior. Growing up, children learn

basic values, perception and wants from the family and other important group.

Marketing are always trying to spot “cultural shift’” which might point to new

products that might be wanted by customer or to increased demand. For example,

the cultural shift towards greater concern about health and fitness has created

opportunities (and now industries) servicing customers who wish to buy:

Low calorie foods

Health club memberships

Exercise equipment

Activity or health- related holidays etc.

Similarly the increased desire for “leisure time” has resulted in increased demand

for convenience product and service such as microwave ovens, ready meals and

direct marketing service businesses such as telephone banking and insurance.

Each culture contains “sub-cultures” – groups of people with shared values. Sub-

cultures can include nationalities, religions, racial groups, or group of people

sharing the same geographical location. Sometimes a sub-culture will create a

substantial and distinctive market segment of its own.

BUYER BEHAVIOUR – SOCIAL FACTORS:

Introduction: A customer’s buying behavior is also influenced by social factor,

such as the group to which the customer belongs and social status. In a group,

several individuals may interact to influence the purchase decision. The typical

roles in such a group decision can be summarized as follows:

Initiator: the people who first suggest or think the idea of buying a particular

product or service.

Influence: a person whose view or advice influences the buying decision. Decider:

the individual with the power and/or financial authority to make the ultimate

choice regarding which product to buy.

Buyer: The person who concludes the transaction.

User: The person (persons) who actually uses the product or service.

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS THAT SHAPE BUYER BEHAVIOUR PROCESS

HIGH INVOLVEMENT Extensive problem-solving (EPS)

LOW INVOLVEMENT Limited problem solving (LPS)

 Reutilized response behavior (RRB)

The various purchase influence factors are as follows:

Personal
Social Age and life cycle stage Psychological
Cultural
Reference Motivation
Culture
Sub culture
groups Occupation Perception Buyers
Family Learning
Social culture
Roles and status Economic situation Beliefs and attitudes

Life style

Personality & self concept

CULTURAL FACTORS

Cultural factors exert a broad and deep influence on consumer behavior. The

marketer needs to understand the role played by the buyer’s culture, subculture,

and social class.

Culture

The set of basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviours learned by a

member of society from family and other important institutions,

Subculture

A group of people with shared value systems based on common life

experiences and situations.

Social classes

Relatively permanent and ordered divisions in society whose members

share similar values, interests, and behaviors.

SOCIAL FACTORS

A consumer’s behavior also is influenced by social factors, such as the

consumer’s small groups, family, and social roles and status.

Groups

Two or more people who interact or accomplish individual or mutual goals.

Family

A family is a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups

linked through descent (demonstrated or stipulated) from blood relation, marriage

or adoption.

Roles and status

A person belongs to many groups- family, clubs, organisations. The person’s

position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and status.

PERSONAL FACTORS
 A buyer’s decisions also are influenced by personal characteristics such as

the buyer’s age and life cycle stage, Occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and

personality and self-concept.

Age and life-cycle stage

People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetimes. Tastes

and preferences changes as lift-cycle goes.

Personality and self concept