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The Impact of Advertisements on

Consumer Buying Behavior in India

The Impact of Advertisements on Consumer Buying Behaviour in India

Sarosh Saiyed (1814338)

University Canada West

RSCH 600

Professor: Belay Gaga

December 15, 2019

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Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Relevance with respect to India………………………………………………………………..6

Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………………………...7

Purpose of the study…………………………………………………………………………...8

Significance

Scope………………………………………………………………………………………….9

Limitations…………………………………………………………………………………...10

Research Questions…………………………………………………………………………..10

Hypothesis……………………………………………………………………………………10

Literature Review………………..…………………………………………………………...11

Analysis and Recommendations…………………………………………………………….14

Literature Map……………………………………………………………………………….18

Research Methodology- Participants………………………………………………………..19

Methodology………………………………………………………………………………...21

Use of Literacy Sources to complete report…………………………………………………22

Ethical Issues………………………………………………………………………………..24

Proposed Complimentary Information- Project Workplan…………………………………25

Timetable…………………………………………………………………………………..26
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Deliverables………………………………………………………………………………..27

Resources…………………………………………………………………………………..27

Results- Testing of Hypothesis (Correlation)………………………………………………29

Descriptive Statistics………………………………………………………………………32

Statistical Analysis…………………………………………………………………………33

Discussion………………………………………………………………………………….34

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………36

References………………………………………………………………………………….37

Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………40

Cover Letter…………………………………………………………………………………41

Abstract:
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Advertisements are a way of communicating with people to try and persuade them into

purchasing a product or a service. This research paper will examine the relation between

advertisements and its impact on consumer buying behaviour in India. This research involves

investigation of people of different sex and age groups from all over India through the mode

of surveys and interviews. Responses of fifty people were taken into account and recorded.

Also, the data from FAAB Industries (Mumbai, India) on advertisements and consumer

buying behaviour in terms of sales was reviewed and a correlation was used to establish the

relation between the two variables. This research begins with reviewing the literacy sources,

establishing research questions to give the direction to the research. This was followed by

creating a hypothesis and working on it. The findings of this research show a highly positive

relation between advertisements and consumer buying behaviour in India. Also, the opinions

of the people show a positive relation between the two variables. This research will help the

companies and give them confidence and direction of spending money on advertisements.

However, I recommend this research should be taken forward with a wider scope of reaching

more people and across India and also their needs, and emotions should be taken into account

as emotions play a very big role in deciding consumer perceptions.

Introduction:
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Background of advertisements and consumer behavior:

Advertising is basically a type of giving out a message to persuade the consumers to purchase

or buy a particular product. These days, there are so many ways in which the advertising can

be conducted. Newspapers, hoardings, television, radio, websites are some common ways of

conducting an advertisement. It has been observed that advertisement in general impacts the

buying behaviour of the consumers to a great extent. There are a lot of studies that have

found a direct connection between the advertisement and consumer buying behaviour and as

an impact of the advertisement there is high consumption of the goods. Advertisement from

many years has been mainly used for influencing the consumer behaviours. Furthermore,

advertisement is also perceived to be the social institution that is born for fulfilling the needs

of the human beings to require as well as sending with regards to the availability of the

products, service and brand.

Now, the people who put out these advertisements feel that the more they advertise, the

more the consumers are going to buy their product and during its initial phases it was

undoubtedly the case but when you see it now, more advisements have become a turn off for

a lot of consumers watching them. Infact, while preparing for this research, I happen to talk

to a friend of mine, and he was of the opinion that he does not buy products which are

advertised more because he felt that good products and services do not need much

advertisement. Now this was something which prompted me to put in more research on the

effects these advertisements have on the minds of the consumers or to what extent can

advertisements influence the buying behavior of the consumers. The mode of advertisements

has come a long way from wall paintings to printings to websites. A lot of companies now

keep a major part of their money reserved for investing in advertisements.

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It is believed and scientifically proven that advertisements leave a huge mark on the minds

of the consumers. It establishes a direct connect between a producer and a consumer. The

impact of the advertisements on consumer’s minds is to the extent that it influences how

people think about a particular brand. I feel that advertisements can create more knowledge

amongst the consumers about the particular product or service and that it can enhance the

minds of the people to think in a negative or positive way about the particular product.

Advertising has become the go-to plan to make a product famous. It is either aimed at

increasing the sales or influence the impression of the products and services.

The research people do, the information they collect, the evaluations they do and based on

that the decisions which they make before buying or investing in products and services is

known as the ‘consumer behavior.’ The main factor in influencing the consumer’s behavior

is to understand and influence the frame of mind of the consumer. Advertisements and the

behavior of consumers are directly proportional to each other and goes hand in hand.

Relevance of this research with respect to India:

Advertising is basically the way a company presents its ideas about its products and

services to influence the buying behavior of a consumer. Now, India is a diverse country with

a lot of population and where people have come from a lot of different beliefs who speak

more than forty languages. The diversity varies from people coming from well-developed

places where literacy rate is high to people coming from places where there is no electricity

even now. This range of diversity prompted me to conduct a research on the impact

advertisements can have on the buying behavior of consumers in India because the way

advertisements are perceived by people in India can be so diversified. So, I felt it will be

interesting to carry out a research and find out the outcome of what people staying in one of

the most fast developing third world country in the world. Also, to influence people in India,
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one has to look after the people they want to target, the area they come from, the language

they speak, the culture they follow, the medium which can reach them easily, the reason why

they will select the product etc. There are so many factors to consider while trying to

influence minds of consumers and their buying behavior in India and so it will be really

interesting to know whether actually advertising works in India and if yes, the ways a

company can target and influence consumers in India.

This research will help narrow down and figure out the reason behind consumers in India

purchasing what they are purchasing and also is advertisements the reason of the purchase or

are there any other reasons which prompts the consumers to buy what they buy. I have

decided to use an approach which will be both qualitative and quantitative in nature as it

will help us understand the differences amongst qualitative conclusions and quantitative

outcomes. This mixed method approach will help me with my surveys and experiments in

data collection (quantitative) whilst allowing me to focus on different groups and interviews

as well which will be qualitative in nature.

Statement of the problem:

Advertising is mainly for fulfilling the traditional desire of the companies in terms of

reaching the Indian population that is increasing day by day so that their products/services

receive the maximum exposure. We can see so many advertisements doing rounds these days

over different mediums like TV, newspaper, media, radio etc. The companies invest

extremely large sums of money on advertisements but even then, they are in a dilemma

whether spending so much money on advertisements is worth it or not. The companies are

still confused as to what elements should an advertisement constitute of. They still have a

doubt whether the consumers buy the products because its being advertised or not and they

still haven’t figured out as to what will happen if they don’t advertise their products and
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services. The companies are still trying to interpret the impact of advertisements on consumer

behavior.

This research is extremely necessary because there are large sums of money being

invested in advertisements in India. Companies are going all out and are ready to go to any

limit to make their products and services famous. This research will try and study the actual

impact advertisements have on consumer behavior and I hope it will provide a certain way

and give us answers to the cloud which has been developed around advertisements and its

impact on consumer buying behavior in India.

This particular study mainly seeks for finding out the role that is played by the

advertisement with regards to the buying behaviour of the consumers for the respective

products.

Purpose of the study:

One of the prime purposes of the study is to examine the impact of the advertisements on

the buying behaviour of the consumers in India. Furthermore, this study is quite likely to help

the companies for finding possible ways for advertising their products and services. Another

major purpose of this study is also examining how advertisements tend to create awareness of

certain brands. The examination will be conducted in this study with the help of several

articles and it will also inform everyone about the brand’s importance along with the

awareness which is created by the advertisements and the effects of the advertisements on the

mind of the Indian people.

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Significance:

The focal point of the study is to study the impact of these advertisements have on

consumer behavior in India. This research analyses the important factors in the

advertisements which impacts the decisions of the consumers in India. Also, this research

helps us understand the way a consumer thinks and tells us lots of things about consumer

behavior in India, so this study will help readers devise a strategy to make more persuasive

advertisements which has a positive impact on consumer buying behavior. The outcome of

this study will tell the organisations the extent to which the consumers in India gets

influenced by advertisements and also this study will tell the organisations the kind of

advertisements which are generally more persuasive to the consumers in India. Advertising in

today’s corporate world plays a very vital role in bringing in sales for the company and this

research has given me as a researcher more and more information and knowledge about the

impact these advertisements can have on India’s consumer behavior and also have

replenished my knowledge on subjects around the kinds of advertisements and its impact on

Indian consumers.

Scope:

The views of various consumers based in India are taken into account in this research.

This study tells us the way consumers in India think and see an advertisement, the way the

consumers in India perceive these advertisements after watching them and the impact these

advertisements have on the buying behavior of Indian consumers. A questionnaire will be

circulated amongst the Indian consumers and it will act as a source of primary data which

will eventually play an important role in determining the outcome of this research. Views of

consumers from all around India will be taken into account to determine the outcome of this

research. Also, I would like to mention that I have tried to cover demographics wherein I
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have read and considered views of male, female, boys, girls, rural areas, urban areas and

older people. This will give my research study a broad prospective and a more general view

on the findings from this research.

Limitations:

Time constraint is one of the biggest limitations of this research. Hence the amount of

time put behind the literature and studies in this research may be less. The other limitation of

this research is that it shows the views and opinions of a very few part of the huge Indian

consumer population. So, the sample size is very small which is kind of a setback. Also, not

all brands but only some major brands were taken into account while preparing for this

research.

Research questions:

This particular research or study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What role does advertisement plays in terms of influencing the buying behaviour of

the consumers in the India?

2. Do advertisements have the power with regards to frame assumptions in the

consumer’s mind in India?

Hypothesis:

It can be said that the hypothesis for this particular research work is quite simple as it mainly

depends on the potential effect that the advertisements mainly have on the Indian consumers.

H0: Advertisements positively affects the buying behaviour of the consumers in India

H1: Advertisements negatively affects the buying behaviour of the consumers in India
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Literature review:

As per a lot of scholars there are a lot of studies conducted in this subject matter that have

found that the adolescents in India are highly attracted towards the commercial in the

television (Hassan, 2015). As well as the teenager girls are also said to be quite influenced by

the commercials in the television and they also tends to buy the products which they see in

the commercials and these are basically the beauty products (Rai, 2013). Hence, it gives the

people also the idea that the mass media also has a huge amount impact on the advertisements

(Randhawa & Khan, 2014). Companies are moving towards the creative content which will

be attracting the youngsters for buying the products. In this modern time that has been

observed remarkable boom in the technology with this the advertisers of the technology are

now considering the number of mass media channels as well as means of communications

which provides them the fast and easy access towards their consumers (Ampofo, 2014).

In India it can be also said that advertising is mainly the billionaire industry. Furthermore,

it is also regarded as one of the fastest growing industries. It has been also noted by some of

the scholars as well that female and male teenagers of Haryana (A district in India) for

knowing the impact of television advertisement on them (Priyanka & Rooble, 2012). The

researchers have found out there is no such as main difference in liking the advertisement of

the television between the female and male youngsters. Furthermore, they have also

concluded that the rural individuals get the influenced by the advertisement of the TV more

than the urban individuals as well as the product even if they do not actually need it. On the

contrary, urban people do not want to purchase the product that is advertised a specific

product or service which is already used by them. The sole reason for this is that most people

living in a fast-paced urban lifestyle often find themselves short on time to spend time on

watching advertisements and getting influenced by them. The people staying in urban areas
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are well informed and they don’t need advertisements to tell them what to buy. When the

customers buy products there are a lot of factors that tends to influence them as well as affect

them in terms of their decision in purchasing a product. Another factor which influences the

buying behaviour of Indian consumers is when they see a superstar or a big celebrity doing

endorsements (Rajput, Kesharwani & Khanna, 2012).

The Indian consumer market can be regarded as immensely diverse as specifically when

talking about the Indian market, the advertisements have a huge amount of impact as the

present market is highly focused on advertisement for enhancing their productivity. There are

a lot of advertisements in India across all the media to the extent of boring the viewers or the

general audience (Dasar, Hundekar & Maradi, 2013). Apart from the researchers there are

also a lot of firms have realized through a lot of research work with regards to the economy

of India that the customers of India are highly influenced by the various methods of the

advertisements (Modi & Jhulka, 2012). The behaviour and the attitude are highly influenced

by the advertisements. For instance, Samsung and LG brands are quite popular brand in the

Indian market because of their advertisements.

As per the scholars of this article it has been argued that India is a developing nation that

is mainly flooded with a lot of brands. With so many brands the marketers in India have

chosen various innovative advertisements as one of the strongest tools for influencing the

buying behaviour of the consumers in this particular country. This article also argued that

celebrities plays the most important part in the advertisements with regards to India. Indian

people worship sports superstars and big celebrities like Gods, so they have a tendency to

blindly believe and follow whatever they say or endorse. Furthermore, the usage of the

celebrities by the advertising agencies in India has experienced a huge amount of

enhancement in the last five years (Kumar, 2011).

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Furthermore, in Bengaluru (India) we can say that advertisement has a positive influence

on consumers when it comes to buying cosmetic products after looking at the advertisements.

Bengaluru is one of the most literate state in India and a top consumer of cosmetic products.

(Kumari, 2012). Along with the advertisements, the researchers have also stated that

discounted prices also influences the consumers to purchase the products so the marketers

must consider to advertise more and more about the discount certain products carry in

conjunction with the advertisement as this is bound to influence the buying behaviour of the

consumers as much as possible (Gurunathan & Krishnakumar, 2013).

The Indian marketers always feel that advertising is such a medium that reaches a huge

amount of audiences with a high frequency and consumers also assume that the goods that

are advertised are much more legitimate than the goods that are not advertised. As per the

consumers they have also stated that advertisements also build the image of the brand and if

the advertisements are quite expensive then it also results in influencing the consumers for

buying the products (Khare, 2015). The retail market of India is increasing at an alarming rate

people are purchasing the products as there is increasing in advertising along with the

alteration in the tastes and preferences of the consumers. As discussed, a lot of researchers

have claimed that advertisements play the most important roles in terms of shaping the

behaviour of the consumers in India to a great extent. Advertisements mainly work as a

source of motivation which forces the customers for buying a particular product.

Furthermore, it is also the tool that is also a source for building the trust (Natarajan,

Balakrishnan, Balasubramanian & Manickavasagam, 2014). The Indian consumers are

induced significantly if they are looking for the prices and quality of the products. Online

advertisements at present also tend to influence the consumer decision making in India.

Earlier the traditional advertising was carried out on the radio, television, as well as in the
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newspaper but the disruptive technology such as internet as well as the phenomena has made

possible changed advertising as well as effect it can have on the Indian consumers

specifically when it comes to their purchasing decisions. Companies are moving towards the

creative content which will be attracting the youngsters for buying the products. Some of the

articles have also argued that celebrities play most important part in the advertisement with

regards to India. Furthermore, in the last five years, more and more money has been spent on

hiring celebrities for doing (Malik and et al., 2013).

As per the above-mentioned discussions, it is quite clear that advertisements tend to

influence the buying behaviour of the consumers in the India. However, there are also some

of the scholars that have argued that too much advertisement may also result in negative

purchasing or negative publicity of the product in front of the Indian consumers. For instance,

it is believed that if a brand shows an advertisement sugar coating everything then the Indian

consumers tends not to buy that specific product because they think that a company only

advertises a product more when the product really have some shortcomings. With the boom

in the internet in the last two decades, more and more people are becoming aware. They can

almost find out anything they want to know about the product on the internet. So, the

exaggerated advertisements create a doubt in the minds of Indian consumers whether to buy

the product or not and in India, one advertisement is shown so many times that it puts off the

consumers more often than not (Kumar, 2012).

Analysis and Recommendations:

I had a chance to review so many articles on the effects of advertisements on consumer

buying behaviour. Well, in one of the journal articles, Mr. Hasan is of the opinion that TV

advertisements has had a positive impact on consumers buying behaviour in Haryana (India).

Well as happy I am to agree with him, I just want to point out at that here is a huge limitation
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when it comes to scope of his data because he has just considered the rural areas while taking

the data into account. I am of the opinion that the findings can vary when it comes to

consumers in developed or urban parts of India (Hassan, 2015).

I was very impressed by the conclusion of Mr. Rai’s article. He claims the impact of

advertisements on consumer buying behaviour in India and worldwide is positive but one

important point on which he stressed was that advertisements are generally more successful

when the focal point of the advertisements is on price and quality. So, this is one point which

we can keep in mind while designing an advertisement (Rai, 2013).

In their research Miss. Malik and Mr. Qureshi have stressed and focussed on the issue of

celebrity endorsement and the impact it has on the consumers to hire a famous celebrity for

an advertisement. Well, they conducted a quantitative research and tried to make their point.

One point I really liked about their study was they compared celebrity endorsement to non-

celebrity endorsement and with the help of their study proved that the impact of celebrities on

a consumer is more as compared to a non-celebrity giving out the same message. The study

made a point clear, but I would have been more impressed if they would have taken some

qualitative aspects in their studies as well. For example: some interviews would have given

the study more balance (Malik & Qureshi, 2016).

Studies on brand image conducted by Mr. Malik, Mr. Ghafoor, Mr. Iqbal, Mr. Ali, Mr.

Hunbal, Mr. Noman & Mr. Ahmad, proves a point. These authors with the help of their

research have proven that brand image is of utmost importance when it comes to consumers

buying behaviour. They claim that more advertisements impact the brand image positively

and more advertisements keeps the product fresh in the minds of the consumers which

increases the brand value of the product. While their research proves this, I respectfully

slightly disagree with them because I feel that if one asks people from villages about brands,
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more than 90 percent will not know about it. For them it’s about survival than brand value

and status. So, while these authors have mentioned that they had a small population to test

their study, I feel there is scope for more study and the results from their study are not

conclusive enough to make a point. I would recommend carrying out the same study with a

larger population where more people are from different backgrounds are taken into account

(Malik and et al., 2013).

In his study, Mr. Ampofu has made a very interesting point which is of utmost

importance. He claims that advertisements do influence the buying behaviour of the

consumer, but one important point is it also depends on the spending capacity, income and

recommendations given by the others. In his study he has considered consumers as a factor of

production and looked at this whole thing from an economic point of view. While I agree

with his views, I also feel that it’s not just about economics, one has to take perspective and

personal views into consideration to come to a final conclusion or a more determined

conclusion (Ampofo, 2014).

In their research, Mr. Natarajan, Mr. Balakrishnan, Mr. Balasubramanian and Mr.

Manickavasagam tries to show the relation between advertising on social media and the

effect it has on Indian market consumers. Well though I agree with the results which they

have achieved in their study, I still feel that there is a lot more to it and this study of social

media advertising especially in India is inconclusive. I say this because India is still getting

on terms with social media and the use of internet. People are yet to trust transactions over

internet. They are getting used to it, but they are far behind the other tech savvy western

countries (Natarajan, Balakrishnan, Balasubramanian & Manickavasagam, 2014).

I totally disagree with Mr. Khare’s views in his article. His opinion of making expensive

advertisements and playing it again and again to lure the consumer into buying it does not
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work in India. When you are carrying out a study about India one has t think about the entire

Indian population. There are two strong reasons for my disagreement.

1. There is a major chunk of Indian population who still lives below poverty line or still

have income only to survive.

2. Indian people these days are getting irritated and bugged by more and more

advertisements. No one has time to watch same advertisement again and again and

this practise is starting to drive people against the product (Khare, 2015).

When it comes to review the influence of apparel buying factors influencing the consumer

minds in India, it’s a vast field of research. I disagree with the results found by Mr.

Gurunathan & Mr. Krishnakumar in their study because of the simple fact that the race,

ethnicity and retail environments were not considered in their samples in the study and they

are major deciding factors in deciding the outcome of the consumer buying behaviour in

India (Gurunathan & Krishnakumar, 2013).

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Literature Map:

(Malik and et
al., 2013). (Kumar,
(Khare, 2015). Brand Image 2012).
Branding on on Advertise (Natarajan and
advertisements advertisements et al., 2014).
. ments
Advertising on
leading to Social Media’s
negative effects on
(Kumar, 2011). Effect of publicity consumer
celebrity buying
advertisements on behaviour
consumer buying
behaviour
(Rajput, Kesharwani &
Khanna 2012). Effect of
celebrity endorsements on (Gurunathan &
Indian Consumers
Impact of Krishnakumar, 2013).
Apparel buying factors
like discounts on

(Priyanka & Rooble,

2012).TV
Advertising Consumer buying
behaviour

advertisement’s
impact on different
demographics
on
Consumer (Kumari, 2012).
Advertisements on cosmetics
sells the most
(Hassan, 2015). TV
advertisement impact on
consumer
Behaviour
in India
(Randhawa & Khan, (Modi & Jhulka,
2014). Mass Media 2012). Influence of
Impact on advertisement different forms of
advertisements on
Indian Consumers

(Rai, (Dasar, Hundekar &

2013). Maradi,2013)
Dependen (Ampofo, 2014). Dependence Consumer
ce on of Consumer’s buying Behaviour in Rural
Price and behaviour on spending areas
Quality capacity, income etc.

Research Methodology:
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Participants:

This study required a structured and appropriate plant to identify the relationship between

different variables and test hypothesis through which conclusion can be derived. The entire

research was conducted according to a formal Research design where data was collected to

complete the report. The review poll was planned and conveyed to the target respondents

with the help of survey and emails so that reasonable result can be generated. The data must

be comprised of a large number of populations through which evaluation can be done about

the responses on advertisement on consumer behaviour in India (Khare, 2015).

Advertisement plays an important role increasing the business of the company especially

in India because the consumers are influenced by the things, they observe on a regular basis

which is very important to create a direction for their mind set. Advertising is considered as a

way of communication to encourage and audience for making purchase decision regarding

the product and service offered by the company. Advertising is used as a source to convey the

information about the product and services being offered by any organisation to the viewers

so that they can understand the elements utilise the manufacturing of the product and its

benefits can be disclosed to the audience. Advertisement is usually a paid form of exposure

on promotion by certain investors and sponsors so that they can reach a large number of

audiences with the help of television, newspaper advertisement, magazines, outdoor

advertisement, radio and blogs (Kumar, 2012).

Numbers of literary sources have been evaluated for completion of this research and

primary data has also been generated with the help of survey so that the research can be

completed according to the set direction. Literary sources definitely help in answering the

Research question in asset direction while focusing on all the various issues which can take

place in future. Literary sources help in collection of information about the topic which is
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consumer behaviour and advertisement in India and literary sources also helps in

understanding the topic properly so that the research can be completed while maintaining the

standards (Kumar, 2011).

Research is based on the information which is collected by the researchers so that

evaluations can be done, and decisions can be made regarding the buying or investing in

products and services. Consumer behaviour is considered as the key element of increasing the

sales of any business because the main factor in influencing the behaviour of the consumer is

attracting the mind of consumers. The mind of the consumer can only be attracted with the

help of advertisement at least in India. Advertising is basically the way a company presents

the idea about product and services to influence the behaviour of the consumer and in India

with a lot of population it is important to maintain relationship with the help of advertisement

so that consumers can be attracted (Hassan, 2015).

In this research, I have circulated a survey to Indian people mainly from Mumbai. I have

targeted Mumbai because Mumbai is a hub of advertising and marketing in India and all the

other cities look forward to Mumbai in being like it. So, as India is developing at a rapid rate

and in the near future most of the cities will become like Mumbai so this research will be

valid then as well. Also, I have included the opinions of other people from India through

surveys just to give this research a wide scope and make it valid in the present times as well.

I managed to get back answers to my survey from 50 respondents. Out of them 58% were

males and 42% were females. They were between the ages of 18 to 73 and above. I tried to

cover people from all the age group in this research to make their view count and make this

research scope wider.

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In this research, to find the correlation and to test the hypothesis, I got access to a

company data in Mumbai. The name of the company is FAAB Industries which is located in

Mumbai in India. It has data of last 5 years and it shows the amount of money they have

invested in advertisements and the effect it has on the consumers to buy their product and

thereby impacting sales.

This research helped in narrow down and figure out the reason behind consumers in India

purchasing by getting influenced by the advertisements. For completion of this research both

qualitative and quantitative data has been utilised where mixed method approach is

considered. Mixed method approach will be conducted with the help of surveys and

experiments in data collection.

Methodology:

Marketers have always adapted to the changes being conducted in the market because

the consumers are the people who runs the market and the business owners have to follow

and understand the requirement of the consumers so that they are able to expand the supply

chain (Dasar, 2013). It is very important element to understand the requirement of the

consumers so that the business can be used by the consumers whenever they are planning to

buy a particular product or availing any service. The major aim of advertising is to impact on

the buying behaviour through which the consumers can be solved with the details of the

products and services being offered to them. A good quality advertisement is generally

considered important to influence the consumers for buying a product while a poor-quality

advertisement will completely do the opposite action. Approximately 5 literature resources

have been evaluated and discussed to understand the conceptual framework of consumer

buying behaviour and its relevance with the advertising policies.

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For completion of this report qualitative and quantitative data has been used with the

help of survey and interviews. Closed survey presented to the respondents and the opinion of

the respondents were gained accordingly (Rai, 2013). Closed survey helps in increasing the

accuracy of the primary data collection method because in the closed survey limited options

are provided and the audience have to select from that option. Survey has held in completion

of the report in the most appropriate manner because when the report is being conducted in

the direction of consumers and audiences that it becomes the responsibility of the research to

gain the feedback of audience and consumers so that authentication and reliability can be

increased. While completion of the research there were number of challenges and obstacles

which were faced but with the help of proper planning and strategies the problems were

resolved and the research was completed in the most suitable manner (North, & Kotzé, 2001).

When it comes to secondary sources all the sources from which the information about

the market of India has been generated is highly authentic and reliable through which the

standard of the report can be maintained. The research framework indicates number of

variables which are interdependent and dependent through which it becomes easier for the

researcher to understand the impact of advertising on consumer buying behaviour. The

research structure clarifies the connection among the independent and dependent variables

through which explanatory research can be implemented. It is important to understand the

utilisation of qualitative and quantitative data on completion of the research so that at the

initial stages requirement and sources can be planned (Kumari, 2012).

Use of literary sources for completion of the report

There are number of literary sources which have been used for accomplishment of the

goals associated with the report so that desired outcomes can be achieved. Numbers of

sources have been evaluated through which better understanding can be generated about the
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topic and study the relationship between advertisement and consumer behaviour in India.

With the help of the literature reviews and sources it has been observed that advertising is

mainly for fulfilling the traditional desire of the companies regarding achievement and

attraction of Indian population through which constant increment in the sales can be

observed. Advertisements can be done with the help of television, newspaper, media, radio

and currently social media has been trending in the market. The companies are still confused

about using which element of the advertisement constituent of more beneficial aspects.

From literature sources one of the prime purposes of the study has been resolved which is

present in the impact of advertisement on buying behaviour of the consumer in India. This

study is quite likely to help the companies regarding identification of the possible ways

through which advertisement can be utilised to promote the product and services being

offered by them. Examination will be conducted in this study with the help of survey and

literature review so that the importance of advertisement can be evaluated, and responses of

consumer can be gained.

There are number of participants associated with completion of the survey through

which responses can be gained about the influence of advertisement (Yoon & Choi, 2005).

When it comes to gaining responses of participants in utilising the responses for completion

of the report it is important to gain the permission at the initial stages so that future conflict

can be avoided. If the researcher is planning to complete the research on time, then he needs

to be prepared about gathering all the information with permissions from the participants and

other people associated with the report. To reduce the workload written permission should be

gained at the initial stages for that the participants can be prepared about their role in

completion of the report. In completion of the report my role is to understand and evaluate
 24

the data which has been collected two different sources so that potential understanding can be

generated.

Ethical Issues:

This study is to figure out whether there is impact on all the variables on consumer

buying behaviour which clearing replicates that advertisement does affect the buying

behaviour of the consumer. There are number of ethical issues which are observed regarding

completion of the report which can create problem for the viewers and readers. Ethics are

broadly the set of rules, written and unwritten expectations which needs to be maintained by

the research regarding completion of the report so that the authentication and reliability can

be maintained (Gurunathan, & Krishnakumar, 2013).

Dishonesty is one of the most observe ethical issue regarding completion of the Research

report because all the literature sources are not authentic and reliable. Due to the issues of

dishonesty and poor reliability readers might get disappointed by the Research report which

can lead towards lack of connection in future. While collection of the data authentic sources

should be collected, and the survey should also be collected in such a way that true and

honest opinions are being used.

Breach of respect for intellectual property is another ethical issue which is observed

regarding completion of the Research report because the other person who has generated the

literature sources might have made the efforts to design his Research report according to the

objectives. Making unnecessary changes and manipulations can create disrespect for the

intellectual property with any towards conflict.

Copyright infringements have been taken care off. In this research it is very strictly

maintained that the guidelines and the policies are followed and there is stealing of any
 25

information unethically. When people have been interviewed or their opinions have been

recorded, it is consciously noted that their confidentiality have been maintained and their

identities are not exposed in any scenario. One more important thing I kept in mind was that,

I did not judge people and was not biased with anyone. Views of everyone were welcomed

with the same approach. I have completed a certification which helped me understand the

ethical standards while conducting the research. So, I made full use of the TCPS certification

which I acquired and tried to remain ethically sound to the best of my capabilities.

Proposed Complimentary Information:

Project work plan:

 When it comes to project work plan the first step is to design the objectives and goals

of the project report so that direction can be set for accomplishment of the targets.

Once the goals and objectives have been identified the researcher gets the idea

according to which he will conduct all the further activities and stages of project work

plan. The goals of the project are to evaluate the relevance of advertisement on

consumer behaviour through which appropriate understanding can be generated and

all the variables can be evaluated which influences the consumer behaviour. Once the

goals and objectives of the report has been set the next step is to identify the key task

of the work plan.

 The key task of the report is to set the goals and objectives for completion of the

report. The goals and objectives will help in setting the direction for accomplishment

of the target of the report and identify all the relevant results and conclusions which is

important part of the entire report.

 The next step is to design the research questions according to which the literature

review will be designed. The Research question will help in selling a guideline
 26

according to which the report will be conducted, and it also sets a direction for

fulfilling the research objectives and research aims.

 The next step is to look for the research methodology which will be used data

gathering and data collection. For completion of this report primary and secondary

data has been collected with the help of literature reviews and survey through which

the responses of the audience have been gained. It is important to look for

authentication and reliability of the literature reviews and sources so that the report

can be completed accordingly. The entire report needs to be designed in such a way

that available sources can be made sufficient for answering all the research questions.

 The next step is to evaluate the findings and generate the conclusion so that the

research can be completed. It also focuses on evaluating all the results which are

gained from the survey so that appropriate outcomes can be generated, and research

can be completed in authenticated form. It also focuses on gathering the data from

different sources and compiling the entire set of data in such a way that desired

outcomes can be achieved, and Research questions can be justified.

Timetable:

Task Week Week Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

1 2
Setting objectives
Research questions
Literature review
Data collection
Finding and analysis
Conclusion
Deliverables:

By the end of the research appropriate solutions will be designed and generated according

to the Research question. Certain number of literature reviews and literature sources will be

collected on the basis of which country version and finding analysis part will be done. It will
 27

focus on advertisement spending which will be evaluated with the help of survey and social

media reports will be generated through which number of clicks will be evaluated which will

be done by the consumers before purchasing any product (Bakshi, & Gupta, 2013). This will

help in understanding the mind of the consumer is regarding purchasing power and buying

behaviour so that their intention to purchase any product can be observed. With the help of

this research effective and efficient understanding will be generated about the advertising

influence on the consumers and significant contribution will be generated with the help of

literature sources and quantitative and qualitative data. Advertisement is usually a paid form

of exposure on promotion by certain investors and sponsors so that they can reach a large

number of audiences with the help of television, newspaper advertisement, magazines,

outdoor advertisement, radio and blogs.

Resources

In resources social media reports will be required to which the performance of consumers

on social media can be observed regarding purchasing any product. With the help of online

platforms for trading and purchasing of the products consumer behaviour can be evaluated.

Online platforms will help in gaining of feedback and responses of the consumers because

with the help of online reports their perceptions can be evaluated by the alternative they are

observing on the same website. This will help them in providing a guidance and comparison

platform so that they can select the product according to their preference and choice. Other

resources will be literature sources and various other reports associated with the same topic

so that the direction can be set for comparison and selling the guideline for completion of this

report. It will also help in understanding the topic appropriately. The resources will be the

survey reports which will be generated by the consumers and respondents to gain the

responses regarding the influence of advertisement. It will also focus on evaluation of the
 28

survey results through which a conclusion can be designed with the help of finding and

analysis portion. Completion of the report all survey results will be combined so that

appropriate outcomes can be generated.

Results:

Testing of Hypothesis:

Correlation:
 29

In order to conduct a test for my hypothesis and considering the time restrictions, I

decided to get access to the data of FAAB Industries which is a company in Mumbai. I got

access to last 5 years of data for FAAB Industries which included the amount of money they

spent in advertising and the result it had on the customers buying behaviour and thus

impacting the sales. This data will help me find out the correlation for this research. Though

my scope will be small but considering the time restrictions, this will help giving a direction

to the research.

The following table has the data of the last five years obtained from FAAB Industries in

Mumbai:

Money used in Consumer buying behaviour which impacts

 
Advertisement sales

  Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Year x (Lakhs) y (Lakhs)

2014 5 70

2015 10 100
 30

2016 7 80

2017 15 150

2018 20 200

Now I will be using Correlation to show the relation between two variables. It will help me

establish any linear relationship if any between the variables. The values of the coefficient of

correlation ranges from -1 to 1.

-1 shows perfectly negative correlation between the two variables i.e. if one variable

increases the other decreases.

0 shows no correlation between the variables.

1 shows a perfectly positive correlation between the two variables i.e. if one variable

increase, the other also shows an increment.

Rxy = ∑ (Xi-x̅ ) (Yi- y̅)/ √∑ (Xi-x̅ )2- ∑ Yi- y̅)2

The table below shows the calculations to find out the value of correlation coefficient r:

  x(lakhs) y (lakhs) a b axb a2 b2

  5 70 -6.4 -50 320 40.96 2500

  10 100 -1.4 -20 28 1.96 400

  7 80 -4.4 -40 176 19.36 1600

  15 150 3.6 30 108 12.96 900

  20 200 8.6 80 688 73.96 6400

Mean 11.4 120     1320 149.2 11800

 31

After putting the value in the formula, we have r= 0.99

Also, we can directly find out the value of r using excel. The table below indicates that:

5 70

10 100

7 80

15 150

20 200

r= 0.99482918

Since r = 0.99, it indicates that the two variables i.e. advertisements and consumer buying

behaviour in terms of sales have a positive correlation. This shows more advertisements will

lead to a positive consumer buying behaviour and increase in sales in India. The graph

establishes the linear relationship between the two variables.

 32

Impact of Adverti sments on Consumer Buying Behaviour

250
Consumer Buying Behaviour in terms of Sales (Lakhs)

200
f(x) = 8.85 x + 19.14
R² = 0.99

150

100

50

0
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

Money Spent on Advertisments (Lakhs)

The Scatter Plot shows a linear correlation between the advertisements and consumer buying

behaviour in India based on the data of FAAB Industries. The result proves my hypothesis

H0: Advertisements positively affects the buying behaviour of the consumers in India to be

true.

Descriptive Statistics:

As mentioned earlier in order to widen the scope of my research apart from reviewing the

literacy sources, I also carried out surveys and interviews to get the opinions of the

consumers in India. I had 50 respondents whose answers have been taken into account. Out

of them 29 were male and 21 were females.

Age Group Number

18-25 19
26-40 12
 33

41-60 9
73+ 10

Statistical Analysis:

OPINIONS OF CONSUMERS IN INDIA ON ADVERTISEMENTS

AND ITS EFFECT ON THEIR BUYING BEHAVIOUR

8%

20%
45%

27%

YES NO SOMETIMES NEUTRAL

The pie chart indicates the views of the people which I was able to gather for this research

through the questionnaires and surveys I carried out. 45% of the people were of the opinion

that yes advertisements have a positive effect on their buying behaviour while 27% did not

agree to that. 20% people believed that advertisements may or may not have an effect on

consumer buying behaviour and were of the opinion that it totally depends on the product,

individual and the situation while 8% of the people were neutral and did not have an opinion

on this issue and relation.

Discussion:
 34

My research will mainly benefit the companies who invest a lot of their budget in

advertising. The findings of my research will help the companies to allot a major part of their

budget to the advertising department because the research has shown the positive impact

which advertisements have on consumer buying behaviour in India. In the research, views of

Indians from different parts of the country were noted and data from a company from India

was also taken into account to reach the conclusion. I feel that within its own limitations the

research has been successful in giving the confidence to the companies to go forward with

heavy investments in advertising in India. So more or less, the research problem has been

taken care off. However, this research has opened up a scope for further research in this area.

My study during this research revealed that emotions of the Indian people play a big role in

making up their mind to purchase anything. So, a further research can be conducted, where in

the emotional response of people in India can be taken into account and studied and then

advertisements can be made in such a way that they appeal to the Indian consumers

emotionally. This will help the people in making advertisements and give them a direction

and so the huge sums of money invested in advertisements will be worth its value.

There is a lot of information and literature present on the internet on this aspect but one

feels that something is missing and my research helps in connecting those empty spaces by

channelizing and completely giving the evaluations of the affects advertisements have on the

buying behaviour of Indian consumers as my research involves both quantitative and

qualitative study and I believe that qualitative study is extremely important and informative

as it backs up our numbers in the quantitative study.

 35

Conclusion:

This research was conducted to see the impact of advertisement on consumer buying

behaviour in India. To achieve a meaningful output out of this research, I had designed

research questions and carried out a test for hypothesis. Based on a positive test result for
 36

hypothesis and favourable results to the survey questions, the research showed a positive

result between advertisements and consumer buying behaviour. So, the analysis in the

research showed that there is a positive relation between advertisements and consumer

buying behaviour in India. My research can help the companies further to evaluate and

understand the importance of advertisements and the impacts it is having on the consumer’s

buying behaviour in India. This research will give the companies confidence going forward

and will justify the big amounts of money they are investing in advertising. This research is a

very good contribution to the literature with regards to effects of advertisement on consumer

behaviour in India however going forward in the future researchers can study which are the

most and least important elements in determining the buying preference of the consumers.

Also, after reviewing so much quantitative and qualitative data and also going through a fair

number of literacy sources, I feel we still have further scope on this topic of research and my

recommendation for future research will be to carry out research based on personality traits of

the customers. This will help us to know the type of personality which gets influenced by

advertisements in India and will help in providing a segment to advertise for the companies.

References:

Ampofo, A. (2014). Effects of Advertising on Consumer Buying Behaviour: with

reference to demand for cosmetic products in Bangalore: India. New Media and Mass

Communication, 27(7), 48-67.
 37

Bakshi, G., & Gupta, S. K. (2013). Online advertising and its impact on consumer

buying behavior. International Journal of Research in Finance and Marketing, 3(1), 21-30.

Dasar, P., Hundekar, S. G., & Maradi, M. (2013). Consumer behavior on consumer

durables with reference to Bijapur district'. Global journal of commerce and management

perspective, 2(1), 2319-7285.

Gurunathan, K. B., & Krishnakumar, M. (2013). Factors influencing apparel buying

behaviour in India: A Measurement Model. Paripex-Indian journal of research, 2(3), 218-

224.

Hassan, A. (2015). Effects of TV Advertisement on Consumer Buying Behaviour: A

Comparative Study of Rural-Urban and Male-Female Consumers. International Journal of

Innovation and Applied Studies, 11(3), 608.

Khare, A. (2015). Antecedents to green buying behaviour: a study on consumers in an

emerging economy. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 33(3), 309-329.

Kumar, A. (2011). Celebrity endorsements and its impact on consumer buying

behaviour. Available at SSRN 1802531.

Kumar, P. (2012). Electronic shopping: a paradigm shift in buying behaviour among

Indian consumers.

Kumari, P. (2012). Changing Purchase Behaviour of Indian Customers. Arth

Prabandh: A Journal of Economics and Management, 1(8), 35-41.

Malik, H. M., & Qureshi, M.M. (2016). The impact of celebrity endorsement on

consumer buying behaviour. Journal Of Marketing and Computer Research, 26, 2422-8451.
 38

Malik, M. E., Ghafoor, M. M., Iqbal, H. K., Ali, Q., Hunbal, H., Noman, M., & Ahmad,

B. (2013). Impact of brand image and advertisement on consumer buying behavior. World

Applied Sciences Journal, 23(1), 117-122.

Modi, S., & Jhulka, T. (2012). Consumer buying behaviour: Changing shopping

patterns. Int. J. Bus. Manag. Eco. Res, 3(3), 527-530.

Natarajan, T., Balakrishnan, J., Balasubramanian, S. A., & Manickavasagam, J. (2014).

Perception of Indian consumers towards social media advertisements in Facebook, LinkedIn,

YouTube and Twitter. International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 8(4),

264-284.

North, E. J., & Kotzé, T. (2001). Parents and television advertisements as consumer

socialisation agents for adolescents: An exploratory study. Journal of Consumer

Sciences, 29(1).

Priyanka, V., & Rooble, V. (2012). An on-field-survey of the impulse buying behaviour

of consumers in consumer non durable sectors in the retail outlets in the city of Indore,

India. Research Journal of Management Sciences_ISSN, 2319, 1171.

Rai, N. (2013). Impact of Advertising on Consumer behaviour and attitude with

reference to consumer durables. International Journal of Management Research and

Business Strategy, 2(2), 2-8.

Rajput, N., Kesharwani, S., & Khanna, A. (2012). Dynamics of female buying

behaviour: A study of branded apparels in India. International Journal of Marketing

Studies, 4(4), 121.
 39

Randhawa, A., & Khan, J. A. (2014). Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Consumer

Buying Behaviour”. International journal of business management, 1(2), 170-188.

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The effects of advertisement type, product type and sports model. Journal of Brand

Management, 12(3), 191-205.

Appendices:

Exhibit 1- Survey Questions

 40

SURVEY QUESTIONS
1. Have you ever been influenced by the advertisement for buying any product?
2. Do you have television channel or any social media connection which only focuses
on advertisement?
3. Have you ever got any product which is of no use for you in the current situation
but you only got the product because of the advertisement?
4. How much time do you utilise or spend on watching advertisements randomly?
5. Do you look for feedback options while purchasing any new product online?

Exhibit 2- Interview Questions

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is your response after buying the product by getting influenced by the
advertisements on television or any other social media channel?
2. Do you want advertisements on a regular basis before purchasing any product?
3. Do you desire for the product which is advertised but you don't have an actual
requirement of the product?
4. According to you is it fine to get influenced by advertisements?
5. Are you happy that advertisements are leading the market?
6. What role does advertisement play in your life before purchasing any product
availing any service?

Cover Letter:

December 5, 2019

Mr. Ayaz Baig

 41

Managing Partner

FAAB Industries

Wing B, Pipeline Road,

Santacruz East,

Mumbai-400098, India

Dear Mr. Baig,

My name is Sarosh Saiyed and I am pursuing my master’s in business administration at

University of Canada West in Vancouver, Canada. I have a research project on which I am

working, and I am carrying out research on the impact of advertisements on consumer buying

behaviour in India.

During my time in Mumbai, I had read about the effects FAAB Industries had with more

advertisements on people in India. I want to carry out this study and establish the relation

between advertisements and consumer buying behaviour. However, to go further in the

research and reach a substantial conclusion I am requesting you to give me access to

company’s data on the amount FAAB Industries have spent on advertisements and the effect

it has had on the consumer buying preference or buying behaviour in terms of sales. This will

help me immensely in my research as this will give me figure out a relation between these

two variables.
 42

I assure you that this data will only be restricted to me and will only be used for analysis in

the research. I will maintain the trust you show in me am willing to be accountable and

responsible for the data. Anything to do with the company’s policy will strictly be abided by

and I assure you there will be no copyright infringements. The data will only be used for

research purposes and will not be misused.

I am looking forward to getting a positive reply from you. If you have any doubts or queries

about anything I asked you about, please give me a call at +1 236-777-5834 or you can email

me at beingsarosh@gmail.com. Your early reply will be highly appreciated. Thank you for

taking time to read this and thank you once again for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Sarosh Saiyed

1814338

UCW, Canada