A PROJECT REPORT ON

A STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR FOR T-SHIRTS FOR ZEN X PVT LTD IN PUNE REGION. BY

NISHANT D GOYAL UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF DR. POORNIMA TAPAS

SUBMITTED TO UNIVERSITY OF PUNE In the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Business Administration

For Indira Institute of Management Pune BATCH (2011-2013)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There is always a sense of gratitude towards the people who have helped me in this project. I am indebted to all those have directly & indirectly helped me in completing this project.

I am sincerely grateful to Mr. Navnil Das who gave me this opportunity to work in his organization. I take this opportunity to thank Kiran Sharma (Team Leader) who guided me for project work.

I wish to express a deep sense of gratitude towards my guide Dr.Poornima Tapas for helping me throughout the project, providing valuable information from time to time, and regularly giving me insights at every stage which made things look simpler.

I would also like to thank my friends who had helped me immensely for completion of this project report. I am grateful to my parents for their valuable suggestions & co-operation.

Mr. Nishant D Goyal

Declaration

This is to declare that I, Mr. Nishant D Goyal student of Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Indira Institute of Management, Pune , has given original data and information to the best of my knowledge in the project report titled A STUDY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR FOR T-SHIRTS WITH ZEN X PVT LTD IN PUNE REGION under the guidance of Dr. POORNIMA TAPAS, and no part of this information has been used for any assignment other than the requirement towards the completion of the project.

This report is prepared independently and all the relevant information is gathered personally. The report has been solely prepared for partial fulfillment of Master of Business Administration affiliated to University of Pune and the vital information would not be shared elsewhere.

DatePlaceNishant D Goyal

1.1) Executive Summary

Title A study of consumer behavior for T-shirts for Zen X Pvt ltd in Pune region Company name- Zen X Pvt Ltd

Address2/262/2 Marunji Road, Hinjewadi IT park Pune 411057, Maharashtra India.

Objectives
Following are the objectives of the ResearchPrimary Objectives To Study Consumer Behavior towards purchasing apparel like T-shirt. Studying factors like spending power (money) for T-shirts, frequency of purchase, place preference of purchase and any special occasion for purchase etc Secondary Objectives Find out ways of spreading more awareness about Customized T-shirt. Finding out if people really prefer online apparel buying. To determine the profit potential for overall apparel business in the market The ways in which the Youth in Pune, mostly college students can be targeted.

Research Method The project undertaken was a descriptive research. Researcher undertakes surveys to learn about peoples knowledge, beliefs, preferences and satisfactions and to measure these attributes in general population. This is a descriptive type research in which customers answers the questions through questionnaire. Also study of all the events and occasions taking place in Pune region was taken into account. Based on the answers given by the customers in questionnaire, interpretation are made.

Survey was conducted to know if customers would like to get a T-shirt customized for them.

Sampling Method:
Random sampling is used for research project. Equal weightages have been to my all respondent and chose them randomly without any biased like gender, age, income or culture. The sample size studied is 100. The respondents were asked to fill in the questionnaire posted on a website called monkeysurvey.com (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GB9RTVL)

Data Collection
Data was collected using Questionnaire. Respondents were asked to fill the questionnaire online and their responses were saved and analyzed. The questionnaire consisted of both open end and close end questions.

Key Findings People still give preference to buying T-shirt from local shopkeeper or Malls than Online buying The use of online shopping is increasing as compared to what was scenario before because of ease and comforts associated with it. When it comes to buying for more than Rs 3500, people like to go shopping than to online search and buy apparels

Suggestions Since most of the respondent said that they spend less than Rs 1000 in online buying, the company will have to set the price range below it. When it came to buying apparels for more than Rs3500, people mostly preferred to go to Malls to buy since they were able to find many brands, variety and choices there.

 The company will need to have more tie ups or have its own outlets to increase sale. It cannot entirely depend on online selling since people still prefer to feel the quality of clothes and see it before buying. The website on its own cannot bring business for the firm. Though its one of the mode of selling, the company should have more tie ups and have its own outlets in future to increase its business and spread more awareness about it. The market for such customized apparel is very vast. The company can also export its product in future, since the textile industry of India is growing year by year and its exports are increasing.

There is a large chunk of population who still buys apparel from the local cloth store or Malls. Though the trend of online shopping is increasing, but when it comes to apparel, its increasing at a very slow pace.

Limitations The sample size chosen for the research project consisted of just youths in city of Pune and was 100 in number. The time period available for conducting the overall research and analyzing the responses were limited to 60 days. More efficient and correct information would have been available if the time period had been more. The study was restricted to the city of Pune, Maharashtra only. Youths in other parts of country may have completely different response for the same, which also needs to be taken into consideration before reaching to any conclusion. In the questionnaire, respondents preferred to choose more than one option available, since they felt both were suited at the same time. But the online questionnaire method prevented them from selecting more than one option.

INDEX Sr no. Topic Page no 8 9 13 18 19 21 25

1
1.1

Introduction
About T-shirt printing & Technologies available

2 3
3.1

Industry Profile Company and Product profile

About Zen X Pvt ltd

4
4.1

Product profile
Existing Selling strategy and company summary

Literature review

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5.1 Consumer Behavior 5.2 Factors influencing consumer behavior

35 38

Objectives and Scope

6.1 Objectives 6.2 Scope 42 43 44 51 64 67 69 72

7 8 9 10 11

Research Methodology Data analysis and Interpretation Observations and findings Suggestions Conclusions and Limitations Bibliography
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Annexure

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1. INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION.

BACKGROUND

The report is about studying Consumers Behavior when it comes to buying T-shirts. Factors such as frequency of purchase, amount spent, preferred locations and destinations for purchase, any other occasions would be studied in detail. Such information will help to ascertain the current market profitability, future market potential, companys scope of expansion etc and also help the company in framing its strategy to launch its existing range of T-shirts. Also online selling which is the future market place will be studied. Using such information Zen X will be able to launch its existing range of T-shirts to its desired customer segments in a much planned and efficient manner. When it comes to T-shirts we have all had a fair amount that share quirky, funny or offensive messages, such shirts help us to express ourselves and display a part of our personality.

T-shirt Printing

T-shirt printing is an exciting new business that allows people to custom design a shirt(specifically the design on the front or back) any way that people would like. By intelligently leveraging cutting edge technology, a T-shirt will harness the power of computer sublimation to allow custom shirt printing in production runs as small as one unit.

Its a relatively new concept to design ones own T-shirt .One chooses the material and style of the shirt, and then the image or graphic one wants can be printed on the front and/or back. This is the ultimate form of expression. There are no limits to what one can communicate. Some people might show their fanaticism for a particular sports team, others a musician. Or one might have a social message or cause on your shirt. Whatever you may decide, one can print any image on your shirt.
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The technology consists of a printer sublimation that allows a computer image to be applied to a shirt in a high quality, high resolution, economically feasible manner. This technology creates an image durable enough to withstand thousands of washings. Its photo-like quality, due to significantly higher printer resolution than anything on the market, will show off any image. The technology is cost effective enough to offer customers the ability to order just one unit. Finally, the customer may choose from an extensive library of existing images, supply their own image, or have an artist create an image for them.

Start up SummaryZen X incurred the following expenses for start up: Two computers -- These were be high end models and utilized the following software: Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Corel Draw etc HP XX Laser Printer -- This is a prototype printer not available to the public. Digital T-shirt Printer (Un-Ts-Mn110) Website -- This will be used for information disbursement as well as ordering. Shelving display unit -- To display assorted graphic images on paper for easier viewing. Two desk/chair/office supplies sets. Small shirt inventory -- Inventory will be kept small to lower overhead. This will be accomplished by using a shirt vendor who is one shipping day away, effectively using a just-in-time (JIT) system for managing inventory. Heat application unit -- To make the sublimation transfer.

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1.2) Technologies available for T-shirt printing in Market.

Screen Printing Tried and True

Classic, expertly-handled, proven screen printing method accounts for over 90% of the shirts make. And with so many of T-shirts produced through screen printing, you better believe this is the best way to print in bulk.

Screen printing involves creating a stencil (printers call this a "screen"), and then using that stencil to apply layers of ink on the printing surface. Each color is applied using a different stencil, one at a time, combined to achieve the final look. Screen printing is the best option for designs that require a high level of vibrancy, when printing on dark shirts, or specialty products. The ink in screen printing is applied thicker than digital printing, which results in brighter colors even on darker shirts.

The fact that these products are printed by hand also allows for unique products like water bottles, koozies and mugs, as the printer can manually handle curved or uneven surfaces. The minimum order quantity on screen-printed items is due to the extra material and preparation time associated with this printing method.

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 Digital Printing The Way of the Future

Digital printing is the state-ofthe-art process for items that require high amounts of detail as well as orders of a smaller quantity. Because digital printer does not use screens, they can print a shirt with much greater detail than traditional screen printing can provide. And since there is no physical set-up, your design can be processed and printed even in small quantities as few as one shirt at a time!

Digital printing is not a heat transfer or appliqu. With digital printing, take your design straight from the computer and print it directly onto your garment. We've got this method down to an art form, which means that even photographic images can be reproduced in all their glorious detail.

The "no-minimum" products available on our website have been thoroughly tested and approved for digital printing. We are printing perfectionists, and will not enable products or colors that have not been proven to result in the best final product.

Embroidery

If one doesnt want a printed T-shirt, embroidery is another option available. Embroidery service is a computer-based process that uses multicolored thread to sew your custom design directly into the garment. For that hand-made, stitched look, embroidery process has got covered. With the minimum quantity for embroidered apparel at just 6 pieces for polos and just 12 pieces for hats, it's easy to get the professional look one want for their group.

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2. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

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2.1) INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Indian apparel/Textile Industry is one of the leading textile industries in the world. The opening up of the economy has given the much needed thrust, which has now become one of the largest in the world. Indian textile industry mainly depends upon the textile manufacturing and export. It also plays a major role in the economy of the country. India earns about 27% of its foreign exchange through its textile exports. Further the textile industry of India also contributes nearly 14% of total industrial production. It also contributes to nearly 3% to GDP. Indian textile industry can be divided into several segments, some of which can be listed as below: Cotton textile Silk textile Woolen textile Readymade garments Hand crafted textile

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2.2) Below is a pie chart showing Indias Textile Export for the year 2011, with further break up of overall exports into different categories.

India's Textile export % FY 2011

Readymade garment Cotton textile Handicraft Silk and handloom Wool andwoolen textile Others

(source-http://www.cci.in/pdf/surveys_reports/indian-textile-industry.pdf )

India's Textile export % share FY11 Readymade garment Cotton textile Handicraft Silk and handloom Wool and woolen textile Others 45% 25% 4% 18% 4% 4%

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For the year 2011, the share of Readymade garments in total textile export was around 45% Similarly for Cotton was 25% Handicraft was 4% Silk and Handlooms was 18% Wool and woolen was 4% And Others was 4% Thus from the above pie chart it is very much evident that Readymade garment tops the list in Indias total export followed by Cotton textile, Silk & Handlooms, Wool & woolen, handicrafts and others.

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2.3) A Graph showing revenue generated in India from Textiles since the year 2006 to 2011, in US billion dollars

India's Textile Export (US $ billion)

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 FY' 06 FY' 07 FY' 08 FY' 09 FY' 10 FY' 11 India's Textile Export (US $ billion)

(source-http://www.cci.in/pdf/surveys_reports/indian-textile-industry.pdf )

India's Textile Export (US $ billion) FY' 06 FY' 07 FY' 08 FY' 09 FY' 10 FY' 11 17.6 19.1 22.1 21.2 22.4 26.8

Thus from the above bar graph it is very much clear that Indias textile export is increasing year by year. The Textile Export has increased from around 17.6 US billion dollar in 2006 to around 26.8 US billion dollar in 2011.

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3. COMPANY PROFILE

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3.1) About Zen X Pvt ltd-

Zen X Pvt Ltd, the Apparel Company was founded in 2012 by Navanil Das &Neha Das. Mr. Navanil Das has over 10 years of experience with corporate advertising. Zen X in apparel is just a startup firm now. The strategy of business is to start with Customized T-shirts and slowly and gradually increase it to Jackets, hoods, sweat shirts and caps. Zen X is a start-up organization. Founded in 2012 they are a dynamic and forwardthinking company and their business is bound to grow rapidly. They strive to treat their customers, vendors, and co-workers as they would want to be treated and have a strong sense of innovation and individual responsibility. Zen X is an innovative firm that enables people to design and order custom decorated products such as printed T-shirts and embroidered caps for their groups and events including student groups, bands, small businesses, corporations, family reunions, and more. Their custom T-shirt printing operations accommodate orders of all sizes, ranging from a single T-shirt to quantities in the thousands. They offer a wide range of products from T-shirts to website solutions! They have a wide variety of customers (over 200) that currently purchase from them. Their specialty and their niche is with customer service. Competitive Edge Zen X has two sustainable competitive edges to assist them in market penetration. The first edge is a enormous catalog of graphic images. By establishing strategic partnerships with companies that have existing graphic image libraries, Zen X is able to offer an unprecedented number of options. Their second edge is the high quality of sublimation offered. From previous work experience, Navnil Das has established close business and personal ties with HP's printer division and will exclusively be using prototype technology that offers an unprecedented high resolution sublimation process for shirts.

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Objectives of the company

To become known as the premier custom shirt sublimation service. Achieve profitability within 12 months. Design and implement strict financial controls to help ensure success.

Mission Zen Xs mission is to offer the finest in custom shirt sublimation production. Zen X will offer customers the best product at the best price. Customer's expectations will always be exceeded. What Zen X Does is..

Lets you create T-shirts by choosing colour (any pantone colour shade) combinations of sleeves, collars and cuffs. Design T-shirts and other products, by choosing from thousands of images & hundreds of fonts from the companys catalogue. Orders from 10 to a few 1000 accepted All-inclusive pricing (no extras for shipping or taxes) High quality screen printing and embroidery

Zen X will offer customers a variety of options for creating their own custom shirts. The majority of orders will be for T-shirts, however other style shirts will be available. Zen X will use their printer sublimation technology that allows a computer image to be applied to a shirt in a high quality, high resolution, economically feasible manner.

This technology creates an image durable enough to withstand thousands of washings. Its photo-like quality, due to significantly higher printer resolution than anything on the market, will show off any image. The technology is cost effective enough to offer customers the ability to order just one unit. Most other competitors' costs prohibit printing custom shirts in one-off production runs. Finally, the customer may choose from an extensive library of existing images, supply their own image, or have an artist create an image for them.

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4. Product Profile

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4.1) Zen X is a custom T-shirt sublimation company that offering customers a choice of imagery (outs or theirs) to apply to the front or back of a shirt. While other vendors are able to offer sublimation in single production runs, their computer based sublimation process produces lower image quality. Zen X takes sublimation one step further by producing the graphic images at a higher resolution than other existing technologies. Zen X will also offer custom artwork or graphic options for sublimation. The customer may bring in a graphic or may use Zen Xs sub-contracted artist to realize their vision. Zen X artist can take a customer's pencil drawing or even articulated thoughts and turn them into a new design. Zen X will offer a range of different shirt options. As indicated by the name, there will be an emphasis on T-shirts. Short sleeves, long sleeves, organic fabrics, and a variety of polo, rugby and other styles will also be offered.

Round neck T-shirtsCorporate Quality Colours Available : 200GSM, 100% Combed Cotton

: White, Black, Red, Navy Blue, White Melange, Bottle Green, Grey Melange and Royal Blue.

Very Good Quality Colours Available

: 180GSM, 100% Combed Cotton

: White, Black, Red, Navy Blue, White Melange, Bottle Green, Grey Melange and Royal Blue.

Good Quality Colours Available

: 160GSM, 100% combed Cotton : White, Black, Red, Navy Blue, White Melange, Bottle Green, Grey Melange and Royal Blue.

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 Collar Neck(Polo) T-shirts

Supreme Quality: 270GSM, 100% Combed Cotton Colours Available : White, Black, Red, Navy Blue, White Melange, Bottle Green, Grey Melange and Royal Blue.

Corporate Quality Colours Available

280GSM, 100% Combed Cotton

: White, Black, Red, Navy Blue, White Melange, Bottle Green, Grey Melange and Royal Blue.

Very Good Quality Colours Available

240GSM, 100% Combed cotton

: White, Black, Red, Navy Blue, White Melange, Bottle Green, Grey Melange and Royal Blue.

Good Quality Colours Available

220GSM, 100% Combed cotton : White, Black, Red, Navy Blue, White Melange, Bottle Green, Grey Melange and Royal Blue.

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Keys to Success

Leverage cutting edge technology as a competitive advantage. Due to the use of prototype technology, Zen X will be able to produce sublimations of much higher quality than any of their competitors. This gives Zen X a fantastic competitive edge. At some point within the next two years this technology may be available to the public. Exceed customer expectations by offering high quality products at reasonable prices with quick turnaround times. Large catalog of graphics - Zen X is developing several strategic relationships with existing graphics companies that have an extensive images catalogs. It would be difficult and expensive for Zen X to create their own library of graphics but by developing relationships with companies who own existing libraries, Zen X is able to offer its customers an expansive array of imagery. Zen X pays a royalty for use of these graphics Employ careful financial and accounting analysis to ensure efficiency and proper controls.

Zen X has identified three competitors, two are local companies, the third is an Internet-based shirt designer.

Cherry Uniforms -- This local competitor specializes in silk-screening. 70% of their business is silk-screening with the remaining 30% sublimation. They require a minimum order of 10 with a 2-3 week lead time. This company only uses preexisting designs for their silk-screening and for sublimations you must use their artist. Champ Sports -- This local retailer is geared toward organizations or teams with production runs of 20 or more. They do fairly good work but are rigid regarding custom work.

Ilogo(www.ilogo.in)-- This is an Internet-based retailer that primarily offers computer sublimations. ilogo has a catalog of approximately 200 images for the customer to choose from. They do allow customers to use their own graphic. The

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quality of the sublimations is mediocre at best because they can only use off the shelf technology.

4.3) Current Selling Strategy-

Following are the selling strategies that the company is going to incorporate at its startup to generate sale. Design Fair. Referral Program. Targeting Events. Large orders from Institutes. Facebook Page Advertisement.

Zen X soon after its launch is going to follow the above strategies to generate sale apart from having its own website. Just having a website does not work for any business, the Brand and the company awareness needs to be spread via different means. People need to be made aware of companys products and profile. This will be done by conducting Design Fairs in colleges, targeting Events taking place in and around Pune, contacting companies for mass orders etc. Each of the strategy has been discussed in details in subsequent pages.

4.3.1) DESIGN FAIR

A Design Fair is scheduled to be organized in colleges of Pune city, with approval of the concerned authorities. Students will be asked to submit the design they like or they think can go to the place of being chosen the best design. A Consolation price will be given to every participant, say a PROMOCODE, which entitles them to get discount while purchasing online from the companys website. Also since the participants will be submitting their design via their Email id, the company here not only gets a Database

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of its prospective customer but also spreaded awareness about the company and its product. A cash reward for the best design chosen will be given, plus every participant gets a consolation price.

Advantage Awareness about the Company and its product. Helps in generating DATABASE of prospective customers. Will also help in future communication purpose. Company can do cross selling by tempting its customers by providing them with Promo code which will give them certain discount on purchase.

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**Above is the feature of Promo code shown in the image, which will be implemented on companys website.

4.3.2_Refer a Friend Program

A kind of referral program for students will be implemented. Good people always seem to know good people - that's why a referral program will be started wherein, by signing up for such a program, a customer gets a unique id. Such ids will be used to identify the person who has referred the new customer. Therefore, if a existing client introduces us to someone who buys from the company, that person receives a Thank You payment of 100points equivalent to Rs100, in addition to our eternal gratitude in form of a mail. Zen X will attempt to gain awareness of the different student groups who actively purchase shirts for their members. Awareness will be achieved through a combination of sponsorship of student organization events as well as advertisements in magazines that specifically target this demographic. Advantages Existing Customers will be happy, since they get a Discount of Rs 100 on every referral Helps the company in making new customers. More awareness spread about the company.

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4.3.3) Events

Another strategy includes targeting events and occasions taking place in the city. One of the best ways to promote your clothing line is to attend and showcase at events and trade shows. You get to put your products in front of potential buyers and fans, and you might even manage to sell out your entire inventory. Youll also get to network and meet other cool people in the apparel business. The event may be a ceremony, celebration, festival, happening, Party, Sporting event etc. Organizers of such events can be contacted and informed about customized T-shirts that can be provided for their Event. People are impressed by what looks professional. This may seem like a bit of a paradox since these are typically the anti-mainstream crowds, but its true. They want to see that you care about your product enough to give them a reason to care about it. Obviously a strong lineup of products is important, but equally important is the way you display them. Wearing such T-shirts not just provides the company with bulk orders but also helps organizers to differentiate between them & participants and also make it memorable. There are various websites that provides information about latest happening about events in the city. Some of them are as follows www.meraevents.com www.zomato.com/events www.pune.burrp.com/events www.punediary.com www.buzzintown.com

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Also various events do take place in Colleges and schools. And Pune also known as Oxford of the East , becomes a big market for Customized T-shirts. Some of the well known and popular intercollegiate events include SYMPULSE of Symbiosis, DHRUV of Pumba, CREDENZ, reunion events like REFLECTION, NOSTALGIA etc.

4.3.4) Becoming a sponsor

When marketing a T-shirt brand, one of the best ways to increase exposure is by becoming a sponsor Following are the tips that will be followed before considering sponsoring an event Why Zen X would sponsor? -It helps the brand in increased exposure by sponsoring popular people or events with high attendance. -People and events one sponsors will surely bring about buzz, and the best marketing for your business is word of mouth. -People Zen X sponsor will be connected with the target market and have social circles that probably wouldnt have reached otherwise. -Sponsoring the right people will give brand a higher perceived value

Whom to sponsor? -Upcoming local music artists and dancers. -Events relevant to target like Induction or Convocation programs, College fest ,Sports day in schools and colleges etc -A cause relevant to your target

What to sponsor? -Just a few T-shirts. By sponsoring we dont means we will be paying for the appetizers at events or an athletes plane tickets or anything like that.

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When Zen X will sponsor? -When there is a release a new batch of designs. Get those designs as much exposure as possible. -When the company knows of a local celebrity whos attending some event soon. Try to get him/her to wear one of our T-shirts at the event. -When the company will have some shirts left over from last season that havent sold.

4.3.5) Institutes
Various Travel, tourism, health and fitness industries also will be targeted. There are many gymnasiums and other fitness clubs in cities. The company can have tie ups or sponsor free T-shirts or pay some part of its profit to set up a temporary canopy in the premises of such clubs and sell customized T-shirts to its members. T-shirts with such motivational messages and images will definitely tempt health conscious people to wear them and flaunt their message.

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4.3.6) Facebook Page

advertisement-

Some of the most visited sites daily on the internet are various social networks. The largest demographic of these sites are the people who purchase the most tee shirts of any other group. There are many tee shirt brands that have launched to success with just a small beginning presence on a social network. Depending on which network the strategy will differ according to their individual policies. Some networks allow open promotion of your product while others dont. Zen X can bring in external content to build up profile on some networks but not others. They all have their own methods of keeping in touch with other people, whether it is through profiles, messaging or a blogging platform. It is impossible to provide a run down on just one way to use all social networking sites. Currently Facebook boasts somewhere in excess of 900 million users and growing. Youve probably heard this line by now, but If it were a country it would be the third largest in the world behind China and India only. Facebooks advertising platform is a vehicle worth exploring. The tool allows you to place small display type ads in the right sidebar of Facebook pages and profiles.

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Creating a FB page and making people like it can really boost business for Customized T-shirt. The steps to create FB page is very simple and goes as follows-

Step 1: Build your Facebook Page Everything on Facebook starts with your Page. Create a Page. Its a simple, free way to communicate with customers.

Add a unique cover photo and use your logo as a profile picture Create a post so when people visit your Page they see recent activity Make sure to like your Page and share it with your friends

Step 2: Connect with people Get people to like your Page. Create several ads and target based on location, demographics and interests.

Create multiple ads to help build an audience for your Page Use the targeting options to show your ads to only the people you want reach
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See which versions of your ads work best

Step 3: Engage your audience Post quality updates and promote your posts with ads to engage your customers and their friends. Add a new post to your Page at least once a week

Encourage check-ins, participation in events or create an offer to encourage more activity on your Page When people interact with the content on your Page, their friends are eligible to see the activity

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5. Literature review

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5.1) About Consumer Behavior

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society . It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Research has shown that consumer behavior is difficult to predict, even for experts in the field. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the reaffirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions.

Once a buyer recognizes a problem or a need to buy a product he goes through the following buying process which are as follows1. Information Search Once the consumer has recognised a problem, they search for information on products and services that can solve that problem. Belch and Belch (2007) explain that consumers undertake both an internal (memory) and an external search. Sources of information include:

Personal sources Commercial sources Public sources Personal experience

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The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with information search is perception. Perception is defined as "the process by which an individual receives, selects, organises, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world". Consumers' tendency to search for information on goods and services makes it possible for researchers to forecast the purchasing plans of consumers using brief descriptions of the products of interest.

The selective perception process Stage Description

Selective exposure consumers select which promotional messages they will expose themselves to. Selective attention consumers select which promotional messages they will pay attention to. Selective comprehension consumer interpret messages in line with their beliefs, attitudes, motives and experiences. Selective retention consumers remember messages that are more meaningful or important to them.

The implications of this process help develop an effective promotional strategy, and select which sources of information are more effective for the brand.

2. Evaluation Of alternatives At this time the consumer compares the brands and products that are in their evoked set. The evoked set refers to the number of alternatives that are considered by consumers during the problem-solving process. Sometimes also known as consideration , this set tends to be small relative to the total number of options available. How can the marketing organization increase the likelihood that their brand is part of the consumer's evoked set? Consumers evaluate alternatives in terms of the functional and psychological benefits that they offer. The marketing organization needs to understand what benefits consumers are seeking and therefore which attributes are most important in terms of making a decision. It also needs to check other brands of the customers consideration set to prepare the right plan for its own brand.

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3. Purchase decision Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the consumer is ready to make a purchase decision. Sometimes purchase intention does not result in an actual purchase. The marketing organization must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intention. The organization can use a variety of techniques to achieve this. The provision of credit or payment terms may encourage purchase, or a sales promotion such as the opportunity to receive a premium or enter a competition may provide an incentive to buy now. The relevant internal psychological process that is associated with purchase decision is integration. Once the integration is achieved, the organization can influence the purchase decisions much more easily. There are 5 stages of a consumer buying process they are: The problem recognition stage, meaning the identification of something a consumer needs. The search for information, which means you search your knowledge bases or external knowledge sources for information on the product. The possibility of alternative options, meaning whether there is another better or cheaper product available. The choice to purchase the product and then finally the actual purchase of the product. This shows the complete process that a consumer will most likely, whether recognisably or not, go through when they go to buy a product.

4. Post purchase evaluation The EKB model was further developed by Rice (1993) which suggested there should be a feedback loop, Foxall (2005) further suggests the importance of the post purchase evaluation and that it is key because of its influences on future purchase patterns Consumer behaviour is influenced by internal conditions such as demographics, psychographics (lifestyle), personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. Psychological factors include an individuals motivation, perception, attitude and belief, while personal factors include income level, personality, age, occupation and lifestyle. Behaviour can also be affected by external influences, such as culture, subculture, locality, royalty, ethnicity, family, social class, past experience reference groups, lifestyle, market mix factors.

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5.2) Factors influencing Consumer behavior

1. Cultural factors 2. Social factors and 3. Personal factors

1. Cultural factors Culture, subculture and social class are particularly important influences on consumer buying behavior. Culture is the fundamental determinant of a persons wants and behavior. The growing chld acquires a set of values, perception, preferences, and behavior through his or her family and other key institutions A child growing in US is exposed to following values: achievement, success,efficiency, practicality, progress, material comfort, individualism, freedom, humanitarianism and youthfulness. A child growing up in traditional middle class family in India is exposed to the following values: respect and care for others, honesty and integrity, hardwork, achievement, Humanitarianism and sacrifice. Each culture consist of smaller subculture, that provide more specific identification and specialization for their members. Subcultures include nationalities, religions, racial groups and geographic regions. When subculture grows large and affluent enough, companies often design specializes marketing programs to serve them.

2. Social factors In addition to cultural factors, social factors such as reference groups, family, and social roles and statuses affect our buying behavior. Reference groups A persons reference groups are all the groups that have a direct (face-face) or indirect influence on their attitudes and behavior. Groups having a direct influence are called membership groups. Some of these are primary groups with whom the person interacts fairly continuosly and informally, such as family, friends, neighbours and co workers. People also belong to secondary groups, such as religious, professional and trade union groups which tend to be more formal and require less continuous interaction.

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Aspirational groups are those that a person hopes to join; dissociative groups are those whose values or behavior a person rejects. An opinion leader is a person who offers informal advice or information about a specific product. They are often highly confident, socially active and involved with the category.

Family The family is the most importsnt consumer buying organization in society, and family members constitute the influential primary reference group Roles and Status A person participates in many groups-family, clubs, organization. Such groups are often a important source of information and help to define norms for behavior. A role consist of activities a person is expected to perform. Each role carries a status.

3. Personal factors A buyers decision are also influenced by personal characteristics which are Age and stage in the life cycle People buy different goods and services over a lifestyle. Taste in food, clothes and furniture is often age related. Consumption is shaped by family life cycle. Trends like delayed marriage, child migrating to distant cities or abroad for work leaving parents behind, tendency of professionals or couples to acquire assets such as a house or automobile in the early stages of carrier has resulted in different oppurtunities in life cycle. Occupation and Economic circumstances Occupation of a person also influences consumption patterns. A blue collar worker will buy clothes, work shoes and lunch boxes. A company president will buy dress suits, air travel and county club membership/ Product choice is greatly influenced by economic circumstances: spendable income, savings and assets, debts, borrowing power and attitude towards saving and spending.

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 Personality and self concept. Each person has personality characteristics that influence his or her buying behavior. By personality, we mean a set of distinguishing human psychological traits thatg lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to environmental stimuli. Lifestyle and value People from the same sub culture, social class and occupation may lead quite different lifestyles. A lifestyle is a persons pattern of living in the world as expressed in activities, interests and opinions, Lifestyle are shaped partly by whether consumers are money constrained or time constrained.

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6. OBJECTIVES & SCOPE.

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OBJECTIVES & SCOPE.

The Following are the objectives of the Research-

Primary Objectives To Study Consumer Behavior when it comes to purchasing apparel like Tshirt. Studying factors like spending power for T-shirts, frequency of purchase, place preference of purchase and any special occasion for purchase etc

Secondary Objectives Find out ways of spreading more awareness about Customized T-shirt. Finding out through Questionnaire if people really prefer online apparel buying. To determine the profit potential in the market. The ways in which the Youth in Pune, mostly college students can be targeted.

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6.2) Scope of the report-

The research was conducted in the city of Pune and respondents chosen were mostly in the age group of 18-30 years. Since it is mostly the youth who prefer wearing T-shirts as compared to people of other age group and the company also wishes to target this particular segment in the market. The research report will assist the Company in strategically choosing its targeted customer and increase it sales by undertaking proper promotion methods and other advertising modes.

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7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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7.1) Research:
Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. Market research is the process of systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about customers, competitors and the market. Market research can help create a business plan, launch a new product or service, fine tune existing products and services, expand into new markets etc. It can be used to determine which portion of the population will purchase the product/service, based on variables like age, gender, location and income level. It can be found out what market characteristics your target market has. With research is to help companies make better business decisions about the development and marketing of new products. Market research represents the voice of the consumer in a company. Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It can be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. It takes many dimensions and research methods to constitute a part of the research methodology. Thus when we talk of research methodology, we not only talk of the research methods but also consider the logic behind the methods used in context of the research study in such a way that results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others. Under this head, the methods and techniques used in preparing this report are discussed.

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7.2) Statement of Research: A Study of Consumer behavior for T-shirtsfor Zen X Pvt Ltd in Pune region 7.3) Type of Research: Descriptive type research was used to complete the project. This research is based on fact findings, enquires and the variables are totally independent and uncontrollable. 7.4)Research methods:

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a) The project undertaken was a descriptive research. Researcher undertakes surveys to learn about peoples knowledge, beliefs, preferences and satisfactions and to measure these attributes in general population.

This is a descriptive type research in which customers answers the questions through questionnaire. Also study of all the events and occasions taking place in Pune region was taken into account. Based on the answers given by the customers in questionnaire, interpretation would be given.

7.5) Data collection: Primary data Primary data of research of are collected from direct resources (Online questionnaire) through close ended questionnaire. Secondary data Secondary data which are used to know about the events and occasions where such T-shirts can be sold. Such information was available through various Event Websites and accessing college information for College Events.

7.6) Universe: Universe of this research consist of people mostly, youths aged 1830yrs, in Pune region. 7.7) Sampling plan: Random sampling is used for research project. Equal weightages have been given to all respondent and have chosen them randomly without any biased like gender, age, income and culture. In a simple random sample of given size all subsets of the sample unit are given a equal probability. Each element of the frame thus has an

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equal probability of selection; the frame is not subdivided or partitioned.

7.8) Sample Size The sample size studied is 100. The respondents were asked to fill in the questionnaire posted on a website called Monkeysurvey.com. Following is the link to the questionnaire(http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GB9RTVL)

7.9) Sampling technique: The sampling technique used was a combination of the convenient and the judgmental sampling. Convenient sampling is a non-probability sampling. The technique was chosen as convenient and saves time. Respondents who were easily available for survey were selected.

7.10) Data representation technique and tools: Tables Pie charts. Bar Graphs.

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8. Data Analysis & Interpretation

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Data Analysis and Interpretation

8.1) The following pie chart shows the Location or Place from where people prefer buying apparels.

People Prefering buying Apparels

Online Shop Clothing Shop Malls Factory outlets

People Prefering buying Apparels Online Shops Clothing Shops Malls Factory outlets 17 40 33 10

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The above chart shows the breakup of destinations from where people prefer buying apparels. InterpretationOnly about 17% respondent said that they buy apparels online. The reason for this could be the risk associated to online shopping or unawareness as to how to make payment. There are many risk and scams taking place all over the world when it comes to making payment online. Some of them are Passwords getting saved on remote computers, a frequent scam is of a web store offering designer goods at seemingly bargain prices. The consumer, hoping for a good price, may be tempted to purchase from here. By purchasing from this store, the consumer will, in essence, hand his or her financial information to the criminals behind it. Within moments, the consumer's bank account will be cleared of funds by the criminals. About 40% respondent said that they still liked to buy apparels from the local clothing shop, about 33% from Malls like SGS, Orbit and Phoenix mall. People in India still give preference to feeling and touching the clothes and trying them personally before taking a decision to buy a cloth. There could be a wide spread belief that the cloth material or the apparel itself would not be as attractive as it might be looking online. The color shade or quality may differ. Hence they have the urge to see it personally, try it and then take a buying decision. And about 10% bought them from factory outlets. Also since there are not many factory outlets in Pune, hence so less number of people said they would buy it from factory owned outlets.

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8.2) The price range, in Indian Rs, which respondents spent for online apparel buying.

Price range in online Apparel buying

less than 1000 1000-2000 2000-3500 3500 and more

Price range in online Apparel buying less than 1000 1000-2000 2000-3500 3500 and more 44 24 1 0

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InterpretationFrom the response received, the majority of people spend less than Rs1000 on buying apparels. The reason for it could be the conventional habit of seeing and feeling the clothes before buying it, or the belief that product itself or the quality may be different or just trying the online store when making a first purchase and thus lessening the risk. Since the company is planning to keep the price range of T-shirt below Rs500, this actually turns out to be in their favor. May be by opening outlets or having Canopy at public places the sales can be increased since buyers here can actually see the product and buy if they like.

Very few respondents, 24, spent more than Rs 1000 and less than Rs2000 for online purchases. These may be the buyers who are well aware of online buying procedures, who are tech savvy and are well versed with online pay back policy.

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8.3) Frequency of Online Purchase made by respondents

Frequency of online purchase by respondents

Weekly Monthly Yearly Ocassions like sale, festivalsetc

Frequency of online purchase by respondents Weekly Monthly Yearly Ocassions like sale, festivals etc 0 2 20 30

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InterpretationMajority of the respondents said that they went online to buy only during special occasions like Diwali or when there were huge discounts offered on Apparels. It was only during these events they preferred buying online and as such did not have any inclination to buy online. Out of the 50 respondents, none bought apparels weekly online. Only a few, 3 respondents, bought it online. Whereas a large chunk bought atleast once in a year

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8.4) Satisfaction level achieved in online shopping.

Satisfaction level in Online transaction

Extremely satisfied Somewhat satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Completely Dissatisfied

Satisfaction level in Online transaction Extremely satisfied Somewhat satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Completely Dissatisfied 45 3 2 0

When the respondents were asked if they were Satisfied in the online purchase of apparel they made, the results were quite satisfying Almost all positively respondend saying they were happy with the procedures of making payment, choosing products and overall online environment. Only a small portion,3 respondents, were some what satisfied or Somewhat dissatisfied

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8.5) Discounts, Promocode and other offers impact on next purchase.

Discounts, Coupons or other offers impact on next purchase

Yes Definitely No, depends on the deal Others

Discounts, Coupons or other offers impact on next purchase Yes Definitely No, depends on the deal Others 48 25

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Interpretation48 of the respondents said that having a Coupon or a promo code which will giv them discount on the next purchase will definitely make them purchase again from the same web store. This could be because of the exclusivity given to them over other first time buyers which entitles them a special discount on purchase, thus giving them a fell of a privileged customer. 25 respondents said that having a coupon or promocode doesnt make sense unless they find a appropriate apparel online. Just having a coupon entitling a discount and not finding a good, suitable T-shirt wouldnt tempt them to buy it. Along with coupon the product should be appealing. The other responses received said the overall satisfaction level like the complete buying and website layout, payment methods, easy product viewbility along with the quality of product and payment return policy would be determining factor of next purchase.;

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8.6) Number of Males and Females respondents.

Nos
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 MALES FEMALES Nos

Respondents (gender wise) MALES FEMALES

Nos 62 38

InterpretationThe majority of the respondents are Males who filled in the questionnaire as compared to Females. There are 62 males as compared to 38 females who were surveyed.

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8.7) Awareness about Online Return back Policy.

" Return Back Policy "

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 YES COMPLETELY PARTIALLY DONT KNOW

" Return Back Policy "

Awareness about Return back Policy

YES COMPLETELY PARTIALLY DONT KNOW

Nos. 33 19 48

InterpretationOut of the total 100 respondents, only 33 said that they are completely aware about the money return back policy, provided they are according to the terms and conditions laid down by the company. There is still a large chunk who are completely unaware-48. And a few who somewhat knew that some websites provide such kind of features but how exactly it works they were unaware.

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8.8) Payment mode preference for Online Shopping.

PAYMENT MODE

CASH ON DELIVERY DEBIT/CREDIT CARD NET BANKING

PAYMENT MODE
CASH ON DELIVERY DEBIT/CREDIT CARD NET BANKING

Nos. 40 33 27

InterpretationOut of 100 respondents, 40 said that they would prefer to use the Cash On Delivery payment method. It may be because they will be completely risk free of online risk associated with making payments likes passwords being saved and money being siphoned off from their accounts. Here, they just have to place an order and payment has to be made on delivery. 33 and 27 respondents said they did not mind using Debit/Credit Card and Net banking payment method respectively. It is because they are very well aware of online payment modes becoming more and more secure and safe day by day.

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8. Findings and Observation

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Findings and Observation

Still large numbers of buyer are away from online apparel buying. Out of total 100 respondents only 18 preferred buying apparels online because of the ease and comfort associated with it. 40 respondents still bought it from the local apparel shop located near their place since they feel the necessity to touch and check the cloth before buying. And around 30 respondents said they bought it from Malls and Hypermarkets whenever they went shopping. From the responses received it became quite evident that when it came to large spending in buying apparels, Rs 3500 and more, people mostly preferred to buy it from Malls and Branded shops that searching for it online. When spending less than Rs 1000, respondents preferred going online and searching for what they want. The frequency of purchasing online was quiet rare. Mostly on some special occasions or during festivals people, 30 respondents, preferred buying online. And there were at least 10 respondents who had bought apparel online in the last year. Most of the respondents, 40, positively cited that they were extremely satisfied after buying apparels online and didnt face any problem. Payment return policy, if product is not found appropriate would be preferential factor.

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Observations The competition from the local Cloth store or the unorganized market is tough. Majority of people still prefer to feel and touch the apparel before buying. Zen X needs to increase its presence in market place by opening its own outlets, the cost of which turns out to be very expensive. It just cannot completely depend upon the website for sale.

For having tie ups or having Canopys in colleges and gyms, it need to take prior permission from the owners. In most of the organized institutes say GOLD GYM or Talwarkars, its very difficult to get permission since they are mostly on Franchise system. And the Franchisor in most of the cases do not allow any kind of promotion on their premises. For Online buying, though the payment procedure is quite safe now, people still hesitate to use it.

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9. Conclusion

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ConclusionT-shirt is something which people do buy frequently for their day to day use. The sale of such apparels is more or less stable and actually increases if sales promotion activities are offered like discount, coupons etc. Many online webstore have been using such sales promotion techniques and are quite successful in generating sales and increasing customer traffic to their website. Thus initially to bring more and more customers to their webstore Zen X will have to offer and undertake various sales promotion strategies and make people very much aware about its customized T-shirt and other products that it sells. There is a very tough competition from the local cloth shop or the unorganized sector but the rate of growth of online shoppers is increasing significantly! Rather than visiting shops located in busy markets, travelling there spending on fuel, energy and time, people are now giving due consideration to online shopping. All the products of a webstore are just a click away, Payments can be made easily with also an option to be made at the time of delivery, Return back policy and all this can be done just sitting at home. This is what would work in companys favour. The only catch is that when a customer chooses Cash on delivery payment mode, he is being charged a norminal amount say between Rs 25-50. This is something the customers would not like. Hence at the initial stages of business, Zen X can waive off this premium charge and attract more business. Many people still hesitate making payment online or using their Debit/Credit cards with the threat that such information can be misused by miscreants and they can face huge financial loses. To overcome this fear company can provide an option to make payment at the time of delivery of orders. Also with improvement in technologies and payment making methods, people are getting more and more confident using online payment modes and the fears associated with it is shrinking day by day. According to me, the share of unorganized retail apparel market is going to shrink drastically and if such local players want to sustain in business will have to go online. The scope for such online apparel webstore is very wide and is going to increase year by year, provided it keeps on making available goods which are according to the needs and requirements of consumers

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10. Suggestion

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Suggestions

Since most of the respondent said that they spend less than Rs 1000 in online buying, the company will have to set the price range below it. When it came to buying apparels for more than Rs3500, people mostly preferred to go to Malls to buy since they were able to find many brands, variety and choices there. The company will need to have more tie ups or have its own outlets to increase sale. It cannot entirely depend on online selling since people still prefer to feel the quality of clothes and see it before buying. The website on its own cannot bring business for the firm. Though its one of the mode of selling, the company should have more tie ups and have its own outlets in future to increase its business and spread more awareness about it. The market for such customized apparel is very vast. The company can also export its product in future, since the textile industry of India is growing year by year and its exports are increasing.

There is a large chunk of population who still buys apparel from the local cloth store or Malls. Though the trend of online shopping is increasing, but when it comes to apparel, its increasing at a very slow pace. Easy and less complex payment mode should be there. A portal or a software wherein, customers can upload their images and see it online how the Apparel would look o them should be made available.

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Limitation

The sample size chosen for the research project consisted of just youths in city of Pune and was just 100 in number. The time period available for conducting the overall research and analyzing the responses were limited to 40 days. More efficient and correct information would have been available if the time period had been more. The study was restricted to the city of Pune, Maharashtra only. Youths in other parts of country may have completely different response for the same, which also needs to be taken into consideration before reaching to any conclusion. In the questionnaire, respondents preferred to choose more than one option available, since they felt both were suited at the same time. But the online questionnaire method prevented them from selecting more than one option. By studying just a sample size of 100 it becomes very difficult to reach to any conclusion. We cannot generalize anything relating to overall behavior of consumers by just studying such a small sample size, considering the vast population of India.

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Bibliography

www.surveymonkey.com www.T-shirtriches.com www.T-shirtmagazineonline.com Books refered Marketing Management by Philip Kotler Visual Marketing by David Langton and Anita Campbell. The T-shirt book by Bruno Collin.

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Annexure Questionnaire
Following is the screenshot and the link to the online Questionnaire-

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Following is the link to online questionnaire (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GB9RTVL)

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