KAZIAN GLOBAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

MARKS: 80 COURSE: EMBA Sem-I SUBJECT: Consumer Behavior (re-exam) Name: Mahanta Nirakar Pitambar Reference Number: KP00611-20875

Note:- 1) Kindly write question number properly 2) Attached question papers with answer sheets _____________________________________________________________________________

Case 1 -Fashion Statement through Khadi As Indias traditional hand-spun cotton fabric, khadi feels coarse and unrefined. But the feelings it evokes in anyone with any empathy in Indias heroic struggle for emancipation from colonial rule, is anything but that. Till date the fabric bears the invisible-but-indelible imprint of the charkha (spinning wheel), the late M.K. Gandhis revolutionary symbol for self-reliance and emancipation (through unity, expressed in the refusal to kneel before insolent might). Instead of exporting raw cotton and importing fine Manchestermade cloth, freedom fighters wanted all Indians to spin their own clothing and boycott imports to weaken the British Raj. With the end of Colonial Rule in 1947, the congress government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru opted for state-led large-scale industrialization, instead of Gandhis idea of rule hut-industry development. But it also decided to provide employment to thousands of spinners by selling their output through a vast network of retails stores. Thus was formed the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a nodal agency to promote the fabric, with its Khadi Bhandar outlets in urban India. Over the years, KIVC set up thousand of outlets across India. Sales were good. But with the evolution of technology, perhaps it was inevitable that the sentimental dreams of village self-reliance would be disrupted. And so it was. Modern machines of Europes industrial revolution were soon to arrive. Indian industrialists set up capital-intensive textile mills and began the mass-production of fine cloth. As the mills gained volume, they achieved economies of scale and started lowering prices. And so, the labour-intensive homespun fabric losing out to mill fabric. Driven by its sentimental attachment to Khadi, and concern for mass-scale-sector employment, the government started subsidizing Indias traditional spinners. This was an extension of its tax-the-rich and feed-the-poor outlook, and was projected via the media as a good thing. In any case, KVIC was intended to be a noble organization, motivated by lofty ideals instead of profit. For decades, all was fine behind the khadi curtain of socialism. The reason behind the support mechanism even acquired a holiness of its own. Institutionalized, it became immune to doubt. But alas, the system was artificial and its main flaw lay in the very certain. Public information was lacking, and so it escaped proper scrutiny. In the real would, even the best-international projects can fail, or worse, degenerate into instruments for patronage. But the 1990s, the vision of clothing the masses with khadi was beginning to look absurd. Despite all policy incentives to the sector, people were buying efficiently machine-made textiles. The forces of mass production were making polyester, which had gained economies of scale at the raw materials stage

(made from petrochemicals), cheaper still. Yet KVIC continued to produce huge quantities and sell khadi clothes through its extensive retail chain. By now, khadi was more expensive than other fabrics and had acquired the image of an outdated clothing material worm chiefly by politicians and social workers. Ordinary people preferred cheaper alternatives. Was khadi a lost cause-stuck in the time wrap? Clearly, if KVIC continued the way it was; it was headed for trouble. Given Indias poor fiscal health, subsidies had become untenable. Yet, the fabric couldnt be torn out from consciousness of caring Indian. Something needed to be done. And fast. By the start of the new century, KVIC discovered a pragmatic solution based on using modern marketing to revive the fabric. After all, the Free Market can also accommodate common sentiments. Instead of directing taxpayers money towards the cause, it was thought that private citizen should contribute on their own volition (by buying khadi at premium prices). The strategy? Refurbish the range, acquire an upscale image, aim the cloths at the well off and reposition khadi as a fashion statements. Given KVICs lineage, the idea was radical. But it was worth a try. KVIC started with a single-outlet experiment in Delhis Khan Market. The first air-conditioned shop opened here in May 2001, selling khadi muslin garments designed by high-profile designers (Rohit Bal and Malini Ramani), in addition to a well-packaged range of Ayurvedic products. It was a runaway success, with Delhis elite thronging the shop. KVIC started marketing two brands, Khadi and Sarvodaya, to which it owns the rights. The former caters to the premium and export segments, and include essential oils, herbal oil soaps, face scrubs, and dry fruits honey. Sarvodaya, the mass-market brand, sells mass items such as toilet soap, honey, pickles, spices and incense sticks. The move has also sparked off a controversy. Some Gandhians, troubled by the glamour, are aghast at this betrayal of ideals. Realists, however, criticize them for failing to free themselves of their dearly held khadi mindset. Dont get them wrong. The latter love the old idealism too. But they also realize that a product with great symbolic value deserve to be marketed as such, if it is to reach out, and with mind-space for the poor weavers child who might have something to offer if given a chance. Holding Gandhis method (or tools) as sacred amounts to confusing the means with the end. The capitals response to Khan Market shop has been so good that KVIC wants to upgrade a significant fraction of its network. The transformation is to be entrusted to a new marketing company that will function as any other professional firm. Plans to extend the concept include display units at airports and modern outlets at Delhis Ashoka Hotel, Nehru Place, Hauz Khas, and Kamla Nagar. Next on the agenda: Jaipur, Chandigarh and Lucknow. Whats more, the sales personnel are to be retrained for customer orientation at the shop-floor level. The sale boost is expected to be substantial. The Khadi Gram Udyog store at Connaught Place, New Delhi does an annual turnover o Rs. 10 crore. After renovation, this is expected to touch close to Rs. 25 crore. The product range will be widened too. Ahmedabads National Institute of Design (NID) has proposed a special cell for design support, while Delhis National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) may also pitch in. KVIC has hired three and agencies to promote its brands: Appeal for Khadi; Market Missionaries for Sarvodaya and Pressman for the corporate and promotional schemes. The budget is about 25 crore. Khadi campaign is likely to start by highlighting the brands eco-friendly credentials, before turning attitudes towards it and portraying it as a lifestyle insignia. Vivek Sahni has been roped in to do the packing graphics and retail outlets. E-commerce options are also being weighed, with KVIC having already booked khadi.com and khadi.org as its domain names.

The export thrust will also be sharpened. Right the around 200 production units, which cater exclusively to the export to the market. KVIC wants to identify new markets and tap them with its products. Test marketing efforts are already underway in South Africa, Dubai, and a few other overseas markets. QUESTIONS:1. Would marketing in foreign countries require study of a popular countrys culture aspects and buyer behaviour before marketing Khadi there? What aspects would need to be studied? 2. Suggest an approach to make Khadi garments popular among Indian youth.

Case-2- Purchase of a Microwave Oven Ramesh Sikand and his family lived a comfortable two-bedroom flat in a respectable locality in a large city. He was employed with a general insurance company in a supervisory capacity. His wife, Sumita was a teacher in an English medium public school. Both their children, Rachit aged 10 and Sarita aged 8 years, were studying in the same school where Sumita was employed. Just before Diwali in 2002, one Friday evening the family went shopping. Besides clothes for children and few other things, they bought a 27 liter. Excel microwave from an outlet with good reputation. Sumita was very happy and the children were excited with this new purchase. Both the children were anticipating quick cooking of a variety of dishes they liked. They were expecting that everyday their mom would give them school Tiffin-boxes packed with noodles other Chinese food. To celebrate, Sumita invited two of her school colleagues for dinner and prepared a few dishes in her brand new microwave. Both her friends observed her cooking with great interest. On the dinner table most talk was around difficulties of both spouses being employed and the shortage of time to attend to so many household chores. The friends, Ramesh and the kids profusely praised the dishes and how quickly everything for the dinner was ready. What really took most time was cooking the Chapatis. Sumita said, How nice and convenient it can be if some portable chappati-preparing gadget was available. Ramesh said, It was my idea to buy a microwave. Sumita said, Why? You have forgotten. It was I who two years ago during exam time suggested that it would be good if we buy a microwave. Both of them were trying to take credit for the purchase. Finally, both of them agreed that the idea to buy a microwave was discussed after they attended the dinner at a friends place where for the first time they saw a microwave in operation. One of Sumitas friends asked, why did you buy this particular brand? I have read in the newspaper just a few days back that there are attractive schemes on some brands. Sumita and Ramesh spoke simultaneously, In fact, both of us have read advertisements and articles in magazines within the last six months about what features and benefits every brand offers. Sumita said, As and when I got the opportunity, I consulted some of my knowledgeable friends who have owned microwaves for quite some time, what to look for and what brands to consider. You know, I came across some scaring information about the safety of microwaves. Now the technology is so advanced that all those scaring tit bits of information are quite baseless. Ramesh said, Whatever we learned from magazine articles and experienced friends has helped us quite a lot in buying this brand. Sumita said, About schemes, you are right. We too got a set of three bowls to be used for microwave cooking. Besides, we have paid just a thousand rupees and the rest would be paid in fifteen interest free installments. There is an extended warranty of three years, and if we are not satisfied with the machine, we can return it within the first 30 days of purchase, and no questions asked. Our Rs.1,000 would be refunded in cash. One of Sumitas friend said, Recently, one of my relations in Delhi told me her bad experience with this brand. She went to the extent of suggesting me never to buy this brand of microwave. Ramesh said, I dont know what to say about your relations experience. What information we could collect goes quite in favor of this brand. Those who recommended it have had few years use experience without any complaints. Sumitas friend said, You may be right Bhaisaheb. But one thing we all know is that these are machines and they are not perfect. Excellent cars with unmatched reputations like BMW, Rolls Royce, and Mercedes too, need repairs. She smiled, and said, Havent you heard of Murphys Law If a thing can go wrong, it will. At about 10.30 pm, the friends thanked Sumita and Ramesh, and congratulated them for owning a microwave and left. Sumita and Ramesh were a bit pensive after their departure. They felt somewhat uneasy about the correctness of their decision in choosing this particular brand of microwave. They knew their money was safe, but it would be embarrassing if they had made a mistake. They agreed to discuss the matter with some of their eexperience3d friends.

QUESTIONS:1. Discuss whose decision it was to buy a microwave and when was the purchase decision made. 2. What factors influenced the purchase of the microwave? 3. What is likely to be the post-purchase behavior in this case and what is the significance of such behavior? 4. What is the significance of post-purchase behavior for the marketer?

Case-3- Fancy Dreams The boardroom was filled with the voice of marketing manager, Ashutosh Kant. He was addressing the meeting of senior managers of Fancy Dreams. The last three months were spent by our market research team in finding out the reasons and patterns of sales at stores. Let me emphasize that retail sales is showing growth all over the country and in the process, competitions is intensifying. We can no longer afford to sit and relax, instead we need to put ourselves fully to retain our market leadership. There facts revealed by the survey were particularly disturbing. 1. People found Fancy Dreams service staff bordering on aggressiveness and not really helpful, as customers were never left to browse. 2. Children got bored and hence parents often left the store within minutes after finishing essential shopping. They never browsed or spent leisure time at Fancy Dreams store, which could otherwise help promote sales. 3. With many choices available in the market, consumers stopped treating Fancy Dreams store as unique and exclusive anymore. Rehman, an entrepreneur, had set up a garment shop in one of Delhis busy up market area about 10 years ago. He realized that to attract customers, he must do something new. With this in mind, he chalked out a detailed plan to open a chain of stores called Fancy Dreams. Some major features of this store were: 1. Complete dress range for kids, parents and teenagers. 2. Full accessories for women and in footwear, purses, jewelry and cosmetics. 3. A play center where kids could spend time when the parents shopped. The stores were opened in two locations in Delhi on an area of 10,000 sq.feet each. Within six months, the stores became popular and the business grew rapidly and in three years the turnover crossed Rs.6 crore. The promotion plans included advertising in print media and through cable operators. The store also conducted festivals such as childrens carnival, and Valentine special etc., to attract crowds of customers. Stress on store ambience was high as Rehman wanted to create an image of a complete shopping experience for the entire family. The sales personnel were carefully selected and trained to promote, not push, any product and to encourage customers to browse through. The womens section was given a feminine touch and the mens section had polished wood and leather all over. The garments, the accessories, and the gifts were displayed in large racks and Full-length mirrors were placed in multiple places. Sales personnel present on all the three floors often advised the customers but never showed around everything. The kids section included garments, toys, books, and was manned by more staff. The play center for the kids was a major attraction. The parents could safely leave their children in the place, situated on the ground floor itself. The place had separate section of toys and books for children and was supervised by trained staff. They felt comfortable that their children would be taken care off properly and the parents, therefore, could leave the children and shop in a relaxed manner. This concept was unique and highly appreciated by customers and became the major attraction for them. The stores were one of a kind in the early 1990s and grew rapidly. The new sections on books, gifts, and handicrafts were launched gradually and at any time the store had more than 200 categories of products. During this time, the competition started intensifying as three similar ventures were launched in

the city. This didnt bother Rehman much, because he felt he had built and image of Fancy Dreams being the ultimate store. By 1996, multi-storey, one-stop stores became the trend in Delhi and many such stores came up. Rehman had expanded his stores in three other cities as well and the turnover had crossed Rs.40 crore. The total manpower rose to 500 and several new management and non-management cadres were introduced in the company. Last year during Diwali festival season, the store attracted nearly 40,000 customers in the entire month. This worried Rehman as it was almost 20 percent less than their estimates. His marketing manager, after ling discussions, hired a market research firm to study the buying pattern and preferences of people walking in the store. QUESTIONS:1. Identify the relevant major problems and issues in this case. 2. Suggest a strategy to rectify the problems.

Case -4- Impact of Retail Promotions on Consumers Shoppers Delight, a large retail store, had above average quality and competitive prices. It advertised its retail promotions in local newspapers. Its TV advertising was mainly aimed at building store image and did not address retail promotions. The management knew it well that they had to advertise their retail promotions more, but they did not feel comfortable with the effectiveness of present efforts and wanted to better understand the impact of their present promotions. To better understand the effectiveness of present efforts, a study of advertising exposure, interpretation, and purchases was undertaken. Researchers conducted 50 in-depth interviews with customers of the stores target market to determine the appropriate product mix, price, ad copy and media for the test. In addition, the stores image and that of its two competitors were measured. Based on the research findings, different product lines that would appeal to the target customers were selected. The retail promotion was run for a full week. Full-page advertisements were released each day in the two local Hindi newspapers, and also in one English newspaper that devotes six pages to the coverage of the state. Each evening, a sample of 100 target market customers were interviewed by telephone as follows: 1. Target customers were asked if they had read the newspaper that day. This was done to determine their exposure to advertisement. 2. After general description of the product lines, the respondents were asked to recall any related retail advertisements they had seen or read. 3. If the respondents were able to recall, they were asked to describe the ad, the promoted products, sale prices, and the name of the sponsoring store. 4. If the respondents were accurate in their ad interpretation, they were asked to express their intentions to purchase. 5. Respondents were also asked for suggestions to be incorporated in future promotions targeted at this consumer segment. Immediately after the close of promotion, 500 target market customers were surveyed to determine what percentage of the target marker actually purchased the promoted products. It also determined which source of information included them in their decision to purchase and the amount of their purchase. The results of the study showed that as exposure was 75 percent and ad awareness level was 68 percent and was considered as high. Only 43 percent respondents exposed to and aware of the ad copy could accurately recall important details, such as the name of the store promoting the retail sale. Just 43 percent correct interpretation was considered as low. Of those who could accurately interpret the ad copy, 32 percent said they intended to respond by purchasing the advertised products and 68 percent said they had no intention to buy. This yields an overall intention to buy of 7 percent. The largest area of lost opportunity was due to those who did not accurately interpret the ad copy. The post-promotion survey indicated that only 4.2 percent of the target market customers made purchases of the promoted products during the promotion period. In terms of how these buyers learnt of the promotion, 46 percent mentioned newspaper A (Hindi), 27perecent newspaper B (Hindi), 8 percent newspaper (English), and 15 percent learnt about sale through word-of mouth communication. The retail promotion was judged as successful in many ways, besides yielding the sales worth Rs.900,000. However, management was concerned about not achieving a higher level of ad comprehension, missing a significant sales opportunity. It was believed that a better ad would have at least 75 percent correct comprehension among those aware of the ad. This in turn would almost double sales without any additional cost.

QUESTIONS(Any Two):1. Why would some consumers have high-involvement levels in learning about this sales promotion? 2. Is a level of 75 percent comprehension realistic among those who become aware of an ad? Why or why not? 3. Do you think such promotions are likely to influence the quality image of the retail store? Explain.

Case- 5- Tattoos and Extended Self Most product and services associated with extended self and physically separated from the physically self. Until recently, exceptions were limited primarily to hairstyles and coloring and cosmetics. One could also alter the physical self through excersise,diet,weight training and plastic surgery. In recent years, body piercling and tattooing have become additional ways to alter both the extended self and the physical self. Tattooing is unique (expect for plastic surgery) in that it is a relatively unalterable change to physical self. It can be done primarily for adornment or beauty enhancement reasons. Or, it conserve primarily as public or private symbol. For most of this century, tattooing was not socially acceptable among most social groups in the United States. The most noticeable exception was enlisted men in the Navy, and even then alcohol consumption was frequently involved in the decision to secure a tattoo. This has changed sharply in the recent years. Why has this become socially acceptable and what does it mean it man to the self concept of those who secure tattoos? Research on tattoo focuses on four themes the renaissance of tattooing, the impact of the tattoo on the extended self, the risks associated with acquiring a tattoo, and the satisfaction / dissatisfaction that can result. A tattoo renaissance began in the 1960s with the hippie movement and the evolution of skilled tattoo artists in the San Francisco area. Interest also began to grow in the historical and ethnographic aspects of the tattoo medium. The commercial art world and academic art historians began to pay attention to tattooing as an art from. This, in turn, attracted better tattoo artist. By the early 1990s public figures, particularly athletes began to wear visible tattoos, which increased their acceptability among the more venturesome member of mainstream society. Tattoos have meaning on at least three levels. First, there is the meaning associated with having a tattoo .While increasingly common, having a tattoo is still far from the norm. Thus, having a tattoo in and of itself makes a statement about the person. A person .with a tattoo is still viewed as somewhat of a risk taker or non conformist .The location of the tattoo also contains meaning. The more visible the tattoo, the more rebellious or non conforming the individual appears to be. The tattoo itself is a major source of meaning, both private and symbolic. Tattoos may symbolize group membership, interests, activities, relationship, life transition, or values. Tattoos may be unique and failed primarily with personal meaning or their meaning may be rooted in the cultural practice and myths. Acquiring a tattoo is risky. It is very expensive to remove or alter a tattoo .Thus , if you dont like your tattoo or your tastes change over time , you are at financial risk ., There is also the social risk that ones current or future friends , colleagues , or employers will have a negative reaction to the tattoo. Finally, there is still physiological risk associated with acquiring a tattoo. Ultimately, there is evaluation and satisfaction or dissatisfaction. As mentioned earlier, dissatisfaction is difficult and expensive to correct. Satisfaction, often at a high level, is a frequent outcome. Some research indicates that this may even produce addiction. (Source advances in consumer Research, ed J. W. Alba and J. W. Hutchinson, 1998) (Authors note: Tattooing has been in India for the last several decades. Rural people visiting meals were to get their names tattooed on their forearms. Womenfolk were more interested in getting some design or flowers tattooed. Probably, they did not have such complex psychological reasons as the research in United States shows. In acquiring a tattoo, the new generation youth may be having complex psychological reasons as reported in the study). Question:- (Any Two) 1. What is the significance of acquiring a tattoo in India? Are tattoos considered a way of making a personality statement/ 2. Contact two educated persons who wear a tattoo (just not the name).Interview them to find out what does it mean to them? 3. Interview three of your friends. Find out about their self- concepts and what kind of tattoo would they like have.