A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

“ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER PERCEPTION

TOWARDS PRINT NEWSPAPER VERSUS
MOBILE APPS”

Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of Requirement for the Award of Degree

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)

SUBMITTED BY UNDER THE GUIDANCE

____________________ ____________________
BBA (6TH SEMESTER)

INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

& MANAGEMENT
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to IITM and The Times of India
Group for offering a unique platform to earn exposure and garner knowledge in the
field of Sales and Marketing. First of all, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to my project
guide ________________, Deputy Manager, Results and Market Development at
Times of India, New Delhi for having made my summer training a great learning
experience by giving me his guidance, insights and encouragement which acted as a
continuous source of support for me during this entire period. I would also like to
thank Miss SUCHITA KHANNA of TOI, New Delhi for her help and guidance in
sales and all my colleagues for their sincere cooperation. Without which the success
of this project wouldn’t had been possible. I would also like to express my profound
gratitude to my faculty guide Prof. _________________ for his constructive support
during the summer internship period, which leads to successful completion of my
internship at Times of India, New Delhi.

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 PREFACE

I hereby declare that project Titled “ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER PERCEPTION

TOWARDS PRINT NEWSPAPER VERSUS MOBILE APPS” is an original piece of
research work carried out by me under the guidance and supervision of Mr. Sanjay
Kumar, Deputy Manager, Results and Market Development at Times of India, New
Delhi and Prof. _________________ and it was not submitted to any other
organization, university or institutions or published any time before. The information
has been collected from genuine & authentic sources. The work has been submitted in
partial fulfillment of the requirement of BBA to our college.

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Theory and practice are the two eyes of the management education. Management
education without practical training at an organization remains incomplete. The
training prescribed by the IITM student have various objectives like helping the
student to acquire knowledge, give an opportunity to know the difference between
theory and practice, enable the student to interact with experienced and
knowledgeable persons of business world .

As a student of BBA, I got an opportunity to undergo on training. The training title

is “ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS PRINT
NEWSPAPER VERSUS MOBILE APPS”.

I successfully completed my training report within the specified time. It was really a
thrilling experience for me with senior officials of Industry and to interact with
different members, employees of the organization. It was an experience of enjoyment
through hard work and dedication.

Through this finding of this report, I hope that the Industry in India as well as outside
the country will benefit.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

PARTICULAR PAGE NO.

Acknowledgement

Preface

Executive Summary

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

CONCEPTUAL DISCUSSION

DATA ANALYSIS

Findings & Recommendations

Conclusion
Bibliography
Questionnaire

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 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

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 COMPANY PROFILE

Print media is one of the most powerful and cost effective medium to transfer
information and knowledge. The print media industry in India is more than a century
old. Also it is a well established industry. This industry mainly comprises of
publishing newspapers and magazines. India has the second largest population and
one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Along with these the increasing
level of income of peoples and the robust competition in this industry help print media
in its growth. Producers are increasing day by day, new entrants from outside India is
also a factor of tough competition. Indian readers prefer Hindi magazines rather than
English magazines. In the case of Times group also the readership of Hindi Femina is
higher as compared to English magazines. Ernst & Young said in their survey report
“Indian magazine segment: Navigating new growth avenues”, it has been said that out
of the 20 most read magazines in India, only three magazines are in English, while the
remaining are in Hindi and other regional languages. This survey also said that more
than 300 million literate individuals do not read any publications. According to
ArcGate, the dramatic effects of internet and globalization in current scenario are
playing high impact on media industry. Even people are now consuming news and
information from internet through computers or mobiles, the popularity of print media
is not decreasing. To avoid declining of market share in front of other media the
producer must able to produce high quality printed content and magazines. They also
need to make the contents available on mobile and web platforms to provide a choice
to its subscribers to explore the contents anytime anywhere. Dr Saukat Ali, in his
paper “A Study of Consumer Behavior & Loyalty In Print Media – Challenges &
strategic prescriptions with Special reference to English, Hindi, Marathi News Paper
readers-Mumbai”, says developing customer loyalty & retaining readership can be a
huge challenge for the publishers. There are huge options available to readers now.
Therefore publishers are busy to create something very special and innovative in
contents or subscription schemes to impress upon the readers. They should address
the needs and demand of consumer to strengthen their loyalty and readership.

The revenue of magazines consists of subscription sales, trade sales and mainly from
advertising. More than 70% of the total revenue comes from advertising. The Times

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of India Group, being the market leader in the industry is also stepping with the
current growth and development of the demography. World Wide Media, a subsidiary
of TOI Group is producing high quality magazines in India and worldwide. But still
they are facing some problems. They are losing subscribers. By having an opportunity
to be a part of the group, by acting as an summer intern, this research has been done
with the objectives, To explore the customer demand in terms of price, Quality and
Services. To find out the reasons for discontinuing subscriptions. What drives a
customer to adopt a product? His demand and needs. The product must be able to
fulfill the needs and wants of the customer. When a product has less demand in
comparison with other products? Thus what a customer a wants? This study is mainly
to explore the customers’ demand for the magazines of World Wide Media (WWM) in
terms of price, quality and services. We can say, to explore what customer wants from
the publisher and what publisher gives to the customer. It is also being taken to find
out the lacks behind fulfilling the demand.

ORGANISATIONS PROFILE

The Times Group (Also referred as Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.) is the largest
company in media and entertainment industry in India and South Asia. It has
completed 175 years of its journey in media industry from 1838, established in
Mumbai. Starting off with The Times of India – which is now the largest English
publication in the world, BCCL and its subsidiaries (called The Times of India
Group), are present in every existing media platform – Newspapers, Magazines,
Books, TV, Radio, Internet, Event Management, Outdoor Display, Music, Movies and
more. Having strength of more than 11,000 employees, its revenue is exceeding $1.5
Billion, it has the support of more than 25000 advertisers and a vast audience
spanning across the world.

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Key Business areas:

 Publishing
 Television
 Digital

 Out of Home

 Other Activities

Publishing:-

 Largest publisher in India: 13 newspapers, 18 magazines, 16 publishing

centres, 26 printing centres

 Largest English newspaper in India by circulation (and the world), the Times
of India.

 Largest Business newspaper in India by circulation (2nd largest English

Business daily in the world, behind WSJ), the Economic Times.

 Largest Non‐English newspapers in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore by

circulation (India’s three largest cities).

Television:-

 Largest English News TV Channel, No. 2 English Business News TV

Channel.

 Largest Bollywood News and Lifestyle TV Channel, No. 2 English Movies

TV Channel.

Digital:-

 Largest Indian network based on traffic and revenue (behind Google,

Facebook, Yahoo).

 Operates 30+ digital businesses, most of which are Top 3 in their competitive
segment.

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  Most popular B2C mobile short code in India, across SMS, voice, WAP, and
USSD Radio.

 Largest radio network in India by revenue and listenership, with 32 stations.

 Operates the largest rock radio station in the UK.

Out-of-home:-

 Largest Out‐of‐home advertising business in India with presence in all major

metros.

 Owns advertising contracts in most major airports in India.

Other Activities:-

 Music
 Movies

 Syndication
 Education

 Financial Services

 Event Management

 Specialised publications - including books and multimedia.

HISTORY

1838

In November 3, 1838 the first edition of The Bombay Times and Journal of
Commerce were published, reflecting basically the business community of Bombay. It
was a bi-weekly publication. Dr. J.E. Brennan was the Editor.

1850

Shareholders decide to increase the share capital and the paper is converted into a
daily.

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1859

Bombay Standard and Chronicle of Western India merges into The Bombay Times
and Journal of Commerce to form Bombay Times & Standard.

1861

Editor Robert Knight amalgamates The Bombay Times & Standard and Bombay
Telegraph & Courier to form The Times of India - giving it a national character.

1892

T. J. Bennett becomes the editor and enters into a partnership with F.M. Coleman to
form a joint stock company - Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL).

1907

Editor Stanley Reed revolutionizes news production by extending the deadline to

midnight. Until then any news that came in after 5 pm was held over for the next day.
The newspapers’ first price war was also initiated with cover price being cut from 4
annas to 1 anna – leading to a five-fold increase in circulation.

1946

The Times of India gets Indian ownership with Seth Ramakrishna Dalmia buying the
company.

1947

Exclusive Sunday edition of Times of India launched in Mumbai. The company also
launches its Hindi daily – Nav Bharat Times in Delhi.

1948

Sahu Jain Group takes over as the owners of the company after Ramakrishna Dalmia
sells the firm to his son-in-law Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain - who becomes the first
Chairman of the group.

1950

The Times of India launches in Delhi.

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1952

Filmfare launched.

1959

Femina launched.

1961

The Economic Times is launched.

1962

Maharashtra Times launched.

1965

Femina Miss India contest started.

1988

Times of India complete 150 years. Special stamp released by Government of India to
commemorate the occasion.

1996

The Times of India crosses 1 million marks in circulation. It also carries the first-ever
color photograph.

1997

BCCL enters into music market with Times Music.

1999

India times web portal launched; BCCL enters music retailing business with Planet
M. Also operates the first-ever private FM broadcast through Times FM (which later
becomes Radio Mirchi).

2000

The Times of India crosses the 2 million mark in circulation.

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2001

Radio Mirchi - Nationwide private FM broadcasting starts. 360 Degrees - Event

management business also launched. TOI goes all colour and storms Delhi by being
"Number One".

2003

Launch of the Times Private Treaties as a strategic business division. Launch of the
Jobs portal Times Jobs. TOI E-paper launched. Entry into TV business with the
launch of India’s first lifestyle and entertainment channel Zoom.

2005

Launch of a Matrimonial website Times Matri – later rebranded as Simply Marry.

Mumbai Mirror, the city-centric daily tabloid launched in Mumbai.

2006

Launch of a television News Channel called Times Now.

Radio Mirchi holding company ENIL (Entertainment Network India Limited) lists on
the Indian stock markets. It is the first Times Group Company to list on the bourses
with IPO being oversubscribed by more than 41 times.

Launch of a Property services portal Magic Bricks. Times of Money launch

Remit2Home, to cater to global remittance market.

Acquisition of Karnataka’s leading newspaper company Vijayanand Printers Limited

makes BCCL the dominant force in Karnataka.

2007

Launch of Bangalore Mirror, Ahmedabad Mirror, ET (Gujarati) and Whats Hot – a

premier weekend entertainment supplement. The Times of India becomes largest
English daily in the world with circulation breaching the 3 million mark and beating
Sun (tabloid) of UK.

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2008

Launch of ET (Hindi), Pune Mirror and The Times of India editions at Jaipur, Goa
and Chennai. Acquisition of Virgin Radio (now rebranded as Absolute Radio) in the
UK.

2009

TOI Crest edition launched. Launch of ET Now – premier business channel having
integrated newsroom with ET print edition.

2010

Private Treaties re-branded as Brand Capital. The Speaking Tree newspaper

launched. ET Wealth launched. Maharashtra Times launches Pune edition. Vijay Next
(premier weekly newspaper from Vijay Karnataka) launched. India’s first HD-only
premium movie channel – Movies Now (HD) launched.

2011

Sunday ET re-launched as a tabloid.

Bodhivriksha (spiritual weekend newspaper in Kannada) launched.

Launch of The Times of India, Coimbatore and Madurai/Trichy Editions.

2012

Launch of The Times of India, Kerala, Visakhapatnam and Raipur(Chhattisgarh)

Edition

2013

Launch of the Times of India, Kolhapur Edition.

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Subsidiaries of Times Group

TIML & ENIL

Times Innovative Media Limited (TIML) & Entertainment Network India Limited
(ENIL) that together control,

 Radio Mirchi National network of Private FM stations

 360 Degrees Events

 Times Outdoors (TIM Delhi Airport Advertising Private Limited.

 Mirchi Movies Limited Filmed Entertainment. Producers of BEING CYRUS,

VELLITHIRAI, MANJADIKURU.

Times Internet Limited

Times Internet Limited is one of the largest internet companies of India. It has
interests in online news, online business news, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, and
Bengali news, mobile, e-Commerce, music, video, and communities. Some of the
larger properties of TIL include:

 India times shopping - one of the largest and earliest ecommerce portals
in India

 India

 Times of India

 Economic times.com

 Navbharattimes.com

 Maharashtra Times

 Timescity.com

 Gaana.com

 BoxTV.com

 Times Deal

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Times of Money

Times of Money operates financial remittance services for Indians abroad to send
money back to India. Their product, remit2India, is a standalone product, while also
powering the remittance services of many banks globally.

Times Global Broadcasting Limited

Television division. It is also called Times Television Network.

 Times Now A general interest news Channel

 Smart Hire A Consulting Division – Recruitments

 ET Now A business news channel

 Zoom A 24x7 Bollywood entertainment and gossip channel

 Movies Now A 24x7 Hollywood Movies channel in High Definition (India's

first)

Times Business Solutions

 TBSL, corporate website of TBSL.

 Times Jobs, a jobs portal.

 Techgig, a professional networking site for Technology Peoples.

 Simply Marry, a matrimonial portal.

 Magic Bricks, a real estate portal.

 Yolist, free classifieds portal.

 Ads2Book, online classifieds booking system for print publications.

 Peer Power, a Senior-Level professional networking portal.

World Wide Media

World Wide Media - started off as a 50:50 magazine joint venture between BCCL
and BBC magazines. In August 2011, it was announced that Bennett, Coleman &
Co. bought out the remaining 50 per cent shares of Worldwide Media from BBC
Worldwide thereby making World Wide Media a fully owned subsidiary of
BCCL.

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  Filmfare

 Filmfare Awards

 Femina

 Femina Miss India A Beauty Pageant

 Top Gear Magazine India

 BBC Good Homes

 Femina Hindi

 Grazia

 What to Wear

TIML Radio Limited

On 30 May 2008, SMG sold The British Virgin Radio to TIML Radio Limited for
£53.2 million with £15 million set aside for rebranding. On 28 September 2008, The
British Virgin Radio Station rebranded as Absolute Radio, including the sister radio
stations Absolute Xtreme and Absolute Classic Rock.

Stations

 Absolute Radio

 Absolute Radio 60s

 Absolute Radio 70s

 Absolute 80s

 Absolute Radio 90s

 Absolute Radio 00s

 Absolute Classic Rock

 Absolute Radio Extra This company is a direct subsidiary of BCCL (not

through TIML or ENIL).

Times Syndication Service

The syndication division of The Times of India Group, grants reprint rights for text,
and other media from the group's publications.

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Brand Capital

Brand Capital provides funding to growth oriented enterprises for their long term
brand building needs.

Online shopping

Satvik shop, an online shopping website dedicated to organic and ayurvedic products.

KEY MANAGEMENT

Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

PROMOTERS & DIRECTORS

1. Chairperson: Indu Jain
2. Vice-Chairman & MD: Samir Jain
3. Managing Director: Vineet Jain

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

1. Executive Director: Trishla Jain

2. Executive Director & CEO: Ravindra Dhariwal
3. Executive Director & COO: Shrijeet Mishra
4. Executive Director & President: Arunabh Das Sharma
5. Non Executive Director: A.P. Parigi
6. Non Executive Director: Kalpana J. Morparia
7. Non Executive Director: M. Damodaran
8. Non Executive Director: Leo Puri

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WORLDWIDE MEDIA

World Wide Media (WWM) is a joint venture between the BCCL and BBC World
Wide. It is the India’s largest producer of lifestyle and special interest magazines. It
was formed in 2004 and in 2011 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bennett,
Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL). From just four magazines in 2008, WWM is
currently producing 13 magazines in India and worldwide. The Times of India Group
have the selling and distribution right of these magazines for India. The magazines
are:-

 Femina

 Femina (Hindi)

 Femina (Tamil)

 FilmFare

 Filmfare (Hindi)

 BBC TopGear

 Hello!

 Grazia

 BBC Good Homes

 Lonely Planet

 Home Trends

 BBC Knowledge

 BBC Good Food

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DISTRIBUTION STRUCTURE OF THE TIMES OF INDIA

CHANNEL MEMBERS OF THE TIMES OF INDIA

PRINTING PRESS

 It takes the content from the editorial team and prints using high capacity
advanced press machines that deliver the product in packaged condition

 Situated in New Delhi for U.P. region.

 Capacity to print over 10 lac copies.

 Printing starts around 1-1:30 am usually

 After Printing, stacking is done before dispatching newspapers to depots

 Labeling done to match stacks with destination

 Usually stocks for depots situated the farthest are dispatched earliest.

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Depots

 The distribution centre receives the copies from the transporter and stocks it
for a short duration

 Close to numbers of depots in New Delhi

 Keep publications (newspaper + magazines) for various companies

 Serviced by salespersons who are company employees

 Unorganized – keep newspapers / magazines scattered on pavements or on

steps of some malls etc

 Records are kept at depots in the following format:-

AGENTS

 Employed where distribution is not organized

 Exclusive agents of TOI

 Work on commission, themselves act as salesmen

 New Delhi Market- Working with depot

 New Delhi- Working with agency system

VENDORS

 Like retailers. Link between depot and end consumer

 Go to nearest depot everyday. Pick out publications they want

 They sell via : door-to-door beat boys/single point newspaper stands

 MDI vendor serve in areas. He collects newspapers from Old Bus Stand
Agents.

BEAT BOYS
The delivery boys have demarcated regions/housing societies, which they serve.
Hawkers are individuals who do not have established customers and sell at road sides,
bus stands etc. They make small quantity purchases

 Deliver required publications to proper destinations.

 Have route-wise list of addresses and their required newspaper/publications .

 3-4 beat boys cover an area via their routes.

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INFORMATION FLOW

 New consumer/Existing consumer taking or terminating subscription

 Inform their Vendor( increase/decrease his order by one )
 Vendor Informs the distributor
 Distributor informs the company.

CHANNEL MARGIN

 Margin given by TOI to channel members is around 30%

 More or less uniform rate across the industry
 Agents get 5-10%, salesmen on payroll get fixed salary
 Vendor receives 20-25%, to cover the costs incurred due to travel, beat boys etc.
 It depends on the type and language of newspaper. (Hindi – 25%; English – 20%)

PROMOTION SCHEMES:-

TRADE SCHEMES

 Offered to channel members

 Incentive to increase sales
 Challenge for channel member: Balance reader interest while trying to increase
sales to avail benefits of the scheme

 Discounts for purchase of larger volumes by vendor

 Bonus of 50 paise for each new account generation by vendor

DISCOUNTS

 Mainly for institutional sales

 Eg. Bulk sale at schools at discount rates

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READER SCHEMES

 Directed at final consumer/reader. Mainly to draw in new customers

 Varies depending on location & demography
 Could include trials, discounts, freebies, combo offers etc

SUBSCRIPTION SALES

 Offer choice of publication for a certain amount of time at a lump sum discount
price

 Purpose- gaining new customers and making customer switch

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History of Advertising

Very early ads were as simple as shouts by peddlers, announcing about their goods to
the crowds. All the required elements of advertising were there: buyers looking to
buy, sellers looking to sell and a market facilitating the transaction between two.
But as time passed, technology offered alternatives to shouting the message. The
printing press and paper were early examples. It has never taken long time for
advertising to find its way onto any medium that technology has come up with.

As consumerism became more common and organized in seventeenth century Europe,

newspaper ads emerged in the great centres of Paris and London. They were quite
popular, and were seen around 1680s.

In 1704, a wealthy plantation owner wanted to sell his estate in Oyster Bay, along the
Gold Coast of Long Island, New York. To sell it, he had to let people know it was for
sale — simple enough. But this seller was shrewd enough to realize that the bigger the
market, the better his chances were of getting a good price. So, he bought some space
in the Boston News – Letter and announced that his house was for sale. As far as we
know, this may be when it all began here in what is now the United States.

Twenty - five years later, Benjamin Franklin began publishing the Pennsylvania
Gazette, which included pages of “new advertisements”. These were the special prints
targeting specifically people looking for advertisements and sellers showing their
offerings. Very quickly, printers and advertisers began to experiment with new devices
and treatments such as writing headlines, drawing illustrations, and advertising placed
next to related editorial material.
Soon publishers were selling access to their readership. Advertisers or the buyers in
this market, now had to make more decisions: Where should I put my money to
optimize getting my message across? How should I design my message to be most
effective?
Because of industrial revolution, printing presses were now capable of printing ten
thousand pages per hour. The 1850 U.S. Census listed 2,526 newspapers and more
than 600 magazines, and both increased nearly fivefold 30 years later.

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In any market, there comes a point when things get very complex demanding a
service provider to make things simpler, and in many cases that takes the form of an
intermediary whose expertise helps the people in advising and execution of how
things should be done. Such was the case in Philadelphia, in 1843, when the first
advertising agency was established. Agencies started getting business from
advertisers, they wrote ad copy, and decided where to place the ads. Many of today’s
largest agencies (e.g., J. Walter Thompson or JWT) were there from the beginning.

Advertising became serious during end of 19th Century. This happened in 1882 when
Procter & Gamble Company spent a stunning $ 11,000 advertising for an Ivory soap.
To regulate the content of newspaper circulation, an audit bureau of circulation was
also established to look after the content of paid circulations. Soon the technology
made another stride and Guglielmo Marconi invented a new medium of
communication to masses, thus came Radio. Those first radio ads were famously
effective and word spread. Only $ 10 million was spent for radio advertising at that
point, but the new media was here to stay.

And while radio was still finding its stride, technology once again was in the
background stirring the pot once again. Back in 1927, Philo Farnsworth invented
video, as one of the worlds’ first offshoots to the new relativistic sciences.

Farnsworth’s innovation soon begin to be known as television as we call it today.

Initial broadcasting began in the late 1920s, which was later affected by the
Depression and then World War II. In 1929, the first television broadcast took place
which was 2 inches tall and 2 hours long.
The first TV advertisement was aired in 1941 before a baseball game. A Bulova watch
spanned a map of the United States: “America runs on Bulova time!” The spot cost $
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Advertisers were attracted not only by the reach of the medium but also because of its
very nature. After all, advertising is all about attracting attention and then gaining
mere exposure. And again, as soon as advertisers became comfortable with the new
medium and started to invest steadily in TV ads, the need for measurement became
clear. Accordingly, in 1953, the Advertising Research Foundation officially accepted
ACNielsen’s machine - based ratings system for TV.

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During 1960s Technology started to change very fast with personal computers being
used as a medium to exchange messages via Dial Up internet connections. Many
companies saw this as an opportunity to advertise on web page, this lead to
foundation of business model for the largest internet search giant “Google”.

Advertising in Digital Era

Now, it is felt that digital space is most fertile for advertising. It allows interactivity
and it is measurable. A joint study by the Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI) and IMRB International estimates the online advertising market in India will
touch Rs 3,575 crore ($578.1m) by March 2015, a 30 per cent rise from Rs 2,750
crore (US$ 444.7m) in March 2014.

Of the current Rs 2,750 crore (US$ 444.7m) digital advertisement market, MGI says
search and display contribute the most: search advertisements constitute 38 per cent of
total advertisement spends followed by display advertisement at 29 per cent.

A joint 2014 report by PwC and the Confederation of Indian Industry states that the
internet's share in total advertising revenue is anticipated to grow twofold from 8 per
cent in 2013 to 16 per cent in 2018. Online advertising, which was estimated at Rs
2,900 crore (US$ 469m) in 2013, could jump threefold to Rs 10,000 crore (US$
1.6bn) in five years, increasing at a compound annual rate of 28 per cent. Impressive
numbers!

Even more interesting, and surprising, is that India is actually the world’s fastest-
growing smartphone market. As a result, mobile advertising volume in India grew the
fastest in the world, climbing a record 260 per cent since July 2013, even as the larger
Asia-Pacific region where ad impressions delivery rose 70 per cent this year.
Tracking device adoption, the report – the ad network’s first study of the Indian
market – said the Android platform has 41.7 per cent market share in India (while
Apple’s iOS has just 0.4 per cent). The Indian audience for ads is predominantly
young and male, Opera Mediaworks’ report also aid. The 18-24 age group accounts
for over 60 per cent of all users while males make up 82 per cent (India is still very

26
much a male-dominated society, although the youthfulness and comparative wealth of
that demographic will get advertisers very excited).

Given all the fact figures and numbers above, it can be foreseen that mobile
advertising is here to stay. Marketing organisations must find a way to deliver their
message in more entertaining way to masses. They should further focus on ways of
making mobile advertising even more engaging and less irritating. Digital advertising
provides features of permission based advertising, personalised advertising,
measurement of reach and a lot more which can be leveraged by organisations and
can be used by them to frame their strategies accordingly.

Brief History of Mobile Advertising

Figure 1 shows a brief history of how mobile advertising arena as we see today was
evolved through various milestones. To understand the likes and dislikes of various
aspects of mobile advertising, this study is taken up. This study will tell about the
current perception of mobile advertising of consumers and the possible areas of
improvement on which organisations can work upon.

Marketers are always looking to make their communications more personal, more
targeted, and more relevant. Mobile is arguably the most personal, targeted, and
relevant marketing channel available. Further, the increasing adoption of smartphone
technology opens up even more possibilities for mobile marketing. As (Persaud and
Azhar, 2012) point out ‘the increased capabilities of smartphones have presented
marketers with a substantially expanded set of possibilities to research and service
consumers’. Therefore it is important to understand the consumer perception towards
mobile marketing.

A number of factors play a role in a consumer effectively responding to mobile

programs, including his/her age, gender, location, the type of phone or mobile device
he/she has, his/her education, and more. This research will try to evaluate consumer
perception based on these factors.

27
From the above mentioned tactics, the tactics which are exclusively relevant to
smartphones are elaborated below –

1. QR Codes (aslo known as Quick Response Code) – These are two dimensional
machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares, typically
used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a
smartphone. Marketers use QR codes in print advertisements, billboards and at other
places with an intention that consumer will scan the code and will be redirected to the
coded URL in QR code.

2. In-App Advertisements – Smartphones comes loaded with a lots of

applications, people also download applications as required. Some of these
applications are supported by in-app advertisements. These advertisements may be of
full screen in nature or a constantly displaying small banner ad.

3. Browser Messages – Browser messages are messages sent by marketers which

contains a URL, if a user opens a browser message, it is automatically opened in
phone’s internet browser showing the webpage sent by marketer.

4. Location Based – Location based advertising is used by many restaurants. It is

targeted towards local mobile users. In this type of advertisements, mobile
automatically detects the location of user and sends the most relevant advertisements
in form of in-app advertising or in form of SMS.

5. Instant Messaging – Internet messaging makes use of Mobile’s Internet

capabilities and delivers the messages to the users of IM application. For example,
some marketers make use of Whatsapp to advertise themselves.

6. Wi-Fi Access Points – At some places, marketers provide free access points to
access Wi-Fi. This internet access is supported by advertisements, which are displayed
during the browsing of internet on free Wi-Fi access points.

28
 SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths:

 Being the largest company of its kind, it has the largest market share in India.
It can be said as the most awarded brand of its kind in New Delhi.

 It provides best quality contents including all magazines and newspapers in

low prices.

 Having tie-up with BBC, increases the brand value.

 Parent company’s presence in all media i.e television and radio etc., becomes
easy to reach a wide range of consumers for its campaign.

Weaknesses:-

 Tough competition in the industry raises limited scope for increasing market
share.

Opportunities:-

 It has better opportunity in regional language publications in India. For

example many people asks about Gujarati magazines.

 It can also penetrate in the online market, by making its contents available
online. So that users can avail this on their computers and mobiles.

Threats:-

 Main threat comes from its competitors.

 Basically local language publications can take over its market share.

29
 CHAPTER-2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

30
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Task

As a part of the Summer Internship Program we have been assigned to book

subscriptions for the various magazines published by World Wide Media and sold and
distributed by Times Of India and also to collect renewal from the expired
subscribers.

Research Methodology

Objectives:

 To predict and explore the customer demands in terms of Price, Quality

and Services for magazines published by World Wide Media (WWM).

 To find out the reasons why subscribers are not renewing or discontinuing
their subscription.

Problem definition: What are the various aspects in which World Wide Media is
lacking behind in fulfilling the customers demand?

Research methodology:

This Exploratory research has been conducted through primary data. The data will be
qualitative as well as quantitative. The data has been collected through personal
interview, door to door visit and telephonic interview.

Research design:

 Geographical location: The geographical location taken for the purpose of

data collection and the research in New Delhi city.

 Sample size: The sample size for collecting primary data 150 respondents.
The sampling will be done through Random Technique.

31
Table:-

Reader 100
Non-Reader 50

 Data collection method: The data has been collected through personal
interview, door to door visit and telephonic interview.

 Target group: The respondents consist of existing subscribers,

discontinued subscribers and non-readers.

Limitations:

One of the major limitation of this research is that it is limited to only students of
IITM University, this research can be expanded to be applied in a greater context to
cover all variety of people part from students. Further, research may be improved by
use of other sampling techniques apart from what which is applied in this research.
This research may also be supplemented by use of published resources which keeps
track of consumer actions across various mobile advertising platforms. This research
only makes use of empirical methods to arrive at results, it may be improved by use of
qualitative data along with this study to arrive at more meaningful insights.

32
 LITERATURE REVIEW

According to the Mobile Marketing Association, mobile marketing is defined as –

“A set of practices that enable organizations to communicate and engage with their
audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or
network.”

The same definition as above has been used while getting responses from respondents
during the data collection phase of this research.

Literature Review

Businesses of every size are targeting customers with smart-phones as the primary
communications medium. Mobile is the primary vehicle for reaching consumers
through social media. Many of the popular and big brands are going mobile because
of the personalization factor. Contrary to what people think mobile marketing has
gained a lot of popularity amongst the consumers.

A sizeable body of research on mobile marketing evolved in recent years, primarily

focused on mobile marketing through SMS/MMS, but with sharply declining amount
SMS/MMS being exchanged this medium of advertising is becoming rather less
relevant. There is no significant research devoted specially to smartphones and how
advertising on smartphone can shape the consumer behaviour.

The literature of advertising has covered studies from both advertisers and consumersí
perspectives. For example, from an advertiserís perspective, each directional ad also
has a brand building function since it has certain qualities (e.g., a symbol/icon or
brand name) that add to brand recognition. From a consumerís perspective, an ad may
not motivate further action if it is not perceived to be relevant to his or her current
needs, but unique qualities of the ad might result in brand building.

Innovations in new technologies create advertising opportunities and challenges.

Advances in mobile phones increased the ubiquitous connectivity, frequency, and
speed of communication through which timely mobile advertising can be delivered to
consumers based on their demographic characteristics and geographic information. In

33
sum, new technologies are being developed, not for giving power to the marketers,
but for empowering the consumers. This has lead to a strong focus of advertising
industry in mobile or smartphone market.

To measure advertising value, many studies have developed theoretical models

around which one can measure the value of mobile advertising. Some of these studies
include a study by RH Ducoffe (1995), study by Jari Salo (2004).

Ducoffe suggested a model which was consisting of Entertainment, Information,

Irritation and Credibility as major dimensions of framework. Brackett and Carr (2001)
further validate Ducoffe’s model and extend the model to include credibility and
consumer demographics. Credibility is shown to be directly related to both advertising
value and attitude towards advertising. Demographic variables such as college major,
age, and gender are shown to effect only attitudes towards advertising.

Ducoffe highlighted advertising value, which refers to ‘‘a subjective evaluation of the
relative worth or utility of advertising to consumers’’ (Ducoffe, 1995, p. 1). Studies on
advertising value have showed how advertisements work and what factors determine
the worth of advertising from a customer perspective (Ducoffe, 1996). In Ducoffe’s
model (1995), cognitive and affective factors as predictors of advertising value are
suggested. The cognitive factor includes the perception of informativeness and
credibility on advertisement.
Informativeness refers to the extent to which the advertising message includes
informational contents (Aaker & Norris, 1982). Advertising credibility refers to
‘‘consumers’ perception of the truthfulness and believability of advertising in general’’
(MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989, p. 51). The affective factor includes perceptions of
entertainment and irritation (Ducoffe, 1996).

The quality of the information placed on a company’s web site has a direct influence
on the customers’ perceptions of the company and the company’s products (Kaasinen
2003; Siau and Shen 2003). Accordingly, the information delivered to them via
mobile devices also needs to show qualitative features like relevance, timeliness, and
usefulness for the consumer and they are interested in getting messages that are
relevant for them (Siau and Shen 2003; Milne and Gordon 1993). Information is thus
considered a very valuable incentive in mobile marketing, because recipients react

34
very positively to advertising transferring incentives (Varshney 2003).
Informativeness of the advertising information is strongly related to the attitude
toward the advertising when it is transferred via traditional media (Ducoffe 1995).
Therefore, it can be concluded that informativeness of an advertising message
positively influences consumer attitude toward the advertisement.

Entertainment denotes the ability to fulfill consumers’ needs for diversion, esthetic
enjoyment or emotional release (McQuail, 2010). People’s feeling of enjoyment
associated with advertisements play the greatest role in accounting for their overall
attitudes toward them (Shavitt, Lowrey, and Haefner 1998).

Entertainment services can increase customer loyalty and add value for the customer.
As most people have a natural playfulness, providing games and prizes via text
messaging (SMS) yields high participation (Haghirian and Dickinger 2004; McQuail
1983). Delivering games and prizes to the target group’s mobile phones is a successful
way to attract and keep customers (Haghirian and Dickinger 2004). Interactive games
for example can also be played via text messages. These features can be used to
involve customers more deeply and make them more familiar with the advertised
service or product (Krishnamurthy 2000). Therefore, it can be said that an entertaining
advertising message is being perceived more positive by the recipient.

Irritation can be defined as the extent to which the advertising message is messy and
irritating to consumers.

Advertisements have a great influence on people’s attitude toward advertising (Shavitt

et al. 1998). When advertising employs techniques that annoy, offend, insult, or are
overly manipulative, consumers are likely to perceive it as unwanted and irritating
influence (Ducoffe 1996). Mobile advertising can provide an array of information that
confuses and distracts the recipient as well as overwhelms the consumer with
information (Stewart and Pavlou 2002). Consumers may feel confused about the ads
and may react negatively. Therefore, it can be said that irritation caused by an
incomprehensible mobile advertising message may reflect negatively on the attitude
toward the advertisement.

35
Credibility of an advertisement refers to the perceived truthfulness and believability
of advertising (MacKenzie & Lutz,1989). Conventional wisdom says that credibility
is necessary for effective advertisement.
Advertising credibility is consumers’ perception of the truthfulness and believability
of advertising in general (Pavlou and Stewart 2000). Credibility of an advertisement is
influenced by different factors, especially by the company’s credibility and the bearer
of the message (Goldsmith et al. 2000). It can be expected that the credibility of
messages transferred to mobile devices also can influence consumer attitude toward
the advertising. Therefore, based on the previous literature it may be concluded that
the credibility of a mobile advertising message has a positive influence on consumer
attitude toward advertisement.

Ducoffe’s advertising model has been applied in various contexts such as the Web and
feature phone advertisements. Despite prior research results, studies did not adopt the
advertising model in the context of smartphone advertisements. The importance of
smartphone advertisements is increasing due to the pervasiveness and convenience of
smartphones. This lead to examination objective of this study to judge consumer
perception on Ducoffe’s model.

Further, Jari Salo suggested that advertising value can be evaluated on parameters also
known as 5Cs of advertising i.e. content, cross-media marketing, campaign
management, customer database, and carrier cooperation. These are specific to mobile
advertising but from the perspective of marketer. Marketing communication may
predispose individuals to respond positively or negatively toward a product or brand.
Such elements as the execution of the advertisement, the mood created by the
advertisement, the degree to which the viewer is aroused, and even the context within
which the advertisement is received (e.g. television program or magazine) may affect
their feelings about the advertisement, and in turn their feelings about the product or
brand (Stern and Zaichkowsky, 1991).

36
There is clear evidence that the emotions that advertising arouse do carry over to
products and brands, and studies have often shown that attitude toward the
advertisement is a strong mediator of advertising effectiveness (Mitchell and Olson,
1981; Batra and Ray, 1986; MacKenzie, Lutz and Belch, 1986; Bruner and Kumar,
2000; Stevenson et al. 2000). The majority of these studies have focused on the study
of attitude toward the advertisement as a causal mediating variable in the process
through which advertising influences brand attitudes and purchase intentions.
Furthermore, these studies have often shown a strong positive relationship between
attitude toward the advertisement and brand attitude, which in turn is positively
related to purchase intention.

In this study, the key concept is advertising value. The value of advertising is a critical
determinant of consumer response but has received only scant attention from
researchers (Ducoffe 1995; Knopper 1993). Advertising value is conceptualized as “a
subjective evaluation of the relative worth or utility of advertising to consumers”
(Ducoffe 1995, p 1). The study of advertising value could add to our understanding of
how advertising works, a key dimension of which would be the worth of advertising
to consumers (Ducoffe 1996).

Studies done by (Alwitt & Prabhaker in 1994 & Mittal in 1994) states that just a bit
more than 50% of the observation is keen in receiving mobile advertisement in a
purchase purpose and less than the half interested in receiving advertisement for
information. It also says that most of the people when they receive advertisement
through their cell-phone just keep it to read it later.
A Study by (Pousttchi, K. et. al, 2006) gives a mobile marketing framework, which
sets out the objectives of mobile marketing these are – brand building and awareness,
changing brand image, sales promotion, enhancing brand loyalty, building customer
database, mobile word-of-mouth. These objectives can be incorporated by an
advertiser to create a final mobile advertisement.

37
Some studies (Bauer, Reichardt, Barnes, and Neumann, 2005) found that information
value and entertainment value are some of the strongest drivers for attitude towards
mobile advertising, whereas it was found that the effects of “prior knowledge” and
“general attitude” were very low in formation of attitude towards mobile advertising.
Similarly, a study on Japanese consumer attitudes (Haghirian and Inoue, 2007) toward
mobile advertising was performed and it was found that “credibility” and
“informativeness” of the advertising message are the most influencing factors for
consumers’ attitude towards advertising on the mobile internet.

Other studies (Barutcu, 2007) found that customers with high involvement and price
conscious customers have more positive attitudes towards mobile advertising,
discount coupons, banking and mobile marketing tools overall, and respondents
without an access to fixed-line internet differ considerably in terms of their attitude
towards mobile advertising, entertainment and shopping. (Wais and Clemons, 2008)
found that people prefer to receive promotional messaging from another person rather
than a company, and would be more likely to perceive promotional messaging
positively if it came from another person than if it came from a company. Further,
some studies have also found a strong evidence of relationship between consumer
attitudes and consumer intentions within the mobile context (Xu 2006/2007 and
Okazaki 2004).

38
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how

products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation.
Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total
customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services
(ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals."[1] In a survey of nearly 200 senior
marketing managers, 71 percent responded that they found a customer satisfaction
metric very useful in managing and monitoring their businesses.[1]

It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of

a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for
customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has
become a key element of business strategy.[2]

"Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They
focus employees on the importance of fulfilling customers’ expectations.
Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and
profitability. . . . These metrics quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has
loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both free and
highly effective."[1]

Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction.

To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction.

"In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or
service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind
satisfaction. When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they
will be disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying. For
this reason, a luxury resort, for example, might receive a lower satisfaction rating than
a budget motel—even though its facilities and service would be deemed superior in
'absolute' terms."[1]

The importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has

increased bargaining power. For example, cell phone plan providers, such
as AT&T and Verizon, participate in an industry that is anoligopoly, where only a few
suppliers of a certain product or service exist. As such, many cell phone plan contracts
have a lot of fine print with provisions that they would never get away if there were,

39
say, a hundred cell phone plan providers, because customer satisfaction would be way
too low, and customers would easily have the option of leaving for a better contract
offer.

There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of

customer satisfaction for firms.

Purpose

A business ideally is continually seeking feedback to improve customer satisfaction.

"Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions

and loyalty." [1] "Customer satisfaction data are among the most frequently collected
indicators of market perceptions. Their principal use is twofold:" [1]

1. "Within organizations, the collection, analysis and dissemination of these data

send a message about the importance of tending to customers and ensuring
that they have a positive experience with the company’s goods and
services."[1]
2. "Although sales or market share can indicate how well a firm is
performing currently, satisfaction is perhaps the best indicator of how likely it
is that the firm’s customers will make further purchases in the future. Much
research has focused on the relationship between customer satisfaction and
retention. Studies indicate that the ramifications of satisfaction are most

40
 strongly realized at the extremes." On a five-point scale, "individuals who rate
their satisfaction level as '5' are likely to become return customers and might
even evangelize for the firm. (A second important metric related to
satisfaction is willingness to recommend. This metric is defined as "The
percentage of surveyed customers who indicate that they would recommend a
brand to friends." When a customer is satisfied with a product, he or she
might recommend it to friends, relatives and colleagues. This can be a
powerful marketing advantage.) "Individuals who rate their satisfaction level
as '1,' by contrast, are unlikely to return. Further, they can hurt the firm by
making negative comments about it to prospective customers. Willingness to
recommend is a key metric relating to customer satisfaction."[1]

Construction

Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers.

[3]
Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the
organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace.

"Customer satisfaction is measured at the individual level, but it is almost always

reported at an aggregate level. It can be, and often is, measured along various
dimensions. A hotel, for example, might ask customers to rate their experience with its
front desk and check-in service, with the room, with the amenities in the room, with
the restaurants, and so on. Additionally, in a holistic sense, the hotel might ask about
overall satisfaction 'with your stay.'"[1]

As research on consumption experiences grows, evidence suggests that consumers

purchase goods and services for a combination of two types of benefits: hedonic and
utilitarian. Hedonic benefits are associated with the sensory and experiential attributes
of the product. Utilitarian benefits of a product are associated with the more
instrumental and functional attributes of the product (Batra and Athola 1990).[4]

Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual

manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and
product/service to product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of
both psychological and physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors
such as return and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending

41
on other options the customer may have and other products against which the
customer can compare the organization's products.

Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (Leonard L)[5] between 1985 and
1988 provides the basis for the measurement of customer satisfaction with a service
by using the gap between the customer's expectation of performance and their
perceived experience of performance. This provides the measurer with a satisfaction
"gap" which is objective and quantitative in nature. Work done by Cronin and Taylor
propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation" theory of combining the "gap" described
by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry as two different measures (perception and
expectation of performance) into a single measurement of performance according to
expectation.

The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey[6] with a set of

statements using a Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each
statement and in term of their perception and expectation of performance of the
organization being measured. Their satisfaction is generally measured on a five-point
scale.

"Customer satisfaction data can also be collected on a 10-point scale."[1]

"Regardless of the scale used, the objective is to measure customers’ perceived

satisfaction with their experience of a firm’s offerings."[1] It is essential for firms to
effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, we need accurate
measurement of satisfaction.[7]

Good quality measures need to have high satisfaction loadings, good reliability, and
low error variances. In an empirical study comparing commonly used satisfaction
measures it was found that two multi-item semantic differential scales performed best
across both hedonic and utilitarian service consumption contexts. According to studies
by Wirtz & Lee (2003),[8] they identified a six-item 7-pointsemantic differential scale
(e.g., Oliver and Swan 1983), which is a six-item 7-point bipolar scale, that
consistently performed best across both hedonic and utilitarian services. It loaded

42
most highly on satisfaction, had the highest item reliability, and had by far the lowest
error variance across both studies. In the study, [8] the six items asked respondents’
evaluation of their most recent experience with ATM services and ice cream
restaurant, along seven points within these six items: “please me todispleased me”,
“contented with to disgusted with”, “very satisfied with to very dissatisfied with”,
“did a good job for me to did a poor job for me”, “wise choice to poor choice” and
“happy with to unhappy with”.

A semantic differential (4 items) scale (e.g., Eroglu and Machleit 1990),[9] which is a
four-item 7-point bipolar scale, was the second best performing measure, which was
again consistent across both contexts. In the study, respondents were asked to evaluate
their experience with both products, along seven points within these four items:
“satisfied to dissatisfied”, “favorable to unfavorable”, “pleasant tounpleasant” and “I
like it very much to I didn’t like it at all”.[8]

The third best scale was single-item percentage measure, a one-item 7-point bipolar
scale (e.g., Westbrook 1980).[10] Again, the respondents were asked to evaluate their
experience on both ATM services and ice cream restaurants, along seven points within
“delighted to terrible”.[8]

It seems that dependent on a trade-off between length of the questionnaire and quality
of satisfaction measure, these scales seem to be good options for measuring customer
satisfaction in academic and applied studies research alike. All other measures tested
consistently performed worse than the top three measures, and/or their performance
varied significantly across the two service contexts in their study. These results
suggest that more careful pretesting would be prudent should these measures be used.
[8]

Finally, all measures captured both affective and cognitive aspects of satisfaction,
independent of their scale anchors.[8] Affective measures capture a consumer’s attitude
(liking/disliking) towards a product, which can result from any product information or
experience. On the other hand, cognitive element is defined as an appraisal or
conclusion on how the product’s performance compared against expectations (or
exceeded or fell short of expectations), was useful (or not useful), fit the situation (or
did not fit), exceeded the requirements of the situation (or did not exceed).[11]

43
Methodologies

American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a scientific standard of customer

satisfaction. Academic research has shown that the national ACSI score is a strong
predictor of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and an even stronger predictor
of Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) growth. On the microeconomic level,
academic studies have shown that ACSI data is related to a firm's financial
performance in terms of return on investment (ROI), sales, long-term firm value
(Tobin'sq), cash flow, cash flow volatility, human
capital performance, portfolio returns, debt financing, risk, and consumer spending.
[12]
Increasing ACSI scores has been shown to predict loyalty, word-of-mouth
recommendations, and purchase behavior. The ACSI measures customer satisfaction
annually for more than 200 companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors. In
addition to quarterly reports, the ACSI methodology can be applied to private sector
companies and government agencies in order to improve loyalty and purchase intent.
Two companies have been licensed to apply the methodology of the ACSI for both the
private and public sector: CFI Group, Inc. and Foresee Results apply the ACSI to
websites and other online initiatives. ASCI scores have also been calculated by
independent researchers, for example, for the mobile phones sector, [13] higher
education,[14] and electronic mail.[15]

The Kano model is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction

developed in the 1980s by Professor Noriaki Kano that classifies customer
preferences into five categories: Attractive, One-Dimensional, Must-Be, Indifferent,
Reverse. The Kano model offers some insight into the product attributes which are
perceived to be important to customers.

SERVQUAL or RATER is a service-quality framework that has been incorporated

into customer-satisfaction surveys (e.g., the revised Norwegian Customer Satisfaction
Barometer[16]) to indicate the gap between customer expectations and experience.

J.D. Power and Associates provides another measure of customer satisfaction, known
for its top-box approach and automotive industry rankings. J.D. Power and Associates'
marketing research consists primarily of consumer surveys and is publicly known for
the value of its product awards.

44
Other research and consulting firms have customer satisfaction solutions as well.
These include A.T. Kearney's Customer Satisfaction Audit process,[17] which
incorporates the Stages of Excellence framework and which helps define a company’s
status against eight critically identified dimensions.

For Business to Business (B2B) surveys there is the InfoQuest box. [18] This has been
used internationally since 1989 on more than 110,000 surveys (Nov '09) with an
average response rate of 72.74%. The box is targeted at "the most important"
customers and avoids the need for a blanket survey.

In the European Union member states, many methods for measuring impact and
satisfaction of e-government services are in use, which the eGovMoNet project sought
to compare and harmonize.[19]

These customer satisfaction methodologies have not been independently audited by

the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) according to MMAP
(Marketing Metric Audit Protocol).

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF TIMES OF INDIA

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its

limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a
sustainable competitive advantage. A marketing strategy should be centered around
the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main goal. Marketing strategy is a
method of focusing an organization's energies and resources on a course of action
which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A
marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing,
relationship management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals,
and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing
strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix,
and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral component of
overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will successfully engage
customers, prospects, and competitors in the market arena. Corporate strategies,
corporate missions, and corporate goals. As the customer constitutes the source of a
company's revenue, marketing strategy is closely linked with sales. A key component

45
of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line with a company's overarching
mission statement

All four elements of the Marketing mix are closely related in formulating the
Marketing strategy. Marketing planning involves establishing objectives for
marketing activity, determining and scheduling the steps necessary to achieve the
objectives, and then allocating the necessary resources. Marketing strategy includes
the activities of finding a competitive advantage, planning for the company’s growth,
analyzing the company’s portfolio and allocating the company’s resources.

Marketing control involves a careful monitoring of the results of the Marketing plan
to ensure that the plan is achieving the objectives that were set and that it is cost-
effective. Facts of Marketing These are diverse facts of Marketing, but the tasks of
Marketing remain the same: to understand the customer, know who is involved in
making a purchase decision, and then develop a Marketing mix- product, price,
distribution system, and - that will satisfy those customers.

MARKETING STRATEGY OPT BY THE TIMES OF INDIA

Direct marketing addresses some of the biggest challenges in marketing a business -

lead generation, converting those leads into high quality customers, and then
systematically growing customer profitability. Direct marketing helps the company to
get through the ‘marketing noise’, and delivers a high return on investment for your
marketing spend.

With prospects being presented with so many choices, they seldom, if ever, buy at the
first contact. In fact, it can take anything from 9 to 15 contacts before they have
sufficient trust in you to finally buy your product.

Systematic Direct Marketing is that set of processes - a marketing strategy based on

direct marketing methods which will deliver an immediate and sustainable sales
improvement.

46
By improvements we mean:

 Your lead generation costs will drop,

 Converting leads into sales will not be due to profit-killing price discounts,
and

 Your quality clients will form enduring relationships - providing you with
profitable repeat sales

The Highly Effective Cycle of Systematic Direct Marketing

In order to attract, retain and nurture a list of highly profitable customers, the
company needs to craft direct marketing strategy around a number of marketing
activities that can start in a fairly simple way, but over time develop into a fairly
sophisticated set of direct marketing processes leading to prime aim of expanding.

If you cycle through the following direct marketing activities you will experience an
unprecedented improvement in your business’s results:

Each direct marketing cycle will create a set of clients who can start providing the
company with referrals. These ‘lowest cost’ prospects will supplement the prospects
that you attract through your normal ongoing lead generation techniques, yielding an
ever-increasing prospect base for you to convert into customers.

Services marketing is marketing based on relationship and value. It may be used to

market a service or a product. Marketing a service-base business is different from
marketing a goods-base business.

There are several major differences, including:

1. The buyer purchases are intangible

2. The service may be based on the reputation of a single person

3. It's more difficult to compare the quality of similar services

4. The buyer cannot return the service

Service Marketing has been relatively gaining ground in the overall spectrum of
educational marketing as developed economies move farther away from industrial

47
importance to service oriented economies. What is marketing? Marketing is the flow
of goods and services from the producer to consumer. It is based on relationship and
value. In common parlance it is the distribution and sale of goods and services.
Marketing can be differentiated as:

• Marketing of products

• Marketing of services.

Marketing includes the services of all those indulged may it be then the wholesaler
retailer, Warehouse keeper, transport etc. In this modern age of competition marketing
of a product or service plays a key role. It is estimated that almost 50% of the price
paid for a commodity goes to the marketing of the product in US. Marketing is now
said to be a term which has no particular definition as the definitions change every
day.
"Managing the evidence" refers to the act of informing customers that the service
encounter has been performed successfully. It is best done in subtle ways like
providing examples or descriptions of good and poor service that can be used as a
basis of comparison. The underlying rationale is that a customer might not appreciate
the full worth of the service if they do not have a good benchmark for comparisons.
However, it is worth remembering that many of the concepts, as well as many of the
specific techniques, will work equally well whether they are directed at products or
services. In particular, developing a marketing strategy is much the same for products
and services, in that it involves selecting target markets and formulating a marketing
mix. Thus, Theodore Levitt suggested that "instead of talking of 'goods' and of
'services', it is better to talk of 'tangibles' and 'intangibles'". Levitt also went on to
suggest that marketing a physical product is often more concerned with intangible
aspects (frequently the `product service' elements of the total package) than with its
physical . sales after service is very important in service sector. properties. Charles
Revson made a famous comment regarding the business of Revlon Inc.: `In the
factory we make cosmetics. In the store we sell hope.' Arguably, service industry
marketing merely approaches the problems from the opposite end of the same
spectrum,

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INTERNAL INFLUENCES

You can start your examination of the influence on consumer purchase decisions by
first looking inside yourselves to see which are the most important internal factors
that affect how you make choices.

Perceptual Filter

Perception is how we see ourselves and the world we live in. However, what ends up
being stored inside us doesn’t always get there in a direct manner. Often our mental
makeup results from information that has been consciously or unconsciously filtered
as we experience it, a process we refer to as a perceptual filter. To us this is our
reality, though it does not mean it is an accurate reflection on what is real. Thus,
perception is the way we filter stimuli (e.g., someone talking to us, reading a
newspaper story) and then make sense out of it.

How these steps are eventually carried out depends on a person’s approach to
learning. By learning we mean how someone changes what they know, which in turn
may affect how they act. There are many theories of learning, a discussion of which
is beyond the scope of this tutorial, however, suffice to say that people are likely to
learn in different ways. For instance, one person may be able to focus very strongly
on a certain advertisement and be able to retain the information after being exposed
only one time while another person may need to be exposed to the same
advertisement many times before he/she even recognizes what it is. Consumers are
also more likely to retain information if a person has a strong interest in the stimuli. If
a person is in need of new car they are more likely to pay attention to a new
advertisement for a car while someone who does not need a car may need to see the
advertisement many times before they recognize the brand of automobile.

Marketing Implication:

Marketers spend large sums of money in an attempt to get customers to have a

positive impression of their products. But clearly the existence of a perceptual filter
suggests that getting to this stage is not easy. Exposing consumers to a product can be
very challenging considering the amount of competing product messages (ads) that

49
are also trying to accomplish the same objective (i.e., advertising clutter). So
marketers must be creative and use various means to deliver their message Once the
message reaches consumer it must be interesting enough to capture the their attention
(e.g., talk about the product’s benefits). But attending to the message is not enough.
For marketers the most critical step is the one that occurs with awareness. Here
marketers must continually monitor and respond if their message becomes distorted in
ways that will negatively shape its meaning. This can often happen due in part to
competitive activity (e.g., comparison advertisements). Finally, getting the consumer
to give positive meaning to the message they have retained requires the marketer
make sure that consumers accurately interpret the facts about the product.

Knowledge

Knowledge is the sum of all information known by a person. It is the facts of the
world, as he/she knows it and the depth of knowledge is a function of the breadth of
worldly experiences and the strength of an individual’s long-term memory. Obviously
what exists as knowledge to an individual depends on how an individual’s perceptual
filter makes sense of the information it is exposed to.

Marketing Implications:

Marketers may conduct research that will gauge consumers’ level of knowledge
regarding their product. As we will see below, it is likely that other factors
influencing consumer behavior are in large part shaped by what is known about a
product. Thus, developing methods (e.g., incentives) to encourage consumers to
accept more information (or correct information) may affect other influencing factors.

Attitude

In simple terms attitude refers to what a person feels or believes about something.
Additionally, attitude may be reflected in how an individual acts based on his or her
beliefs. Once formed, attitudes can be very difficult to change. Thus, if a consumer
has a negative attitude toward a particular issue it will take considerable effort to
change what they believe to be true.

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Marketing Implication:

Marketers facing consumers who have a negative attitude toward their product must
work to identify the key issues shaping a consumer’s attitude then adjust marketing
decisions (e.g., advertising) in an effort to change the attitude. For companies
competing against strong rivals to whom loyal consumers exhibit a positive attitude,
an important strategy is to work to see why consumers feel positive toward the
competitor and then try to meet or beat the competitor on these issues. Alternatively,
a TIMES OF INDIA can try to locate customers who feel negatively toward the
competitor and then increase awareness among this group.

Personality

An individual’s personality relates to perceived personal characteristics that are

consistently exhibited, especially when one acts in the presence of others. In most,
but not all, cases the behaviors one projects in a situation is similar to the behaviors a
person exhibits in another situation. In this way personality is the sum of sensory
experiences others get from experiencing a person (i.e., how one talks, reacts). While
one’s personality is often interpreted by those we interact with, the person has their
own vision of their personality, called self-concept, which may or may not be the
same has how others view us.

Marketing Implication:

For marketers it is important to know that consumers make purchase decisions to

support their self-concept. Using research techniques to identify how customers view
themselves may give marketers insight into products and promotion options that are
not readily apparent. For example, when examining consumers a marketer may
initially build marketing strategy around more obvious clues to consumption behavior,
such as consumer’s demographic indicators (e.g., age, occupation, income).
However, in-depth research may yield information that shows consumers are
purchasing products to fulfil self-concept objectives that have little to do with the
demographic category they fall into (e.g., senior citizen may be making purchases that

51
make them feel younger). Appealing to the consumer’s self concept needs could
expand the market to which the product is targeted.

Lifestyle

This influencing factor relates to the way we live through the activities we engage in
and interests we express. In simple terms it is what we value out of life. Lifestyle is
often determined by how we spend our time and money.

Marketing Implication:

Products and services are purchased to support consum itions carry certain
responsibilities yet it is important to understand that some of these responsibilities
may, in fact, be perceived and not spelled out or even accepted by others. In support
of their roles, consumers will make product choices that may vary depending on
which role they are assuming. As illustration, a person who is responsible for
selecting snack food for an office party his boss will attend may choose higher quality
products than he would choose when selecting snacks for his family.

Marketing Implication:

Advertisers often show how the benefits of their products aid consumers as they
perform certain roles. Typically the underlying message of this promotional approach
is to suggest that using the advertiser’s product will help raise one’s status in the eyes
of others while using a competitor’s product may have a negative effect on status.

Motivation

Motivation relates to our desire to achieve a certain outcome. Many internal factors
we have already discussed can affect a customer’s desire to achieve a certain outcome
but there are others. For instance, when it comes to making purchase decisions
customers’ motivation could be affected by such issues as financial position (e.g., can
I afford the purchase?), time constraints (e.g., do I need to make the purchase
quickly?), overall value (e.g., am I getting my money’s worth?), and perceived risk
(e.g., what happens if I make a bad decision).

Marketing Implication:

52
Motivation is also closely tied to the concept of involvement, which relates to how
much effort the consumer will exert in making a decision. Highly motivated
consumers will want to get mentally and physically involved in the purchase process.
Not all products have a high percentage of highly involved customers (e.g., milk) but
marketers who market products and services that may lead to high level of consumer
involvement should prepare options that will be attractive to this group. For instance,
marketers should make it easy for consumers to learn about their product (e.g.,
information on website, free video preview) and, for some products, allow customers
to experience the product (e.g., free trial) before committing to the purchase.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Consumer purchasing decisions are often affected by factors that are outside of their
control but have direct or indirect impact on how we live and what we consume.

Culture

Culture represents the behavior, beliefs and, in many cases, the way we act learned by
interacting or observing other members of society. In this way much of what we do is
shared behavior, passed along from one member of society to another. Yet culture is a
broad concept that, while of interest to marketers, is not nearly as important as
understanding what occurs within smaller groups or sub-cultures to which we may
also belong. Sub-cultures also have shared values but this occurs within a smaller
groups. For instance, sub-cultures exist where groups share similar values in terms of
ethnicity, religious beliefs, geographic location, special interests and many others.

Marketing Implication:

As part of their efforts to convince customers to purchase their products, marketers

often use cultural representations, especially in promotional appeals. The objective is
to connect to consumers using cultural references that are easily understood and often
embraced by the consumer. By doing so the marketer hopes the consumer feels more
comfortable with or can relate better to the product since it corresponds with their
cultural values. Additionally, smart marketers use strong research efforts in an
attempt to identify differences in how sub-culture behaves. These efforts help pave
the way for spotting trends within a sub-culture, which the marketer can capitalize on

53
through new marketing tactics (e.g., new products, new sales channels, added value,
etc.).

CHAPTER-4

DATA ANALYSIS

54
 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. Sample Size Distribution:

Table:-

Reader 100
Non-Reader 50

Readers include Existing subscribers (during the SIP) and Expired subscribers. The
Expired subscribers are divided into two parts, 1) Discontinued subscriber, who
doesn’t want to renew their subscription and 2) Continued subscriber, who have
renewed their subscription.

2.Reason for not-reading:

Among the Respondents covered under Non-reader criteria, 20% said that they are not
able to afford a magazine, 24% do not read due to non-availability of time, 22% prefer
to read online and the remaining 34% are not interested in reading magazines.

55
3. Rating upon features:

Respondents were asked to rate the features with number between 1 to 10.

A) Entertainment:

It shows that only 16% subscribers are fully entertained by the magazines who gave
10 out of 10. The highest 44% subscribers gave 8 out of 10. They are less entertained
than other 24% subscriber who gave 8 out of 10. Therefore it shows that maximum
percentage of population want more entertainment in the magazines.

B) Information:

Survey indicates that all the respondents are well satisfied with the information
delivered through the magazines. They are giving 8, 9 and 10 out of 10.

56
C) Gossip:

It shows that customers are demanding less gossip in the magazines. They rated this
feature with 7,8,9 and 10. The personal interviews on this topic also shows their
demand to avoid gossiping.

D) Updates:

The contents in the magazines are well updated as the diagram shows that 55%
respondent gave 9 out of 10. Only a few percentage of respondent think that
magazines are not well updated.

57
E) Price:

In case of price, survey shows that 27% are highly satisfied and another 45% are less
satisfied than the first one. By seeing other responses we can say that subscribers are
well satisfied with price of the magazines. But still their demand is to decrease the
price due to human behaviour of expecting more than what they get.

F) Services:

Services is one of the main factor which helps in maintaining the customer loyalty and
keeping the readership size constant. The survey shows that there are less percentage
of people who are well satisfied with the services who give higher rating. Their
demand is to improve the services including the distribution system and customer care
system.

58
G) Language:

Customers are well satisfied with the language used in the magazines. Maximum
percentages of the respondents give higher rating.

H) Quality Vs Price Ratio:

When the respondents were asked about the quality Vs price, good responses have
received from them. There are maximum percentages of people who are highly
satisfied with the quality of the magazines relating with price.

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4. Renewal Call:

During the internship period, 50 renewal calls has been done. Out of which 26% i.e.
13 renewals have been collected. The remaining 74% has denied renewing their
subscription.

The reasons for denying are discussed

A) Reason for Discontinuation:

60
Reasons derived from the survey, for the discontinuation of the subscriptions,

 Decrease of interest and usability: 32% of the respondent said that they have
stopped their subscriptions due to decrease in interest. Also the usability.

 Shifting: There are two types of shifting observed, 1. To other TOI magazines.
2. To other publishers.

 Due to contents: 5% subscriber thought that the full contents comes in an issue
are not necessary for him/her. They need only a part or few pages of the magazine.
For which they think that it is none other than wasting of money by buying the
whole. Therefore they now prefer internet for their need.

 Only subscribed for gift: Subscription scheme plays an important role in

increasing readership. There is high demand of gifts in subscription scheme. There
are 8% people who are not interested in continuing their subscription because
there is no gift in current scheme. But if they will be provided with preferable gift
scheme, they are ready to continue their subscription.

 Cost: Only 3% people are not ready to continue their subscription because they
thought that the current scheme of 50% discount on 1 year subscription is not so
cost effective.

 Service: The last but the main reason for which people are not ready to renew
their subscriptions. As maximum percentage i.e. 39% of the respondents have
stopped their subscription only because of services problem. There are three types
of service problems derived.

1. Delivery: Customers were getting issues lately or never got some issues. In case of
fortnightly magazines, they were getting two issues at a time. Also some were not
getting issues in a proper condition i.e. damage of packaging, crashed papers etc.

2. No response in problems: When the subscribers faced the above mentioned

problems, they were not responded well from the sales department. Their
problems were not solved. That’s why this became a big reason for discontinuing
subscription. o

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3. Representative: Another problem in services is due to representatives. At the time
of renewal no representative were came to collect. They were interested but due to
available publishers they have shifted to others. Again in this case, they have got
calls from sales department for renewal, appointments for collection were also
fixed, but still they didn’t come to collect. Thus TOI have lost some subscriber.

62
 FINDINGS

 Magazines are well entertained, updated and well informative.

 The price according to the quality of the magazines is satisfactory.

 Subscribers have high demand in the improvement of services.

 There is a tough competition among magazines in NEW DELHI.

 Maximum people prefer Hindi rather than English.

 Subscription schemes attract more customers.

 Schemes with gift are playing a good role in increasing readership as there are
a lot of customers who have subscribed only for gift.

 There are a big number of boutiques and designers in New Delhi and most of
them deals with Indian traditions. That’s why the contents should specific
customer centric.

 Peoples are highly interested in magazines but low awareness about the
schemes.

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 RECOMMENDATION

 Improvement of Services: The first and foremost recommendation that can be

suggested from the findings of the research is the improvement in services. As
there are high demand of the magazines of WWM. The customers now have
huge options for selecting a magazine, as there are so many producers of
magazines in different language and increased usage of internet. Therefore a
small problem faced by a customer may lead to losing that one.

 A better distribution channel: I would also like to recommend that by

implementing a better distribution channel, TOI can increase its market share.

 A better renewal reminder system: A better renewal reminder system can also
be implemented. There is a system of reminder but customers are complaining
that they are not getting the reminder alarm.

 Appointment of new staff: TOI can also improve their services by appointing
new staff as ‘Customer care Executive’ by giving well training so that they will
be able to respond the customers well who have problems. Because currently
customers are not well responded.

 A Hindi version of Femina: There is also a demand from the target group in
New Delhiis a Hindi version of Femina. By doing this they can get readers from
others magazines like Gruhsubha etc.

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 CONCLUSION

The summer internship project plays an important role in management education

where students get a golden opportunity to apply his knowledge and learning gained
from classroom lectures in practical business environment. The SIP program also
helps in gaining knowledge and developing the confidence level to work. I have also
learnt a lot by my Internship at Times of India Group, New Delhi. This research has
been done to study sales and promotion of magazine in New Delhi towards Times
Group’s magazines. The people in New Delhi still preferring printed contents despite
of technology adaption. In posh areas like Hazratganj, Gomti nagar, Mahanagar etc.
people prefer English magazines rather than Hindi or Gujarati. But maximum areas
still prefer to read a Gujarati or Hindi magazine. There is high demand and high
awareness about TOI newspaper in New Delhi. But less people are aware that TOI has
magazines also. And there are some people who are aware about it but they are not
aware about the subscription schemes. They are interested in subscribing. When they
came to know about the schemes, they immediately bought subscriptions. But still
there are some areas where awareness about these magazines is very low. Customer
loyalty towards TOI magazines is very high. Survey shows that only 26% of the
customers don’t renew their subscription. But this is only happening mainly because
of service problems. TOI is not able to provide accurate service to all customers.
There are some other reasons also, but if TOI works on improving services of delivery
or customer relationship or improving the quality of responding towards the
customers’ problems with better solutions, than obviously no reader will leave TOI.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Ali S.,. “A Study of Consumer Behaviour & Loyalty In Print Media – Challenges
& strategic prescriptions with Special reference to English, Hindi, Marathi News
Paper readers-Mumbai”. ABHINAV. 1 (4), pp.64-70

 ArcGate. Indian Magazine Market Overview. [ONLINE] Available at:

http://arcgate.com/blog/2010/09/29/indian-magazine-market-overview/.

 World Wide Media . About Grazia. [ONLINE] Available at: Available at:
http://grazia.co.in/about-us.

 World Wide Media. BBC Good Homes. [ONLINE]

https://www.facebook.com/goodhomesmagazineindia/info.

 World Wide Media (). About Lonely Planet. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.facebook.com/LonelyPlanetMagazineIndia/info.

 Aaker, D. A., & Norris, D. (1982). Characteristics of TV commercials

perceived as informative. Journal of Advertising Research.

 Alwitt, L. F., & Prabhaker, P. R. (1994). Identifying who dislikes television

advertising: Not by demographics alone. Journal of Advertising Research.

 Barutçu, S. (2007). Attitudes towards mobile marketing tools: a study of Turkish

consumers. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing,16(1),
26-38.

 Bauer, H. H., Barnes, S. J., Reichardt, T., & Neumann, M. M. (2005). Driving
consumer acceptance of mobile marketing: A theoretical framework and empirical
study. Journal of electronic commerce research, 6(3), 181-192.

 Brackett, L. K., & Carr, B. N. J.(2001)." Cyberspace Advertising vs. Other Media:
Consumer vs. Mature Student Attitudes,". Journal of Advertising Research, 23-32.

 Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and

applications. Journal of applied psychology, 78(1), 98.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Do you read magazines? Yes / No

2. If No, then Why?

 Non-availability of time

 Online preference

 Non-interest

 Affordability
3. Which type of magazines you prefer to read?

 Fashion and lifestyle

 Interiors and design

 Travel

 Automobile

 Bollywood and movie masala

 Sports

 Other
4. Name of the magazine you read/subscribed._____________________________

5. How do you like this magazine? Please rate the features.

 Entertainment 1--------10

 Information 1--------10

 Gossip 1--------10

 Updates 1--------10

 Price 1--------10

 Services 1--------10

 Languages 1--------10

 Quality vs Price 1--------10

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6. What would you like to do to improve the quality and services of a magazine?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

7. References

___________________________

___________________________

8. Reason for discontinuation:

________________________________________________________________

68