1.

1 Introduction

The project is undertaken to measure

provided the consumer perception of Agricultural machineries which

produced by KAMCO LTD. Consumer perception is an important tool for

evaluation of marketing strategies. The marketers are keen on checking the

consumer perception towards service, quality of products, pricing,

packaging and the sales promotions activities. Consumer perception

depends on the relationship between a consumer and the business.

Organization and various aspects of services by the company for example,

quality and reliability. It is therefore important for marketers to have a

profound knowledge on various factors that affect consumer perception of

their products and service. The success of a business depends upon its

ability to attract and retain customers that are willing to purchase goods and

services at prices that are profitable to the company. Consumer perception

describe how customers and potential customers view a company and its

products and services. Consumer perception is important to business since

it can influence consumer behavior, which ultimately affects the

profitability of a business, many business spend large amounts of resources

to influence consumer perception. Marketing describes how a company

chooses what types of products and services to offer and how it distributes

prices and promotes those products and services. Consumer perception

often determine the type of products and services companies offer. Business

1
create advertisements to make consumer aware of their products and

services and influence how consumers perceive those products and services.

By studying consumers business, can gain a better understanding of the

role of perception in consumer behavior.

Companies can greatly improve their marketing strategies when they have

a firm grasp on the phycology of how consumers feel think and reason their

way to a buying decision.. Knowing how consumer and influenced by their

environment, their information processing abilities and their perception of a

product can help companies to more effectively reach consumers.

KERALA AGRO MACHINERY LTD (KAMCO) was established in the

year 1973 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Kerala Agro Industries

Cooperation ltd (KAIC), Thiruvananthapuram, for manufacture of

agricultural machineries specifically power tiller and Diesel Engines.

Subsequently KAMCO became a separate Government of Kerala

undertaking in 1986, paid up capital is RS. 161 lakh and the present net

worth of the company is RS.6014.14 lakh. The total work force at present is

a 567 certified for 9001-2000 version from September 2002

The analysis was done with the help of data collected through questionnaire

taking the sample size of 100 in three different areas in Thrissur that is

Poyya, Mala, Kuzhoor, therefore I have used various tool and technique for

the purpose of the data and have tried to throw a clear light towards the

2
level of customers perception of Agricultural equipment’s of KAMCO and

the measure to increase its awareness and to evaluate customer satisfaction.

1.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

According to Business Dictionary “A marketing concept that encompasses

a customer’s impression, awareness and/or consciousness about a company

or its offerings. Customer perception is typically affected by advertising,

reviews, public relations, social media, personal experience and other

channels. Consumer perception applies the concept of sensory perception

relates to marketing and advertising. Just as sensory perception relates to

how humans perceive and process sensory stimuli through their five senses,

consumer perception pertains to how individuals from opinions to how

individuals from opinions about companies and the merchants apply

consumer perception theory to determine how their customers perceive

them. They also use consumer perception theory to develop marketing and

advertising strategies intended to retain current customers and attract new

ones.

Perception is how human recognize and interpret stimuli (Sitter 2008).

Consumer perception of quality is measured an essential determinant of

product choice (Zenithal, 1998). In other words perception is the first

impression that individual draw and on the basis of it select, and interpret

information to from a meaningful

3
picture of the world (Munnukka 2008). That is why it is believed that

customer level of satisfaction and so their buying and usage decision. In

order to reap the benefits from their environmental action the companies

must make the consumer aware about them. Communication strategies

spread the information but what info actually reaches the consumer depends

on what is perceived. This perception is people’s filters that help decide

what information to process. (SolomonM.2007) personal experience is one

filter which makes people aware of things they have come in contact with

before.

Another filter is based on biases. People tend to project their own desires,

expectations or assumptions on to products or ads. (Fried Mann, R &

Zimmer, M.R, 1988) For instance a consumer with a high skepticism

towards new products tends to focus on the negative qualities, where as a

more liberal consumer focus on the positive; the product is the same but the

consumer perceive the product is different. A problem though with

perception and related studies (Schiffman et ai 1991) is that two individuals

may be subject to the same stimuli under apparently the same condition, but

how they organize, select, organize and interpret them is a highly individual

process based on each person’s own needs, values, expect actions and the

like. Individual further more act and react on the basis of their perception,

not on the basis of objective reality with this in mind (Schiffman et ai

19991) it is important that marketers understand the whole nation of

perception and is related concepts so that they can more readily determine

4
what influences consumers to buy. The perception process is also

complicated due to the possibility that individuals may be stimulated below

their level of conscious awareness (Known as subliminal perception ) i.e.

they can perceive stimuli without being consciously aware of the stimuli in

question. Individuals also experienced a certain amount of risk when

making a purchasing decision and have a limited capacity to process where

individuals will expose themselves selectively to marketing stimuli pay

selective attention to these stimuli and then interpret it to conform to

previous held beliefs and attitudes. Only messages conforming to held

believes will be retained.

1.3 Statement of the problem

In the emerging knowledge based economy, it has become necessary to

know how much market power lies with the customer’s perception is

essential in marketing planning. Customer needs and preferences keep

changing where brands ultimately command customer loyalty. Hence, the

marketer has to understand the purchase intention belief and attitude of

consumers because perception are easy to form but difficult to change. In

this context, the study on consumers perception toward agricultural

equipment’s produced by KAMCO LTD may help the policy makers in

formulating the suitable marketing strategies to augment its sales.

5
1.4 Scope of the study

This study will help to find out the customer’s perception and factors

which are influencing the customer perception of agricultural equipment

produced by KAMCO LTD and also clearly explain the present scenario of

the market. This study also reveals the opinion and views of customers that

will ultimately help in designing the company’s policies and find out the

area of contingencies which will eventually enable it to have a better foot

hold in the market by active optimum customer’s satisfaction .

1.6 Objectives of the study

Based on the above statement, the following objectives are framed:

 To determine the customer’s perception of agricultural equipment’s

produced by KAMCO LTD.

 To determine the awareness level of agriculture equipment’s

produced KAMCO LTD.

 To know the satisfaction level of customers on different attributes of

agriculture equipment’s produced by KAMCO LTD.

 To determine the attributes influencing purchase decision of

agriculture equipment’s produced by KAMCO LTD.

6
1.7 Research methodology

It is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be

understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. It is

necessary for the researcher to know not only the research methods or

techniques but also the methodology.

Type of research

In this research study followed descriptive research. Descriptive research is

including surveys and fact findings enquiries of different kinds. The major

purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it

exists at present. The main characteristic of this method is that the

researcher has no Control over the variables; he can only report what has

happened or what is happening. The methods of research utilized in

descriptive research are survey methods of all kinds, including comparative

and correlation methods.

Sample design

A sample design is definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given

population. It refers to the technique or the procedure the researcher would

adopt in selecting items for the sample. Sample design may as well lay

down the number of items to be included in the sample. Sample design

determined before data are collected.

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Population

All the items under consideration in any field of enquiry constitute a

Universe or Population. The group of individuals under study is known as

population or universe. Therefore, universe is the aggregate of all the units

to be studied in any field of enquiry. In this study the population is infinite.

Sampling size

Sample size refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe

to constitute a sample. Here the sample size is taken for the study is 100

customers.

Sampling technique

Convenient sampling method is used for this study. It is a statistical method

of drawing representative data by selecting people because of the ease of

their volunteering or selecting units because of their availability or easy

access.

Source of data collection.

Collection of data is an important aspect in conducting researcher used both

primary and secondary data. The primary data are those which are collected

fresh and for the first time. Secondary data are already collected by

someone else. Here primary data was obtained through questionnaires and

8
interviews. Secondary data was collected from brochures, magazines, and

journals.

Primary data

The primary data are collected through interviews and with the help of

questionnaire and schedule. The facilitated to respondents to fill up with

questionnaire is an easy and fast manner.

Secondary data

The secondary data were collected from circular notices, resolutions, annual

reports, publications, Websites and documents.

Data processing

The questionnaire is filled up and returned by the represents were first of all

carefully checked up to see whether the response complete, whether all the

questions are answered by the respondents and whether the response are

consistent. Then, the individual item of response are converted into suitable

charts. Excel Spread sheet is used to prepare both the tables and charts, as

also for other statistical analysis.

Statistical tool

The following tool was employed to analyze the data with reference to the

selected objectives of the study.

 Simple percentage

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Simple percentages are used in making compassion between two or more

series of data. It becomes very easy to find the relative difference between

the two data.

Percentage= *100

1.8 Limitations of the study

 Most of the respondents co-operate with researcher by answering the

questions with sincerely, but some of them are not aware of this

study.

 Because of the time limitation the research is conducted among the

limited number of respondents.

 Collection of primary data is very expensive and time consuming.

 The report is strictly based on the opinion of the respondents.

 Information collected and analyzed are limited which may not full y

represents the image of study

 The study was based on the consumer’s opinion, so there may be

more chance of bias.

10
2.1 Industry and company profile

The agricultural machinery industry emerged in Britain and United States

in the 19th century. Until the common tools of farming were the plough and

the sickle. These iron agricultural implements were often made by

blacksmiths in the local village, who regularly also acted as farrier. In the

first part of the 19th century some of the early agricultural machine

manufactures arose from these blacksmith workshops, such as John Deere

who started up with the production of ploughs in series in the 1840s.

Agricultural implements, 1851. Other companies arose from the

introduction of horse drawn reaping, which replaced the type of hand reaper

in use since biblical times. A company as the McCormick started up with

building this kind of harvesting machines around the 1840s. And another

origin of agricultural industry was the introduction of combined harvesting,

threshing and cleaning in the 1830s. The case corporation for examples

started building those in 1842 as the Racine Threshing Machine works.

Until early 20th century most of that machinery was powered by horses.

Mid-19th century the portable steam-powder ploughing engines were

introduced. They were used in pairs, placed on either side of a field to haul

a plow back and forth between them using a wire cable. These portable

engines were also used to power threshing machines, mills and pumps. The

portable steam engines were produced by a specific agricultural machinery

11
maker, such as Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies who had started as brass and

iron-founder making casting ploughshares late 18th Century.

Late 19th century in Britain more companies such as Richard Garrett and

Manns patent steam cart and Wagon company developed steam tractors for

direct ploughing, but the heavy, wet soil of England meant that these

designs were less economical than a team of horses. In the United States,

where soil conditions permitted, steam tractors were used to direct haul

plods steam-powered agricultural engines remained in use well into the

20th century until reliable internal combustion engines had been developed.

Collins (1987) recalled that the impact of agricultural machinery industry in

the 19th century was still limited. He stated: “Prior the third quarter of the

19th century the impact of machinery in agriculture was slight compared

with that in manufacturing industry. Some operation such as barn work an

hay and corn harvesting had been largely mechanized by 1880 but, up to the

second world war, many were still performed by hand labour and large

numbers of workers were still required for seasonal tasks such as hope-and

fruit-picking and vegetable cultivations.

In the beginning of the 20th century in the U.K the agricultural machinery

industry “Although composed of many hundreds of firms was dominated by

a few large ones, chiefly in the eastern countries of England. The total

output of the industry was estimated to be worth 6.5 million pounds in 1913

or about 5 percent of the total value of the output of the mechanical

engineering industry at the first census of production in 1907. In the first

12
decennia the internal power for the next generation of tractors. Early

companies expanded into the tractor business, such as John Deere which

bought the waterloo Gasoline engine company in 1918, which

manufactured the popular water loo boy tractor. In the 1930s new

technologies as rubber ties and hydrologic were introduced in tractors and

other farm machineries. The diesel engines also contributed to the

development of the self- propelled, combined harvester and thresher,

combine harvester (also shortened to “combine”).instead of cutting the

grain stalk and transporting them to a stationary threshing machine, these

combines cut threshed, and separated the grain while moving continuously

through the field .in the second part of the 20th century the production of

agricultural machinery in development countries rose rapidly. In the 1960s

a country as the UK exported more than 60% of its production to Western

Europe,

Australia, USA, Canada and South Africa, and main manufacturer started

production plants abroad. Another trend was the increased concentration

among manufacturers. In the 1970s in the UK six companies supplied 75%

of the output. The further mechanization of agriculture in the 20th century

made possible by the agricultural machinery industry had a High impact of

the economic structure of society. In the developed countries the total

labour force engaged in agriculture dropped from about 75% in 1800 to less

than 5% late 20th century. In development countries late 20th century still

75% of all land “was formed with only hand-tools and draught-animal

13
technology. In Turkey still 48% and in India 65% of the labour were

working in agriculture, according to the FAO Production Yearbook 1990.

Agricultural machinery industry in Europe

The CEMA (2014) listed the European agricultural machinery industry as

the largest producer of agricultural machinery globally in 2013.

Agritechnica (2013) summarized, that “with a share of nearly 28 percent of

the European production volume for agricultural machinery, Germany has

assumed a trend-setting position as a manufacturing location.[in 2013] the

German market is expected to reach a market volume of 5.6 billion.

Agricultural machinery in North America

The AEM (2014) stated that “U.S. domestic sales of agricultural machinery

and equipment rose from about $20 billion in 1999 to $38billion in 1012.

Since 1998 and through 2012, U.S. exports of agricultural equipment have

grown relatively quickly, more than doubling from about $4billion to $8.7

billion.

Agricultural machinery industry in India

The country witnessed unprecedented grown in agriculture, which has

helped India to graduate from hunger to self- sufficiency in food grains by

increasing the food grain production from 51 million tonnes to 208 million

tonnes, with surplus for export. The technology back-up by agricultural

scientists, in the form of “Green revolution “ combined with industrial

14
growth, positive policy support, liberal public founding for agricultural

research and development and dedicated work of farmers contributed to the

phenomenal increase in agricultural, animal and fish production.

The growth is agricultural machinery in the country has been possible due

to their local manufacture of agricultural machinery is undertaken by

village artisans tiny units, small scale industries, organized medium and

large scale sector. Organized sectors, manufacturing sophisticated

machinery such as tractor, engines, milling and drying equipment,

traditional hand tools and bullock drawn implements are largely fabricated

by village craftsman and power operated machinery by small scale

industries. An analysis has been made in this paper to review the status of

manufacture of agricultural machinery, after sale service, level of adoption

of mechanization inputs by the farmers so as to plan for future

mechanization.

Company Profile

Kerala Agro Machinery Corporation Ltd. (KAMCO) was established in the

year 1973 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Kerala Agro Industries Corporation

Ltd. (KAIC), Trivandrum, for manufacture of agricultural machinery

specifically Power Tillers and Diesel Engines. Subsequently KAMCO became

a separate Govt. of Kerala undertaking in 1986. Paid up capital is Rs. 161 lakh

Present Net Worth of the Company is Rs. 6014.14 lakh. Total work force at

present is 567 Certified for ISO 9001 - 2000 version from September 2002. At

15
present, KAMCO has five units located at Athani and Kalamassery in

Ernakulam District, at Kanjikode in Palakkad District, at Mala in Trichur dist.

and at Valiyavelicham in Kannur District. With the present work force

KAMCO can produce 8400 Power Tillers & 1200 Power Reapers per annum.

Overview

Agriculture in India has undergone tremendous development over the years.

The advent of new machinery and equipment has resulted in increased level of

mechanised farming. This, in turn, has increased the productivity of their land.

Kerala Agro Machinery Corporation Ltd. (KAMCO) as a fully owned

undertaking of the Government of Kerala was established in 1973, to cater to

the farming requirements of small and marginal scale farmers. It is an initiative

to allow small farmers to enjoy mechanised farming. The quality standard for

each and every product has been tested & certified by competent authorities.

The global standard and system maintained has earned KAMCO ISO

9001:2008certification.

History

The growth of agriculture in the country triggered the need for indigenous

agricultural machines to replace the use of traditional and primitive farming

methods. Mechanised farming in small and medium agricultural fields required

small agro-machinery units. KAMCO introduced the concept of mechanised

farming among the small and marginal farmers. Current product range includes

Tiller, Tractor, Reaper, Garden Tiller / Power Weeder and Diesel Engine.

16
KAMCO is headed by a talented pool of professionals. KAMCO Products

remains No: 1 quality in the market for over the last three decades.

Board of Directors

No Name Designation

1 Shri. P.Balachandran Chairman

2 Shri. Sureshkumar K.K Managing

Director
3 Shri. K. Babu Director,
KAMCO
4 Shri. V.S Suresh Kumar Director,
KAMCO
5 Smt. Indu.S Director,
KAMCO
6 Shri. S.Saju Director,
KAMCO

Objective of the Company

The objectives of the Company are to manufacture in India, either in

collaboration with or otherwise or import & trade agricultural machinery like

Tractors, Power Tillers, Power Reapers, Combine harvester, Transplanter,

Diesel Engines, Pump sets, Implements, accessories and spares thereto. The

objectives also include establishment of engineering workshops/repair shops to

undertake repairs and servicing of agricultural machinery or other machinery,

equipment, implements and tools. Assembly Unit was established in 1970 at

Athani by M/s. Kerala Agro Industries Corporation for the assembly of Kubota

17
Power Tillers in technical collaboration with M/s.Kubota Ltd., Japan, the

world's leading manufacturer of Power Tillers and other agricultural

machinery. On expiry of the collaboration, KAMCO manufactures power

tillers with their own facilities.

KAMCO Power Tillers have become the most sought after Power Tillers in

India because of their quality and reliability.

Awards & Recognition

KAMCO has been awarded ISO 9001: 2008 certification for its management

system. The company has established quality standards for each and every

component which are well documented.

 Safety Award 2009 - First prize for outstanding performance in

Industrial Safety issued by Dept. Of Factories & Boilers.

 Certificate of Industrial Safety Award 2002 - Issued by National Safety

Council of India

 Industry Excellence Award 1999 - Issued by the Institution of Engineers

[India]

 Industry Excellence Award 1998 - Issued by the Institution of Engineers

[India]

 Productivity Award 1989-90- By Kerala State Productivity Council

 Productivity Award 1987-88 - Issued by Kerala State Productivity

Council

18
Activities of the Company

KAMCO's manufacturing facilities include Special Purpose Machines,

Specially built General Purpose Machines, and Imported machines. The

inspection facilities include modern inspection & testing equipment .KAMCO

have their own Metrology,

Calibration & Engine Test Lab.The following are the main Activities of the

Company.

a) Manufacturing and marketing of Agriculture machines like Power Tillers,

Tractors, Power Reaper, Diesel Engines etc.

b) Power Tiller produced at Athani & Palakkad units. Major components for

Power Tiller are manufactured at Athani and all other components bought

out from dedicated Venders in India. There are around 250 vendors now.

c) Kalamassery unit produce Engine for Power Tiller

d) Power Reaper produced at Mala

e) Trading/manufacturing of other farm machines.

19
Unit wise Business Operation

The business areas operating in KAMCO are indicated in the matrix given

below;

Sl. Division / Corporate Location

No. Set up Athani Palakkad Kalamassery Mala Valiyavelicham
Department
1.0 Corporate Office * *
1.1 Marketing * *
1.2 Materials * *
2.0 Purchase * * * * *
3.0 Production
3.1 Assembly * * * * *
3.2 Pretreatment&Ptg * * * * *
3.3 Machine Shop *
4.0 Maintenance * * * * *
5.0 Quality * * * * *
Assurance
6.0 Engineering *
7.0 Store * * * * *
8.0 Human Resource * * * * * *
Management

8.1 Human Resource * *

Development
9.0 Finance * * * * * *
10.0 Internal Audit * *
11.0 Systems * *
*Applicable in the unit location

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 Products and Services

1. Product List

KAMCO manufacture & market mainly the following products

a) KAMCO POWER TILLER Model KMB 200

b) KAMCO Super DI POWER TILLER

c) KAMCO Power Reaper Models KR 120M / KR 120H / KR120

DS)

d) KAMCO Garden Tiller / Power Weeder B30

e) KAMCO Tractor TeraTRAC 4W

f) KAMCO Brush Cutter KBC 300

2. Marketing

a) The Company has 45 dealers all over India.

b) New Dealers appointed to cover selected districts in Tamil

Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Andra Pradesh.

c) Close interaction with the Govt. of India in the formulation of

new schemes & policies for farm mechanization.

d) Regular demonstrations and service camps are being organized

in various States.

e) Kamco Power Reaper has been exported to Iran and Sri Lanka

recently. These Machines has been well accepted by the

customers.

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Quality Assurance

 Well-equipped latest inspection and testing facilities as per ISO

standards for all the products at factory and vendors’ sites.

 Third party audit at Vendors’ site to ensure manufacturing process as

per quality plan, process lay out etc. which improves quality of

components and self-certification status to Vendor.

 Power Tiller variants are tested as per norms from approved Govt.

institutions like SRFMTTI and CFMTTI for minimum performance test

standards, emission norms, safety regulations etc.

 Engines are tested at ARAI as per latest exhaust gas emission norms

according to CMVR regulations.

 KAMCO’s policy is to equip itself with modern inspection and testing

equipments.

 Quality standards for each and every components and products have

been established and ensured by close inspection at factory as well as at

our vendor sites.

 Vendor performance and their manufacturing facilities are also being

periodically assessed.

 The components are being checked for Quality Assurance by well-

trained and dedicated inspectors.

 100% final product inspection is carried out.

22
Production

KAMCO has five state-of-the art plants in Kerala, South India. It's registered

office and works at Athani, is the prime Centre for the manufacture of Power

Tillers and Tractors. The Kalamassery unit was commissioned in 1992 for the

production of Diesel Engines. The third unit was set up at Kanjikode in

Palakkad and the fourth unit at Mala, Thrissur has been operational since 2000

to meet the demands of Power Reaper. The fifth unit for manufacturing tractors

is also setup at Athani, near Nedumbassery International Airport.

 Dedicated small and medium scale industries supply raw materials for

critical components.

 Critical manufacturing operations are carried out in house at Machine

Shop.

 Machine Shop is equipped with special purpose machineries to perform

critical machine operations like milling, grinding, drilling etc. for mass

production of components.

 Inspection at various stages of manufacturing to reduce process rejection

rate

 Installed with a modern painting booth system for components and

assemblies where Poly Urethene paints are used.

 The components are being painted after proper Pre-Treatments with

required quality standards in our well-equipped Paint Shop.

23
  Effluent Treatment plant is functioning to meet the required norms on

environmental pollution announced by pollution control Board

effectively.

Assembly tillers/reapers

 Assembly line consists of:

o Engine Assembly Line

o Transmission Assembly line

o Tiller assembly line.

 Transmission and Engine assemblies are converged to the tiller

assembly line where finished final power tiller is produced.

 Stage inspection and testing in between different work stations, engine

testing etc are effectively monitored for extensive quality checks at each

stage, to produce excellent quality products as per standards.

 All sub-assemblies of Power Tillers are inspected for conformity with

specifications

 All the Engines are tested at assembly for RTA norms to ensure engine

emission standards.

 Automated Modern Conveyor system Assembly line for Tractor

Production.

 Well-trained mechanics and supervisors ensures the quality in various

stages of assemblies.

24
  The management is thoroughly monitoring and coordinating the works

to achieve maximum performance without any compromise in quality of

the product.

 The Reaper is assembled in four Assembly stages.

 Engine Assembly: At this stage Engine and Gear Box are assembled and

running tests are done.

 Assembly line-1: This is the first stage of Reaper chassis assembly

where Engine-gear box assembly, Bevel gear box assembly and

conveyor chains are fitted to the main frame. Then whole assembly is

tested for running before passing for the next stage.

 Assembly line-2: At this stage the sheet metal components, guide rods,

Star wheels, cutter assembly etc. are fitted and tests are carried out.

 Assembly line -3: This is the final stage of Reaper production. Here the

Chain Case for transmission of power and Wheels are fitted and

required tests are done.

KAMCO an efficient network comprising of 50 dealers catering to the

needs of customers. Commitment of the workers to make a difference is what

sets KAMCO apart. Special training sessions, product familiarization, demos

and bi-annual dealer meets are conducted to keep them updated with the new

products and their functionality.

25
3.1 Theoretical framework

The relevance of briefly referring to the frame

of reference while researching consumer perception can be explained by the

following statement by Van der Walt (1991, p.296): “Merely seeing or

hearing, however cannot be referred to as perception is seeing or hearing,

however, cannot of all his previous experiences, beliefs, likes, dislikes,

habits, prejudices, feelings and other psychological reaction of unknown

origin. Furthermore it is important to note that a person’s frame of

reference is unique to that person. The frame also act as a filter for any

stimuli that a person is exposed to, or as MOWEN (1993) suggests, it acts

as an anchor to which any rising issue is compared to on judgmental scale.

STANTON ETZAL & WALKER (1991) expand on the letter statement by

explaining that if an inconsistency is discovered, the new information will

be distorted to conform to the established beliefs.

Operation of the frame of reference

As noted earlier, the frame of reference acts as a filter. According to

Vander Walt (1991), however exactly how this filter works remains a

mystery which could possibly never he solved. This frame entails the

evaluations of every stimulus to which a person is exposed in the light of

previously held emotions, behavioral intention and beliefs. These

26
evaluations are concluded towards a certain object, also referred to as a

mental set. The three main components through which all information.

Congnitive component

The cognitive component consist of the total configuration of beliefs

and knowledge about a certain object, as well as previously gained

experience. Affective component

The affective component involves emotions, feeling and prejudices

refer to faulty interpretation made previously, and such prejudices cannot

changed easily.

Behavioral component

The behavioral component has to do with habits, reactions and

intentions. Any information contradicting one’s habits and intentions will

not be accepted easily. Therefore, it can be said that if it is stated that a

message was perceived, it means that the stimuli have passed through all

three components of the individuals frame of reference in such a way that

person is ultimately able to come to a decision. The fact that stimuli are

passing through a person’s frame of reference does not mean that the

message was perceived correctly or that the decision that flows from it will

be positive. According to WALTER ET AL (1989) it is important to note

that the meaning of the market stimulus depends on the context in which it

is perceived. All our senses have some limit to responsiveness to

timulation. These limits are referred to as thresholds.

27
The consumer perception process

The perception process consists of five distinct activities. The first

activity is that of exposure to stimuli. The second states that attention to

stimuli has to occur. During the third activity, organization, people organize

stimuli so that it can be comprehended and retained. The fourth activity is

that the interpretation of the message. Information is retained during the

last activity. A successful perception process leads to a purchasing and

consumption decision.

Exposure

Exposure, the first step of the perception process, occurs when a

stimulus come within the range of our sensory receptor nerves, i.e. when

stimuli come within the range of one of our senses. Exposure is therefore

simply the minimum requirement of perception. No matter how great a

message is, it will not be perceived unless a person is exposed to the

stimulus (Well et ai , 1989). BISSCHOFF (1992) explains that exposure to

stimuli is of either an intentional or an accidental nature. Intentional

exposure occurs when an individual is exposed to market related

information because of his own intentional, goal directed behavior, i.e. it

reflects person’s interests, reading habits, information needs and life style.

Accidental exposure to stimuli occurs when the individual is exposed to

market related information because of his own intentional goal-directed

28
behavior i.e. it reflect a person’s interests, reading habits. Information

needs and life style. Accidental exposure to stimuli occurs when an

individual is exposed to market related information because of his own

intentional goal- directed behavior, i.e. it reflects a person’s interest reading

habits, information needs and life style. Accidental exposure to stimuli

occurs when the individual is exposed to intensive marketing campaigns,

such as the messages portaged by the broad casting media, billbords, point-

of- scale displays in the retail store and vast number of magazine and

newspaper advertisements. Furthermore, the individual is also accidentally

exposed to information such as testimonies from friends or relatives

concerning a specific product. Such testimonies first lead to interest, and

then to intentional exposure. Aaker at al (1987) conclude by emphasizing

the importance of exposure by stating that there can be no communication

(or a perception process for that matter) without exposure. Attention An

individual is exposed whether intentionally or accidentally, two thousands

of different marketing stimuli during a normal living day ranging from

thousands of different products in a retail store, all differing in packaging

color and design to as many as 1500 advertisement (Belch et ai, 1995;

Assael, 1992; and Aker et ai 1987). From a marketing perspective attention

is of crucial importance, since no matter how often a consumer is exposed

to marketing stimuli, if no attention took place, the message is of no use.

Assail (1992, p.709) defines the attention process as “ the momentary

focusing of a consumer’s cognitive capacity on a specific stimulus. If a

29
consumer does not focus on a stimulus e.g an advertisement, although he

has been exposed to it, attention did not take place . the attention process

can therefore be viewed as an information filter-a screening mechanism that

controls the quantity and nature of information any individual receives

(Aaker at ai 1987). Before attending to the factors determining attention, it

is important to note that the so called attention filter operates at three

different levels of effort and consciousness that vary from active search to

passive attention.

30
Table 4.1 Showing gender of respondents

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

male 86 86%

female 14 14%

Total 100 100%

(source: primary data)

Figure 4.1: Showing gender of respondents

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
male female

Inference

The project undertaken to know the consumer perception of Agri

equipment’s produced by KAMCO was conducted with the sample size of

100 through questionnaire. Among the respondents 86 were Male and rest

14 were Female.

31
Table 4.2 Showing age group of respondents

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

<25 7 7%
25 - 40 45 45%
40 - 45 35 35%
55 and above 13 13%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4:2 Showing age group of respondents

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
<25 25-40 40-55 55and above

Inference

It is revealed that 45% of respondents are between 25 and 40 years. 35% of

respondents are between 40 to 55 years. From this we can conclude that

majority of middle age group are the consumers of KAMCO.

32
Table 4.3 Showing annual income of repondents

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

below 2 lakh 32 32%
2 - 5 lakh 42 42%
5 - 10 lakh 20 20%
above 10 lakh 6 6%
Total 100 100%

(source: primary data)

Figure 4.3 Showing annual income of respondents

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
below 2 lakh 2-5 lakh 5-10 lakh above 10 lakh

Inference

It is clear from the table and chart is could infer that 42% of respondents

shown an annual income in between 2 and 5 lakh. Rest of the respondents

32% belongs to 2 lakh annual income and 20% in between 5-10 lakh. 6%

respondents are showing high annual income of above 10 lakh.

33
Table 4.4 Showing kinds of agricultural products cultivated by

respondents

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

paddy 80 80%
Coconut 4 4%
rubber 6 6%
others 10 10%
total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.4 Showing kind of agricultural products cultivated

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
paddy Coconut rubber others

Inference

From the above table it is clear that, 80% of the respondents have Paddy

cultivation. From the survey it is found that 4%& 6% people were having

Wheat & Rubber cultivation respectively.10% of the respondents having

other agricultural crops.

34
Table 4.5 Showing acres of land is owned by respondents

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Below 2 lakh 15 15%
2 - 5 acre 36 36%
5 - 10 acre 42 42%
above 10 acre 7 7%
total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.5 Showing acres of land is owned by respondents

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
below 2 acre 2-5 acre 5-10 acre

Inference

The above table reveals that out of 100 respondents 42% of the respondents

belongs to the category having 5-10 acres of land followed by 36%of

people having land between 2-5 acres. So it is clear from the analysis that

the majority of the respondents possess more than 2 acres of land.

35
TABLE 4.6 Showing the type of agricultural equipment’s been used

VARIABLES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Tillers 63 63%
Tractors 30 30%
Digger 7 7%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

FIGURE 4.6 Showing the type of agricultural equipment’s been used

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
Tillers Tractors Digger

Inference

From the above table reveals that 63% of the respondents using tractor

followed by 30% of respondents using sweepers as agricultural equipment.

Hence it is clear that majority of the respondents are using tractor and tiller.

36
Table: 4.7 Showing buying criteria of consumers of kamco
products.

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

brand 36 36%
price 22 22%
product quality 29 29%
after sale service 3 3%
maintenance 10 10%
cost
total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.7: Showing buying criteria of consumers of kamco products

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
brand price product quality after sale maintenance
service cost

Inference

From the above, it is found that out of 100 respondents, 36% of the

respondents are influenced by brand while buying KAMCO products, 29%

are influenced by quality, 22% are influenced by a price of the product, and

10% are influenced by its maintenance cost.

37
TABLE 4.8 Showing the source of information about KAMCO

VARIABLES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Official website 18 18%
TV programs 5 5%
Magazine & Newspaper 28 28%
Recommended by 49 49%
Friends/family/experts/dealers
total 100 100%

FIGURE: 4.8 Showing the source of information about KAMCO.

Official website
TV programs
Magazine & Newspaper
Recommended by

Inference

It can be inferred from the above table that out of 100 respondents, 41% of

the respondents got the source of information about KAMCO products

through Friends/family/experts/dealers and 28% from magazine and

newspapers. 21% of the respondents are got the source of information from

TV programs and 12%through official website.

38
Table 4.9 Showing the evaluation of KAMCO product

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Very good 72 72%
Good 22 22%
Average 6 6%
Bad 0 0%
Very bad 0 0%
total 100 100%

Figure 4.9 Showing the evaluation of KAMCO product)

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Very good Good
Average
Bad
Very bad

INFERENCE

From the table above, it is found that 72% of the respondents evaluate

KAMCO products as very good followed by 22% respondents say it is

good. 6% of the respondents are gave their opinion as average.

39
Table 4.10 Showing whether the responds are aware about the price list

about KAMCO product

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Yes 100 100%

No 0 0%

Total 100 100%

(source: primary data)

Figure 4.10 Showing whether the responds are aware about the price

list about KAMCO product

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
frequency percentage

Inference:

From the above, it is found that 100% of the respondents aware about the

price list of KAMCO products.

40
Table 4.11 Showing the possibility to buy a KAMCO products in

future

VARIABLES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Definitely yes 40 40%
Yes 35 35%
May be 15 15%
No 10 10%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.11 Showing the possibility to buy KAMCO products in future

Definitely yes
Yes
May be
No

Inference:

From the table above, it is found that 40% of the respondents definitely buy

KAMCO product in future. 35% of the respondents buy in future. 15% of

the respondents are may be buy at future 10% respondents are not buy in

future.

41
Table: 4.12 Showing the quality of KAMCO products in its quality

according to experience

VARIABLES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Excellent 26 26%
Very good 20 20%
Good 43 43%
Average 11 11%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Chart: 4.12 Showing the quality of KAMCO products in its quality

according to experience

0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
Excellent Very good Good Average

Inference:

From the table above, it is found that 43% of the respondents feel good

about the quality of KAMCO products

42
Table 4.13 Showing the price level compared to competitors

VARIABLES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Very high 12 12%
High 6 6%
Moderate 74 74%
low 8 8%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.13 Showing the price level compared to competitors

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
very high high moderate low

Inference:

There is mixed review of opinion in terms of price while comparing with

the competitors of KAMCO. Majority say that the price of KAMCO

products is moderate while comparing with its competitors.

43
Table 4.14 Showing the opinion about availability of product

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Highly satisfied 40 40%
Satisfied 30 30%
Neutral 25 25%
Dissatisfied 5 5%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.14 Showing the opinion about availability of product

0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
Highly satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied

Inference:

The respondents are satisfied with the availability of the KAMCO product

and other are not. The company does not having an equal distribution of

product in all areas.

44
Table 4.15 Showing the of quality of external parts of the product

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Excellent 35 35%

Very good 25 25%

Good 20 20%

Average 20 20%

Total 100 100%

(source: primary data)

Figure 4.15 Showing the of quality of external parts of the product

excellent
very good
good
average

Inference:

The respondents are satisfied with the experience of external part about the

product.

45
Table 4.15 (a) Showing the durability of KAMCO product

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Excellent 30 30%

Very good 20 20%

Good 25 25%

Average 25 25%

Total 100 100%

(source: primary data)

Figure 4.15 (a) Showing the durability of KAMCO product

excellent very good good average

Inference:

Majority of respondents are satisfied with the durability of KAMCO

product.

46
Table 4.15 (b) Showing the performance of KAMCO product

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Excellent 50 50%

Very good 30 30%

Good 20 20%

Average 10 10%

Total 100 100%

(source: primary data)

Figure 4.15 (b) Showing the performance of KAMCO product

50%

0%
excellent
very good
good
average

Inference:

Majority of respondents are satisfied with the performance of control of

KAMCO product.

47
Table 4.15 (c) Showing the opinion about quality of internal parts of

the KAMCO product.

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Excellent 60 60%

Very good 20 20%

Good 10 10%

Average 10 10%

Total 100 100%

(source: primary data)

Figure 4.15 (c) Showing the opinion about quality of internal parts of

the KAMCO product.

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
excellent very good good average

Inference:

Majority of respondents are satisfied with the quality of internal part of the

products of KAMCO.

48
Table 4.15(d) Showing opinion about the safety features of the product.

VARIABLE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Excellent 40 40%
Very good 25 25%
Good 20 20%
Average 10 10%
poor 5 5%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.15(d)Showing opinion about the safety features of the product.

excellent very good good average poor

Inference:

The majority of responds have positive opinion about the safety feature of

the KAMCO products.

49
Table 4.16 Showing the overall rating of KAMCO products

STAR RATING FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

5 50 50%
4 30 30%
3 10 10%
2 9 9%
1 1 1%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.16 Showing the overall rating of KAMCO products

Inference:

Majority of the respondents are highly satisfied with the overall value of the

KAMCO products.

50
Table 4.17 Showing whether the respondents recommend KAMCO

products to others

VARIABLES FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Definitely yes 60 60%
Yes 30 30%
May be 9 9%
No 1 1%
Definitely no 0 0%
Total 100 100%
(source: primary data)

Figure 4.17 Showing whether the respondents recommend KAMCO

products to others

definetly yes yes may be no definetly no

Inference

The majority of the respondents recommended the product to others.

51
5.1 Summary
The project entitled “A study on the consumer perception of Agricultural

machineries produce by KAMCO” was undertaken with the object of

identifying the consumer perception, consumer satisfaction and brand

awareness of the about the introduction of the study, review of man y

authors on the topic consumer perception, statement of the problem,

research methodology used for the study followed by the objectives of the

study research design, sources of data and limitation of the study. The

second chapter dealt with industrial profile & company profile. The third

chapter dealt with theoretical frame work about the study. The fourth

chapter dealt with data analysis and interpretation. Here the consumer

perception of agricultural machineries produced by KAMCO was assessed

with the help Questionnaire. The researcher collected the data and tabulated

for easy analysis and also graphs were plotted for making the chapter.

Based on the analysis the researcher has found the overall consumer

perception about the company.

52
5.2 Findings

1. Majority of the respondents surveyed were male and only few were

female ( Ref. Table no:1)

2. More than 75% of the total respondents are under the age group of

between 25-55 years (Ref. Table no:2 )

3. Majority of the income groups are in between 2.5 lakh per annum

(Ref. Table no :3)

4. It was found from the study that majority of the respondents have

paddy cultivation. Few of them have other cultivation like rubber,

coconut etc. (Ref. table 4 )

5. It is clear from the analysis that majority of the respondents possess

more than 2 acres of land in their hand (Ref. Table no :5 )

6. Majority of the respondents are using tillers and around one by third

of the total respondents are using tractor. ( Ref. Table no: 6)

7. It is found that out of 100 respondents, 36% of the respondents are

influenced by brand while buying KAMCO products and 29% are

influenced by quality. Hence it is clear that KAMCO having a good

brand value (Ref. Table no: 8)

8. It can be inferred that majority of the respondents got the source of

information about KAMCO products through

Friends/family/experts/dealers rather than magazines and newspaper

and TV programs. Hence it is found that the word of mouth publicity

is smartly working in KAMCO. (Ref. Table no: 9)

53
9. Majority of the total respondents have very good opinion about

KAMCO products (Ref. Tables no: 10)

10. Entire respondents were aware about the price of agricultural

equipment’s produced by KAMCO. (Ref. Table no.10)

11. Majority of the respondents say that they will buy the KAMCO

products at future (ref. table no . 11)

12. It was found from the study that majority of the respondents feel

good about the quality of KAMCO products (ref. table no. 12)

13. It was found that majority of the respondents are satisfied with the

price level ( ref. table no 13 )

14. It was found from study that majority of the respondents feel good

the quality performance of KAMCO products (Ref. Total no: 14)

15. It is observed from the analysis that majority of the total respondents

satisfied with the quality of external parts of KAMCO products (ref

table no 15)

16. Majority of the respondents satisfied with the durability of KAMCO

products. (ref table no 15 (a))

17. Most of the total respondents are felt excellent in performance and

control of KAMCO products.(ref. table no .15 (b) )

18. Majority of the total respondents are satisfied with the internal parts

of KAMCO products.( ref table no 15 (c) )

19. The majority of responds have positive opinion about the safety

features of CAMCO products

54
20. Majority of the respondent give five star rating of the products of

KAMCO except few people.

21. Majority of the total respondents are ready to recommend the

KAMCO products to others (ref table no 17)

55
5.3 Suggestions

Based on the above findings, the following suggestions are made

1. Overall the consumers have positive attitude towards KAMCO

products. To enhance this attitude further appropriate marketing

strategies may be adopted by the authorities.

2. It is observed that few respondents dissatisfied with after sales

service provided by KAMCO. Hence it is recommended that the

company should concentrate on after sales service for satisfying their

consumer.

3. Company should try to increase the quality in every accepts of

KAMCO products. To increase the rating of KAMCO.

4. From the study it is found that the performance of safety features of

KAMCO products has created some issues for few respondents.

Hence it is advisable to the company that to focus on the

performance of safety features.

5. The advertising promotion / sales promotion and television programs

of KAMCO of average level. It is suggested that the company should

concentrate more on advertising through medias.

6. It is better to have equal distribution of production in all areas.

7. It is advisable to the company to concentrate future on quantity

accepts and products

56
5.4 CONCLUSION

This study entitled “A study on the consumer perception on agricultural

machineries produced by KAMCO” was undertaken with the objective of

analysis of the consumer perception of the company and identifying the

consumer satisfaction and awareness of brand of the company. The study

was conducted for the period of 21 days.

The objective was achieved by using descriptive analysis i.e. questionnaire.

The findings have been summarized and the suggestions have been

enumerated. The study analyzed the overall consumer perception towards

the products of the company.

Based on the analysis, it is found the overall consumer perception and

satisfaction towards the agricultural machinery produced by KAMCO are

good. This study also certain suggestion for future improvement to ensure

the quality and assurance of company in future also.

57
 BIBILIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

 Kotler Philip and Amstrong Gray: Principles of Marketing, 11th

Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Delhi, 2006
 R.Panneerselvam: Research methodology. Delhi. PHI learning

Pvt.Ltd. january, 2016

 Biplab.S.Bose: Marketing Management, Himalaya publishing house

 Dr Sontakkii C.N: Marketing management, Kalyani Publishers, New
Delhi. 2014

JOURNALS:

 Rosenberg, Milton j. (1956). Congnitive structure and Attitudinal

Affect. Journal of Abnormal and social psychology, Vol.53, pp. 376-
82.
 Michael B.Mazis, Ahtola, Olli T. and R. Eugene Klippel A (1975).
Comparison of four Multi-Attribute Models in the prediction of
Consumer Attitudes, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 2 no 1,
pp.38-52.

WEBSITES:

 http://www.kamcoindia.com/

 http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/customer-

perception.html

58
 APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE

Sir/Madam,

I am Sreelakshmi Babu, from St.Teresa’s Arts and Science College

Kottakkal, Mala. As a part of my B Com course, I am doing a project on the
topic “A Study on Consumer Perception of Agro Machineries produced by
KAMCO Ltd.” I would appreciate it if you could take a few moments of
your time to carry out this survey. All result will be kept confidential.

Name :

Address :

1. Gender

[] Male [] Female

2. Age group

[] < 25 [] 25-40

[] 40-55 [] 55 and above

3. Annual income

[] below 2 lakh [] 2-5 lakh

[] 5-10 lakh [] above 10 lakh

4. What type of agricultural business are you into?

[] paddy [] wheat

[] rubber [] other

5. How much agricultural land do you own?

[] below 2 acre [] 2-5 acre

[] 5-10 [] above 10 acres

59
6. What are all equipment’s you are using?

[] tractor [] tiller

[] sweeper [] other (…….)

7. What elements are do you think most important when you are buying a
tractor?

[] brand [] price

[] product quality [] after sale service

[] maintenance cost

8. Where have you heard about KAMCO?

[] TV [] Friends

[] company sales man [] magazines

[] others (specify……………..)

9. How do you evaluate KAMCO product?

[] very good [] average

[] good [] bad

[] very bad

10. Are aware about the price list of KAMCO’s product?

[] yes [] no

11. To what extent is your possibility to buy a KAMCO product when you
want to buy in future?

60
 [] definitely yes

[] yes

[] may be

[] no

[] definitely no

12. What do you think of the performance of KAMCO products in its

quality according to your experience?

[] excellent

[] very good

[] good

[] average

[] bad

13. State your opinion about price as compared to competitors?

[] very high [] high

[] moderate [] low

14. What is your opinion about availability of product?

[] highly satisfied

[] satisfied

[] neutral

[] dissatisfied

61
 [] highly dissatisfied
15. What is your point of view the following aspects according to your
experience?

Excellent Very Good Average Bad

bad
Quality of external part
Durability
Performance of control
Quality of internal part
Performance of safety
features

16. How would you rate the overall value of the product?

[] 1 [] 2 [] 3 [] 4 [] 5

17. How likely are you to recommend this product to other?

[] definitely yes

[] yes

[] may be

[] no

[] definitely no

18. . Any other suggestions with respect to the company product

..…………………………………………………………………...

..……………………………………………………………………

Thank you Sir/Madam

62
63