MERU! WHY MERU?

Submitted To: Prof. Shirshendu Ganguli

Project Group: Sri Naagu Siddharth Khera Joyeeta Mukherjee Mohak Saxena Deepali

OBJECTIVE: To find out the features of the Meru cab service which makes the consumers to prefer this brand. Also to derive the brand awareness and customer satisfaction of Meru Cabs.

INTRODUCTION: Meru Cabs is one of the first companies to launch metered "Radio cabs" in India under its brand "Meru." First launched in Mumbai in April 2007, Meru Cabs has grown exponentially in terms of fleet size and geographical presence. Customers benefit from a relaxed commute in a well equipped, air-conditioned cab, which is readily available 24/7. The printed receipt at the end of the ride assures the customer of tamper proof billing. Headquartered in Mumbai, Meru Cab Company provides a radio taxi service in the four key metros of India - Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Meru Cabs delivers a reliable taxi service by concentrating on each touch point with its customers and devising systems, processes or technologies that will deliver a reliable interface. Meru Cabs uses GPS/GPRS enabled technology in all of the cabs to ensure complete passenger safety. Each Meru cab is owned & maintained by Meru Cab Company Private Limited. The name "Meru" is derived from the symbolic mountain of the gods, an icon of unshakeable reliability and character - a core value which lies at the heart of Meru's promise to its customers.

RESEARCH PROCESS: Stage I Exploratory research: Focus group interview was conducted to determine the variables that effect the dependent variable (customer satisfaction). Details of the FGD (FGD Report) are enclosed as annexure I.

Stage II Survey: Questionnaire A questionnaire of 17 questions (14 independent + 3 dependent) was designed based on the variables derived from the FGD. One question to calculate the brand awareness of Meru cabs and its competitors is also included separately. One pilot question to arrive at the questions is also included. Questionnaire enclosed as annexure 2.

Scale Unforced Likert scale ranging from 1(Strongly Agree) - 5(Strongly Disagree) is used. Sample Simple random sampling technique was used and initially survey was conducted on a sample of 40 respondents for the Pretest of the questionnaire. Further the actual survey was conducted on 100 respondents.

Stage III Pretest: Cronbach's Alpha .764 N Items 14 of

Pretest of the questionnaire was conducted on a sample of 40 respondents to determine the consistency and reliability of the questionnaire. The cronbachs was 0.764 for the 14 independent variables suggesting that the items have relatively high internal consistency and KMO was 0.563 which shows sample adequacy. The correlation matrix showed good correlation between the items and no negative correlation. This indicated that the questionnaire is accurate and no changes were required and hence we continued with the same questionnaire for the actual survey.

STAGE IV MAIN SURVEY DATA COLLECTION Survey was conducted on a sample of 100 respondents chosen through simple random sampling. CODING All the responses are coded in an excel sheet using the likert scale codes mentioned in the scale.

STAGE V DATA ANALYSIS SPSS 13.0 was used for the interpretation of the data. The following results were derived and interpreted:

Cronbachs : Cronbach's Alpha .771 N of Items 14

The alpha coefficient for the 14 items is .771, suggesting that the items have relatively high internal consistency. KMO and Bartletts Test: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Sampling Adequacy.

Measure

of .730 Chi344.494 91 .000

Bartlett's Test of Approx. Sphericity Square Df Sig.

The KMO measure for the 100 respondents was 0.730 which indicates the adequacy of the sample for the survey. The Bartletts test of Sphericity is also significant. Communality Values : All the communality values are above 0.5. Rotated Component matrix: All the items are loaded into five factors. Table enclosed as annexure III. Factor I The items included in the Factor I are 3,4,5,6,7. On analysis from the questionnaire the items are related to the safety and technological aspects of the service. Item 3 safe to travel and Item 4- safe driving by the drivers indicates the safety factor. Item 5 GPS/ GPRS technology Item 6 Printed bill system Item 7- Debit/credit card payment system indicates the technology factor. Since both the factors have been loaded together they are loaded as TECHNOLOGY AND SAFETY. The cronbachs for the five items in the factor is 0.765, which shows high consistency within the items. Meru cabs uses GPS/ GPRS enabled technology in all the cabs to ensure complete passenger safety. It is rightly justified that safety and technology are together. Technology is a crucial factor of the macro environment forces that shape the opportunities to

the company. New technologies create new markets and opportunities. Meru cabs has the most advanced technology in the cab services and hence been a market leader. Factor II The items included in factor II are 8,9 and 12. Item 8 timely and professional service Item 9 reliable in case of emergency Item 12 customer care response All the above items are related to the efficiency of services and hence labeled as EFFICIENCY. The cronbachs for the three items is 0.597 which show they are consistent. Factor III The items included in factor III are 1 and 2. Item 1 fares Item 2 waiting costs and night time fares. The above items are labeled as FARES. The Correlation of both the items is 0.533 which indicates they are highly correlated. Factor IV The items loaded in factor IV are 10 and 11. Item 10 service at any time. Item 11 service at any place. The above items are labeled as AVAILABILITY as they indicate the availability of services. The correlation between the items is 0.447. Factor V The items loaded in factor V include 13 and 14. Item 13 Speed of customer Service Item 14 Brand Name The above items are labeled as BRAND IMAGE. The correlation between the items is 0.349.

In the services industry especially the services with goods on the service continuum there is less room for error because of high competition and product similarity. Factors like efficiency, fares and availability have to be highly competitive and reasonable to influence the target customers and capture their loyalty.

REGRESSION ANALYSIS Dependent Variable I (prefer selecting Meru Cabs) The significant factors in the regression analysis are Safety & technology, Efficiency and Availability. The highest coefficient is for the Safety & technology i.e, 0.496, which indicates that Safety & Technology influences the consumer decision to choose Meru cabs. Dependent Variable II (Recommend Meru cabs to friends / family) Safety & Technology is the only factor which is significant and has a coefficient of 0.613, indicating that the Safety & Technology is influencing the consumer decision to choose Meru cabs.

ANALYSIS Meru cabs is pioneer in the GPS/ GPRS technology. It uses various technologies like GPS/ GPRS, Debit/ Credit card billing, printed bill receipt etc and has an edge over the competitors. The following table clearly explains this

Cab Service

GPS/ GPRS

Debit/ credit card Printed payment system

bill

Meru Cabs Easy Cabs Dot Cabs Radio Cabs

As evident from above, Meru cabs has an edge over its competitors in terms of the technology they use and the technological benefits they provide. The other factors like fares and availability are although similar. Service companies face three major marketing tasks. They want to increase their service differentiation, service quality, and service productivity. Service Differentiation: In these days of intense price competition, service marketers often complain about the difficulty of differentiating their services from those of competitors. The customers view the services of different providers as similar, they care less about the provider than the price. The solution is to develop a differentiated offer, delivery and image. In the cab services industry the delivery and image could not be differentiated and hence Meru cabs differentiated in terms of offer. Meru differentiated in terms of technology, an area which is less explored in our country in the cab services. Meru provides

round the clock availability backed by a location tracking GPS- based dispatch technology, tamper proof digital can meters integrated with the GPS system ensuring every fare is tracked, a printed receipt for every fare, ability to track location of the cab using GPS and security in case of emergency. Service Quality: Meru cabs has rightly identified what its target customers want in terms of service quality. Meru always strives to deliver their core promise of unshakable reliability by devising systems, processes and technologies that will set a reliable interface with the customers. Initiatives in this aspect are their thoroughly trained chauffeurs in smart Meru uniform, fluent in English and Hindi. BRAND AWARENESS: A question to measure the brand awareness among the respondents has been included in the questionnaire separately. Analysis of which gives the brand awareness of Meru and its competitors as follows: Service Meru Cabs Brand Awareness 100%

Radio Cabs 60% Dot Cabs Easy Cabs 51.42% 46.67%

OVERALL SATISFACTION The overall satisfaction is calculated as the average taken from the last item in the questionnaire i.e, rating the overall satisfaction on a scale of 1-100. The overall satisfaction hence derived is 78.53. This indicates the high level of consumer satisfaction using Meru Cabs.

CONCLUSION From this study it is clearly understood that companies which have a strong PODs are more preferred in the service industry and POD for meru is its usage of technology. Since meru is in the service industry, one of the major characteristics in service industry is service Intangibility and Meru was successful in making its service tangible with an appropriate use of technology in the form of GPS / GPRS. The transparency in billing by providing the bills is a form of evidence management. The other characteristic of the service industry given due consideration by Meru was the service Variability which is standardized by providing well trained chauffeurs who are adept in navigating through the cities, safe driving and good communication skills. From this exercise and the response of the public proves that Meru has created a brand image which is synonymous with trust, transparency and safety which is clearly depicted in its tagline Rely On Us.

Annexure: 1. FGD Report. 2. Questionnaire. 3. Rotated Component Matrix Table

Annexure I

FGD REPORT Objective: service. Duration: To derive the factors that influences the consumers decision while choosing a cab

13.06 min Male: 4 Female: 3

No. of Male/ Female:

Moderator: Minutes:

Sri Naagu

The FGD was conducted on 18 Jan at 2100 hrs. The respondents were randomly selected MBA students. The objective was to find out the various factors that influences the consumers decision while choosing a cab service. The various factors observed during the FGD are given below. The FGD was driven by various questions such as the occasion when they use cab service, what influences the decision while choosing a cab, what factors they look into while booking a cab service. Factors Observed: The respondents gave their views on various factors during the discussion. The cab service is not more frequently preferred by all the respondents. Occasions such as late nights or while travelling with luggage or time constraints makes them prefer the cab service. While choosing the cab service majority of the respondents opined that they prefer timely, efficient and quality of service rather than the price. Fares are also a constraint for some of the respondents. The quality of service provided in terms of technology also influenced their decision. The brand name has no significant importance but the services associated with the brands made them prefer some specific brands like meru, etc. Safety is also a concern for some female respondents especially during the nights and hence they prefer a branded service.

Which of the following cab services are you aware of? Radio cabs Easy cabs Meru Cabs Dot Cabs Others (Please specify) ________________ Have you ever availed the services of Meru Cabs? Yes No

Annexure II

If yes, please fill in the following questionnaire about your experience on the services of Meru Cabs Sl Description Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly No agree Disagree 1 The fares are reasonable 2 The waiting costs and night time fares are reasonable 3 It is safe to travel in meru cabs 4 Drivers drive safely and carefully 5 GPS/GPRS Technology used by meru cabs gives an edge over other cab service providers. 6 The printed bill system makes the payment system transparent 7 The debit/ credit card payment system is convenient to the passengers 8 The service is timely and professional 9 Meru cabs are reliable in case of any emergency 10 The service is available at any time 11 The service is available to any place in the city. 12 The customer care executives respond immediately to the queries 13 The waiting time for the customer care service is not more than 10 sec. 14 I prefer meru cab because of its brand name 15 I always prefer selecting meru cabs 16 I will recommend meru cabs to my friends and family 17 Rate your overall satisfaction on the services provide on a scale of 1 100

Annexure III

Rotated Component Matrix

Component Safety & Technology I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 I7 I8 I9 I10 I11 I12 I13 I14 .699 .804 .689 .668 .594

Efficiency

Fares .861 .851

Availability

Brand Image

.771 .680 .862 .742 .643 .661 .843