Pen Industry at a Glance When in 1945, Camel brought 1st fountain pen in India, nobody had even thought

of the stiff competition pen marketers will face after 4-5 decades. Today, there are more that 50 brands in Indian market in organized as well as the unorganized sector, facing the cut-throat competition from each other. Competition has become more hot after the entry of Multinational brands as Reynolds, Parker, Mont Blanc, etc. in Indian market. Today, major competition is in the ball-pen industry as 90% of consumers use Ball-pen and wide variety available in the segment. Factors Affecting Demand For the Pen : Demand for pen among the employed people is relatively stagnant while among the students, it is experiencing healthy growth. Moreover, the students seemed to be more brand conscious as compared to the employed persons. Also because of wide perception of pen being as a gift item, a new segment of expensive pens has been created whose pen is regarded as an item of prestige or status symbol more as compared to its utility value. A pen is a pen. Marketers can put flowers on it, change the cap styling and even give it a scent, in the name of differentiation. There have been several non-cosmetic ideas too, many of them clever enough not to be called gimmicks. Sometimes these changes lead to increase in convenience value. Eg. Few months back Camlin launched Y2K, a plastic pen that offers a unique advantage. It can be fitted with any refill, jotter or the standard plastic kind. Most of the marketers are trying to increase the aesthetic value of pen while keeping the price range in the bracket of Re. 10715. It is true that Reynolds and Cello is current hot seller but more and more brands are coming with pens that suit the pocket better, both in terms of size and cap mechanism than the regular Reynolds type pens. There is a minor problem regarding pen industry in India. Mass market for pen in India continues to display a woeful lack of involvement with the product. Collegians and Romantics may have responded to all those power of words at boy showing a greater degree of brand sensitivity, but others couldn't be bothered about what they pick. Also retail presence and shopkeepers push are critical success factors for any pen brand. Objectives and Limitations of the Project The study of consumer behaviour & consumption patterns in Pen Marker Main objective of the study: The main objectives of the study are as follows: 1. To know about the pen industry 2. To know about the sources of information for the customers 3. To know the major factors, which influence the buying decisions of consumers 4. To know the satisfaction level of the consumers with the various brands 5. To study the purchase and consumption patterns of the consumers

6. To know the brand loyalty of the customer Limitations: The major limitations of this study are as follows Time: The major limitation of study has been the time constrain. The study needs to be completed in a very period. Therefore, there exists a limitation on the amount of time that can be dedicated to the study. Cost: Yet another constraint has been regarding the cost. Since the study involves collection of primary data, the costs incurred were many. Due to this constraint the coverage of the study could not be extended beyond the sample chosen. Scope: As a consequence of the above mentioned limitations, the scope of the study has been restricted to the consumers of Bhiwani & Rohtak city. Research Methodology Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. To make the research a success, one has to define and plan the whole program properly and effectively. This chapter contains relevant information pertaining to research design and methodological steps used for present investigation. The research design has been distinctively described according to objectives of study under following heads or subheads: 1. Research Design: A research design is the specification of methods and procedures for acquiring the needed information. IT helps the researcher to conduct a study by ensuring that economical procedures are employed & probing is relevant to the problems. Research design can be classified into three categories: (1) Exploratory Research Design In this research the major emphasis is on the ideas and in sights. (2) Descriptive Research Design This research design is largely concerned with determining the frequency with which something occurs or the relationship between variables with respect to such characteristics as age, sex, education and so on. (3) Causal Research Design This is concerned with determining the cause and effect relationship.

Here the research design is descriptive in nature that includes survey and fact find inquiries of different kind like survey for understanding consumer behaviour. 2. Development of the questionnaire: The success or failure of a survey depends upon the CT correctness of the research instrument. For obtaining the requisite information, a well structure questionnaire was prepared. This questionnaire was pre tested with a sample of twenty respondents. After testing, final questionnaire was prepared with modification and data were collected with the help of interview method. The questionnaire sample is given at the end in annexure. 3. Sample Design : Since it was not possible to conduct interview of all consumers, a sample was taken for study. Sample design has been divided into following subheads : (a) Sample unit Who is to be surveyed? Here the problem is to find that the Consumer Buying Behaviour towards Ball Pens so the sample units are the pen consumers. (b) Sampling techniques : How the respondents are to the chosen? (c) Sample size about 100 A total of 100 respondents, who were the consumers of pen were interviewed personally. These respondents were from the city of Bhiwani & Rohtak and incomewise break-up of the respondents is given below :

Family Income of the Respondents Students Servicemen Total (d) Field Work : 10 20 30

Rs. 5000 to Rs. 10000

Rs. 10000 to Rs. 15000 30 15 45

Above Rs. 15000 10 15 25 50 50 100

Total

After designing the questionnaire and deciding the sample, data were collected by personal Interview Method. Respondents were asked about various contents of questionnaire and replies were recorded. (e) Analysing the data and reporting the findings : This analysis involves the refinement and manipulation of data and it involves :

1. Bringing Raw data into measured 2. Summarizing the data 3. Applying analytical method of manipulate the data so that their interrelationships to quantitative meaning become evident. The data collected from fieldwork were analysed and various 'why's' were answered and listed in the findings.