IIP PROJECT REPORT

Consumer behavior and Consumer buying pattern

of Times of India Magazines with reference to
BBC Knowledge, Top Gear and Lonely Planet.

(An Industry Internship Project Report Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirement of
Post Graduate Diploma in Management-2013-15)


Under the Guidance of:- Submitted By:
Corporate Guide: Sushant Sasmal
Mr.Vibhuti Anand PGDM-Marketing
Magazines Head Roll No-M8-09
Times of India, Hyderabad

Faculty Guide:
Sign:-____________
Mr. M Chaithanya
Assistant Professor,
Siva Sivani Institute of Management


Introduction:
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 and is a well-
established industry. The print media is considered to be one of the most flourishing
industries today. This medium is also particularly very popular to reach the target audience
for advertisers .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. The revenue sources for a magazine are subscription, single copy
sales and advertisement. Approximately 73 percent of revenue comes from advertising and
27 percent from circulation. 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.

Industry profile:
India has 49,000 publications, but annual revenues total just $1.1 billion. Most lack
technology, marketing, and capital to grow which has resulted in a handful of publications
dominating the market with the Times of India Group being the market leader. Distribution is
critical for a magazine since it has to be readily available and marketed to consumers. Big
publications have strong distribution network set up.

Retail: magazines are available in retail outlets for sale. The retailer gets a commission on the
sale price.
Subscription: publisher signs up subscribers directly or through partners and delivers the
issues in mail.
Selective Distribution: Special sponsored copies are distributed in airplanes and hotels.
The print industry in India is highly fragmented due to the large number of local languages.
Regional language publications own 46 percent of the market share, Hindi language
publications cover 44 percent and the remaining 10 percent is served by English publications.
The primary penetration of English language magazines currently is in metros and urban
centers though the growth is widening to smaller cities as the education and income levels
increase among the middle class. There's little doubt about India's market potential.
According to a national survey, 248 million literate adults still don't read any publication.
Readership of newspapers and magazines is up 15% since 1998 to 180 million. It's a
reflection of a younger, more educated population, especially in smaller cities.
Organizational Profile:
Organizational 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. Key Business areas:
Publishing, Television Digital, Out of Home advertising, Other Activities .Bennett Coleman
& Co. Limited was founded in 1892 and is based in Mumbai, India.

Literature review:
RESEARCH REVIEW: WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF MAGAZINE READERSHIP ON
WEBSITE VISITATION?
By: Wayne P. Eadie, Magazine Publishers of America, Dr. James H. Collins, Media
mark Research & Intelligence

Abstract: Given that advertisers want to raise the odds for advertising success, better targeting
those most likely to buy can increase the likelihood that those consumers exposed to
advertising will act. Comparing product incidence/usage based on composition for consumers
who had visited a website in each of three specific categories and not read a print magazine in
the same category relative to those who had read a magazine in the same category, we found
the following: Overall, in each of the three categories examined the addition of magazine
reading increased the incidence of product usage. In every situation analyzed for all websites
and non-magazine websites, a significant lift was achieved when reading a print magazine
was introduced. For magazine branded websites, increases were seen, although to a lesser
degree. When looking only at endemic products, services and attributes pertinent to the given
categories, the relationships were even stronger and held up equally for both magazine
branded and non-magazine websites in the two categories looked at. (Celebrity did not have
enough endemic cases for examination).

RESEARCH REVIEW: ISSUES IN MAGAZINE TYPOLOGY
By: Marcia R. Prior-Miller, Iowa State University

Abstract: This article explores how magazine type has been defined and on what criteria
categories of magazines has been based in published reports of communication research.
Four definition strategies were observed in 223 research reports published from 1977 through
1991.The approaches are critiqued on their apparent ability to meet five generally accepted
standards for the usefulness of scientifically designed typologies.



Objectives:
1. To study about consumer behavior in context of magazines provided by TIMES GROUP
2. To study the buying pattern of customers subscribing to magazines provided by TIMES
GROUP
3. To identify the problems experienced by the customers before purchase of the magazines.
4. To receive the suggestions of the consumers for providing better offers and service from
TIMES OF INDIA.

Research methodology:
This exploratory research has been conducted through primary data collection through
convenience sampling. The data is qualitative as well quantitative. The data has been
collected through door-door visit.

Scope of study:
In 2007 the Indian magazine industry size was estimated at 1900 crores and registered a
growth of 15% for over the previous year so there are huge scopes of the magazines industry
to flourish. In accordance with the objectives of the project this project is done in territory of
Hyderabad, Telangana.The research has been carried in several areas in Hyderabad.The
market survery and feeback collection was done through questionnaires.

This project will help the company to have a clear picture of what a customer wants in a
product, to know their tastes and preference, to analyse the competitors better and come out
with the strategies and plan in a way which may prove fruitful for the company.

Limitations of the study:
1. The survey was conducted only in Hyderabad city, so it cant give a completely accurate
picture of customers perception and buying behavior pan India.
2. The project duration was very short as 2 months, and in this short span of time gathering
genuine feedback in questionable.
3. It was a sample survey of only 342 clients, which is very small and the authenticity of the
data is questionable.
4. As the questionnaire consist of both the open and close ended questions, the client was half
force to answer in selective choices, it could result in forced choices error. In the same in the
open ended question if the client does not answer any questions it could have resulted in non-
response error.
5.Inability to respond to the questionnaire due to lack of time.
6. As the study was done in a limited time investigator could not select large sample for the
study.









Findings:
After this 2 months of rigorous research it was found that most of the customers dont
subscribe to the flagship magazines like BBC Knowledge and even Top Gear and customers
mostly buy it from retail stores or other sources but in case of Lonely Planet majority of
customers are subscribers of the magazine hence company should try to adopt such strategy
where it can convert temporary readers into a permanent reader. It was found that most of the
new customer are willing to subscribe because of services which are being provided to the
customer like, free home delivery, cash discount, and timely delivery. Most of the people
subscribe to BBC Knowledge, Top Gear and Lonely Planet magazines because of its content
rather than its price which shows the richness and purity of the content of Times of India
magazines. People are focusing more on content it carries but still majority of readers of BBC
Knowledge and Lonely Planet dont have clear stand on whether this magazine matches their
lifestyle or not but the same being the case with Top Gear, readers of Top Gear highly
connect to the content of the magazine, hence the company should try to bring in more
content which is very important from customer point of view. The maximum number of
buyers has agreed that the magazine is value for money because it gives people extra value by
reading they come to know more about the various topics. Company should try to adopt such
strategy where customers are directly benefited it can do this by providing cash discount to
the customers. It was found that maximum number of customer looks for cash discount rather
than any gifts or any other offers. The research also proves that this magazine generates high
degree of interaction among its readers and is hence very popular through word of mouth.
Maximum number of customers are ready to spend between Rs.100-200 hence it shows a
great demand for magazine in future. It can be also said that maximum number of customers
are in condition to spend a reasonable amount of money on buying magazines. Becoming the
market leader is good but staying number is the hard part which the company must take care
and try to stay number one forever.


Suggestions:
1) Improvement of service:
The most important thing after the research was found that the service has to be improved. As
most of the customers who subscribe to the magazines complained that they do not receive
their magazines on time. Company should pay more attention towards this problem and it
should try to improve it as soon as possible.
2) A better distribution channel:
Company should adopt better distribution channel so that it can deliver magazines to the right
customer at right time. A better distribution channel can help company to retain its position as
being number 1(one) in these segment
3) A better renewal reminder system:
Company should adopt such strategy where it can remind customer regarding their renewal
and it will help company to retain maximum number of old customers.
4) Launching of magazine in other related segments:
After research it was found that maximum number of people were looking for health related
magazine and most of the waiting lounge in hospitals clinics and Gyms are empty without
any magazines which is a great Opportunity for TIMES OF INDIA. As today most of the
people are heath conscious and like to keep themselves fit and fine they were in search of
such magazines which they can prefer it during their leisure time. The Economist being a
premium business magazine customers are looking for an affordable priced business
magazine. It was also found that sports and bikes magazines were highly in demand and these
opportunities can be exploited by Times of India.


BIBILOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_of_India
http://www.timesgroup.com/bccl/about-us.html
http://www.timesmediastudies.com/
http://www.timespro.com/why-timespro/the-times-group
http://www.timesgroup.com/