PGDM-RMM (2009-11)

Institute for Technology and Management

Global Leadership Center
Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

Influence of reference groups on spending patterns
among college students

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTEDBY :

PROF. (Mrs.) SHELJA JOSE KURUVILLA
Group No. 7

Manoj Theng (21)

Silky Rungta (23)
Sreejit Nair (25)
Shekhar Ghosh (38)
Shubhankar Otta (39)
Nikita Jain (42)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

1 FRONT MATTER

1.1 COVER 1

1.2 ABSTRACTS 3

1.3 KEYWORDS 3

2. MAIN BODY

2.1 INTRODUCTION 4

2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.3 OBJECTIVES 9

2.4 METHODOLOGY 10

2.4A THE SAMPLE 10

2.4B RESEARCH METHOD 10

2.5 ANALYSIS AND FINDING 11

2.6 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 16

2.7 CONCLUSION 17

3. BACK MATTER

3.1 Appendix 18

3.2 REFERENCE 20

3.3 BIBLIOGRAPHY 21

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Abstract

Consumer spending is an important factor that affects the economic growth and
development in a country. Today’s college students are not only a powerful segment
but also probably the most profitable. This paper is an attempt to gain an insight in to
the decision- making process and the vital factors that influence college student’s
behavior.

College students are the generation that will take the responsibility to develop our
country. Besides, they are also the consumers of today and tomorrow. It really has
something to do to get to know what the college students want, how they get the
information of the products, and their consumption concepts and habits. College
students (age group 16-24) show a variation in buying pattern to match their
surroundings. We are going to study the influence of reference groups on spending
pattern of college students. We assume that this segment spend more because of
reference group influence. Retailers and marketers are interested in the study of
spending pattern of this segment to setup a marketing strategy.

KEYWORDS
Status Consumption, Gender, Age, Research Methodology, Chi square Test, Annova,
Hypothesis.

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Introduction

In this new world, consuming class of India's population of about 50 million is in the age
band of 25-45 yrs. Most of the youth are working now and their consumption pattern
has completely changed. They don't think twice before spending on expensive global
brands and are even comfortable buying on credit. Youth in today’s India a ‘silver spoon’
generation for marketers. Rising disposable incomes, especially, among the middle class,
increasing consumer base in urban areas, credit availability, growing number of nuclear
families, working women, easy accessibility and convenience and a potentially strong
rural consumer market will fuel growth in the near future. Indeed an exciting time for
retailers and marketers. (Deshmukh, 2010)

The rising purchasing power coupled with an increasing propensity to consume has led
to the emergence of a new class of consumers. Gone are the days when people felt
guilty about spending. Not only are people today indulging in buying more, they are
spending significantly on themselves. As per Ernst & Young analysis, in the last decade
the number of upper middle class and high income households has grown by a
staggering 270% from 30 million households to 81 million households. A key aspect
driving the sector’s growth is favorable population demographics – 50% of the
population is less than 25 years. The power of youth today is evident in its large
numbers, tendency to consume and in its ability to influence larger household decisions.
India’s population is also urbanising at a rapid pace with the urban Indian population
projected to increase from 28% to 40% of the total population by 2020. A recent Ernst
& Young study, YouSumerism, found that the propensity to consume for a developing
country accelerates beyond $900 per capita GDP and India will reach that in 2008–2009.
(Times, 2008)

Be it mobile phones, iPods, latest fashion and sports accessories or the newest gizmos in
the market — the `Yuppie' or Young Urban Professional who is lapping them up. The
Yuppie has brought the gleam back to the eyes of marketers and advertisers. Rising
disposable incomes, willingness to spend and greater exposure to media drive make this
class a spending machine. Yet, there is a spending pattern too. For today's youth (17-25
years), apparel figures on top of the list. This is followed by fashion and lifestyle brands,
sportswear, gifting and travel. Two basic characteristics associated with the shopping
behavior of the young generation are its preference for shopping online and the
increasing brand consciousness. With information just a click away, Yuppies spend

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considerable time comparing various products, their features and prices before making
an informed buy decision. For online advertisers this is a huge opportunity, as
manufacturers and marketers of mobile phones, watches, shoes and other fashion
accessories are able to reach a large number of youngsters through this medium. While
regular spending (groceries, staples and other necessities) has grown by about five per
cent over the last one year, that on lifestyle (clothing, travel and so on) has raced at over
20 per cent, with the youth accounting for more than half this growth. The need to own
a product/service that fits the `luxury' bill appears to drive the compulsive spending on
branded products. The average contribution of the youth segment to total brand sales is
as high as 60 per cent! Youth spending in India is estimated to increase by over 50 per
cent to about $8 billion over the next year alone. The conventional mindset of "saving
for the future'' is being widely replaced by the "live for today'' attitude. Coffee bars,
multiplexes, restaurants and shopping malls are the favourite hangouts. It is the
experience and the ambience that matter most to this segment. Coffee chains, smartly
sensing a huge potential, frequently come out with attractive promos and offers to draw
the attention of youth. Of late, the urge to build and grow social networks among the
youth is getting stronger and this holds much promise to social networking sites, blogs,
coffee chains and restaurants. That the world's largest coffee chain and the iconic brand
— Starbucks — will soon be in India is only going to add to the bonanza for the Yuppies.
Home-grown coffee chains such as Cafe Coffee Day and Barista will have to gear up for
competition from the retailing outfit that revolutionized the concept of drinking coffee.
(Kamath, 2006)

Reference groups form an important influence in the decision making process. How
does the influence of friends, parents, neighbors, colleagues, etc drive the spending
pattern of today’s youth? The research aims to understand that.

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Literature Survey

The influence of reference groups on spending patterns has been discussed through
research by various authors. Environmental factors, such as culture and family, as well
as individual factors, such as attitude toward objects and lifestyle, have an influence on
buying decisions of consumers (Blackwell, Miniard & Engel, 2001).Race and ethnicity
also influence the spending patterns of college students. The idea that the black
consumer as well as the Hispanic or Asian consumer may be influenced by variables
differently from the white consumer is compatible with recent literature about diversity
and activities of diverse groups. Results imply that black college consumers in the
sample are influenced more by others and the need to be social in deciding on where to
shop than on the actual benefits they will receive by purchasing a particular item of
clothing or their own interest in fashion (McKinney, LEGETTE-TRAYLOR, Kincade, &
Holloman, October 2004).Reference groups influence college students into compulsive
buying. Parents, peers, colleagues are sometimes responsible for students getting into
compulsive buying (Roberts, 1995).Teenagers’ shopping with friends enhances teens’
attitudes toward retailing and their tendency to spend more when shopping with
friends. The frequency and enjoyment of shopping with pals are related to sentiment
toward retailing and spending tendencies. There is a surge in spending when teenagers
shop with their peers (Mangleburg, Doney, & Bristol, 2004).

Bearden and Etzel (1982) recognized that social visibility and exclusivity were important
factors influencing reference group influence. (Mehta, 2001) Mehta, Lalwani and Ping
claimed that though an important factor regarding individual’s behaviour very less has
been explored about the reference group influence in the service sector. The results
indicated that informational reference group was the most pervasive form of influence
for all types of services studied. Also, the publically consumed services had more of
reference group influence than privately consumed service. Scholars have suggested
that youth consumption practice is an index of the presence and reach of globalization
(Lukose 2005). Youth is seen as a consuming social group, and youth culture is viewed as
a market ideology by tracing the emergence of youth culture in relation to marketing
(Kjeldgaard and Askegaard 2006). Chi and Huang conducted an on-line survey to
investigate the motivations of global mass media usage, the role of exposure to global
mass media, and the influences of reference groups in relation to the attitude toward
global brands (Chi, 2007). The results helped to understand the role of media and
reference group in shaping young consumer’s brand attitudes. Yang, He and Lee did a

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research on Social reference group influence on mobile purchasing behaviour. A
comparison between the behaviours of consumers of the USA and China was done on
the basis of this study. It revealed that among the reference groups they examined only
the influence of utilitarian reference group was statistically significant. The other two
reference groups were informational and value-expressive which were found out to be
relatively insignificant (Yang, 2007).

It is interpreted that spending by college students can have a strong overall impact on
local spending when they represent a large portion of the local population and they may
have a stronger impact on the mix of spending if their demographic characteristics
substantially differ from the local population. There study focuses on a traditional
student population at a large residential university in a small mid western town and
reveals that most students routinely spend a substantial portion of their total
expenditures on relatively few items: recreation, food, general merchandise, housing,
books, and school supplies and gasoline (Bailey, Natke, Thompson, & Gregory, 2008).It is
found that college students consume mostly around their campus and homes or at
places where they can find the ease in shopping. And they are becoming more and
more interested in their living quality. Their consumption ability is beyond our
imagination, and quite a number of students have their own computers or mobile
phones. Besides, the number of credit cards college students have is really to one’s
surprise. Conclusion can be drawn that college students really have a great impact on
today’s market society. A businessman who can master the college students’ taste will
be a successful one (Gulam, 2007). At a young age(teen age), children have cash at hand
to spend, they use a lot of time on various media and teenagers exert considerable
influence over parental decision making when it comes to household purchases. At the
same time, business and trade pour ever more money into advertising. The number of
television commercials since 1998 has increased from 1,000 spots per day to 3,000 spots
today. In 1998, 283 spots were transmitted in connection with family and children’s
programmes every day: today this number has increased to 576 spots. Concurrently
with this, Internet and mobile phone technology invent new ways to carry out
marketing that are particularly appealing to children and young people. As an example,
42 per cent of the young teens have tried to participate in a competition via SMS (Swain
& Sahu, April,2007).

Students' spending, intellectual, social and personal development is highly influenced by

peers during the college years. These changes can be understood in terms of social
comparison theory, which outlines the consequences for group dynamics of people's
need to evaluate their opinions and abilities. Discussion aimed toward opinion
consensus and competition aimed toward improving ability levels promote the

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development of intellectual capacities and a range of other abilities(Goethals,
September, 1999).The article relates the impact peer pressure has on end-users in the
online world. Complex human actions like persevering in a cause or carrying out a plan
or following the path of virtue all require multiple motives. One set of motivation
patterns operates universally, the peer pressure. People want a sense of belonging and
fear becoming outcasts. If the comfort and security that comes from being one of the
group requires individuals to do things they might not do on their own, then most
people meet the requirement. The most troubling aspect of peer pressure is its intrinsic
amorality. As long as one follows the herd, it seems not to matter where or why the
herd is moving. (Quint, May2004).This paper examines consumer perception of service
innovativeness (CPSI) and its effect on patronage intention. The empirical study is
contextualized in two considerably different service industries. Using survey data, the
empirical analysis suggests: (a) CPSI is associated with patronage intention; (b) different
CPSI dimensions emerge as significant in different service industries; and (c) consumer
trait innovativeness modifies the effect of CPSI on patronage intention. The implications
of findings and directions for further research are discussed. (Zolfagharian & Paswan,
Mar2009).Despite a substantial amount of studies on affect transfer, little research has
been conducted on reciprocal transfer of image based and performance-based brand
association from line extensions and core brands. The purpose of the paper is to test the
effect of extension innovativeness and parent brand salience on reciprocal transfer of
image and performance associations. The results show that reciprocal transfer of brand
associations is influenced by the innovativeness of the extension and the salience of the
core brand but varies whether an association is image-based or performance-based.
This paper suggests that a performance based association reciprocally transfer from an
extension to the parent brand notwithstanding of the innovativeness of them extension
or the salience of the core brand. (Boisvert, sep2007).

Students have mutual and reciprocal influence on each other. In the interaction they
develop consensual and shared sets of expectations regarding each others' behavior and
regarding important aspects of their common environment. These consensual and
shared expectations - known as norms and standards - form the basis of the student
peer group's power over individual members (Feldman & Newcomb, 1969, p. 240).
People check their opinions against those of peers whom they regard as similar in
attitudes and compare their own performances to the performances of whom they
regard as similar in ability (Festinger 1950, 1954). People often say that our friends are a
reflection of who we are. When we start hanging out with someone a lot, it’s inevitable
that we’ll pick up some of their habits. Some are good ones and some are bad ones. It’s
undeniable that the friends we choose have a significant influence on how we spend our
money (Grad, Broke, 23 March, 2009). A person can be both the influencer and the

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influenced within a group of friends at the time. Our life histories reveal that peers are
readily invoked as benchmarks against which family wealth, spending patterns and
lifestyle are assessed. Manifestations of the rich interplay between parental and peer
influences are presented. Our study enriches conceptual models by focusing on joint
parent-peer impacts rather than their separate spheres of influence. (Elizabeth S Moore,
2005). Private companies should associate with public services that are both secondary
and publicly consumed. They also found that reference group influence is different
depending on context, and that citizens’ perceptions of public services in different
contexts can also vary (Guzman, Montana, & Sierra, 2004).

Objectives

1. To study influence of reference groups on spending patterns among college

students.

2. Influence of reference groups on spending patterns among college students who

account for a large portion of the revenues of many local Businesses at hosting
residential colleges. Also we will analyze that which reference group has most
influence on spending pattern among college student.

3. We will study total spending by a local student and hostelite student.

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Methodology
A questionnaire was designed to study influence of reference groups on spending
patterns among college students. The questionnaire was designed keeping in mind the
spending pattern of the respondent A total of 170 responses were collected.

SAMPLE:
The sample size of the respondents was 170. Around 52%of the respondents were local
and 48% were day’s scholar. The breakup of male and female respondents was very
little.

Research Method

1. Chi square test: - This test is applied to find out the dependency between frequency
of visit to a particular store and age group, income group and gender.

2. Rank Order Test: - This test is applied to find out the most preferred attribute that
drives a customer to a particular store. For this purpose we asked the respondents
to mark their likings using the Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 where 1 is strongly
disagree & 5 is strongly agree, after collecting the data we applied this test to fulfill
the desired objective.

3. Rank Correlation test:- In principle, ρ is simply a special case of the Pearson product-
moment coefficient in which two sets of data xi and yi are converted to rankings
before calculating the coefficient. In practice, however, a simpler procedure is
normally used to calculate ρ. The raw scores are converted to ranks, and the
differences di between the ranks of each observation on the two variables is
calculated.

Correlation ρ is given by:

Where:

di = xi − yi = the difference between the ranks of corresponding values Xi and Yi, and

n = the number of values in each data set (same for both sets

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Findings & Interpretation
Reliability
Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's
Alpha Based
on
Cronbach's Standardize N of
Alpha d Items Items

.744 .742 28

Findings:
Table indicated the reliability levels obtained in this study. The alpha values were
calculated to evaluate the internal consistency reliabilities of the scales. Scale is
considered reliable if it has an alpha value greater than 0.60. Hair, et al. (1998) added
that reliability estimates between 0.60 and 0.70 represent a moderate level of
acceptability and alpha value between 0.80 to 0.90 represent a very good level of
acceptability in quantitative research studies. Due to the exploratory nature of this
study, alpha value greater than 0.60 is considered adequate and acceptable

Chi-Square Test:

Analysis 1: To study total spending by a local student and hostelite student

Ho – There is no significance between the monthly spending and accommodation.
H1 - There is significance between the monthly spending and accommodation.
Test Statistics

Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-
3.974(a) 2 .137
Square
Likelihood Ratio 3.999 2 .135
Linear-by-Linear
3.398 1 .065
Association

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 N of Valid Cases 170
a 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 24.21.

Findings:
As the value of p> 0.05, H1 is not supported and Ho is accepted, it shows that there is
no significance between the monthly spending and accommodation.

Analysis 2: To study spending pattern and family income of college student.

Ho – There is no significance between the monthly spending and family income.
H1 - There is significance between the monthly spending and family income.
Test Statistics

Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi- 340.000(
4 .000
Square a)
Likelihood Ratio 371.263 4 .000
Linear-by-Linear
169.000 1 .000
Association
N of Valid Cases 170
a 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 14.12.

Findings:
As the value of p<0.05, hence we can support H1 and reject Ho, it shows that there is
significance between the monthly spending and family income.

Anova
Analysis 1: To study the influence of brand/product association of different groups on
spending pattern among college student.

H0: There is no significant relationship between combined effect of brand/product

association of different groups and monthly spending

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H1: There is significant relationship between combined effect of brand/product
association of different groups and monthly spending.

Test Statistics
Levene's Test of Equality of Error Variances(a)

Dependent Variable: Monthly spending

F df1 df2 Sig.
. 68 90 .
Tests the null hypothesis that the error variance of the dependent variable is equal
across groups.
a Design: Intercept+Q1a+Q1b+Q1c+Q1d+Q1e+Q1a * Q1b+Q1a * Q1c+Q1b * Q1c+Q1a *
Q1b * Q1c+Q1a * Q1d+Q1b * Q1d+Q1a * Q1b * Q1d+Q1c * Q1d+Q1a * Q1c * Q1d+Q1b
* Q1c * Q1d+Q1a * Q1b * Q1c * Q1d+Q1a * Q1e+Q1b * Q1e+Q1a * Q1b * Q1e+Q1c *
Q1e+Q1a * Q1c * Q1e+Q1b * Q1c * Q1e+Q1a * Q1b * Q1c * Q1e+Q1d * Q1e+Q1a *
Q1d * Q1e+Q1b * Q1d * Q1e+Q1a * Q1b * Q1d * Q1e+Q1c * Q1d * Q1e+Q1a * Q1c *
Q1d * Q1e+Q1b * Q1c * Q1d * Q1e+Q1a * Q1b * Q1c * Q1d * Q1e

Findings:

The value p<0.05, so we accept alternate hypothesis (H1). Therefore, we can infer that
there is the influence of brand/product association of different groups on spending
pattern among college student.

Analysis 2: To study the influence of neighbors on spending pattern among college

student.

H0: There is no significant relationship between neighbors and monthly spending.

H1: There is significant relationship between neighbors and monthly spending.

Test Statistics
Levene's Test of Equality of Error Variances(a)

Dependent Variable: Monthly spending

F df1 df2 Sig.
4.652 78 65 .000
Tests the null hypothesis that the error variance of the dependent variable is equal
across groups.
a Design: Intercept+Q2a+Q2b+Q2c+Q2d+Q2e+Q2f+Q2a * Q2b+Q2a * Q2c+Q2b *
Q2c+Q2a * Q2b * Q2c+Q2a * Q2d+Q2b * Q2d+Q2a * Q2b * Q2d+Q2c * Q2d+Q2a * Q2c
* Q2d+Q2b * Q2c * Q2d+Q2a * Q2b * Q2c * Q2d+Q2a * Q2e+Q2b * Q2e+Q2a * Q2b *

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Q2e+Q2c * Q2e+Q2a * Q2c * Q2e+Q2b * Q2c * Q2e+Q2a * Q2b * Q2c * Q2e+Q2d *
Q2e+Q2a * Q2d * Q2e+Q2b * Q2d * Q2e+Q2a * Q2b * Q2d * Q2e+Q2c * Q2d *
Q2e+Q2a * Q2c * Q2d * Q2e+Q2b * Q2c * Q2d * Q2e+Q2a * Q2b * Q2c * Q2d *
Q2e+Q2a * Q2f+Q2b * Q2f+Q2a * Q2b * Q2f+Q2c * Q2f+Q2a * Q2c * Q2f+Q2b * Q2c *
Q2f+Q2a * Q2b * Q2c * Q2f+Q2d * Q2f+Q2a * Q2d * Q2f+Q2b * Q2d * Q2f+Q2a * Q2b *
Q2d * Q2f+Q2c * Q2d * Q2f+Q2a * Q2c * Q2d * Q2f+Q2b * Q2c * Q2d * Q2f+Q2a * Q2b
* Q2c * Q2d * Q2f+Q2e * Q2f+Q2a * Q2e * Q2f+Q2b * Q2e * Q2f+Q2a * Q2b * Q2e *
Q2f+Q2c * Q2e * Q2f+Q2a * Q2c * Q2e * Q2f+Q2b * Q2c * Q2e * Q2f+Q2a * Q2b * Q2c
* Q2e * Q2f+Q2d * Q2e * Q2f+Q2a * Q2d * Q2e * Q2f+Q2b * Q2d * Q2e * Q2f+Q2a *
Q2b * Q2d * Q2e * Q2f+Q2c * Q2d * Q2e * Q2f+Q2a * Q2c * Q2d * Q2e * Q2f+Q2b *
Q2c * Q2d * Q2e * Q2f

Findings:

The value p<0.05, so we accept alternate hypothesis (H1). Therefore, we can infer that
there are the influence neighbors on spending pattern among college student.

Analysis 3: To study the influence of friends on spending pattern among college

student.

H0: There is no significant relationship between friends and monthly spending.

H1: There is significant relationship between friends and monthly spending.

Test Statistics
Levene's Test of Equality of Error Variances(a)

Dependent Variable: Monthly spending

F df1 df2 Sig.
4.362 51 96 .000
Tests the null hypothesis that the error variance of the dependent variable is equal
across groups.
a Design: Intercept+Q3a+Q3b+Q3c+Q3d+Q3e+Q3f+Q3a * Q3b+Q3a * Q3c+Q3b *
Q3c+Q3a * Q3b * Q3c+Q3a * Q3d+Q3b * Q3d+Q3a * Q3b * Q3d+Q3c * Q3d+Q3a * Q3c
* Q3d+Q3b * Q3c * Q3d+Q3a * Q3b * Q3c * Q3d+Q3a * Q3e+Q3b * Q3e+Q3a * Q3b *
Q3e+Q3c * Q3e+Q3a * Q3c * Q3e+Q3b * Q3c * Q3e+Q3a * Q3b * Q3c * Q3e+Q3d *
Q3e+Q3a * Q3d * Q3e+Q3b * Q3d * Q3e+Q3a * Q3b * Q3d * Q3e+Q3c * Q3d *
Q3e+Q3a * Q3c * Q3d * Q3e+Q3b * Q3c * Q3d * Q3e+Q3a * Q3b * Q3c * Q3d *
Q3e+Q3a * Q3f+Q3b * Q3f+Q3a * Q3b * Q3f+Q3c * Q3f+Q3a * Q3c * Q3f+Q3b * Q3c *
Q3f+Q3a * Q3b * Q3c * Q3f+Q3d * Q3f+Q3a * Q3d * Q3f+Q3b * Q3d * Q3f+Q3a * Q3b *
Q3d * Q3f+Q3c * Q3d * Q3f+Q3a * Q3c * Q3d * Q3f+Q3b * Q3c * Q3d * Q3f+Q3a * Q3b
* Q3c * Q3d * Q3f+Q3e * Q3f+Q3a * Q3e * Q3f+Q3b * Q3e * Q3f+Q3a * Q3b * Q3e *

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Q3f+Q3c * Q3e * Q3f+Q3a * Q3c * Q3e * Q3f+Q3b * Q3c * Q3e * Q3f+Q3a * Q3b * Q3c
* Q3e * Q3f+Q3d * Q3e * Q3f+Q3a * Q3d * Q3e * Q3f+Q3b * Q3d * Q3e * Q3f+Q3a *
Q3b * Q3d * Q3e * Q3f+Q3c * Q3d * Q3e * Q3f+Q3a * Q3c * Q3d * Q3e * Q3f+Q3b *
Q3c * Q3d * Q3e * Q3f

Findings:

The value p<0.05, so we accept alternate hypothesis (H1). Therefore, we can infer that
there are the influence friends on spending pattern among college student.

Analysis 4: To study the value expressive influence on spending pattern among college
student.

H0: There is no significant relationship between the value expressive influence and
monthly spending.
H1: There is significant relationship between the value expressive influence and monthly
spending.

Test Statistics
Levene's Test of Equality of Error Variances(a)

Dependent Variable: Monthly spending

F df1 df2 Sig.
1.618 63 102 .015
Tests the null hypothesis that the error variance of the dependent variable is equal
across groups.
a Design: Intercept+Q4a+Q4b+Q4c+Q4d+Q4e+Q4a * Q4b+Q4a * Q4c+Q4b * Q4c+Q4a *
Q4b * Q4c+Q4a * Q4d+Q4b * Q4d+Q4a * Q4b * Q4d+Q4c * Q4d+Q4a * Q4c * Q4d+Q4b
* Q4c * Q4d+Q4a * Q4b * Q4c * Q4d+Q4a * Q4e+Q4b * Q4e+Q4a * Q4b * Q4e+Q4c *
Q4e+Q4a * Q4c * Q4e+Q4b * Q4c * Q4e+Q4a * Q4b * Q4c * Q4e+Q4d * Q4e+Q4a *
Q4d * Q4e+Q4b * Q4d * Q4e+Q4a * Q4b * Q4d * Q4e+Q4c * Q4d * Q4e+Q4a * Q4c *
Q4d * Q4e+Q4b * Q4c * Q4d * Q4e+Q4a * Q4b * Q4c * Q4d * Q4e

Findings:

The value p<0.05, so we accept alternate hypothesis (H1). Therefore, we can infer that
there is the influence the value expressive influence on spending pattern among
college student.

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LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE
RESEARCH
Some aspects of these findings deserve comment. There are a number of limitations
that should be borne in mind when interpreting the findings of the study. The results of
this research must be used with caution, as the sample of the exploratory study is
basically college students. Due to the constraints of time and financial resources, the
sample size in this study was relatively small. The sample size needed to be increased to
include students from both public and private universities. A larger sample size would
have been more useful to assess the stability and dependability of the findings. Future
research should investigate the environmental knowledge and attitudes of college
student in general, as it is essential for the corporate to understand consumer’s trend in
order to be more cost effective in promoting sustainable consumption behavior. The
perception of consumers towards environmentally friendly products, areas of green
purchase intention and green buying commitment need be addressed in future research
to provide appropriate recommendations for current and potential green firms in the
market.

Also the data collected usually involved the youngsters who were either a part of the
group or with someone. So there is always a chance of that person hiding facts to not let
other person with him know about his thinking & what he likes or dislikes. This is a
limitation simply because of the fact that the data collected will be manipulated by the
answerer, thus making it less reliable to accept & use for the purpose of research.

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CONCLUSION
The task of any marketing executive is becoming more complex because of our cultural patterns
– life style, social values and beliefs, which are changing more quickly than they used to. A
college student behavior is influenced by social factors, such as the small groups, family and
social roles and status. For measuring the influence social and cultural factors hold over the
purchase of products/brand, we have selected twenty three factors considered relevant.
Accordingly, we have selected the following factors: increase in the information influence,
influence of reference groups, chance of more interactions among family members, the desire
for leisure time, one’s standard of living / status, need for comfort / sophistication, education
and level of occupation, dominance of elderly person in family, the influence of younger
generation in a family, compulsions of religious values /moral values, individual values and
attitudes, experience etc. It is clear that, reference group influence, need for comfort /
sophistication, education and stream shown a high level of influence on purchasing pattern
among college student. The study in regarding education, occupation and income and expenses
per year also supports this. Thirdly, Influence of reference group, chance of more interactions
among family members and learning attitudes of individuals accounted each had an average
score shown a medium level of influence on purchasing pattern among college students.
Secondly, individual values & attitudes, experience etc., and social condition and freedom of
living accounted each had an average score have shown a medium level of influence on
purchasing pattern among college students.

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APPENDIX
Questionnaire

Informational Influence

Before buying, I seek information about brand/product from an association of

1. professionals or independent group of experts

2. who work with products as a profession
3. my neighbors' ,friends, relatives or work associates knowledge about product/brand
4. is recommended by independent testing body or not
5. is being used by respective expert(e.g. observing type of car used by mechanic)

Influence of neighbors/relatives

Before buying, I thought of how my neighbors/relatives would react if I bought this product

1. I actively sought advice from my neighbors before buying this product

2. I was influenced by my neighbors' expectations to some extent when buying this
product
3. To some extent what my neighbors' might think affected what I bought
4. I observed the products my neighbors were using before making the purchase
5. My neighbors' opinions affected what I bought
Influence of friend

Before buying, I thought of how my friends would react if I bought this product

1. I actively sought advice from my friends before buying this product

2. I was influenced by my friends' expectations to some extent when buying this product
3. To some extent what my friends might think affected what I bought
4. I observed the products my friends were using before making the purchase
5. My friends' opinions affected what I bought

Value expressive Influence

1. I feel that the purchase or use of brand will enhance the image which others will have
of me
2. I purchase or use particular brand/product which possess the characteristics which I
would like to have
3. Sometimes I feels that it would be nice to be like the type of person which
advertisement show using particular brand
4. I feel that people who purchase a particular brand are admired or respected by others
5. I purchase brand/product which helps me to show others what I would like to be (such
as an athlete successful businessman, sports person etc.)

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Personal details
1. Age
o 16-20
o 21-25
o 25>
2. Family Income
o 200000-500000
o 500001-800000
o 800000>
3. Education
o Undergraduate
o Graduate
o Post graduate
4. Stream
o Science
o Commerce
o Engineering/Technical
o Art
o Medicine
o Others
5. Accommodation
o Hostel
o Local
6. Average monthly expenditure
o 1000-5000
o 5001-9000
o 9001>

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