Market Research Project Report

on
Influence of demography in selection of an
engine oil

Prepared by
Anand Vijay (EPGPKC05001)
Anoob V E (EPGPKC05002)
Arun Anto (EPGPKC05004)
Sebu Zacharia (EPGPKC05019)
Daniel Jeevan EJ (EPGPKC05005)
Varghese (EPGPKC05025)
Abstract

Engine oil is sold mainly through two channels. One is the retail network where
customers directly buy oil from a retail outlet. The second being OEM/Dealer network.

Sales through retail network is mostly based on the brand recognition and association.
Advertisements and association/sponsorships of various sporting events play a major
role in building brand loyalty towards an engine oil brand.

In dealer network, brand is mostly determined by the dealer based on their margins and
preferences. Some customers do ask for specific brands at service centres, but all of
them will be convinced to the dealers’ choice.

Our effort is to find out whether the demography of the customer has any relation to the
choice of his/her engine oil brand and the extent of influence price plays in the
purchasing decision.

Research objectives

1. How does the demography (Income level, education, gender etc) influence brand
selection among engine oil customers?
2. Does price play a significant role?

Questions to be answered by the research

1. Does gender of a buyer affect the selection of an engine oil brand?

2. Does the area ( urban / rural) of living of a person has any role any choosing an
engine oil?
3. How does the occupation of person influence the selection of the oil?
4. Does educational qualifications have any role in identifying/selecting an engine oil?
5. What is the significance of income level of a person in selection of an engine oil?
7. Is there any difference in preference of oil brand between two wheeler and four
wheeler?
8. Which attribute of the sample size determine the primary criteria of selecting engine
oil?
9. Does membership in any automobile forum has any influence in selecting engine
oil?
10. Does the station of changing engine has any role?
11. What percentage of respondents are aware of the brand of engine oil used in their
vehicles?
12. What percentage of respondents insist on their preferred brand while servicing their
vehicle(s) in the service centre?
13. What percentage of respondents understand the importance of the quality of engine
oil is critical for their vehicle(s)’ health?
14. Does any individual traits (educational qualification , Occupation) play any role in
realising the importance of the quality of engine oil usage in their vehicle?
15. Are the respondents aware of the difference between the synthetic engine oil and
normal engine oil?
Methodology

The survey for the research was conducted for a period of 10 days by us with a sample
size of 128. It was a exploratory research with direct approach where we studied the
characteristics of people (respondents) that has influence in selecting the engine oil. We
have disclosed the purpose of our projects to our respondents.
Questionnaire:
Analysis

Gender

Among 128 sample size, 110 respondents are male,only 10 are female and one did not
prefer to specify his/her gender. The pie cart below reflect the share. Through response
sheets of theirs,we implied that female don’t really care about choosing an engine oil.
Male has dominance or say in selecting an engine of a vehicle.
So in perspective of marketing or promoting an engine oil, male would be the potent
target audience.
Age

Majority of our respondents were from age group of 20-30 years and 30-40 years. Age
has a role in selection of an engine oil as they are the earning member of the family and
are directly or indirectly buyer of an engine oil.

Geographical area (location)

Our physical response were targeted mostly with people who resides in Ernakulam.
Where as our online survey (Google form) attracted few respondents outside the city
and state. But the location of living has no significant influence in selection of an Engine
oil.
Educational qualification

Since we surveyed in Kerala, majority of our respondents are either graduate or post
graduate. Only three of the respondents are students.
Education of the respondents do play a role in deciding the engine oil, as they tend to
be more aware of the brand and also they do understand the importance of quality of
the engine is critical for the health/performance of their vehicle.
Occupation

Our respondents were either doing job or own business or self employed. A small
percentage (4.7%) were students. Through manual analysis, we understand that
occupation has impact on selection of an engine oil.
Annual Income

Annual income is something that expresses the buying capacity of a person. While we
noted in our survey is that majority with 5 and above lac annual income go for brand.
Types of vehicles owned

Almost 50 percentage of the respondents own both type of vehicles - two wheeler and
four wheeler. The owner of either of the type of vehicles does not show any sway
towards brand or price. This is one of the factor which does not immensely influence the
selection of an engine oil.
Results and discussion

Engine oil is a kind of essential product for vehicle owners irrespective of the type of
vehicle they own. Among all respondents we observed that education, occupation and
income play significant role in choosing an engine oil. While a large share of the
respondents (78%) prefer brand over price. As majority prefer authorised centre for
changing engine oil and among them 65% does not insist on their preferred brand. This
imply that they are either not aware of the brand or simply they don’t care. Preference of
going branded engine oil has two aspects - one is that some vehicle has its own brand
and second is that they select brand over price as they understand (97% of
respondents) the importance of the quality of engine is critical for the health of their
vehicle.

The research has given us a better insight of the selection of the engine oil.
Appendix