A RESEARCH REPORT ON CHILDREN INFLUENCES ON PURCHASE OF CONSUMER DURABLES / GOODS Submitted by: Prakhar Kumar MBA-II 0925770032 Specialization:

International Business & Marketing Under the Guidance of: Faculty Guide Prof. Vinay Pratap Singh Organization: SITM FINAL RESEARCH REPORT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE AWARD OF FULL TIME MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (2009-2011)

Saraswati institute of Management & Technology, Luck now

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to express my most sincere thanks to Prof Vinay Pratap Faculty of Management in Saraswati Institute of Technology and Management , UNNAO for making my help in the research topic knowledge in the field of CONSUMER DURABLES. A special note of thanks is also reserve to, Director of Saraswati Institute of technology and Management Campus. Moreover I am also indebt to DR Manu Johari, H.O.D, and Saraswati Institute of technology and Management for their kind help and co-operation for completing this project work. I indeed thanks to Saraswati Institute of technology and Management campus for giving me an opportunity to have experience.

Executive Summary
Although the influence of children in the family decision making process has been accepted as a force which neither academics nor practitioners can gnore, the degree and nature of this influence has not been satisfactorily established. This hiatus in the body of marketing knowledge provides the topic for this study. A conceptual model linking the variables that affect household purchase decisions was formulated by surveying the relevant literature. This model serves both as a pedagogical framework within which to discuss the literature and as a guide to the formulation of a set of research hypotheses for the work reported here. Eighty-nine observations of family interactions during a simulated decision situation were recorded in the families' homes, using a video camera. The videotapes were later content-analyzed by three independent judges. Self-report data about perceived influence structwes were collected at the same time. The development of the Observed Influence Scale (OIS) takes primacy here. The scale was tested for reliability and validity and the results using the scale were compared to those generated by the selfreport scales. The OIS was then applied to provide dat4 over three stages of the decision process, to test the series of hypotheses about family decision-making mentioned above. Multivariate analysis of
variance was performed for each farnily role player, using the three stages of the influence process as

the dependent variables and social class, sex-role orientation (sRo), wife's occupation, Involvement Decision styles and Gender composition of the children as the independent variables. Several patterns of
behavior emerged. Significant effects were found for all the variables tested, although not all the
research hypotheses were supported In the expected manner. The effects upon influence

of social class,

SRo and Wife's occupation are interactive, the other three variables stand alone. It was found, inter 3

alia, that mothers and elder sons, and fathers and elder doubters work together to gain influence in the family decision. The implications of the research for consumer behavior theory and practice are
discussed.

PREFACE
Any kind of learning is incomplete till it is practically applied in the concerned field. Only then does a person understand and get hold of even the minutest details of what he/she has learnt in his stay at the institute doing his/her MBA. So, to practically apply what I had gained in the past one year in the MBA programme, It has been a wonderful learning experience, which has given me an insight into Management of modern business which requires an appreciation of multidisciplinary concept and in-depth knowledge of specific analytical tools, geared to the solution of real life problems. No doubt every real situation is unique but a set of theoretical tools of knowledge, itself based on empirical foundation, can help in developing the mechanism for handling such situation. So the MBA curriculum has been desired to provide to the future managers ample practical exposure to the business world. The Research Report is essential for the fulfillment of MBA curriculum; it provides an opportunity to the student to understand the industry with special emphasis on the development of skills in analyzing interpreting practical problems through application of management.

CONTENTS

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S e l f D e c l a r a t io n Ac k no w l e d g m e nt Exe cut ive su mma r y Preface Chapter 1-Int roduction

0 . 0 Industry overview 0.1 History 0.2 Characteristics of Consumer Durable Industry 0.3 Emergence of Consumer Durable Industry 0.4 Major Industry 0.5 Trends affecting the Consumer Durable industry 0.6 Research Objective of the Study 2 Chapter 2 Theoretical background of the Report

2.1 Role of children in making decision 2.2 FUTURE PROSPECTS IN THIS INDUSTRY 2.3 SWOT Analysis of Consumer Durable Industry 3 Chapter 3- Resea rch Methodology
3 . 1 R e s e a r c h M e t ho d o lo g y 3 . 2 D a t a C o l l e c t io n M e t ho d 3.3 O b je ct ive s 3.4 S a mp le D es ig n 4 Chapter 4- Data Co llection 4 . 1 L i s t o f P e o p l e I nt e r a c t e d 4 . 2 M I C H E A L PORTERS FIVE FORCES OF COMPETITIVE MARKET MODE

Chapter 5- Data Analysis

5.1 S ig n ific a nc e o f t he St u d y 5 . 2 L im it a t io n o f t he S t u d y

C ha p t e r 6 - F i n d i n g s a n d C o n c l u s i o n
6.1 Find ings 6 . 2 C o nc lu s io n

Chapter 9- Bibliog raphy

Chapter 1

Introduction

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
The Consumer Durable industry is huge! Think of a typical day then you wake up to make coffee that has been brewed by your-controlled coffee maker. You pop a couple of slices of bread into your electric toaster, grab some juice from the refrigerator and throw a load of laundry into your 8

washing machine. You dry your hair with your electric hair dryer; brush your teeth with your electric toothbrush and head of your job. At lunchtime, you prepare your lunch in the microwave oven and then leave early to head homework in your yard with your lawnmower, leaf blower and trimmer. Dinnertime means your need to put that roasts in your electric oven, open a can of vegetable with the electric can opener and mix up a cake with your electric mixer. After the dishes have been put in the automatic dishwasher, it is time to relax with the TV and VCR, but only after you put the clothes into the dryer and iron the clothes you will need for tomorrow. Time to set that timer on the coffee maker again and prepare for a brand new morning! The number of household appliances grows every year, but there is one sector of the industry, the major appliance sector, that remains fairly constant. This is the sector that I have chosen to analyze. The appliance that comprise this sector re ranges, refrigerators, washers, dryers, and dishwashers the SIC that relate to them are. Indian consumer durables market used to be dominated by a few domest ic players like Godrej, Allwyn, Kelvinator, and Voltas. But post-liberalization many foreign companies have entered into India, dethroning the Indian players and dominating the market. The major categories in the market are CTVs, refrigerators, air-conditioners and washing machines. India being the second fastest growing economy with a huge consumer class has resulted in consumer durables as one of the fastest growing industries in India. LG and Samsung, the two Korean companies have been maintaining the lead in the industry with LG being the leader in almost all the categories. The rural market is growing faster than the urban markets, although the penetration level in rural area is much lower. The CTV segment is expected to the largest contributing segment to the overall growth of the industry. The rising income levels, double-income families and increasing consumer awareness are the main growth drivers of this industry.This report highlights the significance this industry has for the

Indian economy, throwing light onthe pre and post liberalization scenario. It discusses the important segments of this industry and the growth patterns, trends and the demand drivers. The report also profiles the key players of this industry, with a discussion of their business strategies.

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HISTORY
Home Appliances industry is one of the most lucrative and fast-growing industries. The Indian economy witnessed a proliferation of global companies in the National Scene. Liberalization of Indian economy coupled with the media explosion ushered in a new era of consumerism. Increased purchasing power and a fluid taste led to the creation of budding Home Appliances market. The growth rates were as high as 22% in the white goods segment compared to a merely 2-3% growth in the European and American market. Home Appliances industry scenario in India is a totally different from what it was one decade back. Consumer Industry Scenario in India is totally different from what it is in European Countries. Demand in developed countries is mainly constituted by replacement demand white goods market in India was dominated by indigenous industrial houses like Videocon, BPL, ONIDA, Kelvinator, and many other, but the entrance of multinationals in Indian market because of opening up of Indian economy gave these companies a big blow. MNCs that are gaining good market share are Samsung, LG, and Electrux. T he expression "consumer durables" has become a standard terminology in financial analysis where it represents the category of goods that is not replaced by a consumer over a life span longer than three years. Durables depreciate during their life although financial models assume that the value remains the same while in use. This contradiction has introduced instability in computer financial models designed to predict the market growth and pricing changes. This issue has been investigated over the past 40 years. The Cease conjuncture of 1972 became a seminal paper that first tried to resolve this problem. This matter remains open today.

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C h a r ac te r i s ti c s o f Co n s um e r Du r a b le I n d u s t ry

 Rapid Innovation

 Dynamic market place

 Highly competitive industry

 Significant time to market pressure

 Significant cost pressure

 Rapid rate of market penetration

 Rapid transition of technology

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EMERGENCE OF CONSUMER DURABLE INDUSTRY

Indian Home Appliances industry is growing at an overall rate of 12-13 percent. If we consumer each product market individually, the Color Television market has shown a growth rate of 25%.Refrigerator market is growing at a rate of 8-10%. Reason for high growth rate CTV market is that now a days TV is not used as source of entertainment but also source of knowledge and education. All these factors act as accelerator. If we take the case air conditioners, today air conditioner is not only referring to a cooling machine but also an air fresher. In proportion to growing incidence of working couples, refrigerators are gaining significance, more and more as an instrument to store and recycle readymade victuals. In spite of many value added Service that are being offered by most of the brand, the refrigerator market is still biting the dust. Electronics is the fastest growing industry in India. In the liberalized economic scenario, electronics has entered every walk of our lives and has enhanced the quality of life that is enjoyed by the Indian consumer. India is no longer a country, a market where the consumer has to rely almost entirely on the influx of smuggled electronic items to satisfy his needs. The Indian electronics industry has thrown up competitive players who are not only able to cater to the desires of the Indian consumer successfully, but have also emerged as very successful exporters of electronic goods to the rest of the world. This has all happened in the last 20 years or so. A couple of decades ago, nobody in his wildest dreams could have imagined that consumer goods bearing Indian brands, built up assiduously by Indian companies would come to dominate Indian industry. There could have been two reasons for so little faith in Indian goods. Firstly, the Indian publics unhidden groups like BPL, Videocon, India, that Indian brands now dominate the markets. These corporate houses have upset the apple cart of foreign companies by establishing Home Appliances 13

manufacturing companies that have not only consistently produced superior products but have also created in a very short span, brand equities capable of taking on international brands. That is, the Indian consumers perception of brands originating in his own backyard has evolved from one of shame to one of trust, pride, identification, all of which translate into patronage - or achievement of a companys core business objectives. The Electronics industry is one of the bedrocks of global industrial development. The electronics industry was for long the domain of First World economics. The 1960s saw a shift, with Japans emergence. Subsequently Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, then Brazil, India and Mexico followed of late by China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand have entered the fray After economic liberalization our country lowered entry barriers and brought global companies into the countrys marketplace, it was realized that the core of the corporate world must change, to focus, the first time ever in India, on the consumer. And to stop chasing revenues, profits and market shares, which will flow only from the new consumer competence. Forget too, forever, the silent consumer who, before of alternatives, uncomplainingly bought whatever products were made available. In todays and tomorrows new unforgiving marketplace it is the choice - empowered consumer who will decide the fate of the corporations. And competition, global quality and new economic realities are conspiring to limit success only companies that are focused completely on their consumer. For, only these companies and continuously monitor and meet changing consumer needs: streamline processes; cut costs and restructure for quicker response to the consumers demands. All of which will add up to an unmatched competitive edge, enabling them to conquer tomorrows marketplace today. However, the consumers and spending wisely not indiscriminately. Changing personal, social, familial and cultural influences - for instance, the advent of satellite TV, internet and the information age bringing with them rich, real - time

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images and data about global lifestyle- have made the consumer an individualistic, iconoclastic and irreverent wielder authority over the fate of Corporate attempts to fulfill their needs. Which is why in this new buyers market, the marketer has no choice but to make the consumer his lodestar.

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Major Industries

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Some Pictures of Consumer Appliances

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Trends affecting the Consumer Durable industry

The booming economy gives consumers more real disposable income, which has increase since 2004. This is an important factor in major appliance sales as it is estimated that U.S. consumers spend about 50 cents of every $100 on major appliances. The economy also does well for consumer loans. In good times, consumers are less afraid to borrow money for major purchases, and as appliances. Many may even decide to but while the economy is good, rather than waiting until they are forced to make purchase when an appliance wears out. Changing demographics will play a significant role in the major appliance market over the next few years. The baby boom generation will be in the 35-to-55 age group during the next 5 years. Household headed by consumers in this age range are in their prime earning years and tend to spend more on household durables than any other age group.

 Philips India Philips is one of the oldest multinationals to enter India nearly 60years ago. Philips has had a fairly successful run as a major player in the television market. The company has identified domestic Electronics, personal computers and monitors, software as its target business. In the year ending Dec05 Philips India has notched up sales of Rs. 1683 crore. Samsung Electronics Samsung electronics entered India with a stake of $ 5 million in the India subsidiary Samsung India electronics Ltd., in which it holds a51 per cent controlling share. The product portfolio of Samsung Electrons ranges from Multimedia products, home Electronics and telecommunication product systems.
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In India the company has established a leadership position in the product categories in Home Electronics 440 watts Mixer Grinder CD based systems, washing machines, microwave over and VCDs. In2004 it had a market share of 8%. The company has manufacturing facility for home appliance at the Noida complex. This facility has a production capacity of 50,000 units each for refrigerator and washing machines. Videocon Videocon International Ltd., company having a market share of 14.1% in the Home Electronics market. Estimated to be among the top three companies in the country in the Home Electronics, Citrus Juice and Mixer Grinder segment VIL is now up against major international brands which have entered India. In 2004, it had tied Up with Toshiba for the marketing of the premium 16.9 double window Home Electronics Costing about Rs. 1.9 lacks.The market share in 2004 were: Home Electronics 18%; refrigerator 11%; Citrus Juicer 32.7%; air conditioner 12.7%. Whirlpool This company invested in India in 1987 beginning with the venture with TVS private limited. In 1994, TVS Whirlpool Ltd. changed its name to Whirlpool Citrus Juicer Ltd. Its dominance is mainly in the white goods industry. It 1995 Whirlpool required controlling interesting Kelvinators of India, one of country largest
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manufacturing and marketer of refrigerators. Its market shares in 2001 were; Mixer Grinder 19.3%; Citrus Juicer 14.6%. Amtrex Hitachi It has strategic alliance with Hitachi Ltd., of Japan. It entered whiteand brown goods market in India few years back and is aiming at a market share growth by 16%. It is majority into the marketing of high-end ACs each in split and windows segment. Its market shares in2004 were: air conditioner 13%.

ELECTROLUX AB Electrolux, reached an agreement to obtain majority ownership inane Indian Citrus Juicer manufacturer, Intone Ltd. Electrolux invested US $ 2.4 million in the step to obtain 51% ownership in Intone Ltd. In1995 it took majority control of Maharaja Intl Ltd., an Indian refrigerator manufacturer. With these two manufacturing bases it even has 40% stake in Eureka Forbes Electrolux The Company has presence mainly in the refrigerator and Citrus Juicer segment. It has been launching world class products in India at regular intervals. 2002 witnessed the launch of seven upgraded world class models of Kelvinator refrigerator. In 2003 it launched premium Gold collection from Kelvinator. Market shares in 2005were: refrigerator 13.7%.

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BPL BPL Group was promoted by the founder, TPG Nambiar. The flagship company, BPL Limited was incorporated in 1963 as a private limited company under the name British Physical Laboratories India Private Limited for the manufacture of electronic test and measuring instruments in collaboration with BPL InstrumentsLtd. UK. The company further expanded into such electronic products as medical systems and equipments, power line carrier communication equipments, copiers, monitors etc. Making its foray into consumer electronics in 1982, BPL quickly established itself as one of Indias most trusted consumer durable brands. Huge Investment in manufacturing, marketing & distribution

infrastructure, and brand building have made BPL a trusted name in the consumer durable industry. BP today enjoys one of the highest brand awareness amongst consumer electronics brands and also has one of the highest preference shares in the CTV industry.BPL is currently engaged in the production and sales of televisions, home theatres y s t e ms , me d i c a l e q u i p me n t , a u t o mo t i v e p a r t s , a n d e le c t ro n i c c o mp o n e nt s a n d alkaline batteries.

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COMPARISON MAJOR PLAYERS

BRITISH PHYSICAL LABORATORIES LTD.( BPL )INTRODUCTION BPL Home Appliances Limited is the Flagship Company of the 4600cr. BPL Group is Indias largest consumer electronics conglomerate. The group has a longstanding strategic alliance with Sanyo (Japan)for a variety of consumer durables. BPL Limited has a principal presence in the manufacture and the sale of Color TV sets. The company also produces black and white TV sets, alkaline batteries and gas tables.BPL Group was incorporated in 1963 and started manufacturing hermetically sealed panel meters for defense and subsequently diversified into medical instruments. In 1970, with technical collaboration with Siemens and ITT, BPL began manufacturing professional grade relays and switches and later expanded into manufacture of power line carrier communication equipment for the government of India. In 1982, BPL group grew steadily in the fieldsof medical instrumentation, communication and power systems largely due to a reputed inhouse R&D facility and component development center for in-house requirements. BPL witnessed a newera in 1982-83 with groups entry into Consumer Electronics and with formal technical collaboration with Sanyo Electric Company Japan. Since then the growth has been phenomenal with sales turnover nearing US $ 900 MN in 2004 to 2005.To combat competitive pressures, the company launched the latest models in the market and went in for heavy advertising to maintain its leadership
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in the market for a quality product company from its earlier image of medical equipment company.Sensing the consumer electronic industry is going to be fiercely,competitive in the years to come and growth rate will slow down, BPL is diversified itself into other industries like power and cell phone networks. Both of these are unrelated diversifications for the group and group resources are stretched to the limit as both the segments entail heavy investments. BPL GROUP Mission Statement BPL is committed to achieve a leadership position in all its businessgroup through utilisation of the best and most appropriatetechnologies, applying the finest manufacturing disciplines and mostefficiently marketing high quality products and services toconsistently give its customers the best value for their money.

Objectives of the Company

To ensure customer confidence through product quality, efficient marketing and effective service

To continually enhance the Companys growth to its shareholdersand investors through sound investments and profitable operations.

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To demonstrate a real concern for its employees and constantlyimprove the quality and value of their jobs and career advancement.

To be a good corporate citizen who contributes positively to itscommunity by protecting the environment and working for publicwelfare.

To respect the laws, rules and customs of the land and to ensurethe conduct of all company activities will always be to the highestethical standards.

BPL HOME APPLIANCES ITEMS

Consumer Electronics - Televisions A wide range both in Color and in Black and White, Catering to individual customer needs in terms of features, looks and styling housed in fully molded plastic cabinets and incorporating critical components manufactured in technical collaboration with Sanyo of Japan, BPL Television are leaders in the market-in quality and in performance.

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CURRENT MARKETING & BRANDING PLAN OF BPL LTD

The group has always been seen as an electronics engineering group, unlike many of its competitors. Today it makes every thing from the cabinet to the electronic tuner itself and buys the picture tubes from Indian supplier. This in itself is seen as a transition of BPL from an engineering group to more diversified group dealing right from consumer electronics to cellular services which in short span of time the group ha achieved with tremendous success. The BPL group is lot shy, introverted, but excited about the quality of its products. It is not surprising that over the past years, the group has quietly set in motion a wide ranging, strategic plan to establish itself as the undisputed leader in consumer electronics. Over the last couple of years BPL has introduced a stunning array of new products; washing machines, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, microwave ovens. In audio, it has widened its range dramatically. Soon to come gas stoves with built in lighters, mixer-grinders, mineral water machines. In just 10 years, sales have zoomed from Rs. 19 crores to Rs. 1000 crore. BPL in the field of colour TVs has left behind old time rivals Videocon & Onida. In audio segment the sales of BPL is second only to PHILIPS who is the market leader. In VCD, BPL SANYO was the market leader with a 17 percent share of Indian made machines.. In color TV components, the group has 65percent of the market for electronic tuners, fly back transformers and deflection yokes, supplying to many of its competitors. In medical electronics, it has 60
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percent of the electronic tuners, fly back transformers and deflection yokes, supplying to many of its competitors. In medical electronics, it has 55 percent of the electrocardiogram market and 50-60 percent of the ICU monitor market. In the Epbaxs, the group has the largest user base in the country. Some conservative and shy which now to a large extent has been able shed its image to largely because of the involvement of BIG B in the advertisement which in itself was seen as mega coupor event. BPL has always invested money first into factories and then into marketing. The group has high belief in vertical integration, which shows the confidence of the company which takes pride a in work and that belief is reflected prominently in the advertisement as BELIEVE IN THE BEST. The group believes in using engineering superiority to offer the best, trouble free products in the marketplace. Stress consumer pull, not dealer push. In the long run, this is the most profitable route of everyone manufacturer, dealer, consumer. Smoother the competition with range as it keeps both the consumer and dealer happy. It uses the top-of-the-line products to gain attention. The rub-of on the entire range down the line will work wonders. BPL is also running dealer promotion schemes but not to the extent their competitors indulge instead they believe more on advertising due to the fact that if the promotional spend crosses and spend that means they are cutting their brand in the long run. So for dealer they look at high margins trouble free performance so the customer wont hassle him and a constant flow of new products
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on all factors BPL has got its act together. BPLs range strategy works on two levels. At the first one, the group is pushing into everyconsumer durable category in an attempt to create an all-encompassing umbrella brand much like those of leading Japanese companies. It is selecting dealer showrooms at price locations across the country and turning them into BPL Galleries that stock and display only and all BPL products. The main objective of the BPL Galleries is to show the public the width of BPLs product range, build corporate image and sales. The second level of BPLs range strategy is most obvious in the Rs. 1,500 crore audio markets. The one with Rs. 1500-3000 stereo portable segment (popularly known as two-in-ones) will become the largest segment volume wise overtaking mono portable. The BPL group is slowly moving away from its core areas of entertainment electronics and consumer durable. But not all its diversification have been successful. It was this same tenacity that helped the BPL group float a high-technology company in a very short time. BPL Mobile, one of the cellular service providers in Bombay, stands out for jumping into the fray without any foreign partner. BPL Mobile and simultaneous diversifications into the power skills of its the BPL groups attempt to move away from the highly competitive entertainment electronics sector, its mainstay all along. They have entered power sector because of its high entry barriers for smaller players. Since telecom and power are high turnover areas the dependence on entertainment electronics will
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reduce but very gradually. The various companies are in six main areas of operations entertainment electronics, appliances, telecom, power, electronics and TV components and international operations. STRATEGY Faced with a market where products are converging on the technology front, BPLs strategy to zero in on two critical differentiates; brand building and cost leadership. Together, this isexpected to deliver the ultimate strategic weapon, value. Differentiation : last four years along, the BPL group has splurgedRs.214 crore on advertising campaign. To good effect. A recent survey by the Bangalore based market research firm, Gallup MBAIndia, reveals that BPL is the sixth most popular in the country today. Not surprisingly, the group has valued the BPL brand at Rs.611 crore. According to Trisys Research, the marketing consultancycompany, which did the valuation for BPL: The huge amount of money spent by the group in strengthening its brand must be seen as an investment and insurance? Investment because this will drive future sales and insurance because the strong brand is expected tokeep the competition at bay and protect BPLs earnings in the process. To small extent has that helped BPL actually expand its CTV market share in the fact of transnational competition. In 2002-03, when the consumer electronics industry reported stagnant sales BPLs CTV sales grew by 15 per cent. But BPL
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did not have a straightforward brand positioning strategy. On the other, to effectively set itself apart as an Indian electronics major capable of being on its own.BPL cannot afford to overplay the Sanyo part. In fact, the entirestrategy revolves around positioning BPL as the best India has tooffer. Hence the choice of Amitabh Bachchan, and signature line,Believe in The best. The campaign conveys on clear message: anyBPL product you pick up is the best in terms of quality, technologyand value for money. Technology Leadership : Underscoring the differentiation strategy is, of course, BPLs technology leadership. While an annual R&D budget or Rs. 6.45 core in 2004-05 ford not show great commitment to R&D, that hasnt stopped it from shopping for technology to keep pace with market demand. For instance, the groups first venture into instrumentation came in the wake of a technology partnership with British Physical Laboratories of the UK. The foray into consumer electronics in 1982, and subsequently, into the domestic appliances segment was driven by a tieup with Sanyo Electric and the proposed color picture tube plant will be set up in technological collaboration with the $ 48.41 billion Toshiba Corp. of Japan. Once it enters a segment, the group makes it a point to quickly broad base its product portfolio.

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Economies of Scale: Behind BPLs high,. Market presence in consumer electronics are two critical factors: Its global scale manufacturing and high vertical integration. In CTVs. Which contributes 29 per cent of the five listed companies sales of $3,102crore, BPL has consolidated capacities under the flagship BPL Ltd.Besides the total capacity has been expanded from 8.30 lakhs CTV sa year to 10.30 lakhs, and BPL plans to double it. If scale economies lower per unit cost, BPLs high degree of vertical integration enables it to attain higher value addition for every rupee of sales; the group manufactures most critical components like deflection yokes, transformers, and tuners- in house. In 2002, in partnership with Videocon, it took over the Uttar Pradesh governments ailing color picture tube manufacturing facility, Uptron, under a rehabilitation package formulated by the Board for industrial and Financial Reconstruction. The unit, which was set upin technical collaboration with Toshiba in 1989, has already been refurbished and put on stream. The effect of BPLs cost management is evident in 2003-04 despite a high interest burden and the large discounts offered to the consumers, the average margin on CTVswent up by Rs. 450.

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Business Portfolio
Clearly, the groups cash-cow is its TV business, which contributes33 per cent of its sales. According to MARG-ORG, the market research firm, BPL has a market share of 19 per cent. For at least three to four more years, CTVs will continue to drive BPLs revenues and earnings. Efforts have been made within the company to improve its distribution network and systems with a view to achieve improvement of quality and they have also effected a reorganization of markets and distribution teams of its various group companies by building a central marketing organization which ensures that the company continues to react fast to changing market conditions. Thisre-organisation was completed in March 03.

THE 4PsPRODUCT ANALYSIS CTVS

Color televisions account for 37% of all TV sets sold in India , 21CTV is the largest selling product in CTVs. At present the market isin a growth stage and currently there is a boom in the market. BPL is producing expected products which has a set of attributes and conditions that buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a product. In this category BPL offers features such as 150 programs (channels), Cable readiness, Bass expander, Child locking and a host of others. But of late, it has started making Augmented products that meets the customers desires beyond their expectations. The up gradation of product quality is
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through digitalization and accordingly the company is coming out with arange of high end digital products like digital camera, digital home theater systems and digital versatile disc player. In the television industry, it is the product, which drives the brand. BPL is launching new products to widen its product mix. BPL is lengthening its product line of CTVs by adding more items within the lines present range.

PRICING OF COLOUR TVS The demand for CTVs is sensitive to its pricing. With a littlereduction in prices the demand shoots up rapidly. The major barrier to penetration and market expansion has been the high price in relation to purchasing power of an average Indian. In order to price open and expand the market, manufacturers are bout to adopt strategies to lower prices. BPL has been affected by price cuts of its competitors with its market share falling to 22% at present. Within the new price paradigm a brand such as BPL would continue to command a premium over other brands, due to a higher perceived quality and the brand values it enjoys. BPL went for quite a few promotional schemes last year. Regularly dropping prices create

dissatisfaction among the consumers who have bought the same TV Model earlier CTVs value and price are currently perceived in 30/70 ratio which means that Indian consumers still go for the lower priced versions, or at least a majority of
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them. BPL has priced its products in such away that it can cater to all category of buyers. The company has-been very aggressive in its pricing which has led to a sales strategy of receiving 100% advance payment from its dealers and giving its dealers a margins of about 10% on the MRP. Though the effective margin received by the dealers is effectively the lowest for BPLCTVs, yet it gives them higher turnover which ultimately leads to higher profits. Recently three successful pricing strategies which received overwhelming consumer response were:

Financing at 0% rate of interest

No profit No loss sale scheme for its best dealers in Delhi.

Attractive price reduction due to in-house development of somecomponents.

CTV industry is witnessing a general trend towards lower prices. New CTV sets come cheap, thanks to exchange meals and easy finance offered by leasing CTV manufactures. Pricing of CTVs is done more on values perceived by the customer and less on cost-plus markup basis BPL is trying to reduce costs as a result of concentrated effort byte companys designers, engineers and vendors to reduce

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them. Itis using optional feature pricing, special event pricing and low interest financing as forms of promotional pricing.

PROMOTION MIX The increasing competition in color television industry has forced the marketers to go for innovative promotional schemes. The total amount to be spent on advertising and promotion by BPL is Rs. 310crore this year. It spent Rs. 240 crore in 2003.BPL relies more on consumer pull type of promotional strategy. Theeffectiveness i.e. balance of push vs pull tends to vary across regions in India. In consumer electronics industry, the north and west are seen to respond more to push and the east and south are comparatively brand loyal. As competition heightens, companies arebeing compelled to continually widen their product range. Their investment in tools, used to make dies and kits of CTVs, are rising, BPL launches four to five models each year. They have five tools and each tool costs Rs. 5 crore to set up. The brand building activity has become important for all the companies and this basically to keep them updated with consumers perception of a particular brand. BPL has around 160 exclusive showrooms at prime locations acrossthe country called BPL galleries that stock and display only BP products. The main objective of BPL galleries is to show the public the width of BPLs product range, build corporate image and sales.BPL had announced end of its
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multi-crore association with Amitabh Bachchan in 2003 since his popularity is on a down swing in TV commercials and media campaigns, especially in metros and urbancenters. Currently BPL is using Amitabh Bachchan only for its ruralmarketing campaigns. BPL will also exit from niche programs likeBPL Oye, the popular Hindi film song countdown show on Channel Vdue to the fact that it has been unable to qualitatively differentiate from competition and retain edge in this genre of progamming. It istrying to build an emotional bond with consumers. It moved toestablish a bond with the younger generation the key to future market lay in tying the brand in inextricably with entertainment. The commercial inspired by the blockbuster movie, Home Alone evoked sympathies (thanks to the kid) and warmed its way inside every families heart BPL is projecting itself as a company manyadvertising entertainment products.BPL has decided to capitalise on Indias near religious fever for the game and get into cricket related sponsorship in a big way in the Cricket World Cup in2003. BPL has also launched its Player of-The Week program for international cricketers on which it isspending Rs. 2.56 crore.

Competitors:
Samsung has announced that it would significantlyincrease its advertisement and promotion spending and have newpromotions during the forthcoming Cricket World Cup Phillips is alsofocussing on brand building riding on the back of the
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youthful image them and offering the latest technology products at competitive price. Akai is offering various exchange schemes to boost its sales. In last 2 years it had come out with more than 11 such schemes ANALYSIS It is the tendency of company to acquire a major share in the market. Now question arises how to achieve it ?Any consumer able product that has been launched in the market toface competitions, whether it is Videocon International, Daewoo or BPL all have to face neck to neck competition. In the company during Deewali festival, all the companies are engaged in evolving technologies to attract the customers. Even they are ready to sponsor the national and international games. Recently Companies like BPL and Videocon have announced an average of its advertisement and promotional spending.

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VIDEOCON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

Introduction
Videocon international Ltd (VIL), the flagship company of theVideocon Group is a leading producer of television sets, audio and video systems, Aggressive marketing, launch of international quality goods at lower prices, and a strong distribution network have made Videocon a household name. It enjoys 27% market share in color TV during Fy03-04, Videocon Narmada Electronics, a group company engaged in the manufacture of picture tubes was merged with the company. The merger will result in backward integration benefits

for videocon.Videocon has tied up with international giants like Sansui for middlerange audio products, Toshiba for CTVs and VCD Players. Videocon has also announced a tie-up with Kenwood Corp., Japan to manufacture and market Kenwoods premium range of audio products in India. The company faces a stiff competition following the entry of international leaders like Sony, Akai, Samsung, and Panasonic into the Indian markets. Videocons proposed diversification into unrelated areas like construction, power generation, oil extraction, and petrochemicals have been shelved following a cash crunch within the group. Videocon, however has focused only on its core business of consumer electronics.Videocon keeps in touch with the times, to ensure that thecustomers
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stay ahead over the years, Videocon has offered state-of-the-art technology and international quality with venavkableconsistency. Now it has a host of innovative products like the Plasma TV, the WebTV, Digital Video Disc, Double cascade washing machine, combo refrigerator, and the dishwasher - which are bond to revolutionize the life style. Videocon has always, and will always push the frontiers of technology to give products that improve the quality of your life. No wonder, it enjoys the trust and confidence of millions of

satisfiedcustomers.Videocon has a strong commitment spanning the rapidly surging are of Business Electronics. It aims to revolutionize the corporate world by launching products that lend the cutting edge to business professionals. And help them be ready for the various challenges that the arena of modern business demands Videocon has got together with leading organizations in the world with an unfaltering dedication of bringing only the best to be customers. Videocon was a relatively new entrant to the TV market as compared to others. Still, it managed to carve out a significant share of the market by essentially utilizing two tactics. One, it managed to sellcheaply playing on volumes and second, it outsourced many of theappliances it sold and managed to get long tax brakes on its manufacturing units locations because of the groups political connections. These strategies paid rich dividends in the price sensitive domestic market, and the company managed to carve out significant shares inmost of the consumer durables segments. But as the
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market opened and became technologically driven, Videocons image of being a lowcost supplier became its bane, as the consumer normally associates price with quality. Thus, it lost its leadership in the CTV market to BPL which was associated more with quality than Videocon.

India Today, the world tomorrow

The Videocon symbol. It reiterates the ethos of a company dedicated to maintaining the highest international standards of excellence through quality, technology and innovation. For over a decade now, Videocon has been bringing the latest and very best in Consumer Electronics and Home Appliances. Successfully adapting the best of technology to suit. Indian needs and crafting it to improve quality of life The new Symbol of Videocon asserts its passion for global impact,and the two Es on other side represent to groups wide spectrum of interests ranging from Electronics to Energy. A symbol that proclaims a paradigm shift. A sign that represents the new force that is Videocon. Thus recapitulating own principle of reaching out and touching the time of millions of people worldwide.

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THE COMPANY STATUS: ITS PENETRATION IN THE MARKET Business for Videocon International Ltd. (VIL) has always been a game of growth through rapid widening of the field of opportunity. While training out wide and penetrating India to the deepest possible depths was once the natural future course for this distribution driven company, now it is an imperative and it involves every department including R&D.Videocon believes that they are the leaders in their respective product categories, But growth made a minor come-back in 200304thanks to the buoyant CTV market with VILs turnover rising by 23%.In 200405 its turnover increased by 12%.Videocon has how diversified itself into power, petroleum, information technology and Real estate.Videocon doesnt consider competition as a weakness according toit, it is the dominant brand that gets affected by the entry of new comes Thats the reason they were not surprised when their CTVshare slipped. They were anticipating it. Videocon has been describing itself as a leader over. the years. Having established itself as a powerful brand. It has launched many sub-brands catering to defined market segments. They have Bazooka for the Top-end of the market. For the middle they have Turbotough and finally for the younger consumers, they have the 14 Private. The image Videocon is of as aggressive technological leader it was the 1st brand to launch PIP, Surround sound and now Bazooka Videocon is using its brand equity built over the years to help its sub-brands. All Videocons products are
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manufactured in India, The Companys state of art plants. The level of automation in Videocon plants incomparable to the best plants in the world. The company entered into technical collaborations with various internationally renownedMNCs for its wide products. This collaboration could be further straightened to maintain Videocons, leadership position as well as take care of the new brands being introduced in the market. As for as a consumer is concerned. There is no difference betweena Sony made in India and a Videocon made in India. In the big cities Videocon is making first enough efforts to hang on its current market share. The number it wants will come from products designed specifically for low end use Videocon downs to be far ahead particularly on engineering productsto suit localized needs. Videocon says that the stripping down jobhas to be acutely market sensitive. So it has got a fix on small town value perceptions and cut-down those features deemed irrelevant. According to Videocon - Satellite TVs bringing new complexities to demand patterns. Five years ago small towns accounted for first 1% of the brands TV volumes now the proportion stands at over 17%. The upshot;higher price realizations. Dealer margins and sundry selling costs are lower in small towns, so VLL gees a layer fraction of the price the consumer pays. This is one reason that the strategy is sound at least from a medium term point of view. According to Videocon competition, is less severe further down the town hierarchy somore in smaller towns the higher is the profitability,
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better margins, better logistics and costs. It could be ages before everyone is ready to buy a TV. Videocon is also trying to break new ground with refrigerators and washing machines by playing the "price point game"Videocon believes that strictly geographical urban rural divisions are unrealistic in a country where lifestyles are so disparate. For Videocon its not geographical any more but a function of socio-economic behaviours.Videocon had started selling Toshiba and Sansui as premium CTV brands while Sansui flanks Videocon, the brand Toshiba willspearhead the companys projection of quality.Needles to say, Videocon is banking heavily on efficient operations, with money being purified mainly into things which deliver results, to maintain the price advantage it enjoys in so many markets. Better computer software is another big help. The company invested Rs. 60crores on software in 2005.Domestically, by 2005-06, the company expects to be selling 16million CTVs. But, by seeing the commanding heights the consumer electronic business it wants its annual capacity of CTV to be 3.5millions. PROMOTION As competition increases, companies are forced to continually increase their product range with an increase in the number of sub-brands and continuously advertise and promote their product so it reaches to the right customers. Therefore it has forced the marketers or the producers to go in for new promotional schemes
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and incentives which might look attractive to the buyers.Few years back, Videocon was Okay with umbrella brand advertising, with the spotlight on CTVs .Videocon created sub-brands such as Bazooka, Challenger, Budgeting and Freedom and the communication went from genericto specific it happened with all the product categories andaccording to the company, it was the first to take a lead. Thoughthere was sub-brands innovation and technology were to remain the two key factors in accentuating the overall brand image.In CTVs Bazookas campaign plays on sound quality. Private the14-inch CTV is aimed at young people who want their own CTV sets Videocons urban advertising continues to build brand values for the products, and dealers are offered mega incentives.-They wereoffered Mercedes car and foreign trips in 2004-05But Videocon was drawn into promotions ring to . In March 2004 it launched its Money back offer a unique scheme for the 21-inchBazooka (Rs. 14,990) and the 14-inch private (Rs. 5,990), throughwhich Videocon promises to return the entire money in six years for Bazooka and 5 years for the other two. Earlier in 2004, Videocon learnt from bankers that individuals were stashing away large sums of money in banks. A qualitative study confirmed suspicion that much money was being saved to make big-ticket purchases later. Replacement market buyers are all the more on with postponement. So a reverse credit scheme was devised to get that money out of the bank on the assured that the money would be returned later. Effectively VIL
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has taken loans from customers and paid all the interest in kind (CTVs) straightaway. Though Videocon is heavily into advertising but it is not into celebrity advertising like BPL is but still it has left an impact on the consumers mind about its products because they consider themselves as a dominant brand and the leader in the CTV market

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Though each research study has its own specific purpose, we may think of research objectives as falling into a number of following broad groupings:

Children Influences on Purchase of Consumer Durables

 To find out the Role of Children in family Purchasing

 To Know the Children affection for purchasing.

 To find out that who makes purchasing decision in a family.

 To find out the Children influences on which?

Brand

Quality Shop Colour

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CHAPTER 2

THEORITICAL BACKGROUN D OF THE PROJECT

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Role of children in making decision Children constitute three different markets: the primary, the influencer, and the future market certain products are simply children's products for which they are the primary users/buyers. They sometimes either purchase a product themselves or select the product before it is purchased by the parents. For other products, such as ones which are used by the entire family unit, they may influence purchases made by the parents. There are some products where children wield direct influence or pester power by overtly specifying their preferences and voicing them aloud. For other products, parents' buying patterns are affected by prior knowledge of the tastes and preferences of their children. This 'passive dictation' of choice is prevalent for a wide variety of daily consumed product items as well as products for household consumption. Also, decision making in households is seen to change with the mere presence of children. The nature of joint decisions in couple decision making units and family decision making units is seen to be different (Filiatrault and Ritchie, 1980). It is also observed that children are socialized by their parents to act as rational consumers. After years of direct or indirect observation of parental behaviour in the marketplace, they gradually acquire relevant consumer skills from their parents. The amount of influence exerted by children varies by product category and stage of the decision making process. For certain products they are instrumental in
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initiating a purchase, while for others, they make the final selections themselves. The purchasing act is governed by how they have been socialized to act as consumers. Family, peers and media are key socializing agents for children wherein family-specific characteristics such as parental style, family's Sex Role Orientation (SRO), and patterns of communication play key roles. The structure of Indian families has been previously characterized as joint families with traditional SRO (that is, the husband predominated in all family affairs). However, owing to influences from the West, the structure of Indian families has changed to nuclear or extended families (nuclear families plus grandparents). The Indian families have become more modern in SRO, such that the decision making has become more egalitarian (Chadha, 1995; Dhobi, 1999). Compared to this, the West is experiencing an increase in the number of single parent or female-headed households (Ahuja and Stinson, 1993; Mangle burg et al., 1999). Such a shift in family composition and structure has a bearing on the strength in the role that children are expected to play as buyers in the family. In India, the literature on family decision making is scant and researchers have only partially investigated the role of children along with other members in family purchase decision making. Family structures are undergoing a metamorphosis and the Indian society is also witnessing an increase in the number of single parent and dual career families. Though an impressive body of research exists in this field in the West, these
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parameters also merit investigation in different cultural settings. Studies specific to Indian marketing environment are necessary, as pointed by Webster (2000), "India is an interesting culture in which to explore the antecedents of marital power because its social and intellectual grains operate in ways vastly different from those the West takes for granted. For instance, unlike western culture, where the nuclear and neo local families are both the ideological and factual norm, the joint family has been and continues to be an important element of Indian culture" (p. 1037). Hence, the objective of this paper is to examine and critically evaluate the avenues already explored by previous researchers in India and abroad, and identify opportunities for future research. A brief summary of research on influence of children in family purchase decision making in the West and in India has been summarized in Table 1 and Table 2 respectively. Influence of children varies by poduct, product sub-decision, stage of the decision-making process, nature of socialization of children, families' gender role orientation, demographic features such as age and gender, and also by respondent selected for investigation of relative influence (Belch et al., 1985). The following sections contain a brief review of research carried out in this context.

INFLUENCE OF CHILDREN BY PRODUCT CATEGORY

In Western literature, children have been reported to wield a lot of influence in purchase decisions for children products such as snacks (Ahuja and Stinson, 1993);
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toys (Burns and Harrison, 1985; Jensen, 1995; Williams and Veeck, 1998); children's wear (Converse and Crawford, 1949; Fox man and Tansuhaj, 1988; Holdert and Antonides, 1997; Van Syckle, 1951); and cereals (Belch et al., 1985; Berey and Pollay, 1968). Children have been observed to influence decisions for family products also, such as holiday/vacations (Ahuja and Stinson, 1993; Belch et al., 1985; Dunne, 1999; Holdert and Antonides, 1997; Jenkins, 1979); movies (Darley and Lim, 1986); and eating at particular restaurants or even decision making for the family to eat out (Filiatrault and Ritchie, 1980; Williams and Veeck, 1998). Some researchers investigated the role children play in purchase of children and family products together (Forman and Tansuhaj, 1988; Geuens et al., 2002; Hall et al., 1995; Mangleburg et al., 1999; McNeal and Yeh, 1997). Jensen (1995) studied three categories of products-those that are primarily for children (e.g., toys, candy), products for family consumption (food, shampoo, toothpaste), and parents' products (gasoline, coffee, rice). Similarly, Johnson (1995) selected products as categorized by Sheth (1974)-products for individual use, those for family use, and finally products for the household. The influence of children across product categories and parental responses has been studied with respect to various factors and some studies in this context have been reviewed here. Berry and Polly (1968) studied mother and child dyads making purchases of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals. They noted that most products
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are not directly available to a child and the parents generally act as intermediary purchasing agents for the child. In such cases, the extent of influence a child may have on a parent's purchase decision depends on at least two factors: the child's assertiveness and the parent's child-centeredness. They hypothesized that the more assertive the child, or the more child-centered the mother, the more likely the mother will purchase child's favorite brands. However, they found that the mother played a "gatekeeper" role and bought cereals that weighed strongly on nutrition. In cases of disagreement with the child over brand decisions, the mother tried to superimpose her preferences over those of the child. They reasoned such outcomes stem from the mother's perception of the quality of information possessed by the child. Yet, they found that assertiveness by a child could increase the likelihood of the child having his/her favorite brands purchased. Chan and McNeal (2003), in a study of Chinese parents, also reported that parents indulged in considerable gate keeping for children's products. They exhibited strict control over the kinds of products that children can or cannot buy while at the same time allowing children some freedom in choosing brands of permissible products. Atkin (1978) pointed out that children tend to rely on pre-established preferences based more often on premium incentives offered on a purchase than the nutritional features of a cereal at the time of influencing cereal purchases. Children's influence is also seen to vary by who is the user and the perceived importance of the product to the user
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(Beatty and Talpade, 1994; Fox man and Tansuhaj, 1988). Jensen (1995) proposed that parents' involvement is a function of financial risk, their role as users and their perception of product differentiation whereas children are mostly involved in the purchase due to their role as users. She explored the influence of children in making purchases and concluded that besides products for direct consumption, children display influence in purchasing products for family consumption where parents are less involved and perceive little or no product differentiation (for food products). Geuens et al. (2002) observed that the relative influence of children varies by the extent to which the parents are busy. Foxman et al. (1989) concluded that children tend to have more "say" in the purchase of products that are less expensive and for their own use. Several factors were found to significantly affect agreement among family members regarding adolescent purchase decision influence: families witnessing greater influence had older fathers, a conceptoriented communication style, fewer children, and a mother who worked fewer hours outside the house. Implications Studies reporting children's influence across product categories have especially focused on products directly consumed by children. In the Western literature, a host of studies have dealt with breakfast cereals. Since ready-to-eat breakfast cereals are less popular than preferred freshly cooked food in India, influence for
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this product purchase has not been dealt with. The market for branded snacks, toys, and confectionery is growing in India, making a need for future research. While Western authors have categorized products for direct consumption by the child, or parents, or for the household, Indian researchers have not followed this typology. Researchers in India have generally focused on durable purchases (such as computers or TVs). They have not specifically questioned whether this product is for use by the child or for the family (since ownership affects involvement in decision making). Moreover, purchase influence should be examined after categorizing products as minor and major products (as proposed by Kim and Lee (1997)). Western researchers have also noticed discrepancies in reports of children's influence in family purchase decision making. This can be attributed to the fact that most researchers have not differentiated between active versus passive influence and knowingly or unknowingly neglected the study of passive influence by children. The study of both active and passive influence is important (Commuri and Gentry, 2000) and, though the study of passive dictation by children is more challenging, it is an important facet deeming further research by Indian as well as Western researchers.

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CHILDREN'S INFLUENCE ACROSS STAGES OF DECISION MAKING PROCESS Since family decisions are dynamic and interrelated, Douglas (1983) and Mangle burg (1990) suggested that the decision making process should be studied across decisions rather than in relation to a given decision independently. Szybillo and Sosanie (1977), while examining family decision making processes, observed that all members of the family (husband, wife, and children) were greatly involved in all three decision stages (problem recognition, search for information and final selection), when considering a fast food restaurant and a family trip (that is, for products that affect the entire family). The wife/child dyad was very important in initiating a purchase and providing information. Other researchers have also observed that children exert considerable influence during the problem recognition and search stages and the least influence in the final decision stage (Belch et al, 1985; Filiatrault and Ritchie, 1980; Hempel, 1974) for family activities such as choice of vacations and restaurants and consumer durables. However, Holdert and Antonides (1997) reported that children's influence was higher in the later stages of the decision making process; that is, at the time of alternative evaluation, choice, and purchase for four purchases (holidays, adult and child clothing, and sandwich filling). Recently, Belch et al. (2005) proposed that since teenagers are high users of the Internet, they have greater access to market
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information which could impact their influence in family decision making. They found that teens who perceive themselves to be 'Internet mavens' (individuals who are relied upon more for providing information from the virtual marketplace), as well as their parents, believed that teens were more influential in all stagesinitiation and information search, and alternative evaluation and final decision stages. However, their influence was higher in the initiation and information search stages as compared to alternative evaluation and final decision stages. Children were not seen to have a large impact on instrumental decisions such as how much to spend (Belch et al., 1985; Jenkins, 1979; Szybillo and Sosanie, 1977), but do have on expressive decisions such as color, model, brand, shape and time of purchase (Belch et al.,1985; Darley and Lim, 1986). However, Williams and Veeck (1998) reported that in China, where most families have a single child, the child exerted considerable influence during all stages while buying products for family use. Beatty and Talpade (1994) suggested that teens' knowledge affects their perceived influence in the search for information in the decision process for some products such as the family stereo. The teens' financial clout seems to allow them greater say in initiating self-purchases, but not in family purchases. Parents' dual income status allows adolescents greater influence in some family durable purchases, but this does not affect self purchases where their influence is already

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substantial. These effects are pronounced for products that teens care for (e.g., stereo) and use often (e.g., telephone). While studying Indian families, Singh (1992) noted that families differed with respect to their roles in making purchase sub decisions. The "when to purchase" decision was generally syncratic (decided by the husband and wife jointly) and also influenced by children. Hundal (2001) noted that brand selection decisions were also made jointly by the couple but were importantly influenced by children in the family. The store where the durables were purchased as well as the making of the actual purchase decision was also decided jointly or by the husband individually (for three durables, but not for air coolers). However, children also "went to buy," that is accompanied their parents at the time of buying televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators. Kapoor (2001) collected information from families in Delhi in regard to their roles across stages of purchase decision-making for six durables-televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, personal computers, audio systems, and cars. She found that individual members were associated with multiple roles. The initiator for purchase in a family was typically a young female member, who was likely to be the wife or one of the children. She illustrated that the need for an audio system, personal computer, and television was likely to be first expressed by the children in the family. As influencers, younger members, especially children, were found to affect purchase of a personal computer, audio
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system, and television. The final purchases were found to be decided upon after consultation with other family members, mainly the husband. Children have not been observed to have a large impact on instrumental decisions such as how much to spend (Kaur, 2003; Singh and Kaur, 2004; Verma, 1982), but rather play a role while making expressive decisions such as color, model, brand, shape, and time of purchase (Sen Gupta and Verma, 2000; Singh, 1992; Singh and Kaur, 2003; Synovate, 2004) as validated in the West as well. Kaur and Singh (2004) observed that children are individually active in initiating the idea to purchase a durable. In other stages of the decision making process, they exhibit joint influence along with other members of the family. This implies that they provide support to the member exerting influence to increase pressure but do not wield much influence individually. Chadha (1995) concluded that in the older age group household's sons and daughters emerge as key persons to introduce new products in the house.
Research in this context actually describes the process of decision making undergone by the families at the time of making purchases. In India as well as in the West, there is consensus among researchers that besides the nature of the product, the influence of children varies by the stage of decision making process. While Western researchers have taken into account the effect of family type and composition, sex role orientation, parental style, pattern of communication, etc., to bring out a complete picture regarding the role of children, the Indian literature is more limited in this regard. Indian authors have gauged the influence of children only partially and

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have generally focused on spouses or all family members. Research centering on children especially is needed.

MEDIA EFFECTS ON CHILDREN There is great concern about children as viewers of advertisements primarily because young children are exposed to thousands of commercials each year in India (George, 2003) as well as in the West (Kunkel et al., 2004). Marketers use television as a medium of communication since it affords access to children at much earlier ages than print media can accomplish, largely because textual literacy does not develop until many years after children have become regular television viewers. Approximately, 80% of all advertising targeted to children falls within four product categories: toys, cereals, candies, and fast-food restaurants (Kunkel and Gantz, 1992). Young children are able to differentiate between a TV program and a commercial but are unable to understand the intent of an advertisement until they are 8-10 years of age (Goldberg et al, 1978). According to Seiter (1993), advertising to children avoids any appeal to the rational, emphasizing instead that ads are for entertainment and "enjoyable for their own sake" as opposed to providing any real consumer information (p. 105). The most common persuasive strategy employed in advertising to children is to associate the product with fun and happiness, rather than to provide any factual product-related information. Hence, children in the age category 8-10 years have a positive attitude towards

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advertisements. Knowledge of advertising tactics and appeals emerges only in early adolescence and develops thereafter (Boush, Fries tad and Rose, 1994). John (1999) notes that "the ability to recognize bias and deception in ads, coupled with an understanding of advertising's persuasive intent, results in less trust and less liking of commercials" (p. 190). With increasing age, children's attitude towards ads changes from being positive to negative and further as children step into adolescence, they become skeptical of advertising. Boush et al. (1994) concluded that children in young adolescence even exhibited mistrustful predispositions towards advertising. In adolescents, knowledge about advertiser tactics increased with age. Higher levels of knowledge of advertiser tactics and certain personality variables were positively related to adolescents' skepticism towards advertising. Moschis and Churchill (1979) and Moschis (1987) also found that older adolescents tended to-1) develop resistance to persuasive advertising, 2) understand better the marketing strategies related to the pricing of products, and 3) generally become more sophisticated as consumers. Attention to commercials has also been found to be directly related to the perceived truthfulness of advertising. Children who perceive commercials to be mostly true pay more attention to them than those who suspect them (Chan, 2001). Mizerski (1995) found that adultsoriented product trade characters were also readily recognized by children as young as three years of age. Gorn and Florsheim (1985) examined the effect of
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commercials for adult products on children and found that such exposure does have an effect but that it is mainly a function of the product category advertised. In general, exposure to commercials led to only a small change in response. Mizerski (1995) concluded that recognition, or the ability to match a cartoon trade character and product, is positively related to age. Along with this, the level of recognition and a favorable attitude towards the product were also found to be positively associated with age. Jensen (1995) also found that purchase requests by children are strongly stimulated by commercials or by friends who have purchased the product. Mallalieu et al. (2005) reported that children born in the 1990s appear to have developed these cognitive abilities (for example, to differentiate between a programme and a commercial or to understand the purpose and intent of advertising) to a far greater extent than children reported in earlier studies (Goldberg et al., 1978; Boush et al., 1994). The impact of television advertising on preschool and elementary school-aged children occurs at multiple levels, including the relatively immediate productpersuasion effects intended by the advertiser, as well as broader and/or more cumulative types of influences that accrue from exposure to large numbers of commercials over time. For example, a cereal ad may have the immediate effect of generating product-purchase requests and increasing product consumption, but it may also contribute to outcomes such as misperceptions about proper nutritional
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habits (Kunkel et al., 2004). Celebrities and cartoon characters are commonly used by marketers, as children's views of advertising appeals are largely influenced by them. The practice is largely witnessed in restaurants giving small toys as a token of remembrance to children such as McDonalds (Williams and Veeck, 1998), or associating a cartoon character with a cereal. Since ads are particularly effective in persuading children to like and request the product (Goldberg, Gorn, and Gibson, 1978), rejection of requests further enhances chances for arousal of conflicts between parents and children (Atkin, 1978; Kunkel et al., 2004). The concern here, of course, is due to commercials for candies, snacks, and sugared cereals far outnumbering commercials for more healthy or nutritious food (Kunkel and Gantz, 1992). The impact of media has been widely researched in the West. The attitude of children towards commercials for adult products has been dealt with, with the conjecture that children's involvement in commercials leads to (affects) their purchase behavior as adults. This interest in adult products could also be aroused since one or more members in the family may be buying and using the product/brand and the child (ren) is/are also involved in its purchase, either directly or subtly. Therefore, the cause for the attention and interest in commercials, such as humor or the use of a celebrity, should be investigated. The importance of media as a source of information and influence over children should be compared with other elements of the social group such as peers to know the type of information
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preferred from each source. Media are seen to serve as sources of socialization for children, but their exact impact needs further investigation to help marketers in framing and directing messages. In contrast to this, very few studies in India have focused on the impact of media as sources of information and as a socialisation agent, affecting family purchases. Given the exposure and influence of media (including internet) on children, it is imperative that future research should be planned to determine children's attitude towards advertising, and the impact of creative elements. Although serious conflicts in family purchase decisions are rare, some form of family conflict is highly probable, because forming joint preferences requires combining individual preferences of family members (Lee and Collins, 1999). When various alternatives are being considered, each member attempts to influence the other towards his/her preferred decision. A variety of influence techniques are used depending upon the nature of purchase, the characteristics of individuals participating in the purchase discussion, and its importance to the individual. These situations, during negotiation, may result in a preference agreement or a compromise. Nevertheless, differences in the desirability of a purchase outcome may lead to disagreement or conflict. Such situations mean that there will be attempts either to accommodate or resolve the conflict before a joint decision outcome occurs. Sheth (1974) suggests that family members' attempts to resolve conflict(s) are tactically different and varied in appropriateness, depending
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upon the cause of the conflict. A repertoire of such strategies has been proposed and validated in the literature for spousal conflicts (Kim and Lee, 1996; Nelson, 1988; Sheth, 1974); some researchers have extended the same to include children as well in the family. Belch et al. (1980) found little disagreement among family members, but there was some variation across product classes. The amount of disagreement is relatively low for decisions such as where to buy and when to buy, but it is higher for decisions concerning how much money to spend. Children perceived the existence of conflict more than their parents. Buss and Schaninger (1987) reported that conflict can be managed in two ways-by either using avoidance tactics or resolution tactics. Since product type has been seen to effect involvement and influence of children, the nature of the product can also be important in determining the choice of conflict resolution strategy. Johnson (1995) found that product type is an important variable in determining the way children will behave in family decision making. She observed that bargaining was the most common strategy adopted by children when trying to influence the purchase of products for personal use. Conflict avoidance was most commonly used for family use products. However, for products for home use, such as a personal computer, they resorted to problem solving tactics to resolve conflicts. The author also pointed out that while bargaining is most common in dyadic interactions (Qualls and Jaffe, 1992), problem solving is more frequent in triadic interactions between
63

mother, father, and child. These results supported the results of Belch et al. (1980) and were further confirmed in a study conducted by Holdert and Antonides (1997). In the study by Belch et al. (1980), it was found that children see the problem solving strategies being used less often. It was felt that children were either not a part of the decision making process for those products or that discussions took place outside the presence of children. A significant relationship was also found to exist between the situation in which the family purchase decision making occurred (for example, presence/absence of a family member, decision taken in the retail shop) and the choice of a conflict resolution strategy. Lee and Collins (1999) proposed that when more than two family members are in conflict during the purchase decision process, the third parties (children) may form alliances to aid one side against the other. They investigated patterns of influence and coalition patterns across three stages of the decision making process, namely Configuration (synonymous with problem recognition and search for information), Negotiation (synonymous with evaluation of alternatives), and Outcome (final decision) stage. It was found that children tend to use emotive strategies to gain influence. At the same time, the influence of family members varies in response to the gender mix of the children. Daughters were generally more influential than sons and the gender of elder children appeared to have more significance on the influence structure of the family than that of younger children. Interestingly, fathers and elder daughters and
64

mothers and sons were found to work together to gain influence. The influence of a mother in the family was the strongest during the Negotiation and Outcome stage when both her children were male. Her influence was also strong if her first child was male and the second child was a female. The mother-son and father-daughter pattern changed when parents had two daughters. The father had less influence during the Configuration stage when they had a younger daughter and his influence increased in the Outcome stage if the couple had an elder daughter and a younger son. Moreover, mothers in two-girl families had greater decision power than when the family had an elder daughter and a younger son. Williams and Burns (2000), using social power theory, investigated the ways in which children make direct influence attempts. They found that when children feel 'entitled' or 'privileged' to act in their own way, they resort to negative influence attempts such as deception, displaying anger, begging, or pleading to exert influence. If they find that their parents have the right or legitimate power to direct their actions, they utilize positive influence attempts such as asking nicely, showing affection, or bargaining. When they feel that they can manipulate their parents, they try to con/deceive the parents, display anger, or beg and plead. If the children expect to be punished as a result of non-compliance, they behave in ways as is perceived positive by the parents. This implies that when parents resort to coercive tactics, the children try to have their own way by asking nicely, bargaining, or showing affection. Many
65

times children also express compliance in exchange for a future gain; that is, they bargain for a future reward in exchange for a present one. Conflicts have largely been investigated in the West using self-report methods wherein the results tend to get distorted by the tendency of family members to give out socially desirable responses. A study of actual behavior of family members, as proposed by Johnson (1995), can yield fruitful insights in this situation. However, in India, little or no attention has been paid to conflicts, their cause, and/or resolution in family purchase decision making. On one side, consumption levels have risen in India owing to a decrease in size of families and second, this has led to children's preferences being accorded greater importance by parents. In this light, children tend to exert more direct influence attempts, i.e. they are more active participants in family purchase decision making. In such cases, refusal to comply with children's preferences can most often lead to conflicts between children and parents. Hence, besides a stronger measurement approach, as required in the West, Indian researchers need to understand and investigate this facet to understand fully the process of family decision making. he most widely used definition of consumer
socialization is the one given by Ward (1974): "It is the process by which young people acquire skills, knowledge and attitude relevant to their functioning in the marketplace" (p.380). The process of consumer socialization begins with infants, who accompany their parents to stores, where they are initially exposed to marketing stimuli. Within the first two years, children begin to make requests for desired products. As kids learn to walk, they also tend to make their own 66

selections when they are in stores. By around the age of five, most kids are making purchases with the help of parents and grandparents, and by eight most are making independent purchases and have become full fledged consumers (McNeal and Yeh, 1993, cited in Solomon, 2003).

Socialization of children is a function of parental style. Parental style is a "constellation of attitudes toward the child that are communicated to the child and that, taken together, create an emotional climate in which the parent's behaviors are expressed" (Darling and Steinberg, 1993, p. 488). Differences in parental styles account for differences as regards to the way parents attempt to control children's behavior through use of emotions, use of authority, etc. at the time of socializing them. Becker (1964) took a dimensional approach in which parental style was assumed to consist of different dimensions that are orthogonal to each other. He suggested that parental discipline behavior could be reflected by a threedimensional model to conceptualize family socialization-warmth vs. hostility, restrictiveness vs. permissiveness, and calm detachment vs. anxious emotional involvement. On those dimensions, parents were categorized as Rigid Controlling, Authoritarian, Organized Effective, Overprotective, Democratic, Indulgent, Anxious Neurotic, and Neglecting (c f. Carlson and Grossbart, 1988). Baumrind (1971) further developed a three-fold typology of parental styles and classified parents as-Authoritarian, Authoritative, and Permissive. These two approaches were merged further by Macoby and Martin (1983) so that the parenting classification could be generalized to most families. They defined parental style as
67

a function of two dimensions-'responsiveness' and 'demandingness.' The parents were then classified as Indulgent, Authoritative, Authoritarian, and Neglecting. Carlson, Grossbart, and Stuenkel (1992) showed that parental style provides a theoretical basis for explaining differences among parents regarding how they communicate consumer skills and knowledge to their children. John (1999)

classified consumer socialization stages of children as being the perceptual stage (3-7 years), the analytical stage (7-11 years), and the reflective stage (11-16 years). On the basis of an exhaustive review, she contended that children in the perceptual stage focus on perceptually salient features of products, use direct requests and emotional appeals to influence purchases, and possess limited ability to adapt strategy to a person or a situation. They are expedient in making decisions, are egocentric (as validated by Johnson, 1995), and have the emerging ability to adapt to cost-benefit trade-offs. However, children in the analytical stage are more thoughtful, focus on important attribute information to generate an expanded repertoire of strategies (especially non-compensatory ones), and are capable of adapting strategies to tasks. In the reflective stage, children have substantial brand awareness for adult-oriented as well as child-oriented product categories, possess ability to gather information on functional, perceptual, and social aspects, and are capable of adapting strategies to tasks in adult-like manner. Paxton and John (1995), in their study of age differences in information search behavior of children, found
68

that older children gather more information for favorable product profiles and less information when the cost-versus-benefit of acquiring information is high. Other studies indicate that younger kids use few dimensions to compare and evaluate brands (Bahn, 1986; Capon and Kuhn, 1980). They reported that children tend to rely on dominant perceptual features (vs. functional features) of products in gathering information and making choices. They also suggested that children increase the amount of information gathered in response to choice situations that are irreversible, recognize the need to spend more time in gathering information for decisions that are important to their perception, and voice the need to examine more brands before making a choice (Davidson and Hudson, 1988). As the number of alternatives increases, children restrict their search on more promising alternatives (Paxton and John, 1997). Young children are apparently unstable about product preferences as they lack or do not utilise an internal frame of reference for comparing products on a consistent basis. The choice process/cue set used by younger children is different and simpler from the categorisation schemes used by older children who use more structured cues to categorise products (John and Lakshmi-Ratan, 1992). In order to identify the extent to which shopping

competence is developed in teenage girls, Mallalieu and Palan (2006) developed a model of adolescent shopping competence in a shopping mall context. They investigated whether teenage girls were competent shoppers or whether they
69

indulged in compulsive shopping behaviours. Shopping competence was defined as a multi-faceted construct composed of effectively utilizing environmental resources, having and using knowledge related to shopping, and possessing the degree of self-confidence and self-control necessary to utilize environmental and individual-based resources fully. The teenage girls described their mothers as being competent shoppers. The results of discussions with teenage girls indicated that they exhibited competence in using environmental and knowledge-based resources 'partially.' This implies that if they revealed competency in some aspect of shopping, they came up short in other aspects they themselves perceived as being associated with shopping competence. The girls' responses also indicated that they were lacking in self-confidence and self-control, and this also moderated the degree to which the teenage girls utilized environmental and individual knowledge resources in achieving positive shopping outcomes. Moschis and Moore (1979) found that adolescents preferred to consult with their parents and/or rely on information they receive from them. In spite of this, parents are not as instrumental in the child's decision regarding which product to buy as compared to brand name and reduced prices. The amount of parent-adolescent communication about consumption was not related to the adolescent's propensity to use price in evaluating the desirability of various products. Palan and Wilkes (1997) asserted that children are also primed to assume a more active role in purchase discussions
70

after years of listening to their parents explain why certain requests can/cannot be honored. It was projected that influence attempts by adolescents are likely to be effective when they match their influence attempts to their parents' decision making style. Edstrom, Tansuhaj, and Fox man (1987) took a reciprocal view of consumer socialization of children and proposed that children contribute to decision outcome through two routes-one by influencing their parents by direct expression of preferences and secondly by communicating new knowledge to the parents and influencing purchases. They proposed that children whose family communication pattern is characterized by a high concept-orientation will influence (socialize) their parents more than children whose family communication pattern is characterized by a high socio-orientation. A child in a single-parent family, higher socio-economic status, and higher personal resources and in a sexrole egalitarian family will have more influence. A child will have greater influence for product purchase decisions that he/she considers important or for which he/she has high product knowledge. His/her participation in family decision making will tend to increase his/her satisfaction with family purchase decisions. Nter-generational influences in the formation of consumer attitudes have also been investigated by Moore-Shay and Lutz (1988). Cotte and Wood (2004) also advanced this stream by investigating inter- and intra-generational effects of family on consumer socialization. They noted that parents and elder siblings' perceived
71

innovativeness has a significant influence on the younger child's innovativeness. The adult child's innovativeness was influenced by perceptions of their parent's innovativeness. Further, the later one is born (in terms of birth order), the more innovative one tends to be. Besides family, mass media also serve as an important factor in
the consumer socialisation of children. Through mass media, children may learn about new brands and products (Goldberg, Gorn and Gibson, 1978), how to use products and who uses them, realities and beliefs about them (Gorn and Florsheim, 1985), and preferences for them (Gorn and Goldberg, 1977). Nonetheless, as children grow they develop sensitivities towards interpersonal influences, especially peers. The nature of the product affects the level of peer group influence. Public luxuries and private necessities form the ends of the conspicuousness continuum, with public luxuries being subject to significantly more influence than private necessities. In addition to this, there is a tendency for public products of all types, regardless of whether they are luxuries or necessities, to be subject to more reference group influence than private products for all types (Childers and Rao, 1992). Much has been learned in the field of consumer socialization of children in the West. Still, more has to be learned in this field as the parameters investigated undergo a change, such as the socialization of children in singleparent/step- parent families. As compared to the West, Indian society is witnessing a tremendous increase in the number of dual career families and nuclear and extended families. Some singleparent families are also emerging. Such changes in family composition have a bearing on parental styles, communication frequency and quality, and other relationships among family members. Indian society is still characterized by a large rural population (nearly 75% of India's total) with joint families. A comparison of socialization patterns between these two sets of families (i.e. rural versus urban and joint versus nuclear) can yield fruitful insights. Nonetheless, 72

changes in family structure bring about changes in the effects of other sources of socialization, such as peers and media. In addition to this, parental styles are expected to differ by gender, gender composition, age, and other socio-economic variables. It is suggested that Indian research should, therefore, recognize such a variety of factors and that future research be guided in this direction.

ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN SOCIALIZATION AND DECISION MAKING

Family communication is expected to affect children's influence in family decision making. McLeod and Chaffee (1972) developed a typology that characterizes parent-child communication structure. The typology, used for more than two decades, classifies families as having socio-oriented communication (emphasizing parental control) or concept-oriented communication (in which children are encouraged to develop their own ideas and express their views more openly). On the basis of the presence or absence of these two communication patterns, they classify families into four types: laissez-faire, protective, pluralistic, and consensual families. Laissez-faire families emphasize neither of the two dimensions and there is little or no communication between parents and children. Protective families emphasize the socio-orientation dimension, stressing obedience and social harmony, and are not concerned with conceptual matters. Conversely, pluralistic families tend to stress the concept-orientation dimension, with an emphasis being placed on mutuality of respect and interests. Finally, consensual
73

families stress both the socio- and concept orientation dimensions, with the result that children are encouraged to explore the world about them, but to do so without disrupting the family's established social harmony (Moschis et al., 1986).

FUTURE PROSPECTS IN THIS INDUSTRY

Future Investment In the future scenario, the consumer items like C T.V., refrigerator, washing machines etc. have become an area of necessity rather than a luxury item. And hence, the demands of consumer items are increasing each passing day. As we know, after 1991 Indian door were flung open to foreign operator. Many came flooding in and thecompetition became sharper. In such condition, Indian player likeBPL, Videocon etc. faced a lot of competitions since 1991. Adecade after globalisation, liberalisation and mobilisation, there hasbeen ample change of marketing policies of Indian market. In fact,India has emerge an important market of the world. The role of MNCs have been increasing For instance: Videocon International Limited reported sales of 37.04 billion Indian Rupees (US$680 million) for the fiscal year ending March of 2005.This represents an increase of 9.5% versus 2004, when the companys sales were 23 billion Indian Rupees. Sales at Videocon International Limited have increased during each of the previous fiveyear (and since 2003, sales have increased a total of 47%
74

Sales of Air Conditioners saw an increase that was more than double the company's growth rate: sales were up 113.5% in 2004,from 620.96 million Indian Rupees to 1.33 billion Indian Rupees. Notall segments of Videocon International Limited experienced anincrease in sales in 2004: sales of Television Sets and VideoAssemblies fell 1.2% to 17.42 billion Indian Rupees.Under a new scheme Gift in India - Videocon is making a direct pitch for the large population of nonresident Indians (NRIs) invarious countries. The scheme will offer a 20 per cent discount to itsNRI clientele on a range of products including colour televisions,refrigerators, air-conditioners, audios, kitchen appliances andwashing machines. The scheme's objective is to make it possible for individuals in various countries to gift a Videocon product to anyone in India. The scheme is pegged at Videocon's Indian retail price list and also includes the service warranty. The added benefit is that customers can pay in the local currency of the country they reside in. Videoconwould focus on countries such as the US, the UK, Dubai, Oman,Canada, Kuwait and Uganda, which have a substantial Indian-

originpopulation. Other conditions include the presence of an Indian bankin the countries where the scheme would be offered. Videocon hasdistributors in the US and the UK and an office in Rome Sales of B/W TV sales have also been hit by increasing competitionfrom the second-hand CTV market. Production of B/W sets isexpected to be lower at around 5.3 million units compared to six million in 2004 .
75

However, the precise value figures are not available. New CTV sets come cheap, thanks to the exchange melasand easy finance offered by leading CTV manufacturers. Moreover, the price differential between a 20-inch B/W set and a 14-inch CTV has narrowed down, encouraging a shift to the latter type. The second-hand CTV market is growing too, with sets available for throw-away prices. According to the manufacturers of B/W sets, it isdifficult to peg a set below Rs 4,000, especially when customers demand more bands like S-band and Hyperband (which allow reception of more channels). B/W sets are bought mainly by cost-conscious consumers - for whom Rs 4,000 is not cheap. Philips,Crown, BPL, Videocon and Salora are the leading players in the B/WTV industry. These manufacturers also complain of rising input costs. According to them, with global glass shell manufacturers likeNEG of Japan and Samsung of Korea raising the prices of their products, component prices have gone up sharply during the year.During the year, the price of picture tube has gone up from Rs 430to Rs 500. In fact, leading industry players have accused picture tube manufacturers of forming a cartel at a time when the industrys performance is poor The washing machine market consists of two broad segments semi-automatic and fully automatic. The semi-automatics, that started selling and growing in the late 1980s still sell the largest, accounting for around 80% of the total market. This has been due toa variety of factors, price being one of them. The semi-automatic varieties
76

are in the range of Rs4,000 to Rs8,000, the fully automatics are in the range of Rs13,000 to Rs18,000 and the new generation fuzzy logic machines come for above Rs18,000.Moreover, fully automatic machines require continuous water supply(for each wash cycle, the water is changed 2-3 times). Most Indian cities have been facing a problem of scarcity of water. Trends have also indicated a shift from 3-4 kg capacity machines tolarger ones. The 5 kg model would remain the largest sellingcategory. The semi-automatics are more likely to be purchased byfirst-time buyers while fully automatics and larger sized machines would be bought more by replacement buyers. The washing machine segment has been witnessing a lot of activityof late with many new entrants making their foray into this segment.Today, the consumer has a choice of 17 odd brands and over 90models to choose from. Intense competition has reduced prices considerably, the consequent squeeze on margins on top of declining volumes has added to the woes of the players in this segment MNCs, after initially targeting the top end of the market (as only 5 kgand above capacity machines were allowed to be imported), have realized that volumes still lie in the semi-automatic segment. Hence, they are busy reworking their strategies. Samsung, LG have modelslined up to cater to these markets. This shift would present entirelynew challenges for these players. This segment is extremely price sensitive and here local players definitely have an edge.
77

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

Strong brands

The vigorous growth of the satellite TV and the choices ownavailable to the consumer is a point of strength for the industry

India has become an excellent base for consumer electronicsmanufacture because the liberal policies of the government haveattracted leading multinationals from Japan, Korea etc., to come and set up business in India either on 100% equity basis or joint ventures. Recently under the trade agreement of WTO, the Indian government has opened its quantitative restriction of various conditions. And hence, Videocon has to play a major role andgrab the opportunity.

Now the Indian consumer has a greater choice for the foreignproduct and even the home products. Developed distribution infrastructure.

78

WEAKNESS

Market penetration is still very low, whereas China withcomparable levels of income boasts of 21 million colour TV setsalone today, we are hardly at the level of 6 million.

Narrow product range, low sustenance capability

High import content small domestic market hence long productions capacities lyingunder utilized

Low quantities resulting in export prices being non competitive.

Additional finance not available for WC from Indias Banks.

79

OPPORTUNITIES

The increasing presence of multinationals in India for manufacturing be it Samsung Gold star, Panasonic, Sony, provides an opportunity for up grading the quality of manufacture in the country. Growing market, increasing export opportunities.

THREATS for the Industry In the new millennium, all the industries including the electronics

or manufacturing are vulnerable due to the global recession of the world economy. A few years back, the economic tigers of Asia have faced aneconomic breakdown of the economy, and the international organization such as WTO, IMF etc. were compelled to channel certain their funds. For the companies As per WTO agreement, member countries and particularly Indiawhich has become a member in the year 1995, and hence the country is committed to reduce tariffs on capital goods, components, intermediaries and industrial raw materials. India has beenabolishing the quantitative restrictions step by step over the last three years. In 2002, India removed restrictions on 894 items. This liberalisation will affect the Indian businesses, and particularly to Videocon International
80

Limited, BPL. Now the electronic markets are flooded with the various brands like BPL, LG, Onida, Samsung, and Sony etc

81

Chapter 3

Research Methodology

82

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them. Entire data has been collected and calculated up to the accurate extent is from primary as well as secondary sources i.e. no previous data was available on the basis of which calculation for graphical presentation is done. As it was assured to the respondents that their response would be kept confidential so they were very free and frank while giving their response. It was descriptive research. The researcher-collected data from personal interviewed with officials of different Organizations/Institutes, by filling questionnaires, surfing on Internet, articles published in magazines, literature available with Consumer industry.

83

DIAGRAM OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

DEFINE RESEARCH PROBLEM

REVIEW THE LITERATURE

FORMULATES

HYPOTHESIS

DESIGN RESEARCH

COLLECT DATA

ANALYSE DATA

INTERPRET AND REPORT

84

Methodology of data collection

To make the report more authentic and valid, the collection of data should be through reliable sources and the approach is very important. For the purpose of this report, the data and information were collected in the following manner:

Direct Contact with the Peoples:

To meet the peoples on daily basis daily to collect the information about their Buying behavior. Their Information were obtained and studied. All the Primary Data Collected With the Help of Questionnaire.

Websites and Search Engines:

The internet, being the largest source of information and knowledge proved to be the biggest help in data collection. The websites of the Consumer Durable Company. gave the information regarding the industry in general.

85

Books available:

The data was also collected from the book with us and the brochure also proves very useful.

The data so collected was then sorted and classified to make it suitable for analysis. Several questions proved to be reluctant and were dropped in final analysis. Conclusions were drawn on the basis of the majority opinion. Some points were the conclusions were ambiguous were also removed from analysis.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD Survey Method 1) DATA SOURCE: Primary Data from different Institutions. 2) Contact Method: Personal 3) Field Work: Field work consisted of visit to various Indiviuals/Families.

ANALYTICAL TOOLS 1) Pie Chart 2) bar chart

86

DATA COLLECTION

a) PRIMARY DATA: Through survey using structured questionnaire. We have collected our data on the basis of the objective which was prepared by me.

b) SECONDARY DATA: Company resources and annual report book and Site of the Company.

87

QUESTIONNAIRE
Part: A

Demographic Information 1. Name 2. Age 3. Education 4. Occupation 5. Salary 6. Contact No 7. Email Id 8. Mailing Address

88

Part: B Information Related Purchases 1. Recent Purchase 2. People Whose opinion was Sought 3. How did the Child Affect Decision i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) vii) viii) ix) x) Color Size Design Price Brand Product Shop Time Quality Visibility : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Thanks (Signature)

89

SAMPLING PLAN
SAMPLE DESIGN
The sample was selected on the basis of pre-qualifying question as to whether the respondent is an existing customer who is mainly purchased some items or in process of purchases some item   Users (73 percent) and Perspective buyers (27 percent).

RESEARCH METHODLOGY

Research Type Universe Sampling Technique Sample Unit Sample Size Methods of Data Collection

: : : : : :

Descriptive Luck now Convenience Sampling Individual / Family 40 Primary Data Interview Method Secondary Method Internal Sources, Brochures, Websites, Leaflet, Pamphlet.

90

Chapter 4

DATA COLLECTION

91

List of People Interacted

NAME Subodh kr Awasthi Sunil Kr Awasthi Chinta Mani Mishra Ranjana Shukla kushal Sharma Shankar Singh Anil kr mishra Sarita Bajpai Syed Haroon Ahmad Sunney Agarwal Awadesh kr Shukla Satish Kr singh Sabica Ahmad Manoj Shukla Sunil Rawat Brahm Hazela RK Shukla Brij Mishra Gaurav Vats Kshitz Yadav Versha Sharda Gaurav Srivastava Naman Sahu Sunil kumar Arvind Gautam Ashish Agarwal Sandeep Chadudhary Manish Mishra Gaurav Tangri SK Chaurasia Satranjan Sharma Naresh Chetan Mishra Rishikant SandeepSrivastav AGE EDUCATION 40 PG 35 PG 48 45 26 25 48 40 36 33 35 38 28 45 35 34 31 40 35 31 32 33 28 35 34 31 Graduation Graduation PG B.com Graduation PG PG PG Graduation PG PG PG Graduation PG PG pg PG PG Graduation PG PG PG proffesional Pg SALARY OCCUPATION (MONTHS) CONTACT No service 30,000 9415538715 service 28 9793303350 service service Student Student service service Service Service Business service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service service 20,000 18,000 _ 20,000 18,000 20,000 20,000 15,000 25,000 22,000 21,000 19,000 25,000 22,000 19,000 15,000 20,000 15,000 18,000 22,000 22,000 22,000 21,000 22,000 25,000 24,000 23,000 22,000 25,000 22,000 9559340140 9839847961 9795520092 9235630026 9453834099 9935227978 9453844335 9935151053 9936010777 9956866997 9452511267 8004434390 9839123463 7860021400 9415546313 9838810347 9795968610 9453020605 9936417267s 9450064838 9648548632 9559979410 9936067770 9305104859 9450396526 9415577545 9454859985 979000007 9839842263 9453034900 9369406245 9628633633

34 pg 35 pg 36 38 36 33 30 35 36 pg pg pg pg PG pg PG

92

Sharfaraz khan Ramesh Chaturvedi Ashish kashyap Ramjanam Maurya Mahendra kr Gupta Shams Ahnmad Lalit Kaushik Delep Singh

37 35 33 35 38 33 36 37

pg pg PG pg Pg pg PG pg

service service service service service service service service

29,000 25,000 19,000 22,000 25,000 22,000 23,000 26,000

9307244961 9336703154 9450093166 9559483127 9835344940 9026041517 9889733790 9839028290

93

MICHEAL PORTERS FIVE FORCES OF COMPETITIVE MARKET MODEL

Threat of new entrants

Bargaining power of suppliers

Rivalry among Existing Competitors

Bargaining power of buyer

Threat of substitutes Product

94

Chapter 5

DATA ANALYSIS

95

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Everyone put his or her time, money and efforts because to have some significance. My study also has some significance to:

The Student

It also has significance to me that I got the precious knowledge about various operations of different department, policies and data regarding various schemes provided by the. It will help me in my future for the practical application in real life.

96

Average Annual expenditure of Purchases In Family

Annual expenditure
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 <1 Lakh 1-5 lakh 5 Lakh > Series 1

From the above graph we can find that 26 out of 50 Families spend less than 50 thousand on their durable goods, 10 out of 50 spend between 50 thousand to 1 lakh and 14 out of 50 spend

more than 2 lakh on their Purchases

97

On what basis customer chooses a particular brand..

basis of choosing a brand

price support price & support other

From the above graph we can conclude that y y y y y 42% customers choose a particular brand on the basis of both price and support. 28% on the basis of support Only 10% choose their brand on the basis of price While rest 20% of customer cho ose their brand on some other criteria

98

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

There are a few limitations to the study that may arise due to the following reasons:

1) SAMPLING PLAN: The sampling is done through random sampling; generally

through interviews, which might distort the results but not to a very great extent.

2) THE AREA OF STUDY: Lucknow city might not hold good as a representative for the whole of India and hence the survey is location specific.

99

Chapter 6

Findings And Conclusion

100

FINDINGS

Importance of Children in Purchasing

Hows the Family Make the Purchase Decision

Changing Role a Child in family Decisions

Analyze the life Co ordination of people

101

CONCLUSION
Above the study I conclude that Consumer Durable industry is one of the most lucrative and fast growing industries. The Indian economywitnessed a proliferation of global companies in the National Scene.Liberalization of Indian economy coupled with the media explosion ushered in a new era of consumerism increased purchasing power and a fluid taste led to the creation of budding Home Appliances market. The growth rates were as high as 22% in the white goodssegment compared to a merely 2-3% growth in the European andAmerican market.Home Appliances industry scenario in India is totally different fromwhat it was one decade back. Consumer Industry Scenario in Indiais totally different from what it is in European Countries. Demand indeveloped countries is mainly constituted by replacement demandwhite goods market in India was dominated by indigenous industrialhouses like Videocon, BPL, ONIDA, Kelvinator, and many other, butthe entrance of multinationals in Indian market because of openingup of Indian economy gave these companies a big blow. MNCs thatare gaining good market share are Samsung, LG, Electrux Indian Consumer Durable industry is growing at an overall rate of 12-13 percent. If we consumer each product market individually, theColour Television market has shown a growth rate of 25%.Refrigerator market is growing at a rate of 8-10%. Reason for highgrowth rate CTV market is that now a days TV is not used as asource of entertainment but also source of knowledge
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andeducation. All these factors act as accelerator. If w take the caseair conditioners, today air conditioner is not only refer to a coolingmachine but also an air fresher. In proportion to growing incidenceof working couples, refrigerators are gaining significance, more andmore as an instrument to store and recycle ready made victuals.Inspite of many value added Service that are being offered by mostof the brand, the refrigerator market is still biting the dust.Washing machine market is showing a growth rate of 20-25%.

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Chapter 7

Bibliography

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B I B LIOGR AP HY

B ooks

Kotler, Philips. Marketing Management , New Millennium Edition, Magazines Business India, page 12, January issue,2011 India Today, page 21, February issue, 2010 Business World, page 5, March issue, 2010 Websites www. google.com, www.indiainfoline.com , www.yahoo.com , www.webcrawler.com ,

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