The Effects Of Brand Perception: Consumer Buying Behaviour

In this topic, I will talk about the “The effects of brand perception on the consumers buying behaviour in the Indian Laptop Market”. As India is a developing country, and there is a growth in the industries and people need new products and services. Here one of such industries is the Computer Hardware industry. Companies have been seeing unprecedented growth. Companies like Hewlett Packard, Apple, Dell, Sony viao, Lenovo and Acer have been giving tremendous importance to Indian markets launching products in the western markets and India. At the same time the personal disposable income of Individual has been on a rise which is leading to the Laptops increasing sale in India. Here the customers are satisfied about the product even when there is a cut throat competition.

Today, every company is trying to get a share of the great Indian market space and a share of the consumer’s mind space and it has been only difficult for companies to achieve such a feat. In order to achieve the same, companies have to realize the importance of brand perception towards their products in order to get information regarding problems faced by them while using the laptop such that they can rectify the same in their future products.

It is at this kind of scenario that this proposal, “The effects of brand perception on the consumers buying behaviour in the Indian Laptop Market” comes to the spotlight. This proposal is an attempt to study the level of consumers buying behaviour towards laptops; reasons for choosing a Laptop market is because India is one of the most populated country in the world, there are people living with different culture, languages and from different geographical locations. So consumers look into the brands level of quality, reliability and efficiency in a laptop.

1.4 Statement of problem:

As India is a developing country, there is a lot of growth in the IT Industry and their is a competition in the market. There are a lot of players in the market the leading PC manufacture in the world and one of the leading manufactures in India, Likewise Dell falls in the second and Lenovo in the third position and the market stands with maintaining the leads with 17.2 %, 14.4 % and 6.8 %. There are other competitors like Toshiba, Acer, Sony, Apple etc.. (Ogg Erica 2007) Which are there in the market and looking for market share in a country like India for its growing PC users here, I will be finding out the perception of the consumer buying and the after affects of buying a branded laptop. Since the consumers want better performance and rich experience from their PC’s and better design programs which will ensure that PC users have a added level of information to make a better choice.

1.5 Research Questions:

In this proposal, “The effects of brand perception on the consumers buying behaviour in the Indian Laptop Market” will be discussed. Therefore the question to this key research is how consumers in India look into the preference of brand while buying a Laptop and how the Consumer buying behaviour affects the purchase of brands?

1.5.1 Aims & Objectives:

As discussed, the brands can affect the behaviour of the consumers in the way they buy the product according to the standard of life and hierarchical need of the consumer. The Aim of this proposal is to find out the perception of the brand and how it affects of buying behaviour and decision in the Indian Market.

To identify the demanded and owned laptop brands in the Indian market

To identify the factors affecting the consumer’s perception and the buying behaviour in purchasing the laptop.

Finding out the perception of the laptop users to their brand to the others by comparing the market.

To find out the relation between the brand perception and the consumer buying behaviour in India.

1.5.2 Research Hypothesis:

H1: Indian consumers prefer the top three brands over the other brands or assembled laptop.

I will be conducting a hypothesis based on the result of the feedback I get from the consumers buying behavior questionnaire I have depicted these results in term of Pai chart or Bar Chart.

2. Literature Review:

According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (2009) “Indian economy has been witnessing a phenomenal growth since the last decade, the country is still holding its ground in the midst of the current global financial crisis. Even in the world economy is beginning to recover from the one of the worst economic downturns in decades”.

According to Ministry of finance (2009) “The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 7.5 per cent, 9.4 per cent and 9.6 percent in first three years, with an average growth rate of 8.8 per cent, The drivers of growth continue to be ‘services’ and ‘manufacturing’ which are estimated to grow at 10.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively in 2008-09. While the sector-wise growth of GDP in agriculture, forestry and fishing was at 2.6 per cent in 2008-09, industry witnessed growth to 7.5 per cent of the GDP in 2008-09”.

It tells us about the GDP growth of the country, thus the average personal in India has a disposable income, where he is looking for the better style of leaving in the country. Here technology also comes into the role of a human being, and since the growth of the country the industrial sector has seen a lot of change and the IT hub. They are in need of better laptops as an industry to carry a brand which is more known in the global market.

According to Aspalter C, “On 2000 India showed itself to be the world’s second demographic billionaire. If current situation or trends continue, India may overtake china in 2045 to become the most populous country in the world” Even though they have mentioned poor state of the Indian Economy has said the people who are poor will remain the same and the rich one become richer and richer. Even in such a situation the Indian market is not dropped in its sales of laptop, this show the stability of the country.

Even in a global issue the laptops have been started as a green Laptop. According to John Brandon (2007) “In most cases, a laptop also complies with European regulations on lead-free computing, such as the RoHS (Restrictions of Hazardous Substances) and WEEE (Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment), which is a mandated disposal code in Europe. Lead is used primarily in soldering parts together on a computer, but RoHS and WEEE encourage companies to use other means for building a PC.” In this there are four brands which have come up with Green Laptops like Apple, HP, Sony and Gateway.

The gradual trend towards liberalization of the Indian economy during the past decade has served as a major factor in its progressive shift towards a global economy and the entry of foreign brands from Europe and US into this market. In fact the 1990s decade and beyond have been characterized by major structural changes in the Indian consumer market’s evolution, including those of increased competition, product availability in terms of both quality and quantity, as well as increased levels of awareness and propensity to consume. A large and rapidly growing urban middle and upper class consumer market made up of 300 million, which approximates one-third of its present population, constitutes the market for branded consumer goods, with the latter estimated to be growing at 8 percent per annum (Indian Market Demographics Report, 2002).

A recent increase in the number of middle class families with higher household income has led to a rise in disposable income (Business India Intelligence, 2005). The rapidly expanding middle class consumers of India, with their increasing purchasing power, constitute the primary market for branded foreign goods (Bharadwaj et al., 2005). The increase in consumer spending is evidenced by the current growth of the Indian retail industry, in addition to the expected growth to a $500 billion industry by the year 2010 (Field Anne, 2005).

Since the economy of the country started growing the lot more MNC’s started coming to the Indian market, which lead to the growth of many brands in Indian market. Likewise even the basic necessary thing of the human also changed that’s when Brand came into the market.

A brand is a name, “term, symbol or a design or a combination of them which is intent to identify the goods or services of one seller or group or sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” (Kotler, 1991, p. 442).

Branding is the process of finding and fixing the means of identification. It is nothing but naming the product. According to Motameni. R and Shahrokhi. M (1998:275) “Brand names and trademarks usually tells, you about the products bearing the marks whether it will be of offering quality. Branding also enables a producer to obtain the same benefits of offering products to the consumers an unique or superior quality and provide an opportunity to transfer this identifiable relationship to other products or service”.

Building a brand driven culture is a life time commitment in the minds of the customers. It takes a lot of time and planning to produce a intangible output where there is a higher customer satisfaction , price sensitivity, with the higher no of repeated business (Bhimrao M. Ghodeswar 2008:4)

According to Chernatony and McDonald, (1998). “A successful brand is identified as a product, service, person or place, it is augmented in a way that the user or buyer of perceives relevant, unique added values these are some of the needs which mostly matches closely”

According to Vittamsetty (2009:6), A brand can convey the consumers through six levels as shown below:

Attributes

Benefits

Values

Culture

Personality

User

Brand Conveying the Consumer

Attributes: Brand Attribute is a bundle of features that highlight the physical and personality aspects of the brand.

Benefits: Creating distinctive and durable perceptions in the minds of consumers.

Values: the brand tells about values which says same thing about the product values.

Culture: the brand represents a different culture.

Personality: a brand project a personality which can be person, animal or object.

User: the brand suggests its own target audience to use the product.

Brand “promise” is the benefits both functional and emotional benefits are arrived from the essence of that customers can expect to receive from experiencing a brand’s products and services, which reflects the heart, soul, and spirit of the brand of the product (Knapp, 2000).

As the market for brand increased the human basic needs changed for e.g. from the Desktop to the Laptop. That’s when the market for laptop increased. Before only the executive used to carry the laptops now a common man uses a laptop, (Image 1). According to Raja Simhan T.E. (2006) “the laptop, also known as a notebook PC, Laptop is no longer a luxury item as against the `wow’ effect it was a few years ago. Much like other products, it is being displayed on the shelves of big supermarkets and retail shops, moving from the exclusive confines of exotic showrooms. Before, when the word `laptop’ was uttered, one could think of visualizing only executives carrying it. Today all segments, including students and households, are buying these `notebooks/laptops’. These products are for the people who on the laptop have become an indispensable tool. What with overcrowded roads and traffic snarls, the average travelling time in metros such as Mumbai and Bangalore has only gone up, here and now days the laptop is a cool tool that helps professionals to keep working and thus save time.”

The Growth of India is so much there are companies who are ready to manufactures laptops for rupees 500 that is $ 10 which is the target price but when it comes to the manufacturing of large quaintly the price may reduce even more. According to Sakshat “Many bloggers and foreign newspapers are understandably skeptical. Atanu Dey, a blogger, wrote that if the Indian government was successful in pulling off this technological miracle, it would imply that either other global computer manufacturers and industries are either incompetent, or else they are a part of a scam, producing stuff at low prices and selling them at a huge margin.”

According to the Industrial News (2008) “India – As laptops become is become more affordable and to the consumer preference as compared, laptop sales in India has hit a 114 per year-on-year growth rate in 2008 with 1.8 million nos. This growth rate will exceeds to the desktop PCs, which is predicted to soon be overtaken by laptop units in a very less time.

According to India’s Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT), “laptops have 25 percent of the total PC market in 2007-2008; will be shooting up from less than 3 percent in 2004. The current ratio of laptops to desktops in the country is 20:80; where to the competition of the market and it is predicted to reach 50:50 in the next few years”.

Laptops have become competitive in the price there is a war against desktops due to the appreciation of Indian currency rupee, which made imports cheaper than we had taught. Also propelling the soaring the demand of laptops are increasing in the market for their sleek designs, enhanced security functions and various built-in accessories. The laptop enterprise particularly favours faster processors, increased portability and connectivity, according to industry analysts.

3. Methods of analysis:

3.1 Research Methodology:

The research undertaken is determined by the approach used by the researcher (Aaker, 2000). According to Carl (2004) marketing research is the function where it links the consumers and the marketers with an exchange of information .By conducting a market research we will be able to revile the problems and the opportunities in that market, this helps us in understanding the performance of the industry. This research involves collecting data of the market research problems, designing the methods of the data collection process, analysing and finding the report of the data collected in the research for their implication.

3.1.1Type of Study:

The Research will be of inductive in nature. Since I will be collecting data from questionnaire, I would be conducting a primary research. It is a survey method. The objective is to study the brand perception on the consumer buying behaviour with reference to laptop market in India. A structured questionnaire is designed to collect the primary data. Based on the data collected table are drawn and inferences are made.

3.4 Type of Data:

Data will be obtained and collected from a structured questionnaire and other published sources.

3.4.1 Sources of Data:

The Dissertation will be compiled using facts, figures, information and analysis by the researcher. The information of Laptop industry will be collected and taken from two sources. The two sources will be:

Primary source

Secondary source.

3.4.2 Tools of Data Collection:

Tools used for collection of data can be classified into two major categories:

Primary data:

The structured questionnaires will be made and distributed to all the users of the laptops. By using Internet-mediated questionnaires will be sent through the mail across India, and will also be sending questionnaires by post, e-mail, or directly talking to the users of the Laptop.

Secondary data:

Data will be obtained and collected from the various sources via: through books, database websites, online articles, journals and publications on the internet. And all the report that will be collected for the laptop companies will also be considered as the secondary data.

3.5 Sampling Design:

This questionnaire will be sent to the number of laptop users leaving in different parts of the country India, for finding out the consumer’s perception of different laptop brands. In the same time will also do a face to face interview with the Indian community who are residing in Bangor University, the information which is collected from different views of the people which are reliable and convenient to present on behalf of the whole India.

1) Sampling unit:

The sampling unit is limited to the users of laptop computers within the country India and students of Indian who are studying in Bangor University.

2) Sampling size:

Number of respondents will be taken into consideration it could vary depending upon the data i get from the secondary resources the primary research sample size would be in the region of 200 to 400.

3) Sampling technique:

The Sampling technique which I will be using might be convenience technique.

3.6 Ethical considerations:

Respondents were either vague or incomplete at times which makes the interpretation little difficult. The research will be considered in a right way.

Conclusion:

Brand perception is difficult to be comprehended in the Indian laptop market, sine the market of the consumers keeps changing rapidly. So the products or the services keep changing according to the market to attract the consumer’s behavior towards their product & service. So this research can give an edge to the brand affects their buying behavior and the perception of the experienced consumers. It also tells you about the buying behavior of the consumers responsible for the increase and decrease of the brand sales.

Timescale/plan:

Appendix 1

The Questioner:

Appendix 2

Reference:

Aaker, D.A., Joachimsthaler, E. (2000), Brand Leadership

Aspalter, Christian (forthcoming), The Welfare State System in India,

In C. Aspalter (ed.), The Welfare State in Emerging-Market Economies: With Case Studies from Latin America, Central Europe,and Asia, Casa Verde Publishing: Taipei. (Online) Available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldAbstractOnlyArticle/Pdf/0310221102.pdf

(Accessed on 1rd Dec 2009)

Bhimrao M. Ghodeswar (2008). Building brand identity in competitive markets:

a conceptual model. Journal of Product & Brand Management. 17 (1) p 4 (Online) Available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0960170101.pdf

(Accessed on 3rd Dec 2009)

Bharadwaj, V.T., Swaroop, G.M. and Vittal, I. (2005), “Winning the Indian consumer”, McKinsey Quarterly, Special edition, pp. 42-51.

Business India Intelligence (2005), “Spreading their sales”, Business India Intelligence, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 1-2.

Chernatony, L. and McDonald, M. (1998), Creating Powerful Brands, 2nd ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

Field, Anne. (2005), “Passage to India”, available at: http://retailtrafficmag.com/

India Market Demographics Report (2002), National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi.MIP 24,126 where in Neelam Kinra (2006) The effect of country-of-origin on foreign brand names in the Indian market: Marketing Intelligence & Planning 24 (1) p. 16 (Online) Available at

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0200240102.pdf

(Accessed on 3rd Dec 2009)

Indian Economy Overview (2009), Indian Brand Equity Foundation. P 1 (Online) Available at

http://www.ibef.org/economy/economyoverview.aspx

(Accessed on 2nd Dec 2009)

Industry News (2008), Laptop sales growth overtake that of desktops in India. Journal of Trade Media Holdings, (Online) Available at

http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/Laptop/a/9000000098983.htm

(Accessed on 3rd Dec 2009)

John Brandon (2007) PC Today: Green Laptops Choose A Notebook That Is Environmentally Friendly & Long On Charge. 5(6) pp 22-23 (Online) Available at

http://www.pctoday.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2007/t0506/05t06/05t06.asp&guid=

(Accessed on 3rd Dec 2009)

Knapp, D.E. (2000), The Brand Mindset, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, pp. 33, 36, 103. Where in Bhimrao M. Ghodeswar (2008) Building brand identity in competitive markets:

a conceptual model in Journal of Product & Brand Management. 17 (1) p 4 (Online) Available at

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0960170101.pdf

(Accessed on 3rd Dec 2009)

Kotler, P (1991), Marketing Management, 7th ed, Prentice-Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, .

Lou Pelton (2009). Indian consumers’ purchase behaviour toward US versus local brands. By International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 37 (6) p. 510 (Online) Available at:

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0890370603.pdf

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Ministry of finance. (2008-09). Union Budget. Available: http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2008-09/bh/bh1.pdf. Last accessed 3 March 2010.

Motameni. R and Shahrokhi. M (1998), Brand equity valuation: a global perspective. Journal of Product and Brand management. 7 (4) p 275 (Online) Available at

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(Accessed on 3rd Dec 2009)

Sakshat (2009), Dance with Shadows. (Online) Available at

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(Accessed on 3rd Dec 2009)

Vittamsetty. (2009). Brand awareness of airtel. Available: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23427572/Brand-awareness-of-airtel. Last accessed 8 March 2010.

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Appendix 1:

Questionnaire:

Dear Sir / Madam, I, Mayukha Devangi M, am a student of Bangor University, Wales, UK doing my MBA in Management. As a part of my curriculum, I am conducting a research to identify the brand perception and consumer buying behaviour in relation to Indian laptop market. It would be appreciated if you gave your precious time and cooperation to complete this questionnaire.

General Information

1. Do you own a Laptop? Yes No

5. Factors which affect your decision making process while purchasing your personal laptop.

Please Circle the preference as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1 = Very important, 2 = Important, 3 = Not sure, 4 = Not important, 5 = Not at all important.

Brand perception 1 2 3 4 5

Processing Speed 1 2 3 4 5

Sound 1 2 3 4 5

Quality 1 2 3 4 5

Style & Appearance 1 2 3 4 5

Price 1 2 3 4 5

Graphic Option 1 2 3 4 5

Battery Backup 1 2 3 4 5

Weight 1 2 3 4 5

3. Gender Male Female

2. Which company Laptop do you own?

HP Acer Lenovo Dell Apple Sony Vaio Other ________

4. Your age lies between (in years)?

18­­­­…..24 25…..30 31…..35 Above 36

6. Are you a permanent resident of India?

Yes No

12. What is your annual total income (In Indian Rupees)?

Less than 100,000 Between 100,000 – 300,000 Between 300,000 – 500,000

Between 500,000 – 800,000 Above 1,000,000

11. If you were using another brand earlier, why did you shift to the present laptop?

Better Brand Better Price Better Quality Not satisfied with laptop Quality / Efficiency Other ____________________

10. If yes, which brand of computer were you using?

HP Acer Lenovo Dell Apple Sony Vaio Other ________

9. Before buying a laptop, have you owned any other laptop?

Yes No

8. How are you motivated to purchase a particular brand of laptop?

Highly motivated Not at all motivated

Motivated Not sure Not motivated

Word of mouth (friends / Family) 1 2 3 4 5

Advertisement 1 2 3 4 5

Store communication (Customer Service) 1 2 3 4 5

Reputation of the brand 1 2 3 4 5

I prefer my own choice, needs 1 2 3 4 5

7. What has attracted you to buy this brand of laptop?

Price Offers Service Free Gifts Brand Name Other__________

mayau

13. Which of the laptop is best within the following Price (In Indian Rupess)?

HP, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, Apple, Sony Vaio, Toshiba, Other Plz specify___________________________

Below Rs 30,000 ______________, Rs 30,000 – 40,000________________,

Rs 40,000 – 50,000 ____________, Rs 50,000 – 80,000 _____________, Above 80,000 _________

14. If someone asks you to help suggest a new laptop, which one would you suggest?

HP Acer Lenovo Dell Apple Sony Vaio Other _______

15. If you are asked to place the following four Laptop manufacturing companies in the diagram below; where you will place them?

HP HP Apple A Lenovo L Dell D

Sony Vaio SV

Low Price

Poor quality Good quality

High Price

Thank you

Appendix 2:

Image 1: