26997668 usage and attitude study of consumer for raymond apparel ltddoc

8/7/2019 26997668 Usage and Attitude Study of Consumer for Raymond Apparel Ltddoc

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INTRODUCTION

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CHAPTER 1:

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

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Nature Scope and Importance of Consumer behavior:

Consumer behavior is defined as The dynamic interaction of affect and

cognition, behavior and the environment b which human beings conduct the exchange

aspects of lives. IT means that the buying habits of the consumer are greatly affected by

their thought process and their feelings experienced. Human beings are greatly influenced

in their buying actions by various factors like opinion of others, marketing stimuli like

product, advertising, packaging and product appearance.

As a principal, the marketing concept involves understanding the needs of the consumers

and translating these needs into products or services to satisfy these needs. The basic

objective in marketing is to achieve the goal of profit making through customer

satisfaction. To do this, an organization should understand the consumer very closely.

The feelings, thinking, perceptions and actions of the customer and the society at

large keep changing frequently. For example number of working women is on rise and

this has changed the concept of shopping. The dynamic nature of the consumer behaviour

offers challenges to marketers and the task of creating marketing strategies becomes

complex, and exciting. Strategies that work today may not work tomorrow. Strategiesadopted in one market ma not work in another. The product life cycle are becoming

shorter and create additional pressures on marketers to bring innovative products and

concepts. The concept value changes from time to time. Mahindra and mahindra had to

come out with Scorpio within launch of Bolero.

Consumer behavior involves interactions:

Consumer behaviour involves interactions among peoples thinking, feelings, and

actions and the environment. This forces marketer to understand three things:

What products and services mean to customers.

What influences shopping, purchase, and consumption.

What consumers need to do to purchase and consumer products and services?

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Consumer behaviour involves exchanges between human beings. People give up

something of value to others and receive something in return. Much of consumer

behaviour involves people giving up money to obtain product and services, that is,

exchanges consumers and sellers. The role of marketing in society is to help create

exchange by formulating and implementing marketing strategies.

2. Consumer Research.

Consumer research is the systematic collection and analysis of consumer information for

the purpose of important decision making for marketing. Consumer research plays an

important role in marketing process, helps in consumer measurement, market potential,

sales forecast, each element like product mix, distribution mix, price, effectiveness of an

advertisement campaign, consumer acceptance of a product. In fiercely competitive

situation, it is extremely critical for and organization to monitor the customer

relationship.

Consumer Research is used for following two purposes

Routine problem analysis .i.e. product potential, sales forecasting.

Non-routing problem analysis .i.e. new product launch, success of promotionalschemes.

Needs for Consumer Research.

How do consumers interpret information about marketing stimuli such as products,

stores, and advertising?

How do consumers choose from among alternative product classes, products, and

brands?

How do consumers form evaluation of products and brands?

How does consumer interpret the benefits of market offerings?

How do behavior and environment affect consumer beliefs and attitudes?

Why consumers are more interested or involved in some products or brands than

others?

How the marketing strategies influence consumers beliefs and attitudes?

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speeches against democracy be forbidden?" For face-to-face interviews, interviewer bias

is a danger, too. Interviewer bias occurs when the interviewer influences the way the

respondent answers. For example, unconsciously an interviewer that works for the firm

manufacturing the product in question may smile a little when something good is being

said about the product and frown a little when something negative is being said. The

respondent may catch on and say something more positive than his or her real opinion.

Finally, a response bias may occurif only part of the sample responds to a survey, the

respondents answers may not be representative of the population.

The case of "The Pentagon Declares War on Rush Limbaugh" illustrated that

biased surveys are often taken at face value. It was reported in the national media,

without question of the validity of the research, that only 3.8% of listeners to the ArmedForces Network wanted to listen to Rush Limbaugh. It turned out, however, that this

inference was based on the question "What single thing can we do to improve

programming?" Only if a respondent wrote in an answer mentioning Rush Limbaugh

were he or she counted as wanting to listen to Rush.

Experiments are used when the researcher wants to rule out all but one

explanation for a particular observation. Suppose, for example, that we observe that sales

of our brand increase when we send out coupons. However, retailers may also give us

better shelf space when the coupon is out; thus, we cant tell if it was the coupon or the

shelf-placement that caused sales to increasethe two variables are confounded. In an

experiment, we carefully control what varies. In this case, we invite in one hundred

people and ask them to shop in a simulated store. Half of the respondents are randomly

selected and get a coupon; the others do not. Since the only difference here was whether

the subjects got a coupon or not, we can be more confident that differences in brand

choice were due to the coupon. Experiments do, however, have a serious drawback in

that the consumer is removed from his or her natural surroundings. For example, if we

pay some consumers to come into a lab and watch TV "as you normally would," these

consumers, figuring that they are being paid, may give more attention to the

advertisements than they would at home.

Focus groups involve getting a group of 6-12 consumers together to discuss

product usage. Focus groups are especially useful if we do not have specific questions to

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ask yet, since we dont know what consumers concerns might be. We start out talking

broadly about the need that a product might serve, and only gradually move toward the

product itself. For example, a firm considering the marketing of sugar free cookies might

start out its group talking about snackswhy people consume them and the benefits they

expect. Gradually, we then move toward concerns people have about snacks. Eventually,

we address sugar content and concerns that consumers have about that. Only toward the

end of the session do we show consumers the actual product we are considering and ask

for feedback. We postpone our consideration of the actual product toward the end

because we want to be sure that we find out about the consumers needs and desires

rather than what he or she thinks about the specific product we have on the drawing board

right now (that product can be changed, and it can be repositioned). Drawbacks of focus

groups include high costs and the fact that generalization toward the entire population isdifficult for such small sample sizes. The fact that focus groups involve social interaction

also means that participants may say what they think will make themselves look good

rather than what they really believe (the social desirability bias).

Personal interviews involve in-depth questioning of an individual about his or her

interest in or experiences with a product. The benefit here is that we can get really into

depth (when the respondent says something interesting, we can ask him or her to

elaborate), but this method of research is costly and can be extremely vulnerable to

interviewer bias.

Projective techniques are used when a consumer may feel embarrassed to admit to

certain opinions, feelings, or preferences. For example, many older executives may not be

comfortable admitting to being intimidated by computers. It has been found that in such

cases, people will tend to respond more openly about "someone else." Thus, we may ask

them to explain reasons why a friend has not yet bought a computer, or to tell a story

about a person in a picture who is or is not using a product. The main problem with this

method is that it is difficult to analyze responses.

Observation of consumers is often a powerful tool. Looking at how consumers

select products may yield insights into how they make decisions and what they look for.

For example, some American manufacturers were concerned about low sales of their

products in Japan. Observing Japanese consumers, it was found that many of these

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Japanese consumers scrutinized packages looking for a name of a major manufacturer

the product specific-brands that are common in the U.S.(e.g., Tide) were not impressive

to the Japanese, who wanted a name of a major firm like Mitsubishi or Proctor &

Gamble. Observation may help us determine how much time consumers spend comparing

prices, or whether nutritional labels are being consulted. Physiological measures are

occasionally used to examine consumer response. For example, advertisers may want to

measure a consumers level of arousal during various parts of an advertisement.

Types of Data:

Primary Data: Data collected at first hand either by the researcher or by someone

especially for the purpose of the study are known as primary data.

Secondary Data: Data which have been collected earlier for some other purpose are

secondary data in hands of marketing researcher.

3.Consumer Learning:

Learning is defined as a permanent change in the behaviour of a consumer as a result of

past experience.

The characteristic features of learning are as under:

Learning involves a change in behaviour. This change may or may not be an important

over previous behaviour.

Learning is a process, which continuously evolves and changes as a result of newly

acquired knowledge.

Learning can occur by increase in knowledge through reading books, articles,

observation, thinking, and through discussions.

The behaviour change is based on some form of practice or exception.

Thus we see that learning is based on two vital aspects that are behaviour and

experience. Learning can be either intentional or incidental. Intentional learning occurs

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when the individual is deliberately searching for the information on the feature, benefits

etc of the product before a purchase. Incidental learning occurs when the information

comes to him on its own either through the print or electronic media, exhibitions etc.

4. Consumer Perception.

It is selection, organization, and interpretation of marketing and environmental

stimuli into a cohesive picture. Following are the some feature of perception, which are

asunder:

Perception is a mental process, whereby an individual selects data or information from

the environment, organizes it and draws significance or meaning from it.

Perception is a basically a cognitive or thinking process and an individuals activities,

emotions, feelings etc. are based on his perception of his perception of his surroundings

or environment.

Perception being an intellectual and cognitive process will be subjective in nature. This

means that different people may perceive the same environment differently based on the

effect of the environment.

Characteristics Affecting Perception.

Characteristic effecting perception can be divided into sensory elements and structural

elements.

Colour.

Colour has important sensory connotations. Evidence suggests that red is

regarded as warm, sensual and not intimidating. Blue is seen as conforming and is

regarded to be colour that attempts to convey friendlier image. Pepsi attempt to cash on

the blue colour of the Indian cricket team during the recent World Cup cricket matches

has received a similar response. Many retailers in Mumbai call it Ghaslet Pepsi. This is

because Indians are more used to identify blue with kerosene and their long term

association with blue color of kerosene led to call blue Pepsi as Ghaslet Pepsi.

Taste.

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Taste is another sensory factor that will condition consumers brand perceptions.

The importance of taste is illustrated by P&G blunder when it first introduced Pringles

potato chips. The chips were packed in an easy-to-stack cylindrical can to avoid breakage

of chips. The consumers responded by saying that the packaging resembles a tennis ball

can. Further consumers felt that the chips tasted like tennis ball.

Smell.

Smell is important for food products and cosmetics products. In one study, two

fragrances were added to the same facial tissue. Consumers perceived one facial issue as

elegant and expensive and the other as a product to use in the kitchen.

Sound.Sound is another important sensory stimulus. Advertisers have traditionally used

accent to convey status and authority. Even in case of serials, voice is being used to

create an impact on the masses. The Binaca geetmala was characterised by the voice of

AminSayani.s

Feel.

The feel of certain products will also influence consumers perceptions. Softness

is considered a desirable attribute in many paper products. Feel is also a means of

determining quality. Consumer often use of a textile fabric, clothing, carpeting, or

furniture to evaluate quality. For example, a smooth, velvety feel in textile fabrics is

considered an indication of quality.

StructuralElements.

Intensity and Size: The brighter and advertisement and larger the size, more it is

able to attract the attention of potential consumers. Such large advertisements can be in

the form of full page advertisements in newspapers or in the form of large hoardings on

the road.

Position.

Attraction towards and advertisement depends largely on the place where it is

positioned. Positioning includes the page of a newspaper. Similarly, the placement of

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product for display on shelves at the retail outlet plays an important role in attracting the

attention.

Contrast.

A black and white advertisement with a small spot used by Jet Airways is likely

to attract attention. A quite commercial after a loud program can attract attention like the

advertisement of De Beers diamond after listening to a frantic rock show.

Novelty.

It is observed that anything which is different from what is normally expected

tends to attract attention like an unusual bottle shape or different packaging material. For

e.g. Frooti was the first to introduce the soft drink in tetra pack .

Repetition.

Advertisements are repeated often to enable consumers to brand recall as well as

stimulate them and create a strong desire for interest in the purchase of the product.

Repetition is particularly important in case of low involvement convenience goods like

soaps, toothpastes.

Consumer Characteristics Affecting Perception:

Stimulus Discrimination.

One of the basic questions regarding the effect of marketing stimuli. The ability to

discriminate among stimuli is learned. Generally, frequent users of a product are better

able to notice small difference in product characteristic between brands.

Threshold levels.

The ability of consumer to detect the various in sensory elements is determined

by their threshold level. Some consumers are more sensitive to these stimuli than others.

This will be quite clear from the fact tea and coffee companies employ persons called tea

or coffee tasters.

Just Noticeable difference.

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It is based on the differential threshold of a consumer. A consumer will not be

able to detect any change in stimulus below his threshold. For e.g. If an unbranded

detergent cost 5 percent less that consumer is regular brand, the consumer ma not notice

the difference. However, if the same unbranded product costs less than 30 percent less

than he is definitely going to notice the difference.

Webers Law.

It states that the stronger the stimulus, the greater the change required for the

stimulus to be seen as different. The most important application of this law is in price.

One critical implication is that the higher the original price of an item, the greater the

markdown required to increase sales. For e.g. If price of a Mercedes Benz S class is

reduced by 25000/-, it will not have any impact on sales because the basic price is inseveral Lakhs that a difference of Rs25000/- may not be noticeable for consumers. On the

other hand a price reduction of even Rs5000/- for a maruti 800 is seen to push sales

substantially because of its low original price.

Absolute Threshold.

It is stimulus below which consumers cannot detect the stimulus at all. It is also

referred to as subliminal perception .i.e. perception of stimulus below the conscious level.

One of the major controversies regarding consumer perceptions is whether consumers

can actually perceive marketing stimuli below their absolute level.

Adaptation law.

It is the level at which consumers no longer notice a frequently repeated

stimulus. An individual walking into an air-conditioned room, kitchen full of fragrance,

or a noisy party will notice these stimuli after a period of time. Consumer differs in their

level of adaptation. Some tune out more quickly then others. Novelty, humour, contrast,

and movement are all stimulus effects that may gain consumers attention and reduce

their attention and reduce their adaptation.

Price and Quality Perceptions.

Price perceptions directly influence consumers perceptions of brand quality and

determine their purchasing behaviour. For e.g. Parker pens were positioned as expensive,

hand finished pens. In order to achieve large volume of growth and to share a pie of the

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explosive growing ballpoints, Parker entered this market for cheap pens moving away

from its traditional positioning. The results were disastrous because companys image

was not consistent with its price. In the late eighties, it moved back to its strength, high

priced fountain pens, with an ad campaign featuring style and luxury. This shift made the

company profitable again.

5. Consumer Involvement:

Involvement.

A consumer is said to have a high involvement in purchase, when he considers the

product be important and strongly identifies with it.

Conditions for involvement.

A consumer is likely to be more involved with a product when:

The consumers self image is tied to the product e.g. aggressive youth craving for power

identify themselves with the Enfield Bullet. Khadi is preferred by politicians and budding

politicians. Similarly, we find politician preferring a multi-utility vehicle like Scorpio or

Tata Safari.

Product has a symbolic meaning tied to consumer values e.g. ownership of a BMW car,

a cross pen, Rolex watches have s symbolic value of the affluent class.

Product is expensive .e.g. Jewellery, real estate etc.

It has some important functional value e.g. fuel efficiency of a vehicle, cricket gear for a

cricketer.

Product has an emotional appeal e.g. buying of a gift article, buying of articles for

religious purpose.

Product is continually of interest to the consumer .e.g. fashion-conscious customer has

continuous appeal in clothing and apparel.

Product entails significant risk e.g. buying a technology complex product, buying a

house.

Product is identified with the norms of the group. E.g. School children buying

Pokemans articles.

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Type of Involvement:

Situational Involvement.

It is one that occurs only in specific situations and is temporary. For e.g. a person

buying suit for marriage. Formal dressing for the marriage is a necessary and

hence a person not very fashion-conscious about clothes gets involved temporary for his

marriage in a piece of suit. Enduring Involvement: It indicates an ongoing interest in the

product category. For example,

Attitudes.

Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers (1) beliefs about, (2) feelings

about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some object--within the context of marketing,usually a brand or retail store. These components are viewed together since they are

highly interdependent and together represent forces that influence how the consumer will

react to the object.

Beliefs.

The first component is beliefs. A consumer may hold both positive beliefs toward

an object (e.g., coffee tastes good) as well as negative beliefs (e.g., coffee is easily spilled

and stains papers). In addition, some beliefs may be neutral (coffee is black), and some

may be differ in valance depending on the person or the situation (e.g., coffee is hot and

stimulates--good on a cold morning, but not good on a hot summer evening when one

wants to sleep). Note also that the beliefs that consumers hold need not be accurate (e.g.,

that pork contains little fat), and some beliefs may, upon closer examination, be

contradictory (e.g., that a historical figure was a good person but also owned slaves).

Affect.

Consumers also hold certain feelings toward brands or other objects. Sometimes

these feelings are based on the beliefs (e.g., a person feels nauseated when thinking about

a hamburger because of the tremendous amount of fat it contains), but there may also be

feelings which are relatively independent of beliefs. For example, an extreme

environmentalist may believe that cutting down trees is morally wrong, but may have

positive affect toward Christmas trees because he or she unconsciously associates these

trees with the experience that he or she had at Christmas as a child.

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Behavioral intention.

The behavioral intention is what the consumer plans to do with respect to the

object (e.g., buy or not buy the brand). As with affect, this is sometimes a logical

consequence of beliefs (or affect), but may sometimes reflect other circumstances--e.g.,

although a consumer does not really like a restaurant, he or she will go there because it is

a hangout for his or her friends.

Attitude-Behavior Consistency.

Consumers often do not behave consistently with their attitudes for several reasons:

o Ability.He or she may be unable to do so. Although junior high school student likes pick-

up trucks and would like to buy one, she may lack a drivers license.

o Competing demands for resources.

Although the above student would like to buy a pickup truck on her sixteenth

birthday, she would rather have a computer, and has money for only one of the two.

o Social influence.

A student thinks that smoking is really cool, but since his friends think its

disgusting, he does not smoke.

o Measurement problems.

Measuring attitudes is difficult. In many situations, consumers do not consciously

set out to enumerate how positively or negatively they feel about mopeds, and when a

market researcher asks them about their beliefs about mopeds, how

important these beliefs are, and their evaluation of the performance of mopeds with

respect to these beliefs, consumers often do not give very reliable answers. Thus, the

consumers may act consistently with their true attitudes, which were never uncovered

because an erroneous measurement was made.

o Attitude Change Strategies.

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Changing attitudes is generally very difficult, particularly when consumers

suspect that the marketer has a self-serving agenda in bringing about this change (e.g., to

get the consumer to buy more or to switch brands).

o Changing affect.

One approach is to try to change affect, which may or may not involve getting

consumers to change their beliefs. One strategy uses the approach of classical

conditioning try to "pair" the product with a liked stimulus. For example, we "pair" a car

with a beautiful woman. Alternatively, we can try to get people to like the advertisement

and hope that this liking will "spill over" into the purchase of a product. For example, the

Pillsbury Doughboy does not really emphasize the conveyance of much information to

the consumer; instead, it attempts to create a warm, fuzzy image. Although EnergizerBunny ads try to get people to believe that their batteries last longer, the main emphasis is

on the likeable bunny. Finally, products which are better known, through the mere

exposure effect, tend to be better liked--that is, the more a product is advertised and seen

in stores, the more it will generally be liked, even if consumers to do not develop any

specific beliefs about the product.

o Changing behavior.

People like to believe that their behavior is rational; thus, once they use our

products, chances are that they will continue unless someone is able to get them to

switch. One way to get people to switch to our brand is to use temporary price discounts

and coupons; however, when consumers buy a product on deal, they may justify the

purchase based on that deal (i.e., the low price) and may then switch to other brands on

deal later. A better way to get people to switch to our brand is to at least temporarily

obtain better shelf space so that the product is more convenient. Consumers are less likely

to use this availability as a rationale for their purchase and may continue to buy the

product even when the product is less conveniently located. (Notice, by the way, that this

represents a case of shaping).

o Changing beliefs.

Although attempting to change beliefs is the obvious way to attempt attitude

change, particularly when consumers hold unfavorable or inaccurate ones, this is often

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difficult to achieve because consumers tend to resist. Several approaches to belief change

exist:

o Change currently held beliefs.

It is generally very difficult to attempt to change beliefs that people hold,

particularly those that are strongly held, even if they are inaccurate. For example, the

petroleum industry advertised for a long time that its profits were lower than were

commonly believed, and provided extensive factual evidence in its advertising to support

this reality. Consumers were suspicious and rejected this information, however.

o Change the importance of beliefs.

Although the sugar manufacturers would undoubtedly like to decrease theimportance of healthy teeth, it is usually not feasible to make beliefs less important--

consumers are likely to reason, why, then, would you bother bringing them up in the first

place? However, it may be possible to strengthen beliefs that favour us--e.g., a vitamin

supplement manufacturer may advertise that it is extremely important for women to

replace iron lost through menstruation. Most consumers already agree with this, but the

belief can be made stronger.

o Add beliefs.

Consumers are less likely to resist the addition of beliefs so long as they do not

conflict with existing beliefs. Thus, the beef industry has added beliefs that beef (1) is

convenient and (2) can be used to make a number of creative dishes. Vitamin

manufacturers attempt to add the belief that stress causes vitamin depletion, which

sounds quite plausible to most people.

o Change ideal.

It usually difficult, and very risky, to attempt to change ideals, and only few firms

succeed. For example, Hard Candy may have attempted to change the ideal away from

traditional beauty toward more unique self expression.

o One-sided vs. two-sided appeals.

Attitude research has shown that consumers often tend to react more favorably to

advertisements which either (1) admit something negative about the sponsoring brand

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(e.g., the Volvo is a clumsy car, but very safe) or (2) admits something positive about a

competing brand (e.g., a competing supermarket has slightly lower prices, but offers less

service and selection). Two-sided appeals must, contain overriding arguments why the

sponsoring brand is ultimately superior--that is, in the above examples, the "but" part

must be emphasized.

o Appeal approaches.

Several approaches to appeal may be used. The use of affect to induce empathy

with advertising characters may increase attraction to a product, but may backfire if

consumers believe that peoples feelings are being exploited. Fear appeals appear to work

only if (1) an optimal level of fear is evoked--not so much that people tune it out, but

enough to scare people into action and (2) a way to avoid the feared stimulus is explicitlyindicated--e.g., gingivitis and tooth loss can be avoided by using this mouth wash. Humor

appears to be effective in gaining attention, but does not appear to increase persuasion in

practice. In addition, a more favorable attitude toward the advertisement may be created

by humorous advertising, which may in turn result in increased sales. Comparative

advertising, which is illegal in many countries, often increases sales for the sponsoring

brand, but may backfire in certain cultures.

oCulture.

Culture is part of the external influences that impact the consumer. That is, culture

represents influences that are imposed on the consumer by other individuals. The

definition of culture offered in the text is "That complex whole which includes

knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by

man person as a member of society." From this definition, we make the following

observations:

Culture, as a "complex whole," is a system of interdependent components.

Knowledge and beliefs are important parts.

In the U.S., we know and believe that a person who is skilled and works hard will

get ahead. In other countries, it may be believed that differences in outcome result more

from luck. "Chunking," the name for China in Chinese literally means "The Middle

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Kingdom." The belief among ancient Chinese that they were in the centre of the universe

greatly influenced their thinking.

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CHAPTER 2:INTRODUCTION TO THE

APPAREL INDUSTRY

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Current scenario of Apparel Industry

Industry scenario

The Indian textile and apparel industry has made a major contribution to the

national economy in terms of direct and indirect employment generation and net foreign

exchange earnings. The textile and apparel sector accounts for 18 per cent of employment

in the industrial sector, 20 per cent of industrial production, 9 per cent of excise duty

collections and more than 30 per cent of Indians total exports.

India had few competitors in the booming international textile trade during the

post-independence period of the 1950s and 1960s, due to abundant supply of cotton and

cheap labour and thriving mill sector. But Indian trade lost market share during 1970s in

the face of growing competition from few new industrializing nations (NICs) in an

expanding global economy. The 1980s marked rapid growth for apparel exports, which

were valued at Rs 6500 million in 1981, Rs 8500 million in 1985. Due to devaluation of

the rupee in 1991 and enactment of export-oriented policies, value of apparel exports

jumped to Rs 62823 million in 1991-92, Rs 183896 million in 1998-99 and to Rs 254799

million in 2000-01.

Indian apparels accounted for a tiny fraction of less than 3 per cent of overall

world export of apparel, suggesting an opportunity for considerable growth. There is a

very large domestic market for Indian apparel manufactures. As per McKinsey study, the

market size is of Rs 20,000 crore, out of which only Rs 4,000 crore is catered to by

branded apparel. So there is still an Rs 16,000 crore market, which is catered by the

unorganized small size units. The developed nations, which are the destinations for

Indian textile products, use textiles in the form of apparel. Therefore, in order to improvethe presence in these markets and capture larger values of the chain the focus needs to be

shifted towards the effective performance of the textile-apparel supply chain network,

rather than looking at textile industry in isolation.

Market Scenario:

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The speed at which the world economy is moving is truly incredible. And in this

fast paced global scenario, the spotlight is on India.

The Indian economy is growing at a rapid pace and the true emergence of the

middle class is what is driving this growth in our domestic market at an exponential rate,

which we have never seen before. With the rise in investments in the economy and

decrease in costs, peoples needs have increased in terms of goods and services, different

retail experiences such as malls all have contributed toward increasing consumer

demand.

India is close to achieving a GDP growth rate of 8% that was projected by the

government for this year. I am optimistic that in the current scenario, the GDP growthcould even touch 10%.

In this environment, The Raymond Group too has grown at a tremendous pace as

made the most of the global opportunities that the post-quota era presented us while

consolidating our business in the domestic market.

From being one of the most respected textile companies in the world Raymond

Group are now the worlds largest vertically and horizontally integrated

manufacturer of worsted suiting fabric - a one stop shop providing various solutions

to our customers across various product categories - worsted suiting to formal suits,

shirting to formal shirts and denim fabric to jeans wear.

Raymond Group has expanded capacity of worsted suiting to 28 million metres

with a new facility at Vapi, Gujarat. In addition to expanding capacity of our denim

fabric facility to 40 million metres, Raymond Group have joined hands with UCO NV of

Belgium, a leading producer of high end denim to form a global denim company with a

combined capacity of 80 million metres, manufacturing facilities in 3 continents and a

global marketing network.

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Raymond Group further expanded their textile business by entering a JV with

Gruppo Zambaiti, a textile major from Italy in the form of a 50:50 JV with Cotonificio

Honegger SPA for setting up of a Greenfield facility in India for high value cotton

shirting fabric. This JV with Gruppo Zambaitil helps them bring in best of the best

technological & design inputs and a strength of a global marketing network. Their JV

with Lanificio Fedora is Italys leading woolen fabric manufacturer for the manufacture

of carded woolen products and a respected name in the global markets has helped

enhance our carded woolen business as well.

Raymond Group have set up three world class garmenting units near

Bangalore for the manufacture of formal suits, jeans wear and dress shirts. These

garmenting units will act as forward integration to their textile business enabling them tooffer a complete solution to their customers from fabric to apparel.

Through the entire growth and consolidation phase, Raymond Group have

never lost sight of what makes Raymond great Their strength in innovation and

dedication in developing great products. Raymond proved its global excellence by being

the first Indian company in the world to bid for the worlds rarest bale of wool and

create the worlds finest fabric - Super 230s fabric made of 11.8-micron wool..

Raymond Group also unveiled their newest innovation Expressions an exquisite

collection of wool and polywool suiting fabric specially crafted using exotic fibers like

Cashmere, Angora, Mohair, Bamboo, Casein- a fibre developed from milk protein,

Linen, Silk, Soya bean, Tencel blended with Super 120s, 100s Merino Wool and fine

polyester.

In keeping with their objective to provide complete wardrobe solutions for

the Indian male, they unveiled exclusive brand stores forPark Avenue, Manzoni and

Parx. Their acquisition of ColorPlus is now complete. They have also expanded their

The Raymond Shop network and set up an exclusive 10,000 sq foot Flagship store for

Raymond. Raymond also ventured into a new area for the first time with a kids wear

brand - Zapp!

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Strengths of the Apparel Industry

The Indian textile industry is globally more competitive than other

industries in the country on relative terms. Most of the inputs required for this sector

being available from domestic sources and there are very little requirements of imports

and precious foreign exchange.

The Indian apparel-manufacturing sector was highly fragmented as knitted

hosiery and yarn-dyed, woven apparel. Units employing over 50 machines accounted for

a mere 6 per cent of all firms, while 80 per cent firms employed up to 20 machines. The

extreme decentralization helped manufacturers to avoid labour problems and the labour

related laws, as well as seasonal fluctuations in business. It also imparted flexibility to

operations and provided surge capacity in production.

From middle of 1990s, manufacturing units of larger capacity with upgraded

technology, mostly in collaboration with a joint venture partner were established. During

the same period, Indian consumers could see availability of international brands in

domestic market, which were made by Indian garment manufacturers. This had raised theexpectation level of discerning consumers and apparel industry faced the challenge to

improve its performance from this set of demanding consumers. Importers of Indian

apparels were generally satisfied with price and enthusiastic about the ability to source

small production quantities. With the entry of international garment companies into India,

they bring in new designs, new craftsmanship, modern scientific management and also

the marketing strategies. These all can strengthen the competition mechanism so that the

industry will gain more resources for developing new products, new brand names,

technology development and staff training in order to increase the market

competitiveness.

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CHAPTER 3:

RAYMOND APPAREL LTD

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To some the ultimate in fashion, to others something to aspire for. Brands from

Raymond Apparel Ltd - the finest in readymade garments are more of a tradition that

lives on forever. Dressing up gentlemen over the ears, it is nirvana for the senses.

Products

ParkAvenue

Parx Manzoni Colour plus Notting Hill

Suits

Shirts

Trousers

Jackets

Accessories

T-shirts

Denims

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CHAPTER 4:

BRANDS UNDER RAYMOND

APPAREL.

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Industry is evolving & moving from stitched tailor made clothing to ready to wear

branded clothing. Raymond recognized the changing environment and consumer needs as

early as 1986 and came out with its premium range of mens formal garments under the

brand name of Park Avenue.

Park Avenue has come to be recognized as a leading and most respected brand

for mens formal garments. Its comprehensive product range comprises of suits, jackets,

trousers, shirts, ties, accessories, mens cosmetics, toiletries, etc. It is the single largest

formal wear brand in the country and had recently bagged the Most Admired Brand

and Best Trouser Brand awards.

Parx was born as the need to meet the requirement of new and influential

young audience who prefer casual look. Parx was launched in 1999 and its target

audience is young Indian male. It complements Park Avenue, which is a wardrobe brand

in the formals category.

This stunning range of menswear consists of soft cottons, the ideal apparel for

the Indian workplace & Authentic Ring Denim that's made from the softest cotton &

perfect to lounge around in. Parx offer Parx Cotton and Parx Jeans wear. The USP for

Parx Cottons is: Look Sharp, Be Comfortable and for Parx Jeans wear is The last

word in Comfort.

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Manzoni is the youngest brand in the Raymond Apparel portfolio. This brand

has been launched to cater to the fashion conscious premium end consumers in India.

Manzoni was launched in April 2000. Manzoni, the luxury lifestyle brand of premium

men's wear & accessories from Raymond Apparel Ltd. brings the best of Italian fashion

to Mumbai with its new luxury boutique at Nepean Sea Road. The brand has already

risen to the popularity charts in its category acknowledged for its highest quality and

international style.

Manzoni range of shirts, ties and suits are made for high quality fabrics and

great emphasis is placed on the workmanship and detailing. Manzoni is distributed

through a selected 50 Raymond shops only.

With the launch of kids wear brand Zapp!, Raymond now has something to

offer for children. The exclusive brand covers the spectrum of children's lifestyleproducts that includes an entire range of children's apparel and accessories. ZAPP!'

would be targeted at kids between the age group 4 to 12 years. The children apparel

segment is a largely unorganized market but is worth 25000 crore and is growing at an

annual rate of 25%. Raymond plans to set up around 12 ZAPP!' stores across key metros

in India over the next one year. It has opened the first ZAPP!' store in Ahmadabad in

April 2006. Zapp has acquired an exclusive license on Superman logo in India which will

help the brand to build a super image. Company has planned to form Zapp Club for

kids as a part of customer relationship program.

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Premium casual wear was a new fashion concept in India a decade ago, but today,

after an intense awareness exercise, Color Plus with its superior quality and styling, is

firmly lodged as the number one casual wear brand in the country. The range has

predominantly been mens wear.

The ColorPlus brand has a high value in India and Middle East. Color Plus as a

brand is currently exported to the Middle East with plans to expand its frontiers to

Europe.The first showroom was opened in 1994 at Chennai, and was followed by

intensive test marketing and consumer feedback surveys. Today with more than 150

outlets, in over 60 cities, the brand has built an enviable reputation. Sophisticated markets

in the Middle East have already accepted the range and the brand is now selling at

premium locations.

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Notting Hill reflects style and manifests originality of todays fashion-conscious

and discerning young professionals at an affordable price.

Notting Hill was launched in 2007 to cater to the popular price segment. Designed

in-house, the brand collection features a spectrum of mens lifestyle products comprising

of suits, shirts, trousers, jeans, t-shirts and also accessories like ties, handkerchiefs and

socks. With exceptional fits, styling and color range, Notting Hill promises to be an

instant hit with the young working professionals.

Notting Hill would be retailed across India in a phased manner, beginning with

Pune and other cities in Maharashtra. By the end of the first year Notting Hill would be

made available across India with over 400 distribution points

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CHAPTER 5:

APPROACH TOWARDS STUDY

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Awareness

Purchasing habits.

Brand preference,perception &

loyalty

Retail &Communication

Evaluation&

Assessment

Different marketing strategies thatneeds to be adopted?

What are the relevant, effectivepositioning options available?

CompetitorsCurrent positioning& Communication

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METHODOLOGY

Objective of the study:

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1. To understand the consumer perception regarding Raymond Shirts.

2. To understand if Notting Hill can be the consideration set of the desired target

audience.

3. To understand the recall level of Shirts.

4. To understand the influence & the time spent on tags by the consumer.

5. To understand the influence of advertisement on consumer.

Scope of the Study:

The study will be limited to the Raymond Brands in Bhopal city only.

Sample SizeOur sample size was 200 respondents.

Target Respondents:

Age Group 23-35

Sampling Method: Convenience Sampling

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ANALYSIS

AND

INTERPRETATION

Awareness about different brands of shirt:

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BRAND PERCENTAGE RESPONSES

Raymond, Park Avenue, Parx 19% 40

Van Heusen 19% 40

Arrow 18% 30

Louis Philippe 16% 40

Zodiac 10% 10

Allen Solly 8% 20Others 10% 20

TOTAL 100% 200

Fig 1

Interpretation:

Other brands which people have heard of includes : Fcuk, Ck, Wills, Marks & Spencer,

Black Berry, Turtle, Peirre Cardin, Armani, Wills lifestyle, Charag din, Tuscan verve,

Provogue,lee cooper, mufti, , colour plus, Zamkudi, Urban Hill, British Micros, Element,

Acronomous, Globus, R & C, Guess, Tamarind, Zara, Vettrio Fratini, Stop, Koutons,

Westlife, Cotton County, Henry Hills, Lifeline, Louis Vitton, John millers, Crocodile,

IndianTerrain, Selfridge.

Availability of formal shirts with the customers

RANGE PERCENTAGE

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1 5 10%

5 10 20%

10 15 25%

15 20 22%

20 25 5%

25 & Above 18%

TOTAL 100

Fig .2

Interpretation:

The above diagram shows the number of formal shirts being acquired by the

target respondents for their daily activities.

It can be interpreted from above that an average respondent have more that 10

formal shirts which clearly shows the market for formal shirts and the growth of apparel

industry in India.

Frequency of visits by the consumers

RANGE PERCENTAGE

0 1 Month 6%

1 Month 7%

2-5 Months 36%

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6 Months 17%

7-11 Months 6%

Once a Year 4%

No Particular Frequency 24%

Total 100%

Fig.3

Interpretation:

The above diagram shows the consumers buying frequency for shirts, maximum people

told that they purchase shirts at the interval of 2 to 5 months .This give a fair chance for

frequent sale of shirts for the company.

Number of purchasing done by consumer in single time

NUMBER OF SHIRTS PERCENTAGE

1 16

2 52

3-5 23

5 & more 7

Depends 2

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Fig.4

Interpretation:

This pie shows no. of shirts bought in single purchase maximum number of people

told that they buy 2 shirts at a time followed by 3 to 5 shirts at a time, which replicts huge

sales potential.

Purchase by the consumer on special occasions

PURCHASE ON SPECIAL OCCASION PERCENTAGE

Yes 79

No 21

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Fig.5

Interpretations:

Major part of candidates was in favor of random purchases of shirts rather than

any special occasional purchases. 79% of shirts are purchased randomly while 21% of

shirts are purchased on special occasions.

Comparative Availability of different brands of shirts by the consumers(B): How many of each?

BRAND

NAME

NONE 1 2 3-5 5& MORE

EXCALIBUR 55% 25% 13% 4% 3%

PETER

ENGLAND

49% 23% 21% 3% 4%

JOHN

PLAYER

68% 12% 13% 4% 3%

BELLMONTE 94% 1% 1% 3% 1%

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THOMAS

SCOTT

92% 3% 2% 0% 3%

CAMBRIDGE 41% 18% 10% 21% 9%

OXEMBERG 80% 8% 5% 6% 1%

Fig.6

INTERPRETATIONS:

The above diagram shows the allocation of various brands of shirts in the

consumers wardrobe. The most preferred brand by the respondents was Cambridge and

the least preferred was Bellmont which shows there is a great market of the brand of

Raymonds i.e. Notting Hill as it from one of oldest & finest company of India.

Preference of consumers with respect to different brands of shirts

BRAND PREFRENCE PERCENTAGE

Excalibur 19

Peter England 26John Player 30

Bellmont 1

Thomas Scott 1

Cambridge 19

Oxemberg 4

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Fig.7

INTERPRETATION:

The above diagram shows the consumers preference towards various brands of

shirts. The most used brand is Cambridge but the most preferred that was finded out is

John Player.

Brand Loyalty of consumers with respect to different brands of shirts.

(Respondents preferred)

NUMBER OF YEARS PERCENTAGE

1-6 months 31

1 291-2 25

2 or more 12

No Idea 3

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Fig.8

INTERPRETATION:

The above diagram shows the Brand perception and the Brand Loyalty of the

preferred brand of the consumer. Maximum consumer told that they are using their ideal

brand from last one year. This clearly shows that there is no brand loyalty in the segment,

which gives opportunity for Notting hill to become successful by its launch.

Shopping location of consumers in purchasing different brands of

shirts.

SHOPPING LOCATIONS PERCENTAGE

Exclusive Brand Outlets 39

Multi Brand Outlets 43

Departmental Store 18

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Fig.9

INTERPRETATIONS:

People usually shop at Multi brands outlet followed by Departmental stores. The results

show the significance of marketing the product from MBO.

Factors which influence the purchasing behavior of consumers.

REASONS FOR CHOOSING MBOS PERCENTAGE

Variety 56

Convenience 20

Price 7

Availability 4

Proximity from Residence 3

Relationships/Style Tips/Experience 3

Quality 2

No Specific Reason 5

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Fig.10

INTERPRETATIONS:

The above diagram shows that maximum consumers prefer shopping at MBO`S because

MBO`S are the One stop shopping solution where consumers get each and every

brands with respect to Variety, Price, Quality, Convenience, etc under One Roof.

Consumers purchasing from malls

PEOPLE SHOPPING AT MALLS PERCENTAGEYes 74

No 26

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Fig.11

INTERPRETATIONS:

Seeing the emerging trend of malls it is learnt that 74% of people shop in malls

Factors influencing the purchasing of consumers.

FACTORS WHILE SHOPPING PERCENTAGE

Shop Ambience 15

Courteous and helpful Sales Staff 15

Trial Rooms 14

Parking 6

Proximity from home 11

Variety 20

Prices offered 17Others 2

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Fig.12

INTERPRETATIONS:

The above diagram shows the important external factors which consumers consider

important while purchasing apart from the product to be purchased. Again Variety hits

the top of list. This signifies that Company should have different variety & variants in

their product category.

Recalling ability of consumers with respect to advertisements of

different brands of shirts.

LAST ADD REMEMBERED PERCENTAGE

John Players 42

Bellmonte 18Koutons 10

Raymonds 8

Zodiac 7

Others 7

Dont Recollect 13

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Fig.13

INTERPRETATIONS:

The other high recall advertisements were of the brands: Provogue, Charaugh Din, Arrow

& Cambridge.

FINDINGS

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1. Most of the Customers like to go to factory outlets and branded showrooms.

2. Before going for the purchase customers collect the information regarding the

apparels through friends and magazines.

3. Dissatisfied customers do not complain; they just stop buying.

4. Between occupation of the respondents students are influenced by their friends

whereas salaried class people are by their colleagues.

5. Only few respondents have low reference towards the Branded garments.

6. Comparing the age group with frequency of purchase shows that people from age

group 20-30 likes to purchase more often.

7. The slower the company is to respond to customer complaints, the more

dissatisfaction may grow and lead to a negative word of mouth.

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8. The important external factors which consumers consider while purchasing apart

from the product to be purchased is Variety which hits the top of list. This

signifies that Company should have different variety & variants in their product

category.

9. There are large number of people that love to shop at malls.

10. People use to shop at multi brand outlets or the departmental store.

11. The most used brand is of Cambridge and the most preferred brand is of John

Player.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Marketing Communications:

Being a new launch, the main objectives of the Notting Hill brand should be to:

1. Inform potential customers

2. Induce product trials

3. Secure distribution in retail outlets

For clothing and footwear the price-off promotions are the most popular. Price-

off (offering a discount on the regular price of purchase) and extra-product offer (offering

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an increased quantity of the product / service without an increase in the regular price)

constituted 8% each of the promotional schemes for the period 1996 to 2003.

Other popular promotions include premium offer, sweepstake, buy more and save,

exchange offers, contests of skill, exchange offers etc.

The traditional notion of wearing anything thats comfortable is pass and has

been completely over-shadowed by branded threads, which may not always be high on

comfort but are definitely high on attitude and quality.

"India is witnessing a boom in retail. Gone are the days of 'one size fits all' theory.

The consumers' demands have become far more specific and customized...Companys

should therefore focus on the needs of consumer.

We suggest that the product should be extended to the Multi Brand outlets and Large

Format store; as these are the Major focus areas of Consumer reach.

AsNotting Hillis an upcoming brand from Raymond Apparels the company should make

some efforts to create a Value in mind of Consumers by using the image of Raymond

Ltd. for its Uniqueness / Quality Product. Value that will bring in change in Attitudes /

Brand perception of Consumers.

Extending its elements in various product lines uncovered such as Casuals/Club/Denim

wear will increase its reach/value for all requirements.

Shop in shop tie-ups in Shopping malls, Mega retail outlets.

Notting hillcan take up a pace in market and can grow at a very speed, as the brand is

what the consumers were waiting for. As During our survey we noticed that people say

Park Avenue is a very good brand but its too costly so Notting Hill is what the consumer

wanted. So this is the place where Notting Hill has a good market and can be a valuable

asset for Raymond Apparel Ltd.

Brand awareness to be increased through print advertisements, Outdoor hoardings and

Direct mailers etc.

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TV advertisements for improving brand awareness.

To improve sales in Mega retail outlets, company should indulge in shop promotions &

displays.

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CONCLUSIONS

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Since the consumer buying behavior is an important factor to forecast the sales of any

product in a particular area. So company should keep a close eye on the market situation

yet customer were price sensitive, but the changing market trend and customer view and

reference shown that customer are quality sensitive. They want quality product, good

services, easy availability of product and better performance from the product. These

days the number of persons buying from malls has been increased. Also the frequency to

visit the mall has been increased substantially. People are more brand conscious and they

are satisfied with the products available.

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BibliographyBooks

Khotari, C.R. (2006) research methodology, viswa publication, New Delhi.

Dessler Gary and Varkkey Biju (2009)Human Resource Management,11th

Edition,Pearson Prentice Hall.

Aswathappa K. (2008) Human Resource Management, 5th Edition, New Delhi,

Tata Mc Graw-Hill Education Private Limited

Jhunjhunwala B. (2008) Business Statistics, 1st Edition, New Delhi, S Chand and

company limited.

Webliography

raymondindia.com

google.com

markeresearch.com

Newspaper:- The Economic Times, Business Standard

Website: Wikipedia

Book: Philip Kotler, Principle of Marketing Management

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QUESTIONNAIRE

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1. Which brands of shirts do you have in your wardrobe?

_____________________________________________________________________

2. How many formal shirts do you have in your wardrobe?

3. What is your frequency of buying?

4. How many shirts do you buy at a time?

_____________________________________________________________________

5. Do you purchase shirts on special occasions only?

____________________________________________________________________

6. Do you have shirts of any of the following brands? How many of each?

Excalibur

Peter England

John player

Bellmont

Thomas Scott

Cambridge

Oxemberg

Other specify

7. Which of the above brands do you prefer most and why?

____________________________________________________________________

8. For how long have you been using this brand?

____________________________________________________________________

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9. Where do you usually shop?

________________________________________________________________

10 Why at Multi brand outlet?

11. What do you look in a store where you shop?

Shop Ambience

Courteous and helpful sales staff

Trial Rooms

Parking

Proximity from home

Variety

Prices offered

Any other specify_________________

12. Which is the last shirt ad you have seen and you remember?

_____________________________________________________________________

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Bibliography

Cygnus research Monitor

Cmie Database

Marketing Management-Philip Kotler South Asian Edition

It Happened In India- Kishor Biyani & Dipayan Baishya

26997668 usage and attitude study of consumer for raymond apparel ltddoc

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