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College of Technology London

Research Methodology

ASSIGNMENT

STUDENT NAME: ANUSANKAR CHALAVANA PRABAHAKARAN

STUDENT ID: 105178-88

UNIVERSITY ID: 1003050

LECTURER: WILSON OZEUM


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ContentsResearch topic ..................................................................................................................................... 2

Research overview .............................................................................................................................. 3

Research Objectives............................................................................................................................ 3

Research Questions ............................................................................................................................. 3

Literature review................................................................................................................................. 3

Research methodology........................................................................................................................ 5

Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 6

Ethical issues....................................................................................................................................... 6

Time scale ........................................................................................................................................... 6

References........................................................................................................................................... 6

Research topicInvestigating the impact of customer satisfaction on automobile industry: A case study on MRF


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Research overview

In todays competitive business environment the satisfaction of the customers is necessary for

an organization to survive. It is the duty of the companies to give superior and quality

products than the competitors to satisfy their customers. The satisfied customers will remain

loyal to the organization and it will lead to the customer retention. The dissatisfied customerswill depend upon other products for satisfying their needs. The retention of the customers is

very vital for the profitability of the organization (Jones&Saiser, 1993).The customers expect

better services and benefits from the product everytime.The organization have to provide

superior and quality goods to satisfy their needs and expectations. If the customers

expectations are not met it will lead to the dissatisfaction and it will affect the organizational

effectiveness. The organization has to take care of their internal systems to provide better

product to the customers. If the internal systems of an organization are good then the

organization can provide better and superior goods (Taylor, 1989).The loyalty factor is very

vital because it is very easy to make the customers stay within the organization rather than

catching new customers. The loyal customers are like the assets of the organization. The

customer satisfaction can be measured by using the SERVQUAL framework. In this research

the customer satisfaction aspect is discussed with respect to the MRF tyres in the European

market. This study will help to identify the role and importance of the customer satisfaction

in the organization performance.

Research Objectives

To review the main factors affecting the customer satisfaction of the MRF Tyres inUK

To know how the customer satisfaction can be enhanced in the MRFResearch Questions

What are the factors affecting the customer satisfaction of MRF? How MRF can improve the customer satisfaction?

Literature review

In the relationship marketing the customer satisfaction and the service quality aspect is an

important concept. The consumer satisfaction is a vital factor in todays marketing

activities(Bloemer,1990).In this literature review section the customer satisfaction concept,

The theories ,the models etc are discussed by analyzing the past research articles.

The customer satisfaction is a one of the main concept in the marketing and it has led to a

large amount of research to be conducted (Bogozzi,1999).the past research studies shows that

the customer satisfaction aspect depends on the specific attributes and features of the

product(Anderson&Sullivan,1993;Gabarino&Johnson 1999).the customers satisfaction and

dissatisfaction may vary according to the attribute like the price,quality,design etc.The

customer satisfaction is the main motive for most of the organizations. If the customers are

satisfied ultimately the product will lead to profit of the organization(Drucker,1954).The

organization are giving main focus to the customer satisfaction aspect due to the profitability

aspect(Anderson&lehman,1999).If the customers are dissatisfied with the product then theywill affect the profitability of the organization. The dissatisfied customers will depend upon


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the competitors product and it will cause reduction in the market share of the organization. If

the customers are satisfied then they will repurchase the product and the customers will act as

a word of mouth promotion for the organization. The satisfied customers will refer the

product to friends and relatives and the society in which they live.(Anderson&Mittal

2000).The satisfied customers will help the organizations to retain their customers and theloyalty will be increased.(Anderson&Sullivan 1993).The satisfied customers are seen as a

source of revenue for the organization(Fornell 2002).However the customer satisfaction can

be achieved by meeting their needs and wants. The organizations have to satisfy their needs

by providing superior goals (Anderson&Mittal, 2000).

The customer satisfaction is so important and vital to the organization success that many

researchers have tried to find a way to measure the customer satisfaction. The

Fourmen&Mick (1992) in their studies tried to measure the satisfaction of the customers with

respect to the individual perspective.Dewolf, Odekerten&Schroder (2001) tried to measure

the satisfaction with respect to different organizations. But the main tool for measuring thecustomer satisfaction is the SERVQUAL framework.(Parasurman&Zeithaml,1978).The

framework is used to measure the satisfaction concept with respect to the service quality

concept. The satisfaction and the service quality are interrelated. The quality of service will

affect the satisfaction perspective of the customers. It will play a part in forming an overall

satisfaction towards the product. The main theories that can be used to understand the

customer satisfaction are mainly equity theory; attribution theory etc.The model associated

with the customer satisfaction is expectancy-disconfirmation model. The studies show that

the satisfaction and dissatisfaction are interrelated. One feature or attribute in a product will

lead to satisfaction of the product while the other feature of the product leads to

dissatisfaction of the product(Cote,2000).The customer satisfaction is a way to create the

loyalty towards the organization(Oliver,1997).

Because of the dramatic growth of the service industry, researchers and practitioners have been

attracted to examine the interaction of perceived service quality and customer satisfaction

(Parasuraman et al1985, 1988, 1994; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Shah and Schaefer, 2005). Not

surprisingly, service quality (SQ) or perceived service quality and overall customer satisfaction

connect firmly together in the literature (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). As discussed in the previous

section, service quality results from the comparison of customers between service expectation

and actual service performance (Gronroos 1982; Parasuraman et al 1985; Woodside, 1989). Or in

other words, service quality is the gap between expectation of customers and the actual service

performance. The construct of service quality is also examined through a number of the similar

aspects as CS. In comparison with the definition of CS/CD, it can be seen that both concepts are

influenced by the gap of expectation and performance facets, although, to the CS/CD paradigm, the

literature focus more on which related to disconfirmation, expectation and actual performance,

which, in contrast, belong to the input in terms of customer satisfaction of service quality.

When creatingtheir own construct Parasuraman et al (1985)also posit the existence of the


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relationship between CS and SQ. However, according to Cronin and Taylor (1992), the antecedence

of the constructs regarding to measure the service quality is still under debate.

Research methodology

The research paradigm adopted for this research is Interpretivism because it helps to

understand the difference between the humans in our role as social actors. In this study for

getting the valid and reliable findings mixed research method is used. The mixed research

methods means both the quantitative and qualitative data is collected and it will make

triangulation of data. This will help to collect the valuable information. The survey strategy is

used in this study because it helps to collect the large information about the customer

satisfaction concept. The survey strategy will help to analyze the relationship between thevarious variables affecting the satisfaction concept. The primary and secondary sources are

used in this study. The secondary data is only used for forming the questionnaires and the

literature section. The customer satisfaction cocept, theories and models etc are collected

form the past research articles by visiting emerald and Athens. Interviews and the focus

group are adopted to gather the primary source of data for the study.

The qualitative data is collected with the use of the interviews and the focus group method.

The unstructured interviews are used gather the data. The unstructured interviews are

informal in nature and it will help us to collect the deep data about the customer satisfaction

aspect and the factors affecting them. The focus groups are also adopted for the gathering ofthe qualitative data. In the focus group mainly the topic is clearly defined and the discussion

will be carried on the basis of that topic to collect the data. In this study two focus groups are

carried out to collect data. The two groups are divided with respect to the using criteria. The

first group consists of respondents who used the MRF service within the past 3 months. The

second group consists of the respondent who has not used the service within the past 12

months. This will help to collect the data about the satisfaction concept in two aspects. The

data from the first group will help to know why the respondents are using the MRF and what

are the factors attracting them. The second group will help to identify why the respondents

are not using the service and the factors responsible for their dissatisfaction. The quantitative

data is collected with the help of the surveys. A well structured questionnaire is adopted for

the survey method. The mail survey is used in this research to cover a wide sample. The

respondents are mailed with a structured questionnaire and a post envelope is attached with

the questionnaire. Questionnaires are also used for the interviews and the focus group too.

The research is adopting sampling method for the study. The population for this research

consists of the MRF customers in the UK.The sampling frame for this study is the online

directory of the MRF. The samples are selected from the frame by using the cluster sampling

method. The samples are selected from the two groups; those who use the service for the past

weeks and those who not use the service within past 10 months. The sampling size selectedfor this research is 200 samples.


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Data Analysis

The data are collected from the interviews, focus group and the surveys in this research.

There are various forms of analysis like the thematic analysis; content, grounded theory

etc.The quantitative data collected are analyzed with the help of the content analysis. The

graphs and pie charts are also used to interpret the data.

Ethical issues

This research is conducted by following the moral ethics and no unethical issues are involved

in the research. The permission from the company is taken before conducting the research. In

the data collection process the consent of the respondents are asked before interviewing them.

The confidentiality of the data is followed throughout the research. The personal details of

the respondents are not asked and the information is kept secret. The bias is also avoided in

the data collection and the analysis due to the intervention of a third party.

Time scale

Topics August sepetember October Novemebr December

Selection of topic x

Preparation of proposal x

Proposal submission x

Literature review x

Research Methodology x

Data analysis x

Findings x

Suggestion x

Conclusion x

Submission of final x

References

Anderson E.A and Sullivan M.W. (1993), The antecedents and consequences of customer

satisfaction for firms, Marketing Science, Vol. 12, Spring, pp. 125-43

Bloemer, J. & Kasper, H.. 1990, The overall customer satisfaction Relationship, pp 118-189.

Bagozzi,R.(1998,Consumer behaviour goal setting, Journal of marketing,63

Fornel;C.1992),Customer satisfaction barometer,journal of marketing,Vol.52 No 2 ,pp.6-20

Jones, T.O., Loveman, G.W., Sasser, W.E., Schlesinger, L.A. (1994), "Putting the service-

profit chain to work", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72 No.2, pp.164-74.

Oliver, R. & Swan, J.E. 1989, Perceptions of the customers and the customer satisfaction

concept. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 54, March 22-36


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Oliver, R.L. (1997), Behavioural perspective on the Customer Relationship, McGraw-Hill,

New York, NY, pp 88-144.

Parasuraman, A., L. L. Berry and V. A. Zeithaml. 1988. "SERVQUAL:The Framework For

measuring the service quality and Customer Satisfaction." Journal of Marketing. Vol. 64, No.

1: 12-40.

Parasuraman A., Zeithaml V.A. and Berry L.L. (1994), Reassessment of expectations as a

comparison standard in measuring service quality: implications for future research, Journal

of Marketing, Vol. 58, February, pp. 6-17

Research slides


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