A

Summer Training Report

On

“CONSUMERS’ SATISFACTION TOWARDS DAILY NEWSPAPER-

THE TIMES OF INDIA”

Submitted to

CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY GHARUAN

MOHALI

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the

award of degree of
Bachelors of BusinessAdministration (BBA)

Submitted by Project Guide

Nancy Prof. Gurinder Pal Singh
15BBA1046

Session (2015-2018)
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY
GHARUAN, MOHALI

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PREFACE
The project undertaken is to know the perception, preferences & satisfaction of customers or
readers towards the newspapers. And Educate customers about times of India schemes and
Marketing of the newspapers and magazines so that more and more customers should
subscribe i.e. to sell the subscriptions of the newspapers and magazines which gives an
experience to meet the customers and also to understand the customer satisfaction level and
also to get an effective feedback from the customer with the help of a market survey.

The project provided opportunity to explore our creativity and made us to think out of the
box. It also helped in honing our selling and persuading skills and in it helped in learning how
to sell the products.

By interacting with different customers tremendous experience was gained regarding

customer psychology, because every customer has different perception, taste, moral values
and also came to learn importance of team work.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I am grateful to God who gives me sound mind and sound health to accomplish
my project report on time. It is my immense pleasure to have opportunity for the preparation
of this project. I am highly obliged by UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS,
CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY, GHARUAN , MOHALI, for giving me the opportunity
to do summer internship with The Times of India Group.Therefore, I take this opportunity to
extend my sincere thanks to UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, CHANDIGARH
UNIVERSITY, GHARUAN , MOHALI and The Times of India Group for offering a
unique platform to earn exposure and garner knowledge in the field of Sales and Marketing.
First of all, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to my project guide Mr.Vishal Sharma, Chief
Manager at Times of India, Chandigarh for having made my summer training a great
learning experience by giving me his guidance, insights and encouragement which acted as a
continuous source of support for me during this entire period. I would also like to thank
Mr.Rakesh Sukhija,Assistant MarketingManager of TOI, Chandigarh for his help and
guidance in sales and parents, friends and colleagues for their sincere cooperation. Without
which the success of this project wouldn’t had been possible. I would also like to express my
profound gratitude to my faculty guide Prof.. Gurinder Pal Singhfor his constructive
support during the summer internship period, which leads to successful completion of my
internship at Times of India, Chandigarh.

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-4-
 ACHIEVEMENT

 Best Performer of the week awarded by Times of India during Internship

Programme.

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 CERTIFICATE

This is certifying that, Ms. Nancy, UID No. 15BBA1046, a student in program of BBA,
under University School Of Business, Chandigarh University , Gharuan, Punjab has
completed the internship with between (dates) 1st June 2017 to 15th July 2017 and her report
is titled “ Consumer Satisfaction Towards Daily Newspaper – The Times Of India”. Student
has carried out work successfully under my supervision.

To the best of my knowledge and as per her declaration by student, the report is an authentic
work and may be taken as partial fulfilment of course credit.

I wish her success in life.

Sign of Faculty Supervisor

(Name of supervisor)

Designation

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface 2
Acknowledgements 3
Certificate 4
CHAPTER NO. CHAPTER TITLE PAGENO.

1 Introduction 7-36

2 Review of Literature 37-39

3 Need, Scope & Objectives of the Study 40-42

4 Research Methodology 43-50

5 Data Analysis 51-60

6 Findings of the Study 61-63

7 Conclusion and Recommendations 64-67

References 68-69

Annexure 70-74

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CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

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 INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN PRINT MEDIA INDUSTRY

Indian print media is one of the largest print media in the world. The history of it started in
1780, with the publication of the Bengal Gazette from Calcutta.

1.1.1 HISTORY
James Augustus Hickey is considered as the "father of Indian press" as he started the first
Indian newspaper from Calcutta, the Calcutta General Advertise or the Bengal Gazette in
January, 1780. In 1789, the first newspaper from Bombay, the Bombay Herald appeared,
followed by the Bombay Courier next year (this newspaper was later amalgamated with the
Times of India in 1861).

The first newspaper in an Indian language was the Samachar Darpan in Bengali. The first
issue of this daily was published from the Serampore Mission Press on May 23, 1818. In the
same year, Ganga Kishore Bhattacharya started publishing another newspaper in Bengali, the
Bengal Gazetti. On July 1, 1822 the first Gujarati newspaper the Bombay Samachar was
published from Bombay, which is still extant. The first Hindi newspaper, the Samachar
Sudha Varshan began in 1854. Since then, the prominent Indian languages in which papers
have grown over the years are Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Bengali.

The Indian language papers have taken over the English press as per the latest NRS survey of
newspapers. The main reasons being the marketing strategy followed by the regional papers,
beginning with Eenadu, a telegu daily started by Ramoji Rao. The second reason being the
growing literacy rate. Increase in the literacy rate has direct positive effect on the rise of
circulation of the regional papers.

The people are first educated in their mother tongue as per their state in which they live for
e.g. students in Maharashtra are compulsory taught Marathi language and hence they are
educated in their state language and the first thing a literate person does is read papers and
gain knowledge and hence higher the literacy rate in a state the sales of the dominating
regional paper in that state rises.

The next reason being localisation of news. Indian regional papers have several editions for a
particular State for complete localisation of news for the reader to connect with the paper.

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Malayala Manorama has about 10 editions in Kerala itself and six others outside Kerala. Thus
regional papers aim at providing localised news for their readers. Even Advertisers saw the
huge potential of the regional paper market, partly due to their own research and more due to
the efforts of the regional papers to make the advertisers aware of the huge market.

1.1.2 INDIAN NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY: SOME FACTS

 The total number of registered newspapers, as on 31st March, 2006: 62,483
 The number of new newspapers registered during 2005-06: 2,074
 Percentage of growth of total registered publications over the previous year: 3.43 %
 The largest number of newspapers & periodicals registered in any Indian language
(Hindi): 24,927
 The second largest number of newspapers & periodicals registered in any language
(English): 9,064
 The state with the largest number of registered newspapers (Uttar Pradesh):9,885
 The state with the second largest number of registered newspapers (Delhi): 8,545
 The number of newspapers that submitted Annual Statements: 8,512
 The total circulation of newspapers : 18,07,38,611
 The largest number of newspapers & periodicals that submitted Annual Statements in
any Indian language (Hindi): 4,131
 The second largest number of newspapers & periodicals that submitted Annual
Statements in any language (English) : 864
 The largest circulated Ananda Bazar Patrika Bengali, Kolkata. : 12,34,122
 The second largest circulated Daily: The Hindu ,English,Chennai (Printed from 12
different Printing Press):11,68,042
 The third largest circulated Daily: Hindustan Times,English, Delhi: 11,36,644
 The largest circulated multi-edition Daily: The Times of India, English(six
editions):25,42,075
 The second largest circulated multi-edition Daily: Dainik Jagran,Hindi,(fifteen
editions):21,11,316
 The largest circulated periodical: The Hindu, English,Weekly, Chennai (Printed from
12 different Printing Press) :11,02,783

Newspapers in India are measured on two parameters, circulation and readership:-

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Circulation is certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations which is an industry body. It
audits the paid-for circulation of the member newspaper companies.

Readership is estimated by two different surveys, The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) and
the National Readership Survey (NRS).

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY

Figure 1.2.1 The Times of India

The Times of India (TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is the third-
largest newspaper in India by circulationand largest selling English-language daily in the
world according to Audit Bureau of Circulations (India). According to the Indian Readership
Survey (IRS) 2012, the Times of India is the most widely read English newspaper in India
with a readership of 7.643 million. This ranks the Times of India as the top English daily in
India by readership.

It is owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu
Jain family. In the Brand Trust Report 2012,Times of India was ranked 88th among India's
most trusted brands and subsequently, according to theBrand Trust Report 2013,Times of
India was ranked 100th among India's most trusted brands. In 2014 however, Times of
India was ranked 174th among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust
Report 2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory.

It is the largest company in media and entertainment industry in India and South Asia. It has
completed 175 years of its journey in media industry from 1838, established in Mumbai.
Starting off with The Times of India – which is now the largest English publication in the
world, BCCL and its subsidiaries (called The Times of India Group), are present in every
existing media platform –Newspapers, Magazines, Books, TV, Radio, Internet, Event

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Management, Outdoor Display, Music, Movies and more. Having strength of more than
11,000 employees, its revenue is exceeding $1.5 Billion, it has the support of more than
25000 advertisers and a vast audience spanning across the world.

1.2.1 HISTORY

1838

In November 3, 1838 the first edition of The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce were
published, reflecting basically the business community of Bombay. It was a bi-weekly
publication. Dr. J.E. Brennan was the Editor.

1850

Shareholders decide to increase the share capital and the paper is converted into a daily.

1859

Bombay Standard and Chronicle of Western India merges into The Bombay Times and
Journal of Commerce to form Bombay Times & Standard.

1861

Editor Robert Knight amalgamates The Bombay Times & Standard and Bombay Telegraph
& Courier to form The Times of India - giving it a national character.

1892

T. J. Bennett becomes the editor and enters into a partnership with F.M. Coleman to form a
joint stock company - Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL).

1907

Editor Stanley Reed revolutionizes news production by extending the deadline to midnight.
Until then any news that came in after 5 pm was held over for the next day. The newspapers’
first price war was also initiated with cover price being cut from 4 annas to 1 anna

leading to a five-fold increase in circulation.

1946

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The Times of India gets Indian ownership with Seth Ramakrishna Dalmia buying the
company.

1947

Exclusive Sunday edition of Times of India launched in Mumbai. The company also launches
its Hindi daily - Nav Bharat Times in Delhi.

1948

Sahu Jain Group takes over as the owners of the company after Ramakrishna Dalmia sells the
firm to his son-in-law Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain - who becomes the first Chairman of the
group.

1950

The Times of India launches in Delhi.

1952

Filmfare launched.

1959

Femina launched.

1961

The Economic Times is launched.

1962

Maharashtra Times launched.

1965

Femina Miss India contest started.

1988

Times of India complete 150 years. Special stamp released by Government of India to
commemorate the occasion.

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1996

The Times of India crosses 1 million marks in circulation. It also carries the first-ever color
photograph.

1997

BCCL enters into music market with Times Music.

1999

India times web portal launched; BCCL enters music retailing business with Planet M. Also
operates the first-ever private FM broadcast through Times FM (which later becomes Radio
Mirchi).

2000

The Times of India crosses the 2 million mark in circulation.

2001

Radio Mirchi - Nationwide private FM broadcasting starts. 360 Degrees - Event management
business also launched. TOI goes all colour and storms Delhi by being "Number One".

2003

Launch of the Times Private Treaties as a strategic business division. Launch of the Jobs
portal Times Jobs. TOI E-paper launched. Entry into TV business with the launch of India’s
first lifestyle and entertainment channel Zoom.

2005

Launch of a Matrimonial website Times Matri–later rebranded as Simply Marry. Mumbai

Mirror, the city-centric daily tabloid launched in Mumbai.

2006

Launch of a television News Channel called Times Now.

Radio Mirchi holding company ENIL (Entertainment Network India Limited) lists on the
Indian stock markets. It is the first Times Group Company to list on the bourses with IPO
being oversubscribed by more than 41 times. Launch of a Property services portal Magic

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Bricks. Times of Money launch Remit2Home, to cater to global remittance market.
Acquisition of Karnataka’s leading newspaper company Vijayanand Printers Limited makes
BCCL the dominant force in Karnataka.

2007

Launch of Bangalore Mirror, Ahmedabad Mirror, ET (Gujarati) and Whats Hot – a premier
weekend entertainment supplement. The Times of India becomes largest English daily in the
world with circulation breaching the 3 million mark and beating Sun (tabloid) of UK.

2008

Launch of ET (Hindi), Pune Mirror and The Times of India editions at Jaipur, Goa and
Chennai. Acquisition of Virgin Radio (now rebranded as Absolute Radio) in the UK.

2009

TOI Crest edition launched. Launch of ET Now – premier business channel having integrated
newsroom with ET print edition.

2010

Private Treaties re-branded as Brand Capital. The Speaking Tree newspaper launched. ET
Wealth launched. Maharashtra Times launches Pune edition. Vijay Next (premier weekly
newspaper from Vijay Karnataka) launched. India’s first HD -only premium movie
channelMovies Now (HD) launched.

2011

Sunday ET re-launched as a tabloid.

Bodhivriksha (spiritual weekend newspaper in Kannada) launched.

Launch of The Times of India, Coimbatore and Madurai/Trichy Editions.

2012

Launch of The Times of India, Kerala, Visakhapatnam and Raipur(Chhattisgarh) Edition

2013

Launch of the Times of India, Kolhapur Edition

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1.2.2 THE TIMES OF INDIA IS PRINTED FROM THE FOLLOWING PLACES:

 Bhubaneswar
 Bengaluru
 Bhopal
 Chandigarh
 Chennai
 Delhi
 Goa
 Hyderabad
 Indore
 Jaipur
 Kanpur
 Kolkata
 Lucknow
 Mangalore
 Mumbai
 Mysore
 Nagpur
 Patna
 Pune
 Ranchi
 Surat

1.2.3 KEY BUSINESS AREAS:

 Publishing
 Television
 Digital
 Other Activities

Publishing:-

 Largest publisher in India: 13 newspapers, 18 magazines, 16 publishing centres, 26

printing centres

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  Largest English newspaper in India by circulation (and the world), the Times of India.
 Largest Business newspaper in India by circulation (2nd largest English Business
daily in the world, behind WSJ), the Economic Times.
 Largest Non‐English newspapers in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore by circulation (India’s
three largest cities).

Television:-

 Largest English News TV Channel, No. 2 English Business News TV Channel.

 Largest Bollywood News and Lifestyle TV Channel, No. 2 English Movies TV
Channel.

Digital:-

 Largest Indian network based on traffic and revenue (behind Google, Facebook,
Yahoo).
 Operates 30+ digital businesses, most of which are Top 3 in their competitive
segment.
 Most popular B2C mobile short code in India, across SMS, voice, WAP, and USSD
Radio.
 Largest radio network in India by revenue and listenership, with 32 stations.
 Operates the largest rock radio station in the UK.

Other Activities:-

 Music
 Movies
 Education
 Financial Services
 Event Management
 Specialised publications - including books and multimedia.

1.2.4 SUBSIDIARIES OF TIMES GROUP:-

TIML & ENIL

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Times Innovative Media Limited (TIML) & Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL)
that together control,

Radio Mirchi National network of Private FM stations

360 Degrees Events

Mirchi Movies Limited Filmed Entertainment.

Times Internet Limited

Times Internet Limited is one of the largest internet companies of India. It has interests in
online news, online business news, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, and Bengali news, mobile, e-
Commerce, music, video, and communities. Some of the larger properties of TIL include:

India times shopping - one of the largest and earliest ecommerce portals in India

Times of India

Economic times.com

Navbharattimes.com

Maharashtra Times

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Timescity.com

Gaana.com

BoxTV.com

Times Deal

Times of Money Times of Money operates financial remittance services for Indians abroad
to send money back to India. Their product, remit2India, is a standalone product, while also
powering the remittance services of many banks globally.

Times Global Broadcasting Limited

Television division. It is also called Times Television Network.

Times Now A general interest news Channel

Smart Hire A Consulting Division –Recruitments

ET Now A business news channel

Zoom A 24x7 Bollywood entertainment and gossip channel

Movies Now A 24x7 Hollywood Movies channel in High Definition (India's first)

Times Business Solutions

TBSL, corporate website of TBSL.

Times Jobs, a jobs portal.

Techgig, a professional networking site for Technology Peoples.

Simply Marry, a matrimonial portal.

Magic Bricks, a real estate portal.

Yolist, free classifieds portal.

Ads2Book, online classifieds booking system for print publications.

Peer Power, a Senior-Level professional networking portal.

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WorldWide Media

World Wide Media - started off as a 50:50 magazine joint venture between BCCL and BBC
magazines. In August 2011, it was announced that Bennett, Coleman & Co. bought out the
remaining 50 per cent shares of Worldwide Media from BBC Worldwide thereby making
World Wide Media a fully owned subsidiary of BCCL.

Filmfare

Filmfare Awards

Femina

Top Gear Magazine India

BBC Good Homes

Femina Hindi

Grazia

Good homes

Home Trends

TIML Radio Limited

On 30 May 2008, SMG sold The British Virgin Radio to TIML Radio Limited for £53.2

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million with £15 million set aside for rebranding. On 28 September 2008, The British Virgin
Radio Station rebranded as Absolute Radio, including the sister radio stations Absolute
Xtreme and Absolute Classic Rock.

Stations

Absolute Radio

Absolute Radio 60s

Absolute Radio 70s

Absolute 80s

Absolute Radio 90s

Absolute Radio 00s

Absolute Classic Rock

Absolute Radio Extra This company is a direct subsidiary of BCCL (not through TIML or
ENIL).

Times Syndication Service

The syndication division of The Times of India Group, grants reprint rights for text, and
other media from the group's publications.

Brand Capital

Brand Capital provides funding to growth oriented enterprises for their long term brand
building needs.

Online shopping

Satvik shop, an online shopping website dedicated to organic and ayurvedic products.

1.2.5 STRUCTURE OF THE MANAGEMENT

CEO

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 Managing Director (Mr. B)

Subordinate Managing Director (Mr. C)

General Manager (Mr. D)

Regional Manager (Mr. E)

Branch Manager (Mr. F)

Department Manager

Sales Manager

Direct Sales Force

Executives

1.2.6 KEY MANAGEMENT

Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

PROMOTERS & DIRECTORS

1.Chairperson: Indu Jain

2.Vice-Chairman & MD: Samir Jain

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3.Managing Director: Vineet Jain

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

1.Executive Director: Trishla Jain

2.Executive Director & CEO: RavindraDhariwal

3.Executive Director & COO: Shrijeet Mishra

4.Executive Director & President: Arunabh Das Sharma

5.Non Executive Director: A.P. Parigi

6.Non Executive Director: Kalpana J. Morparia

7.Non Executive Director: M. Damodaran

8.Non Executive Director: Leo Puri

Times Television Network (comprising TGBCL and ZEN)

Group CEO (TV business): Sunil Lulla

ZEN CEO: AvinashKaul

Times Internet Limited

CEO: SatyanGajwani

Times of Money

President: Avijit Nanda

Times Business Solutions Ltd.

CEO: DebashishGhosh

Times VPL

CEO: Sunil Rajshekhar

Worldwide Media.

CEO: TarunRai

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Entertainment Network (India) Ltd.

CEO: PrashantPanday

Alternate Brand Solutions (I) Ltd.

CEO: PrashantPanday

Times Innovative Media Ltd

CEO: Sunder Hemrajani

Absolute Radio

CEO: Donnach O' Driscoll

Times Foundation

Head: ShailendraNautiyal

EDITORIAL HEADS

The Times of India

Editorial Director: Jaideep Bose

Executive Editor: ArindamSengupta

Economic Times

Editorial Director: Rahul Joshi

Maharashtra Times

Executive Editor: Ashok Panwalkar

Navbharat Times

Executive Editor: Ramkripal Singh

Mumbai Mirror

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Editor: MeenalBaghel

Speaking Tree

Editor: Narayani Ganesh

Vijaya Karnataka

Editor: E. Raghavan

Times Now

Editor: ArnabGoswami

ET Now

Editor: R. Sridharan

ZOOM

Editor: Omar Qureshi

1.3 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT

Consumer Behavior Consumer behavior refers to the selection, purchase and consumption
of goods and services for the satisfaction of their wants. There are different processes
involved in the consumer behavior. Initially the consumer tries to find what commodities he
would like to consume, then he selects only those commodities that promise greater utility.
After selecting the commodities, the consumer makes an estimate of the available money
which he can spend. Lastly, the consumer analyzes the prevailing prices of commodities and
takes the decision about the commodities he should consume. Meanwhile, there are various
other factors influencing the purchases of consumer such as social, cultural, personal and
psychological.

1.3.1 FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

1. Cultural Factors

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Consumer behavior is deeply influenced by cultural factors such as: buyer culture, subculture,
and social class.

Culture

Basically, culture is the part of every society and is the important cause of person wants and
behavior. The influence of culture on buying behavior varies from country to country
therefore marketers have to be very careful in analyzing the culture of different groups,
regions or even countries.

Subculture

Each culture contains different subcultures such as religions, nationalities, geographic

regions, racial groups etc. Marketers can use these groups by segmenting the market into
various small portions. For example marketers can design products according to the needs of
a particular geographic group.

Social Class

Every society possesses some form of social class which is important to the marketers
because the buying behavior of people in a given social class is similar. In this way marketing
activities could be tailored according to different social classes. Here we should note that
social class is not only determined by income but there are various other factors as well such
as: wealth, education, occupation etc.

2. Social Factors

Social factors also impact the buying behavior of consumers. The important social factors
are: reference groups, family, role and status.

Reference Groups

Reference groups have potential in forming a person attitude or behavior. The impact of
reference groups varies across products and brands. For example if the product is visible such
as dress, shoes, car etc then the influence of reference groups will be high. Reference groups

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also include opinion leader (a person who influences other because of his special skill,
knowledge or other characteristics).

Family

Buyer behavior is strongly influenced by the member of a family. Therefore marketers are
trying to find the roles and influence of the husband, wife and children. If the buying decision
of a particular product is influenced by wife then the marketers will try to target the women
in their advertisement. Here we should note that buying roles change with change in
consumer lifestyles.

Roles and Status

Each person possesses different roles and status in the society depending upon the groups,
clubs, family, organization etc. to which he belongs. For example a woman is working in an
organization as finance manager. Now she is playing two roles, one of finance manager and
other of mother. Therefore her buying decisions will be influenced by her role and status.

3. Personal Factors

Personal factors can also affect the consumer behavior. Some of the important personal
factors that influence the buying behavior are: lifestyle, economic situation, occupation, age,
personality and self concept.

Age

Age and life-cycle have potential impact on the consumer buying behavior. It is obvious that
the consumers change the purchase of goods and services with the passage of time. Family
life-cycle consists of different stages such young singles, married couples, unmarried couples
etc which help marketers to develop appropriate products for each stage.

Occupation

The occupation of a person has significant impact on his buying behavior. For example a
marketing manager of an organization will try to purchase business suits, whereas a low level
worker in the same organization will purchase rugged work clothes.

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Economic Situation

Consumer economic situation has great influence on his buying behavior. If the income and
savings of a customer is high then he will purchase more expensive products. On the other
hand, a person with low income and savings will purchase inexpensive products.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle of customers is another import factor affecting the consumer buying behavior.
Lifestyle refers to the way a person lives in a society and is expressed by the things in his/her
surroundings. It is determined by customer interests, opinions, activities etc and shapes his
whole pattern of acting and interacting in the world.

Personality

Personality changes from person to person, time to time and place to place. Therefore it can
greatly influence the buying behavior of customers. Actually, Personality is not what one
wears; rather it is the totality of behavior of a man in different circumstances. It has different
characteristics such as: dominance, aggressiveness, self-confidence etc which can be useful to
determine the consumer behavior for particular product or service.

4. Psychological Factors

There are four important psychological factors affecting the consumer buying behavior.
These are: perception, motivation, learning, beliefs and attitudes.

Motivation

The level of motivation also affects the buying behavior of customers. Every person has
different needs such as physiological needs, biological needs, social needs etc. The nature of
the needs is that, some of them are most pressing while others are least pressing. Therefore a
need becomes a motive when it is more pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction.

Perception

Selecting, organizing and interpreting information in a way to produce a meaningful

experience of the world is called perception. There are three different perceptual processes

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which are selective attention, selective distortion and selective retention. In case of selective
attention, marketers try to attract the customer attention. Whereas, in case of selective
distortion, customers try to interpret the information in a way that will support what the
customers already believe. Similarly, in case of selective retention, marketers try to retain
information that supports their beliefs.

Beliefs and Attitudes

Customer possesses specific belief and attitude towards various products. Since such beliefs
and attitudes make up brand image and affect consumer buying behavior therefore marketers
are interested in them. Marketers can change the beliefs and attitudes of customers by
launching special campaigns in this regard.

1.3.2 STAGES IN CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

A consumer goes through several stages before purchasing a product or service.

NEED
↓
INFORMATION GATHERING/SEARCH
↓
EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES
↓
PURCHASE OF PRODUCT/SERVICE
↓
POST PURCHASE EVALUATION

Step 1 - Need is the most important factor which leads to buying of products and services.
Need infact is the catalyst which triggers the buying decision of individuals.

An individual who buys cold drink or a bottle of mineral water identifies his/her need as
thirst. However in such cases steps such as information search and evaluation of alternatives
are generally missing. These two steps are important when an individual purchases expensive
products/services such as laptop, cars, mobile phones and so on.

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Step 2 - When an individual recognizes his need for a particular product/service he tries to
gather as much information as he can.

An individual can acquire information through any of the following sources:

 Personal Sources - He might discuss his need with his friends, family members, co
workers and other acquaintances.
 Commercial sources - Advertisements, sales people (in Tim’s case it was the store
manager), Packaging of a particular product in many cases prompt individuals to buy
the same, Displays (Props, Mannequins etc)
 Public sources - Newspaper, Radio, Magazine
 Experiential sources - Individual’s own experience, prior handling of a particular
product (Tim would definitely purchase a Dell laptop again if he had already used
one).

Step 3 - The next step is to evaluate the various alternatives available in the market. An
individual after gathering relevant information tries to choose the best option available as per
his need, taste and pocket.

Step 4 - After going through all the above stages, customer finally purchases the product.

Step 5 - The purchase of the product is followed by post purchase evaluation. Post purchase
evaluation refers to a customer’s analysis whether the product was useful to him or not,
whether the product fulfilled his need or not?

1.3.3 SEVEN SECRETS.

The seven secrets of successful selling can be summarized as follows:

1. Know your customer

2. Know your product

3. Know the process of production, manufacture and distribution

4. Know your costs

5. Know your competitive edge

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6. Know the communication process

7. Know yourself

Simply put the process of successful marketing stems from sound knowledge, good products,
innovative distribution channels and successful communication processes. Very often
potential customers may be grouped together to form market sectors or segments. It is
important for the marketer to be able to identify how different sectors of the market vary from
each other, and how the different requirements of each sector may be targeted using specific
selling techniques.

1. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

The customer may be an end user, a processor or a manufacturer. The marketer must have an
understanding of the requirements of each end user, processor, and manufacturer and in terms
of:

 Product quality specifications

 Product volume
 Product appearance and finish
 Product supply consistency

Understanding the needs of the customer requires the marketer to develop empathy and trust
for the customers business and I or personal requirements. This has been recently termed,
"relationship marketing. " A marketer with a similar product and an established relationship
with the customer have a distinct competitive advantage.

2. KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

In order to successfully market a product or service, the seller must be able to define the
benefits of the products over those of the opposition's products. Benefits are different to
advantages in that benefits relate to the specific needs of the individual customer, rather than
the strengths of one product over another.

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The seller should also have a comprehensive knowledge of the disadvantages of their
products in particular processing or utilization situations (for example, the use of untreated
pine products in exposed situations as opposed to treated products). The better the marketer
knows and understands the product and its idiosyncrasies, the greater the level of service
afforded to the customer, and the more trust created between the parties.

3. KNOW THE PROCESS

Getting the product to the customer can be one of the more trying exercises for the marketer.
The marketer of farm forestry products should possess some knowledge of the species, site,
silvicultural harvesting techniques, sawing, processes, transportation and distribution required
for the product to get into the hands of the customer. The more information that the marketer
has to assist the customer in the decision making process, the greater the chance of the sale.

4. KNOW YOUR COSTS

Without understanding the fixed and variable costs of production, it is difficult to

successfully plan for profitability and sustainability of production. Consequently the
marketer must place a sufficient margin on the product to cover the costs of all processes and
Labour, whilst remaining competitive in the marketplace. Understanding the costs and
desired profitability level will also allow some flexibility in the marketplace, should a
situation of price warring occur.

5. KNOW YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE

The greater the understanding of the marketing chain and the product, the more likely the
relative strengths may be ascertained. The strengths or competitive advantages commonly
relate to price, product, positioning, perception and process. In the traditionally conservative
timber industry, competitive strengths are achieved through proximity to the resource, ease of
harvesting and processing and proximity to marketplace.

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6. KNOW THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Some customers enjoy regular contact from marketers, whereas other customers prefer to be
in control of the event. It is important for the marketer to understand the preferences of the
customer, to know how often the customer prefers to receive information and through which
media. For example, using current technology, it is possible to sell products using
photographs and text on a website. However, this may only attract business from a certain
sector of the market.

7. KNOW YOURSELF

It is extremely difficult to sell products and services that one doesn't believe in or doesn't
understand. It is also difficult to sell products if one does not believe in oneself! To be a
successful marketer, appraise your own strengths and weak-nesses in order to present the
selling opportunity to your customer in a way that works for you. This will usually occur in a
situation where all parties are comfortable and relaxed, able to understand and relate to each
other's situations and requirements. It's fun, enjoy it.

1.3.4 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND MARKETING STRATEGY

The study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve. Their marketing strategies
by understanding issue such as how

 The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different
alternatives (e.g., brands, products).

 The psychology of how the consumers is influenced by his or her environment (e.g.
culture, family, signs, media).

 The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions.

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 Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence
decisions and marketing outcome.
 How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that differ in
their level of importance of interest that they entail for the consumer.

 Behavior occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a group (e.g., friends’
influence what kinds of clothes a person wears) or an organization (people on the job
make decisions as to which products the firm should use).

 Consumer behavior involves the use and disposal of products as well as the study of how
they are purchased. Product use is often of great interest to the marketer, because this
may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can encourage increased
consumption. Since many environmental problems result from product disposal (e.g.,
motor oil being sent into sewage systems to save the recycling fee, or garbage piling up at
landfills) this is also an area of interest.

 Consumer behavior involves services and ideas as well as tangible products.

 How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing
strategies to more effectively reach the consumer.

Understanding these issues helps us adapt our strategies by taking the consumer into
consideration. For example, by understanding that a number of different messages compete
for our potential customers' attention, we learn that to be effective, advertisements must
usually be repeated extensively. We also learn that consumers will sometimes be persuaded
more by, logical arguments, but at other times will be persuaded more by emotional or
symbolic appeals. By understanding the consumer, we will be able to make a more informed
decision as to which strategy to employ.

One "official” definition of consumer behavior is "The study of individuals, groups, or

organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products,

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services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on
the consumer and society."

1.3.5 FOUR MAIN APPLICATION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:

The most obvious is for marketing strategy-i.e., for making better marketing campaigns. For
example, by understanding that consumers are more receptive to food advertising when they
are hungry, we learn to schedule snack advertisements late in the afternoon. By
understanding that new products are usually initially adopted by a few consumers and only
spread later, and then only gallfly, to the rest of the population, we learn that

(1) companies that introduce new products must be well financed so that they can stay afloat
until their products become a commercial success and

(2) it is important to please initial customers, since they will in turn influence many
subsequent customers’ brand choices.

There are several units in the market that can be analyzed. Our main thrust in this course is
the consumer. However, we will also need to analyze our own firm's strengths and
weaknesses and those of competing firms. To assess a competing firm's potential threat; we
need to examine its assets (e.g., technology, market knowledge, and awareness of its brands)
against pressures it faces from the market. Finally, we need to assess conditions (the
marketing environment). For example, although we may have developed a product that
offers great appeal for consumers, a recession may cut demand dramatically.

At Present we are living in modern era, which draws drastic impact on the consumer
preference towards different products and services. Earlier people were interested in only the
news and major happenings in the world, but now people want many more things from the
newspaper and magazines, information regarding each and every field from education to
business, politicalchanges, lifestyle, health and fitness, horoscope, religion, property, beauty
and so many other things.

The project undertaken is to know the perception and preferences of customers or readers
towards the Times of India.

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Why do they want newspapers so cheap? This is the only commodity which is sold at a price
less than the cost of production. A NEWSPAPER COPY COSTS RS. 19 to THE TIMES OF
INDIA and customer is getting it @Rs.3.50 only.

There is a big competition between different companies. In the essence, they have need of
new ideas, approaches and techniques for attaining a competitive excellence. Many Indian
organizations have started realizing the importance of Marketing management and new
strategy to be adopted during the marketing of the products. They have realized that
continuous is the key to excellence. This requires regular development of their systems,
techniques and people. Most of the companies prefer to have specialized marketing mix for
particular product.

Marketing management is creating a revolution in marketing of products and services

providing to the market and consumers of the organization throughout the world. .

Marketing management is a vital process for attaining organizational goals and getting
competitive advantage. Summer training project goal is to help students become effective
managers in today’s competitive, global environment. The main focus of the project is on the
different marketing processes in the field of marketing of the organization. Emphasis is
given on discovering the challenge of both managing and understanding the relation of
distinct activities of the organization, and how the marketing functions of organization.

Customer influences the decisions of company, because customer is a king of market who
influence the economy.Therefore it is must to know the perception of customer for success of
product.

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 CHAPTER-2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

It was proposed to survey the literature regarding differentiation of the product offerings. In
the event that the consumer finds him or herself in market that displays low level of
differentiation, the consumer might result to purchasing influenced by convience. Like
consumers who displays complex buying behavior consumers with dissonance reducing
behavior were seek to establish personal beliefs regarding the products. These beliefs with
eventually transforms into attitude regarding the product offerings. Some Economist had
done extensive work on this as a whole. There had been certain endeavors that have direct or
indirect bearing on the present study.

Kotler(proposed in year 2014) concluded that the essence of this approach is critical for
organizational success, so that they can have better understanding of their customer’s
behavior. The physical action or behavior of consumer and their buying decision every day
can be measured directly by marketers. For that reason many organizations these days are
spending lot of their resources to research how customer makes their buying decision, what
they buy, how much they buy, when they buy and where they buy.

Keller(proposed in year 2013) had given a qualitative statement that whenever marketer
creates a new name, logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she created a brand. He
recognizes, however, that brands are much more than that. As can be seen, according to these
definitions brands have simple and clear functions as identifier.

Aaker and Joachmisthaler(proposed in year 2011) stated the traditional branding model
where a brand management team was responsible for creating and coordinating the brands
management program. The basic objective was the coordination with the manufacturing and
sales departments in order to solve any problem concerning sales and market share.

Kepferer(proposed in year 2007) mentioned that shift in focus towards brands began when
it was understood that they were something more than mere identifiers.Howard and
Seth(2005) fully ascertained the effects that branding had on the consumer decision making
process. Howard model is used in the process of decision making during purchasing
activities. Its model illustrates that cognitive decision making is the process in which
consumers mentally process information that influences them.

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Howard and Seth(proposed in year 2005) fully ascertained the effects that branding had on
the consumer decision making process. Howard model is used in the process of decision
making during purchasing activities. Its model illustrates that cognitive decision making is
the process in which consumers mentally process information that influences them.

Assael(proposed in year 2004) considered consumers displaying habitual buying behavior

as consumers who did not experience the same sequences the previous two behavioral types.
Instead of basing their decision making process on seeking product information pertaining to
functionality or characteristics, this type of consumer purchase was based on information
gathered passively via. Company’s promotional efforts, by it through the medium of TV,
Radio, or Print Advertising.

Common to this type of consumer , is “brand switching” in order to satisfy there need for
diversification.

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 CHAPTER-3
NEED, OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE
OF THE STUDY

- 42 -
3.1 NEED OF THE STUDY

The project undertaken is to know the perception and preferences of customers or readers
towards Times of India.

 Why do they want newspapers so cheap? And how much a survey regarding products
matters for a company’s growth. . An effective survey can support the performance of
the company. Company cannot make pertinent decision regarding particular problem
until having the effective survey which was done by interacting with readers and
common person. So improvements can be taken with accurate information about the
preference of the customers.

This project also allows us to renew the subscriptions for the customer and also allows us to
book new subscriptions which give us an experience to meet the customers and also to
understand the customer satisfaction level and also to get an effective feedbackfrom the
customer with the help of a market survey which helps in SWOT analysis and how to
compete with competitors like Tribune and increase market share so that overall development
and sales of Times of India can be increased.

3.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Main objective of research study was to study the consumer behavior towards newspaper-
Times of India on the basis of the product features and schemes of the English newspaper.

1. To Study consumer behavior towards daily newspaper.

2. To find out expectation of readers in current scenario.

3.To find out the factor influencing brand loyalty.

4. Marketing of the newspapers and magazines so that more and more customers should
subscribe the newspapers and magazines i.e. to sell the subscriptions of the magazines.

3.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

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The scope of the study was limited to Chandigarhto study Consumer Behavior towards
Times of India, and the study was conducted in year 2015 (from 1st June to 15th July) which
included:-

Corporate calling: Each and every type of corporate call like bank call, schools, private
offices and shops.

Field visits: Visiting dealers and distributors.

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 CHAPTER-4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

- 45 -
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The process used to collect information and data for the purpose
of making business decisions. The methodology may
include publication research, interviews, surveys and other research techniques, and could
include both present and historical information.

Research is thus an original contribution to an existing stock of knowledge making for its
advancement. It involves systematic collection, analysis and reporting of data and finding
relevant solution to a specific problem.

4.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The Research design was descriptive in nature because it is used to obtain information
concerning the current status of depository system in the company so that to describe “what
exists” with respect to conditions in a situation.

Descriptive Research

It includes surveys, facts, findings and inquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of the
descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. Descriptive
Research is that kind of research where the researcher has no control over the variables.
Reporter can only report what has happened or what is going to happen. But these incidents
cannot be changed by the researcher. This research was descriptive because it would just
study the general attitude of people towards daily newspaper without having any control over
it.

4.2 SAMPLING DESIGN

The following factors were decided within the scope of sample design:

4.2.1 UNIVERSE OF THE STUDY

Universe of the study means the area or the limits of the study in which it is to be conducted.
Universe is divide into three categories theoretical universe and accessible universe and target
population.

Theoretical Universe that part of total population which fulfills our conditions which
included youngsters, middle age and old age persons all over the world.

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Accessible Universe means that part of the population which is within our reach which
included

youngsters, middle age and old age persons in India.

Target Population means that part of the accessible universe who actually answer the query
which included selected youngsters, middle age and old age persons in Chandigarh.

4.2.2 SAMPLE UNIT:

Sample unit indicates who is to be surveyed. The researcher must define the sample unit that
was sampled. In this study sampling unit was youngsters, middle age, and older persons of
Chandigarh to be selected according to the convinence and own judgement of our team head
Mr. Ankur Khanna(Assistant Marketing Manager Times of India).

4.2.3 SAMPLE SIZE:

A sample of minimum respondents was selected from the different areas of Chandigarh. An
effort was made to select the respondents evenly. The survey was carried out on 300
respondents.

4.2.4 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:

For the purpose of research convience sampling technique and judgemental sampling
technique would be used. On the basis of convenience and own judgemental eligible
respondents were selected from the different areas of Chandigarh.

4.3 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

4.3.1 DATA COLLECTION

There were two types of data sources used in project:

i) Primary Data

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It includes information collected afresh and the first time, and thus happen to be original in
character. It is the backbone of any study. It was obtained through questionnaire from
respondents as given below:-

Corporate calling: Every type of corporate call like bank call, schools, private offices and
shops.

Residential calling: Door to door selling was done in this type of strategy. Most of the posh
areas were covered under this.

Field visits: Visiting dealers and distributors.

ii) Secondary Data

It is the data which have already been collected by someone else and which have already
been passed through the statistical process. In this case one is not confronted with the
problems that are usually associated with the collection of original data. Secondary data is
either published or unpublished. In this case it has been collected from website of “TOI”, old
articles, projects, books.

PROCEDURE USED FOR GETTING PRIMARY DATA:-

1.Company assigned me the areas for daily visit.

Everyday in the morning , there is one meeting point we all are there at 7:30AM , and our
mentor should provides the area ,which we have cover in the Kharar, Mohali (Chandigarh).
The Areas were:-

01 June To 05 June :- Shivjot Enclave Kharar

06 June TO 10 June :-Sector 125 ,Gillco Valley

11 June To 15 June :-Old Sunny Enclave

16 June To 20 June:-New Sunny Enclave

21 June To 24 June :- Garden Colony Kharar

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 25 July To 28 June :-Shivalik Avenue

29 June To 03 July:-Dashmesh Nagar Kharar

4 July to 5 July :- Modern Valley Kharar

6 July To 8 July:-Darpan City Kharar

9 July To 10 July:- Ranjeet Nagar Kharar

11 July To 12 July:- Gulmohar Complex

13 July to 15 July:-Randhawa Road Kharar

As per the guidelines of mentor area was covered as per the plan, but some more extra
efforts were done by visiting places like:-

Schools

Industrial Area Phase 1, Chandigarh

Industrial Area Mohali

Saloons

Shops

District High Court Chandigarh

So from these places bulk order for magazines and newspapers were obtained.

2.Approached to area assigned and interact with concerned person

3.Take the feedback of the customers about the newspaper they are already reading.

4.Making daily report of the competitor’s strength and weaknesses.

5.Note down the complaints and views of the customers

6.Find the actual need of customer regarding MAGAZINES and NEWSPAPER

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7.After realization of need presentation was done in front of customer regarding the
magazine and newspaper

8.Made customer aware about the subscription scheme of magazines, way of payment
and distribution process

THE TIMES OF INDIA (12 MONTHS SCHEME)

PERIODICITY: Daily

COVER PRICE : Rs.4.50 on weekdays and Rs.5 On Saturday and Sunday

12 MONTHS RATE: RS 365/-

DURATION: 12 months

And All The Magazines Of Times Group were available at 50% Discount.

ASSURED GIFT: 50% off on cover price, discount coupons availed at various outlets
around worth Rs 3000 and Rs 500 worth advertising coupons. Coupons were provided on
the subscription of newspaper as well as magazines.

9.Fill the subscription receipt after selection of magazine or newspaper by customer

and receive the payment through cheque in case of newspaper while booking the
order and cash as well as cheque was accepeted in case of Magazine. For example if
customer go for subscription of TOI Newspaper the following receipt was filled:-

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=Figure 4.3.1(1) Billing Receipt of Times of India

10.At closing of subscription process wish to subscriber and make him believe that you
bought trustful product which would be best for you and sure them about quick
distribution of magazine and newspaper.

4.3.2 TOOLS OF PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.3.2(1) TOOLS OF ANALYSIS

In the given research tools for analysis percentages and summated scores have been used.

4.3.2(2) TOOLS OF PRESENTATION

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It means all the tools used to present the data in a meaningful way so that it becomes easily
understandable. In this research data was represented by figures and charts. Bar graphs and
Pie charts were used to present the data.

4.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The field work for the purpose of research was limited to some part of the Chandigarh
city only. Therefore, it may not represent the overall consumers perceptions as
consumers perceptions may vary from place to place due to demographic factors.
 The research was carried out in a short period. Therefore, the sample size and the
parameters were selected accordingly so as to finish the work within the given time
frame.
 Some of the respondents were unable to answer due to lack of knowledge. For
example, in Dashmesh Nagar most of the peoples were unable to answer the questions
due to lack of knowledge.

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CHAPTER-5
DATA ANALYSIS

AND

INTERPRETATION

- 53 -
+-DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Q.1. What is your favourite source of news and information?

Analysis and interpretation

Maximum of Chandigarh people read newspaper daily. 40% people preferred newspaper to
read news on daily basis. 30% of in Chandigarh region used internet as a medium to get daily
news. Because they are unable to read newspaper due to there work pressure or job timings.
20% of the people are using television and rest 10% are using magazines.

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Q.2. Your favourite news channel?

Analysis and interpretation

In this interpretation we can see that 28% of people view Aajtak as a news channel. 18% of
people view TimesNow and other news channels having common standout of 9%. People
influenced towards AajTak news channel because it is a hindi news channel and way of
presenting the news is more attractive than the other news channels.

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Q.3. Your favourite internet news website?

Analysis and Interpretation

In this interpretation we can find out TOI and NDTV news websites having competition.
They both have common percentage of users that is 30% and other websites having common
majority of 20%. TOI comes into the competition due to there marketing strategies and
continuous appearance on social media platforms.

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Q.4. Your favourite news paper?

Analysis and Interpretation

Maximum number of people in Chandigarh region prefer to read The Tribune with 28%. 14%
of people read Hindustan Times and 14% read The Times of India. So The Times Of India is
at no. 3rd after Hindustan Times. People prefer The Tribune because there font size is bigger
than others and the language is easy to understand.

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Q.5. Which English newspaper do you currently subscribe to at your home?

Analysis and Interpretation

Majority of people subscribe The Tribune at there homes with 40%. After that 30% subscribe
Hindustan Times and 20% subscribe The Times of India at there homes. Others are with
10%. More people subscribe The Tribune at there homes because it has more coverage of
local and regional news and the language is easy to understand.

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Q.6. According to you, which section listed below is the most important section of the
newspaper?

Analysis and Interpretation

According to the study 24% of people gives there response that regional news section is listed below
in the newspaper. And 16% of people are with business and local news. 7% of people give there
views towards the sports and international news. 6% of people give there responses that political
news section is listed below in the newspaper.

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Q.7. Which binds you more to your current newspaper?

Analysis and Interpretation

In this interpretation we can see 30% of people binds towards there newspaper because of
pagination. 20% gives there responses with habit and news content. And 10% are with
pricing, suppliments and authenticity. So we can find that more of the people are influencing
towards newspaper due to pagination, habit and news content.

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Q.8. Is your newspaper on monthly billing or annual subscription?

Analysis and Interpretation

Here we can see majority of people that is 49% are subscribe newspaper with monthly
billing. 41% are subscribe with annual subscription and 10% are using other payment
methods. So here we can find out that people like to pay monthly bills of newspaper as
compared to annual subscription.

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Q.9. Would you be interested in trying other newspaper options with attractive
subscription offer?

Analysis and Interpretation

In this we can see that majority of people that is 59% are interested in trying other newspaper
option with interesting offer and 41% deny the option. Sop we can find out that people are
price conscious and interested to trying other newspaper with less price or gift bouchers.

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 CHAPTER-6
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

- 63 -
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

 Maximum no of Chandigarh people read a newspaper daily. They give a time

approximately 20-30 minutes daily . So 70% people read newspapers on daily basis.

 Maximum number of people in Chandigarh region prefers to read Tribune because of

its more coverage on regional news and bigger fonts than other newspapers.

After Tribune, Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi Newspaper) is on the second position and
among first in Hindi Newspapers. Times of India is at the 3th position after Hindustan
Times.
 Most of the people likes the way of presentation in their newspaper. 88% people said
they like the language of their newspapers in this maximum people are Tribune and
Dainik Bhaskar readers, they like language of their newspaper and rest of the people
are impressed by the contents or matter provided in their newspaper in this maximum
people are Tribune, Times of India, or Hindustan Times reader.
 Generally people read newspaper for regional, national and international news 76.6
percent of the people read only national and international news while some are
interested in sports, business, editorial and some other columns like horoscope, travel,
health and fitness, religion etc.
For education mostly people reads Times of India, for business they prefer economic
times which is also Bennet & Coleman publication.
 More than half of the people in the survey go through the additional supplements
provided in the newspaper and rest of them doesn’t like to read additional
supplements.
Times of India’s most popular supplement is Education Times regarding education of
the students and Times Ascent regarding jobs available in the market.
Hindustan Times popular supplement is Brunch regarding fashion, cinema, lifestyle.
Tribune’s popular supplement is Spectrum and Lifestyle.
 Most of the people are satisfied with the education column in their newspaper while
23.6 percent of the people are not satisfied and rest of the people doesn’t go through
education column, people who are satisfied with education column are Times of India,
Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar and Tribune readers and people who are not
satisfied are mostly Amar Ujala and Punjab Kesari readers.

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 Maximum number of people doesn’t go through business column in their newspaper,
Mostly business man and the students for their general knowledge go through this
column and 25 percent of the total people in the survey are satisfied with the business
information provided in their newspaper. Mostly people prefer economic times for
business queries.
 A large number of people from the survey doesn’t read classified section.
33.3 percent of the people are satisfied with the classified section it mostly includes
Tribune, Times of India, Hindustan Times reader.
Rest of the people are not satisfied with the classified section it includes Dainik
Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Punjab Kesari reader.

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CHAPTER-7
CONCLUSION

AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

- 66 -
CONCLUSION

Working in field was very enriching experience and gave good exposure.It was a golden
opportunity to apply knowledge and learning gained from classroom lectures in practical
business environment. The SIP program helped in gaining knowledge and developing the
confidence level to work. It helped in knowing about the behavior of human being, which
fluctuates in different situations and time.

The project provided an excellent opportunity to apply marketing concepts in real time
situation. Conducting survey and booking the orders were the two areas where we were given
opportunity to work for. Both the areas involved required a lot of creativity and out of the box
thinking.

The people in Chandigarh still preferring printed contents despite of technology adaption. In
posh areas people prefer English Newspapers. But maximum areas still prefer to read a Hindi
newspaper. There are some people who are aware about it but they are not aware about the
subscription schemes. They were interested in subscribing. When they came to know about
the schemes, they immediately bought subscriptions. But still there are some areas where
awareness about TOI is very low.

Market Research is the most crucial activity in the field of marketing to assess the consumer
behavior towards any company or brand. How far does the psychology of the consumer
effects the performance of any product was practically witnessed. Best level has been tried by
me to present all the facts correctly but as marketing research is not a true science hence
certain degree of alterations are possible in the research report.

TOI is not able to provide accurate service to all customers. There are some other reasons
also, but if TOI works on improving services of delivery or customer relationship or
improving the quality of responding towards the customers’ problems with better solutions,
than obviously no reader will leave TOI. In short, to maintain its market leader position
Times of India need to come out with innovative promotional plan. This will also help in
attracting more and more customers.

RECOMMENDATIONS

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1. Improvement of Services:

The first and foremost recommendation that can be suggested from the findings of the
research is the improvement in services.

2.A better distribution channel:

I would also like to recommend that by implementing a better distribution channel, TOI can
increase its market share.

3.Appointment of new staff:

TOI can also improve their services by appointing new staff as ‘Customer care Executive’ by
giving well training so that they will be able to respond the customers well who have
problems.

4.Regional News:

As regional news is comparatively less than other newspapers. Therefore, it should increase
regional news if it have to pass Tribune as it is the biggest lacking area.

5.Quality Of Newspaper:

Fonts used is smaller than other newspapers was the main complaint by older peoples
mostly.Therefore it needs to improve font size.

6.Advertisement

Many people complaint that it includes large number of advertisements as compared to news.
Students said that the advertisements of competitive exams does not come in the Times of
India.

7.Promotional Schemes:

Promotional schemes offered to the consumers helped in increasing sales of Times of India.

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Finally looking at the acceptance of promotional scheme of the Times of India conclude that
the scheme offered was mostly liked by the readers and ultimately most of them were
subscribing to it. Therefore, it should come up with more and more innovative ideas like
more promotional schemes to increase its sale.

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REFERENCES

- 70 -
REFERENCES:-

1. Ali S., .“A Study of Consumer Behavior& Loyalty In Print Media – Challenges &
strategic prescriptions with Special reference to English, Hindi, Marathi News Paper
readers-Mumbai”.ABHINAV. 1 (4), pp.64-70
2. Times Group. About us. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.timesgroup.com/bccl/about-
us.html.
3. Vital Business Media . Go East, young journalist: India publishing market is hot.
[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.emediavitals.com/content/go-east-youngjournalist-
india-publishing-market-hot.

4. http://www.scribd.com/doc/19317077/consumer-behavior-towards-times-of-india-news-
paper#scribd
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pag/

6. http://www.indiannewspapersociety.org/history1.htm

7. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
8. https://rni.nic.in/

9. Keller(2013), “History of print media”, Retrieved 3rd January 2012

10. Gupta (2011), “History of Times of India” Retrieved 3rd January 2012
11. Beri, G.C. - Marketing 2006 Publication, Chapter 1-5.
12. Kotler Philip - Marketing Management, Tenth Edition , Publisher Prentice Hall, Chapter
1-10.

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ANNEXURE

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 QUESTIONNAIRE

INancy student of BBA at University School Of Business, Chandigarh University,

Gharuan , Mohali conducting a survey on “Consumer Behavior Towards the Daily
Newspaper and Magazines” as a part of my curriculum. Kindly help me to gather the
information by sparing your 5-10 minutes for fulfilling the questionnaire. I assure you that
information will be kept confidential. I will be very thankful to you.

Name……………………………………………………………….Age……………………….
.....

Address……………………………………………………………Email……………………

Phone No…………………………………………………………..

Please (  the option given in the answers which are most suitable to you. You can answer
more than one option if required).

Q.1 What is your favorite source of news and information?

a) Television

b) Internet

c) Newspaper

d) Magazines

Q.2 Your favorite news channel?

a) Times Now

b) Headlines Today

c) NDTV 24X7

d) CNN IBN

e) Aaj Tak

f) India TV

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g) ABP News

h) Others

Q.3 Your favoriteinternet news website ?

a) TOI

b) NDTV

c) InToday.com

d) Others

Q.4 Your favorite newspaper?

a) The Times Of India

b) Hindustan Times

c) The Tribune

d) Punjab Kesri

e) Amar Ujala

f) Dainik Bhaskar

g) Economic Times

h) Business Standard

i) Financial Express

j) Others

Q.5Which English newspapers do you currently subscribe to at your home?

a) The Times Of India

b) Hindustan Times

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c) The Tribune

d) Others

Q.6 According to you, which section listed below is the most important section in the
newspaper?

a) Political news

b) Regional news

c) National news

d) Business

e) Sports

f) International

g) Editorial

h) Local news

i) Entertainment

Q.7 What binds you most to your current newspaper?

a) Habit

b) News content

c) Authenticity

d) Pagination

e) Supplements

f) Pricing

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Q.8 Is your newspaper on monthly billing or annual subscription?

a) Monthly Billing

b) Annual Subscription

c) Others

Q.9 Would you be interested in trying other newspaper options with attractive
subscription offer?

a) Yes

b) No

Date:……
Signature:…………..

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