CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

For over the decennary, it is universally accepted and welcomed truth is

women are great decision-makers and influencers in the family purchase decision
making. There is a common phrase in the marketing concept is “the customer is the
king”. In the same way, the women customers are the king when it comes to
purchasing consumer durables for their families. Women are considered multi-tasker
because they in and around the house and society does all the work. The preferences
and desires of each member of the family differ. Women who are the primal member
of the family try to recognize the desires of the members and makes the decision.

In the event of purchasing consumer durables, the discussion within the family
may give the best output of what to purchase? How much to purchase? Which brand
to purchase? They face a lot of dilemma at the time of deciding on a product. Hence,
decision making is the process of identifying the need in the family, jointly Collects
information, assessing the list of alternatives, and making the purchase decision.
Marketers are well known that female consumers are different from male consumers.
The Durable products are provided according to the consumption pattern and behavior
of each consumer, especially in consumer appliances or white goods. These usages of
white goods are frequent among women consumers because they are the ultimate
users.

This study of women in family purchase decisions towards durables provides

an understanding and the importance of women, their purchase decision making
styles, perception towards consumer durables, their roles in family and satisfaction to
words the durable products.

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1.2 WOMEN CONSUMERS

Women are the most powerful consumers in the universe and are a unique
resource for our nation and family. They control 80% of household spending. Their
achievements in various fields proved the capabilities of women in all spheres of life.
As far as their talent, abilities and capacities are concerned, they are not lower than
men and they have proven their mettle on personal, social and professional fronts. The
role of women in society and their effects has been changed. Women are biological
and neurological when purchasing the products. Women plan their spending,
according to the economic condition of their family. They try to purchase the products
which have a good brand reputation and are unique which suits to their standard of
living. This behavior of the women consumers makes them sustain their initiative flag
among the family members. Ultimately, women know the expectation of their family
members

Tremendous growth has taken place concerning the role of women in family
decision making. The women consumer decision making process involves a chain of
related and subsequent stages of activities. The process begins with problem
recognition followed by information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase
decision and post-purchase behavior. A consumer may or may not follow all five
stages when triggered by an intense or immediate need and may skip some. All over
the world, it is primarily women who are engaged in and manage household activities.
Most of the marketers know that women are unique, but women think differently from
men because there is a behavioral variation between the brains of men and women.

1.3 ROLE OF FAMILY IN THE PURCHASE DECISION

In the existence of human society and family is a group of people or people

related to the particular relationship. Generally, a family is created by marriage or
other relationships. The family consists of parents, children, Grandparents, etc.
Family is of two types, namely, nuclear family and joint family. The nuclear family
consists of four members, whereas the joint family has more than four members
living. Family plays a vital role in the decision making process. However, there are
only fewer members who participate in the decision of the family. Hence, it is

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important to study the attitude and perception of the family towards a purchase
decision.

Generally, parents in the family will be involved in the discussion regarding a

purchase decision. If it is the kitchen items that are used by the mother she will be
deciding, and if it is other than cooking items father will be deciding. But as of now,
due to the tremendous improvement in the technology, the son and daughter are
included while deciding about the product or in the decision making process. Children
in the family may give a piece of information that is updated with the current trend as
this might be useful to the parents to choose the correct product to purchase. While
purchasing for the family, they may keep their monthly income in the mind and
involves in the discussion. Regular discussion in the family helps in a good outcome
decision. It is observed that Teenagers and post-teenagers are given more
responsibility in a purchase decision. Perhaps, Mothers in the family are highly
influenced by the children of the family. The study shows that the working women in
the family have to make her decision on the purchase etc. In case of purchasing very
luxurious items like cars, gold, etc. Men and women, i.e. both father and mother in the
family decide which is best that suits them according to their economic condition of
the family.

When it comes to family, special attention is given by women to satisfy the

needs and wants of the family as a whole. Family plays an important role in purchase
decisions as it is a natural bonding unit in society. A family is a primary group
characterized by intimate and face to face interaction and also a reference group with
members referring to certain family values, norms, and standards in their behavior.
The joint decision takes place among family members when there is a need for
purchasing a durable product.

1.4 WOMEN BUYING BEHAVIOR

When the women identify the need, the first step towards purchasing is an
information search. They want the product that meets their demands and is easy and
reliable. Women start with a generalized sense of need and then continue to evaluate
alternatives. Women will load themselves with sufficient information about a product

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or service through the internet, advertising, reviews and also will get information from
other people’s experiences by asking the people around them. They try to get detailed
information about other people and attributes like the opinion of her mates, the
reputation of a company, the environment of the store, the price of a product/service,
etc.

After searching for the information women consumers try to evaluate the
alternatives. If a woman decides to purchase a T.V for her family, then, she tries to
find the various alternatives that whether this T.V suits her family or maybe some
other brand, etc. She will be thinking of selecting the best one out of the listed
alternatives. Once a woman is sure that she had gathered enough sources of
information and evaluation of alternatives, she makes her decision. But this buying
behavior of a woman does not end up with the purchase. Sharing the review of the
product plays a major part in post-purchase behavior. She might share her experience
with her friends, family members, relatives, neighbors, etc. if she is satisfied with the
purchase.

1.5 DURABLE PRODUCTS

Durable products are a category of consumer products that do not need to be

purchased frequently because they are made to last for a long time. They are also
called consumer durables or durables. During the last two decades, the Indian
consumer durables industry has observed substantial developments. Changing
lifestyle, higher disposable income joined with greater affordability and an increase in
advertising have been instrumental in bringing about a change in the consumer
behavior pattern. An increase in disposable income is supported by an increase in the
number of dual-income nuclear families. Steady income gains, consumer financing,
and hire-purchase schemes have become a major driver in the Indian consumer
durables industry. Increasing the role of women in family decision making will also
be a great step towards ensuring women, their rights and therefore improving their
position in the family.

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1.6 CONSUMER DURABLE INDUSTRY

India has a majority of the middle-class population where all the families have
durables in their home for their convenient which is one of the reasons for the rapid
economic growth, which has made the country's consumer durable industry highly
dynamic. Due to the improved financial condition of the people, the consumer durable
industry in India has seen a great demand and the people also expect the durables to
be innovative and they show interest in purchasing the durable.

India has gone through a massive change that was initiated through
liberalization. Before liberalization policies, the Indian durable industry was a closed
one, which was dominated domestically. But as of now, many foreign marketers have
knocked on the Indian doors this resulted in competition between international and
domestic durable products. People are ready to purchase durable products which
avoid the difficulties to them.

1.7 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

For the time being, women mentally and physically became equally powerful
contemporary with that of men. The women involve themselves in the family bond.
Unless the woman, no other person can bind the family into one. They participate in
all the activity that takes place within the family and participates in the purchase
decision because they are the ultimate person who is going to use the majority of the
durable products. They are aware of the durables which are available in the market
and have knowledge regarding the products.

Women are firmly bound with the household and family. Decision-making is
an important factor that determines the independent position of women in the family.
Many researchers In their research work had found that women in the family step
backward to take the sole decision regarding purchasing durables and also she is
influenced by her husband and children. Still, there is a gender bias prevailing in the
society which affects the women to decide independently. But women ignore all
negativity which affects her and she is more conscious about the lifestyle of her
family.

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 In the study, the researcher has tried to analyze the existing purchase pattern,
decision making styles of women consumers in selecting durable products. Many
works of the literature show that consumers have various decision-making styles in
which the researcher can easily find in which aspect the consumers are not satisfied.
Hence the researcher in this study adopted different decision-making styles to
understand women consumers in depth. The Satisfaction level of consumers is
important to marketers. So the satisfaction level of women consumers is determined
by the researcher. It has been discovered in various studies that women’s participation
in the family decision making is improving and the purchase pattern of women
consumers has been tremendously changing throughout the decades. The present
work intends to examine the role of women in family purchase decisions concerning
durables. In other words, the purpose of this study is to explore how far women can
analyze and decide independently the purchase of durables in the family.

1.8 NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

Consumers are the bottom line of any business. The woman in modern times is
entering into certain new fields that were unknown to the woman's sphere of role sets.
They are dynamically participating in social, economic, and political activities.
Understanding the women's consumer behavior and how they make the decision is
vital to any organization or enterprise. Similarly, how women consumers decide on
purchasing any type of durable products, from where they want to buy when they buy,
is important to understand.

Women's decision making in durables involves the selection of a product

among the number of alternatives to arrive at the best product. Customer satisfaction
plays a crucial role in the field of marketing. Generally, women consumers give
importance to their fashionable lifestyle. They search for unique designs and models
when purchasing to their families. They expect a positive response from the family
members when they are satisfied with the product. They purchase from the market or
dealers and they try to recommend the product to their colleagues, friends, and
relatives. Satisfaction is not only regarding purchasing products but also post-
purchase behavior is important.

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 The present study aims at understanding women's participation in the family
purchase decision, purchase pattern styles and satisfaction level of women consumers.
This will help marketers and organizations to understand the women consumers
purchasing styles. It shows how women consumers decide to purchase products and
highlights the activities that occur before, during, and after the purchase of the
product. Organizations and companies can be benefited by developing suitable
strategies and choosing the right model to ensure their market stability in the durable
industry. This helps in understanding the basic decision making approaches of people
for buying durables.

1.9 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are:

1) To study the complete demographic profile of women consumers in Chennai

city.

2) To analyze the existing purchase pattern of durable products of women

consumers in the study area.

3) To measure and validate the factors of decision-making styles of women

consumers.

4) To determine the level of satisfaction of women consumers after the purchase

of durable products.

5) To estimate the impact of purchase decision making styles of women

consumers and their level of satisfaction after purchase.

6) To find the influence of demographic variables and purchase patterns on

purchase decision making styles and level of satisfaction of women
consumers.

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1.10 HYPOTHESIS FRAMED FOR THE STUDY

Hypotheses for the proposed study are:

1) H0: There is no significant influence of demographic variables on women

consumers decision making styles.

2) H0: There is no significant influence of demographic variables on women

customer satisfaction.

3) H0: There is no significant difference among the factors of the decision-

making styles of women consumers.

4) H0: There is no significant impact of purchase decision styles of women

consumers on their satisfaction level.

1.11 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Research methodology is a cautious investigation of the gathering of

information and data to give a solution to a problem. The methodology consists of
problem identification, searching for the literature, defining objectives, formulating a
hypothesis, collection and analysis of data and finally gives a suitable report a
conclusion to a particular problem. This is a systematic way that is followed for any
research done. The study is done in the form of both primary and secondary data. The
primary data was collected through structured questionnaires and the secondary data
were gathered from books, articles, journals, periodicals, newspapers, magazines, and
the Internet, etc.

a) Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire is arranged in such a way to experiment with the role of

women in family purchase decision making concerning durables. The questionnaire
was developed using the original items from the Sproles and Kendall Consumer
Styles Inventory (1986). The research consists of optional types, bipolar types, and
Likert (1932) five-point scale types. The questionnaire is segmented into five parts,

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namely demographic variables, purchase patterns, purchase decision styles, post-
purchase factors, and point of the purchase decision. The first part is completely
aimed at ascertaining the demographic details of durable women customers. This part
consists of 8 questions with the following segmentation.

Table 1.1 Demographic Details of Women Consumers

S.No Demographic variables Options

1 Age <25 years, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, Above 55
2 Marital status Married, Unmarried
3 Type of family Nuclear family, Joint family
4 Educational Qualification Up to school level, U.G, P.G/Professional
5 Occupation Housewife, student, Govt. employee, Private
sector employee, self-employed business,
Professionals, Own business
6 Monthly income < Rs. 20,000, Rs.20,001-30,000, Rs. 30,001-
40,000, Above Rs. 40,000
7 No of children 0, 1, 2 ,3, 4
8 No of dependents 0, 1, 2 ,3, 4

Similarly, the second part consists of 17 questions where 10 questions with

yes or no type dealing with options like opinions on purchasing the product,
participate regularly in the discussion, final decision taker, conscious about economic
conditions, information of the product is important, travel far to make the purchase,
interest in buying green durable products, aware of the risk, inquire and compare
prices of other brands, brand name influences purchase decision.

The other 7 questions are categorized under the following segmentation.

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 Table 1.2 Purchase Pattern Details of Women Consumers

S.No Purchase pattern Options

1 Mode of Purchase Cash, credit, installment, discount sale
2 Place of purchase Showrooms, dealers, malls, internet, exhibitions
3 Sources of Newspaper, T.V, internet, radio, family members,
information friends/relatives.
4 Frequency of Less than 2 times, 2-5 times, 6-10 times, more than
shopping 10 times
5 Shopping experience Less than 10 years, 10-20 years, Above 20 years
6 Time spend to < 1 hour, 1-2 hours, 3-4hours, above 4 hours
purchase
7 Factors considered Price, durability, brand image, style, and design,
before making a features, technology, after-sale service, environment-
buying decision friendly product, reference group.

The third category is aimed at ascertaining the purchase decision styles of

women customers. It is composed of a statement in Likert’s five-point scale which is
segmented below.

Table 1.3 Details of Purchase Decision Styles of Women Consumers

S.No Dimensions No.of. Variables

1 Participation 5
2 Product awareness 5
3 Lifestyle 5
4 Product need 5
5 Quality consciousness 5
6 Brand consciousness 5
7 Fashion consciousness 5
8 Recreational and Shopping 5
9 Price consciousness 5
10 Impulsive or careless 5
11 Confused by over choice 5

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 The fourth category is focused to ascertain the post-purchase behavior of
women customers. It is composed of a statement in Likert’s five-point scale which is
segmented below.

Table 1.4 Post-Purchase Behavior Details of Women Consumers

S.No Post-purchase behavior No.of. Variables

1 After-sale service 6
2 Customer satisfaction 5

Finally, the fifth part consists of 12 questions that are focused to find the point
of purchase decision of women customers. It is composed of a statement in Likert’s
five-point scale dealing with statement like immediate decisions after discussions with
family members, price of the product affects, the quality accelerates decision making,
family needs are being satisfied, family member is happy about purchase, family
members visit the shops at the point of purchase, specifically prefer a payment
system, check product features comparing with advertisement information, seek
discounts and offers from the dealers, inquire about after-sales service, transportation
of products must be taken care of dealers themselves and check the product utility and
operations at the time of purchase.

b) Scaling Techniques

To measure the purchase pattern and styles of women consumers concerning

durables, the psychological responses from women consumers is obtained by a Likert
five-point scale which is arranged as below.

1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3. Neutral 4. Agree 5. Strongly Agree

c) Pilot Study

A pilot study was conducted by the researcher to make sure of the validity of
the questionnaire and to confirm the feasibility of the study. The pilot study was
administered with a sample of 100 respondents. The statements included in the

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questionnaire were subjected to the reliability test using Cronbach’s Alpha Criterion.
The Cronbach Alpha value for all the 5 point scale is found to be 0.822 which is
above the benchmark of 0.75. The reliability of the scale estimated by Cronbach’s
Alpha was considered as adequate reliability. From the experience gained, the
questionnaire was altered suitably for the final study.

d) Sample Size

The Researcher used a convenience sampling method to collect the responses

from the women consumers of Chennai city. The researcher visited all the 15 zones of
Chennai city and circulated the questionnaires in each zone. It arrives at a total of 750
responses. After scrutinizing the questionnaires, the researcher identified that the
consumers returned only 622 responses and 55 of them are found to be incomplete.
Therefore, the researcher used 567 perfect responses to the research work.

The following table gives details of the sample selection process.

Table 1.5 Zones of Chennai city

S.No Zones Circulated Returned Rejected Used

1 Thiruvotriyur 50 46 2 44
2 Manali 55 48 3 45
3 Madhavaram 55 50 4 46
4 Tondiarpet 55 43 3 40
5 Royapuram 50 40 2 38
6 Thiru-vi-ka-Nagar 60 51 4 47
7 Ambattur 50 47 6 41
8 Anna Nagar 55 44 8 36
9 Teynampet 45 38 3 35
10 Kodambakkam 45 35 7 28
11 Valasaravakkam 50 30 - 30
12 Alandur 40 33 3 30
13 Adyar 45 36 4 32
14 Perungudi 45 40 4 36
15 Sozhanganallur 50 41 2 39
Total 750 622 55 567

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e) Sampling Techniques

The study was conducted by the researcher in the metropolitan city of

Chennai, which has a huge spread and unknown population of family purchase
decision making of women consumers. Because of the huge population of the women
consumers, the researcher took the convenience sampling method with a
rationalization approach of sampling measurement is adopted. The Chennai city is
subdivided into five zones with a different dimension of family purchase decision
making of women consumers.

1.12 STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED IN THE STUDY

For the study, the researcher adopted SPSS (which is briefly known as a
statistical package for the social sciences) software for the data analysis and with the
help of SPSS many tools were employed in the study they are:

a. Simple Percentage Analysis

Simple percentage analysis is the method of representing the raw data as a

percentage for a better understanding. This tool was used to analyze the demographic
factors in the study.

b. T-test

It is a statistical tool used to determine whether there is a significant difference

between the means of two groups. The test used in the research work to analyze
women customer perceptions of their purchase decision making Styles.

c. K – refers to the Cluster Analysis

Cluster means group, cluster analysis is the technique used to grouping Data
or grouping a set of data where the groups are more similar to each other. This tool is
used in the study to analyze the frequency of the cluster and to categorize the women
consumers into 3 groups namely, Superlative woman consumers, Conservative
women consumers and refined women consumers.

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d. Chi-Square

Chi-square is used to determine the relationship between variable were to

know the association between Expected frequency and observed frequency in one or
more categories. The researcher used chi-square to analyze the association between
women consumer behavior and their demographic background.

e. ANOVA

ANOVA is the abbreviation of a One-way analysis of variance where this is

the method used to test the differences between two or more mean. The researcher
adopted ANOVA To know the perception of women consumers on their satisfaction
level in other words to identify the influence of demographic variables on purchase
decision making styles of women consumers and their satisfaction.

f. Regression

It is the technique that allows the researcher to examine the relationship

between two or more variables and analyze the influence of one or more independent
variables on a dependent variable. The study used regression analysis to examine the
influence of women in decision making Styles on customer satisfaction.

1.13 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 Only the women consumers are taken into consideration for the study and this
may form a limitation accounting for biases on the part of the researcher.

 Sometimes due to the short time available, people tend to complete the job on
their hands and did not care much about the information they share.

 Data collected through questionnaires represent the perception of the

consumers at the time of collection.

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 The study is conducted in the metropolitan city of Chennai. Hence, it has
limitations on the geographical base. If the same study is conducted in another
metro city or urban, semi-urban and rural areas, the result might be different.

1.14 CHAPTERISATION

Chapter I - Introduction: This chapter gives an introduction to the overall study and
explains about women consumers, Role of family in the purchase decision, Women
buying behavior, Durable products, Consumer durable Industry, Statement of the
problem, Need and importance of the study, Objectives of the study, Hypothesis
framed, Research methodology, Statistical techniques used in the study, Limitations
of the study.

Chapter II – Review of Literature: This chapter explains on uses of literature

review in the research process, classification of literatures and also gives the summary
of the literature reviewed.

Chapter III - Conceptual Framework: This chapter explains about the consumer
behavior definition, influencing factors of buyer behavior, methods of buying decision
process, decision-making process, types of decision making and levels of
involvement, family decision-making, role of family consumption, spousal role and
purchase decision, strategies for resolving family discussion conflicts, role of children
in a purchase decision, customer satisfaction, post-purchase behavior in the consumer
buying process, a view on consumer durable industries in India, factors influencing
consumer durable industry in India, list of consumer durable companies in India,
purchase decision styles taken into the study

Chapter IV - Factors of Family Purchase Decision-An Analysis: This chapter

explains about the percentage analysis on demographic details, Women customer
perception on their purchase decision styles, Perceptual difference among women
consumers of durable products, Association between women consumers behavior and
their demographic background.

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Chapter V - Influence of Demographic Variables on Family Purchase Decisions
of Women- An Analysis: This chapter explains about Perception of women
consumers on their satisfaction level, Influence of demographic variables on the
purchase decision-making style of women consumers and their satisfaction, Influence
of women in decision making Styles on customer satisfaction, Model of the role of
women in the family purchase decision

Chapter VI - Summary of Findings, Suggestions and Conclusion: This chapter

gives an introduction on the summary of the study and explains on the major findings
of the study, Suggestions given to the women consumers, dealers and manufacturers,
conclusion is given to the overall study and finally Scope for the future study for other
researchers have been given.

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