1Management Sciences, S. N. S. College of Engineering, Coimbatore. Pin Code- 641 107. Tamil Nadu State, India.
2Business Administration, Alagappa Government Arts College, Karaikudi. Pin Code- 630 003. Tamil Nadu State, India.
3Commerce Directorate of Distance Education, Alagappa University, Karaikudi. Pin Code- 630 003. Tamil Nadu State, India.
In recent days India is witnessing a change in consumerism. The market is now predominantly consumer driver. The focus is shifting for product based marketing to need based marketing. Consumer is given many options to decide. Passenger car segment is no exception to this general trend. An effective market communication is imperative for reaching the target audience. So it is important that we study the consumer perceptions and behaviour of the car owners which will give us feedback on how marketing strategies can be worked. Namakkal town in Tamil Nadu State, which is in the southern part of India, has a progressive and growing market for cars. This down was selected for this study. Pre-testing was done by an Interview schedule which was developed and administered to a convenient sample of twenty five car owners. A Simple Random sampling technique was adopted in the study to select the sample respondents. As the size of the universe is restricted, the study has been conducted on the respondents who are the owners of all the segments of passenger cars. A total of 350 Interview schedules were prepared and out of this, only 327 interview schedules were filled up and collected. Data were collected through an interview schedule regarding perception of the respondents on the usage of cars. The following tools were used in testing the hypotheses and in the analysis of the data. Descriptive statistical tools such as Percentage, Mean, Median and Standard deviation have been used to describe the profiles of consumers, preferred product attributes and level of satisfaction. ANOVA, t-Test and F-Test have been used to test the significant differences between the groups of respondents in their perception and satisfaction for selected independent variables like age, sex and income. Chi-Square test has been used to test the association between the consumer demographic characteristics and preferred product attributes and satisfaction. Multiple regression analysis has been used to study the influence of income and lifestyle on overall satisfaction level of the respondents. Correlation analysis has been used to establish the relationship between ‘the factors which influenced the purchase’ and ‘the factors which favoured the level of satisfaction’. Factor analysis is employed to identify the key factors responsible for the consumers’ purchase of cars and level of satisfaction after purchase. Cluster analysis has been used to identify the consumers with similar tastes and preferences with respect to purchase of car. The study throws light on various features that the manufacturers should concentrate on to attract the prospective buyers. This study concludes that consumer behaviour plays a vital role in marketing cars and there is more scope for extensive research in this area.
