Volume XXXVIII • Number  8 • August  2008

Customer Complaining Behavior in Retailing: An Empirical Study among Young Retail Customers

This study investigates the nature and extent of customer complaining behavior in retailing. The focus of the study is to examine the complaining behavior of young retail customers in Matara District, Sri Lanka. Survey method was used as the main research method and a structured questionnaire was used to gather data from 80 customers. Survey results revealed that customers make complaints mainly to obtain the restitution. Conversely, the customers are somewhat altruistic and they prefer to make complaints to facilitate the service improvements. However, men tend more towards complaining to vent their anger. Mainly, it was recognized that young customers tend more towards private actions and comparatively, men are more aggressive. There, they switch the retailer, boycott the product/brand and/or spread negative word-of-mouth. Finally, it is notable that customers are somewhat passive in taking public actions in the face of a dejected transaction. However, they prefer to complain to the retailer first. They dislike to complain to a third party or to take legal actions against the retailer. Further, it is notable that that young retail customers view complaining as wastage of their time and effort. The study further highlights that the young retail customers are not “self blamers”.

Kids Mean Business – Marketers Beware! A market survey on impact of advertising on kids

Indian economy is continuously growing with the favourable demographics, income. This growth is reflected in the growing GDP, growth in PCI and the consequent rise in the Disposable income of an average Indian. The increase in disposable income and a psychological and economic transformation are acting like boosters for the Indian market. Indian market is now no more an Indigenous market rather it has made its presence globally felt. Not any particular sector but al sectors from manufacturing to retailing and all the industries from FMCG Consumer Durables Retail and IT products have shown a considerable growth.The largest kid market in the world, India, is changing rapidly in favor of the child not only as an influencer but also as a decision maker. Children in middle-class India take important decisions in the home, thereby contributing majorly to household budget contours. From buying white goods and cars, to cell phones and grocery and even insurance policies, children under the age of 13 are deciding which brands their parents should or should not buy. The kids market remains crucially important as the marketers seek to attract a new audience and build brand loyalty at a very young age. The paper plans to study the “impact of increase in disposable income on the spending pattern of parents across categories and how kids influence their parents in buying decisions. The effect of TV Advertisements on School Going Children has also been studied.

Challenges Faced By Cut Flowers Growers In Tamil Nadu.(With Special Reference To Nilgiris District)

Flowers are one of the nature’s most beautiful gifts to man. Their beauty and fragrance brings joy and happiness to our lives. In any garden, flowers in great variety are always the main attraction. Their colour combination, fragrance, and the skill with which they have been grown and displayed count a lot. Since time immemorial, flowers have been considered as the symbol of grace and elegance and a feast for our eyes. They are used on all religious and festive occasions. Flowers are used as birthday presents, wedding gifts, or while meeting ailing people and even at funerals. Most Hindu ladies adorn their hair style with flowers. “Veni”, a special kind of hair decoration with flowers has been widely used in South India to decorate the long plaits of hair during dance recitals and at wedding ceremonies. All people irrespective of their ethnic origin, race, sex and cadre love flowers. It is for this reason that the Society of America Florists has adopted a slogan “say it with flowers”.

Dr.S.Vasanthi
Reader in Commerce
Providence College for Women
Coonoor,Tamil Nadu
dr_vasanthimahendran@yahoo.co.in
 

The Evolving Food Chains & Consumer's Buying Behaviour

Food retailing is at its nascent stage in India. The major players are limited to metros and “A’ class cities of our country. In the present study I have made an effort to examine the consumers buying behaviour related to Food retail industry in India and attempted to come up with suggestions with respect to food retailing in few selected cities of Uttar Pradesh. The nature of the research is exploratory and the aim is to examine the factors influencing the consumers to buy from food retail outlet.

The Perishable nature of flowers and vegetables attributes to the seasonal gluts and off season scarcities. India enjoys second position with 48 million tones of vegetables per annum and fifth position with 28.39 million tones of flowers per annum in the global production matrix. As the preservation facilities are lacking, heavy arrivals of fruit and vegetables during peak largest season lead to a sharp decline in price and thus lowers the returns to the grower.Under these circumstances, the export potential of fresh, canned and depredated fruits and vegetables cannot be overlooked. Processing therefore appears to the diversified field in the area of surplus in the off season so that price fluctuations could be minimized. Excess production can be properly utilized provided the preserved products are sold to the consumer at reasonable rates and avoid wastage. It is rather deplorable that inspite of the vast export potential of fruit and vegetables, the share of India is only 1.1 percent in International trade mainly on account of high multilevel taxes. These commodities are relatively costly due to comparative low productivity, poor designating and high cost of packing material.

Brand Extension: Strategy for New Product Introduction

In this highly competitive environment, a company’s success largely depends on the frequent launch of new products to satisfy the constantly changing consumer preferences. However, launching new products can be an attractive growing strategy but not risk free. Therefore, an increasing number of firms have turned to brand extension- a popular strategy to launch new products under existing brand names. There are many different perspectives on brand extensions but in this paper we didn’t focus on all those views. This paper provides a broad summary of current thoughts on the brand extensions. Specifically, the present article provides a resource to aid in understanding brand extension, its dimensions, directions, its benefits as a marketing strategy and also the risk associated with it. Some success factors are also discussed which make brand extension successful. The last section covered some managerial implications and recommendations which might be enhance the success of brand extension in the market.

Narendra K.Sharma
Professor
Department of Industrial & Management
Engineering,IIT Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
nksharma@iitk.ac.in
 

Kavita Srivastava
Research Scholar
Department of Humanities & Social Sciences,IIT Kanpur,Uttar Pradesh
kavitas@iitk.ac.in
 

A Study On Policy Holder’s Expectation And Preference Towards Selected Private Life Insurance Companies In Karur District

In this highly competitive environment, a company’s success largely depends on the frequent launch of new products to satisfy the constantly changing consumer preferences. However, launching new products can be an attractive growing strategy but not risk free. Therefore, an increasing number of firms have turned to brand extension- a popular strategy to launch new products under existing brand names. There are many different perspectives on brand extensions but in this paper we didn’t focus on all those views. This paper provides a broad summary of current thoughts on the brand extensions. Specifically, the present article provides a resource to aid in understanding brand extension, its dimensions, directions, its benefits as a marketing strategy and also the risk associated with it. Some success factors are also discussed which make brand extension successful. The last section covered some managerial implications and recommendations which might be enhance the success of brand extension in the market.

                      Dr.N.Panchanatham
Head
Department of Business Admn
Annamalai University
Chidambaram-608002,Tamil Nadu
 

S.Senthil Kumar
Asst.Professor
Department of Management Studies
Annai Mathammal Sheela
Engineering College,Namakkal
Tamil Nadu
senthilkumar_commerce@yahoo.co.in