Indian Journal of Marketing June 2005

Volume XXXV • Number 6 • June 2005

Automobile Purchase-Peer Influence in Decision Making
The overall economic development of a country is determined by the development in Manufacturing sector. Similarly, the quality of life to a great extent depends upon the growth and development in Consumer luxury goods segment. Though the entry of quality luxury goods in India is late, to be precise only after the liberalization, still India is competing with top nations in terms of range and quality of such goods. Urbanization and metropolitan culture have necessitated the need for Fast foods, Designer clothes, Luxury cars, Modern flats etc. Added to this, the change in the family and in earning pattern, especially the emergence of Double Income Group families have resulted in significant changes in the buying behaviour of individuals.
J. Clement Sudhahar Research Scholar Bharathiar School of Management Bharathiar University Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu		Dr. R. Venkatapathy Reader Bharathiar School of Management Bharathiar University Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu
A study on the functional problems faced by the Handloom Cooperative Societies in Tamil Nadu
RTextile industry plays a unique role in the economic progress of our nation. This industry contributes nearly 14% to the total industrial production and earns around Rs.52,000 crores through exports, which account for about 38% of country export earnings. Moreover, textile industry alone contributes Rs.7000 crores as duties to central exchequer. India is, in fact, a world leader in yarn production with a global share of 28%. The area under cotton cultivation is 9 million hectares, which is the largest in the world while the annual cotton production is around 3000 million kilogram. Textile industry in India consists of organized mill sector and decentralized handloom, Power loom and khadi sectors. Indian textile industry with a 58% global share of looms consisting of 3.5 million handlooms and 1.8 million power looms, 1300 spinning units and over 275 composite mills, is a force to reckon with, in the global textile arena.
Dr. F. R. Alexander Pravin Durai Reader Department of Commerce St.Joseph’s College Tiruchirappalli,Tamil Nadu
Extent of Usage of Credit Cards in Coimbatore
Money lending is probably one of the oldest profession in the world. In India money lending has its origin in the vedic period and there are evidences of activities such as acceptance of deposits and lending of money states Manikandan (1997). According to Suneja (1988), the origin of money is rooted deeply in antiquity. In early primitive society, money (commodity money) took the form of cattle or a commodity depending upon various factors like the cultural and economic developments of a community, climate and location. This was the time when barter system was in prevalence. Then metals such as gold and silver were adopted as money for the purpose of exchange. Owing to the inconvenience, the metallic money was substituted with paper money (bank notes). Now in the present scenario paper money is being replaced by plastic money (credit cards) the world over.
Dr. S. Ramalinga Choodambigai Reader in Economics Avinashiilingam University Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Retailing in India-What’s up?
“Conventional retailers, especially those that are mid-sized, will be squeezed from all sides; from larger players with better economies of scale, from smaller players with more focused selection or a greater emphasis on convenience; from electronic retailers that have few physical assets but are rich in information, and from entertainment and education oriented players that offer a more vibrant consumer experience.” Jagdish Sheth with Rajendra.S.Sisodia - “Changing Face of Retailing” Financial Times – series on Managing Marketing – Oct 19, 1998 Using the article by Jagdish Sheth with Rajendra.S.Sisodia titled “Changing Face of Retailing” published in 1998 as a reference point and generously borrowing the dimensions to examine retailing trends, one can notice the following in Indian retailing.
G. P. Sudhakar Faculty Sir M.Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology Bangalore
A study on the client perceptions of services offered by SBI Factors(Coimbatore)
The Indian financial market is under dynamic transformation with many new financial products and delivery systems being experimented with. Besides catering to the capital and money market some of these innovative products are aimed at providing an alternative avenue towards meeting the financial needs of a specific clientele for their working capital. Till the early nineties commercial banks were the most important source for the working capital needs of the industries. Even now bank finances in the form of loans, cash credits, overdrafts, purchasing and discounting of bills and FCNR (B) loans play a dominant role in meeting the short term needs of the industry, however they have their own limitations. To overcome the limitation innovative financial products were sought. One such product is factoring which, though not to be taken as a panacea for all organizational ills, can substantially reduce the effects of the same and help the small scale sector to tide over at least some of the problems to a reasonable extent.
Dr. V. Srividya Asst.Professor Department of Management Sciences PSG College of Technology Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu
Wither NBFCS in India?
Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) 1 are the concerns rendering financial services similar to commercial banks and financial institutions, but do not qualify to be branded as banks, entered Indian Financial System in a big way to increase resources to Indian corporate world during 80s due to frequent credit squeezes cash crunches and laborious procedures with Financial Institutions and commercial banks. Based on their nature, NBFCs can be grouped into different types as Loan and Finance Companies, Investment Companies, Hire-purchase Finance Companies, Equipment Leasing Companies, Mutual Benefit Financial Companies, Housing Finance Companies and Residuary Non Banking Companies.
Dr. S. Ravi Prakash Assistant Professor Institute of Public Enterprise Osmania University Campus Hyderabad	Dr. K. Krishna Reddy Professor & Dean Faculty of Commerce & Business Management Kakatiya University, Warangal Andhra Pradesh		Dr. T. Satyanarayana Chary Lecturer Department of Commerce & Business Management University PG College, Nirmal Andhra Pradesh
Consumer Behaviour Towards Instant Food Products
Energy is required for sustaining all forms of life on earth and so food is the basic need of a man for his survival. The primitive man was largely dependent for his food on fruits and animals. The discovery of fire marked a turning point in the process of civilization and man has learnt to cook food. During the course of time, the man changed his food habits according to his taste, experience, and availability of food materials and changing vessels, equipments and tools but still people were in search of new techniques to speed up the cooking process in order to cope up with mechanical life, as they do not have sufficient time to cook food in the conventional methods. So the modern men and women hard pressed for time have to yield themselves to the fast changing life styles as regards cooking and food habits. In the ever-changing socio-domestic scenario, both men and women have to necessarily go for employment to augment the household income and cooking food in traditional method is really an ordeal for women.
Dr. K. Ramasamy Reader in Commerce Saraswathi Narayanan College Madurai, Tamil Nadu	Dr. G. Kalaivanan SG Lecturer in Commerce Saraswathi Narayanan College Madurai, Tamil Nadu		S. Sukumar Lecturer in Commerce Rev Jacob Memorial Christian College Dindigul District
A Survey of Baby food in Urban Area
In the changing scenario, “baby’s health” is at the top a priority to parents. Every father and mother wants to make their baby very strong and healthy. For this, parents always try to give their baby, most nutritious food. As Indian are also going for the nuclear family structure, grandmas care has reduced considerably . Also because of not having sufficient time, they can not always give their baby home prepared food. Parents are in search of readymade food for the baby without much headache. Hence, they by different types of baby food which are available in the market So to fulfill these requirements of baby food. Leading companies have introduced 12 to 15 varieties of baby food under the one brand. This survey is trying to find out the behavior of the parents in the Kolhapur urban area regarding the consumption of Baby food.
Prof. C. S. Dalvi Faculty of Marketing SIBER School of Management
Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Supply Chain Management
Traditionally most organizations have viewed themselves as entities that exist independently from others and indeed need to compete with them in order to survive. There is almost a Darwinian ethic of the “survival of the fittest” driving much of corporate strategy. However such a philosophy can be self defeating if it leads to an unwillingness to cooperate in order to compete. Behind this seemingly paradoxical concept is idea of supply chain integration. In the past it was often the case that relationships with suppliers and downstream customers (distributors or retailers) were adversial rather than cooperative.It is still the case today some companies will seek to achieve cost reductions or profit improvement at the expense of their supply chain partners. Companies of above character donot realize that simply transferring costs upstream or downstream does not make them any more competitive. The reason for this is that ultimately all costs will make their way to the final market place to be reflected in the price paid by the end user. The leading edge companies recognize the fallacy of this conventional approach and instead seek to make the supply chain as a whole, more competitive through the value it adds and the costs that it reduces overall. They have realized that the real competition is not company against company but rather supply chain against supply chain.
J. Suresh Reddy Asst. Professor Department of Business Management O.U.P.G. College, Mahabubnagar Andhra Pradesh
Creating and sustaining Superior performance of Hospitals in Coimbatore
Health Care is fundamental to the quality of life. Health is that condition of the individual that makes possible the relishment of the highest enjoyment of life.The World Health Organization defines health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well being and merely absence of disease of infirmity”.Development of Human Resource is as important to economic growth as industries and services. Hospitals, the key element in any health care system, being the centers of specialized medicine and technology with multi disciplinary teams, delivers a whole range of specialized services. Moreover, hospitals play an important role in health promotions, environmental concern, social human resources, creation of patient orient services and management.
Dr. N. Raman Reader Department of International Business SNR Sons College Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu		M. Balaji Prasad Senior Lecturer & Research Scholar Department of Electronics SNR Sons College Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu