CHAPTER 2.

1 AIM OF THE STUDY Problem statement:

To study the influence of effective advertising on consumer buying behavior with reference age and income for insurance product Consumer buying behavior: The process by which individuals search for, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services, in satisfaction of their needs and wants. Advertising Advertising or advertizing is a form of communication for marketing and used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate an audience to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering. In Latin, ad vertere means "to turn the mind toward. The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as blogs, websites or text messages.

CHAPTER 2.2

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To examine the influence of advertising on consumer buying behaviors. To determine the influence of age on advertising. To find out the factors influencing the choice of brand. To determine the influence of age on advertising. To know the reasons for the preference towards LIC insurance company.

CHAPTER 2.3 HYPOTHESIS

Definition: A hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. A hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction about what you expect to happen in your study. There are two types of statistical hypotheses. A) Null hypothesis. Effective advertising does not influence on consumer buying process. The null hypothesis, denoted by H0, is usually the hypothesis that sample observations result purely from chance. B) Alternative hypothesis: effective advertisement influences the consumer buying process up to certain extent. The alternative hypothesis, denoted by H1 or Ha, is the hypothesis that sample observations are influenced by some non-random cause.

CHAPTER 3.0 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER 3.1

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

This study covers the level of satisfaction relating to the quality of the products that is services, satisfaction regarding promotional strategies of Birla sun life insurance. The overall consumers opinion survey on Birla sun life insurance and is restricted to Navi Mumbai area only. The study is done to analyze the opinion of consumer towards the effectiveness of advertisement on consumer buying behavior with reference to age and income.

CHAPTER 3.2
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1.

The sample size in relation to total size of population is small. The results are based on data collected in one city. Being an opinion survey, the personal biases of the respondent might have entered into their responses.

2. 3.

4.

The study was mainly an individual study, so all the limitations of such study like limitation of time, finance, coverage were faced.

CHAPTER 4
LITERATURE REVIEW

1) (Page no-15, consumer behavior, 9th addition, by lean g.schiffman,leslie lazer kanuk.) CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND DECISION MAKING ARE DISCIPLINARY. Consumer behavior was relatively new field of study in the mid to late 1960s because it has no history or body of research of its own, marketing theories borrowed in other scientific disciplines such as psychology, sociology, social ,psychology, anthropology and economics to form the basis of this new marketing discipline .

2) (Consumer behavior, 9th edition, by dell.hawkens and roger j. best) CULTURAL FACTORES AFFECT CONSUMER AND MARKETING STRATERGY Consumer behavior Language Traditions, symbols Marketing strategy

 Non verbal communication Norms Demographics

3) (Page no.56, marketing management by Dr.karunakarun,himalya publications) CONSUMER BEHAVIOR It is defined as the behavior that consumes display in searching for, purchasing, using evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. (Page no.56, marketing management by Dr.karunakarun,himalya publications)

4) (Page no 5, consumer behavior, 4th edition, by David L. Loudon & Albert. Della Bitta) CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: The decision process & physical activity individuals engage in when evaluating accruing using or disposing of goods and services. (Page no 5, consumer behavior, 4th edition, by David L. Loudon & Albert. Della Bitta)

CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The tool for data collection Data collection is a basic step and of vital importance. On which success or failure of the study depends. All researchers can tap into two sources of data. 1. Primary Data 2. Secondary Data.

The primary data was collected by a survey based on the questionnaire. The questions were listed in a pre arranged order and the object of enquiry was revealed to the respondents. The questionnaire was aimed at finding out the influence of effective advertising on consumer buying behavior of Birla sun life insurance.

The questionnaire deal with aspects like impact of advertisement on purchase behavior of insurance, viz. factors influencing choice of a brand immediate reaction on seeing an advertisement influence of advertisement on preference and purchase of a insurance, brand preference and reasons for brand preference etc.

 Unaided recalls (What commercials or advertisements do you remember seeing?) Aided recall tests (The respondents are prompted by being shown a particular advertisement and then asked to remember their previous exposure to it. Verbal aids are also used to prompt recall) were used to study the recall-ability of advertisement of. For aided tests various clues were given for e.g. Slogans and name of the model and the respondents were asked to identify the insurance brand associated with them. In some questions the techniques like ranking method was also used.

2) The secondary data was collected from ---Web sites of Birla sun Life Insurance Company.

Sampling plan Universe The universe included all the consumers of insurance who are exposed to TV advertisement Population The population included all the consumers of insurance who are exposed to advertisement in TV purposively selected from Navi mumbai city.

Sample unit Single individual consumer of insurance who is exposed to advertisement in TV Sample size was taken to be 50. Keeping in view the time and resources constant, the total sample size was taken to be 50. In such a way that almost equal number of male and female respondents is selected and almost equal representation is provided across b the age group 23 -60 and above years. Details are given below. Sampling technique The selections of the respondents were done on the basis of stratified convenient sampling. It was decided to include in the sample the consumers representing different categories of age group and sex. For this purpose the stratification of consumers was done on the basis of two attributes age and sex. Respondents have been categorized age wise i.e. 2545 yrs, and 45-60 above 60 yrs, and sex wise that is male and female.

This classification of consumer resulted in the following four strata: (a) (b) (C) (D) Male respondents in the age group 25-45 years. Female respondents in the age group 25-45 years Male respondents in the age group 46-60 years. Female respondents in the age group 46-60.

(E)

Male respondents in the age group above 60 years.

(F) Female respondents in the age group above 60 years.

Frequency distribution of sample with respect to age group and sex:

Age group (in yrs) 23-35 36-50 51-60 Above 60 Total

Male 10 11 4 2 27

Female 4 9 8 2 23

Total 14 20 12 4 50

CHAPTER 6

DETAIL ABOUT THE SUBJECT Consumer behavior

Consumer behavior involves the psychological processes that consumers go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions (e.g., whether or not to purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where), interpret information, make plans, and implement these plans (e.g., by engaging in comparison shopping or actually purchasing a product). Sources of influence on the consumer The consumer faces numerous sources of influence.

Often, we take cultural influences for granted, but they are significant. An American will usually not bargain with a store owner. This, however, is a common practice in much of the World. Physical factors also influence our behavior. We

are more likely to buy a soft drink when we are thirsty, for example, and food manufacturers have found that it is more effective to advertise their products on the radio in the late afternoon when people are getting hungry. A persons selfimage will also tend to influence what he or she will buyan upwardly mobile manager may buy a flashy car to project an image of success. Social factors also influence what the consumers buyoften, consumers seek to imitate others whom they admire, and may buy the same brands. The social environment can include both the mainstream culture (e.g., Americans are more likely to have corn flakes or ham and eggs for breakfast than to have rice, which is preferred in many Asian countries) and a subculture (e.g., rap music often appeals to a segment within the population that seeks to distinguish itself from the mainstream population). Thus, sneaker manufacturers are eager to have their products worn by admired athletes. Finally, consumer behavior is influenced by learningyou try a hamburger and learn that it satisfies your hunger and tastes good, and the next time you are hungry, you may consider another hamburger. Consumer Choice and Decision Making: Problem Recognition. One model of consumer decision making involves several steps. The first one is problem recognitionyou realize that something is not as it should be. Perhaps, for example, your car is getting more difficult to start and is not accelerating well. The second step is information searchwhat are some alternative ways of solving the problem? You might buy a new car, buy a used car, take your car in for repair, ride the bus, ride a taxi, or ride a skateboard to work. The third step involves evaluation of alternatives. A skateboard is inexpensive, but may be illsuited for long distances and for rainy days. Finally, we have thepurchase stage, and sometimes a post-purchase stage (e.g., you return a product to the store because you did not find it satisfactory). In reality, people may go back and forth between the stages. For example, a person may resume alternative identification during while evaluating already known alternatives. Consumer involvement will tend to vary dramatically depending on the type of product. In general, consumer involvement will be higher for products that are very expensive (e.g., a home, a car) or are highly significant in the consumers life in some other way (e.g., a word processing program or acne medication). It is important to consider the consumers motivation for buying products. To achieve this goal, we can use the Means-End chain, wherein we consider a logical progression of consequences of product use that eventually lead to desired end benefit. Thus, for example, a consumer may see that a car has a large engine, leading to fast acceleration, leading to a feeling of performance, leading to a

feeling of power, which ultimately improves the consumers self -esteem. A handgun may aim bullets with precision, which enables the user to kill an intruder, which means that the intruder will not be able to harm the consumers family, which achieves the desired end-state of security. In advertising, it is important to portray the desired end-states. Focusing on the large motor will do less good than portraying a successful person driving the car.

Information search and decision making Consumers engage in both internal and external information searches. Internal search involves the consumer identifying alternatives from his or her memory. For certain low involvement products, it is very important that marketing programs achieve top of mind awareness. For example, few people will search the Yellow Pages for fast food restaurants; thus, the consumer must be able to retrieve ones restaurant from memory before it will be considered. For high involvement products, consumers are more likely to use an external search. Before buying a car, for example, the consumer may ask friends opinions, read reviews in Consumer Reports, consult several web sites, and visit several dealerships. Thus, firms that make products that are selected predominantly through external search must invest in having information available to the consumer in need e.g., through brochures, web sites, or news coverage.

A compensatory decision involves the consumer trading off good and bad attributes of a product. For example, a car may have a low price and good gas mileage but slow acceleration. If the price is sufficiently inexpensive and gas efficient, the consumer may then select it over a car with better acceleration that costs more and uses more gas. Occasionally, a decision will involve a noncompensatory strategy. For example, a parent may reject all soft drinks that contain artificial sweeteners. Here, other good features such as taste and low calories cannot overcome this one non-negotiable attribute. The amount of effort a consumer puts into searching depends on a number of factors such as the market (how many competitors are there, and how great are differences between brands expected to be?), product characteristics (how important is this product? How complex is the product? How obvious are indications of quality?), consumer characteristics (how interested is a consumer, generally, in analyzing product characteristics and making the best possible deal?), and situational characteristics (as previously discussed). Two interesting issues in decisions are: Variety seeking (where consumers seek to try new brands not because these brands are expected to be better in any way, but rather because the consumer wants a change of pace, and Impulse purchasesunplanned buys. This represents a somewhat fuzzy group. For example, a shopper may plan to buy vegetables but only decide in the store to actually buy broccoli and corn. Alternatively, a person may buy an item

which is currently on sale, or one that he or she remembers that is needed only once inside the store. A number of factors involve consumer choices. In some cases, consumers will be more motivated. For example, one may be more careful choosing a gift for an inlaw than when buying the same thing for one self. Some consumers are also more motivated to comparison shop for the best prices, while others are more convenience oriented. Personality impacts decisions. Some like variety more than others, and some are more receptive to stimulation and excitement in trying new stores. Perception influences decisions. Some people, for example, can taste the difference between generic and name brand foods while many cannot. Selective perception occurs when a person is paying attention only to information of interest. For example, when looking for a new car, the consumer may pay more attention to car ads than when this is not in the horizon. Some consumers are put off by perceived risk. Thus, many marketers offer a money back guarantee. Consumers will tend to change their behavior through learning e.g., they will avoid restaurants they have found to be crowded and will settle on brands that best meet their tastes. Consumers differ in the values they hold (e.g., some people are more committed to recycling than others who will not want to go through the hassle). We will consider the issue of lifestyle under segmentation. The Family Life Cycle Individuals and families tend to go through a "life cycle:" The simple life cycle goes from

For purposes of this discussion, a "couple" may either be married or merely involve living together. The breakup of a non-marital relationship involving cohabitation is similarly considered equivalent to a divorce. In real life, this situation is, of course, a bit more complicated. For example, many couples undergo divorce. Then we have one of the scenarios:

Single parenthood can result either from divorce or from the death of one parent. Divorce usually entails a significant change in the relative wealth of spouses. In some cases, the non-custodial parent (usually the father) will not pay the required child support, and even if he or she does, that still may not leave the custodial parent and children as well off as they were during the marriage. On the other hand, in some cases, some non-custodial parents will be called on to pay a large part of their income in child support. This is particularly a problem when the noncustodial parent remarries and has additional children in the second (or subsequent marriages). In any event, divorce often results in a large demand for: Low cost furniture and household items Time-saving goods and services Divorced parents frequently remarry, or become involved in other non-marital relationships; thus, we may see

Another variation involves

Here, the single parent who assumes responsibility for one or more children may not form a relationship with the other parent of the child. Integrating all the possibilities discussed, we get the following depiction of the Family Life Cycle:

Generally, there are two main themes in the Family Life Cycle, subject to significant exceptions: As a person gets older, he or she tends to advance in his or her career and tends to get greater income (exceptions: maternity leave, divorce, retirement). Unfortunately, obligations also tend to increase with time (at least until ones mortgage has been paid off). Children and paying for ones house are two of the greatest expenses. Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a married couple, the single may be able to buy more discretionary items. Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a married couple, the single may be able to buy more discretionary items. Family Decision Making: Individual members of families often serve different roles in decisions that ultimately draw on shared family resources. Some individuals are information gatherers/holders, who seek out information about products of relevance. These individuals often have a great deal of power because they may selectively pass on information that favors their chosen alternatives. Influencers do not ultimately have the power decide between alternatives, but they may make their wishes known by asking for specific products or causing embarrassing situations if their demands are not met. Thedecision maker(s) have the power to determine issues such as:

Whether to buy; Which product to buy (pick-up or passenger car?); Which brand to buy? Where to buy it; and When to buy Note, however, that the role of the decision maker is separate from that of the purchaser. From the point of view of the marketer, this introduces some problems since the purchaser can be targeted by point-of-purchase (POP) marketing efforts that cannot be aimed at the decision maker. Also note that the distinction between the purchaser and decision maker may be somewhat blurred: The decision maker may specify what kind of product to buy, but not which brand; The purchaser may have to make a substitution if the desired brand is not in stock; The purchaser may disregard instructions (by error or deliberately). It should be noted that family decisions are often subject to a great deal of conflict. The reality is that few families are wealthy enough to avoid a strong tension between demands on the familys resources. Conflicting pressures are especially likely in families with children and/or when only one spouse works outside the home. Note that many decisions inherently come down to values, and that there is frequently no "objective" way to arbitrate differences. One spouse may believe that it is important to save for the childrens future; the other may value spending now (on private schools and computer equipment) to help prepare the children for the future. Who is right? There is no clear answer here. The situation becomes even more complex when more partiessuch as children or other relativesare involved. Some family members may resort to various strategies to get their way. One is bargainingone member will give up something in return for someone else. For example, the wife says that her husband can take an expensive course in gourmet cooking if she can buy a new pickup truck. Alternatively, a child may promise to walk it every day if he or she can have a hippopotamus. Another strategy is reasoningtrying to get the other person(s) to accept ones view through logical argumentation. Note that even when this is done with a sincere intent, its potential is limited by legitimate differences in values illustrated above. Also note that

individuals may simply try to "wear down" the other party by endless talking in the guise of reasoning (this is a case of negative reinforcement as we will see subsequently). Various manipulative strategies may also be used. One is impression management, where one tries to make ones side look good (e.g., argue that a new TV will help the children see educational TV when it is really mostly wanted to see sports programming, or argue that all "decent families make a contribution to the church"). Authority involves asserting ones "right" to make a decision (as the "man of the house," the mother of the children, or the one who makes the most money). Emotion involves making an emotional display to get ones way (e.g., a man cries if his wife will not let him buy a new rap album). The Means-End Chain Consumers often buy products not because of their attributes per se but rather because of the ultimate benefits that these attributes provide, in turn leading to the satisfaction of ultimate values. For example, a consumer may not be particularly interested in the chemistry of plastic roses, but might reason as follows:

The important thing in a means-end chain is to start with an attribute, a concrete characteristic of the product, and then logically progress to a series of consequences (which tend to become progressively more abstract) that end with a value being satisfied. Thus, each chain must start with an attribute and end with a value. An important implication of means-end chains is that it is usually most effective in advertising to focus on higher level items. For example, in the flower example above, an individual giving the flowers to the significant other might better be portrayed than the flowers alone.

Attitudes- Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumers (1) beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some objectwithin the context of marketing, usually a brand, product category, or retail store. These components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together represent forces that influence how the consumer will react to the object. Beliefs- The first component is beliefs. A consumer may hold both positive beliefs toward an object (e.g., coffee tastes good) as well as negative beliefs (e.g., coffee is easily spilled and stains papers). In addition, some beliefs may be neutral (coffee is black), and some may be differ in valance depending on the person or the situation (e.g., coffee is hot and stimulates--good on a cold morning, but not good on a hot summer evening when one wants to sleep). Note also that the beliefs that consumers hold need not be accurate (e.g., that pork contains little fat), and some beliefs may, upon closer examination, be contradictory. Affect- Consumers also hold certain feelings toward brands or other objects. Sometimes these feelings are based on the beliefs (e.g., a person feels nauseated when thinking about a hamburger because of the tremendous amount of fat it contains), but there may also be feelings which are relatively independent of beliefs. For example, an extreme environmentalist may believe that cutting down trees is morally wrong, but may have positive affect toward Christmas trees because he or she unconsciously associates these trees with the experience that he or she had at Christmas as a child. Behavioral intention- The behavioral intention is what the consumer plans to do with respect to the object (e.g., buy or not buy the brand). As with affect, this is sometimes a logical consequence of beliefs (or affect), but may sometimes reflect other circumstances--e.g., although a consumer does not really like a restaurant, he or she will go there because it is a hangout for his or her friends. Changing attitudes is generally very difficult, particularly when consumers suspect that the marketer has a self-serving agenda in bringing about this change (e.g., to get the consumer to buy more or to switch brands). Here are some possible methods: Changing affect- One approach is to try to change affect, which may or may not involve getting consumers to change their beliefs. One strategy uses the approach of classical conditioning try to pair the product with a liked stimulus. For example, we pair a car with a beautiful woman. Alternatively, we can try to get people to like the advertisement and hope that this liking will spill over into the

purchase of a product. For example, the Pillsbury Doughboy does not really emphasize the conveyance of much information to the consumer; instead, it attempts to create a warm, fuzzy image. Although Energizer Bunny ads try to get people to believe that their batteries last longer, the main emphasis is on the likeable bunny. Finally, products which are better known, through the mere exposure effect, tend to be better likedthat is, the more a product is advertised and seen in stores, the more it will generally be liked, even if consumers to do not develop any specific beliefs about the product. Changing behavior- People like to believe that their behavior is rational; thus, once they use our products, chances are that they will continue unless someone is able to get them to switch. One way to get people to switch to our brand is to use temporary price discounts and coupons; however, when consumers buy a product on deal, they may justify the purchase based on that deal (i.e., the low price) and may then switch to other brands on deal later. A better way to get people to switch to our brand is to at least temporarily obtain better shelf space so that the product is more convenient. Consumers are less likely to use this availability as a rationale for their purchase and may continue to buy the product even when the product is less conveniently located. Changing beliefs- Although attempting to change beliefs is the obvious way to attempt attitude change, particularly when consumers hold unfavorable or inaccurate ones, this is often difficult to achieve because consumers tend to resist. Several approaches to belief change exist: Change currently held beliefs. It is generally very difficult to attempt to change beliefs that people hold, particularly those that are strongly held, even if they are inaccurate. For example, the petroleum industry advertised for a long time that its profits were lower than were commonly believed, and provided extensive factual evidence in its advertising to support this reality. Consumers were suspicious and rejected this information, however. Change the importance of beliefs. Although the sugar manufacturers would undoubtedly like to decrease the importance of healthy teeth, it is usually not feasible to make beliefs less important--consumers are likely to reason, why, then, would you bother bringing them up in the first place? However, it may be possible to strengthen beliefs that favor us--e.g., a vitamin supplement manufacturer may advertise that it is extremely important for women to replace iron lost through menstruation. Most consumers already agree with this, but the belief can be made stronger.

Add beliefs. Consumers are less likely to resist the addition of beliefs so long as they do not conflict with existing beliefs. Thus, the beef industry has added beliefs that beef (1) is convenient and (2) can be used to make a number of creative dishes. Vitamin manufacturers attempt to add the belief that stress causes vitamin depletion, which sounds quite plausible to most people. Change ideal. It usually difficult, and very risky, to attempt to change ideals, and only few firms succeed. For example, Hard Candy may have attempted to change the ideal away from traditional beauty toward more unique self expression. One-sided vs. two-side appeals Attitude research has shown that consumers often tend to react more favorably to advertisements which either (1) admit something negative about the sponsoring brand (e.g., the Volvo is a clumsy car, but very safe) or (2) admits something positive about a competing brand (e.g., a competing supermarket has slightly lower prices, but offers less service and selection). Twosided appeals must, contain overriding arguments why the sponsoring brand is ultimately superiorthat is, in the above examples, the but part must be emphasized. Perception- Our perception is an approximation of reality. Our brain attempts to make sense out of the stimuli to which we are exposed. This works well, for example, when we see a friend three hundred feet away at his or her correct height; however, our perception is sometimes offfor example, certain shapes of ice cream containers look like they contain more than rectangular ones with the same volume. Subliminal stimuli- Back in the 1960s, it was reported that on selected evenings, movie goers in a theater had been exposed to isolated frames with the words Drink Coca Cola and Eat Popcorn imbedded into the movie. These frames went by so fast that people did not consciously notice them, but it was reported that on nights with frames present, Coke and popcorn sales were significantly higher than on days they were left off. This led Congress to ban the use of subliminal advertising. First of all, there is a question as to whether this experiment ever took place or whether this information was simply made up. Secondly, no one has been able to replicate these findings. There is research to show that people will start to giggle with embarrassment when they are briefly exposed to dirty words in an experimental machine. Here, again, the exposure is so brief that the subjects are not aware of the actual words they saw, but it is evident that something has been recognized by the embarrassment displayed.

Organizational buyers A large portion of the market for goods and services is attributable to organizational, as opposed to individual, buyers. In general, organizational buyers, who make buying decisions for their companies for a living, tend to be somewhat more sophisticated than ordinary consumers. However, these organizational buyers are also often more risk averse. There is a risk in going with a new, possibly better (lower price or higher quality) supplier whose product is unproven and may turn out to be problematic. Often the fear of running this risk is greater than the potential rewards for getting a better deal. In the old days, it used to be said that You cant get fired for buying IBM. This attitude is beginning to soften a bit today as firms face increasing pressures to cut costs. Organizational buyers come in several forms. Resellers involve either wholesalers or retailers that buy from one organization and resell to some other entity. For example, large grocery chains sometimes buy products directly from the manufacturer and resell them to end-consumers. Wholesalers may sell to retailers who in turn sell to consumers. Producers also buy products from submanufacturers to create a finished product. For example, rather than manufacturing the parts themselves, computer manufacturers often buy hard drives, motherboards, cases, monitors, keyboards, and other components from manufacturers and put them together to create a finished product. Governments buy a great deal of things. For example, the military needs an incredible amount of supplies to feed and equip troops. Finally, large institutions buy products in huge quantities. For example, UCR probably buys thousands of reams of paper every month. Organizational buying usually involves more people than individual buying. Often, many people are involved in making decisions as to (a) whether to buy, (b) what to buy, (c) at what quantity, and (d) from whom. An engineer may make a specification as to what is needed, which may be approved by a manager, with the final purchase being made by a purchase specialist who spends all his or her time finding the best deal on the goods that the organization needs. Often, such long purchase processes can cause long delays. In the government, rules are often especially stringente.g., vendors of fruit cake have to meet fourteen pages of specifications put out by the General Services Administration. In many cases, government buyers are also heavily bound to go with the lowest price. Even if it is obvious that a higher priced vendor will offer a superior product, it may be difficult to accept that bid.

1. 2. 3. 4.
5.

There are 5 stages of a consumer buying process. It shows the complete process that a consumer will most likely, consciously or unconsciously, go through when they go to buy a product. These stages are: The problem recognition stage, meaning the identification of something a consumer needs. The search for information stage, which means searching one's knowledge bases or external knowledge sources for information on the product. The possibility of alternative options stage, which means checking whether better or cheaper products are available. The choice to purchase the product stage The actual purchase of the product stage

The Impact of Advertisements on us

If advertisements merely sold products, it would cause less critical concern than it does, but it sells images, dreams and ideal ways of life. It sells, and then reinforces time and again, values - those of consumerism and class consciousness; and it trades in stereotypes. As discussed earlier, advertising creates and sustains an ideology of consumption and it is a social force affecting Indian homes today. Therefore, its impact should be analyzed. Advertising is a social institution and a necessary social evil. Advertising is a social institution and its cost and benefit should be evaluated to determine the total impact of advertising on our social welfare the issue is not whether advertising is perfect, but whether the benefits of advertising outweigh the costs making social welfare greater than advertising. Sethi (1997) said that advertising is one of the functions of mass communication. All productivity relies on this medium of mass communication. Advertising diffuses information about commodities, markets them and persuades the common man of their place in his life. In fact advertising does more than this. It plays a role in social change. It celebrates change and internalizes change for those who become better by using a certain

product/service. In short, advertising is the voice of technology; because of that it represents the intention to affect life. Advertising, though originally used to market products, now, unfortunately, it seems to market feelings, sensations and styles of life; an astounding 'revolution in manners and morals'. All this has been possible through an efficient communication network which has revolutionized changes. The first impact that one gets from the advertisement is that the viewers have no choice of their own in making preference for the consumer goods they want to use in daily life. The advertisement imposes choices and preferences on the public mind through language, conversation, jingles, etc. This kind of aggression on the minds of the people, coming from different strata of the society, can create disturbances on traditional way of life of some category of people. In the long run, it is likely that social and cultural transformations of revolutionary nature are created in the society through such programs. On the credit side, advertising has speeded the introduction of useful inventions. It has spread markets, reduced the price of goods, accelerated turnover and kept people in employment. The relentless propaganda on behalf of goods in general is considered by many a dangerous mode of brain washing in that advertising's central function appears to create desires that previously did not exist, or rather anxieties which respond to the advertisements (by going out and buying the advertised product or service) helps to assuage but only temporarily. Advertising in India has created an incredible awareness among the people in the past decade growing into big industry. It was grown along with the press and today it has found its way into the other two media - Radio and Television. Advertising which was originally an American concept, has found its place in a country like India, so much so that the number of commercials have doubled in the media. Television is the most sought after medium for advertising. At the moment, the media in order to earn revenue through advertising are implicated in creating a market for consumer goods. Though it is largely an urban phenomenon, the same commercial advertisements on television reach rural areas and can have disturbing effects on rural people, where wants are encouraged, whose appetite for luxury goods and services is

whetted. This can lead to a sense of frustration among those who cannot afford them. Chunnawala and Sethia have rightly pointed out that advertising in India has played a vital role in the development process by creating a demand for consumer goods and raising the living standards of millions. It is not irrelevant or luxury oriented as it has been made out to be. A substantial amount of advertising expenses are utilized on advertisements of capital goods, intermediaries, consumer durables and services, most of which promote investment, production and employment. Further, advertising has a definite role to play in rural development, and Indian advertising has made some progress in this direction as well. Advertisements of fertilizers, pesticides, farming equipment, and cattle feed, etc. have reached rural market successfully.

CHAPTER 7
COMPANY AND PRODUCT INFORMATION
A) COMPANY INFORMATION

COMPANY PROFILE Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited (BSLI) is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc., a leading international financial services organization. The local knowledge of the Aditya Birla Group combined with the expertise of Sun Life Financial Inc., offers a formidable value proposition to customers. Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including India, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, China and Bermuda. Sun Life Financial Inc. had assets under management of over US$ 386.82 billion, as on 31 March 2007.

Sun Life Financial Inc. is a leading performer in the life insurance market in Canada. BSLI in its five successful years of operations has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the life insurance industry in India. It pioneered the launch of Unit Linked Life Insurance plans amongst the private players in India. It was the first player in the industry to sell its policies through the Bank assurance route and through the internet. It was also the first private sector player to introduce a pure term plan in the Indian market. This was supported by sales practices, which brought a degree of transparency that was entirely new to the market. The process of getting sales illustrations signed by customers, offering a free look period on all policies, which are now industry standards were introduced by BSLI. Being a customer centric company, BSLI has invested heavily in technology to build world class processing capabilities. BSLI has covered more than one and a half million lives since inception and its customer base is spread across 100 cities in India. All this has assisted the company in cementing its place amongst the leaders in the industry in terms of new business premium income. Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI), one of the leading private life insurers in India today announced the inimitable achiever, cricketer Kapil Dev as their corporate brand ambassador. The cricketing supremo will be endorsing BSLI in all its marketing initiatives. Birla Sun Life Insurance is a value-driven brand which has a national brand recall of 70 per cent. The objective of appointing a brand ambassador is to grow its brand recall as it goes national in its distribution reach and fuel business growth. As a brand ambassador, Kapil Dev will play a key role in the brand and product marketing and promotional activities. BSLI has always used an integrated marketing approach, which will be strengthened further.

Commenting on the association with Kapil Dev, Mr. S. K. Mitra, Director, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group and currently in charge of BSLI expressed, "The Birla Sun Life Insurance business distribution network is national in nature covering more than 1000 points across the country .We have made our entry in several tier I and tier II towns. It is therefore very important for the brand to connect at the grassroots level and create trust. We believe that our association with Kapil Dev as our brand ambassador will help us create this connects in a shorter period of time. We therefore now have two strong connects our parent brand Birla and our brand Ambassador Kapil Dev". Kapil Dev, also known as the Haryana Hurricane, was born on 6 January 1959 in Chandigarh. He played his first competitive game of cricket at the age of 13 years and made his test debut on 16 October 1978 at Faisalabad against Pakistan. Kapil Dev remained India's top strike bowler for almost 15 years. His extraordinary test match figures of more than 5000 runs and 434 wickets along with 64 catches show that he was a world class cricketer and an all-rounder. He has raised the mantle of India to sporting glory by winning us the World Cup. In a study conducted by BSLI, Kapil Dev connected extremely well with the life insurance category and had high acceptance by the masses. Our survey suggests that he is seen as a very good fit for the BSLI brand. He is very much loved and respected by a vast majority of the population. On 26 November 2006, Birla Sun Life was host the annual golf tournament at the Chembur Golf Club in Mumbai where Kapil Dev was participates. About Birla Sun Life Insurance

Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest business houses in India and Sun Life Financial Inc., a leading international financial services organization. The local knowledge of the Aditya Birla Group combined with the expertise of Sun Life Financial Inc., offers a formidable protection for your future. Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI), in its five successful years of operations, has contributed significantly to the growth and development of the life insurance industry in India. It pioneered the launch of unit linked life insurance plans amongst the private players in India. It was the first player in the industry to sell its policies through the banc assurance route and through the internet. It was the first private sector player to introduce a pure term plan in the Indian market. This was supported by sales practices which brought a degree of transparency that was entirely new to the market. The process of getting sales illustrations signed by customers and offering a free look period on all policies, which are now industry standards, were introduced by BSLI. Being a customer-centric company, BSLI has invested heavily in technology to build world class processing capabilities. BSLI has covered more than a million lives since inception and its customer base is spread across more than 1000 towns and cities in India. All this has assisted the company in cementing its place amongst the leaders in the industry in terms of new business premium income. The company's current capital base is Rs.520 crore. About the Aditya Birla Group The Aditya Birla Group has a turnover close to Rs.38, 000 crore (as on 31 March 2008) and is one of the largest business houses in India. It enjoys a leadership position in all the sectors in which it operates. With over 75 business units spanning the South East Asian belt, Africa, Canada and the UK among others, it is

reckoned as India's first multinational corporation. The group is anchored by 72,000 employees and has seven lakh shareholders, with a market capitalization of Rs.53,400 crore.

About Sun Life Financial Insurance Sun Life Financial Inc. is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of wealth accumulation and protection products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Tracing its roots back to 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of 31 March 2008, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of US$ 343 billion.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol "SLF".

VISION To be a world class provider of financial security to individuals and corporate and to be amongst the top three private sectors life insurance companies in India

MISSION

To be the first preference of our customers by providing innovative, need based life insurance and retirement solutions to individuals as well as corporates. These solutions will be made available by well-trained professionals through a multi channel distribution network and superior technology. Our Endeavour will be to provide constant value addition to customers throughout their relationship with us, within the regulatory framework. We will provide career development opportunities to our employees and the highest possible returns to our shareholders

SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTH: Multi-channel distribution and one of the largest distribution networks in India. Implementing Six-Sigma process. Customer centric products and services. Superior investment and risk management framework 1 Million Policies sold within 3 and half years. Company has maximum number of MDRT as well as good number of HNI advisors. Training process of the company is very strong. Different plan for different peoples According to the change in surrounding environment like changes in customer requirement.

WEAKNESS: COMPANY does not penetrate on the rural market at a time. There is no plan for the low income group. Fees for the advisor is high than the other company. OPPORTUNITY: Insurance market is very big, where company can expand its horizon in insurance industry . Though good investment and insurance it is easy to top Indian customers. The huge insurance market (77%) is left so company has opportunity to expand our products. To associate with the more number of HNI.

THREATS: OLD HABITS DIE HARD: Its still difficult task to win the confidence of public towards private company. The company is facing major threats from LIC -which is an only government company. Plans for all income groups are not available which can create adverse effect later on the market share of the company.

KEY PEOPLES OF ORGANISATION: BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mr. Kumar M Birla Mr. Donald A Stewart, Mr. Bishwanath N Puranmalka Mr. Ajay Srinivasan Mr. Gary M Comerford Mr. Suresh N Talwar Mr. Gian P Gupta His Highness Maharaja G Singh Mr. Stephan Rajotte Mr. Ajay Srinivasan

Dr. Bharat K Singh

INVESTMENT COMMITTEE

Mr. B. N. Puranmalka

Mr. Vikram Mehmi Mr. Mayank Bathwal Mr. Fabien Jeudy Mr. Vikram Kotak Ms. Keerti Gupta

Management Team Mr. Vikram Mehmi President & Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mayank Bathwal Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Mario Braganza Chief Operating Officer

Mr. E.N. Goveia Head - Direct Sales Force

Mr. Amit Punchhi Senior Vice President Third Party Distribution

Mr. Bhavesh Sanghvi Head - Group Life & Pensions

Mr. Snehal Shah Senior Vice President Operations

Ms. Anjana Grewal Senior Vice President Marketing & Communications

Mr. Rajesh Bhojani Senior Vice President DSF Expansion

Mr. K.H. Venkatachalam Vice President - Human Resource

Mr. Fabien Jeudy Vice President, Chief & Appointed Actuary

Mr. Lalit Vermani Vice President Compliance

Mr. Melvyn D'souza Vice President - Risk Management and Internal Audit

Mr. Vikram Kotak Vice President Investments

Mr. Bhalachandra Nayak Vice President - Strategy Mr. Eugene Lundrigan

CHAPTER 8 FINDING AND ANALYSIS

The questionnaires were collected from all respondents and tabulations were based on the primary data present in the forms. The tables of each question are prepared and analyses based on the questions prepared in the questionnaire. Graphical respondents like LINE DIAGRAMS, BAR DIAGRAMS ARE USED in the interpretation of the data.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CUSTOMER Demographic 1. Age of the customers 23-35 36-50 51-60 60 above

TABLE NO. 1 Table showing the age group of the respondents

Age Factor 23-35 36-50 51-60 60 above Total

No. of respondents 14 20 12 4 50

No. of respondents in Percentage (%) 28% 40% 24% 8% 100%

ANALYSIS: The above table shows that out of the 50 respondents who have respondent to this questionnaire, it is found that: a. 28 % of the respondents lie between the 23-35 age group. b. 40 % of the respondents lie between the 36-50 age group. c. 24 % of the respondents lie between the 51-60 age group. d. 8 % of the respondents lie above the 60 age group. E. GRAPH NO. 1 f. Graph showing the age group of the respondents.

45% 40% 40% 35% No. of Respondents 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 23-35 36-50 51-60 60 above Age factors 8% 28% 24%

2. Sex of the customers Male Female

TABLE NO. 2 Table showing the sex of the respondents

GENDER Males Females Total

No. of respondents 27 23 50

No. of respondents in Percentage (%) 54% 46% 100%

ANALYSIS:

The above table shows that among the 50 respondents 54% were male & the rest of them i.e. 46% were females.

GRAPH NO. 2

Graph showing the sex of the respondents

Chart Title
Males Females

46% 54%

3. What is your income per month? 25000 25000-50000 50000-75000 more than 75000 TABLE NO. 3 Table showing the income category of the respondents

Age Less than 25000 25000-50000 50000-75000 75000 above Total

No. of respondents 15 22 10 3 50

Percentage (%) 30% 44 % 20 % 06% 100%

ANALYSIS: From the above table we can say that people of all income levels have respondent to this questionnaire. 30% of the respondents belong to the less than 25000 income category. 44% of the respondents belong to the 25000-50000 income category and 20% of the respondents belong to the 50000-75000 income category. 06% of the respondents belong to the 75000 and above category.

GRAPH NO. 3 Graph showing the income category of the respondents

INCOME CATEGORY

25000 25000-50000 50000-75000 above 75000

4. Do you have insurance policy? Yes No TABLE NO. 4 Table showing the consumers of insurance product Sex Males Females Total Yes 22 15 37 No 5 8 13

ANALYSIS:

From the above table we can say that among the 50 respondents it was found that all the 74% were consumers of customer. GRAPH NO. 4 Graph showing the consumers of insurance product
25 20 No. of Respondents 15 15
Males

22

10 5 5 0 Yes Sex No

5. Which insurance companies policy you have? LIC SBI LIFE INSURANCE BSLI No insurance policy TABLE NO. 5 Table showing the different favorite insurance preferred by the respondents. Company LIC SBI LIFE INSURANCE BSLI NO INURANCE POLICY Total 50 100% % % No. of policies Percentage (%) % %

ANALYSIS: The above table shows that among the males:

GRAPH NO. 5

6. How important is the brand image in choosing insurance product? Very Important Important Neutral Not Important GRAPH NO. 6

50 40 30 20 10 0 Precentage 24

44 16

16

very imp

imp

neutral

not imp

ANALYSIS: Importance of is the brand image in choosing insurance product -24% Saied very important -44% Saied important -16% Saied neutral -16% Saied not important.

7. Does Advertisement influences you to choose insurance products. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree GRAPH NO. 7

INFLUNCE OF ADVERTISMENT ON SOFT DRINK PRODUCT

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly ageree percentage 8 12 44 36

ANALYSIS: Influences of Advertisement to choose insurance products. -44% agree -36% strongly agree -12% neutral -8% disagree 8. Which of the following media influence you in choosing insurance product? TV Newspaper/Magazines Radio Internet Outdoor media GRAPH NO. 8

80 60 40 20 0 percentage percentage 80 8 8 4 TV

Outdoor media Internet Radio

TV Radio Internet Outdoor media

ANALYSIS: Influence of media in choosing insurance product. - 80% on TV - 8% on radio -8% internet -4% outdoor media. 9. To what extent does your favorite celebrity or a celebrity you admire influence your choice of brand when buying products? Extremely Very much Fairly Slightly Not at all GRAPH NO. 9

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Not at all Slightly Fairly Very much Extremly

% OF INFLUNCE OF CELEBRITY 8 8 32 24 28

ANALYSIS: influence of favorite celebrity on choice of brand. -32% fairly -28% extremely -24% very much -8% slightly -8% not at all. 10. Do you usually trust in a well-known brand because of the advertisement with celebrity and famous actress? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

0 disagree neutral agree strongly agree

10

15

20

25 8 44 36 12

30

35

40

45

50

ANALYSIS: trust in a well-known brand because of the advertisement with celebrity and famous actress -8% disagree -44% neutral -36% agree -12% strongly agree 11) Which insurance companys advertisement is more innovative, knowledgeable and attractive? LIC SBI LIFE INSURANCE BSLI RLIC

COMPANIES

No. of respondents

Percentage (%)

LIC SBI LI BSLI RLIC Total

19 11 15 5 50

38% 22% 30% 10% 100%

ANALYSIS: -38% people said LICs advertisements are best. -22% people said SBI LIS advertisements are best. -30% people said BSLIS advertisements are best. -10% people said RLICS advertisements are best.

Efective advertisement
RILC 10% BSLI 30%

LIC 38%

SBILC 22%

CHAPTER 9 RESULT AND CONCLUSION

RESULT: From the above analysis it is understood that effective advertising
influences the customer buying behavior up to certain extent and advertisement has to be prepaid by using proper three phase marketing strategy and marketing mix so that its impact will increase. Age and income of customer also important in success of advertisement, Birla sun life insurance focuses on young customer and the result is that their advertisement adds to the business of organization. Advertisement prepared by the Birla is knowledgeable and innovative and does influence the customer to purchase the insurance product.

CONCLUSION

Majority of the respondents are females. Majority of the respondents are in the age group of 25 to 45 years. Majority of the respondents are salaried employed Majority of the respondents belong to Middle Class. Majority of the respondents are not interested in buying insurance product. Majority of the respondents would like to go for an alternate insurance product like LIC. Majority of the respondents would like to purchase cold drink more than once a month. Majority of the respondents in spite having low income (student) the consume more cold drink. Majority of the respondent prefer to have insurance in Restaurant, College Canteen.

Majority of the respondents prefer insurance advertisement through the TV Media. Majority of the respondents are impressed by Birla sun life insurance Ads in the TV.

CHAPTER 10 RECOMMENDATION

It can be concluded that overall response of the consumers towards Birla sun life insurance is satisfactory. Consumers are satisfied with the companys financial product. Birla sun life insurances products are largely preferred by the Youths who are in the age group of 25-45 years. So the company should concentrate on introducing new varieties of product and also low focus on low income segment. Some of the suggestion and recommendations as follows: 1. As was seen that is most favorite brand 48% .Which determines that there is more brand loyalties in insurance so the company should improve their market strategies to improve the customers loyalty towards Birla sun life insurance. 2. TV being the most popular media of mass communications. Can be used as the most powerful tool for promoting insurance product. The advertisements to repeat them to create an ever lasting impression common person, or sports persons in TV advertisements should only be chosen as reference.

3.

Point of purchase of insurance should be improved by displaying attractive and striking advertisement to attract consumers.

4.

The advertisement should be improved, so as to catch the eyes of the customer.

5.

Company should introduce many, new, other, product to cater the all the segment.

6.

To increase sales of insurance product the company should introduce many complimentary like sticker, tattoos and other free small gifts to childrens, gifts to adult etc.,

7.

As the companys major competitor is LIC, the company should compete with LICs market.

8.

It is welcome for the company to go for healthy competition.

9.

If the company gives attention in changing the caption once in a while it will be better.

10. It is welcome for the company to increase its sponsorship so as to increase the sales and to inspire the people towards its brands.

CHAPTER 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.1 BOOKS REFERRED
1) Consumer behavior, 9th addition, by lean g.schiffman,leslie lazer kanuk. 2) Consumer behavior, 9th edition, by dell.hawkens and roger j. best 3) Marketing management by Dr. karunakarun,himalya publications 4) Consumer behavior, 4th edition, by David L. Loudon & Albert. Della Bitta

1.2 WEBLIOGRAPHY

1) http:// http://www.birlasunlife.com/ 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki 3) http://www.scribd.com