The 21st Century Consumers

A Behavioural Perspective
Publish by Global Vision Publishing House

Edited by M. Ganesh Babu, G. Vani and Dr. N. Panchanatham

A Study on Consumer Intention and Perception Towards Airtel Life Time Prepaid Card, Chennai
*S. Chandra Sekaran, **B.S. Salva Kumar and ***S. Asain Basha
Abstract The research aims at exploring the intention and perception towards Airtel life time prepaid card. Mobile phone markets are one of the compete market atmospheres nowadays due to increased competition and change. This market study deals with Customers sacrifice and willingness to purchase criteria in mobile phone markets by studying factors that influence customer perceived value and purchase intention to acquire new mobile phones on one hand and factors that influence mobile phones on other hand. In this competitive environment, to make my study on perception towards purchasing the service providers new connection card, to analyze on customer preferences in major categories of this connection and also evaluating satisfaction level of customers towards their services. The study encompassed a sample of 100 respondents. The sample was collected according to the convenience of the researcher. A descriptive study was adopted as it was found appropriate for the study. The Questionnaire method was used for collecting the data. The tools used for analyzing the data were Chi-square test. From the analysis and results, it was founded that most of the people aware Airtel Lifetime card by Poster advertisement and also they have intention to go for Airtel lifetime card in future. They have good image towards Airtel for their services and networks. It is found that consumer prefers network is the first priority, the reason for choosing lifetime card is lifelong validity period and to receive calls throughout their life.

INTRODUCTION Problem Statement Mobile phone markets are one of the compete market atmospheres nowadays due to increased competition and change. Thus, the growing concern requires marketers to strictly look at Customers buying decision processes and demand focus on the factors such as Prices, Purchase intention, Perceived intention, Perceived quality, Perceived sacrifice and Perceived value that subsequently determine willingness to purchase between different mobile phones
* Lecturer, Dhanish Ahamed College of Engineering, Chennai.Email: chandrad.smsiva@gmail.com ** Lecturer, Alpha College of Engineering, Chennai. ** II MBA, Dhanish Ahamed College of Engineering, Chennai.Email: bashaasaen@gmail.com

S. C. Sekaran, B.S.S. Kumar and S.A. Basha

with an appropriate service. In this competitive environment, to find out the customer satisfaction, customer preferences, expectations and perception about the Airtel life time card out of all other Cellular service providers in the market. The underlying problem in predicting customer choice resides much more in the fact that purchase decisions are made on the basis of many different criteria. This problem is further confounded in service applications where customers may consider intangible features and characteristics of the market offerings and interactions between service providers and the consumers. Objectives of the Study To identify which cellular service they are using presently. To identify the type of connection plan, that the consumers currently have. (Postpaid, Prepaid, or Life time card). To find out the communication channels most used by the consumers to know about Airtel Lifetime Prepaid card. To analyze consumer perception and expectation towards Airtel Lifetime Prepaid card. To analyze the Reason and Purpose behind buying a Lifetime prepaid card. To find out the satisfaction level of customers towards Airtel Lifetime prepaid card. Scope of the Study Lacking and factor for dissatisfaction has been studied from the customers point of view. Getting an opportunity to convince and interact with the customers. Creating awareness and perception towards Airtel. The limit of the study is only for the Telecommunication Life time card of Airtel. The survey was taken from some people of Chennai city alone so the result may not be feasible for other locations other than Chennai city. So, the findings only suitable for intention and Perception towards Airtel Life time Card. Theoretical Perspectives Perception is the process through which a person forms an opinion about the various stimuli he receives from his sensory organs. In marketing, perception is concerned with understanding how the consumer views a product or service. The five senses of a person help him in this process. The marketer must distinguish his message from the competitors message. This is when Just Noticeable difference (JND) comes to their aid. JND is the minimum difference that the consumer can detect between two stimuli he receives. It helps the consumer to distinguish changes in prices among purchase alternatives. Marketers thus use stimuli to grab customers attention and most often these efforts are clearly visible and known to the customer. However, they sometimes use indiscernible stimuli that are just below a consumers threshold so as to influence him. This is called subliminal message. Of all the stimuli a consumer comes into contact with, he pays attention to only a few and interprets the messages that he remembers. This is called the process of perception and has the three steps: 1) exposure, 2) attention, and 3) interpretation. How well the consumer pays attention will depend on the

A Study on Consumer Intention and Perception towards Airtel Life Time

stimulus, and also the consumers interest and need for that product. The consumer interprets the information in two ways: 1) the literal meaning or the semantic meaning and 2) the psychological meaning. Hence we are guided by our learning as well as the semantic meaning of a word. A consumer also interprets the symbols and other physical features of the product on the basis of his experience and cultural beliefs. Marketers make use of perception to formulate marketing strategies. The marketers use a perceptual map, wherein they find out the attributes or the characteristics that the consumer associates with the product and they create the product accordingly. Thus, development of a brand or the logo of the product, packaging of the product, etc., have to be made keeping the consumers perception in mind. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Sampling techniqueConvenience sampling: Due to the population is infinite; we took some samples only and collected data. Sample size 100. Preparation of a proforma or a Questionnaire for Collection of Data: The approach is going to be made personally and questionnaire is given to them and asked to fill up. Influence may not be used to fill up those questionnaires. Data Source Primary and Secondary. Pilot study or Pre-testing: The questionnaire was pre-tested by administering it over 10 respondents in Chennai City. Covering letters or paragraphs when mailing the questionnaire or proforma: There are several ways to contact the respondents viz. Personal method, Telephonic interviews, E-mail, Mailing questionnaires etc. The contact method used in our study is personal method. The approach is made personally and questionnaire is given to them and asked to fill up. Influence is not used to fill up those questionnaires. Processing of Data: There are a variety of sampling techniques that enables you to reduce the amount of data you need to collect by considering only data from a sub-group rather than all possible cases. Bar charts and Pie charts have been used to analyze data and inference is provided. Framework for Analysis: Chi-square test: The Chi-square test is an important test amongst the several tests of significance developed by statisticians. Chi-square is a statistical measure used in the context of sampling analysis for comparing a variance to a theoretical variance. As a non-parametric test, it can be used to determine if categorical data shows dependency or the two classifications are independent. 2 is calculated as follows:
2

= (O-E) 2/E where

O = Observed frequency E = Expected frequency

S. C. Sekaran, B.S.S. Kumar and S.A. Basha

DATA ANALYSIS Table 1: Classification of Service Provider

Service Provider Airtel Aircel Tata Indicom BSNL Reliance Idea Vodafone MTS Total No. of Respondents 29 16 9 11 6 4 24 1 100 Percentage 29 16 9 11 6 4 24 1 100

Source: Survey data Inference: Airtel mostly preferred

Table 2: Classification of Service Connection Type

Connection Type Prepaid Postpaid LifeTime prepaid Total No. of respondents 47 31 22 100

Percentage 47 31 22 100

Source: Survey data Inference: Most of the respondents are using Pre-Paid connection type.

Table 3: Classification of Customer perception towards Lifetime Prepaid card in future

Service Provider Option Airtel Aircel Tata Indicom BSNL Reliance Idea Vodafone MTS Total No. of Respondents 24 12 19 9 8 3 24 1 100 Percentage 24 12 19 9 8 3 24 1 100

Source: Survey data. Inference: Airtel and Vodafone Lifetime Prepaid cards are options to buy in future.

A Study on Consumer Intention and Perception towards Airtel Life Time

Table 4: Classification of reasons to prefer a particular service provider/connection

Reasons Excellent Customer service Easy & friendly process Good Network Easy payment Service Charge Talk time is more Variety of schemes/Tariff plans Validity/Grace time is more Free group connection - CUG Others Total No. of respondents 2 1 41 1 9 11 11 22 2 0 100 Percentage 2 1 41 1 9 11 11 22 2 0 100

Source: Survey data. Inference: Most of the respondents prefer due to good network.

Statistical Analysis Chi-square test 1: To test relationship between the Lifetime prepaid card service providers and customers preferred feature. 2 calculated value = 18.46827. Degrees of freedom of 21 at 5% level of significance is 32.671 Hence, the calculated value is less than the tabulated value. 18.46827< 32.671. So, Accept Ho. Result: There is no significant relationship between the LifeTime prepaid card service providers and customers preferred feature. FINDINGS (Source: Primary data Survey) Most of the respondents (93%) are using the mobile phone. Most of the respondents (29%) prefer the Airtel service. Most of the respondents (47%) are using Pre-Paid connection type. Most of the respondents (50%) use to Re-Charge their card once in month. Most of the respondents (41%) prefer due to good network. Most of the respondents (90%) aware of Lifetime prepaid card. Most effective media is Posters to create more awareness (30%). Most of the respondents (79%) accept to go for Lifetime prepaid card in future. Most of the respondents (24%) like to buy Airtel and Vodafone Lifetime Prepaid cards.

S. C. Sekaran, B.S.S. Kumar and S.A. Basha

Most of the respondents (32%) prefer the Lifetime prepaid card for more validity period. Most of the respondents (61%) can identify the differences between the Lifetime prepaid card and Postpaid card. Most of the respondents could identify the difference between the Lifetime prepaid card and Postpaid card such as Payment terms, recharge advantages, validity and tariff plans between post paid and prepaid services. Respondents are expecting for prepaid card having life time validity. Respondents buy Lifetime card the reason is to receive calls throughout their life without having to recharge again. CONCLUSION

Mobile phones are incomplete product. An Incomplete product is product that needs further investment by customer in order to get the utility of the product. A complete picture of factors affecting buying decision can emerge only when pre and post decision of buying mobile set is to taken under consideration. This decade, most of the peoples using cell phones. So, service providers are increasing in more level. So service provider are should over come another ones competition. So, it leads to adding new features, schemes, periodical offers to their service. So, the consumers get maximum benefit from their service provider. Now-adays, cell phones are very necessity to all. And no person are feel cell phones are luxury one. As the result derived from the survey from Chennai market, due to more competitive tariff plans and schemes, people have an option to choose their desired service provider (Operator) in the market and many people are using Airtel and Vodafone services. REFERENCE
Kotler, Philip (2003), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi.