Executive Summary

Doing this project, it was a great exper ience for me. The pr oject is intended to
provid e information ab ou t Customer satis faction l evel w ith the Titan br and
Fastrack (watches). In Ind ia there have b een a great successfu l brand b oth
national as well as foreig n brands and again it has been realize that brands are
sustaining p ower to stay in the competitions .

Being a cap ital & b iggest bus iness center of Ind ia I choose the fastrack
watches customer satis faction leve l, to conduct my stud y and to get lot of
exposure & var ious opp ortu nities to meet different Fastrack users. Many of
them d id not s how any inter est and refused at cooperate. This pr oject has been
under taken to stud y of customer satis faction ab out Fastrack watches and
suggesting way to impr ove its customer ser vice level.

1
 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

2
INTRODUCTION ABOUT WRIST WATCHES

Clocks and Watches are devices used to measure or indicate the passage of time. A clock, which
is larger than a watch, is usually intended to be kept in one place; a watch is designed to be
carried or worn. Both types of time pieces require a source of power and a means of transmitting
and controlling it, as well as indicators to register the lapse of time units.

Wrist watches were once a need, but now it has become a demand. Different brands with
different technology, design and innovations have entered into the market.

HISTORY OF WRIST WATCHES

Today, a wristwatch is considered as much of a status symbol as a device to tell time. In an age
when cell phones and digital pagers display tiny quartz clocks, the mechanical wristwatch has
slowly become less of an object of function and more a piece of modern culture. Walk into the
boardroom of any popular company and you‘re likely to see dozens of prestigious wristwatches,
including such names as Rolex, Acheron Constantine, Frank Muller, Jaeger-Leuctra and even
Pate Philippe.

However, this was not always the case. Less than 100years ago, no self-respecting gentleman
would be caught dead wearing a wristwatch. In those days, real men carried pocket watches, with
a gold half-hunter being the preferred status symbol of the time no pun intended. Wrist lets, as
they were called, were reserved for women, and considered more of a passing fad than a serious
timepiece. In fact, they were held in such disdain that many a gentlemen were actually quoted to
say they ³would sooner wear a skirt as wear a wristwatch´. The established watch making
community looked down on them as well. Because of their size, few believed wristlets could not
be made to achieve any level of accuracy, nor could they withstand the basic rigors of human
activity. Therefore, very few companies produced them in quantity, with the vast majority of
those being small ladies models, with delicate fixed wire or chain-link bracelets.
Watch works were developed when coiled springs were introduced as a source of power. This
type of spring was used in Italy about 1450. About 1500 Peter Henley, a locksmith in Nurnberg,

3
Germany, began producing portable timepieces known popularly as Nürnb erg eggs. In 1525
another artisan, Jacob Zech of Prague, invented a fusee, or spiral pulley, to equalize the uneven
pull of the spring. Other improvements that increased the accuracy of watches included a spiral
hairspring, invented about 1660 by Robert Hooke, for the balance wheel, and a lever escapement
devised by British inventor Thomas Madge about 1765.

Minute and second hands, and crystals to protect both the dial and hands, first appeared on 17th-
century watches. Jeweled bearings to reduce friction and prolong the life of watchworks were
introduced in the 18thcentury.

In the centuries that preceded the introduction of machine-made parts, craftsmanship of a high
order was required to manufacture accurate, durable clocks and watches. Such local craft
organizations as the Paris Guild of Clockmakers (1544) were organized to control the art of
clock making and its apprenticeship. A guild known as the Clockmakers Company, founded in
London in 1630, is still in existence. The Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland also produced
many fine artisans whose work was noted for beauty and a high degree of mechanical perfection.
This all started to change in the nineteenth century, when soldiers discovered their usefulness
during wartime situations. Pocket watches were clumsy to carry and thus difficult to operate
while in combat. Therefore, soldiers fitted them into primitive ³cupped´ leather straps so they
could be worn on the wrist, thereby freeing up their hands during battle. It is believed that
Girard-Perregaux equipped the German Imperial Naval with similar pieces as early as
the1880s,which they ore on their wrists while synchronizing naval attacks, and firing artillery. In
1906, the evolution of wristlets took an even bigger step with the invention of the expandable
flexible bracelet, as well as the introduction of wire loops (or lugs) soldered onto small, open-
faced pocket watch cases, allowing leather straps to be more easily attached. This aided their
adaptation for military use and thus marked a turning point in the development of wristwatches
for men.

Another timely issue was the vulnerability of the glass crystal when worn during combat. This
was addressed by utilizing ³pierced metal covers´, frequently called shrapnel guards. These were
basically metal grills (often made of silver), placed over the dial of the watch²therebyprotecting
the glass from damage while still allowing the time to be easily read. A less common solution
4
was the use of leather covers, snapped into place over the watch. While they did offer protection
from damage, they were cumbersome to use, and thus were primarily seen in the extreme
climates of Australia and Africa Over the next decade, watch companies slowly added additional
models to their catalogs, and finally, by the mid-1930s, they accounted for 65 percent of all
watches exported by Switzerland. It was an uphill battle, but the wristwatch had finally arrived.
They were now accurate, waterproof and, by 1931, perpetually self-winding, when Rolex
introduced the Auto Rotor, a revolutionary design, which is used to this day by watch companies
around the world.

The success of the wristwatch was born out of necessity, and Rolex continued this tradition by
introducing a series of Professional, or ³tool watches´ in the early 1950s. These models,
including the Submariner, Explorer, GMT-Master, Turn-O-Graph, and Kilogauss were also
designed out of necessity, as they included features and attributes that were essential for a
specific task or profession. Because of its rugged design, variations of the Submariner have
subsequently been issued to numerous militaries, including the British Royal Navy, Royal
Canadian Navy and British Royal Marines, as well as the U.S. Navy Seals. Over the years,
dozens of companies like Omega, Burns and Pinero have also supplied specialty watch models
for military duty..With the general public now leaning toward high-tech, digital gadgets, the
classic mechanical wristwatch were come to the market.

5
 CHAPTER-2
COMPANY PROFILE

6
 COMPANY PROFILE

TITAN INDUSTRIES

Titan Industries is the world's fifth largest wrist watch manufacturer and India's leading producer
of watches under the Titan, Fastrack, Sonata, Nebula, RAGA, Regalia, Octane &Xylems brand
names. It is a joint venture between the Tata Group, and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development
Corporation (TIDCO). Its product portfolio includes watches, accessories and jewelry, in both
contemporary and traditional designs. It exports watches to about 32 countries around the world
with manufacturing facilities in Houser, Dehradun, Goa and manufactures precious jewelry under
the Tanishq brand name, making it India's only national jewelry brand. It is a subsidiary of the
Tata Group.

Titan Watch division was started in 1987. At launch it was the third watch company in India
after HMT and Alwen. Titan formed a joint venture with Timex, which lasted until 1998, and
setup a strong distribution network across India. As of 2014, Titan watches account for a 60%
share of the total Indian market and are also sold in about 40 countries through marketing
subsidiaries based in London, Aden, Dubai and Singapore. Titan watches are sold in India
through retail chains controlled by Titan Industries.

Titan Industries has claimed to have manufactured the world's slimmest wrist watch - Titan Edge.
Produced indigenously after four years of research and development, the Titan Edge has a total
slimness of just 3.5 mm and a wafer thin movement of 1.15 mm. Apart from the Titan Edge,
Titan also offers Steel, Regalia, Raga, Fastrack, Technology, Nebula, Bandhan, Sonata, Octane,
special Rhesus, and Tamil Nadu. Fastrack is a popular brand among youth in India. Fastrack
watches come in a variety of styles, shapes and colors. On 4 March 2011, Titan Industries
Announced the launch of its very first Titan flagship store is located at Opposite Shoppers Stop,
Bandra Linking Road, Mumbai, India. Store is spread over a spacious 2,500 sqft (230 m 2) and
houses more than 1500 watches on display from Titan like Purple, Automatics, Orion, Raga,
Edge, Nebula, and many more. On November 16, 2013, Titan Industries acquired Swiss watch

7
maker Favre-Leuba for Euro 2 million. Titan watches, the major Indian watchmaker embarked
on the fashion watches category with the launch of the Titan Fastrack watches in the year 1998.
As the ever changing fashion industry influenced the watch industry during this era, Titan up
with the stylish watches came and trendy Titan Fastrack watches collection.

Extraordinarily innovative technology coupled with a fresh sense of style in the Titan Fastrack
watches became an instant rage especially with youths. In the Titan portfolio it is believed to
contribute a 4% value. Significant rise in Titan Fastrack watches sales has subsequently
compelled Titan to establish it as a separate brand.

Titan has an enviable brand image in India, being ranked number 1 six times in the last seven
years, and second once. Reason for success- appeals to youth market and is inspirational. Mass
market brand with a strong presence at the lower end.‘Mass with class ‘equally popular with men
and women. Brand expenditure = £339,305 - £407,166 brand building. Value for money. Titan
ranks very highly in all surveys. Company is now keen to translate its brand advantage in to
profits.

8
 Fastrack
Parent Company Titan Industries Limited (Tata Group)

Category Watches and Accessories

Sector Lifestyle and Retail

Tagline/ Slogan Move on

USP Youth Appeal

STP
Segment Trendy and colourful lifestyle accessories

Target Group Mid Premium Urban youth

Positioning Youth brand for stylish youth owning multiple watches.

9
 SWOT Analysis
1. Good Distribution Network – over 100 Fast track stores across
50 towns with Titan Service Centre’s across India.

2. High youth connect – Positioning as a youth stylish brand

3. Fast changing designs to keep up with latest trends

4. One of the most trusted brands in India

5. Excellent advertising and brand visibility connecting with the
youth
Strength 6. Has a diverse portfolio of watches, sunglasses, bags, wallets etc.

1. Products have a short life due to changing trends – Ads to the

cost of production
Weakness 2. Limited global reach despite being a popular brand

1. Fast growing youth segment presents growth opportunities

2. Global penetration would help brand grow and target youth
worldwide
Opportunity 3.Tie-up with fashion houses and special schemes for youth

1. Youth segment is price sensitive

2. Entry of foreign players has led to tough competition
Threats 3. With lots of options available, brand switching is quite high

Competition

1. Swatch
2.Casio
Competitors 3. Timex

10
HTSE Technology

In July 2013 Titan launched the HTSE (High Tech Self Energized) collection of watches which
run on light. According to Titan these watches can be charged with as low as 200 lux of light
which makes them chargeable with light even from a candle. In its press release the company
said that "HTSE draws its design inspiration from the most complex self-energizing bodies
built by mankind — space stations, satellites and spaceships. Targeted at the tech-savvy,
young urban male, this ultra-modern assortment is truly an epitome of style and
technology." These watches are at current available at select outlets in select cities throughout
the world

PRECISION ENGINEERING DIVISION

Precision Engineering Division of Titan was started in 2002. It has become one of the leading
manufacturers of Precision Parts for Automotive and Aerospace Industries.

The Diverse Product range includes pointers, dashboard clusters like Fuel Gauge, Temperature
Gauge, Gear Shift Indicators, Clocks for Automobiles and any kind of Injection molded Plastic
parts, Electromechanical Assemblies for automobiles, all kinds of pressed and turned parts for
automobiles. The Tooling Sector of Precision Engineering Division manufactures all kinds of
Press Tool, Molds, Jigs, and Fixtures for various industries.

Titan Automation Solution, a part of Precision Engineering Division is a leading Automation

Solution Provider for all kind of industries. They made significant contributions to add value
during the product development stages of the low-cost water purifier, Tata watches, developed
by Tata Chemicals. The Automation Solution applied its precision engineering capabilities to
supply automation solutions for the development of special assembly presses that enabled mass
production of Tata watches.

11
 JEWELERY DIVISION

Tanishq is currently the most prominent jewelry brand of India, and it pioneered the concept of
branded jewellery and ornaments in India."Tan" in Sanskrit/Urdu means body and "Ishq" in
Urdu means love. Hence "Tanishq" which is becoming popular as an Indian baby name means
"embodiment of love". "Tan" in Sanskrit also means to extend or to spread. Hence "to extend
love" or "to spread love" are other meanings attributed to the name Tanishq. The name Tanishq
has been formed by combining "Ta" (the first two letters of Tata) and "Nishk or Nishkh"
(meaning gold coin or necklace in Sanskrit).

Tanishq is India's largest jewellery brand with a wide range of jewellery in 22Kt pure gold
studded with diamonds or coloured gems. It is the fastest growing jewellery brand in India.
Tanishq, established in 1995, challenged the established family jeweller and introduced new
rules in precious jewellery; a category as old as civilization. Tanishq challenged the age-old
jeweller's word with Tata's guaranteed purity.

Tanishq's initial foray into the jewellery businesswas a failure though. Tanishq at first
introduced 18 Kt gold jewelry advertising 18 Kt as the 'international standard.' This less pure
gold was completely rejected by the market dominated by (purported) 22 Kt gold. Later on, it
exploded the market with facts about rampant impurity across India. It introduced technology-
backed challenge in a category completely governed by blind individual trust. Tanishq
introduced innovations like Karat meter, the only non destructive means to check the purity of
gold; machine made jewelry, which offers superior finish and value to the customer and
handcrafted jewelry which is influenced by various jewelry traditions of India.

12
Tanishq has set up production and sourcing bases with thorough research of the jewelry crafts
of India. The 135,000 sqft (12,500 m2). Factory is equipped with the latest and most modern
machinery and equipment. The factory complies with all labour and environmental standards,
located at House, Tamil Nadu. The brand brings together the work of karigars, who specialize
in different styles of making jewelry. Karigars, who continue to be an exploited lot with other
jewelers, are paid fair remuneration and work under good working conditions in Tanishq.

13
 FACE OF TITAN

The Company also runs a one of a kind contest in the retail industry called the Face Of Titan
(FOT) contest to identify the most talented Sales person, Manager & Service personnel
Technician & Cashier. The contest recognizes the best based on a set of parameters that give a
measure of the overall development of the individual in each of the categories mentioned above
and is not solely on sales.

This program was conceived as an assessment center for front-line staff - by Aparna Ponnappa,
inspired at that time by staff who expressed their desire to 'perform' and 'be recognized' for what
they do. This program enabled the retail wing of Titan to empower staff to take charge of their
own skill development and provided them with a healthy and fun environment to compete and
showcase their own talent.

The contest leapfrogged into the digital era from the year 2006-07 with the introduction of IT in
the capturing of survey data across all of its 200+ stores, that year also saw the introduction of
the data gathered at the store level being used to profile the staff at various levels using a custom
built web based software developed by I.GEN Labs.

TITAN Company has good reputation in Indian stock market (NSE). Sonata reached the top 100
most trusted brands of India in a study - The Brand Trust Report conducted by Trust Research
Advisory. The same study has also ranked Titan as 10th Most Trusted Brand.

14
 FASTRACK WATCHES

Fastrack is the brand for the young generation which is part of the Titan brand. Many brands
have vice lines which target a separate segment of population. This helps to maintain a unique
identity for each brand and also helps the mother company to differentiate between the focus
areas for the different brands. Thus, in India, Titan is a company which is part of the renowned
Tata group and it has launched Fastrack which caters mostly to the young generation.

When a brand targets the youth, it needs to keep changing and reinventing itself to stay in tune
with the latest trends in the market which attract the urban youth. Fastrack similarly is one such
brand which has been changing its product lines, introducing new elements in accessories as well
as in designs so that it attracts the urban youth of India today. It is said to be one of the inventive
youth brands. Initially the brand started off with watch designs which were trendy and youthful;
since then it has moved onto eyewear, bags which are again marketed in different eye catching
ways. While watches are marketed as wrist gear, sunglasses are marketed as eye gear. The
campaigns for Fastrack are loud and shocking, with taglines open to interpretation and
innovative designs in their showrooms.

Today Fastrack features a wide range of products for the young at heart. From watches and
sunglasses, they have moved onto bags, belts, wallets and even wristbands.

15
 Watches

There are various collections which can be found amongst the Fastrack watches. Each collection
signifies a certain style which is present in each of the models in that collection. The New
collection signifies all the latest models being introduced by Fastrack while there are the Grunge,
Hip Hop, Neon, Digital Fashion, Aluminum, and Colour Play, Bikers, Army and others, each
with their distinct range of watches.

16
The Hip Hop range

The latest collection which is featured is the Hip Hop range. True to the flamboyant style of the
hip hop culture, the watches have distinct styles and surprise elements in their design. The most
stunning piece is the 3049YM01 for guys. This watch comes in gold or white metal and is to be
worn like a pendant on a chain around the neck. The strap is in the form of a chain and the watch
is designed like a pendant representing the male symbol.

The Denim range

The Denim collection amongst Fastrack watches are unique and are highly in demand. These
feature mostly square designs where the case may be round but the dial is square shaped. The
dial shapes and case shapes differ in each model and so do the straps. From leather to metal,
there are straps which come in the denim material, making it perfect for pairing with your
favorite pair of jeans.

The Bikers range

If you look at the Bikers collection, you would be taken aback by some of the sleek designs that
this collection has for young women. Overall the designs are sporty and come with round dials,
leather or metal straps and are trendy and sporty in style.

The Army range

This range probably represents the most elaborate designs amongst Fastrack watches. The straps
are wide in which the watch is embedded. The dial is in the form of a bullet and the glass is
designed to camouflage the dial. The leather straps add an expensive aura to these watches
which are made for true army fans.

17
 CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION

After carrying out an in-depth market study, Titan identified three distinct market segments for
its watches. The segments were arrived at using benefit and income level as the bases. The first
consisted o f the high income/ elite consumers who were buying a watch as a fashion accessory
not as a mere instrument showing time. The next segment consisted o f consumers who preferred
some fashion in their watches but to them price did matter. The third segment consisted o f the
lower - income consumers who saw a watch mainly as a time-keeping device and bought mainly
on the basis of price

Types Of Customer Segmentation-

The different types of segments are mainly concerned with two aspects-

1. Dividing the customers into meaningful homogeneous.

2. Devising the appropriate market mix to maximize the profitability of the organization.

• Lifestyle segmentation -

This emphasize segmentation on the basis of the distinctive mode of living of segments
involving questions regarding how they spend their time , the nature of their interests and
the basic characteristics like income, education.

• Product segmentation –

Product segmentation directed towards differences among the product that comprise
market.

18
 Customer • Lifestyle segmentation
oriented • Product segmentation

• Volume segmentation
Customer Business
• Demographic
Segmentation oriented segmentation

• Quantitative
Need segmentation
based • Socio-psychological
segmentation

• Volume segmentation–

This involves segmenting of market judging the event of use such as heavy, medium,
light users and those who do not use the product at all.

• Demographic segmentation-

Customers are classified in homogeneous groups under demographic similarities like age,
sex, education level, income etc.

19
 • Quantitative segmentation –

This type of segmentation emphasize is placed on repeat purchases by the buyers.

• Socio-psychological segmentation –

Different social-classes have different spending behaviors patterns. Social classes’

aggressiveness, degree of cautioners and venture sameness with value differences
determine this type of segmentation.

Product distribution

Product distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Distribution is
the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or
business user, using direct means, or using indirect means with intermediaries.

The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing, and promotion.

Channels and intermediaries

Distribution of products takes place by means of channels. Channels are sets of interdependent
organizations (called intermediaries) involved in making the product available for consumption
to end-user. Merchants are intermediaries that buy and resell products. Agents and brokers are
intermediaries that act on behalf of the producer but do not take title to the products.

Channel design

A firm can design any number of channels they require. Channels are classified by the number of
intermediaries between producer and consumer.[1] A level zero channel has no intermediaries.
This is typical of direct marketing. A level one channel has a single intermediary. This flow is
typically from manufacturer to retailer to consumer.

20
 Types

Intensive distribution

The producer's products are stocked in the majority of outlets. This strategy is common for basic
supplies, snack foods, magazines and soft drink beverages.

Selective distribution

Means that the producer relies on a few intermediaries to carry their product. This strategy is
commonly observed for more specialized goods that are carried through specialist dealers, for
example, brands of craft tools, or large appliances.

Exclusive distribution

Means that the producer selects only very few intermediaries. Exclusive distribution is often
characterized by exclusive dealing where the reseller carries only that producer's products to the
exclusion of all others. This strategy is typical of luxury goods retailers such as Gucci.

Channel mix

In practice, many organizations use a mix of different channels; in particular, they may
complement a direct sales-force who typically calls on larger customers with agents who cover
the smaller customers and prospects. In addition, online retailing or e-commerce is leading to
disintermediation. Retailing via Smartphone or m-commerce is also a growing area.

Managing channels

The firm's marketing department needs to design the most suitable channels for the firm's
products, then select appropriate channel members or intermediaries. The firm needs to train

21
staff of intermediaries and motivate the intermediary to sell the firm's products. The firm should
monitor the channel's performance over time and modify the channel to enhance performance.

Channel motivation

To motivate intermediaries the firm can use positive actions, such as offering higher margins to
the intermediary, special deals, premiums and allowances for advertising or display. [1] On the
other hand, negative actions may be necessary, such as threatening to cut back on margin, or
hold back delivery of product.

Channel conflict

Channel conflict can arise when one intermediary's actions prevent another intermediary from
achieving their objectives.[1] Vertical channel conflict occurs between the levels within a channel
and horizontal channel conflict occurs between intermediaries at the same level within a channel.

22
 PROMOTION

Flaunt square cases with bold patterned dials and have alligator skin pattern leather straps. The
Aluminum range features silvery white watches of different designs while the Basics collection
features watches in plastic and rubber.

Thus, there is ample choice when it comes to watches for young men and women amongst
Fastrack watches.

Essentially Fastrack was a sub-brand endorsed by the Titan Brand. In most of the campaigns, the
brand was promoted as Titan Fastrack. The brand was targeting young consumers who were
moving towards the competitor Timex. It was during this time that Timex and Titan parted
ways. Fastrack had a good start. During the first year, the brand clocked a turnover of Rs 15
crore. The good run continued till 2001-2002 and the brand was worth Rs 25 crore at that
period. But the sales stagnated. Although the brand appealed to the youngsters, price was
significant dampener.

23
The brand found that the target group which consisted of college students could not afford
this brand.

During 2003-04, the brand went in for a repositioning exercise targeting executive segment as
well as casual watch segment. It was a suicidal experiment. The brand sales came down to Rs
23 crore. The change in positioning did not fit well with the brand. The consumers were not
willing to pay Rs 1200-2700 for a watch that did not have the executive image.

It was in 2004 that Fastrack launched its range of sunglasses. The move was made after a
consumer research which showed that mobiles/deo/sports shoes and sunglasses are popular
accessories in the purchase list of youngsters. And Sunglasses fitted perfectly as a brand
extension for Fastrack. In my personal view, sunglasses offered a great opportunity for the
brand. There was no Indian brand of sunglasses at that time. The brands available were Ray-Ban
and other foreign brands which were imported. These brands were damn expensive and often
consumers chose local unbranded sunglasses.

In 2005, the brand went for another repositioning exercise with a new logo and new
positioning. The brand adopted the famous break-away positioning of Swatch. The brand
decided to target the youngsters again but for that the brand had to break the price barrier.

The brand discarded the steely look of the watches and looked at a mix of plastic and steel. It
was a perfect cut-copy from the strategy adopted by Swatch. By doing so, the brand was able to
reduce the price range to Rs 500.

The brand then took the help of advertising to change the perception of watches as a
functional tool to a fashion accessory. The brand launched a campaign with the slogan " How
many you have ".

24
The campaign, the positioning and the price was a great hit . The brand sales zoomed to Rs 35
crore. The sunglasses also contributed significantly to this sales boost.

Fastrack have adopted the following core brand values >Fashionable and
trendy>Affordable Pricing>Fresh Communication to attract the young consumers.
The brand wanted to be the ultimate fashion accessory for the youth.

25
 PRICING

The price of the Models of Fastrack ranged from Rs .850 to Rs 2,930 and
was Designed Exclusively Keeping In Mind the Generation X Of
The subcontinent. Titan‘s primary Pricing Objective Is T o kill Competition
zof
Being
the Indian
an Indian
market
manufacture
with and infusing the advantages

The dynamics of the western market the company has carved itself a place difficult to achieve by
foreign players

PRICE DISCOUNTS AND ALLOWANCES

Fastrack once a year comes out with a Price discount sale on the MRP of the watches which is
based on the stock carried by the company at the year end.

Warranties and Service Contracts Fastrack provides warranty or service contract to its
watches and this is backed up by the name TATA which is especially needed to convince and
march ahead in the lower segment market. Product Line Pricing Tata‘s have paid Rs.10 crore
for the three-year contract.

Sponsor of this event is ―Global event like these provide a great opportunity to corporate to
satisfy their marketing objectives and cross-promote their brands, the differences in the prices
of the watches are justified by the features, the style, and the differences which make up each
watch. Titan prices all its watches in such a way that it maximizes the total profit on the total
mix. The Tata Open The battle ground for this new strategy of synergy started with the Tata
Open (India‘s biggest tennis tournament) held every year in December – January.

26
 CHAPTER-3
INTRODUCTION OF THE
TOPIC

27
 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer satisfaction is the attitude-like feelings of a customer towards a product or service after
it has been used. It is generally described as the full meeting of one’s expectations. The concept
of satisfaction is important for marketers because it is the essence of success in today’s highly
competitive world of business. Marketers often try to become market-oriented and customer-
focused and in doing so improving customer satisfaction becomes an important corporate goal
for them. In fact, satisfaction is a major aim of all of our marketing activities and is key influence
in the formation of future purchase intensions.

For example, a satisfied customer is very likely to share their experience with others, thereby
engaging in what is known as positive word-of-mouth advertising. Similarly, a dissatisfaction
customer is very likely to switch brands and/or complain, thereby engaging in negative word-of-
mouth advertising.

“Customer satisfaction is an emotional response to the experience provided by, (or associated
with) particular products or services purchased, retail outlets, or even molar patterns of behavior,
as well as the overall marketplace.”

Delivery

Customer
satisfaction

Expectations

28
Delivery refers to the customer’s perception of the actual delivery of the product or services.

Expectations refer to the customer’s expectations of the product or service. Thus customer
satisfaction is the difference, or “gap,” between what the consumer expected and what he or she
received.

For example, if a customer purchases a product that he expects to last 3 months and it lasts 6
months(the delivery of the product was six months of use), he will be very satisfied with the
product. Conversely, if the product only lasts 1 month (the delivery then is 1 month of use), the
customer is likely to be highly dissatisfied. Thus, expectations serve as the base point for the
customer’s assessment of delivery and satisfaction.

Satisfaction is the customer‘s fulfillment response. It is a judgment that a product or a

Service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption –
related, fulfillment. In minimal technical terms, this definition can be translated to mean that
satisfaction is the customers evaluation of a product or service in It is also important to recognize
that, to measure the customer satisfaction at a particular point of time as if it were static,
satisfaction is a dynamic, moving target that may evolve over the time, influenced by a variety of
factors. Particularly when product usage or the service experience takes place over the time,
Satisfaction may be highly variable depending on which point the usage or experience cycle is
focused on.

In this increasingly digital age, photographs can be manipulated to portray an illusion of

whatever the manipulator wants the picture to be. This can be especially prevalent in print
advertising, where the main goal is to influence the needs or desires of a consumer with
persuasive images. (Barry, Ann Marie Seward: Visual intelligence, 1997.)

World of time keeping in general and mechanical watches in particular is a fascinating and
complex field. Highly complex micro-mechanical systems, the history of development of
movements and design trends and political and personal intrigues of industry provide for
interesting reading and endless opportunity for research.

29
 Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products

and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction
is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported
experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals."
In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 71 percent responded that they found a
customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing and monitoring their businesses.

It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced
Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer
satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business
strategy.

"Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus
employees on the importance of fulfilling customers' expectations. Furthermore, when these
ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability.... These metrics
quantify an important dynamic. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-
mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective."

Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able

do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction.

"In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has
met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When
customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will
likely rate their experience as less than satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort, for example,
might receive a lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its facilities and
service would be deemed superior in 'absolute' terms."

The importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has increased bargaining power.
For example, cell phone plan providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, participate in an industry
that is an oligopoly, where only a few suppliers of a certain product or service exist. As such,

30
many cell phone plan contracts have a lot of fine print with provisions that they would never get
away if there were, say, 100 cell phone plan providers, because customer satisfaction would be
far too low, and customers would easily have the option of leaving for a better contract offer.

There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of customer
satisfaction for firms. This literature is summarized by Mittal and Frennea (2010). They
summarize the outcomes in terms of customer behaviors, immediate financial outcomes such as
sales and revenues, and long-term outcomes based on the stock market.

Purpose

31
A business ideally is continually seeking feedback to improve customer satisfaction.

"Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions and

loyalty." "Customer satisfaction data are among the most frequently collected indicators of
market perceptions. Their principal use is twofold:"

1. "Within organizations, the collection, analysis and dissemination of these data send a
message about the importance of tending to customers and ensuring that they have a
positive experience with the company's goods and services."
2. "Although sales or market share can indicate how well a firm is performing currently,
satisfaction is perhaps the best indicator of how likely it is that the firm’s customers will
make further purchases in the future. Much research has focused on the relationship
between customer satisfaction and retention. Studies indicate that the ramifications of
satisfaction are most strongly realized at the extremes."

On a five-point scale, "individuals who rate their satisfaction level as '5' are likely to become
return customers and might even evangelize for the firm. (A second important metric related to
satisfaction is willingness to recommend. This metric is defined as "The percentage of surveyed
customers who indicate that they would recommend a brand to friends." When a customer is
satisfied with a product, he or she might recommend it to friends, relatives and colleagues. This
can be a powerful marketing advantage.) "Individuals who rate their satisfaction level as '1,' by
contrast, are unlikely to return. Further, they can hurt the firm by making negative comments
about it to prospective customers. Willingness to recommend is a key metric relating to customer
satisfaction."[

Theoretical Ground

"In literature antecedents of satisfaction are studied from different aspects. The considerations
extend from psychological to physical and from normative to positive aspects. However, in most
of the cases the consideration is focused on two basic constructs as customers expectations prior
to purchase or use of a product and his relative perception of the performance of that product
after using it.

32
Expectations of a customer on a product tell us his anticipated performance for that product. As
it is suggested in the literature, consumers may have various "types" of expectations when
forming opinions about a product's anticipated performance. For example, four types of
expectations are identified by Miller (1977): ideal, expected, minimum tolerable, and desirable.
While, Day (1977) indicated among expectations, the ones that are about the costs, the product
nature, the efforts in obtaining benefits and lastly expectations of social values. Perceived
product performance is considered as an important construct due to its ability to allow making
comparisons with the expectations.

It is considered that customers judge products on a limited set of norms and attributes. Olshavsky
and Miller (1972) and Olson and Dover (1976) designed their researches as to manipulate actual
product performance, and their aim was to find out how perceived performance ratings were
influenced by expectations. These studies took out the discussions about explaining the
differences between expectations and perceived performance."

The Disconfirmation Model

"The Disconfirmation Model is based on the comparison of customers’ [expectations] and their
[perceived performance] ratings. Specifically, an individual’s expectations are confirmed when a
product performs as expected. It is negatively confirmed when a product performs more poorly
than expected. The disconfirmation is positive when a product performs over the
expectations(Churchill &Suprenant 1982). There are four constructs to describe the traditional
disconfirmation paradigm mentioned as expectations, performance, disconfirmation and
satisfaction." "Satisfaction is considered as an outcome of purchase and use, resulting from the
buyers’ comparison of expected rewards and incurred costs of the purchase in relation to the
anticipated consequences. In operation, satisfaction is somehow similar to attitude as it can be
evaluated as the sum of satisfactions with some features of product." "In the literature, cognitive
and affective models of satisfaction are also developed and considered as alternatives(Pfaff,
1977). Churchill and Suprenant in 1982, evaluated various studies in the literature and formed an
overview of Disconfirmation process in the following figure:"

33
Non-linear and Asymmetric Relationships in Satisfaction

Since the 1990's a rich body of research has shown that many of the relationships of customer
satisfaction with its antecedents and consequences are asymmetric and non-linear. The basis for
this research resides in the key idea that people are usually more sensitive to negative
information than to positive information, and that losses loom larger than gains. Thus, negative
events are not only more salient to customers, but they also have a disproportionately larger
impact in the satisfaction judgment formation process, and the consequent consumer intentions
and behaviors. Much of this research is summarized in an award winning paper by Professors
Eugene Anderson and Vikas Mittal. The general findings, as summarized in their paper show:

- Negative performance on an attribute has a larger impact on overall satisfaction than positive
performance. Thus, the deleterious impact of failing expectations is proportionately much
stronger than the beneficial impact of exceeding expectations by the same amount. This finding
has been widely confirmed for many different industries and customer types.

- The association between overall satisfaction and repurchase intentions as well as behaviors is
also non linear.

Construction

Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring

customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing
products and/or services to the marketplace.

"Customer satisfaction is measured at the individual level, but it is almost always reported at an
aggregate level. It can be, and often is, measured along various dimensions.

Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the
state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service. The
state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables which
correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction

34
can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against
which the customer can compare the organization's products.

Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (Leonard L) between 1985 and 1988 provides
the basis for the measurement of customer satisfaction with a service by using the gap between
the customer's expectation of performance and their perceived experience of performance. This
provides the measurer with a satisfaction "gap" which is objective and quantitative in nature.
Work done by Cronin and Taylor propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation" theory of
combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry as two different measures
(perception and expectation of performance) into a single measurement of performance
according to expectation.

The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey from software providers such as
Confirm it, Medallia, Opinion meter and Satmetrix with a set of statements using a Likert
Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement in terms of their
perceptions and expectations of performance of the organization being measured. Their
satisfaction is generally measured on a five-point scale.

"Customer satisfaction data can also be collected on a 10-point scale."

"Regardless of the scale used, the objective is to measure customers’ perceived satisfaction with
their experience of a firm’s offerings." It is essential for firms to effectively manage customer
satisfaction. To be able do this, we need accurate measurement of satisfaction. [

Good quality measures need to have high satisfaction loadings, good reliability, and low error
variances. In an empirical study comparing commonly used satisfaction measures it was found
that two multi-item semantic differential scales performed best across both hedonic and
utilitarian service consumption contexts. A study by Wirtz& Lee (2003), found that a six-item 7-
point semantic differential scale (for example, Oliver and Swan 1983), which is a six-item 7-

35
point bipolar scale, consistently performed best across both hedonic and utilitarian services. It
loaded most highly on satisfaction, had the highest item reliability, and had by far the lowest
error variance across both studies. In the study, the six items asked respondents’ evaluation of
their most recent experience with ATM services and ice cream restaurant, along seven points
within these six items: “pleased me to displeased me”, “contented with to disgusted with”, “very
satisfied with to very dissatisfied with”, “did a good job for me to did a poor job for me”, “wise
choice to poor choice” and “happy with to unhappy with”.

A semantic differential (4 items) scale (e.g., Eroglu and Machleit 1990), which is a four-item 7-
point bipolar scale, was the second best performing measure, which was again consistent across
both contexts. In the study, respondents were asked to evaluate their experience with both
products, along seven points within these four items: “satisfied to dissatisfied”, “favorable to
unfavorable”, “pleasant to unpleasant” and “I like it very much to I didn’t like it at all”.

The third best scale was single-item percentage measure, a one-item 7-point bipolar scale (e.g.,
Westbrook 1980). Again, the respondents were asked to evaluate their experience on both ATM
services and ice cream restaurants, along seven points within “delighted to terrible”

It seems that dependent on a trade-off between length of the questionnaire and quality of
satisfaction measure, these scales seem to be good options for measuring customer satisfaction in
academic and applied studies research alike. All other measures tested consistently performed
worse than the top three measures, and/or their performance varied significantly across the two
service contexts in their study. These results suggest that more careful pretesting would be
prudent should these measures be used.

Finally, all measures captured both affective and cognitive aspects of satisfaction, independent of
their scale anchors. Affective measures capture a consumer’s attitude (liking/disliking) towards a
product, which can result from any product information or experience. On the other hand,
cognitive element is defined as an appraisal or conclusion on how the product’s performance
compared against expectations (or exceeded or fell short of expectations), was useful (or not
useful), fit the situation (or did not fit), exceeded the requirements of the situation (or did not
exceed).

36
Recent research shows that in most commercial applications, such as firms conducting customer
surveys, a single-item overall satisfaction scale performs just as well as a multi-item scale.
Especially in larger scale studies where a researcher needs to gather data from a large number of
customers, a single-item scale may be preferred because it can reduce total survey error. Thus,
there is an increasing trend to use single items for measuring overall satisfaction.

Titan's play in the lifestyle category is similar to what US watch and accessory brand Fossil did -
-diversifying into eyewear, handbags, jewelry, shoes and apparel (in some geographies). Titan
Industries, which started as a watch brand in 1984, are taking a fresh gamble--to turn into a full-
scale lifestyle company. The firm's youth brand Fastrack will drive this transformation, an effort
partly to ensure that the parent brand Titan is shielded from any risk. Fastrack is already into
watches and eyewear, and now it is looking at categories like bicycles, helmets, shoes and
apparel. (Economic Times, 10 march 2012)

Every year hundreds of wrist watches are introduced. Some features innovative designs or
mechanical improvements and others available only in limited editions, keeping the field
interesting for collectors. (Peter Born; Wrist watch annual, 2004)

Extraordinarily innovative technology coupled with a fresh sense of style in the Titan Fastrack
watches became an instant rage especially with youths. In the Titan portfolio it is believed to
contribute a 4% value. Significant rise in Titan Fastrack watches sales has subsequently
compelled Titan to establish it as a separate brand. More than a need, wristwatch has now
Become a fashion statement among the youth. They don‘t consider the Fastrack brand as cheap
but affordable.

37
 Customer perception

Perceptions are always considered relative expectations. Because expectations are

dynamic, evaluation may also shift over the time – from person to person from culture to
cultures.

Customers perceive the services in terms of the quality of the service and how satisfied
they are all over with their experiences. These customers – oriented terms – quality and
satisfaction – have been the focus of attention for executives and researchers alike over the last
decade or more. Companies today organize so that they can compete more effectively by
distinguishing themselves with respect to service quality and improved customer satisfaction.

Expectations

Service
Reliability
quality

38
Expectations-

Expectations refer to the customer’s expectations of the product or service. Thus customer
satisfaction is the difference, or “gap,” between what the consumer expected and what he or she
received.

Reliability-

Reliability is defined as the ability to perform the promised services dependably and accurately.
In the broadest sense, reliability means that the company delivers on its promises- promises
about delivery, services provisions, problem resolutions and pricing.

Service quality-

Service quality is more or less the same which we associated with the concept of quality in
general. The service quality makes the customer satisfied and brand loyal.

39
Determinants of customer satisfaction-

Product and services features

Customer emotions

Attribution for services success or

failure

Perception of equity

Other customers, family members

and coverkers

40
Product and service features:

Customer satisfaction with a product or service is influenced significantly by the customer‘s

evaluation of product or service features. Customers of services will make trade – offs among
different service features depending on the type of service being evaluated and the criticality of
the service.

Customer emotions:

Customer‘s emotions can also affect their perceptions of satisfaction with products and services.
These emotions can be stable, pre-existing emotions.

Attributions for service success or failure:

Attributions – the perceived causes of events – influence perceptions of satisfaction as well.

When they have been surprised by an outcome (the service is either much better or much worse
than expected) consumers tend to look for the reasons, and their assessments of the reasons can
influence their satisfaction.

Perceptions of equity or fairness:

Customer satisfaction is also influenced by perceptions of equity and fairness. Customers ask
themselves: have I been treated fairly compared with other customers? Did other customers get
better treatment, better prices, or better quality service? Did I pay a fair price for the service?
Was I treated well in exchange for what I paid and the effort I expended?

Other customers, family members and coworkers:

In addition to product and service features and one‘s own individual feelings and beliefs,
consumer satisfaction is often influenced by other people like other customers, family members
and co-workers.
41
 OUTCOMES OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Individual firms have discovered that increasing the levels of customer satisfaction can be
linked to customer loyalty and profits. There is an important relationship between customer
satisfaction and customer loyalty. This relationship is particularly strong when customers are
very satisfied. Thus firms that simply aim to satisfy customers may not be doing enough to
endanger loyalty – they must instead aim to more than satisfy or even to delight their customers.
At the opposite end of the satisfaction spectrum, researchers have also found that there is a
strong link between dissatisfaction and disloyalty – or defection. Loyalty can fall off
precipitously when customers reach a particular level of dissatisfaction or when they are
dissatisfied with service/ product.

Profit

Outcomes of
Loyality customer Satisfaction
satisfaction

Brand
image

42
Profit:-

The company profit or are based upon the customers satisfaction. If the customer will be satisfied
the outcomes of business will be profitable and create great revenue of business. The company
shout improve satisfaction level through the customer relationship management program.

Loyality:-

The loyality makes the satisfied to the customers by the brand image and product quality and
services, the product quality and services makes the customers loyal and satisfied.

Brand image:-

Brand image is also the main reason for the customer satisfaction the broad outcomes of
customer satisfaction are the brand image of product.

Satisfaction:-

Satisfaction towards the product or services makes the customer satisfied and generates the great
profitable condition for the business.

Point is that, when high levels of customer satisfaction are needed in order to develop loyal
customers, the measure of customer satisfaction is not a good measure of the level of loyalty.
The two are not measuring the same thing.

43
 Customer Satisfaction And Loyality

Satisfaction

State of willingly Customer

and consistently loyality
being in the
relationship

Emotions

Figure:-Defining customer satisfaction and loyality

Customer loyality can be considered as the sum total of the customer’s satisfaction level of
satisfaction and the degree of the customer’s emotional attachment with a company that
constructs a state of willingly and consistently being in the relationship and ultimate translates
into customer loyality.

Companies need to a balance approach while dealing with their customers. While delivering
satisfactory services is vital to customer retention, creating an emotional bond with them is
equally important for lowering the risks of defection, negative word of mouth publicity,

44
unyielding customer services, and loss-making customer relationships. A high degree of
satisfaction coupled with deep emotional attachment forges an enduring, yet endearing
association between the company and its customers, which transpires into a relationship
characterized by preference, patronage, and premium.

Loyality is higher-order measure of customer attachment than satisfaction. Loyalty involves an

emotional commitment to the brand. It usually has an attitude component (“I feel better about it,
so I will keep using it ”) and a behavior component (“I” will keep buying it, regardless”).
Attitude is important because re-purchase alone does not always mean a customer is emotionally
invested. For example, if one may not find your insurance agent efficient, but may still maintain
your relationship due to paucity of time that obstructs from searching and evaluating a new
agent. But once get a reliable referral for a new agent, can make a switch. In this case, the
perceived loyality was actually nothing more than convenience.

Loyalty is best demonstrated when customers have options to choose from, rather than
momentum from an existing supplier or being roped into a long-term contracts. When a customer
is loyal to a brand of service, he is less likely to defect, more likely to buy again, to think about
his preferred brand first, and to refer it to others. True loyalty, in the most sense, leads to
customer retention, re-purchase, and a deeper long-term commitment.

In general, customer loyalty can be understood as the predilection of a customer to purchase a

particular company’s goods or services over the alternatives readily available in the market.

45
 Brand loyalty

The degree to which consumers are committed to particular brands of goods or services
depend on no. of factors: the cost of changing brands (switching cost), the availability of
substitutes, the perceived risk associated with the purchase, and the degree to which they have
obtained satisfaction in the past etc. It may be more costly to change brands as awareness of
substitutes is limited, and because higher risks may accompany services, consumers are more
likely to remain customers of particular companies with services or goods. Greater search costs
and monetary costs may be involved in changing brands of services than in changing brands of
goods. Because of the difficulty in obtaining information about services, customers may be
unaware of alternative or substitutes for their brands, or they may be uncertain about the ability
of alternatives to increase satisfaction over present brands. If consumers perceive greater risks
with services, as is hypothesized here, they probably depend on brand loyalty to a greater extent
than when they purchase products. Brand loyalty, described as a means of economizing decision
effort by substituting habit for repeated, deliberate decision, functions as a device for reducing
the risks for consumer decisions.

Final reason for consumers being more brand loyal with services, is the recognition of the need
for repeated patronage in order to obtain optimum satisfaction from the seller.
Becoming a regular customer allows the seller to gain knowledge of the customer‘s tastes and
preferences, ensures better treatment, and encourages more interest in the consumer‘s
satisfaction. Thus a consumer may exhibit brand loyalty to cultivate a satisfying relationship with
the seller. This is more pre-dominant in the case of corporate consumers, who regularly make
purchases, year after year.

Brand loyalty has two sides. The fact that a service provider‘s own customers are brand loyal is
not a problem. The fact that the customers of the provider‘s competitors are difficult to capture,
however, creates special challenges. The marketer may need to direct communications and
strategy to the customers of competitors, emphasizing attributes and strengths that he or she
possesses and the competitor lacks. Marketers can also facilitate switching from competitors

46
‘services by reducing switching costs.

Customer loyality

Customer loyality is used to describe the behavior of repeat customers, as well as those that offer
good ratings, reviews, or testimonials.
“Customer loyality on the proportion of purchase of a households devoted to the brand it
purchased most often.”

Categories of customer loyality:-

True Latent
loyality loyality

Spurious No
loyality loyality

47
The cross classification of attitudinal and behavioral loyality presented by Dick and Basu
resulted Into the following four loyalty archetypes given:-

True loyalty:-

It is a combination of high level of repeat patronage and relative attitude. This category of loyal
customers proves to be a strong competitive tool in the hands of a company as these customers
patronize the company and its products regardless of insignificant price changes and competitive
offers available to them. They enable the company to leverage upon the benefits of loyalty to full
extent. Customers who fall into this category exhibit strong attitudinal preferences as well as
high level of repeat purchasing. They are less inclined towards switching and advocate the
company and its products and services.

Latent loyalty:-

It represents the influence of situational factors of social influences on buying decisions. Despite
having relative attitude, customers in this category may not purchase a company’s products and
services often. Customers with latent loyalty are characterized with low level of repeat patronage
despite holding strong attitudinal preferences towards the company. Some common situational
factors that may have an impact over customer’s level of repeat buying behavior are issues
related to affordability, availability, inconvenient location or timing problems, narrow
distribution channels, and so on. To convert latent loyalty into true loyalty, a company needs to
identify the issues faced by its customers and find out.

Spurious loyalty:-

This type of loyalty is a purely behavioral element. This category refers to high level of repeat
patronage. The level of commitment of relative attitude is low in this case as customers re-visit
the company just for the sake of convenience or habit of absence of better alternatives.

No loyalty:-

This category does not endorse any level of attitudinal preference or repeat patronage. It is
difficult to convert these customers into true loyal as they are neither emotionally connected with
the company nor do they guarantee repeat purchasing. This category along with the category of

48
spurious customers is highly inclined towards switching and susceptible to incursion from
competitions.

Factor Affecting Customer Loyality Formation:-

The major factors that influence customers’ loyality –not only retailers but also to the suppliers
in all sectors, including business to business (B 2 B) – the six key areas of focus identified can be
summarized as follows.

Core
offering

Demogra
phics Satisfaction

Factor
Influencin
g Loyality
The
Elasticity
Marketplace

Share of
wallet

49
Core offering:-

The companies that boast the highest levels of fiercely loyal customers have built that loyalty
not on card programmers of gimmicks, but on a solid, dependable, core offering that appeals
to their customers. These companies have focused intently on what they know appeals to the
type of customers they want to attract, and have determinedly concentrated on delivering what
is expected every time. North American retailer, Nordstrom, is well known for the loyalty of
its customers. It built this loyalty by understanding what its customers wanted and then
empowering its employees to deliver those needs consistently.

Clearly, the data from a good loyalty programmed should help the operator to improve this
core offering by tailoring and moulding it more closely to the customers’ needs and desires.
Elements of the core offering that have a large role in building customer loyalty include:

1. Location and
2. Service.
3. Product of service.

Demographics:-

Developers of The Conversion Model (which enables users to segment customers not only by
their commitment to staying with a brand but also to segment non-users by their openness to
Switching to the brand), more affluent and better educated customers are less likely to be
committed to a specific brand. They say that the commitment of less affluent customers to the
brands they use is often unusually strong- possible because they cannot afford to take the risk
of trying brands that might not suit them as well. They also suggest that younger consumers
are less committed to brands than older consumers.

50
Market place:-

The market place is a key factor in the development of loyality. The elements most closely
involved are:
1. Opportunity to switch. (to defeat competitors in selling and demand for satisfaction)
2. Inertia loyalty(opposite case of switching)

Share of wallet:-

As markets become saturated and customers have so much more to choose from, share of
wallet becomes increasingly important. It is cheaper and more profitable to Increase
Company’s share of what the customer spends in their sector, than to acquire new customers.
After all, that is what loyalty is really about. Totally loyal customers would give organization
a 100% share of their spending in organization’sdifferent sector.

Elasticity level-

Elasticity level expresses the importance and weight of a purchasing decision – effectively the
level of involvement or indifference. This applies to both the customers and business:-
1. Involvement.
2. Ambivalence.

Satisfaction:-

Clearly, satisfaction is important: indeed essential. But, taken in isolation, the level of
satisfaction is not a good measure of loyalty. Many auto manufacturers claim satisfaction
levels higher than 90%, yet few have re-purchase levels of even half that. The situation is
stacked against the business-levels can be quite high without a corresponding level of loyalty.

51
 OBJECTIVE&
LIMITATION OF THE
STUDY

52
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To understand the service offered by Fastrack watches/outlets/dealer.

2. To identify the difference between Expectation & Perception of customers in product
quality offered by Fastrack watches.
3. To understand about the customer satisfaction for Fastrack watches.

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

The following are the limitations of the study:-

1. Study is based on the limited sample size of 150.
2. It was difficult to get proper information from the consumers.
3. Most of the people were not aware about the Fastrack brand.
4. Time plays a havoc role in data collection.

53
 CHAPTER -4
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

54
 RESEARCH

Once the problem has been carefully defined, the researcher needs to establish the plan that
will outline the investigation to be carried out. The research design indicates the steps that
have been taken and in what sequence they occurred. It is a systematic and purposive
Investigation of facts with an objective of understanding the customer satisfaction for Fastrack
watches. The methodology that will be applied by the study has been chosen in order to
acquire information
and deduce conclusions about the Customer satisfaction for Fastrack watches. The main
purposes of this study is to obtain an insight into the problems faced by the Fastrack watches
customers in order to propose further recommendations for better customer satisfaction.

RESEARCH DESIGN: Descriptive Research

Research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analyze of data in a
systematic manner that aims to combine relevance to research purpose with economy in
procedure. The research study applied here is purely descriptive.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

There are two types of sampling techniques they are Probability sampling and Non-
Probability sampling.

NON-PROBABILITY SAMPLING

Non-probability sampling procedure, which does not afford any basis for estimating the
probability that each item in the population has been include in the sample

55
 CONVENIENCE SAMPLING

The convenience sampling method has been adopted for this study.

SAMPLE SIZE

150 Sample size was selected by me for the study.

DATA COLLECTION

Target Audience: Fastrack watches consumers in Allahabad.

Location: Allahabad University, Vinayak City Centre, Big Bazar, City Style
Area of Study: Allahabad.

PRIMARY DATA

Information obtained from the original source by research is called Primary Data. They offer
much greater accuracy and reliability. The data was collected from the respondents through the
structured questionnaire.

SECONDARY DATA

In means data that are already available i.e. it refers to the data which have already been
collected and analyzed by someone else. The data was collected from the websites and journals.

56
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The watch industry is in the current scenario is booming and undergoing a rapid growth. The
emergence of new generation private and foreign watches in the Indian watch market has raised
the competitiveness in the industry. The study aims at identifying the extend to which the
product quality of a watch affects its competitiveness. The outcome of the study reveals the
current perception about the watches rooted in the minds of the customers which could be
useful in formulating the strategies in future operations of the company, for the attainment of its
goals in this competitive scenario.

57
 CHAPTER-6
DATA ANALYSIS

58
Q.1:-Do you wear fastrack watch?

Yes 100
No 50

Yes
No

Interpretation:-

The sample size was 150 in which 100 consumers said that they wear fastrack watches and 50
said they did not wear fastrack.

59
Q.2:-What are the reasons for selecting fastrack watch?

Brand 50%
Value 25%
Style 15%
All of them 10%

Brand
Value
Style
all of them

Interpretation:-

50% consumers select Fastrack because of its brand, 25% because of its value, 15% because of
its style and 10% said all of them.

60
Q.3:-From where you came to know about the Fastrack watch?

Advertisement 40%
Social Networking media 30%
Peers 20%
Family 10%

Advertisement
Social networking media
peers
family

Interpretation:-
40% users are aware about the Fastrack through advertisement, 30% from social network, 20%
from peers and 10% from family.

61
Q4.For how long you have been using Fastrack watch?

Since one year 50%

0-6 months 20%
6-12 months 15%
12-18months 10%
More than 18 months 5%

since of year
0-6 months
6-12 months
12-18 months
more than 18 months

Interpretation:-

50% of users are using Fastrack watches since one year, 20% of users are using Fastrack watches
since 0-6 months, 15% of users are using Fastrack watches since 6-12 months,10% of users are
using Fastrack watches since 12-18 months,5% of users are using Fastrack watches since more
than 18 months.

62
Q.5. How many times you went for repairing of watch to outlets/dealer?

One time 55%

Two times 25%
Three times 15%
More than three times 5%

One time
two times
three times
more than three times

Interpretation:-

55% users went only once for repairing the watches, 25% of users went twice to the outlet for
repairing the watches, 15% of users went thrice to the outlet for repairing the watches, 5% of
users went more than thrice for repairing the watches.

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Q.6. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of quality?

Excellent 45%
Good 30%
Average 15%
Not good 5%

excellent
good
average
not good

Interpretations-

45% of users rated Fastrack watches excellent on the basis of quality, 30% of users rated
Fastrack watches good on the basis of quality,15% of users rated Fastrack watches average on
the basis of quality, 5% of users rated Fastrack watches not good on the basis of quality.

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Q.7. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of service?

Excellent 65%
Good 20%
Average 10%
Not good 5%

excellent
good
average
not good

Interpretation-
65% of users rated Fastrack watches as excellent on the basis of service, 20% of users rated
Fastrack watches as good on the basis of service, 10% of users rated Fastrack watches as average
on the basis of service, 5% of users rated Fastrack watches as not good on the basis of service,

65
Q.8. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of design?

Excellent 55%
Good 25%
Average 17%
Not good 3%

excellent
good
average
not good

Interpretation-
55% of users rated Fastrack watches as excellent on the basis of design, 25% of users rated
Fastrack watches as good on the basis of design,17% of users rated Fastrack watches as average
on the basis of design,3%of users rated Fastrack watches as not good on the basis of design,

66
Q.9. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of price?

Excellent 60%
Good 15%
Average 20%
Not good 5%

excellent
good
average
not good

Interpretation –
60% of users rated Fastrack watches as excellent on the basis of price, 15% of users rated
Fastrack watches as good on the basis of price,20% of users rated Fastrack watches as average
on the basis of price,5% of users rated Fastrack watches as not good on the basis of price.

67
Q.10.Compared to other brands Fastrack is

Much better 35%

Better 30%
Average 15%
Worse 20%

much better

better

average

worse

Interpretation:-
35% users says that it is much better than other brands, 30% users says that it is better than other
brands, 15% users says that it is average in comparision to other brands, 20% users says that it is
worse in comparision to Fastrack brands.

68
Q.11.Fastrack watches are affordable?

Agree 25%
Strongly agree 45%
disagree 25%
Strongly disagree 5%

agree
strongly agree
disagree
strongly disagree

Interpretation:-
25% of users agree that it is affordable, 45% of users strongly agree that it is affordable, 25% of
users disagree that it is affordable, 5% of users strongly disagree that it is affordable.

69
12. Titan brands like Raga, Sonata etc only differ in price range?

Agree 35%
Strongly agree 45%
Disagree 10%
Strongly disagree 10%

agree
strongly agree
disagree
strongly disagree

Interpretation:-
35% of users agrees that Fastrack only differ in price with Titan brands, 45% of users strongly
agree that Fastrack only differ in price with Titan brands, 10 % of users disagree that Fastrack
only differ in price with Titan brands, 10% of users strongly disagree that Fastrack only differ in
price with Titan brands,

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Q.13.Do you recommend fastrack watches to others?

Yes 75%
No 20%
Can’t say 5%

yes
no
can't say

Interpretation-

75% users said that they would recommend Fastrack watches to others, 20% said no & 5% said
can’t say.

71
 FINDINGS
AND
CONCLUSION

72
FINDINGS

1. In this study sample size 150 was taken out of which 100 consumers was Fastrack users
.
2. 50% of respondents are aware about the various range of products provided by
Fastrack watches through advertisements.

3. 30% of the respondents agreed that Fastrack watches and other Titan brands only
differ in price range

4. 45% of the respondents felt that Fastrack watches are good than its competitors

5. 40% of the respondents used the Fastrack watches for more than 1 year.

6. 70% of the respondents agreed that Fastrack watches are affordable.

7. Most of the users felt that customer service personnel have good knowledge about the
product.

8. 80% of respondents use Fastrack watches only. This strong customer loyalty is laying
an effective foundation for Fastrack watches.

9. 25% of users are not satisfied with Fastrack‘s customers‘ enquiry, so Fastrack should
give proper knowledge & awareness to their staff regarding their products & services so
they can give sufficient clarification for all queries that arise from customers.

73
CONCLUSION

1. On the growing influence of globalization on the Indian watch industry, a number of

global manufacturers are coming into the Indian watch industry. In such a dynamic
environment Fastrack need to be more quality conscious since the products offered are
almost similar by all the watch manufacturers in the industry.

2. It of concluded that:-
• The sample size are 150.
• There are 70% peoples who wear Fastrack brand watches.
• And 45% peoples are strongly satisfied with Fastrack brand.

3. Most of the consumers prefer Fastrack watches due to its strong brand image, and the
main factor forcing the customers to buy Fast rack watch is advertisements through the
print and electronic media.
.

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SUGGESTIONS

75
SUGGESTIONS

1. Consumers of Fastrack watches are well known about the product range provided by
the brand.

2. From the survey it is clear that majority of the consumers were young people and the
products offered by Fastrack watches exactly matches the demand of youth. This
makes Fastrack watches ahead of its competitors

3. From the survey it is clear that service quality offered by the Fastrack brand has a
good influence on consumers. So Fastrack should improve its consumers service
quality to retain and satisfy consumers.

4. In order to improve its sales, ad promotion should be taken care, excellent

consumers care should be provided and also it should reduce its service time.

5. Often the product range displayed in the ads is not available in stores, so it should be
ensured that product ranges are available as soon as possible. Or the website should
provide a solution like e-tailing.

76
BIBLIOGRAPHY

77
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Books:-

• Philip Kotler (2006) ,―Marketing management‖, 10th edition

• Kothari. C.R.(2005), ―Research Methodology Methods and Techniques‖,
4thedition
• L R Potty (2011), ―Research Methodology‖
• Barry, Ann Marie Seward. (1997). Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image and
Manipulation in Visual Communication.
• Kotler & Keller (2008), Marketing management, 8th edition

2. Newspapers & Magazines.

3. Websites:-

• http://encartaupdate.msn.com/wristwatches.aspx
• http://realestate.msn.com/branding/titanindustries.aspx?cpdocumentid
• http://watches.about.com/od/history/a/Deontological.html.

78
79
QUESTIONNAIRE:-

Questionnaire for the Project on the topic “Customer Satisfaction For

Fastrack Watches In Allahabad”

Name : Gender :

Age : Occupation :

Signature :

Q.1:-.Do you wear Fastrack watch?

1. Yes
2. No

Q.2. What are the reason for selecting fastrack watch?

1. Brand
2. Value
3. Style
4. All of them

Q3:-From where you came to know about the Fastrack watch?

1. Advertisement.
2. Social networking media.
3. Peers.
4. Family

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Q.4.For How long you have been using Fastrack watch?

1. Since one year

2. 0-6 months
3. 6-12 months
4. 12-18 months
5. More than 18 month.

Q.5..How many times you went for repairing of watch to outlets/dealer?

1. One time
2. Two time
3. Three time
4. More than three times

Q.6.. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of quality?

1. Excellent
2. Good
3. Average
4. Not good

Q.7. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of service?

1. Excellent
2. Good
3. Average
4. Not good

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Q.8. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of design?

1. Excellent
2. Good
3. Average
4. Not good

Q.9. How do you rate fastrack watches on the basis of price?

1. Excellent
2. Good
3. Average
4. Not good

Q.10.Compared to other brands Fastrack is?

1. Much deter
2. Better
3. Average
4. Worse

Q.11.Fastrack watches are affordable?

1. Agree
2. Strongly agree
3. Disagree
4. Strongly disagree

82
Q.12. Titan brands like Raga, Sonata etc only differ in price range?

1. Agree
2. Strongly agree
3. Disagree
4. Strongly disagree

Q.13.Do you recommend fastrack watches to others?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Can’t say

83