A

FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT

ON

“A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

REGARDING MINERAL WATER”

Submitted For Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)

Session: 2014-2017

Under the Supervision of Submitted By:

Ms. Indu Arun Pratap
Asst. Professor BBA Final
MMIM, MM University Roll No.:-1214008

MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR INSTITUTE OF

MANAGEMENT MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR
UNIVERSITY, MULLANA, AMBALA HARYANA, 133203

Mullana, Ambala

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SNO. PARTICULAR PAGE NO.

Deceleration 03

Acknowledgement 04

CHAPTER 01. INTRODUCTION 06-22

CHAPTER 02. Review Of Literature 23-28

CHAPTER 03. Research methodology 29-34

CHAPTER 04. Data analysis and interpretation 35-45

CHAPTER 05. Findings & suggestion 46-50

Conclusion 51

Bibliography 52

ANNEXTURE

57
• Questionnaire

2
 DECLERATION

I hereby declare that the dissertation entitled “A STUDY ON CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION REGARDING MINERAL WATER” submitted for the
Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration is my original
work and the dissertation has not formed the basis for the award of any
degree, diploma, fellowship or similar other titles. It has not been
submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of any degree
or diploma.

Date : Arun Pratap

Place: Roll No. 1214008

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“NO MAN IS COMPLETE IN KNOWLEDGE BUT SINGLE RAY

OF KNOWLEDGE CAN BE HELPFUL TO MAN”.

The research on “A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

REGARDING MINERAL WATER” has been given to me as part of the
curriculum in three Years Bachelor Business Administration.

I have tried my best to present this information as clearly as possible using

basic terms that I hope will be comprehended by the widest spectrum of
researchers, analysts and students for further studies.

I have completed this study under the able guidance and supervision of Ms.
Indu I will be failed in my duty if I do not acknowledge the esteemed
scholarly guidance, assistance and knowledge. I have received from them
towards fruitful and timely completion of this work.

Mere acknowledgement may not redeem the debt I owe to my parents for
their direct/indirect support during the entire course of this project.

“GUIDANCE IS THE BEST IN THE WAY PROGRESS”.

I also thankful to my friend who helped me a lot in the completion

of this project.

4
 CHAPTER:-1

INTRODUCTION

5
 INTRODUCTION

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

“Satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting

from comparing a product’s perceived performance in relation to his or her
expectation”

As the definition makes it clear, satisfaction is a function of perceived

performance and expectations. If the performance falls short of the
expectations of the customer, the customer is dissatisfied. If the
performance exceeds the expectations, the customer is highly satisfied or
delighted.

Many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because customers who
are just satisfied still find it easy to switch, when a better offer comes along.
Those who are highly satisfied are much less ready to switch. High
satisfaction or delight creates an emotional affinity with the brain, not just
a rational preference. The result is high customer loyalty.

In this highly competitive world customers plays a very important role.

Thus, if a company wants to survive then it should look forward to the
determinants of customer satisfaction. Though it is a very subjective issue
that differs from individual to individual yet, identifying some basic
parameters of customer satisfaction is important.

Satisfaction is a person’s feeling of pleasure and disappointment resulting

from comparing a product’s perceived performance in relation to his or her
expectations. It is only the customer delight that marketer aims for.

6
Definition

Customer satisfaction measures how well the expectations of a customer

concerning a product or service provided by your company have been met.

Conceptual framework

Customer satisfaction is an abstract concept and involves such factors as

the quality of the product, the quality of service provided, the atmosphere
of the location where the product or service is purchased, and the price of
the product or service. Businesses often use customer satisfaction surveys
to gauge customer satisfaction. Typical areas addressed in the surveys
include:

• Quality of product
• Value of product relative to price - a function of quality and price
• Time issues, such as product availability, availability of sales
assistance, time waiting at checkout, and delivery time
• Atmosphere of store, such as cleanliness, organization, and
enjoyable shopping environment
• Service personnel issues, such as politeness, attentiveness and
helpfulness
• Convenience, such as location, parking, and hours of operation

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
7
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, 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,

8
because customer satisfaction would be far too low, and customers would
easily have the option of leaving for a better contract offer.

Customer satisfaction is a marketing term that measures how products or

services supplied by a company meet or surpass a customer’s expectation.

Customer satisfaction is important because it provides marketers and

business owners with a metric that they can use to manage and improve
their businesses. 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.

Here are the top six reasons why customer satisfaction is so important:

• It’s a leading indicator of consumer repurchase intentions and

loyalty
• It’s a point of differentiation
• It reduces customer churn
• It increases customer lifetime value
• It reduces negative word of mouth

9
• It’s cheaper to retain customers than acquire new ones

1. it’s a leading indicator of consumer repurchase intentions and loyalty

Customer satisfaction is the best indicator of how likely a customer will

make a purchase in the future. Asking customers to rate their satisfaction
on a scale of 1-10 is a good way to see if they will become repeat customers
or even advocates.

Any customers that give you a rating of 7 and above, can be considered
satisfied, and you can safely expect them to come back and make repeat
purchases. Customers who give you a rating of 9 or 10 are your potential
customer advocates who you can leverage to become evangelists for your
company.

Scores of 6 and below are warning signs that a customer is unhappy and at
risk of leaving. These customers need to be put on a customer watch list
and followed up so you can determine why their satisfaction is low.

See how satisfaction provides so much insight into your customers?

That’s why it’s one of the leading metrics businesses use to measure
consumer repurchase and customer loyalty.

2. it’s a point of differentiation

In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers;

customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator. Businesses who
succeed in these cut-throat environments are the ones that make customer
satisfaction a key element of their business strategy.

Picture two businesses that offer the exact same product. What will make

10
you choose one over the other?

If you had a recommendation for one business would that sway your
opinion? Probably. So how does that recommendation originally start?
More than likely it’s on the back of a good customer experience.
Companies who offer amazing customer experiences create environments
where satisfaction is high and customer advocates are plenty.

This is an example of where customer satisfaction goes full circle. Not only
can customer satisfaction help you keep a finger on the pulse of your
existing customers, it can also act as a point of differentiation for new
customers.

3. It reduces customer churn

An Accenture global customer satisfaction report (2008) found that price

is not the main reason for customer churn; it is actually due to the overall
poor quality of customer service.

Customer satisfaction is the metric you can use to reduce customer churn.
By measuring and tracking customer satisfaction you can put new
processes in place to increase the overall quality of your customer service.

I recommend you put an emphasis on exceeding customer expectations and

‘wowing’ customers at every opportunity. Do that for six months, than
measure customer satisfaction again. See whether your new initiatives have
had a positive or negative impact on satisfaction.

4. It increases customer lifetime value

a study by info quest found that a ‘totally satisfied customer’ contributes

2.6 times more revenue than a ‘somewhat satisfied customer’.

11
Furthermore, a ‘totally satisfied customer’ contributes 14 times more
revenue than a ‘somewhat dissatisfied customer’.

Satisfaction plays a significant role in how much revenue a customer

generates for your business.

Successful businesses understand the importance of customer lifetime

value (clv). If you increase clv, you increase the returns on your marketing
dollar.

For example, you might have a cost per acquisition of $500 dollars and a
clv of $750. That’s a 50% Roi from the marketing efforts. Now imagine if
clv was $1,000. That’s a 100% Roi!

Customer lifetime value is a beneficiary of high customer satisfaction and

good customer retention. What are you doing to keep customers coming
back and spending more?

5. It reduces negative word of mouth

Mckinsey found that an unhappy customer tells between 9-15 people about
their experience. In fact, 13% of unhappy customers tell over 20 people
about their experience.

That’s a lot of negative word of mouth.

How much will that affect your business and its reputation in your
industry?

Customer satisfaction is tightly linked to revenue and repeat purchases.

What often gets forgotten is how customer satisfaction negatively impacts
your business. It’s one thing to lose a customer because they were unhappy.
It’s another thing completely to lose 20 customers because of some bad
12
word of mouth.

To eliminate bad word of mouth you need to measure customer satisfaction

on an ongoing basis. Tracking changes in satisfaction will help you identify
if customers are actually happy with your product or service.

6. It’s cheaper to retain customers than acquire new ones

This is probably the most publicized customer satisfaction statistic out

there. It costs six to seven times more to acquire new customers than it does
to retain existing customers.

If that stat does not strike accord with you then there’s not much else I can
do to demonstrate why customer satisfaction is important.

Customers cost a lot of money to acquire. You and your marketing team
spend thousands of dollars getting the attention of prospects, nurturing
them into leads and closing them into sales.

Why is it that you then spend little or no money on customer retention?

Imagine if you allocated one sixth of your marketing budget towards

customer retention. How do you think that will help you with improving
customer satisfaction and retaining customers?

Here are some customer retention strategies to get you thinking:

• Use blogs to educate customers

• Use email to send special promotions
• Use customer satisfaction surveys to listen
• Delight customers by offering personalized experiences

Measure satisfaction to see how happy your customers really are

13
Lee resource Inc. Found that for every customer complaint there are 26
other unhappy customers who have remained silent.

That is an alarming statistic. Most companies think they are the best and
they have no unhappy customers. The reality is, 96% of unhappy customers
don’t complain. In fact, 1financial training services found that most simply
just leave and never come back.

What are you doing to measure customer satisfaction and identify unhappy
customers?

Customer satisfaction plays an important role within your business. Not

only is it the leading indicator to measure customer loyalty, identify
unhappy customers, reduce churn and increase revenue; it is also a key
point of differentiation that helps you to attract new customers in
competitive business environments.

I hope this blog post has shed light on why customer satisfaction is so
important to the success of your business.

Customer satisfaction is essential for business success in today's

marketplace. In this lesson, you'll learn what customer satisfaction is and
be provided some examples. A short quiz follows the lesson.

Consumer Behavior

Before getting into details of Consumer Behavior, one must go through

certain basic terminologies. In general terms both ‘Consumer’ and
‘Customer’ are considered the same but they are quite different.

The term ‘Customer’ is somewhat different from the term ‘consumer’. The
term customer is used to refer to someone who purchases goods and

14
services from a particular store or company. Thus a customer is defined in
terms of a specific term while a consumer is not ‘Consumer’ may be
referred to any one engaged in evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing of
goods and services which he expects will satisfy his needs. So ultimately
Consumers are that individual who consumes or uses a product, which may
or may not be purchased by him. So after getting into these terms we need
to get into the details of “Consumer Behavior”.

15
Introduction

All living things need water. The earth is full of water. Water is the most
essential element, next to air, to our survival. Water makes up more than
two thirds of the weight of the human body, and without it, we would die
in a few days. Water is important to complete daily life and to maintain our
body health. Thirty years ago 'packaged drinking water' barely existed.
Nowadays the product forms an essential business by its stable and still
growing market - locally and globally. Packaged drinking water can be
described as any product, including natural spring or well water, taken from
municipal or private utility systems or other water, distilled water or any
of the foregoing to which chemicals may be added and which are put into
sealed bottles, packages or other containers, to be sold for domestic
consumption or culinary use. In 2013 the global packaged drinking water
market is forecast to have a value of $94.2 billion, an increase of 41% since
2007. This increasing trend reveals that the product meets the demand of
countless consumers.

A role of water in ancient history

Water is our lifeline that cleans and feeds us. In ancient cultures, water
represented the very essence of life. The romans were the first to pipe water
into their growing cities, especially with their aqueducts. They also realized
that sewage water could cause damage to people and needed to be removed
from the living environment. Water has played a role not only in the history
of countries, but also in religion, mythology, and art. Water in many
religions is symbolized as a soul cleanser and known as holy water. For

16
example, water at st.lourdes, France is thought by many religions to be
sacred with healing powers. It brought life to their people, but in drought,
produced chaos. Water has always been perceived as a gift from the gods,
as it rained from the heavens.

Importance of water

Water is not only important to human beings, but also for every living thing
needs it to live. It has helped form the earth as we know it, and it covers
over 70 per cent of the earth. Even where there is land, much of it is covered
by ice, which is obviously just solid water.

Water is important in homeostasis process to maintain the relatively

constant temperatures within the body. This is important because sudden
changes in temperature, which may upset metabolic reactions in cells, are
avoided. These chemical reactions are allowed to take place within a
narrow temperature range so that rates of reaction are more constant. Water
has been called a universal solvent because of it polarity. This means many
compounds, whether ionic, polar or covalent will dissolve in it, therefore
more reactions take place while in solution with water. Human digestion
will only dissolve soluble foods, meaning large starch molecules must be
broken down into soluble sugars. Also many organisms living in water,
spend most of their time underwater, yet they require oxygen to respire,
and as water is such a good solvent, the required oxygen is dissolved in the
water.

History of the bottled water industry

The earliest bottled water company was founded in the United States in the
middle of the 19th century. In 1845, the ricker family of Maine bottled and
sold water from a so far unidentified source. Their small operation quickly

17
grew; capitalizing on the spring's supposed medicinal properties,
eventually became the Poland springs water company. Mirroring the ricker
success, in 1905, the Ozark spring water company was founded in eureka
springs, arkansas. Since then, bottled water landscape has expanded
tremendously. This expansion has come mostly recently, and it seems to
be the acceleration of a slowly expanding industry. Between the early part
of the 20th century and its end, there was little activity in the bottled water
industry.

Bottling companies eventually formed their own lobbing group in 1950 in

order to promote their product, and have only been recently successful.
Now, there are hundreds

Of companies and thousands of brand names of bottled water, and

worldwide consumption is in the billions of dollars. Currently, both the
ozarka and Poland spring brands are owned by nestle, and are part of
nestles seventy-five us water brands.

It was in the early 19th century, when the market showed a noticeable
change in Europe and captured a great part of the beverage market share.
The real boost of bottled water commenced in 1968 when the French
company 'vittel' revolutionarily launched the first plastic bottled water-
aimed for general public consumption. With France and Germany on top
with their highest sales in volume, Europe became an established and
leading market.

Bottlers marketed the product to consumers as safer, healthier, refreshing,

more reliable and above all, better than other soft drinks. Moreover,
consumers had become more health conscious and in some parts of the
world tap water was unavailable or unsafe. These drivers were the

18
beginning of a booming global bottled water market.

Purifying and treating water

People want drinking water that is free of bacteria, sparkling and without
an objectionable take or odour. Water in its natural state seldom has these
qualities. So, after water is drawn from source, it is piped into a treatment
plant. The plant put the water through one or several process, depending
on the quality of the untreated water, and the city's standards. Many cities
use three levels of processing which are:

I. Coagulation and setting

Ii. Filtrations

Iii. Disinfection

Variety of packages

Mark miller, "bottled water: why is it so big? Causes for the rapid growth
of bottled water industries", honors thesis, presented to the honors
committee of texas state university, san marcos, may 2006

Bottled water is sold in a variety of packages: pouches and glasses, 330 ml

bottles, 500 ml bottles, one- litre bottles and even 20- to 50-litre bulk water
packs.

The formal bottled water business in India can be divided broadly into three
segments in terms of cost: premium natural mineral water, natural mineral
water and packaged drinking water. Premium natural mineral water
includes brands such as evian, san pelligrino and perrier, which are

19
imported and priced between rs.80 and rs.110 a litre. Natural mineral water,
with brands such as Himalayan and catch, is priced around rs.20 a litre.
Packaged drinking water, which is nothing but treated water, is the biggest
segment and includes brands such as parle, bisleri, Coca-Cola’sKinley and
PepsiCo’sAquafina. They are priced in the range of rs.10-12 a litre. The
fda also classifies some bottled water according to its origin.

I. Artesian well water: water from a well that taps an aquifer--layers of

porous
rock, sand and earth that contain water which is under pressure from
surrounding
upper layers of rock or clay.

Ii. Mineral water: water from an underground source that contains at

least 250 partsper million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace
elements must come fromthe source of the underground water. They
cannot be added later.

Iii. Spring water: derived from an underground formation from which

water flowsnaturally to the earth's surface. Spring water must be collected
only at the spring orthrough a borehole tapping the underground formation
feeding the spring. If someexternal force is used to collect the water
through a borehole, the water must have thesame composition and quality
as the water that naturally flows to the surface.

Iv. Well water: water from a hole, bored or drilled into the ground,
which taps intoan aquifer.

V. Tap water: some bottled water also comes from municipal source in
otherwords the tap. Municipal water is usually treated before it is bottled.

20
Market analysis of packaged drinking water on environment

I. 80% of the diseases in India are water-borne.

Ii. 60% - 80% children suffer from water-borne diseases.

Iii. 50,000 people die every day due to water contamination.

Iv. India has 17 million cases of viral hepatitis, and

V. 8 million cases of typhoid every year.

All this happens due to water contamination, in fact. There are three types
of water contamination as explained below:

Physical contamination: caused due to contaminants like mud, sand, odour,

color, algae, fungus herminths etc.

Chemical contamination: caused due to insecticides, pesticides, oils,

excess of ions, unwanted minerals.

Microbiological contamination: caused by bacteria, viruses of other

unicellular organisms.

Global bottled water market

Bottled water represents a key segment of the global beverage market.

Market stimulants for bottled water include rising population, consumer
spending patterns, lifestyle trends, and growing levels of health
consciousness, among others. Bottled water is also gaining prominence due
to growing consumer concerns about fitness, water quality and health. The
major challenge for most companies is product innovation and
differentiation of water.

21
Bottled water is mostly sold in plastic containers ranging from small eight
ounce or half litre containers to multi-gallon bottles. Globally, bottled
water industry is estimated to use about 2.7 million tons of plastics each
year, for the vast majority of water bottles in the shape of polyethylene
terephthalate (pet)

22
 CHAPTER-2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

23
Till two decades back, drinking water was not a marketable packed product
in our country. Since it was given free of cost all by nature, no one had
such an idea of its marketability. Thus, the bottled water is a new product
to the Indian consumers and there was no much effort taken to contribute
more research in this field. On account of this fact, the researcher attempted
to summarize some of the research studies undertaken in some other related
study.

Brief review of the past studies related to bottled water

• K.Nithiyanandan (2000) in his project work entitled, "Market

status of mineral water industry with a special reference to TEAM",
reflects that consumption patterns are changing in packaged mineral
water industry. Mineral water is now served on trains and airplanes.
Besides the standard one-litre bottled water which is still the largest
seller, a variety of pack sizes have been introduced. Mineral water is
now available in 200ml pouch, and 500ml bottle, 1 litre and 2 litre
bottle, 5 litre jar and 20 litre cane.
• Catherine Ferrier (2001) in her discussion paper highlighted that
bottled water quality is generally good, although it can suffer from
the same contamination hazards as tap water. In Europe, natural
mineral water quality is frequently tested, both by independent labs
and by companies' internal services. These latter controls may not
be fully reliable. Yet, it is not in the interest of the companies, who
base their marketing strategies on the purity of their products, to hide
away occasional and traceable contamination.
• Senthil kumar (2002) in his study focused to find out the sources
of awareness of consumers towards mineral water and the individual

24
 consumption of mineral water. He found that advertisement is the
best source of information as all the respondents are aware of
mineral water. Majority of the respondents spend up to Rs.500 per
month towards mineral water, consume mineral water for the one to
two years having monthlyconsumption of up to 10 litres.
• H B Mathur, Sapna Johnson Rashmi Mishra, Avinash Kumar,
and Bhupinder Singh (2003) in their study titled "CSE Report on
pesticide residues in bottled water", analyzed pesticide residues in
bottled water. Pure drinking water is a luxury in India today. Most
water sources are contaminated; waterborne diseases such as
diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, jaundice and gastroenteritis are legion.
Even the municipal water supply is not free of contaminants like
pesticides, and heavy metals. People eitherboil water for drinking
purpose or install purifiers. Of late, they have also turned to bottled
water, available in the open market; this water is perceived as safe.
• Adrian Feru (2004) in his article entitled "Bottled natural mineral
waters in Romania", stated that "different from drinking water
supplied by the municipal network or from other bottled waters, all
of which undergo some kind of prior treatment in order to become
potable, the natural mineral water is an ecologically pure product,
that by virtue of its composition may induce beneficial health
effects. According to the EC Directive 80/777, the main criteria used
for defining the natural mineral water refer to its original purity and
its adequate protection against any pollution hazard. In Romania,
mineral water consumption is an old tradition. The geological setting
and the existence of unpolluted areas favoured the development of
mineral water sources of an outstanding quality, many of which
include also carbon dioxide in natural state.

25
 • Gabriel J. Bowen, David A. Winter (2005) in their article indicated
that bottled and packaged waters are an increasingly significant
component of the human diet. These products are regulated at the
regional, national, and international levels and determining the
authenticity of marketing and labelling claims represent a challenge
to regulatory agencies. Here, they present a dataset of stable isotope
ratios for bottled waters sampled worldwide, and consider potential
applications of such data for regulatory, forensic and geochemical
standardization applications. The hydrogen and oxygen isotope
ratios of 234 samples of bottled water range from 147% to b15% and
from 19.1% to b3.0%, respectively.
• Miguel F. Doria (2006) in his article entitled "Bottled water versus
tap water: understanding consumers' preferences", says that
consumption of bottled water has been increasing consistently over
the last decade, even in countries where tap water quality is
considered excellent. This paper discusses some of the reasons why
people decide for an option that is often more expensive and less
comfortable than tap water. Consumer surveys usually stress two
main factors: dissatisfaction with tap water organoleptic(especially
taste) and health/risk concerns.
• Gabriel R. Kassenga (2007) conducted a study on "The health-
related microbiological quality of bottled drinking water sold in Dar
es alaam, Tanzania". He found that the consumption of bottled and
plastic-bagged drinking water in Tanzania has increased largely
because of the deteriorating quality of tap water. It is uncertain
whether these water products are safe for drinking. In this study, the
microbiological quality of bottled and plastic-bagged drinking water
sold in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was investigated.

26
 • B. Chitra (2008) studied consumer awareness, brand preference and
satisfaction of packed drinking water in Coimbatore city". Her
objective of the study was to find out the consumer awareness
towards various packed drinking water. She observed that all the
respondents were aware of the availability and marketing of packed
drinking water. A total of 52.8% of the respondents were aware of
three main brands called Biseleri, Siruvani and Kinley respectively
in the ratio 19%, 17.5% and 16.3%. The other remaining 47.2%
respondents were aware of the other brands namely Zill Drops,
Kaveri, Surabhi, Aqua fina, Aquapuraa, Sabols and Ashwa.
• Devendiran (2010) in his study stated that now-a-days successful
companies have recognized that the marketing environment is
constantly spinning new opportunities and they environment the
marketed should also identify the consumer information source and
evaluate their relative communication for the target market
companies must work to ensure customer satisfaction at all level of
the buying process because after the satisfaction of customers the
companies give due considered for profit today more companies are
recognizing the importance of satisfying retaining current
customers.
• R.Anitha (2011) in her study entitled," A study on customer
preference toward packaged water in Karur city", stated that the
people's consumption of packaged water has increased considerably.
To attract consumers, the companies producing packaged water give
advertisements and have good distribution network for marketing
the same. The study aimed at bringing out perception of consumers
towards the purchase and consumption of packaged drinking water.
Many consumers living in urban areas today use packaged drinking

27
 water as a mean of meeting their daily requirements. Potential health
is the main reason for purchasing packaged mineral waters.
• Joanna Galvez (2011) concluded that bottled water was the primary
source of drinking water for almost all households. Living Waters
for the World consumers were more likely than non-consumers to
cite price as a reason they preferred a specific brand of bottled water.
Living Waters for the World consumers were also more likely to use
bottled water for other purposes besides drinking, namely, cooking,
preparing food, and brushing their teeth compared to non-
consumers. Overall, there were some interesting findings but due to
the small sample, it was difficult to perform further analyses.

28
 CHAPTER NO.:-3
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

29
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to solve the problem systematically. It may

be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically.
It consists of different steps that are generally adopted by a researcher to
study his research problem. It includes research design, data collecting,
research instrument, sampling plan, data analysis.

“All Progress is born of inquiry doubt is often letter than overconfidence

for it leads to inquiry & inquiry leads to invention”

The above maxim clearly brings out the significances of research for any
development growth to take place.

The research under taken for this project is both descriptive Analytical in
nature. It is descriptive because it attempts to describe the state of affairs,
as it exists in the cellular market at present. It is analytical for it user
available facts information for analysis to made a critical evaluation of the
material.

Further this repost is a result of both qualitative quantitative researches.

For qualitative research Projective techniques like open ended have been
put to use quantitative research has helped to quantity data into information

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

➢ To check the satisfaction level of customers regarding mineral water

➢ To enhance awareness regarding mineral waterat Ambala distt.
➢ To check the preference of customer regarding mineral water on the
basis of demographic factor.

30
RESEARCH DESIGN:

“A research design is the arrangement of condition for collections and

analysis of datain a manner that aim to combine relevance to research
purpose with economy in procure”.

Descriptive research design has been used for the study.

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN:

Descriptive research study is concerned with describing the characteristic

of particular individuals or of a group. The main objective of descriptive
research is to describe the proportion in a specified population who behave
in a certain way.

DATA COLLECTION:

A researcher has several ways of collecting the appropriate data, which

differ considerably in the context of money; cost, time, and other resources.
Data is collected through primary source as well as secondary source.

PRIMARY DATA:

Primary data are original in character and are generated in large number of
survey conducted by government, and by some individuals, institutions and
research bodies.

For the study, the method used to collect primary data is

questionnaire, Interview scheduling.

SECONDARY DATA:

31
Secondary data means already available data.

The research instrument adopted in this study is questionnaire which

was helpful in deriving the response of the Customers in Ambalaregion.
Questionnaire is the list of questions to be asked to the respondents. It also
contains suitable space where the answers can be recorded.

SAMPLE METHOD:

The method used to collect the sample for the study was

Convenience sampling

When the population elements are related for inclusion in the sample based
on ease of access, it is called convenient sampling.

SAMPLE UNIT:

Clients in Ambala region.

SAMPLE SIZE

The size of the sample was 100 customers.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the report include“A STUDY ON CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION REGARDING MINERAL WATER” Conducted
ambala distt. With special regard to directional media. The study is carried
out by interviewing 100 existing customers. It has been deliberately
decoded to conduct the survey among this existing client group because
they are the people who generally look for expansion for their better
visibility and brand image in the future.

32
 • The study has only made a humble attempt of evaluation of customer
feedback and brand awareness based on different criteria.
• The brand awareness towards directional media services is carried
out in ambala

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

• The time taken to interview each consumer was more as every
consumer had to be first explained everything and had to be dealt
with patience.
• The study covers the ambala region only and due to the limited
sample size, the facts relabeled in the study may not generalize.
• While calculating the percentages, approximations are made to the
nearest figures, for convenience in understanding.
• The analysis is based on customer’s opinion at the time of survey.
Suggestions and conclusions are based on the limited data.

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

The data after collection has to be processed and analyzed in accordance

with the outline laid down for the purpose at the time of developing
research plan.

STATISTICAL TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS OF DATA:-

PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS

Percentage analysis shows entire population in terms of percentage. It

reveals the number of people belonging in a category or the number of
people preferring a particular thing, etc in terms of percentages. The
percentage analysis is obtained when 100 multiply ratios. Therefore, one
figure is taken as base and it is represented by 100.

33
34
 CHAPTER NO.:-4

DATA ANALYSIS

&

INTERPRETATION OF DATA

1Q:-Income Group of The Person I Met

S.No Income Group Frequency Percentage

35
1 15000-25000 23 23%
2 25000-50000 27 27%
3 50000-75000 12 12%
4 75000 + 38 38%
Respondents Total 100 100%

38% 23%

15000-25000
25000-50000
50000-75000
75000 +

27%
12%

INTERPRETATION:-

It can be inferred from the table that more than 27% of the customers'
income ranges from 25000-75000 In this case 23% of them responded
15000-25000 27% of them responded 25000-50000 12% of them
responded 50000-75000 38% of them responded 75000+

2Q:- How many members do you have in your family?

36
S.No Member Frequency Percentage
1 1 10 10%
2 2 15 15%
3 3 15 15%
4 4 26 26%
5 5 12 12%
6 6 10 10%
7 More than 6 12 12%
Respondents Total 100 100%

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 More
than 6
Series1 10 15 15 26 12 10 12

10peoples have a family consisting of 1 person, 15 of the peoples have a

family consisting of 2 people, 15 of the peoples have a family consisting
of 3 people, 26 of the peoples have a family consisting of 1 person, 12 of
the peoples have a family consisting of 5 people, 10 of the peoples have a
family consisting of 6 people and 12 of the peoples have a family consisting
of more than 6

3Q:-Do you know about Mineral Water?

37
S.no Know Frequency Percentage
1 Yes 85 85%
2 No 15 15%
Respondents Total 100 100%

Sales
0 0

15%

85%

Yes No

INTERPRETATION

Out of 100 respondents 85 know aboutMineral Water.

15 out of 100 respondents don’t know about Mineral Water.

4Q:-How did you come to know about Mineral Water?

38
 S.no Factors Number of % of
respondents respondents
1 Television 4 4.7%
2 Marketer’s Suggestion 40 47%
3 Radio 3 3.5%
4 Print 18 21.3%
5 Online 20 23.5%
Total 85 100%

Sales
4.70%

23.50%

47%
21.30%

3.50%

Television Marketer's Suggestion Radio Print Online

INTERPRETATION:-

It is clear that 21.3% respondents say that they come to know about that
company by print media. And 23.5%% know about that online and 47%
respondents come to know about Mineral Water from marketer’s
suggestions.

5Q:-Do you use Mineral Water

39
S.no Use Frequency Percentage
1 Yes 75 88%
2 No 10 12%
Respondents Total 85 100%

Sales
0 0

88%

3.2

Yes No

INTERPRETATION

Out of 85 respondents 75 use Mineral Water.

10 out of 85 respondents don’t use Mineral Water.

6Q:-Which company mineral water you use.

40
S.no Factors Number of % of
respondents respondents
1 Himgiri 5 7%
2 Bislari 40 53%
3 kinley 25 33%
5 Any other 5 7%
Total 75 100%

Any other
7%
Himgiri
7%
kinley
33%

Bislari
53%

7% respondents prefer himgiri, 53% prefer bislari, 33. Prefer kinley and
last 7 % preffer other companies mineral watwr.

7Q:-Why you prefer to drink Mineral Water?

41
S.No Use Frequency Percentage
1 Cheaper 10 13.3%
2 Pure Mineral 50 66.7%
3 Available in many 15 20%
quantities
Respondents Total 75 100%

Sales
0

20% 13.30%

66.70%

Cheaper Pure Mineral Availability in many quantities

INTERPRETATION

13.3% Respondents say Mineral water Are cheaper than other competitor
soft drinks products.

66.7% like because these are available in purity

20% like because water is available in may quantities

8Q:--Are you satisfy with the availability of Mineral Water in market.

42
S.No Satisfy Frequency Percentage
1 Yes 50 66.7%
2 No 25 33.3%
Respondents Total 75 100%

Sales
0 0

66.70%

3.2

Yes No

INTERPRETATION

Out of 75 respondents50 say they are satisfy with the availability of

Mineral Water in market

Out of 75 respondents 25 are not satisfy with the availability of Mineral

Water in market

9Q:-Are you satisfied with the using of Mineral Water?

43
S.No Satisfy Frequency Percentage
1 Yes 50 66.7%
2 No 25 33.3%
Respondents Total 75 100%

Sales
00

66.70%

Yes No

INTERPRETATION

Out of 75 respondents 50 are satisfied with Mineral Water

Out of 75 respondents 25 are not satisfied with Mineral Water

10Q:--Are you give advice to other people to use of Mineral Water?

44
S.No Satisfy Frequency Percentage
1 Yes 38 76%
2 No 12 24%
Respondents Total 50 100%

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Yes No
Series1 76% 24%

INTERPRETATION

38 respondents out of 50 say they give advice to use the Mineral Water and
other does not give advice to other.

45
 CHAPTER NO.:-5

FINDINGS

&

SUGGESTIONS

FINDINGS
46
 • It can be inferred from the table that more than 27% of the customers'
income ranges from 25000-75000 In this case 23% of them
responded 15000-25000 27% of them responded 25000-50000 12%
of them responded 50000-75000 38% of them responded 75000+
• 10 people’s have a family consisting of 1 person, 15 of the people’s
have a family consisting of 2 people, 15 of the people’s have a family
consisting of 3 people, 26 of the people’s have a family consisting of
1 person, 12 of the people’s have a family consisting of 5 people, 10
of the people’s have a family consisting of 6 people and 12 of the
people’s have a family consisting of more than 6
• Out of 100 respondents 85 know about Mineral Water.
• 15 out of 100 respondents don’t know about Mineral Water.
• It is clear that 21.3% respondents say that they come to know about
that company by print media. And 23.5%% know about that online
and 47% respondents come to know about Mineral Water from
marketer’s suggestions.
• Out of 85 respondents 75 use Mineral Water.
• 10 out of 85 respondents don’t use Mineral Water.
• 7% respondents prefer himgiri, 53% prefer bislari, 33. Prefer kinley
and last 7 % preffer other companies mineral watwr.
• 13.3% Respondents say Mineral water Are cheaper than other
competitor soft drinks products.
• 66.7% like because these are available in purity
• 20% like because water is available in may quantities
• Out of 75 respondents 50 say they are satisfy with the availability of
Mineral Water in market

47
 • Out of 75 respondents 25 are not satisfy with the availability of
Mineral Water in market
• Out of 75 respondents 25 are not satisfied with Mineral Water
• 38 respondents out of 50 say they give advice to use the Mineral
Water and other does not give advice to other.

48
SUGGESTIONS

• There has to be enough promotional campaigns pre-launch so that

consumers are aware of the products.
• Most of the new products have already been tried by consumers with
rival brands. Due to this, the consumers do not find the new products
innovative enough and there is no enthusiasm among consumers to
try the new products.
• The new products have to be introduced in free of cost so that
consumer’s doing think a lot before purchasing it rather than
spending to try a competitor’s product.
• Improve the advertisement of by adopting the appropriate channel to
reach out the public everywhere.
• Providing adequate services to customer.
• Planning and implementing awareness campaigns and programs in
rural areas so as to tap the unaccounted population.
• Providing various offers and replacement facility of expiry product.
• Look and adopt the techniques and methods used by other
companies to service the customers in a satisfied manner and to
attract them towards Mineral water.
• Attempts must be made by the marketers of the concerned brand to
provide more outlets in different localities nearby marketing centers,
mainly in the residential areas of the city to enhance customer
convenience as well as the brand image of tetra packed Mineral
water.
• Enhancement of brand image is required in order to safeguard the
market share of the brands, which will help to create positive
perception about the product and its attributes of water. For this,

49
 advertisements along with other suitable promotional measures like
local celebrity reference and sponsoring local socio-cultural events
may be highly useful The Company should take proper feedback
from existing clients from time to time. In case they are facing any
problem it can be solved timely, without delays

50
 CONCLUSION

51
CONCLUSION

After the deep study of mineral water, I can tell that this is the sector, which
has most business opportunities perhaps in India

The study about customer satisfaction level regarding Mineral Water was
very interesting and informative. It is found out that most of the
respondents are aware about Mineral Water. Though the awareness level
is high about Mineral Water among the public, the preference level is not
up to the mark due to strong competition in the market.

Suggestions made were based on the study. Findings will certainly help the
company to understand its position in the market and also to find the level
of demand for Mineral Water among the public.

The study of consumer behavior is a very complex process, as it involves

not only the economic factors, but also the emotional factors. However,
marketers need to study the consumer behavior, as it helps them for better
positioning of their products and develop effective marketing strategies.
Customer's satisfaction through net value delivery is the key for any
marketing success. Customer satisfaction through the dynamic support like
value addition to consumers has been ignored until recent past. Based on
preliminary investigation, it is found that not only the facts mentioned
above are the root cause of marketing failures, but also the perceptual
differences that exist between consumers and marketers are more subtle
and latent cause of concern.

52
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

53
BIBILIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

• Marketing Management -Ian Andrew, 11th edition, 2004. Mount Hill

Publications.
• Research Methodology - C.R. Kothari, 2nd edition, Re - print Edition
2000. Vishws Prakashan Publications, New Delhi.
• Market Research - Mario van Hamersveld, 9th edition, Re - print
Edition 2003.
• Drucker, Peter F. (1989), "What Business Can Learn From
Nonprofits," Harvard Business Review, Vol (July-August), 88-93.
• Ensman, Richard (1987), "Market Research: A Valuable Aid To Small
Non-Profits," Fund Raising Management, 18 (September), 108.
• Freeman, Laurie (1998), "Corporate Branding Gains B-To-B
Momentum," Advertising Age's Business Marketing, 83 (December),
1-2.
• Keller, Kevin Lane, Strategic Brand Management: Building,
Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.
• Kotler, Philip and Alan R. Andreason (1996), Strategic Marketing For
Nonprofit Organizations, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.

WEB SITES:

• www.ask.com
• www.scribd.com
• www.studymedia.com

54
 ANNEXTURE

55
QUESTIONARIES

1Q:-Income Group ofthe Person I Met

• 15000-25000
• 25000-50000
• 50000-75000
• 75000 +

2Q:- How many members do you have in your family?

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• More than 6

3Q:-Do you know about Mineral Water?

• Yes
• No

4Q:-How did you come to know about Mineral Water?

• Television
• Marketer’s Suggestion
• Radio
• Print
• Online

56
5Q:-Do you use Mineral Water

• Yes
• No

6Q:-Which company mineral water you use.

• Himgiri
• Bislari
• kinley
• Any other

7Q:-Why you prefer to drink Mineral Water?

• Cheaper
• Pure Mineral
• Available in many quantities

8Q:--Are you satisfy with the availability of Mineral Water in market?

• Yes
• No

9Q:-Are you satisfied with the using of Mineral Water?

• Yes
• No

10Q:--Are you give advice to other people to use of Mineral Water?

• Yes
• No

57