“Brand Awareness and Customers Satisfaction towards OLA Cabs in Bengaluru

North and South Region”

Prof.Manjunath.G
Principal, Vasavi Vidyanikethan Trust, VVN Evening College, #3, Vani Vilas Road,
Visveswarapuram, Bengaluru

ABSTRACT:
The first dimension of Brand Knowledge is Brand Awareness. It is related to the strength of the brand
node or trace in memory, as reflected by consumers’ ability to identify the brand under different
conditions (Rossiter and Percy, 1987).Customer satisfaction is “an emotional response to the
experiences provided by, associated with particular products or services purchased.This research paper
is an attempt to explore the brand awareness and customer satisfaction towards OlaCabs in Bengaluru
region (South and North regions).Convenient Data Sampling method is used for Data collection. The
study uses both primary data and secondary data. The primary data was collected by using a well-
structured questionnaire from 276 respondents and are entered into the sub-tables by using the simple
percentage analysis.The tools like simple percentage analysis and Chi-Square Analysis were used. The
study was conducted for a period of 5 months from March to July 2015. To conclude, Olacabs has
positioned its brand and has created a good brand image in the minds of customers concerned with
personal transportation services compare to Uber and Merucabs in Bengaluru.
Keywords:Brand Awareness, Customer Satisfaction, OlaCabs.

INTRODUCTION:
OlaCabs, commonly known as Ola, is a popular mobile app for personal transportation in India. Ola
started as an online cab aggregator in Mumbai, now based out of Bengaluru and is among the fastest
growing businesses in India. Taxi booking facility can be availed through phone call,Ola app, Ola
website. It was started on 3rdDecember 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal (currently CEO) and Ankit Bhati.
By 2014, the company has expanded to a network of more than 200,000 cars across 100 cities. In
November 2014, Ola expanded to incorporate autos on-trial basis in Bengaluru. Post the trial phase,
Ola Auto expanded to other cities like Delhi, Pune and Chennai starting December 2014.Ola provides
different types of cab service ranging from economic to luxury travel. The cabs can be reserved
through a web browser or a mobile app. This cab service supports both cash and cashless payment
options with Ola money. It claims to clock an average of more than 150,000 bookings per day and
commands 60 percent of the market share in India.It raised $330k in its initial round of funding on
April 21, 2011. The company received series “A” funding of $5 million from Tiger Global
Management; Series B funding of USD 20 million from Matrix partners and Tiger Global; Series C
funding of $41.5 million from Steadview Capital, Sequoia Capital and its existing investors. In Series
D round of funding on Oct 25, 2014, it raised $210 million from SoftBank Internet and Media Inc. and
its existing investors.
On April 9, 2015 - OLACabs raised $400 million in series D funding from SoftBank, ABG Capital,
Accel Partners, Mauritius Investments, Tiger Global Management & two other investors. The newest
funding rounds have been led by DST Global which has pumped about $40mn in Olacabs at a
valuation of $3.5bn.OlaCabs bought Taxi For Sure or TFS on 1 March 2015,for about $200
million.From the 25th of June 2015, Ola users have gained access to TFS cabs via the Ola mobile
application.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
 BRAND AWARENESS
The first dimension of Brand Knowledge is Brand Awareness. It is related to the strength of the brand
node or trace in memory, as reflected by consumers’ ability to identify the brand under different
conditions (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). Keller (1993) had stated that, Brand awareness consists of

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brand recognition and brand recall performance. Brand recognition relates to consumers’ ability to
confirm prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as a cue. The brand recognition requires the
consumers to correctly discriminate the brand as having seen or heard previously. Keller (1993) also
stated that brand awareness affected consumer decision making by influencing the formation and
strength of Brand Associations in the brand image prior to Keller, Aaker (1991) had defined Brand
Awareness as the ability of a buyer to recognise or recall that brand as a member of a certain
product/service category.Measures of Brand Awareness such as recall and familiarity developed by
MacKay (1998) and Agarwal and Rao (1996) are widely used in marketing research. Aaker (1991) had
mentioned several levels of Brand Awareness, ranging from mere recognition of the brand to
dominance which refers to the condition where the brand involved is the only brand recalled by the
consumer. Prior to Aaker (1991) Rossiter and Percy (1987) had defined Brand Awareness as the
consumer’s ability to identify or recognise the brand. Brand awareness is the extent to which a brand is
recognized by potential customers, and is correctly associated with a particular product or service.
Expressed usually as a percentage of the target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of
advertising in the early months or years of a product's introduction. Brand awareness is related to the
functions of brand identities in consumers’ memory and can be reflected by how well the consumers
can identify the brand under various conditions. Brand awareness includes brand recognition and brand
recall performance. Brand recognition refers to the ability of the consumers to correctly differentiate
the brand they previously have been exposed to.
 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:
Paul S. Goldner (2006), Grigoroudis, E and Siskos, Y (2009) defines, “a customer is any organization
or individual with which you have done business over the past twelve months”. “Customer means the
party to which the goods are to be supplied or service rendered by the supplier”. “A customer is the
person that assesses the quality of the offered products and services” and on process oriented approach,
“the customer is the person or group that receives the work output” .Satisfaction has been broadly
defined by Vavra, T.G. (1997) as a satisfactory post-purchase experience with a product or service
given an existing purchase expectation. According to Westbrook and Reilly (1983) define satisfaction
as, “The buyer’s cognitive state of being adequately or inadequately rewarded for the sacrifices he has
undergone”, customer satisfaction is “an emotional response to the experiences provided by, associated
with particular products or services purchased. The definition offered by Hunt (1977) put forward a
definition as, “the summary psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed
expectations is coupled with the consumers’ prior feelings about the consumption experience”.
Customer satisfaction is a term often used in marketing concept. It is a measure of how products and
services supplied by a company meet or exceed 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.Businessfirms 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.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM/RESEARCH GAP:

Earlier research and study are mainly concerned with brand awareness, customer satisfaction and
brand equity with reference to products and services in the area of consumer durable goods sector both
in urban and rural areas. Merely rare research has been done in service sector about brand awareness
and customer satisfaction with reference to personal transportation.This research paper is an attempt to
explore the brand awareness and customer satisfaction towards OlaCabs in Bengaluru (South and
North region).Furthermore, this paper provides some findings and inferences that can be considered by
other personal transportation cab service firms to create brand and brand loyalty.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
The present research paper is carried out in the city of Bengaluru, (North and south region).They
belonged to a mix of different communities and different income-cross sections of north and south
region. Convenient Data Sampling method is used for Data collection. The study uses both primary

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data and secondary data. The primary data was collected by using a well-structured questionnaire from
276 respondents and are entered into the sub-tables by using the simple percentage analysis. Secondary
data were collected from articles, journals, magazines, books, and websites. The collected data were
processed both manually and with the help of MS-Excel. The tools like simple percentage analysis and
Chi-Square Analysis were used. The study was conducted for a period of 5 months from March to July
2015.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

The objective of this paper is to study the brand awareness and customer satisfaction towards OLA
Cabs.
HYPOTHESIS:
1. HO- There is no awareness among people about OLA Cabs.
H1- There is awareness among people about OLA Cabs.
2. HO - Customers are not satisfied with OLA Cabs.
H1 - Customers are satisfied with OLA Cabs.
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS:
Table: 1- Shows the Demographic and Socio-economic Characteristics
Sl.No Gender Respondents Percentage
1 Male 141 51
2 Female 137 49
Total 276 100
Sl.No Age Respondents Percentage
1 Below 21 Years 140 51
2 22-35 Years 75 27
3 36 -45 Years 40 14
4 45-65 Years 21 8
Total 276 100
Sl.No Marital Status Respondents Percentage
1 Married 110 40
2 Unmarried 166 60
3 Single Parent 00 00
Total 276 100
Sl.No Occupation Respondents Percentage
1 IT Professional 36 13
2 Business People 12 4
3 Academician 10 4
3 Lawyers 0 0
4 Doctors 7 3
5 Private Employees 12 4
6 Govt. and Central Govt. Employees 3 1
7 Students 182 66
8 Home Maker 14 5
Total 276 100
Sl.No Education Respondents Percentage
1 School Level 10 4
2 PUC/+2 36 13
3 Graduates 190 69
4 Post-Graduates 40 14
Total 276 100
Sl.No Income Level (Monthly) Respondents Percentage
1 Below 25,000 190 69

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2 Above 25001 to 50,000 50 18
3 Above 50.001 to 1,00,000 30 11
4 Above 1,00,001 6 2
Total 276 100
(Source: Compiled from Primary data)
Table: 2- Shows the Brand Awareness of OLA Cabs
Sl.No Awareness Mode Respondents Percentage
1 Through Friends and Relatives 201 73
2 Through Television Ads 35 13
3 Through Social Media Sites 40 14
4 Radio 0 0
5 News Papers and Magazines 0 0
Total 276 100
(Source: Compiled from Primary data)
Table: 3 Shows the various Factors which influence to opt OLA Cabs
Sl.No Factors Respondents Percentage
1 Convenient 34 12
2 Brand 30 11
3 Quick and Safe 30 11
4 Easy to Book 35 13
5 Less Cost 107 39
6 At time Pick-up and Drop 40 14
Total 276 100
(Source: Compiled from Primary data)
Table: 4 Shows the Satisfaction Level on various parameters towards OLA Cabs
Sl.No Parameters Satisfaction Level Respondents Percentage
1 Convenient Satisfied 14 5
2 Easy to Book Highly Satisfied 30 11
3 Quick and Safe Satisfied 42 15
4 Cost Highly Satisfied 156 57
5 At time Pick-up and Drop Highly Satisfied 34 12
Total 276 100
(Source: Compiled from Primary data)

HYPOTHESIS TESTING:
Chi-Square Analysis:
1) People are aware of OLA Cabs.
Sl.No Parameters Observed/O Expected/E Residual Value (O/E)
1 Aware 249 138 111
2 Not Aware 27 138 -111
Total 276
Test Statistics
Chi-Square 178.565
Degree of Freedom 1
Asymp.Sig .000
0 cells (.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5.The minimum expected cell frequency is 138.
Inference: The calculated value of Chi-Square at 5% significance level is 178.565which are more than
the table value (3.84).Hence the alternative hypothesis is accepted.
Analysis: It is clear from the above inference that there is awareness among people towards OLA
cabs.
2) Customers are satisfied towards OLA Cabs.

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 Expected
Sl.No Overall Satisfaction Level Observed /O Residual Value (O/E)
/E
1 Satisfied 132 55.2 76.8
2 Dis-satisfied 18 55.2 - 37.2
3 Can't say 3 55.2 - 52.2
4 Highly Satisfied 61 55.2 5.8
5 Customer Delight 62 55.2 6.8
Total 276

Test Statistics:
Chi-Square 182.731
Degree of Freedom 4
Asymy.Sig .000

0 cells (.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5.The minimum expected cell frequency is 55.2.
Inference: The calculated value of Chi-Square at 5% significance level is 182.731 which are more
than the table value (9.49).Hence the alternative hypothesis is accepted.
Analysis: It is clear from the above inference that customer are satisfied with OLA cabs.

FINDINGS:
1. Majority of the respondents (51%) are Male, (51%)of the respondents fall in the age category
of below 21 years, (60%) are unmarried, (66%) of the respondents belong to students, (69%) of
them are pursuing graduation and (69%) of respondents income level falls in the category of
below Rs.25,000.
2. Majority of the respondents (73%) got to know about the OLA cab services through Friends
and Relatives and the second highest (14%) through Social Media Sites.
3. Majority of the respondents (39%) opt for Olacabsbecause of its less cost, (14%) of the
respondents opt because of its timely pick and drop facility and (13%) of the respondents opt
because of easy booking.
4. Factors like easy to book, cost and timely pick and drop facility has “Highly Satisfied” and the
other factors like convenient and quick and safe has“Satisfied”the respondents.
5. Majority of the respondents (48%) say that they are “Satisfied” with the overall satisfaction
level of OLA cab services.
6. Majority of the respondents (90.22%) say that they are aware of OLA Cabs in north and south
regions.

CONCLUSION:
OLA is a popular mobile app for personal transportation in India. OLA started as an online cab
aggregator in Mumbai, now based out of Bengaluru and is among the fastest growing businesses in
India. On July 21st 2015, OLA has formally launched “OLA Store” for groceries and daily needs.The
catalog of products available looks extensive. Apart from the general needs like vegetables, fruits,
dairy products, frozen foods, grocery and staples etc, interesting additions are sexual wellness,
electrical products and health supplements and medicines.
To conclude, the market for OLA Cabs depends on the customer preference, creating awareness and
customer satisfaction. The factors like convenient, brand, low cost, quick and safe, easy to book and
timely pick and drop facility etc which influence the customer decision to opt for OLA cabs. In
addition to this, brand positioning and customer satisfaction will take place when personal
transportation services (Cab services) differentiate in terms of financial feasibility, time management,
easy accessibility and other services. To conclude, OLA cabs has positioned its brand and has created a
good brand image in the minds of customers concerned to personal transportation services compare to
Uber and Merucabs throughout Bengaluru.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY AND SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

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This study is carried out only in Bengaluru city (South and north regions) only and the data was
collected from only 276 respondents. The findings are based entirely upon the research conducted in
Bengaluru city only. Future study can be conducted with reference to OLA Auto or OLA Cabs by
extending to the entire state of Karnataka or any other state with large number of respondents.
Furthermore, there is a scope for comparative study with reference to personal transportation business
firms like Uber and Merucabs.

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Webliography:
www.crunchbase.com/organization/ani-technologies/
www.olacabs.com

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