PROJECT REPORT

(Submitted for the Degree of B. Com Honours in Accounting & Finance under the
University of Calcutta.)

Title of the Project

CONSUMER PREFERENCE - A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DIFFERENT FOOTWEAR

BRANDS IN KOLKATA

Submitted by

Name: Kishore Kumar Jha

C. U. Registration No.: 017-1111-2719-20

C. U. Roll No.: 201017211354

Name Of The College: THE BHAWANIPUR EDUCATION

SOCIETY COLLEGE

College UID: 0101200285

Supervised by

Name of the Supervisor: DR. SREYASI GHOSH

Name of the College: THE BHAWANIPUR

EDUCATION SOCIETY COLLEGE

Month & year of Submission

MAY 2023

1
 Supervisor's Certificate

This is to certify that Mr. Kishore Kumar Jha, a student of B.Com. Honours in Accounting

& Finance of THE BHAWANIPUR EDUCATION SOCIETY COLLEGE, under the

University of Calcutta has worked under my supervision and guidance for his Project Work and
prepared a Project Report with the title ‘CONSUMER PREFERENCE – “A
COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DIFFERENT FOOTWEAR BRANDS IN
KOLKATA”, which he is submitting, is his genuine and original work to the best of my
knowledge.

Signature:

Name: DR. SREYASI GHOSH

Designation:
Name of the College: THE BHAWANIPUR EDUCATION
SOCIETY COLLEGE

Place: Kolkata

Date:

Student’s Declaration

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I hereby declare that the Project Work with the title ‘CONSUMER PREFERENCE - A
COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DIFFERENT FOOTWEAR BRANDS IN KOLKATA’
submitted by me for the partial fulfilment of the degree of B.Com. Honours in Accounting &
Finance under the University of Calcutta is my original work and has not been submitted earlier
to any other University /Institution for the fulfilment of the requirement for any course of study. I
also declare that no chapter of this manuscript in whole or in part has been incorporated in this
report from any earlier work done by others or by me. However, extracts of any literature which
has been used for this report has been duly acknowledged providing details of such literature in
the references.

Signature:
Name: Kishore Kumar Jha
Address: 140 C Rashbehari Avenue, Kolkata -700029
Registration No. 017-1111-2719-20

Place: Kolkata

Date:

Acknowledgement

It gives me immense pleasure to present this project on “CONSUMER PREFERENCE – A

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COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DIFFERENT FOOTWEAR BRANDS IN KOLKATA”
carried out in partial fulfilment of requirement of B.com Semester-VI (Honours) study.
No work can be carried out without the help and guidance of various persons. I am happy to take
this opportunity to express my gratitude to those who have been helpful to me in completing this
project report.

At the outset I would like to thank my Supervisor, DR. SREYASI GHOSH for her valuable
advices and guidance during my project completion, also for timely help concerning various
aspects of project.

I would be falling in my duty if I do not express my deep sense of gratitude to my parents

without whom I cannot complete my project work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
S. NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT 6

1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE STUDY 7-8

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 9

1.4 NEED OF THE STUDY 9

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 1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 10

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 10

1.7 CHAPTER PLANNING 11

CHAPTER 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK /
NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL
SCENARIO
2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 12-13

2.2 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL 14-24

SCENARIO
CHAPTER 3 PRESENTATION OF DATA
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

3.1 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 25-31

3.2 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 32
CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 CONCLUSION 33-34
4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 35
BIBLIOGRAPHY 36
QUESTIONNAIRE 37-39

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY TOPIC:

Footwear is the product to protect human feet from effects of all biological damages. Footwear
intends to protect and comfort the human foot while the wearer is doing various activities.
Footwear is also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of footwear has varied
enormously through time & from culture to culture with appearance originally being tied to
function. Footwear has undergone a series of changes passing through a journey of inventions.

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 While initially leather and dried grasses were used to wrap around the feet for protection, it
evolved into more comfortable wear with leather strapping for a better hold. In Kolkata, there are
many footwear brands. In this project we have studied consumer preference on different
footwear brands, mainly Bata, Khadim’s, Ajanta and Others (i.e. Paragon, Sreeleathers, Elite,
Titas, Woodland, Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Puma and local footwear). So our study topic is
“CONSUMER PREFERENCE – A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DIFFERENT
FOOTWEAR BRANDS IN KOLKATA”. Overall this project, we have seen consumers
preference as per gender, factors affection, role of advertisement for preference of different
footwear brands. After all in this project, we show that what consumers second brand preference
is and expectation from second brands. Also we have analysed durability of footwear, propensity
of beneficial scheme, best customer service provider, brand image, impact for brand preference.
Annual expenses as per gender, influence to choice preferred footwear brand, result of
satisfaction, consumer attraction depending on features as per gender & as per age and also
different types of using of preferred footwear, this knowledge is gained by us for completion of
this project, as well as we have known footwear brand preference as per age & as per income

from this project.

1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW:

1. Anand & Alekya,et.al., 2015 : Have revealed in their paper that analysing the footwear industry
in India, and the buying process that goes into a purchase. With customers becoming increasingly
fashion conscious and spendthrift, and the industry becoming more global in its appeal, the
customers’ purchase pattern has also seen a shift in terms of various parameters.
Thus, the study concluded that the footwear industry in India is expanding at an incredible rate.

2. Girma,et.al., 2016 : Stated that exploring the pattern of brand preference towards domestic and
foreign Footwear products and its antecedents taking age and gender as a case among DireDawa
administration residences. The finding revealed that the emotional value of the brand and
normative influences are the most and least significant antecedents respectively for brand
preference also, as age increases the preference toward local brand increases whereas the
emotional value of the brand significantly affect male youths and females as a whole. The

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 primary purpose of this study was to explore the footwear brand preference and its antecedents
taking age and gender as baseline.

3. Roy, et. al ., 2017: Has found in his study that studying the consumer behavior towards Bata
products and brand preference in the Indian footwear industry. Within Bata, there are a lot of
product lines, which can also be segmented based on different income groups of the customers. It
makes it very accessible for customers of all age groups as well as income groups. Bata thus
caters its customers with comfort and style.

4. Dr. Prabhu ,et.al., 2017: Stated that studying of consumer behaviour in sport helps understand
customers. A better understanding of customers can help develop products and services that meet
their needs and design marketing strategies to attract new customers and retain existing
customers. On the basis of the results of this study it was concluded that the sports persons of
Malnad region prefer wearing sports shoes on regular basis. Sportspersons replace their shoes
either once in six months or once in a year.

5. The paper of Roy,et.al., 2020: Stated that studying in industrial clusters largely identify the
institutional failures and imperfections that prevail in the supply of indivisible inputs and
collective action. This paper critically reviews a typical ‘low-road’ cluster in Kolkata and argues
that market failures due to existence of information imperfections, externalities and public good
and the institutional failure to resolve those imperfections only partially explain the depressed
status in these clusters. In the case of footwear, the product life cycle is short, goods are
demanded in smaller batches and frequency of variation in design largely determines the
buoyancy of a product. This would in a way counterpoise the trends of self-exploitative
fragmentation and induce consolidation to reap the benefits of scale advantage.

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1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

• To identify consumers’ preferences in the choice of their preferred footwear brands among
Bata, Khadim’s, Ajanta and Others.
• To study the factors that is affecting the choice of consumers for choosing their preferred
footwear brands.
• To study the role of advertisements in the choice of their preferred Footwear Brands.
• To identify whether there is any gender biasness for preferring footwear brand.

1.4 NEED OF THE STUDY:

Study on footwear brands potentiality depends on different types of footwear brands, the study
also gives the extent of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among the users so that the brand can take
the desired step to minimize the dissatisfaction level. The aim of the study is to estimate the
market potentially and consumer perception in Hatibagan, Shayambazar, Shovabazar and
Baghbazar Area. Here, we all got to know the consumers’ preferences in the choice of their
preferred footwear brands among Bata, Khadim’s Ajanta and Others.

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 Also, to study the role of advertisements in the choice of their preferred footwear brands and to
identify whether there is any gender biasness for preferring footwear brand.

1.5 RESESARCH METHODOLOGY:

Methodology may be understood as a study of various types that are generally adapted by a
researcher in studying her research problem logically. There are mainly two ways through which
data may be collected:-
 Primary data Collection: It is the data that is collected by a researcher from first hand sources,
using methods like surveys, interviews or experiments.
 Secondary data Collection: It is the data that have been already collected by and readily available
from other sources. Such data are cheaper and more quickly obtainable than the primary data.

In this project I have employed primary data collection methods by preparing a questionnaire, to
know about the Investment preference using Random Sampling Technique.

SAMPLE SIZE: 50
SAMPLE PLACE: KOLKATA

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY:

1. Limited Area- The study was confined to some areas of Kolkata only. The preferences of
consumers are not same in all over India.

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2. Limited time- Time was the major obstacle for this study. Only limited simple size was possible
for such a vast research neither the limited time.
3. Biased view of the respondents- Many of the respondents did not think hard enough while
choosing the specific point. This could have led to a biased view and thus affected the analysis.
4. Conclusion- Definite conclusion could not be determined from this particular study only.

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 1.7 CHAPTER PLANNING:

This project consists of 4 chapters. They are as follows-

 The first chapter is introduction ,it consists of 7 sub topics:

a. Background of the project

b. Literature Review of the study

c. Objectives of the Study

d. Need of the study

e. Research Methodology

f. Limitations of the Study

g. Chapter planning

 The second chapter consists of 3 sub topics:

1. Advantages and Disadvantages

2. National scenario

3. International scenario

• The third chapter consists of presentation, analysis, findings obtained through the survey
conducted.

• The fourth chapter consists of Conclusion and recommendations.

CHAPTER 2

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 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND NATIONAL &
INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

Footwear is the product to protect human feet from effects of all biological damages. The
necessity of using footwear was recognized back in the Ice Ages when people realized that they
had to keep their feet warm in order to keep themselves healthy. Footwear has undergone a
series of changes passing through a journey of inventions. While initially leather and dried
grasses were used to wrap around the feet for protection, it evolved into more comfortable wear
with leather strapping for a better hold. Eventually it metamorphosed into an accessory and a
fashion statement besides providing protection for the feet. Today, footwear is made out a
number of materials like leather, PVC, artificial leather, canvas, wood, plastics and cloth. Called
by different names, footwear is classified as boots, slippers, flip-flops, shoes, sandals, ballerinas,
stilettos and many more depending on the style, make and purpose. A host of demographics,
lifestyle, and fashion trends drives the footwear business. Ideally, the market for this industry is
as big as the population itself. It would therefore, not be an exaggeration to say that globally the
footwear industry is having an expanding market, rather it is axiomatic. Even today, there is a
large part of the population who go about bare feet especially in the underdeveloped countries for
the simple reason that they cannot afford them. There are many branded as well as local
footwear. Some branded footwear are BATA, KHADIM’S, AJANTA and OTHERS (i.e.
Paragon, Sreeleathers, Elite, Titas, Woodland, Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Puma and local footwear).
Bata is best for their leather quality, Khadim’s and Sreeleathers are best for their various stylish
footwear and Ajanta is best for their ‘hawai chappal’. As the world population increases; so
living standards of people rise ,thus increase in the demand for footwear rises as well. The
topic of research here is “CONSUMER PREFERENCE – A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON
DIFFERENT FOOTWEAR BRANDS IN KOLKATA” on the basis of Price, Brand name and

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 Quality and Customer Service in the region of Kolkata. So the project is to study the preference
of the consumer towards different brands.

2.2 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO:

FOOTWEAR BRANDS

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 1. BATA :
Bata (also known as Bata organization) is a family owned global footwear and fashion accessory
manufacturer and retailer with acting headquarter located in Lausanne, Switzerland. Organized
into three business unit: Bata Europe, based in Italy; Bata Emerging Market (Asia, Africa, Latin
America),based in Singapore,and bata protective , based in Netherlands . The organization has a
retail presence of over $200 retail stores in more than two countries and production facilities in
18 countries.

• Founded: Aug 24, 1894 ( 123 year ago in Czech Republic).

• Founder: Tomas Bata

• Head quarter: Lausanne, Switzerland

• Area served: Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America

• Key people: Christopher Kirk (chairman)

• Product: Footwear, clothing

• Owner: Bata family

• Website: w.w.w.bata.com

National Scenario-

Bata India is the largest retailer and leading manufacturer of footwear in India and is a part of
Bata Shoe Organization.
The company also operates a large non retail distribution network through its urban wholesale
and caters to millions of customers through over 30,000 dealers.

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• Incorporated as Bata Shoe Company Private Limited in 1931.
• The company was set up initially as a small operation in Konnagar (near Kolkata) in 1932.
• In January 1932, the foundation stone for the first building Bata’s operation- now called the Bata.
• The company went public in 1973 when it changes its name to Bata India Limited.
• Its retail network of over 1200 stores gives it a reach/coverage that no other footwear company
that match.
• Bata, Industrials laboratory receives A-Status Certificate from the SATRA research and
technology centre in 2008.
• Starts with ‘lean’ production of safety shoes in 2009.
• Receives recognition from Brand Equity as being among ‘Top Most Trusted Brands’ in retail
category in 2013.
• Received Udyog Ratan Award in 2013.
• In the year 2020, in the view of lockdown across the country due to COVID-19, the company
suspended the operations in all the units in compliance with the lockdown instructiond as isssued
by the central and state governments.
• It resume the operations with a view to maximize the profit of the company which was heavily
affected by the loss incurred during the covid phase.
• During the financial year 2021 the wholly owned subsidiary, coastal commercial and EXIM
limited (CCEL) amalgamated with another wholly owned subsidiary company BATA properties
ltd .
• During the quarter ended 31st march 2021 retail network was expanded through frachise
expansion.
• The company opened a total of 10 franchise stores in smaller towns and cities taking the total
228 franchise stores as on 31 st march 2021.
International Scenario-

• Incorporated as Bata Shoe Company Private Limited in 1931. Bata India is the largest retailer
and leading manufacturer of footwear in India and as well as in the Bata Shoe Organization.
• The company went public in 1973 when it named Bata India Limited.

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• Term of stitches and shoemakers creating footwear not only for friends and local residents, but
also for distance retail merchants.
• 1914: The Company had a significant development due to military orders.
• 1928: The Company’s thread factory in Zlim was expanded as demand for the inexpensive shoes
grew rapidly.
• 1931: Bata Shoe Organization setup factories in Germany, England, The Netherlands, Poland,
France, Austria, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Egypt, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg,
Hungary, Italy, Indonesia, Singapore and India.
• 1932: Tomas Bata died in a plane crash and control of the Company passed to his half-brother,
Jan and his son, Thomas John Bata.
• 1939: Due to Outbreak of World War II Thomas Jan Bata decided to move Bata Shoe
Organization to Canada and established the Bata Shoe Company of Canada.
• In 1970s, 80s and 90s, Bata continued to grow through its new, innovative strategies guided by
Bata’s founding principles which focused on customers, marketing and employees . Today Bata
has a retail presence in over 70 countries across five continents, with a million customers per
day. It employs more than 40,000 people in its 5,000 retail stores, manage 27 production
facilities. It is estimated that since the day it was founded over 120 years ago, Bata has sold more
than 14 billion pairs of shoes which more than the number of human feet that have walked the
earth. The acting headquarters of Bata Shoe Organization is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.
There are 3 main Business Units: Bata Europe, Based in Italy; Bata Emerging Market (Asia
Pacific, Africa and Latin America), based in Singapore, and Bata Protective (worldwide B2B
operations), based in Netherlands.

• The East Tilubury Bata factory features in the 2013 BBC 4 programme , Jonathan Meades: the
joy of Essex , presented by Jonathan Meades.
• French actress and supermodel Laetitia Casta is photographed by Mario Sorrenti for the
December addition of Lui Magazine ( France ) in 2014 wearing BATA tennis shoes.
• 2018: BATA began to reorganise the company, essentially running the business out of
Switzerland .
• 2021: BATA opened 45 franchise outlets during the quarter

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• 2021: Bata’s operational revenue for the third quarter totalled $ 6.15 billion , it announced in a
press release .

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 2. KHADIM’S:

Khadim’s is one of the leading footwear brands in India, with a two focus retail and distribution
of footwear, this is the second largest footwear retailer in India in terms of exclusive retail stores
operating under the ‘khadim’s’ band, with the largest presence in East India and one of the top
three player in South India, in Fiscal 2016. It also had the largest footwear retail franchisee
network in India in 2016.  Founded : Dec 3, 1981 in India
• Founder: S.P. Ray Burman (Satya Prasad)
• Head quarter: Kolkata
• Area served: India
• Key people : : Siddhartha Roy Burman (chairman) , Ishani Roy (CFO) ,Arup Ghosh
(CEO) , Subir Raksit (HII)
• No. of Brand: 829 (up to 31.3.17)
• Total store: 600
• Website: w.w.w.khadims.in

National Scenario-

Khadim’s is one of the leading footwear brands in India, with a two-pronged focus on retail and
distribution of footwear. It is second largest footwear retailer in India in terms of number of
exclusive retailer stores operating under the ‘Khadim’s’ brand, with the largest presence in East
India and one of the top three players in South India, in fiscal 2016. It also had the largest
footwear retail franchise network in India in fiscal 2016.

• 1981: Incorporated as a private limited company. This company acquired and took over the
business of M/s. S.N. Footwear Industries as a going with all its assets and liability.
• 1999: Commenced retail operations in South India through four owned retail outlets with two
in Chennai and one apiece in Bengaluru and Secunderabad.
• 2002: Commenced manufacturing operations for footwear and leather products at its
manufacturing facility at Kasba Industrial Estate, West Bengal.

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 • 2005: Accredited with ISO 9001:2000 certification with respect its manufacturing facility at
Kasba Industrial Estate, West Bengal Merger of five entities with the Company Pursuant to
order of the Calcutta High Court dated June 22, 2005.
• 2013: Accredited with ISO 9001:2008 certification with respect to its manufacturing facility
at Kasba industrial Estate, West Bengal.
• 2014: Commenced e-commerce retailing operations through this company’s also utilising
Online Market places.
• 2015: Expended retail business to include the ‘Shop-in-shop' retailing model.
• 2016: Accredited with ISO 9001:2015 certification with respect to its manufacturing facility
at Kasba. Industrial Estate, West Bengal.
• 2017: At the time of its initial public offer in 2017, the company had 853 retail stores and
ranked second on the list of footwear companies by number of store locations in India.
• 2019: Khadim’s established a wholly owned subsidiary in Bangladesh called Khadim Shoe
Bangladesh limited.
• 2023: Khadim India limited onboarded cricketer Shardul Thakur as brand ambassador.

International Scenario

Although khadim’s has not been seen operating in the international market over the year.It has
limited its’ operation and market to India only.

• 2019: On september 10,informed BSE that it has established a wholly owned subsidiary in
Bangladesh called Khadim Shoe Bangladesh limited.
• 2019: Khadim India stock up 15 per cent on opening of unit in Bangladesh.

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 3. AJANTA:

Ajanta is local brand mainly available in West Bengal. The journey began in 1956; this was
the year, when late Sri Rabindranath Banik Established a Hawaii manufacturing factory at
Madhaygram, a small, sleepy town in West Bengal. Since then, Ajanta has traversed a long
journey, harnessing traditional skill and workmanship with state of the art technology, to set
benchmarks in foot care solution.
 Founder: Rabindranath Banik
 Founded: 1956
 Area served: India
 Website: w.w.w.ajanta.com

National scenario
• Ajanta Shoes (India) Private Limited (ASIPL) is 11 years 9 months old Private Limited
Indian Non-Government Company incorporated on 18 Aug 2011.
• Its registered office is in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
• The Corporate was earlier known as Banik Rubber Industries (India) Private Limited, it is
engaged in the business of manufacturing and trading of footwear with outer soles and uppers
of rubber or plastics.
• Ajanta Shoes (India) offers a wide range of products and services in the category of Men,
Women & Kids Footwear, and more.

4. OTHERS:

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 Paragon -In the year 1975 with a production capacity of 1500 pairs a day, Paragon made its
humble entry into the Indian Market. Kerala, the southernmost tip of the country was home to the
young brand. In the year 1982, after gaining popularity in its home state of Kerala, Paragon
began its journey to the other Indian states. The company strongly believes that its greatest
strength is its staff and its distributors. The company’s distribution of footwear is networked
through 18 depots across India. Retail shopkeepers are serviced by more than 450 distributors,
delivering stocks to every corner of the country in the shortest possible time.

Sreeleathers - The history of the company dates more than half a century back. It started as a
humble organisation in Jamshedpur when freedom fighter Late Suresh Chandra Dey, enthused
with national fervour, wanted to give his countrymen the luxury of wearing comfortable shoes. It
was time when India was striving to fight the British rule in India. His aim was to fight back the
British autonomy and establish an Indian independence. He spent his bet years fighting for the
cause of Indian independence; He braved bullets and blood as part of Suryo Sen’s legendary
team that fought the British at Jalalabad as well as in the now historic Chittagong Armoury Raid.
Sreeleathers was born from such sacred blood. Suresh Chandra Dey was visionary. He brewed
up a unique way of serving his motherland. He felt the need for generation of capital growth and
employment within his country as the best way to serve the nation. Shoes were at the time not a
basic amenity that the middle and the lower-middle class could think of wearing. As a champion
of self- reliance, he saw and realized the need to provide the toiling millions of countrymen with
durable and quality footwear at the most affordable price. This passion gave birth to
Sreeleathers started making shoes in a tiny scantly-lit room that would last ages. During those
days, people did not buy shoes frequently.

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 Elite- The brand Elite had begun its journey in early 60’s in Assam as brainchild of entrepreneur
Sri Satya Ranjan Bhowmik. His idea of providing the masses durable and contemporarily
fashioned footwear at affordable price and his dedication soon paid off. Within few years, Elite
had built up a wild network in places, with distributers and agent in Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal
Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamilnadu and Karnataka and by the late
70’s this network extended to Kolkata as well. Today Elite is aprofessionally managed
organisation supporting numerous carriage units and employment indirectly to huge number of
people.

Titas- Titas-“Can’t Stop Walking” – A Brand which aspires to be a part of every moment of life.
This company is a renowned family footwear brand based out of Kolkata, the cultural capital of
the India. This Brand exist here for more than a decade and it is known for its quality, durability,
price and customer service. It produces “comport zones” for customer feet, to make them
forward. This brand is a family brand, offering footwear for kids mainly school shoes and shoes
for adults and seniors in vagaries of style and design following the latest trends. Titas footwear is
an amalgamation of comfort, style and quality at per International standard.

Woodland- Woodland’s parent company, Aero Group, has been a well-known name in the
outdoor shoe industry since the early 50s. Founded in Quebec, Canada, it entered the Indian
market in 199. Before that, Aero Group was majorly exporting its leather shoes in Russia. After
the division of Russia into various states which was previously known as the USSR, the group
decided to lunch some of its products in India.
Hence, the first hand-stitched leather shoe was launched, which took the entire shoe market by

storm. That shoe made the brand ‘Woodland’.

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 Adidas- Adidas Ag (German pronunciation: [Adidas]) (styled as Adidas since 1949) is a
multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, that designs
and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in
Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike. It is the holding company for the Adidas
Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company (including Ashworth), Runtastic, an
Austrian fitness technology company, and 8.33% of Bayern Munich, the football club.

Reebok- Reebok is a global athletic footwear and apparel company, operating as a subsidiary of
Adidas since 2005. Reebok produce and distributes fitness, running and Cross Fit sportswear
including clothing and footwear. It is the official footwear and apparel sponsor for Ultimate
Fighting Championship, Cross Fit Spartan Race, and Les Mills. In 1958, Reebok was established
as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, founded in 1895 in Bolton, Greater
Manchester, England. From 1958 until 1986, Reebok apparel featured a Union Jack flag.

Nike- Nike is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development,
manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories
and services. The company is headquartered near Beaverton Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan
area. It is world’s largest supplier manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess
US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022 (ending May 31, 2022). As of May 2022, it employed more
than 80,000 people worldwide. As of 2022 the brand alone was valued at $33 billion, making it
the most valuable brand among sports businesses.

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 Puma- Puma SE, branded as PUMA, is a European multinational company that designs and
manufactures athletic and casual footwear, apparel and accessories, headquartered in
Herzogenaurach, Bavaria.
PUMA is the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. The company was founded in
1948 by Rudolf Dassler. In 1924, Rudolf and his brother Adolf Dassler had jointly formed the
company Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory). The relationship
between two brothers deteriorated until the two agreed to split in 1948, forming two separate
entities, Adidas and PUMA. Both companies based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. As of 2022 it
showed a revenue in excess of US$ 8.4 billion. According to the figures of 2022 it has a a
employee network of more than 18,000. According to Forbes , the net worth of Puma is alleged
to be US$ 6 billion as of 2022.

Local Footwear-
Local footwear is mainly available in footpaths. This is not branded footwear. Local footwear is
sold by many footpath hockers. Some places where local footwear is available i.e. Hatibagan-
Shyambazar area, Chandni chowk market etc.

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 CHAPTER 3

PRESENTATION OF DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

3.1 Data analysis and Interpretation:
1. CONSUMERS’ ATTRACTION DEPENDED
ON FEATURES AS PER AGE

STYLE QUALITY OF PRICE DURABILITY

LEATHER
15-30 10 4 1 1
31-45 0 6 0 3
46-60 2 15 2 1
ABOVE 60 1 4 0 0

Above 60

46-60

31-45

15-30

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0
5 10 15 20
Low Price Rate Quality of leather Style
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 INTERPRETATION: Just Here the bar chart shows the features by which the consumers
25
get attraction, as per age, where we can see that most of the consumers of the age group 1530
prefer style and most of the consumers of the age group of 46-60 prefer quality of leather &
low price rate and the age group of 31-45 mostly prefer anything else except the above
features for choosing their footwear brand. That implies young generation wants stylish
footwear, where middle-aged persons judge quality of leather & low price rate, both in their
preference and old persons prefer just quality of leathers.

2. WHO MAKES INFLUENCE TO CHOOSE BRAND?

SELF FRIENDS RELATIVES OTHER

NO.OF 38 2 6 4
CONSUMERS

NO.OF CONSUMERS

SELF
8% FRIENDS

12% RELATIVES

4% OTHER

26
INTERPRETATION: The above pie chart shows who make influence to the consumers to
choose their preferred footwear brands, where we can see that large portion of the consumers are
self-influenced to choose their preferred footwear brands. That implies footwear is a self-chosen
product for consumption through a consumer’s view.
3. DOES ADVERTISEMENT PLAYS A ROLE IN CHOOSING THE FOOTWEAR BRAND
OF YOUR PREFERENCE?

YES NO

12 15
NO. OF MALE CONSUMERS

12 11
NO. OF FEMALE
CONSUMERS

16

14

12

NO. OF MALE CONSUMERS NO. OF FEMALE CONSUMERS

YES NO

INTERPRETATION: Here the pie chart shows the impact of advertisement on the consumers
for the preference of their footwear brands, where we can see that major portion of the
consumers are not affected by advertisement for choosing their footwear brands. So we can see

27
that advertisement doesn’t make impact too much to the consumers for choosing their footwear
brands.

4. RESULT OF SATISFACTION

VERY SATISFIED AVERAG

SATISFIED E

NO. OF 12 28 10
CONSUMERS

NO. OF CONSUMERS

20% 24%
VERY SATISFIED
SATISFIED

AVERAGE
56%

INTERPRETATION: The above column chart shows the overall satisfaction of the consumers
from the usage of their preferred footwear brands, where we can see that most of the consumers
are just ‘satisfied’ with their preferred brands. That implies preferred footwear brands’
satisfaction is highest comparing to the level of very much satisfaction.

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5. VIEW ON BRAND IMAGE

BATA KHADIM’S AJANTA OTHER

VERY GOOD 7 2 2 6

GOOD 8 12 5 5

AVERAGE 0 2 1 0

14

12

10

VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE

BATA KHADIM’S AJANTA OTHER

INTERPRETATION: The above column chart shows the overall satisfaction of the consumers
from the usage of their preferred footwear brands, where we can see that most of the consumers
are just ‘satisfied’ with their preferred brands. That implies preferred footwear brands’
satisfaction is highest comparing to the level of very much satisfaction.

6. SECOND BRAND PREFERENCE

BATA KHADIM’S AJANTA OTHER

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 MALE 8 11 3 5
CONSUMERS
FEMAL 10 8 1 4
E
CONSU
MERS

OTHER

AJANTA

KHADIM’S

BATA

10 15 20
MALE CONSUMERS FEMALE CONSUMERS

INTERPRETATION: The above column chart shows consumers’ second brand preference as
per gender, where we can see that major portion of male consumers prefer khadim’s and most of
the female consumers prefer Bata. If we go for gender inequality it is clearly seen that for
Khadim’s this discrimination is highest followed by Bata.

7. CUSTOMERS’ EXPECTATION FROM SECOND BRAND

BATA KHADIM’S AJANTA OTHER

LOW PRICE RATE 2 2 1 1

30
 DURABILITY 12 8 0 6

STORE AVAILABILITY 4 9 3 2

STORE AVAILABILITY

DURABILITY

LOW PRICE RATE

10 12

OTHER AJANTA KHADIM’S BATA

14

INTERPRETATION: The above column chart shows consumers’ expectations of different

category from their second preferred footwear brand, where we can see that large portion of the
consumers expect ‘durability’ of the footwear from Bata and also another large portion of the
consumers expect ‘store availability’ of the footwear from Khadim’s. If we go for the expected
qualities from second brand inequality it is clearly seen that for Bata this discrimination is
highest, followed by Khadim’s as well as other brands.

3.2 Findings of the study:

1. Most of the male respondents preferred Khadim’s and most of the female respondents preferred
Bata & Khadim’s equally.

2. Most of the peoples, who belong to the age group of above 60, preferred Khadim’s & the
peoples of the age group of 31-45 preferred mostly other footwear brands.

3. The first preference of the people of ‘No income’ group is Khadim’s and the second one is Bata
& other footwear brands equally.
31
4. The people of the income group of 5, 00,000& above, preferred Bata mostly.
5. Most of the people have paid Rs. 500-999 annually for the usage of their preferred brands and
very few people have paid Rs.1,500 & above for the usage of their preferred brands.

6. Most of the people’s footwear durability are 8 months and small part of the people’s footwear
durability are 4 months.

7. Most of the people preferred Bata for long-run journey purpose and preferred Ajanta for indoor
purpose as well as travelling purpose.

8. Best beneficial schemes provided to the consumers firstly by Khadim’s & secondly by Bata.
9. Best customer service provided to the consumers firstly by Bata and secondly by Khadim’s.
10. Customer service of the other brands is marginal than Ajanta.
11. A number of female consumers preferred style and most of the male as well as female
consumers preferred quality of leather, where very few of the male consumers preferred low
price rate in their preferred footwear brands.

12. Maximum number of the young generation preferred style, while most of the middle-aged
persons preferred quality of leather and very few of them was with low price rate, where the
senior citizens preferred quality of leather mostly.

13. Most of the peoples are self-Influenced in the choice of their preferred footwear brands.
14. Ineffectiveness of advertisement is not so much higher because many of the peoples also depend
on advertisement for choosing their preferred footwear Brands (i.e. 48%).

15. Large portion of consumers are not ‘very satisfied’; they are just ‘satisfied’ after using their
preferred footwear Brands.

16. Khadim’s, Bata and Ajanta got ‘good’ reviews from most of the consumers, while the other
brands got ‘very good’ reviews from consumers in terms of their BRAND IMAGE.

CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDATIONS

4.1 CONCLUSION:
32
From this project we have found out different implication about footwear preference. It is based on
survey report prepared by us. The survey area we have chosen north Kolkata. Mainly Bata,
Khadim’s, Ajanta and Other (i.e. Paragon, Sreeleathers, Elite, Titas, Woodland, Adidas, Reebok,
Nike, Puma and local footwear) Brands are being observed. After sample surveyed we have
analysed the data and find out that Bata and khadim’s are generally preferred by all consumers’.
Most of the peoples, who belong to the age group of above 60, preferred Khadim’s& the peoples
of the age group of 31-45 preferred mostly other footwear brands. The first preferenceof the
people of ‘No income’ group is Khadim’s and the second one is Bata & other footwear brands
equally. The people of the income group of 5, 00,000& above, preferred Bata mostly. Most of the
people have paid Rs. 500-999 annually for the usage of their preferred brands and very few
people have paid Rs.1,500 & above for the usage of their preferred brands.

Most of the people’s footwear durability is 8 months and small parts of the people’s footwear
durability are 4 months. Most of the people preferred Bata for long-run journey purpose and
preferred Ajanta for indoor purpose as well as travelling purpose. Best beneficial schemes
provided to the consumers firstly by Khadim’s& secondly by Bata. So Preference of consumers’
depends on beneficial scheme. Best customer service provided to the consumers firstly by Bata
and secondly by Khadim’s. Customer service of the other brands is marginal than Ajanta. Quality
of leather is the main factor of consumers’ preference for selecting their preferred brand.
Large portion of consumers’ are not influenced by their friends or family relatives for their
preferred footwear brand,because they are self – influenced. Most of the peoples are not depends
on advertisement for buying their preferred footwear brand. Large portion of consumers are not
‘very satisfied’; they are just ‘satisfied’ after using their preferred footwear Brands. Khadim’s,
Bata and Ajanta got ‘good’ reviews from most of the consumers, while the other brands got ‘very
good’ reviews from consumers in terms of their ‘Brand Image’. Khadim’s and Bata are the
second preferred footwear brands according to male and female consumers’ respectively. Most of
the consumers have expected ‘durability’ in the quality from their second preferred footwear
Brand.

33
4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Ajanta should improve their customer service.

• Ajanta should give more beneficial scheme to their customers.
• Every footwear brands should improve their quality of leather.

34
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Book & Journal:

 Anand & Alekya (2015), “A study on consumer behavior in the footwear industry”, Pezzottaite
Journals, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 1768; 1774.
 Girma (2016), “Exploring Consumers Footwear’s Brand Preference and Its Antecedents
between age groups and gender: In Case of dire Dawa administration”, International Journal of
Scientific and Research Publications, Vol. 6, pp. 740; 746-747
 Roy et al (2016), “Indian Footwear Industry: Consumer Behavior and Brand Preference towards
Bata”, International Journal of Management, IT & Engineering, Vol. 6, pp. 95.
 Roy (2020), “Footwear Cluster In Kolkata:A Case of Self-Exploitative Fragmentation”, Institute
for Studies in Industrial Development, No. 2009/02, pp. 1; 17-19.
 Rick Suttle, Consumer Behavior and Managerial decision making, (2021).

Web-site: www.bata.in
www.khadim’s.in
www.ajanta.com
www.paragonfootwear.com
www.sreeleathers.com
www.eliteshoe.com
www.titas.com
www.woodlandworldwide.com
www.adidas.co.in
www.reebok.com
www.nike.com
www.puma.com

QUESTIONNAIRE
Hello everyone, I am Kishore Kumar Jha , a final year student , pursuing B.com (hons.) from
35
The Bhawanipur Education Society College , Kolkata . I am conducting a research on the topic
‘CONSUMER PREFERENCE - A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DIFFERENT FOOTWEAR
BRANDS IN KOLKATA’.

It would be highly beneficial if you could spare some time and fill up this form.

1. GENDER :

• MALE
• FEMALE

2. AGE GROUP :

• 15-30
• 31-45
• 46-60
• ABOVE 60

3. ANNUAL INCOME :

• UPTO 250000
• 250000-500000
• 500000-1000000
• ABOVE 1000000

4. OCCUPATION :

• STUDENT
• SELF EMPLOYED
• BUSINESSMAN
• UNEMPLOYED

5. FOOTWEAR BRAND USUALLY USED :

• BATA  KHADIM’S
• AJANTA
• OTHERS

6. BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE PROVIDER :

36
 • BATA  KHADIM’S
• AJANTA
• OTHERS

7. CUSTOMER’S ATTRACTION DEPENDS ON WHICH FEATURES :

• STYLE
• QUALITY OF LEATHER
• PRICE
• DURABILITY

8. WHO INFLUENCES YOU TO CHOOSE THE PREFERRED FOOTWEAR BRAND

:

• SELF
• FAMILY
• FRIENDS
• OTHERS

9. DOES ADVENTISEMENT PLAYS A ROLE IN CHOOSING THE FOOTWEAR

BRAND OF YOUR PREFERENCE :

• YES
• NO

10. HOW SATISFIED ARE YOU WITH YOUR PREFERRED FOOTWEAR BRAND:

• VERY SATISFIED
• SATISFIED
• AVERAGE

11. WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON BRAND IMAGE :

• VERY GOOD
• GOOD
• AVERAGE

12. WHAT IS YOUR SECOND BRAND PREFERENCE :

• BATA  KHADIM’S
• AJANTA
37
 • OTHERS

13. WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATIONS FROM SECOND PREFERRED FOOTWEAR

BRAND:

• LOW PRICE RATE

• DURABILITY
• STORE AVAILABILITY

38