Consumer perception towards maruti suzuki project

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 6

5-1 Final Project Milestone Two: Draft of Research Design

Chellyn Jones

Southern New Hampshire University

Research Design and Methods

To maintain its current position within the Indian car market, it is essential that Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) comes up with a new and more effective strategy. According to the macroeconomic studies conducted by the company to develop future plans, one of the identified opportunities was in the Indian passenger car market mainly due to the increased income, GDP and more efficient credit facilities (Murherjee, 2015 pg.2). Thus, the macroeconomic indicators could open up the market for the hatchback model vehicles produced by the company. The main research objective was therefore to determine the main reasons for inclusion of the hatchback model as part of its portfolio. The research design approach for this research will be a mixture of both the correlational and descriptive designs which will be used to analyze quantitative data attained through surveys, case studies, and dealer poles. This provision will provide a better understanding of the hatchback model as an opening in the market, which in turn will facilitate the decision on the inclusion of the model as part of the MSIL’s portfolio.

Primary data for the research comes mainly from two sources that include MSIL’s data archives collected by the MSIL product team and also by the Boston Consulting group whereby the results are contained in the table below (Sekaran, 2015, p.7). Secondary data sources, on the other hand, involves using data provided within the case study, for example, Exhibit 1: Details about segmentation of the Indian Car market, Exhibit 6: demographic profiles of the existing market segments for A-segment consumers within India and Exhibit 10: Motivational factors for A-segment car consumers from Suzuki Maruti. The main reason behind the use of the exhibits is mainly because they provide an outlook of the main contributing factors towards consumer decision making for A-segment type of hatchback and the changes that need to be done to each type of hatchback model so as to increase consumer preference towards the model. The first exhibit mainly uses specific attributes commonly identified among a group of consumers in regards to developing a clear market segmentation based on those particular attributes. Exhibit 6 on the other hand provides the segmentation based on the consumers age, type of occupation, income, family size among other demographic reasons that influence the purchase behaviors of consumers. Subsequently, the motivation toward the purchase by consumers for example, as a first car, or for change purposes covered under exhibit 10 whereas Exhibit 13 focuses on what each type of hatchback model offers as a value addition for each particular market segment as well as the limitations and strategy for each product. Thus, data extracted from the exhibits coupled with the information from the case study will be used in providing an insight about the market as well as in the development of the market sales projection.

Table 1: MSIL’s qualitative descriptions of the A-segment target consumer:

Entry Level Hatch

Consumer

Mid-level Hatch

Consumer

Premium Level Hatch

Consumer

Mainly first time buyers

First time car owners and buyers seeking to add onto their car portfolio or upgrade to more expensive products.

Looking for an upgrade or additional car having previously owned a car for a minimum of 3 years.

Annual income ranging between 400,000 to 800,000 INR. Age ranges between 30-34 years. Has a family.

Annual income of between 450,000 to 850,000 INR. Average age of between 25-30 years. Not married or married but does not have children.

Annual income of between 500 to 1 million INR and aged a30-4 years. Has a family.

Vehicle serves basic travel needs. Price and fuel consumption conscious.

Vehicle mainly used for recreation and projection of identity and their social status.

Brand conscious with vehicle mainly used to portray, and build social status.

Has already been introduced and familiarized with MSIL vehicles ever since childhood.

Always identified MSIL as a very good, and acceptable brand based on consumer perception about the brand image.

Looked for international brands to emulate during the purchase of the vehicle.

Variables

A variable refers to any phenomenon, thing, person, or place that is being investigated within the research. The main variables being investigated in this study based on the various elements identified include the segment of the hatchback models, motivation behind consumer purchase, for example, age, competition, place of residence and socioeconomic status as well as whether the car is the first-owned car or they are adding or replacing cars they currently own. Data collected is shown represented in Exhibits: 1, 6, 10 and 13 of the case study.

Dependent and Independent Variables

The main dependent variables for the study would be A-segment hatch mainly because this variable is what is being investigated to answer MSIL’s question about inclusion of the model in their portfolio and whether the strategy will be effective in maintaining the competitive advantage within the Indian car market. The independent variables, on the other hand, will be the main factors that affect the volume of sales of each, and every type of vehicle found under the A-segment hatch. Specifically, these variables include loyalty to MSIL, consumers’ behavior, level of competition by other brands and income of the market segment.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical considerations in research refers to the norms and standards of conduct normally applied during research so as to make sure that the participants are protected from both physical, psychological, or emotional harm. The main ethical considerations for this particular research will be protection of any identifying information of the participants as well as verifying the source of information before applying it in research. Subsequently, any secondary source information will be credited within the research as a significant contribution. The information collection process is done objectively so as to eliminate any bias as a result of negligence.

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References

Mukherjee, J., Mathur, G., and Dhar, N. (2015). Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market

Leadership in the A-Segment. Ivy Publishing, retrieved September 22, 2018.

https://hbsp.harvard.edu/coursepacks/552654

Sekaran, U. and Bougie, Roger. (2016) Research Methods for Business: A Skill

Building Approach Seventh Edition. John Wiley & Sons.