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CONSUMER SATISFACTION, DISSATISFACTION AND POST-PURCHASE EVALUATION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON SMALL SIZE PASSENGER CARS IN INDIA

2010; UNIMAS Publisher; Volume: 11; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

1511-6670

Soumyajit Mahapatra, Jitender Kumar, Anand Chauhan, Chhotu Ram,

Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification

ABSTRACT The primary purpose of this study is to explore the performance of different attributes in automobiles in giving satisfaction to the consumers by comparing the same performance with the performance of the product attributes when it was brand new and how these attributes performance satisfaction affecting consumers' future purchase decision. Consumer satisfaction is a central concept in modern marketing thought and practice. The marketing concept emphasizes delivering satisfaction to consumers and obtaining profits in return. As a result, overall quality of life is expected to be enhanced. Thus, consumer satisfaction is crucial to meeting various needs of consumers, business, and society. Data collected from the respondents in Dehradun city who are actually using the car. Consumers' satisfaction for these attributes (maintenance cost, fuel efficiency, comfortness, brake safety, vibration, pollution/emission, engine sound, ignition, battery performance, horn, wiper performance, pickup and light) are measured by using seven point interval scale. The product attributes used to measure satisfaction have shown a little variation in their performance when the consumers' compare the same performance with the car when it was brand new. Out of total thirteen attributes consumers are highly satisfied with the performance of attributes like ignition, vibration, wiper performance and pickup. It indicates that performance of these attributes has not been changed with time. It has been observed that product performance significantly influencing the consumers' future purchase decision. The product attributes such as pollution, ignition, battery performance and pickup are highly influencing the consumers' future purchase decision. Keywords: Consumer, Customer, Dissatisfaction and Satisfaction 1. INTRODUCTION Since the first car rolled out on the streets of Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1898, the Automobile Industry of India has come a long way. During its early stages the auto industry was over looked by the then Government and the policies were also not favourable. The liberalization policy and various tax reliefs by the Government of India in recent years have made remarkable impacts on Indian Automobile Industry. India might be a rapidly growing economy, but it is the small car that is going to dominate the Indian roads, generate volumes and strengthen manufacturers' bottomlines in future. Considering few market realties; many more people are buying cars now than even few years ago and this number is growing exponentially. The automobile industry in India is the eleven largest in the world with an annual production of approximately 2 million units. India is expected to overtake China as the world's fastest growing car market in terms of the number of units sold and the automotive industry is one of the fastest growing manufacturing sectors in India. Because of its large market (India has a population of 1.1 billion; the second largest in the world), a low base of car ownership (7 per 1,000 people) and a surging economy, India has become a huge attraction for car manufacturers around the world. The automotive industry directly and indirectly employs 13 million individuals in India. The industry is valued at about US $ 35 billion contributing about 3.1% of India's GDP. Though automobiles were introduced to India in the late 1890's, the manufacturing industry only took off after independence in 1947. The protectionist economic policies of the government gave rise in the 1950's to the Hindustan Motors Ambassador, based on a 1950's Morris Oxford, and are still ubiquitous in the roads and highways of India. Hindustan Motors and a few smaller manufacturers such as Premier Automobiles, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Ashok and Standard Motors held an oligopoly until India's initial economic opening in the 1980's. The maverick Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi championed the need for a People's Car the project was realized after his death with the launch of a state-owned firm Maruti Udyog Suzuki which quickly gained over 50% market share. …