INTRODUCTION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Concept of Entrepreneur Historical perspective

ENTREPRENEUR - derived from French word Entreprendre which
means to undertake i.e. the person who undertakes the risk of new
enterprise.
Early 16th century those who undertook military operations i.e. leaders
of military expeditions were referred to as Entrepreneurs.
17th century extended to cover civil engineering activities such as
construction and fortification i.e. architects and contractors.
Early 18th century R.Cantillon, an Irishman living in France was the
first person to use the term Entrepreneur as a person who buys factor
services at certain prices in order to produce a product, with a view to
selling it at uncertain prices.
J.B.Say expanded Cantillons ideas and developed the concept of
entrepreneur a little further. According to Say, an entrepreneur is one
who combines the land of one, labor of another and the capital of yet
another and thus produces a product. By selling the product in the market,
he pays interest on capital, rent on land, wages to laborers and what
remains is his profit. This concept of an entrepreneur survived for almost
two centuries.
Joseph A.Schumpeter, in 1934, assigned a crucial role of innovation to
the Entrepreneur in his magnum opus, Theory of Economic
1

Development. According to Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is one who

innovates, raises money, assembles inputs, chooses managers and sets the
organization going with his ability to identify them.
ENTREPRENEUR -- DEFINITIONS
The true Entrepreneur is one who is endowed with more than average
capacities in the risk of organizing and coordinating the various other
factors of production
Francis A.Walker
An Entrepreneur is one who always searches for change, responds to it
and exploits it as an opportunity. Innovation is the central tool of
entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity
for different business or service.
Peter F.Drucker
ROLE OF ENTREPRENEUR IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP promotes capital formation by mobilizing the
idle saving of the public
2. It provides employment opportunities
3. It promotes balanced regional development
4. It helps reduce concentration of economic power
5. It leads to equitable redistribution of wealth and income
6. It encourages effective resource mobilization of capital and skill which
might otherwise remain unutilized
7. It promotes countrys export trade, an important ingredient of
economic development

QUALITIES OF AN ENTREPRENEUR
1. Opportunity Explorer: An entrepreneur looks for an opportunity and
takes appropriate actions when he identifies the opportunity. Successful,
growth-minded entrepreneurs have a focus on opportunity. They start
with the opportunity and let their understanding of it guide other
important issues. They seize unusual opportunities to start a new
business, obtain financing, land, work space or assistance.
Sources of business opportunities arise just from an entrepreneur being
alert

to

possibilities.

Consumers,

business

associates

retailers,

wholesalers, manufacturers representatives are potential sources of

business ideas. Technically oriented individuals also identify business
opportunities when working on other projects.
2. Calculated Risk Taker: Any venture is subject to some risk and the
entrepreneur needs to be an intelligent risk taker. A risk situation occurs
when the potential outcome of an action is not known. An entrepreneur
will face situations where he has to make a choice between two or more
alternatives, each with its own risk elements. The ability to judge risks,
evaluate them, take risk mitigation measures as well as being ready for
course correction when the risk actually occurs are qualities which he
should possess. A higher degree of risk taken has the potential of yielding
higher returns or of resulting in higher losses.
Good entrepreneurs are not afraid of taking risks, whereas a person
without an entrepreneurial bent of mind will not take risks in order to
avoid failure. But taking moderate risks is almost always necessary for
achieving success in an entrepreneurial venture. A good entrepreneur also
realizes that a risk cannot be taken when the outcome of an action is
3

entirely based on chance and not on effort. Taking a risk which can be
averted or minimized by taking actions in a planned manner and effort is
a challenge which a good entrepreneur enjoys.
3. Perseverance: This means the ability to work hard without getting
demotivated by intermediate setbacks, having patience to wait for the
result without being impulsive or hasty in giving up or not giving
adequate attention to his venture. Persistency is required in solving
problems or obstacles that are impeding business operation. Although
entrepreneurs are extremely persistent, they are realistic in recognizing
what they can and cannot do and where they can get help in solving
difficult but unavoidable tasks.
4.

Communication

ability:

Communication

encompasses

both

communicator and communicate i.e. sender and receiver. In effective

communication, the communicator and the receiver understand each other
and are being understood. An entrepreneur communicates effectively with
customers, employees, suppliers, bankers and creditors.
5. Flexibility: Entrepreneurs are flexible in adapting to changes when it
does not help to adopt conventional and routine ways of doing things.
6. Innovator: Entrepreneurs are innovative in that they endeavor to
develop new products, processes or markets. If there is already a product
in the market, an entrepreneur succeeds in creating a differentiation in the
product to capture a market share.
7. Motivator: Success of an entrepreneurial venture also depends on the
activities carried out by the people deployed by the entrepreneur in his
4

business venture. The entrepreneur therefore needs to keep them

motivated to give their best. The term motivation is derived from the
word motive which means a need or an emotion that prompts an
individual into action. As a motivator, the entrepreneur needs to keep the
motivation level of his employees high. As a motivator, the entrepreneur
understands that apart from financial incentives like wages, non-financial
incentives like recognition of good work done, better working conditions,
job security etc. play a role in motivating the workers.
8. Self confidence: A person has self confidence when his belief in his
own ability is high and seldom wavers. Even during down periods, such
an individual maintains his confidence and lets people around him know
it. This helps the others sustain their own self confidence and optimism
necessary for efficient group effort. A successful entrepreneur has high
self confidence.
9. Stress Taker: A person who succumbs to stress has a low tolerance
for failure. But entrepreneurs use failure as a learning experience.
Setbacks and disappointments are an integral part of the learning
experience, and most effective entrepreneurs are realistic enough to
expect such difficulties. Many of them believe that they learn more from
their early failures than from their early successes. Some of the methods
they can adopt for coping with stress are networking with other business
owners for sharing experiences, taking short holidays as an antidote to
immersion in business, good communication with employees, gain new
perspectives on life apart from the adopted business, delegate chosen
tasks to others to gain time, physical and exercises like walking,
meditation etc.

10. Optimistic: Entrepreneurs approach the opportunity that they have

chosen with a hope of success and an optimistic attitude. The optimistic
attitude reflects the confidence to achieve success rather than the fear of
failure. Optimism leads to positive thinking which can turn an adverse
situation into a favorable situation. Even when failure occurs, an optimist
persists with a positive outlook.
11. Using Feedback: Effective entrepreneurs also have a strong desire to
know how well they are doing, and how they might improve their
performance. In making such a determination, they actively seek out and
use feedback. Feedback is also central to their learning from their
mistakes and setbacks.
12. Independence: The desire for independence is a driving force behind
contemporary entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur usually tries to accomplish
tasks in his or her own way instead of in a bureaucratic way, This is not to
say that entrepreneurs must make all the decisions; however, they do not
want the authority to make the important ones. This implies that they do
not get controlled by others.
13. Planner: Planning is a managerial function and is an essential quality
for an entrepreneur. It implies determining the course of action to be
followed i.e. deciding what to do, when to do, how to do and who will do
a particular task. It is a process of looking ahead and is required to be
done prior to other managerial functions like organizing, staffing,
directing, coordinating and controlling.

14. Achievement Oriented: Entrepreneurs are self starters who appear

to others to be internally driven by a strong desire to compete, to excel
against self-imposed standards, and to pursue and attain challenging
goals. They try to accomplish challenging tasks. In doing so, they are
aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, the facilitating factors and
constraints in the environment and the resources needed to accomplish
their tasks.
15. Human relation ability: Maintaining good relations with customers,
employees, suppliers, and creditors is an essential quality for
entrepreneurial success.
FUNCTIONS OF ENTREPRENEUR
Entrepreneur performs various primary functions from the stage of
starting an enterprise to its success level.
PLANNING

- Planning process involves the following steps:

a) Scanning of the best suitable idea

b) Selection of product line
c) Determination of type of business organization (Individual or
Partnership or Corporate)
d) Estimation of capital needed
e) Selection of capital resources
f) Selection of raw materials
g) Studying the govt. rules, regulations and policies
h) Study of availability of labor force
i) Study of market and market strategy to be adopted

ORGANIZATION - An entrepreneur assembles, coordinates and

supervises land, labour and capital during the promotion stage and at the
performance stage for optimum utilization of resources. Efficient
expansion and growth depends on organizational network employed and
monitored by the entrepreneurs.
DECISION MAKING a) Determination of the business objectives of the enterprise
b) Decision regarding procurement of machine, material, labour and
money
c) Decision regarding development of a market for the product
d) Maintenance of good relations with public authorities and with
society at large
MANAGEMENT refers to the working of the venture and also
managing day to day problems. It includes future expansion, direction of
men, material, money etc.
INNOVATION
a) Launching a new product
b) Introduction of new technology
c) Creation of new market
d) Discovery of new and better source of raw materials
e) Creation of monopoly or breaking up of monopoly
RISK BEARING An entrepreneur undertakes the responsibility for
loss that may arise due to unforeseen contingencies in future.

UNCERTAINTY BEARING refers to uncertain trends in the market

Other functions include diversification, expansion, maintaining cordial
relations, tackling labour problems etc.
CLASSIFICATION OF ENTREPRENEURS
Entrepreneurs can be classified according to
Types of business
Business entrepreneurs are those individuals who opt for a new product
or service and then translate the same into business reality; tap both
production and marketing resources to develop a new business
opportunity; set up a big establishment or small unit e.g. printing press,
textile processing house, advertising agency, readymade garments,
confectionary etc. In majority of cases, entrepreneurs are found in small
trading and manufacturing business. Entrepreneurship flourishes when
the size of business is small.
Industrial entrepreneurs are essentially a manufacturer who identifies
potential needs of customers and products or service to meet the
marketing needs. He should have the ability to convert economic
resources and technology into a profitable venture.
Corporate entrepreneur is an individual who demonstrates his
innovative skill in organizing and managing a corporate undertaking. He
plans, develops and manages a corporate body.
Agricultural entrepreneurs are the ones who undertake agricultural
activities such as raising and marketing of crops, fertilizers and other
inputs of agriculture. They are motivated to improve agriculture through
mechanization, irrigation and application of technologies for dry land
agricultural products.

 Use of professional skill.

Technical entrepreneur is one who is essentially a craftsman. He
develops improved quality of goods because of his craftsmanship. He
concentrates more on production than on marketing. He demonstrates his
innovative capabilities in the matter of production of goods and rendering
of services.
Non-technical entrepreneurs are those who are not concerned with the
technical aspects of the product in which they deal. They are concerned
mainly with alternative marketing and distribution strategies to promote
their business.
Professional entrepreneur is interested in establishing a business but
does not have interest in managing or operating it once it is established.
He sells out the running business and starts another venture with the sales
proceeds.
Motivation.
Pure entrepreneur is an individual who is motivated by psychological
and economic rewards. He undertakes entrepreneurial activity for his
personal satisfaction in work, ego and status.
Induced entrepreneur is one who is induced to take up an
entrepreneurial task due to policy measures of the government that
provides assistance, incentives, and concessions and other facilities to
start a venture, enter business due to financial, technical and other
facilities provided to them by the state agencies to promote
entrepreneurship.
Motivated entrepreneurs come into being entrepreneurs because of the
challenge involved in developing and marketing a new product for the
satisfaction of consumers. If the product succeeds, the entrepreneur is
further motivated for launching of newer products.
10

 Growth entrepreneurs are those who take up a high growth industry

which has substantial growth prospects. Super growth entrepreneurs are
those who show enormous growth or performance in their venture.
Stages of development
First generation entrepreneur is the one who starts an industrial unit
by his innovative skill. He is the one who combines different technologies
to produce a marketable product or services.
Second generation entrepreneur is the one who takes over the business
from his preceding family member.
Modern entrepreneur is one who undertakes a venture which goes well
with the changing demand in the market. He undertakes a venture which
suits the current market needs.
Classic entrepreneur is one who is concerned with maximizing the
economic returns at consistent level. He is concerned more about the
survival of the firm with or without an element of growth.
Attitude
According to attitude, entrepreneurs can be classified into innovative and
imitative categories.
Innovating entrepreneurs are generally aggressive in collecting
information, analyzing and experimenting attractive possibilities. They
are quick to convert old established products or services by changing
their utility, value, economic characteristics into something new,
attractive and utilitarian. They can see the opportunity for introducing a
new technique of production process or a new commodity or a new
service or even the reorganization of an existing enterprise. They are very
commonly found in developed countries, while there is dearth of such

11

entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries. They are always creative and

bring in innovation in their work.
Imitative entrepreneurs are ready to adopt and are more flexible in
imitating techniques developed by others. They exploit opportunities as
they come and are mostly on a small scale. He is more of an organizer of
factors of production than a creator. In the context of a poor country, he is
definitely a change agent and hence he is important in underdeveloped
countries.
Fabian entrepreneurs are very cautious and skeptical while practicing
any change. They do not take risks and just follow predecessors. Their
entrepreneurial decision is determined by custom, religion, tradition and
past practices.

They imitate only in situations when it becomes

absolutely necessary.
Drone entrepreneurs are those who never allow any change in their
production and style of functioning. They never explore anything. They
are laggards and get pushed out of the market when product loses its
marketability.
Situation based entrepreneur
Need based entrepreneur is a person who starts his venture with the
thought process of surviving i.e. to earn a living e.g. street vendors.
Opportunity based entrepreneur is a person who starts his venture
with the thought process of expansion or one with the zeal to create a
niche for himself.
Gender based entrepreneur. Government of India has classified women
entrepreneurs by defining them as part of an enterprise owned and
controlled by women or a woman having a minimum financial interest of
51% of the capital in the enterprise.
12

 Social entrepreneur. The Ashoka International Organization defines

social entrepreneurs as individuals with innovative solutions to societys
most pressing social problems. Bill Drayton, CEO and founder of Ashoka
says Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give fish, or teach how
to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing
industry. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or
business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve
the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution and
persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Social entrepreneurs
identify resources where people only see problems. They view the
villagers as the solution, not the passive beneficiary. They recognize
when a part of society is stuck and provide new ways to get it unstuck.
Unless traditional business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs primarily
seek to generate social value rather than profits. Examples are
Dr.Verghese Kurian, who set up the Anand model of cooperative
development and made India the largest milk producer in the world. His
model was adopted by the Govt. of India in setting up the NDDB
(National Dairy Development Board which replicated the model on a
nationwide basis. Vinobha Bhave conceived the idea of the land-gift
movement, which came to be known as Bhoodan. He made inspiring
appeals in several villages to prosperous people to donate land, and by
1954, he and his co-workers had collected 2.5 million acres, far
exceeding any land reform achieved by the government for land to be
given to poor farmers. The Jaipur foot is another famous Indian invention
which has given life to thousands of amputees and is the best prosthetic
feet for conditions in developing countries.
Serial Entrepreneur. A serial entrepreneur is one who continuously
comes up with new ideas and invests in new businesses. While some
13

believe that a more vibrant and mature venture capital eco-system in

India is contributing to the trend, others say interesting business models
that have developed over time has made the difference. Internet is one
such area that has seen a spurt in activity from entrepreneurs to repeat
their success. Serial entrepreneurs are repeat business starters who in the
past have sold or closed down a business which they at least partly ran
and owned and who currently run another, possibly new business which
they at least partly own. Estimates of the scale of serial entrepreneurship
are relatively scant. In India, a well known example of Capt. Gopinath
can be cited, who started and ran the low cost airline Air Deccan, then
sold his business to Kingfisher and later started Deccan 360,which is a
logistics company aimed at commenting 17 airports and 24 cities in India.
The Information Technology area in the U.S cites a number of serial
entrepreneurs.
TOYOTA INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND
Vehicles were originally sold under the name "Toyota", from the family
name of the company's founder, Kiichir Toyoda. In September 1936, the
company ran a public competition to design a new logo. Out of 27,000
entries the winning entry was the three Japanese katakana letters for
"Toyoda" in a circle. But Risabur Toyoda, who had married into the
family and was not born with that name, preferred "Toyota" because it
took eight brush strokes (a fortuitous number) to write in Japanese, was
visually simpler (leaving off the diacritic at the end) and with a voiceless
consonant instead of a voiced one (voiced consonants are considered to
have a "murky" or "muddy" sound compared to voiceless consonants,
which are "clear"). Since "Toyoda" literally means "fertile rice paddies",
changing the name also prevented the company being associated with

14

old-fashioned farming. The newly formed word was trademarked and the
company was registered in August 1937 as the "Toyota Motor Company".
From September 1947, Toyota's small-sized vehicles were sold under the
name "Toyopet". The first vehicle sold under this name was the Toyopet
SA but it also included vehicles such as the Toyopet SB light truck,
Toyopet Stout light truck, Toyopet Crown and the Toyopet Corona.
However, when Toyota eventually entered the American market in 1957
with the Crown, the name was not well received due to connotations of
toys and pets. The name was soon dropped for the American market but
continued in other markets until the mid 1960s.
The Toyota Motor Company received its first Japanese Quality Control
Award at the start of the 1980s and began participating in a wide variety
of motorsports. Due to the 1973 oil crisis, consumers in the lucrative US
market began turning to small cars with better fuel economy. American
car manufacturers had considered small economy cars to be an "entry
level" product, and their small vehicles employed a low level of quality in
order to keep the price low.
In the 1990s, Toyota began to branch out from producing mostly compact
cars by adding many larger and more luxurious vehicles to its lineup,
including a full-sized pickup, the T100 (and later the Tundra); several
lines of SUVs; a sport version of the Camry, known as the Camry Solara;
and the Scion brand, a group of several affordable, yet sporty,
automobiles targeted specifically to young adults. Toyota also began
production of the world's best-selling hybrid car, the Prius, in 1997.
In 2001, Toyota's Toyo Trust and Banking merged with two other banks
to form UFJ Bank, which was accused of corruption by the Japan's
government for making bad loans to alleged Yakuza crime syndicates
with executives accused of blocking Financial Service Agency
inspections. The UFJ was listed among Fortune Magazine's largest
15

money-losing corporations in the world, with Toyota's chairman serving

as a director. At the time, the UFJ was one of the largest shareholders of
Toyota. As a result of Japan's banking crisis, UFJ merged with the Bank
of Tokyo-Mitsubishi to become the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
In 2002, Toyota managed to enter a Formula One works team and
establish joint ventures with French motoring companies Citron and
Peugeot a year after Toyota started producing cars in France.
Toyota ranked eighth on Forbes 2000 list of the world's leading
companies for the year 2005. The company was number one in global
automobile sales for the first quarter of 2008.
INTRODUCTION
MARKET
The term market is derived from the Latin word Marcatus which means
trade, merchandise or plan of business. It means interaction of the buyers
and sellers in person or through telephone, telegraph, mail etc. It is an
arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to exchange things. Markets
vary in size, range, geographic scale, location, types and variety of human
communities, as well as the types of goods and services traded.
MARKETING
Marketing is a comprehensive term. It is not a mere exchange of goods
and services. It includes all those activities connected with the process of
identifying the needs of the customer and then organizing the business
accordingly to meet the needs of the consumer.

16

DEFINITION OF MARKETING
Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and
group obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and
exchanging products of value with others.
Philip Kotler.
Marketing is the total system of interacting business activities designed
to plan, price, promote, and distribute wants satisfying products and
service, to present and potential customers.
Professor William Stanton.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
The study of consumer behavior helps organizations deliver the right
products at the right prices in order to achieve customer satisfaction.
One official definition of consumer behavior is The study of individuals
groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use,
dispose of products, services experiences or idea to satisfy needs and the
impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. This
definition brings up some useful points.
Behavior occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a group
(e.g., friends influence what kinds of clothes person wears) or an
organization (people on the job make decisions as to which products
the firm should use).
Consumer behavior involves the use and disposal of products as well
as the study of how they are purchased. Product use is often of great
interest to the marketer, because this may influence how a product is
best positioned or how we can encourage increased consumption.
Since many environmental problems result from product disposal
17

(e.g., motor oil being sent to sewage systems to save the recycling fee,
or garbage piling up at landfill) this is also an area of interest.
Customer behavior involves services and ideas as well as tangible
products.
The impact of consumer behavior on society is also of relevance. For
example, aggressive marketing of high fat foods or aggressive
marketing of easy credit may be serious repercussions for the national
health and economy.
There are several units in the market that can be analyzed. The main trust
in this course is the consumer. However we will also need to analyze our
own firms strengths and weaknesses and those of competing firms.
Finally, we need to assess the marketing environment although we may
have developed a product that offers great appeal for consumers a
recession may cut demand dramatically.
FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

CULTURE
Culture is part of the external influence that impacts the consumer.
Culture represents influence that is imposed on the consumer by other
individuals.
Culture refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief,
art morals, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man
or person as a member of society.

18

Culture has several important characteristics

Culture is comprehensive.
Culture is learned rather than being something we are born with.
Culture is manifested within boundaries of acceptable behavior.
Language is an important element of culture. It should be realized that
regional differences may be subtle. Sub culture refers to a culture within a
culture, Sub culture is often categorized on the basis of demographics.
2. DEMOGRAPHICS
Demographics are clearly tied to sub culture and segmentation. Here,
however we shift our focus from analyzing specific sub culture to trying
to understand the implication from entire populations.
3. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Social class is a somewhat nebulous subject that involves stratifying
people into groups with various amounts of prestige, power, and
privilege. In certain other cultures however, stratification is more clearcut. Although the caste system in India is now illegal, it still maintains a
tremendous influence on that society.
4. FAMILY LIFE CYCLE
Individuals and families tend to go through a Life Cycle. The life cycle
goes

from

child/teenageryoung

nestempty nest widow (err).

singleyoung

couplefull

For purpose of this discussion, a

couple may either be married or merely involve living together. As a

person gets older, he or she tends to advance in his or her career and tends
to get greater income.

19

5. FAMILY DECISION MAKING

Individual members of families often serve different roles in decision that
ultimately draw on share family resources. Some individuals are
information on gatherers/holders who seek out information about
products of relevance. The decision maker(s) have the power to
determine issues such as:
whether to buy
Which product to buy
Which brand to buy
Where to buy it, and
When to buy
It should be noted that family decisions are often subject to a great deal of
conflict. Some family members may resort to various strategies to get
their way.
6. GROUP INFLUENCES
A useful framework of analysis of group influence on the individual is the
so called reference group. The term comes about because an individual
uses a relevant group as a standard of reference against which one self is
compare. Reference groups come in several different forms.
The inspirational reference group refers to those others against whom one
would like to compare one self. For example co-workers, neighbors or
members of churches, clubs and organizations.

20

7. DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION
The diffusion of Innovation refers to the tendency of new products,
practices or ideas to spread among people. Cumulative adoptions are
reflected by S-shaped curve. The saturation point is to the maximum
proportion of consumer likely to adopt a product. Lower priced products
often spread more quickly and the extent to which the product is trial
enabled influence the speed of diffusion.
8. SELF-CONCEPT
The consumer faces several possible selves. The actual self reflects how
the individual actually is, although the consumer may not be aware of that
in reality. In contrast ideal-self reflects a self that a person would like to
have but does not in fact have. Individuals will often seek to augment and
enhance their self-concepts and it may be possible to market products that
help them in the achievement of this goal.
9. LIFESTYLE
Self-concept often translates into a persons life style, on the way that he
or she lives his or her life. Attempts have been made to classify consumer
into various segments based on their life style.
10. SITUATION INFLUENCES
Specific circumstances often influence consumer behavior consumer
whose attention is demanded elsewhere are likely to disregard
commercial messages.

21

11. CONSUMER DECISION MAKING

Consumer decision making comes about as an attempt do solve consumer
problems. A problem refers to a discrepancy between a desired state and
an ideal state which is sufficient to arouse and activate a decision process.
12. CONSUMER PROBLEMS RECOGNITION
Consumer often note problems by comparing their current or actual
situation explicitly, or implicitly, to some desired situation creating
problems for consumer is a way to increase sales. There are two main
approaches to search. Internal searches are based on what consumers
already know. Thus it may be important for certain firms to advertise to
consumers before they actually need the product. External searches get
the people to either speak to others or use other sources.
WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?
The word is derived from "custom," meaning "habit"; a customer was
someone who frequented a particular shop, who made it a habit to
purchase goods of the sort the shop sold there rather than elsewhere, and
with whom the shopkeeper had to maintain a relationship to keep his or
her "custom," meaning expected purchases in the future. Every person
who enters the business is a potential customer. Even though they may
not purchase something today, they may purchase something tomorrow
they are individuals in their own right.

A customer is the most important person in our business.

A customer is a person who comes to us with needs and wants and

it is our job to handle them in a manner that is profitable to him/her and
ourselves.

22

A customer is not a cold statistic; he/she is a human being with

feelings and deserves to be treated with respect.

A customer is not an interruption to our work - he is the purpose of

it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him; he is doing us a favour
by giving us the opportunity to do so.

A customer deserves the most courteous attention we can give.

Customers are not dependent on us, we are dependent on them! A
Customer is anyone who receives the work you do!
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
COMPARISON OF EXPECTATIONS VERSUS PERCEPTION OF
EXPERIENCE.
"Satisfaction" itself can refer to a number of different facts of the
relationship with a customer. For example, it can refer to any or all of the
following:
Satisfaction with the quality of a particular product or service
Satisfaction with an ongoing business relationship
Satisfaction with the price-performance ratio of a product or
service
Satisfaction because a product/service met or exceeded the
customer's expectations
Customer satisfaction, in a business term is a measure of how products
and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer
expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business.
Customer satisfaction is tied directly to profitability. If customers are
happy, they tend to be loyal. And if theyre loyal they not only buy more,
they refer other customers.

23

Customer satisfaction with a purchase depends on how well the product

performance corresponds with the customers expectations. Customer
satisfaction is a key factor of future buying behavior. A company must be
careful to set the right level of expectations. If they set expectations too
low, they may fail to attract enough buyers. If they raise expectations too
high, buyers will be disappointed. Customer satisfaction is one of the key
blocks for building customer relationships.
Winning customers' hearts and minds is increasingly important to
customer acquisition and customer retention.As competitive advantage
and differentiation is achieved through product innovation and service
performance it is vital to monitor and manage customer satisfaction
levels.
Customer satisfaction is not just about service levels or product attributes.
It can be seen as a function of two main components:
perceptions of product and service levels received
expectation of product and service levels
IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:
To maximize profits and productivity, a business must recognize five
facts:
1. Many senior managers only know about the tip of the iceberg, a
small fraction of all the problems that customers encounter.
2. Services offered to customers can be a major marketing tool-converting problem situations into incremental revenue.

24

3. Customer problems can cost any business not only an immediate

lost sale, but also future purchases by that customer and by other
customers as a result of negative word-of-mouth behavior.
4. A business can and must quantify the expected payback from
service and/or quality improvements that is brought through
customer satisfaction.
5. The market transaction (sale) often is not the key point of customer
pain and lost revenue. Often, both the product offering (product
itself, how it is offered, and fulfillment) and customer expectations
are major contributors to problems, even though the problem
surfaces in the customer service area.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RESEARCH DELIVERS KEY
BENEFITS:
Understanding the underlying drivers of satisfaction
Identification of trigger points where satisfaction management is most
needed
Prioritization of action areas (minimum input for maximum return)
Identification of customer-supplier interactions, internal processes and
departments most likely to cause satisfaction/dissatisfaction.
Impact on loyalty and propensity to recommend; a vital bottom line
measurement
Continuous improvement of all acquisition, production, and delivery
processes.
Company/customer participation
MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

25

There are several ways to gather input from customers. The simplest way
to find out how customers feel and what they want is to ask them. If we
have only 20 customers, we can talk to each one personally. The
advantage of this approach is that we'll get a personal "feel" for each
customer. The disadvantage is that we will gather different information
from each customer depending on how the conversation goes. Customer
surveys with standardized survey questions insure that we will collect the
same information from everyone. Few of the customers will be interested
in "filling out a questionnaire". It's work for them without much reward.
By launching a customer survey as an attempt to find out "how we can
serve you better" -- your customers will feel less put upon.
Here are a few of the possible dimensions we could measure:
Quality of service
Speed of service
Pricing
Complaints or problems
Trust in the employees of the business
The closeness of the relationship with contacts in the firm
Types of other services needed
The positioning of the business in clients' minds

26

RESEARCH DESIGN
TITLE OF THE STUDY:
The title of the project is A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
TOWARDS TOYOTA CARS AT NANDI TOYOTA
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:
Find out views and perceptions towards various brands of cars available
in the automobile industry, what is that particular aspect that drives the
customer to end his purchase decision in TOYOTA motors and also what
expectations the customer carries with him when he enters a showroom to
make a purchase, whether its is related to price, benefits provided, brand
consciousness, features of cars etc.
SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH:
1. Finding out the strength and weakness of attributed of the Toyota cars,
where it can correct its faculty facts.
2. Finding the number of future purchases.
3. Finding the market potential and awareness of the cars.
4. Finding the position of the vehicle among the competitors.
5. Finding the perception of consumers about the vehicle
OBJECTIVES:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Brand preference of one over the other,

Perception of the customer and how and why it changes,
What induces the final purchase decision,
To understand the market potential for Toyota cars,
Understanding the underlying drivers of satisfaction
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

27

 METHODOLOGY OF STUDY
Sources of data
PRIMARY DATA
SECONDARY DATA
PRIMARY DATA
Primary data was collected through a questionnaire which was
administered to the customers.
SECONDARY DATA
It includes both external and internal data. Internal data were company
manuals, annual reports, brochures etc. External data are current
information regarding the company subject is obtained from online
sources, magazines etc.
SAMPLING DESIGN
Sampling Methods
Convenient sampling was adopted to select the samples.
Sample size
The sample size for the project is 100 respondents
FIELD WORK
For the collection of the data a structured questionnaire was used. The
questionnaire was designed to gain insights from the respondents.

28

PLAN OF ANALYSIS
The data collected from questionnaires were processed tabulated and
analyzed. To avoid wrong inference certain factors like incomplete and
dishonest answers were eliminated.
TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS
For the purpose of knowing the level of customer satisfaction the data
collected is analyzed using various statistical tools like: The survey is
classified application which is a device summarizing data and presenting
them in tables. This is used for showing relevant sect oral classification.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
All the studies to be made have their own parameters and it is difficult to
make a study on assumption despite all possible efforts to make this
analysis comprehensive, scientific and accurate. Thus there is bound to be
some limitations.
Due to time constraints and shortage of other resources such as
money, only hundred respondents were selected
The sample size was chosen keeping in view the type of product.
As the scope of the study was limited to Bangalore city limits the
area factor also emerges as one of the limitation.
The accuracy of the report depends upon how honestly or sincerely
the respondents have answered.

CHAPTER SCHEME

29

Chapter I: General introduction deals with the industrial background,

Theoretical literature and current issues.
Chapter II: Introduction to the problem which includes statement of
problem, Importance of the study, Objectives, Scope of the study.
Chapter III: It deals with Research methodology which include
Research Design, Research methods, Plan of Analysis, Limitations of the
study, Sampling, chapter scheme, Field work.
Chapter IV: It deals with the industry and company profile.
Chapter V: It deals with the analysis and interpretation.
Chapter VI: It deals with the Findings.
Chapter VII: It deals with Recommendations and conclusions.
Annexure
Bibliography

30

COMPANY PROFILE

Toyota - The History

The Toyota Group is one of the largest and most respected corporations in
the world. From a local spinning and weaving company, Toyota gradually
developed into a world player comprised of 13 business units.
In 1918, founding father Sakichi Toyoda formed the Toyoda Spinning and
Weaving Company.
His automatic power loom revolutionized the Japanese textile industry. A
few years later, his son Kiichiro Toyoda invested in the automotive sector
and founded the Toyota Motor Corporation. Many other major technical
and business achievements followed over the succeeding decades forming
the Group now encompassing 13 business areas. Renowned names
include Denso, Toyota Tsusho, and Aichi Steel.
The Group employs over 500,000 people worldwide. Every individual
contributes to safeguard the enormous legacy of experience and character
that make up the diverse

31

After the Second World War, Japan experienced extreme economic

difficulty. Commercial passenger car production started in 1947 with the
model SA. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy by the end of
1949. The company eventually obtained a loan from a consortium of
banks which stipulated an independent sales operation and elimination of
"excess manpower".
In June 1950, the company produced only 300 trucks and was on the
verge of going out of business. The management announced layoffs and
wage reductions, and in response the union went on a strike that lasted
two months. The strike was resolved by an agreement that included
layoffs and pay reductions but also the resignation of the president at the
time, Kiichiro Toyoda. Kiichiro was succeeded by Taizo Ishida, who was
the chief executive of Toyoda Automatic Loom. 4 The first months of
the Korean War resulted in an order of over 5,000 vehicles from the US
military, and the company was revived. Ishida was cred for his focus on
investment in equipment.
In predominantly Chinese-speaking countries or regions using traditional
Chinese characters, e.g. Hong Kong and Taiwan, Toyota is known as In
predominantly Chinese speaking countries using simplified Chinese
characters (e.g. China),. These are the same characters as the founding
family's name "Toyoda" in Japanese, which translate to "fertile rice
paddies" in the Chinese language as well. From September 1947, Toyota's
small-sized vehicles were sold under the name "Toyopet" The first
vehicle sold under this name was the Toyopet SA but it also included
vehicles such as the Toyopet SB light truck, Toyopet Stout light truck,
Toyopet Crown and the Toyopet Corona. However, when Toyota
eventually entered the American market in 1957 with the Crown, the
32

name was not well received due to connotations of toys and pets. The
name was soon dropped for the American market but continued in other
markets until the mid 1960s.
With over 30 million sold, the Corolla is one of the most popular and best
selling cars in the world.
The Toyota Motor Company received its first Japanese Quality Control
Award at the start of the 1980s and began participating in a wide variety
of motorsports. Due to the 1973 oil crisis, consumers in the lucrative US
market began turning to small cars with better fuel economy. American
car manufacturers had considered small economy cars to be an "entry
level" product, and their small vehicles employed a low level of quality in
order to keep the price low.
By the early sixties, the US had begun placing stiff import tariffs on
certain vehicles. The Chicken tax of 1964 placed a 25% tax on imported
light trucks. In response to the tariff, Toyota, Nissan Motor Co. and
Honda Motor Co. began building plants in the US by the early eighties.
In 1982, the Toyota Motor Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged into
one company, the Toyota Motor Corporation. Two years later, Toyota
entered into a joint venture with General Motors called NUMMI, the New
United

Motor

Manufacturing,

Inc,

operating

an

automobile-

manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. The factory was an old

General Motors plant that had been closed for two years. Toyota then
started to establish new brands at the end of the 1980s, with the launch of
their luxury division Lexus in 1989.

33

In the 1990s, Toyota began to branch out from producing mostly compact
cars by adding many larger and more luxurious vehicles to its lineup,
including a full-sized pickup, the T100 (and later the Tundra); several
lines of SUVs; a sport version of the Camry, known as the Camry Solara,
and the Scion brand, a group of several affordable, yet sporty,
automobiles targeted specifically to young adults. Toyota also began
production of the world's best-selling hybrid car, the Prius, in 1997.
As of 2008, all Toyota and Scion models have either standard or available
XM radio kits. Major Lexus dealerships have been offering satellite radio
kits for Lexus vehicles since 2005, in addition to factory-equipped
satellite radio models.
In 2007, Toyota released an update of its full size truck, the Tundra,
produced in two American factories, one in Texas and one in Indiana.
"Motor Trend" named the Tundra "Truck of the Year," and the 2007
Toyota Camry "Car of the Year" for 2007. It also began the construction
of two new factories, one to build the RAV4 in Woodstock, Ontario,
Canada and the other to build the Toyota Prius in Blue Springs,
Mississippi, USA. This plant was originally intended to build the Toyota
Highlander, but Toyota decided to use the plant in Princeton, Indiana,
USA, instead. The company has also found recent success with its
smaller modelsthe Corolla and Yarisas gas prices have risen rapidly
in the last few years.
The Toyota Way
Toyota's management philosophy has evolved from the company's origins
and has been reflected in the terms "Lean Manufacturing" and Just In
Time Production, which it was instrumental in developing. 30 Toyota's

34

managerial values and business methods are known collectively as the

Toyota Way.
In April 2001 the Toyota Motor Corporation adopted the "Toyota Way
2001," an expression of values and conduct guidelines that all Toyota
employees should embrace. Under the two headings Respect for
People and Continuous Improvement, Toyota summarizes its values
and conduct guidelines with the following five principles
Challenge
Kaizen (improvement)
Genchi Genbutsu (go and see)
Respect
Teamwork
According to external observers, the Toyota Way has four components:32
1. Long-term thinking as a basis for management decisions.
2. A process for problem-solving.
3. Adding value to the organization by developing its people.
4. Recognizing

that

continuously

solving

root

problems

drives

organizational learning.
The Toyota Way incorporates the Toyota Production System.
Operations
Toyota Production System
Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing
and production. Three stories of its origin have been found one that they
studied Piggly-Wiggly's just-in-time distribution system, one that they

35

followed the writings of W. Edwards Deming, and one that they were
given the principles from a WWII US government training program.
As described by external observers of Toyota, the principles of the Toyota
Way are:
1. Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at
the expense of short-term goals
2. Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface
3. Use "pull" systems to avoid overproduction
4. Level out the workload
5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first
time
6. Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and
employee empowerment
7. Use visual control so no problems are hidden
8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your
people and processes
9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the
philosophy, and teach it to others
10.Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your companys
philosophy
11.Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by
challenging them and helping them improve
12.Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation
(genchigenbutsu)
13.Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all
options; implement decisions rapidly
14.Become a learning organization through relentless reflection and
continuous improvement

36

Toyota Pavilion at the Expo in Aichi

Toyota has grown to a large multinational corporation from where it
started and expanded to different worldwide markets and countries. It
displaced GM and became the world's largest automobile maker for the
year 2008. It held the title of the most profitable automobile maker
(US$11 billion in 2006) along with increasing sales in, among other
countries, the United States. The world headquarters of Toyota are
located in its home country in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. Its subsidiary, Toyota
Financial Services sells financing and participates in other lines of
business. Toyota brands include Scion and Lexus and the corporation is
part of the Toyota Group. Toyota also owns 51% of Daihatsu, and 16.7%
of Fuji Heavy Industries, which manufactures Subaru vehicles. They also
acquired 5.9% of Isuzu Motors Ltd. on November 7, 2006 and will be
introducing Isuzu diesel technology into their product
Toyota has introduced new technologies including one of the first massproduced hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, of which it says it has sold 2
million

globally

as

of

2010, Advanced

Parking

Guidance

System (automatic parking), a four-speed electronically controlled

automatic with buttons for power and economy shifting, and an eightspeed

automatic

transmission.

Toyota,

and

Toyota

produced Lexus and Scion automobiles, consistently rank near the top in
37

certain quality and

reliability

surveys,

primarily

J.D.

Power

and Consumer Reports although they led in automobile recalls for the
first time in 2009.
In 2005, Toyota, combined with its half-owned subsidiary Daihatsu
Motor Company, produced 8.54 million vehicles, about 500,000 fewer
than the number produced by GM that year. Toyota has a large market
share in the United States, but a small market share in Europe. Its also
sells vehicles in Africa and is a market leader in Australia. Due to
its Daihatsu subsidiary it has significant market shares in several fastgrowing Southeast Asian countries.
According to the 2008 Fortune Global 500, Toyota Motor is the fifth
largest company in the world. Since the recession of 2001, it has gained
market share in the United States. Toyota's market share struggles in
Europe where its Lexus brand has three tenths of one percent market
share, compared to nearly two percent market share as the US luxury
segment leader.
In the first three months of 2007, Toyota together with its half-owned
subsidiary Daihatsu reported number one sales of 2.348 million units.
Toyota's brand sales had risen 9.2% largely on demand for Corolla and
Camry sedans. The difference in performance was largely attributed to
surging demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. In November 2006, Toyota
Motor Manufacturing Texas added a facility in San Antonio. Toyota has
experienced quality problems and was reprimanded by the government in
Japan for its recall practices. Toyota currently maintains over 16% of the
US market share and is listed second only to GM in terms of volume.

38

Toyota Century Royal is the official state car of the Japanese, namely for
the current Emperor of Japan.
Toyota was hit by the global financial crisis of 2008 as it was forced in
December 2008 to forecast its first annual loss in 70 years. In January
2009 it announced the closure of all of its Japanese plants for 11 days to
reduce output and stocks of unsold vehicles.
Akio Toyoda became the new president and CEO of the company on June
23, 2009 by replacing Katsuaki Watanabe who became the new vice by
replacing Katsuhiro Nakagawa.

39

40

NANDI TOYOTA
Customer Satisfaction is our highest priority. Our aim is to offer you the
Best Experience of vehicle purchase & service at our dealership by
maintaining high standards in Customer Service to enhance the quality of
Toyota Brand. Placing customer satisfaction first, Integrating sales with
service and service parts in a single convenient location, we contribute to
speedy and efficient service, allowing customers to experience the
convince and pleasure of owning Toyota automobile.

By Integrating sales, after-sales service and service parts storage in a

single convenient location, 3S dealers contribute to the High level of
quality associated with Toyota throughout the World.
Nandi Toyota isa fully owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation
with state of the art infrastructure and an ISO 9001:2008 company.
Established in 1996, Nandi Toyotahas completed more than a decade of
operations as a pioneer dealership. It has succeeded in setting a network
standard that has been a benchmark amongst all automobile dealerships.
Nandi Toyota employs 1800 employees and had a turnover of 200 crores
last fiscal year. Geographically located in Bangalore, we at Nandi Toyota
believe in giving you the best in terms of Service Quality & Customer
experience. With 3 showrooms & 2 workshops, we provide our valued

41

customers a wide choice of cars ranging from a small car to a Lifestyle

vehicle including CBU imports.
Making the right choice is crucial to buying a new car. Explore our
website to help you with a wise car buying decision! Right from selecting
the car, taking a test drive and all related information about making your
choice for accessories, insurance, extended warranty, we will guide you
through the complete car buying process. Taking forward our relationship
with our customers, we extend the best after sales & service and we
continually strive for customer satisfaction. We also assist you in
exchanging your old car at the best price and upgrading to a new car. You
may now ask for a test drive, get a quote for a car or do a booking for a
service schedule online and give us your valuable feedback on the same.
We wish you a wholesome car buying experience at Nandi Toyota Motor
World Ltd!! Join our family of 1 lakh plus customers!

42

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Table No. 1 Showing Number of respondents according to their age
groups
Age
No. of Respondents Percentage
18-25
5
5
25-30
9
9
30-35
22
22
35-40
27
27
40 and above
37
37
TOTAL
100
100
(Sample Size: 100nos)
Interpretation
The

above

table shows that out of 100 sample 37 respondents

approached are between the age group of 40 and above. 27 respondents

are between the age group 35-40, 22 respondents are between the age
group of 30-35. 9 respondents are in the age group of 25-30. 5
respondents are in the age group of 18-25.

43

Graph 1: Showing Number of respondents according to their age

groups

Inference
The above graph indicates 37% of the respondents fall between the age
group of 40 and above who are the major customers for Nandi Toyota.

44

Table 2: Showing Number of Respondents according to gender

Gender

No. of Respondents

Percentage

Male

67

67

Female

33

33

TOTAL

100

100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 67 respondents
approached are males and 33 respondents are females.

45

Graph 2: Showing Number of Respondents according to gender

Inference
The above graph indicates that 67% of the respondents are male.

46

Table No. 3 Showing number of respondents according to occupation

Occupation
Business

No. of Respondents Percentage

45
man
Employed
5
Engineer
10
Doctor
23
Housewife
5
Students
5
Others
7
TOTAL
100
(Sample Size: 100nos)

45
5
10
23
5
5
7
100

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 45 respondents are
businessmen, 23 respondents are Doctors, 10 respondents are Engineer, 7
respondents belong to other class where as 5 respondents are employed,
house wife and student respectively.

47

Graph 3: Showing number of respondents according to their

occupation

Inference
The above graph indicates that 45% of the respondents are businessman
who are the major customers of NANDI TOYOTA.

48

Table No. 4 Showing Respondents according to Annual Income

Annual Income No. of Respondents Percentage
Above 200000
5
5
200000-250000
12
12
250000-300000
28
28
300000 &
55
55
Above
TOTAL

100

100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 55 respondents fall in the
income group of 3, 00,000 and above, 25 respondents fall in the income
group of 2,50,000-3,00,000. 12 respondents fall in the age group of
2,00,000-250000. 5 respondents fall in the income group of 2,00,000 and
above.

49

Graph 4: Showing Respondents according to Annual Income

Inference
The above graph indicates that 55% of the respondents fall in the
category of annual income which is 300000 & above so they are the
major customers.

50

Table 5: showing whether the respondents have seen the

advertisement of Toyota

Yes
No
TOTAL

No. of Respondents
100
0
100
(Sample Size: 100nos)

Percentage
100
0
100

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples all the 100 respondents
have seen the advertisement of Toyota.

51

Graph 5: showing whether the respondents have seen the

advertisement of Toyota.

Inference
The above graph indicates that 100% of the respondents have seen the
advertisement of Toyota..

52

Table 6: Showing No. of respondents according to the

Media in which they have seen Toyota
Media
Television
Newspaper
Magazine
Hoarding
TOTAL

No. of Respondents
60
40
0
0
100

Percentage
60
40
0
0
100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 60 respondents have seen
the advertisement of TOYOTA in television, 40 respondents in
newspaper.

53

Graph 6: Showing No. of respondents according to the

Media in which they have seen Toyota

Inference
The above graph indicates that Television is the most effective media for
advertising.

54

Table 7: showing No of respondents according to the vehicle they own

Vehicle

No. of

Percentage

Respondents
Innova

45

45

Corolla

18

18

Camry

13

13

Fortuner

Prado
Land

cruiser

Prius

Total

100

100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 45 respondents own
Innova, 18 respondents own Corolla, 13 respondents own Camry, 16
respondents own Fortuner. 8 respondents own Prado,

2 respondents

own Land Cruiser and 5 own prius.

55

Graph 7: Showing No of respondents according to the vehicle they

own

Inference
The above graph indicates that 45% of the respondents own INNOVA
therefore innova has the maximum sales at NANDI TOYOTA.

56

Table 8: showing No of respondents according to the duration of

ownership
Year
No. of Respondents Percentage
0-1
14
14
1-2
14
14
2-3
17
17
3-4
25
25
4-5
30
30
TOTAL
100
100
(Sample Size: 100nos)
Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 30 respondents fall in the
group of 4-5 years, 25 respondents fall in 3-4 years, 17 respondents fall in
2-3 years whereas 14 respondents fall in the group of 0-1 and 0-2 years
respectively.

57

Graph 8: Showing No of respondents according to the duration of

ownership

Inference
The above graph indicates that 30% of the respondents are the owners of
Toyota cars with the duration of over 4-5 years.

58

Table 9: showing number of respondents according to the factor they

considered the most in choosing TOYOTA
Factors
Need
Brand name
Safety
Self esteem
Availability
Style
Others
Specify
TOTAL

No. of Respondents Percentage

30
30
20
20
20
20
10
10
0
0
15
15
5
5
100

100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of the 100 samples 30 respondents fall
under need factor, 20 respondents go for brand name and safety, 10
respondents fall under self esteem, 15 respondents fall under the group
style, 5 respondents fall under other category.

59

Graph 9: showing number of respondents according to the factor

they considered the most in choosing TOYOTA

Inference
The above graph indicates that 30% of the respondents said need is the
major factor in choosing a Toyota car. Brand name and safety are also
considered equally i.e 20%, style and self esteem also play an important
role in choosing the TOYOTA.

60

Table 10: Showing No. of Respondents owning other Cars

Other Cars
Maruti
Ford
Toyota
Tata
Others
TOTAL

No. of Respondents
20
3
65
10
2
100

Percentage (%)
20
3
65
10
2
100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 65 respondents own only
Toyota car. 20 respondents own Maruti, 10 respondents own Tata, 3
respondents own Ford, 2 respondents own other cars.

61

Graph 10: Showing No. of Respondents owning the Cars

Inference
The above graph indicates that 65% of the respondents have bought
Toyota cars.

62

Table 11: Showing the opinion of respondents about the quality of

Toyota vehicle
Opinion
No. of respondents Percentage (%)
Excellent
14
14
Good
80
80
Satisfactory
6
6
Not Satisfactory
0
0
Total
100
100
(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 80 respondents say the
quality of the Toyota vehicle is good. 14 respondents say the quality is
excellent. 6 respondents say that the quality of the Toyota vehicle is
satisfactory.

63

Graph 11: showing the opinion of respondents about the quality of

Toyota vehicles

Inference
This graph indicates that 80% of the respondents say that the quality of
the Toyota vehicles are good.

64

Table 12: Showing No. of Respondents according to their likings

about Toyota Car
Options
Power
Performance
Interiors
Fuel Economy
Low Maintenance
All the Above
TOTAL

No. of Respondents
11
15
8
18
11
37
100

Percentage (%)
11
15
8
18
11
37
100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 37 respondents like all the
above options. 18 respondents like fuel economy, 15 respondents like
performance, 11 respondents like power and low maintenance
respectively. 8 respondents like the interiors.

65

Graph 12: Showing No. of Respondents according to their likings

about Toyota Car

Inference
The above graph indicates that 37% of the respondents like all of
the things about Toyota cars.

66

Table 13: Showing No. of Respondents according to their satisfaction

Level
Options
No. of Respondents Percentage (%)
Highly Satisfied
14
14
Satisfied
86
86
Highly Unsatisfied
0
0
Unsatisfied
0
0
TOTAL
100
100
(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows out of 100 samples 86 respondents say that they
are satisfied with Toyota. 14 respondents say that they are highly
satisfied.

67

Graph 13: Showing No. of Respondents according to their

satisfaction Level

Inference
The above graph indicates that 86% of the respondents are satisfied with
Toyota cars.

68

Table 14: Showing No. of Respondents According to their Liking and

Colour
Options
Silver
Black
White
Husky

No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

18
18
60
60
15
15
5
5

Blue
Others
TOTAL

2
100

2
100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The table shows that out of 100 samples 60 respondents like black colour,
18 respondents like silver colour, 15 like white colour, 5 like husky blue,
2 respondents like other colours.

69

Graph 14: Showing No. of Respondents According to their Liking

and Colour

Inference
The above graph indicates that 60% of the respondents are happy
preferring black colour.

70

Table 15: Showing No. of respondents According to their opinion

about after sales Service
Options
No. of Respondents Percentage (%)
Excellent
10
10
Good
86
86
Satisfactory
4
4
Not Satisfactory
0
0
TOTAL
100
100
(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples 86 respondents say that
the after sales service is good. 10 respondents regarded as excellent. 4
respondents say that the after sales service is satisfactory.

71

Graph 15: Showing No. of respondents according to their opinion

about after sales Service

Inference
The above graph indicates that 86% respondents have a good opinion
about after sales service provided by NANDI TOYOTA.

72

Table 16: Showing whether the respondents will suggest their friends
to buy a Toyota Car.
Response No. of Respondents Percentage (%)
Yes
100
100
No
0
0
TOTAL
100
100

(Sample Size: 100nos)

Interpretation
The above table shows that out of 100 samples all the 100 respondents
will suggest their friends to buy a Toyota Car.

73

Graph 16: Showing whether the respondents will suggest their

Friends to buy a Toyota Car?

Inference
The above graph indicates that 100 % of the respondents will suggest
their friends to buy Toyota car.

74

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND

CONCULSION
FINDINGS:
The survey and analysis of questionnaire has revealed the following
findings and important feedback for Toyota Advaith
1. The survey shows that most of the respondents owning a Toyota
car fall in the age group of 40 and above.
2. It is also observed that most of the respondents are male (67 %).
3. The study shows that most of the respondents owning a Toyota car
are either Businessman (45 %) or Doctors (23 %).
4. The study reveals that most of the Toyota car owners have Annual
income of 3, 00,000 and above (55%). They belong to high income
group.
5. The study shows that the entire respondents are aware of Toyota
and all have seen the advertisement of Toyota.
6. The study shows that Television is the most effective media for
advertising as 100 % of respondents came to know about Toyota
through Television.
7. Majority of the respondents own Innova (45 %),18% Corolla, 13
% Camry, 16 %Fortuner. 8 % Prado,

2% Land Cruiser and

5% own prius.
8. Most of the respondents own a Toyota car from 4 to 5 years.
9. Majority of the respondents consider need as the major factor in
choosing Toyota car (30 %). Brand name (20 %) is also considered

75

equally style and self-esteem also play an important roll in

choosing TOYOTA.
10.The study shows that most of the respondents own only TOYOTA
(65 %).
11. (20 %) of them own Maruti along with Toyota.
12. Majority of respondent (80 %) have a good opinion about Toyota
when asked to compare with other cars. (20%) of them say that
Toyota is excellent compared to other brands.
13. Most of the respondent (37%) says that they like everything about
their cars like power, performance, Interiors, Fuel economy and
low maintenance.
14.The study shows that mostly of the respondent (90%) are satisfied
with Toyota whereas (10 %) of them are highly satisfied with their
cars.
15.The study shows that majority of the respondent prefer black color
for their cars, it may be because of the fashion or the royal look.
16.The study shows that most of the respondents (86 %) are satisfied
with the after sales service and say it is good. (10%) of them say it
is excellent. Whereas some of them (4 %) say it is just satisfactory.
17.The survey shows that all the respondents (100%) are satisfied with
TOYOTA and that they will suggest their friends to buy a Toyota
car.

76

SUGGESTIONS:
1. Research should be done to come up with more car safety and comfort
features.
2. Toyota should come up with vehicle with better mileage considering the
Indian roads and the poor traffic.
3. Toyota should aim at high quality service, speedy work reliable servicing
and sincere attitude to the customer in order to achieve customer
satisfaction.
4. Toyota Should have a better and professional approach towards each
customer.
5. Toyota should organize fairs.
6. Nandi Toyota should put up service camps around the city of Bangalore
to insure better customer satisfaction.
7. Nandi Toyota should pass on information to Toyota regarding the ever
changing customer requirements and expectations.
8. Toyota should come up with a vehicle for students which are affordable
and trendy.
High quality service can be represented by speedy work, reliable
servicing and sincere attitude to the customers. All these can be achieved
by:

Training service staff working in a well equipped

work shop.

Training can be provided to the technicians with

latest updates.
Dealers service centers to provide suggestions to its customers for better
maintenance of their car and about various technical problem that the
owner might face.

77

CONCLUSION:
Today in the customer driven economy, all firms are engaged in arat race
to attract customers and build a long term relationship with their loyal
customer. The key to customer loyalty is through customer satisfaction. A
satisfied customer will act as a spokes person of the companys product,
and bring in more buyers. So marketers have to ensure customers value
satisfaction. For this they have to ensure
Products are developed to meet customer requirements.
Brands are positioned so as to convey distinctiveness.
Delivery to reinforce the promptness in making available to the
consumers a value added product.
Relationships are built to offer lifetime customer value to enable
the consumer to experience value satisfaction.
The satisfaction level of all the respondents are high but still I
would like to recommend the following.
There are three key elements that effect the satisfaction level of
customer they are
Quality of the product
Customer satisfaction oriented service operation
High quality service
Toyota motor company should try to improve on the quality of
product
All the efforts of the marketers at trying to understand buying motives,
buying behavior and working out suitable promotional strategy to suit the
consumer behavior are to ensure consumer satisfaction. In todays
competitive environment, where companies are adopting various methods
78

to woo the prospective consumers, marketers have to make all efforts to

understand all the complexities which go into the buying behavior.
From the study it is found that sales of Toyota has taken a major leap in
the auto world in the recent years. The high satisfactory level of the
customers have proved this.

79

ANNEXURE:
QUESTIONNAIRE
A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS TOYOTA
CARS
1.Age group
a. 21-30yrs

b. 30-40yrs

c.40-50yrs

d. Above 50yrs

2. Gender
a. Male

b. Female

3.Occupation
Business man

Employed

Engineer

Doctor

Housewife

Students

Others
4. Annual income
Above 200000

200000-250000

250000-300000

300000 & Above

5. .Have you seen the advertisements of Toyota?

Yes

No
80

6. Media in which you have seen Toyota

Television

Newspaper

Hoarding

Magazine

7. Which vehicle do you own

Innova

Corolla

Fortuner

Prado

Camry
Land cruiser

Prius

8.What is the duration of your ownership?

0-1

1-2

3-4

4-5

2-3

9. What are the factors you consider while choosing Toyota cars??
Need
Self esteem

Brand name

Safety

Availability

Style

10.Do you own any car. If so which ?

Maruti

Ford

Tata

Others

Toyota

81

11.How do you rate the quality of Toyota cars?

Excellent
Satisfactory

Good
Not Satisfactory

12.What are the aspects you like in Toyota car?

Low Maintenance

Power

Performance

Interiors

Fuel Economy

All the Above

13.Rate your satisfaction level towards Toyota cars

Highly Satisfied

Satisfied

Highly Unsatisfied

Unsatisfied

14.Which colour do you prefer to buy ?

Silver

Black

Husky Blue

Others

White

15.What is your opinion regarding the after sales service ?

Excellent
Satisfactory

Good
Not Satisfactory

16.Will you suggest Toyota cars to your friends ?

Yes

No
82

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference Books
Philip Kotler MARKETING MANAGEMENT , Prentice Hall,
India Edition 2000.
Suja R Nair CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, HPH Edition 2003.
Namakundadi Ramaswamy MARKETING MANAGEMENT,3rd
Edition 2002.
Kumar Arun and Meenaakshi MARKETING MANAGEMENT,
Edition 2006.
Zikmund and Anico MARKETING MANAGEMENT, 7TH
Edition 2003.
Peter Paul . J AND James M. Donnell MARKETING
MANAGEMENT, 7th Edition 2004.
Reddy

Appannaiah

And

Ramanath

MARKETING

MANAGEMENT, Himalaya publication 4th Edition 2008.

Sherlekar S.A MARKETING MANAGEMENT , Himalaya
publication Edition 2005.
Stanton J William and Michael JEtzel FUNDAMENTALS OF
MARKETING, MC GRAB-HILL PUBLICATION 1994.
WEBSITES:
www. Toyota.com
www. Toyotabharat.com
www. Nanditoyota.com
www.Vintagecars.com

83