Impact Of customer satisfaction on brand preference Of Car INTRODUCTION

In India, liberalization has paid the way for people to possess luxury items such as television, refrigerator, home appliances and car. Motorcar is one of the commonly used conveyances by the upper and middle-class people. Two decades ago, only a few industrialists and rich people owned cars. There was a time when one had to wait for weeks, months or even years to buy a car in India. The option of cars was limited to a few models. But , after liberalization, the earning capacity of middle-class people increased. These days, Motorcar is not only bought for social status, but has become a necessity. Moreover, every middle or upper middle-class person` wants to have a car today. Taking the above into consideration, I study the level of perception of the factors influencing the purchase of a car. I also make an attempt to capture the dimensions reflecting brand preference of passenger cars.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The literature review is done to clarify the underlying concepts in brand preference and to discover the factors that have been found to affect the brand preference. In spite of the significant role that the car industry plays in the nations economy, there is an acute scarcity of literature on the car industry, particularly on the passenger car industry. This is one of the serious limitations the researchers had to encounter during the course of the study. The American Marketing Association (2009) defines a brand as an intangible asset, striving to increase the performance of a product or service through a set of psychological associations. The primary function of a brand is to provide convenience and clarity in decision

making, providing a guarantee of performance and communicating a set of expectations, thereby offering certainty and facilitating the buying process. Smita .(2006), in her study, pointed out the importance of celebrity support in advertisement and concluded that advertisers use endorsers to add excitement and glamour to their brands. Basically, celebrity endorsements give a brand a touch of glamour in the minds of people, and the hope that a famous face will provide added appeal and recognition in a crowded market. Suresh and Raja. (2006) made an attempt to measure the customer satisfaction level of small cars. In this study, the customer satisfaction was measured by using the variable attributes, like-after-sales service, ability to understand customer needs, behavior and knowledge of the mechanics, warranty, prompt delivery,24-hour customer care, information about the cars, horsepower, engine capacity, power steering, technology, fuel capacity,acceleration,easy finance,convenience and accessibility, ground clearance, easy processing and documentation,price,discount and rebates, fuel efficiency and maintenance cost. Abdul et al.(2006), in their study, noted that consumer behavior is influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal and psychological factors. Cultural factors include the set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behavior learned by a member of society from the family and other important institutions. The social factors include consumers family, small group, social roles and status. A persons buying choices are further influenced by four major psychological factors: Motivation, Perception, Learning, Beliefs and Attitudes. Karjaluoto et al. (2005) investigated the consumer choice in the context of the car industry in Finland. They assessed the consumer motivations in cars brand choice. The various factors influencing cars brand choice, according to them, were innovative services, design, brand, basic facilities, outside influence and price. Jaspreet. (2005), in his study, suggested that price, brand image, product, performance, new model launches, distribution network, after-

sales support and availability of value-added after sales services are the factors that determine competition in the Indian passenger car industry. Sumit and Abhishek.(2005) ,in his study, suggested that demand for cars depends on a number of factors. The key factors affecting demand for passenger cars in India are fuel costs, prices of cars, per capita income, introduction of new models, incidence of duties and taxes, the quality of road infrastructure and availability and cost of consumer financing. Ravichandran and Narayanarajan.(2004) studied factors determining the brand preference of consumer durables. They concluded that the study with brand preference of consumer durables is largely influenced by a number of factors such as advertisement, price, quality, performance, availability of spares, and after-sales service. Moreover, these factors play a vital role in the decision-making process and in the brand preference. Kotler and Fullberg.(2003), in his study, stated that consumer surveys often reveal that quality is one of the important, if not the most important, decision-making factors for consumers and product quality stands for the ability of a product to perform its functions. Tan. (2003), conducted a study to find the factors affecting adoption of new product innovations in the consumer. By using factor analysis, he find that these factors were relative advantage, perceive risk complexity, compatibility, observability, image and trialability. Doyle. (2002), in his study, pointed out that the important product decisions in any marketing context are product, variety, product performance, product features, product design, product presentation, sizes, etc. Keller. (2002),in his study, said that the brand is the sum total of all elements of the marketing mix. Brands can also be explained based on their elements-those trademarkable devices that serve to identify and differentiate the brand (e.g.-brand names, logos, symbols, characters, slogans, jingles and packages). Dorsch et al. (2000) studied consumer choice behavior using the fivestep process (need, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and, and post purchase evaluation) problem solving paradigm

or through the progression of consumer choice from a product class to brand choice.