Consumer Behaviour Towards Times Of India Group Magazines

A final year project on “Analysing The Consumer Behaviour Towards Times Of India Group Magazines” was submitted by Akshay Raj Pandey (from Galgotias University Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh) to extrudesign.com.

	University:	Galgotias University Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
	Project Title:	Analyzing The Consumer Behaviour Towards Times Of India Group Magazines
	Submitted by:	Akshay Raj Pandey
	Authors:	Akshay Raj Pandey
	Supervised by:	N/A
	Department:	Bachelor in Business Administration
	Academic Year:	2021-22

ABSTRACT

In this, we covered the some characteristics of Consumer Buying Behaviours i.e. societal changes overtime, demographics, personality, social group influence and consumer relationship. We also carried out the Primary research in order to attain our research findings. Over time, magazines covers have changed radically, and that change can be observed by following how magazines used cover lines. This article traces the history of magazine cover lines from early, bookish designs, through the emergence of the poster cover and its dominance, through the integration of type with art, to the proliferation of cover lines at the beginning of the 21st century. The images are no longer in the foreground. Cover lines appear in front of the cover models, covering significant parts of their images. We see these beautiful people through the cover lines that surround them, as if they were in the bushes and the bushes were made of words. Print media is one of the most powerful and cost effective medium to transfer information and knowledge. The print media industry in India is more than a century old. Also it is a well-established industry.

INTRODUCTION

Print media is one of the most powerful and cost effective medium to transfer information and knowledge. The print media industry in India is more than a century old. Also it is a well-established industry. This industry mainly comprises of publishing newspapers and magazines. India has the second largest population and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Along with these the increasing level of income of peoples and the robust competition in this industry help print media in its growth. Producers are increasing day by day, new entrants from outside India is also a factor of tough competition. Indian readers prefer Hindi magazines rather than English magazines. In the case of Times group also the readership of Hindi Femina is higher as compared to English magazines. Ernst & Young said in their survey report “Indian magazine segment: Navigating new growth avenues”, it has been said that out of the 20 most read magazines in India, only three magazines are in English, while the remaining are in Hindi and other regional languages. This survey also said that more than 300 million literate individuals do not read any publications. According to ArcGate, the dramatic effects of internet and globalization in current scenario are playing high impact on media industry. Even people are now consuming news and information from internet through computers or mobiles, the popularity of print media is not decreasing. To avoid declining of market share in front of other media the producer must able to produce high quality printed content and magazines. They also need to make the contents available on mobile and web platforms to provide a choice to its subscribers to explore the contents anytime anywhere. Dr Saukat Ali, in his paper “A Study of Consumer Behaviour & Loyalty in Print Media – Challenges & strategic prescriptions with Special reference to English, Hindi, Marathi News Paper readers-Mumbai”, says developing customer loyalty & retaining readership can be a huge challenge for the publishers. There are huge options available to readers now. Therefore, publishers are busy to create something very special and innovative in contents or subscription schemes to impress upon the readers. They should address the needs and demand of consumer to strengthen their loyalty and readership.

The Times Group with its flagship company Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL) is India’s largest media conglomerate, according to Financial Times in March 2015. The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in May 2014 that the Times of India had the largest circulation of any English-language newspaper in the world, with 3,321,702 average qualifying sales. The company remains a family-owned business as the descendants of Sahu Jain own a majority stake in The Times Group. The Times Group has over 11,000 employees and revenue exceeding $1.5 billion.

The Times of India (TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is the fourth largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest selling English-language daily in the world according to Audit Bureau of Circulations (India). It is the oldest English-language newspaper in India still in circulation. In 1991, the BBC ranked The Times of India among the world’s six best newspapers.

It is owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the SahuJain family. In the Brand Trust Report 2012, The Times of India was ranked 88th among India’s most trusted brands and subsequently, according to the Brand Trust Report 2013, The Times of India was ranked 100th among India’s most trusted brands. In 2014 however, The Times of India was ranked 174th among India’s most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Marketing comes in a wide variety of flavours based on audience, media platform and business in today’s evolving and dynamic marketplace. Therefore, it’s no surprise that marketers define what they do differently.

To start, here are explanations from the American Marketing Association (AMA), marketing’s professional organization, and Dr. Philip Kotler, the author of business school marketing classics. They’re followed by the other definitions in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

Dr. Philip Kotler defines marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which segments the company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services.”

Ernst & Young said in their survey report “Indian magazine segment: Navigating new growth avenues”, it has been said that out of the 20 most read magazines in India, only three magazines are in English, while the remaining are in Hindi and other regional languages. This survey also said that more than 300 million literate individuals do not read any publications. According to ArcGate, the dramatic effects of internet and globalization in current scenario are playing high impact on media industry. Even people are now consuming news and information from internet through computers or mobiles, the popularity of print media is not decreasing.

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy their needs and wants. It is also concerned with the social and economic impacts that purchasing and consumption behaviour has on both the consumer and wider society. Consumer behaviour blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, marketing and economics, especially behavioural economics. It examines how emotions, attitudes and preferences affect buying behaviour. Characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, personality lifestyles and behavioural variables such as usage rates, usage occasion, loyalty, brand advocacy, willingness to provide referrals, in an attempt to understand people’s wants and consumption are all investigated in formal studies of consumer behaviour. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, sports, reference groups, and society in general. Dr Saukat Ali, in his paper “A Study of Consumer Behaviour & Loyalty in Print Media – Challenges & strategic prescriptions with Special reference to English, Hindi, Marathi News Paper readers-Mumbai”, says developing customer loyalty & retaining readership can be a huge challenge for the publishers. There are huge options available to readers now.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION:

Research methodology is the process used to collect information and data for the purpose of making business decision.

SOURCE OF DATA

For collecting data, both Primary & Secondary data collection method are used.

PRIMARY DATA

The data are collected through:

Personal interviews is conducted followed by a purpose specific questionnaire administration designed to obtain data from respondents. It contained quantitative research questions to understand the company’s mindset towards its marketing schemes.

SECONDARY DATA

That data were collected through

Literature available in the field of consumer’s friendly magazines was thoroughly studied. The sources of this information were newspapers, journals, magazines, internet and publications.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Exploratory – It attempts to describe and explain conditions of the present by using many subjects and questionnaire to fully describe a phenomenon.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The instrument used in collecting the primary data was structured questionnaire.

SAMPLING PLAN

It is not possible to collect information from the whole universe, the researcher reports to sampling method “sample” is that portion of the universe of population, which is selected as representative for the purpose of the study. If in a known fact, that smaller the sample size higher will be the statistical error. Hence optimum size of ‘so’ is chosen. The dependents freely expressed their ideas, convenience sampling is applied in this study.

Sample unit/ Sample size

A representative sample (sample size 30) of the potential and existing consumers was selected by the methods of judgment sampling. It includes present and past consumers of TOI magazines.

Consumer Behaviour Data collection

With the prior permission of the people the researcher meets the dependents that are freely able to answer. First of all a rapport is created with the respondents by clearly informing them the nature & objects of the study. The respondents are asked to take his own time & doubt if any regarding question are classified. In order to gather relevant & true data, the respondent are given assurance that the data gathered are highly confidential in nature & are purely for the purpose of research study.

Tools used for analysis

Simple percentage analysis method

Here the researcher collected info. From the sample “sample” is that portion of the universe of the population, which is selected on the representative for the purpose of the study. Smaller the sample size higher will be the statistical error.

Method to collect simple percentage Analysis

SPA = [No. Of respondents / Total No. Of respondents] X 100

Method to calculate likert’s scale analysis. The schedule is saved on likert’s scale, the mean value of each factor is found out. If the mean value is greater than 3, it is interpreted that the respondents are favourable to the statement that in they are not satisfied with the statement.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is conducted in the city Greater Noida for a period of two month. It is intended to provide with information about consumers’ perception decision making process, which can be used for developing marketing plans to acquire and retain the consumers. This effort is made to known the consumer satisfaction towards TOI Group magazines.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study was designed to provide information helpful to Times of India in knowing the customers behaviour, their needs etc. so as to help them in planning and implementing various approaches for magazines. More specifically the research attempted to provide answers to the following research questions.

To study the consumer behaviour towards Times of India group magazines.
To find out the customer demands in terms of price, quality and services of TOI group magazines.
To find out the reasons why customers are nor renewing their subscriptions.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

No study is devoid of certain shortcomings. Obviously, some problems I also encountered in my study.

Time Constraints:

Time is too short. Due to this I am not able to get in depth knowledge of the research undertaken. Also I have to take small sample size due to time constraint.

Lack of Respondents Response:

Some respondents hesitated to respond to my questions openly. Due to this, response of some questions can tend to be biased.

Budgetary Constraints:

No TA/DA was given to me so as to make an extensive research. This constraint imposed a lot of difficulty.

Small Sample Size

As sample size taken by me for purpose of survey was 30 respondents. So the result may have some deviations from the facts because of small sample size.

FINDINGS

Magazines are well entertained, updated and well informative.
Maximum people prefer Hindi rather than English.
The most read magazine of TOI group magazines is femina hindi.
Teenagers are the major population who reads magazines.
Consumers consider language, discounts, paper and print quality while buying magazines.
Subscription schemes attract more customers.
Schemes with gift are playing a good role in increasing readership as there are a lot of customers who have subscribed only for gift.
Subscribers have high demand in the improvement of services.
Most of the consumers do not want to renew their subscription.

SUGGESTIONS

Improvement of Services: The first and foremost recommendation that can be suggested from the findings of the research is the improvement in services. As there are high demand of the magazines of WWM. The customers now have huge options for selecting a magazine, as there are so many producers of magazines in different language and increased usage of internet. Therefore, a small problem faced by a customer may lead to losing that one.
A better renewal reminder system can also be implemented. There is a system of reminder but customers are complaining that they are not getting the reminder alarm.
They should have more Hindi magazines with them.
As most of the people don’t understand or read English.
They should have more news then advertisement.
I think if they charge somewhat less price for their magazines then their sales will increase as compare to present sales.
They should increase number of copies in subscription.

CONCLUSION

For the past several years, even decades, it has become popular to speculate on the demise of the general interest news weeklies. It has been argued that in a world of 24-hour news, niche magazines and the Internet, the news weeklies are dinosaurs. Unable to react quickly enough to break real news and now dealing with a world where instant analysis and spin follows quickly on the news’s heels, the weeklies don’t really have a mission anymore, the argument goes. On top of that, their audience is getting older.
The weeklies, well aware of this analysis and witnessing declines in circulation or steady circulation numbers in a growing population, have tried to respond. They have changed what they cover, reaching more and more into areas outside of hard news. They have changed their look, adding more and more photos, trying to get slicker and glossier to attract a younger audience. The changes have seemed to stem the tide somewhat, but stagnant or falling subscription numbers don’t look likely to suddenly climb.
The changes in the magazine industry over the last 20 years have been mirrored by cable television. The rise of “niche” and delivering specific audiences to advertisers took place in magazines well before cable had evolved. Before there was the “Animal Planet” cable channel, if you will, there was “Cat Fancy” magazine. Yet somehow, news magazines largely missed the trend. Paradoxically, as the magazine industry (and communications in general) got more and more concerned with targeted specific content, the news magazines actually got broader and more general. They cover more topics now than they did 20 years ago. They reach farther afield for cover stories. In a world that has become more and more like cable television, broken into interest groups and subsets, the news weeklies have become more like the networks, a one-stop catch-all with something for everyone.

REFERENCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times_of_India
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
https://www.femina.in/
https://www.economist.com/
https://www.filmfare.com/
https://www.timesknowledge.in/
https://www.goodhomes.co.in/
http://www.topgear.com/india/
https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
https://www.slideshare.net/toimagazine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello!_(magazine)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Knowledge_(magazine)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazia
Magazines & Newspapers.
Feedback from reader

Credit: This final year project on “Analysing The Consumer Behaviour Towards Times Of India Group Magazines” was completed by Akshay Raj Pandey from Galgotias University Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.