Reworked Section 1 (1)

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Reworked section.

1: Introduction/Justification/Research Question (up to 250 words)

The research would be about the factors that shape the consumer perceptions towards

entry level automobile products as exemplified by two passenger car marquees in two

main markets and seeks to explain the rationale of differences in consumer behavior in

the cultures of UK and India.

The production and consumption of entry level passenger cars is a global trade and the

culture acts a crucial determinant in influencing behaviors. The car industry is a major

contributor to the national GDP. This needs to be a matter of academic research as

well. The issue of consumer behavior regarding the purchase of entry level passenger

car has long been neglected in the academic research. (Global Auto report, Scotia

Bank, 2012 ).

Thus keeping in mind the economic importance of the product, this research work will

aid to development of better understanding of problem and the factors which shape the

consumer behaviors across culturally different nations and their consumers. This

comparative study across UK (London) and India (Mumbai) seeks to develop insights

into the same with focus only on new and the first purchase of entry level passenger car

across the youth.

The rationale for this choice stems from the ignored academic interest as well as

booming business potential in managing the brand across the cultures with

standardized market offering.

The Honda and Hyundai models across the small passenger car segment would be

reviewed and considered for the study work. For the purpose of research the two car

model will be incorporated. The findings can be generalized for the all the entry level

cars across the production line.

This leads us to the following research objectives:

Comment [AM1]: Good.

Comment [AM2]: How do you mean?


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To understand the role of cultural differences in influencing peoples thinking

regarding small car ownership, implications for brand management marketing

practices- across the Great Britain and India

To understand the concept of entry level small passenger car-What comprises

the various approaches and the need to define the product ideology , its

prospective consumers profile and the influencing variables

To evaluate the factors changing public perception regarding small fuel efficient

family cars

The contribution of the proposed work lies in developing a better understanding of the

purchase behavior especially the determinants of consumer behavioral patterns acrossdiverse cultures and geographies .This contrastive study across the Great Britain and

India will help the brand managers understand the logic behind the diverse cultures and

markets.

The passenger car is a road motor vehicle, other than a motor cycle, intended for

carriage of passengers and designed to seat not more than five persons

(OECD,2002).The small passenger car identifies itself as compact car (American

concept),small family car (British concept) and the light or kei car(Japanese concept)

.The common identified dimensions of entry level small passenger car are:

Small ,economic family carrier

Low price and huge untapped demand

Fuel Efficiency and mileage as prime characteristics

Less service requirements with durability and re sale value

Priced within the range of $ 32-35000

The working definition for entry level small passenger car for this thesis is the small

sized family car in the price range of $ 32-35000 with basic economic features and

inherent fuel efficiency and mileage.

This definition will serve as basis for research specification .The peoples thinking about

the car ownership will be explored especially in context of economic situations in post

Comment [AM3]: Maybe better to sp

Comment [AM4]: Confusing!

Comment [AM5]: Not specific and no

to the broader perspective of culture

Comment [AM6]: Arent all cars moto

Comment [AM7]: Source?


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crisis period. The cultural influences on car purchase will be evaluated and the

consequences for brand management will be understood.

The cultural difference does exert sizable influence for marketing orientation

development and respective brand management. These cultural influences in fact also

shape the car ownership aspirations and the inherent variations across cultures. Such a

variation also transforms into effective cross cultural brand equity development.

Core Contribution

The research seeks to understand the concept of small passenger cars, the respective

target segment, the cross cultural differences, opinion of prospective people regarding

car ownership and the implications for brand development.

Marketing Contribution

The practical marketing contributions can be classified as:

The consumers perception regarding car ownership in diverse cultures of Great

Britain and India

The differences in cultural settings and their impact on cross cultural car

purchase

The vital factors for brand equity development

2: Critical Literature Review/Academic Foundation (up to 750 words)

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of factors that influence

consumer buying behaviorin cars. Specifically, we need to rely on the development

of the insights into the process of psychological underpinnings behind the consumer

behavior across diverse cultural set ups. The basis would indeed be provided by the

psychological school of thinking comprising the cognitive, behavioral and trait aspects of

consumer psychology.

The research literature focuses on three aspects of research:


Comment [AM9]: Good

Comment [AM10]: Is this not too sm

Comment [AM11]: I thought you said

perspective?


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Exploration of motivations to consume an automobile product [ Maslows Need

Hierarchy Model ( 1965 ), Theories of Motivation-Instinct Theory, Drive Theory,

Warshaws Purchase intentions model ,The facets of Involvement ]

The role of culture in influencing the consumers motivations for car purchase

Mowens culture consumption intersection(2001) model, Cultural Value systems

and influence on possessions and holdings

The implications of this for marketing and cross cultural brand management

The review needs to take into consideration the consumers information learning and

individualistic problem solving attribute, the impact of the group pressures, behaviourand attitude interlink ages, self-concept perspective and the social patterns of car

consumption.

The Fishbeins (1967) behavioral intention model seems relevant in evaluating the cross

linkages between the buyers behaviour and intentions as well as the attitude

development process.

In view of the cross cultural influences working on buyers behaviou r across Mumbai

and the London, the definition and understanding of the linkages between culture and

the consumption behaviour becomes essential. The culture does impact the consumer

behaviour across the individual, group and of course the social interface.

The interaction across the culture and consumer is understood across the ways and

means of transfer of culture values (Mowen,2000) or as a two way interaction

perspective (Solomon et al.,1995) and the Luna and Gupta model (2001) .The inter

cultural consumer behaviour model (Mooij,2004) personality and culture as integral to

behaviour formation. The mans distinct needs for existence are adequately captured

across the Maslows need hierarchy (1965) and the Schuttes (1998) paradigms focus

on the cultural variations to it across diverse cultural perspectives.

The consumers possession perspective will also be explored

Comment [AM12]: Based on your re

objectives, I cant see the need for this.


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The corporate brand positioning is vital for understanding the dominant values and

strong under currents for the global positioning with sensitivity to local aspirations. Since

the cross cultural aspirations study is involved, so the relation between the culture and

the consumer behaviour would be explored with the aid of branding in cultures as

devised by the Park, Maclnuis approach of strategic brand image management. The

brand power is hard to resist. The dimensions of global quality branding (Quelch and

Hoff, 1986) incorporate:

The same product or service everywhere with little or minor variations

The same brand essence, identity parameters, and value offerings

Using the same strategic perspective, positioning and advancement strategy

Employing the similar marketing mix as much as possible

Majority of the internationally present automobile manufacturers have incorporated a

global brand extension and assimilation initiative based on similar global advertising and

promotion stance across the diverse geographies.

Clearly the entry level cars do display surprisingly similarity across the markets and

segments internationally, though they might differ in final end use. The point of concern

is to drive the global success depending on local adoption and assimilation. Therelationship between the firm and its potential consumers

Research Methodology

The research design is derived from the inductive and deductive under tones

(Gill,1991).The inductive research relies on the researchers inference of the findings

for the theory that prompted the process .The findings are fed back into the set of

selected theories and the relation between the findings and domain of research is

explored (Glaser and Strauss.1967).

Whereas in the deductive research methodology the research action initiates with a

specific theoretical basis regarding the current state of affairs regarding the world and

the focus is on justification exploration for the findings. The process starts with the

Comment [AM13]: Not sure with wh

trying to say?

Comment [AM14]: ??

Comment [AM15]: What does all th

for your study?

Comment [AM16]: Of what?


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choice of theoretical basis and then the data is collected and analyzed for arriving at

findings and the implications for the theory are judged (Gill and Johnson,1991).

The research design encapsulates a framework for the study to be used as guideline for

collecting and analyzing the data hence collected in the process (Churchill, 1991).

Aaker and Williams (1998) categorizes the three main classifications of the research

design as comprising the casual, descriptive and the exploratory approach. The casual

approach (Malhotra and Birks, 2000) revolves around the insistence on exploring the

cause and effect relationships across the variables and for testing the assumed

hypothesis.

The aim of the present research work emphasizes the exploration and discovery of the

cross cultural customer perceptions regarding the small entry level passenger cars

across London and Mumbai. In a nutshell it nullifies the application of the casual

research platform for the desired research. The exploratory research emphasizes the

identification of the real nature of research problems and of formulating the relevant

hypothesis for later research and tests. (Chisnall, 1997) The descriptive platform

envisages the description of the situation with the aid of observational methods, case

study approach or the survey methods.

Sampling Design

1. Sample Profile: This will a mix of dealers and prospective consumers of car,

selected through the simple random sampling. For the dealer it will be stratified

sampling selection technique used.

2. Sample Size:Dealers10, Consumers50

3. Sampling Technique: Simple random sampling for the consumer and stratified

sampling for the deal.

Method of data collection:

Structured disguised questionnaire will be developed to understand the

consumer perception of global vs. Indian brands.

Comment [AM17]: You have not just

you want to adopt the inductive & deduc

approaches.

Comment [AM18]: Good

Comment [AM19]: So what?


Comment [AM21]: Are you going to

different set of questionnaires?


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Sampling:

This will a mix of dealers and prospective consumers of car, selected through the

simple random sampling.

The fieldwork would be undertaken with the structured disguised questionnaire to

understand the middle class consumers perception of global Vs Indian brands.

The Sample Profile comprises of dealers and prospective class conscious

consumers of car, selected through the simple random sampling.

For the dealer will be stratified sampling selection technique used a sample size

of 10. The sample size of consumers comprises of 50.

The sample can comprise any individual or the societal group from a chosen population

which can be the unit of analysis for research work. A sample comprises all the

elements which are central to collection of vital information for the research.

The sample definition is essential for true representation of the population. Sampling

culminates at the choice of study population for data collection and analysis.

Method

The sampling method can further be classified as one based on probability and another

one on the non-probability basis of sampling. The research work intends to consider the

non-probability sampling method for the data collection and analysis.

The Data Collection Method Primary and Secondary Sources

The two major sources of data can be categorized as comprising the primary as well as

the secondary source of data. The sources of secondary data are mentioned here:

The existing Literature on consumer behaviour, cross cultural influence on consumer,

brand management

The Automobile associations, Government publications and online content

The marketing literature from the offices of entry level car manufacturers

The recognized texts on branding, marketing and management

The media reports from The Economist, BBC World, Auto Magazines



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As far as the primary or basic data is concerned I will focus our energies on the use of

survey questionnaire to collect the best possible data for the research purpose.

The Data Collection Instruments Questionnaire Design

The questionnaires were used to collect the primary data on the factors which are

beyond the reach of the researcher. The research objectives served as the guiding

principles for the design and drafting of research questionnaire.

The questionnaire method comprises the use of open ended and close ended questions

for eliciting specific measured responses from the respondents. The use of

questionnaire makes it easy to collect and quantify the collected data. The

questionnaire designed for research work was made in concise clear cut manner topresent the information in lucid manner.

The pilot testing of the questionnaire was done prior to the actual data collection being

undertaken. This was done to validate the success of the proposed questionnaire in

effective data collection. The pilot study was carried out across some ten respondents

for validating the instrument design. After validation the actual instrument was used for

data collection across the sample population.

Limitations

1. Sample size is not large enough to obtain absolute results. Variability may exits.

2. The study is based on the findings of single city only i.e. the Mumbai city in India and

the London in Great Britain only.

3. The research is restricted to the entry level mini cars segment only.

4. The genuineness of data may be questioned.

5. The data compilation errors might lead to abnormal conclusions

6. The mode and scope of data collection can be segment specific, location specific and

may have to face the emotional and attitudinal variations of segment population

7. The time shortages may also factor in compiling the conclusions

Comment [AM23]: Have you done th

Comment [AM24]: ??

Comment [AM25]: Why?

Comment [AM26]: When did you do

Comment [AM27]: Need to link cred

references.



Comment [AM30]: Why?

Comment [AM31]: Good


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The data analysis would be aided with the graphical presentation tools and percentage

methods .The rationale for choice of these methods is simple and time attributed

approach to problem solution.

Documents

Reworked Section 1 (1)