Car Buying Behavior - a Study of Consumer Perception About Pakistan Market

1.1 RESEARCH PROBLEM

CAR BUYING BEHAVIOR- A STUDY OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION ABOUT PAK SUZUK

1.2 BACKGROUND

A brand is a set of expectations and associations evoked from company or product. A brand is how key constituents- customers, employees etc. experiences what you do. Some brands are of such great importance to people, that we speak of them as a part of one's life and identity, being used to express one. Some would say that these brands have their own personality, the brand perception, which can be defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a given brand.

Because many people interact with brand as though they were other people, it is important to understand what a brand perception consists of, and how its characteristics can be used to affect the relationship between the brands and its users. Knowing and understanding the brand perception gives a good insight into this relationship, and into peoples' attitudes towards the brand, and is also an important guide to communicating the brand.

Like apparel and lifestyles brands, a car is extension of one's perception. People buy cars which either matches their personalities or those which provide them opportunities of being perceived as somebody they aspire to be. This becomes significant as consumers move up the value chain from small compact cars to midsize and upwards.

The research objectives for the project undertaken can be defined as follows:

* To determine the demographic variables of the customers of different brands of cars.

* Examine the customer perception about the cars.

* To judge the satisfaction level of car owners of different brands.

* The research tracks responses at following two layers

1. Product related parameters

2. Dealer related parameters

* To analyze the psychographic variables of the customers of different brand of the cars.

( Anna Watson, 2000 )

Recent figures released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, 2001a) suggest that, on average, combined household utility bills in the UK have fallen by £129 since 1996 (DTI, 2001b). This reduction has been attributed to the beneficial impact of competition within the telecoms, gas and electricity markets, extending choice among consumers and provoking rivalry and price reduction among suppliers. This ``success'' represents to advocates of the process the fulfilment of a key objective of the privatisation of these industries; that market discipline would produce operating efficiency and so ensure that the ``goods and services preferred by the consumer (would be) delivered at the lowest economic cost''

(Moore, 1983, p. 93). Dissenting voices would inevitably disagree with this analysis[1]. However, it is instructive to note that this reduction in costs to the consumer has been achieved despite what may be identified as the ``partial operation'' of the chosen competitive mechanism. The utility industries were structured to encourage competition among rival service providers, either as an element of the initial legislation (in the electricity privatisation), or following amending legislation (as with telecommunications and gas). The approach has been described as ``forcing'' competition

(Burton, 1997), in that new entrants were provided with incentives to develop new markets, often at the expense of dominant incumbents who were prevented from engaging in competition until the new entrants had become entrenched. For example, in relation to gas,

Waddams Price (1997) notes that the incumbent (BG) was forced to offer prices based upon its existing wholesale contracts, while new entrants were able to take advantage of the much lower prices available after the new market for gas opened in 1995.

It is true fact that if you are satisfied you recommended to others. Word of mouth and customer satisfaction play a very important role in determining market perception about an automobile. It is the market perception that determines the success of a company and so it is very important for the car manufacturers to measure the "willingness of existing users of a product to recommend it to others". The same is a lot of interest to customers as well for it helps them make the purchase decision.

A car is one of the most significant purchases that an Pakistani household makes and this project addresses the most important question that perplexes car manufacturers:

"What makes the perfect car that influence will willfully purchase?"

The project highlights the factors that influence the buying decision