Written Analysis and Communication

Group Assignment No. 1- Research Proposal

Factors affecting the purchase decision of the
customers buying gold jewelry in Meerut
Submitted by:-

Group No.: 4
1. Aakash Kamdar (141201)
2. Aakriti Shah

(141202)

3. Aastha Manglik (141203)

Section:

Batch: MBA-FT (2014-2016)

Institute of Management, Nirma University

Date of Submission: 18/10/2014

Table of Contents
Page No.
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Content
Introduction
a) Background
b) Conceptual Framework
c) Rationale
d) Objectives

Preliminary Literature Survey

Methodological Discussion
a) Research Design
b) Data Collection Tools
c) Data Analysis Tools

1. INTRODUCTION
Background
In India, gold is considered as a store of value, symbol of status and wealth.
Besides, gold is an integral part of the personal lives of Indian citizens. Gifting
gold is the inherent tradition in marriages in India and hence, marriages
contribute 50% of the annual gold demand. In the last decade more than 75%
of the gold demand was attributed to the demand for gold jewellery. The gold
jewellery market is estimated to be valued at USD 30 billion in CY12. The
study of consumer behaviour in the purchase of gold jewellery, will attempt to
understand the buyer decision processes both individually and in groups. In
this study, the city of Meerut has been taken into consideration for analysis of
factors that affect the consumer buying behaviour in gold jewellery and the
respondents for the study belong to the same city. Through this study, an
attempt is made to identify the various factors that influence people to invest
in general, to understand their general awareness and roles in buying
decisions.
Conceptual framework:
Indians give jewellery a sacramental role in their customs and traditions.
While no bridal trousseau is complete without gold jewellery, it is also
considered a preferred investment. However, little attention has been paid to
understand the purchase behaviour of consumers. This research aims to study
the consumers purchase behaviour with a special reference to Meerut city, one
of the top five markets of gold and silver jewellery in India. It involves
understanding a set of purchase decision (how, where, when) and consumption
pattern over a period of time.
The purpose of research is to give the local retailers scientific information and
deeper knowledge about the consumer, which can help them gain success in
jewellery market.
Rationale
The basic motive behind choosing this topic for our research is that it will
enable the sellers of the gold jewellery to know the factors that are driving the
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demand. They can plan their marketing strategies accordingly and also make
changes in their product accordingly. We can also come to know about the
usage i.e. whether most of the people in Meerut are looking to buy the
expensive or the heavier jewellery or the inexpensive and for the day-to-day
usage.
Objectives
The objectives to conduct the research on the study of consumer purchase
behaviour while purchasing gold jewellery (With Special Reference to Meerut
Jewellery Market) are:

To explore and analyze the current consumer trends and preferences that

influences the purchase behavior.

To identify frequency of purchase, the spending priorities, place of
purchase and the factors influencing stores choice behavior among the

respondents.
To study the role and degree of influence exercised by an individual and
family as a unit, while making a purchase decision.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Dr. P. Srinivas Rao (2014) in her paper A Study of Customers Attitude and
Behaviour on purchase of Gold Jewellery in Chennai City studied the
customer's attitude and behaviour on jewellery purchase. The objective of the
paper was to study the customer's attitude and behaviour towards purchase of
jewellery in Chennai City, to identify the spending priorities, frequency of
purchase, place of purchase and the factors influencing stores choice
behaviour among the respondents, to understand the purchase decision and the
factors influencing the purchase decisions and to examine the role of the
individual in purchase process among the household of the respondents. The
sample respondents were selected from the various areas of Chennai City
based on the number of jewellery shops and population. It was concluded in
the study that the education of the customer impacted their buying behaviour.
Neeru Jain (2012) in her research paper Consumer buying behaviour with
regard to branded & traditional jewellery aims to explore the traditional
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and branded jewellery of Jaipur city and to study the brand awareness amongst
consumers. The consumer variables i.e. design, quality of material, comfort of
wearing, price, variety, certification, durability resale value, etc. and brand
specific variable i.e. offer, service provided, celebrity endorsement, promotion,
brand familiarity, reliability, brand consciousness, etc. play an equivalent role
in promoting branded jewellery. Consumers understanding about branded
jewellery is shifting due to their preference for non-branded to branded
jewellery. The paper relies on various statistical tools like t test, chi
distribution, etc and interviews to study the consumers behaviour. It
concluded that there is no significant difference between the consumer buying
behaviour for the branded and traditional jewellery (Non-Branded).
It is generally believed that consumers make their purchase decisions on the
basis of their knowledge about the product features. Ahmad Jamal (2006) in
his paper A study of the primary evaluative criteria in the precious
jewellery market in the UK determines the nature of evaluative criteria used
by an individual while purchasing jewellery. In doing so, the study looked into
product category knowledge, brand familiarity and brand consciousness while
evaluating a jewellery piece. The findings indicate that, in general, subjective
attributes are more important for people buying precious jewellery than the
objective attributes. The paper discusses the relevance of this information for
the marketers for devising strategies and expanding their market share.
Mckinsey (2005) in his paper titled Strategies for Wooing Customers
mentioned that The branded jewellery industry is in its initial stage, but
increasing growth rates show that in a short span of time it will a huge market.
A major competitor to the branded segment is that traditional jewellers who
have started designing their product in a more scientific fashion and under the
lines as defined by an establish rates.
The following articles have given a deeper insight into the industry. The
various findings have helped in understanding the approach to reach the
consumers with a more effective tool for more accurate results.

Beneficiary
Relevance to Jewellers:
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The study would prove helpful to the Jewellers to understand their consumers
better. This would help the retailers to know what the consumers preferences
are and devise strategies that they should adopt to grab the market.
Relevance to Academics, Students and Others:
The present research aimed at identifying the consumers perception towards
the jewellery market and identifying the various parameters considered in
purchasing, thus providing a basic database.

3. METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION
Research Design:
Following are the steps we are going to follow in our research

Target people are the people who buy gold jewellery.

Target people will be between the age of 25-50 years.

The research will be focused on Meerut city in particular.

The research will be aiming on determining the factors influencing the

purchase behaviour of the customers.

Research will be conducted through offline survey and one-to-one

interviews of the customers in Meerut.

The survey will be analysed through various statistical tools.

Data Collection Tools:

The tools to be used for survey are as follows:

Offline survey questionnaires

One-on-One interviews

Data Analysis Tools:

The tools to be used for analysis of the collected data are as follows:

T- test

Chi test

ANOVA

Regression

Pie chart

Bar chart

Pictorial representation

REFERENCE
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[1] Sahu, Satyapriya J., Tholat (2014) A Study of Customers Attitude and
Behaviour on purchase of Gold Jewellery in Chennai City, JRMT, Vol. 4,
No.1.
[2] Jain, Neeru (2010) Consumer buying behaviour with regard to branded &
traditional jewellery , The IIS University, Jaipur
[3] Jamal, Ahmad (2006) Consumers' product evaluation: a study of the
primary evaluative criteria in the precious jewellery market in the UK,
Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Volume 1, Issue 2, 140155
[4] Mckinsey. C, (2005). Strategies for Wooing Customers, Jewellery News
India, Vol 10/1, 56-5
[5] Arnould, Eric J. and Thompson, Craig J. (2005) Consumer Culture Theory
(CCT): Twenty Years of Research, Journal of Consumer Research, 31,
868-882
[6] Ganesh, Gopala (1997) Spousal influence in consumer decisions: a study
of cultural assimilation, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 14(2), 132-155

UNDERTAKING
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To Whom It May Concern:

We, __________ (names of all the members of a group) hereby declare that this
assignment is our original work and is not copied from anyone/ anywhere. If found
similar to other sources, we shall take complete responsibility of the action, taken
thereof by, WAC Team.

Group No.:

_____

Section:

_____

Batch: MBA - FT, (2014 2016)

Signature:

_____________

_____________

_____________

Name:

_____________

_____________

_____________

Roll No.:

_____________

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