CHAPTER-1

INDUSTRY PROFILE

1
INDUSTRY PROFILE

The Consumer Durables industry consists of durable goods and appliances for domestic use such
as televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines. Instruments such as cell
phones and kitchen appliances like microwave ovens were also included in this category. The
sector has been witnessing significant growth in recent years, helped by several drivers such as
the emerging retail boom, real estate and housing demand, greater disposable income and an
overall increase in the level of affluence of a significant section of the population. The industry is
represented by major international and local players such as BPL, Videocon, Voltas, Blue Star,
MIRC Electronics, Titan, Whirlpool, etc.

The consumer durables industry can be broadly classified into two segments: Consumer
Electronics and Consumer Appliances. Consumer Appliances can be further categorized into
Brown Goods and White Goods. The key product lines under each segment were as follows.

Industry Size, Growth, Trends

The consumer durables market in India was estimated to be around US$ 5 billion in 2009-10.
More than 7 million units of consumer durable appliances have been sold in the year 2008-09
with colour televisions (CTV) forming the bulk of the sales with 30 per cent share of volumes.
CTV, refrigerators and Air-conditioners together constitute more than 60 per cent of the sales in
terms of the number of units sold.

In the refrigerators market, the frost-free category has grown by 8.3 per cent while direct cool
segment has grown by 9 per cent. Companies like LG, Whirlpool and Samsung have registered
double-digit growth in the direct cool refrigerator market.

In the case of washing machines, the semi-automatic category with a higher base and fully-
automatic categories have grown by 4 per cent to 526,000 units and by 8 per cent to 229,000
units, respectively. In the air-conditioners segment, the sales of window ACs have grown by 32
per cent and that of split ACs by 97 per cent.

2
Since the penetration in the urban areas for these products is already quite high, the markets for
both C-TV and refrigerators were shifting to the semi-urban and rural areas. The growth across
product categories in different segments is assessed in the following sections.

Consumer Electronics

The CTV production was 25.10 million units in 2010-11 and is expected to grow by at least 25
per cent. At the disaggregated level, conventional CTV volumes have been falling while flat TVs
have grown strongly. Market sources indicate that most CTV majors have phased out
conventional TVs and have been instead focusing more on flat TVs. The flat segment of CTVs
now account for over60 per cent of the total domestic TV production and is likely to be around
65 per cent in 2010-11.High-end products such as liquid crystal display (LCD)and plasma
display CTV grew by 400 per cent and 150 per

Cent respectively in 201011 following a sharp decline in prices of these products and this trend
is expected to continue. The audio/video player market has seen significant growth rates in the
domestic market as prices have dropped. This trend is expected to continue through 2010- 2011,
as competition is likely to intensify to scale and capture the mass market.

Satisfaction is the persons feeling of pleasure(or) disappointment resulting from comparing a

product perceived performance (outcome) in relation to his/her expectation. If the performance
fall short of expectation the customer is dissatisfied . If the performance matches the expectation
the customer is satisfied if the performance exceeds the expectation the customer is highly
satisfied ( or) delighted many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because they are much
ready to switch. ]
Buyers expectation formed on the basis of past buying experience ,friend and the associate
advice and the marketers and the competitors information and promises. If marketers raise
expectations too high , the buyer is likely to be disappointed. Even if the company sets
expectation should match the performances.

A customer is the most important person ever in any company.

3
 A customer never depend on company,but the company depends on him.

A customer is the person who bring company his wants.

A customer is not a interruption of marketers work he is the purpose of it.

Before the liberalization of the Indian economy, only a few companies like Kelvinator, Godrej,
Alwyn, and Voltas were the major players in the consumer durables market, accounting for no
less than 90% of the market. Then, after the liberalization, foreign players like LG, Sony,
Samsung, Whirlpool, Daewoo, and Aiwa came into the picture.

Today, these players control the major share of the consumer durables market. Consumer
durables market is expected to grow at 12-18% in 2010-2011. It is growing very fast because of
rise in living standards, easy access to consumer finance, and wide range of choice, as many
foreign players were entering in the market with the increase in income levels, easy availability
of finance, increase in consumer awareness, and introduction of new models, the demand for
consumer durables has increased significantly. Products like washing machines, air conditioners,
microwave ovens, color televisions (C-TV) were no longer considered luxury items. However,
there were still very few players in categories like vacuum cleaners, and dishwashers Consumer
durables sector is characterized by the emergence of MNCs, exchange offers, discounts, and
intense competition. The market share of MNCs in consumer durables sector is 65%. MNC's
major target is the growing middle class of India. MNCs offer superior technology to the
Consumers whereas the Indian companies compete on the basis of firm grasp of the local market,
their well-acknowledged brands, and hold over wide distribution network. However, the
penetration

Level of the consumer durables is still low in India.

Indian Consumer durables market used to be dominated by few domestic players like Godrej,
Voltas, Allwyn and Kelvinator. But post liberalization many foreign companies have entered into
4
Indian market dethroning the Indian players and dominating Indian market the major categories
being CTV, REFRIGRATOR, MICROWAVE OVEN and WASHING MACHINES.

India being the second largest growing economy with huge consumer class has resulted in
consumer durables as the fastest growing industries in India. LG, SAMSUNG the two Korean
companies have been maintaining the lead in the market with LG being leader in almost all the
categories.

The rural market is growing faster than the urban market, although the penetration level is much
lower .The CTV segment is expected to the largest contributing segment to the overall growth of
the industry. The rising income levels double-income families and consumer awareness were the
main growth drivers of the industries.

5
 CHAPTER-2
COMPANY PROFILE

6
OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRY
Whirlpool Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances. The
company manufactures in 13 countries and markets products in approximately 170 countries
under 11 major brand names such as Whirlpool, Maytag Kitchen Aid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht,
Laden and Ignis.
Whirlpool Corporation entered India in the late 80s and today has grown to become one of the
leading manufacturers and marketers of major home appliances in India. Whirlpool Corporation
entered into a joint venture agreement with TVS group to produce automatic washers at a plant
set up in Pondicherry. A modest beginning was made to establish the Whirlpool brand in India.
In 1995 Whirlpool Corporation acquired Kelvinator of India Limited and entered into the
Refrigerator market in India. In late 1995 majority ownership was gained in the TVS joint
venture and the two entities were merged to form Whirlpool of India Limited in 1996.
Whirlpool has the distinction of having ISO certification for all its facilities in India. The
refrigerator facility is located at Faridabad and manufactures a complete range of direct cool
refrigerators. With the infusion of technology, machinery and streamlining the processes the
capacity of this plant was increased from 700,000 to 1,000,000 annually.
Whirlpools commitment to the Indian operation has resulted in the setting up of a state-of-the-
art facility for the manufacture of no frost refrigerators at Ranjangaon near Pune. This facility
has set the standards as one of the worlds front runners in environmentally sensitive eco-friendly
manufacturing units.
The washer facility is located at Pondicherry and manufactures both fully automatic and semi
automatic washers. Constant feedback is taken from the consumers resulting in products being
continuously upgrade in features and in styling.
Products manufactured in the above facilities match Whirlpools global standards and are
exported to over 70 countries across the globe. Whirlpool of India is today Indias largest
exporter of home appliance and has been approved as an Export House.

7
PROFILE OF COMPANY

Whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of
whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly
termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft.
Whirlpool, right from its inception in 1911 as first commercial manufacturer of motorized
washers to the current market position of being worlds number one manufacturer and marketer
of major home appliances, has always set industry milestones and benchmarks. The parent
company (Whirlpool Corporation) is headquartered at Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA with a
global presence in over 170 countries and manufacturing operation in 13 countries with 11 major
brand names such as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht, Laden and Ignis. The
company boasts of resources and capabilities beyond achievable feat of any other in the industry.
Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is a Fortune 500 company and a global manufacturer and
marketer of major home appliances,with annual sales of approximately $18 billion, more than
73,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the
world. After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, Whirlpool Corporation
became the largest home appliance maker in the world.
Whirlpool initiated its international expansion in 1958 by entering Brazil. However, it emerged
as truly global leader in the 1980s. This encouraging trend brought the company to India in the
late 1980s. It forayed into the market under a joint venture with TVS group and established the
first Whirlpool manufacturing facility in Pondicherry.
Soon Whirlpool acquired Kelvinator India Limited in 1995 and marked an entry into Indian
refrigerator market as well.
The same year also saw acquisition of major share in TVS joint venture and later in 1996,
Kelvinator and TVS acquisitions were merged to create Indian home appliance leader of the
future, Whirlpool India. This expanded the companys portfolio in the Indian subcontinent to
washing machines, refrigerator, microwave ovens and air conditioners.

8
Today, Whirlpool is the most recognized brand in home appliances in India and holds a market
share of over 25%. The company owns three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at
Faridabad, Pondicherry and Pune. Each of these manufacturing set-ups features an infrastructure
that is witness of Whirlpools commitment to consumer interests and advanced technology.
In the year ending in March 06, the annual turnover of the company for its Indian enterprise was
Rs.1,375 Crores. According to IMRB surveys Whirlpool enjoys the status of the single largest
refrigerator and second largest washing machine brand in India.
The companys brand and image speaks of its commitment to the homemaker from every aspect
of its functioning. It has derived its functioning principles out of an undaunted partnership with
the homemakers and thus a slogan of You and whirlpool, the worlds best homemaker dots its
promotional campaigns.
Whirlpool has the distinction of having ISO certification for all its facilities in India. The
refrigerator facility is located at Faridabad and manufactures a complete range of direct cool
refrigerators. With the infusion of technology, machinery and streamlining the processes the
capacity of this plant was increased from 700,000 to 1,000,000 annually.
Whirlpools commitment to the Indian operation has resulted in the setting up of a state-of-the-
art facility for the manufacture of no frost refrigerators at Ranjangaon near Pune. This facility
has set the standards as one of the worlds front runners in environmentally sensitive eco-friendly
manufacturing units.
The washer facility is located at Pondicherry and manufactures both fully automatic and semi
automatic washers. Constant feedback is taken from the consumers resulting in products being
continuously upgrade in features and in styling.
Products manufactured in the above facilities match Whirlpools global standards and are
exported to over 70 countries across the globe. Whirlpool of India is today Indias largest
exporter of home appliance and has been approved as an Export House.
Design Engineering is being developed as a core competency for Whirlpool of India. A step in
the direction has resulted in the setting up of Regional Technology Centres at Pune focussing on
refrigerators and at Pondicherry for washers. This will provide WOI with a competitive edge in
speedy customisation of products suited to consumer needs.

9
In the second phase of developing this core competency Whirlpool set up a Global Technology
Centre at Pune in 2002 to provide design support for the global organisation. A design and
development centre for Whirlpools global small appliances brand Kitchenaid has also been set
up at Pondicherry. The already strong manufacturing and technology infrastructure was
augmented by the establishment of a Global Consumer Design centre for Asia in New Delhi in
2005
Whirlpool Indias products range from Refrigerators, Washing Machines, 100% Dryers, Air
conditioners, Oil Filled Heaters, Microwave Ovens, Purafresh RO Range, to Home UPS
Systems.
Thus, in short the history of the company can be stated as below:
1908: The first Automatic washer was launched to public in late 1908, by 1900 Corporation
which in 1911 was renamed to Upton Machine Company.
1957: The Company was rechristened as ' The Whirlpool Corporation.'
1958: The Company moved out of country for the first time and invested in Brazilian appliance
market through purchase of equity in Multibras S.A.
1987: Whirlpool tied-up with Sundaram Clayton Ltd. of India to form Whirlpool Ltd.
1993: First time Whirlpool became the No.1 stand-alone brand in UK, Ireland, Netherlands and
Belgium
1995: Whirlpool Corp. acquired majority of stake in the TVS Whirlpool Ltd. The DC
manufacturing facility of Kelvinator India was also acquired.
1996: Whirlpool Washing Machines Ltd. and Kelvinator India Ltd. merged together to form
Whirlpool of India Ltd
1999: Whirlpool of India crossed the milestone of 1 million sales of appliances.
2006: Whirlpool Corporation acquires Maytag and become the Worlds largest white goods
company.

2007: Received the 2007 Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award for Business, America's highest
honor for companies and organizations that give back to the community through creative and
effective cause marketing campaigns
2008: Named one of the 2008 Worlds Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere magazine

10
2008: Whirlpool OF India was awarded the NDTV Profit Business & Leadership Award 2008
for The Best Consumer Durables Company
2009: Whirlpool was voted Product of the Year and received the award for the 'Best Innovative
Product' in the popular refrigerators category. This was based on 40,000 consumers across 36
towns in India voting Whirlpool Frost Free Refrigerators with 6th sense as the Best Innovation in
the Popular Refrigerator Category.
2009: Named one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Chief Responsibility Officer
(formerly Business Ethics) magazine in 2009 and from 2000-2007
2009: Hewitt Best Employers in India 2009 Study

Whirlpool vision
Every Home Everywhere with Pride, Passion and Performance
This vision statement reinforces that every home is their domain, every customer and
customer activity is their opportunity. This vision fuels the passion that they have for customers,
pushing towards to provide innovative solutions to uniquely meet their needs.
Pride... in work and each other
Passion... for creating unmatched customer loyalty for their brands
Performance... that excites and rewards global investors with superior returns
Whirlpool mission

Everyone, Passionately Creating Loyal Customers for Life

Whirlpool mission defines the focus and what it does differently to create value. Its a company
of people captivated with creating loyal customers. From every job, across every contact, it
builds unmatched customer loyaltyone customer at a time.

Whirlpool values:
The companys values are constant and define the way that all Whirlpool Corporation employees
are expected to behave and conduct business everywhere in the world.

11
Respect Trust one another as individuals and value the capabilities and contributions of each
person.
Integrity It conducts all aspects of business honorably ever mindful of the longtime
Whirlpool Corporation belief that there is no right way to do a wrong thing.
Diversity and Inclusion It maintains the broad diversity of Whirlpool people and ideas.
Diversity honors differences, while inclusion allows everyone to contribute. Together, it creates
value.
Teamwork It recognizes that pride results in working together to unleash everyones
potential, achieving exceptional results.
Spirit of Winning The company promotes a Whirlpool culture that enables individuals and
teams to reach and take pride in extraordinary results and further inspire the "Spirit of Winning"
in everyone.

Innovation:
Whirlpool Corporation firmly believes innovative thinking comes from everyone,
everywhere. Nearly 10 years ago, they launched a worldwide effort to instill innovation as a core
competency throughout the entire organization. Since then, Whirlpool employees worldwide
have participated in and contributed to innovation-related activities resulting in new ideas,
products and services; thus delivering real value to consumers in ways never before seen in
either the company or the home appliance industry.

Focused on embedding innovation as a core competency, Whirlpool Corporation has

made a long-standing investment to build this competency. This investment includes redesigning
business processes, training thousands of employees, building an innovation management system
and changing the culture of the company.
Innovation attracts consumers to the wide portfolio of brands; Whirlpool Corporation
generated more than $2.5 billion of worldwide revenue from product innovationswell
exceeding projected targets for the yearand the robust pipeline of $4.5 billion will allow for
continued growth over time.

12
Promising entity of the company
Whirlpool Corporation is committed in building products that consumers around the
world can rely upon to meet their daily needs. This commitment to quality begins in the concept
stages and continues throughout the lifetime of the appliance. The result of these efforts is a
sustainable and competitive advantage for the company.
Globally, Whirlpool Corporation manufactures products using principles of lean
manufacturing and operational excellence to ensure continuous improvement of processes and to
produce products that meet the company's high-quality standards.

At Whirlpool, there is a constant focus on seeking out new and unique ways to improve
the function, performance and sustainability of their products.

The ring of promise circling the Whirlpool Corporation logo

The ring around the whirlpool logo clearly shows how the company encompasses with a
promising nature in developing a individual customer loyalty with its services .

Building the Corporate Brand

The Whirlpool corporate brand has a history dating back to 1911. The company has
steadily expanded its product line, revenues, and global footprint for more than five decades,
evident by milestone returns from $1 billion in 1968, to $2 billion by 1978, to $6 billion by
1989, to the $13 billion reported in 2004. The corporate mission has also remained focused over
time, demonstrated by mantras such as Unmatched customer loyalty the core of our strategy
and Customer passion and lifelong relationships the focus of our business.

13
 The corporate brand has also been built on a long history of design innovation, a safe and
diverse employee environment, customer-centered manufacturing, and a spirit of social
responsibility. In fact, the depth of the companys commitment to multiple social efforts is
evident by a six-year inclusion of Whirlpool on the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list published
by Business Ethics Magazine. The company boasts an impressive set of accomplishments that
foster these commitments:
The implementation of Operational Excellence, Whirlpools custom version of the Six
Sigma program, improves quality while lowering costs and shortening cycle times. This
program helped Whirlpool leverage its global manufacturing experience to save $175
million in manufacturing costs in its first three years of use.
Whirlpools commitment to innovation was recognized in 2002 with a National Design
Award for Corporate Achievement from the Smithsonian Institution.
Whirlpool is a six-time winner of the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy,
demonstrating the companys commitment to environmental protection.
More than 3,500 Whirlpool employees are involved in a five-year, $25 million
commitment to Habitat for Humanity International. The partnership has provided more
than 65,000 appliances to Habitat homes built in North America. In addition,
Whirlpool has raised over a million dollars to support the fight against breast cancer through the
Cook for the Cure program, sponsored by KitchenAid. Over 90 years of history gives
Whirlpool an extremely valuable asset: a corporate brand that communicates innovation,
consumer-driven research and development, and excellence in design and performance. Injecting
these principles into internal and customer-facing business processes enables the company to
invoke a consistent set of emotional responses from consumers including trust, uniqueness, and
most important, loyalty.

14
Product Range
The product range covers a wide variety of products from Refrigerators to Fabicare; from
AirCon to Water Purifiers and also Microwaves to UPS.Following is the product range of
Whirlpool Of India Limited.
Refrigerators
Washing Machines
Dyers
Microwave
Water Purifiers

Strategy execution:

The main strategy of the whirlpool is building strong brands which has a loyal consumer
base. Whirlpool is trying to build trustworthiness of the customer and lead the customer life
easier. Whirlpool mailnly does lot of work contributing in building unmatched levels of loyalty
to their brands through lifelong relationships with the customers.
Whirlpool is committed to create the brand value using various strategies such as
focusing on innovation, cost productivity, product quality and consumer value. Whirlpool
15
always had a continous effort to improve its global operating platform to ensure the position of
the best-cost and best-quality appliance manufacturer worldwide. The company is maintaining a
strong supply chain to better deliver products in trading customers and consumers. The benefits
of these actions today through a stronger network, increased efficiencies and timely deliveries.
Now and then, even in the future the whirlpool focus is not simply on producing
products but more on the innovation and customer perception in creating them. Its major focus
is always on maximizing the benefits of their worldwide network of resources, which is
unmatched in the industry. They are creating better, more innovative products that improve
consumers' livesin and around the homeeach and every day. The company is always
committed in being an agile, global consumer products company that creates value through their
brands and innovations. With their compelling and growing brands, fueled with innovation, the
company always attracts and retain loyal customers for life.

16
GLOBAL SCENARIO OF WHIRLPOOL

COUNTRY KEY STATS BRANDS LOCATIONS

NORTH Headquarters:
AMERICA -No. 1 position in the United States Benton Harbor, MI
industry KitchenAid, Manufacturing
-$7.9 billion of sales Whirlpool, Locations:
-$810 million of Roper by Whirlpool United States
operating profit Corporation, Estate, Laverne, TN;
-Approximately 31,000 Gladiator Findlay, OH;
employees Canada Marion, OH;
Inglis,Whirlpool, Greenville, OH;
KitchenAid Clyde, OH;
Mexico Whirlpool, Benton Harbor, MI;
Acros, Evansville, IN; Fort
Supermatic, Crolls Smith, AR; Tulsa,
OK; Oxford, MS
Canada
Montmagny, QC
Mexico Monterrey
EUROPE Operations
- No. 3 position in Western Whirlpool, Center: Comerio,
and Bauknecht, Italy
Central Europe Ignis, Polar, Laden in Manufacturing
_ $2.7 billion in 2003 sales France, KIC in South Locations:
_ $124 million in 2003 Africa France Amiens
operating profit Germany
_ Approximately 14,000 Neunkirchen,
employees Schorndorf
Italy Naples, Siena,

17
 Cassinetta, Trento
Poland Wroclaw
Slovakia Poprad
South Africa
Isithebe
Sweden Norrkping
ASIA Leader among Western Headquarters:
companies, with No. 1 Whirlpool Hong Kong, PRC
market Manufacturing
position in India Locations:
_ $416 million in 2003 India Faridabad,
sales Pune, Pondicherry
_ $7 million in 2003 China Shanghai,
operating profit Shunde
_ Approximately 5,000 Whirlpool
employees

Provides all the crucial information on Whirlpool Corporation required for business and
competitor intelligence needs
- Contains a study of the major internal and external factors affecting Whirlpool Corporation in
the form of a SWOT analysis as well as a breakdown and examination of leading product
revenue streams of Whirlpool Corporation
-Data is supplemented with details on Whirlpool Corporation history, key executives, business
description, locations and subsidiaries as well as a list of products and services and the latest
available statement from Whirlpool Corporation

Reasons to Purchase
- Support sales activities by understanding your customers businesses better
- Qualify prospective partners and suppliers

18
- Keep fully up to date on your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects
- Obtain the most up to date company information available

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

The main aim of marketing is meeting and satisfy target. Customers need and wants buyer
behavior refers to the peoples or organization conduct activities and together with the impact of
various influences on them towards making decision on purchase of product and service in a
market. The field of consumer behavior studies how individuals, groups and organization select,
buy, use and dispose of goods, service, ideas, or experience to satisfy their needs and desires
understanding consumer behavior and knowing customer are never simple.The wealth of
products and service produced in a country make our economy strong. The behaviour of human
being during the purchase is being termed as Buyer Behaviour. Customer says one thing but do
another. They may not be in touch with their deeper motivations. They are responding to
Influences that change their mind at the last minute. A buyer takes a decision whether save or
spend the money.
Getting accurate responses from the respondents due to their inherent problems were
difficult. They were partial, and refused to cooperate.
Since we did not had the privilege to work on a large scale, so many finding and
recommendations may not be as much in tune with their ground realities as may be
considered desirable.
Last but not the least, the time constraint faced in the project might have affected the
comprehensiveness of its findings.

MARKET-LEADER STRATEGIES
Market leadership is not simple for a firm. Other firms continually challenge its strength or try to
take advantage of its weakness. The leader firm might become weaker against new entrants and
rival firms. The leader can use one or a combination of three strategies.
1. Expand the total market strategy
The market leader firms can normally gain the maximum when the total market
expands. The focus of the total market depends on where the product is in its life cycle.
19
2. Defending market share strategy
When the leader tries to expand the total market size, it must also continuously defend its
current business against enemy attacks. The leader firm must keep its cost down, and its
prices must be consistent with the value that consumer see in the product.
(a)Position defense
This strategy involves pouring maximum firms resources into its current successful brands.
To overcome a position defence an attacker therefore typically adopts an indirect approach
rather than the hear-on attack that the defender expects.

(b)Flanking defence
This strategy both guards the market position of leading brands and develops some flank
market niches to serve as defensive corner either to protect a weak front or to establish an
invasion base for counterattack, if necessary.

(c)Pre-emptive defence
This defence strategy maneuver involves the launching of an offence against an enemy
before it starts an offence. E.g. TITAN launched more brands called Insignia.

(d)Counter-offensive defence
This is to identifying a weakness in an attacker and aggressively going after that market
niche so as cause the competitor to pull back its efforts to defend its own territory. The
attacker has to deploy resources to this territory for defence.

(e)Mobile defence
This involves the leader broadening and expanding its territories into new market areas by
diversifying. The leader takes innovations works in both these direction. Diversification into
related areas is used in mobile defence.

20
 (f)Contraction defence
This strategy involves retrenching into areas of strength and if often used in later stages of a
product life cycle or when the firms has been under considerable attack. Example HLL.

3. Expanding the market share strategy

Market leader can improve their profitability through increasing their market shares. Market
leaders are successfully at expanding their market shares like HLL, Procter and gamble etc.

MARKET CHALLENGER STRATEGIES:

Defining the strategic objective. A market challenger must first define its strategic objective
which is usually defined as an increase in market share. In essence, the challenger can choose
to attack on any one of the types of firms:
It can attack the market leader. This is a high risk but potentially high pay-off strategy that
makes sense if the leader is not serving the market well.
It can attack firms of its own size that are not doing the job and are underfinanced.
It can attack small local and regional firms that are not doing the job and are underfinanced.
1. Frontal attack
2. Flank attack
3. Encirclement attack
4. Bypass attack
5. Guerilla attack
MARKET FOLLOWER STRATEGIES:
A market follower must be careful about how closely it follows a leader and challengers.
Too close an attack could result in a strong counter offensive by the leader. The three useful
broad strategies are:
1. Following closely
2. Following at a distance
3. Following selectively
21
MARKET NICHERS STRATEGIES:
Successfully market-niches own their success to using one of these strategies to gain solid
market presence. Market niches must develop specific tactics to implement their strategic
choice to enable them to become market specialist. The nicer can play a role of specialist in
the following ways:

22
CHAPTER-3
CONCEPT

23
Marketing research is "the function that links the consumers, customers, and public to the
marketer through information information used to identify and define marketing opportunities
and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance;
and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the
information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information,
manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the
findings and their implications."

It is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about
issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal of marketing research is to identify
and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior. The term is
commonly interchanged with market research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a
distinction, in that market research is concerned specifically with markets, while marketing
research is concerned specifically about marketing processes.[2]

Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by target market:

Consumer marketing research, and

Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research

Or, alternatively, by methodological approach:

Qualitative marketing research, and

Quantitative marketing research

Consumer marketing research is a form of applied sociology that concentrates on understanding

the preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers in a market-based economy, and it aims to
understand the effects and comparative success of marketing campaigns. The field of consumer
marketing research as a statistical science was pioneered by Arthur Nielsen with the founding of
the ACNielsen Company in 1923.

Thus, marketing research may also be described as the systematic and objective identification,
collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for the purpose of assisting management in
24
decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in
marketing.[4]

Role of marketing research (MR)

The task of marketing research (MR) is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable,
valid, and current information. Competitive marketing environment and the ever-increasing costs
attributed to poor decision making require that marketing research provide sound information.
Sound decisions are not based on gut feeling, intuition, or even pure judgment.

Marketing managers make numerous strategic and tactical decisions in the process of identifying
and satisfying customer needs. They make decisions about potential opportunities, target market
selection, market segmentation, planning and implementing marketing programs, marketing
performance, and control. These decisions are complicated by interactions between the
controllable marketing variables of product, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Further
complications are added by uncontrollable environmental factors such as general economic
conditions, technology, public policies and laws, political environment, competition, and social
and cultural changes. Another factor in this mix is the complexity of consumers. Marketing
research helps the marketing manager link the marketing variables with the environment and the
consumers. It helps remove some of the uncertainty by providing relevant information about the
marketing variables, environment, and consumers. In the absence of relevant information,
consumers' response to marketing programs cannot be predicted reliably or accurately. Ongoing
marketing research programs provide information on controllable and non-controllable factors
and consumers; this information enhances the effectiveness of decisions made by marketing
managers.

Traditionally, marketing researchers were responsible for providing the relevant information and
marketing decisions were made by the managers. However, the roles are changing and marketing
researchers are becoming more involved in decision making, whereas marketing managers are
becoming more involved with research. The role of marketing research in managerial decision
making is explained further using the framework of the "DECIDE" model:

25
The DECIDE model conceptualizes managerial decision making as a series of six steps. The
decision process begins by precisely defining the problem or opportunity, along with the
objectives and constraints. Next, the possible decision factors that make up the alternative
courses of action (controllable factors) and uncertainties (uncontrollable factors) are enumerated.
Then, relevant information on the alternatives and possible outcomes is collected. The next step
is to identify and select the best alternative based on chosen criteria or measures of success. Then
a detailed plan to develop and implement the alternative selected is developed and put into effect.
Last, the outcome of the decision and the decision process itself are evaluated.

Marketing research characteristics

First, marketing research is systematic. Thus systematic planning is required at all the stages of
the marketing research process. The procedures followed at each stage are methodologically
sound, well documented, and, as much as possible, planned in advance. Marketing research uses
the scientific method in that data are collected and analyzed to test prior notions or hypotheses.
Experts in marketing research have shown that studies featuring multiple and often competing
hypotheses yield more meaningful results than those featuring only one dominant hypothesis.

Marketing research is objective. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true
state of affairs. It should be conducted impartially. While research is always influenced by the
researcher's research philosophy, it should be free from the personal or political biases of the
researcher or the management. Research which is motivated by personal or political gain
involves a breach of professional standards. Such research is deliberately biased so as to result in
predetermined findings. The objective nature of marketing research underscores the importance
of ethical considerations. Also, researchers should always be objective with regard to the
selection of information to be featured in reference texts because such literature should offer a
comprehensive view on marketing. Research has shown, however, that many marketing
textbooks do not feature important principles in marketing research.

26
Comparison with other forms of business research
Other forms of business research include:

Market research is broader in scope and examines all aspects of a business environment.
It asks questions about competitors, market structure, government regulations, economic
trends, technological advances, and numerous other factors that make up the business
environment (see environmental scanning). Sometimes the term refers more particularly
to the financial analysis of companies, industries, or sectors. In this case, financial
analysts usually carry out the research and provide the results to investment advisors and
potential investors.

Product research - This looks at what products can be produced with available
technology, and what new product innovations near-future technology can develop (see
new product development).

Advertising research - is a specialized form of marketing research conducted to improve

the efficacy of advertising. Copy testing, also known as "pre-testing," is a form of
customized research that predicts in-market performance of an ad before it airs, by
analyzing audience levels of attention, brand linkage, motivation, entertainment, and
communication, as well as breaking down the ads flow of attention and flow of emotion.
Pre-testing is also used on ads still in rough (ripomatic or animatic) form. (Young, p. 213)

Classification of marketing research

Organizations engage in marketing research for two reasons: (1) to identify and (2) solve
marketing problems. This distinction serves as a basis for classifying marketing research into
problem identification research and problem solving research.

Problem identification research is undertaken to help identify problems which are, perhaps, not
apparent on the surface and yet exist or are likely to arise in the future like company image,
market characteristics, sales analysis, short-range forecasting, long range forecasting, and
27
business trends research. Research of this type provides information about the marketing
environment and helps diagnose a problem. For example, The findings of problem solving
research are used in making decisions which will solve specific marketing problems.

The Stanford Research Institute, on the other hand, conducts an annual survey of consumers that
is used to classify persons into homogeneous groups for segmentation purposes. The National
Purchase Diary panel (NPD) maintains the largest diary panel in the United States.

Standardized services are research studies conducted for different client firms but in a standard
way. For example, procedures for measuring advertising effectiveness have been standardized so
that the results can be compared across studies and evaluative norms can be established. The
Starch Readership Survey is the most widely used service for evaluating print advertisements;
another well-known service is the Gallup and Robinson Magazine Impact Studies. These
services are also sold on a syndicated basis.

Customized services offer a wide variety of marketing research services customized to

suit a client's specific needs. Each marketing research project is treated uniquely.
Limited-service suppliers specialize in one or a few phases of the marketing research
project. Services offered by such suppliers are classified as field services, coding and data
entry, data analysis, analytical services, and branded products. Field services collect data
through mail, personal, or telephone interviewing, and firms that specialize in
interviewing are called field service organizations. These organizations may range from
small proprietary organizations which operate locally to large multinational organizations
with WATS line interviewing facilities. Some organizations maintain extensive
interviewing facilities across the country for interviewing shoppers in malls.
Coding and data entry services include editing completed questionnaires, developing a
coding scheme, and transcribing the data on to diskettes or magnetic tapes for input into
the computer. NRC Data Systems provides such services.
Analytical services include designing and pretesting questionnaires, determining the best
means of collecting data, designing sampling plans, and other aspects of the research
design. Some complex marketing research projects require knowledge of sophisticated

28
 procedures, including specialized experimental designs, and analytical techniques such as
conjoint analysis and multidimensional scaling. This kind of expertise can be obtained
from firms and consultants specializing in analytical services.
Data analysis services are offered by firms, also known as tab houses, that specialize in
computer analysis of quantitative data such as those obtained in large surveys. Initially
most data analysis firms supplied only tabulations (frequency counts) and cross
tabulations (frequency counts that describe two or more variables simultaneously). With
the proliferation of software, many firms now have the capability to analyze their own
data, but, data analysis firms are still in demand.
Branded marketing research products and services are specialized data collection and
analysis procedures developed to address specific types of marketing research problems.
These procedures are patented, given brand names, and marketed like any other branded
product.

Types of marketing research

Marketing research techniques come in many forms, including:

Ad Tracking periodic or continuous in-market research to monitor a brands

performance using measures such as brand awareness, brand preference, and product
usage. (Young, 2005)
Advertising Research used to predict copy testing or track the efficacy of
advertisements for any medium, measured by the ads ability to get attention (measured
with AttentionTracking), communicate the message, build the brands image, and
motivate the consumer to purchase the product or service. (Young, 2005)
Brand equity research - how favorably do consumers view the brand?
Brand association research - what do consumers associate with the brand?
Brand attribute research - what are the key traits that describe the brand promise?
Brand name testing - what do consumers feel about the names of the products?
Commercial eye tracking research - examine advertisements, package designs, websites,
etc. by analyzing visual behavior of the consumer
Concept testing - to test the acceptance of a concept by target consumers
29
 Coolhunting - to make observations and predictions in changes of new or existing
cultural trends in areas such as fashion, music, films, television, youth culture and
lifestyle
Buyer decision processes research - to determine what motivates people to buy and what
decision-making process they use
Copy testing predicts in-market performance of an ad before it airs by analyzing
audience levels of attention, brand linkage, motivation, entertainment, and
communication, as well as breaking down the ads flow of attention and flow of emotion.
(Young, p 213)
Customer satisfaction research - quantitative or qualitative studies that yields an
understanding of a customer's satisfaction with a transaction
Demand estimation - to determine the approximate level of demand for the product
Distribution channel audits - to assess distributors and retailers attitudes toward a
product, brand, or company
Internet strategic intelligence - searching for customer opinions in the Internet: chats,
forums, web pages, blogs... where people express freely about their experiences with
products, becoming strong opinion formers.
Marketing effectiveness and analytics - Building models and measuring results to
determine the effectiveness of individual marketing activities.
Mystery consumer or mystery shopping - An employee or representative of the market
research firm anonymously contacts a salesperson and indicates he or she is shopping for
a product. The shopper then records the entire experience. This method is often used for
quality control or for researching competitors' products.
Positioning research - how does the target market see the brand relative to competitors? -
what does the brand stand for?
Price elasticity testing - to determine how sensitive customers are to price changes
Sales forecasting - to determine the expected level of sales given the level of demand.
With respect to other factors like Advertising expenditure, sales promotion etc.
Segmentation research - to determine the demographic, psychographic, and behavioural
characteristics of potential buyers

30
 Online panel - a group of individual who accepted to respond to marketing research
online
Store audit - to measure the sales of a product or product line at a statistically selected
store sample in order to determine market share, or to determine whether a retail store
provides adequate service
Test marketing - a small-scale product launch used to determine the likely acceptance of
the product when it is introduced into a wider market
Viral Marketing Research - refers to marketing research designed to estimate the
probability that specific communications will be transmitted throughout an individual's
Social Network. Estimates of Social Networking Potential (SNP) are combined with
estimates of selling effectiveness to estimate ROI on specific combinations of messages
and media.

All of these forms of marketing research can be classified as either problem-identification

research or as problem-solving research.

There are two main sources of data - primary and secondary. Primary research is conducted from
scratch. It is original and collected to solve the problem in hand. Secondary research already
exists since it has been collected for other purposes. It is conducted on data published previously
and usually by someone else. Secondary research costs far less than primary research, but seldom
comes in a form that exactly meets the needs of the researcher.

A similar distinction exists between exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory
research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation. It should draw
definitive conclusions only with extreme caution. Conclusive research draws conclusions: the
results of the study can be generalized to the whole population.

Exploratory research is conducted to explore a problem to get some basic idea about the solution
at the preliminary stages of research. It may serve as the input to conclusive research.
Exploratory research information is collected by focus group interviews, reviewing literature or
books, discussing with experts, etc. This is unstructured and qualitative in nature. If a secondary
source of data is unable to serve the purpose, a convenience sample of small size can be
31
collected. Conclusive research is conducted to draw some conclusion about the problem. It is
essentially, structured and quantitative research, and the output of this research is the input to
management information systems (MIS).

Exploratory research is also conducted to simplify the findings of the conclusive or descriptive
research, if the findings are very hard to interpret for the marketing managers.

Marketing research methods

Methodologically, marketing research uses the following types of research designs:

Based on questioning

Qualitative marketing research - generally used for exploratory purposes - small

number of respondents - not generalizable to the whole population - statistical
significance and confidence not calculated - examples include focus groups, in-
depth interviews, and projective techniques
Quantitative marketing research - generally used to draw conclusions - tests a
specific hypothesis - uses random sampling techniques so as to infer from the
sample to the population - involves a large number of respondents - examples
include surveys and questionnaires. Techniques include choice modelling,
maximum difference preference scaling, and covariance analysis.

Based on observations

Ethnographic studies - by nature qualitative, the researcher observes social

phenomena in their natural setting - observations can occur cross-sectionally
(observations made at one time) or longitudinally (observations occur over several
time-periods) - examples include product-use analysis and computer cookie
traces. See also Ethnography and Observational techniques.
Experimental techniques - by nature quantitative, the researcher creates a quasi-
artificial environment to try to control spurious factors, then manipulates at least
one of the variables - examples include purchase laboratories and test markets

32
Researchers often use more than one research design. They may start with secondary research to
get background information, then conduct a focus group (qualitative research design) to explore
the issues. Finally they might do a full nation-wide survey (quantitative research design) in order
to devise specific recommendations for the client.

Business to business market research

Business to business (B2B) research is inevitably more complicated than consumer research. The
researchers need to know what type of multi-faceted approach will answer the objectives, since
seldom is it possible to find the answers using just one method. Finding the right respondents is
crucial in B2B research since they are often busy, and may not want to participate. Encouraging
them to open up is yet another skill required of the B2B researcher. Last, but not least, most
business research leads to strategic decisions and this means that the business researcher must
have expertise in developing strategies that are strongly rooted in the research findings and
acceptable to the client.

There are four key factors that make B2B market research special and different to consumer
markets:[9]

The decision making unit is far more complex in B2B markets than in consumer markets
B2B products and their applications are more complex than consumer products
B2B marketers address a much smaller number of customers who are very much larger in
their consumption of products than is the case in consumer markets
Personal relationships are of critical importance in B2B markets.

Marketing research in small businesses and nonprofit organizations

Marketing research does not only occur in huge corporations with many employees and a large
budget. Marketing information can be derived by observing the environment of their location and
the competitions location. Small scale surveys and focus groups are low cost ways to gather
information from potential and existing customers. Most secondary data (statistics,
demographics, etc.) is available to the public in libraries or on the internet and can be easily
accessed by a small business owner.

33
International Marketing Research plan
International Marketing Research follows the same path as domestic research, but there are a few
more problems that may arise. Customers in international markets may have very different
customs, cultures, and expectations from the same company. In this case, Marketing Research
relies more on primary data rather than secondary information. Gathering the primary data can
be hindered by language, literacy and access to technology.

Commonly used marketing research terms

Market research techniques resemble those used in political polling and social science research.
Meta-analysis (also called the Schmidt-Hunter technique) refers to a statistical method of
combining data from multiple studies or from several types of studies. Conceptualization means
the process of converting vague mental images into definable concepts. Operationalization is the
process of converting concepts into specific observable behaviors that a researcher can measure.
Precision refers to the exactness of any given measure. Reliability refers to the likelihood that a
given operationalized construct will yield the same results if re-measured. Validity refers to the
extent to which a measure provides data that captures the meaning of the operationalized
construct as defined in the study. It asks, Are we measuring what we intended to measure?

Applied research sets out to prove a specific hypothesis of value to the clients paying for
the research. For example, a cigarette company might commission research that attempts
to show that cigarettes are good for one's health. Many researchers have ethical
misgivings about doing applied research.
Sugging (from SUG, for "selling under the guise" of market research) forms a sales
technique in which sales people pretend to conduct marketing research, but with the real
purpose of obtaining buyer motivation and buyer decision-making information to be used
in a subsequent sales call.
Frugging comprises the practice of soliciting funds under the pretense of being a research
organization.

34
Careers in marketing research
Some of the positions available in marketing research include vice president of marketing
research, research director, assistant director of research, project manager, field work director,
statistician/data processing specialist, senior analyst, analyst, junior analyst and operational
supervisor.

The most common entry-level position in marketing research for people with bachelor's degrees
(e.g., BBA) is as operational supervisor. These people are responsible for supervising a well-
defined set of operations, including field work, data editing, and coding, and may be involved in
programming and data analysis. Another entry-level position for BBAs is assistant project
manager. An assistant project manager will learn and assist in questionnaire design, review field
instructions, and monitor timing and costs of studies. In the marketing research industry,
however, there is a growing preference for people with master's degrees. Those with MBA or
equivalent degrees are likely to be employed as project managers.

A small number of business schools also offer a more specialized Master of Marketing Research
(MMR) degree. An MMR typically prepares students for a wide range of research methodologies
and focuses on learning both in the classroom and the field.

The typical entry-level position in a business firm would be junior research analyst (for BBAs)
or research analyst (for MBAs or MMRs). The junior analyst and the research analyst learn about
the particular industry and receive training from a senior staff member, usually the marketing
research manager. The junior analyst position includes a training program to prepare individuals
for the responsibilities of a research analyst, including coordinating with the marketing
department and sales force to develop goals for product exposure. The research analyst
responsibilities include checking all data for accuracy, comparing and contrasting new research
with established norms, and analyzing primary and secondary data for the purpose of market
forecasting.

As these job titles indicate, people with a variety of backgrounds and skills are needed in
marketing research. Technical specialists such as statisticians obviously need strong backgrounds

35
in statistics and data analysis. Other positions, such as research director, call for managing the
work of others and require more general skills. To prepare for a career in marketing research,
students usually:

Take all the marketing courses.

Take courses in statistics and quantitative methods.
Acquire computer skills.
Take courses in psychology and consumer behavior.
Acquire effective written and verbal communication skills.
Think creatively.[10]

Career ladder in marketing research:

1. Vice-President of Marketing Research: This is the senior position in marketing research.

The VP is responsible for the entire marketing research operation of the company and
serves on the top management team. Sets the objectives and goals of the marketing,
research department.
2. Research Director: Also a senior position, the director has the overall responsibility for
the development and execution of all the marketing research projects.
3. Assistant Director of Research: Serves as an administrative assistant to the director and
supervises some of the other marketing research staff members.
4. (Senior) Project Manager: Has overall responsibility for design, implementation, and
management of research projects.
5. Statistician/Data Processing Specialist: Serves as an expert on theory and application of
statistical techniques. Responsibilities include experimental design, data processing, and
analysis.
6. Senior Analyst: Participates in the development of projects and directs the operational
execution of the assigned projects. Works closely with the analyst, junior analyst, and
other personnel in developing the research design and data collection. Prepares the final
report. The primary responsibility for meeting time and cost constraints rests with the
senior analyst.

36
7. Analyst: Handles the details involved in executing the project. Designs and pretests the
questionnaires and conducts a preliminary analysis of the data.
8. Junior Analyst: Handles routine assignments such as secondary data analysis, editing and
coding of questionnaires, and simple statistical analysis.
9. Field Work Director: Responsible for the selection, training, supervision, and evaluation
of interviewers and other field workers.[11

37
 CHAPTER-4
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

38
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
To assess the customer satisfaction level

Proper understanding and analysis of the WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

To study the brand image of WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

Proper understanding of promotional tools prevailing in the company.

To suggest the ways to promote WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

To know strength, weakness, opportunities and threat of WHIRLPOOL INDIA LTD.

The objectives of study is to gain knowledge about the marketing mix offered by the
company

The study focus Whirlpool and its competitors

The study reflects the various marketing strategies adopted by Whirlpool.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The following are the limitations of the study:

The sample size was small and hence the results can have a degree of variation.
The response of the employees in giving information was lukewarm.
Organizations resistance to share the internal information.
Questionnaire is subjected to errors.

LIMITATIONS

1) Time constraint- the duration of training was short, due to which it was difficult to collect
data.
2) Another constraint has been geographical area, which
is confined only to BHEL Power Sector.
39
 3) Normally employees hesitate to disclose the
information.
4) Individual biasness is their among employees.

Significance of study

This study has an overview of Whirlpool Company or organization.

This study gain knowledge about the company.
This study focuses on overall industry.
This study focuses on Whirlpool and its competitors.
This study gives information about the competitors in the industry.

40
METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH PROCESS:
1) DEFINE RESEARCH PROBLEM:
The formulation of a general topic into specific research problem constitutes the 1st step in
research process. Essentially two steps are involved in formulating the
Research problem that is understands the problem theoretically and rephrasing the same into
meaningful terms from an analytical point of view.
2) EXTENSIVE LITERATURE SURVEY:
Once the problem is formulated a brief summary of it shifts the return down. It is
compulsory for a research worker for writing a thesis for a PhD degree to write a synopsis
{brief summary} of a topic and submit it to the necessity committee at this research board for
approval at this researcher should undertake the extensive literature survey, i.e.: reviewing
concepts & theories and reviewing previous research findings.

3) FORMULATE HYPOTHESIS:
Hypothesis is tentive assumptions made in order to draw out a test its logical or empirical
consequences. Hypothesis should be very specific & limited for a peace of research in hand
because it has to be tested. Hypothesis provides a guide for researching which are limited to
the area of research and to keep him on the right track.

4) DESIGN RESERCH:
Research design is a conceptual structure with in which research would be conducted.
Research design involves the following consideration:-
a) Means of obtaining the information.
b) Availability & skill of the researcher & his staff.
c) Explanation of the way in which selected means of obtaining information will be
organized.
d) Time availability for research.
e) The cost factor relating to research.

41
5) COLLECTING DATA:
There are certain ways of collecting the appropriate data which differ considerately in
context of money, time, cost, & other resource at the disposal of the researcher. Data can be
collected through primary resources & secondary sources Primary sources include data
collection through surveys, Questionnaire, interview and observation. Secondary data can be
collected through book, magazines, journals, business reports or internet. The researcher
should select one of these methods of collecting data taking into considerations the nature of
the investigation, objectives and scope of research.
In form of primary data I have used questionnaire and in form of secondary data I have
taken data from multiple sources.

6) ANALYSIS OF DATA:
The analysis of data requires a member of closely related operation such as establishment of
faculties, application of these facilities to draw a data, to coding, tabulation and there drawing
statistical inferences. The unwieldy data is classified data into sum purposely and usable
categories.

7) INTERPRETATION & REPORTS:

The process of interpretation explains the findings on the basis of some theories. The process of
interpretation quite often trigger of new practices in which in return may lead to further
researcher.

PRELIMINARY PAGES

MAIN TEXT
END MATTERS

I) The Preliminary pages:-

We include topics titles, data, acknowledgement, list of tables, list of the content, list of
graphs & charts if any given in the report.

42
II) The main text:-
It includes the interaction, summary of findings, main reports and the conclusion.

III) The end matters:-

It includes appendices, bibliography and index in case of published reports
Data can be classified under the two main categories, depending upon the sources used for the
collection purposes. i.e., Primary data and Secondary data. The validity and accuracy of final
judgment is most crucial and depends heavily upon how well the data is gathered in the first
place. The methodology adopted for data gathering also affects the conclusions drawn there
form.

Primary data:
Primary data are those data, which are collected by the investigator himself for the purpose of a
specific enquiry or study. Such data are original in character and generated by surveys conducted
by individuals or research institutions. Thus we can say that the data that is being collected for
the first time is called primary data.

Methods that can be used for collection of primary data are as follows:

Direct personal observation: under this method, the investigator presents himself
personally before the informant and obtains first hand information. This method provides
greater degree of accuracy.

Telephone survey: under this method the investigator, instead of presenting himself
before the informants, contacts them on telephone and collects information them.

Indirect personal interview: under this method, instead of directly approaching the
informants, the investigator interviews several third persons who are directly or indirectly
concerned with the subject matter of the enquiry and who are in possession of the
requisite information. This method is highly suitable where the direct personal

43
 investigation is not practicable either because the informants are unwilling or reluctant to
supply the information or where the information desired is complex or the study in hand
is extensive.

Information received through local agents: under this method, the information is not
collected formally by the investigator, but local agents, commonly know as
correspondents, and are appointed for the different parts of the area under the
investigation. They apply their own judgment as to the best method of obtaining
information.

Mailed questionnaire method: under this method, the investigator prepares a

questionnaire containing a number of questions pertaining to the field of enquiry. These
questionnaires are sent by post to the informants together with a polite covering letter
explaining in detail, the aims and objectives of collecting the information, and requesting
the respondents to cooperate by furnishing the correct replies and returning the
questionnaire duly filled in. the success of this method depends upon the proper drafting
of the questionnaire and cooperation of the respondents.

Questionnaire sent through enumerators: under this method, instead of sending the
questionnaire through post, the investigator appoints agents know as enumerators, who
go to the respondents personally with the questionnaire, ask them the questions given
therein, and record their replies
Secondary data:
When a person uses data, which has already been collected by someone else, then such data is
know as secondary data. Secondary data should be used with extra caution since someone else
has collected it for his/her use. Before using such data the investigator must be satisfied with
regard to the reliability, accuracy, adequacy and suitability of the data to he given problem under
investigation.
Methods that can be used for collection of secondary data are as follows:

44
 Published sources: there are a number of national organizations and international
agencies, which collect and publish statistical data relating to business, trade, labor, price,
consumption, production, etc. these publications of the various organizations are useful
sources of secondary data.

Unpublished sources: the records maintained by private firms or business house who
may not like to release their data to any outside agency are know as unpublished sources
of collection of secondary data.

Both Primary data collection methods and Secondary data collection methods have various
advantages as well as limitations. Thus it would be prudent to use both these methods to ones
advantage.

Both Primary and Secondary data have been used in the thesis. More of secondary data has been
used.
Sampling:
Sampling refers to the procedure by which some members of a given population are selected as
representatives of the entire population.

45
SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT Analysis is a general technique which can find suitable applications across diverse
management function and activities but it is particular appropriate to the early stage of strategy
and marketing plan
SWOT involves generation and recording of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
concerning a task, individual, department or organization, it is customary to take account of
internal resources and capabilities (strengths & weakness) and factors external to the
organization (opportunities & threats).
SWOT Analysis is an effective way of identifying your strengths and weaknesses and of
examining the opportunities and threat.
What makes it particularly powerful is that with a little thought, it can help you uncover
opportunities that you are well placed to take advantage of. And by understanding your
weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares.
More than this, buy looking at yourself and your competitors using the SWOT framework, you
can start to craft a strategy that helps you compete successfully in your market.

The Whirlpool Corporation - SWOT Analysis company profile is the essential source for top-
level company data and information. Whirlpool Corporation - SWOT Analysis examines the
companys key business structure and operations, history and products, and provides summary
analysis of its key revenue lines and strategy.

Whirlpool Corporation (Whirlpool) manufactures and markets a full line of major appliances and
related products, primarily for home use. The company operates in North America, Europe, Latin
America and Asia. It is headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan and employs about 67,000
people. The company recorded revenues of $17,099 million during financial year ended
December 2009 (FY2009), a decrease of 9.6% as compared with FY2008. The reason for
decrease in revenues was primarily due to lower appliance industry demand. The operating profit
of the company was $688 million during FY2009, an increase of 25.3% over FY2008. The net
profit was $328 million in FY2009, a decrease of 21.5% as compared with FY2008.

46
 CHAPTER-5
DATA ANALYSIS
&
INTERPRETATION

47
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1. Have you purchased any consumer durable during Exhibitions?

INTERPRETATION
66% of Customers have not purchased any consumer durable from exhibition and Only 34%
people have purchased. It shows that consumers are coming in the exhibition for knowledge of
product and also they want to know that weather there is actual price difference in exhibition and
shop or not.

48
Q.2While purchasing consumer durable which parameter influences you?

INTERPRETATION
.16% of customer gives importance to price. So it shows that Indian consumers are very price
sensitive. They give more importance to price over the brand whereas 20% give importance to
brand. So price and Brand matter a lots for the costumers. And they are also want best brand in
best price and durability18% because Service is also a big factor for the customer they are less
interested in the durability.

Q3. From where you prefer buying consumer durables

49
INTERPRETATION
A majority of customers prefer to buy from showrooms. Very less proposition of customers buys
from Exhibitions 11% customers are prefer to by from the showrooms because the showrooms
are more convenient to customers they also think that these shops give more discounts. People
are less interested to buy from the exhibition they only visit the exhibition for price quotation of
the product and the comparison of the product.

50
Q.4.You prefer to buy from the same as you have mentioned in Q.3 because of following
reasons.

INTERPRETATION
Customers buy from showrooms because of the service and convenience.
There are two main factors.
1.Customers are preferred to buy from the showroom because of they think that these convenient
store may provide good after sell service.
2. Customer also thinks that there is more chance to bargain and they can get more discounts in
these showrooms and Price also a factor that attract the customer in these showrooms.

51
Q.5. How frequently you change your consumer durables?

INTERPRETATION
Customers prefer to change consumer durables within 3-5 years as 18% customers do not change
their consumer durable within 10 year. It represent that Indian consumer prefer to change their
consumer durable frequently.

52
Q.6.Do you prefer any financing scheme to purchase consumer durables?

INTERPRETATION
Majority of customers usual prefer financial scheme as a result 72% of the consumer prefer to
have financial scheme whereas 28% of the consumers says no

53
Q-8 Are you aware of warranty period of the products?

INTERPRETATION

58% of the consumer agrees to the fact that they are aware of the product warranty period where
as 42% of the consumers says that they are not aware of the warranty period of the products.

54
Q-9 Do you know which product parts are under warranty?

INTERPRETATION
56% of the consumers feels that they have knowledge that which products parts are under
warranty whereas 44% says that they dont have knowledge.

55
Q-10 whether you are satisfied with after sales service of whirlpool?

INTERPRETATION
64% of the consumers says that service man come as prompt as said by them whereas 30% says
no and 6% consumers cant say about this.

56
 CHAPTER-6
FINDINGS
&
SUGGESTIONS

57
FINDINGS
20 % of the customers responded that their overall experience to accessibility and responses
through Telephone is Excellent. Next 20 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 40 % of
the customer. Final 20 % is not so satisfied so they said that the service is fair

20 % of the customers responded that their overall experience to accessibility and responses
through E-mail is Excellent. Next 20 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 40 % of the
customer. Final 20 % is not so satisfied so they said that the service is fair

19 % of the customers responded that their overall experience to ability to help resolve issue or
need is Excellent. Next 21 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 28 % of the customer.
24 % is somewhat satisfied so they said that the service is fair. 9 % is not satisfied with the
service.

21 % of the customers responded that their overall experience with DHL

clearance department is Excellent. Next 19 % says it is very good. Good being
awarded by 18 % of the customer. 38% is somewhat satisfied so they said that
the service is fair. 5 % is not satisfied with the service.

11 % of the customers responded that their overall experience with DHL clearance department
is Excellent. Next 31 % says it is very good. Good being awarded by 50 % of the customer. 5 %
is somewhat satisfied so they said that the service is fair. 3 % is not satisfied with the service.

19 % of the customers responded they are Extremely Satisfied with the service. Next 25 % they
are satisfied. Neutral is 22 % of the customer. 23 % is somewhat satisfied so they said that the
service is fair. 3 % is not satisfied with the service.

64 % of the customer responded in favour of recommending DHL Express to others. On the

other hand 36 % of the people say No to recommend DHL Express to others.

58
 69 % of the customer responded in favour that loyalty towards DHL Express has grown
stronger. On the other hand 31 % of the people say No that loyalty towards DHL Express has not
grown stronger.

51 % of the customer responded in favour that DHL Express Values people & Relationships
ahead of Short-term goals. On the other hand 49 % of the people say No that DHL Express do
not Values people & Relationships ahead of Short-term goals.

59
SUGGESTIONS

1. Whirlpool needs to increase the number of BTL (below the line) activities to
generate common awareness and visibility at grassroots level, because it can be
understood from the figures of their competitors BTL activities that Whirlpool BTL
activities is not up to the that mark in comparison to other competitors.

2. In Delhi market dealers dont want to put direct push effort on brands thats why
unlike other cities market where if a dealer deals in LG they prefer not to deals with
its direct competitor Samsung, but in Gujarat every dealer is having collection of
brands, they want to be ready for everything like whatever customer demands they
can easily find out in their store. Currently Whirlpool is available with most of the
major dealers in Delhi, Whirlpool needs to focus on those dealers also where it will
not face direct competition with LG and Samsung , a small and dedicated brand
dealer will work not only for margins but they also can see the future opportunities in
form of Whirlpool.

3. Good thing about Whirlpool is that they got somehow success in positioning
themselves as a quality brand the customer survey and the dealers survey tells the
story about it. People perceived Whirlpool as a good product quality brand. If this can
be associated with better pricing also there will be immense possibilities for
Whirlpool. Need to create a value for money brand image which can give good
product quality at affordable prices.

4. Whirlpool needs to build strong dealer relation in order to provide better place
strategies for the brand. Whirlpool lacks in company support factors and most of the
existing dealers in the dealer survey said that. Like most of the companies are having
their regular company dealers meet to get together with their dealers, Whirlpool lacks
needs to do this in order to regain dealer support

5. Service arrangements need to be strengthen, still people thinks that because the
company is having foreign origin and it is new too, if they will purchase any product
they will face service problem in future. Customers in rural areas are not aware of the
60
 service call center facilities and dont know how do it, company is not having the
service centers also there in those area , customers passes the complaints to dealers,
and dealers to distributors, and finally distributors has to log this complaints to the
call center, which creates overburden for them.

6. Any one accepts that as a fully fledged brand, Whirlpool can only compete with the
Korean giants LG and Samsung. Product lines and variants in the refrigerators should
be increased to give wider option to choose from to the customer because the
Whirlpool refrigerators could be proved as a benchmark product for Whirlpool
because of its unique differentiation with others.

7. Most of the products are simple in looks, in refrigerators segment even the logo on
refrigerators are not attractive as compare to others.

8. Whirlpool should adopt aggressive marketing strategies to cut down competition and
visibility at market place.

9. Appropriate product knowledge should be given by the company to dealers and to

dealers to create awareness towards quality.

10. Products should be more attractive refrigerators looks very simple and ordinary
especially direct cool refrigerators Entry level Refrigerators can do better because of
price and capacities.

11. Whirlpool has good presence in the market but one thing is also evident that Whirlpool
is present in major counters with LG and Samsung, Whirlpool also need to focus on
those dealers were it will not face direct competition with LG and Samsung.
Competitive strategy should be like this where first Whirlpool should wipe out smaller
brands compare to LG and Samsung because this brand also have market share larger
than Whirlpool, and Whirlpool is not in competition of LG and Samsung it should
target on brands like Godrej , TCL first, so it can compete the bigger brand later on.

61
 CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION:

62
Nearly five years ago, Whirlpool Corporation set out on a course to reach the homes and hearts
of customers around the globe. By listening intensely to their customers, understanding their
needs and desires, and creating innovative solutions that meet and exceed those needs,
Whirlpools organizations worldwide are building unmatched levels of customer loyalty to the
brands.
Its about innovation, eco efficiency and the consumer
The driving and the major elements the company considers are the
Innovation
Eco friendly in nature
Consumer
In this present world and in this emerging scenarios of business whirlpool has
exactly aimed on the aspects which it has to be.
Through increased speed to market and international project
teams, were changing the way we do business.
Time being the major concern for any person in the world the company has attained a beautiful
place in establishing a standard of producing products and placing products delivering them on
time when needed

I make quality products that help people express their personal styles

Personal belonging toward s anything is a major aspect for a human being in driving towards it
interest in attaining it.so whirlpool has got its uniqueness in producing products according to
lifestyles of individuals.

63
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

64
References:
1.Marketing research, G.C.Beri, Third Edition, Tata
McGrawHill Publishing Company Limited, New
Delhi, 2000
2.)Marketing management, Philip Kotler, Twelth
(Millennium) edition, Prentice-Hall of India
Private Limited, New Delhi, 2003

1. http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com
2. whirlpool annual report 2008.pdf
3.Implementing global marketing strategy.pdf
Whirlpool Corporation
4. Building a House of Brands: Whirlpool Corporations
Blueprint for Success.pdf
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_Corporation

65
ANNEXURE

66
Q1. Have you purchased any consumer durable during Exhibitions?
(A) Y (B) N

Q.2While purchasing consumer durable which parameter influences you?

(A)BRAND (B)DURABILITY (C)PRICE (D)PRODUCT FEATURE (E) SERVICE

Q3. From where you prefer buying consumer durables

(A) COMPANY SHOPEE (B) SHOWROOM (C) EXHIBITION

Q.4.You prefer to buy from the same as you have mentioned in Q.3 because of following
reasons.
(A) QUALITY (B) ORIGINALITY (C) PRICE

Q.5. How frequently you change your consumer durables?

(A) 2YEAR (B) 3 YEARS (C) 4 YEARS (D) 5YEARS)

Q.6.Do you prefer any financing scheme to purchase consumer durables?

(A) YES (B) NO

Q-8 Are you aware of warranty period of the products?

(A) YES (B) NO

Q-9 Do you know which product parts are under warranty?

(A) YES (B) NO

Q-10 Does the service man come as prompt as said to you?

(A) YES (B) NO

67