CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON HYUNDAI MOTORS

INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY:

The Indian Automobile Industry has got a tremendous market potential. With the growth of
population and change in their pattern of life style as a result of urbanization, there has been a
rapid increase in demand for automobiles among Indians. The growing demand for cars,
together with the increasing number of manufacturers due to the liberalized policy of the
government, has resulted in the increasing competition among the manufacturers. This, in
turn, has necessitated the diversification of their activities synchronizing with the concept of
modern technology. Above all, it has also been realized that the major strategy of
withstanding the stiff competition is not only to retain the old customers but also to attract the
new customers through provision of quality of goods and services.

Hence, in recent times, provision of better and quality products to customers has become one
of the focal points in the service agenda of manufacturers due to the realization that it is only
the quality of the products provided that could help the manufacturers to attract more and
more of customers in a competitive marketing environment.

MEANING OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

Customer satisfaction (often abbreviated as CSAT, more correctly CSat) is a term

frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a
company meet or surpass customer expectation.

DEFINITION OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

Fornell, 1992- discussed that customer satisfaction will be influenced if the demand and
supply are different. Satisfaction will be low when the customer demand is heterogeneous
and the supply is homogeneous. To retain customer, switching barrier and customer
satisfaction are the two basic forms which need to be fulfilled.

Anton,1996 - gave a more current approach. He defined customer satisfaction as a state of

mind in which the customer’s needs, wants, and expectations throughout the product of
service life haven been met or exceeded, resulting in future repurchase and loyalty. Some
researchers support the idea that satisfaction can be measured from a perspective of
performance evaluations, making the inclusion of the disconfirmation process needless.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

 The research measures the experiences of customers.

 Defines and analyses the experiences based on key deliverables.
 Gains insights into Customer expectations.
 Customer satisfaction is the study of how individual make decisions to spend
their available resources on consumption related items.
 The study focus on customer behaviour & their satisfaction in buying a car

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To know the feedback of customers regarding the services which are being provided
by the company.
2. To understand the importance of client relationship
3. To understand customer satisfaction regarding the products offered by the company.
4. To find out the problems faced by customer.
 REVIEW OF
LITERATURE
 Prof. Pallawi B. Sangode (2011) This research paper is based on the findings of
comparative study of service quality of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Showrooms in
Nagpur. Service quality is a fundamental aspect of service provision, and this is
especially the case with motor vehicles, where substantial profits are generated in the
servicing of vehicles. The study was conducted using a convenience sample of forty
respondents who were owners of Maruti and Hyundai cars. The questionnaire was a
self-completion questionnaire consisting of 26 questions.

 Dr P. Sathyapriya (2011) India is becoming a hub of major manufacturing

industries and the automobile industry (in specific for passenger car segment) makes
rapid progress in the country. After de-licensing of the industry in 1991, a number of
global players have opened their plants in India.

 Ranganathan (2005) has conducted a study on consumer markets and buying

behaviors of cars and found that most of the respondents are focused towards
"mileage" in a car. They were suggested that Hyundai cars should be designed in such
a way that the actual fuel efficiency obtained is the same as that being promised
people have rated the pricing to be reasonable, but resale value of santro is very low
as compared to other brands.

 Rajan, Vijaya (2005) in their study mentioned that easier and faster mobility of
people and goods across the region, countries and continents is a cherished yeatning
of mankind. The automobile industry, particularly the light commercial vehicle
segment potential for facilitating this mobility with reference to both passengers and
freight movement is enormous. Wheels of development across the globe would have
to be powered by this industry.

 Dr.V.K.Kaushik and Neeraj Kaushik [south west haryana] in their study on brand
preference and recommendations on various cars. Hyundai and maruthi dominates
this market region. Consumers in this region are influenced by friends, family, and
relatives rather than by dealer and sales persons. Consumers are happy with its
performance, quality, dealer networks, after sales services provided and they are ready
to recommend it to others also. Brand name, fuel efficiency and price were found to
be primary determinant for buying cars in this region.

 Chidambram Etal (2004) in his opinion the consumer given more importance to fuel
efficiency than other factors. They believe that the brand name tells them something
about products quality, utility, technology and them he likes. The consumers satisfied
with their cars for high fuel efficiency, good quality, technology durability and
reasonable price.

 K.Vidhyakala (2000) has conducted a study on comfortable family car in Coimbatore

city market survey for cars in Coimbatore city for Chandra Hyundai. The finding was
that a tremendous market existed the santro cars for comfortable family car.
 Hawkins Etal (2004) has conducted the study on life style produce needs and
desires. It's ultimately affected the decision making of each consumer feelings and
emotions are very important in consumer purchase decisions and also have an effect
on the satisfaction

 Tahir, Waggett and Hoffman (2013), is “a customer's perspective based on

expectation and then subsequent post purchase experience”. In other words, it is an
evaluation of products or services‟ quality level that meets or exceeds the customer
expectations. The term customer satisfaction has been on the markets for a long time.
In fact, many researchers and academicians emphasized that it is a key element for a
company‟s success in the market as well as a crucial factor for company‟ssurvival as
it has a positive effect on company‟s profitability

 (Novikova, 2009; Angelova and Zekiri, 2011) It cannot be denied that a satisfied
consumer has a tendency to buy more than a less satisfied one. In a highly competitive
market, customer satisfaction is, indeed, a crucial key that builds strong and long-term
relationships between the customers and the firm. The measure of customer
satisfaction, therefore, has become a vital concern for many companies and services
providers to achieve such success

 Kassem (1989) has opined that service companies can ill afford to neglect customer
service quality issues. In the past, quality was the prerogative of manufacturing sector.
However, in the modern day fiercely competitive service sector, quality of services
has become as important (if not more) as quality of goods.

 Reichheld and Sasser (1990) have suggested “Zero Defection of Profitable

Customers” as an ideal approach to attain higher profitability in service sector. Their
assertion is based on the fact that it is less costly and hence more profitable for the
service firms to retain existing profitable customers than to attract new customers.
The profitable customers not only add to the profits of the companies but also bring
new customers in their kitty by spreading positive word of mouth.

 Pyanne and Ballantyne (1991) have observed that satisfied banking customers
initially become friends of the bank, then they become supporters and finally
advocates. Thus, the starting point of any relationship marketing endeavour of any
bank should be to leave no stone unturned in satisfying customers to a desired extent.
This, in turn, is possible if and only if the bank is keeping a ‘service quality’ focus.

 Rust and Zoharik (1993) have developed a mathematical model for assessing the
value that any bank could attach to different elements of customer satisfaction. They
have suggested that banks may adopt their model to get the best result of their
endeavour leading to customer satisfaction.

 Keavency (1995) has noticed that factors such as core service failure, service
encounter failure and inappropriate pricing as most important factors contributing to
‘Customer Switch’ in banking industry. The author has recommended following ways
 to avoid customer churn.

 Yavas et al., (1997) in their study have revealed a positive relationship between
customers’ satisfaction through service quality and their long term commitment to the
bank. Further, the relationship between service quality and complaint behaviour of the
customers, was found to be negative. Better the quality, lower will be the number of
complaints received from the customers and vice-versa.

 Sarkar and Das (1997) have compared the productivity of public, private and foreign
banks operating in Indian and have observed that public sector banks are lagging way
behind the other banks on this front.

 Seal (1998) has asserted that marketing endeavors of banking players should be
directed towards maximization of trust amongst all stakeholders. He further advocated
for pursuance of ‘System delivery Approach’ of marketing.

 Sarkar et al., (1998) have observed that foreign banks operating in India are more
productive followed by Indian private and public sector banks. One of the prominent
reasons behind such a difference is that foreign banks, to a greater extent and Indian
private banks, to a lesser extent have confined their operations to metropolitan and
other big and lucrative places.

 Das (1999) has observed a substantial increase in the non-interest income of

commercial banks of India in the post-reform period. This is an indication of banks’
starting offering lucrative products to Indian customers and them, in turn, finding
these worth purchasing.

 Leonard (1991) has opined that investment in employees in banking sector leads to
better service quality, which in turn leads to better customer retention. This assertion
is based in the fact that employees of the banks are inseparable to customers. A direct
interaction between them demands that employees are possessing adequate skills to
interact with customers. Such skills add to the service quality and go a long way in
preventing customers’ churn.

 Pyanne and Ballantyne (1991) have observed that satisfied banking customers
initially become friends of the bank, then they become supporters and finally
advocates. Thus, the starting point of any relationship marketing endeavour of any
bank should be to leave no stone unturned in satisfying customers to a desired extent.
This, in turn, is possible if and only if the bank is keeping a ‘service quality’ focus.

 Rust and Zoharik (1993) have developed a mathematical model for assessing the
value that any bank could attach to different elements of customer satisfaction. They
have suggested that banks may adopt their model to get the best result of their
endeavour leading to customer satisfaction.
 Keavency (1995) has noticed that factors such as core service failure, service
encounter failure and inappropriate pricing as most important factors contributing to
‘Customer Switch’ in banking industry.

 Seal (1998) has asserted that marketing endeavors of banking players should be
directed towards maximization of trust amongst all stakeholders. He further advocated
for pursuance of ‘System delivery Approach’ of marketing.