Business Research

Method
ZCZF 6033

Research Project:
“Factors influencing the purchase of Engine Lubricant by
consumer who drive within Klang Valley”

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Zafir Mohd Makhbul

Prepared by:

V. Devakumar - ZP00363
Shelly Elena - ZP00548

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 Submission Date: 18-01-2011

Table of Contents

Rebekah Bennett & Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, “Customer Satisfaction Should Not be the Only
Goal, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. .............................................................18
7.1 Future Research
Rebekah Bennett & Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, “Customer Satisfaction Should Not be the Only
Goal, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. .............................................................18

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to determine the contributors to the purchase

decision of engine lubricant oil. The target market will be passenger car
owners in Klang Valley. The research also evaluates the brand awareness as
well as the purchase preferences of consumers. The consumers were asked on
their awareness of lubricant brand, type of pricing, mechanic influence and the
place of purchase. From the results obtained, it is hoped that the oil company
can use this information in marketing and placing their products. The study
was made on 37 samples of consumer who drive. The results only show
samples of the full population and cannot be used to determine the preference
of everyone. The study has been divided to concentrate on four components.
The components are the pricing factor (promotion), brand awareness,
convenience place of purchase as well as mechanics influence.

1.0 Introduction

Most engine lubricants are nearly the same. It’s the brand or friend’s
recommendation which affect the purchase decision. When a customer
compares the brands available, factors such as brand, promotion and ease of
purchase as well as mechanics recommendation affects his/her decision.
Marketing influences the decision making of the customer when purchasing

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the product. We are conducting this research to find other elements that
influence the consumers buying behaviour. We need to understand and what
are the components that are most looked for by consumers when making the
purchase decision.
Motor oil is a lubricant used in internal combustion engines. These include
motor or road vehicles such as cars and motorcycles, heavier vehicles such as
buses and commercial vehicles, locomotives and aircraft, and static engines
such as electrical generators. In engines, there are parts which move against
each other causing friction which wastes otherwise useful power by converting
the energy to heat. Contact between moving surfaces also wears away those
parts, which could lead to lower efficiency and degradation of the engine. This
increases fuel consumption, decreases power output and can, in extreme
cases lead to engine failure. 1

Lubricating oil creates a separating film between surfaces of adjacent moving

parts to minimize direct contact between them, decreasing heat caused by
friction and reducing wear, thus protecting the engine. In use, motor oil
transfers heat through convection as it flows through the engine by means of
air flow over the surface of the oil pan, oil cooler and through the build up of
oil gases evacuated by the Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) system. In
petrol (gasoline) engines, the top piston ring can expose the motor oil to
temperatures of 320 °F (160 °C). In diesel engines the top ring can expose the
oil to temperatures over 600 °F (315 °C). Motor oils with higher viscosity
indices thin less at these higher temperatures.2

1.1 Conceptual Framework

Mechanics
Recommend
ation

PURCHASE
DECISION
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil
2
Klamman, Dieter, Lubricants and Related Products, Verlag Chemie, 1984

Brand 3
Awareness
 Chart 1: Conceptual Framework of Purchase Decision

2.0 The Problem Statement

The problem of this study is to evaluate the key factors or components that
influence the purchase of lubricants by the consumer. The result gained can
assist company to decide on how to market and target the product. This will
also help to promote the correct product placement at the right time and at
the right place to the correct person.

3.0 The Research Objectives

Specifically, this study is seeking input to the following questions:

1. To choose the key components that affects the overall purchase of
passenger car motor oil from the consumer.
2. To scrutinize which are the vital components that managers should
allocate the resources for better quality services.
3. To assist the lube marketing manager on which are the four main
components that can boost the sales of the company.

This research will also help companies to evaluate the information whether
the product are meeting customer’s expectation and influence the mind of
customer in purchasing lubricant. This study would help them to develop
and enhance the services provided to the consumers.

4.0 Literature review

4.1 Brand Awareness

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Brand awareness is the consumer’s ability to identify a brand under different
conditions (Keller, 2003). This is the factors which can expose or destroy the
brand. When a cue or special word is mentioned, the customer must be able to
recall the specific brand. This is known as brand recall. The minimum of brand
awareness is brand recognition and is influenced by aided recall (Holden,
1993). When a consumer making a purchase decision at the point of purchase,
brand awareness has a big influence on their decision.

On the next level, unaided recall is brand awareness where the consumer is
able to recall the brand by referring to any other cue about the brand. (Ross
and Harradine, 2004). Although the brand name is not provided, the fact that
they can recall the name implies that the brand has a very strong position in
their mind. This is called brand awareness. The first-named brand in an
unaided recall thus represents the highest level of brand awareness (Laurent,
1995; Mariotti, 1999). When repeated exposure to the brand is done, the
familiarity of the brand increases and brand awareness is enhanced
(Keller,2003).

As seen from this, advertising is the first platform to build brand awareness
(Gregory,1993;Hoyer and Brown,1990). Many world famous brands use the
power of television and magazines to advertise their products and expose
potential customers to them.(Waterschoot, cited in Ross and Harradine,2004).

Some functions that brands can perform for customers are such as signal of
the product characteristics; simplify decision making; serve as a guarantee by
providing trust, consistency or a set of promises and a reduction of risk ; fulfill
a personalization, social or status function; or provide pleasure.
(Lambin,2002,Varrey 2002, Picton and Broderick,2001). The small set of
brands which the consumer automatically retrieves is important since a brand
is not part of the consideration set is unlikely to be chosen (Mowen and Minor,
2001).

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According to Woodside and Wilson(1885), there exists a relationship between
brand awareness and purchase decision. When the customer recalls the brand
easily in an unaided situation, the intention to purchase is higher and the
purchase is more likely. Usually brands which are at the top of the mind have
the highest possibility of purchase. The decision-making process is further
simplified by a brand’s associated with quality (Vranesevic and Stancec, 2003).

The usual consumers perception of brand is based on the belief that when the
consumer is familiar with the brand, the organization must have spent heavily
on advertising. If the organization spends a lot on advertising, it must have
good profits which mean that many consumers are satisfied with the product;
therefore the product must be good, especially in brand awareness familiarity
has a great impact of a brand. (Macdonald and Sharp, 2003).

4.2 Price

When consumer decides on purchase of the engine lubricant, one of the major
factors affecting the purchase is pricing. This pricing is tailored according to
the class and standards of reliability. When the price is not set to include the
marginal cost and the price does not reflect the actual cost of production, it
will not influence the customer to purchase the optimal quantity. When this
price-marginal-cost equality is violated due to inherent market conditions,
second-best solutions are often utilized (Farrell, 1958; Leinbenstein, 1966;
Lipsey and Lancaster, 1956).

The determination of optimal prices together with cost-efficient operating is

obviously is different (Boronico et al., 1995; Crew and Kleindorfer, 1993).
Colvin et al. (1992) argues that lubricants producers should reconsider their
methods of pricing because of the current market trend of growing capital
required for brand products. The reliability also affects the margins for the
product since consumers usually choose a product based on the reliability.
(Chen,1984). None of early records of oil and gas industry considers the
reliability.

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 4.3 Place of Purchase

Most consumers want an easy and accessible place to purchase the products.
When the service at the outlet is good, they will return to make more
purchases. As stated by Levesque and McDougall, 1996, p. 14), satisfaction is
and overall customer attitude towards a service provider. If what the customer
receives is different from what they anticipate then there will an emotional
responds to this(Zineldin, 2000). A similar response is given by Gerpott(2001)
who proposes that satisfaction is based on a customer’s estimated experience
of the extent to which a provider’s services fulfill his or her expectations.

When customers are satisfied, this brings many benefits. Satisfied customers
are less price sensitive, usually buy additional products, are less influenced by
competitors and stay loyal longer (Zineldin, 2000). Although customer
satisfaction is important, it is not equally important to all the customers. There
are two types of customers. The first do not fall into the service of the
company, while the second are customers who are crucial to the company’s
existence. The first type of customer can usually be ignored but the second
type must be taken care of properly to ensure that the goal of satisfying
customers is met.(Bhote, 1996). Convenient for the customer can be defined
as “a commitment to continue to purchase product on an ongoing basis”
(Zineldin, 2000, p. 28).

A more elaborated definition is to define conveniently as the customers’ liking,

commitment, trust, willingness to purchase, and repurchase products, with the
first four being emotional-cognitive convenient constructs, and the last two
being behavioral intentions (Stauss et al., 2001). This research focused of third
components that affect the purchase of lubricants at Central Region. It is
investigated that the component of convenient when purchase oil lubricants

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difference in the mind of consumers that effecting of lube purchase oil among
the Malaysians.

4.4 Mechanics Recommendation

One of the important influences of purchase decisions especially for engine

lubricant are the mechanics. This is stated as “A decision making process
carried out by individuals in interaction with other people, in the context of
formal organization.”(Webster and Wind, 1972). The overall purchasing
behavior of consumers can be affected by mechanics recommendation. These
factors can be defined as variables which relate directly to the buying task,
whereas non-task variables are those that extend beyond the buying problem,
variables that may influence the individual decision maker(s), such as
emotion, personal goals and internal wants.

(Rui da Silva, Gary Davies, Pete Naudia, 2003). Sheth’s (1973) model states a
generic model of organizational buying, characterizing organizational buyer
behaviour as encompassing three distinct aspects: the psychological world of
the individuals involved in the buying decisions, the conditions that precipitate
joint or group decision making among the individuals involved, and the
inevitable conflict among the decision makers and how it is resolved through
resorting to a variety of tactics. According to Rui da Silva, Gary Davies, Pete
Naudia, 2003 conclude that consumer buying is influenced by experts
(Mechanics) and personal characteristics. The way they buy will be affected by
other factors such as context and organization. In our study we are particularly
interested in component of experts like mechanics that affects the purchase
lubricants.

5.0 The Research Methodology

To evaluate and categorize elements of the group factors which are significant
to the influence of purchasing the engine lubricant within Klang Valley, the
following research methodology was utilized in the study.

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 5.1 Sample and Data collection Procedure

This research is based on causal research. The company will make decisions
based on assumed causal relationships. This is a descriptive research design
and survey. Data was collected from a sample of consumers. Survey forms
were given to consumers who drive and they answered all the questions given.
The population for this survey is the professional workers who drive a car to
the office every day from the private and public sectors. The respondents
comprised of 37 consumers. The demographic and frequency of the
consumers are summarized in Table 1.

As it’s shown there about 65% of the consumers participated in the study were
male while 35% were female. Also greater percentages of consumers were
between 25 to 30 years old. All of them stay in the city of Klang Valley. About
50% of all the consumers annual income is between RM 36,001 to RM 72,000.

5.2 Questionnaire and Analysis

To determine the job satisfaction of the professional workers, a questionnaire

comprising four main factors that can influence the purchase decision in
buying engine lubricant oil and some demographic questions was constructed.
The main factors are:

(a) Part A : Brand Awareness

(b)Part B : Purchase Decision
(c) Part C : Mechanic Recommendations
(d)Part D : Purchase Location

Respondents were asked to indicate the factors influencing the purchase of

Engine Lubricant by consumer who drives within Klang Valley. Respondents
were asked to indicate the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction which they
derived from each of the 4 aspects of their jobs. The scale ranged from 1 to 5

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signifies 1 – “Strongly Disagree”, 2 – “Disagree”, 3 – “Neutral”, 4 – “Agree” and
5 – “Strongly Agree”. The elements were formulated based on the common
influences of purchase decision by consumers.

This research is a quantitative study where the researcher discovers the

different factors influencing the Engine Lubricants purchased respectively. The
quantitative study in this research is about interpreting the data in the form of
percentages. The data was analyzed using SPSS software.

5.3 Hypothesis

Based on literature review, hypotheses were developed as below:

H1: There will be positive relationship between Brand awareness and

Purchase decision

H2: There will be positive relationship between Mechanic

recommendations and Purchase decision

6.0 Data Analysis

6.1 Demographics of respondent

Table 1.0 shows the detailed analysis on the respondents’ backgrounds.

Majority of the respondents were male with 65.0%. It is noted that
respondents with annual income of 36,001 – 72,000 are the majority with
50% of total followed by respondents who have worked for estimated 2-3
years.

Table 1: Respondents’ Demographic Information

Frequency Percent
Gender

Male 26 65.0
Female 14 35.0

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 Ethnic Group
Malay 21 52.5
Chinese 7 17.5
Indian 10 25.0
Income Level (RM)
< 18,000 3 7.5
18,001 – 36,000 6 15.0
36,001 – 72,000 20 50.0
72,001 – 144,000 9 22.5
>144,000 2 5.0
Age

18 – 25 Years Old 5 12.5

25 – 30 Years Old 17 42.5
31 – 35 Years Old 10 25.0
36 – 40 Years Old 3 7.5
41 – 45 Years Old 4 10.0
46 – 50 Years Old 1 2.5
Length of Service

>1 year 1 2.5

2 to 3 Years 6 32.5
4 to 7 Years 4 20.0
8 to 10 Years 8 20.0
11 to 15 Years 3 25.0
Total 40 100.0

6.2 Influences between Age and Purchase Decision

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 Chart 1: Respondents’ Age Profile

Table 1.1 indicates the respondent’s age profile. The Age 25 – 30 years has
the highest frequency while age 46 – 50 represents the lowest with only
2.5% since most of them seldom drive to work anymore. Generally, most of
them were professional workers and lots of them have their own driver
already, hence they did not drive to office.

6.3 Reliability Analysis

Cronbach' N of Varian
Mean SD
s Alpha Items ce
19.275 3.3511
0.450 6 11.230
Brand Awareness 0 4
Mechanic 19.050 3.9415
0.762 5 15.536
Recommendations 0 6
18.550 3.3431
0.682 6 11.177
Purchase Decision 0 9
11..92 0.2625
0.687 2 6.892
Place of Purchase 50 20
Table 2: Reliability Analysis

Table 2 shows the result of validity and reliability analysis for

measurement scales. It was shown that only one research variables
exceeded the acceptable standard of reliability analysis, Cronbach’s
alpha of 0.70. These statistical analyses confirm that measurement

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 Model Summary

Std. Error Change Statistics

R Adjusted R of the R Square F Sig. F

Model R Square Square Estimate Change Change df1 df2 Change

1 .423a .179 .134 3.66748 .179 4.024 2 37 .026

scales have not measured the same constructs and does not met the
acceptable standard of construct validity and reliability analysis.

Aa.Predictors: (Constant), Recommendation, Brand_Awareness

ANOVAb

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 Sum of
Model Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 108.236 2 54.118 4.024 .026a

Residual 497.664 37 13.450

Total 605.900 39

a. Predictors: (Constant), Recommendation, Brand_Awareness

b. Dependent Variable: Purchase_Decision

Coefficientsa

Standardize
Unstandardized d
Coefficients Coefficients Collinearity Statistics

Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig. Tolerance VIF

1 (Constant) 8.167 3.914 2.086 .044

Brand_Awa .237 .198 .191 1.198 .239 .877 1.140

reness

Recommen .373 .188 .316 1.989 .054 .877 1.140

dation

a. Dependent Variable: Purchase_Decision

Correlations between brand awareness and consumer decision to buy that brand
due to influences from brand awareness and mechanics recommendation.

Correlations
1 2 3
Brand_Awaren Recommendat Purchase_Decisi
ess ion on
1 Brand_Awarene Pearson 1 .351* .301
ss Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) .027 .059
N 40 40 40
2 Recommendatio Pearson .351* 1 .383*
n Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) .027 .015

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 N 40 40 40
3 Purchase_Decisi Pearson .301 .383* 1
on Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed) .059 .015
N 40 40 40
* Correlation is signficant at the 0.05 level(2-tailed)

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7.0 Results and Conclusion

The results of the study show that the only the Mechanic’s
Recommendation variable to be above 0.7. The rest are all unreliable
data since they fall below 0.7. The significant value of 0.59 shows
that brand awareness plays a big role influencing the consumer’s
decision.

On the other hand, value of 0.027 for mechanics’ recommendation

show that this does not influence the purchase decision. Purchase has
a positive correlation with lube brand, trusted mechanic and
convenience place of purchase. However it has a negative correlation
with price. This is shown in the Pearson correlation. Lube brand is
important and has the highest positive correlation with purchase from
trusted mechanics.

Price also has the highest correlation with the purchase from trusted
mechanics. Convenient place of purchase has the highest correlation
with purchase from the trusted mechanics. The one-tailed significance
displayed that there is a significant correlation between lube brand and
mechanic and price and purchase from mechanic. Based on the study,
consumers feel that the most important factor in deciding the purchase
of lubricant is the lubricant brand. Secondly, mechanic is also a major
influence and pricing. It was also shown that the convenience place of
purchase is the least factor in deciding the lubricant to be purchased.

From the study, it is recommended that the company increase their

marketing to create a better brand awareness for their brand. As such
targeted advertising and promotions is important to increase the
awareness thus increase the purchase of lubricant. Since mechanic
play an important therefore emphasis should also be given by
encouraging the mechanics to promote the brand. Perhaps incentive
should be given to mechanics to promote the brand.

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Since convenient place of purchase is not the main factor therefore it
doesn’t affect much on purchasing. Lubricant can be sold in all outlets
and motorist does not decide the purchase merely on convenience
place of purchase. (this can be expanded further once the analysis is
completed)

7.1 Future Research

1. Introducing mediating variable such as family advice, car

manufacturer’s recommendation.

2. The scope of survey should be more concentrated on motorists

who are the actual consumers of engine lubricant oil. This will
give a better representation of the survey group and much more
accurate results.

3. The questionnaire should be more specific in terms of finalizing

the actual representative data to be more accurate and
significant for the intended objective.

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8.0 References

Ahmad Jamal & Mark M. H. Goode, “A Study of the Impact of Self-image

Congruence
on Brand Preference and Satisfaction” , Cardiff Business School

Corinne Gangloff, “Lubricant Growth Forecast”, Freedonia Group, Inc.,

Erik L Olson & Hans Mathias Thjomoe, “The Effects of Peripheral to

Information on
Brand Preference”, Journal of Norwegian School of Management,
Sanvika, Norway.

INTERNET, “Motor Oil”at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil,

Accessed at
07012011.

Klamman, Dieter, Lubricants and Related Products, Verlag Chemie,

1984.

Macdonald, E., Sharp, B., “Management perceptions of the importance

of brand
awareness as an indication of advertising effectiveness”,
Marketing Buletin,
Vol.14 No.2 (2003): 1-15.

Rebekah Bennett & Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, “Customer Satisfaction

Should Not be the Only Goal, University of Queensland,
Brisbane, Australia.

Tony Meenaghan, “The Role of Advertising in Brand Image

Development, Journal of
Product and Brand Management Vol 4 No 4 1995 pg 23-34

Zineldin M.& Jonsson P., “An examination of the main factors affecting
trust/

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commitment in supplier-dealer relationship: An empirical study
of the Swedish wood industry”, The TQM Magazine, Vol.12 No.4
2000, pg 245 – 265

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