PIONEER INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, INDORE

Diligence & Excellence(Since 1996)

SESSION(2014-2016)

ASYNOPSIS OF

MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTON

A Comparative Study of Consumer Preferencetowards Indian watch and Foreign watch

GUIDED BY:- SUBMITTED BY:- Ms. ADITI BHAWSAR ROHIT TRIPATHI MBA III SEMESTER

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INDEX

S.NO CONTENTS PAGE NO.

1. Introduction

2. Rationale

3. Literature Review

4. Objectives

5. Research Methodology

6. Expected Outcomes

7. References

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INTRODUCTION

Consumer is the King of market and all the marketing activities of all the business and

industrial enterprises of today go around the habits, tastes, preferences, perception and

attitudes of consumers. All efforts are being made to provide maximum satisfaction to

maximum consumers. Goods and Services are produced according to the specifications of

these needs and wants and these goods and services are distributed to the consumers at the

right time and place through most suitable channels of distribution. Marketers have come to

realize that no marketing efforts can be successful if the choices, tastes and attitudes of

consumers are not properly considered. Therefore, they lay stress upon marketing research

and study consumer behaviour. Further, a buyer purchases a product because of certain

physical, social and economical forces creating a desire or a want for the product. A decision

to buy a product is taken after passing through different stages. Need recognition is the first

thing in the buying stages, which is followed by product awareness, interest, evaluation and

intention, source of information, purchase and post purchase behaviour. A decision to buy a

product of daily use may be taken in few seconds while the decision to buy a durable product

is taken after critical study of many factors. According to recent survey by FICCI, India’s

rapid economic growth has set the stage for fundamental change among the country’s

consumers. There is discernible shift in consumer preference in favour of higher-end and

technologically superior branded products. The demand is being spurred by increasing

consumer awareness and preference for new models. The changing dynamics of consumer

behavior reflects that luxury goods are now being perceived as necessities with higher

disposable incomes being spent on lifestyle products. A large number of domestic and

multinational companies are already competing in the market and the challenges would force

companies to be more dynamic to adapt the rapidly changing needs and incomes of the

consumers. In recent years, consumers have shown inclination for foreign goods and Indian

goods are also at par global standard.

A watch is a small timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to

keep working despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed

to be worn on a wrist, attached by a watch strap or other type of bracelet. A pocket watch is

designed for a person to carry in a pocket.

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Watches evolved in the 17th century from spring-powered clocks, which appeared as early as

the 14th century. The first watches were strictly mechanical, driven by clockwork. As

technology progressed, mechanical devices, used to control the speed of the watch, were

largely superseded by vibrating quartz crystals that produce accurately timed electronic

pulses. Some watches use radio clock technology to regularly correct the time. The first

digital electronic watch was developed in 1970.

Most inexpensive and medium-priced watches, used mainly for timekeeping, are electronic

watches with quartz movements. Expensive collectible watches, valued more for their

elaborate craftsmanship, aesthetic appeal and glamorous design than for simple timekeeping,

often have purely mechanical movements and are powered by springs, even though these

movements are generally less accurate and more expensive than electronic ones. Various

extra features, called "complications", such as moon-phase displays and the different types of

tourbillon, are sometimes included. Modern watches often display the day, date, month and

year, and electronic watches may have many other functions. Time-related features such as

timers, chronographs and alarm functions are common. Some modern designs incorporate

calculators, use GPS technology or have heart-rate monitoring capabilities. Watches

incorporating GPS receivers use them not only to determine their position. They also receive

and use time signals from the satellites, which make them essentially perfectly accurate

timekeepers, even over long periods of time.

he concept of the wristwatch goes back to the production of the very earliest watches in the

16th century. Elizabeth I of England received a wristwatch from Robert Dudley in 1571,

described as an arm watch. From the beginning, wrist watches were almost exclusively worn

by women, while men used pocket-watches up until the early 20th century.

Consumers’ Attitude towards Indian Vs Foreign Brands In a global market place, the

competing position of firms is determined by many factors. One critical consideration that

influences this position is the number of competing brands and their acceptance by

customers. The developed nations constitute the biggest markets in the world, which annually

import hundreds of billions of dollars worth of foreign products. In addition, there has been a

proliferation of foreign brands that are manufactured or assembled and marketed in these

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nations by local and foreign based firms. Customers everywhere can choose from a set of

brands that includes foreign manufactured or licensed products covering every conceivable

product category from food, toys, and apparel to automobiles, computers, and industrial

goods and many such brands have achieved enviable market positions. The marketing of such

large number of foreign brands leads to the issue of whether customers are sensitive to and

concerned about where products and brands are manufactured or originates. To measure the

attitude of consumers towards Indian vs. foreign brands in all fifty five attitudinal statements

on the basis of country of origin, product performance, consumer ethnocentrism and

considerations for foreign brands have been framed after their reliability test. Further mean

score has been calculated of each statement and the following observations have been made

INDIAN WRIST WATCH ORIGIN

50 million wristwatches are sold in India every year. Not withstanding the presence of global

players and the opening up of the market, the Indian market has always been dominated by a

single player. In the past, till the late 80’s, in the mechanical era, HMT dominated the market.

And after that it has again been the domination of a single company, Titan. Today Titan has

almost 65% market share of the organized watch market in the country. The organized watch

market itself is estimated at 35% of the total industry size...........

In value terms the size of the organized market is estimated at around Rs. 1500 crores, which

means that the average price of watches sold even today is less than Rs.1000!!!

Watches are typically segmented into specialist watches and fashion watches. All

International watch brands have a clear position as to where they belong. In India most sales

are in the fashion segment and this fine distinction has not yet been used by marketers. Male

watch buyers far outnumber females and account for around 65% of sales. Students are the

largest segment of buyers accounting for approximately 30% of the sales.

Since penetration is still low and the unorganized sector big, this industry has a lot of scope to

grow both in value and volume. The jury is still out though whether the Indian companies

like Titan will lead this growth or the global majors like Seiko, Citizen etc. After all the

domestic players have hitherto grown because of a retail strategy and the wining global

players are clearly focused on product

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INDIAN WATCH

Sonata, by Titan, is the most loved, most admired and most preferred brand of wristwatches

in India at the moment. Most Indians feel the beauty and elegance of a Sonata watch on their

wrists. Sonata caters to people of all generations. The unique feature for which most Indians

love Sonata is that it provides watches for all occasions and festivities with a special touch of

thematic grace. The most preferred Sonata variant is the youth-centric Super Fibre Watch.

Titan

Titan is a major watch company that owns brands like Sonata and

Fastrack. Besides that, Titan manufactures models that are very famous

and admired across India like Aqura, Diva, Insignia, Raga and Octane

among others. Titan Watch Company is a subsidiary of Tata Group of

Industries. 

Fastrack

Fastrack is a sub-brand of Titan that was launched in 1998 keeping in mind the Indian youth.

Fastrack is the urban youth's fashion watch brand. Fastrack’s unique and affordable designs

across various categories and segments ensure that it is going hand-in-hand with the urban

youth’s demands and desires. It is one of the fastest growing fashion brands within the

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country. 

Timex

Digital watches are what Timex is most popular for. Timex is an iconic American heritage

watch brand that is renowned for its timeless designs. It is a perfect amalgamation of high-

end Italian designs and cutting-edge German engineering. It offers its customers quality

products across a large and varied line of watches for everyone. Its Intelligent Quartz

collection is primarily made for fashion-minded men who are interested in features like

chronographs, fly-back movements and night-light. 

Maxima

Maxima produces designer formal watches for both men and women. It also has a special

couple collection. This is the reason why couples prefer Maxima when it comes to gifting a

beautiful present to their beloved. Maxima provides best of its variants between the price

slabs of Rs. 300 and Rs. 4,000. Apart from couple watches, Maxima offers affordable

watches specifically for men, women and children along with a special series of Uber

watches.

FOREIGN WATCH

Rolex

Rolex designs, manufactures, distributes and services recherché wristwatches. It is a luxury

watch brand that offers a unique combination of class, elegance, perfection, beauty and

serenity. It is one of the costliest watch brands in the world. It is a dream watch for most of

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the Indians and people around the world. Rolex is not the best-selling brand in India for the

sole reason that it is not affordable for most of the people. 

Swatch

Swatch is a Swiss watch brand that has garnered praise, earned trust and gained fame in

India. A Swatch watch is available at affordable prices in almost every Indian city. People

from all classes and sections of Indian society admire Swatch and wear one on their wrists. It

is one of the top 10 best-selling watch brands in India. 

Omega

The unique technology used in manufacturing Omega watches and their innovative designs

have won the heart of many Indians. Omega’s watches are exquisite, masterpieces. Omega is

one of the very few brands that make watches capable of working in zero gravity. The James

Bond franchise has used Omega watches in many of its movies and thus, the franchise has

earned much of the fame it enjoys today. 

TISSOT

Tissot introduced the first mass-produced pocket watch as well as the first pocket watch with two time

zones in 1853 and the first anti-magnetic watch in 1929–30. Charles-Emile Tissot left for Russia in 1858

and succeeded in selling their savonnette pocket watches across the Russian Empire. The Tissot company

was also the first to make watches out of plastic (IDEA 2001 in 1971), stone (the Alpine granite Rock

Watch in 1985), mother of pearl (the Pearl watch in 1987), and wood (the Wood watch in 1988).[4]Tissot

merged with the Omega watch making family in 1930 and Tissot-Omega watches from this era are sought

after by collectors. Tissot introduced its first tactile watch, with "T-Touch," technology in 1999;

watches containing this technology has a touch-sensitive sapphire crystals to control various

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functions like compasses, barometer, altimeter and thermometer. The latest models in the T-

Touch series. The T-Touch Expert Solar and T-Touch Lady Solar holds 25 functions

RATIONALE

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LITRETURE REVIEW

IJRFM Volume 4, Issue 1 (January 2014) (ISSN 2231-5985) International Journal of Research in Finance & Marketing http://www.euroasiapub.org 74

CONSUMER ATTITUDE AND PURCHASE BEHAVIOR TOWARDS FOREIGN BRANDS

The country of origin effect (COO) has received considerable attention in international

marketing research. Studies have found that COO information has stronger effects in less

developed countries compared to developed countries. So, in order to develop effective

marketing and communication strategies within and across national boundaries, marketers

needto understand varying attitudes and perception of consumers towards products of clearly

identifiable country of origin. In determining perception and attitude relevant to consumer

acceptance of national and international goods and services, it would be extremely helpful for

marketers to have meaningful and consistent measures that they could apply to various

markets. To understand the effects of brand image and country of origin, researchers and

marketers should be familiar with the buying behaviour of consumers. In fact perceived risk,

experience, price and brand loyalty are the most important influence of purchasing decisions.

This creates the opportunity for companies to increase the market share and profit if they

have choices and innovative products. With this perspective the present study is a modest

attempt to know the attitude of consumers towards Indian and Foreign brands which would

help marketers to understand the buying behavior of consumers and to formulate an

appropriate marketing strategy.

Shimp & Sharma (1987) developed CETSCALE to measure the construct of

consumer ethnocentrism, and in a study of American consumers, they showed that

ethnocentric tendencies are significantly negatively correlated with attitude towards foreign

products and significantly positively correlated towards domestic products. These findings

have been replicated by Netemeyer, Durvasula & Lichtenstein (1991) on a cross-

national sample of Western European and Japanese consumers. However, in these studies

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respondents evaluated products from different developed countries that were largely

comparable with respect to quality. The former Eastern bloc countries are quite different from

the western markets. In these countries, western products tend to be preferred to domestic

products due to their superior quality. For example

, Papadopolous, Helsop & Beracs (1990) found that Hungarians generally

evaluated western products more positively than national products. Similar findings have

been reported for polish and Russian consumers (Ettenson 1993, Good & Huddleston

1995). Further a study of Australian consumers revealed that when a locally made product

was perceived to be of inferior quality to the imported products, consumers generally

preferred the imported products (Elliot and Cameron 1994).

Kyanak & Kara (2002) investigated the product –Country images, lifestyles and

ethnocentric behaviors of Turkish consumers. They found that Turkish consumers had

significantly different perceptions of products attributes for the products coming from

countries of different levels of socio economic and technological development. It lent

support to earlier studies conducted inwestern countries and also indicates the robustness

of ethnocentrism scale which was developed in USA to measure attitudes in advanced

developing countries. Also results of the study revealed that there were several lifestyle

dimensions apparent among the Turkish consumers, which were closely correlated to

ethnocentric biases.

Lee & Simon (2006) analyzed how consumers’ perceptions on the quality of products

are influenced by the marketing appeals of multi-national firms and by the country of origin

effects. They presents finding derived from country of origin effect, corporate images, and

its brand image and purchase intention survey conducted in Almaty, Kazakhstan, considered

being a developing countries and transition economies. The findings suggested that the

attitudes of consumers towards country of origin and corporate image exert a great deal of

influence on their perceptions of product quality and purchase behavior, the effect of

certain country image appeals on the purchase behavior and moderated by socio-economic

and national cultural characteristics.

Wrist Watches form an integral part of the personality of individuals in the present era.

Earlierseen as a luxury item, they are now witnessing a fundamental change in perception,

and are nowgaining respect as an essential utility item. For the watch industry, time seems in

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its favor whatwith the liberalization of the Indian market coupled with the rising purchasing

power of theyoung and consumerist Indians. Asia-Pacific remains the fastest growing

regional market, withdollar sales of watches and clocks waxing at CAGR of about 3.6% and

4.2% respectively overthe analysis period. By product, Luxury watches remains the largest

segment in the globalwatches market. Mass-priced watches represents the fastest growing

watches segment, waxing ata CAGR of about 2.6% over the analysis period .

Indian watches market was for long dominated by public sector organizations like Hindustan

Machine Tools Ltd. (HMT) and Allwyn (also famous for its refrigerators once upon a time!),

and has now left the pioneers far behind or nowhere in market by private sector enterprises

likeTitan, Sonata, Ajanta and Timex along with foreign entities jostling for display space in

thesmallest of shops selling these products.9Before the establishment of HMT as the

dominant player in the Indian markets initially, the country was solely dependent on imports

to meet the internal demand. However, establishment of HMT as the leading player in the

wrist watch segment in the 1960’s, changed the scenario. In post liberalization India, the

market stood to witness intensive competition between foreignand Indian manufacturers like

Timex, Titan, Movado, Longines, Rado, Rolex, Fréderique Constant, Mont Blanc, Swatch,

and many others. Many watch makers have made significant inroads in the industry and

others are in the process of establishing themselves, currently .Besides this, buyers are

extremely choosy about the brand and type of wrist watches they wear .Being extremely

brand conscious, their tastes have evolved over the years and have gone beyond the realms of

durability to choose in terms of aesthetics and elegance. Thus it is a buyers’ market with

multitude of designs that have entered and flooded the market place.

The size of the watch market currently is estimated to be around 40 to 45 million piece

annually. The organized sector alone contributes up to 30 percent of this figure, and the rest

of 10 the demand is being met by the unorganized grey sector. This data is significant indeed

in view of the socio economic distribution of the Indian populace. More than 58 percent of

the population is under twenty five and more than 80 percent of the population is below 45

years of age. In dollar terms, the estimated annual market size is around USD 195 million,

despite the fact that the penetration of watches is the lowest, compared globally. Looking into

this fact and the long standing Indian tradition of comparing watches with jewellery and other

traditional items, many watch companies are interested in setting up base in India. The

average growth in the size of the market is slated to be around 10 -15 percent per year. A

casual study of the watch market reveals that it is segmented on basis of multiple proportions

such as price, benefits and types of watches. The price of the watches is a major motive in the

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minds of the customer. Accordingly, three segments can be identified here, namely low

priced, medium priced, and high priced watches. The lower priced segment consists of

watches priced less than INR 500; the medium price range consists of watches in the INR

500-1500 range and the high priced watches come in the INR1500 upwards range. There are

other higher categories as well such as the premium and luxury range, but they appeal to only

a small category of the watch market in India. According to a recent study, more than 90

percent of the watches were from the lower price ranges with international costs being less

than 20 euros. Moreover, around 20 to 25 watches arebeing sold for every 1000 citizens.

Thus there is enormous potential for growth of the industry in this untapped segment. Some

customers look out for features like fashion appeal, technology, sophistication and status.

Others go for durability, economy and precision. Many customers prefer mechanical and

automatic watches, while others prefer quartz watches. Newer segments are also on rise such

as ladies watches, children’s watches and gent’s watches. Customers usually base their

preferences and buying decisions on a variety of factors like price, durability, utility, aesthetic

appeal and brand name. A combination of all these points ultimately forms the customer’s

buying decision that translates into the purchase of a watch.

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OBJECTIVE

To identify the factors influencing the consumer preference for Indian & foreign watch.

To compare the consumer preference for foreign watch & Indian watch.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Nature of Study:-

The proposed study will be exploratory in nature and during the study we explore various factors A Comparative Study of consumer preference Towards Indian watch and foreign watch that affect

Research type :- Primary data based through questionnaires.

Population :- All the citizens in Indore city using watch.

Sample design :- Non probability convenience sampling will be used.

Sampling area :- Indore.

Sample size :- 200

Research unit :- Indore city.

Tools for data collection :- Self designed Questionnaires .

Tools for data analysis :-

1. Pie chart2. Z-test used

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EXPECTED OUTCOMES

By conducting this research the researcher is able to understand that people are become

bolder and more adventurous in terms of the style of watches and colour they choose and now

Indian consumer have become far more assertive about the brand and type of watches they

want although they remain more apprehensive about colours. And today people not use for

watch only just time but they have also use just like jewellery.

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Brunning, E.R. (1997). “Country of Origin, National loyalty and Product Choice ”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 14, No: 1.

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