Business management

1. AMSoM BRM Report
Study on Buying and Reading Behaviour
of people towards various Newspapers
Submitted To, Submitted By,
Prof. Jinal Parikh Rajnish Busa (A-9)
Paavan jingar (A-22)
Harnish Ninama (A-34)
Saksham Saharia (A-46)
Rajnibala Vasaiya(A-59)
Amrut Mody School of Management (AMSoM)
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CONTENTS
No. Title Page No.
Acknowledgement…………………............ 3
1. Executive Summary………………… 4
2. Indian Newspaper Industry…………5
3. Literature Review……………………8
4. Objective/Problem definition……….11
5. Approach to the problem……………12
6. Research Methodology……………....13
7. Observations & Analysis…………….15
8. Conclusion.……………………………27
9. Bibliography………………………….28
10. Appendices (Questionnaire)…………29
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Acknowledgement
We take this opportunity to humbly express our sincere thanks to all those
concerned with our Research project titled ―Study on Buying and Reading
behaviour of people towards various newspapers‖.
We express deep feelings of gratitude to Prof. JINAL PARIKH (Amrut
Mody School of Management) for providing us the opportunity to work on such
an interesting project. Without her able guidance and sincere efforts this project
could not have been successfully completed. Her invaluable guidance has
proved to be the key to success in overcoming difficulties we faced during the
course of the project work.
We are also obliged to all the respondents who took some time out of their
schedule and gave healthy response to our questionnaire.
Moreover, we express our deep sense of gratitude to all the staff members
of our college, Amrut Mody School of Management, for their support and
guidance to us.
With regards,
Saksham Saharia ,
Paavan Jingar,
Rajnish Busa,
Harnish Ninama,
RajniBala Vasaiya
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Executive Summary
This research project is conducted in order to understand the buying and
reading behaviour of people towards various newspapers.
Through this research work, we have tried to make a survey about
how much are the people interested in reading newspapers; which
newspapers they prefer to read; which genre of news they like the most and
how do they rate various parameters with respect to the newspapers they
read.
The research also provides results that how the buying and reading
behaviour varies with the age group and occupation. Also it brings about the
various other things that people wish to see in the newspapers they read, and
the reasons why they like/dislike reading the newspapers.
The research methodology that we used for the project is
questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed such that it covers all the
objectives of the research work. The sample size is selected as 100 and the
responses are analysed and conclusions are derived from it.
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The Indian Newspaper Industry
Newspaper publication in the country began in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the
1780’s and by 1800 there were several dozen newspapers in English, with the
numbers increasing periodically. The Indian newspaper industry can be primary
segmented across three categories: English, Hindi and vernacular newspapers.
There are approximately 1907 daily newspapers published in India of which
newspapers in the vernacular language comprise 49.0% of total newspapers,
followed by Hindi (42.1%) and English 8.9%. Most of the vernacular and Hindi
newspapers have a regional focus. The English medium dominates the industry
in terms of advertisement revenues, though vernacular newspapers outperform
the English newspapers in circulation.
English newspaper industry in India has been fragmented with the players
having a regional focus such as the Deccan Chronicle in Hyderabad, Hindustan
Times in Delhi, Times of India in Mumbai, Hindu in Chennai, Telegraph and
Statesman in Kolkata, Deccan Herald in Bangalore, Gujarat Samachar in
Ahmedabad. However, the industry is witnessing a trend whereby players are
looking beyond their home territories viz. Times of India’s and Business
Standard’s entry into certain newer territories and Deccan Chronicle and
Hindustan Times also doing the same.
The competitive landscape has now drastically changed with major
publishers trying to expand to other geographic regions, initiating price wars
and marketing campaigns to win readers. The competitive intensity, which was
quite ―mild‖ until few years ago, also reached a higher level with the launch of
DNA and Hindustan Times in the Mumbai market.
A booming economy and the opportunity to raise funds from a well-
developed financial market have also contributed to the growth of the
newspaper industry in India. Indian newspaper industry had a turnover of Rs
13,500 crore in 2010. It is expected to touch Rs 15,500 crore. The size of media
industry in India as a portion of the GDP is estimated at 0.7%, which is lower
than most of the developed and developing nations. Thus it offers a scope of
high growth in this industry moving forward. With rising income and education
level in India, readership is expected to rise and with favourable demographics,
advertising revenues will increase as advertisers start spending more to attract
higher quality audience with more purchasing power.
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Newspaper publication is usually issued on a daily or weekly basis, the
main function of which is to report news. Many newspapers also furnish special
information to readers, such as weather reports, television schedules, and
listings of stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, and
arts and culture, and sometimes include entertainment features, such as comics
and crossword puzzles. In nearly all cases and in varying degrees, newspapers
depend on commercial advertising for their income.
Present scenario is that by the time, people see a newspaper, most of them
have already learned about the breaking news stories on television or radio.
Readers rely on newspapers to provide detailed background information and
analysis, which television and radio newscasts rarely offer. Newspapers not
only inform readers that an event happened but also help readers understand
what led up to the event and how it will affect the world around them.
The staff of a large newspaper works under the constant pressure of
deadlines to bring news to readers as quickly as human energy and
technological devices permit. Reporters, photographers, artists, and editors
compile articles and graphics—sometimes in just a few hours. Page designers
assemble articles, photos, illustrations, advertisements, and eye-catching
headlines into page layouts, and then rush their work to the printer.
Newspapers as known today are complete with advertising and a mixture of
political, economic, and social news and commentary.
Business news papers in India
Publication of Business newspapers started in India by the launch of Economic
Times on 5th march 1961. It has traditionally been the essential reference
document on Indian business, polity, economy and finance. Its focus on the
managerial component and evolving business in India and abroad makes it the
favorite amongst intellectuals, managers as well as students and researchers,
having recorded a staggering growth of 150% over the past few years. The
Economic Times has emerged as the most widely circulated economic and
business daily in the country and among the top three English financial dailies
in the world.
Business Standard was started in 1975 by the Ananda Bazaar group in
what was then Calcutta, the paper was hived off as a separate company in 1996,
and then bought by Mumbai-based financial investors, after which it began a
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phase of rapid expansion with the launch of new editions. The Financial Times
of London took an equity stake in BSL in 2004.
Business Line or The Hindu Business Line is an Indian business
newspaper published by Kasturi and Sons, the publishers of the very famous
newspaper The Hindu Business Line started publishing in 1994. It is India's
youngest business newspaper and also the country's second largest selling, with
a circulation of one lakh copies, next to the Economic Times.
Financial Times entered into the market after Business Line, so did the
Hindustan Times, Mint and Financial Chronicle which is the youngest of the lot.
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Literature
While conducting this research project, we required some literature base to
understand the consumer behavior towards any products, the various factors
which influence the consumer behavior and the stages in buying behavior
process. These details are necessary in order to develop an understanding about
the various patterns observed while making the survey regarding the buying
behavior of people towards the newspapers.
Apart from this, we came through some other researches also, with similar
objective, the results of which were useful in our study. We have included
excerpts from this research for the Business newspaper, Business standard.
The literature regarding buying and consumer behavior and the factors
influencing it-
BUYING BEHAVIOR
Behavior is the interaction with the ambient surrounding environment, inherent
in living creatures and mediated by their external and inner activeness. The
fields of consumer behavior studies how individuals, groups and organizations
select buy use and dispose of goods, services, ideas, experiences to satisfy their
needs and desires. Studying customers provides clues for developing new
products, product features, prices, channels, message and other marketing mix
elements. Study of buyer behavior for any product is of vital importance to
marketers in shaping the fortunes of their organizations. Thus knowledge of the
buyer and his buying motives is a fundamental necessary for marketers.
Consumers Behavior:
Consumer behavior is actions of consumers in the market place and the
underlying motives for those actions; the study of consumer behavior is the
study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available recourses
(time, money, effort) on consumption of related items. Consumer behavior is
helpful in understanding the purchase behavior and preference of different
consumers.
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Factors influencing consumer behavior:
The behavior of buyers, both individual and organizational consumers, is
influenced by the various uncontrollable factors. If management is to use the
controllable (i.e. product, price, promotion and distribution) effectively, clear
understanding of these uncontrollable factors is essential. The combination of
various factors like personal, socio-economical and cultural, social and
psychological, produce a different impact on each one of us as manifested in our
different behavior as consumers.
Buyer
CULTURAL SOCIAL PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL
Cultural Reference group Age & Life Motivation
Sub culture Family cycle stages Perception
Social class Role & Status Occupation Learning
Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior
Income Belief & Attitude
Life cycle
Stages in the buyer decision process:
Personality
In making a purchase decision the consumer goes through the six stages,
 Need Recognition
 Pre-Purchase Information Search
 Evaluation of Alternatives
 Purchase intention
 Purchase decision
 Post – Purchase Behavior
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Excerpts from the concluding report of research conducted by Business
Standard-
 Out of a total sample of 150, 96 people said they are interested in
subscribing for business newspaper along with regular newspaper i.e.
almost 64%. Only 8% disagreed i.e. just 12 members out of 150.42
people strongly agreed that they are interested in subscribing for a
business newspaper along with the regular newspaper.
 Out of a sample of 150 almost 60% people said that they are more
interested in reading financial dailies than regular newspaper (44%
agree+16% strongly agree) and remaining 40% said they are interested
more in reading a regular newspaper.
 Out of a sample of 150, 138 people are interested, if they include a
supplement on general news in a business newspaper (56% agree + 36%
strongly agree). Only 12 people said that they are not interested in
reading general news in a business newspaper.
 Out of a sample of 150, most of the people disagreed with the above
statement that they would like to see sports news in business dailies i.e.
nearly 65% people disagreed. Only 24% people agreed that they would
like to see and the remaining 12% are undecided.
 Launching a new supplement on the IT sector can help in improving the
sales of the newspaper to a great extent.
 Annual magazines are very popular among all the categories of the
sample taken as the content is good and the information provided by
those magazines is quite good. The respondents wanted these magazines
to be published more frequently.
 There are major problems with the circulation of the newspaper, which
need to be addressed immediately. There are only two executives to deal
with vendors across Bangalore for implementing the newspaper
subscriptions. As a result, most of the customers do not receive the
newspaper. The vendors are also not willing to supply the paper as the
commission they receive is very low when compared to other competitive
papers.
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Objective
The objectives of conducting this research work are-
 To know about people’s interest towards reading newspapers.
 To know that which form of media they prefer the most to get themselves
updated.
 To know about people’s buying and reading behavior towards various
newspapers.
 To analyse how these behavior vary with age group and occupation.
 To evaluate the newspapers based on various parameters, like content,
price, language etc.
 To evaluate the content of the newspapers on the basis of various
parameters.
 To understand what other things people wish to see in the newspapers of
their choice.
 To analyse why people like/dislike reading newspapers.
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Approach to the problem
The need was to make a Qualitative study of the various newspapers
available in the market to determine the various objectives of the research.
The approach to these problems can be determined as follows-
 First, we determined what may be the possible sources through which
people keep themselves updated with the happenings around the
world.
 Then, we analyzed the various factors that may influence people’s
decision towards reading a newspaper.
 We determined which are the newspaper dailies and business
newspapers prevalent in the market.
 Then, we decided the parameters necessary to evaluate any
newspaper.
 Then, we determined the various features important in the content of
any newspaper.
 We also decided what may be the time and place where people would
prefer to read newspapers.
 Then, we designed a Questionnaire that covered all these information
required for the research.
 The questionnaire was designed so as to be easily understandable by
the people and the questions were to the point and less in number, so
that the respondent doesn’t get annoyed.
 The questionnaires were analyzed and conclusions were drawn out of
as many as 100 responses.
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Research Methodology
Research Design Type-
The type of research design is Exploratory. The main purpose of such
studies is that of formulating problem for more precise investigation or of
developing the working hypothesis from an operational point of view. The
major emphasis in such studies is on the discovery of ideas and insights. As
such the research design appropriate for such studies must be flexible
enough to provide opportunity for considering different aspects of a problem
under a study.
Our study of analyzing the buying and reading behavior of people
towards various newspapers also demands the Exploratory research design.
Research Instrument used-
The research instrument used for this project is Questionnaire. The
questionnaire is designed such that it covers all the objectives of the research
work. The language of the questionnaire is kept simple and easily
understandable. The questions are to the point and convey the exact
information required for the research. Also the number of questions is
enough to solve the purpose of the research and not annoy the respondent.
Through the questionnaire, we have tried to know about how much are
the people interested in reading newspapers; which newspapers they prefer
to read; which genre of news they like the most and how do they rate various
parameters with respect to the newspapers they read.
The questionnaire also helped in making analysis that how the buying
and reading behavior varies with the age group and occupation. Also it
brings about the various other things that people wish to see in the
newspapers they read, and the reasons why they like/dislike reading the
newspapers.
The sample size is selected as 100 and the responses are analyzed and
conclusions are derived from it.
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Data collection sources-
In order to conduct this research project, we collected data from the
following primary and secondary sources-
Primary Data sources- through the questionnaire, interaction with people
and through our own observations, we developed the various aspects of
research and asked people to put in their thoughts.
Secondary Data sources- secondary sources include the similar research
works already conducted with similar objectives, which we obtained through
internet.
Type of sample design-
We have implemented Probability sample design in this research project.
Under this sampling design, every item of the universe has an equal chance
of inclusion in the sample. It is a blind chance alone whether one item or the
other is selected.
The results obtained from probability or random sampling can be
assured in terms of probability, i.e., we can measure the errors of estimation
or the significance of results obtained from a random sample, and this fact
brings out the superiority of random sampling design over the non
probability or deliberate sampling design.
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Research Analysis
The prospective study of descriptive research was undertaken by using survey
method. A structure questionnaire was designed and finally given to
respondents to elicit specific information. So from the all responses through
people we have interpreted following details of different questions of
questionnaire.
1.) Gender and Age:-
Gender
Female
35%
Male
65%
Age
80%
60%
40% Age
20%
0%
<18 19-35 36-50 >50
Interpretation:
In the above two charts we can see that out of 100 sample size 65%
respondents were male and 35% were females with different age
groups.
Out of which 5% were below age of 18 year, 70% were between 19 to 35
year, 18% were between 36-50 year and 7% were more than 50 year.
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2.) Occupation:-
Occupation
Selfemployed
20%
Student
Businessman 48%
11%
Salaried
21%
Interpretation:
In the above chart we can see that we have surveyed people of different
occupation for our research project and get the following information.
Student - 48%
Salaried - 21%
Businessman - 11%
Self-Employed - 21%
So from this data it shows that we get maximum response from students
who read newspapers more compare to other.
3.) Media:-
Form of Media
Other
13%
Print Media
38%
Electronic
Media
49%
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Interpretation:-
In the above chart we can see that most of people we surveyed get the news
widely from Electronic Media that is 49% and then from Print Media that is
38%. And rests of others get the news from other sources that are 13%.
4.) Consumers interest in Current Affairs:-
Interest in Current Affairs
6%
10% Very much
Interested
52% Little
32%
Not at all
Interpretation:-
In the above chart we can see that the interest of consumers to keep aware or
have knowledge of current affairs all over the world. So from survey we get
following information about consumer’s interest.
Very Much Interested – 52%
Interested – 32%
Little Interested – 10%
Not at all interested – 6%
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5.) Newspapers Dailies:-
Newspapers Dailies
70%
60%
60%
50%
40%
36%
30%
Newspapers Dailies
28%
20%
22%
20%
10%
12%
10%
8% 1% 1% 2%
0%
Newspapers Dailies
2% TOI
22% 12%
1% IE
1% 60% DNA
28% HT
36% 20% GS
10% DB
RP
8%
GV
NT
Sandesh
AM
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Interpretation:-
In the above charts we can see that which newspaper dailies people subscribe to
read. We get the following information.
The Times of India (TOI) - 60%
Indian Express (IE) - 10%
DNA - 20%
Hindustan Times (HT) - 8%
Gujarat Samachar (GS) - 36%
Divya Bhaskar (DB) - 28%
Rajasthan Patrika (RP) - 1%
Gujarat Vaibhav (GV) - 1%
Navbharat Times (NT) - 2%
Sandesh - 22%
Ahmedabad Mirror (AM) - 12%
So it can come to know that out of the total response of questionnaire from
people The Times of India newspaper is subscribed more which is English
newspaper and then Gujarat Samachar newspaper which is Guajarati
newspaper.
6.) Business Newspaper:-
For the Business Newspapers we ask question to respondents that do you
read business newspaper with answer of yes or no and if answer comes
to yes then which business newspaper. So from this we get the following
information which we can see in following pie charts.
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No
32%
Yes
68%
BL
Business Newspapers
10%
ET BS
37% 53%
Interpretation:-
In the above charts we can see that 68% people are reading Business
Newspapers and 32% are not reading Business Newspapers. And that 68%
people read which Business Newspapers has been also shown in above pie
chart.
Business Standard – 53%
Economic Times – 37%
Business Line – 10%
So we can say that people read Business Standard Newspaper more to keep
updated with business knowledge and affaires. Thus there is a lot of scope for
the growth of business newspapers in the present conditions. Many people are
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interested in subscribing for business newspapers along with the regular
newspaper.
7.) Time and Place to read Newspapers:-
We ask people following two questions to know their time and place of reading
newspapers. Question with relevant answer are as follow.
 When do you like these newspapers?
Daily in the Morning – 52%
At Leisure Time – 22%
Before Sleeping – 6%
Not Fixed – 20%
In morning At leisure Before sleeping Not fixed
20%
6%
52%
22%
 Where do you prefer reading these newspapers?
At Home – 75%
At Library – 18%
At Workplace – 6%
While Travelling – 2%
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At home At library At work Place Travelling
2%
6%
18%
74%
So from above data we can say that most of people generally read newspapers
in the morning time at their home and keep updated them with current affairs.
They also like to read newspapers at their Leisure time or before sleeping and
some people also read newspapers in library or at their workplace.
8.) Newspaper Dailies Average Rating with following Features:-
 National News
 Local News
 International News
 Business News
 Sports News
 Movies
 Weather Forecast
Overall Rating Average
Overall Rating Average
4.90 4.40 4.50 4.94 4.44
4.07 4.16
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TOI Rating Average
TOI Rating Average
5.40
4.94 4.68
4.50 4.40 4.25
3.80
GS Rating Average
GS Rating Average
5.28
4.86 4.63
4.32 4.28
3.76
2.94
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DB Rating Average
DB Rating Average
4.76 4.86 4.94 4.60
4.26
3.40 3.70
Interpretation:-
In the above charts we can see that people have rate for various newspapers
dailies with different features. And it is found that overall people prefer to read
more of National News, Movie and Entertainment related News, Sports News
and Local News.
For The Times of India (TOI) people prefer to read more of National News,
International News, Local News and Sports News.
For the Gujarat Samachar (GS) people prefer to read more of Local News,
National News and Sports News.
For the Divya Bhaskar (DB) people prefer to read more of Local News,
International News, and National News.
9.) Dailies and Business Newspaper Average Rating with following
parameters:-
 Content
 Timeliness of News
 Language
 Presentations
 Advertisements
 Contests/Games
 Price Affordability
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Overall Rating Average
Overall Rating Average
4.71 4.75
4.40
4.18 4.22
4.12
4.01
TOI Rating Average
TOI Average Rating
4.94
4.76
4.70
4.56
4.45 4.40
4.36
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BS Rating Average
BS Average rating
4.80
4.40 4.24
3.96 3.80 3.98 4.00
Interpretation:-
In the above charts we can see that people have rate for various newspapers
dailies and business newspapers with different parameters. And it is found that
overall people are more concern towards price and contents of the newspapers.
For The Times of India (TOI) people are more concern towards contents,
timeliness of news, price and presentation of the newspaper.
For Business Standard (BS) people are more concern towards price, contents
and presentation of the newspaper.
 When asked that what more would people like to see in their newspaper,
majority of them emphasized over more knowledge based articles and
news related to the city and updates over share market.
 Moreover people said that they like to read newspapers to develop their
knowledge base and keep themselves updated with the current
happenings across the world.
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Conclusions
Through this research project we conclude that people like to read newspapers
in order to keep them updated with the latest happenings across the world and
hence they put more emphasis over the content of the newspapers. Another
determining factor that influences the buying behavior of people towards
various newspapers is Price.
As far as the reading behavior of people towards these newspapers is concerned,
majority of people prefer to read newspaper at home in the morning time.
People prefer to read more of Local and National news and also have interest
towards sports and Movies & entertainment news items. People would like to
read more knowledge based news articles and more local news along with more
news updates from the share markets.
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Bibliography
www.newspaperresearchjournal.org
www.bizreport.com
www.highbeam.com
www.bivingsreport.com
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Appendix
Questionnaire
Personal details:
Name: ______________________________________________________________
Gender: Male  Female 
Age: <18  19-35  36-50  >50 
Occupation: Salaried  Business  Self employed 
1) Which form of Media, you prefer the most in getting the news across the world?
Print Media  Electronic Media  Other sources 
2) How much are you interested in knowing about the current affairs all across the world?
Very much interested_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Not at all interested
3) Which newspaper dailies do you prefer to read?
The Times of India  Indian Express  DNA 
Hindustan Times  Gujarat Samachar  Divya Bhaskar 
Rajasthan Patrika  Gujarat Vaibhav  Navbharat times 
Any Other(s) ___________________________________________________________
4) Do you prefer to read Business newspapers?
Yes  No 
If yes, then please mention the name.
Business Standard  Economic Times 
Any Other(s) ____________________________________________________________
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5) When do you like these newspapers?
Daily in the morning  at leisure time  before sleeping  not fixed 
6) Where do you prefer reading these newspapers?
At home  Library  At work place  Any other ______________
7) On a scale of 1 to 10, rate the following features with respect to the content of your
choice of newspaper dailies-
Newspaper dailies
Features 1. _________ 2. __________ 3.___________ 4.__________
National News
Local News
International News
Business News
Sports News
Movies
Weather forecast
8) What else would you like to see in your newspapers? -
_______________________________
9) On a scale of 1 to 10, rate the following Parameters of the newspapers you read.
Newspaper dailies Business newspapers
Parameters 1.________ 2.________ 3.________ 1.________ 2._______
Content
Timeliness of news
Language
Presentation
Advertisements
Contests/Games
Price affordability
10) I like/dislike reading newspapers because:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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