this project is entitled to have an idea about the current scenario of the telecom industry and consumers satisfaction and their preferences as per the level of service that are been provided by these operators.

1. CERTIFICATE <br /> Certified that this Industry Profiling and Global competitiveness Survey Project Report on “Consumer’s preference and satisfaction towards pre-paid GSM telecom service provider in Indore” is a bona fide work of Sandip Jalebar [roll no. IM2K6-65] carried out in partial fulfillment for the award of degree of master of business administration of International Institute of Professional studies under my guidance. <br /> The Project Report is up to the standard and I forward it on his behalf for getting it evaluated as per the existing Ordinances .<br /> <br />Date: signature<br /> Place: Name & Designation <br /> <br />ACKNOWLEDGEMENT<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />At the moment of accomplishing of a virtuous project work, to my satisfaction, I wish to express my profound sense of gratitude and indebtedness towards my project supervisor Miss Shikha Chaturvedi, for her efficacious advices, perpetual and prolific encouragement and creative criticisms during the course of this work, and in the preparation of this project work. Without her rigorous help and amiability, it would have been impossible to bring this work to completion.<br /> <br /> Sandip Jalebar<br />RESEARCH MEANING:<br />Research in common parlance is referred to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the encyclopedia of social sciences define research as “the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art”. Research is thus an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement. It is pursuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment. In short the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution to a problem is research. <br />3.1. Research methods:<br />Those methods which are used by the researcher during the course of studying research problem are termed on research methods.<br />3.2. Research methodology:<br />The research methodology, not only the research methods are but also consider the logic behind the methods. They are in the contest of our research studied. And explain why we are using a particular method or techniques and we are not using others.<br />RESEARCH PROCESS<br />Where, F= feedback (helps in controlling the subsystem to which it is transmitted)FF=feed forward (serves the vital function of providing criteria for evaluation) <br /> FIGURE: Research process in flow chart<br />Descriptive research design:<br />In includes surveys, and facts finding enquires of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of state of affairs on it exists at present. The main character of this method is that the researcher has no control threw over the variables. He can report what has happen or what is happening.<br />2.2 Statement of problem: <br />Study on service quality and its impact on customer satisfaction in the telecom sector with reference to mobile service providers.<br />2.3 Objectives of the study:<br />2.3.1 Primary objective:<br />Assessment of quality of service provided by basic and cellular mobile service providers.<br />Customer satisfaction surveys for assessing the customer perceptions of the service.<br />2.3.2 Secondary objective:<br />Identify the various criteria considered by a customer before choosing a particular mobile service provider.<br />Obtain a clear picture of the various marketing efforts and communications adopted by the various mobile service providers.<br />Analyze the current trends and reasons for favorability towards specific mobile service providers<br />Identify shortcomings in the existing mobile services provided.<br />Provide suggestions based on findings.<br />2.4 Hypothesis:<br />H1 = quality of service has an impact on customer satisfaction in the telecom service industry.<br />H2 = quality of service does not have any impact on customer satisfaction in the telecom service industry.<br />2.5 Sampling design:<br />2.5.1 Population:<br />The population includes all the existing and potential users of different mobile services in Indore.<br />2.5.2 Sample unit:<br />The sample unit includes all the existing and potential users of different mobile services within Indore.<br />2.5.3 Sample Size:<br />The study will be restricted to 140 respondents<br />2.5.4 Sampling techniques:<br />Convenience sampling<br />2.6 Data collection:<br />2.6.1 Primary data<br />Primary data will be obtained through an interview schedule designed with rating-scale and close-ended questions that will be logically framed basically aimed at achieving the objectives of the study.<br />2.6.2 Secondary data:<br />Secondary data will be obtained through information from previous literature, reports, newspapers, reference books, magazines and websites.<br />2.7 Statistical design:<br />The collected data will be classified with the help of statistical tools like percentages, arithmetic mean and correlation for the purpose of analysis. Data will then be analyzed and inferences are drawn from the analysis. Findings will be illustrated in the form of tables, graphs and charts wherever necessary.<br /> Measures of Location – Mean median & mode<br /> Measures of Spread – Variance, standard deviation, range <br />For preference analysis rank average method is used.<br /> For testing the hypothesis CHI () – square is used.<br />2.8 Contribution of the study:<br />Determination of the best service provider in the industry (within Indore).<br />Find out the quotient of brand – loyalty and impact of brand in the market amongst the customers.<br />Analyze the depth of influence the advertisements exert over the consumer’s behavior and choice.<br />2.9 Limitations of the study:<br />Recall bias of the respondents.<br />Study limited to Indore city and therefore before generalization to other cities, unique features of those cities to be considered.<br />Time factor is considered to be another limitation here as the time involved is less.<br />The sample size is small. A better analysis would be carried out with a larger sample size.<br />Price war in recent time is much influencing the users to switch off from one service provider to another.<br />ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION <br />INTRODUCTION:<br />This chapter is allocated for analysis and interpretation of data which were collected through questionnaire. The analysis of consumer satisfaction and preference level will be discuss here with the help of percentage, chi () - square and other relevant test.<br />Sample size for the overall analysis is 140.<br />Respondent profile:<br />GenderNumber of respondents% of respondentsMale8560.7Female5539.3total140100<br />Interpretation: From the above tabulated data, it can be inferred that the gender profile of the respondents includes 85 males i.e., 60.7% of the respondents and 55 females i.e., the remaining 39.3% of the respondents.<br />Age profile:<br />AGEMALEFEMALETOTALPERCENTAGEBELOW 17 YRS85139.217-25 YRS45267150.725-40 YRS22163827.3ABOVE 40 YRS1081812.8TOTAL8555140100<br />INTERPRETATION: the above chart shows that majority of respondent were in between the age group from 17-40 years contributing nearly around 78% in total. Respondent between age group 17-25 years mostly being students were found to be easily accessible for the survey and contributed nearly half of the respondent with 50.7% in total out of 140 respondents. Respondents below 17 years and above 40 years were less in number.<br />Educational qualification:<br />QUALIFICATIONMALE FEMALETOTALTOTAL %UP TO 10TH1441813GRADUATION28204834POST GRADUATION32245640OTHERS1171813TOTAL8555140100<br /> <br />Interpretation: the above graph shows that majority of the respondent were either a graduate or a post graduate with (34% and 40%) 74% accounting over all. A fewer respondent were from high school and other degree holder such as senior secondary, M.Phil or a PhD holder. So the as per education is concern majority were literate which shows that they were aware of the services they used.<br />OCCUPATION:<br />OCCUPATIONMALEFEMALETOTALTOTAL%STUDENT38327050BUSINESS1411511PROFESSIONAL1351813EMPLOYEE1962518HOME MAKER111128TOTAL8555140100<br />Interpretation: from the above graph it has been observed that the half of the respondents was students followed employees accounting for nearly 18% of the total respondent. A marginal % (in between 8-12%) was contributed by professional, businessmen and homemaker.<br />Industry profile:<br />Interpretation:<br />Monthly expenses on mobile:<br />EXPENSESMALEFEMALETOTALPERCENTAGE>Rs.15019113021.5Rs.150-30031174834.3Rs. 300-50017234028.5<Rs.5001842215.7TOTAL8555140100<br />X- Axis represents the respondent<br />INTREPRETATION: above graph shows that majority of population is spending between Rs.150 to 300 followed by Rs.300- 500. Near around 15%of population is spending a handsome amount above Rs. 500 mark for their communication expenditure monthly.<br />Service offered by operator and behavior analysis of employees<br />SERVICESSTUDENTBUSINESSPROFESSIONALEMPLOYEEHOMEMAKERTOTALCALL RATE559818898SMS38558258NETWORK32101515577VALUE ADDED2241312253TOTAL14728415317140<br />Interpretation: <br />DURATION OF USE OF A PARTICULAR TELECOM SERVICE:<br />OPERATOR<=2 MONTHS6-8 MONTHS1-2 YEAR>=2 YEARSTOTALAIRTEL56111638TATA DOCOMO112233RELAINCE SMART222511IDEA56111234VODAFONE4419BSNL24915TOTAL140<br />Determination of time period a customer generally have been using service of a particular telecom operator (switch off time)<br /> <br />CHI () – SQUARE ANALYSIS<br />CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSION- RELIABABILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS<br />R1- Test of dependence between operator selection and delivery of SMS, MMS, voice message and other services.<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODTOTAL AIRTEL8151538DOCOMO9141033SMART16211IDEA8161034VODAFONE1359BSNL55515TOTAL325947140<br />EXPECTED VALUE: <br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOOD AIRTEL8.6816.0112.75DOCOMO7.5413.911.07SMART2.514.643.69IDEA7.7714.3211.41VODAFONE2.053.793.02BSNL3.436.325.04<br />@10degree of freedom and @5% level of significance<br />Observed -square value =6.3553<br /> - Square tabulated value=18.307<br />Interpretation: It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that delivery of SMS, MMS, voice message and other services is not much of concerning factor on selection of telecom operators by the customer.<br />R2- Test of dependence between operator selection and customer care and handling complaints.<br />OBSERVED VALUE:<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODTOTALAIRTEL7121938DOCOMO7141233SMART45211IDEA1413734VODAFONE1359BSNL47415TOTAL375449140<br />EXPECTED VALUE:<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODAIRTEL10.0414.6513.3DOCOMO8.7212.7211.55SMART2.9074.243.85IDEA8.9813.1111.9VODAFONE2.373.473.15BSNL3.965.785.25<br />@10degree of freedom and@5% level of significance<br />Observed -square value =13.0689<br /> - Square table value=18.307<br />Interpretation: Interpretation: It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that customer care and handling complaints is not much of concerning factor on selection of telecom operators by the customer<br />CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSION- TECHNICAL ASPECTS<br /> T1- Test of dependence between operator selection and billing procedure.<br />OBSERVED VALUE:<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODTOTALAIRTEL5201338DOCOMO1115733SMART16411IDEA12111134VODAFONE3429BSNL310215TOTAL356639140<br />@10degree of freedom and@5% level of significance<br />Observed -square value =12.0271<br />- Square table value=18.307<br />Interpretation: It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that billing procedure is not much of concerning factor on selection of telecom operators by the customer<br />Test of dependence between operator selection and innovation.<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODTOTALAIRTEL5141938DOCOMO5131533SMART05611IDEA918734VODAFONE0629BSNL45615TOTAL236155140<br /> @10degree of freedom <br />Observed -square value =11.8016<br />- Square table value=18.307<br />Interpretation: It can be inferred that the observed value is less than the tabulated value so we can say that innovation is not much of concerning factor on selection of telecom operators by the customer<br />Test of dependence between operator selection and network.<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODTOTALAIRTEL0161838DOCOMO1214733SMART03711IDEA11111234VODAFONE6129BSNL26715TOTAL315153140<br />@10degree of freedom <br />Observed -square value =20.7357<br /> - Square value=18.307<br />Interpretation: It can be inferred that the observed value is more than the tabulated value so we can say that network is a must criteria for selection of telecom operators by the customer<br />CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSION- ECONOMY<br />Test of dependence between operator selection and recharge card.<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODTOTALAIRTEL5122138DOCOMO4101933SMART36211IDEA1312934VODAFONE1359BSNL48315TOTAL305159140<br />@10degree of freedom and 5% level of significance.<br />Observed -square value =19.6799<br />- Square value=18.307<br />Interpretation: It can be inferred that the observed value is more than the tabulated value so we can say that recharge card is a must criteria for selection of telecom operators by the customer<br />Test of dependence between operator selection and call charge per minute or second.<br />OPERATORPOORNEUTRALGOODTOTALAIRTEL15101238DOCOMO0171533SMART25411IDEA136934VODAFONE0449BSNL67215TOTAL364946140<br />@10degree of freedom and @5% level of significance<br />Observed -square value =20.7183<br />- Square table value=18.307<br />Interpretation: It can be inferred that the observed value is more than the tabulated value so we can say that call charge per minute or second is a must criteria for selection of telecom operators by the customer<br />Showing the details of the factors that may have influence customers in deciding service of which telecom operator they should render.<br />FACTORSSTRONGLY AGREEAGREE DISAGREESRONGLY DISAGREETOTALBRAND IMAGE4055405140ADEVERTISEMENT42443321140OFFERS6248255140VALUE ADDED SERVICES44452823140<br />INTERPRETATION:<br />From the above graph it can be observed that the majority of the respondents were agreed that these four factors were very much influencing before they rendered the services of their respective service provider. Only 27% of respondent were such that they were not much bothered regarding the brand image of the company or the advertisement they do. Around 65% were interested in the current offers and value added service the companies gave. <br /> <br />RANK ANALYSIS:<br />Introduction: here we may rank the above observation from 1-16 as per minimum value must be given the least rank. In case the values are same we assign the mean value to those values.<br />FACTORSSTRONGLY AGREEAGREE DISAGREESRONGLY DISAGREERANK SUMRANK AVGBRAND IMAGE8.5158.51.533.52.0937ADVERTISEMENT1011.57331.51.9687OFFERS161451.536.52.2813VALUE ADDED SERVICE11.5136434.52.1562<br />WHEN THE AVERAGE OF RANKED VALUE IS TAKEN THE TABLE IS AS FOLLOWS:<br />FACTORSBRAND IMAGEADVERTISEMENTOFFERSVALUE ADDED SERVICERANK AVG.2.09371.96872.28132.1562<br />Interpretation:<br />INTERPRETATION:<br />Above figure shows that the offers was the main concern factor while rendering any of the services followed by value added service. Advertisement was not much influencing factor when compared to rest of the factors. Brand image certainly plays a great role but when the offering are concern it stands behind.<br />QUESTIONNAIRE<br />Dear Respondent,<br />This questionnaire is a part of research work conducted on “CONSUMER’S PREFERENCE AND SATISFACTION TOWARDS POSTPAID GSM TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDER IN INDORE”, in partial fulfillment of degree of MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. <br /> Please take a few minutes to answer the following question. Your honest opinions, comments and suggestions are extremely important to us.<br />Personal profile:<br />Name (optional): …………………………..<br />Gender: M F<br />Marital status: Married Unmarried<br />Please tick the suitable options:<br />1. In which age group do you fall?<br />(a) Below 17yrs (b) 17-25yrs (c) 25-40yrs (d) above 40yrs<br />2. Your educational qualification:<br />(a) Up to 10th (b) graduation (c) post graduation <br /> (d) Others: ……………………………. <br />3. Occupation<br />(a) Student (b) business (c) professional (d) employee (e) homemaker<br />5. Which Telecom Service do you possess?<br />(a) AIRTEL (b) TATA DOCOMO (c) Reliance SMART (d) IDEA (e) VODAFONE (f) BSNL (g) others …………………………………………<br />6. Your monthly expenses on mobile<br />(a) less than Rs.150 (b) Rs.150-350 (c)Rs.350-700 (d) aboveRs.700<br />7. Which services are more helpful to you while using your Telecom Service?<br />(a) Call rates (b) SMS service (c) Network (d) Value added service<br />8. How long you have been using the services of current telecom operator?<br />(a) Less than 2month (b) 6-8 months (c) 1-2 years (d) more than 2years<br />9. If you are asked to select among the following as first preference which would you choose? <br />(a) AIRTEL (b) TATA DOCOMO (c) Reliance SMART (d) IDEA (e) VODAFONE (f) BSNL (g) others …………………………………………<br />CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS<br />In your opinion, how does the service quality of your network meet your expectations in terms of the following dimensions? TICK the appropriate answer<br /> DIMENSIONS <br />RELIABILITY AND RESPONSIVENESSPOORNEUTRALGOODR1delivery of SMS, MMS, voice message and other servicesR2Customer care and handling complaintsTECHNICAL QUALITIEST1Billing procedureT2Network innovativeness- ability to use current technology to improve servicesT3Network coverageECONOMY (How economical is the use of your telecom service in terms ofE1Recharge cards and their denominationsE2The call charge per minute or second<br />Please make a tick mark on factors that may have influenced you to decide your telecom operator<br />FACTORSStrongly agreeagreedisagreeStrongly disagreeD1Brand image D2Advertisement (TV commercials, newspaper, banners, hoardings)D3Offers ( SIM card offered with initial balance, life time validity)D4Value added service (GPRS, newspaper, entertainment, downloads, travel etc.)<br />Overall, tell us how much you are satisfied or dissatisfied with your telecom operator. Put up a tick mark with the facial that expresses best<br />Very dissatisfied dissatisfied neutral satisfied very satisfied <br />Feedback if any………………………………………………………………………………………….<br />…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..<br />Thank you…..<br />