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2, CRPF CAMPUS, BHUBANESWAR A PROJECT REPORT ON CONSUMER AWARENESS Prepared by: Bamdev Baghar PGT(Economics)
CONTENTS
Page No.
1. Introduction
1.1. Rise of consumer awareness 1.2. Objectives of the Study 1.3. Meaning of consumer awareness 1.4. Forms of consumer Exploitations 1.5. Factors causing exploitation of the consumers
1-2
3-3
4-5
6-6
7-8
9-14
15-15
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rise of Consumer Awareness
In the globalization, liberalization and privatization era, most of the economic decisions are taken by the market. Though, the government has withdrawn itself from many economic activities, it interferes very often when the market mechanism fails due to structural rigidities in the economy and other factors, to provide goods and services to the people. Consumption is one of the important economic activities, which requires regular government intervention, as market is unable to promote security and welfare aspects of the consumers. On the other hand, consumers has to be aware not only of the commercial aspects of sale and purchase of goods but also of the health and security aspect also. Besides this, they should be aware of their rights and duties being as rational human beings. Though, the first consumer movement began in England after the Second World War, a modern declaration about the consumers rights was first made in USA in the year 1962, where four basic consumer rights i.e. choice, information, safety and right to be heard were recognized. Ralph Nadar, a consumer activist is considered as the father of Consumer Movement. 15th March is now celebrated as the World Consumer Rights Day. The U.N.O. also adopted in the year 1985, certain guidelines to achieve the objectives of maintaining protection for consumers and to establish high level ethical conduct for those engaged in production and distribution of goods and services. In India, 24th December is celebrated as Consumers Day every year.
Consumer exploitation is a type of exploitation in which the consumers are exploited or cheated by the business community in terms of poor quality of product, underweight, under-measurement, duplicate articles etc.
2.
Some of the common ways by which the consumers are exploited by the business community are as Follows: a) Underweight and under-measurement b) Sub-standard quality c) High prices d) Duplicate articles e) Adulteration and impurity f) Lack of safety devices g) Artificial scarcity h) False and incomplete information i) Unsatisfactory after sale services j) Rough behaviour
3.
2.2. Duties of the Consumers
In order to secure rights, the consumers have to fulfill the following duties: a) While purchasing goods, consumers should look at the quality of the products as well as on the warranty of the product. b) They should ask for Cash Memo for the item purchased. c) They should form consumer awareness organizations. d) They must complain for their genuine grievances. e) The must know their rights and duties.
4.
The Bureau of Indian Standards, earlier known as the Indian Standards Institution(ISI), whose headquarter is located at Delhi, has the responsibility of lying down the standards for industrial and consumer goods on a scientific basis and certifying the goods that meet the standards and the prescribed quality. The Agmark is implemented under the Agricultural Produce(Grading and Marketing) Act of 1937, as amended in 1986. This scheme is run by the Directorate of Marketing and Intelligence(DMI) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Products such honey, masala etc, carry such marks. At international level, an institution called International Organization for Standardization(ISI), established in 1947 locate at Geneva, serves to provide such a common reference standard. All the international Companies, goods produced by them, and institutions are certified as ISO 6000, ISO 14000 etc. For setting international food standards, there is a similar body called Codex Alimentaries Commission(CAC). This was formed in 1963 by the Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO) and World Health Organization(WHO), located at Rome, Italy. It develops food standards, guidelines and codes for production and international trade in food products like milk, fish etc.
6.
5.2. Sampling Technique Used
Total number of households selected for the project is 80. These household has been selected by sampling method. There are two statistical enquiry methods: a) Census Method b) Sampling Method Census method is that method is that method in which data are collected covering every item of the universe or population relating to problem under investigation. Sampling method is that method in which data are collected about samples or a group of items taken from the population. There are different types of sampling techniques such as: random sampling, quota sampling, stratified sampling, deliberate sampling etc. But for the project concerned deliberate sampling method is used. This is also called judgment sampling. According to this method, for selecting a sample no specific procedure is used, rather the investigator, according to his own desire selects those households which represent the universe fully.
Percentage:
Gt-Gt-1
Percentage increase/decrease= _________
X 100
Gt-1
Gt= Value of the Variable in time period t Gt-1= Value of the Variable in time period t-1
Arithmetic Average(Mean):
Sum of all the values of different items in the series Arithmetic Mean= ____________________________________________ Total number of items X1+ X2++Xn = _____________________________ N
= Xi
i=1
i = 1, 2, 3.n
Besides mean and percentage, different types of diagrams like bar diagram, pie-diagram etc. has been used to represent data in a simple and systematic manner.
7.
Pie Diagram:
Pie diagram is a circle divided into various segments showing the values of a series. Degree measure of an item= % value of an item X 3.60
8.
Table No. 1 Sex-wise Family Members of the Households Sex(M/F) Male Female Total Family Members 200 220 420 Average family Size 2.5 2.75 5.25
Table No.2 Occupational Status of the Head of Households Occupation Services Big Business Small Business Total No. of Households 68 02 10 80 Percentage(%) 85 2.5 12.5 100
Table No. 3 Educational Level of Head of families Qualification Illiterate Primary Secondary Tertiary Total No. of Households 02 13 10 55 80 Percentage(%) 2.5 16.25 12.5 68.75 100
Table No.4 Educational Status of Family Members Qualifications Illiterate Primary Secondary Tertiary Total No. of Persons 10 30 170 190 400 Table No.5 Income Level of the Households Income level Below 5000(Low) 5000-20000(Medium) 20000-and above(High) Total No. of Households 10 60 10 80 Percentage(%) 12.5 75 12.5 100 Percentage(%) 2.5 7.5 42.5 47.5 100
9.
b) Diagrammatic Presentation of Data Different type of diagrams are used to represent the data. Diagram No. 1, a Bar Diagram represents sex-wise family members of the households. Diagram No.2, a Pie Chart represents occupational structure of the head of the households. Diagram No.3 and 4 are the Pie Charts represents income level of head of households and educational status of head of households respectively. Diagram No.5 and 6 are the Bar diagrams represents educational status of whole family and income level of head of households. Diagram No.1 Sex-wise Family Members
225 220 215 210 205 200 195 190 Male Female Series1 Service Big Business Small Business
10.
Table No.5 Educational status whole family
200
H ig h
180 160
Series1
M ed iu m Lo w
50
100
Table No.7 Source of influence on the Purchase of different Brand of Toothpaste Sources TV Newspaper Magazine Others Total No. of Households 56 06 10 08 80 Percentage(%) 70 7.5 12.5 10 100
11.
Consumer Awareness Knowledge about Certified Products Check MRP, Expiry and 68(85%) 08 Manufacturing date Knowledge about Fair Price Shop 60(75%) 20 Check ingredients used 35(43.75%) 45 Knowledge about Consumer 77(96.25%) 03 Courts Ever gone to Consumer Court 10(12.5%) 70 Insist cash Memo for Consumable 57(71.25%) 23 goods purchased From table No.6, it is evident that highest percentage of families i.e. 37.5% prefer Close-up followed by Colgate with 27.5%. Income and occupation factor did not influence the purchase or consumption of toothpaste of Close-up or Colgate. However, in case of lower income group, out of 10, 6 families use either Anchor or Promise and they prefer to it as it cost less than other brand of toothpastes. On the other hand, quality of product is important for high and medium income group, using Close-up and Colgate. Besides, quality of product and price, choice of children also taken into account while using the Colgate or Close-up for about 20% of the households. Majority people come to know about the product through advertisement on TV, followed by magazine, newspaper and other agencies as evident from Table No.7. Table No.8 depicts different aspects of consumer awareness i.e. about standardization, MRP, date of manufacturing and expiry, knowledge about Consumer Courts, rights and duties of the consumers etc. Out of total families, 81.25% of families check MRP, date of manufacturing and expiry. However, 56.25% of people interviewed, check the ingredients used in the product. As far as Consumer Court is concerned, majority of them (96.25%) have knowledge about it but only 10 out of total respondents have gone to the Consumer Court to redress their problems on different occasions.. Lastly, it is clear from Table No. 8 that majority of households(71.25%) surveyed, insist for Cash Memo at the time of purchase. However, it is limited to non-consumable durable items and some consumable items when large quantity is purchased. b) Diagrammatic Presentation of Data Use of different brand of toothpaste used by the surveyed households depicted in Diagram No.7 and source of influence on the purchase of different brand of toothpaste is depicted in Diagram No.8. in the form of a Pie-Chart. Diagram No. 7 Diagram No.8 Use of different Brand of toothpaste Source of influence on different Brand of Toothpaste
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Pe ps od en t C lo se -u p C ol ga te An ch or th er s
Series1
BIBILIOGRAPHY
Bibliography
1. Prof. S.P. Gupta, Statistical Methods, S.Chand and Company Ltd, 1994, New Delhi. 2. S.Mishra and V.K.Puri, Indian Economy, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai,2000
13.
4. Ruddar Dutt and K.P.M. Sundharam, Indian Economy, S. Chand and Company Ltd., 1994. 5. Statistics for Economics, Textbook for Class XI, NCERT, New Delhi, 2005. 6. Indian Economic Development, Textbook for Class XI, NCERT, New Delhi,2005. 7. The Consumer Protection Act 1986, the Law House, New Delhi. 8. Contemporary India, A Social Science Textbook for Class X, NCERT, New Delhi,2003. 9. Economic Survey, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Planning and Co-ordination Department, Government of Orissa, 2006-07.
APPENDIX
A. Questionnaire
1. Name of the head of family:__________________________ Education:________ Occupation:_______ Age:_________ Sex(M/F):_______ 2. Residential Address:_____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ 3. No. of Persons ________________________ Male Female Total ________________________________________________________ Below 5 5-14 15-64 65 and above _________________________________________________________ Total: 4. Level of Education No. Of Persons ________________________________________________________ Illiterate Primary Secondary Graduation Others __________________________________________________________ Total 5. Monthly Income ( In Rs/-) _________________________________________________________ Up to 1000 1000-5000 5000-20000 20000-50000 50000 and above __________________________________________________________ Age (In years)
14.
6. What do you use to clean your teeth ? Toothpaste_____ Tooth Powder_____ Any Other______ 7. Which brand of toothpaste do you use regularly ? Aquafresh___ Cibaka____ Anchor_______ Close-up____Promise_____Pepsodent_____ Oral B_____ Furhans_____Any Other____ 8. The price for 100 gram pack of the toothpaste (used by them). Price_______(actual) Price________(approx.) Do not know______. 9. Do you find the product costly? 10. Do you check MRP, date of manufacturing and date of expiry? 11. Do you check standardization of product like ISI, Agmark, ISO 2000 ? 12. Do you check ingredients used in the product ? 13. Are you satisfied with the quality of the product ? 14. Are you aware about the Fair Price Shop ? 15. Do you find the availability of product at FPS ? 16. Do you complain the shopkeeper in case of dissatisfaction ? 17. Has your complain been timely attended ? 18. Was your complain attended to your satisfaction ? 19. Are you aware about Consumer Courts ? 20. Have you ever gone to a Consumer Court in case of any dissatisfaction ? 21. Do you insist Cash Memo at the time of purchase to ensure genuine purchase and tax revenue to government ? 22. Do you insist Cash Memo for other commodities at the time of purchase ? 23. How do you come to know about the product ? Advertisement Family influenced _______________________________________________ TV _______ Newspaper _______ Magazine _______ Cinema _______ Sales Representatives _______ Exhibits Stall _______ Radio ________ Any other ________ _____________________________________________________ 24. Are you attracted by promotional offers like rebates, free toothbrush, buy one get one free ? 25. Do the Children influence purchase of particular toothpaste ? 26. If a new toothpaste brand is launched in the market will you buy it ? If yes, then what consideration ? Price of the Product________ Quality of the product______ Promotional offer_______ Any Other______
Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No