SUMMER INTERNSHIP

REPORT

THE STUDY OF CUSTOMER PREFERENCE FOR CHOOSING A PARTICULAR

MAGAZINE OF OUTLOOK
Submitted by
Sudhanshu Shekher Rajput
(BBA)
03824401712

BBA Class of 2014

Under the Supervision of
Mrs.
Assistant Professor
Department of Marketing & Sales
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachlors of Business
Administration

Declaration

I hereby declare that the Training Report conducted at

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

OUTLOOK INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, NEW DELHI

Under the guidance of
Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sona
Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of
BACHOLARS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
TO
AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL
AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH
SECTOR 125, NOIDA
Is my original work and the same has not been submitted for the award of any
other degree/diploma/fellowship or other similar titles or prizes.
Place: NEW DELHI

Sudhanshu Shekher Rajput

Date: 14/7/14

Enrollment No.: 03824401712

Letter of Authorization
This is to certify that Mr. Tushar Nangia, Enrolment number A0102213006 student of
Amity Business School, Amity University will be doing his Summer Internship Program
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Project with OUTLOOK PUBLISHING (India) PVT. LTD. from 5th May, 2014 to 25th
June, 2014.

The project work entitled The Study of Customer Preference for choosing a particular
magazine of Outlook embodies the original work done by Tushar Nangia during the above
full training period.

Sandeep Kumar Sona

(Industry Guide)

Approval

This is to approve that Tushar Nangia, student of Masters of Business Administration

M&S at Amity Business School, Amity University Uttar Pradesh is pursuing the Summer
Internship on The Study of Customer Preference for choosing a particular magazine of
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Outlook, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Business
Administration Marketing & Sales under my guidance.
The draft report has been approved.

Mrs.
Assistant Professor

Acknowledgement
The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from
many people and I am extremely fortunate to have got this all along the completion of my
project work. Whatever I have done is only due such guidance and assistance and I would not
forget to thank them.

I would like to thank OUTLOOK PUBLISHING INDIA PVT LTD to complete my internship
in this organization and supporting me in all the ways to complete my summer internship
training.

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

I also take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Sandeep Kumar Sona
(Deputy Manager, OUTLOOK PUBLISHING INDIA Private Limited) his cordial support,
valuable information and guidance, which helped me in completing this task through various
stages.

I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my faculty guide
Mrs. Swati Bhatnagar for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this project. The blessing, help and guidance given by her time to
time shall carry me a long way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.

I would like to express my gratitude and indebtedness to the management and staff of Amity
Business School for providing me this wonderful opportunity to gain practical industrial
exposure in the field of marketing and sales by including this summer internship as part of
my curriculum.

Lastly, I thank almighty, my parents, brother, sisters and friends for their constant
encouragement without which this assignment would not be possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration.2
Letter of Authorization..3
Faculty Guide approval.4
Acknowledgement..5
Executive Summary...7
Introduction8
About the company9
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Mission of the company.9

Vision of the company...9
Review of Literature.21
Research Methodology.25

Data Analysis & Interpretation...28

SWOT Analysis................................................................36
Results and Discussion38
Recommendations39
Conclusion....40
References.41
Appendix......42

Executive summary
The OUTLOOK Group is one of the best magazine publishing groups in India. It is a wellknown brand and appreciated all over the world. Mr. Rajan Raheja is the owner of The
OUTLOOK Group. THE OUTLOOK has been published in New Delhi continuously since
Oct.1995 by The OUTLOOK Group, whose founding editor-in chief is Mr. Krishna Prasad.
OUTLOOK is one of Indias four top- selling English weekly news magazine. Its branches
are established in New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. The
head office of the outlook group is situated in New Delhi.
Today Outlook is the preferred magazine of about 2 million readers in India, and sells more
than 12 million copies over the year. There are 6 magazines of outlook group. One of those
magazines (OUTLOOK) is in Hindi and other five are available in English.
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

The Project STUDY OF CUSTOMER PREFERENCE FOR CHOOSING A PARTICULAR

MAGAZINE OF OUTLOOK is an attempt to find out the behavior of the consumers and
their buying techniques and to understand what attracts them the more.
For evaluating and understanding the consumer preferences, in Outlook India group we are
trying to find their business practices and how the magazine publishing is managed. We tried
to make new strategies to attract the customers and at the same time satisfying their needs and
requirements.
It is observed that customers are disappointed due to severe delivery problem of outlook.
Company should focus on customer retention by improving upon the delivery system,
sending loyalty gifts, auto renewal of subscriptions, special discounts. Improve in content and
news in magazine for customer satisfaction. Customers also look for different segments
which should be offered by outlook to increase the number of subscribers like magazines on
fashion, IT, infrastructure, celebrities, and geography.

Introduction
In India the Print media is more than an exceptionally old and settled industry. The print
business involves daily paper and magazine publishing. Book publishing is more smaller yet
critical as far as income. Despite the fact that it is a full grown industry, new magazines are
continuously dispatched consistently. India has been one of the quickest developing world
economies since the previous three years. Solid utilization and rising income levels have
helped the development of print media. New titles that concentrate on niche topics continue
to launch in the market. The sources of revenue for a magazine are membership, single
duplicate deals and commercials. Give or take 73% of income originates from promoting and
27% from circulation.
The magazine business is experiencing an extreme stage in India much the same as in
different nations. Daily papers have added supplements to their principle issue and
encroached on the substance secured by magazines prior. TV stations have additionally been
dispatched in diverse classifications that didn't exist a couple of years back. Furthermore with
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

the increased usage of the Internet in the nation, more individuals are currently consuming
news and stories on distinctive points on the web and cellphones. There is still an interest for
top quality print content and magazines will need to convey on that need to maintain a
strategic distance from lose piece of the pie to different mediums. Also, they likewise need to
investigate and distribute their content on the web and cellphone industries to offer decision
to their subscribers to consume content from anyplace and whenever.
India has 49,000 distributions, yet yearly income is simply $1.1 billion. The majority of them
need in innovation, showcasing, and money to develop which has brought about few
distributions commanding the business with the Times of India Group being the business
sector pioneer. Circulation is critical for a magazine since it must be readily available and
advertised to customers. Big publications have a strong distribution network.

Retail: magazines are accessible in retail outlets for sale. The retailer gets a
commission on the sale.

Membership: publisher signs up subscribers directly or through partners and delivers

the issues in mail.

Selective Distribution: Special sponsored copies are distributed in planes and inns.

The print business in India is exceptionally divided because of expansive number of local
languages. Territorial publication distributions claim 46% of the piece of the pie, Hindi
language publications blanket 44% and the remaining 10% is served by English productions.
The essential utilization of English magazines at present is in metros and urban centres yet
the development is widening to modest urban communities as the education and income
levels build among the white collar class.
With the opening up of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, several international
publishers are aggressively entering the market and this trend is expected to continue.

Rajan Raheja Group

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

About the Company: Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Rajan Raheja is the Owner of THE OUTLOOK GROUP
The OUTLOOK Group is one of the biggest magazine publishing groups in India. It is a
well-known brand and appreciated all over the world.
IT was established in October 1995.Its branches are established in New Delhi, Kolkata,
Bangalore, GURGAON, Chennai and Hyderabad. The head office of the outlook group is
situated in New Delhi. Mr. Vinod Mehta was the editor-in chief when the first issue of the
magazine was published.
In October 1995, group company Hathaway Investments private Limited entered the print
media. Outlook a weekly News magazine galvanized a sluggish market reeling under the
impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly placed itself as a need for readers who value it in
depth.
Today Outlook is the preferred magazine of about 2 million readers in India, and sells more
than 12 million copies over the year. There are 6 magazines of outlook group. One of those
magazines (OUTLOOK) is in Hindi and other five are available in English.

VISION OF THE COMPANY

Leadership through empowering individual thought.

MISSION OF THE COMPANY

To be the largest and the most profitable Magazine Publisher in India
The Magazines under the Outlook group comprises of 6 National issues:

Outlook English
Outlook traveler
Outlook money
Outlook business
Outlook traveler luxe
Outlook hindi

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

OUTLOOK WEEKLY It is an independent weekly general interest English News

magazine published in India. It features contents from politics, sports, cinema, and
stories of broad interests.

Fig 1.3: Outlook business

OUTLOOK BUSINESS It covers all about the company and industry, provident
fund, advertising, enterprise, technology etc. This magazine is one of the most selling
magazines in India. Most business class people prefer to get this magazine. This
magazine is published fortnightly i.e. 1 issue in every 15 days. Its cover price is 40
rupees per copy.

OUTLOOK MONEY It covers bank sector, banking, insurance general,

insurance decoder, mutual funds. How to invest money in the market & mistakes when
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

investing? How to invest? Basically its a personal financing magazine and preferred by
youngsters. It is also a fortnightly Magazine. Its cover price is Rs. 30/- per copy.

OUTLOOK TRAVELER

It includes all the details like address of the tourism spot in

hills, wildlife, adventure, beach, resorts, heritage, and weekend. This magazine is preferred he
people who love to travel to new destinations. It is a monthly magazine. Its cover price is 100
rupees per copy.

OUTLOOK HINDI

It is for the Hindi reading audience. Hindi reader keeping their interests,

realities & aspirations in mind, it is not a translation of outlook English. As per the
management decisions, it is only sold at the stalls or book-stores. Subscribing this magazine
online is not yet possible. It is a weekly news magazine and its cover price is Rs. 35.
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Outlook Traveller Luxe provides privileged access to a world of luxury travel for wellheeled travellers who like to savour the finest globe-trotting experiences. it is the ultimate
luxury companion youll need to make your holidays exceptionally extravagant whether
youre looking for spa getaways, exotic beaches, wildlife sanctuaries, desert safaris or
mountain hideways

Management Team
NAME

DESIGNATION

Suresh Selvaraj

Vice President

Indranil Roy

Vice President

Alok Mathur

Assistant Vice President

Anup Dwivedi

General Manager, Production & Systems

Vidya Menon

General Manager, Advertising

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Gaurav Vashisht

Deputy General Manager

Himanshu Pandey

National Head, Business Development

Alex Joseph

National Head, Retail

Gitanjali Singh

National Head, Marketing

Awards & Achievements

Department of Tourism, Government of India Award, National Tourism Award 20012002 awarded to OUTLOOK Traveller for Excellence in Publication.

OUTLOOK Traveller " 100 Holidays in the Hills" won the 2004, PATA Gold Award

In 2002-2003 the Government of India recognized "OUTLOOK Traveller Getaways"

as the Best Travel Publication".

Weekend breaks from Delhi was in the BESTSELLERS top three, non-fiction
category for 14 consecutive weeks in North India

Weekend breaks from Mumbai was in the BESTSELLERS list top three for 8
consecutive weeks in West India

Outlooks Web Media

Outlookindia.com: Before 1998, Outlook was not available online. But after 1998,
Outlook went online as outlookindia.com. Outlookindia.com is both outlooks
Magazines home on the internet and an online publication. Going online was a
valuable deal for outlook group because people who were technology oriented came
closer to the outlook groups magazines. Apart from Outlooks printed edition in its
entirely supplemented with links to related articles on its own site and elsewhere on
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

the web. Outlookindia.com also offers an array of Original columns that is only meant
for web and news updates every day with a very lively interaction with the readers.
Outlooktraveller.com: Inaugurated as a web resource in 2000, this travel Website
has since come a long way. Outlook traveler began by opening up new vistas in webdriven vacation planning, with its highly focused editorial features on an array of
destinations. Still a highlight of the website, these are supported by tools and
resources that make putting together your holiday a breeze from selecting your
destination, to choosing your mode of transport, finding your way around the map,
selecting a place to stay to catching the local festivities, plus ferreting out the nearest
ATM, fuel stop or cybercaf. Here there is something for everyone; themed vacation
ideas from 'A for adventure' to 'W for wildlife', honeymooners dream destinations,
foodies delights, first-person travelogues, a message room where you can exchange
notes or ask us for more info that you want And don't forget to book your copies of
our international award-winning bestsellers from Outlook Traveler Getaways,
available at a special price when you order on the website. If you want a sneak
preview, there're excerpts from the guide books by renowned authors, including the
likes of Prabhu Ghate, Ruskin Bond and Jug Suraiya.
Outlookmoney.com: outlookmoney.com takes forward the philosophy and beliefs

ushered in by Intelligent Investor (the personal finance magazine that was launched in
mid-1998, now known as Outlook Money). The site has six channels -- Stocks,
Mutual Funds, Loans, Retirement Planning, Taxation and Insurance -- that address
broad areas of the personal finance spectrum. Outlookmoney.com comes with many
interactive tools. The Loans channel alone sports calculators that do all the number
crunching a visitor may want on home, car, personal or equity loans.
Outlookmoney.com seeks to provide total solutions to personal finance issues -- from
disseminating information to providing avenues for e-commerce transactions.
PRINT MEDIA

OUTLOOK: In October 1995,group company hath way investment private limited entered
in the print media. Outlook, a weekly newsmagazine headed by Vinod Mehta, galvanised a
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

sluggish market reeling under the impact of satellite TV. Outlook quickly carved a significant
niche for itself among discerning readers who value its in-depth, investigative reporting as
well as its stylish visual format. Known to be fiercely independent, Outlook has shaken the
establishment on events ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to cricket, sensitised the reading
public to important issues like big dams, education and gender, and provided an unremitting
focus on South Asian geopolitics. Today, Outlook is the preferred magazine of 1.5 million
readers in India, and sells more than 11.2 million copies over the year.

OUTLOOK MONEY: In July 1998, the Group launched "Intelligent Investor" re-christened
as "OUTLOOK MONEY" as of 30-Nov-2002, India's first personal finance magazine, which
offers sound strategies for the lay investor, especially the growing segment of salaried middle
and upper middle-class and self-employed professionals. Its message is clear and simple:
'Invest well, borrow wisely, spend smartly'. Evidently, that message has gone down well: the
magazine sold upwards of 1,00,000 copies a fortnight within a year. One of its distinguishing
characteristics is that about 93 per cent of readers retain all past issues of Outlook Money.

OUTLOOK TRAVELER: Outlook Traveler is a monthly magazine from the stable of

Outlook Publishing India Pvt. Limited and the only significant magazine aimed at the travel
reader. Every month since June 2001 OT has introduced readers to the wonders of unknown
destinations while also encouraging travelers to take a fresh look at familiar places. Whether
people are planning a holiday, or simply dreaming of one, Outlook Traveler continues to take
them closer

Guides of Outlook Group

Apart from publishing magazines, there are some guides also which is published by Outlook
group.
OUTLOOK Traveler Travel Guides published from outlook group is today a well-recognized,
established and acknowledged premier travel reference guide book in India. In just a span of
15 years, 14 successful titles have been published.
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Some of them are:Weekend Breaks (from Delhi/ GURGAON/ Bangalore/ Chennai)

State Travel Guides (Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Himachal)
Trekking Holidays
Wildlife Holidays
101 pilgrimage Destinations
Heritage Holidays
OUTLOOK Traveler Guides are not only useful for reliable information about the
destination to be visited; it is also useful for knowing the culture and workings of that
destination. These guides are generally preferred by the people who like to travel a lot and
who are keen to know about new destinations.

OUTLOOK & Its Competitors

OUTLOOK GROUP

COMPETITORS

OUTLOOK(ENGLISH)

INDIA TODAY

OUTLOOK MONEY

MONEY TODAY

OUTLOOK TRAVELLER

TRAVEL TODAY

OUTLOOK BUSINESS

BUSINESS TODAY, BUSINESS

ECONOMY

Outlooks sales and revenue

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

In the above figure, OUTLOOK quarterly sales doughnut is being described and it is
observed that during 2nd quarter (Jul Sep) and 4th quarter (Jan Mar) maximum revenue is
earned reasons thereof are as follows:

In the middle of 1st and 2nd quarter, company appoints college interns, who are really
enthusiastic and focused towards their work. Secondly, company launches Bonanza
offers during this period.

During last quarter, every employee gives his/her best performance to achieve the
annual targets and company earns maximum profit through its Subscription & Retail
division.

STP of the Outlook Group

SEGMENTATION:
Outlook focuses on segmenting middle class and upper middle class within and outside
INDIA.

TARGETING:
It targets Corporates, Institutes, Hotel industries, Students and Individuals.

POSITIONING:
It positions itself as news magazine that gives more than just news. It covers majority of the
segments of the markets to fulfill every requirement of the individual.

MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED:

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

1. Mass impersonal selling methods (Advertising).

Pull Blend.
2. Face to face personal selling (Salesman ship).
Push Blend.
Both of these are closely related to the Channel of Distribution.
1. A Pull Blend is one in which mass impersonal, sales efforts are given the greatest
emphasis. The purpose of pull blends to pre-sell to the final consumers so that they demand
the product at the retail level of distribution.
The firm adopting this strategy would spend more on advertising and sales promotion rather
than in personal selling.
2. A Push Blend emphasizes personal selling. Naturally firms adopting this method develop a
strong sales force at both the distributor and the dealer level; this method would tend to push
the product through the channel of distribution.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES
OFFERS (1ST MAY 2014- 31ST MAY 2014) FROM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE GROUP:

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

CURRENT OFFERS:

A SAMPLE OF THE KNOWLEDGE JOCKEY:

The knowledge jockey showed that how much sales is being converted during our training
period. The following is the sample of Outlooks KJ:

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Review of Literature
Before starting any research it is very necessary to read articles and other research papers that
have been written on the subject in the past. These literatures help us in developing a strong
base for our study and provide us with information that can be used during the research. It
also helps in developing the objectives of our study.
Preference is a persons feeling of pleasure or disappointment coming from comparing a
products performance in relation to his or her expectations. Many companies aim for high
satisfaction because consumers who are only satisfied try to switch when a better offers
comes to them. The preferences of consumers are the result of a long term relationship
between the brand and the consumer as the recent learns on how to associate the brand with
an image and see it as having a high quality. The knowledge of preferences is important with
respect to different exercises done at a hierarchical level, necessary for the survival.
Studying the Consumer preferences
The theory of rational choice consists of attitude components which in turn represents the
basis of forming a preference. This theory gives us a model which helps in understanding the
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

way consumer preferences are formed and giving us, in a right way, with the essential method
for examining and predicting the evolution of consumer preferences.
After analyzing the way consumer preferences are formed, with respect to the theory of
rational choice, we can say that, in order to understand the consumer preference, it is
important to determine their wants and demands regarding the performance involved in the
purchase, the emotional results and also the subjective measures the consumers use to
identify the tendency for a product or service as against the others.

How consumer preferences are formed

Belief that the choice
will lead to certain
desired performance.
Evaluation of Results.
Belief that the choice
will lead to certain
desired emotions.
Intention

Preference

Belief that the choice

is considered correct
by others.
Subjective comparison
Norm
Motivation to act in
accordance with
the opinion of others.
Source: Developing customer insight: The Determination of Customer preference, International
communication research, www.icrsurvey.com/docs/Customer%20Preference%20Formation_1205.doc

Customer Loyalty
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Subscribing to a magazine which actually means buyers faithfulness, is an important factor

that can determine the magazines showcasing approach.
Cunningham (1956) defined brand loyalty as that part of consumption which is exclusively
dedicated to one brand that the customer often buys.
According to Drucker(1954), the principle purpose of any brand is to create satisfied
customers. Increased loyalty has been found to lead to increased revenue (Fornell,1992,
Anderson and Lehman 1994) and reduction in the cost of future transaction (Reichheld1996;
Bolton1998).
Day (1969) argues that brand loyalty involves more than the continuous purchase of the same brand,
it is a habit. Based on this argument, Jacoby (1971) developed a framework that puts together
customer behavior and customer habit. The behavior aspect refers to the constant repetition of
buying a product over a period of years (subscription). Habit deals with the customers desire
to buy a product again. Customer loyalty involves a reading habit, but also a year long
relationship between the magazine and the customer. The reading habit, which leads to
customer loyalty, is combined with a series of criteria, such as the way of buying magazines,
reading time and personal characteristics as well as the place.Thats why a subscriber, for example,
may have different views on the way of buying a magazine than an occasional buyer.
Therefore, according to Dick and Basu (1994) and also Oliver (1999), customer loyalty
starts with a habit that may sometimes form an association with the brand.
The Pricing & Quality of Content
The quality of content as well as the price of magazines is an important variable that
influences readers either positively or negatively.Content is an important factor so that the
reader can get an idea about the quality of a magazine and therefore has a significant impact on
customer behaviour.
According to Berry (1995), certain components and different elements are viewed as aspects
of value, so that a whole administration might be described as a quality administration, Hence
an organization that is dependable in terms of financial results and performance is a good sign
of content quality for magazine customers.
John O Shaughnessy (1987) marketing strategy is a broad concept of how resources are to
be utilised to achieve market success. The content for a marketing strategy shows how the
key features of the offering (product, price, promotion and distribution) are intended to
achieve firms objectives.
Relationship between Magazine Quality and Subscription
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

The quality aspects that influence the relationship between a magazine and its subscribers
may include either external factors, for example low price, timely delivery and the editors
reputation. It may also include some internal factors such as the cover design, paper quality
and the quality of articles. The range of data, magazines sources & the coverage of stories
also has an impact in the readers satisfaction and subscription (Gronlund, 2002).
Different studies infer that magazines are more a service and not just a product, so it is
necessary to give attention to the continuous subscription service. Continuous service means
the subscribers take a magazine and get a discount on the cost for a long period, normally one
or two years.

Narsimha Rao P.V.L consumer survey (2005) press continues to grow from time to time.
Press adds 36 million consumers in the last two years over the last three years the number of
consumer of magazines put together among those aged 15 years and above is growing 4%
every year.

Sources:
https://www.academia.edu/2322257/Consumer_Magazine_Subscription_The_Roles_of_Customer_Satisfaction_and_Content
_Quality
http://www.globeco.ro/wp-content/uploads/vol/split/vol_1_no_1/geo_2013_vol1_art_015.pdf

Research Methodology
The methodology adopted for the study is divided into 7 phases:
Phase 1: Product Training and Knowledge
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

This means over view of all the magazines of outlook India group in detail. To know how one
magazine distinguishes from the other, in terms of features, target customers, readership, and
circulation.
Since, outlook is a print media; we get to know the add-on thing how a print media works,
how costing plays an effective role in sales and marketing.
Phase 2: Identification of segments
The Indian market is very huge, thus, catering the needs of diverse customers. Thus in the
second phase identification of new segment is must. Segments like real estate, retails, clubs,
hotels etc were identified.
Phase 3: Tele-Calling
Processes in which we make call to the customer and ask them to subscribe online. In third
process calling is made to those customer who were already the subscriber of the magazine
and whose subscription is going to expire or already expired. It is done by using the database
provided by the customer.
Phase 4: Cold calling
Generation of database from websites like fundoodata.com and others, for companies in
different segments, present in Delhi/NCR to know how they promote their brand and to make
them aware about the new marketing tools and strategies thus adopted by sales & promotion
team of the outlook group.
The terminology used for customers:

The list of customers present in the database that are to be contacted.

The list of customers who are interested in the promotion.
The customers who finally close the deal on a positive note.

Phase 5: Corporate exposure

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

A meeting is fixed with the concerned person (Head Business Development, Marketing Head
etc.) of the company to know how the promotion tools and strategies being followed. As per
the requirements of the marketing/promotion department, a business proposal is mailed along
with the appropriate costing for their references, followed by constant follow ups.
Phase 6: Generation of sales
Assisting the sales and promotion team in promoting sales by converting present customers in
database who are to be contacted to customers who finally close the deal on a positive note.
Consequently, sales are generated as per the targets.
Phase 7: Questionnaire survey
The survey is carried out to know the current market trends in each segment and to analyze
competitors products in that particular segment.
Sources of Data Collection
The research is based on both
Primary data
For collecting the primary data the survey was done through questionnaire, which was
personally given to different people and was filled through interacting with different age
groups, sex, and occupation.
.
Secondary data
For theoretical overview, secondary data was collected from different websites and research
papers.
The source of data collection for the observation is Primary data which is collected from the
Questionnaire. . Primary data are originated by a researcher for the specific purpose of
addressing the problem at hand.

Research Design:
The methodology to be used would be a Descriptive Research Design.
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Sampling Methods:
There are two methods of selecting samples from the population:
Non Probability sampling
Probability Sampling
In this research, I have used the first method i.e. the Non Probability Sampling, because of
the time constraints and also to gather as much information as possible.

Sampling technique:

Initially, a rough draft was prepared keeping in mind the objective of the research. A study
was done in order to know the accuracy of the Questionnaire. The final Questionnaire arrived
only after certain important changes were done. Thus my sampling came out to be convenient
which is a type of Non probability sampling.
Sampling Unit:
The respondents who were asked to fill out questionnaires are the sampling units. These
comprise of people from different occupations in India.
Sample Size:
The sample size was restricted to only 105, which comprised of mainly peoples from
different regions of India.
Questionnaire:
A structured questionnaire would be designed and the customer preferences would be
determined using the survey and observation method.

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Data Analysis & Interpretation

GENDER
MALE Male male female FEMALE male m Female Male Female female

The pie represents the percentage of male & female subscribers.

The male subscribers are 51% whereas the female account to 49%.

OCCUPATION

Student

5 50%
1

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Self
Employed

2 23%
3

Professiona
l

2 27%
8

The pie shows that maximum subscribers are students followed by self employed people and
finally the professionals.
Student subscribers are 50%, self employed are 23%, and Professionals are 27%.

Do you read magazines?

Ye
s

9 94%
7

No

6 6%

The pie shows the percentage of people who read/do not read magazines. Therefore 94% of
them are found to read magazines while the rest 6% do not read any magazine.

Which is your favourite magazine?

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Outlook

16

16%

Outlook business

12

12%

Outlook traveller

15

The pie represents the different magazines, as we can see the number of India today
subscribers are the maximum followed by Outlook and so on. Money today and Outlook
money has the least number of subscribers, which shows that people are least interested
towards the finance magazines.

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Which of the following do you prefer?

Print
Edition

7 76%
7

Digital
Edition

2 24%
4

The pie shows the print edition is more popular among the magazine subscribers as compared
to digital edition.
Print edition accounts to 76% whereas digital edition accounts to only 24%.

Outlook Magazines carry relevant information!

Strongly
Disagree

4%

Disagree

1%

Uncertain

19
%

Agree

73
%

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Strongly
Agree

6%

This pie shows the maximum people agree to the fact that magazines of Outlook carry
relevant information while some people are still uncertain about the fact.
71% people believe that outlook magazines do carry relevant information while 18% are
uncertain. A small percentage of people agree as well as disagree to the above statement.

Which payment offer do you prefer for subscribing magazines?

Cash

54
%

Online
Payment

40
%

Cheque

10
%

The pie chart represents the different payment methods preferred by the customers.
52% people pay by cash, 38% make online payment and 10% do the payment through
cheque.

Do you feel Outlook's gifts & magazines are meaningful?

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Ye
s

7 76%
8

No

2 24%
4

The pie chart shows that 76% customers believe that Outlook has got gifts and magazines
which are meaningful while 24% disagree to the same.

What are the difficulties you face while receiving the magazine?

Delivery time

5 51%
0

Customer
service

2 26%
5

Old
content/News

1 15%
5

Other

8 8%

The pie shows that the majority of customers are unhappy with the delivery (51%) whereas
some believe that customer service (26%) is also not good. A small percentage has problems
regarding the old content/ news (15%) in the magazines. 8% customers faces other
difficulties.

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Price [Please rank the following criteria according to your preference at

the time of choosing the magazine]

9 9%

4 44%
6

4 43%
5

4 4%

When choosing a magazine, majority of the subscribers (44%) believe that price should be
the second preference, whereas 43% believe that price should be given the third preference.
A small % of people think that price as an important factor should be given the 1st and 4th
preference for choosing a magazine.

Brand [Please rank the following criteria according to your preference at

the time of choosing the magazine]

4 39%
1

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

3 37%
8

2 20%
1

4 4%

There is a cut throat competition when it comes to the factor of brand. 39% subscribers say
that brand should be the first preference whereas 37% say that it should be given the second
preference while choosing a magazine. 20% believe that brand is not that important so it can
be preferred in the third position.

Content [Please rank the following criteria according to your preference

at the time of choosing the magazine]

7 72%
5

2 20%
1

5 5%

3 3%

The factor of Content is given by a majority of the subscribers, as compared to the price and
brand. 72% believe that content is the most important part of a magazine so it should be
preferred first.
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Cover Design [Please rank the following criteria according to your

preference at the time of choosing the magazine]

1 18%
9

3 36%
7

2 28%
9

1 18%
9

Hereby it is concluded that the maximum subscribers/people think that Content should be
given the first preference, followed by the brand, and then the cover design and lastly the
price while choosing a magazine.

Any suggestions/Feedback
Outlook should start fashion magazine as well. Always put authentic content :) The service is
remarkable and.The 'Outlook' magazine provides a good insight into the current political, economic
and social issues. A perfect weekly magazine! The business edition must touch upon the digital
marketing aspects in depth; considering it is one of the most popular marketing techniques for
businesses today.all the best No No feedback.... Kindly provide a committed time of delivery no
suggestions from my side... Good Content. Nope cover can be more attractive. - The magazines
should be delivered on time and not 4 days late Magazines should be delivered in time. Poor service,
fake commitments. Improve delivery

Number of daily responses

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

SWOT Analysis:
Strengths:

Innovative and customer oriented products.

Six different magazines which cover major segment of the market and fulfill the

needs of different age group belonging to different sectors.

Exclusive photography and articles, OUTLOOK does not copy the content from

internet and paste in its magazines.

OUTLOOK has well organized and experienced man power, which approach directly

and indirectly as well, to the readers.

OUTLOOK has set up its own strong distribution channel, which circulate 1.5 million

copies in INDIA.
OUTLOOK gives you multiple times address change flexibility and charge nothing

for the service.

OUTLOOK is known for its range of magazines, subscription offers (also available
with internet edition) and provide with exciting gifts to the customers.

Weakness:

Price of some magazines is high

Customer perception that outlook serves to a political party.
It takes four weeks in delivering first copy of the subscriber and two weeks in case of

address change.
OUTLOOK takes two months of time in delivering the gift.

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Opportunities:

It has many products capturing all sectors information so it has an opportunity to

become a market leader.

OUTLOOK can increase its product line by launching new magazines, which can

increase the market share of OUTLOOK.

OUTLOOK has an opportunity to promote its magazines at international level with
international edition.

Threats:

Number of competitors in the market.

India today has already captured the big market share
Perception of readers, OUTLOOK favours Congress party and does not write
anything against the party.

Results and Discussions:

It is observed that maximum numbers of subscribers are males.

Majority of the subscribers are students followed by self employed people.
India Today a direct competitor of the Outlook Group has been found to be favorite

among the magazine subscribers.

Anytime the Print edition is preferred over the Digital Edition.
Majority of the subscribers believe that the information of Outlook magazines is of

relevance.
Mostly people are willing to make the payment by cash followed by online and lastly

through cheque..
Nearly 47% of the Outlook subscribers face problems of delivery whereas 25%

believe that the customer service is not up to the mark.

Gifts are a major attraction for the customers.
The maximum subscribers/people think that Content should be given the first
preference, followed by the brand, and then the cover design and lastly the price
while choosing a magazine.

Considering the gifts which are a major attraction to subscribe for magazines should not
be the choice of the customers as people should focus on reading and not just subscribing
the magazines for gifts. Outlook should also improve on the customer service as well as
the delivery time so as more number gets attracted towards their magazines rather than
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

India Today. Better customer service will lead to retention and increase in sales for the
publishing house.

Recommendations:
1. Effective promotional scheme a strategy for consumer motivation:
It is important to motivate the consumer to subscribe for the magazine for boosting the sales
and its obvious that most of the consumers will not get motivated unless and until they get
what they want. From the market survey it was able to identify that the motivating factors are
the gifts provided along with the subscriptions and according to most of the consumers a
good gifts are one which have good brand value associated with it and those which offer
better utility.
2. Customer retention
It is a normal saying that customer acquisition is good, retention is better. This is because a
customer retained is equal to five new customers as the money spent for acquiring a customer
is calculated to be five times the money spent to retain a customer. From the information
obtained from Outlook, if was identified that Outlook does nothing for customer retention.
Outlook needs to formulate and implement customer retention and loyalty programs to retain
the customers.

Greet the customers with exciting gifts during special occasions

Sell the subscription renewal at discount
Auto renewal of subscription
Allow grace period for subscription expiry
Send loyalty gifts
Organize entertainment events for subscribers
Organize get together

3. Improved magazine for customer loyalty

To improve customer loyalty and thereby increase voluntary sales outlook magazine has to
work on its weaknesses as expected by the customers of the magazine Since the quality of
content and coverage are subjective in nature, Outlook needs to identify what are weaknesses
of the current contents and coverage of the magazine as well as the customers expectations
about them. For this Outlook should go for detailed survey and customers feedback so that it
can understand the customers expectations as far as content and coverage of the magazine
are concerned. Once the customer expectation is identified Outlook need to restructure the
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

magazine by implementing the customer requirements and demands in order to improve their
satisfaction level which will in turn boost the magazine as well as subscription sales.

Conclusion:
The outlook group is a good name in the magazine industry and one of the top four in the
print industry of India. Its average readership in the country is increasing but it needs to be
careful of its competitors. Its biggest competitor in the market is India Today. The main
problem with outlook's promotion strategy is that it relies too much on sales force for
increasing circulation of its magazines. Outlook should devise a marketing plan to do this,
except for the promotional discounts. These discounts are really paying them off with some
good increase in sales. The newsstands and sales executives remain to be the most prevalent
source of sales because of the only reason that they don't advertise much or it is negligible.

References:
BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Websites
http://www.outlookindia.com/aboutus.aspx, last browsed on 26th June, 2014
http://www.outlooktraveller.com/, last browsed on 26th June, 2014
http://www.outlookbusiness.com/, last browsed on 26th June, 2014
http://www.outlookmoney.com/, last browsed on 26th June, 2014
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/65091774/Research-Analysis-on-Consumer-BuyingBehaviour, last browsed on 1st July, 2014
http://www.globeco.ro/wpcontent/uploads/vol/split/vol_1_no_1/geo_2013_vol1_art_015.pdf, last browsed on 1st July,
2014
https://www.academia.edu/2322257/Consumer_Magazine_Subscription_The_Roles_of_Cust
omer_Satisfaction_and_Content_Quality, last browsed on 5th July, 2014
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Study-Of-Customer-Prespective-Towards-Outlook505788.html, last browsed on 5th July, 2014

Books
Blackwell, R., Miniard, P. and Engel, J. (2006) Consumer behavior, Mason: Thompson
Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2011) Marketing Management(14th edition), London: Pearson
Education
Gabbott, M. and Hogg, G. (1998). Consumers and services, Chichester: John Wiley &
Sons.

Appendix:
Questionnaire
The study of consumer preference in choosing a particular magazine of the
Outlook Group
NAME

AGE

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

GENDER

OCCUPATION
o

Student

Self Employed

Professional
Do you read magazines?

Yes

No
Which is your favourite magazine?

Outlook

Outlook business

Outlook traveller

Outlook money

India today

Business today

Travel today

Money today
Which of the following do you prefer?

Print Edition

Digital Edition

Please rank the following criteria according to your preference at the time of choosing
the magazine

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Price

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Brand
Content
Cover Design
Outlook Magazines carry relevant information!
o

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Uncertain

Agree

Strongly Agree
Which payment offer do you prefer for subscribing magazines?

Cash

Online Payment

Cheque
Do you feel Outlook's gifts & magazines are meaningful?

Yes

No
What are the difficulties you face while receiving the magazine?

Delivery time

Customer service

Old content/News

Other:

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput

BY-Sudhanshu Rajput