KEY VARIABLES

The following variables were identified based on the focus group discussions, in-depth
interviews and research questionnaire.
a.) Content of study material
b.) Ease of access
c.) Methods of assessment
d.) Doubt clearing sessions
e.) Cost effectiveness
f.) Brand Image of the e-tutorial
g.) General knowledge & information about current affairs
h.) Art & craft learning
i.) Ease of use (e-tutorial)
j.) Willingness to use e-tutorials
k.) Awareness about e-tutorials
l.) Extent to which e-learning is helpful in learning
m.) Extent to which it is helpful in teaching
n.) Preference for mode of learning
o.) Preference for additional educational support
p.) Influence of references/recommendations for selecting the additional educational
support
q.) Influence of references/recommendations for selecting the e-tutorial
r.) Access to computer or laptop at home

DATA ANALYSIS
Objective 1
To determine the customer attitude towards e-learning
I.

Affective

To determine what features distinguish people who are willing to use e-tutorial from those
who are not willing to use e-tutorial.
Key Variables Used
i.
Ease to Use
ii.
Doubt Clearing Session
iii.
Methods of Assessment
iv.
Content of study material
v.
Extent to which it is helpful in Learning
vi.
Heard about e-tutorial
vii.
Cost Effectiveness
Method Used
Discriminant Analysis
Discriminating Category
i.
Willing to use e-tutorial
ii.
Not willing to use e-tutorial

 Findings
The difference in the score for
Methods of Assessment for the willing
group is 3.1538, whereas it is 0.8687
for the non-willing group. Similar results
are obtained for Doubt clearing and

Heard about e-

Content. Hence it may be concluded

that the variables useful in
discriminating a willing group from a
non-willing group are:

Ease of Use
Doubt clearing sessions
Methods of Assessment
Content of study material
Helpfulness in learning
Cost Effectiveness

Heard about e-

Heard about e-

It is observed that the awareness about

e-tutorial is not a discriminating factor.

The Canonical correlation of 0.659

indicates that 43.43% of the variance
in the discriminating model between
the willing group and the non-willing group is due to the changes in the six predictor
variables; viz. ease of use, doubt clearing sessions, methods of assessment, content of
study material, helpfulness in learning and cost effectiveness.
From the table, the discriminant function is given as:
Y= 1.151 .260 X1 +0.008 X2 + 0.742 X3 - .123 X4 + 0.271 X5 1.224 X6 0.129 X7

Where,
Y = Discriminant Score
X1 = Ease to Use
X2 = Doubt Clearing Session
X3 = Methods of Assessment
X4 = Content
X5 = Learning

Heard about e-

X6 = Heard about E-tutorial

X7 = Cost Effective

II.

Behavioral
To determine the underlying factors which influence customers buying behavior
towards e-learning.
Key Variables Used
i.
Ease of Access
ii.
Doubt clearing sessions
iii.
Willingness to use
iv.
Helpfulness
v.
Expensive
vi.
Content of study material
vii.
Methods of assessment
viii.
Awareness
ix.
Access to computer or laptop at home
Methods Used
Factor Analysis
Findings

From the table, it can be inferred that there are

THREE major factors which influence a
consumers buying behavior towards e-learning.

FACTOR 1 - Customer Service

FACTOR 2 - Cost Effectiveness
FACTOR 3 - Awareness and Access to
computer or laptop at home

Moreover, it can also be

inferred that 72.505% of the
variance in the consumer
buying behavior is
explained by these three
factors.

III.

Cognitive
To determine the awareness about e-tutorial among people in Manipal and Udupi
and their beliefs about e-tutorial.
Key Variables Used
i.
Ease of Use
ii.
The extent to which e-tutorial is helpful in learning
iii.
The extent to which e-tutorial is helpful in teaching
Method Used
Descriptive Analysis

Findings

The awareness about e-tutorial was found to be

low among the student respondents.

EASE OF USE
30
20

STUDENTS

PARENTS

TEACHERS

10
0

Very Easy

Easy

Moderate

Difficult Very Difficult

HELPFUL IN LEARNING
25
20
15
10
5
0

Students

Parents/Guardians

Teachers/Tutors

All the e-tutorial users rated

e-tutorial portals as very easy to moderate with respect to the ease of use. None of the
users rated it as difficult or very difficult.

Majority of the student respondents found e-tutorial extremely helpful for learning.
However parents were of the opinion that e-tutorial only moderately helped their children in
learning. Teachers find e-tutorial as very helpful for students learning.
E-tutorial helpful in teaching

Not Helpful; 7%
Very Helpful; 29%

Extremely Helpful; 7%
Little Helpful; 21%
Moderately Helpful; 36%

Parents and teachers found e-tutorial moderately helpful in teaching their children/students.

Objective 2
To determine the features sought by target clients in e-tutorial
Key Variables Used
i.
Ease of access
ii.
Content of study material
iii.
Methods of assessment
iv.
Cost effectiveness
v.
Doubt clearing sessions
vi.
Knowledge about current affairs & GK
vii.
Brand image
viii.
Art & Craft learning
Method Used
Descriptive Analysis
Findings
The Content of the study material and Cost effectiveness of e-tutorial are the most
preferred features in e-tutorial. Methods of assessment and Knowledge about current
affairs & GK are also the preferred features in e-tutorial.

It was observed that the

respondents are relatively
indifferent to the brand
image of the e-tutorial
portal.

Objective 3
To identify the attitude of
target clients towards
LearnNext
Key Variables Used
i.
Awareness about LearnNext (COGNITIVE)
ii.
Brand-wise e-tutorial users (BEHAVIORAL)
iii.
Ratings of features of LearnNext (AFFECTIVE)
Method Used
Descriptive Analysis

AWARENESS ABOUT LEARN NEXT AMONG RESPONDENTS

20%
Heard about LearnNext

Not heard about LearnNext

80%

AWARENESS ABOUT LEARN NEXT AMONG POTENTIAL CLIENTS

41%
59%

Heard about LearnNext

Not heard about LearnNext

Findings

The awareness about LearnNext among respondents seems to be very low. Only 20% of the
respondents and 41% of potential clients have awareness about LearnNext. (Potential
clients are those who have awareness of e-tutorial and hence can be potential buyers of an
e-tutorial.)

NUMBER OF USERS
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Most of the respondents used Edurite or Educomp. This could be attributed to the lack of
awareness about LearnNext among respondents.
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Bad

Very Bad

Worst

Neither good nor bad

The users of LearnNext find it Excellent in technique of teaching, exposure to mock tests,
content of study material and cost effectiveness. The users find LearnNext highly
economical. However LearnNext has been ranked as Bad in providing knowledge about
current affairs & GK.
Other Findings

SOURCES OF REFERENCE
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Students

Parents/Guardians

Institute

Friends/Relatives

Brand

Ads/Social Media

Teachers/Tutors
Self Research

The Chalk &

Board is the most preferred mode of education. Most of the students do not prefer to use
additional educational support. It was also observed that teachers do not recommend
students to opt for additional educational support like private tuitions, coaching centres, etc.
Students and parents mostly rely on references and recommendations from friends &
relatives while choosing the additional educational support.

Users of e-tutorial among potential customers

38%
62%

Use e-tutorial

Do not use e-tutorial

The users of e-tutorial among potential clients is only 38%. (Potential clients are those who
have awareness about e-tutorial but have not used e-tutorial as yet and hence can be
potential buyers.)

RESULTS
Methods of assessment is the major factor which determines the willingness to use

e-tutorial.
The other factors which determine the willingness to use e-tutorial are ease of use,
doubt clearing sessions, content of study material and the extent to which it is helpful

in learning.
Customer Service, Cost Effectiveness, Awareness about e-tutorial and Access to
computer or laptop at home are the major factors which influence the consumer

buying behavior for e-tutorial.

The awareness about e-tutorial is low among students of Manipal & Udupi.
Only 38% of the potential clients use e-tutorials.
Among the users of e-tutorial, most of the students find e-tutorial easy to use and
extremely helpful for their learning. However, majority of the teachers and parents

find e-tutorial moderately helpful for teaching.

The Content of the study material, Cost effectiveness of e-tutorial, Methods of
assessment and Knowledge about current affairs & GK are also the preferred
features which users seek in e-tutorial portals. However, the respondents were found

to be relatively indifferent to the brand image of the e-tutorial portal.

The awareness about LearnNext among respondents is very low. Only 20% of the

respondents and 41% of potential clients have awareness about LearnNext.

Edurite and Educomp are the most widely used e-tutorials in Manipal & Udupi.
LearnNext is perceived by users as highly economical and cost effective. The users
find it excellent in terms of content of study material, exposure to mock tests and

techniques of teaching.
LearnNext was poorly rated in terms of providing knowledge on current affairs and
GK.

While most of the students neither opt for nor feel the need for additional educational
support, the most preferred mode of education has been found to be Chalk &
Board.

RECOMMENDATIONS
There is a lot of scope for e-tutorial in Manipal & Udupi because smart classes are
being used and recommended schools like Christ School & Trinity Central School.
In order to capture students preferring self-study, LearnNext should market and
project itself as being a complement to self-study.
Increasing awareness about e-tutorial is the primary step as people are still unaware
of e-tutorials.
Relatives, friends & teachers are the major sources of references for additional
educational support for both students and parents.
LearnNext should make their product more cost effective than its competitors like
Edurite and Educomp & cater to the features sought for by the end users, especially
information on current affairs and GK.
Build up an online library of syllabus-related books on the portal.
As per the comments received from the respondents, Learn Next should market
themselves and increase their visibility on social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.
As per our personal experience with LearnNext, we would like to recommend them to
make their doubt clearing sessions more effective and quick.
The respondents have suggested that the trial version should be made available for
at least a month.
The major USP for LearnNext is that it can be used offline as well. Hence it will curb
additional costs of internet which would otherwise have to be borne by the
consumers.