CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

vi

LIST OF FIGURES

viii

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1 - 31

1.1 BASIS OF AUTO INDUSTRY

1.2 AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY IN INDIA - AN OVERVIEW
1.3 EMERGING POTENTIAL OF THE INDIAN MARKET
1.4 AN OVERVIEW OF INDIAN CONSUMERS
1.5 NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER
SATISFACTION / DISSATISFACTION STUDIES
1.6 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.7 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1.8 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.9 CONCEPTUAL RESEARCH MODEL
1.10 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.11 VARIOUS DIMENSIONS IN UNDERSTANDING THE
OVERALL PURCHASE DECISIONS OF CONSUMER OF BIKES
1.12 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.13 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
1.14 CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

32 - 72

2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 EMPIRICAL STUDIES ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
2.2.1 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
2.3 EMPIRICAL STUDIES ON MAJOR VARIABLES
AFFECTING CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOR
2.3.1 STUDIES ON ADVERTISING
2.3.2 STUDIES ON PROMOTIONS
2.4 EMPRICIAL STUDIES ON PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES
2.4.1 STUDIES ON PRODUCT PRICE
2.4.2 STUDIES ON FEATURES OF PRODUCT
2.4.3 STUDIES ON INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABILITY
2.5 EMPRICIAL STUDIES ON SALES SUPPORT AND CONSUMER BEAVIOR
2.6 EMPRICIAL STUDIES ON WORD OF MOUTH (REFERRAL) AND
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
2.7 EMPIRICAL STUDIES ON INDIAN CONSUMER
PURCHASE PREFERENCES AND PRIORITIES
2.8 CONCLUSIONS

ii

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
3.1 RESEARCH FOUNDATION
3.1.1 DIMENSIONS OF CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISION
3.1.2 CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISION-MAKING OF AN
AUTOMOBILE PRODUCT IN INDIA
3.1.3 AUTOMOBILE PURCHASE OF INDIAN CONSUMERS
AN OVERVIEW
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.3 PILOT STUDY
3.4 DATA COLLECTION
3.4.1 SAMPLING PLAN:
3.4.2 SAMPLE UNIT:
3.4.3 THE SAMPLE SIZE
3.4.4 THE SAMPLING PROCEDURE
3.4.5 RESPONDENTS CHARACTERISTICS
3.4.6 PROCEDURE FOR DATA ANALYSIS
3.4.7 STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELLING
3.4.8 EVALUATION OF MODEL FIT
3.4.9 BAYESIAN ESTIMATION AND TESTING IN SEM
3.5 HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
3.6 CONCLUSION

iii

73 - 105

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

106 - 189

4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.1.1 ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
DEMOGRAPHIC, CONSUMER PREFERENCES, PRIORITIES
AND THE STUDY VARIABLE
4.2 REGRESSION MODEL OF THE SQM-HEI MEDIATED STRUCTURAL
EQUATION MODEL
4.2.1 BAYESIAN ESTIMATION AND TESTING FOR
REGRESSION MODEL OF SEM-CPD MEDIATED
STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL
4.2.2 POSTERIOR DIAGNOSTIC PLOTS OF SQM-HEI
MEDIATED REGRESSION MODEL
4.3 STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING OF MEDIATED SEM-CPD MODEL
4.3.1 BAYESIAN ESTIMATION AND TESTING OF SQM-HEI
MEDIATED STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL
4.3.1.1 POSTERIOR DIAGNOSTIC PLOTS OF SEM-CPD (WOM)
MEDIATED MODEL
4.4 CONCLUSION

iv

CHAPTER V: FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS

AND CONCLUSION

190 - 209

5.1 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY

5.1.1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEMOGRAPHIC, CONSUMER
PREFERENCES, PRIORITIES AND THE STUDY VARIABLE FOR THE
PURCHASE MOTIVES
5.1.2 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEMOGRAPHICS AND CONSUMER
PURCHASE DECISIONS
5.1.3 REGRESSION MODEL OF THE SEM-CPD MEDIATED STRUCTURAL
EQUATION MODEL
5.1.4 SEM-CPD (WOM) MEDIATED STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL

5.2 SUGGESTIONS FOR RIGHT POSITIONING OF PRODUCT TO TARGET

CONSUMERS OF MOTORCYCLES
5.3 SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
5.4 CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

210 - 230

APPENDIX I : QUESTIONNAIRE

231 - 233

APPENDIX II : KANCHIPURAM DISTRICT MAP

234