7/27/2019 Ht Mars Durable Survey 20 July 2012

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14 | business |H I N D U S TAN TI M E S , M U M B AI

F RI D AY, J U L Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 2

Zehra Kazmi research@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: They say that the devil liesin the details. In 1995, the commer-cials for Onida televisions played onthe not-so-fine sentiments of con-sumers. A horned-and-tailed deviltempted the viewers with a colourTV, and the tagline gleefullyannounced: Neighbours envy,owners pride.

The campaign was a thumping hit.At a time when many Indians did noteven own a TV, Onida managed to grabeyeballs, attention, and market share.

But in todays world, with its glut ofimages and brands vying for the con-

sumers short attention span, are adver-tising campaigns really that effective?

For Nidhi Rastogi, an HR managerwho j ust m oved to Delhi, her fi rstchoice for an air-conditioner wasHitachi. I had seen the advertisement

where the A/C vent swings, followingthe maids every move. That stayed inmy head. If an ad tells me about somenew feature or product offering, thenI pay attention, otherwise, one com-mercial featuring a Bollywood celebri-

ty is much like another, she says.Yet, if you look at advertisements

for most white goods, you would seethe familiar faces of Bollywood actorsand cricket stars, endorsing every kindof home appliance and electronicgoods.

Heres a sample: Makers of rival dig-ital cameras have signed on rival B-town starlets as brand ambassadors.While Deepika Padukone dons sever-al avatars for the S ony cybershot,Priyanka Chopra does a bubbly act forNikon and Anushka Sharma goes click-happy for the Canon Powershot.

Shah Rukh Khan plays mascot forVideoc on, Katri na Kaif endors esPanasonic , Priyanka Chopra is thestar of Samsung commercials and

Akshay Kumar showcases the many

charms of LG TV. And the list goes on.But more than star power, it is the

message associated with them that isimportant.

The characterisation of theWhirlpool mum in its advertising brokethe stereotype of the traditional Indianhousewife, making the brand highlyaspirational, says Shantanu DasGupta, VP, Corporate Affairs &Strategy at Whirlpool India, which isnow endorsed by Kajol and AjayDevgn.

We have been sharply focussed onthe modern Indian woman, someone

who is confident and successful butwith strong family values, committedto ensuring the well-being of her fam-ily. Ajay and Kajol embody thesetraits, he added.

SOURCE: 2012 HT-MARS WHITE GOODS SURVEY

Figures for National brands

Figures for International brands

COMPETITION A Hindustan Times-MaRS surveyassesses international and national brands in thewhite goods segment with some surprising results

IN TODAY'S WORLD, WITH ITS

GLUT OF IMAGES AND BRANDSVYING FOR THE CONSUMERSSHORT ATTENTION SPAN, AREADVERTISING CAMPAIGNSREALLY THAT EFFECTIVE?

The customer satisfaction study onwhite goods and appliances was carriedout in 10 towns Delhi, Lucknow,Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad,Indore, Chennai, Hyderabad andBengaluru.

Interviews were carried out in threephases among those who had pur-chased the product in past two years.

The first phase rated experience dur-ing product installation. Customer satis-faction was measured through fivedimensions general impression of theinstallation team, interaction with team,quality of installation, response time and

overall satisfaction.In the second phase, the respondents

were asked if there had been any prod-uct-related problem during the warrantyperiod, for which they had to call thecompany for redressal. If that had been

the case, the response satisfaction rat-ings were computed through five dimen-sions: Installation-response time, gener-al impression of the servicing team,interaction with team, quality of repairand overall satisfaction. In all cases,booster sampling was adopted to getadditional sample for this phase.

In the third phase, satisfaction withproduct performance was scored on fourparameters ease of operation, featuresand functions, looks and styling andoverall product performance.

At the installation and performancesatisfaction stage, the sample size was

7,492 while it was 724 for the problemredressal phase.

The study teams were led byVishal Ramchandani (vishal@mar-

spvt.net) and Gaurav Panakel(gaurav@marspvt.net)

METHODOLOGY

Over the last 25 years, buyingpower, availability of soft loansand easy installment schemes

have increased.C H A R U B A N S I

Business woman, Gurgaon

Sales do pick up during thefestive season but its only a

marginal difference. Buyers nowshop in a very planned manner.

D A R S H A N T A N E J A

Delhi Electronics

Im not comfortable withshopping online for white goodsas I don't know how genuine thefinal delivered product will be.

S O N A M S A I N I

Student

The consumer today is veryknowledgeable, he knows what heneeds and what is available in the

market.V I J A Y

Satya Computer Solutions

changingattitudes

2012: A case of too many commercials?

P E R F O R M A N C E

Ease of Features and Looks and Overall

Operation Functions Styling Performance

Air Conditioner 8.63 8.72 8.62 8.73 8.45 8.64 8.61 8.74

Television 8.81 8.70 8.63 8.53 8.66 8.64 8.67 8.53

Microwave 8.32 8.56 8.34 8.58 8.26 8.72 8.33 8.64

Refrigerator 8.49 8.67 8.32 8.49 8.25 8.42 8.29 8.46

Washing Machine 8.59 8.66 8.53 8.62 8.46 8.67 8.53 8.64

All appliances 8.58 8.66 8.47 8.56 8.42 8.60 8.47 8.56

A F T E R - S A L E S S E R V I C E

General Interaction Quality of Response Overall

impression with team installation time satisfaction

8.38 8.49 8.32 8.51 8.31 8.50 8.51 8.65 8.35 8.52

8.49 8.54 8.64 8.60 9.07 8.57 8.92 8.73 8.85 8.60

8.27 8.14 8.31 8.18 8.38 8.27 8.47 8.34 8.36 8.24

8.18 8.18 8.158.22

8.188.22

8.168.28

8.178.23

8.43 8.54 8.42 8.60 8.40 8.57 8.58 8.73 8.44 8.60

8.34 8.35 8.37 8.40 8.52 8.41 8.53 8.52 8.46 8.41

I N S T A L L A T I O N

In customer servicing (installation and redressal of problems), national brands do better. Incustomer satisfaction with product performance, international brands pip the national ones.ITS SWADESHI V/S VIDESHI

Are they good(s)enough?

Zehra Kazmi and Abhijit Patnaik research@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: If there is one sure sign ofthe effects of Indias liberalisation-fuelledgrowth in the last two decades, it is theexplosion of consumer electronics inmany households. The huge influx oftelevisions, microwaves, refrigerators,cameras, cell phones etc has changedour everyday lives beyond recognition.The Indian marketplace is, today, filled

with the colourful logos of major brandssuch as Samsung, LG, Whirlpool,Godrej, Sony and Videocon.

The 2012 HT-MaRS white goods sur-vey took fi ve popular a ppliances microwaves, air conditioners, washingmachines, TVs and refrigerators andrated them across three parameters:customer satisfaction with performance,installation and after-sales service.

In an increasingly competitive mar-ketplace, the aim was to see how home-

grown brands Godrej, Videocon,Onida being some of the major players do against big international names,such as Samsung, LG and Sony.

In this battle royale between nation-al and international brands, it is advan-tage international brands right now,according to the HT- MaRS survey. But,even though the Indian brands aredown, they are certainly not out.

In 4 out of 5 goods, consumers pre-fer the performance and features ofinternational brands. When it comesto after-sales service, a crucial part ofthe overall goods experience, Indiancompanies seem to have hit the rightnote, scoring better than internation-al brands in 3 out of the 5 goods. In twogoods where installation matters most,

washing machines and air condition-ers, foreign brands do better again,according to the survey.

National brands have the clear edgein TVs, scoring above international

brands across parameters. The resultsare equally unanimous in air condi-

tioners, where respondents are moresatisfied with international brands.The laurels are evenly split in

microwaves and washing machines,with cust omers preferring the per-formance of foreign brands and the

after-sales service offered by Indianmanufacturers.

So, have Indian brands been edgedout of competition or can they script aturn-around story?

Products offered by foreign com-panies are well researched and deliv-er what they claim to. One is a bitapprehensive using Indian products,says Arvind Mathur, a Delhi resident.

Shopkeepers like Darshan Taneja,who runs Delhi Electronics, a consumerelectronics store in Gurgaon, have writ-ten off Indian brands entirely. We hard-ly get any customers who want to buyan Indian product. We all work for for-eign companies now, he says.

Both national and foreign companieshave their comparative advantages.Indian brands can learn from the evo-lution of international brands in thecountry, but they can teach them somethings too. While foreign players payclose attention to their marketing strat-

egy to tap consumer insight and finddifferent ways to reach the consumer,Indian companies can teach foreign

brands how to make world-class qual-ity products at Indian prices, says

Vikash Agarwalla, engagement man-ager at Booz and Co., a global manag-ment consultancy firm.

Brands are falling all over them-selves to please the customer. Walkingthrough any electronics store, one seesa plethora of special offers, 100% inter-est-free loans and easy EMIs. Price

wars between major players are rou-tine, and consumers benefit as a result.

Customers are discerning, armedwith knowledge about product featuresand comparative prices. In a June 2011report by Booz & co, consumers con-sider the quality and brand as moreimportant than price while purchasing

A/Cs, fridges and washing machines.For examples, while 37% of TV buyersthink that brand is the deciding factor,only 14% think that price is critical.

I would prefer to buy a good prod-

uct, irrespective of price, since Im look-ing for the best quality, after-sales serv-ice and products that last longer, saysPoonam Srivastava, a PR officer.

With inputs from Eshani Mathur

Response time Redressal of Interactive Initial impression Overall satisfaction

after reporting the problem impression with of the repair with the process

problem re porte d repair team team of problem re dressal

7.74 8.18 7.62 8.25 7.89 8.36 7.59 8.06 7.69 8.22

8.00 7.68 8.75 7.83 8.88 7.65 8.25 7.72 8.51 7.75

7.78 7.75 8.50 8.25 8.50 7.63 7.67 7.97 8.19 7.99

7.708.02 8.19

7.698.07

8.04 7.868.42 8.00

7.93

7.81 7.96 8.28 7.93 8.05 8.13 7.98 7.83 8.01 7.95

7.82 7.89 8.38 7.93 8.37 7.89 7.93 8.05 8.17 7.93

ILLUSTRATION: PRASHANT CHAUDHARY

users choiceHT-MARS 2012 WHITE GOODS SURVEY

WHITE

GOODS

Air ConditionerForeign brands aresuperior with cus-tomers showinghigher satisfactionacross the board

TelevisionNational brands out-perform foreignbrands in perform-ance, installationand after-sales

MicrowaveHonours evenly split:Foreign brands havebetter performance,Indian brands havebetter after-sales

RefrigeratorInternational brandshave better perform-ance and installation,lose out marginally inafter-sales service.

Washing machineInternational brandshave better perform-ance and installation,marginally inferiorafter-sales service.

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