Brand Perception

Brand Perception of ABAD Builders among the Customers at ABAD Builders, Cochin

Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 2008-2010 Of The Mahatma Gandhi University COURSE CODE: CC406

Submitted by

Lekshmi Vijayan REG NO: 93035

Under the Guidance of Jeena Kuruvilla (Faculty, Department of MBA)

Saintgits College of Engineering Department of MBA (SIM) Kottukulam Hills, Pathamuttom P.O.,Kottayam – 686532 (Approved By AICTE and Affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University)

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Contents Chapter

Title

Page No

List of Tables List of Charts Executive Summary Chapter 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

Introduction 1- 4 Introduction to the study…………………………………….……………... 1 Statement of the Problem…………………………………….………….…. 2 Significance of the Study……………………………….…………….……… 3 Objectives of the study……………………………………………….……….3

Chapter 2 Industry, Company & Product Profile 5 – 31 2.1 Industry Profile – Construction Industry …………………………...…... 2.1.1 Global Perspective………………………………………………….. 2.1.2 Indian Perspective………….……...……...…………………..…… 2.1.3 Kerala perspective…………..………..….………………………… 2.2 Company Profile…… ………………………………………………………. 2.2.1 Group Companies………………..…………………..………….... 2.2.2 Service Divisions in ABAD Builders…….…….……..………..….. 2.2.3 Mission, Vision, Goal and Values……………..…………...…….. 2.2.4 Important Milestones………………………................................... 2.2.5 Awards and Achievement………………….………….……….….. 2.2.6 Competitors…………………..………………….………..….……. 2.3 Product Profile…………………………………………………….................. 2.3.1 Completed Projects…..……………….….…………………….….. 2.3.2 Ongoing Projects………..………….………………………..…….. 2.3.3 Upcoming Projects……………..….…………………………….… 2.3.4 Uniqueness of ABAD…………………….………….…………...

5-20 5 10 19 21-26 21 23 24 25 25 26 27-31 27 29 30 30

Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework and Literature Review 32 - 49 3.1 Theoretical Framework……………………...……………………………… 32-44 3.1.1 Marketing…..……………………………………..…….………….. 35 3.1.2 Branding…..….………….…….....………………………………… 35 2

3.2

3.1.3 Service Quality……………………...……………………………… 35 3.1.4 Perception……..…..…………...……………………..………….…. 36 3.1.5 Consumer Behavior….……………………………..……..…...........38 3.1.6 Consumer Buying Behavior….………………..………..………....... 39 3.1.7 Customer satisfaction…………………………..………..…………..42 Literature Review……………………………………………………...............45-49

Chapter 4 Research Methodology 50- 56 4.1 Introduction………….…………………...…….…………………...………… 50 4.2 Research Design……………………………...………………..……………… 51 4.3 Testing of Hypotheses…………………...……...………………….................. .52 4.4 Data Collection………….….………………………………………………… 52 4.4.1 Primary data……………………………………….……...………... 52 4.4.2 Secondary data…………………………………………………….. 54 4.5 Sampling Procedure…………………….……………………………………... 54 4.5.1 Universe…………………………..………..….……………………. 54 4.5.2 Sampling Unit………………...…………...…….………………….. 54 4.5.3 Sample Size…………………...………………….………………... 54 4.5.4 Sampling Method………………………………….………….…... 54 4.6 Techniques of Data Analysis…….………………………….…...………… 55 4.7 Duration of the Study…………….…………………….……….………… 55 4.8 Scope of the Study …………………………………………….……………. 55 4.9 Limitations of the Study ……….………………………….……………… 55 Chapter 5 Data Analysis and Interpretation 57-83 5.1 Introduction……………………………………………….………….……….. 57 5.2 Percentage Analysis of the Data…………………..……………….. ………..... 58 - 71 5.2.1 Gender Classification………………………………………….......... 58 5.2.2 Age Classification…………………………………………………... 59 5.2.3 Qualification………………………………………………….…….... 60 5.2.4 Profession………………………………………………………….… 61 5.2.5 Residential Status……………………………………………………. 62 5.2.6 Time Span with ABAD as Customer………………………………. 63 5.2.7 Part of ABAD's apartment among total apartments…………………. 64 5.2.8 Effectiveness of marketing tools in creating brand awareness………. 65 5.2.9 Purpose of Purchase………………………………………………….. 66 3

5.3

5.2.10 Time Taken for Decision Making…………………...……………… 67 5.2.11 Comparison with competitors……………………………………… 68 5.2.12 Social Life in ABAD……………………………………………….. 69 5.2.13 Willingness to recommend………………………………………… 70 5.2.14 Areas for Improvement…………………………………………...... 71 Testing of Hypotheses………………………………………………...……… 72 5.3.1 Relation between Brand perception and Gender - T Test..………. 72 5.3.2 Relation between Brand Perception and Residential status – T Test... 73 5.3.3 Relation between Customer Satisfaction and Gender – T Test ....….. 74 5.3.4 Relation between Social Life and Gender - T Test ……………..... 75 5.3.5 Relation between Brand Perception and Age – ANOVA...……….. 76 5.3.6 Relation between Brand perception and education – ANOVA …… 77 5.3.7 Relation between Customer satisfaction and Age – ANOVA ……. 78 5.3.8 Relation between Customer Satisfaction and Brand Perception – Linear Regression…………………………………………………. 79 5.3.9 Relation between Customer Satisfaction and Effectiveness of Services - Multiple Regression…………………………………...... 82

Chapter 6 Findings and Suggestions 84-86 6.1 Findings………………………………..……………………………………… 84 6.1.1 Percentage analysis…………………………………………..………… 84 6.1.2 Testing of Hypotheses………………………………………..………… 85 6.2 Suggestions and Recommendations………………….………………....…….. 85 Conclusion……………………………….………..…………………………… 86 Bibliography Annexure

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Tables Page No:

Title

Table

Gender Classification

5.2.1

58

Age Classification

5.2.2

59

Qualification

5.2.3

60

Profession

5.2.4

61

Residential Status

5.2.5

62

Time Span with ABAD as Customer

5.2.6

63

Part of ABAD's apartment among total apartments

5.2.7

64

Effectiveness of marketing tools in creating brand awareness

5.2.8

65

Purpose of Purchase

5.2.9

66

Time Taken for Decision Making

5.2.10

67

Comaprison with competitors

5.2.11

68

Social Life in ABAD

5.2.12

69

Willingness to recommend

5.2.13

70

Areas for Improvement

5.2.14

71

Relationship between Gender and brand perception

5.3.1

72

Result of t test

5.3.2

72

Relation between Brand Perception and Residential status

5.3.3

73

Result of t test

5.3.4

73

Relation between Customer Satisfaction and Gender

5.3.5

74

Result of t test

5.3.6

74

Relation between Social Life and Gender

5.3.7

75

Result of t test

5.3.8

75

Relation between Brand Perception and Age

5.3.9

76

Result of ANOVA

5.3.10

76

Relation between Brand perception and education

5.3.11

77

Result of ANOVA

5.3.12

77

5

Relation between Customer satisfaction and Age

5.3.13

78

Result of ANOVA

5.3.14

78

Title

Table

Page No:

5.3.16

80

Coefficient Table in Linear Regression

5.3.17

81

Relation between Customer Satisfaction and Effectiveness of Services

5.3.18

82

Coefficient Table in Multiple Regression

5.3.19

83

Result of ANOVA in Linear Regression

6

Charts Title

Chart

Page No:

Awards and Achievements of the company

2.1

26

Core Marketing Concepts

3.1

33

Main Actors and forces in modern marketing system

3.2

34

Influences on and of Consume Behavior

3.3

38

Decision Making Process

3.4

40

Gender Classification

5.2.1

58

Age Classification

5.2.2

59

Qualification

5.2.3

60

Profession

5.2.4

61

Residential Status

5.2.5

62

Time Span with ABAD as Customer

5.2.6

63

Part of Abad‘s apartment among total apartments

5.2.7

64

Effectiveness of marketing tools in creating brand awareness

5.2.8

65

Purpose of Purchase

5.2.9

66

Time Taken for Decision Making

5.2.10

67

Comparison with competitors

5.2.11

68

Social Life in ABAD

5.2.12

69

Willingness to recommend

5.2.13

70

Areas for Improvement

5.2.14

71

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DECLARATION

I, hereby declare that the project titled ―A Study of Brand Perception of ABAD Builders Among the Customers‖ submitted to Mahatma Gandhi University is a record of the original work done by me and no part of it has been submitted earlier for any degree, Post graduation or similar of any other university or institution.

Place: Pathamuttom Date……………….

Lekshmi Vijayan

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“Success is not a destination, but a journey”. While I reach towards the end of this journey, I realize I may not have come this far without the guidance, help and support of people who acted as guides, friends and torch bearers along the way. Working ABAD Builders was indeed been a pleasurable experience. It enabled me to bridge the gap between the practical aspect of the corporate world and the classroom sessions. I profusely thank Mr. Prince Varghese, Mr. Mujib Hamza and Mrs Pretty Mariam Sijo, for allowing me to carry out the summer internship training at Abad Builders. I express my sincere gratitude to Dr. (Col) P.S James, Ph.D, Dean, Saintgits Institute of Management for giving me an opportunity to do this project. I express my deepest and most sincere thanks to Ms Jeena Kuruvilla my faculty guide, who acted as a continuous source of motivation and encouragement. I am thankful for all the guidance provided by her in completing the project successfully. It’s been very kind of all the employees of the Company for having helped me with the project and in the process of learning. I do remember with a filled heart the blessings of the Almighty, who strengthened and led me to the successful completion of this project. I place on record my sincere thanks to my family friends and all those who directly and indirectly helped me in this Endeavour.

Lekshmi Vijayan

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Executive Summary

The Project title ―A Study of the Brand Perception of ABAD Builders among the Customers‘‘ helps to understand the important factor that influences an investor in making his investment decision. For the study customers of ABAD from different projects are selected. The primary data were collected using the scheduled questionnaire and telephonic interview and the secondary data was collected from books, websites, previous project reports, company brochures and journals. Collected data were analyzed through Percentage Analysis, ANOVAs, t-test, Regression and Multiple Regression. The objective of this study is to find out the brand perception of ABAD Builders among the customer of ABAD builders. Real Estate is a sector which involves both product and services. In this sector buildings are made for commercial purpose and residential purpose. The real estate companies built not only houses and residential apartments but also markets, shopping malls and retail hubs. Here, these constructions are the products, but the activity of building and offering these premises to the customers are the services. So, Real Estate Branding requires development of a business model which can ensure tailored products and customized services. Some Real Estate Companies want to build their Brand Image on a real basis, while some try to create their Brand Identity according to their activities. There are many real estate companies who have established their Brand Name in the commercial real estate sector. The starting points of addressing property branding are through the use of customer perception followed by a customer satisfaction test. The approach used in this study is through development of a model using several metrics to test the qualitative aspects of branding through Brand Loyalty, Service Quality, Brand image and Customer satisfaction of a brand and there by evaluating the Customer Perception about the Brand. Also the study reveals the correlation between brand perception and customer satisfaction, where customer satisfaction is the dependent variable to the independent variable, brand perception. The study also revealed the role of reference group in case of property purchase. The approach used in this study is through development of a model using several metrics to test the qualitative aspects of branding through Brand Loyalty, Service Quality, Brand image and Customer satisfaction of a brand and there by evaluating the Customer Perception about the Brand.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

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1.1 Introduction

Branding in consumer products goes way back in history. However, the theory on branding was first introduced in marketing of consumer products in the 1990‘s. In the past few decades, branding has become increasingly popular as a main strategic tool to differentiate competitive products. Branding has impacted the way marketers market as well as design and conceptualizes their products. More and more companies are doing market research to help them address the branding issue correctly. The real estate property sector has not been spared from the branding phenomena either. This paper seeks to research the role that branding plays in affecting buyers‘ purchasing decision of products in general and properties in particular. In conducting the research, several characteristics of branding will be identified using questionnaires. The association and reaction of property purchase towards these brand characteristics will then be examined. Real Estate is a sector which offers both products and services to its customers. So, in order to develop a successful real estate branding, every real estate company need to ensure physical quality, operational functionality and value stability of their products and services. Real Estate Branding refers to the activity of establishing of Brand Name by the Real Estate Companies. Real Estate is a sector which involves both product and services. In this sector buildings are made for commercial purpose and residential purpose. The real estate companies built not only houses and residential apartments but also markets, shopping malls and retail hubs. Here, these constructions are the products, but the activity of building and offering these premises to the customers are the services. So, Real Estate Branding requires development of a business model which can ensure tailored products and customized services. Some Real Estate Companies want to build their Brand Image on a real basis, while some try to create their Brand Identity according to their activities. There are many real estate companies who have established their Brand Name in the commercial real estate sector. Although the most popular real estate brands, which dominate the world real estate market, are the commercial real estate brands, there are residential real estate brands too. In case of Real Estate Branding, the Branding Strategy does not only include development of Logos and campaigning programs for the real estate projects. As the customers of any real estate company are the occupiers of the buildings and premises built by the

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real estate brand, the companies need to be extra careful in ensuring the quality and value of the real estate product. The physical quality and operational functionality of any real estate project actually build up the Brand Image of the real estate company in the minds of the customers. The customers of the real estate companies evaluate the product of real estate sector after occupying the premises. So, any shortcoming in quality of service and product may change the customers' perceptions about a particular real estate brand. Unquestionably, the biggest challenge builders face in establishing a recognizable brand is the buying cycle. It is a lot easier for Starbucks to connect with customers who make a daily purchase than for a builder who might work with a customer only once. That's all the more reason to make that one transaction count. With such limited opportunities to make an impression on consumers when they're in the market for a home, it makes tremendous sense for builders to look for ways to partner with other well-known brands to increase their name recognition. While builders have a long history of effectively linking their brands with those of building products, such as windows, appliances, bath fixtures, and flooring, co-branding with well-known names in other industries is an emerging trend in housing.

1.2 Statement of the Problem Even though there are studies conducted on brand perception of builders, it is not clearly defined the gap in real estate branding, the strategies in real estate should be formed in a customized manner, since the projects, target market and market value are different to one another. Good branding strategies, Quality control measures, Transparent Dealings and Reliability and Credibility of the builder make the customers satisfied. Also the customer perception about the brand plays a significant role in maintaining customer satisfaction. This study is undertaken to measure the brand perception and customer satisfaction of ABAD Builders and also to analyze whether the factors like age, gender, residential status, purpose of purchase and qualification of a customer have any significant relationship in the brand perception. With this study the researcher also needs to analyze the correlation between customer satisfaction and brand perception where customer satisfaction is the dependent variable and brand perception is the independent variable.

1.3 Significance of the Study It is very essential that the building and implementing a brand is a strategic matter for each developer. Studies have identified the significance of branding as 4 factors of real estate brand, 13

i.e. the images evoked by the real estate, the premises themselves, their physical and operational functionality and their performance. These 4 factors form the basis on which a purchaser evaluates the branding of the developer. These perspectives view brands as perceptual entities, communicators, relationships and value enhancers. Property branding is a complex subject. The relevance of corporate branding affects the overall branding of the property that is to be developed by each developer. The brand is communicated effectively through many other strategies that a developer has adopted. The primary communication to form a brand will include the landscaping or amenities strategies, the infrastructure of the project being built, the organizational and administration structure of the developer, and finally the project behavior that encompasses the project vision and financial incentive provided. The secondary communication strategies on brand building include all forms of advertising, public relations, graphic design, the use of logo, etc. The scope and effectiveness of property marketing is largely determined by the selection and application of the appropriate combination of these measures.

1.4 Objectives of the Study The physical quality and operational functionality of any real estate project actually build up the Brand Image of the real estate company in the minds of the customers. So it is very essential to find out the Brand Perception of ABAD Builders, so that the company can adopt various marketing strategies to manage it effectively. The main objective of the study is ‗To Find out the Brand Perception of ABAD Builders among the customers‘. In order to attain the main objective there are some sub objectives. They are to test 

‗The Purpose Of purchase of Both NRI‘s and Indians ‘



‗The Time Taken For Decision Making‘



‗The Effectiveness Of The Presales Activity‘



‗The Brand Image Of ABAD With Respect To Other Four Competitors‘



‗The Service Quality of ABAD Builders‘



‗Their Interest In Future Purchase‘



‗Whether The Customers Refer ABAD For Friends And Relatives‘



‗The Ultimate Satisfaction Of ABAD Builders‘ 14

The questions were divided into 3 main sections: Brand Perception, Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Comparison. The results of the survey could provide some marketing implications to property developers on how the targeted property purchasers position and associate their brand.

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CHAPTER 2 PROFILES

16

2.1 Industry Profile The construction industry in India is the second largest industry of the country after agriculture. Construction industry makes a significant contribution to nation‘s economy and provides employment to large number of people. The use of various new technologies and deployment of project management strategies has made it possible to undertake projects of mega scale. The construction industry has been divided into 3 major segments; Residential Construction, Non Residential Construction and Civil engineering Construction. The residential construction includes general building contractors who build residential buildings or apartments. Civil engineering construction includes roads, bridges…etc. Nonresidential construction includes construction of offices, other institutions, commercial and industrial complexes and buildings. Residential Construction practices, technologies and resources must conform to local building authority regulations and codes of practice. 2.1.1 Global Perspective World Construction Industry is one of the biggest industries in the whole world. The contribution of this industry towards the global GDP revolves around one-tenth of the total amount. World Construction Industry is also a potential employment generator and provides work to almost seven percent of the total employed person in the whole world. The extent of this industry has become so vast that the energy, in the form of electricity or fuel, consumed by it hovers around two-fifth of the total energy consumed all over the globe. The resources that are utilized in World Construction Industry are also staggeringly high and itself consumes fifty percent of the total world resources. With the impact of globalization having run deep into many industries, more efficient methods have been introduced and implemented in order to survive the challenging market ahead. Every product has improved dramatically and been produced in a higher quality and at a lower cost but with the exception of houses and buildings. Whilst, other industries have been thriving in terms of technology application, only small improvement has been made in making building processes more efficient. Industrialised Building System (IBS) can be defined as ―Construction technique in which the components are manufactured in a factory, on or off site, positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site works.‖ The IBS concept is essentially the injection of a 17

techno-based mindset into the construction industry ‗hardware‘ aspects and incorporation of the highly successful manufacturing concepts as the driving ‘software‘. In this respect, the construction industry has a great deal to learn from the manufacturing sectors that have long been emphasizing on quality and minimising defects. IBS will definitely among others reduce unskilled workers in the country, less wastage, less volume of building materials, increased site cleanliness and better quality control. In many parts of the world, IBS takes its forms in an initiative called open building concept. Open building is an approach to the design of buildings and said to be representing a new wave in architecture. Open building is defined as an innovative approach to design and construction that enhances the efficiency of the building process, while increasing the variety, flexibility and quality of the product. Houses of the future should be similar to products like cars or computers today. It is built mostly in a factory with parts that is easy to replace or maintain. The construction industry can be transform by following what other sectors are already doing; standardize and accessorize. Developed countries such as Japan, Netherlands and USA to name a few, have already started to develop concept that is called ‗Open Source Building‘. The concept of the open source building is similar to what has happened in the ICT industry whereby through standardization of jointing parts such as USB ports, consumers can buy computer equipment such as mouse or scanner anywhere in the world. The equipment can then be easily installed by the users as the connection from the equipment to the computer has been internationally standardized. IBS gives the ability for companies from just being a simple plain brick contractor that is driven by projects to a component builder manufacturer that is driven by consumers. Modular components or also known as volumetric components can be configured into wide variety of end products and the design can be based on customer‘s individual needs through unique combinations of the modular components. Mass customization will allow companies to penetrate new markets and capture customers whose demands could not be met with standard products. Developers and contractors who embrace the IBS methodology can even upgrade their capability to export houses in countries that are in need of fast permanent shelters. Construction Industry is one of the most booming industries in the whole world. This industry is mainly an urban based one which is concerned with preparation as well as construction of real estate properties. The repairing of any existing building or making certain alterations in the same also comes under Construction Industry. In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, 18

construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking. Normally the job is managed by the project manager and supervised by the construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or project architect. For the successful execution of a project, effective planning is essential. Those involved with the design and execution of the infrastructure in question must consider the environmental impact of the job, the successful scheduling, budgeting, site safety, availability of materials, logistics, inconvenience to the public caused by construction delays, preparing tender documents, etc. Building construction is the process of adding structure to real property. The vast majority of building construction projects is small renovations, such as addition of a room, or renovation of a bathroom. Often, the owner of the property acts as labourer, paymaster, and design team for the entire project. However, all building construction projects include some elements in common design, financial, and legal considerations. Many projects of varying sizes reach undesirable end results, such as structural collapse, cost overruns, and/or litigation reason; those with experience in the field make detailed plans and maintain careful oversight during the project to ensure a positive outcome. Building construction is procured privately or publicly utilizing various delivery methodologies, including hard bid, negotiated price, traditional, management contracting, construction management-at-risk, design & build and design-build bridging. Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources must conform to local building authority regulations and codes of practice. Materials readily available in the area generally dictate the construction materials used (e.g. brick versus stone, versus timber). Cost of construction on a per square metre (or per square foot) basis for houses can vary dramatically based on site conditions, local regulations, economies of scale (custom designed homes are always more expensive to build) and the availability of skilled trades people. As residential (as well as all other types of construction) can generate a lot of waste, careful planning again is needed here. The most popular method of residential construction in the United States is wood framed construction. As efficiency codes have come into effect in recent years, new construction technologies and methods have emerged. University Construction Management departments are on the cutting edge of the newest methods of construction intended to improve efficiency, performance and reduce construction waste. In the modern industrialized world, construction 19

usually involves the translation of paper or computer based designs into reality. A formal design team may be assembled to plan the physical proceedings, and to integrate those proceedings with the other parts. The design usually consists of drawings and specifications, usually prepared by a design team including the client architects, landscape architects, interior designers, surveyors, civil engineers, cost engineers (or quantity surveyors), mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, structural engineers, and fire protection engineers. The design team is most commonly employed by (i.e. in contract with) the property owner. Under this system, once the design is completed by the design team, a number of construction companies or construction management companies may then be asked to make a bid for the work, either based directly on the design, or on the basis of drawings and a bill of quantities provided by a quantity surveyor. Following evaluation of bids, the owner will typically award a contract to the most cost efficient bidder. Modern Trends in Construction Industry The modern trend in design is toward integration of previously separated specialties, especially among large firms. In the past, architects, interior designers, engineers, developers, construction managers, and general contractors were more likely to be entirely separate companies, even in the larger firms. Presently, a firm that is nominally ―architecture" or "construction management" firm may have experts from all related fields as employees, or to have an associated company that provides each necessary skill. Thus, each such firm may offer itself as "one-stop shopping" for a construction project, from beginning to end. This is designated as a "design Build" contract where the contractor is given a performance specification, and must undertake the project from design to construction, while adhering to the performance specifications. Several project structures can assist the owner in this integration, including design-build, partnering, and construction management. In general, each of these project structures allows the owner to integrate the services of architects, interior designers, engineers, and constructors throughout design and construction. In response, many companies are growing beyond traditional offerings of design or construction services alone, and are placing more emphasis on establishing relationships with other necessary participants through the design-build process. The increasing complexity of construction projects creates the need for design professionals trained in all phases of the project's life-cycle and develop an appreciation of the building as an advanced technological system requiring close integration of many sub-systems and their individual 20

components, including sustainability. Building engineering is an emerging discipline that attempts to meet this new challenge. Construction Industry Trends all over the world show a rise in its rate of growth. This industry is composed of many components including construction of heavy and civil engineering (highways, bridges, railway tracks, airports etc), real estate (both residential as well as commercial) development, and specialized construction products (such as architectural products, electrical connections, decorative items etc). All these segments cannot be expected to show similar trends and in fact are showing differential growth pattern all over the world. 1. Construction industry contributes a huge chunk to the world GDP amounting to1/10 th of the same. 2. This industry has immense potential in generating huge amount of employment. it has been found out that construction industry offers employment to around7% to the total employed workforce around the globe. 3. Construction industry is the largest sector in respect of consumption of energy. It consumes around 2/5th of the total consumed energy throughout the world. 4. Resource utilization in case of construction industry amounts to half of the total resource used all over the world. The most significant aspect associated with the construction industry trends is increased use of the latest IT technologies for pacing up the work. Cutting edge technology is being adopted by world‘s one of the biggest industries for leveraging purposes and is mainly being used in raising the efficiency level of engineering and deigning of construction industry. It has been found out that the paper oriented format of operation in the construction industry is not at all cost effective approach because it eats around sixteen billion US Dollars in US real estate sector only. Construction industry trends shows that the utilization of information technology has helped the industry to save a lot of fund. This could be channelized in more fruitful directions. One of the latest technologies used in the construction industry is Building Information Model (BIM).This technology helps all the factors of a project to work in a collaborative and concentrated manner solely based on platform of Information Technology.BIM helps different members of the project to communicate information among themselves which consecutively leverages the productivity

21

and at the same time minimizes the error with cost. Construction industry trends can be stratified in accordance with the different segments and countries.

2.1.2 Indian Perspective

The evolution of Indian construction industry was almost similar to the construction industry in other countries: founded by government and slowly taken over by enterprises. After Independence the need for industrial and infrastructural developments in India laid the foundation stone of construction, architectural and engineering services. The period from 1950‘s to mid 60‘s witnessed the government playing an active role in the development of these services and most of the construction activities during this time were carried out by state owned enterprises and supported by government departments. In the first five year plan, construction of civil works was allotted nearly 50% of the total capital outlay. The first professional constancy company, National Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC),was set up in the public sector in 1954.Subsequently many architectural, design engineering and construction companies were set up in the public sector(Indian Railways Construction Limited (IRCON),National Building s Construction

Corporation

(NBCC)

Rail

Indian

Transportation

and

Engineering

Services(RITES),Engineers India Limited(EIL).etc) and private sector (M.N Dastur and Co., Hindustan Construction Company(HCC).etc.). In the late 1960s government started encouraging foreign collaborations in these services. The guidelines for Foreign Collaboration, first issued in 1968, started that local consultant would be the prime contractor in such collaboration. The objective of such an imposition was to develop local design capabilities parallel with the inflow of imported technology and skills. This measure encouraged international construction and consultancy organizations to set up joint ventures and register their presence in India. All immovable properties including land, structures on it and all other natural resources can be classified as real estate. Realtors, builders, brokers, buyers and sellers are the major players of the real estate industry. All types of residential, commercial and industrial properties fall under its domain. With its huge growth potential it has emerged as a major field of business in recent time. The real estate sector in India is flourishing rapidly with a growth rate of 30 percent each year. About 80 percent of the real estate development in India has been in the field of residential housing. The remaining 20 percent of the real estate includes office, shopping malls, 22

entertainment centres, hotels, multiplexes and hospitals. India‘s booming outsourcing business industry and consumption-led growth are contributing significantly to its real estate growth. The outsourcing business houses including call centres, technical consultancy services, and medical transcription units and programming houses constituted around 10 million square feet of real estate growth in India till 2010. In last couple of years the share of commercial sector in the overall real estate growth has been more prominent. Considering the advantages of significantly lower cost of operations in India, several multinational companies across the globe are expressing their willingness to shift their operations to India. According to a 2009 estimate, the demand for office space by the ever expanding IT and IT-enabled service sectors in India would be around 66 million square feet, in the next five years. These multinational companies have realized the fact that in order to flourish their business, the skilled Indian work force can be of great use to them. So they need to provide the Indian professionals with all the facilities of modern life starting from housing to entertainment, so that they can give their best in the work place and at the same time be happy with their standard of living. This trend has set off the development of world-class entertainment centres and business centres, across the country, thereby bringing a radical change in the lives of urban population in India. The growing demand of skyscrapers in all the metropolitan cities across the country has changed the image Indian skyline. The Indian economy has transformed substantively over the last two decades, growing consistently at an average of 8 per cent and is poised to take its place among the leading economies in the years to come. Strong performance of the economy can be particularly attributed to healthy growth in manufacturing and services sectors. The economic performance of India has provided strong impetus to the real estate sector, which has been witnessing heightened activity in the recent years. Substantial end user and investor interest, large scale investment in infrastructure and rapid urbanization have contributed to the growth trajectory of Indian real estate. The real estate growth story is clearly visible in urban centres such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore which have acquired global character and recognition. With property boom spreading in all directions, real estate in India is touching new heights. However, the growth also depends on the policies adopted by the government to facilitate investments mainly in the economic and industrial sector. The new stand adopted by Indian government regarding foreign direct investment (FDI) policies has encouraged an increasing number of countries to invest in Indian Properties. India has displaced US as the second-most 23

favoured destination for FDI in the world. As the investment scenario in India changes, India which has attracted more than three times foreign investment at US$ 7.96 billion during the first half of 2005-06 fiscal, as against US$ 2.38 billion during the corresponding period of 2004-05, making India amongst the "dominant host countries" for FDI in Asia and the Pacific (APAC). The positive outlook of Indian government is the key factor behind the sudden rise of the Indian Real Estate sector - the second largest employer after agriculture in India. This budding sector is today witnessing development in all area such as - residential, retail and commercial in metros of India such as Mumbai, Delhi & NCR, Kolkata and Chennai. Easier access to bank loans and higher earnings are some of the pivotal reasons behind the sudden jump in Indian real estate. India leads the pack of top real estate investment markets in Asia for 2010, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Urban Land Institute, a global non-profit education and research institute, released in December 2009. The report, which provides an outlook on AsiaPacific real estate investment and development trends, points out that India, in particular Mumbai and Delhi, are good real estate investment destinations. Residential properties are viewed as more promising than other sectors. While, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore top the pack in the hotel 'buy' prospects as well. The study is based on the opinions of over 270 international real estate professionals, including investors, developers, property company representatives, lenders, brokers and consultants. According to the data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), housing and real estate sector including Cineplex, multiplex, integrated townships and commercial complexes etc, attracted a cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$ 8.4 billion from April 2000 to March 2010 wherein the real estate and the housing sector witnessed FDI amounting US$ 2.8 billion in the fiscal year 2009-10.

Major players in Indian Construction Industry 1. Hindustan Construction Company 2.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd

3.

GMR Infrastructure Ltd

4.

Gammon India Ltd

5.

IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects Ltd

6.

Nagarjuna Construction Company 24

7.

DLF

8.

OMAXE

9.

Punj Lloyd Ltd.

The strong fundamentals of the Indian economy are having a favourable impact on all asset classes of Indian real estate viz. housing, commercial – office space and retail and hospitality. In recent years, the growth has spread out to tier-II and III cities as well. High growth in services as well as manufacturing sector has resulted in high demand for commercial and industrial real estate. Further the economic growth has trickled down to the large Indian middle class increasing affordability and affluence. Improving living standards are driving the demand for better quality housing and urban infrastructure. In fact, housing in India is today moving from being viewed as a purely basic need to an inspirational purchase. Though high interest rates coupled with soaring property prices have temporarily impacted affordability of home buyers the demand-supply mismatch and low home loans to GDP ratio in India (a meagre 5 per cent as against more than 50 per cent in US, UK and Germany) are expected to fuel demand for housing in the medium long run. The growth of the sector has been complemented by favourable policy changes like liberalization of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) guidelines and significant increase in investment on physical infrastructure. According to the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), the affordable housing segment is set to play an important role in India's real estate sector in 2010 on the back of substantial demand. "Affordable housing will be a key factor in driving the sector and we have already started working on progressive solutions in this area for effective and customized implementation of such projects," Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) Chairman Kumar Gera said in January 2010. Moreover, 2010 is expected to be a positive year for the real estate sector. The revival is expected to be driven by infrastructure growth, which in turn, can accelerate real estate activities both in the residential as well as commercial spaces.

Government Initiatives Favorable demographics, rising purchasing power, availability of cheap finance, professionalism in real estate and reforms initiated by the government are some of the major drivers of this spectacular growth. According to industry estimates, the real estate industry in India has been 25

growing at 33 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) and could be a $50 billion industry in the next four years. The upturn straddles all the major sectors of the industry such as commercial, residential, retail, industrial, hospitality and healthcare. The burgeoning outsourcing and IT/ITES industry have contributed to the demand for quality office space. With most of the blue-chip MNCs setting shop in the country, the estimated demand from IT/ITES sector alone is expected to be 150 million sq ft of space across the major cities by 2010. In the residential segment, availability of easy home finance and rising purchasing power has driven the growth. Builders are launching high-end, lifestyle residential products to cater to the growing bunch of high net worth individuals. In residential sector there is housing shortage of 19.4 million units out of which 6.7 million are in urban India. In the retail segment, the country has experienced mushrooming of retail projects across the cities. Specialized malls have become the order of the day. Gurgaon, on the suburbs of New Delhi will soon have an auto mall, while Bangalore is about to get an exclusive furniture mall. The sprawling skyscrapers, marvellously designed residence, awe-inspiring malls and promising infrastructure, along with exemplary acumen to designing and scheming have made India's real estate sector, one amongst the bustling and growing fields. With India being the most alluring destination for foreign investors, there is a huge market waiting to be splurged upon. The government has introduced many progressive measures to unlock the potential of the sector and also to meet the increasing demand levels. 

100 per cent FDI allowed in townships, housing, built-up infrastructure and construction development projects through the automatic route, subject to guidelines as prescribed by DIPP.



100 per cent FDI is allowed under the automatic route in development of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), subject to the provisions of Special Economic Zones Act 2005 and the SEZ Policy of the Department of Commerce.



FDI is not allowed in Real Estate Business. In the Union Budget 2010-11, the Finance Minister made the following announcements with regard to the real estate sector:



Allocation for housing and urban poverty alleviation were raised from US$ 183.4 million to US$ 215.8 million in 2010-11.

26



Scheme of 1 per cent interest subvention on housing loan up to US$ 21,576 where the cost of the house does not exceed US$ 43,153 announced in the last Budget has been extended up to March 31, 2011 and US$ 151 million has been earmarked for this scheme for 2010-11.

Flying high on the wings of booming real estate, property in India has become a dream for every potential investor looking forward to dig profits. All are eyeing Indian property market for a wide variety of reasons: It is ever growing economy which is on a continuous rise with 8.1 percent increase witnessed in the last financial year. The boom in economy increases purchasing power of its people and creates demand for real estate sector. India is going to produce an estimated 2 million new graduates from various Indian universities during this year, creating demand for 100 million square feet of office and industrial space. Presence of a large number of Fortune 500 and other reputed companies will attract more companies to initiate their operational bases in India thus creating more demand for corporate space. Real estate investments in India yield huge dividends. 70 percent of foreign investors in India are making profits and another 12 percent are breaking even. Apart from IT, ITES and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) India has shown its expertise in sectors like auto-components, chemicals, apparels, pharmaceuticals and jewellery where it can match the best in the world. These positive attributes of India is definitely going to attract more foreign investors in the near future. The relaxed FDI rules implemented by India last year has invited more foreign investors and real estate in India is seemingly the most lucrative ground at present. The revised investor friendly policies allowed foreigners to own property, and dropped the minimum size for housing estates built with foreign capital to 25 acres (10 hectares) from 100 acres (40 hectares). With this sudden change in investment policies, the overseas firms can now put up commercial buildings as long as the projects surpass 50,000 square meters (538,200 square feet) of floor space. Indian real estate sector is on boom and this is the right time to invest in property in India to reap the highest rewards. Challenges in Construction Industry The construction industry everywhere faces problems and challenges. However, in developing countries like India, these difficulties and challenges are present alongside a general socio economic stress, chronic resource shortages, institutional weaknesses and a general inability to 27

deal with the key issues. There is also evidence that the problems have become greater in extent and severity in recent years. One of the charges levelled at the construction industry, as at the beginning of the 21st century, is that it as a poor record on innovation, when compared with manufacturing industries such as aerospace or electronics. Some of the areas where challenges are faced are given below:Housing: - As per 2006 census, the total number of houses in India is 249095869 of which only 233284677 are occupied; the rest were found unoccupied however, even today, a large segment of India‘s population is still houseless. Three major bottlenecks in the construction of houses are the constraints of taking to the common- man the know-how on making disaster resistant housing, constraints of taking to the common-man the know-how of effectively using local material in house construction and inadequate finances. Environment: - The preserving of environment is a greater challenge in a developing country like India, which has a fragile environment that is faced with high levels of land. The rapid urbanization alongside associated problems like pollution of air and pressure on existing infrastructure with regard to waste management, pose a race against time. Many countries, mainly industrialized ones, have taken steps to ensure that the reduced use of construction materials, techniques and practices, which result in operations and products that have lower environmental impact. Developing countries like India can derive valuable lessons from these steps. Some of the desirable steps includes the Government needs to enforce legislation and regulations on environmental performances. Licenses and approvals need to be regulated the transparency to ensure that all organizations in the industry operates in an environment friendly manner. Market forces: Project clients need to insist on better environmental performance of construction companies. Experience form other construction firms adopting or benefiting from good environmental practices need to be disseminated to all. Institutional initiatives: Professional bodies need to take interest in providing support services to construction firms to function in an environment friendly manner.

28

Operational environment: Pressure groups and informed users need to work continually to prevent deterioration of the environment. The practice of being engaged in a continuous search for inputs and ways of working which will minimize the negative impact of construction activity on the environment should be encouraged among construction companies and practitioners. Also openly discussing detailed case studies of good practices would be useful. Transportation: - The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) aims at 4/6 lining of about 14,846 km of National Highways in the country between 1999 and 2007. Apart from the stringent physical targets, which are perhaps unparallel – about Rs.54, 000 crores at 1999 prices? This amount was required over a period of 9 years from 1999-2000 to 2007-08 with peaks reaching up to Rs.10, 000 Crores in mid- period. Historically, development of National Highways road infrastructure was finance from the budgetary allocations of the Government. But, these were of the order of only Rs.2, 000 Crores. Thus, financing of NHDP was not possible from budgetary source and some innovative financing mechanism was necessary. The project also required extensive transportation planning so that optimum benefit may be obtained from it. Since the project extends over the entire country, it will involve construction in extreme hot and cold climates as well in highly humid weather in different locations. Standardized materials and design mixes became necessary in the construction of these pavements, in stretches. In area regions of high temperatures, problems of bleeding and flowing of bitumen are common; which thereby leads to the routing of the pavements. Stringent quality control measures and R&D effort to enhance such locally available material for use in construction need to be stepped up. In many situations highway construction involves widening of existing roads. Strategic planning is required to ensure minimum disruption of traffic on the existing roads alongside enhancing the speed of construction. Equipments and procedures to measure the density of the finished pavement layers are as important to be checked as the thickness of the pavement. Such facilities need to be put in place. Also, robust statistical quality control recommendations are also essential for the various on-site measurements. Power: - As per the 2006 census, 57.3% houses in rural areas and 12.4% in urban areas of India do not have electricity and rely on other sources for lighting. Nowadays , large apartments and multiplexes in big cities are being built in captive power generating systems are being insisted by the Municipal Corporation at the time of providing clearance to such high budget projects. 29

Natural Hazards: - India as a nation is quite susceptible to all forms of natural hazards. Off all these, floods happen to be the most frequent form of natural disaster faced by the company. Earthquake cause the most dangerous and most devastating natural disaster in India. Over 60% of the land area of the country is vulnerable to earthquake of moderate to severe seismic intensities. Also the Indian Ocean is considered to be the 6th most cyclone prone area of the world. This exposes the 8040 KM long coastline of the country of tropical cyclones. A natural hazard like earthquake, floods and cyclones always lead to immense damage and widespread destruction of civil engineering structures. The financial setback in such disaster is huge. Further the rehabitilisation work involve after any such hazard to bring life back to normalcy is itself a great challenge for the construction industry. This apart even the various equipment of the construction industry serve a great a purpose in the rescue and relief works succeeding any such calamities. Undertaking detailed damage investigation involving appropriate recapitalization techniques or even clearance of debris of destructed buildings requires use of specialized technology and equipments. It is there for imperative to attempt to make only disaster resistant constructions to begin with. Also the Government and the local bodies need to develop capacities to cope with the natural disaster to mitigate the effect of the natural disaster. In the year ahead, the construction industry in India has to overcome various challenges – be it with respect to housing environment transportation, power or natural hazards. Technocrats associated with the Indian construction industry need to employ innovative technologies and skilled project handling strategies to overcome these challenges. The gains of large investment in the mega project eventually will feed back to the construction industry itself in the form of better economy and improved work construction.

2.1.3 Kerala Perspective Kerala is a land which is rich in culture and heritage and in terms of the beauty added by never ending coconut palms, palm fringed and emerald backwaters which is connected with the blue ocean, serene beaches is one of the most amazing states of India. Kerala otherwise known as ‗God‘s Own Country‘ is an emerging and dynamic real estate arena with huge developments taking place in all sectors. More people from other parts of the country and the world are looking 30

forward for their dream home in Kerala like never before. This attitude towards Kerala real estate has boosted the real estate industry and has paved for more real estate projects by new and existing builders. Builders in Kerala have been playing a crucial role in the development of the real estate property. The homebuilders in the state are aware of the latest market trends and are among the top builders in India. Earlier the business of property dealing was limited to property dealers or the real estate agents in the state. However, with expertise in services from the builders and developers the real estate market is tremendously growing on the path of success. Builders in Kerala involve innovative planning in business and construct flats/apartments, bungalows and cottages depending upon the requirement and affordability of the homebuyers. Besides this, such housing companies also develop both residential as well as commercial complexes. The construction companies in Kerala undertake projects with excellence in services from the best home architects and interior decorators. They adopt a professional approach towards home dealing in the state. The Building contractors have altered conventional ways involved in sale or purchase of houses. These home contractors combine fragmented spaces and plots to form beautiful housing societies. The apartment Builders in Kerala work in accordance with the building plans and rules regulated by the Kerala State Housing Board . The Builders, housing companies are one stop destination for all the needs of the property buyers as they arrange for facilities like houses for rent, home loans and work in association with various insurance companies that ensure security and safety of the buyers. Builders in Kerala and are contributing a lot in the all-round development of the real estate properties in the state and as a result many homebuyers as well as corporate companies are making huge investments in this business.

31

2.2 Company Profile ABAD group is a leading business concern, which has established a strong presence in the business and industrial landscape of Kerala. With seven decades of experience ABAD group is engaged in a diversified range of business activities that encompasses, construction activities (ABAD Builders), seafood processing (ABAD seafood division) and hospitality services (ABAD group of hotels). ABAD Builders is a division of trusted ABAD GROUP, which has collared the economic landscape of Kerala for over seven decades. It has entered to the field of fisheries, hotels and constructions .ABAD Fisheries is one of the largest seafood exporters in India. The group is also a major player in Kerala‘s tourism and hospitality industry helping the country earn valuable foreign exchange.

2.2.1 Group Companies 1.

ABAD Seafood Division

ABAD Fisheries is the flagship of ABAD Group. One of the largest processors of quality quick frozen seafood in India, the company has eight EU approved HACCP compliant factories. Their production capacity is 350 MTPD and the cold storage capacity is 10,000Mt. Abad Fisheries has fully panelised & air conditioned factories with in-house pre-processing facilities. We constantly introduce new technology to deliver best products. We are ever committed to keep the old values of quality and trust. 2.

ABAD Group Of Hotels

ABAD group owns a chain of 8 Resorts and Hotels in the state asserting its colossal presence in Kerala‘s Tourism and Hospitality Scenario. Airport and the Resorts are located at

Six hotels are located in

Cochin including one at Cochin International

Munnar, Kumarakom, Thekkady, Marari Beach and Kovalam.

3. ABAD Builders ABAD Builders is a South Indian based real estate company, which offers a wide variety of homes that match needs of the people. Their projects are tastefully designed to suit requirements of buyers. Unlike other real estate developers who create hype, ABAD Builders are quietly

32

building a reputation for itself for creating quality residential landmarks. The projects are coming at places that are conveniently located and with the best suitable prices. ABAD Builders was launched in the year 1992 to promote housing and real estate development in the State of Kerala. ABAD Builders is now one of the leading, home grown, realty brands of Kerala. Belonging to the renowned ABAD Group established at 1931, which has made a mark for itself in the hospitality and fisheries industries, ABAD Builders is following the same set of business principles; integrity, a flair for innovation and an abiding commitment to the customer. Since 2003, ABAD Builders has been focusing on real-estate development and has been actively involved in creating premium residential space for its discerning customers. ABAD is presently developing over 2 million sq. ft. of built up residential area. ABAD caught the attention of prospective buyers with its path breaking SMART LIVING concept. ABAD SMART LIVING is actually a summation of five qualities; Spacious, Modern, Attractive, Relaxing and Timeless. Every ABAD project delivers these five virtues .The apartments are designed to suit a modern lifestyle, providing maximum space utilization, utmost privacy, elegant finishes, top quality fittings and fixtures and innumerable common amenities. Utmost care is taken using top quality materials to finish each apartment. All the projects are testimonials of quality construction and timely completion. The company‘s uncompromising attitude to quality, perfection, timely completion and after sales service has earned itself the trust and satisfaction of a growing clientele. Already hundreds of customers have opted for the SMART living experience offered by ABAD Builders. SMART is the summation of five qualities; belonging to the illustrious ABAD Group that has blazed trails of success in diverse business segments, ABAD Builders brings to the same set of values – commitment, integrity and flair of innovation. SMART PRACTICES involve the sourcing and usage of the very best construction inputs and materials, world - class brands and adherence to promised time - lines. In ABAD, discerning customers see a dependable brand, who matches deeds with words. A brand that is trusted with quality construction, timely deliveries and ethical practices. With several years of experience in Real estate and Housing Development, ABAD offer budget, luxury and super luxury flats in various projects in Ernakulam to suit individual and institutional preferences. Away from the hype ABAD Builders is quietly building a reputation for itself for creating quality residential landmarks, at places that are conveniently located and at the prices 33

that are hard to beat. To cater the growing needs and demands of the Non Resident Keralite population, the company has opened a representative office in Dubai and Ajman. This would help in increasing its marketing reach, ensure better and faster co ordination with its customers, and also developed its customers, and also increase the customer base. The company has developed its website which is maintained and updated on a regular basis providing information regarding all its activities. ABAD Builders have steadily improved and expanded the operating capacity and system. QUADRA, the total ERP software solution for construction industry has been implemented. In the current year the marketing wing of ABAD builders has concentrated in to international property portals a web base marketing strategy and also started an online chat program [outsource to BPO] for the customers to have more information‘s regarding ABAD Builders and its updated project.

2.2.2 Service Divisions in ABAD Builders 1. ABAD Property Management Services (APMS) ABAD Property Management Services (APMS) was formed in March 2006 and has been managing the Bay Pride Mall and Towers since then. APMS is an independent business unit that operates under ABAD Group of companies. It provides facilities management services and delivering high quality common area maintenance. The services are provided by the APMS are After Sales Division, Home Care Division, Housekeeping facility management service, Maintenance division, Interior design and works division, Rental division and Payment of statutory charges. The functions are as follows  Management, maintenance & Repair service for residential and commercial properties.  Landscape maintenance of the property  Internal maintenance of a property  Facilitate the payment of utility bills on behalf of the customer  Help in finding suitable Lessee/tenants for Residential and commercial properties and also assist in finalizing lease agreements with tenants for their property.

2.

ABAD Project Management Services 34

For most clients, especially NRIs, overseeing the designing and creation of a building project that matches specific quality and fiscal parameters is a difficult task. Construction is a field of cut throat competitiveness; to stay one up on sector dynamics as well as safe and quality standards while dealing with consultants, contractors, and suppliers, metal, is a highly demanding exercise. ABAD Builders, with its years of experience in the real estate and construction industry, is poised just right to deliver all the care and expertise that project management requires and the company is offering just that through the ABAD Project Management Division, which is the complete solutions for delivering a first-rate product, customized to the needs of the client. In short, total peace of mind. The division offers Design level Services, which finalises the project design data, cost estimates and tentative project scheduling, and Execution Level Services, which finalises the quality contracts, allocates man power, schedules projects and evaluates processes. 2.2.3 Mission, Vision, Goal and Values Corporate Vision: - To establish long lasting relationship with clients based on the foundation of trust, integrity and transparency Mission: - To contribute to the overall growth of the state of Kerala by creating landmark residential and commercial properties maintaining a functional design, achieving architectural excellence and ensuring optimization of costs. Goal: - To attain customer delight by exceeding customer satisfaction Values: -Quality and integrity: the ABAD group has the right values for a business group that has diversified interests in industries as diverse as real estate, seafood processing and hospitality services, unstinting commitment to quality and customer satisfaction are de rigueur. Quality Policy: - ABAD Builders is committed to developing and constructing ergonomically designed, aesthetically appealing, economically viable, environ-friendly residential and commercial buildings that confirms to international quality standards. ABAD‘s buildings should reflect engineering excellence that result in providing a holistic value proposition for our clients, and exceeding their expectations. ABAD builders are committed to provide broad spectrum of construction solutions by adopting suitable technologies for ensuring qualitative works and 35

timely delivery of projects, meetings and exceeding customer needs and expectations through continual improvements, and contributing to the overall welfare of society. The synergy between the professional departments should help Abad Builders set new benchmarks for itself and for the industry in project conception, execution and on-time delivery, through technology based innovations in construction and systems integration into work processes. As a team, Abad epitomizes 'Customer Centricism' through transparency, reliability, integrity and honesty.

2.2.4 Important Milestones 

In November 2006, ABAD became the first builder in Kerala to receive the coveted CRISIL rating (DA-3, good)



An ISO 9001-2000 certified company



In 2007, ABAD launched Platinum Heights in Ajman, becoming the first builder from Kerala to launch a project in UAE



Opened Bay Pride Mall in Kochi since January 2006, the first shopping mall in Kerala.

2.2.5 Awards and Achievements ABAD Builders won the prestigious CRISIL rating DA-3 (good) in November 2006 becoming the first real estate developer from Kerala to win the coveted distinction. CRISIL is India‘s most respected agency and its ratings are regarded as the most reliable on risks. DA-3 rating testifies ABAD‘S track record in executing real estate projects maintaining the specified quality levels and transferring a clear title within the stipulated time period. Acknowledging Abad‘s standards of construction, ISO 9001:2000 certifications from DNV has also been bestowed on the company. ABAD Builders is also a certified builder with ISO 14001: OSHAS 18001, for safety and environmental aspects. But the biggest recognition to the ABAD brand comes from its more than 2000 satisfied customers from across the globe. ABAD Builders‘ standards of excellence in project conception and design also received a noteworthy commendation last year when it was nominated for the CNBC Awaaz-CRISIL Real Estate Award 2008 for Best Residential Property (less than 1 lakh sq ft): the nominee, Abad‘s villa project Rainbow Retreat and in 2009 ABAD‘s project Olympus was awarded for the same, as the best residential project in South India. 36



Kerala‘s first CRISIL Rated Builder



ISO 9001 : 2008 for Quality Management System Standard



ISO 14001 : 2004 for Environmental Management System Standard



OHSAS 18001: 2007 for Occupational Health and Safety Management System Standard



Member of CREDAI Kochi



ABAD Group Assurance

Chart - 2.1 Source: - www.abadbuilders.com

2.2.6 Competitors of Abad Builders 1.

DLF

2.

Asset homes

3.

Skyline builders

4.

Jewel homes

5.

Mather

6.

Puruvankara

7.

SRK group

8.

Confident group

37

2.3 Product Profile The main products of ABAD BUILDERS are apartments and villas. Besides this the company also engaged in construction of shopping malls. Products are classified into completed projects, ongoing projects and upcoming projects.

2.3.1 Completed Projects 1. Sunshine Court: - Bask in the Sunshine of SMART LIVING at Sunshine Court in Vazhakkala. Located on the periphery of the emerging IT hub of Cochin, yet close to the NH Bypass with all its conveniences, Sunshine Court will let the people live the fast life, SMARTLY. With a host of modern amenities such as rooftop swimming pool, business centre, health club, coffee shop etc. 2. Green Terrace: - Green Terrace at Kakkanadu is turning a shade greener. Situated off the bustling Airport – Seaport road, in the emerging IT Corridor of Kochi, Green Terrace offers the finest facilities and amenities with premium apartments having 2& 3 bedrooms with smart styling and features, such as health club, swimming pool, children‘s play area/equipments, multi recreation hall, coffee shop and mini market. 3. Aquarius: - This project offers smart living by the river side coming up on the banks of Periyar in Aluva. All apartments in Aquarius promise an enhancing river view. 4. Olympus: - ABAD offers Olympus apartments a summit of luxury, convenience and elegance located on Edapally. It won the CNBC Award for Best Residential property in South India in the year 2009. 5. Rainbow Retreat: - Far away from the maddening cacophony of city life, yet nestled costly in the lap of urban comforts, each villa in Rainbow Retreat is thoughtfully designed with all the comforts and amenities you look forward in an ideal home. Situated en-route Airport Seaport road, in Irumpanam, Rainbow Retreat offers you SMART LIVING, adjacent to the proposed SMART CITY in KOCHI. Being built by ABAD Builders, one of the most trusted and sought after names in Kerala‘s real estate horizon, Rainbow Retreat is certainly emerged as the preferred destination of SMART people. Come over; discover the Rainbow of Tranquil Homely Living atmosphere at Cochin. 38

6. Silver Crest: -

It is a premium residential apartment project located on Subash Chandra

Bose Road at Kadavanthara. It consists of 3 & 4 bedroom super deluxe apartments. 7. Lotus Lake: - This project is located at Chilavanoor, situated adjacent to a beautiful lake. It offers 32 apartments with 3 bedrooms and also a host of modern amenities. 8. Casablanca: - This project is located at Vazhakkala. It includes 66 apartments with 2&3 bedrooms spread over 11 floors. It includes a wide range of amenities like centralized gas supply system, sewage treatment plant, elegant lobby, fully equipped health club, association room, and double level car park, besides landscaped areas and children‘s play area, etc. 9. Bay Pride Mall: - It is the landmark project in Cochin City includes Bay Pride Towers, a waterfront commercial cum residential tower on Marine Drive, Cochin. ABAD has completed and operates Bay pride mall in Kochi since January 2006, the first mall in Kerala. 10. Bay Pride Towers: - This project is located at Marine Drive, Kochi and it is the first shopping mall in Kerala. 11. Marine Plaza: - This is located at Marine Drive, Cochin. It consists of 150 luxury apartments with 2&3 bedrooms. It provides all sort of modern amenities. 12. North Star: - This project is located at SRM road Kaloor. It includes 40 apartments with 3 bedrooms. 13. Oriental Gardens: - This project is located at on Mamangalam. It consists of two towers each consisting of 84 apartments. The project includes 2 and 3 bedroom deluxe apartments. 14. Harmony: -This project is located at Vytila. It consists of 20 three bed premium apartments. 15. Cloud Nine: - This is located at Panampalli Nagar. It consists of 60 deluxe apartments of three bed room. 16. Vantage Point: - This project is a deluxe type of apartment and it is located at Ravipuram. 17. Pavillion: - This project is a deluxe type of apartment and it is located at Ravipuram. 18. Garden Court: - This is located near the NH bypass on the route to Kakkanad. It includes 80 apartments of 2 & 3 bedrooms.

2.3.2 Ongoing Projects 1. Ebony Estate: - ABAD Builders present Ebony Estate, deluxe apartments at Kizhakkambalam

near

Kakkanadu.

Conveniently located

just

900

meters

from

Kizhakkambalam junction and well connected to Ernakulam, Aluva, Perumbavoor and 39

Muvattupuzha, Ebony Estate combines architectural elegance with functional convenience. Ebony Estate is strategically located between Info Park and international airport. Ebony Estate is a 14 storied high-rise that will deliver affordable luxury. The Ebony Estate will have a range of premium facilities and amenities including two level car parking. The project offers an impressive 60% open space. It consists of 98 deluxe apartments available as 2 &3 bedrooms. This work has been commenced in June 2008 and is expected to be completed on September 2011. 2. Aqua Breeze: - ABAD Builders presents ‗AQUA BREEZE‘, luxury apartments in Aluva, Thottumukham. A tranquil haven where, the customers can wake up to the lullaby of chirping birds and feast your eyes on the quite majesty of Periyar River. Available as 2 & 3 bedroom apartments, Aqua Breeze comes studded with premium amenities and facilities. Conveniently located with everything with easy reach, Aqua Breeze combines urban comforts with rustic charm. 3. The Chancellor: - The Company has a premium single-tower project coming up at Kakkanadu: the Chancellor Garden Residences, a single tower set in 1.6 acres off the Seaport-Airport Road, which has just 133 two- and three-bedroom premium apartments. The project has a large area (almost 60 per cent of the plot) set aside as well-landscaped open space. 4. Platinum Heights: - For those looking to invest in the land of black gold, ABAD Builders Real Estate Co LLC is coming up with Platinum Heights at Emirates City, Ajman. Platinum Heights has on offer 100 per cent freehold apartments with a lucrative easy five year payment plan, Built to European specification and standards; investors can opt between various kinds of apartments ranging from those with one to three bedrooms. Emirates City, which comprises an area of 5 million sq ft, is considered the world‘s largest single-phase development with over 90 commercial and residential towers. 5. Nucleus Mall: - ABAD Builders, which set up Kerala‘s first shopping mall—Bay Pride Mall at Marine Drive, Kochi, will redefine the shopping experience with its upcoming mall, Nucleus. Nucleus, with 1, 25,000 sq ft of prime retail space and 45,000 sq ft of office space, will come up at Marad, Cochin by August 2010. Nucleus has registered for Gold-rated LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, an internationally-accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. 40

6. Daffodil Gardens: - This project is located at Thripunithura. The project offers 39 premium apartments, with the specialty 0f 3 bed rooms only. The project has commenced in August 2007 and completed by December 2009. 7. Bluechip: - SMART LIVING is now at walking distance from Info Park, Kakkanadu. Coming up bang in the middle of Kochi‘s fast growing IT hub. Blue Chip is a majestic skyscraper, awash with premium amenities and facilities available as 1, 2, &3 bedroom premium apartments, Blue chip is a doubly tempting proposition not just a SMART home to town but an even SMARTER investment for the future

2.3.3 Upcoming Project 1.

New Dale: - This is the new project of ABAD located at Kottayam. This includes a wide range of super premium apartments.

2.3.4 Uniqueness of ABAD Builders At ABAD, they have several significant features that set us apart from the rest. Their homes are on par with the best homes around the world. a)

Location:- With the years experience in the area of building quality homes, ABAD has always ensured prime locations for its projects that are:



Easily Accessible



Close to All Facility



Ideal for Peaceful Living



A Clean and Green Environment



On Land That Can Only Appreciate in Value

b)

Range: - They are excited to be able to offer such a wide range such a wide range on home options, i.e., apartments, villas and commercial space, all at premier locations in Cochin. They can truly deliver on the promise of having something for everyone at ABAD. They are giving a villa or an apartment, 2 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms, a view of the water front to a hillside locale, an exclusive location to a more centralized one; the chooses are endless, at prices to fit everyone‘s budget.

41

c)

Opportunity for Investment: - Kerala has emerged as one of the favourite holiday destinations in the world. It goes without saying that a holiday home in ―Gods Own Country‖, coupled with spiralling real estate prices will definitely give you excellent returns on your investment.

d)

Timely Completion: - When they make a promise of on time handing over of the project, they deem it a major commitment to complete every one of our projects on schedule.

e)

Support: - ABAD work towards building of trust from the day of signing up with the company. ABAD initiate it by keeping the customers updated on the progress of the apartment with periodic reports and photographs. They also deliver after sale support for property care and management.

f)

NRI Customers: - An amazing number of ABAD‘s clients are NRIs. This is largely due to the fact that the homes they provide are up to par with the international quality that NRIs are used to and of course, because of their host of services that cover, arranging housing loans to search for tenants.

g)

Professionalism: - A great deal of work goes into each of homes, which are designed by the best architects and built by the finest craftsmen. They pay painstaking attention to every detail, and work to ensure that each project is completed on time. Pursue quality at all levels of execution of the projects. ABAD engage the finest architects and talented craftsmen to design and build the homes where happiness resides.

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CHAPTER 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW

43

3.1 Theoretical Framework A conceptual framework is used in research to outline possible courses of action or to present a preferred approach to an idea or thought. Conceptual frameworks (theoretical frameworks) are a type of intermediate theory that attempt to connect to all aspects of inquiry (e.g., problem definition, purpose, literature review, methodology, data collection and analysis). Conceptual frameworks can act like maps that give coherence to empirical inquiry. Because conceptual frameworks are potentially so close to empirical inquiry, they take different forms depending upon the research question or problem.

3.1.1 Marketing Marketing, more than any other business function, deals with customers. Understanding, creating, communicating, and delivering customer value and satisfaction are at the very heart of modern marketing thinking and practice. Marketing is the delivery of customer satisfaction at a profit. The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep current customers by delivering satisfaction. Today, marketing must be understood not in the old sense of making a sale—"telling and selling"—but in the new sense of satisfying customer needs. Selling occurs only after a product is produced. By contrast, marketing starts long before a company has a product. Marketing is the homework that managers undertake to assess needs, measure their extent and intensity, and determine whether a profitable opportunity exists. Marketing continues throughout the product's life, trying to find new customers and keep current customers by improving product appeal and performance, learning from product sales results, and managing repeat performance. If the marketer does a good job of understanding consumer needs, develops products that provide superior value and prices, distributes, and promotes them effectively, these products will sell very easily. Thus, selling and advertising are only part of a larger "marketing mix"—a set of marketing tools that work together to affect the marketplace. Marketing is defined as a social and managerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. To 44

explain this definition, the marketer should examine the following important terms: needs, wants, and demands; products and services; value, satisfaction, and quality; exchange, transactions, and relationships; and markets. The figure shows that these core marketing concepts are linked, with each concept building on the one before it.

Chart: - 3.1

Source: - http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/pmarketing/chapter01.htm#what Marketing means managing markets to bring about exchanges and relationships for the purpose of creating value and satisfying needs and wants. Thus, marketing as a process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want by creating and exchanging products and value with others. Exchange processes involve work. Sellers must search for buyers, identify their needs, design good products and services, set prices for them, promote them, and store and deliver them. Activities such as product development, research, communication, distribution, pricing, and service are core marketing activities. Even though marketing as being carried on by sellers, buyers also carry on marketing activities. Consumers do marketing when they search for the goods they need at prices they can afford. Company purchasing agents do marketing when they track down sellers and bargain for good terms.

45

In the usual situation, marketing involves serving a market of end users in the face of competitors. The company and the competitors send their respective products and messages to consumers either directly or through marketing intermediaries to the end users. All of the actors in the system are affected by major environmental forces (demographic, economic, physical, technological, political–legal, social–cultural). Chart: - 3.2

Main actors and forces in a modern marketing system

Source: http://gmx.xmu.edu.cn/ews/business/pmarketing/chapter01.htm#what

Each party in the system adds value for the next level. Thus, a company's success depends not only on its own actions but also on how well the entire system serves the needs of final consumers. Wal-Mart cannot fulfill its promise of low prices unless its suppliers provide merchandise at low costs. Ford cannot deliver high quality to car buyers unless its dealers provide outstanding service. Marketing of the products and services can be stressed by branding it, where branding of the products enables the customers to create an image of the brand in their mind. 3.1.2 Branding 46

Brand is the personality or identity of an organization, product, or family of products, derived from a customer perception of rational and emotional attributes. Businesses use branding to drive customer preference for their products and services, to sustain higher prices, to reduce the cost of (and need for) selling, to boost the return on demand generation activities, to assist word of mouth, and to improve customer retention and repeat business. Depending on the chosen brand architecture, a brand can either apply to a company (such as Apple), as an umbrella brand across several businesses (for example, the Virgin brand), or to individual lines of business within a company. In each circumstance, the brand is usually summarized in a brand profile. Branding can also be used to assist with cross-selling, up-selling, and entering new businesses. The customer franchise and trust that a good brand carries will usually support the introduction of existing customers to new products and solutions that a business associates with the brand, as long as these innovations are consistent with the promise, personality, and experience of the brand. Branding is a process that is used by the businesses to utilize marketing strategies to enhance their product or service image so that it is more readily recollected by the customer. Branding helps the product or service to make a favourable impact on the target customer while the branding concepts help in outlining the guidelines that should be followed during the branding process. Branding of any product and service should follow some constants that help in establishing a brand in the long run. Branding of the products and services paves way for making high quality perception

about the brand in the minds of the customers.

3.1.3 Service Quality "Quality" in a service organization is a measure of the extent to which the service delivered meets the customer's expectations. The nature of most services is such that the customer is present in the delivery process. This means that the perception of quality is influenced not only by the "service outcome" but also by the "service process". The "perceived quality" lies along a continuum. "Unacceptable quality" lies at one end of this continuum, while "ideal quality" lies at the other end. The points in-between represent different gradations of quality. Measures of service quality may either be hard or soft. Hard measures are those which are quantifiable or objective; for example, computer downtime or the proportion of telephone calls answered. Soft measures are those which are qualitative, judgmental, and subjective and based on perceptual 47

data, for example, customer‘s satisfaction with speed of service or manager‘s assessment of staff attitude towards customers. Soft measures of service quality are particularly relevant to the measurement of the quality of intangible aspects of service. Information on service quality can be gathered from internal and/ or external data sources. Internal data are those generated by the staff or management inside an organization, enabling the organization to ensure that it is meeting its own internal specification of service quality. Customers also inevitably assess the quality of the service during and after its provision. Their assessments (external measures of service quality) result in a level of customer satisfaction. Thus service organizations may measure service quality not only on the basis of their own internal data but also by using external data, by monitoring customer satisfaction. Service quality as perceived by customers, can be defined as ‗the extent of discrepancy between customers‘ expectations or desires and their perceptions‘ (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry,1990). SERVQUAL is a questionnaire designed to measure the gap between the expectations and perceptions of a customer from a particular service. This questionnaire has five categories: Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy. The quality of the service is perceived in the minds of the customers, as products having high brand value have greater quality and vice versa.

3.1.4 Perception In philosophy, psychology

and cognitive

science, perception is

the

process

of

attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. The processes of perception routinely

alter

what

humans

see.

When

people

view

something

with

a

preconceived concept about it, they tend to take those concepts and see them whether or not they are there. This problem stems from the fact that humans are unable to understand new information, without the inherent bias of their previous knowledge. A person‘s knowledge creates his or her reality as much as the truth, because the human mind can only contemplate that to which it has been exposed. When objects are viewed without understanding, the mind will try to reach for something that it already recognizes, in order to process what it is viewing. That which most closely relates to the unfamiliar past experiences, makes up what they see when they 48

look at things that they do not comprehend. Sensation usually refers to the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors in the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or skin. Perception, on the other hand, better describes one's ultimate experience of the world and typically involves further processing of sensory input. In practice, sensation and perception are virtually impossible to separate, because they are part of one continuous process. Thus, perception in humans describes the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience. That experience, or percept, is the joint product of the stimulation and of the process itself. Relations found between various types of stimulation (e.g., light waves and sound waves) and their associated percept suggest inferences that can be made about the properties of the perceptual process; theories of perceiving then can be developed on the basis of these inferences. Because the perceptual process is not itself public or directly observable (except to the perceiver himself, whose percept are given directly in experience), the validity of perceptual theories can be checked only indirectly. The products and services that an industrial company has to offer are generally organized around its customers‘ needs in addition to the level of expertise and production capabilities of the firm. Creating a strategy for product development is an important and often multifaceted segment of running a successful enterprise, and it brings together a range of different principles, such as research and development, marketing, engineering, design, materials, and manufacturing. In most cases, an industrial product development strategy will depend on two main goals: keeping the new product or product line within the company‘s overall objectives and marketing philosophy, and developing a system for assessing the performance of an existing product. For evaluating the success of an existing product, factors such as sales, customer response, profits, competition, and market acceptance are usually involved. Consumers can evaluate a product along several levels. Its basic characteristics are inherent to the generic version of the product and are defined as the fundamental advantages it can offer to a customer. Generic products can be made distinct by adding value through extra features, such as quality or performance enhancements. The final level of consumer perception involves augmented properties, which offer less tangible benefits, such as customer assistance, maintenance services, training, or appealing payment options. In terms of competition with other products and companies, consumers greatly value these added benefits when making a purchasing decision, making it important for manufacturers to understand the notion of a ―total package‖ when marketing to 49

their customers. Higher brand perception leads the customer to create a behavior to the brand which may turn to the consumer buying behavior.

3.1.5 Consumer Behaviour Consumer behaviour involves the psychological processes that consumers go through in recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions (e.g., whether or not to purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where), interpret information, make plans, and implement these plans (e.g., by engaging in comparison shopping or actually purchasing a product).The consumer faces numerous sources of influence as follows. Chart: - 3.3

Source: - http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_Consumer_Behavior.html Often, cultural influences for granted, but they are significant. An American will usually not bargain with a store owner. This, however, is a common practice in much of the World. Physical factors also influence the behaviour. A person‘s self-image will also tend to influence what he or she will buy—an upwardly mobile manager may buy a flashy car to project an image of success. Social factors also influence what the consumers buy—often, consumers 50

seek to imitate others whom they admire, and may buy the same brands. environment can include both the mainstream culture and a subculture.

The social

Thus, sneaker

manufacturers are eager to have their products worn by admired athletes. Finally, consumer behaviour is influenced by learning. To understand consumer buyer behaviour is to understand how the person interacts with the marketing mix. As described by Cohen the marketing mix inputs (or the four P's of price, place, promotion, and product) are adapted and focused upon the consumer. The psychology of each individual considers the product or service on offer in relation to their own culture, attitude, previous learning, and personal perception. The consumer then decides whether or not to purchase, where to purchase, the brand that he or she prefers, and other choices. 3.1.6 Consumer Buying Behaviour Consumer Buying Behaviour refers to the buying behaviour of the ultimate consumer. A firm needs to analyze buying behaviour for: 

Buyer‘s reactions to a firms marketing strategy has a great impact on the firm‘s success.



The marketing concept stresses that a firm should create a Marketing Mix (MM) that satisfies (gives utility to) customers, therefore need to analyze the what, where, when and how consumers buy.



Marketers can better predict how consumers will respond to marketing strategies.

There are six Stages to the Consumer Buying Decision Process (For complex decisions). Actual purchasing is only one stage of the process. Not all decision processes lead to a purchase. All consumer decisions do not always include all 6 stages, determined by the degree of complexity. The 6 stages are in the decision making process; 1. Problem Recognition (awareness of need) is the difference between the desired state and the actual condition. Deficit in assortment of products. Hunger--Food. Hunger stimulates to eat. 2. Information search is an internal search, memory or an External search if need more information. Friends and relatives (word of mouth). Marketer dominated sources; comparison shopping; public sources etc. A successful information search leaves a buyer with possible alternatives, the evoked set.

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3. Evaluation of Alternatives is done when there is a need to establish criteria for evaluation, features the buyer wants or does not want. Rank/weight alternatives or resume search. If not satisfied with the choice then returns to the search phase. 4. Purchase decision is the process of choosing the buying alternative, includes product, package, store, method of purchase etc. 5. Purchase may differ from decision; it is the time lapse between 4 & 5, product availability. 6. Post-Purchase Evaluation is the evaluation of the outcome: Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction. Cognitive Dissonance can be reduced by warranties, after sales communication etc. Chart: - 3.4

Source: - http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_Consumer_Behavior.html Types of consumer buying behaviour are determined by the level of involvement in purchase decision, the importance and intensity of interest in a product in a particular situation. Buyer‘s level of involvement determines why he/she is motivated to seek information about a certain products and brands but virtually ignores others. High involvement purchases are the high priced goods, products visible to others, and the higher the risk is the higher the involvement. Types of risk assigned with high involvement purchase are 

Personal risk



Social risk and



Economic risk

52

The four type of consumer buying behaviour are: 

Routine Response/Programmed Behaviour--buying low involvement frequently purchased low cost items; need very little search and decision effort; purchased almost automatically. Examples include soft drinks, snack foods, milk etc.



Limited Decision Making--buying product occasionally. When need to obtain information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category, perhaps. Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering. Examples include Clothes--know product class but not the brand.



Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or infrequently bought products. High degree of economic/performance/psychological risk. Examples include cars, homes, computers, education. Spend a lot of time seeking information and deciding through the gathered information from the company‘s Marketing Mix, friends and relatives, store personnel etc. Then the customer will go through all six stages of the buying process.



Impulse buying, no conscious planning.

The purchase of the same product does not always elicit the same Buying Behaviour. Product can shift from one category to the next. For example: Going out for dinner for one person may be extensive decision making (for someone that does not go out often at all), but limited decision making for someone else. The reason for the dinner, whether it is an anniversary celebration, or a meal with a couple of friends will also determine the extent of the decision making.

3.1.7 Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is part of the four of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. However, the importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has increased bargaining power. The motives kept in mind to set objectives for customer satisfaction are 53

1. Personal Gains: One of the parties for its hidden desire of some personal gain develops relationship by showing friendship, nearness and some advantage. The personal gain is so intense that the party pretend to be a well wisher of the other. 2. Mutual Gains: The two parties in this situation joint together for mutual gain irrespective of the fact that by their personal gains the organization they serve and the ultimate customer is going to suffer. This involves a give and take policy. One is giving advantage to the other for mutual gains at the cost of their organizational interest. Both are cheats and form an unholy alliance. The organization should see through their game plan and take corrective action in time lets loose the ultimate customers. Unfortunately such mutual gain programmes are on rise in present day economic scene. Many a time dealership is awarded on consideration of mutual gains. This is very common in large variety of consumer durable, projects floated for investments in mutual funds, plantation programme etc. The principal party and agents just disappear in thin air. Very little legal remedy is available against such unholy alliances. Many eminent personalities have formed such unholy alliances for mutual gains to attract simple customers. 3. Social Gains: Alliance formed for social gains are those where society at large is the gainer. Nationalization of banks, petroleum companies, coal-mining industry are few examples of alliances formed for social gain. The objective was to ensure proper and planned growth of core, sector and save the customers and public at large from exploitation. The story is however, different as desired objectives could not be reached due to formation of alliances in Government and within organizations based on personal or mutual gains. Nowhere the focus is on customer. 4. Organizational Gains: This is the area where the main thrust for long-term benefit to customers. Customer focused management should be the only objective of every organisation. It is at this place that buyer, seller and customer should form a strategic alliance without taking advantage of one or the other. If they join hand and work for all round gain then the result would be great. The theories of organizational gain in many western nations, Japan and some other south eastern countries have already been recognized. These countries have long back focused their business on customer satisfaction and customer delight. Unfortunately, in India even alliance made with industrial giants and premier brand names of these countries could not show the same results. The only reason is that Indian does not have 54

a sincere desire or managerial attitude towards customer focused business or trade. The Indian entrepreneurs perhaps still not aware of market volatility and the foreign partners have studied the Indian business mentality. Unfortunately, the economic planners and their mentor have not seen the plight of ultimate customer both in the industrial or domestic consumables. There remains a gap in programmes and implementation. This is again due to the relationship developed for personal or mutual gains. It is for this reason that Indian economy is not able to reach to a level where it should be after 51 years of independence and the rich heritage. None of the programmes and policies is really customer oriented. It is therefore; right time that management at least in Indian industry try and focus attention on the customers. 5. One Time Gains: There are situations where a relationship is made for one time gain. Both the parties join together, fulfil the task expected from each and then depart with no obligation what so ever on either side. All onetime contracts are example of such onetime gain. Once the deal is concluded the relationship is severed. 6. Permanent Gains: Such alliances are made in business world for long time gain to both the sides i.e., the buyer and seller. This is more or less lifetime alliance and therefore, permanent in nature. The buyer or customer gets goods or services from a supplier for a life time use. The seller on the other hand builds up life time goodwill. This is based on zero defect principle. The seller ensures that after sales service is provided to the customer for the life time utility of the product, goods and services. The customer receives maximum return on his investment. A satisfied customer is perhaps the best and least costly advertiser. A dissatisfied customer is perhaps the worst enemy moving loose in the cruel world of business. Recommendation of a delightful customer is having stronger unpack on prospective customers than any amount of multimedia advertisements. A goodwill build upon satisfied customers will be more potent for growth in sales than any sales promotion gimmicks adopted by any smart salesman. Several examples of customer‘s delight are available for goods and services. Customers make sacrifice and in return he expect that he is relieved of after purchase headaches and botheration. For the sacrifices made the customer expects sound sleep in the night. 7. Promotional Gains: Such alliances are formed at the time of launching of a new products and or a company. Glorious future is projected to lure the prospective customers. Alliance is

55

made between the launcher and brokerage agency or advertising agency. Both the partners to the alliance are gainers. The customer may or may not be the gainer.

3.2 Literature Review Literature review is a critical and evaluative account of what has been published on a chosen research topic. Its purpose is to summarise, synthesise and analyse the arguments of others. It describes and analyses the knowledge that exists and what gaps occur in research related to your field of interest. It should reveal similarities and differences, consistencies and inconsistencies and controversies in previous research. Positive Brand Perception is a significant factor for the firm, especially for high involvement products. Many studies have been conducted on how to improve the brand perception and customer satisfaction of a firm. Inferences of some of such studies are summarised below.

Aaker, J.L. (1997)1 Brand is the image that consumers have in mind. It is also the unique characteristics that have been developed all the time in order to differentiate actual products from the competitors. Brand concepts must address customer interests and lifestyles. Factors that affect its brand image and brand perception among marketing communication program that implementing to the public to create brand perception, brand characteristic, brand image and brand equity. Brand perception is consumers‘ ability to identify the brand under different conditions, as reflected by their brand recognition or recall performance. Brand recall refers to consumer‘s ability to retrieve the brand from the memory. According to the improvement of measurement for brand equity, consumer-based brand equity was described for four dimensions; brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty. Brand awareness was defined as the consumers‘ ability to identify or recognize the brand. It refers to the strength of a brand presence in consumer‘s minds. Brand perceptions are important because they are said to influence consideration and evaluation, and therefore purchase. Brand perceptions are attributes in consumer memory that are linked to the brand name. Considered to be a key aspect of brand 1

Aaker, J.L. (1997). Branding in Consumer Research .Journal of Marketing Research, P.8,34.

56

equity, developing, and changing or reinforcing brand perceptions has long been considered an outcome of effective advertising, in that these perceptions and associations can influence the response to subsequent marketing. Ashworth, G. J. & Voogd, H. (1990) 2 Academic study in relation to the impact of branding on the property market is limited. One of the earlier studies on project branding they suggest that geographical marketing mix is different from the traditional business marketing mix. Geographical marketing mixes defined by them are a) promotional measures b) spatialfunctional measures c) organizational measures and d) financial measures. The scope and effectiveness of property marketing is largely determined by the selection and application of the appropriate combination of these measures. Brown, Churchill, and Peter (1993)3 argue that because the SERVQUAL scales "scores" are really difference scores (perception scores minus expectation scores); problems of reliability, discriminant validity, and variance restrictions exist. They showed that while SERVQUAL had high reliability, a non-difference score rated higher in reliability. Their findings also showed that the scale "failed to achieve discriminant validity from its components", and the distribution of the SERVQUAL scores were non-normal. Kavartzis, M. (2005)4 claims that place or property branding is a complex subject. He has classified the trends of place or property branding into 5 major branding strategies that a developer can adopt: origin branding, nation branding, culture or entertainment branding, destination branding place or city branding. He also adds that the relevance of corporate branding affects the overall branding of the property that is to be developed by each developer. The brand is communicated effectively through many other strategies that a developer has Anholt, S. (2005). ‘Brand New Justice’. Great Britain: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, P. 7– 15 2

Brown, T.J., Churchill Jr., G.A., Peter, J.P.,(1993). ‘Improving the measurement of service quality’. Journal of Retailing Vol.69, No. 1, pp. 127–139. 3

Kavartzis, M. (2005). ‘Place Branding: A Review of Trends and Conceptual Models’. The Marketing Review, P. 5, 329–342. 4

57

adopted. The secondary communication strategies on brand building include all forms of advertising, public relations, graphic design, the use of logo, etc. Kotler et al. (2005 p.188)5 defines a brand as a name, an expression, a sign, a symbol, a design or a combination of these. Brands add dimensions to products and thereby enable differentiation from other products that are designed to satisfy the same need). Moreover, by creating a unique selling proposition the consumer can become fewer prices sensitive and thus the possibility to charge a price premium for the product increases. He states that whether the consumer buys the product is dependent on the perception of the product. Kotler defines perception as: ―The process by which people select, organize and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world‖. Brand attributes, that represents the functional and emotional associations assigned to a brand, are created through the perception of consumers. Lindstrom, M. (2003)6Past research has identified two key influences on a person‘s propensity to associate a particular brand with a particular attribute. The first is usage of the brand, which impacts the likelihood of a brand to be associated with (almost) any attribute. Customers are about three times more likely to mention a brand they use than a brand they don‘t use thus; brands that have more users systematically gain more responses. Martin Lindstrom has created the term Brand Child to describe this new generation of youngsters. The Brand Child grew up to be so familiar with branding that they can recite famous brand names better than their relatives‘ name. Branding is power; hence, it can create larger than life communities. He states that it is crucial as it often implies better return on profit to companies. Roll, M. (2006)7 For the consumer, branding provides them the much needed sense of identity. Often human beings require some psychological support in fulfilling the void of belonging.This support of having the sense of belonging can come from a group, social class or organization. Being surrounded by branded things sometimes helps people achieve this sense of belonging. By 5

Kotler et al. (2005). ‘Theoretical of Branding’. P.188,273

6

Lindstrom, M. (2003). ‘Brand Child. London’. Thanet Press Ltd.

7

Roll, M. (2006). ‘Asian Branding Strategy’. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

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purchasing a certain brand, people feel that they automatically belong to that associated group. The brand communities (formed group of admirers of a certain brand) are strong and powerful and as a result they are able to reduce the effect of new product adoption from a competitor brand. From a global perspective, even countries as nations are getting branded. Viitanen, K. (2004)8 He has identified 4 factors of real estate brand, i.e. the images evoked by the real estate, the premises themselves, their physical and operational functionality and their performance. These 4 factors form the basis on which a purchaser evaluates the branding of the developer. He has stressed that building and implementing a brand is a strategic matter for each developer. A wider view offers 4 branding perspectives on place branding management. These perspectives view brands as perceptual entities, communicators, relationships and value enhancers. Branding usually guarantees product sale. This is especially obvious in the new economy environment where emphasis is placed on ―Value‖. Product selection is due to the perception of value and branding provides that association. Hence, a company‘s sales are defined by the value its products project to the customers. The successful companies who are able to develop value-oriented brands would have the succeeding edge. Walsh, Gianfranco, Mitchell, Vincent-Wayne (2010)9 While branding in consumer products market especially in the Fast Moving Consumers Goods (FMCG) is more dominant and well established, branding in real estate property market is considerably new. Nevertheless, branding in property development is not unheard of. In fact, it is catching up at a very fast speed. Globally, a notable property developer like Nakheel‘s has placed great emphasis in branding their Palm Jebel Ali Resort project in Dubai to the extent that it has established a special branding department dedicated to branding the project on site, which have also integrated branding into their marketing. Consumer sovereignty assumes that consumers have adequate product information and are able to understand that information in order to make an informed choice. Viitanen, K. (2004). ‗Brand in the Real Estate Business – Concept, Idea, Value’. FIG Working Week, P.1–9. 8

9

Walsh, Gianfranco; Mitchell, Vincent-Wayne (2010) ‘The effect of consumer confusion proneness on word of mouth, trust, and customer satisfaction’. European Journal of Marketing, 2010, Vol. 44 Issue 6, p838-859, 22p 59

However, this is not the case when consumers are confused. Recently, Walsh et al. identified dimensions of consumer confusion proneness and developed scales to measure these dimensions. Drawing on their concept of consumer confusion proneness, this paper seeks to examine consumers' general tendency to be confused from marketplace information and its effect on three relevant outcome variables - word of mouth, trust, and satisfaction. Design used is the reliability and validity of the consumer confusion proneness scale was tested on the basis of a sample of 355 consumers, using confirmatory factor analysis. The study employs structural equation modelling to examine the hypothesised relationships. The results show that the consumer confusion proneness scale has sound psychometric properties and that the three dimensions of similarity, overload, and ambiguity have a differential impact on word of mouth behaviour, trust, and customer satisfaction. The findings have implications for marketing theory and management, as well as consumer education. Marketers may apply the consumer confusion proneness scale to their customers and assess which dimension is the most damaging in terms of the three marketing outcomes examined. This is the first study to test Walsh et al.'s consumer confusion proneness scale and to extend their work by analyzing the effect of the three construct dimensions on three key marketing outcome variables.

.

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CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

61

4.1 Introduction Research can be defined as a scientific and systematic search for pertaining information on a specific topic. We define research as the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific situation facing the company. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which has not been discovering yet. The primary aim for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe. It refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data, analyzing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either in the form of solutions towards the concerned problem or in certain generalization for some theoretical information. The main objectives of research are 

To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it.



To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group.



To determine the frequency with which something occurs.



To test hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables.

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It is a science to study how the research is done scientifically. According to Webster (1985), ―To research is to search or investigate exhaustively. It is a careful or diligent search, studious inquiry or examination especially investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws, it can also be the collection of information about a particular subject‖. According to Clifford woody ―research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit in formulating hypothesis‖. The chapter here deals with the procedure adopted by the investigator in the present study.

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4.2 Research Design The overall research design can be split into four parts: i. The sampling design which deals with the method of selecting items to

be observed for the

given study; in this study the type of research adopted by the investigator is primary as well as secondary research. Primary research involves studying the facts and figures that has been collected by the researcher himself; exclusively for the purpose of a particular study .Secondary research involves the usage of data and facts and figures that has been collected by someone else. This type of research though debated for its objectivity is very useful if it is carried out carefully and the reports are presented without any bias. The investigator adopted primary research, as the main objective of the study was to understand brand perception about ABAD Builders and the Customer Satisfaction. And secondary research was done to gain insight into the real estate industry and various dimensions of brand perception, to know more about the organization, the services provided by the organization and to gain an insight into the organizational environment. This type of research is used by almost all the organization to come out with effective branding strategy and also to know key information about their marketing environment, competitors, and target buyer/users. Secondary research can be of two types: External as well as Internal secondary research. The present study adopted both internal and external secondary research. ii. The statistical design which concerns the questions of how many items are to be observed and how the information and data gathered are to be analyzed. The questionnaire includes questions to test the effectiveness of the presales activities, marketing tools, service quality, competitive advantage and customer satisfaction of ABAD Builders. The brand perception analysis is done through percentage analysis, multiple regression, simple regression and ANOVA and t test. iii. The operational design which deals with the techniques by which the procedures specified in the sampling. Statistical and observational designs can be carried out as per the operational design.

4.3 Testing of Hypotheses Ha1: There is significant difference in Brand Perception between males and females. Ha2: There is significant difference in Brand Perception among various age groups. 63

Ha3: There is significant difference in Brand Perception between Indians and NRIs. Ha4: There is significant difference in Brand Perception among various Education Qualification of the customers. Ha5: There is significant difference in Customer Satisfaction between males and females. Ha6: There is significant difference in Customer Satisfaction among various age groups. Ha7: There is significant relationship between overall Customer Satisfaction and overall Brand Perception. Ha8: There is significant relationship between overall Customer satisfaction and Effectiveness of Services. Ha9: There is a significance difference in the opinion about the social life and gender.

4.4 Data Collection The study – Brand Perception of ABAD Builders among the customers – was done based on the collection of primary and secondary data. 4.4.1 Primary Data: - Primary research is original data collected for the problem at hand, usually at a significant cost. The primary data were collected using questionnaire. Questionnaire: Questionnaire is a structured technique for data collection that consists of a series of questions, written or verbal, that a respondent answers. Questions can be scaled on one of the four scales- nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio, depending on the nature of the variable. Questions can be either close ended or open ended. An open-ended question leaves it to the respondent to answer as he chooses. Close ended questions have two categories such as Yes or No. Rating/Ranking type questions are used to rank a product/brand. Schedule: Schedule is the best way to find out useful, accurate information effectively. It is a list of questions that is asked to the interviewee, with follow-up questions prepared before the interview. An interview schedule should start with more open questions that allow the interviewee to respond in their preferred way. The interviewer should then be ready to ask for more accurate information. At this stage the interviewer can use more closed types of questions, based on the interviewee's answers to the open questions. There are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration. The first is accuracy. The aim of the interview is to gain accurate information. This information will be essential in ensuring that the final design will conform to 64

customer needs and expectations. An interview is a very labor-intensive research method, and so the questions should be effective and unambiguous as possible. Telephonic Interview: Telephonic interviewing may be us either as a main method or as a supplementary one in studies of persons. Interviewing is the only suitable method for gathering information from illiterate or less educated respondents. It is useful for collecting a wide range of data from factual demographic data to highly personal and intimate information relating to a person's opinions, attitudes, and values, beliefs, past experience and future intentions. When qualitative information is required or probing is necessary to draw out fully, and then interviewing is required. Where the area covered for the survey is a compact, or when a sufficient number of qualified interviewers are available, personal interview is feasible. Interview is often superior to other data gathering methods. People are usually more willing to talk than to write. Once rapport is established, even confidential information may be obtained. It permits probing into the context and reasons for answers to questions. Interview can add flesh to statistical information. It enables the investigator to grasp the behavioral context of the data furnished by the respondents. It permits the investigator to seek clarifications and brings to the forefront those questions, that, for one reason or another, respondents do not want to answer.

4.4.2 Secondary data: - Secondary data are those data which already exist and are taken from company reports. Secondary data is collecting and possibly processing data by people other than the researcher in question. The secondary data was collected from books on equities, websites, previous project reports, company brochures, journals, fact sheets, company as well as other websites, business magazines and booklets.

4.5 Sampling Procedure Sampling procedure is the act, process, or technique of selecting a suitable sample, or a representative part of a population for the purpose of determining parameters or characteristics of the whole population. 4.5.1 Universe: Universe refers to the set of objects to be studied. Examples of universe are population of a city, number of workers in factory (Kothari, 2008). The universe for this study includes all the customers of ABAD Builders Pvt Ltd. 65

4.5.2 Sampling Unit: Sampling unit is a geographical unit or a social unit which the researcher selects for the study. The sampling unit for this study is ABAD Builders, Cochin 4.5.3 Sample Size: Sample size refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe to constitute a sample. The sample size taken up for the study was 50 respondents to analyze and study the brand perception and customer satisfaction. The respondents include students, professionals, self-employees in government and private organizations, business people, professionals and retired people. 4.5.4 Sampling Method: The sampling method used in the study is Convenience sampling, which is a non-probability sampling method. Convenience sampling method was used for selecting the respondents. When population elements are selected for inclusion in the sample based on the ease of access, it is referred as convenience sampling. Also called the chunk, a chunk is a fraction of the population taken for investigations because of its convenient availability. Convenience sampling generally assumes a homogeneous population. From ABAD Builders, 50 customers were interviewed with a structured questionnaire and schedule through direct contact and telephonic interview.

4.6 Techniques for Data Analysis In this study both percentage analysis, statistical tools are used to estimate the perception of customers regarding service quality delivered by the organization. For data analysis, SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is used. SPSS can be used to perform statistical tests like independent sample t-test, ANOVA and Chi-Square. ANOVA, Multiple Regression, simple Regression and independent sample t-test are used in this project. The tests were performed to check the relationship between the satisfaction levels of customers with different parameters.

4.7 Duration of the study The study was undertaken for a period of 60 days. The study was commenced on June 1, 2010. During the period the following steps were taken:

66

1. Objectives were set and questionnaire was finalized 2. Data were collected and recorded. 3. Data were analyzed and interpreted. 4. Reports were generated.

4.8 Scope of the Study The study is basically to analyze the brand perception of the company among customers. Previous research conducted by Walsh, Gianfranco, Mitchell, Vincent-Wayne (2010) emphasizes the importance of real estate branding, the concept of consumer confusion proneness, the consumers' general tendency to be confused from marketplace information and its effect on three relevant outcome variables - word of mouth, trust, and satisfaction. Thus this study has been made as continuation to it by knowing the customer perception, market condition and level of competition. Also it helps in creating awareness to consumers regarding property documents and in promotion of their services. In order to accomplish the objectives of the project a survey has been conducted amongst customers of the ABAD Builders.

4.9 Limitations of the study The major barrier of the study was the shortage of time. The investigator had to spend lot of manual hours to identify clients. There was restriction in accessing some of the documents and manuals. It was also not possible to go detail into technical and infrastructural facilities for the services. Again, it was not possible to go into background and personal details of customers of ABAD Builders. Also, another major barrier was the element of bias that was present in the minds of both the customers and the employees. The study was restricted to the customers of the ABAD Builders, Cochin and majority of the customers are NRIs so it was difficult to connect them. Also, the survey is restricted to the information needed to show legal, technical and financial transparency between project developer and customer. A drawback to the convenience sampling methodology is the lack of sampling accuracy. Because the probability of inclusion in the sample is unknown for each respondent, none of the reliability or sampling precision statistics can be calculated. In case of the telephonic interview, the researcher may not be able to 67

connect the customer, sometimes connected to the family member or the spouse who are not really aware of the product. So the telephonic interview will not give us the right information. In some situations, customer itself may get biased to ABAD because they are brand loyal customers.

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CHAPTER 5 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

69

5.1 Introduction Data analysis is the process by which data is converted into useful information. Raw data collected from questionnaire cannot be used unless it is processed in some way to make it amenable to depict conclusions. The data was collected by using a questionnaire which contains 16 questions. Percentage representation method and hypothesis testing are applied to analyze and interpret data. Linear Regression, Multiple Regression, ANOVA and independent sample t-test was used to test the hypothesis. The data analysis section is divided into three parts. They are: 1.

Sample Profile of the respondents which contains demographic profile of the customers like gender, age, educational qualification, profession and residential status. Percentage analysis is used to analyse the demographic profile of the respondents and their preferences with respect to certain set of attributes.

2. Mean and Standard Deviation of Variables of Interest.

3. Statistical Analysis or Hypotheses Testing.

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5.2 Percentage Analysis of Data

5.2.1 Gender Table 5.2.1

Gender

Number of Respondents

Percentage

Male

31

62

Female

19

38

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.1

Female 38%

Male 62%

The majority of the customers are males (62%) and the rest (38%) are females, may be because the property is registered in the name of the male member of the family. It is the common trend in Kerala. 71

5.2.2 Age Table 5.2.2 Age

Number Of Respondents

Percentage

Up to 30

2

4

31-40

32

64

41-50

12

24

Above 50

4

8

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.2 upto 30 4%

above 50 8% 41-50 24%

31-40 64%

The majority of the respondents are aged at 31-40 (64%) because of the fact that the new investment trend, investing in properties, is followed by the young innovators. Among the 64 percent, a good number of customers may be professionals so that they have a good amount of disposable income with them. The next majority of 24 percent customers are belonging to the age group of 41-50, 8 percent of customers are there with the age above 50 and the minority 4 percent is there in the age group of below 30 years.

72

5.2.3 Qualification

Table 5.2.3 Education

Frequency

Percentage

SSLC

3

6

Plus 2

2

4

Degree

26

52

PG

19

38

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.3 SSLC 6%

PLUS 2 4%

PG 38%

DEGREE 52%

The majority of the respondents (52%) are graduates and the second largest category (38%) is Post Graduates. So, it is very clear that most of the respondents are educated and qualified, and having a good backup of disposable income with them.

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5.2.4 Profession

Table 5.2.4 Profession

Frequency

Percentage

Business

26

52

Govt service

5

10

Pvt service

14

28

Student

1

2

House wife

4

8

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.4 PVT SERVICE 28% GOVT SERVICE 10%

STUDENT 2% HOUSE WIFE 8%

BUSINESS 52%

Half of the customers (52%) are entrepreneurs, so they may focus on investment for a long time. And the next major players (28%) are professionals in Private Sector, which itself reveals their huge disposable income and professionalism. This shows an increasing trend in real estate investment after recession, because in the span of recession the people who purchase apartments are only for the purpose of residing; now it reveals a changing trend. 74

5.2.5 Residential Status Table 5.2.5 Residential Status

Number of Respondents

Percentage

NRI

35

70

INDIAN

15

30

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.5

INDIAN 30%

NRI 70%

The majority 70% of the customers are NRIs and it might be because they look real estate as an investment. The rest 30% are residing in India, still also they may be proffessionals or business men who have the general intention to invest in real estate.

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5.2.6 Time Span with ABAD as a customer Table 5.2.6 Time span

Number of Respondents

Percentage

Less Than 1 year

6

12

1-2 years

13

26

2-3 years

14

28

Greater Than 3 years

17

34

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.6

3 yrs 34%

26% 3 yrs

28%

A Brand Loyal customer is usually having a long lasting customership. In case of ABAD, we can see that majority (34 %) of the customers are there with ABAD itself. There may be number of reasons for this, among that the main reason can be highly satisfied Customers. Only a minor percentage (12%) of customers are having short span of customership. 76

5.2.7 Part of ABAD’S Apartment among the Total Number of Apartments Table 5.2.7 Number of Apartments

Percentage

Abad's

109

77

Others

32

23

Total Apartments

141

100

Chart 5.2.7

23%

Abad's Others 77%

The ratio of ABAD‘s apartments with respect to the total apartments own by an individual. From that its visible that above 77% of the total apartments the customers hold are of ABAD‘s. This reveals the long term relationship of ABAD with their existing clients.

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5.2.8 Effectiveness of Marketing Tools In Creating Brand Awareness Table 5.2.8 Brand Awareness

Number of Respondents

Percentage

Direct Sale

8

16

Exhibition

12

24

Reference

21

42

Advertisement

9

18

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.8

18%

16%

DIRECT SALE 24%

EXHIBITION REFERENCE ADVERTISEMENT

42%

In case of the effectiveness of different marketing tools used by the company to create brand awareness the majority (42%) got known about the brand through reference, so that the brand may not requires a hype as far as the brand advocates are there. Various exhibitions done by the company also plays a significant role in creating brand awareness as it has a share of 24%, even though advertisements and direct sales are there it cannot create waves in the market, since they have the share of 18% and 16% respectively, as reference do.

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5.2.9 Purpose of Purchase Table 5.2.9 Purpose Of Purchase

Number of Respondents

Percentage

Investment For Short Period

11

22

Investment For Long Period

24

48

For Residing

15

30

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.9

Investment for short period 22%

For residing 30%

Investment for long period 48%

The above table and diagram shows the customer‘s purpose of response of which the majority (48%) has invested for long term because they may be NRIs who need to settle in Cochin after some years, till then they can rent out their apartment for a fixed return for their investment. Lots of people have considered real estate as part of their major investment portfolio, because of the returns and benefits like cash flow, appreciation, equity amplification and tax savings. The minority of 22% of customers have invested for the purpose of short term, which shows the investment trends, as real estate is viewed as a short term investment, which is easily convertible trough a resale of their property. 79

5.2.10 Time Taken For Decision Making Table 5.2.10 Time Taken To Take Decision

Frequency

Percentage

Less than 1 yr

20

40

1-2 yr

16

32

2-3 yr

9

18

More than 3 yrs

5

10

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.10

10% 40%

18%

Less than 1 yr 1-2 yr 2-3 yr 32%

More than 3 yrs

Since the apartment is a high involvement product, the customers may take time to think twice before taking purchase decision. Here the majority of customers took decisions within a year of time. Here, a very few customers take the time of 3 years to make the purchase decision. This may show that there is high brand perception of ABAD so that the customer can take decisions easier. 80

5.2.11 Comparisons with Competitors Table 5.2.11 Different Reliability Brands

On time delivery

Transpar Credit ency worthiness

Long term relatio nship

Attractive investment

Abad

250

250

241

190

221

232

Asset

120

120

113

74

113

113

Jewel

82

89

96

92

96

96

Mather

169

169

178

195

178

178

Skyline

181

181

172

215

201

190

Chart 5.2.11 250

200

150

100

50

0

Reliability

ABAD

250

On time delivery 250

Transparenc y 241

Credit worthiness 215

Long term relationship 221

Attractive investment 232

ASSET

120

120

113

74

113

113

JEWEL

82

89

96

92

96

96

MATHER

169

169

178

195

178

178

SKYLINE

181

181

172

190

201

190

ABAD is having greater value in comparison with other brands with respect of the attributes such as reliability, on time completion, transparency, credit worthiness, long term relationship 81

and investment opportunity; still there is a stiff competition from Skyline and Mather. Even though they are the market leaders, the entry barrier is lower in providing investment opportunities and keeping long term relationship with the clients. So, the company should seek out the properties which offer the clients the very best investment opportunities.

5.2.12 Social Life in ABAD Apartment Table 5.2.12 Rating

Number of Respondents

Percentage

Excellent

30

60

Good

16

32

Neutral

4

8

Bad

0

0

Worse

0

0

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.12

8% EXCELLENT 32%

GOOD 60%

NEUTRAL BAD WORSE

The majority of 60% of the customers are highly satisfied and 32% of the customers are satisfied and the rest 8% of the customers have a neutral opinion with the social life of ABAD Apartments. So they may refer the apartment for their family and friends. 82

5.2.13 Willingness to Recommend ABAD

Table 5.2.13 Rating

Number of Respondent

Percentage

Surely

30

60

Perhaps

16

32

Not So Sure

4

8

Rarely

0

0

Never

0

0

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.13

8%

Surely

32%

Perhaps 60%

Not So Sure Rarely Never

The majority of the customers may be delighted with the services of ABAD, so they are ready to recommend ABAD for their friends and family.

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5.2.14 Areas for Improvement for ABAD

Table 5.2.14 Areas

Number of Respondent

Percentage

Customer Service

17

34

Product Range Offered

15

30

Pricing

14

28

Technical Expertise

4

8

Total

50

100

Chart 5.2.14 28%

8% Cust Service Pro Range Offered Pricing Product Range Offered 30%

Technical Expertise 34%

The majority of 34% of the customers have the opinion that customer service needs improvement in ABAD, 30% demands improvement in product range offered, 28% demands improvement in pricing and only 8% of the customers have the opinion that technical expertise requires improvement. The customer service requires improvement may be because of delayed response, usually because of the unavailability of field staffs, who are already engaged in construction work. The next majority seeks variety in product ranges offered, the company can offer products like town ship and super deluxe apartment. 84

5.3 Testing of Hypotheses 5.3.1 Relationship between the Brand Perception and Gender of the Customers of ABAD Builders – Independent sample T-test The hypothesis is to test the difference in brand perception across gender, if there is a difference the marketer needs to adopt different marketing strategies to cater the genders. Ha1: There is a significant difference in Brand Perception between males and females. Ho2: There is no significant difference in Brand Perception between males and females. Table: - 5.3.1 Group Statistics Gender Total Brand Perception Male Female

N

Mean

Std. Deviation Std. Error mean

31

65.00

5.750

1.033

19

62.79

6.688

1.534

Table: - 5.3.2 Results of t-test Independent samples test T-test for equality of means F Total brand Equal variances .718 perception assumed

Sig.

T

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

.401

1.240

48

.221

1.195

33.838

.240

Equal variances not assumed

Here the t value is 1.195 and 33.838 is the degree of freedom and the calculated value of significance is 22.1%. The decision rule for the test is at 0.05 significance level. Since the significant value, .221 is greater than the significance level of .05; we accept the null hypothesis and conclude that gender has no effect on brand perception. i.e. There is no significant difference in Brand Perception between males and females. So the marketer need not want to tailor make the promotional activities for different genders. The mean value for brand perception for the male is higher (65). It shows that male have higher significance.

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5.3.2 Relationship between the Brand Perception and Residential Status of the Customers of ABAD Builders – Independent sample T-test. The hypothesis is to test the difference in brand perception with respect to the residential status, if there is a difference the marketer needs to adopt different marketing strategies in India and abroad, also sometimes the company may require establishing branch over different nations to serve them. Ha2: There is a significant difference in Brand Perception between Indians and NRIs. Ho2: There is no significant difference in Brand Perception between Indians and NRIs. Table: - 5.3.3 Group statistics

Total brand perception

Resident

N

Mean

Std. Deviation Std. Error mean

NRI

35

63.49

6.128

1.036

Indian

15

65.73

6.123

1.581

Table: - 5.3.4 Results of t-test Independent samples test T-test for equality of means 95% confidence interval of the difference

Total brand perception Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed

F

Sig.

T

Df

Sig. (2 tailed)

.685

.412

-1.189

48

.240

-1.189 26.581

.245

Here the t value is -1.189 and 26.581 is the degree of freedom and the calculated value of significance is 24%. The decision rule for the test is at 0.05 significance level. Since the significant value 0.24 is greater than the significance level of .05, we accept the null hypothesis and conclude that residential status of the customer has no effect on brand perception. i.e. There 86

is no significant difference in Brand Perception between Indians and NRIs. So the marketing strategies in India and abroad can be the same. The mean value for brand perception of the Indian is higher (65.73). It shows that Indians have higher significance.

5.3.3 Relationship between the Customer Satisfaction and Gender of the Customers of ABAD Builders – Independent sample T-test The hypothesis is to test the difference in customer satisfaction across gender, if there is a difference the marketer needs to adopt different service strategies to cater the genders Ha3: There is a significant difference in Customer Satisfaction between males and females. Ho3: There is no significant difference in Customer Satisfaction between males and females Table: - 5.3.5 Group statistics

Total customer satisfaction

Gender

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error mean

Male

31

26.06

1.965

.353

Female

19

24.42

2.219

.509

Table: - 5.3.6 Results of t-test Independent samples test T-test for equality of means

Total customer satisfaction

Equal variances assumed

F

Sig.

T

Df

Sig. (2-tailed)

.364

.549

2.733

48

.009

2.653

34.661

.012

Equal variances not assumed

87

Here the t value is 2.653 and 34.661 is the degree of freedom and the calculated value significance is .9%. The decision rule for the test is at 0.05 significance level. Since the significant value 0.009 is lesser than the significance level .05, we cannot accept the null hypothesis and conclude that the gender of the customer has an effect on customer satisfaction. i.e. There is significant difference in Customer Satisfaction between males and females. So the marketer needs to tailor make the marketing and service strategies for different genders because the female may get satisfied with the quick response, but the male may get satisfied with the monetary benefits and high quality. The mean value for customer satisfaction of the male is higher (26.06). It shows that males have higher significance.

5.3.4 Relationship between the Social Life in ABAD Apartments and Gender of the Customers – Independent Sample T Test The hypothesis is to test the difference in the opinion of the social life in ABAD Apartment with respect to the gender of the respondents, if there is a difference the marketer needs to adopt different strategies to approach the different genders. Ha4: There is a significant difference in opinion of social life in apartment between male and female Ho4: There is no significant difference in opinion of social life in apartment between male and female

Table: - 5.3.7

Group Statistics Gender

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Social life in Male ABAD apartment Female

31

4.5806

.56416

.10133

19

4.4211

.76853

.17631

88

Table: - 5.3.8 t-test for Equality of Means

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Social life in ABAD apartment

Equal variances assumed

F

Sig.

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

4.004

.051

.845

48

.402

.785

29.897

.439

Equal variances not assumed

Here the t value is 0.845 and 48 is the degree of freedom and the calculated value significance is 40.2%. The decision rule for the test is at 0.05 significance level. Since the significant value 0.402 is greater than the significance level 0.05, we accept the null hypothesis and conclude that there is no significant difference in opinion of social life between males and females. So, both male and female have same opinion about the social life in apartments. The mean value for customer satisfaction of the male is higher (4.5). It shows that males have higher significance.

5.3.5 Relationship between the Brand Perception and Age Group of the Customers of ABAD Builders – One Way ANOVA Test. The hypothesis is to test the difference in brand perception with respect to the age groups, if there is a difference the marketer needs to adopt different marketing strategies to cater the different age groups. Ha5: There is a significant difference in Brand Perception among various age groups. Ho5: There is no significant difference in Brand Perception among various age groups.

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Table: - 5.3.9 Brand Perception Age Limit

Number

Mean

Std. Deviation

Up To 30

2

62.5000

7.77817

31-40

32

64.5313

6.04277

41-50

12

64.3333

4.69687

Above 50

4

61.5000

11.26943

Total

50

64.1600

6.15235

Table: - 5.3.10 ANOVA –Brand Perception Sum Of Squares

Df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Between Groups

38.585

3

12.862

.326

.807

Within Groups

1816.135

46

39.481

Total

1854.720

49

Here the F value is 0.326 and 46 is the degree of freedom and the calculated value significance is 80.7%. The decision rule for the test is at 0.05 significance level. Since, the significant value, 0.807 which is greater than the significance level 0.05, we accept the null hypothesis at 5% significance level. So we can conclude that the age group of the customer has no effect on brand perception i.e. There is no significant difference in Brand Perception among various age groups. So the marketer need not want to tailor make the marketing strategies for different age groups. Among the different age groups, 31-40 year has greater mean value of 64.53, which shows this age group has higher significance.

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5.3.6 Relationship between the Brand Perception and Education Qualification of the Customers of ABAD Builders – One Way ANOVA Test. The hypothesis is to test the difference in brand perception with respect to the qualification of the respondents, if there is a difference the marketer needs to adopt different marketing strategies to cater the different groups. Ha6: There is a significant difference in Brand Perception among Education qualification Ho6: There is no significant difference in Brand Perception among education qualification

Table: - 5.3.11 Descriptive - Total brand perception Education

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

SSLC

3

58.33

6.807

+2

2

58.50

10.607

Degree

26

64.92

6.529

PG

19

64.63

4.705

Total

50

64.16

6.152

Table: - 5.3.12 ANOVA Total brand perception Sum of squares

Df

Mean square

F

Sig.

Between groups

185.286

3

61.762

1.702

.180

Within groups

1669.434

46

36.292

Total

1854.720

49

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Here the F value is 1.702 and 46 is the degree of freedom and the calculated value significance is 18%. The decision rule for the test is at 0.05 significance level. Since the significant value for the ANOVA is .180 which is greater than significance level of .05, we accept the null hypothesis. So we can conclude that the Education Qualification of the customer has no effect on Brand Perception. i.e There is no significant difference in Brand Perception among various Education Qualification. So the marketer need not want to tailor make the marketing strategies for different groups. Among the different educational qualification, Degree holders have greater mean value of 64.92, which shows this group has higher significance. 5.3.7

Relationship between the Customer Satisfaction and the Age Group of the

Customers of ABAD Builders – One Way ANOVA Test.

The hypothesis is to test the relationship between customer satisfaction and age group, if there is a difference the marketer needs to adopt different marketing and service strategies to cater the different groups. Ha7: There is no significant difference in Customer Satisfaction among various age groups. H07: There is no significant difference in Customer Satisfaction among various age groups. Table: - 5.3.13 Age Limit

Number

Mean

Standard Deviation

Up To 30

2

26.0000

.00000

31-40

32

25.3438

2.20862

41-50

12

25.7500

2.00567

Above 50

4

25.0000

3.55903

Total

50

25.4400

2.19610

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Table: - 5.3.14 ANOVA - Customer Satisfaction Sum of Squares

Df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Between Groups

2.851

3

.950

.187

.905

Within Groups

233.469

46

5.075

Total

236.320

49

Here the F value is 0.187 and 46 is the degree of freedom and the calculated value significance is 90.5%. The decision rule for the test is at .05 significance level. Since the significant value for the ANOVA is .905 which is greater than significance level of .05, we accept the null hypothesis. So we can conclude that the Age Group of the customer has no effect on Customer Satisfaction. i.e. there is no significant difference in Customer Satisfaction among various age groups. So the marketer need not adopt different service strategy to satisfy different age groups. Among the different age groups, up to years have greater mean value of 26, which shows these groups has higher significance.

5.3.8 Relationship between the Customer Satisfaction and Brand Perception of the customers of ABAD Builders – Linear Regression

The hypothesis is to test the relationship between customer satisfaction and brand perception. Ha8: There is no significant relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Brand Perception. Ho8: There is no significant relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Brand Perception. The above null hypothesis has been tested using the following regression model. Y= α + β2X2 + Ɛ Where, Y= Customer Satisfaction (dependent variable) α =Constant 93

β = Coefficient of independent variable X2 = Brand Perception (independent variable) Ɛ = Regression residual The results from the regression analysis are consolidated in the following tables. Table: - 5.3.15 Model Summary

Model

R

R Square

Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the Estimate

1

.673a

.453

.441

1.641

a. Predictors: (Constant), total brand perception

It is found that the coefficient of correlation [R] between customer satisfaction and brand perception is 0.673. Hence there is a moderate correlation between brand perception and customer satisfaction. The coefficient of determination, R2value, is 0.453; meaning 45.3 per cent of variability in customer satisfaction is explained by brand perception. Table: - 5.3.16

ANOVA b Model 1

Sum of Squares

Df

Mean Square

F

Sig.

Regression

106.999

1

106.999

39.714

.000a

Residual

129.321

48

2.694

Total

236.320

49

a. Predictors: (Constant), total brand perception b. Dependent Variable: total customer satisfaction

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Chart: - 5.1

The scatter diagram of customer satisfaction and brand perception shows a linear relationship with each other. Hence it is evident from the graph that a customer satisfaction is related to the brand perception. Table: - 5.3.17

Coefficientsa

Model

1

Unstandardized Coefficients B

Std. Error

(Constant)

10.030

2.456

total brand perception

.240

.038

95

Standardized Coefficients Beta

.673

t

Sig.

4.083

.000

6.302

.000

Coefficientsa

Model

1

Unstandardized Coefficients B

Std. Error

(Constant)

10.030

2.456

total brand perception

.240

.038

Standardized Coefficients Beta

.673

t

Sig.

4.083

.000

6.302

.000

a. Dependent Variable: total customer satisfaction

From the above table, the t value arrived from regression test is 6.302 and significant level is 0.000, which is lower than 0.05. So, we cannot accept the null hypothesis, thus the null hypothesis is rejected at 5% level of significance. Thus it is explained that there is significant relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Brand Perception. So, the regression equation will be Customer Satisfaction = α + β2 Brand Perception + Ɛ Where, α =Constant β = Coefficient of independent variable Ɛ = Regression residual

5.3.9 Relationship between the overall Customer satisfaction and Effectiveness of Different Services of ABAD Builders – Multiple Regression

To study whether the customer satisfaction of the customers differs with the effectiveness of services. Ha9: There is a significant relationship between overall Customer satisfaction and Effectiveness of Services.

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Ho9: There is no significant relationship between overall Customer satisfaction and Effectiveness of Services. The above null hypothesis has been tested using the following multiple regression model. Y = ∞ + β1X1 + β2X2 + β3X3 + β4X4 + ε Where, Y= customer satisfaction (dependent variable) X1, X2, X3, X4 are the independent variables expected to be related to Y and expected to explain or predict Y. Here the independent variables are the different services provided by ABAD. X1 - Effectiveness of After Sales Service X2- Effectiveness of Property Management Service X3- Effectiveness of Customer Relations X4- Effectiveness of Maintenance α= Constant β1, β2, β3, β4 are the coefficients of the respective independent variables Ɛ= Regression Residual Table: - 5.3.18

Model Summary

Model

R

R Square

Adjusted R Square

Std. Error Of The Estimate

1

.870a

.758

.736

1.12837

A. Predictors: (Constant), Maintenance, After Sales, Property Management, Customer Relation

It is found that the coefficient of correlation[R] between customer satisfaction and effectiveness of services is 0.87. Hence there is a moderate correlation between Customer Satisfaction and the Effectiveness of Services. The coefficient of determination, R2value, is 0.758, hence it is inferred

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that 75.8 per cent of variability in customer satisfaction is explained by the effectiveness of different services. Table: - 5.3.19 Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Model 1

B

Std. Error

T

Sig.

(Constant)

6.034

1.710

3.528

.001

After Sales Service

1.787

.205

8.736

.000

Customer Relation

1.020

.240

4.241

.000

Property Management

1.044

.251

4.155

.000

Maintenance

.813

.196

4.143

.000

A. Dependent Variable: Customer Satisfaction

Dependent Variable: Total Customer Satisfaction Independent Variable: Effectiveness of Various Services Here the t – value of independent variable X1, X2, X3, X4 are 3.528, 8.736, 4.241, 4.155, 4.143 respectively, which is less than 0.05 [at 95% confidence level]. Hence the multiple regression models are Y= α+ β1X1 , Y=α+ β2X2 , Y=α+ β3X3 and Y=α+ β4X4, where X1 is Effectiveness of After sales Service, X2 is Effectiveness of Customer Relations, X3 is Effectiveness of Property Management and X4 is Effectiveness of Maintenance. So it can be concluded that there is a significant relationship between overall customer satisfaction and effectiveness of after sales service, overall customer satisfaction and effectiveness of customer relations, overall customer satisfaction and effectiveness of property management and overall customer satisfaction and effectiveness of maintenance services. 98

CHAPTER 6 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

99

6.1 Findings 6.1.1 Percentage Analysis a. A majority of the customers are NRIs who have invested the real estate market for a long term and the next majority is invested for a short term, which reveals the newest booming trend of real estate market after recession, where real estate is seen as the safest mode of investment. b. The purpose of purchase is the investment for a long term for the majority of respondents, investment for residing is the next category and the least category finds it as a short term investment. c. Of the various marketing strategies of ABAD, the customers give value and their purchase decision is influenced by the reference group, other than exhibitions, direct sales and advertisement. d. As per the opinion of customers, majority demands improvement in case of customer service and the next majority demands improvement in case of the product range offered, and the minority of customers requires improvement in case of technical expertise of ABAD Builders. 6.1.2 Testing of Hypotheses a. Age, Gender, Residential Status, Educational Qualification and Purpose of Purchase have little or negligible effect on Brand Perception among the customers of ABAD Builders. b. Age group has little or negligible effect on Customer Satisfaction among the customers of ABAD Builders. c. Gender of the customers has a significant relationship on customer satisfaction. d. Customer Satisfaction is highly dependent on Brand Perception of ABAD Builders among the customers. e. Customer Satisfaction is highly dependent on the effectiveness of services such as after sales service, customer relations, property management service and maintenance service.

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6.2 Suggestions and Recommendations a. ABAD needs to concentrate on promotional activities for NRIs since they are the majority of customers, also, the company need to extend their scope to other nations to cater the needs of customers. b. ABAD needs to establish and maintain long term relationship with the customers since most of the customers have invested for a long term. ABAD cannot be beaten by the competitors in case of reliability, handing over time and transparency. But, even though they are the market leaders, the entry barrier is lower in providing investment opportunities and keeping long term relationship with the clients. So, the company should seek out the properties which offer the clients the very best investment opportunities. c. ABAD needs to ensure complete satisfaction of the customers in all the aspects because they are the reference group for new purchaser who relies on the reference group because the product requires very high involvement. The loyal customers will become the advocates for the brand. d. Customer service needs to be improved since it is not seen as the strength of ABAD Builders. The perpetual services to the customers are necessary because the product requires high involvement, so cognitive dissonance should be avoided. e. Perception is the process through which a person forms an opinion about the various stimuli he receives from his sensory organs. In marketing, perception is concerned with understanding how the consumer views a product or service. The perception about the real estate builder can be increased by delivering the promise to the customers rather spending money on advertisement. As far as ABAD is considered they do not require hype, since they have the brand name with a very high perceived quality and credibility. f. Irrespective of the age group, customer satisfaction can be ensured by delivering high quality apartments with premium services. g. Since the gender of the customer and customer satisfaction are highly correlated, the promotional tools and services must be tailor made as well. h. Since customer satisfaction is dependent on brand perception, the marketer should take necessary tools to increase the brand perception. Brand perception can be increased with 101

service quality, effectiveness of various services, transparency, reliability, credibility and on time delivery. i. Since customer satisfaction is highly dependent on the effectiveness of various services provided by ABAD, the marketer should ensure to provide high quality services to the customers without any delay. Timely response and quality services will make the customer delighted.

Conclusion This paper which studies branding in the preference and buying decision of property buyers raises several interesting findings. First, although the concept of branding in property development is not as common compared to general consumer products, the result indicates that the awareness of branding is prominent. Branded property developers are usually on the property purchasers‘ premium list. That is, branded developers usually obtain higher scores in all the factors related to property purchase preference and attitude. The evidence in this paper suggests that the pricing by the property developers are not the deciding issues in purchase. This study suggests that among all these traits, on time delivery, high quality, accessibility, credibility, professionalism and investment influence the house purchasers‘ in their choice of developers. Developers are to identify good locations to provide good investment opportunities to property purchasers; designers, like architects and planners, are to design trendy products; and property marketing personnel must act professionally in their dealings with the property purchasers. This study further suggests that the role of branding is increasingly important even for the property industry. Clearly, branding which has become the main emphasis and driving force in many industries, such as consumer products and services, is spreading to the property industry. Therefore, another important implication of the study is that property developers should increase the role and importance of branding. That is, branding, should no longer be used just as a marketing gimmick but be a driving force in becoming the direction and focus in any property company‘s strategic planning. These findings are very important to all parties who are involved in the development process.

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BILIOGRAPHY

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