Kalyan Sengupta

Importance of appropriate marketing strategies for sustainability of small businesses in a developing country

Purpose – The study is designed to explore the importance of appropriate marketing strategies for sustainability of small firms in India, a developing economy.Design/methodology/approach – A framework based on accepted definition of marketing strategy was developed which could notionally evaluate the appropriateness of marketing strategies and its impact on the market position of the firms. The framework was tested on a set of small scale bakery firms operating in the city of Kolkata. The marketing mix of the firms was studied through case study method. A customer survey was conducted to measure the firms’ market offerings with respect to their target segment. For this, data were collected from 546 consumers and analyzed using multivariate techniques.Findings – It was observed that the firms, which could align their market offerings with respect to the target segment, achieved higher performance.Research limitations/implications – The framework used was easy and simple to comprehend. The only two input co...

Do apparel store formats matter to Indian shoppers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore store choice behaviour of Indian apparel shoppers and analyses the factors influencing their choice of retail formats from an emerging market perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The research draws on a data set of 336 structured questionnaires with adult urban Indian respondents to understand their perceptions about organised and unorganised apparel store formats. The exploratory study uses a comprehensive list of demographics, shopping situations and format stimuli parameters along with two established psychographic scales to assess the extent of their effect on the store choice of apparel shoppers. Findings – Factor analysis revealed five well defined store attributes influencing the apparel shoppers’ decision. The growing market for organised retail with a preference for multi brand stores is highlighted. The study establishes that the shoppers’ perception of single-brand stores is still going through a formative phase. Further at the micro level...

Analyzing Consumer Reviews with Text Mining Approach: A Case Study on Samsung Galaxy S3

In the era of Internet, it is not necessary to run an expensive market survey to explore what the users are saying about a product and to find out whether there are any modifications required within the product. There are several sites available where users from different parts of the world post their comments after using a product. These comments can be analyzed scientifically through text mining to understand how the users have used different words in relation to the said product. The current study has been focused at finding out the word association with Samsung Galaxy 3 (a high-end smart phone). It also deals with how a few keywords are related to other words through correlation analysis.

Study of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of Mobile Phone Service Providers in Kolkata

Mobile phone service providers must understand the relationship between demographic profiles of their customers and brand choice of their existing service providers. It is important for mobile phone service providers to explore the relationship between demographic factors and brand switching of customers. This article endeavors to make a detailed study on important demographic variables of customers affecting brand switching of customers. This study will highlight pertinent aspects of prediction of switching proclivity of customers from one service provider to another. We thank Dr Ramaprosad Bondyopadhaya, Professor, Mathematics Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata and Dr Dilip Kumar Chakraborty, Teacher-in-charge, Netajinagar Day College, Kolkata for their valued comments on this article.

Factors Affecting Customers’ Accommodation Satisfaction and Service Quality in the Hotel Industry of Rural West Bengal

Customer satisfaction in tourism industry is a key parameter for sustainability. Apart from site attractions, infrastructure and others, accommodation facilities play an important role for a tourist spot. This paper focuses on customer satisfaction in terms of service quality provided by a hotel in a tourist site.