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A PROJECT REPORT ON OUTDOOR MEDIA AT EDUCATION INSIDE SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. PREPARED BY RIA GANDHI ID NO.: G156 (SY BBA MARKETING) UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MS. RANJITA METASADVENTISTCOLLEGE ATHWALINES SURAT 2013-2014 1 | Page

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A PROJECT REPORT ON OUTDOOR MEDIAAT

EDUCATION INSIDE

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

PREPARED BY

RIA GANDHI

ID NO.: G156

(SY BBA MARKETING)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

MS. RANJITA

METASADVENTISTCOLLEGE

ATHWALINES SURAT

2013-2014

PREFACE

THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A BBA PROGRAM. IT HELPS THE STUDENT UNDERSTAND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT IN A BETTER WAY AS A PART OF MY BBA PROGRAM AT SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST COLLEGE.

MARKETING IS THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATING THE VALUE OF A PRODUCT OR SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS. IT IS A CRITICAL BUSINESS FUNCTION FOR ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS. A MARKETING SPECIALIST IS THE PROFESSIONAL WORKING IN THIS FIELD.

TO BE A BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STUDENT IS A MATTER OF PRIDE BECAUSE WE ARE IN FIELD, WHICH HELPS US TO DEVELOP FROM A NORMAL HUMAN BEING INTO A DISCIPLINE, AND DEDICATED PROFESSIONAL.

THE BBA IS A COURSE, WHICH COVERS THEORETICAL AS WELL AS PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS PRACTICES. SO FOR THIS PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE, THE STUDENT IS SUPPOSED TO UNDERGO TRAINING UNDER ANY COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRY UNDERTAKING FOR ATLEAST 125 HOURS ABOUT A GIVEN TOPIC.

THE BUSINESS IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE COMPLEX DUE TO WHICH IT IS FACING VARIOUS PROBLEMS AND OBSTACLES IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY FUNCTIONING. AS A MARKETING STUDENT I HAD BEEN ASSIGNED A TOPIC: OUTDOOR MEDIA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I EXPRESS MY PROFOUND GRATITUDE TO MR. IMRAN CHHUTANI MANAGER OF THE INSTITUTE, WHO ASSIGNED ME AS A SUMMER TRAINEE AT EDUCATION INSIDE (P) LTD.

I TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT MY GRATITUDE TO MR. IMRAN CHHUTANI, FOR HIS KIND ADVICE AND GUIDANCE THAT MADE MY PROJECT SUCCESSFUL.

I AM ALSO GRATEFUL TO DR. M.S. JEREMIAH PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE, MR. MOHAN RAO ACADEMIC DEAN.

SPECIAL THANKS TO MS. RANJITA -INTERNAL GUIDE AND MENTOR, FOR HER IMMENSE HELP AT ALL TIMES AND BEING AVAILABLE AT ALL CALLS OF NEED.

RIA GANDHI

INDUSTRY PROFILE

The Indian Education Industry - Empowering Lives

In terms of demographic profile, India remains one of the youngest nations in the world with 38.2% of its population in the 0-5 year age bracket. This translates into the Indian Education system being one of the largest educational systems globally with a network of more than 1.2 mn schools and around 31,000 Higher education institutes. Education, being one of the important determinants of human welfare of any nation, the GoI has accorded priority for the promotion of education especially primary & secondary education in India. Correspondingly, the governments spend on education as a percentage of GDP stood at 3% while accounting for 11.3% as a proportion of all public expenditure. However, the GoI is faced with several hurdles in terms of penetration across all education segments via: Pre-school, K-12, Higher education etc. as well as reaching out to the students in tier-III cities and rural areas. The GoI has therefore emphasised on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in education so as to augment the literacy rate from 74% as per the Census 2011.

The educational segments i.e. Pre-school, K-12, Information & Technology (ICT) in schools and Higher education form the important constituents of the Indian education. Of the same, the Pre-school market in India still remains largely unorganised and under-penetrated. However, the ease of setting-up of pre-schools as well as the growing acceptability of pre-school concept in India augurs well for the industry. The K-12 institutes in India largely remain governed by the GoI accounting for 80.2% of the total 13.5 lakh schools in India. Of late, with greater interest evinced by the private corporates/ trusts / educational societies etc., the share of private institutions in the K-12 space has grown from 18.9% in FY07 to 19.8% during FY11. The scope of ICT in schools has also gained prominence in recent times through GoIs programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), ICT @ Schools etc. The penetration of ICT in schools however remains low especially owing to the slower pace of such roll-outs in the government owned or aided K-12 schools. In case of Higher education institutes, the not-for-profit mandate coupled with the requirement of affiliation from multiple regulatory bodies such as UGC, AICTE etc proves to be a roadblock for the entry of private institutes. However, in view of the rising enrolments in higher education coupled with the growing variety of educational streams, the private sector participation is expected to grow to catch in the growing penetration levels.

From a simple numbers perspective, education is one of the largest industries in America today. This shouldn't be surprising -- currently as many as one out of every four Americans attends some educational program, be it kindergarten, college or mid-career training. To cater to this spectacular demand, the industry employs millions of people in teaching, counselling, administration, and many other roles.

The teaching profession is the face of an education industry that fundamentally furthers the common good of society. Education is the key for social advancement -- for breaking cycles of poverty, creating prosperity, promoting peace, and many other things that give hope and meaning to our experiences as individuals and members of society.At the end of the day, it all starts with a textbook and a teacher you love.

At the same time, teaching is sometimes perceived as an occupation lacking much glamour or reward. Sometimes it is disparaged as a career for the unambitious.Nothing could be further from the truth, and yet there are drawbacks to pursuing a profession in which the investment of a teacher's time and energy often far exceed the compensation he or she receives. In some positions, teachers feel lucky to reach just a handful of students each year -- and the personal rewards of igniting a young mind have to be enough to sustain a teacher in the face of poor pay, budget cuts, disciplinary issues, and unsympathetic administrators.

Still, some say that for performative types, teaching is second only to acting -- you're always on centre-stage.Unlike other industries, in which it's very difficult to get a foot in the door, all you need to do to set yourself on this promising path is to seek out a college education and teaching certification. There are plenty of jobs to go around.Retiring baby-boomers are creating many vacancies, and the growth of new types of institutions such as charter schools is creating additional opportunities for aspiring teachers.

While teaching is the most common career path in education, it's really just the tip of the iceberg.The industry closely reflects the economy at large, constantly keeping pace with new skills and knowledge needed by growing sectors.People with an interest in education are in high demand to consult for educational institutions, to create, develop and market educational products and services, and to invest in new educational ventures.Want to test your creativity, challenge yourself, and make a difference?Look no farther.

CARE Research expects the size of the Indian Education System at US$ 102.1 bn with CAGR of 11.2% during FY11-15. Apart from the growth of educational segments as mentioned above, CARE Research expects the other trends such as GoIs orientation towards PPP, entry of corporates and foreign educational institutions (especially in K-12 & Higher education), growing focus on the Distance education mode of learning and growing acceptability of the vocational courses to remain the key drivers to the growth of education in India.

Education Industry Analysis 2013 Cost & Trends

Education Industry in 2013 at a Glance

The educational services market is large and growing with several types of opportunities available for franchisees. As of 2008, there were approximately 58,113 establishments in the industry which earned a combined $19.4 billion dollars in revenue. The industry is largely fragmented the fifty largest companies represent just 30% of the total revenue in the industry. In 2006, there were 55.1 million students attending school in grades K-12, all of whom are potential clients for educational services and that number is expected to increase to 74 million by 2015. However, aneducation franchiseisnt just limited to tutoring young people in traditional school subjects like math and science education franchisesextend from traditional school subjects like math and science, to child care and early education programs, to classes for all ages in career education, art, dance or even driving.

Industry Overview

The vast majority of revenue in this industry comes from tuition or program fees. Gross profits tend to range from 60-90% depending on the location and particular course, and net profit averages out to between 2-10%. Increasing company size has helped consolidate operations in the educational services field helping to lower fixed costs and improve overall operational efficiency, both of which are very important to keeping businesses in the field healthy and profitable. Finding qualified instructors in any field is becoming increasingly challenging; it is important to inquire about this when researching potential franchises. There is a potential danger to some areas of the field in future competition from online training courses, which are growing more and more popular as technology spreads although currently most online courses are geared towards graduate education, many expect the field to broaden as effective programs in other areas are developed for the internet. In addition, businesses face competition from free online resources and computer software. Overall, however, the field is expanding educational services in the United States are forecast to grow by 5% per year over the next five years. The growth is largely attributed to the growing global competitive landscape and the emphasis on higher education in the U.S. as more and bluer collar work is being shipped overseas.

Tutoring and Child Education

Tutoring is a popular franchise option, either based out of the home or at an on-site location. Tutoring in the United States is a $4 billion dollar industry. The home-based modelemploys the franchisee as a broker who acts as an intermediary between educators and teachers, who provide tutoring, and students, who receive instruction in any number of subjects. Examples of this model includeClub Z TutoringandCreative. Because of this role, franchisees dont need to have prior experience in education. The on-site location based model involves the franchisee having a centre at which kids come to be tutored or take classes, learning math, writing and other subjects as well as standardized test preparation two franchises with this model areKumonandHuntington Learning Centre. The disadvantage of this model relative to the home-based model is that, because it requires real estate, it is more expensive to start.

Some franchises are geared towards younger children and provide a combination of child care and education. There are about 53,000 for profit childcare facilities with combined revenue of about $18 billion per year, and 21,000 additional non-profit facilities which bring in $12 billion per year. About 12 million children under the age of six were enrolled in child care as of August 2009. Child care is a growing field since 2008, there have been almost 600 new childcare franchises and childcare in urban markets is expected to increase at a 5% clip. Additionally, the population of children under five is expected to grow by 50% from 2000 to 2050. These franchises provide after school child care for working parents while also offering education early education programs for the youngest kids, with math and reading and other school subject skills for kids who are older but still too young to be left on their own.

In addition, franchises geared towards children extend further than those which handle tutoring and teaching in traditional school subjects. Child care franchises includePrimrose SchoolsandRainbow Station. Arts based franchises are another avenue. Some franchises instruct children in subjects such as music or painting. Similar to the options in tutoring, some of these are home-based the franchisee for, say,Virtuoso Music, manages the music instructors and match them up with students eager to learn.

Adult Educational Services

Educational franchises arent just for the young. Around 16 million Americans are enrolled in an educational and training services program. There are several types of franchises designed to teach or train adults. Occupational training is one area in the educational industry geared towards adults helping professionals improve what they do. Franchises are available which help those in business teaching salesmen better sales techniques (such asSandler Training) or passing on business, organizational, and leadership skills (such asCrestcom)and there are franchises designed to teach financial planning, in general, not just for businesses but for home finance as well.

Driving schools are another adult option the franchisee runs a school with driving instructors who teach defensive driving, license certification, and other driving programs. 911 Driving Schoolis one of these. Other franchises are designed to teach recreational activities, such as dancing or culinary skills (Fred Astaire Dance Studio,Viva the Chef). This field of leisure education is a multi-billion dollar industry directed by individuals desires to learn new skills and abilities, but because of this, the potential downside to these businesses is that they tend to be more closely tied to personal income than other career or school related businesses which are seen as more necessary which means that during times of economic downturn, there is a higher chance for them to suffer financially.

Vocational training is another aspect of the industry. Franchises can serve as jumping off points for people looking to enter new industries and learn about new careers. For example, there are franchises which will train and certify an individual to become a medical technician while also helping them find employment. There are also others to teach financial trading stocks, options, futures and more.

The advantage of franchising in the educational services area is that the franchisee has access not only to the positive reputation and brand name enjoyed by these franchises, but also to time-tested educational systems. It allows franchisees to have a role in education without needing the qualifications or skills to be a teacher him or herself. In addition, working with a large company offers potential marketing advantages not available to a smaller company on its own. Purchasing aneducation franchiseis a great way to succeed financially while also making a positive impact on the community.

Indian Education Market Report

The Indian education market has witnessed a series of developments and changes in the last few years, which resulted in a significant increase in market size of the education industry compared to previous years. The present Indian education industry is in its development stage. With increasing per capita income, national economic growth and enhanced technology it has become necessary to develop the structure of the Indian education sector. Private players have taken several initiatives for development of education infrastructure and quality. The emergence of new segments like e-learning and V-SAT training is slowly shifting the education market towards new heights.Indian education market consists of two segments formal and non-formal education system. K-12 segment has shown tremendous increase in terms of market growth and revenue from past years and is expected to grow at same pace. Private professional institutes are expanding with a strong growth rate which has opened the doors for foreign universities. There is tremendous opportunity in the test preparation market in India.The growing IT industry in India is driving IT education and training market as well as enhanced teaching techniques. Increase in GDP and per capita Income has raised the enrolment ratio in education sector. Growth in service sector revenues and collaborations with foreign universities have also driven the sectors growth.Educomp Solutions, Everonn Systems and NIIT, are the largest players within the space. Educomps smart class segment constitutes the largest percentage share. In ICT segment, Everonn contributes major share in terms of revenue growth. NIIT has tied up with various companies for providing training and skill through e-learning.The report analyses the Indian education industry with focus on formal and non-formal education segments. The report also gives an insight into the scope of foreign collaborations in the sector apart from discussing the key trends, drivers and issues in the market. It profiles the major players with focus on key strategies adopted by them.By combining SPSS Inc.s data integration and analysis capabilities with our relevant findings, we have predicted the future growth of the industry. We employed various significant variables that have an impact on this industry and created regression models with SPSS Base to determine the future direction of the industry. Before deploying the regression model, the relationship between several independent or predictor variables and the dependent variable was analysed using standard SPSS output, including charts, tables and tests.

Indian Education Industry

The growth in the personal disposable income of the Indians, growing contribution of the services sector to Indias GDP thereby requiring greater number of qualified youths and the increasing thrust of the GOI to improve the countrys educational system and eventually the literacy rates has resulted in manifold growth of the Indian Educational sector since the last decade. Correspondingly, the countrys literacy rate has improved from 64.8% during 2001 to 74% as per the Census 2011. With the growing penetration of educational concepts such as Pre-school, Information & CommunicationTechnology (ICT) in schools etc. the market size of the Indian Education industry aggregated US$66.6 bn during FY11. Importantly, over the years, the role of private sector in education has increased with the setting-up of institutes especially in the K-12 & Higher education segment. Even, the GoI has emphasised on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in education so as to expand the reach and provide quality education to students in small towns & villages.CARE Researchs report on The Indian Education Industry seeks to answer queries such as: What will be the market size of the Indian education industry by FY15? Which educational segment, whether Pre-school, K-12 or ICT will be the revenue driver for the sector? What will be the penetration level of Pre-schools, K-12, ICT & Higher education in India by FY15?With comprehensive data coverage spanning the various realms of education in India garnered through well-established network of primary and secondary sources and CARE Researchs outlook on the industry up till FY15, the report is indispensable for any company in the education industry, banks/FIs, policy makers, research & academic organizations, other international & national agencies etc.

Potential Opportunities in Indian Education Market

The Indian education industry is in its development stage. With economic growth and enhanced technology it has become necessary to develop the structure of the Indian education sector. Funds are a major concern in the market though government has taken many initiatives for the development of education infrastructure which can be fulfilled by private players. The government has opened the doors for foreign universities which will help in shaping the education industry structure.The numbers of junior basic schools are highest in the country and there is a strong need to set up higher secondary schools as well as colleges with a focus on IT education. Government has set up many ICT schools but still more than fifty percent of the market is untapped which shows an opportunity for private players. In respect to the countrys population and number of students, trained teachers ratio is low which emphasizes the need of training institutes. The growing IT industry in India is driving IT education and training market as well as enhanced teaching techniques.The report highlights opportunities prevailing in the Indian education industry. It focuses on market size of all the segments like schools, colleges, other institutes and ICT schools. The number of professional colleges highlights the need of new teaching techniques and bright future of vocational training market. Scope of foreign universities is a part of the report and it also gives an overview of issues in regard to the foreign universities entering in India. Competitive landscape is also a part of the report which tells the level of competition and major players in the market. The report profiles major players with focus on key strategies adopted by them.

India Education Market Outlook to 2016 - Fast Growing E-learning Segment Set for Consolidation

The report titled India Education Market Outlook to 2016 Fast Growing E-learning Segment Set for Consolidation provides a comprehensive analysis on the education market in India covering various aspects such as market size of the education industry on the basis of total fee spent on education and market segmentation by age group, gender and by type of education. The report also entails competitive landscape and profiles of the major players operating in the industry. The future projections are included to provide an insight on the prospects in the Indian education industry.Key Topics Covered in the Report:- The market size of Indian education industry by total fee spent on education- Market segmentation on the basis of Age group, Gender and by type of Education.- Market size, market segmentation competitive landscape and future outlook of the Indian education industry- Government regulations pertaining to this industry.- Trends and developments pertaining to this industry.- Competitive Landscape and Profile of the major players including Educomp, Everonn and NIIT- Cause and Effect Relationship Analysis between industry factors and expected Indian education industry prospects- Future outlook and projections of the total fee spent on education of Indian education industry and its segments in the India till FY2017.- Macroeconomic and industry factors affecting this industryProducts Mentioned:Skill development, pre-primary, kindergarten, child care, nursery, formal education, teacher training, it training, vocational training, books, ICT, multimedia, elementary school, K-12, higher education, universities, schools and colleges

Industry Analysis: Educational Services

The Educational Services Industry is composed of establishments that provide instruction and training on a wide variety of subjects.

These institutions, including schools, colleges, and universities and training centres, are either privately or publicly owned. Private institutions may be further classified as "for-profit" or "not-for-profit". We report on publicly traded, for-profit schools that have a focus on post-secondary education. According to the most recent data provided by the U.S. Department of Education, post-secondary education is being provided to about 18.2 million students. Of that population, some 1.4 million are receiving their education through for-profit schools.

Industry Dynamics

Educational Services is widely considered a counter-cyclical industry. That is to say, typically, when the economy is doing poorly and unemployment is rising, more working adults, as their career prospects start to dim, decide to upgrade their education. This, in turn, leads to higher enrolment and increased profit at the schools. We note that traditional undergraduate education for young students is generally non-cyclical. Culinary arts schools, however, can be labelled as moderately cyclical. Also, certain types of educational institutions do perform largely in sync with the broader economy. For example, providers of information technology instruction benefit in good times, when companies are likely to boost related investment.

There is a growth element to this industry. Education companies are reporting a trend of rising demand from working adults. More and more employers are requiring college degrees for a greater range of jobs. Enrolment rates are tracking higher at most schools. To an 18-year old, thinking about the future, or a 30-year old without a college degree, looking for a career boost, diplomas are becoming the standard rather than the exception.

Profit Generation

Schools are seeing improving enrolment rates in both the traditional and online formats. Traditional schooling caters to young students that have just graduated from high school. Online instruction is more tailored to working adults who prefer to attend classes at evening time or during weekends. Web classes typically carry higher margins than the traditional classroom setting, since professors can connect to a significantly larger number of students and there are no direct brick-and-mortar costs. Globalization also augurs well for the industry. Due to global outsourcing, there is increasing pressure on workers in developed countries to enhance their skills.

There are two other important trends running in the industry's favor. As the U.S. continues to transition from a manufacturing-based economy to one heavily reliant on the service sector, for-profit educators stand to gain from offering courses in information technology, healthcare and business management. And, companies have the opportunity to tap an enormous under-educated segment of the world population. Lucrative markets include China, Brazil and other developing nations. A few educators have already established beachheads in promising overseas regions.

Regulation and Competition

Companies in this industry adhere closely to the Higher Education Act. Compliance with the Act is critical to maintain accreditation; it provides the ability to operate in various states. Accreditation allows a school's students to apply for financial aid under Title IV (low income) of the Act, the Pell Grant, and the G.I. Bill. This is important since a majority of students receive some sort of aid. Notably, the Act, and other regulation, has been fairly successful in shutting down and prohibiting "diploma mills", thus ensuring a fairly high overall quality of instruction.

Competition among these schools for prospective students is intensifying. Expenses of new-student leads and marketing continue to rise. Barriers to entry in this industry are significant. It is very expensive for a potential market entrant to build a school from scratch. The start-up phase can be difficult, especially without a substantial government-supported student base. Also, IT investment can be complex and quite costly, particularly for online operations. Financial constraints can limit a school's ability to expand. Schools prefer to tap the equity market, when their share prices are at elevated levels, rather than issue debt.

Investment Considerations

There are several things to look for when investing in individual companies in the Educational Services Industry. Investors should seek schools that have steadily rising enrolment, which typically leads to strong revenue and earnings growth. Favourable new-student starts and high conversion rates (from inquiries to enrollment) are good indicators of a company's prospects. Schools that have tapped or have plans to enter emerging markets will likely have a "first-mover" advantage and solid long-term growth potential. Institutions that have a sizeable mix of top-quality online business can better lever expanding demand at the bottom line.

Capable management is also an important consideration in weighing these stocks for investment. The industry is susceptible to "headline" risk. An adverse ruling or even just the hint of an investigation, from the U.S. Department of Education can cause a sharp decline in valuation. Such problems are frequently the result of inadequate compliance or misleading enrollment figures. If news breaks that a particular company is under investigation for reporting irregularities, its stock, and those of its peers, could be affected. Too, a strong, experienced leadership team is necessary when companies merge. (The industry has undergone substantial consolidation in recent years.) Often, operating results will suffer from a combination during an initial integration period. A proven track record strengthens the chance of long-term success.

COMPANY PROFILE

Company Profile

Education Inside is pioneer in Education Counseling since January 2009. The group has members who have been teaching in reputed schools and colleges of Surat and also associated with a lot of social group for the upbringing of the students of society. In general our group focuses on emphasizing the core knowledge and learning processes of executives and decision makers to enable students to contribute better towards building a successful business, while at the same time reinforcing the vision and ideology of the vision they work with. The group has always promoted new methods of acquiring knowledge and qualification aiming at developing and enhancing employability skills as well as individual personalities of students, we provide program which prepares students for the 21st century corporate culture. We empower our students with capabilities and skills transform them from students into employable professionals.

The group is involved into following activities:

1. Education counseling.

2. Motivation and corporate training

3. Providing Distance education

4. Tie up with colleges and universities for admission into fulltime programs.

5. Tie- up for student visa for Countries like UK, Australia, Dubai, etc.

6. Providing Placements.

Our Academic Alliances:

SERVICE DETAILS

Education Inside Edge

Education at your doorstep.

We transform Ordinary into Extraordinary through our passion for excellence in Education.

More than 25 college and University under one roof.

More than 75 Courses and Degrees

Counseling, keeping students career as the top priority.

Guidance for admission into Top Ranked Institutes of India.

Counseling and Career advise anytime on the website.

Education options which make the student to make him most desirable candidate for jobs and most

equipped for business.

Assist for Entrance Exam, Group Discussion and Personal Interview

Above all provide Scholarships to deserving or needful students.

Placement Assistance after completion of the Program.

Courses Offered

Dual Degree Courses

Integrated Courses

Executive MBA Courses

Masters Courses

P.G Diploma Courses

Bachelors Courses

Diploma Courses

Certification Courses

Industry Courses

Full Time Courses

The UTS Advantage

Universal Training Solutions (uts) is the pioneer in imparting comprehensive onlineEducation.

UGC, AICTE, and DEC approved.

100% Online support.

Online study material.

No entrance exams.

Online assignments.

Online exams.

Flexibility of exam dates.

Convenient admission.

Multiple fee modes and no hidden charges.

MEANING OF RESEARCH

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.

1.Redman and Mory define research as a systematized effort to gain new knowledge.

2. Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the known to the unknown. It is actually a voyage of discovery. We all possess the vital instinct of inquisitiveness for, when the unknown confronts us, we wonder and our inquisitiveness makes us probe and attain full and fuller understanding of the unknown. This inquisitiveness is the mother of all knowledge and the method, which man employs for obtaining the knowledge of whatever the unknown, can be termed as research.

Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense.

According to Clifford Woody research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organising and evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences define research as the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalising to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art.

3. Research is, thus, an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement. It is the pursuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment. In short, the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution to a problem is research. The systematic approach concerning generalisation and the formulation of a theory is also research. As such the term research refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data, analysing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either in the form of solutions(s) towards the concerned problem or in certain generalisations for some theoretical formulation.

BENEFITS OF RESEARCH

1.Market research guides your communication with current and potential customers.

Once you have your research results, you should have enough ammunition to formulate the most effective way to communicate to your customers. You should know what they like/dont like to hear/see/do. Then you can tailor what you say to them to make them take action.

2. Market research helps you identify opportunities in the marketplace.

Research might make it obvious that a new product you have planned may not be what your market wants or needs. You may then decide to make modifications on what you are going to offer to suit your audience.

3. Market research helps you minimize risks.

Through market research, you may find all the information you need to decide whether to take action on a particular subject. For example, you may find that the particular location where you wanted to open a shop already has a saturated market in your line of business, which should make you refrain from making that decision and look for a more appropriate spot.

4. Market research measures your reputation.

Its always good to know how you measure against your competitors. Market research finds out just where you are and then, according to the results, you can take action to change perception.

5. Market research uncovers and identifies potential problems.

You can get consumers reactions to a new product or service when it is still being developed. This should enlighten any further development so it suits its intended market.

6. Market research helps you plan ahead.

Research can estimate the likely sales of a new product/service and also the advertising expenditure required to achieve maximum profits.

7. Market research can help you establish trends.

If you treat your market research as an ongoing exercise that you do periodically, youll find that youll have a lot of data to be able to analyze your customers and establish any particular trends.

8. Market research helps you establish your market positioning.

Its important to know the position of your business at particular moments in time. Information from market research helps you benchmark and monitor your progress, which can be useful to make decisions and take action.

9. Market research can determine the most persuasive promise.

Every brand needs to make a promise. If you think of the most known brands, they all make a promise to you and you usually know what is by just looking at their logo. It can be security, a fast and tasty meal or the assurance of top technology. It needs to be simple and market research can help you define what your brands promise is.

10. Market research can find that compromise.

The team involved in the launch of a new product/service all have their individual perceptions and gut feelings. These certainly should not be ignored, but by going straight to the target audience, you will gain thoughts and opinions from people who may be less biased or less emotionally attached to a new development or service. It helps gain a new angle, hopefully a compromise in just how you are going to go about a new launch, a new brand or a brand repositioning.

In a nutshell, market research is an invaluable tool that, at first, might seem expensive and slow, but its nothing more than an investment. As one of our very good clients always says, Best to measure twice and cut once to maximize your returns.

LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH

Budgetary constraints gathering and processing data can be very expensive. Many organisations may lack the expertise to conduct extensive surveys to gather primary data, whatever the potential benefits, and also lack the funds to pay specialist market research agencies to gather such data for them. In these cases, organizations may be forced to rely on data that is less than perfect but that can be accessed more cheaply, e.g., from secondary sources

Time constraints organizations are often forced to balance the need to build up as detailed a picture as possible regarding customer needs etc. against the desire to make decisions as quickly as possible, in order to maintain or improve their position in the market

Reliability of the data the valueof any research findings depend critically on the accuracy of the data collected. Data quality can be compromised via a number of potential routes, e.g., leading questions, unrepresentative samples, biased interviewers etc. Efforts to ensure that data is accurate, samples are representative and interviewers are objective will all add to the costs of the research but such costs are necessary if poor decisions and expensive mistakes are to be avoided.

Legal & ethical constraints the Data Protection Act (1998) is a good example of a law that has a number of implications for market researchers collecting and holding personal data. For instance, researchers must ensure that the data they obtain is kept secure, is only used for lawful purposes and is only kept for as long as it is necessary. It must be made clear as to why data is being collected and the consent of participants must be obtained. In addition to this, there are a number of guidelines, laid down by such organizations as the Market Research Society, that, although not legally binding, encourage organizations to behave ethically when dealing with members of the public.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Aresearch designencompasses the methodology and procedures employed to conduct scientificresearch. The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlation, semi-experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-longitudinalcase study),research question,hypotheses,independent and dependent variables,experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan.

After deciding the basic aspects of research project (i.e. formulating research problem, objectives of research, data requirement, sample design, etc) and before the commencement of work of research project, the researcher has to prepare research design. It is a major step in the research process /procedure

The research work will be conducted (i.e. data collection, etc) as per the research design prepared.Research design means to prepare detailed plan and procedures for the conduct of the research project.It is like preparing a master plan/blue print for the conduct of formal investigation.It is the basic plan that guides researcher in the execution of the research project undertaken. It is like road map which enables the researcher to conduct various activities for the completion of research project.

In short, research design is a systematic planning, organizing and executing a research project within specified time limit and resource allocation. Research design tells the type of data to be collected, the sources of data and the procedures to be followed in data collection. Research design provides suitable framework that guides the collection and analysis of data.

Design types and sub-types

There are many ways to classify research designs, but sometimes the distinction is artificial and other times different designs are combined. Nonetheless, the list below offers a number of useful distinctions between possible research designs.

Descriptive (e.g.,case-study,naturalistic observation,survey)

Co relational (e.g.,case-control study,observational study)

Semi-experimental (e.g.,field experiment,quasi-experiment)

Experimental (Experimentwith random assignment)

Review (Literature review,Systematic review)

Meta-analytic (Meta-analysis)

Historical Research Design- The purpose is to collect, verify, synthesize evidence to establish facts that defend or refute your hypothesis. It uses primary sources, secondary sources, and lots of qualitative data sources such as logs, diaries, official records, reports, etc. The limitation is that the sources must be both authentic and valid.

Case and Field Research Design- Also calledethnographicresearch, it uses direct observation to give a complete snapshot of a case that is being studied. It is useful when not much is known about a phenomenon. Uses few subjects.

Descriptive or Survey Research Design- It attempts to describe and explain conditions of the present by using many subjects and questionnaires to fully describe a phenomenon.Survey research design /survey methodology is one of the most popular for dissertation research. There are many advantages.

Correlational or Prospective Research Design- It attempts to explore relationships to make predictions. It uses one set of subjects with two or more variables for each.

Causal Comparative or Ex Post Facto Research Design- This research design attempts to explore cause and affect relationships where causes already exist and cannot be manipulated. It uses what already exists and looks backward to explain why.

Developmental or Time Series Research Design- Data are collected at certain points in time going forward. There is an emphasis on time patterns and longitudinal growth or change.

Experimental Research Design- This design is most appropriate in controlled settings such as laboratories. The design assumesrandom assignmentof subjects and random assignment to groups (E and C). It attempts to explore cause and affect relationships where causes can be manipulated to produce different kinds of effects. Because of the requirement of random assignment, this design can be difficult to execute in the real world (non laboratory) setting.

Quasi Experimental Research Design- This research design approximates the experimental design but does not have a control group. There is more error possible in the results.

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which has not been discovered as yet. Though each research study has its own specific purpose, we may think of research objectives as falling into a number of following broad groupings:

1. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it (studies with this object in view are termed as exploratory or formulative research studies);

2. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group (studies with this object in view are known as descriptive research studies);

3. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else (studies with this object in view are known as diagnostic research studies);

4. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such studies are known as hypothesis-testing research studies).

MOTIVATION IN RESEARCH

What makes people to undertake research? This is a question of fundamental importance. The possible motives for doing research may be either one or more of the following:

1. Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential benefits;

2. Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems, i.e., concern over practical problems initiates research;

3. Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;

4. Desire to be of service to society;

5. Desire to get respectability.

However, this is not an exhaustive list of factors motivating people to undertake research studies. Many more factors such as directives of government, employment conditions, curiosity about new things, desire to understand causal relationships, social thinking and awakening, and the like may as well motivate (or at times compel) people to perform research operations.

TYPES OF RESEARCH

The basic types of research are as follows:

(i) Descriptive vs. Analytical: Descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. In social science and business research we quite often use Research Methodology: An Introduction The term Ex post facto research for descriptive research studies. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening. Most ex post facto research projects are used for descriptive studies in which the researcher seeks to measure such items as, for example, frequency of shopping, preferences of people, or similar data. Ex post facto studies also include attempts by researchers to discover causes even when they cannot control the variables. The methods of research utilized in descriptive research are survey methods of all kinds, including comparative and correlational methods. In analytical research, on the other hand, the researcher has to use facts or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material.

(ii) Applied vs. Fundamental: Research can either be applied (or action) research or fundamental (to basic or pure) research. Applied research aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business organisation, whereas fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalisations and with the formulation of a theory. Gathering knowledge for knowledges sake is termed pure or basic research.4 Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics are examples of fundamental research. Similarly, research studies, concerning human behaviour carried on with a view to make generalisations about human behaviour, are also examples of fundamental research, but research aimed at certain conclusions (say, a solution) facing a concrete social or business problem is an example of applied research. Research to identify social, economic or political trends that may affect a particular institution or the copy research (research to find out whether certain communications will be read and understood) or the marketing research or evaluation research are examples of applied research. Thus, the central aim of applied research is to discover a solution for some pressing practical problem, whereas basic research is directed towards finding information that has a broad base of applications and thus, adds to the already existing organized body of scientific knowledge.

(iii) Quantitative vs. Qualitative: Quantitative research is based on the measurement of quantity or amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity. Qualitative research, on the other hand, is concerned with qualitative phenomenon, i.e., phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. For instance, when we are interested in investigating the reasons for human behaviour (i.e., why people think or do certain things), we quite often talk of Motivation Research, an important type of qualitative research. This type of research aims at discovering the underlying motives and desires, using in depth interviews for the purpose. Other techniques of such research are word association tests, sentence completion tests, story completion tests and similar other projective techniques. Attitude or opinion research i.e., research designed to find out how people feel or what they think about a particular subject or institution is also qualitative research. Qualitative research is specially important in the behavioural sciences where the aim is to discover the underlying motives of human behaviour. Through such research we can analyse the various factors which motivate people to behave in a particular manner or which make people like or dislike a particular thing. It may be stated, however, that to apply qualitative research in 4 Pauline V. Young, Scientific Social Surveys and Research, p. 30. 4 Research Methodology practice is relatively a difficult job and therefore, while doing such research, one should seek guidance from experimental psychologists.

(iv) Conceptual vs. Empirical: Conceptual research is that related to some abstract idea(s) or theory. It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop new concepts or to reinterpret existing ones. On the other hand, empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment. We can also call it as experimental type of research. In such a research it is necessary to get at facts firsthand, at their source, and actively to go about doing certain things to stimulate the production of desired information. In such a research, the researcher must first provide himself with a working hypothesis or guess as to the probable results. He then works to get enough facts (data) to prove or disprove his hypothesis. He then sets up experimental designs which he thinks will manipulate the persons or the materials concerned so as to bring forth the desired information. Such research is thus characterised by the experimenters control over the variables under study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them to study its effects. Empirical research is appropriate when proof is sought that certain variables affect other variables in some way. Evidence gathered through experiments or empirical studies is today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given hypothesis.

(v) Some Other Types of Research: All other types of research are variations of one or more of the above stated approaches, based on either the purpose of research, or the time required to accomplish research, on the environment in which research is done, or on the basis of some other similar factor. Form the point of view of time, we can think of research either as one-time research or longitudinal research. In the former case the research is confined to a single time-period, whereas in the latter case the research is carried on over several time-periods. Research can be field-setting research or laboratory research or simulation research, depending upon the environment in which it is to be carried out. Research can as well be understood as clinical or diagnostic research. Such research follow case-study methods or indepth approaches to reach the basic causal relations. Such studies usually go deep into the causes of things or events that interest us, using very small samples and very deep probing data gathering devices. The research may be exploratory or it may be formalized. The objective of exploratory research is the development of hypotheses rather than their testing, whereas formalized research studies are those with substantial structure and with specific hypotheses to be tested. Historical research is that which utilizes historical sources like documents, remains, etc. to study events or ideas of the past, including the philosophy of persons and groups at any remote point of time. Research can also be classified as conclusion-oriented and decision-oriented. While doing conclusion-oriented research, a researcher is free to pick up a problem, redesign the enquiry as he proceeds and is prepared to conceptualize as he wishes. Decision-oriented research is always for the need of a decision maker and the researcher in this case is not free to embark upon research according to his own inclination. Operations research is an example of decision oriented research since it is a scientific method of providing executive departments with a quantitative basis for decisions regarding operations under their control.

Descriptive Research

Blend of Descriptive method has been used in this research for the collection of

data. As the research is related to the study of consumer satisfaction, which can

more effectively be studied through direct questions, personal interview and informal

talks- experimental research will not much effective. Also, considering the time

constraints, descriptive research leading to conclusive result is the most suitable

design for this research as it is related to why anything happening. It checks the

behavior features of a customer.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

TheQuantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into predetermined response categories. They produce results that are easy to summarize, compare, and generalize.

Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of interest.Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly assigned to different treatments.If this is not feasible, the researcher may collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome, variable.If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select participants.

Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:

Experiments/clinical trials.

Observing and recording well-defined events (e.g., counting the number of patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).

Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.

Administering surveys with closed-ended questions (e.g., face-to face and telephone interviews, questionnaires etc _meth).

Interviews

In Quantitative research (survey research),interviews are more structured than in Qualitative research

In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and nothing more.

Face -to -face interviewshave a distinct advantage of enabling the researcher to establish rapport with potential participants and therefore gain their cooperation. These interviews yield highest response rates in survey research. They also allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and when appropriate, seek follow-up information. Disadvantages include impractical when large samples are involved time consuming and expensive.

Telephone interviewsare less time consuming and less expensive and the researcher has ready access to anyone on the planet who hasa telephone. Disadvantages are that the response rate is not as high as the face-to- face interview but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire. The sample may be biased to the extent that people without phones are part of the population about whom the researcher wants to draw inferences.

Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI):is a form of personal interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer brings along a laptop or hand-held computer to enter the information directly into the database. This method saves time involved in processing the data, as well as saving the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of questionnaires. However, this type of data collection method can be expensive to set up and requires that interviewers have computer and typing skills.

Questionnaires

Paper-pencil-questionnairescan be sent to a large number of people and saves the researcher time and money. People are more truthful while responding to the questionnaires regarding controversial issues in particular due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. But they also have drawbacks. Majority of the people who receive questionnaires don't return them and those who do might not be representative of the originally selected sample.

Web based questionnaires: A new and inevitably growing methodology is the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e-mail on which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web-site to fill in a questionnaire. This type of research is often quicker and less detailed. Some disadvantages of this method include the exclusion of people who do not have a computer or are unable to access a computer. Also the validity of such surveys are in question as people might be in a hurry to complete it and so might not give accurate responses. Questionnaires often make use of Checklist and rating scales. These devices help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. Achecklistis a list of behaviors,characteristics,or other entities that te researcher is looking for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks whether each item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa. Arating scaleis more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a continuum. They are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)

Qualitative data collection methodsplay an important role in impact evaluation by providing information useful to understand the processes behind observed results and assess changes in peoples perceptions of their well-being. Furthermore qualitative methods can beused to improve the quality of survey-based quantitative evaluations by helping generate evaluation hypothesis; strengthening the design of survey questionnaires and expanding or clarifying quantitative evaluation findings. These methods are characterized by the following attributes:

they tend to be open-ended and have less structured protocols (i.e., researchers may change the data collection strategy by adding, refining, or dropping techniques or informants)

they rely more heavily on interactive interviews; respondents may be interviewed several times to follow up on a particular issue, clarify concepts or check the reliability of data

they use triangulation to increase the credibility of their findings (i.e., researchers rely on multiple data collection methods to check the authenticity of their results)

generally their findings are not generalizable to any specific population, rather each case study produces a single piece of evidence that can be used to seek general patterns among different studies of the same issue

Regardless of the kinds of data involved, data collection in a qualitative study takes a great deal of time. The researcher needs to record any potentially useful data thououghly,accurately, and systematically,using field notes,sketches,audiotapes,photographs and other suitable means. The data collection methods must observe the ethical principles of research.

The qualitative methods most commonly used in evaluation can be classified in three broad categories:

In-depth interview

Observation methods

Document review

SAMPLING

Researchersusually cannot make direct observations of every individual in the population they are studying. Instead, they collect data from a subset of individuals asample and use those observations to make inferences about the entire population.

Ideally, the sample corresponds to the larger population on the characteristic(s) of interest. In that case, the researcher's conclusions from the sample are probably applicable to the entire population.

This type of correspondence between the sample and the larger population is most important when a researcher wants to know what proportion of the population has a certain characteristic like a particular opinion or a demographic feature. Public opinion polls that try to describe the percentage of the population that plans to vote for a particular candidate, for example, require a sample that is highly representative of the population.

DEFINITION OF SAMPLING DESIGN

A procedure or plan drawn up before any data is collected to obtain a sample from a given population, known as sampling design.

For project, I have used sample survey.

SAMPLING METHOD

For this project sampling method is probably sampling.

In probability samples, each member of the population has a known non-zero probability of being selected.

Probability methods include random sampling, systematic sampling, and stratified sampling.

The advantage of probability sampling is that sampling error can be calculated

SAMPLING PROCEDURE

Steps in Sampling Process:

An operational sampling process can be divided into seven steps as given below:

Defining the target population.

Specifying the sampling frame.

Specifying the sampling unit.

Selection of the sampling method.

Determination of sample size.

Specifying the sampling plan.

Selecting the sample.

1.Defining the Target Population:

Defining the population of interest, for business research, is the first step in sampling process. In general, target population is defined in terms of element, sampling unit, extent, and time frame. The definition should be in line with the objectives of the research study. For ex, if a kitchen appliances firm wants to conduct a survey to ascertain the demand for its micro ovens, it may define the population as all women above the age of 20 who cook (assuming that very few men cook). However this definition is too broad and will include every household in the country, in the population that is to be covered by the survey. Therefore the definition can be further refined and defined at the sampling unit level, that, all women above the age 20, who cook and whose monthly household income exceeds Rs.20, 000. This reduces the target population size and makes the research more focused. The population definition can be refined further by specifying the area from where the researcher has to draw his sample, that is, households located in Hyderabad.

A well defined population reduces the probability of including the respondents who do not fit the research objective of the company. For ex, if the population is defined as all women above the age of 20, the researcher may end up taking the opinions of a large number of women who cannot afford to buy a micro oven.

2. Specifying the Sampling Frame:

Once the definition of the population is clear a researcher should decide on the sampling frame. A sampling frame is the list of elements from which the sample may be drawn. Continuing with the micro oven ex, an ideal sampling frame would be a database that contains all the households that have a monthly income above Rs.20, 000. However, in practice it is difficult to get an exhaustive sampling frame that exactly fits the requirements of a particular research. In general, researchers use easily available sampling frames like telephone directories and lists of credit card and mobile phone users. Various private players provide databases developed along various demographic and economic variables. Sometimes, maps and aerial pictures are also used as sampling frames. Whatever may be the case, an ideal sampling frame is one that entire population and lists the names of its elements only once.

A sampling frame error pops up when the sampling frame does not accurately represent the total population or when some elements of the population are missing another drawback in the sampling frame is over representation. A telephone directory can be over represented by names/household that have two or more connections.

3. Specifying the Sampling Unit:

A sampling unit is a basic unit that contains a single element or a group of elements of the population to be sampled. In this case, a household becomes a sampling unit and all women above the age of 20 years living in that particular house become the sampling elements. If it is possible to identify the exact target audience of the business research, every individual element would be a sampling unit. This would present a case of primary sampling unit. However, a convenient and better means of sampling would be to select households as the sampling unit and interview all females above 20 years, who cook. This would present a case of secondary sampling unit.

4. Selection of the Sampling Method:

The sampling method outlines the way in which the sample units are to be selected. The choice of the sampling method is influenced by the objectives of the business research, availability of financial resources, time constraints, and the nature of the problem to be investigated. All sampling methods can be grouped under two distinct heads, that is, probability and non-probability sampling.

5. Determination of Sample Size:

The sample size plays a crucial role in the sampling process. There are various ways of classifying the techniques used in determining the sample size. A couple those hold primary importance and are worth mentioning are whether the technique deals with fixed or sequential sampling and whether its logic is based on traditional or Bayesian methods. In non-probability sampling procedures, the allocation of budget, thumb rules and number of sub groups to be analyzed, importance of the decision, number of variables, nature of analysis, incidence rates, and completion rates play a major role in sample size determination. In the case of probability sampling, however, formulas are used to calculate the sample size after the levels of acceptable error and level of confidence are specified. The details of the various techniques used to determine the sample size will be explained at the end of the chapter.

6. Specifying the Sampling Plan:

In this step, the specifications and decisions regarding the implementation of the research process are outlined. Suppose, blocks in a city are the sampling units and the households are the sampling elements. This step outlines the modus operandi of the sampling plan in identifying houses based on specified characteristics. It includes issues like how is the interviewer going to take a systematic sample of the houses. What should the interviewer do when a house is vacant? What is the recontact procedure for respondents who were unavailable? All these and many other questions need to be answered for the smooth functioning of the research process. These are guide lines that would help the researcher in every step of the process. As the interviewers and their co-workers will be on field duty of most of the time, a proper specification of the sampling plans would make their work easy and they would not have to revert to their seniors when faced with operational problems.

7. Selecting the Sample:

This is the final step in the sampling process, where the actual selection of the sample elements is carried out. At this stage, it is necessary that the interviewers stick to the rules outlined for the smooth implementation of the business research. This step involves implementing the sampling plan to select the sampling plan to select a sample required for the survey.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD: -

PRIMARY DATA:-Questionnaire Method

The data has been collected through questionnaire method. The questionnaire was designed in such a way to cover as many aspects of consumer behavior as

possible. Many questions have been asked in it for feedback from customers. In it both opened ended questions and close ended questions have been asked for study.

SECONDARY DATA

Under this data is taken from the internet. All the data related to its profile, mission and capital structure is taken. Even data related to this study is also its

management, mission and many other things.

SAMPLE DESIGN: - Random Sampling

SAMPLE SIZE: - 100

SAMPLE UNIT: - Individual

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: - EDUCATION INSIDE,SURAT

STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED: - Percentage

Analysis

PROMOTION MIX

Promotionis one of themarket mixelements, and a term used frequently inmarketing. The specification of fivepromotional mixor promotional plan. These elements are personal selling, advertising, sales promotion,direct marketing, and publicity.[1]A promotional mix specifies how much attention to pay to each of the five subcategories, and how much money to budget for each. A promotional plan can have a wide range of objectives, including: sales increases, new product acceptance, creation ofbrand equity,positioning, competitive retaliations, or creation of acorporate image. Fundamentally, however there are three basic objectives of promotion. These are:[2]

1. To present information to consumers as well as others.

2. To increase demand.

3. To differentiate a product.

There are different ways to promote a product in different areas of media. Promoters use internet advertisement, special events, endorsements, and newspapers to advertise their product. Many times with the purchase of a product there is an incentive like discounts, free items, or a contest. This is to increase the sales of a given product.

The term "promotion" is usually an "in" expression used internally by the marketing company, but not normally to the public or the market - phrases like "special offer" are more common. An example of a fully integrated, long-term, large-scale promotion isMy Coke RewardsandPepsi Stuff. The UK version ofMy Coke RewardsisCoke Zone.

PROMOTIONAL MIX

There are five main aspects of apromotional mix.[1]These are:

Advertising- Presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.Examples: Print ads, radio, television, billboard, direct mail, brochures and catalogues, signs, in-store displays, posters, motion pictures, Web pages, banner ads, and emails.

Personal selling- A process of helping and persuading one or more prospects to purchase a good or service or to act on any idea through the use of an oral presentation.Examples: Sales presentations, sales meetings, sales training and incentive programs for intermediary salespeople, samples, and telemarketing. Can be face-to-face selling or via telephone.

Sales promotion- Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability.Examples: Coupons, sweepstakes, contests, product samples, rebates, tie-ins, self-liquidating premiums, trade shows, trade-ins, and exhibitions.

Public relations- Paid intimate stimulation of supply for a product, service, or business unit by planting significant news about it or a favourable presentation of it in the media.Examples: Newspaper and magazine articles/reports, TVs and radio presentations, charitable contributions, speeches, issue advertising, and seminars.

Direct Marketingis a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and non-profits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, and outdoor advertising.

Corporate imageCorporate image may also be considered as the sixth aspect of promotion mix. The Image of an organization is a crucial point in marketing. If the reputation of a company is bad, consumers are less willing to buy a product from this company as they would have been, if the company had a good image.Sponsorshipis sometimes added as an seventh aspect.[1]

What is Promotional Mix?

Integration of all the elements of promotion mix is necessary to meet the information requirements of all target customers. This simply means that the promotion mix is not designed to satisfy only the prospective buyer or only the regular buyer. Some elements of the mix may be aimed at the target customer who is unaware of the product, while others may be aimed at potential customers who are fully aware of the product and are likely to purchase it. Suppose you are interested in buying a personal computer. Because of your interest in the product, you started paying attention to computer advertisements in newspapers and magazines. You may even read the media reports on personal computers by experts. You also may participate in training programmes or demonstrations. You may also contact the sales persons of different computers and find out the features and relative merits. Based on all this information you may then purchase a specific brand.Which aspect of the promotional mix brought you to the decision to buy the brand you finally selected? You may say that the expertise of the salespersons was a major influence, but the fact is that all the elements of the mix played their roles in bringing about the sale. Therefore, to get better response from the target customers, you have to adopt all the different components of the promotion mix. However, you should note that the elements of the promotion mix must be coordinated and integrated so that they reinforce and complement each other to create a blend that helps in achieving the promotional objectives of the organization.

Components of Promotion Mix

There are seven main elements in a promotional mix. They are:1. Advertising - Any paid form of non-personal communication through mass media about a service or product or an idea by a sponsor is called advertising. It is done through non personal channels or media. Print advertisements, advertisements in Television, Radio, Billboard, Brouchers and Cataloges, Direct mails, In-store display, motion pictures, emails, banner ads, web pages, posters are some of the examples of advertising. Paid promotion and presentation of goods, services, ideas by a sponsor comes under the advertisement.2. Personal Selling -This is a process by which a person persuade the buyer to accept a product or a point of view or convince the buyer to take specific course of action through face to face contact. It is an act of helping and persuading through the use of oral presentation of products or services. Target audience may very from product to product and situation to situation. In other words personal selling is a person to person process by which the seller learns about the prospective buyer's wants and seeks to satisfy them by making a sale. Examples: Sales Meetings, sales presentations, sales training and incentive programs for intermediary sales people, samples and telemarketing etc. It can be of face-to-face or through telephone contact.3. Publicity: Non-personal stimulation of demand for a product, service or business unit by generating commercially significant news about it in published media or obtaining favourable presentation of it on radio, television or stage. Unlike advertising, this form of promotion is not paid for by the sponsor. Thus, publicity is news carried in the mass media about an organization, its products, policies, actions, personnel etc. It can originate with the media or the marketer, and is published or broadcast at no charge for media space and time. Examples: Magazine and Newspaper articles/reports, radio and televison presentations, charitable contributions, speeches, issue advertising, and seminars. Publicity can be favourable (positive) or unfavourable (Negative). The message is in the hands of media and not controlled by the organization/firm.4. Sales promotion- is any activity that offers an incentive for a limited period to obtain a desired response from the target audience or intermediaries which includes wholesalers and retailers. It stimulate consumer demand, market demand and improve product availability. Examples: Contests, product samples, Coupons, sweepstakes, rebates, tie-ins, self-liquidating premiums, trade shows, trade-ins, and exhibitions.5 Corporate image- It is important to create a good image in the sight of general public as the Image of an organization is a crucial point in marketing. If the reputation of a company is bad, consumers are less willing to buy a product from this company as they would have been, if the company had a good image.6 Exhibitions:Exhibitions provide a chance to try the product by the customers. It is an avenue for the producers to get an instant response from the potential consumers of the products.7 Direct Marketingis reaching the customer without using the traditional channels of advertising such as radio, newspaper, television etc. This type of marketing reach the targeted consumers with techniques such as promotional letters, street advertising, catalogue distribution, fliers etc.These promotional efforts are of two general types involving:1. Direct face to face communication2. Indirect communication through some mass medium, such as television, newspapers, radio, etc.Sometimes a mixture of personal/direct and non personal/indirect promotion is used as we use in the sales promotion. Industrial buyer will not decide to purchase equipments on the basis of advertisements or direct mail. Personal selling is preferred in this case. On the other hand a customer buying toothpaste or hair oilwill have less contact with the company sales person and will be influenced more by advertisements.

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

advertising on signs that are located outdoors in public places. Outdoor advertising, one of the oldest and most enduring forms of advertising, can be broadly identified as any sign that publicly displays advertising or identifies something, such as a sign for a restaurant or other place of business. More specifically, though, the term has come to represent the advertising medium we casually callbillboardadvertising, which is a large standardized segment of theout-of-homeadvertising media industry, with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. The medium is made up of some 270,000 standardized posters,painted displays, andspectacularsavailable to advertisers in more than 15,000 communities throughout the United States. On a cost per thousand basis, it is actually the most economical of all media, with cost sometimes as low as $.50 per thousand.

The structures for placement of advertising posters, spectaculars, and painted displays are maintained by individual outdoor advertising companies calledplant operators. The plant operators also own or lease the land on which the structures are built, primarily in commercial or business areas. The structures are scientifically located in places of heavy traffic volume along highways, alongside railroad lines, on rooftops, or on the outer walls of buildings so as to deliver an advertising message to the entire market in the community.

Outdoor advertising displays are an excellent reminder medium and are most commonly used in an advertising campaign to supplement other media.

Questionnaire

1. Gender : Male ( ) Female ( )

2. Age : __________

3. Qualifications: _______________________________

4. Stream For further Education, if Interested :

______________________________________

5. Are You A Working Professional: Yes ( ) No ( )

6. How Much Time Do You Devote To Studies:

Less Than 3 Hrs ( ) 5 Hrs ( ) 10 hrs & Above ( )

7. What mode would you prefer?

Full Time Learning ( ) Distance/Online Learning ( )

8. Are you aware of distance learning?

Yes ( ) No ( )

9. How interested are you in distance learning?

Highly interested ( )

Neutral ( )

Less interested ( )

Not interested ( )

10. Tick the features which you feel are important for distance learning.

a. Government approval ( ) Payment in Installments ( )

b. Flexible exam dates ( ) Multiple fee modes ( )

c. No Entrance exams ( ) No Entrance exams ( )

d. Scholarships ( ) 24*7 online support ( )

11. What would you expect to pay for this service if it had all of the above features?

1. 20,000-30,000 ( )

2. 30,000-40,000 ( )

3. 40,000-50,000 ( )

4. 50,000-60,000 ( )

5. 60,000 and above ( )

12. Which are the reasons why you prefer Online learning to traditional learning ?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

13. What are your views regarding Distance Learning ?

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

SUGGESTIONS

1.Online learning should not be place-basedMany of the online learning programs I learned about unnecessarily required students to follow the traditional system of having students together in classroom consuming the same material at the same time. Why? The content is online. Are we so stuck in our old methods that we are forcing a potentially innovative learning opportunity into the same old structure of a brick and mortar school? For many, yes we arebut we shouldnt be.2.Online learning should not be state-basedI was just amazed at how many online learning programs are state-based? Why? When online does it really matter that the teacher or students are all from the same state? NOOOOO!!!!!! It does not. States need to provide funding from students to take classes from a menu of options, but these students and teachers DO NOT need to reside in the same state. Hello??? Were online for goodness sakes. The content of these courses is not state-centric. Algebra 1, English 1, American Government, US History, Chemistry 1, etc. etc. etc. do not, or at least should not have state-specific content. We need to blast open the doors and let students and teachers cross state lines for goodness sake!3. Online learning materials should be sharedPeople all over the world are selfishly developing fabulous online learning content. Selfish because theyre not sharing. Arent we one nation? Dont we want to do whats best for all? Then why are schools and districts hording their materials? Why are we all doing the same thing over and over? Why are we continuously wasting money and reinventing the wheel??? In some cases, it never even occurred to folks that they could or should or be sharing. They can and they should and LMS platforms should make this easier.4.Online learning students should be connectedGuess what? Online learning is online and were teaching a lot of the same course at the same time to students all over the world. The online learning world needs to learn a lesson from social media and enable those pursuing the same interests to connect. Conversations are more robust and learning is more relevant when the numbers of other teachers and students you can connect to and share with is increased. Lets erase the artificial lines of traditional schooling and let online learning provide an opportunity for students to connect.5. Online learning classes should be more interestingOnline learning has finally gotten some legs and its about time, but what amazes me is that theyre not offering more interesting courses. In large part theyre just offering the same opportunities available in traditional school settings. Lets expose students to new opportunities that are missing in schools. Lets provide some amazing offerings in music and photography in filmmaking or becoming a stylist. Lets open their worlds online rather than providing them with what they already had access to in the traditional classroom. Lets bring experts in the field into these courses and help students find their passions, talents, and interests. Lets expose and connect them to others who love what they love.6. Online learning should not feel like a sentence. Doing time should not be the indicator of mastery.Many students admit that school feels like theyre just doing time. Unfortunately in many states, seat time is still the measure indicating if a student has completed a course. This needs an update which online has the potential to make happen if only the laws were updated. Students should be able to prove mastery any time during the class or take extra time and get additional supports if necessary.7. Online learning should push states / nations to provide more opportunities for assessments when students are ready, not when its easiest to herd students through the tests.Online learning has the potential to deliver courses to students anytime in the year, yet many tests are still only given once a year, often several months after the students have completed the course. States need to figure out how to certify educators or others to proctor the test throughout the year as students complete the course.8. Online learning should result in the eradication of textbooksDid you know the textbook companies still have their fangs in the pockets of funding for our students requiring students to buy outdated, boring textbooks to receive credit? Are you kidding me??? These are online courses. The textbooks need to reach their long-overdue death and enable students to learn in relevant, engaging and up-to-date environments. The fact that educational systems are allowing this and not driving the industry to come to its timely demise only points to the politicized, commercialized interests that are inappropriately driving education. Save the billions of wasted textbook dollars and replace it with relevant content.9.Students in online learning environments do not need to be grouped via date of manufacture.I was surprised by how many online learning teachers, schools, and providers still grouped students by year of birth / grade. Why? We dont need to sequence all students through the same courses at the same time. We really dont. With online learning perhaps a students wants to focus deep into a subject and plow through several math, science, or literacy courses. They should be able to do that. Or perhaps a student just moves right through a class. They should be able to steamroll full force ahead to the next class, regardless of their age. On the other end of the spectrum, if there is a topic a student is having difficulty with, they should be able to spend more time in that area and/or have the opportunity to receive the support they need.10.Learning centers should be available to studentsFor many students, taking classes at home is not a viable option for a number of reasons. Communities need to establish learning centers to meet the needs of such students. This may mean opening the doors of school and local libraries to students with proof of enrollment, it may mean partnering with local businesses, it could mean turning the often unused community room of a building or project into a learning center during specified hours, or perhaps it means making use of schools of education like Teachers College, that often remain empty during the day. There are numerous possibilities that could make this a viable option for interested students.Online learning is a modern construct that