1. 1 THE IMPACT OF MARKETING MIX ON BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF YOUTH SEGMENT IN SRI LANKA Prepared By H.A.J. CHANDRANATH BM/2009/041 Facilitator : Lecturer Dr Sudath weerasiri Subject Code : BMKT 32122 Semester : 3rd Year, 2nd semester Subject : Research Methodology DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT FACULTY OF COMMERCE & MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY OF KELANIYA

2. 2 CONTENT 1. Background of the Study.. 3 2. Research Problem .4 3. Research Objectives .5 4. Significant Of The Study .....5 5. Literature Review .6 6. Conceptual Frame Work .....12 7. Hypothesis ...13 8. Methodology ....13 9. Limitation Of The Study ..15 10. Time Plan ..16 11. Reference ..16 3. 3 1. Background of the Study When we consider the business organization can see most important functions. However, there is one of them that considered as a hub in the organization and its called marketing. Marketing as the process which companies create value for customer and build strong customer relationship in order to capture value from customer in return. (Phillip Kotler). Marketing is defined as a societal process by which individuals and group obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and freely exchanging product and service of value with others. (Phillip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller). According to above definitions by the today aim of marketing is satisfy the target customers efficiently and effectively better than their competitors. For this purpose business organizations use different strategies and spend an amount of money for their promotion activities. As well as business organizations must try to understand their buyers behavior. Because of customers are central point in the organization. In this research study I am going to look at how marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) influence to youth segment for select, buy, use and dispose of goods, services, or experiences in order to satisfy their needs and want. By the today every organization gives priority to satisfy their customer need and wants due to satisfied customers will stay with organization for a long period of time. There for Organizations give promises or through their marketing mix. If the customers feel these promises clearly, they will consistently buy the product or service and they will be loyal to the brand. Understanding buying behavior of the youth segment is not simple tasks. Because buying behavior are always changed. There for every organization must understand their buying behavior of the customer. Otherwise organization cant capture their objective of the organization and have to leave the market. Given the significant challenges facing the youth segment when buy the product and service in particular globalization, liberalization and increasing competition. Therefor there is a need to review the strategic direction and the competitive advantage for getting customer attention. This is crucial to maintain the competitiveness of participants in the business organization, in order for them to be viable in the long term. In this respect, the business organization will maintain existing marketing mix which are considered necessary and moving forward, institute new marketing mix to replace existing marketing mix in order to continuously support the development and viability 4. 4 of the business organization. As well as influence of marketing mix on buying behavior of the youth segment in Sri Lanka With end of the war, numbers of brands of various products are available in country and various promotion strategies and modes are used to capture consumers. In the advertising side, Newspapers, T.V channels, postal and radio are functioning in accelerated rates. So I believe How marketing mix influence on buying behavior of youth segment in Sri Lanka is or suitable and needed study for today business environment. 2. Research problem In this research study mainly try to identify How marketing mix influencing on buying behavior of youth segment in Sri Lanka. This research problem; Most research done on consumer behavior of total market. Not for the different segment like youth, rural and urban, benefit, loyalty status and so on. There for when we consider those factors we can see the marketing mix is one factor that mainly affect for buying behavior of the youth segment. So under this problem we consider that. There are number of factors that influence the buying behavior other than marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) like personal characteristic. Under this problem I focus to identify the level of importance and identify how it influence to the buying behavior of the youth segment. 5. 5 3. Objective of the study Having gone through the study, following objectives have been set with the hope of achieving the same. Find out influence of marketing mix on buying behavior of youth segment. Identify relationship between marketing mix and buying behavior of the youth segment. To find out other factors influencing buying behavior of youth segment. 4. Significance of the study This research gives the information and findings about how marketing mix influence on buying behavior of the youth segment. Significance of this study we can identify in varies angels Study result gives information and findings about relationship or how marketing mix influence to buying behavior of the youth segment in the Sri Lanka. So in that companies can identifies the factors that affect buying behavior of the youth segment and companies can improve those qualities and though that they can achieve customer satisfaction and objective of the organization. This research finding also can be used in marketing perspective when planning the marketing program and it gives more benefits to business. Under the literature review it gives some important hints about the marketing mix and buying behavior. There for identify these thing in this research they can use it for achieve comparative advantage. Lack of information available in marketing mix influence on buying behavior of the youth segment specially in marketing industry so this give some important findings to marketers. 6. 6 5. Literacy review Under the literature review firstly define and identify the words, concepts that associate with this literature review. 5.1 Marketing mix Marketing mix is the tool set used by marketers to develop total market offering what customer gets as a value package. The elements of marketing mix can be identified as value drivers too. The effective marketing tools can create competitive and perceive value to customer. As well as Marketing mix is a mix of options and variables that a marketer has to design his proposition. The four Ps, as they are known, of the marketing mix are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Marketers mix these ingredients and variables in different proportions for their products in order to meet their requirements within their given constraints and boundaries. Marketing mix covers the four major elements and variables that a marketer has and can manipulate in order to design his offering according to its customers and target market. The marketing mix model of marketing was proposed by Neil Bordon in 1965. Marketing mix is designed separately for each product offering and different market segments for a company. Different proportions are allocated to different mix elements to design an effective marketing mix which meets the objectives of the marketer as well as the consumer. The four Ps are the critical factors to consider when marketing any product. Product can either be a good or a service designed for corporate/commercial customers or end users. But when we consider service marketing mix can identify three components except these 4ps such as 7. 7 People Process Physical evidence 5.2 Buying behavior Buying Behavior is the decision processes and acts of people involved in buying and using products. Need to understand: Why consumers make the purchases that they make? What factors influence consumer purchases? The changing factors in our society. Consumer Buying Behavior refers to the buying behavior of the ultimate consumer. A firm needs to analyze buying behavior for: Buyers reactions to a firms marketing strategy has a great impact on the firms success. The marketing concept stresses that a firm should create a Marketing Mix that satisfies (gives utility to) customers, therefore need to analyze the what, where, when and how consumers buy. Marketers can better predict how consumers will respond to marketing strategies. 8. 8 Types of consumer buying behavior Types of consumer buying behavior are determined by: Level of Involvement in purchase decision. Importance and intensity of interest in a product in a particular situation. Buyers level of involvement determines why he/she is motivated to seek information about a certain products and brands but virtually ignores others. High involvement purchases--Honda Motorbike, high priced goods, products visible to others, and the higher the risk the higher the involvement. Types of risk: Personal risk Social risk Economic risk The four type of consumer buying behavior are: Routine Response/Programmed Behavior--buying low involvement frequently purchased low cost items; need very little search and decision effort; purchased almost automatically. Examples include soft drinks, snack foods, milk etc. Limited Decision Making--buying product occasionally. When you need to obtain information about unfamiliar brand in a familiar product category, perhaps. Requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering. Examples include Clothes--know product class but not the brand. Extensive Decision Making/Complex high involvement, unfamiliar, expensive and/or infrequently bought products. High degree of economic/performance/psychological risk. Examples include cars, homes, computers, education. Spend a lot of time seeking information and deciding. Information from the companys marketing mix; friends and relatives, store personnel etc. Go through all six stages of the buying process. Impulse buying, no conscious planning. 9. 9 The purchase of the same product does not always elicit the same Buying Behavior. Product can shift from one category to the next. Example: Going out for dinner for one person may be extensive decision making (for someone that does not go out often at all), but limited decision making for someone else. The reason for the dinner, whether it is an anniversary celebration, or a meal with a couple of friends will also determine the extent of the decision making. There are many models of consumer buying behavior, but the steps below are fairly common to most of them. The customer identifies a need This is often initiated by PR coverage, including word of mouth. The customer may have seen a friend or celebrity using a product or service, or awareness may have been sparked off by advertising. Looking for information At this stage the customer wants to know more and is actively seeking information. Advertising and PR are still important but product demonstrations, packaging and product displays play a role. This is the time to deploy your sales personnel, and customers find videos and brochures are useful. Word of mouth is still very important. Checking out alternative products and suppliers The customer is now trying to choose between products, or firm up on the purchase decision. This is a place for promoting product guarantees and warranties, and maximizing packaging and product displays. Sales personnel can greatly influence the customer at this stage and sales promotion offers become of interest. Independent sources of information are still of interest, including product test reviews. 10. 10 Purchase decision This is the time to 'tip the balance'. Sales promotion offers come into their own, and if appropriate, sales force incentives need to ensure that your sales personnel are incentivized to close the deal. Using the product Expensive purchases can lead to what is known as cognitive dissonance - a fear that the customer has not made the right decision. Your job is to reassure the customer by offering good customer care, simple instruction manuals and loyalty schemes. They should still be exposed to testimonial advertising to reassure them that they have made the right decision. 5.3 Importance of marketing mix Marketing mix is normally referred to as the '4 Ps', product, price, place and promotion. To meet customers' needs a business must develop proper market mix for them. These entails products to satisfy them, charge the right price get the goods to the right place, and it must make the existence of the product known through promotion. The importance of a marketing mix is to make businesses or organizations meet the needs of customers and to satisfy them. The marketing mix is made up of four P's which are promotion, price, product and place. This means the goods should be taken to the correct places, the goods should be promoted in order to be known, the products should satisfy customer needs and they should have the correct prices. All elements from the Marketing Mix have an interaction on and with each other. If you have a product, you will have to create a price and sell it. The way you communicate this product will make it either more or less visible to your target market. The price you ask for the product will infer a special quality. If you communicate effectively about the product, it will need to be for sale in a place where your target market has access to it. These elements, product, price, place and promotion all influence each other. The product is of course very important and the success of the business will depend largely on how good or bad it is. The decision as to the nature of the product also has to depend on its customer base as also their buying habits, geographical locations, purchasing power and 11. 11 other factors. Sometimes a business may want to come out with the best there is, and sometimes the same business might market a product that is for the budget customer. An example is Tata Motors that owns the Jaguar (which is a premium brand) and also the Nano (which is the cheapest automobile in the world). It is the amount a prospect is willing to pay for the product. There is always the right price for a product? If it is priced higher than this then it might not sell, and if it is priced lower than that then the business might be missing out on revenues. But there are many issues based on which a company determines the price and that is not limited just to the cost of manufacturing it. These other factors include the perceived value of the product in the customer's mind, the market share of the business, competition and even local tax regulations and distribution and logistics costs. Then there are issues such as seasonal fluctuations that also need to be considered. The question where the product is offered is answered here. What are its distribution channels, how and at what price does the business warehouse the items, what are the costs of order processing and how will it be done? These are just a few questions that need to be answered. Promotion includes advertising and marketing? The effort to take a product from the business to the customer. Managing the sales force (for a traditional business) also belongs to this. What promotion strategy is best for a business will however not be the same? It will vary depending on the product itself, the market, the customer and also the budget the company has. 12. 12 6. Conceptual framework This is the foundation step of research to identify the independent variables and the dependent variable with that the conceptual frame work drown as follows, Independent variables Dependent variables Product Price Place Promotion Buying behavior of youth segment 13. 13 7. Hypothesis H01: There is a positive relationship between marketing mix and buying behavior of the youth segment. H02: Marketing mix very important factor for buying behavior of the youth segment. H03: There can be more factors to influence on buying behavior of youth segment except marketing mix. H04: There is a positive relationship between buying behavior and youth segment. 8. Methodology At first, exploratory research was performed by means of literature survey. This enables us to be familiar with the concepts and terminology of marketing mix influence on buying behavior of the youth segment. In the second stage, descriptive research by means of survey performed on a representative sample of current buying behavior of the youth segment. This enables us to obtain consumers opinions on how marketing mix influence to buying behavior of the youth segment. Research instrument This investigation requires both primary and secondary data. Primary data is the data that collected only for this research. In order to collect primary data from respondent we can use questionnaire. Although observation and interview be capable of use to collect the primary data and to collect the secondary data can use Excising research findings, Journals, Books relate to this area, Websites. 14. 14 Research Design This study is descriptive research by its nature. Descriptive research is essentially a fact finding Approach related largely to the present and abstract generalizations by the cross sectional study of the current situation. Sample Design 100 respondents were selected for the study from Gampaha district. Also use non probability method, random sampling method. Analysis of data To analysis the data that collect from the respondent I wish to use SPSS data analysis software to interpret mire reliable result. To measure the data there are different types of measurement scales that are prevailing in the world. To analysis the result in this study researcher going to use following tools, Frequency tables Central tendency measures such as Mean, Medium, and Mode Percentages Standard deviation Regression analysis Co-Relation and Co-efficient ANOVA testing Different Bar charts, Pie charts and Graphs 15. 15 Qualitative data analysis Qualitative data can be arranged into categories that are not numerical. These categories can be physical traits, gender, colors or anything that does not have a number associated to it. In this research the qualitative data has collected through the opened ended questions in the questionnaire and it has used to get the wider understanding about the subject area. 9. Limitations of the study Time frame/ Resources Time frame for this study will be consisting of four months. Scope of this study was selected based on this time frame. Population size Sample size has been consisting for 100 customers of youth segment. The results could be different if the sample size more than this and if different segments involved to the sample. Geographic location The sample has been selected from the youth customer in gampaha district. Therefor the finding of research will be based on the ideas of the above and the result could be different if takes the sample from all island. Use non probability sample method. Use few assumptions it generate some artificial condition. 16. 16 10. Proposed time schedule for the study Time table for the completion of the research is as follows. Month February March April May Selecting the topic and design the research Literature review Research framework Data collection Data analysis Conclusion Finalization of the research 11. References 1. Rajit Kumara, Research Methodology, issue 3, pp 217 236. 2. Michael R. Soloman, Consumer Behavior, issue 7. pp 7 14, 340 352. 3. Philip Kotler, Prafulla Y. Agnihotri, Gary Armstrong, Ehsan Ul Haque, Principles of Marketing, issue 13, pp 44 48. 4. Sri Lankan Journal of Management Volume 14, No. 4 & Volume 15, No 1. 5. Uditha Liyanage, The Sri Lankan Post-modern Consumer, issue 1, pp 93 98. 17. 17