Identification of Parameters for Customer Satisfaction

SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT REPORT ON
“Identification of Parameters for Customer
Satisfaction”
UNDERTAKEN AT:
SUBMITTED BY:
Riya Adhikari, PGPM, 1st year, Globsyn Business School.
Company Guide: Mr Anirban Banerjee
Academic Mentor: Prof Susmita Chatterjee

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Acknowledgement
It gives me immense pleasure in presenting my Summer Internship Project report on
“Identification of Parameters for Customer Satisfaction” which I undertook while
undergoing my summer training at TNS. I would like to take this opportunity to express my
sincere gratitude towards all those who have shared their expertise and knowledge with me
during my summer internship program and helped me complete this project.
First and foremost, I would like to thank Mr Avijit Dasgupta, Regional Manager of TNS
India and Mr Tamal Mukherjee, Kolkata Branch Head of TNS India, for giving me the
opportunity of doing my internship from TNS. I would like to express my deepest thanks to
Mr Anirban Banerjee and Ms Rebecca Chowdhury, my company guides, for their
constant aid and support throughout the span of my internship. I would also like to thank the
entire staff of TNS India, Kolkata Branch, for their valuable support and co-operation.
I thank Prof Susmita Chatterjee, faculty member at Globsyn Business School and my
academic mentor, for guiding me towards the completion of this project.
Last but not the lease, I would like to thank all the respondents who gave me their valuable
time and allowed me to collect the required information from them.
Dated: 12-07-2013 RIYA ADHIKARI

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Approval of Industry Guide
This is to certify that Miss RIYA ADHIKARI, a student of GLOBSYN BUSINESS
SCHOOL, Kolkata, bearing Enrolment No. 010111012, was a summer intern at TNS India
Pvt Ltd. for a period of eight weeks.
Her project entitled “Identification of Parameters for Customer Satisfaction” was done
under my guidance. It was submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of
the degree of POST GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MANAGEMENT to GLOBSYN
BUSINESS SCHOOL, Kolkata in record of bona-fide training carried out by her.
ANIRBAN BANERJEE
Operations Manager
TNS India Pvt Ltd.

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Approval of Academic Mentor
This is to certify that Miss RIYA ADHIKARI, bearing Enrolment No. 010111012, has
carried out the project report entitled “Identification of Parameters for Customer
Satisfaction” for the award of Post Graduate Program in Management from GLOBSYN
BUSINESS SCHOOL, Kolkata under my supervision.
The project report embodies results of original work and studies carried out by the student
herself and the contents of the project report do not form the basis for the award of any other
degree to the candidate or to anyone else.
SUSMITA CHATTERJEE
Assistant Professor
Globsyn Business School, Kolkata

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Declaration
I do hereby declare that this project entitled “Identification of Parameters for Customer
Satisfaction” is my own and original work. In keeping with the norms and guidelines of
TNS, clients name has not been mentioned anywhere in this project report. The project has
been done for fulfilling the requirements of Post Graduate Program of Management as a
Summer Internship Project. It has been submitted only to TNS India and Globsyn Business
School.
RIYA ADHIKARI
Enrolment No. 010111012
Globsyn Business School

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Content Table
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................8
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…………………………...……………………………….8
INTRODUCTION TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION…………………..….………9
COMPANY PROFILE…………………………………………….…………..….….…10-12
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT...…………………………..……………..………....…13
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF A LEADING CAR MANUFACTURER……....…14
RESEARCH DESIGN…………………………………………………………...…..14
QUESTIONNAIRE………………………………………………………..……..15-21
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA……………………….………22-30
FINDINGS……………………………….……………………………….………31-32
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION…………………………………………………33
CUMTOMER SATISFACTION OF A MULTINATIONAL FOOD PRODUCT
MANUFACTURER…………………………………………………………….……....…..34
RESEARCH DESIGN…………………………………………………….…..…..…34
QUESTIONNAIRE………………………………………………………..…......35-39
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA………………………………..40-46
FINDINGS………………………………………………………………….…….47-48
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION…………...…………………………………49-50
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..…........51

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Table of Figure and Graphs
TABLES…………………………………………………………….….22-49
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4…………………………………………………………………….……….25
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6……………………………………………………………………………..27
7………………………………………………………………………….….28
8……………………………………………………………………………..29
9……………………………………………………………………………..30
10……………………………………………………………………………40
11……………………………………………………………………………41
12……………………………………………………………………………42
13……………………………………………………………………………43
14……………………………………………………………………………44
15……………………………………………………………………………45
16……………………………………………………………………………46
17……………………………………………………………………………49
GRAPHS………………………………………………………………..22-49
1…………………….……………………………………………………….22
2……………………………………………………………………………..23
3……………………………………………………………………………..24
4……………………………………………………………………………..40
5……………………………………………………………………………..41
6……………………………………………………………………………..42
7……………………………………………………………………………..43
8……………………………………………………………………………..44
9……………………………………………………………………………..45
10……………………………………………………………………………46
11……………………………………………………………………………49

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Executive Summary
Project Title: “Identification of Parameters for Customer Satisfaction”
Area of work: Kolkata
Name of the organisation: TNS India.
Duration: 2 months
Project done by: Riya Adhikari

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Introduction to Customer Satisfaction Measurement
What is satisfaction?
Simply stated, satisfaction is a feeling. It is the customer’s response to the fulfilment of their
wishes, expectations and needs. It is a short term attitude that can change overtime with
changing circumstance. Satisfaction normally has thresholds at both lower and upper level.
When customer’s needs are not fulfilled, it can result in dissatisfaction. Similarly, over
fulfilment may also lead to customer dissatisfaction.
A Basic Satisfaction Model:
Performance: How well the product/service whose satisfaction is being measured actually
performs or is perceived to perform.
Comparison Standard: How well competition of that product/service performs.
Disconfirmation of Standard: Evaluation of the “performance” based on the “Comparison
Standards”
Satisfaction: Based on the able evaluation, the feeling of satisfaction/dissatisfaction is
reached.
Outcome: May involve repurchase of the said product, word-of-mouth, complaint etc.
Performance
Comparison
Standard
Disconfirmation
of Standard Satisfaction Outcomes

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Customer Satisfaction Measurement System:
Customer Satisfaction can be measured through the following measurement systems.
 Quantitative Measurement System
 Periodic Surveys
 Qualitative Measurement System
 Customer Comments
 Inspection System
 Inspection
 Mystery Shoppers
Customer Satisfaction Measurement Process:
i. Identify Customer Segments
ii. Identify Attributes and Dimensions
iii. Measure Current Perceptions
iv. Analyse and Present the Results
v. Determine Strategically Important Dimensions and Determine Priorities
Satisfaction Measures:
 Direct Measures
 comment cards
 complaints
 surveys of customers
 Indirect Measures
 number of repeat customers
 mystery shoppers
 sales trends

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Company Profile
Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) is a leading Market Research firm with its headquarters in
London, UK. TNS was acquired by WPP Group, the world’s largest advertising company by
revenue, in 2008 and brought under the portfolio of the Kantar Group. Kantar Group is the
Market Research wing of WPP plc and it is the world’s largest insight, information and
consultancy network. Along with TNS, other leading Market Research firms, such as
Millward Brown, IMRB International also form a part of the Kantar Group.
History of TNS
The functioning of TNS as a market research firm began in 1946 with the establishment of
National Family Opinion (NFO) in USA. Since then several major mergers and acquisitions
involving companies such as Intersearch (USA), AGB (UK), Sofres (France), FSA
(Australia) and Taylor Nelson (UK) lead to the formation of the Taylor Nelson Sofres Group.
TNS Group continued to grow through the 80s and 90s, mainly by acquiring small research
companies. In 2008 TNS was in talks to acquire German market research firm GfK. But the
merger was unsuccessful and ultimately in 2008, TNS was acquired by the WPP Group for
$1.93bn.

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Main operation of TNS
TNS specialises in market research of the following sectors mainly:
 Automotive
 Customer Durables
 Finance
 Healthcare
 Media
 Technology
Some of the major clients:
Financial performance
Before TNS was bought by WPP and merged into the Kantar group, it was the 3 largest
market research firm with sales amounting to USD 1,850 million as of 2007. The Operating
income and Profit in the same year was £ 102.7 million and £ 58.5 million respectively.
After the merger, Kantar Group became the second largest market research firm in the world
with sales of USD 2,000 million.
Current operations
TNS is currently headed by Eric Salama, CEO of both TNS and Kantar Group. Mike Gettle is
the CFO and COO of TNS. It now has operations in over eighty countries of the world,
divided into four major division of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and emerging
economies.

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Objective of the project
The objective of the project is to understand the parameters that lead to customer satisfaction.
The project is divided into two sections:
1) CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF A LEADING CAR MANUFACTURER:
This is the first section in which we try to understand the parameters leading to
customer satisfaction among hatchback car owners. The cars considered in this study
were Honda Brio, Toyota Etios Liva, Volkswagen Polo, Chevrolet’s Sail-UVA,
Hyundai i20, Nissan Micra and Maruti Swift. Since it is against TNS’ policies to
disclose the client’s name, so the leading car manufacturer’s name will not be
mentioned. Instead we will consider it to be “Client Brand”. We will study how well
this Client Brand’s recently launched hatchback car, fairs when compared to its
competitors in terms of Customer Satisfaction. For this project primary data was
collected through one-on-one interview of the above mentioned car owners using a
structured questionnaire.
2) CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF A MULTINATIONAL FOOD PRODUCT
MANUFACTURER:
In the second section we study the customer satisfaction of a multinational food
product corporation. Here too, since the clients name cannot be disclosed be will take
it as Client Company. In this project we focus on the customer satisfaction rating of
client company’s “icing and topping” products. For this we interviewed
chefs/purchase managers/owners of client company’s product users ranging from
local pastry shops like Bake Club and Cakes to 5 star hotels in Kolkata such as Oberoi
Grand and Hyatt. For this project too primary data was collected using a structured
questionnaire.

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Customer Satisfaction of a Leading Car Manufacturer
Research Design
Research Objective:
The objective of the project is to understand the parameters that lead to customer satisfaction
among hatchback car owners and also to study how well Client Brand’s recently launched
hatchback car fairs when compared to its competitors in terms of customer satisfaction.
Research Methodology:
Descriptive Research Methodology was used in this project. For this a well-structured
questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was divided into two parts: (i) Screener Section
and (ii) Main Section. Only those who passed the Screener section could be asked questions
present in the main questionnaire.
Data Collective Method:
Primary data was collected through one-on-one interview with owners of the above
mentioned cars. Database for the same was provided by TNS.
Sample Design:
There were several criteria that needed to be fulfilled by the interviewee before they could be
asked questions provided in the main questionnaire. The Screener was used to sort the
qualifiers from the non-qualifiers. To qualify for the interview of the main section of the
questionnaire the respondent needed to be:
1) Should have bought Client Brand’s car or competitors cars on or after October 2012.
2) Below the age of 60. Above the age of 20.
3) Should be the main user of the car.
4) Should not have had participated in any automotive research in the past 6 months.
5) Should have been the main or at least the joint purchase decision maker for the
vehicle.
Sample Size:
The sample size as suggested by the industry guide was 40.

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Questionnaire (Screener section)
Q1. Do you or any of your relatives work/have worked in any of these occupations?
Advertising Agency 1
TERMINATE
Market research Agency 2
Company manufacturing cars 3
Car dealer/car service station 4
Car rental agency 5
Auto financial company 6
Car rental agency/taxi hire business/car leasing
company
7
Newspapers/TV Channels/magazines & other
media
8
Automotive bloggers(write on automotive
subjects/topics related to automotive)
9
None of these 10 CONTINUE
Q2 Have you participated in any automotive research in past 6 months?
Yes Terminate
No Continue
Q3 Could you please tell me your age in completed years?
Age group CODE
Below 20 yrs 1 TERMINATE
20-25 Yrs 2
26-30 Yrs 3
31-35 Yrs 4

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36-40 Yrs 5 CONTINUE
41-45 Yrs 6
46-50 Yrs 7
51-60 Yrs 8
Above 60 Yrs 9 TERMINATE
Q4 Have you bought any car in the past 8 months?
Yes Continue
No Terminate
Q5 You said that you purchased a car during past 8 months, can you please tell me which month
and year did you purchase the car?
Year Month Code Premium
Hatchback
September 2012 or earlier 1 TERMINATE
2012 October 2
CONTINUE
CONTINUE
2012 November 3
2012 December 4
2013 January 5
2013 February 6
2013 March 7
2013 April 8
2013 May 9
2013 June 10 TERMINATE

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Q6 Please tell us the make and model of the car that you have purchased post October 2012?
Make Model
Toyota Etios Liva
CONTINUE
Volkswagen Polo
Honda Brio
Chevrolet Sail UVA
Hyundai I20
Nissan Micra
Maruti Swift
Others TERMINATE
Q7 Please tell me whether you were the main decision maker when the car was purchased?
I am the sole purchase decision maker for this
vehicle
1
CONTINUE
I Made a sole purchase decision(with at least
50% influence/authority in the final decision)
2
I Made a sole purchase decision(with less than
50% influence/authority in the final decision)
3
TERMINATE
I was not involved in making the purchase
decision for this vehicle.
4
Q8 Are you the main user of this car?
Yes Continue
No Terminate

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Questionnaire (Main section)
Q1: Please list out top 3 important factors out of the factors that you considered while selecting the
car purchased.
Reasons
Rank
top 3
Exterior style / design
Interior style / design
Quality of workmanship and finish
Exterior size
Interior roominess
Safety(ABS, Airbag, protection from crash, braking etc)
Engine performance(overtaking capability, BHP, accelaration etc)
Engine type (Petrol, Diesel etc)
Air-conditioning performance
Fuel economy/efficiency
Ride quality (quietness. Vibration, harshness, suspension etc)
Driving convenience(parking convenience, maneuverability, visibility)
Trunk/baggage capacity
Durability (few minor troubles)
Maintenance cost(repair / service cost)
Standard feature(AC, power steering)
New high tech features(rear parking camera, navigation etc)
Purchase price
Resale value/ trading price
Value for money
After sales service(service quality, on road assistance)
Warranty coverage
Good Reputation of maker
Good Reputation of model
Country of origin
Engine size
Positive word of mouth
Ground clearance
Past Experience with the company
This car is seen a lot on roads

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Q2. How would you rate the overall performance of your car, based on your overall
experience, with buying and using it?
Excellent ..............................................5 Fair .................................................2
Very Good ...........................................4 Poor ................................................1
Good ....................................................3
Q3. Based on your overall experience, how likely are you to recommend the car to your
friends and associates who may be planning to buy a car?
Definitely recommend .........................5 Not likely to recommend................2
Very likely to recommend...................4 Definitely will not recommend.......1
Likely to recommend...........................3
Q4. How likely are you to buy the car purchased, assuming you are buying a car today?
Definitely will buy...............................5 Probably will not buy .....................2
Most probably will buy........................4 Definitely will not buy ...................1
Probably will buy.................................3
Q5. To what extent do you see personal advantages or benefits to you in buying the car,
rather than any other brand?
A lot of advantage................................5 Not much advantage.......................2
Some advantage...................................4 No advantage at all .........................1
A little advantage.................................3
Q6. Based on your overall experience, please tell me how you would rate your car on trouble
free running and operation?
Excellent ..............................................5 Fair .................................................2
Very Good ...........................................4 Poor ................................................1
Good ....................................................3
Q7. Based on the problems that you have experienced, to what extent do you see personal
disadvantages in having bought the car rather than any other car?
No disadvantage at all..........................5 Some disadvantage .........................2
Very little disadvantage.......................4 Quite a lot of disadvantage .............1
A little disadvantage............................3

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Q8. How would you rate your car on the price you paid for it and, if you can, its resale value
(depreciation)?
Excellent..............................................5 Fair .................................................2
Very Good ...........................................4 Poor ................................................1
Good ....................................................3
Q9. How would you your car on running costs such as fuel consumption and maintenance?
Excellent ..............................................5 Fair .................................................2
Very Good ...........................................4 Poor ................................................1
Good ....................................................3
Q10. Based on these ownership costs, how much distinct advantage do you feel you got
from having purchased your car rather than some other similar car?
Q11. Based on your overall experience please tell me how you would rate your car on its
performance and design?
Excellent ..............................................5 Fair .................................................2
Very Good ...........................................4 Poor ................................................1
Good ....................................................3
Q12. Compared to similar cars in the market, to what extent do you see distinct advantages
in the performance and design of you purchased?

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Q13. Please tell me to which of the following brands of 4-wheelers the statement applies to. You
can select one or more than one brand.
Brand Name Volksw
agen
Polo
Toyota
Etios
Liva
Honda
Brio
Chevrolet
Sail-UVA
Hyund
ai i20
Nissan
Micra
Maruti
Swift
01
Designed with most
advanced technology
02 Beautiful Exterior Styling
03
Is distinctive and unique
vehicle
04
Outstanding reliability and
dependability over a long
period of time
05 Is a great value for its price
06 Has a high resale value
07
Has good fuel efficiency
08
Has best passenger safety in
its class
09 Luxurious interior
10
Has a spacious interior
11
Is a Popular Brand
12
Trusted Brand
13
Is a superior quality car
14
Is a status symbol
15
Excellent Driving
Performance
16 Fun to drive
17 Safe
18
Environmentally friendly
19
Excellent dealership
experience
20 Comfortable interiors
21
Contemporary vehicles
22
Socially responsible
company
23 Fits my lifestyle
24 Proud to own
25 A brand for me

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Presentation and Analysis of Data
Table 1: Of all the factors that the respondents had considered while purchasing Client
Brand, the most common factor among respondents was “Interior roominess” of the car.
Factors Percentage of respondents
Interior roominess 18%
Ride quality 15%
Good Reputation of maker 13.33%
Quality of workmanship 10%
Value for money 8.33%
Exterior design 6.67%
Fuel economy/efficiency 5%
Driving convenience 5%
Trunk/baggage capacity 5%
Interior design 3.33%
Engine performance 3.33%
Purchase price 3.33%
Exterior size 1.70%
Country of origin 1.67%
Top 3 factors considered while selecting Client Brand
Graph 1:

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Table 2: Out of all the factors what respondents (owners of Competitor Brands) had
considered while selecting their respective cars, “Fuel economy” turned out to be the most
common factor.
Factors Percentage of respondents
Fuel economy 11.67%
Engine performance 10%
Ride quality 10%
Value for money 8.33%
Good Reputation of maker 8.33%
Exterior style 6.67%
Quality of workmanship 6.67%
Purchase price 6.67%
Maintenance cost 5%
After sales service 5%
Interior style 3.33%
Interior roominess 3.33%
Durability 3.33%
Good Reputation of model 3.33%
Safety 1.67%
New high tech features 1.67%
Resale value/ trading price 1.67%
Positive word of mouth 1.67%
This car is seen a lot on roads 1.67%
Top 3 factors considered while selecting Competitor Brands
Graph 2:

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Table 3: Correlation between Attribute “Overall Performance” with the other Attributes (1-
10) are calculated. The purpose is to identify the hierarchy of these attributes in influencing
the overall performance rating.
Parameters Correlation
Ratetheoverall performancebasedonyouroverall experiencewithbuyingandusingthecar
1)Basedonyouroverall experience,tell me howyouwouldrateontroublefreerunningand
operations 0.76
2)Howwouldyourateyourcaronrunningcostsuchasfuel consumptionandmaintenance 0.65
3)Basedonyouoverall experience,howlikelyareyoutorecommendyourcartoafriendor
associate 0.54
4)Basedontheseownershipcosts,howmuchdisadvantagedoyoufeel yougotfromhaving
purchasedyourcarratherthansome othercar 0.51
5)Howlikelyareyoutobuyyourcar,assumingyouarebuyingacartoday 0.49
6)Basedontheproblemsthatyouhaveexperienced,towhatextentdoyouseepersoanl
disadvantageinhavingbroughtyourcarratherthananyothercar 0.45
7)Howwouldyourateyourcaronthepricepaidanditsresalevalue 0.40
8)Basedonoverall experiencehowwouldyourateyourcaronitsperformanceanddesign 0.31
9)Comparedtosimilarcarsinthemarket,towhatextentdoyouseedistinctadvantageinthe
performanceanddesignonyourcar 0.24
10)Towhatextentdoyouseepersonal advantageorbenefitstoyouinbuyingthecar,ratherthan
anyothercar 0.23
Identifyingthehierarchyofimportanceoftheparametersininfluencingoverallperofrmance

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Table 4: Overall performance rating of the respondent’s car shown as a percentage.
Parameter Brand Mean
Excellentand
VeryGood
Good
FairandPoor
Client 80% 20% 0% 4.1
Competitor 95% 5% 0% 4.6
Rating
Ratetheoverallperformancebasedonyouroverall
experiencewithbuyingandusingthecar
Graph 3: Overall performance rating of client’s brand and competitor brands shown side
by side in a column chart.

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Table 5: Mean of all “Client Brand” car owners rating on a 5 point scale. Parameters
arranged in descending order of their importance in influencing the overall performance
rating of the “Client Brand”.
Parameter Mean
Based on youroverall experience, tell me how you would rate on trouble free
runningand operations 4.15
How would you rate yourcaron runningcostsuch as fuel consumption and
maintenance 4.3
Based on you overall experience, how likely are you to recommend yourcarto a
friend orassociate 4.35
Based on these ownership costs, how much disadvantage do you feel you gotfrom
havingpurchased yourcarratherthan some othercar 4.75
How likely are you to buy yourcar, assumingyou are buyingacartoday 3.9
Based on the problems thatyou have experienced, to whatextentdo you see
persoanl disadvantage in havingbroughtyourcarratherthan any othercar 4.15
How would you rate yourcaron the price paid and its resale value 4.4
Based on overall experience how would you rate yourcaron its performance and
design 3.7
Compared to similarcars in the market, to whatextentdo you see distinctadvantage
in the performance and design on yourcar 4.25
To whatextentdo you see personal advantage orbenefits to you in buyingthe car,
ratherthan any othercar 4.65
Rating:Excellent=5, Verygood=4,Good=3, Fair=2, Poor=1

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Table 6: Mean of all “competitor brands” car owners rating on a 5 point scale. Parameters
arranged in descending order of their importance in influencing the overall performance
rating of “competitor brand”.
Parameters Mean
Based on your overall experience, tell me how you would rate on trouble
free running and operations 4.75
How would you rate your car on running cost such as fuel consumption and
maintenance 4.65
Based on you overall experience, how likely are you to recommend your car
to a friend or associate 4.6
ased on these ownership costs, how much disadvantage do you feel you got
from having purchased your car rather than some other car 4.5
How likely are you to buy your car, assuming you are buying a car today 4.75
Based on the problems that you have experienced, to what extent do you
see persoanl disadvantage in having brought your car rather than any other
car 4.8
How would you rate your car on the price paid and its resale value 4.6
Based on overall experience how would you rate your car on its performance
and design 4.75
Compared to similar cars in the market, to what extent do you see distinct
advantage in the performance and design on your car 4.65
To what extent do you see personal advantage or benefits to you in buying
the car, rather than any other car 4.6
Rating: Excellent=5, Very good=4, Good=3, Fair=2, Poor=1

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Table 7: Comparing the mean of Client Brand’s ratings with those of its competitors to find
out Client Brand’s competitive standing. Parameters arranged in the descending order of their
importance in influencing overall performance rating.
Parameters
Client
Brand's
Mean
Competitor
s Mean
Difference
Client Brand's
competitive
standing
Based on your overall experience, tell me how you
would rate on trouble free running and operations 4.15 4.75 -0.6 Disadvantage
How would you rate your car on running cost such as
fuel consumption and maintenance 4.3 4.65 -0.35 Parity
Based on you overall experience, how likely are you to
recommend your car to a friend or associate 4.35 4.6 -0.25 Parity
Based on these ownership costs, how much
disadvantage do you feel you got from having
purchased your car rather than some other car 4.75 4.5 0.25 Parity
How likely are you to buy your car, assuming you are
buying a car today 3.9 4.75 -0.85 Disadvantage
Based on the problems that you have experienced, to
what extent do you see persoanl disadvantage in
having brought your car rather than any other car 4.15 4.8 -0.65 Disadvantage
How would you rate your car on the price paid and its
resale value 4.4 4.6 -0.2 Parity
Based on overall experience how would you rate your
car on its performance and design 3.7 4.75 -1.05 Disadvantage
Compared to similar cars in the market, to what extent
do you see distinct advantage in the performance and
design on your car 4.25 4.65 -0.4 Parity
To what extent do you see personal advantage or
benefits to you in buying the car, rather than any other
car 4.65 4.6 0.05 Parity

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Table 8: The following statements were read out to the respondents and the brand to which
they associated the statement is recorded. The percentage associations are recorded below.
Respondents were allowed to choose multiple brands for each attribute.
Brand A Brand B Brand C Brand D Brand E Brand F
Designed with most advanced technology 72.50% 10% 42.50% 67.50% 50% 27.50% 77.50%
Beautiful Exterior Styling 67.50% 5% 32.50% 77.50% 65% 52.50% 67.50%
Is a distinctive looking vehicle 37.50% 40% 47.50% 45% 32.50% 22.50% 25%
Is great value for price 47.50% 60% 47.50% 52.50% 37.50% 45% 60%
Has a high resale value 60% 7.50% 25% 57.50% 32.50% 25% 62.50%
Has good fuel efficiency 45% 47.50% 52.50% 52.50% 30% 42.50% 65%
Has best passenger safety 62.50% 30% 45% 57.50% 47.50% 37.50% 55%
Luxurious interior 67.50% 35% 42.50% 72.50% 52.50% 47.50% 70%
Has a spacious interior 82.50% 27.50% 30% 70% 30% 42.50% 72.50%
Is a popular brand 82.50% 80% 75% 65% 55% 17.50% 90%
Trusted Brand 87.50% 87.50% 90% 77.50% 42.50% 22.50% 87.50%
Is a superior quality car 72.50% 30% 37.50% 75% 40% 32.50% 82.50%
Is a status symbol 67.50% 20% 52.50% 72.50% 45% 20% 62.50%
Excellent Driving Performance 55% 40% 45% 67.50% 30% 25% 52.50%
Fun to drive 40% 32.50% 15% 52.50% 22.50% 20% 57.50%
Environmentally friendly 57.50% 32.50% 32.50% 72.50% 27.50% 12.50% 72.50%
Excellent dealership experience 57.50% 40% 37.50% 45% 37.50% 30% 50%
Socially responsible company 62.50% 70% 42.50% 62.50% 35% 15% 70%
Fits my lifestyle 52.50% 17.50% 37.50% 57.50% 30% 25% 47.50%
Proud to own 52.50% 22.50% 32.50% 60% 20% 27.50% 60.00%
A brand for me 62.50% 22.50% 35% 55% 32.50% 22.50% 60%
BRANDIMAGE
Competitors
Client's
Brand
Attributes

30 | P a g e
Table 9: Using Normalization technique to see how well each brand associates itself with
each attribute.
BrandA BrandB BrandC BrandD BrandE BrandF
Designedwithmostadvancedtechnology 9 -28 -2 3 10 -4 11
Beautiful ExteriorStyling 1 -36 -15 10 22 19 -1
Isdistinctive andunique vehicle -12 16 17 -6 7 5 -27
Isgreatvalue forprice -16 22 3 -12 -3 14 -6
Hasahighresale value 8 -19 -9 4 4 5 8
Hasgoodfuel efficiency -17 11 10 -10 -8 13 1
Hasbestpassengersafety 1 -6 2 -5 10 8 -9
Luxuriousinterior -2 -9 -8 2 7 11 -2
Hasaspaciousinterior 18 -12 -16 4 -11 10 5
Isapopularbrand 2 25 14 -16 -2 -30 7
TrustedBrand 3 28 24 -8 -18 -30 0
Isasuperiorqualitycar 6 -11 -10 7 -3 -2 13
Isastatussymbol 5 -17 9 9 6 -10 -2
ExcellentDrivingPerformance -4 7 5 8 -5 -1 -9
Funtodrive -8 10 -14 3 -2 4 7
Environmentallyfriendly 0 0 -6 14 -7 -13 12
Excellentdealershipexperience 1 9 0 -12 5 6 -9
Sociallyresponsible company -2 31 -4 -3 -6 -18 3
Fitsmylifestyle 0 -9 4 4 2 5 -7
Proudtoown -1 -5 -2 6 -9 7 4
A brandforme 7 -7 -1 -1 1 0 2
Attributes
Client's
Brand
Competitors
Green=Strength, Red=Weakness

31 | P a g e
Findings of the research
Table 1 and Graph 1: Top three factors considered by respondents while purchasing “client
brand” are interior roominess (18%), ride quality (15%) and good reputation of the maker
(13%). Most respondents felt that the client brand's interior roominess was best in the class
and could even be compared to the interior roominess of some sedans as well. To quote some
respondents, "I had been using Maruti Swift Dezire for almost 3 years before purchasing
'client brand' and I have to say the interior roominess of 'client brand' is as good as the Swift
Dezire", "When you are sitting inside the car, you feel like you are sitting inside a sedan"
Table 2 and Graph 2: Top three factors considered by respondents while purchasing
“competitor brands” are fuel economy (11.67%), engine performance (10%) and ride quality
(10%). It was also found out that the reason these respondents had rejected “client brand” and
purchased “competitor brands” was because of the low fuel economy and poor engine
performance of the “client brand”. The fuel economy of the “client brand” is much less that
what the company had mentioned. Also the pick-up of the “client brand” is poor, especially
while the AC is on.
Table 3: The overall performance of the car and the parameters that influence the overall
performance rating are studied. It was found out that trouble free running, fuel consumption,
maintenance/ownership cost, are the factors that most determine the overall performance
rating. On the other hand, design of the car, resale value and personal benefit of having
bought the car rather than any other car, are the factors that least determine the overall
performance rating.
Table 4 and Graph 4: It was found out that percentage of respondents who had rated the
client brand’s overall performance as excellent & very good was a tag less than that of the
competitor brands. Also the mean of the overall performance ratings of all the respondents
who had purchased client brand was less than the competitors. Thus competitor brands can be
said to have outperformed the client brand in the overall performance rating.
Table 5, 6, and 7: From these tables the rating of the parameters of the client brand and the
competitor brands are shown. It was found out that for most parameters the client brand’s
competitive standing was at parity with the competitor brands. However for the parameters
such as “how likely are you to buy the car, assuming you are buying a car today”, “based on
the problems faced, do you see a personal disadvantage in having bought the car, rather than
any other car” and “overall rating based on performance and design”, the client brand seems
to have underperformed when compared to its competitor brands.

32 | P a g e
Table 8: The Brand Image of the respondents was shown. In this the statements were read
out to the respondents and the brand to which the respondent most associated the statement
with was recorded. The percentage association with each brand and each attribute was
calculated.
Table 9: Normalization technique was used to remove the bias that a brand’s size and/or an
attribute’s appeal might have had on the endorsement. To elaborate, Etios Liva, Polo and Sail
UVA are big brands and just by virtue of its size, it is "expected" to garner higher
endorsements across attributes compared to smaller brand such as Micra and Brio (suppose).
By normalizing, we remove the effect of brand size and evaluate it with respect to its
expected share of endorsements. That is why, some brands even with similar absolute
endorsements will have different normalized scores indicating that relative to their size and
competitive standing, they have fared differently (some green and some yellow/ red). Thus,
normalization reduces all brands to similar sizes and then evaluates their standing on a
particular attribute, thereby portraying a more unbiased and pure picture of a brand.

33 | P a g e
Summery and Conclusion
From this study we find the reasons for selecting client’s brand were very different from that
of competitors’ brands. Whereas client’s brand was selected for Interior roominess, Ride
quality and Reputation of the maker; competitors’ brands were selected for Fuel economy,
Engine performance, and Ride quality. This indicates to a gap between the client’s offering
and the competitors’ offerings. In order to move to a position of competitive advantage, the
client’s brand needs to close these gaps.
Trouble-free running and Running cost (primarily fuel cost) are the top two drivers of
customer’s’ overall perceptions towards a car. The client’s brand is at a position of
competitive disadvantage on both these parameters. Hence the brand needs to revisit its
product strategy to address these issues. Certain engineering improvements to provide a
smooth and trouble-free running experience and enhanced fuel efficiency would do the
product a lot of good.
This was further reflected in the brand image profile of the client’s brand, which had the
highest negative score (-17) on the “Fuel Efficiency” parameter. It is critical that the client
brand addresses this issue in order to succeed in the Indian market. Once addressed, the
client’s brand can talk about this in its advertising campaign. Given that the car has some
distinct competitive advantages such as “Spacious interior” and “Is a brand for me”,
addressing the fuel efficiency issue and then communicating it to potential buyers would put
the client’s brand in a winning position in the Indian market.

34 | P a g e
Customer Satisfaction of a Multinational Food Product
Manufacturer
Research Design
Research Objective:
The objective of the project is to study the customer satisfaction of the client’s icing and
topping products based on several parameters.
Research Methodology:
Descriptive Research Methodology was used in this project. For this a well-structured
questionnaire was used.
Data Collective Method:
Primary data was collected through one-on-one interview with food service providers who
use the Client Company’s icing and topping products. Interviews of chefs/purchase
managers/owners of these food services were taken. Database for the same was provided by
TNS.
Sample Design:
The respondent should have worked in the food service industry for at least a year to qualify
for this interview. Should have used the client’s products in the past 6 months.
Sample Size:
The sample size as suggested by the company guide was 20.

35 | P a g e
Questionnaire
Q1. In your opinion, how important is it for a supplier to demonstrate each of the following
concerning the overall “Business Relationship”? And how would you assess the
performance of MNO on each of these aspects?
Importance in General PARAMETERS Performance of
RICH’S
Extremely
Important
Very
Important
Important
Fairly
Important
Not
Important
Poor
Fair
Good
VeryGood
GoodExcellent
5 4 3 2 1 Understands your business environment 1 2 3 4 5
Collaborates with different functional areas
within your business
Does the right things right
Is a trusted business partner
Is able to help you to grow he sales and profits
Shows interest in a long-term relationship
Cares about you and your business
Is able to leverage international resources to
provide optimal solutions
Q2. Regarding “product and packaging” how important are the following? How would you
rate MNO under these parameters?
RICH’S

36 | P a g e
Extremely
Important
Very
Important
Important
Fairly
Important
Not
Important
Poor
Fair
Good
VeryGood
GoodExcellent
5 4 3 2 1 Consistently high quality 1 2 3 4 5
Products are easy to use
New/innovative products
Comes from an international company
A broad product line that addresses your
business needs
Convenient packaging
Clear labelling and instructions on the packaging
Products come in appropriate sizes
Packaging maintains product integrity
Offers environmentally sustainable
products/packaging
Q3. Concerning a supplier’s “Sales service” staff members, how important are the following?
How would you rate MNO’s?
RICH’S
Extremely
Important
Very
Important
Important
Fairly
Important
Not
Important
Poor
Fair
Good
VeryGood
GoodExcellent
5 4 3 2 1 Visit on a regular basis 1 2 3 4 5
Are available and responsive
Are knowledgeable about their and competitors’
products

37 | P a g e
Proactively works with you to identify new
business opportunities
Are able to resolve product/service problems
quickly
Are empowered to make decisions
Q4. Concerning a supplier’s “Technical Support” staff members, how important are the
following? How would you rate MNO’s performance?
RICH’S
Extremely
Important
Very
Important
Important
Fairly
Important
Not
Important
Poor
Fair
Good
VeryGood
GoodExcellent
5 4 3 2 1 Are knowledgeable about their and competitors’
products
1 2 3 4 5
Resolve problems quickly
Possess good service attitudes
Offer clear product training
Provide innovative solutions and applications
Customize new solutions/products training to
meet your needs
Provide implementable and practical technical
solutions
Can show you how to optimize your product mix
and provide operational guidance

38 | P a g e
Q5. In your opinion, regarding “Value”, how important are the following? How would you
rate MNO’s performance?
RICH’S
Extremely
Important
Very
Important
Important
Fairly
Important
Not
Important
Poor
Fair
Good
VeryGood
GoodExcellent
5 4 3 2 1 Pricing is fair and provides good value for the
money
1 2 3 4 5
Offers new products to help grow your business
Q6. Concerning a supplier’s “Ordering and Delivery”, how important are the following?
How would you rate MNO?
RICH’S
Extremely
Important
Very
Important
Important
Fairly
Important
Not
Important
Poor
Fair
Good
VeryGood
GoodExcellent
5 4 3 2 1 Convenient and easy procedures 1 2 3 4 5
Allows you to order in quantities you need
Regular, continuous supply of products
Can process rush orders within the time you
specify
Orders arrive undamaged
Delivers orders accurately and on time
Good service attitude of delivery personnel

39 | P a g e
Q7. In your opinion regarding “Payment” how important are the following? How does MNO
perform?
RICH’S
Extremely
Important
Very
Important
Important
Fairly
Important
Not
Important
Poor
Fair
Good
VeryGood
GoodExcellent
5 4 3 2 1 Payments related documents are correct and
delivered on time
1 2 3 4 5
Payment terms and methods are flexible

40 | P a g e
Presentation and Analysis of Data
Table 10 & Graph 4: “Overall Business Relationship”
Paramter Performance Importance
A.Understands your business
environment 3.55 4
B.Collaborates with different
functional areas within your business 3.35 3.05
C.Does the right things right 3.65 3.75
D.Is a trusted business partner 3.7 4.35
E.Is able to help you to grow he sales
and profits 3.5 4.3
F.Shows interest in a long-term
relationship 3.9 4.15
G.Cares about you and your business 3.4 4.35
H.Is able to leverage international
resources to provide optimal solutions
4 3.55
Average 3.63125 3.9375

41 | P a g e
Table 11 & Graph 5: “Product and Packaging”
Parameter Performance Importance
A.Consistently high quality 4.05 4.75
B.Products are easy to use 4.15 4.3
C.New/innovative products 3.6 3.65
D.Comes from an international company 3.55 3.4
E.A broad product line that addresses your business
needs 4 4.25
F.Convenient packaging 3.95 4.1
G.Clear labelling and instructions on the packaging 3.6 3.9
H.Products come in appropriate sizes 3.5 4.2
I.Packaging maintains product integrity 3.95 4.4
J.Offers environmentally sustainable products/packaging 3.1 3.6
AVERAGE 3.745 4.055

42 | P a g e
Table 12 & Graph 6: “Sales Service”
A.Visit on a regular basis 3.9 4.35
B.Are available and responsive 4.25 4.3
C.Are knowledgeable about their and
competitors’ products 2.8 3.8
D.Proactively works with you to identify
new business opportunities 2.6 3.85
F.Are able to resolve product/service
problems quickly 3.45 4.15
G.Are empowered to make decisions 3.35 3.5
AVERAGE 3.391666667 3.991666667

43 | P a g e
Table 13 & Graph 7: “Technical Support”
Are knowledgeable about their and competitors’
products 3.05 3.4
Resolve problems quickly 4.15 4.25
Possess good service attitudes 3.75 4.05
Offer clear product training
3.05 4.1
Provide innovative solutions and applications
3.45 4
Customize new solutions/products training to
meet your needs 2.95 3.45
Provide implementable and practical technical
solutions 3 3.25
Can show you how to optimize your product mix
and provide operational guidance 2.8 3.75
AVERAGE 3.275 3.78125

44 | P a g e
Table 14 & Graph 8: “Value”
Pricing is fair and provides good value for
the money 3.35 4.15
Offers new products to help grow your
business 3.05 4.25
AVERAGE 3.2 4.2

45 | P a g e
Table 15 & Graph 9: “Order and Delivery”
Convenientandeasy procedures 3.3 4
Allowsyoutoorderinquantitiesyouneed 3.45 3.85
Regular, continuoussupply of products 3.7 4.2
Canprocessrushorderswithinthe time youspecify 3.4 4.3
Ordersarrive undamaged 3.5 4.6
Deliversordersaccurately andontime 3.9 4.25
Goodservice attitude of delivery personnel 3.75 3.3
AVERAGE 3.571428571 4.07142857

46 | P a g e
Table 16 & Graph 10: “Payment”
Payments related documents are correct
and delivered on time 3.6 4.4
Payment terms and methods are flexible 3.05 4.1
AVERAGE 3.325 4.25

47 | P a g e
Findings of the research
Table 10 and Graph 4: In the parameters stated under "Overall Business Relationship", we
find that the client's performance is reasonably good compared to the importance of those
parameters. When the parameters are plotted in the Importance vs. Performance matrix,
parameters "Is a trusted business partner" and "Shows interest in a long term relationship" fall
in the upper right quadrant or the "High Importance-High Performance" area. All points
plotted here indicate strength that the company should build/promote and leverage.
Parameters "Is able to help you to grow the sales and profits" and "Cares about you and your
business" fall in the "High Importance-Low Performance" quadrant. Points plotted here
indicate potential improvement areas, as these are importance factors but the company is not
performing well on these. Parameter "Collaborates with different functional areas within your
business" falls in the "Low Importance-Low performance". Points plotted here indicate
hygiene factors, i.e. these factors are not importance and that's why customers do not really
care about them; they sort of take these factors for granted. However, a company should
maintain its performance on these factors. And finally parameters “Does the right things
right” and “Is able to leverage international resources to provide optimal solutions” fall in the
"Low Importance-High Performance". Points plotted here can be ignored and the resources
allocated here, should be reallocated elsewhere.
Table 11 and Graph 5: In the "Product and Packaging" section we again see that the
performance of the client company is quite upto the mark. There isn't a very broad gap
between the performance of the company in those parameters and the importance of those
parameters, except for one parameter which is "Products come in appropriate sizes" where
falls in the "Improve" quadrant of the matrix. Hence the client company should work on this
parameter.
Table 12 and Graph 6: In the "Sales Service" section we see that there needs to be some
improvement in two of the parameters, namely, "Are knowledgeable about the competitors'
products" and "Proactively works with you to identify new business opportunities". These
two parameters are very close to the "High Importance-Low Performance" quadrant and
hence the company should actively try to improve upon these areas.
Table 13 and Graph 7: The "Technical Support" provided by the client company seem to be
quite good. We see that except for one parameter, "Offers clear product training" all others
parameters have got good scores in the Performance vs. Importance matrix.

48 | P a g e
Table 14 and Graph 8: The "Value" section shows that the client company needs to work
with its clients and offer new products according to the client's needs, thus helping them grow
their business. This parameter, "Offers new products to help grow your business" falls in the
"Improve" quadrant of the matrix and hence needs to be looked at.
Table 15 and Graph 9: In the "Order and Delivery" section we see a mixed performance of
the client company. The company should work on parameters such as "Orders arrive
undamaged" and "Can process rush orders within the time you specify", thus improving its
order and delivery service.
Table 16 and Graph 10: In the "Payment" section we find that the client should improve its
flexibility with regard to "Payment terms and methods". Many small bakery's also use the
client's products and a more flexible payment terms would suit them.

49 | P a g e
Summary and Conclusion
Table 17: “Overall Performance”
Graph11:

50 | P a g e
The averages of all the parameters shown so far under various categories/sections have been
shown in the Table 17 and Graph 11. In the "Overall Business Relationship" the performance
of the client company is rated as 3.6 and the importance of this category is rated is 3.9. So we
can say that the overall business relationship of the client company with its clients is good.
The "Product and Packaging" category has a performance rating of 3.7 and importance rating
of 4.1, indicating a sufficiently good performance by the client company. The "Sales Service"
however needs some improvement, as in this category the performance rating of the client
company is 3.4 and the importance rating is 4. "Value" and "Payment" categories also need
improving as there is a considerable gap between the performance of the client and the
importance. Other than these two factors, the client’s performance in its “icing and topping”
products is more or less good.

51 | P a g e
Bibliography
TNS Global
http://www.tnsglobal.com/
WPP
http://www.wpp.com/wpp/companies/kantar/
TNS Automotive
http://www.tnsglobal.com/press-release/tns-automotive-car-manufacturers-pay-more-attention-
suvmuv-customers
TNS Survey
http://www.slideshare.net/estoril2011/tns-survey-consumers-expectations
Gfk Loyalty
http://www.gfkamerica.com/practice_areas/loyalty/
King County
http://www.kingcounty.gov/CustomerService.aspx
Guidelines for Conducting Customer Satisfaction Surveys
www.doleta.gov/performance/trainingtutorials/ppt/roadshow-surveys.ppt
How to create devoted Customers
http://www.slideshare.net/andyhanselman/how-to-create-devoted-customers
Customer Satisfaction Survey Report
www.nwsc.co.ug/files/surveyreports/Pilot%20Survey.pdf
Customer Satisfaction Report by Nielsen Company (ppt)
Customer Satisfaction Measurement
http://www.symphonytech.com/articles/satisfaction.htm

Identification of Parameters for Customer Satisfaction

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