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The Indian market for entertainment devices like television
has been expanding in the last two decades. Several players
are introducing not only several features to the existing
products but also new products like LCD (Liquid Crystal
Display) TV and Plasma TV to capture various segments of
the market. Consumers now have a wide choice for the selection
of televisions. The present study is an empirical research
done on factors influencing the buying behavior of the customers
of LCD Televisions of a selected brand. A random sample
was selected from the company's database and techniques
like exploratory factor analysis and logistic regression
are used to analyze the data. The main findings reveal that
physical features, operational features, promotional features
and word of mouth are the main factors which tend to influence
the buying decision in a positive manner—to increase
the sales of the product, whereas the price and brand name
have a negative influence on the behavior.
In the current business scenario, organizations are facing
heavy competition in attracting and retaining customers.
Major factors like brand name, physical appearance, price,
promotional aspects, after sales service, availability and
offers/gifts are playing a very important role on the buying
behavior of the customers. Keeping different buying situations
of the customers like minor/major new purchases and re-purchases
in mind, the organizations need to adopt different marketing
strategies. Different internal influences, such as the information
known to the customer about the product, attitude of the
customer, and different external influences like culture,
social class, family, and reference groups also affect the
consumers' buying behavior. Customers are also becoming
more critical and feel less attached to brands. Whilst the
current economic tide is urging the customers to buy less
expensive products and brands, a gap has been created between
the supplier and the consumer which are needed to be fulfilled
by a better service and ability to respond quickly to the
requirements (Nowlis, 2000). With promotions and new product
introductions, the industry needs to understand the consumer
and the organizational buying behavior better than ever
before (Dibb and Simkin, 1993). In this current scenario,
companies are required to change their approach and implement
new procedures quicker than the speed at which they are
actually managing (Clemons, 1999).
The Indian market is deluged with new products like LCD
(Liquid Crystal Display) and Plasma TV especially at the
start of the decade. However, the acceptability and popularity
of LCD TV in the Indian households is still not catching
up as it has been there with the traditional TV sets. The
study undertaken is an attempt to elicit insights into the
phenomenon. It is believed that the findings will be useful
for the corporate who are trying to make a place in the
market and also equally useful for the academicians as it
tends to enrich the knowledge of the consumer behavior towards
relatively new products like LCD TV.
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