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CHAPTER4

Consumer Attitudes towards Marketing

The present chapter discusses the results of the survey that was

carried out to measure consumer attitudes about 4 P‟s of marketing

(i.e., product quality, price, advertising and distribution) as well as

consumers‟ overall attitude towards marketing and operating

philosophy of business firms. In total, the chapter has three sections

namely, consumers attitudes towards various elements of marketing,

consumers overall attitude towards marketing and attitudes towards

operating philosophy of business.

4.1 Consumers Attitudes towards Various Elements of Marketing

Gaski and Etzel (1986) scale has proposed a total of twenty eight

statements to measure consumer attitudes. These statements have

been categorized into four groups, viz., product quality, price,

advertisement and retailing (Gaski and Etzel, 1986; Wee and Chan,

1989; Chan, Yau and Chan, 1990; Chan and Cui, 2004, Gaski and

76

Etzel, 2005; Peterson and Ekici, 2007; Ferdous and Towfique, 2008

and Orel and Zeren, 2011), and in substance roughly correspond to 4

P‟s of marketing i.e., product, price, promotion and distribution

respectively (Gaski and Etzel, 1986). The present study is using four

categories as proposed by Gaski and Eetzel and 4 P‟s of marketing

interchangeably viz., product quality, price, promotion

(advertisement) and distribution (retailing).

For each element of marketing, seven statements were used.

Responses for each of the statements were received on a five-point

Likert scale, where -2 stands for „Strongly Disagree‟ and 2 stands for

„Strongly Agree‟. Negative statements were also used, but these were

reverse coded for computing the dimension mean score. A positive

score characterizes favorable attitude, while negative mean score

represents unfavorable attitude.

In this section, results relating to consumer perceptions for each of

the four elements are discussed. First, the aggregative results for the

sample as a whole are examined in Section 4.1.1, and the results

across demographic variables (gender, age, educational qualification,

occupation, family income, marital status and residential area) are

analyzed in Section 4.1.2.

4.1.1 Aggregative Results

Consumers attitudes in respect of various elements of marketing mix

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i.e., product quality, price, advertisement and distribution, are

discussed here on an aggregative basis. Item wise mean scores are

presented in Table 4.1.

It can be observed that consumer‟ attitudes towards various elements

of marketing range from .43 to 1.10, thus indicating respondents

positive attitudes for all the elements of marketing. Consumers have

displayed the most favorable attitudes towards distribution element

with a mean score of 1.10 and least favorable attitude towards price

with a score of .43. It, furthermore, can be seen from the Table 4.1

that mean scores of product quality and advertising are .75 and .78

respectively which are higher than that for price but lower than that

for distribution.

Indian consumers have displayed positive views about product

quality with a score of .75. This may be because that after a long

period of sellers‟ market, the people have now access to variety of

quality products and they are happy with the range of products they

are getting right now.

Lysonski and Zotos (1989), Wee and Chan (1989), Bhuian et al.,

(2001), Gaski and Etzel (2005), Peterson and Ekici (2007), Ferdous

and Towfique (2008), Orel and Zeren (2011) and Jain (2011) also in

their studies have reported positive attitudes prevalent among

consumers in respect of product quality, while the studies conducted

by Chan, Yau and Chan (1990) in Australia and Chan and Cui (2004)

in China have documented negative views about quality of product.

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4.1: Consumer Attitudes toward Various Elements of Marketing Mix

Scale/item

Aggregative

Mean Score

Product Quality

1. The quality of most products conforms to my expectations. .66

2. I am satisfied with most of the products I buy. .89

3. Most products I buy wear out too quickly.(R) .78

4. Products are not made as well these days as they used to be

earlier.(R) .72

5. Too many of the products I buy are defective in some way.(R) .70

6. Once the products are sold, companies do not bother as to

how the products are performing. (R) .75

7. The quality of products I buy has consistently improved over

years. .71

Mean Score .75

Price

1. Most products I buy are overpriced.(R)

.36

2. Firms can charge lower price and still be profitable.(R) .45

3. Keeping in view prevailing wage and income levels, most

consumer products are priced fairly. .46

4. Competition between companies keeps prices reasonable. .39

5. Companies are unjustified in charging the prices they charge.(R)

.47

6. Most prices are fair. .58

7. In general, I am satisfied with the prices I pay. .32

Mean Score .43

Advertisement

1. Most advertising provides consumers with essential

information. .71

2. Most advertising is very annoying.(R) .85

3. Most advertising makes false claims.(R) .92

4. If most advertising was eliminated, consumers would be better

off.(R) .76

5. I enjoy most advertisements. .69

6. Most advertising is intended to deceive rather than to inform

consumers.(R) .73

7. Generally, advertised products are more dependable than unadvertised ones.

.80

Mean Score .78

Distribution/retailing

1. Most retail stores serve their customers well. .94

2. Because of the way retailers treat me, most of my shopping is

unpleasant.(R) 1.23

79

3. I find most retail salespeople to be very helpful. 1.13

4. Most retail stores provide an adequate selection of

merchandise. 1.02

5. Prices of consumer goods are high primarily because

wholesalers and retailers (middlemen) are making excessive profits.(R)

1.19

6. When I need assistance in a store, I am usually not able to get

it.(R) 1.15

7. Most retailers provide adequate service. 1.15

Mean Score 1.10

NOTES: 1. Responses were obtained on a Likert scale of -2 to 2 where -2 = Strongly Disagree

and 2 = Strongly Agree.

2. Mean score for each element of marketing range from -2 to 2.

3. Items with (R) were reverse coded for computing the mean score.

A low mean score of .43 in respect of price suggests that consumers

are least satisfied with respect to price fairness and consider that

prices are not sufficiently just and reasonable which is not very

surprising as they have never experienced such a high rate of

inflation. Wee and Chan (1989), Chan, Yau and Chan (1990) and

Chan and Cui (2004), Ferdous and Towfique (2008), Jain (2011) and

Orel and Zeren (2011) also in their studies revealed negative score

regarding price. In a similar vein, Gaski and Etzel (2005) and

Peterson and Ekici (2007) also indicated the pessimistic opinions in

respect of price.

Mean score of advertisement is .77, which represents a favorable

attitude towards advertising. Indian consumers view advertising

favorably as for them advertisement is a source of entertainment and

thus have favorable opinions. Wee and Chan (1989), Chan, Yau and

Chan (1990), Chan and Cui (2004), Gaski and Etzel (2005), Peterson

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and Ekici (2007) and Ferdous and Towfique (2008) in their studies

have reported unenthusiastic attitudes of consumers in respect of

advertising.

A mean score of 1.11 in respect of distribution represents overall

consumers have quite favorable opinion regarding distribution. Wee

and Chan (1989), Chan, Yau and Chan (1990), Chan and Cui (2004),

Gaski and Etzel (2005), Ferdous and Towfique (2008) and Jain (2011)

also in their studies have shown positive attitudes towards

distribution. Indian respondents have shown favorable attitudes for

distribution which is not beyond belief as in the last decade there is

an invasion of departmental stores, chain stores and malls leading to

easy availability of various products. Indian consumers now have

more alternatives and can find goods quite easily.

4.1.2 Disaggregative Results

Past studies reveal differences to be existing among different groups

of consumers in their attitudes toward various elements of marketing

mix (Wee and Chan, 1989; Chan, Yau and Chan, 1990; Chan and

Cui, 2004 and Jain, 2011). So an endeavor is made in the present

study to analyze consumer attitudes towards different elements of

marketing mix across demographic variables (gender, age,

educational qualifications, occupations, income, marital status and

residential area).

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In this section, we discuss the results on a disaggregative basis

across the above mentioned seven demographic variables. It may,

however, be pointed out that the discussion in the following sub-

sections is based on marketing mix element mean scores rather than

item mean score for the reason that each of the scales for marketing

mix elements in the previous chapter has been found to be having

high reliability, the cronbach alpha values being .966, .957, .962 and

.948 for the four elements, viz., product quality, price, advertising

and distribution.

In order to ascertain whether the attitudes of consumers towards the

four elements of marketing are different across demographic

variables, the following null hypothesis is put to test.

H4.1: There are no significant differences in the attitudes of consumers

regarding four elements of marketing across demographic variables,

i.e., gender, age, educational qualifications, occupations, income,

marital status and residential area.

Gender: Independent samples t-test reveal significant differences in

the attitudes of men and women with respect to elements of

marketing. It can be inferred from the results reported in Table 4.2

that males have significantly more optimistic attitudes towards all the

four elements of marketing mix, viz., product quality, price,

advertisement and distribution, with mean scores of 1.1, .75, 1.1 and

1.3 respectively. Corresponding mean scores for the female

respondents are comparatively low, viz., .32, .06, .39 and .87. It

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indicates that females have less favorable attitudes for all the four

elements of the marketing mix than males.

The results of this study are in agreement with the studies of Wee

and Chan (1989), Chan, Yau and Chan (1990), Ferdous and Towfique

(2008) and Jain (2011) who found women to be having less favorable

attitudes than men. However, Gaski and Etzel (1986), Chan and Cui

(2004) studies reported opposite results.

4.2: Consumers Attitudes towards Various Elements of Marketing across Gender

N Mean Std.

Deviation P

value

Product Quality

Male

222 1.1133 0.9470 .000**

Female

195 0.3194 1.4015

Price

Male

222 0.7548 1.0299 .000**

Female

195 0.0564 1.4220

Advertisement

Male

222 1.1165 0.9100 .000**

Female

195 0.3868 1.4205


Male

222 1.3230 0.8407 .000**

Female 195 0.8733 1.0682

NOTES: 1. Responses were obtained on a Likert scale of -2 to 2 where -2 = Strongly

Disagree and 2 = Strongly Agree. 2. Mean score for each element of marketing range from -2 to 2. 3. ** signify that difference is significant at 1% since p < .01.

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Age: It can be inferred from Table 4.3 that respondents‟ attitudes

towards product quality across age groups range from -.06 to 1.2.

Respondents in the age group of under 25 exhibits most favorable

attitudes towards product quality with a score of 1.2. One of the

possible reasons for this may be that respondents of this age group

have more disposable income and few responsibilities. So, many of

the higher–quality products are within their reach and means, and

hence they have more favorable attitudes towards product quality.

Respondents in the age group of above 65 exhibit the most negative

attitude for product quality. A mean score of -.06 corroborates this.

While comparing consumer attitudes towards price across age, mean

scores of -.18 and -.41 shows that respondents of 45-64 and above

65 years age groups respectively have negative attitudes for price.

One of the possible reasons for this may be that being in later stage

of their life cycle they have more responsibilities towards their

children, family and more pressing need to save for their old age, and

thus they are more price sensitive. Respondents in the age group

under 25 displayed the most positive attitudes towards price with a

mean score of .87. This can be attributed to the fact that they are at

the start of their career and their income is much more in

comparison to their responsibilities.

While comparing mean scores for advertising element across age, it

has been found that older people do not like advertisement and view

them with suspicion, while younger people enjoy the advertisements.

A negative mean score of -.03 for the age group of above 65 in

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opposition to a mean score of 1.4 for the age group under 25

substantiates this.

Respondents across all age groups have shown positive attitudes

towards retailing and distribution. All respondents across different

age groups confirm the affirmative attitude towards retailing. Mean

scores of 1.5, 1.2, .92 and .36 for the age groups under 25, 25–44

and 45–64 and above 65 respectively corroborates this.

4.3: Consumers Attitudes toward Various Elements of Marketing across Age

N Mean Std.

Deviation P value

Product Quality

Under 25

155 1.2129 0.8820

25-44

112 0.9209 1.1957 .000**

45-64

94 0.2629 1.3692

Above 65

58 -0.0616 1.3008

Price

Under 25

155 0.8728 1.0969

25-44

112 0.7793 1.2299 .000**

45-64

94 -0.1839 1.0991

Above 65

58 -0.4113 1.2800

Advertisement

Under 25

155 1.3604 0.8210

25-44

112 0.8520 1.1436 .000**

45-64

94 0.2340 1.2813

Above 65

58 -0.0320 1.3913


Under 25

155 1.4793 0.6558

25-44

112 1.1684 1.1145 .000**

45-64

94 0.9164 0.8370

Above 65 58 0.3571 1.1221



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Overall, we find that consumers‟ attitudes differ significantly across

different age groups; younger people have more favorable opinions

about all the four elements of marketing than older people. The

results of this study are in contrast with the earlier studies of French

et al. (1982), Barker (1987), Wee and Chan (1989), Chan and Yau

(1990) and Roberts and Manolis (2000). They found that the older

consumers had more favorable attitudes towards product, price and

advertising.

Education: In terms of age, it has been noticed that the level of

educational attainment is positively related to the respondents‟

attitudes towards various elements of marketing mix (see Table 4.4).

Post graduate respondents have significantly more favorable attitudes

than graduate respondents. Mean scores of .48, .22, .57 and .86 for

under graduate respondents compared to mean scores of 1.5, 1.1, 1.4

and 1.7 for post graduate respondents‟ regarding product quality,

price, advertisement and distribution respectively validates this.

Thus, higher the level of educational attainment, the more flattering

the attitude towards product quality, price, advertising and retailing.

The finding of this study is in accordance with the results of Barker

(1987), Wee and Chan (1989), Chan, Yau and Chan (1990), Bhuian et

al. (2001), Chan and Cui (2004) and Jain (2011) studies in this

respect. They documented in their studies that highly educated

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consumers held more positive views about various elements of

marketing.

4.4: Consumers Attitudes toward Various Elements of Marketing across Educational Qualifications

N Mean Std.

Deviation P value

Product Quality

Under-Graduate 197 0.4764 1.2206

Graduate 119 0.4862 1.4365 .000**

Post-Graduate 78 1.5495 0.3423

Others 23 1.7205 0.2042

Price


Graduate 119 0.2353 1.4110 .000**


Others 23 1.1553 0.3653

Advertisement


Graduate 119 0.5858 1.4492 .000**


Others 23 1.4224 0.5123



Graduate 119 0.9772 1.1258 .000**


Others 23 1.8137 0.1636



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Occupation: Consumers attitudes towards four elements of

marketing, i.e., product, price, advertising and distribution, are

compared across occupation through one-way ANOVA and results are

summarized in Table 4.5. It has been found that housewives‟ with

mean score of -.25 have the most unfavorable attitudes towards

product quality and professionals with mean score of 1.6 have most

favorable attitudes towards product quality.

While comparing consumer attitudes towards price, it has been

established that housewives have the most negative attitude about

the price with a mean score of -.43 and professionals have the most

positive attitude towards price a mean score of 1.4 corroborates this.

Housewives also exhibited the most negative attitudes toward

advertisement. A mean score of -.17 confirms this. Students and

professionals, on the other hand, have sanguine attitudes exhibited

by mean scores of 1.3 and 1.5 respectively.

Respondents across all occupations have revealed positive attitudes

towards distribution, but professionals have most favorable attitude

with a mean score of 1.8 and housewives have least favorable

attitude with a mean score of .46.

Thus, for all the four elements of marketing mix, significant

differences are registered among different occupational groups.

Housewives expressed the most unfavorable attitudes and

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professionals displayed the most favorable attitudes for all the

elements of marketing.

4.5: Consumers Attitudes toward Various Elements of Marketing across Occupations

N Mean Std.

Deviation P

value

Product Quality

Students 108 1.2579 0.8926

Housewives 107 -0.2523 1.3959

Service 54 0.9021 1.1381 .000**

Business 49 0.7055 1.0520

Professionals 60 1.6048 0.2886

Others 37 0.5637 1.1218

Price

Students 108 0.9947 1.0353

Housewives 107 -0.4339 1.3096

Service 54 0.0873 1.1970 .000**

Business 49 0.4694 1.1399


Others 37 0.2201 1.2287

Advertisement

Students 108 1.3201 0.8854

Housewives 107 -0.1656 1.4517

Service 54 0.9471 0.9694 .000**

Business 49 0.6939 1.0017


Others 37 0.6139 1.2093


Students 108 1.4153 0.7418

Housewives 107 0.4566 1.1072

Service 54 1.2460 0.8760 .000**

Business 49 1.0729 0.9050


Others 37 0.8726 1.0464



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The results of this study are in compliance with the results of the

earlier studies. French et al. (1982), Wee and Chan (1989), Chan, Yau

and Chan (1990) and Jain (2011) found that the occupation and

attitudes towards marketing were positively related. Also, Chan and

Cui (2004) reported in their study that blue collar workers were more

positive about retailing, but less satisfied with advertising than were

white collar workers, students and others.

Income: Findings for the sample exhibit a positive relationship in

monthly family income and consumer attitudes towards product,

price, advertising and retailing (see Table 4.6). Consumers in the

lower income groups are generally more skeptical about marketing

tools while those in higher income groups tends to held more

favorable attitudes.

A mean score of .31 regarding product quality for the respondents

belonging to below Rs 20,000 against a score of 1.6 for respondents

having more than Rs 60,000 per month family income substantiates

that higher the earnings, more favorable the attitudes are. This may

be because higher income groups may have access to better quality

products, and thus have more positive attitude about product

quality.

Similarly, respondents of low income groups have more

unenthusiastic views about the prices. Their mean attitude towards

price is significantly lower than those of all other income groups. A

mean score of -.03 for below Rs 20,000 family income group in

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contrast to 1.1 for above Rs 60,000 per month group provides

testimony to that the higher the income, the more favorable feelings

about price.

4.6: Consumers Attitudes toward Various Elements of Marketing across Monthly Family Income

N Mean Std.

Deviation P value

Product Quality

Below Rs 20,000 162 0.3148 1.2464

Rs 20,000 – Rs 40,000 69 0.3768 1.4874 .000**

Rs 40,001 – Rs 60,000 90 0.8794 1.1250

Above Rs 60,000 91 1.6028 0.4703

Price

Below Rs 20,000 162 -0.0344 1.2414

Rs 20,000 – Rs 40,000 69 0.4865 1.4575 .000**

Rs 40,001 – Rs 60,000 90 0.5413 1.3025

Above Rs 60,000 91 1.0722 0.7878

Advertisement

Below Rs 20,000 162 0.3959 1.2671

Rs 20,000 – Rs 40,000 69 0.5176 1.5117 .000**

Rs 40,001 – Rs 60,000 90 0.9143 1.1007

Above Rs 60,000 91 1.5086 0.5388


Below Rs 20,000 162 0.6349 1.0853

Rs 20,000 – Rs 40,000 69 1.0994 0.9314 .000**

Rs 40,001 – Rs 60,000 90 1.3905 0.7871

Above Rs 60,000 91 1.7002 0.4227



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Respondents in the income category of below Rs 20,000 family

income have least favorable attitude towards advertising. A mean

score of .40 in contrast to 1.5 for the respondents belonging to more

than Rs 60,000 per month income group supports this.

Similar results are found in respect of distribution with a low mean

score of .63 for below Rs 20,000 income category respondents and a

high mean score of 1.7 for the respondents having above Rs 60,000

per month.

From Table 4.6, it can be observed that respondents of lower income

groups have displayed less favorable attitudes than respondents

belonging to higher income group towards each area of marketing

practice. The findings of this study are in accordance with the results

of earlier studies of Barker (1987), Wee and chan (1989) and Chan,

Yau and Chan (1990).

Marital Status: It can be gauged from Table 4.7 that married

respondents have significantly less favorable attitudes toward various

elements of marketing than unmarried. This may be because married

couples have a combined income that often permits a lifestyle that

provides them the opportunities of more indulgent purchasing of

possessions and complex purchases evoke more consumer

dissonance. The evidence for this is provided in Table 4.7 where

married respondents have a mean score of .48 and unmarried

respondent have a mean score of 1.2 in respect of product quality.

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Significant differences are found for price between two groups.

Married respondents have less favorable attitudes towards the price

as it is obvious that people who are married have much more

responsibilities than the people who are single; so price is a

constraining factor for married respondents. A mean score of .27 for

married in contrast to .69 for unmarried respondents substantiates

this.

4.7 Consumers Attitudes toward Various Elements of Marketing across Marital Status

N Mean Std.

Deviation P value

Product Quality

Married 253 0.4794 1.2745 .000**

Unmarried 166 1.1506 1.0781

Price

Married 253 0.2671 1.2826 .001**

Unmarried 166 0.6859 1.2243

Advertisement

Married 253 0.5409 1.2792 .000**

Unmarried 166 1.1420 1.0517


Married 253 0.9266 0.9669 .000**

Unmarried 166 1.4010 0.9238



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For advertising, a low mean score of .54 for married respondents in

comparison to a high mean score of 1.1 for unmarried respondents

signifies that married respondents view advertising with suspicion.

Both married and unmarried respondents have optimistic attitudes

towards retailing but unmarried respondents have more favorable

response in this regard. A mean score of 1.4 for unmarried

respondents against a score of .93 for married respondents

authenticates this statement.

Significant differences are found in the attitudes of married and

unmarried respondents and unmarried respondents have more

favorable opinions than unmarried respondents for all the elements.

However, result of this study is in contrast to Wee and Chan (1989)

study where they found that married people tended to have a more

favorable attitude towards marketing than single people.

Residential Area: It can be seen from Table 4.8 that urban and rural

consumers have more or less similar opinions regarding product

quality with a mean score of .74.

However, urban consumers exhibit less favorable attitudes towards

price with a mean score of .39 than rural consumers with a mean

score of .51 this may be because cost of living in cities is very high.

The high income one earns is partly or fully utilized to provide the

barest necessities in the urban area.

For the advertisement, rural consumers have expressed more

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optimistic views with a score of .89 than urban consumers with a

mean score of .73. This may be because for the rural consumers

advertisement is the major source of entertainment while for urban

consumers there are many other options available.

Both urban and rural consumers have expressed sanguine attitudes

towards retailing and distribution with mean scores of 1.1 and 1.0

respectively.

In sum, rural consumers have more positive attitudes towards price

and advertising; and less favorable opinion in respect of distribution

than urban consumers. The result here is in partial agreement with

the findings of Wee and Chan (1989) study they have reported that

consumers living in developed areas having access to quality

products and better facilities have more favorable attitudes towards

various elements of marketing.

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4.8: Consumers Attitudes toward Various Elements of Marketing across

Residential Area

N Mean

Std. Deviation

P value

Product Quality

Urban 280 0.7474 1.3532 .960

Rural 139 0.7410 0.9906

Price

Urban 280 0.3939 1.3517 .373

Rural 139 0.5118 1.1048

Advertisement

Urban 280 0.7260 1.3529 .210

Rural 139 0.8859 0.9247


Urban 280 1.1495 1.0708 .299

Rural 139 1.0442 0.7520

NOTES: 1. Responses were obtained on a Likert scale of -2 to 2 where -2 =

Strongly Disagree and 2 = Strongly Agree. 2. Mean score for each element of marketing range from -2 to 2.

On the basis of discussion made for seven demographic variables, it

can be concluded from Tables 4.2 to 4.8 that significant differences

exist across gender, age, educational qualification, occupational

categories, income groups, marital status for all marketing mix scales

i.e., product quality, price, advertising and retailing. The results of

Independent samples t–test, however, fail to reveal any significant

differences for four scales across residential area. Hence, null

hypothesis may be partially accepted.

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4.2 Consumer Overall Attitude towards Marketing

In the previous section, consumer attitudes towards four elements of

marketing mix were analyzed with the help of statements proposed by

Gaski and Etzel (1986). This section discusses the findings relating to

consumers‟ overall attitude towards marketing. Consumer overall

attitudes towards marketing can be ascertained through summation

of the attitudes toward the four major elements of marketing practice

(Gaski and Etzel, 1986; Wee and Chan, 1989; Chan, Yau and Chan,

1990; Chan and Cui, 2004; Gaski and Etzel, 2005; Ferdous and

Towfique, 2008).

Overall attitude towards marketing can be calculated as a simple

mean of the product quality, price, advertisement or distribution; but

importance of these elements of marketing may vary from individual

to individual. Keeping in view this, Gaski and Etzel (1986) suggested

a measure known as overall consumer sentiment towards marketing

which takes into consideration the importance weights assigned by

an individual to each element of marketing.

The formula to calculate consumer sentiment towards marketing

(CSM) as proposed by Gaski and Etzel (1986) in their study is:

CSM =

Where,

CSM = Consumer Sentiment towards Marketing

97

xij = scale item response i in category j,

wj= importance weight for the marketing mix category j,

m = number of items in category (here it is seven in each category)

n = number of categories viz., product, price, advertisement and

retailing

Seven items in each category are summed and then weighted along a

five point importance scale. For collecting the data in respect of

attitudes, a five point Likert scale (-2 to 2) has been employed, where

-2 stands for „Strongly Disagree‟ and 2 stands for „Strongly Agree‟.

Importance of four elements of marketing is expressed by

respondents on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 stands for „Not at all

Important‟ and 5 stands for „Extremely Important‟. Overall attitude

towards marketing will lie in the range of -280 to 280.

Results for consumers overall attitude towards marketing are

discussed on aggregative as well as disaggregative bases in Tables 4.9

to 4.16.


In this section, consumers‟ overall attitude toward marketing is

discussed on an aggregative basis. Table 4.9 displays mean score of

96.20 for the Indian consumers, indicating that consumers on an

overall basis have favorable opinions about marketing.

98

4.9: Overall Attitude towards Marketing

N Mean Std.

Deviation

Overall Attitude towards Marketing

418 96.2010 136.1053


Strongly Disagree and 2 = Strongly Agree. 2. Mean scores of overall attitude towards marketing range from -280 to

280. Overall attitude measurement involves summation of item scores

within each component, then weighing each of these four components

by an importance measure and summing the weighted component

composites across the four dimensions.

The results findings are consistent with the life cycle concept of

consumerism development in that consumer attitudes toward

marketing tend to be less critical in those countries in which

consumerism is a recent phenomenon (Kayank and Wilkstrom, 1985;

Thorelli, 1990).


In order to examine whether the consumers‟ overall attitudes towards

marketing are different across demographic variables, the following

null hypothesis is formulated and put to test.

H4.2: Consumers‟ overall attitudes towards marketing do not differ

significantly across demographic variables (gender, age, educational

qualification, occupation, family income, marital status and

residential area).

99

Gender: Data presented in Table 4.10 show that females have

significantly less favorable attitudes towards marketing than males,

thus providing support to the findings of previous section in which

men have been found to be having more favorable attitudes towards

all the four elements of marketing than women. Mean score of 134.8

for men and corresponding score of 51.3 for women corroborates this.

The result in respect of overall attitude is in conformity with the

studies of Wee and Chan (1989) and Chan, Yau and Chan (1990) in

which women were found to be unfavorably inclined towards overall

marketing than men. However, Gaski and Etzel (1986) and Chan and

Cui (2004) found women to be having more favorable opinions than

men.

4.10: Overall Attitude towards Marketing across Gender

N Mean

Std.

Deviation P value


Male

222 134.8378 106.3620 .000**

Female

194 51.3144 152.5357





by an importance measure and summing the weighted component


3. ** signify that difference is significant at 1% since p < .01.

Age: In terms of age, one–way ANOVA reveals significant differences

for overall attitude towards marketing. Table 4.11 shows that

100

consumers‟ overall attitude towards marketing are negatively related

with age. Older respondents displayed less favorable attitudes than

younger respondents giving support to the results of the earlier

section where younger respondents have displayed more favorable

attitudes towards the four elements of marketing mix. Score of 154.5

for under 25 respondents and corresponding score of -1.2 for above

65 respondents regarding overall attitude towards marketing

validates this.

4.11: Overall Attitude towards Marketing across Age

N Mean Std. Deviation P value


Under 25

155 154.5161 97.5698

25-44

112 115.6786 142.6946 .000**

45-64

94 35.8723 123.6007

Above 65

57 -1.1579 141.7870





by a importance measure and summing the weighted component



Education: Significant differences are displayed by the respondents of

different education groups. Education and consumers‟ overall

attitude towards marketing are found to be positively related (see

Table 4.12). Post graduates with score of 184.8 have reported more

101

favorable attitudes towards overall marketing as compared to under

graduates with score of 65.3. Thus, marketing is perceived favorably

by the better educated consumers. The results of this study are very

much in accordance with the studies of Barker (1987), Wee and Chan

(1989), Chan, Yau and Chan (1990), Bhuian et al. (2001) and Chan

and Cui (2004) as they established that the level of educational

attainment was positively related to respondents‟ attitudes towards

marketing.

4.12: Overall Attitude towards Marketing across Educational

Qualifications



Under-Graduate 196 65.3010 133.9106

Graduate 119 71.6975 156.7072 .000**

Post-Graduate 78 184.7821 51.0156

Others 23 192.4783 25.9473








Occupation: In terms of occupation, one–way ANOVA reveals

significant differences among different occupational groups.

Housewives‟ overall attitude towards marketing is least favorable with

102

a mean score of -11.9, while professionals have most favorable

attitude towards marketing mean score of 200.6 substantiates this.

In their studies, French et al. (1982), Wee and Chan (1989) and

Chan, Yau and Chan (1990) found that the occupation and attitudes

towards marketing were highly related. That is, the more prestigious

the occupation, the more positive was the attitude towards

marketing. Thus, in this respect present study complements the

earlier findings.

4.13: Overall Attitude towards Marketing across Occupations

N Mean Std. Deviation P

value


Students 108 151.3611 102.7473

Housewives 106 -11.9245 147.5033

Service 54 100.8704 110.0343 .000**

Business 49 90.8980 116.9447

Professionals 60 200.6667 40.0121

Others 37 72.4324 135.6410








103

Income: Respondents of higher income groups have exhibited

significantly more favorable overall attitude towards marketing than

lower income groups. A mean score of 179.6 for respondents

belonging to above Rs 60,000 per month family income group in

comparison to a mean score of 40.1 for below Rs 20,000 per month

family income group sustains this. The results here are in accordance

with the results of Barker (1987), Wee and Chan (1989) and Chan,

Yau and Chan (1990) studies.

4.14: Overall Attitude towards Marketing across Monthly Family Income



Below Rs 20,000 161 40.1056 136.7088

Rs 20,000 – Rs 40,000 69 82.8986 161.0234 .000**

Rs 40,001 – Rs 60,000 90 118.5556 126.8427

Above Rs 60,000 91 179.6374 56.2979








Marital Status: Marital status reveals significant differences in the

overall attitude towards marketing; a mean score of 70.3 in Table

4.15 for married respondents in contrast to 135.6 for unmarried

respondents reveals that married consumers have less favorable

104

opinions about overall marketing. The result here is in contrast to the

findings of Wee and Chan (1989); they had found in their study that

married people tended to have a more favorable attitude towards

marketing than single people.

4.15: Overall Attitude towards Marketing across Marital Status

N Mean Std.

Deviation P

value


Married 252 70.2778 139.0724 .000**

Unmarried 166 135.5542 121.6985








Residential Area: It can be seen in Table 4.16 that rural consumers

have more favorable attitudes than urban consumers. Score of 101.1

for rural consumers against score of 93.8 for urban consumers

regarding overall attitude towards marketing confirms this. Rural

consumers are less critical of marketing. One of the possible reasons

for this may be that rural society in India is predominantly collectivist

society and in collectivist society members mainly focus on

maintaining the relationships and are less critical, resulting in more

favorable attitudes towards overall marketing than urban consumers.

105

4.16: Overall Attitude towards Marketing across Residential Area

N Mean Std.

Deviation P

value


Urban 280 93.7964 149.0437 .607

Rural 138 101.0797 105.4075







Thus across demographic variables, Tables 4.10 to 4.16 exhibit

significant differences across gender, age, education, occupation,

income and marital status for consumers‟ overall attitudes towards

marketing. But findings are statistically insignificant for urban and

rural consumers‟ overall attitudes towards marketing. Hence, null

hypothesis may be partially accepted.

4.3 Consumer Attitudes towards Operating

Philosophy of Business Firms

Consumer attitudes towards operating philosophy of business firms

have been measured with the help of statements proposed by Gaski

and Etzel (1986) to measure „marketing in general‟ or „global

impression of marketing‟. Modifications are made in the scale under

the guidance of supervisor keeping in view the context of Indian

106

consumers.

Consumer attitudes towards operating philosophy of business firms

is measured through a scale comprising five statements „Most firms

operate on the philosophy that consumer is always right‟, „Most firms

are guided by the philosophy that Let the buyer beware‟, „Most firms

behave responsibly to their consumers‟, „Most firms usually fail to

fulfill their responsibility to their consumers‟, „Most firms are more

interested in making profits than in serving consumers‟.

Responses have been received on the five point Likert scale (-2 to 2)

where -2 stands for „Strongly Disagree‟ and 2 stands for „Strongly

Agree‟. Negative statements were reverse coded at the time of

analysis. Positive mean score depicts favorable attitude and negative

value shows unfavorable attitudes towards operating philosophy of

business firms.

In section 4.3.1, aggregative results are discussed and in section

4.3.2 consumers attitudes towards operating philosophy of business

firms are analyzed on disaggregative basis, i.e., across seven

demographic variables (gender, age, educational qualification,

occupation, family income, marital status and residential area).


In this section itemwise analysis to measure operating philosophy of

business firms is presented in Table 4.17. Mean score of .93 suggests

107

that consumers have favorable opinions towards operating

philosophy adopted by firms. They do feel that firms are behaving

responsibly in their dealings with customers and want to serve the

consumers efficiently and effectively. This is definitely a positive

signal for the marketers.

4.17: Consumer Attitudes toward Operating Philosophy of Business Firms

Scale/item Aggregative Mean Score

Operating Philosophy of Business Firms

1. Most firms operate on the philosophy that consumer is always right.

.77

2. Most firms are guided by the philosophy that “Let the buyer beware”.(R)

1.02

3. Most firms behave responsibly to their consumers.

1.01

4. Most firms usually fail to fulfill their responsibility to their consumers.(R)

.95

5. Most firms are more interested in making profits than in serving consumers.(R)

.89

Mean Score .93


Disagree and 2 = Strongly Agree. 2. Mean score of marketing philosophy of business firms lie in the range of -2

to 2. 3. Items with (R) were reverse coded for computing the overall mean score.


In this section, consumers‟ attitudes towards operating philosophy of

business firms are discussed for seven demographic variables viz.,

gender, age, marital status, income, occupation, residential area and

educational qualification. Since reliability of the scale measuring

108

operating philosophy of business firms is found to be high with

cronbach alpha value of .971, so instead of taking item wise analysis;

mean score has been used for disaggregative analysis. To find out the

differences in consumer attitudes towards operating philosophy of

business firms across demographic variables the following hypothesis

is formulated and put to test.

H4.3: There are no significant differences in consumer attitudes

towards operating philosophy of business firms across demographic

variables (gender, age, educational qualification, occupation, family

income, marital status and residential area).

Gender: Females have displayed significantly less favorable attitudes

towards operating philosophy of business firms than males and thus

provide support to the findings of previous sections in which men

have reported more favorable attitude towards all four elements of

marketing and overall marketing than women. Mean score of 1.3 for

men and corresponding score of .45 for women corroborates this.

4.18: Consumer Attitudes toward Operating Philosophy of Business Firms across Gender

N Mean Std.

Deviation P value


Male

222 1.3459 0.9621 .000**

Female

195 0.4462 1.5199


Strongly Disagree and 2 = Strongly Agree. 2. Mean score of operating philosophy of business firms lie in the range of

-2 to 2.


109

Age: Significant differences are found among the four age groups

through one-way ANOVA. Table 4.19 reveals that consumers‟

attitudes towards operating philosophy of business firms and age are

inversely related. High mean score of 1.4 for under 25 respondents

and corresponding low mean score of .08 for above 65 respondents

regarding philosophy of firms confirms this. The findings here are

supporting the results of earlier sections where older respondents

displayed less favorable attitudes than younger respondents towards

elements of marketing and overall marketing.


across Age



Under 25

155 1.4271 0.9559

25-44

112 1.1036 1.3064 .000**

45-64

94 0.4170 1.3899

Above 65

58 0.0828 1.4495



-2 to 2.


Education: In terms of education, significant differences are noted

among different groups (see Table 4.20) regarding attitude towards

operating philosophy of business firms. Consumer attitudes towards

the philosophy adopted by firms are positively related to education;

post graduate respondents with a high score of 1.8 as compared to

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low score of .66 for under graduate respondents confirm this. Thus,

better educated consumers are found to perceive operating

philosophy of business firms more favorably. In preceding sections

also, better educated consumers have been found more favorably

inclined towards elements of marketing and overall marketing.


across Educational Qualifications

N Mean Std.

Deviation P value



Graduate 119 0.6605 1.5399 .000**


Others 23 1.7565 0.1590



-2 to 2.


Occupation: Consumers of all groups have expressed positive attitude

towards marketing philosophy of business firms except housewives.

It can be seen in Table 4.21 that housewives have the least favorable

attitude with a mean score of -.12 and professionals have the most

favorable attitude with a mean score of 1.8 among the various groups

towards operating philosophy. Thus, the more prestigious the

occupation the more positive is the attitude towards operating

behavior of firms. The results shown here is in conformity with the

111

findings of earlier sections regarding four elements of marketing and

overall marketing.


across Occupations

N Mean Std. Deviation P

value


Students 108 1.3648 1.0303

Housewives 107 -0.1234 1.5141

Service 54 1.2333 1.0800 .000**

Business 49 0.8980 1.1762


Others 37 0.8162 1.2160



-2 to 2.


Income: Consumer attitudes towards operating philosophy of

business firms are significantly different among the four income

groups. Table 4.22 shows consumer attitudes towards philosophy of

business are found to be related with income, that is, higher the

income, more favorable the attitude towards operating philosophy of

firms. Below Rs 20,000 income group with a mean score of .51

against a mean score of 1.7 for above Rs 60,000 income group

confirms this. This is in accordance with the results of earlier

sections where respondents belonging to higher income groups have

112

opined more favorable attitudes towards elements of marketing and

overall marketing.


across Monthly Family Income



Below Rs 20,000 162 0.5136 1.3663

Rs 20,000 – Rs 40,000 69 0.6406 1.6002 .000**

Rs 40,001 – Rs 60,000 90 1.0689 1.2906

Above Rs 60,000 91 1.7165 0.4512



-2 to 2.


Marital Status: Although in terms of marital status respondents of

both groups encompass positive attitudes towards operating

philosophy of business firms, but significant differences are found

between two groups. Married respondents have less favorable

attitudes towards operating philosophy of firms than unmarried

respondents. Mean score of .66 for married respondents in contrast

to a score of 1.3 for unmarried respondents upholds this. Thus, for

marital status attitudes towards overall marketing and operating

philosophy of business firms are moving in tandem.

113


across Marital Status

N Mean Std.

Deviation P

value


Married 253 0.6648 1.3623 .000**

Unmarried 166 1.3289 1.1697



-2 to 2.


Residential Area: It can be seen in Table 4.24 that rural consumers

have more favorable attitudes than urban consumers; mean score of

1.0 for rural consumers in contrast to .88 for urban consumers

authenticate this. Rural consumers are less critical of marketing

because consumerism and consumer protection are at the beginning

stage in rural areas and moreover, people in rural areas place greater

emphasis on harmony and relationships and thus, tend to be less

critical of operating philosophy adopted by firms.

4.24: Consumer Attitudes toward Operating Philosophy of Business Firms across Residential Area

N Mean Std.

Deviation P

value


Urban 280 0.8786 1.4502 .281

Rural 139 1.0273 1.0385



-2 to 2.

114

On the basis of discussion made across demographic variables,

Tables 4.18 to 4.24 displayed that significant differences are found

across gender, age, education, occupation, income and marital status

for consumer attitudes towards operating philosophy adopted by

business firms. But independent samples t–test has failed to reveal

any significant differences for urban and rural consumers‟ regarding

philosophy of business firms. Hence, null hypothesis may be partially

accepted.

Concluding Observations

Thus, it can be concluded that surveyed Indian consumers have

displayed positive attitudes towards each element of marketing mix,

overall marketing and operating philosophy of business firms.

Significant differences are found among consumers across all the

seven demographic variables except residential area with respect to

their attitudes towards various elements of marketing mix (product,

price, advertisement and distribution), overall marketing and

operating philosophy adopted by business firms.

In terms of gender, women are found to be critical of all elements of

marketing, overall marketing and operating philosophy of business

firms. For the age, younger respondents are more optimistic

regarding four elements of marketing, overall marketing and

operating philosophy of business firms than older respondents.

115

As far as education is concerned, post graduates have more favorable

opinions than under graduates with respect to the various issues viz.,

elements of marketing, overall marketing and operating philosophy of

business firms. Across occupational categories, professionals have

displayed the most favorable attitudes for all the aspects. Higher

income group respondents expressed more favorable attitudes

towards four elements of marketing, overall marketing and operating

philosophy of business firms than lower income group.

Unmarried respondents have expressed more positive attitudes than

married respondents for elements of marketing, overall marketing

and operating philosophy of business firms. In terms of residential

area, rural people have more favorable opinions with respect to only

price, advertisement, overall marketing and operating philosophy of

firms.

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